4/14/12
Deload day
Elliptical
20 minutes lv 9
Yeah! trying to do some cardio for the first time in a year!
SOHP
55 x 10
55 x 10
65 x 10
Sit-ups
incline 5
3 x 15
4/16/12
Squats
135, 155, 185 x 5
195 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 10
Got great rest in deload week, solid 10, had more to go.
Front squats
155 x 10
155 x 10
155 x 10
155 x 8
Ya sucked at front squats again. Totally gassed by set 4, abs were super unstable so decided to call it.
Leg curls
70 x 5 x 10
Just kinda ran through this set, had to use a new machine so guessed at the weight.
4/17/12
DB press
65 x 8
70 x 8
75 x 8
80 x 8
DB row
85 x 8
90 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8
DB flys
40 x 4 x 10
4/19/12
Deadlift
155, 195, 225 x 5
245 x 5
285 x 5
320 x 8
Went for 8 just b/c I had a weird start using straps, felt a little off like the right side was slightly longer than the left. Thinking of switching to a new gym for week 3, so pretty excited to use round plates instead of the hexagonal bullshit I’ve been using the last 2 years.
GMs
135 x 5 x 10
Threw in a couple random sets of front squats and back squats with a full pause of a couple seconds in the hole, just to stretch out.
4/24/12
New gym time! Switched over from the local XSport to Chicago Fitness Center, which can only be described as a dungeon gym, I’m enjoying it quite a bit. No one else working out, 5 squat racks, bumper weights in the future, shit seems pretty legit. Even indoor cement track outlining the old as hell weightlifting area. Random MMA people training on the other half of the gym give me hope that the place won’t go out of business since I had to pay a year in advance for like $28 a month.
Squats
135, 155, 185 x 5
215 x 3
245 x 3
275 x 6
Was a bit sketchier than I thought I would be on the 6th rep. Last set was supposed to be for 270 but I was too lazy to put on the small plates.
Front squats
155 x 8
155 x 8
155 x 8
175 x 8
175 x 8
Decided to try sets of 8 just for fun. Also taking a vacation in June so thinking of maxing out right before then to see where I’m at and hoping a little less high rep work might be helpful.
Weird GHR
3 sets of 6
Tried using a weird GHR. I’m pretty bad at GHR so it’ll be nice to see if I can get better. Was really easy to explode up, but finishing the move was pretty strenuous.
Situps
incline 4 x 3 x 15
4/27/12
Deadlift
155, 185, 225 x 5
265 x 3
305 x 3
345 x 8
Felt way more solid than normal deadlift day and much more comfortable using regular plates that roll instead of hexagonal ones.
GMs
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
155 x 10
155 x 10
Threw in a random set of front squats. Tried to do some GHRs afterwards but somehow pulled my calf so just called it a night.
4/30/12
Squat
135, 155, 185 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 3
285 x 5
Front squats
155 x 6
185 x 6
185 x 6
195 x 6
205 x 6
Just decided to do less reps for fun. Random pauses at the bottom as well.
GHR
6
6
6
5
5/2/12
Early morning workout. As testatment to not caring about upper body, had approximately 15 minutes to work out and still get ready for work on time.
DB press flat
40 x 8
80 x 8
80 x 8
85 x 6
Leg raises
3 x 10
5/4/12
Deadlift
155, 195, 225 x 5
285 x 5
325 x 3
375 x 5
Solid sets, was supposed to go for 365 but just bumped it up since I hadn’t gone over 365 before.
GMs
135 x 10
155 x 10
155 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
Random situps.
5/8/12
Supposed to be deload week, but going off the schedule for a bit. Vacation from May 31- Jun 10 throws off another wave of 5/3/1, so just lifting for fun. Will try to max deadlifts next week as well!
Front Squat
135, 155, 185 x 5
205 x 3
225 x 3
245 x 3
265 x 2
Felt kinda unstable and moved a little forward on 265. Definitely core weakness, because full pause at the bottom meant it wasn’t leg weakness.
Cleans
115 x 3
135 x 3
155 x 3
Form looked like shit since I hadn’t really cleaned properly in years. Will be working on it though.
5/9/12
DB press flat
45 x 6
75 x 6
80 x 6
80 x 6
85 x 6
Seated cable row
80 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10
DB flys
25 x 10
35 x 10
35 x 10
Super deload day!
