Heavy bench + Heavy 5 x 10

Today was an interesting day. Overall, it was pretty good - I had some troubles while benching, but I also had some insights and unexpected strength today, which was cool.

HAHAHAHA this guy....

Started out with 5/3/1 bench. The weights weren't really hard today, but I was having some serious trouble with dizziness under the bar - it's affected me before while benching (like last month when I got really dizzy under 185 and only hit it for 4 when I wanted 5), but today it was on EVERY set, including my lighter sets. I hit 135 for 5, then 160 for 6 without much trouble, but with serious dizziness. Then I loaded up 180 and went for it. Again, crazy dizzy under the bar. I still god the RX'd 5 reps, but missed on rep 6. And honestly, it's tough to tell whether I missed because of strength or just because I'm dizzy and unfocused under the weight. Either way, I still got the RX'd reps, AND luckily next month there is an overlap so 5 week will be 180 AGAIN, so I kind of have another crack at it. Even so, I felt pretty frustrated that i'm still doing alright, but I feel as though I could be doing better if it weren't for this problem.

HOWEVER, I had a bit of a potential breakthrough during my 5 x 10. Last week I did this at 125, so this week I decided to take the weight up to 135 and accept that I probably would only be able to get 2 or 3 sets of 10, and then have to accept less reps on the last few sets this week - but that I'd rather go heavy and have to take a few weeks to work on it than to only go up 5 lbs. When I set up for my first set, I did something a little different than my setup for the heavy weights: I wasn't "looser," my back was still as tight as I could get it and I still had plenty of leg drive. But I was arched a little less hard - I gave myself maybe an extra half-inch of looseness in my setup. And I banged out the 10 reps without much problem, and without dizziness. Keeping myself to 90 seconds rest, I was able to get through 4 full sets of 10 with 135, which was way better than I ever expected. On the 5th set, I only got 5 reps, but that was largely because I was crazy sweaty and was a dumb ass and didn't bring a proper shirt, So I was slipping all over the bench. But ANYWAYS, the way it felt, giving myself that extra little bit of "looseness" in my setup/arch was not enough to weaken my bench strength at all, but was JUST enough to make a huge difference in how dizzy I was under the bar. Who knows if it will make any difference under heavy weights - we will have to wait till friday and next tuesday to see - but hopefully this little tweak in my setup will help me to get rid of the dizziness and increase focus and tightness in my heavy reps, which will help me squeeze out that extra rep or two that I've had trouble with the past few weeks. We will see.

Arching hard works for this fucker... but maybe I need to cool it just a little bit. 

I was feeling pretty good about those reps at 135, so I got pretty psyched about my kroc rows. Hit the 110's for 30 reps apiece - still feel like I could be going harder/heavier on these, but this was an improvement over last week, and my back definitely felt it.

Next, did some lighter overhead pressing for a lot of reps - put 75 on the bar and pressed it for 12, then rested 60 seconds, did another set of 12 - 60 more seconds, 12, 60 more seconds, 9, then 60 seconds and a final set of 7. Nothing too special, just trying to get some volume in for my triceps and shoulders, tire them out even more.

Finished with some kipped pullups. I feel a lot better about these after doing some strict pullups on friday - I think the kips are having a lot of carryover, and are helping teach me to use the right muscles when pulling from a dead hang as well. Did 2 sets of 10 and then a set of 15 with the straps, which is an improvement over the 13's of the last few workouts. I'm gonna keep at these, keep pushing at least one set to a max, and then see where my strict pulls are at towards the end of the summer.

I used to love kipping pullups. Then I hated them. Now I re-love them, but only in a very specific context. See how we evolve as lifters? 

Overall, a pretty good day. I would have liked to have had a better time with that 180 - heavy bench for max reps still seems to be a weakness for me. However, I've got a new strategy that might help fix the issue, and every other part of the workout went really well. And whatever problems I may be having, my bench IS definitely getting stronger, which is the important part. Just gotta keep at it, keep experimenting, and it will (slowly but surely) get better.

