Bench 185 x 12

Nice simple day yesterday. Felt pretty good, focused on moving weight fast and with good form. Definitely left some in the tank, which is a really good thing.

Started with a nice warmup, then bench. Hit the bar x 12, 75, 105, 135, 165 and finally 185 x 12 all with ease, with a pause on the final rep of each. Felt like I could have hit the 185 for at least 15 today, so that is good.

Next, grabbed some dumbells and did some pec flyes. I was really feeling these, getting a great stretch and a great contraction. Hit 7.5, 10, 12.5 all for 15, then the 15's for 3 sets of 15. Definitely have quite the sore chest from these today.

Next up, lat pulldowns. Kept the weight at 100 and did 5 sets of 20. Didn't feel quite as good as the cable rowing, but still felt it a good bit.

Finally, really didn't feel like doing bar stars, so instead I just did a bunch of random grip work. This included - picking up 135 barbell with a snatch grip and holding for time, farmers walking a sets of 45 lb plates around, picking up a 185 barbell double overhand and holding for time, some plate pinches, and farmers walking some 80 lb dumbells around.

So anyways, not a crazy day. But I feel good, feel strong, feel like I am doing the right thing by taking the second half of the week a little easier. Now all I gotta do is rest, eat, and stretch this weekend, and I think I am gonna be moving some big weight on monday. We will see. Lets keep at it.

Speed squats and Deadlifts

Today was kind of shitty, but that's alright, that was sort of it's purpose.

Started with squats. Focus was really on speed today. Felt alright warming up, my calves and feet were just really tight and crampy because of the running yesterday. Hit a bunch of sets of 5, with the focus on trying to move the weight as fast as possible, and with nice technique. Hit: bar, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275, 225, 185, 135, 95, and finally the bar again. Overall it was pretty good, I had a couple ugly reps in there, two at 75 where I hit the bottom too soft and lost position forward, and one at 225 where I completely misfired and had to double bounce out of the bottom. But overall, did 55 reps, probably about 50 of which were fast and beautiful. so that's not half bad.

Next, onto speed deads. These felt kind of crappy, but there are a large number of reasons for this, not the least of which is my 405 squat on monday. But aside from that, I a) just squatted a bunch of reps really fast, b) ran the other day, which saps my energy and makes me tight, and c) haven't done real deadlifts in quite a while. Anyways, the point of this workout was just to re-grease the groove, get my nerves firing hard, and practice what it feels like to mentally and physically give a deadlift some real juice. Hit 225 for 5 quick singles, double overhand and without chalk, then went up to 315 and hit that for 5 single, mixed grip but without chalk. Didn't move as fast as I wanted, felt more awkward than I wanted, and my lower back wasn't feeling great, but that's okay. The point of today wasn't to be strong, it was to get everything working again.

Finally, I hit back extensions. Used a 25 lb plate, and hit 4 sets of 15.

So that's that. Simple workout. Nothing felt amazing today, but that's okay - the point is to prepare for monday. Now I got my squats feeling fast, my deadlift re-grooved and feeling fast, my lower back and glutes a little pumped. I just have to focus on really resting, sleeping, eating, and stretching these next few days, and I'm gonna feel great on monday. Then, when I'm feeling great, I just load up on pre-workout, energy drinks, great music, and get in the right mindset... and I'm gonna move a LOT of weight. Lets keep at it.

Running + stretching

Did some running for cardio today. Warmed up, then did some intervals: run 100 m, walk 100 m, for a little over 20 mins. I kept the running at about 70%, so it was far from "high intensity," But it was a higher intensity than I have been doing. The movement of running felt nice, the breathing wasn't too bad. In the 24 mins or so, I did about 14 rounds.

Afterwards, stretched a good bit. My hammies are tight, but other than that I feel really good! Significantly less beat up than last wednesday. I feel like I am going to have no trouble healing up tomorrow and friday, working on some speed and technique stuff. Then, I have the weekend to get ready to ABSOLUTELY destroy some weight on monday. I'm getting SO excited. Lets keep at it.

Bench 250 x 1

Really good day today. Gonna keep it short.

Really focused on a great warmup today, paying really special attention to getting my shoulders warm, doing a bunch of dislocates, tornadoes, band pull aparts and dumbell bench. Then got to work benching. Felt good, focused on keeping the back really tight and moving the weight as fast as I could. Hit the bar, then 95, then 135, then 185 x 4, 225 x 1 like cake, 240 x 1 really easy, then smashed 250 x 1 for a 5 lb PR. it was so great that I jumped straight to 260 and was SO close to getting it. Hit a hard sticking point, tried to fight through and managed to keep it moving up for 2-3 seconds, then unfortunately failed. Still I feel sure I'll get it soon, and even more. I'm so happy to be improving.

