New to T-Nation. Popping Log Cherry. Lower back has been a weak little bitch recently, but today felt great. I think I was attempting to squat too often.
Mil Press
130x5
145x3
160x3 (Pretty legit for me, had to reset my TM recently)
A near miss today. I hit my 5/3/1 reps but had to sub my assistance work.
50 lb Farmers Walks warm-up ( a couple minutes)
5/3/1 Deads
290x5
325x3
365x1
5 sets of Lunges (20 reps)- wanted to do 5x10 squats but lower back was not having it.
3 sets of calf raises
Superset with hamstring curls
70 lb Farmers Walks (a few minutes)
10 minutes of abs
Although I recently had to reset my TMs, I still feel weak on squats and deads. Learned a valuable lesson though. Previously I had foolishly not been deloading (like an amateur). I am looking forward to that next week now, been feeling kind of beat up lately.
5/3/1 Bench
235x5
265x3
295x4 (Felt like I had another rep in the tank, but didn’t have spotter so it would have been risky, either way definitely smashed TM today)
Military Press 5x10 (@85 lbs)
50 Pullups (Sets of 5) - Have been trying to condition myself to do pull-ups (instead of chin-ups). The transition has been slow going but I think it’ll pay off in the long run. I just think it probably targets my lats more and relies less on biceps than chin-ups. Does anyone have an alternative opinion on this? Has anyone really seen any additional benefit from one grip or another?
3x10 Dips (BW)
3 Sets of Cable upright rows (12-10 reps)
3 Sets of Cable Curls (10 reps)
About 42 Minutes in total, was happy about that pace.
Deload day on Deadlift. Went even lighter than Wendler’s recommendations, but I think I will be glad I did. Hopefully I will get back on my A game next week and start hitting good PRs again.
Okay, I have come to realize more drastic measures will have to be taken for my back to recover. For more or less the next month I am going to have to completely lay off squats and deads. I really hate to have to do that, it took a lot of self-debate to arrive at that conclusion, but there is no way I can get stronger in these two lifts if I can’t get my back in better condition. Therefore, for the next month (until next scheduled deload period) I will be doing either leg press or weighted lunges. If anybody has any other suggestions that might be good for exercises during recovery period, feel free to suggest them.
Attempted deload day on squats (as you can see my numbers were ridiculous, horrible even for a deload)
135x5
185x3
185x3
couldn’t squat any more so I just did a bunch of lunges and 50 Pullups
Went inside house and felt like a weak bitch for about 10 minutes and then went back into garage
Did 4x10 sets of leg curls
supersetted 4x15 sets of calf raises (standing)
threw in a bunch more pullups
Okay First day of dropping Deads and Squats. Felt good and I think it was exactly what my lower back needed. I’m still going to go at least another week or more before attempting either of these.
Weighted Lunges
65x 5 each leg
75x 5 each leg
85x 5 each leg
95x 3 each leg
85x 5 each leg
75x 5 each leg
then did 3 sets of non-weighted lunges (9 reps each leg)
3 Sets 10 of Leg curls (on Total Gym)
superset 3 sets of standing calf raises (15 reps)
10 Minutes of abs
30 second wall-sit (hey why not?)
6 Minute farm walk around neighborhood with 25 lb plates
Kind of lost track of time but I think it was between 45-50 minutes.
Lunges 65lbs x 5 reps per leg x 6 sets
Military Press
95x5
105x5
115x5
115x5
155x5
Pull-ups in between squats and Mil press (55 total)
4 sets of 10 Leg Curls
From the 18th. Have been bulking for about a month, but I have started seeing more fat gain than I wanted. So I am going to reign in my calories a bit. Tried to upload a bench vid, but it was too large to send from my phone. It was shitty quality anyway lol
I had an epiphany today. I am going to completely drop squats from my regimen. I know its the essential cornerstone of powerlifting, but for whatever reason my body won’t allow me to do them anymore. Ideally in the process of lifting, one aims to become stronger. If in that process they are actually becoming weaker, one must ask themselves: WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT?
Therefore, I am going to just sub lunges for squats indefinitely . I know many would probably be critical of this concept and at first I had a lot of reservations about it, but I think it will be for the best. So I’ll end my diatribe here and conclude by saying I am completely cool with this idea now.
Squats
185x5
225x5
Leg Press
270x5
360x5
Lunges
3x 10 per leg
Bench
185x5
205x5
225x5
245x5
245x5
245x5
295x5 (very happy about this. I’ve hit this before, but only once)
Lunges
3x 10 per leg
- Superset calves (sets of 15)
5 Minute abs
I have no idea about the time frame. Abnormally long for sure.