5/3/1 Squats

Today was a very good day. It got off to a rough start; I had to get up early to do some work this morning, and was on my feet from 7:30 until 11:30. And on top of that, I forgot to have my coffee today. However, despite the rough morning, I felt fulllllll of power from my rest this weekend (I took sat. off and only did 4 sets of 200 m runs yesterday). By the time I got to the gym, I was SERIOUSLY ready to lift.

Warmups felt really good. My hips were a little tight from lost of sitting this weekend, but even so my reps felt beautiful. My work sets were: 205 for 5, 230 for 5, and then 260 for reps. The first two felt amazing, and even thoughI didn't want to get my hopes up I was ready to FUCK UP the 260. And I did. My biggest problem wasn't actually the weight, It was the bar fucking shifting around on my back. I'm not sure if I was just sweaty or the bar was bent or it was just a weird day, but I could not get that fucker to sit in one comfortable spot. I must have rolled and hopped that shit around like 6 times over the course of the set. And because Of that, I had a few shitty reps - I think around rep 5 I had one where I lost some tension from leaning back too far (like rep 5 at 280 last week), and even though I got it no problem I need to watch that. Also, rep 6 or 7 my right knee came in pretty far, which felt bad bad bad. Even so, I managed to get 12 reps, which is a 3 rep pr at that weight and pretty awesome considering that at 265 I only got 10 just a couple weeks ago.

After that were speed deads. I moved the weight up, fairly steeply - I think I'm going to do 225, 245 and 265, see how that feels. the 12 x 2 at 225 moved pretty fast, and pulling them off the ground feels like such a small range of motion after the 45 lb plate last cycle. But anyways, these felt good. I'm sure 265 will feel pretty heavy but that's okay, it's kind of the point. If it's really hard/slow, I'll just only bump the weight up 5 or 10 lbs after this next 3 week cycle. But I think my body will react well to these heavier deads as I wave the deficit height.

Finally, The 5 x 10 at 185 was really hard today, but I made it through - and that alone is a huge accomplishment. Its hard to believe that I'm doing this 5 x 10 with THAT kind of weight already - especially considering I started a full 50 lbs lighter. I was also careful to make every rep full range of motion today (last week I felt like I was banging them out a little too sloppy). Also, I need to try and be careful to force my knees out on every rep, and not get lazy just cause I'm tired. But without picking at the details too much, it's pretty fuckin awesome to be hitting that weight for 50 reps. Before I know it, I'll get that 205 x 5 x 10, and then I can start to knock the reps down and keep upping the weight. there is a LOT of heavy squatting in my future.

Ended with some situps, although they were pretty pathetic after that workout. I didn't have much gas left. Overall, awesome day. I'm really happy with everything, and pumped to bench tomorrow.

Great upper body workout

Today was a really good upper body day. I had to train in my home gym because Crossfit was closed, but It went really well. A great way to leave the gym for a few days as I rest and recover a little extra for mondays workout.

Started with bench. On tuesday, 195 gave me some trouble - I could only hit it for 2, when I was really hoping for 3 reps at the very least. So, I was looking forward to taking another crack at it this friday, and I was not disappointed. I benched it for 9 sets of 1, on the minute, with absolutely no problem. The first single shot up with no problem whatsoever, and even though it slowed down as the sets went on, I still felt like I had absolute control over the weight. It was awesome, one of the best bench sessions I've had in a while.

