Light day 1

Today was just a light leg workout to get me moving weight again, try and get my muscles and nerves primed to lift so that wednesday I can smash some weight! It went well

Started by doing a longer, more intensive warmup (as per my new ideal). Did my normal general warmup of arm circles, leg swings, etc. Then, did some quick pushups and squats, some quick dislocates to warm up my shoulders, then did a bunch of deep lunges to open up my hips, knees and ankles, some light quad stretches and calf stretches, and some jumping squats to make sure I was all warmed up.

Then, went out to the new home gym! Hit a set of 10 squats with the bar, then 5, 5, 5 with 135. Definitely felt the best squats have felt n a while haha. Ideally, I want my warmup to now look something like this: 135 x 5, 3, 225 x 3, 1, 275 x 1, 315 x 1, etc. HOWEVER, I'm not sure if it's a great idea to implement this on wednesday, and change my routine the day I am max squatting. However, maybe I will. depends how I feel.

Second, put 135 on the ground and pulled it for a set of 5, then 6 singles with some rest in between. Felt really good. After, pulled 235 x 1,1. I didn't really need to, and maybe shouldn't have cause my back wasn't as warm as I might have liked haha, but it moved fine as well. After I was done, did some very light stretches for my ankles and hips.

So that's it for the day. Now, to rest and eat. Gonna have a similar light day tomorrow, and then wednesday is meet day! Very excited. Lets keep recovering.

A few things:

1) I've been resting, eating, and doing some light stretching/mobility, and I'm finally starting to feel alright. Looking forward to light workouts monday and tuesday, to prepare myself for doing great on wednesday!

2) Working on setting up the new and improved garage gym as we speak. Very excited - it should be done either today or tomorrow.

3) Been watching a ton of videos by Bryce Lewis. Awesome dude, crazy strong, big, seems to be natural, and his lifting style is very similar to mine so I feel like I can learn a lot from him. One thing I think I am going to start trying that I have taken from his videos is that I am going to try and do a longer, better warmup - basically, do my general warmup, then some band stretches and drills on bench day, and some stretches to open up my hips, warm up my knees and ankles on squat day. Then, do less reps warming up to my heavy sets. That should be a good way to increase speed of my workout and my strength at top sets, as well as improve form/mobility in the long run.

4) Working a lot on programming lately. Excited to finish it up, but some basic changes - 2-3 mins rest on EVERYTHING except the first exercise, more long-pause work, including squats and presses, as well as adding back in some touch n go bench and press work, some lighter speed deads and turning the heavy deads into more of a "heavy speed" session, programmed running and back work, and more. I'll probably type it up after the meet, when I finalize it, but I am DEFINITELY getting excited to start some new stuff.

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.

Pretty shitty workout

Today was really bad. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, after literally not sleeping at all tuesday and being totally out of whack, but I was still hopeful it might be good, cause of the tons of recovery catch-up I was doing. Still, recovery isn't easy these days, so I need to cut myself a little slack.

Started with squatting. Goal was to go up to 315 for 5 easy and fast sets of 2 today. Worked up as I am planning to when I max out - 155 x 10, 6, 225 x 8, 275 x 4, then up to 315 x 2. Form was mediocre at best haha. Kept getting caught forward, and my speed down/rebound out of the bottom was shit. I was really tight and my calves/shins were aching, and it blew. Still, I got the 315 x 5 x 2 without much trouble. Not easy, but not bad.

Next, front squats. Plan was to max out (if it was a good day). So, I did work up heavy. Hit 215 x 3, 245 x 2, then 275 x 1 with the belt. Wanted to go 295 x 1 then 315 x 1, but when I hit 295 it was like a 7 second rep, absolutely a 10 out of 10 in terms of difficulty. Shows me that it really was just a rough day, because just last week I was feeling confident I could smash 315. My form was just not on point, I was not fast into or out of the bottom, and just not very strong either. All around rough day.

