Today, started with squats. Did a ton of work. Warmed up, then started squatting without knee sleeves or my belt: hit the bar x 8, then 135, 225, and 315 all for sets of 8. Dropped back to 135, rested maybe 10-15 mins, then hit 135, 225, and finally 315, again for sets of 8. That is a lot of work, and my legs were PUMPED.
Next, dropped to 225 and did 3 quick sets of 3 paused squat. The goal with these is not to sink into rock bottom, but rather to lower myself in a controlled way so I maintain tension and then reverse the squat, building raw power. It was SO much tension on my already pumped quads that they started cramping hard.
Finally, did 3 sets of 10 deadlifts at 185. These were much tougher than they should have been, because I was so wiped. My ass was pumped UP.
So, overall I'm really happy with the work I put in today. Lots of great volume to get everything growing. More importantly though, I think I am making a discovery with squats and bench press. I have been making some great gains in both, but I think there is a small problem: my technique on both has developed so that I am moving the weight in a super energy-efficient way. This doesn't sound like a bad thing, and in fact I think it is part of the reason I have been able to improve without many setbacks or injuries. But I think it also has it's drawbacks. I feel out of control on heavy lifts sometimes. I go down with a heavy squat or bench, and I don;t feel confident that I can get it. IF I get to the bottom, and something is a tiny bit off, I might fail without ever even having a shot at it. Or, consider it this way: Right now, I might squat or bench a first rep easy, and then all of a sudden fail the second rep. I think that is due to my technique: I am super fast and precise, but in the end whether I make the rep depends more on "movement" than muscle. And I don't think I should be stepping under weights, unsure if I'm going to smash a rep or fail it in the bottom as if it was 100 lbs too heavy. What I did today, and what I am going to continue doing for both squat and bench, is focus on trying to maintain high-quality movement - good technique, speed, etc - but put a real focus on control of the weight as well. I shouldn't be smashing rep 1, then failing rep two. I should be smashing rep one, then two is a little harder, then 3 a little harder, then 4 a little harder. I need to have greater control over the weight, over whether I mill make or fail a rep. Speed may suffer a little bit, but I think that overall, learning to simply muscle the weight up in a way is going to help me a lot - it is going to help me make gains, because I will be able to make more reps and my muscles will spend more time under tension, and it is going to help me hit bigger numbers, because instead of stepping under a weight hoping it comes up, I will be able to squat down with is and FORCE it to come up.
Anyways, that is a large part of why I was happy with the squats today: I felt like I had great control over the weight, and even though the reps towards the end were hard I was able to pull myself down and squat the weight up, without resorting to dropping into the bottom as fast as possible and hoping the stretch reflex will be enough to get me through my sticking point. Good day! Might be reallyyyy sore tomorrow but I'm looking forward to messing around with bench, and just like squat trying to find a better balance between speed/efficient technique, and plain raw muscle doing work. Lets keep at it.
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