Better Than Yesterday

I think I was 18 posts behind… enough to see two squat PRs. Awesome work! Your lifts look great - nice and smooth. Hopefully I’ll have a strong tall guy squat soon. Even when I hate squats, I still kind of hold on to that four plate standard and I’ve never got there. That comes from the 2-3-4-5 plate arbitrary lifting goals (OHP, bench, squat, deadlift).

Low bar squatting may have put four plates back on the table. Keep up the good work! I’m happy to see you in a PR filled phase of training. I’ve been in one for deads and it’s nice to see others experience it. I’ve had ups and downs with the weight room and this recent phase has reinforced what I’ve been doing and rekindled my joy for training. I actually get a little excited about squat day now!

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Appreciate it, man. I’ve been watching your DL numbers flying up!

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28Sep22

Finally got a pullups and arms session back in here. I’ve been slacking on this stuff lately in the name of entrepreneurship; I need to be better about it.

Archery season starts on Saturday!

3 Likes

30Sep22

Deadlift
435x1
395x3
375x3
375x3
375x3

Bench press (2 ct pause)
200x5
190x5
190x5

Weighted dips
+35x10
+25x10
+25x10

Calf raises

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03Oct22

Squat
375x1
340x3
310x3
310x3
310x3

Seated Press
120x6
120x6
115x6

Stiff-legged DL
255x8
255x8
255x8

There was definitely some extra gravity tonight; everything was heavy. I haven’t slept more than a couple of hours a night for a week now. My wife’s been away visiting family. I need a vacation. The busiest part of my year is just starting.

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So that’s what’s going on! Here I thought I was just getting weaker lately. Haha.

The tension here just sucks, man. But hang in there, you just keep crushing it!

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Thanks man. It’s probably not as bad as I’m making it seem, but I’m in a mental state right now from the continued lack of sleep. I really do think I’m going to squeeze a vacation into the Fall. It’s been a while.

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05Oct22

Bench Press (1 ct pause)
225x1
195x3
195x3
195x3
175x5
175x5

Front Squat
210x8
200x8
190x8

Pendlay Row
190x10
160x12
160x12
160x12

Lateral Raises
25x16
25x12
20x12
15x13

Meh. Ok. Bench continues to frustrate me. But squat and bench have been going well, so I think I’ll just repeat this cycle and see if I can keep them moving. I’ll deal with the bench press later. I’m going to miss a few weeks soon, so we’ll just see what happens.

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10Oct22

Squat (low bar)
290x5
300x5
310x5

Seated Press
95x8
100x8
105x8

RDL
225x10
245x10
265x10

Goblet Squat
25x20
25x17
25x16

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11Oct22

Bench Press (1 ct pause)
165x5
185x5
195x5

Squat (high bar)
185x10
200x10
215x10

Lever Rows

Lateral Raises
25x16
25x11
20x13
15x12

Curls and LTEs

I’ll have to do my strength days back to back to back this week and try to get my accessories worked in around them. Not ideal, but it’s the way it has to be with my schedule this time of year.

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13Oct22

Deadlift
365x5
385x5
405x5 (PR)

Incline Bench
145x8
150x8
155x8

DB Press
45x12
45x12
45x12

Calf raises

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nice job

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Awesome! Nice work.

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Thanks @throwawayfitness @SvenG!

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16Oct22

Squat (low bar)
315x5
300x5
300x5

Seated Press
110x8
105x8
100x8

RDL
275x10
275x10

Goblet Squats
35x18
35x15

Had to cut the goblet squat finisher short; my back had started cramping up during my main squat warmups and finally got so bad I had to omit my last set of goblets.

This was my last heavy squat workout for a couple of weeks. I’m taking my wife on vacation for our anniversary. Even though it’s in the middle of archery season, she and I both need it. We’re going to Portugal and Spain for 8 days. Then when we get back I leave the very next day to hunt the whitetail rut in Wisconsin for a week, then hope to catch the last week of the rut in Pennsylvania. It seems like a hectic vacation, but I can’t wait. I’m going to try to get all my lifts in this week before we leave Thursday night, then not worry about lifting for a couple of weeks. The squat rack will be here waiting for me.

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Awesome, dude. Happy anniversary!

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happy anniversary. enjoy your trip.

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Thanks guys!

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18Oct22

Bench Press (1 ct pause)
200x5
190x5
190x5
190x5

Squat (high bar)
245x10
245x10

Lever Rows
Done as myo-reps, these give me an awesome upper back pump.

I’ve been getting really intense lower back cramps by the end of my workouts for a couple of months now. They got so bad here that I had to cut the workout a little short. It’s not like injury type pain, but it’s definitely on the extreme side of cramp pain. I’m going to have to figure out a way to fix that soon. Maybe taking these next two weeks off from heavy training will help, but rest is rarely the answer.
High bar squats still feel awkward to me, but I seem to keep getting stronger on them, so I’m coming around to liking them as my supplemental squat. I’ve been alternating blocks of them with front squats (which also feel awkward to me).
Bench press felt pretty good tonight. I have some ideas on how to get it moving after I get back from vacation.
I was able to put some venison in the freezer last weekend, so I’ll have at least some gainzz fuel for the coming year. Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to fill the freezer completely this fall. Venison (deer or elk) is the fastest way to strength gains. I can’t produce an literature to back this claim; just trust me.

3 Likes

06Nov22

Squat (high bar)
185x8
200x8
225x8

Seated Press
85x8
95x8
100x8

RDL
185x12
205x12
225x12

BB Lunges
135x12
115x12

5 Likes