First week of the Intense Phase completed. It was good to get under the weight again, but I have mixed feelings about my “performance” over the last 3 sessions. I have to make sure I get focused on the session for that day, not the week ahead.
Today was a medium effort day, 1x4 at 133kg and 142kg. Then 4sets of 5 with 163kg. I tried to squat with a thumbless grip and I did not like the way it felt when I unracked it, so that was a no-go. Another thing I was working on was staying tighter out of the hole, so that my ass doesn’t come up too fast. On a scale of 10, I would say today was a 6. But, I was looking at what is ahead of me next week and not focusing on my work today. That will change…
I wanted to see how my bench was and how far off my form was today. I went up to 165kg touch-and-go. So, I am pretty sure upper 150’s with a pause wouldn’t be a problem. That makes me pretty happy, since I have only benched less than 10 times in 4 months. After Smolov, I think I may be able to make a run at 180+kg before my next meet. But, a bigger squat is my first priority.
I was kind of worried about tonight’s session. I have this nagging, numb pain in my lower back and my erectors and abs are killing me. After stretching, liniment, and motrin I felt slightly better.
After the first 3 sets of 4 reps w/ 122.5kg, 142.9 kg, and 163.3 kg, I felt ready enough. The first set was 3 reps with 183.6kg and 2sets of 4reps with 183.6kg. It was not easy, but my form wasn’t too terrible. The best part is that I feel like I was just getting warmed up, so I am hoping to get this irritation gone from my back and really put forth a strong effort on Wednesday.
Youtube is down right now, so vid will be up tomorrow
I know the 4 of you have been waiting for this vid, so here you go.
The best thing that came out of last night’s session is that I noticed when I unrack the weight, I have my feet very very close to each other.
That made my walkouts more difficult when the weights got heavier, because I would have to concentrate on balancing the weight on a narrow base, then getting my feet apart for the squat. So, that is another to-do on the list of things to get “right”.
Nice work! Just in time to get me fired up for my session.
I think you are right about unracking with a slightly wider stance, you’ll have a lot more balance that way.
I also notice that you don’t pull your elbows forward when you Squat. This is something that really helps keep me from falling forward or GM’ing the weight up. It really keeps the chest upright. You might want to try it on some of your warmup sets and see how it feels. Just a thought.
[quote]Modi wrote:
Nice work! Just in time to get me fired up for my session.
I think you are right about unracking with a slightly wider stance, you’ll have a lot more balance that way.
I also notice that you don’t pull your elbows forward when you Squat. This is something that really helps keep me from falling forward or GM’ing the weight up. It really keeps the chest upright. You might want to try it on some of your warmup sets and see how it feels. Just a thought.[/quote]
Actually, that was something that I started working on early in the base cycle, getting my elbows forward. I used a tip of “pressing” the weight when I come out of the hole and it helped. But, I have developed this odd pain in my left arm around my bicep brachialis, that I believe is due to flexibility and was aggravated when I changed my grip on the bar when squatting. I lost focus on that aspect until you mentioned it.
It may help me get all reps completed in “one motion”. My pos is getting a lot stronger and my core is taking a beating, so some of the reps go into a two phase movement; hams and ass driving me out of the hole and I am forced to do a partial gm to get upright again.
Hit it hard today. Looking forward to seeing the workout! It’s three sessions left, right?
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
It may help me get all reps completed in “one motion”. My pos is getting a lot stronger and my core is taking a beating, so some of the reps go into a two phase movement; hams and ass driving me out of the hole and I am forced to do a partial gm to get upright again.
Hit it hard today. Looking forward to seeing the workout! It’s three sessions left, right?
[/quote]
I think we all do that when we get tired. But I think you will get more reps in a good position with the elbows jammed forward.
It’s crazy, last Tuesday I felt like everything was too easy, and said that it should have felt harder than it did. Today’s 430x7x5 felt hard. I think the break is coming at the right time for me.
10 sessions down, 2 to go. I just have 460x5x7 and 485x3x10 left until the break. My elbow felt great today, but I will switch to low bar to crank out the last two days, and I’m sure I’ll be feeling it after that.
[quote]Modi wrote:
undesired08 wrote:
I think we all do that when we get tired. But I think you will get more reps in a good position with the elbows jammed forward.
It’s crazy, last Tuesday I felt like everything was too easy, and said that it should have felt harder than it did. Today’s 430x7x5 felt hard. I think the break is coming at the right time for me.
10 sessions down, 2 to go. I just have 460x5x7 and 485x3x10 left until the break. My elbow felt great today, but I will switch to low bar to crank out the last two days, and I’m sure I’ll be feeling it after that.
