Way harder than it should have been. Not that this should be an easy workout, but I spent most of Friday and Saturday staining the baluster and railings on my deck. 6 hours each day of squatting, kneeling, hunching, stooping, etc. My legs were tired going into today, and the 10 16oz beers last night didn’t help. At all.
440 felt hard in the high bar position, but I think I will keep everything 75% and under high bar to give my shoulder a break, and switch to low bar after that.
495 felt light coming out of the rack, but I just wasn’t mentally 100% there. I lost tightness on a few reps and had to work harder than necessary to finish.
I got all my reps, which is good, but my own fault for staying out late last night and drinking too much. The lifting gods were kind in letting me not miss any reps, but in the future I need to be smarter the day before Squatting.
[quote]Modi wrote:
440 felt hard in the high bar position, but I think I will keep everything 75% and under high bar to give my shoulder a break, and switch to low bar after that.
495 felt light coming out of the rack, but I just wasn’t mentally 100% there. I lost tightness on a few reps and had to work harder than necessary to finish.
I got all my reps, which is good, but my own fault for staying out late last night and drinking too much. The lifting gods were kind in letting me not miss any reps, but in the future I need to be smarter the day before Squatting.
I think it’s fairly normal for the first day back into the brutality to be tough. I know it was for me. After the first couple of sessions, I started hitting a better groove.
That was some damn fine squatting. When you are hitting reps like that when you aren’t 100% and you get out of your groove a little…that’s dedication.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
I think it’s fairly normal for the first day back into the brutality to be tough. I know it was for me. After the first couple of sessions, I started hitting a better groove.
That was some damn fine squatting. When you are hitting reps like that when you aren’t 100% and you get out of your groove a little…that’s dedication.
[/quote]
I figure not Squatting much for the past 3 weeks was part of it, but in reality I just drank a little too much and didn’t get a good night sleep. I’m also fighting allergies or a cold, not sure which, so my head is a little fuzzy and I’m stuffed up as hell.
Strange choice of music today. I made a mix of 80’s songs that have been redone by heavier bands. It was good for a change of pace.
Squats felt better today. My walkouts feel very easy ever since starting Smolov. 525 was a solid weight, but a cheap PR. I’ve gotten this weight for 5 reps before, but it’s also the most I’ve gotten for 3 reps, so I’ll take the 30lb PR. The cruelty of Smolov is that you drop back to 495 and hit two more sets at 495. Another PR since I’ve only ever done one set of 5 at this weight.
My shoulder is feeling better. I felt it a little on the last two sets at 495, but it was a little different than before, and there is no pain after Squatting. I’m going to continue rehabbing it as I have been doing all along, but it looks like it’s starting to get better.
Strange choice of music today. I made a mix of 80’s songs that have been redone by heavier bands. It was good for a change of pace.
Squats felt better today. My walkouts feel very easy ever since starting Smolov. 525 was a solid weight, but a cheap PR. I’ve gotten this weight for 5 reps before, but it’s also the most I’ve gotten for 3 reps, so I’ll take the 30lb PR. The cruelty of Smolov is that you drop back to 495 and hit two more sets at 495. Another PR since I’ve only ever done one set of 5 at this weight.
My shoulder is feeling better. I felt it a little on the last two sets at 495, but it was a little different than before, and there is no pain after Squatting. I’m going to continue rehabbing it as I have been doing all along, but it looks like it’s starting to get better.
Nah, just kidding, Smolov has been great. The workouts can be tough as hell, especially when you are still sore from the previous one. But it’s great for building mental toughness, as well as allowing you to realize that you can handle much heavier weights and higher workloads than expected.
Thanks. 525 felt lighter coming out of the racks than I expected. This is almost always a good sign for me. When the weight feels heavy to me, it’s usually not a great set.
Good work Modi, I’m glad the shoulder is mending up! Keep up the rehab, I find using a lacrosse ball on the traps, Infraspinatus and Teres Minor works wonders.
