Final Workout - and Where From Here?

Today was another terrible workout.

Started with bench. Tried warming up fast.. don't know if that contributed to the shittiness or not, but it sure was shitty. Hit the bar and 95 for a slew, then 155 which felt heavy, hit it for 8. Then, went to 205. Didn't feel good at all. Felt heavy, form felt shitty, reps were slow. Hit it for 5, 5, and 4.

Next, strict press. Hit 95, then 145 x 5 which felt way harder than it should have. Next, 165 x 3, and finally 185 x 1, it was about an 8 second rep. Really hard and shitty. Then hit 165 x 2 and 135 x maybe 8. Form actually was feeling good, but strength was just not there.

Finally, hit my arms. Used the small straight bar with 10's, did 20.20 superset of curls and skullcrushers. Really felt the squeeze in the biceps, got a nice pump.

So here is what I have to say: I am at the end of my rope. Clearly I am severely overtrained and under-recovering. These workouts have been so bad that they aren't even indicative of my current level of strength - because, without a doubt I am the strongest I have ever been. However, progress has clearly stopped. And honestly, I feel as though I am doomed to fail in this meet on wednesday.

HOWEVER, that day is a long way away. I am going to rest, recover, do very light stretching and lifting, and give my all to preparing to be my absolute best on meet day. And despite how I feel now, I am going to do my best to smash these goals I set over a year ago. as little as two weeks ago I was INSANELY confident that I could do it. Yes I am beat up, yes I have had some bad workouts. But with rest, food, and sleep, I think I can crush 405, 255, and 455.

The question is, where do I go after wednesday? I am going to wait for the meet before I set anything in stone - I think it is important to see where I am and how I perform before I decide anything. However, regardless of how I perform, I KNOW that I am stronger than I have ever been, so it's important to keep that in mind. In any case, I think I am definitely on track with my ideas for training this summer - namely to shift focus away from strength and heavy weights, and instead try and up volume while decreasing the weight, and also decreasing rest time. The emphasis, then, will be on building and maintaining muscle mass and strength while losing fat, and getting in better shape so that this under-recovering thing will not be a problem for a while. However, I think maybe my plan before didn't take it far enough. After the last few workouts, I am thinking that, in addition to the changes I outlined before, I should re-set my 5/3/1 work on squat, bench, and front squat, do some lighter speed deads, and decrease the weight/increase reps on the heavy deadlifts. Basically, take the weights back even further, and really give myself a mental and physical break from the strength demands I have been placing on my body. I think this might be the best way to really get in shape, look and feel good this summer, while keeping myself fresh and excited to lift AND preparing myself both physically and mentally to make bigger, better strength gains when I return to school in the fall.

No decisions yet. Going to rest up and hit this meet hard. I'm really excited for the future, whatever it may be. Lets keep at it.