Squat
5xBW
5x45
5x135 (Bar poppin off shoulders at top of rep.)
5x225 (Bar poppin off shoulders at top of rep.)
3x260
3x295
6x330 (No failing or help. These were all mine, and my spot said they were freakishly low. I don’t know if this is a PR or not.)
4x295 (Felt rough. Banged the safety bars on 3, so I did a fourth. Not sure about the form. Spot said it was good.)
3x260 (First one was TNG, the next 2 were paused. There is a video of this coming soon so we can look at form breakdowns.)
Leg Press
10x200
20x400
15x500
10x600
1x700 (I was beat. Could have done a couple more, but the gym was closing and I didn’t feel like it was necessary.)
Gym closed before I could front squat and possibly some other stuff. Pretty good lift.
I felt like I was falling forward on my top set today. The form felt pretty broken. I will see if I can get the set of 260 up so you guys can have a look. I have a few ideas of some things I could be doing, but I would be very thankful for some other opinions as well.
I have been trying to learn to Dan Green. His training is very interesting to me. My reading as of late has been centered on works by Jim Wendler, Paul Carter, Dan Green, Mark Bell, Team JTS, and a few others.
There is a great Q and A by him available if you google it. It is pretty comprehensive of his current routine, diet, etc.
The guy in the video performs my squat goal at the end of the film. Any solid pointers from anyone?[/quote]
He used to post here.[/quote]
Why did he leave?[/quote]
The boards were feisty.[/quote]
George Leeman left for that reason too. Its a shame.
He has some good shiz in this video. I don’t think that everyone will have the same cues for their squat (like I think that for some people breaking at the hips might be better), but this video is a great one.
M: squat no belt, paused squats (closer stance/high bar), stiff leg deads
T: DB bench, DB flyes, DB rows
W: front squats
TH: rest
F: conv. deads, deficit deads, stiff leg deads
SA: rest
SU: Paused bench, touch and go bench, DB laterals
Bench Press
5x45
5x135
3x185
3x205
8x230 (Spotter said he didn’t touch 9, but I think he did, so I’ll take 8. Almost a PR. Paused reps.)
3x205
15x185
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
70 lb dumbbells for sets of 10/10/10/10
Floor Press
5x135
6x185
3x210
(These all felt difficult. They were recommended by one of the strongest benchers in the gym. He insisted I give them a go. I feel like they will help. I may or may not keep them. Great guy. He even took time to spot and help me set up some of the weights and look at my form on the lift. I didn’t go up to 225 because I want to start light and progress forever. 210 felt pretty heavy though, I will admit.)
Kroc Row
120 lb dumbbell for sets of 10/10 (Does this count as a PR? I cant remember. Oh well.)
110 lb dumbbell for sets of 10/10/5 (Really focused on form on last set.)
Nothing bad, but nothing great here either. I’ll take it. I am still hacking up a storm, and I was tired as hell all day. I made the reps, so more weight will find it’s way on the bar this time next cycle. I felt a bit bloated in the gym today.
I am trying to submit this from my phone. This lift was from Thursday.
Pendlay Style T Bar Row
10@50
10@75
10@100
10@125
10@150 (Rough reps.)
10@150 (Ok, but slow.)
10@150 (Average reps.)
10@125
10@125
10@125
10@125
Skull Crushers
70 lbs for sets of 10/10/10/10
(Elbow discomfort on third set.)
I tried to do close grip bench press, however my shoulders felt real tight and sore, so I didn’t do more than 2 reps at 135. No idea why I did skull crushers instead of rope pushdowns.
I was tired all day, and didn’t sleep well. Not a great lift.
I will be taking today off again. Yesterday, my legs were still sore from my squat workout, and life is getting too busy. As always my gym closes really early in the day on the weekend, so I don’t think I would be able to transport my bar and everything very easily. I spent the entire day building a huge desk yesterday. My back was so sore and tight from being on the floor for a few hours.
I will eat well, get my work done, get a good night’s sleep (and be fully recovered tomorrow), and hopefully have a good deadlift workout tomorrow morning.
I am kind of pissed that I have been averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night for the last week. I need to be more disciplined. I am literally tired all the time, and it really showed in my last workout. I had to straight grind it out.
I have also been battling a bit of joint discomfort in my shoulders. I noticed it first during my Kroc Rows on my last bench press workout.
Deadlift
10 bodyweight squats
5x135
5x185
5x225
3x275
3x295
3x335
9x380 (Hitched the hell out of the 9th. I mean I shouldn’t even count it really. 8 reps is still a massive PR with 380.)
3x335
5x295 (Didn’t have to use the towels this week. My hands felt good for some reason.)
I took a huge break here. I started coughing really hard during my deadlift sets, and wanted to see if it would settle down. I guess I am still sick?
Goodmorning
145 lbs for sets of 10/10/10/10/5/5 (Not sure about the form here. My back is torn up from these. Will use same weight next DL day.)