Deadlifts were probably the best part of the workout. Hit a weight on the 3 minutes - 155 x 3, 245 x 2, 315 x 1, and 365 x 1, all fast, smooth and solid. Then went to 415, and it just was heavy and hard. First rep was pretty smooth and nice. Second was REALLY hard, I was just a little far out in front, and it was pure spine and hate that let me lock out that rep. I decided to only try for one more... ended up getting it, definitely easier than the second rep. But I called it there. Not ideal, I wanted to hit 5 singles, but I was not having a great day.

Overall, pretty crappy day. Not the worst I've ever had, that's for sure, but it just would have been nice to have a better, confidence building day for my last leg workout. But here's the thing: there are good reasons for today sucking. After tomorrow, I just need to focus up on resting a ton this weekend, eating a ton, then going through some nice movements on monday and tuesday so that, when wednesday rolls around, I am not only fully rested and recovered, but my body is mobile and feeling great so that I can be fast with my lifts and feel good. I'm gonna do great in this mock meet, I just need to give recovery/preparation my all, and I will kick ass. Lets keep at it.

Squat 365 x 2, Bench 235 x 2

Today was a bit whacky. Definitely wasn't 100% recovered from... everything haha. Also, had to deal with the changeof equipment and setting, which threw off my form and my focus a bit. However, overall a really killer day.

Started with 5/3/1 squat. Warmed up fast, hitting the bar, 155 x 10, 6, 225 x 8, then 285 x 5. Loaded up 325 and hit it for a really shitty 3 - something about the setup at mu home gym just makes me get caught forward on squats. First rep was okay, but the second was so forward that I had to take a stop to prevent myself from falling. Hit a third, but it was tougher cause of the shitty second. Loaded up 365 (even though weight was 360, f that haha) and hit it for a double, no belt. First rep was a bit forward, but still fairly solid despite the bad position. Second rep was better, but really tough, had to work my ass off to grind it out. But that is still pretty kickass, never done that beltless before. Plus, I moved my squat rack forward haha, I think the ground was just a little uneven, so hopefully the shift forward will make form tighter.

Next, speed deads were solid. Not very fast, but solid. Feet were maybe a little closer than normal cause of the setup - smaller plates. Pulled 335 x 8 singles from a two-plate deficit.

Finally, snatch deads went well. Not easy, but really good. Strapped up and hit 155 x a slew, then 225 x 3, 275 x 3, 315 x 3, and finally 365 x 3 solid reps. Probably had another in there if I felt like doing it.

Rested for maybe a half hour, then decided that, since I will have no time to train tomorrow and I actually felt pretty good, I would do the benching part of my workout today. Warmed up with the bar, then 95, then 135 and despite some extra crampy ass and having to play with form to adjust to my new bench, felt good. Loaded up 185 and hit it for 5, then 210 for a really solid 3. Loaded 235 and finally was good with the setup/lift. Hit it for a really solid single, and then a second rep that was certainly a max attempt, but I got it. Pretty happy with that. Ass was a tiny bit off the bench, but that was just cause it's a new bench. Backed off to 210 and hit it for 3 really nice easy singles with a very long pause.

So, good day. Doubled my squat PR from december, beltless and on a not-great day. Doubled my bench pr from december, beltless and without being even the least bit fresh. Pretty cool. Gonna finish that upper body workout on wednesday. Lets keep at it.

205 bench for 3 x 6

Nothing crazy today. Took it a little easy, had a pretty good day.

Started with bench. Warmed up really fast, combining my normal warmup with bench sets, which felt awesome. I loved going faster, cause then rest time on the top sets felt SO restful. Also, focused a lot on flexing my lats to break the bar off my chest, which felt good. Hit 205 for a solid 6, but decided not to try for 7. Then hit a second, tougher 6, followed by a final set of 6 that was easier than the second, but still not so easy that I thought I could get 7.

