Front Squats: 185 x 5, 225 x 5, 245 x5, 275 x2 (Weight and Rep PR).
Notes: First the good. I thought 6 reps was in the cards, and 7 was on my wish list, and when I smoked through 6 I knew I had 8 in me. I probably had 9, but I was stoked to get 8. That’s my best ever on the rep-max calculator. Front squats felt more comfortable, so I decided to just start working my way up. I have never had more than 225 on the bar. I think I got 315 in me, so I am going to work towards that.
Now the bad. I finally hit the point where I could not snap the lever belt closed without cramping. Time to lose some weight. Skiing used to be my HIIT, but until I get a boat and find a club, I need something else. Hill outside, here I come.
So tonight the wife says, “I was looking online and I want to try a new place for dinner: let’s go to the Thai restaurant in Fife.” I say, “No problem, what’s it called.” Wife says, “The Thai Restaurant in Fife.”
Wow! That 375x8 was a big jump in estimated max. I did some statistics and that one performance pulled your average rate of strength gain for this bout of 5/3/1 from .5lbs a day up to almost 1lb a day. Good day for squats, and overall good hard work as usual.
[quote]Carl Darby wrote:
Wow! That 375x8 was a big jump in estimated max. I did some statistics and that one performance pulled your average rate of strength gain for this bout of 5/3/1 from .5lbs a day up to almost 1lb a day. Good day for squats, and overall good hard work as usual.[/quote]
I have been thinking about last night, and I hope it was not an outlier. My weak point in squats is always my lower back. My form flaw is getting forward when I get tired, and this puts more stress on my lower back, and that’s when I fail. I think hitting the deads hard and adding in the GMs is helping my squats, but last night was the first time since starting 5-3-1 again that my lower back was not fried from deads going into the set. I got a little unplanned rest due to me schedule, and guess what, PR. I think what I am going to do is take myself off the strict 7-day week and not worry so much about getting deads, press, bench, and squats done in a 7 day period–8 or 9 days is fine. On the other hand, I don’t think you need to be totally fresh every time or make PRs every time to make progress. You can make progress and defer the measurable result until you get a little rest. So, I go back and forth on this.
If it was me, a performance like that would be an outlier. I’ve never been able to increase squats at a rate like that. But considering your strength gains in the last year, its not so uncommon you for.
Notes: Felt like a good training day, I was rested and now I feel worked. I has fairly happy with bench, and the rows are coming along nicely. I am out of weight on the Krocks, so I’ll just keep adding one rep at a time. Now its time to eat.
Rug, beer keg shaped is more like it. I keep getting stronger–and fatter.
LS, my calculator has my max estimate about 312. Its been hovering between 305 and 312 these last few cycles. But I hit the rack on the last rep pretty hard going up and this threw me off, so theoretically I had another rep in me, but I doubt it.
Sawatdee. How was the thai food? Use to get some at an outside diner in Bangkok so hot it hurt. Had to wash it down with lots of Singha beer. Liked you front back work out with the bench and rows. Inclines are getting strong. Hell, all your lifts are getting strong.
[quote]hel320 wrote:
Sawatdee. How was the thai food? Use to get some at an outside diner in Bangkok so hot it hurt. Had to wash it down with lots of Singha beer. Liked you front back work out with the bench and rows. Inclines are getting strong. Hell, all your lifts are getting strong.[/quote]
Thanks, Harry. The food was great. She asked how hot I wanted it on a scale of 1 to 5, I asked for a 6. She smiled, and I regretted it. Next time I’ll try the 4.
[quote]ruglayer09052000 wrote:
Would it be wrong to say that we ENJOY eating? I know I do.[/quote]
Rug, I love to eat. I can’t figure some of the kids on here who say they can’t eat enough to grow. I guess if all you eat is chicken breast and broccollin it would be tough, but I can hit 10,000 Kcals without batting an eyelash.