[quote]Free2Be wrote:
Good work Modi, I’m glad the shoulder is mending up! Keep up the rehab, I find using a lacrosse ball on the traps, Infraspinatus and Teres Minor works wonders.[/quote]
Yeah, that’s a great tool, and I need to start that up again. I tried foam rolling the area today, and it really isn’t the same.
04/22/09 - Active Recovery
A) Walk dog x 20 min (started to rain…didn’t want to melt)
B) Foam Roller (x10 ea)
Quads
I-T Band
Hamstrings
Piriformis
Low Back
Mid Back
Teres Minor/Infraspinatus area
Bench felt solid today. I’ve been working on pressing the weight back a little rather than straight up. I over exaggerated on one rep and slammed the uprights, but other than that it felt good.
Then I misloaded my adjustable dumbells and did Flyes with 40’s instead of 30’s or 35’s. These felt good as well, and may just bump up to 40’s on a regular basis. I keep these super strict, so they are always on the light side compared to most people’s fly/press type movement.
Shoulder (knock on wood) is feeling better every day.
Bench felt solid today. I’ve been working on pressing the weight back a little rather than straight up. I over exaggerated on one rep and slammed the uprights, but other than that it felt good.
Then I misloaded my adjustable dumbells and did Flyes with 40’s instead of 30’s or 35’s. These felt good as well, and may just bump up to 40’s on a regular basis. I keep these super strict, so they are always on the light side compared to most people’s fly/press type movement.
Shoulder (knock on wood) is feeling better every day.
A) Squat
…315x3
380x4 (65%)
410x4 (70%)
470x4x5 (80%)
B) Face Pulls
redx12x3
Today didn’t feel too bad. I was still a little sore going into the session, but you get used to it.
I really have to try take it easy this weekend. I am going out Saturday Night with old friends, and Sunday is going to be a heavy Squat day. I may volunteer to be the DD, so I don’t feel like shit going into Sunday’s session.
I knew today was going to feel heavy, so I took it easy last night. I volunteered to be DD so I wouldn’t drink (much), which was a good thing. However, I spent half the day out in the sun doing yard work, and was dehydrated as hell this morning. I drank 2 32oz bottles of water, ate breakfast and went right into this session. My stomach was so full of water I thought I was going to puke on many of the reps.
The weights didn’t feel heavy, and the bar speed was good, but I just felt squished in the bottom position. I wasn’t all that confident going into the last set, and was pretty spent at the end.
I looked ahead at next week (which I know not to do) and it looks brutal. I am going to severely limit everything else this week and just focus on my Squats. If I feel good, I’ll do a little extra, but no promises.
[quote]Free2Be wrote:
Good work Modi, I’m glad the shoulder is mending up! Keep up the rehab, I find using a lacrosse ball on the traps, Infraspinatus and Teres Minor works wonders.[/quote]
I’m getting a lacrosse ball from a friend today. Softball is definitely the biggest culprit right now. I took 30 or 40 swings yesterday and it’s sore today, but no where near where it was a couple weeks ago. As much as I need the batting practice, I may have to limit it, or at least stay away from my 30 oz bat.
A) Foam Roller (x10 ea)
Quads
Adductors
I-T Bands
Hamstrings
Glutes
Piriformis
Low Back
Mid Back
B) Lacrosse Ball (x lots)
Posterior Delt
Infraspinatus
Teres Minor
Teres Major
Rhomboids
Lower/Mid Traps
I’ve come to the sad conclusion that foam rolling and using the lacrosse ball is more painful than the Squatting itself.[/quote]
I’d have to agree with you there.
Just something to throw out, I think you have spent 9 weeks on smolov now? I think you have 3-4 weeks to go? If it were me and it is obviously not, I’d make sure I could finish it with as little working against me as possible. When factoring in softball you may think about it that way, if that is how you feel. I don’t know, I’m just throwing my mindset out there and that is my mindset from a distance. I usually do stupid shit that gets in my way.