5/15/12
Deadlift
155 x 5
185 x 4
225 x 4
275 x 2
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 1
425 x 1
Woo max out day! First time maxing out deadlifts ever. Very solid up to 405. 405 form got a little sloppy, 425 was good but didn’t look amazing form wise. Actually, pleasantly surprised I didn’t get injured. Also want to stop using straps except for last sets now that I have a more chalk friendly gym. Going for 500 at the end of the year! Not sure what the odds are at hitting, might need to do it sumo to actually do 500.
Cleans
135 x 2
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
Cleans just for shits after deadlift max day. 195 didn’t explode up well so kinda wristed it up. Taking a 2 week vacation May 30-Jun 1, so will probably do more Olympic stuff just for shits, leading up to it.
Random snatch practice with 45 and 65 lbs.
5/17/12
Front Squat
135, 155, 195 x 4
225 x 4
245 x 3
265 x 2
Realized that I was super tired at this point, probably from the 13 hr office day immediately following max deadlift day. Did some front squats with 135 and a 3 second pause in the hole, did some snatch practice with a bar and called it a night.
Sick work so far.
Question- What do you do to keep the bar from rolling forward for front squats?- The bar rolls forward before my legs give out.
5/22/12
Another just for fun workout day. Got back from work late so decided to eat dinner and then go work out, not a good idea at all. Felt a bit heavy, luckily was just trying to learn how to snatch from Jon North’s Youtube video for doing the hit and catch drill. Way harder than I thought it would be! Did some squats just for fun, but wasn’t feeling super energetic probably b/c of eating a lot of rice and chicken half an hour beforehand.
Hit and catch practice
Can’t actually write down what I did, but a bunch of 1st and 2nd position hit and catch with 45, 65 and 85 lbs. Hitting with the hips is still a pretty foreign concept.
Front squats
135 x 8
155 x 8
205 x 6
205 x 6
Threw in front squats to feel like I wasn’t just playing with the bar for 25 minutes pretending to snatch. Not really trying to get a squat day in though, so took it easy with some pausing at the bottom. Will try to figure out where I’ll start back up with 5/3/1 at on June 12th.
[quote]BuildingUP wrote:
Sick work so far.
Question- What do you do to keep the bar from rolling forward for front squats?- The bar rolls forward before my legs give out.
[/quote]
Thanks! For front squats, if the bar is rolling forward you need to keep your torso more upright. That’s going to be directly correlated to core strength, which I find is definitely limiting for me. If your torso is pretty upright but there’s still forward rolling, I guess keep your elbows up as high as possible. If wrist flexibility in a clean grip is preventing that, you can try just holding the bar with 1-2 fingers, since it’s mainly resting across your front shoulders/clavicle with your hands stabilizing. Hope that helps out.
5/26/12
Front Squats
135 x 5
175 x 4
205 x 3
245 x 1
275 x 1
295 x 1
Wanted to actually try a max for front squats just for fun. Wasn’t too happy about depth on 295, was also super shaky, will try to do a better job with next time.
Snatch
Just used the bar for probably 8 sets of 5, periodically throwing in 3-5 overhead squats. Getting better at trying to use hip drive but I think it will take a few weeks to get comfortable.
6/12/12
Squats
135, 145, 185 x 5
195 x 5
225 x 5
250 x 5
Got back from 10 days of vacation or 2 weeks of not lifting and didn’t put in a warm up week before starting on 5/3/1 again. Hard to tell if starting too high for squats, will evaluate next session.
Front squats
145 x 5 x 10
Tried to be strict with ~90 seconds rest. Was fairly difficult to do.
Leg curls
70 x 5 x 10
6/13/12
Bench
75, 95, 105 x 5
135 x 5
145 x 5
165 x 10
Starting bench super low just because I still don’t care about it, also makes for a quick workout!
Bench
115 x 5 x 10
Seated cable row
80 x 5 x 10
6/15/12
Deadlift
155, 195, 225 x 5
255 x 5
285 x 5
325 x 5
Was totally just not paying attention so only did 5 reps on the last set. Brought in some chalk and will be trying to just use straps on final sets.
Deadlift
185 x 10
185 x 10
185 x 10
185 x 8
Way more tiring than I thought it would be. Not sure if I’ll continue to use 5 x 10 as the accessory exercise. Had to reset grip several times, for some reason right hand was a bit weaker than the left.