Thanks big guy. Well, immediate goals are to heal my shoulder back up (injured it playing flag-football) and improve my squat. It’s tough to get any more specific than that at the moment; I ref high school basketball and last year I made almost no gains during the season because of all the cardio, so I’m trying to prevent that this year.
For 2011, my minimum goals are 500 squat and 550 DL, bench is a little touchier given the shoulder issues. But I think 365 for 4 is reasonable since I was at 360x3.5 prior to injury. If my shoulder is OK I should kill that, if not I wwill probably only be able to narrow grip but I’ll keep the goal the same.
“Bodybuilding” goals: 215 bodyweight, minimum. 220 isn’t unreasonable given that I’m between 205-210 now. Bring up my tris and legs (I think 4-day-a-week squatting is doing good things right now). Those are secondary goals, though. I’m mainly concerned with strength.
I also want to learn the olympic lifts so I’m watching a lot of video and getting a lot of feedback from people that do them. I will take a video of my “olmypic” squats soon and get that up.
[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
Thanks big guy. Well, immediate goals are to heal my shoulder back up (injured it playing flag-football) and improve my squat. It’s tough to get any more specific than that at the moment; I ref high school basketball and last year I made almost no gains during the season because of all the cardio, so I’m trying to prevent that this year.
For 2011, my minimum goals are 500 squat and 550 DL, bench is a little touchier given the shoulder issues. But I think 365 for 4 is reasonable since I was at 360x3.5 prior to injury. If my shoulder is OK I should kill that, if not I wwill probably only be able to narrow grip but I’ll keep the goal the same.
“Bodybuilding” goals: 215 bodyweight, minimum. 220 isn’t unreasonable given that I’m between 205-210 now. Bring up my tris and legs (I think 4-day-a-week squatting is doing good things right now). Those are secondary goals, though. I’m mainly concerned with strength.
I also want to learn the olympic lifts so I’m watching a lot of video and getting a lot of feedback from people that do them. I will take a video of my “olmypic” squats soon and get that up.[/quote]
Cool, I was curious as to why you were benching less than you were at the beginning of the log so that clears things up. Impressive lifts overall, I’m trying to catch up to you on front squats and sumo deadlifts. I noticed you don’t have your feet spread all the way out to the plates–I don’t either–is that only for PL?
^^^Yea I’d loved to get back to 2x weekly benching because, well, I’m a bench whore. I think I’ll be OK to start flat benching in another two weeks or so.
To be honest I just don’t think my hips are flexible enough to go that wide. When I switched to sumo I was much wider, but stalled pretty quick. Things got moving again when I went to the Coan-esque semi-sumo stance, and it doesn’t cause the back issues that conventional does. However, when I get olympic shoes I’ll give conventional another shot.
And thanks, btw. Front squats are great, 4x weekly squatting is great, squatting in general is great. I’m really enjoying my leg training right now. Pisses me off to think about all the time I wasted from 21-24ish not squatting or deadlifting. I could have some pretty big numbers by now.
Sumo DL
425x1, 450x5
Really, really easy. Strange too because I didn’t feel particularly energetic going in.
Pendlay Rows
250x7, 265x5
OH Squats
Barx3, 95x3, 135x2,3
Wide Pullups
BWx18
Totally gassed here.
Prone Rear-delt Raises
10x10, 20x12, 30x10
Good sub for face-pulls and essentially unlimited room to move up. Form got loose on 30.
EZ Curl
110x12
Another good session. Got to witness a dick-measuring contest between some UK football players and a random douche: 300-lb lineman benching 275 for a few reps and screaming like they’re hard, followed by random douche squeaking out a rep or two at 300 and screaming on every set leading up to it. I don’t know what’s worse; that SEC football players are that weak, or that random douche needed to bench that way to make himself feel better.
Narrow Squats
345x3, 375x3, 405x4
Didn’t quite have 5 in me. Had a mirror and it messed with my head…leaned forward to far. Took a video, but it sucked. The angle was terrible and the cage blocked a lot of my legs. I’ll get a better one Monday. Might try 415.
GHR
BWx6,10,11
Different GHR…didn’t like it very much so took a set to adjust.
OH Tri Bar Extension
Bar weighed out to 21.8, so I’ll call it 20.
120x10, 130x10,11
Tri Bar Shoulder Press
130x10
Stayed strict.
Neutral Shoulder Press Machine
150x15x2
Cable Cross
80x10, 100x10, 120x8
Different cable machine.
Squat
345x3, 375x3, 405x4
Tried squatting in my shocks…epic fail. Heeled shoe good, squishy shoe bad. I’ll go back to the other heeled shoe next time…didn’t like the feel of the wrestling shoes. Got a good video from the side, will post both when I figure out where the fuck I put the flash-drive.
Trap DL
400x5, 460x7
This bar was 80 lbs, so I had to tweak a little.
GHR
BWx8, +25x10
Felt good enough to go a little heavier.
The good angle shows I was a hair high, but then again I was in flat-soled shoes. Should be corrected when I use olympic shoes or the tennis shoes from the first video.
