Let's Break A 2-Year Plateau

Training Logs
1

I’ve been a T-Nation reader since 2010 and decided to make a new account for the purposes of this training log. A bit about me and my training history:

Age: 24
Height: 5’6
Weight: ~165
Gender: Female

Been training with weights seriously for about 3.5 years. The beginning of 2012 my lifts were:

Squat: 200
Bench: 120
Deadlift: 240

As of right now, my lifts are:

Squat: 240
Bench: 135
Deadlift: 235

I’m extremely frustrated with my progress, especially since I’ve been unable to replicate that 240 squat since I did it. My hopes are that with this training log I can see patterns in my training to explain why my progress is so slow, and why my deadlift hasn’t gotten any better. Perhaps also others here may see why this is the case.

Here’s a current video of my squat:

I just finished a 9-week program from a friend of mine who is a strength coach. I have to have a pretty big dental procedure done in about 4 weeks that will leave me unable to exercise for 2 weeks, so I’m running a short Smolov Jr. cycle for “fun” till then. (However fun a Smolov cycle can be) Won’t help my deadlift problem for now, but should be an interesting experience!

12/10/13

Squat - 6x6x150

Tricep Ext - 4x12x45
Supinated Pull-Up Negative - 4x2

Squats felt good, but left hip flexor been pretty tight and a little painful the past couple weeks. Should roll it out better before workout.

2

12/12/13

  1. Squat - 7x5x160
  2. Speed Bench - 5x3x75

When I was a kid I read this book called “Holes.” It was about a boy who was sent to this detention camp in the middle of the desert for committing a crime. (Kind of messed up looking back) At the camp, every morning the kids had to get up and dig a pretty deep hole. One every single day.

The kid in the book thinks the first day of hole digging is the hardest. The second day, he thinks the second hole is the hardest. Not only is it still hard as hell, but on top of it he’s sore as hell from the second day. The third day, he thinks the third hole is the hardest, for similar reasons.

I’m kinda thinking that’s what Smolov is like.

3

12/14/13

  1. Squat - 8x4x172.5
    2a) Pull-Up negative (pronated) - 4x2
    2b) Lateral Raises - 4x12x10lb
    2c) Front Raises - 4x12x5lb

Squats felt a lot harder than they looked. Recorded the last set and was very surprised at how fast they looked.

Not sore much at all now, just pretty tired. Need to work harder on recovering. That sounds like an oxymoron.

4

12/15/13

  1. Squat 10x3x182.5

Got about 4 hours of sleep last night. One of the bros next door got trashed and wouldn’t stop yelling the same 4 phrases over and over for about 3 hours. I should have worked harder on my recovery by getting up and punching him in the face.

Don’t really like how that one looks compared to yesterday. On the plus side, it only gets more fun from here!

5

12/17/13

  1. Squat 6x6x155

2a) Pull-up Negatives (w/ band assistance) 3 x 5
2b) Tricep Pushdown 3 x 15 x 50lb

Squats today felt…good in a weird way. Like they didn’t feel perfect and my form could still use work. But it felt good to do them, despite not being easy. What kind of Smolov voodoo magic is this?

6

Long update, didn’t keep up with posting over the holidays. 1 day of Smolov Jr. left, not sure what I’m going to do with myself after, since I had to postpone my dental surgery.

12/19/13

  1. Squat - 7x5x165

12/22/13

  1. Squat - 8x4x177.5
    2a) Pull-Up Negative (supinated) 3x2
    2b) DB Chest Fly 3x10x12lb

The squats on this day felt VERY easy. They were practically flying the whole time through, which was surprising and awesome. However, this was the first day that my right shoulder started hurting under the bar. It wasn’t too bad.

12/24/13

  1. Squat - 10x3x190
  2. Speed Bench - 5x2x85
  3. Cable Row - 4x10x75

Squat were again super easy, even though I was at a YMCA instead of my usual gym. Forgot what it was like to wait for a squat rack.

12/26/13

  1. Squat - 6x6x160
    2a) Tricep Pushdown 3x12
    2b) Y, T, W’s 3x10x5

12/28/13

  1. Squat - 7x5x170
    2a) Pull-Up w/ band assistance (supinated) 2x8
    2b) DB Shoulder Press 2x15x15

Right and left shoulders felt kinda bad this day. Was pretty uncomfortable.

12/29/13

  1. Squat - 8x4x182.5

Right shoulder hurt like HELL today. Took forever to set up under the bar in a way it could stand. If I was a smarter person I would have called it during my warm-up sets. But alas, I’m stubborn and stupid so I gritted my teeth and finished it. Squats felt pretty hard today. All the sets were slow but I did get my groove a little bit after set 5. Shoulder was really distracting.