A1) Bench Press:
135lbs X 10(wu), 185 X 5(wu)
205 X 5, 5, 5, 4
(hmm couldn’t get 205 X 5 X 5)
A2) Back Squat:
5 X 135lbs
5 X 165
5 X 190
5 X 215
4 X 250
(too much leaning forward to justify not doing rep 5)
B1) Medium Grip Chins: 5 X 6 X BW
B2) Lying Leg Curls: 5 X 6 X 110 lbs
C) Some Arm work that had to be abandoned
Today was going to be a rest day but since I may not be able to make it to the gym until Thursday, I went for it.
My sessions now seem without purpose/direction. Some of that is by design, some by circumstances and schedule, and the rest could be explained by my apparent apathy for any lift but the Squat.
I think my bench needs some deloading followed by intensification, but schedule doesn’t favor that. The only training session I plan doing between Jan 27-Feb 6 will be used to test my 1RM on the major lifts.
This is okay though as long as I continue to see improvement on the Squat. I decided over 2 months ago to dedicate the first 4 months of this year to the Squat. Every other lift would just have to wait in line.
A) Bench Press:
135lbs X 10(wu), 185 X 5(wu)
205 X 5, 5, 5, 4, 2
(frustrated…still couldn’t get 205 X 5 X 5 in 20 mins)
B) Back Squat:
5 X 135lbs
5 X 185
5 X 225
2 X 255
4 X 195
(Not in the zone…bench messing with my head)
Decided to try some machine
HS Shoulder Press
HS Incline Press(won’t be going near this again)
Smith Incline Press(Used to love this for ‘upper’ pecs. Wonder why I stopped doing it).
It appears everytime I can lift 225 for 6/7, my bench has nowhere to go but down. This first happened in Nov 2006, and it happened at least 4x last year. In fact I made ZERO progress on my bench last year.
I lifted 235 X 4 less than 2 weeks ago with a painful lower back so I am a little baffled that 205 X 5 X 5 won’t budge.
This is frustrating and I briefly flirted with the idea to stop benching completely since it seems I am just spinning the wheels.
The fire was burning again by the time I left the gym - 315 RAW is going up this year, no matter what it takes!
A) Barbell Bench
135 X 10
185 X 3
205 X 3
215 X 3
225 X 1 (no triples here…heavy)
155 X 3 X 10 reps (at least I could do this)
B) Back Squat
135 X 10
185 X 5
205 X 3
225 X 3
245 X 3
265 X 3 (much easier than my 265 1RM about 8 weeks ago)
C) Conv. Deadlift
135 X 10
225 X 5
315 X 2
415 X 1
465 X 0 (not so fast dude)
315 X 5 X 5 (did this end of session, just before hyperextension)
D) Medium Grip Chins: 5 X 8 X BW
E) Lying Leg Curls:
80 X 10
95 X 10
110 X 2 X 6
125 X 6
110 X 2 X 6
F) AB Circuit
Cable Crunch: 1 X 10 X 77.5, 82.5, 87.5, 92.5
Serratus Crunch: 4 X 10 X (BW + 10s Dumbbells)
Planks: 4 X 45s
G) Seated Calf Raises: 90 X 15, 90 X 10 X 9 (105 total reps)
H) Hyperextension: 3 X 10 X BW
*** Lots of stretching and foam rolling before and after
Woke up this morning lethargic and with left over DOMS from Thursday’s session. But I dragged myself to the gym since I couldn’t guarantee another session till Wednesday. Ended up being my longest gym session to date- a little over 3 hrs with all the foam rolling.
Should be able to squeeze in another session before I leave for a short trip on Wednesday, and with that a scheduled time off from the irons…yay!
Attempts:
Squat
135 X 5
185 X 5
225 X 2
250 X 1
275 X 1
295 X 1
315 X 0
305 X 0
Bench
bar X 20
135 X 10
185 X 5
225 X 2
245 X 1
255 X 1
265 X 0
Deads
135 X 10
225 X 5
315 X 2
415 X 1
465 X 0
435 X 0 (pulled it but no lockout)
Somewhat happy that I equaled my lifetime PR on the Bench (at a lower BW) and the Squat is coming along slowly.
Deads on the other hand is down. Maybe I would have been able to lockout the 435 on a good day but the fact that I may not be able to seriously train deads while on the Smolov program is difficult to live with.
I guess I can only worry about one thing at a time.
[quote]ecogenx wrote:
You had your own full meet. The deadlift max would have been higher if you hadn’t done max squat first. Whats smolov like?[/quote]
Smolov is a brutal Squat routine. I am counting on it to improve my pathetic Squat
Main
3 X 8 X 190
1 X 5 X 205
2 X 2 X 220
1 X 1 X 235
Abs
Serratus Crunch: 3 X 12 X (BW + 12.5 DBs)
Cable Crunch: 3 X 12 X 100
Incline Sit-up: 3 X 12 X (BW + 25)
Day 2 of the Intro is exactly same as Day 1. I felt more winded today than yesterday however. Not be sleeping well and squatting relatively heavy for the third straight day didn’t help either.
Another session in about 24 hrs so I better stop whining.
who’s 5x5 where you following-
I have never done any formal program like that.
your volume is really good
kmc[/quote]
Thanks kmc.
I followed the Madcow Intermediate 5 X 5. It was the first time I used a program. I only followed it strictly for 5 weeks though before my lower back started acting up.
Main
4 X 5 X 205
1 X 3 X 220
2 X 2 X 235
1 X 1 X 265
I basically went through the motions today. Early AM + zero motivation + major soreness do not a good session make.
I am glad I am not putting a bar on my back the next 4 days.
Almost 2 months to the day, I decided to do 100 Back Squat sessions in 1 year. Today I completed 1/4th of it. My log revealed I have moved about 120000 pounds in 25 sessions. Not much given that some heavy hitters would probably do that in 8 sessions or less.
But it’s been enough to keep me motivated and increase my squat by at least 30 pounds (or 11%). And for that I count my blessings.
EDIT: Did some EZ Bar Curls and Skull crushers later in the day.