[/quote]
The reps in a good position are the one’s that really count.
Just two more sessions and then you will me so much closer to 6…you a-hole. LMAO! Your form is really looking solid and these last two will fall just like the previous 10!
Did the Intense Week 2 Day 1 workout on monday. What a kick in the pants eh?[/quote]
Where you been, man? Let’s hear the story.
Surprisingly, I thought that I would be feeling more muscle fatigue after yesterday’s session. But, it validates what I was saying earlier about the session almost felt short and I was just getting ready to bang out some serious sets.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
Invictica wrote:
I’m back baby
we’re on the same weeks no Undesired
Did the Intense Week 2 Day 1 workout on monday. What a kick in the pants eh?
Where you been, man? Let’s hear the story.
Surprisingly, I thought that I would be feeling more muscle fatigue after yesterday’s session. But, it validates what I was saying earlier about the session almost felt short and I was just getting ready to bang out some serious sets.
Now tomorrow? THAT will be fun!
[/quote]
Been sick with something fierce. Went out drinking with the boys last weekend and basically got back home 7am the next morning. I was already sick going into that night so this whole shit storm of being drunk and not sleeping led to some horrid flu like symptoms that persisted for about a week. Decided to take the week off then try to push through it since this cycle is pretty demanding.
But yea I agree these sessions are shorter than the base cycle, just way more intense.
haha, your tommorow is my tonight. The numbers look daunting but I’ll take care of business.
If by beast, you mean small deer, then I agree with you.
Edit: But, a 270+lb deer is not small…Damn, I will have to think of something else that is self-deprecating.
I had to edit it, because I read the rest of the thread. You gents are kicking ass!
Yeah whatever keeps you motivated dude! I was at 4x1 of 405 parallel box squats and injured myself pretty good…nothing to do with training.
I love the iron game but am purely doing the aesthetics thing right now. I love the heavy iron! Keep it up.[/quote]
The reason my name is first is cause it’s my thread and only courteous. I am an injury bug myself. I’m just trying to find was to get healthier and stronger.
I would say Modi is a clydesdale, Inv is a stallion, and I am a shetland pony (that eats too much ).
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
The reason my name is first is cause it’s my thread and only courteous. I am an injury bug myself. I’m just trying to find was to get healthier and stronger.
I would say Modi is a clydesdale, Inv is a stallion, and I am a shetland pony (that eats too much ).
[/quote]
For what it’s worth, I did run the Kona Marathon about 6 or 7 years ago, competing in the Clydesdale division.
Thanks! I couldn’t do it without seeing these other guys go after it as well
Fair warning Undesired08, today is gonna be a rough day. The final set is probably the most frightening set I’ve ever done. First attempt, I missed the 2nd rep and was gonna pack it in. But I said Fuck it, and just went after like a dog with rabies. Paid off, hit all 3 reps, but tough for sure.
Been sick with something fierce. Went out drinking with the boys last weekend and basically got back home 7am the next morning. I was already sick going into that night so this whole shit storm of being drunk and not sleeping led to some horrid flu like symptoms that persisted for about a week. Decided to take the week off then try to push through it since this cycle is pretty demanding.
But yea I agree these sessions are shorter than the base cycle, just way more intense.
haha, your tommorow is my tonight. The numbers look daunting but I’ll take care of business.[/quote]
I don’t know how I missed this post last night. The flus is going around down here as well. It’s funny that my mindset right now is “stay the hell away from anyone that has been in contact with sickly people, cause you can’t miss a day!”
Glad to see that you are bak on the horse and rocking the rest out. I think that your sessions are going to be the toughest for a bit since you are coming off of the sickness. But with determination to bang out that set after missing a rep? That is what it takes to make it thru Smolov!
Thanks for the forewarning regarding tonight’s session. The things I have to keep in mind are do not rush the sets (finished the last session in under 40 minutes), stay tight, elbows down, and pass out before missing a set.
[quote]Modi wrote:
undesired08 wrote:
The reason my name is first is cause it’s my thread and only courteous. I am an injury bug myself. I’m just trying to find was to get healthier and stronger.
I would say Modi is a clydesdale, Inv is a stallion, and I am a shetland pony (that eats too much ).
For what it’s worth, I did run the Kona Marathon about 6 or 7 years ago, competing in the Clydesdale division.[/quote]
See, I friggin told ya!
The question is, what is stallion? I would say a Centaur, maybe.
Change of plans…I had to lift today instead of tomorrow. I was a little worried that it was going to be brutal, but today felt easier than yesterday. What the hell do I know right?
11 sessions down, 1 to go. Then I’m off to an all inclusive resort in Mexico for a week to fatten up before I come back and test my new max!
