Managed to hit my goals of a 405 squat, 315 bench, and 455 deadlift that I set a year ago. I still need to get a 225 military press. I’m going to get that as soon as I get back from out of town. In light of getting my 2011 goals, it’s best I set out some new ones for 2012.
I’m going to get a:
500 squat
405 bench press
555 deadlift
Those three goals are what I really want, anything else is icing on the cake. In order to achieve these goals I gotta hammer at my weaknesses, do whatever I suck at, and whatever I hate doing. I’ll also be making use of RTS along the way and some logical programming, at least some form of stress management and manipulation.
Gahd the new year has me excited to really hammer at these goals.
EDIT:
Figured I should mention what kind of progress I’ve made over the year.
Squat: 275 to 405
Bench press: 245 to 315
Deadlift: 335 to 455
Military press: 165 to 205 (hopefully 225 soon)
If anything I feel my deadlift would be the limiting factor in my total.
Just got back from visiting family. Didn’t eat much and basically unloaded the car as soon as I arrived and went straight to the iron.
Deadlift
Worked up to:
1x405 @8.5
Tried out a wider stance. Seemed to help with leg drive and off the floor strength. Overall pretty happy with how the pulling went. I’ll probably continue to tinker with the new pulling style.
Military press
Meh was hoping to get 225, but missed 205. FML.
I just wanted to do something, since it’s been over week since I touched a weight. I really shouldn’t be surprised that I missed 205. Military pressing hasn’t felt too hot as of late, plus the week out of town was full of late nights and sub par eating. In fact I think I lost like 4 lbs.
Yep, your gains over the past year are sick. Mine are nothing close to that overall despite good progress. I’ve set some goals for “before I would enter a PL meet” in my log. I will decide on my aims for the end of the year though. Cool stuff
@phlegms and jake_j_m: thanks guys. In retrospect it appears I’ve made some decent progress. Can’t wait to see how much progress I’ll make this year with more knowledge and more purpose.
Project Momentum - Week 1
Monday 1/2/12
Pretty excited that for the next 8 weeks I’ll be getting my training from Mike Tuchscherer.
2 ct Pause Oly Squat
3x245 @7.5
3x265 @8
3x295 @9 felt like my ass was going to rip
Good considering I haven’t squatted in over a week. I could definitely tell it has been awhile since I’ve squatted, seeing as my hips felt tight and unprepared to hang out in the hole.
2 ct Pause Bench Press
3x225 @7
3x245 @8
3x275 @9 pretty happy with this set
Warm ups did not feel good at all, probably due to the long period off. In addition my glutes and adductors were not happy from the previous squatting, so I opted for a different bench press foot placement. I also brought my grip in a bit. Pretty happy with the different set up and grip.
2 ct Pause Deadlift
4x275 @7
4x315 @8
3x335 @9 used my normal stance for this set
These were humbling. Hopefully after a few more sessions with paused DLs I’ll get better at keeping proper count of the pauses and get a bit stronger at them. I am quite sure these will get my back stronger. So far I think i prefer using a wider stance. I seem to get more pop off the floor. Regardless of stance I feel I really need to work on better lower back and hip positioning.
Overall happy with today’s session even though I seem to have hurt my left glue and/or adductor.
Thanks guys! I’m rather stoked to make progress in a number of areas this year.
Project Momentum - Week 1
Tuesday 1/3/12
Left glute/hip flexor/adductor is still hurting but band adduction seems to help. In fact my left side felt weaker than my right. My erectors are surprisingly fatigued from the little amount of paused pulling I did. Looks like paused pulling will work magic.
Band abduction/adduction
Hammie flossing
Heel cord luvin
Supple shoulderz
Bench press
3x245 @7.5 harder than it should’ve been
3x265 @8 much better, felt easier than 245
3x295 @9PR
Good stuff. Really digging the new foot placement and grip. Also am liking the new pulling style, I just need to bring in my feet a little.
Front squat
Did some warm up sets to see if my hips were ok. I’d rather err on the side of caution, especially since front squats aren’t the main squatting variation. I’d rather take a bit more time to rest and heal up before the more important squatting on Thursday.
More band adduction
Band pull aparts —> pretending to stab two people at my back like a ninja was an amazing cue to thought up lulz
Band curls ss w/ hammer curlz —> felt like secks
Definitely need to be diligent and make it a point to do some form of mobility every session.
Overall happy with how today went. Benching went well. Despite not being able to squat I feel like the band work and mobility work helped.
Hope those paused deads work out for you man. They’re BRUTAL, but effective. When you pull “normal” again, it’s going to feel weird how fast the bar moves.
@ink: I definitely think the paused deads will help my pull.
@phlegms: thanks man! The way you’ve been progressing, I know you’ll get a 3 hundo bench by the end of the year.
I did some thinking and realized that with yesterday’s incline pressing, I probably should’ve rested a bit more in between sets so as to prevent any metabolic stress from masking my total stress. That and I hate high reps (i.e. more than 3 reps).
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Good stuff man. It’s all bout dat learning.[/quote]
Thanks! Learning along the way makes the journey awesome.
Project Momentum - Week 1
Thursday 1/5/12
Fire hydrants
Mountain climbers
Groiners
Band adduction/abduction
Hammie flossing
Heel cord luvin’
Hip flexors
Band pull aparts n dislocates
Supple shoulderz
2 ct Pause Deadlift
3x315 @8
3x345 @9
Slowly getting a better feel for these. Much better than last time.
I’m guessing these are so humbling b/c I’m not used to staying so tight and tense for the needed amount of time.
Pin Press (chest level)
4x225 @7
4x245 @8
4x265 @8.5 was expecting this to be a 9 but felt hawt like summer
I think I made these harder than they needed to be by holding my breath. I probably did so to ensure I kept my tightness. I might consider getting some straps to suspend the bar.
2 ct Pause Squat
Did a few warm up sets and called it. The what seems to be my left adductor feels much better, but not to the point where I want to squat. It hurts while I’m paused in the hole and out of the hole. Last time it also hurt at the top, so it’s an improvement. I’d rather take it easy now while it’s an easy training week.
Overall good session. Getting the hang of paused deads, pin presses went well, and the injury that is impeding my squat is much better now.