Next, strict press. Started at 95, then hit 135 x 3, 155 x 3, and finally 175 x 2 and then another 2. Couldn't get the third. Kind of lame... I definitely think on a better day I could have gotten it. But at the same time, I'm not really too bummed. First of all, last time I stalled was the exact same situation, only thirty pounds lighter... and clearly the re-set helped haha. Secondly, My press has kind of been poopy lately so I'm thinking maybe this re-set is exactly what I need. I was brainstorming, and thinking that maybe this summer I will reduce pressing volume a lot, take a break from all these reps I'm doing (maybe in both bench and strict press work). I'm thinking I will keep up 5/3/1 with the prescribed reps, and maybe do a "work up to a heavy single" thing to try and get my body back to being used to what it feels like to move really heavy weight efficiently. Then, I can really put the focus this summer on volume for my back/arms. I can try and grow those guys, and see what kind of impact it has on my pressing lifts. At the very least, it will build a great foundation to make progress in the fall.

Finally, did some more lighter arms stuff. Put 5's on the curl bar this time, and did 5 rounds as fast as I could, 15 curls and 15 skullcrushers. Just that little bit of weight made a HUGE difference. Got a pretty crazy pump. Also, no real bicep pain or even weirdness. I'm very happy that it seems to be feeling much better.

So overall, nothing crazy today, but a pretty decent session. Gotta rest up best I can this weekend, prepare for my final training week, and continue to make plans for the future! Lets keep at it.

Strong Day: Squat 355 x 4

Today was the first really good workout I have had in like a week haha. Everything went really well. It took a lot though - taking it really easy yesterday, laying around all day, eating as much as I could stomach, and sleeping like 10+ hours to feel okay haha. But hey, glad I made it through this last truly tough workout. It's a nice mental break from the slew of rough workouts.

Started with squats. Warmed up really well, then hit the bar x 10, 125 x 10, 6, and 205 x 9. Actually felt pretty good, so I went straight to 285 and hit it for 4. Felt a little bit heavy (probably cause of the bigger jump), but form was solid and I was fast out of the bottom which was good. Went up to 325 and hit hit for a fast and easy single, then loaded up 355. Hit it with focus and tenacity. Rep 1 was great. Rep two was a little bit off, I felt a knee caving a tiny bit which tells me I was a little off, but it still moved fast and easy. Rep 3 was fast down and I got a great bounce out of the bottom, but was maybe not QUITE as tight as I could have been... and rep 4 was pretty much the same, a little tighter and a little slower/harder. Definitely a great tough set of 4. Very happy with that, it's a PR and one that is coming at a VERY tough time for rep PR's.

Next, dropped back to 205 for front squats. Hit it for a double, then 230 for a double. I was definitely a little creaky and not feeling great, but I focused up and loaded the 260. Hit it for the 3 sets of 2 with about 2 and a half minutes rest, as usual. Definitely wasn't cake. Upper back was definitely giving a bit, elbows dropping, and therefore I was a bit more forward than ideal. But hey... it's after a big squat PR, there was NO chance of me missing any of the reps, with very limited rest, and that is some seriously heavy front squat PR sets. I'm very excited to max this out next week.

Finally, deadlifts were tougher than I would have liked, but still very good. Did my earlier sets from a deficit, thinking maybe it would make the later sets easier, but I didn't really like it. I need the earlier sets to practice my precise and vicious setup. Anyways, pulled 245 x 3, 315 x 2, then 365 x 1 and finally 415 x 4 x 1 on the 3 minutes. Reps were tough. First one was slow, second 3 were better because I did a better job being fast in the setup/pull. But even though they weren't easy, I got them, and that's after a very tough workout. Plus, the bicep was fine, so that's good.

So overall a kick ass workout! Need to be prepared that tomorrow might be tough, but I will do my best  to keep everything healing and keep my mind straight even if tomorrow is rough. Can't wait to max my front squat, and then rest up and SMASH some PR's in two weeks time! Lets keep at it.