Squat new 10RM (300lbs)

Today, had an unexpectedly good day

I have been sick, and it blows. I've been coughing, had clogged sinuses, mild headaches, fever, body aches. I don't think it's the flu, I think it's just a very nasty cold that gets worse pretty much every time I do anything haha. However, even though I considered skipping lifting today, I really don't want to miss a workout if I can help it. I am just going to rest as much as I can on my off days, and train as hard as I can within reason.

HAHAHAHAHA

Today, I wasn't sure what to expect as I sat around all day yesterday and felt like I forgot how to move today. My first two sets of squats with the bar were crap and felt like crap hahaha. BUT, I did a nice long warm up, and put 135 on the bar. With some weight, it started moving a little nicer. Still didn't feel great, but at least I was squatting properly, and I did 2 sets of 10-12 to really try and get warm. Then I jumped to my first work weight, 230. That weight, and my next weight (265) really felt heavy on my back, but when I actually squatted them they moved very nicely. Triples feel really good for me. After those two sets, I went up to 300. Even though I didn't feel good, weight was moving nice, so I rested a bunch and tried to take 300 calmly and with a lot of focus. And Iended up hitting it for 10 reps, which is a big PR - 2 reps more than last time I repped 300 out, and 10 lbs more than my old 10RM. The set was really good too. Reps 1-6 were cake. 7 was where the weight started catching up to me, but 8 and 9 (although hard) still moved very nicely. On some of the reps I felt like I was maybe sitting back a little too far, a habit that I think I still fall into when repping out moderate weight for a lot of reps. But I tried to cue myself to get those hips forward mid set and from rep to rep, and overall all the reps except 10 were really good. On the 10th rep I was just tired and I let my chest drop, my hips shoot up, blah blah blah. But I can't complain about 9 good reps and a tenth okay rep. Honestly, I think it's just a product of my legs being strong, but my back and stabilizing muscles getting tired hahaha. By rep 9 my whole body was shaking from holding that weight on my back. Anyways, an awesome set. Really feeling strong and like I'm making some gains on squats.

Speed deads went alright. The weight was 295, for 10 x 1 from the ground, on the minute. The weight didn't feel heavy and it was moving pretty fast, but these were just a little off today. I felt like my positions were a little bit weird, and I wasn't squeezing my ass very hard (maybe I was just tired). Either way I stayed focused and the weight still moved pretty fast and easy. Hopefully they will feel better next week.

Snatch grip deads are growing on me a lot. I am really liking them, even though they kill my hands. I like that I am limited in how heavy I can go for now - they are relatively easy, but I still feel like they are really worth doing, and I feel like I will really be able to go up heavy as I drop the reps and my hands get used to the hook grip. Today, working up in 8's, I did 135, 165, 185, 205, and 225. Again, none of the weights were hard on my legs or butt or back, it's mostly just my hands. However, I think this slow progression is awesome. I'm excited to keep working up slowly, and to see where the weight finally starts being hard to actually lift/lockout. I think it is a great movement worth doing for it's own sake AND worth doing because I think it is going to help my deadlift strength and help me pack on some more muscle.

Finally, ended with 3 sets of situps, 2 sets of 20 and a set of 26 ( just to push myself a little more). One thing that I did differently today was to change my range of motion so that I was keeping constant tension on my abs and worrying about that more than reps. I kind of like training them that way. I already do so many heavy compound movements with my core locked in that I feel like training my abs with "reps" might not be as useful as training them for the burn, and really trying to exhaust them/cause hypertrophy. I tend to just get bored with reps, but maybe if I focus on a few movements where I keep constant tension and train for the burn/exhaustion, it would help me to work my abs in a differrent was AND add mass to my core. Plus maybe some definition. Who doesn't want well sculpted abs? Once I finally lean out, I don't want to have neglected any specific ab work and have a shitty 6 pack. I think maybe training my abs a little more traditionally might be a little more fun for me, and that is better than doing what I don't like and stopping halfway through the cycle.

Anyways, pretty awesome day. Excited and a little nervous for tomorrow, but really pumped for the rest of this week. Already this re-set of my weights has me making all kinds of gains. It's fun and it's working. Lets keep at it.