Mondays have definitely turned into a split session. Squats in the morning and accessory work in the afternoon…
10/06/08 - Squat (ME)
A) 13" Box Squat
barx12
135x5 <–hip flexor tight
135x5
225x5
315x3 <–still tight, extra warmups…
315x3
365x1
405x1
465x1 <–slow and ugly 505x1 (PR +10lbs) <–felt solid
465x1
B) Front Squats
275x1
315x1
350x2
350x0
I beat my body up this weekend, and felt a little flat going into today’s session. The first 465x1 felt slow…no pop off the box, and a little GM. I was beginning to doubt whether I had a 10lb PR in me today. I took about 8 minutes and regrouped. 505 felt heavy coming out of the racks, but I just stuck with it, and it actually felt much better than the 465 did on the way up.
I knew I didn’t have much left after the Squats, but wanted to get a little PR on the Front Squats. 350x3 would have been a 5lb PR. I got the first two, but couldn’t get a breath in for the third. I tried 3 or 4 times to get in a big breath, but it wasn’t happening, and the lights were starting to fade. I decided to rack it rather than risking passing out/injury. I tried it one more time, but I was spent, and just lowered it to the pins and walked away with my head hanging in shame. Didn’t even try.
Happy with the Box Squat PR, and need to be kinder to my body on the weekends.
I decided to do an EDT inspired 2nd session for my accessory work. Mainly because I drank too much this weekend, and figured it would be good punishment. The weights I picked were a little too easy since I was able to get 5 reps on most of the sets, and never fewer than 3 on any. But, I sweat like a pig, and was tired after the second pairing.
PR Zone #1:
A1) Assisted Chins - #15
60 reps
A2) Situps w/50lb DB on Chest
60 reps
A) 3 Board Press
…
275x1
315x5 365x4 (PR +1 rep)
365x4 (miss on 5)
365x3
B) Decline Medium Grip
275x10,8,6
C) Rope Pushdown (20-30 sec b/w sets)
70x5x10-12.
365 felt light and fast on the 3 board, but just couldn’t keep my breath held for 5 reps. I exhaled after the third rep and couldn’t get tight. The fourth rep went up slow, so I stopped there. I tried it again and held it for 4 reps, exhaled and couldn’t get tight…tried a fifth rep and missed. I was spent by the third set.
I’m propping my bench up on a 12" box for the Decline Bench, and spent most of the time sliding down the bench. These sucked, need to find a way to anchor my legs/feet somehow.
Pushdowns felt good, I did them a little differently today. I did 5 reps, rested just long enough to keep hitting 5 reps with only a moderate strain. Just wanted to get some extra reps in today. I lost count on the number of sets. It was somewhere between 10 and 12.
[quote]bignate wrote:
nice work on the squat, how tall are you? cuz a 17’’ box is parallel for me and a little bit below but it seems like everyone uses 13’’ about…[/quote]
I’m 6’ tall. I was using a 14" box for a while, but it wasn’t quite parallel for me.
Even at 6’4", if you think a 17" box is parallel, you are probably kidding yourself.
[quote]Modi wrote:
bignate wrote:
nice work on the squat, how tall are you? cuz a 17’’ box is parallel for me and a little bit below but it seems like everyone uses 13’’ about…
I’m 6’ tall. I was using a 14" box for a while, but it wasn’t quite parallel for me.
Even at 6’4", if you think a 17" box is parallel, you are probably kidding yourself.[/quote]
This is definitely true. I don’t use a box anymore, but when I did, at 5’10, I needed a 12 inch box or lower. I think you’d have to be over 7 feet tall to get depth with a 17" box.
B1b) Close Grip Lat Pulldown w/45 degree lean back
140x5x4
B2) GHR’s
4,4,4,4,3,3
I know I’m going to get the lecture about taking care of my hands and not letting my callouses get too big, so go ahead…
On the 4th set with chains, I felt a little tearing of a callous on my left hand, so I peeled away the loose skin and rubbed some chalk on it. On the 5th set, it tore some more, but I finished the set anyways. It was one of those that tears down to the soft pink flesh, but not a bleeder, so it could have been much worse.
I was going to do my accessory work EDT style again today, but it didn’t go as well as planned.
I threw on my straps for Pendlay Rows, but after the second set, another callous tore even worse. I opted for Lat Pulls with a narrow grip, and just held on with my finger tips to finish the workout.
GHR’s felt effective today. Rather than going to failure, I cut the reps in half and was really able to feel it in my hamstrings.
I decided not to make my hands any worse. I think this was a smart decision, and should be able to heal up pretty quickly. If I had torn another layer, it could have been one of those long slow pain in the ass situations. I was either being smart and not making it worse, or just being a pussy. It’s really not that bad.
way to be dicks, but anyways im completely serious, this is the box (bench whatever) height i used and i passed all my sqwuats at my meet, maybe a 16’‘?, im 6’ 5 and i usually workout or squat in boots too
B) 20" Box Squat w/ Yoke Bar
365x5
455x3 545x2 (Baseline PR) (miss on 3)
Squats felt super light today. 405 was effortless, so I knew I had another big PR in me. 455 was solid, with a few pounds left for next time. My right wrist was bothering me on the next set, so I just racked it and did some High Box Squats with the Yoke Bar instead.
I would have had 545x3 Box Squat, but I moved my foot while sitting on the box, and got into a bad position. Got about half way up and couldn’t grind it out. The Yoke Bar really pitches you forward, and once you are out of position it’s brutal trying to recover.