Next was pressing. I hit 115 for 5, then 130 for 3, and almost passed out haha. Don't know why, it was just in a bad place on my neck and I got crazy wobbly on the third rep. So I was a little nervous going for 145, but I ended up hitting it for 4 reps. That fourth rep was insanely slow, I'm not even sure how I got it, but either way that's pretty awesome - a PR at that weight, and considering my old press pr is only 150, 145 for 4 is pretty damn good. Also, rep 1 has been feeling better - I think the dead-stop work i've been doing after my big rep-out has been helping (speaking of which, I got 6 dead stop reps at both 130 and 115 afterwards)

One day, I WILL have a Klokov press

After such a good start to my workout, and considering I didn't have all my normal equipment, I decided to do things a little differently for the rest of my workout. I put 115 on the bar and benched it for 2 sets of 15, and then a set of 19. I focused on trying to make every rep as nice as I would a heavy single - I think I need to start focusing on this more in my 5 x 10's on tuesdays. I think I'm sacrificing control and range of motion to make sure I get through the reps, and if I rectify that I think it will help my bench a lot in the long run.

Finally, I ended with some strict pullups. Surprisingly, I was able to do 3 sets of 5 strict pullups. In the past, this would have been a VERY good day, and that was when I was regularly training strict pullups. It's good to know that my strict pullup strength is growing even though I am focusing mostly on kroc rows, kipped pullups, and pendelay rows. After the 3 x 5 I did a bunch of doubles and triples, then called it a day.

BACKKK BACK BAKKKKKKKKKKCCKKCKCKCKCKKC

Overall, awesome upper body day. Looking forward to some delicious cheat food and some rest, and then coming back hard next week.

Exhausting heavy day

Today I am very tired, though I had a very good workout.

Started with heavy squats. Felt pretty good today. Worked up to 2275 without the belt. It flew up, so then I put on the belt and hit 315 without any problem really. Again, it was easy enough that I knew I would get 325, so I went to 335 and again, I just barely missed it. This one was really close - I really thought I was going to get it, then it just started moving down. After taking this weekend a little easier, maybe it will happen in the next week or two. I don't think I'm going to attempt it again though until I CRUSH 315. These last few attempts I've hit 315 without much problem, but I've had to work pretty hard. I think I'll wait until I really nail that 315 to jump to 335 again, and if 315 just feels good, not amazing, I'll go to 325 and just hit that for a heavy rep. Probably. We will see.

Next, I dropped back to 225 and started working up in threes; hit 225, 255 and then 285 for three, which made me happy because it was better than last week. I wanted to do more, but I knew i probably didn;t have 295 in me, so I went for 285 for another triple. I got it for 2 and just barely missed the third rep - I think more from sloppy form, although strengthwise it was really hard too. Either way, I wasn't too upset, because I already hit it for a triple.

Next, did some front squats. Hit 185 for 3 singles, then 215 for 2 singles. Then, put on the belt and hit 225, 235, and then missed 245 twice. Then, did a quick set of situps and called the day.

Overall, a good day. A lot of misses, which is very very exhausting. But, I hit 315 with no problem again and was even closer to a new pr, I got the 285 for three that I haven't quite been able to get these past couple weeks, and I tied my front squat pr (though I did it with a belt, that's still pretty good considering I already squatted to a 1 and 3 rep max). So a good day. I think I NEED to take saturday off though. This little break is coming at a good time.

JM behind the neck extension shit

Today was arms day. I didn't want to bench this day, because I feel like my body needs some rest and so I wanted to avoid the compound movements. So instead I did a lot of bicep work and even invented(?) some strange movement.

Started with a slow warmup, then did some seated isolation curls. Did 15's for a warmup, then 5 sets of 12  reps with the 30's. These were hard, but felt pretty good. After the 5th set I did a quick set to failure with the 15's as well, and had a nice pump.

Then, I did this weird tricep.... thing. Basically, I pressed the bar to behind my neck, but rather than keeping my elbows under the bar, I jacked them forward like in a JM press, so it was wort of equal parts press and extension. It was a strange movement, but it KILLED my triceps. I think I'm going to start doing these regularly. Did three sets with 65 lbs and then a finisher set with just the bar.

Finally, ended with a superset of band curls and tricep pushdowns. Super pump.

It was a nice day. I think I'm going to avoid bench a little more on this day.... I think it will be less taxing on my other days, while at the same time letting me hit arms harder. I really want my arms to grow more, now that I'm leaning out I can see that they are a real weakness in my physique.