Olympic Front Squats
265x3, 295x3, 325x2,3
Immediately regretted not trying a 3rd on the first set, so I added another. Altered my grip slightly from thumb-off to thumb-on, pinky-off and it helped a lot.
Decline Bench
225x10, 275x10, 315x7
Had a rep or two left in the tank, but didn’t want any grinders this early. Very encouraging; no pain, bar path was pretty consistent. Moving on to light-ish flat next week.
OH Tri Bar Extension
130x9,10
Back to the bar at the other gym, I’ll assume it’s 20 as well until I weigh it.
Lying Rear-delt Raises
10x12, 20x10, 30x10
Improved form on 30, will probably stay there for one more week.
Sumo DL
425x1, 455x5 (Sumo PR)
Good set, felt weak in warmups but some dick on the incline directly in front of me wouldn’t stop screaming while inclining 250 for one rep sets…this angered me. Moving up to 460 next week. In other news, foam rolling my back and hips is in fact awesome.
Pendlay Row
250x7, 265x5
All good reps here, kept tight form. I’ll probably go to 270, 275 on the second set next week.
OH Squat
Barx3, 95x3, 135x3, 145x2
135 felt a lot easier, especially holding it overhead. Will look for 3 at 145 and maybe 155 next week.
Wide Pullups
BWx19
Only improved one rep, but got my chin higher on all reps so a very good set.
Neutral Wide Face-pulls
Worked up to 165x10
Did these a la CC: on the cable row pulling towards the forehead.
EZ Curl
110x12
Dead by this point.
This continues to be a great day week in and week out. The Trap DLs seem to be helping, or at the very least they aren’t having a negative effect.
Squats
345x3, 375x3, 405x1, 415x1
Didn’t feel it today. No explosiveness, so I did a moderate effort single and called it. My form was excellent, though; hips and knees stayed in ideal position. Also, the mirror sucks. I realized I follow my eyes the whole time, which causes me to dip forward at the bottom.
GHR
+25x11
OH Tri Bar Extension
130x10,11
Press with Tri Bar
130x14
Neutral Machine Shoulder Press
160x15
My eating and sleep schedule may have hurt me. I didn’t eat nearly enough the two days prior it didn’t get enough sleep either. A weekend of pigging out is in order.
BB Row
275x10, 315x10, 345x6 (PR)
Good sets, but I need to foam roll my back before this.
T-Bar Row
3Platesx10, 4x10, 5x8, 5+25x7
Different gym today, so there was no landmine. It was slightly more difficult, but effective.
Narrow Pullup
BWx16
I’d like to go back to weighted pullups, but at this point in the workout I’m pretty gassed so the weight might be pretty light compared to what I’ve done previously.
Face-pulls
120x20, 160x16
Got in the gym late, so quick workout before work.
[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
Also, the mirror sucks. I realized I follow my eyes the whole time, which causes me to dip forward at the bottom.[/quote]
My training partner and I will sometimes put up an old sheet in front of the mirror when we squat. This may not be an option for you, or I would suggest using a rack which is not facing a mirror.
[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
Also, the mirror sucks. I realized I follow my eyes the whole time, which causes me to dip forward at the bottom.[/quote]
My training partner and I will sometimes put up an old sheet in front of the mirror when we squat. This may not be an option for you, or I would suggest using a rack which is not facing a mirror.
It does make a world of difference[/quote]
Thanks, that was exactly the thought that crossed my mind as well, but I don’t know how I would do it at that gym. I’m just going to do my heavy squatting at the other gym where there are no mirrors. At the gym with the mirror there is only one squat rack, and you can’t move the hooks to the other side unfortunately. Speaking of heavy squatting…
Olympic Front Squats
265x3, 295x3, 330x2
May or may not have gotten a 3rd. In good shape for next week though.
Bench
225x8 275x6, 315x5
Could have gotten a 6th, but again didn’t want any grinders. I have to fight my elbows from flaring, but when they stay tucked there’s no pain. Moving in my grip just a bit more should make it perfect.
Sumo DL
425x1, 460x4
4th wasn’t too hard. If I tried a 5th it would have been a real grinder, so going to wait until next week. Good advice in Rip’s article as usual, seemed to help to make extra effort to contract my spinal erectors prior to the pull.
Pendlay’s
250x7, 275x3.5
Applied the same logic here with extending hard, made the lift a lot harder.
OH Squats
Barx3, 95x1, 145x2
Different bar for the 1st two sets, and it slipped on the second. Normal bar for the last, but couldn’t control it for more than 2.
Low-trap Rows w/Cable
60x10, 75x10,10
Did these on the advice of a PT I’m doing a study with. I can best describe them as single-arm rows without much elbow bending. I focused strictly on pulling my shoulderblade back and down, which will apparently do a lot more to loosen up my shoulders than regular rowing. Not surprisingly, my shoulder issue is caused by the classic “bench disease.” Apparently I grew a brain way too late in the game to prevent it, so these should help fix it.