100% - got to let this training cycle come to a close. And yeah if / when you run SS it takes up a lot of emotional energy. So you will need to make sure it is the right time do it.
Oh man. I have 4 kids. One is under a year and consumes a lot of my sleep and physical energy; two of them are a little older but have serious emotional things going on and i have very little emotional energy as a result! The oldest one is just a rock solid dude, no stress there lol. Hes 8.
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I have 2 - and one does not sleep. He has ASD and I think combined since birth we have had maybe 100 full nights sleep.
I get it. I have to make sure when I do stress full stuff and run harder programme - I get the wife on board. As I SLEEP so much. I can sleep through an earthquake.
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Saturday 4/2/22
200lb bag
4 rounds, E2MOM, pick up and carry length of driveway (about 60ft)
This was killing me. Something in the sciatic area. Wanted 8 rounds but called it at 4.
100lb bag.
8 rounds, EMOM, pick up and carry down-and-back driveway (about 120ft).
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Sunday 4/3
Babysitting in the garage early AM, got some easy lifting in. Strict press, face pulls, pec flyes, leg extensions. Nothing too stressful.
Yesterday 2 mile walk holding baby. Then a lot more walking while holding, went to a county fair.
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Monday 4/4
Barely slept last night. Went to bed with, and woke up with, a pretty bad headache. Didn’t expect lifting to go well, was surprised.
Squats:
8x135
8x185
8x225
8x235
8x235
Good mornings:
3x8x165
The squats felt strong and powerful. Was fried at the end of each set, especially lower back (hence the good mornings). But I felt like I went really deep and I honestly felt stronger, like the weight wasn’t owning me, I was owning it.
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Tuesday 4/5
Bench press up to a top set of 3x210 during early morning babysitting. Sleep was awful last night. Had a very difficult day today.
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Wednesday 4/6
Early morning babysitting again.
5 rounds:
-5 pullups
-5 rows, 135lb
-3 rollouts
Then 5 c&p, 135lb.
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Thursday 4/7
Squat.
4x135
4x185
4x225
4x245
4x265
4x275 pr, video
4x275
Then 4 singles at 275
Felt really good about this.
Eating has been less than it should the past few days due to stressful work days. Need to work on that. Also unsure if im repeating this week next week, or dropping down to 6s Monday/2s Thursday.
The way this went, id like to believe i could double 295… and if so, 315 is really getting close…
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Those looked solid, my dude. Nice work! And congratulations.
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I have faith!
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Nice reps! Looks like you had more left, too. 315 very soon!
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Those reps with 275 looked solid mate. I would not race to 315 just yet though tagging @wiseman83 for thoughts ? If it was me I would build some more strength with volume at this weight. What does your program look like for the next few weeks.
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You’ve got a good grind in you. That’s a great attribute if you wanna be a strong squatter.
First thing I notice, is your knees. Mostly ok, just be mindful of caving, or rather, push those fuckers out constantly. But yeah its minimal, but can be something that creeps in worse with higher loading. Judging by what we see here with your technique (which is going well!), i’m guessing this doesn’t happen with lower sub maximal loads - would be good to see a set with like 225 for example.
Another thing i dislike, and this is only from my own squatting issues over the years, is the knee slide on that first rep. Your knees move back out of the hole, then forward again, then back again. This comes from either of two things:
1: impatience to finish a rep.
2: fear of the rep leading to no.1
Don’t fear this weight. You’re owning it man.
Like i said above, probably not happening with lower loads? I mean this is basically a near full max effort set. Shits never perfect at that level.
Last rep was cut short. Fatigue I believe. 3rd rep looked like it should have been your last ha, and I think subconsciously your brain thought the same.
The fact that you did two sets of 4 at this load speak volumes for your strength level now though mate. its definitely improving!
I havnt read every post from this training cycle, but in a nutshell, where are sitting currently? 8’s and 4’s? So a bit of a general strength/hypertrophy type block? is this is the end of it? As in peaked?
If so, you could yes, move to 6’s and 2’s…but i’d start conservative, and jump a little more aggressively. Perhaps strarting the doubles at 275, or even 265ish. But yeah i dont know how you are setting stuff up.
My opinion though, aligns with @simo74 's. I’d run this block again, with the goal of finishing either at a higher poundage, say 10lbs, or finishing with the same poundage but dominating it even more. Remember progression comes in many forms - load, reps, sets, but also technique quality. Like i said, i dont think any of this stuff happens with lower loads, so really, the choice is yours.
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Guys thanks for all the support and feedback!
@wiseman83 I had your voice in my head “push those knees apart”! I could feel them caving, and had it in my mind to fight that. As you said this is maximal for me so some breakdown was bound to happen.
I didn’t feel or see that “knee slide”, is it in the upper half of the motion?
Last rep cut short - yeah, I knew it 
Felt like if I sat really deep into the hole on that one I wasn’t coming back up.
@simo74 @wiseman83 where I’ve been:
4 weeks of 12s monday 8s thursday
2 weeks of 10s monday 6s thursday
1 week (so far) of 8s monday 4s thursday
I think the plan was to do 8 and 4 again next week, then 6 and 2. I would honestly rather do (which maybe means it wouldn’t be good for me) just 4s at the same weight for 2 weeks/ 4 sessions, build up a better tolerance to it. I do hate grinding out long sets, even 8 really sucks my soul. What do you guys recommend? LOL I know - you both recommend SS!
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I’d go one more week with the 4’s again mate. Maybe add a touch of autoregulation to it.
Then two week of the 6’s/2’ to peak.
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Will do. That was the plan anyway. A touch of auroregulation, does that mean i can back off the weight a bit if i feel like shit?
Yep. Or go bigger if it’s feeling great
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Do the first set with planned poundage, then Go from there if it’s good or shit
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4/9 and 4/10
Friday: 100 pushups, 10 EMOM for 10 minutes. Did these with my wife who is a total badass.
Saturday:
200lb sandbag picks, from floor to bearhug.
8 going every 30 seconds. Was easier than 2 weeks ago. And i used the fore-and-aft position the whole time, felt more comfortable with the bag being so loose.
That looseness is a blessing and a curse, hard to explain.
Deadlift: up to a single at 345. Was not too taxing and i have definitely not lost strength here despite not working DL in a very long time. Could have gone heavier but that wasn’t the goal today.
Is it weird that my squat is so far below my dead? Should that tell me something?
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