Next, dropped back to 155 and hit it, close grip and feet up, for a set of 19.

Next, cable rowed 100 lbs for 4 sets of 25. Felt goooood.

Finally, Bar-Starzed around, got a nice forarm pump.

So I'm feeling happy. 15 lb squat PR, 5 lb bench PR with a LOT more in the tank. Can;t wait to heal up, and then hopefully get a SERIOUS deadlift PR monday, then, it will be back to building up my strength. Hopefully a LOT of rep PR's, and new Maxes, are soon to come. Lets keep at it.

Squat PR: 405 x 1

Great day today. Hit the long awaited 405/4 plate squat. A couple months late, but hey I can't complain.

So I really did a great job recovering this weekend. I did go out, drink, and could have slept more, but I took it real easy thursday and friday for training, ate like a motherfucker, relaxed, slept, and made sure to stretch/move/mobilize so I would heal up. And this morning, I was feeling the best I have in over a week. Took most of the morning to prepare myself, mentally and physically, getting war, stretching out bit by bit. Got to the gym and hit a great warmup, really getting myself loose, limber, moving easily. Then, got started squatting. Hit the bar x 10 with speed and precision, then 135 x 5. 225 x 3 felt a little shitty - idk why, but 225 always seems to feel a little crappy. However, 315 was spot on, down and up, not hard. So, I loaded up 365. Here, I fucked up haha. I don;t know why, but it was  terribly rep. I got way forward, and the rep was harder than it should have been. I could have gotten disheartened, but heres the thing - it was STILL an easy squat, despite being shitty. My buddies and I talked, and I decided to load up 385. I focused, kept this rep exactly like 135, and hit it REALLY smoothly, about twice as fast and smooth as last monday. So, I loaded 405 up, rested, got my head on straight, and went for it. It was heavy, but I kept form good, moved fast, and stuck with it, and I made the rep. Really proud of this squat, and really excited for the future! Clearly, I am on my way up. I just need to balance pushing really hard and recovering properly, and I think I will be seeing a LOT more PR's in the near future. Here's the video.

Finally, banged out some light and easy deficit deadlifts, to just get in a little back and grip work before calling it a day. from about a 4 inch deficit, hit 125 x 12, 205 x 15, and 125 x 15, all double overhand. Not even close to tough.

So, feeling great! I am on the right track, getting stronger, and figuring out how to make this ME/DE split work best for me. Now, some fun is just on the horizon - max deadlift next monday, my reward for this squat! Can't wait. Lets keep at it.

Bench 100+ reps, pull 100+ reps

Great little workout today. Kept the weight light and the reps high.

Started with benching. hit the bar x 20, 75 x a slew, 105 x a slew, 135 x 10, 165 x 10, 165 x 10, 135 x 10, 105 x 10, 75 x 10+, and then the bar for another 20. So more than 100 total reps. Felt decent, not great, shoulder was a little tweaky unracking, but I am getting back to 100%.

Next, cable rows. Used the widest attachment, and used the neutral grip. Loaded up 100 lbs and did 5 sets of 20 with limited rest. These felt GREAT. They are so easy to do, not super heavy or tough, but they made my upper back explode, my shoulder and elbows feel better, etc. I NEED to be doing simple, effective back training like this - tons of reps, lighter weight. EVERY time.

So, overall a good workout. I am finally feeling better. And I feel like I learned a really great lesson from this: I NEED to tone down my workload. I have been having a ton of fun training the way I am, but I simply got to a point where I was pushing myself too often. I need to push HARD on my max effort movement on monday and tuesday, but then do some lighter, gentler assistance - no more max front squat and THEN max deficit dead after lol. Heavy Main lift, lighter assistance work. And less overall movement, even on upped body day. Then, Thursday/friday I REALLY need to keep the weights lighter, and focus on speed and technique, not on smashing my body down. Then, again pick important assistance work, and I'll have a little more juice to go a LITTLE heavier on it. If I am a little smarter and don't push so hard, I should be able to KEEP PRing, instead of simply PRing, then burning out immediately after.

So, for this weekend I'm gonna eat, sleep, and stretch, and do my best to be recovered for monday. I still want to push to a heavy single monday/tuesday and try to PR. Obviously that will depend how I am feeling, so we will see. Lets keep at it.

100 squats and 100 back extensions

Kept it simple today. Starting to feel better now that I'm resting. I think I just need to keep Thursdays and fridays less crazy in general.

Hit a bunch of sets of 10 squats today - bar, 95, 135, 185, 225, 225, 185, 135, 95, bar. Felt good, much harder than ideal and much slower than ideal, but that's okay. I'm healing.

Then, hit 100 back extensions - 5 sets of 20 with a 10 lb plate.

Simple, light workout, but lots of quality work. Lets keep tomorrow light too, and lets keep at it.