Week 12 days 1 to 4 - max week

Monday - 515

Wound up waiting for a rack for 30 mins, then warmed up facing the mirror up to 365. Having a mirror right in my face really throws me off. Switched racks and dropped down a bit, then worked back up. I was kinda pissed, but squatting without knee pain is a different story and I felt fine once I got going. 5 plates went up easy and deep, 515 the same, 535 I took nice and deep but couldn't get back up. I was happy with the miss, I didn't round over, I just went back down and dropped it back on the safeties. Felt very good tonite.

Tuesday - night off, anniversary with the gf

Wednesday - 475

was very distracted this workout, 475 went up fairly quick, but I twisted big time and got rounded over, shut it down there.

Thursday - 475
Just stopped there, I'm not very happy with the way things have been going lately, lacking the excitement to train, I think these are the dark times, but I feel fairly fine, just my head isn't in it. Gotta figure something out.

week 11 day 5

warm up - bike, hip stretch, dynamic moves, pec and lat stretch

back squat
barx10, 135x3x2, 225x1x2, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1x10

wrapped tensors above and below my kneecaps, and man, it made a big difference in terms of knee pain. It was probably my most pain free workout since starting this. I'm really hoping I can feel like this from now on.

week 11 day 4

warm up
bike, pvc pipe, couple dynamic moves, static stretching - hip, pec, lat

back squat
barx5, 135x3x3, 225x2x2, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1x5

whew, I'm feeling pretty burnt out right now... and not very happy about my attitude while in the gym... it's starting to get pretty monotonous, and I'm still feeling like taking a nap between each rep.

End of the day, I want this real bad, and I want 600. For me, it makes everything worth it... Spoke with Willie today and he advised me to go lighter, and he still wants me to take days off.

Week 11 days 2 and 3 - light week

Day 2

so much for hammering out 10 singles everyday. Everything just felt way off, every rep felt like faceplant city. It's just a totally different squat now, I went up to 365 didn't like it, took a deep breath, went down to a plate, and slowly worked back up to 365 still didn't like it so I just stopped. Did something, better than nothing.

Day 3

Back squat
barx5, 135x1x3, 225x1x2, 315x1x2, 365x1x5,405x1, 435x1, 455x1x3

455 was just heavy enough that I was feeling a sticking point, but it felt light. This is right around the weight where I begin to dip more in the hole, so I'm feeling a little incsonsistent. But I don't mind working with this weight for a while.

week 11 day 1

Warm up
bike
hip stretch, pec stretch, lat stretch
rollover into vsit, mountain climbers
glute march

Back squat
barx5, 135x1x5, 225x1x2, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1x3, 425x1, 445x1, 455x1x3

I was feeling very loose tonite, could walk down stairs semi comfortably, could do a bodyweight squat without feeling too rough, felt fresh. slowly built up to 455 for a few singles and felt like I could just sit there and pump out 15+ singles. Shut it down early, I'm a lot more confident after getting a day in after a day off, right now my muscles recovering too much scares me a bit, and I had 3 days off. still, I'm hoping I can feel more like this from now on. I'm going to try to hit all 10 singles with 455 tommorow.

week 10 day 5 - max week

Warm up
bike - 10ish mins
pvc pipe - it bands, lats
mountain climbers, rollover into v sit
hip, pec, lat stretch - forgot to stretch my calf
x band walks, glute march - taken from the jacked and strong video series

Back squat
barx5, 60x1x5, 100x1x2, 140x1, 165x1, 185x1, 205x1, 215x1, 225x1

Bench
264x3x5

Was feeling like a zombie again, after each set including warm ups I was getting very light headed and dizzy. Both knees were pretty much shot today, and after each rep I had to take a little walk to get my knees working. Just a bit of dark times, they had to come sooner or later.

I took 185 and said I was going to stop for the day, then talked myself into another one, then another one. I was on track to hit 235, but I was getting bentover today and 225 felt like I rounded waaay over... of course on tape you can barely notice it. Megan said a lot of my reps were super deep and I took 215 right to my ankles.

I'm happy with the squat again, just wish it was heavier. I've got another shot tomorrow, probably my last training session in PEI, so we'll see what I can do. I'm not freaking out.

week 10 day 4

warm up
bike - 10ish mins
pvc pipe - it bands, lats
rollover into v sit, mountain climbers
hip, ham, pec, lat stretch

back squat
barx5, 60x1x5, 100x1x2, 140x1, 160x1, 180x1, 200x1, 210x1 (belt on), 220x1, 230x1


was feeling like a serious zombie today, Megan was at a stagette and woke me up at 2am to take her to get pizza, then we were up early to take her car into the shop. So, motivation was once again a touch lower than usual. Warm up has been making me feel a bit better, hopefully its not hurting my numbers too much, but I don't think I'll find out until I get home.

Working up was fairly hard today as my right groin and knee are becoming an annoying problem, and that I just wanted to lay down and take a nap, even with some ephedrine in me, but as I got heavier it got easier, even though I had to talk off the knee pain after most sets.

484 went up the best it has since i've been here, 506 was a good rep, didn't spring out of the hole as well as I would have liked, but stuck with it and it was fine. I'm feeling 235-240 tomorrow, but I'll at least attempt 235.

