Thanks, ZombieRain. The dedication is good, but I wish I had more to show for it. As I said earlier, my diet is not in order, and my sleep has always been inconsistent. In any case, my current maxes (in lbs.) are:
Press: 1 x 140
Bench: 2 x 185
Squat: 1 x 295
Front Squat: 1 x 185
Deadlift: 1 x 375
Clean: 1 x 165, 3 x 155
Front squats and cleans were essentially untrained two months ago, so I hope to see more progress on those in the coming cycles. Everything else has been stubborn, but inching up slowly.
Clean & Jerk
5 x 45
5 x 95
3 x 135
1 x 145
1 x 155
1 x 165
Deadlift:
3 x 225
1 x 275, 315, 365
0 x 385
3 x 3 x 315
The C&J was more of a C & push press. The 385 deadlift went to about my knee, but it wasn’t going past that. The 3 x 3 was just punishment. I’ll probably start the new cycle on Tuesday.
Front Squat:
1 x 135, 155 (paused)
1 x 175, 195, 205
10 x 135
Bodyweight circuit:
2 x 10 x TRX row, abs, push up
I’m hitting a wall between 165 and 170 on the C&J. I’m (more or less) succeeding on a high pull, then failing to get under it for the catch. Part of this is that my form is terrible; I’m just muscling my wrists and elbows under the bar and barely dropping my hips at all. Frustrated with that, I decided to hit a PR on the front squat. I was happy to get over body weight and even happier to break 200.
I have one more abbreviated week (i.e., this week), so I’ll just wing it once more Thursday night. Then I’ll be back onto my next cycle next week, using Jim’s “Letter to Young Jim” template (with minor modifications to the assistance work).
Bench:
10 x 45
8 x 95
5 x 135
3 x 155
1 x 175
1 x 185
BB Row:
5 x 8 x 135
Squat:
8 x 95
5 x 135
3 x 185
1 x 225 (paused)
1 x 275
15 x 195
Back Ext.:
2 x 10
I was unhappy with the bench. I wanted to go a little heavier today, but I was so shaky at 185 that I didn’t bother. As silly as I felt curling an empty bar between sets last cycle, I think getting that little bit of bicep pump/engagement helped with stability, and I think I missed that today.
I alternated pronated and supinated grips on the rows. I hadn’t done those with a barbell in some time, and I was weaker than I expected. Going forward, I think I’ll stick to three sets and try harder to control the movement. Finally, I thought at the time that the squat set of 15 was a PR, but I see now that I’ve done 16 at 195. Crushed. Oh, well; I’m back to 5/3/1 on Tuesday.
Squat:
10 x 45
8 x 95
6 x 135
5 x 185
5 x 215
5 x 245
Row:
3 x 10 x 115
Suitcase Deadlift:
5 x 115
8 x 95
I set my belt too low on the squat and couldn’t get much support out of my bracing. Minimum reps is the result. I wanted 3 x 8-10 with the suitcase deads, but 115 was too ambitious. I’ll try again with 95 next week.
Some jackass called in a bomb threat to the university last night, so the gym was closed. I went out to the bar instead. Thus, today’s make-up session was harder than it needed to be. (I was still pretty happy with it.)
This workout is from yesterday (Saturday) morning. I’m just logging it now because I was too angry yesterday. It turns out that doing my clean/deadlift and press/front squat sessions on back-to-back days is a bad idea, which is why I didn’t program them that way. An intense pain flared up in my left spinal erector on both ramping sets of the squat. I didn’t even attempt the top set, and I was in debilitating pain (and quite a sour mood) for the rest of the day. It’s still tight with a dull ache.
Squat:
10 x 45
10 x 95
3 x 135, 185, 225 (paused)
10, 10, 8 x 185
Sumo Deadlift:
3 x 5 x 225
My back was still nagging me Tuesday, so I stayed home to watch the Democratic debate. I’m going to call this week a deload/free week, with a lower-body session today and upper-body Saturday. I’ll get back to work next week.