I’ll do the second half of the session later today.
A) 3 Board Press
…
275x1
315x1
345x1
385x2 (miss on 3) (tie PR)
385x2
390x1 (miss on 2)
B) Floor Press
275x8x2
275x7x2
225x15
C) Incline DB Press
60x8
80x8
100x8
Benching is for people with short arms.
I didn’t sink the bar into the boards due to Meat’s recommendations, so it’s tough to tell whether I just sucked or if I’m a little weaker just pausing it on the boards. 385x3 would have been a 10lb PR, and I thought I could grind it out, but no go. So I went up 5 lbs to get a 5lb 2 rep PR and knew I didn’t have it after the first rep.
Floor Press felt ok.
I hate the adjustable Olympic DB’s about as much as I hate anything in life. They are a pain in the ass to load, they rattle all over the place, they are bulky as hell, and they are just too damned long. I may take a sledge hammer to them for some GPP later today.
A) Elevated Deads from 12" Box
…
405x2
495x1
585x1 635x1 (PR +20lbs)
685x1 (PR +70lbs)
715x0 (greedy)
B) Bent Over Rows
225x6 275x6 (PR +1 rep)
275x7 (PR +2 reps)
275x8 (PR +3 reps)
275x10 (PR +5 reps)
C1) GHR’s
10 11 (PR +1 rep)
10
C2) Close Grip Lat Pulldown w/45 degree lean back
160x10x3 (probably a PR)
I strapped up today because I tore a couple of callouses off last week, and my hand kept splitting all week. I filled the crack with superglue this morning, and prayed for it to hold together, and it felt perfect.
I got greedy on the last Elevated DL, but I’m happy with a huge PR.
Everything else felt easy today, so I just took PR’s left and right. I already started my antibiotic course since I’ll be spending the weekend with Phil and Meat, so I should be ok with all the whoring today.
Everything else felt easy today, so I just took PR’s left and right. I already started my antibiotic course since I’ll be spending the weekend with Phil and Meat, so I should be ok with all the whoring today. [/quote]
Are you sure you’ll be OK? You might need a different medication after a weekend of ‘fun’ with those two. Look out for the flying squirrel.
Everything else felt easy today, so I just took PR’s left and right. I already started my antibiotic course since I’ll be spending the weekend with Phil and Meat, so I should be ok with all the whoring today.
Are you sure you’ll be OK? You might need a different medication after a weekend of ‘fun’ with those two. Look out for the flying squirrel.[/quote]
Hey, I’m not touching the squirrel, I’m just worried about being in the same gym as them. They’ve got something special that I don’t want anything to do with.
A) 3 Board Press
…
275x1
315x1
365x1
385x1 410x1 (PR +5lbs) (pinky on rings)
410x1 (index on rings)
B) Chain Suspend Lockouts (Pin #11 height)
315x6
365x6
405x6 (index on rings)
405x6 (pinky on rings)
405x6 (index on rings)
C) High Rep Bench Press (90 sec between sets) 225x30 (PR +5 reps)
185x30
135x30
I was talking with Meat this weekend about my grip width (pinky on rings), and I’m going to work on getting it out to index on the rings. I moved my grip around on some of the sets today. The range of motion is much shorter with my index on the rings, but my lockout feels a little weaker, and it’s certainly harder to unrack the weight. I’m going to do a lot of my accessory work with the wider grip until I get used to it.
Everything felt pretty good today. I was surprised by the 5 rep PR on the 225 set. I haven’t done these on the flat bench for several weeks, and apparently the lay off was exactly what I needed. I rested about 90 sec between sets and I was fried by the end. I’ll be sore after that drop set.
The chain weight is really brutal when you get up to 4 or 5 per side. The last rep took a little longer than forever to lock out, but I failed on 5 chains 4 weeks ago, so this is good progress. This may be my last time going up to 4 or 5 chains because it loads up so unevenly that the bar is constantly being pulled away and the back towards you. I may work up to a heavier pull next time and use less chains so I don’t lose my groove.
This was my first time using my new T-Bar Row bracket from NYBB. I would say it does the job very well, but is only a medium grade piece of equipment. It doesn’t feel cheap, but it also doesn’t feel like something that Elitefts would sell. The bracket puts the end of the bar a couple inches off the ground, and also effectively lengthens the bar, so these were a little harder than just planting the bar in the corner of the room or under a DB, but much quicker to set up, and smooth as well.
GHR’s are really starting to feel good. I was rushed at the end, and didn’t really rest enough between sets. I might have been good for 12x3 if I had taken my time.
No complaints…I feel like I’m making progress, and looking forward to testing my max soon.
That’s a solid lift, but you’re right about using too much chain weight on DLs. I always found it better to go with more bar weight and 2 or 3 pairs of chains. Still, that movement, plus reverse band pulls and box pulls are the best for building the deadlift (mine anyway).
[quote]novaeer wrote:
That’s a solid lift, but you’re right about using too much chain weight on DLs. I always found it better to go with more bar weight and 2 or 3 pairs of chains. Still, that movement, plus reverse band pulls and box pulls are the best for building the deadlift (mine anyway).[/quote]
Thanks Novaeer. I’ve been alternating Box Pulls (Elevated Deads) and pulling from the floor with chains each week, and I feel like I’m making solid progress. I think I’ll bump the DL’s w/Chains to 545 next time and work up to 2 chains, or 3 if it feels good.