Leg Curl
90x10/8*/8*/5/5 (* denotes sets that I did 10, but there were only 8 good reps performed.)
50x15/10
Leg Curl (different machine)
60x10 (This machine was nicer, and felt easier. I have never noticed it before though.)
I am pretty happy with this lift. I think it went pretty well. I am glad I took a bit of rest. I plan on going to the gym tomorrow to just do some small assistance work.
The guy in the video performs my squat goal at the end of the film. Any solid pointers from anyone?[/quote]
He used to post here.[/quote]
Go check out his YouTube or Twitter site, he responds fairly diligently to comments and questions.[/quote]
I’m trying to get my knees and ankles to have mobility like this. My stance is wider though.
about halfway through
The guy in the video performs my squat goal at the end of the film. Any solid pointers from anyone?[/quote]
He used to post here.[/quote]
Go check out his YouTube or Twitter site, he responds fairly diligently to comments and questions.[/quote]
I’m trying to get my knees and ankles to have mobility like this. My stance is wider though.
about halfway through
[/quote]
I wish I had mobility like that. I have seen this guy lift before as well. He is an elite lifter if I am correct.
Smith Machine Shrugs
10x135
10x225
10x275
10x315
10x365
5x365
10x315
10x275
15x225 (With a pause at the top.)
10x135 (Pause for 10 seconds at top of rep 1. Pause for 9 seconds at top of rep 2. Etc…)
70+x135 (I lost count. I know I did over 70 hard ones. Made the smith machine jump around a bit for most of the reps.)
Farmer’s Carry
90 lb dumbbells until I couldn’t carry them any more. Then my partner picked them up and walked until he couldn’t carry them anymore. We did this for 4 rounds before we made our way back to the rack. I have no idea how far we walked.
My traps are twitching as I write this haha. I actually had a trap pump during this workout.
I hope this works for traps and grip. My legs and low back are pretty sore after yesterday’s deadlift workout. I have been eating and sleeping well though, so I feel pretty good at the moment. I am still coughing up a storm.
Also, if anyone reading this gets a chance, I posted a bunch of questions in the Powerlifting forum. I would be very grateful if some of you guys took a look at them. I may repost them here at a later date.
Ok, so I just tried to catch up on everyones logs. I should send out some friend requests so that I don’t have to search through all of my activity logs so much to find them.
On a side note, I am starting to realize something that I have been suspecting for a while now. I think that I may have odd sticking points on my lifts.
Now I just have to determine whether or not it is a form issue or a muscle issue.
As always, thanks for reading guys. I know my walls of text are frustrating to read haha.
[quote]trivium wrote:
Ok, so I just tried to catch up on everyones logs. I should send out some friend requests so that I don’t have to search through all of my activity logs so much to find them.
On a side note, I am starting to realize something that I have been suspecting for a while now. I think that I may have odd sticking points on my lifts.
Now I just have to determine whether or not it is a form issue or a muscle issue.
As always, thanks for reading guys. I know my walls of text are frustrating to read haha.[/quote]
Oh, what are you sticking points? And I would like to hear more about your theory.
Sticking points:
Just above knees on deadlift.
The lockout for my bench press (and strict presses for that matter).
Everywhere on my squat.
I have been told most people stick at the bottom of the lifts when raw. Do you think it is different for be because I don’t wear a belt?
My theory is that your body needs time to adapt to a weight before you can add it. So you need to do lots of reps to make it “stick” and that volume is very important for size, which is important for being a strong mofo. (Dan Green says that you will probably be most successful in the weight class that allows you to carry the most lean mass.) Also, more quality reps means better motor patterns.
Also, the volume serves to give you the extra work. You can use it to focus on form, intensity, speed, or a weak spot with that lift (using the same exact lift and form of course). You should use the volume to manipulate these things, and not your top set of the day. That should be done with your competition form. The weights being used however should not change from your cycle. They are pre-determined.
Choose the one you feel like will help you most that day, and work with it based on how your top set went. Sometimes you got it real good, and you can just get the reps TNG and head for the assistance work. Some days you struggle, but you feel like you got some left in the old tank. Do some AMRAP work. Lets say you felt weak. Speed work on your down sets. You can never go wrong with paused work. Angry with life? Drop sets work here.
For the sticking points: The old “raw people fail at the bottom” crap is BS. If you fail at the bottom of the bench it is because: 1. You aren’t staying tight 2. you lost scapula retraction 3. you didn’t tuck your elbows 4. you are touching the bar really fucking high 5. your back is pathetically weak
if you are weak at the bottom of a conventional deadlift: 1. You treat it like a squat, you don’t need to get to parallel 2. You aren’t staying tight in the bottom, you need your abs to be supporting you, or you won’t get off the floor. 3. you are over arching your back, and retracting your shoulders,
squat: 1. you are losing tension in the whole. 2. your mobility is awful. 3. you are not keeping your abs braced
That is not even an extensive list of reasons, and I tried my best to not call out on weak muscles. Also, belts actually help in the bottom.