Wow, this guy is fucking creepy

Anger Bench

Today was a kind of shitty, mostly angry upper body day. That is all. Here's how I felt.

Started with bench. I tried to warm up faster than usual, which might be part of the reason for my kind of bad day. Who knows. Anyways, hit the bar, then 95, then 135. Then did 155 for 5, 175 for 3, and set up 195. I hit it for two, but then completely missed the third rep - which didn't really make sense. The second rep was tough, but I should have at LEAST just barely missed three, if not gotten it. I'm not sure if I just lost focus, or what happened, but the bottom line is I only got it for 2 with a BAD miss on the third, and that made me really angry. So I tried my best to just massacre the rest of my workout.

5 x 10 bench at 125 went well. No real problems on the first four sets, but got 15 on the 5th set, just barely missing lockout on rep 16. I think I will take the weight up on these next week, although I don't know whether to go to 130, or to just go up to 135 and accept that I might not be able to finish all 5 sets of 10 the first month. We will see how I feel next Tues.

Next was Kroc rows. These were tough this week. I was feeling a little disheartened and battling that with rage, and Kroc rows don't work so well unless you are completely focused and going all out. I rowed the 110 for 25 reps each arm, but I feel like I could have maybe gone a little harder. Mentally I just wasn't all there.

Next was overhead press. I went a little heavy on this this tuesday. First set I did was at 125, and I hit that for 6 good reps - I got a 7th, but I used some leg drive on it. Then, I hit 5 at 115, and then 8 or 9 at 95. My triceps were pretty done.

Finished with pullups. Again, these were really mentally tough - it was the end of a bad workout, I was tired and angry and just didn't want to do them, AND they felt really hard. But I did 2 sets of 10, and then a third set to failure (13). The straps have been really helping keep elbow pain to a minimum.

Pullups. Most effective when done on a beach. 

Anyways, not the best day. But, later when I was home (about 3 hours after training), I started benching again and worked up to 195 for another double. Which made me feel a little less angry. But that's about it for today. Hopefully benching will go a little better next tuesday.

The Power

This is me today

I had the most powerful day today. Started out with 5/3/1 squats. I wasn't feeling great today, but I just kept at it and was moving the warmups nice. Hit 225 for 5, then 255 for 3, then went up to 280 for reps. This was far easier than I expected - I had my heart set on 5 reps, with 8 being my unlikely but just possible goal. I hit the first 4 easy. 5 was a sloppy rep where I lost my balance back, but even though it was slow and hard, I still finished, and had zero doubt in my mind that I had way more left. 6 7 and 8 were good enough that I know I had a 9th rep in me, but I called it anyways. Better to leave some in the tank. 

Next, speed deads at 245 off the high deficit were pretty good. They moved nicely, although the high deficit definitely made them challenging. Looking forward to moving the weight up and getting rid of the deficit next cycle. 

Next, 5 x 10 at 175 was cake. Not a single rep in the first four sets were really hard at all. Set 5, I got 20 reps without even really pushing. It wasn't exactly easy, but I could have definitely gotten 3, 4, 5 reps more without a doubt. 

Then, I did 3 sets of 30 ghd situps. After the ab work, I hung around for a while and started feeling pretty good - and when I feel good, I want to squat. So on a whim, I decided to - you guessed it - squat up to a max. Hit 135 for 5, 225 for 3, then 275 went up with no problem, so I went straight to 315 and crushed it. That's the 5th time in a row I've attempted and gotten that weight - and this was after more than 75 other squats. I'm incredibly happy with that. Now, I can NOT miss 315 ever again hahaha. 

SO, amazing day. Crushed my 1 weight, destroyed my 5 x 10, and then hit a heavy single over 95% without much problem at all. I don't know if it's the running or just the insane amount of heavy work I'm doing hahaha but my squats are still growing growing growing. Very exciting.