Week 10 day 3 - max week

Warm up
-did a bit more today as I'm sick of feeling like crap all of the time. I may lose a bit, but if I can minimize the pain I'll be able to do this another 10 weeks instead of stopping, and I'd love to make it to 20 weeks.Watched Paul and Jordans warm up videos today, so that gave me a few ideas.

foam roll - IT bands, inner thigh, glutes
rollover into v sit, mountain climbers
x band walk
hip, ham, pec, lat stretch

Back squat
barx5, 60x3, 60x1, 100x1x2, 140x1, 160x1, 180x1(wrist wraps on, switch from pinkyless grip to thumbless) 200x1, 210x1, 220x1(belt on), 225x1

I thought the 225 was 230, when I realized this I just didn't have it in me to take another attempt, my right knee was a real problem today and threw off all of my warm up sets, when I got to 220 I wasn't feeling totally comfortable and got on my toes pretty hard making the squat much harder than it needed to be, I even had my belt on. 225 was a good squat, didn't hit the hole as well as I would have liked and I had to fight a bit to get out of it, but I was happy with the depth and overall form, I stayed tall and kept position, which was exactly what I was telling myself to do.

I'm not very satisfied with how my training has gone since I've been in PEI, my form is tight, but the numbers and overall excitement to train is very low. I think getting home and getting back into my routine will help, but I want to try to fight as hard as I can while i'm here, and just see it as a challenge. The gym i'm at is perfect, but I'm used to having a lot of people around, and to be honest, I don't have anyone to hate. The fun part of a commercial gym is there's always someone to hate, there's so many retards it's easy, and that gets me feeling pretty mean and nasty and then I'm in a good place to lift. I also haven't been setting tight goals in my head, I usually roll in knowing exactly what I want to hit, how it's going to look on the bar, exactly how I'm going to work up to it. Today I wanted 230, and I thought I got there, I know I would have hit it if I put 5's on instead of 2.5s, tomorrow I'll go for 235, I'll jump from 220 to 230, then take 235. minimum 230 though.

Week 10 days 1 and 2 - max week

Monday
- Just had an off day, no fire, worked up to 2 plates and shut it down. I'm on vacation in PEI with my gf, and while I'm proud of the streak and working through all of this, there are things more important than training, and at least I did the warm up and took a few light reps, not the worst thing for me.

Tuesday

warm up
bike
rollover into v sit, mountain climbers
hip, ham, lat and pec stretch
-may start foam rolling, I want to be tight to pop out of the hole, but I'm getting sick of being beat up all the time, so I'm going to try to do a few things to minimize the pain a bit.

Back squat - no belt
barx5, 60x1x3, 100x1x2, 140x1, 160x1, 180x1, 200x1, 210x1, 220x1, 180x1, 170x1, 160x1

cool down
hip stretch

-after monday, I went in with the plan to work up to 5 plates, see how I was feeling then go from there. 484 was exactly the kind of rep I wanted, it was deeper than it felt, went up smooth-ish, bit of a grind, kept position well, hit the hole and said "Got it" in my head, I also said "oh crap" about halfway up, then said "nevermind" pretty quick.

I for sure felt like I had a lot more in me, but I just wanted to get a decent session in the books, get some confidence, get my feet moving and tackle tomorrow with a good head of steam. Tomorrow I'd like to get to 230-240 tomorrow, so I'll be putting the belt on.

week 9 day 6 light week

warm up
bike
rollover into vsit
mountain climbers
hip, lat, pec, hamstring stretch

Back squat
barx5, 60x1x5, 100x1x2, 120x1x2, 140x1, 160x1, 180x1x7

Didn't have the motivation to really push past the pain today, felt like a zombie and really had an urge to lay down on the floor and take a nap. Did some work, but texted Willie asking for a down week next week, I think it's time.

Megan crushed her 10 sets of 3 with her old 1 rep max... I was very impressed, she kept a good pace and burried all her squats.

week 9 day 5

warm up
bike
rollover into vsit
mountain climbers
pec, lat, hip and hamstring stretch

Back squat
barx3, 60x1x5, 100x1x2, 140x1, 160x1, 180x1, 190x1,200x1, 205x1x7 (belt on 2nd single)

Headed into this I was worried as I woke up feeling like hammered dogshit, but taking the day slow yesterday gave me some extra energy for today. John Macdonald was training today as well, and he's an awesome lifter and a cool guy, but I want to beat his numbers, so lifting alongside him was pretty motivating for me. He was doing triples with 220-225... Might have a little further to go.

The reps themselves were pretty not bad, never felt in danger of missing a rep, but they don't seem to have the same pop as they had with 440. I'm still feeling some nerves for next week, I'd really like to get up to 250kg, but I really have no idea where I'll be, not having home field advantage is tough, but gotta be mentally tough right?

Week 9 day 4 - light week

warm up
rollver into vsit
mountain climbers
lat, calf, pec, hip stretch

Back squat
barx5, 60x1x5, 100x1x2, 140x1, 160x1, 180x1, 185x1, 190x1, 195x1, 200x1

This is my version of a day off, I was dying yesterday and woke up today feeling like I got hit by a truck, ie using both hands on the railings to go down stairs. Started my warm up with no idea how I was going to make it, then after a few singles with a plate I wasn't feeling horrible, but I still wanted to cut the workout.

205kg is definitely kicking my butt, I may need to take this week over again, we'll have to see how the next couple of days go, could be the traveling, could be all the training catching up to me, but slow and steady wins the race.

week 9 day 3 light squat

Warm up
rollover into v sit
mountain climbers
hip, lat, pec stretch

Back squat
barx5, 60x1x6, 100x1x2, 140x1x2, 160x1, 180x1, 190x1,200x1, 205x1x7 (belt on 2nd single)




extremely tough workout today, getting a little rundown, felt extremely achey all over and each single was pretty painful. Quads felt like they were going to tear right off, knees were a mess and in general morale was fairly low. Around my 5th heavy single I started to shift into another gear and they weren't too bad though. Up until that point, I felt like I had a flu or something along those lines. I never felt in danger of missing a rep, I still feel like if I wanted to I could do 15-20, but the weight felt much heavier today compared to yesterday.  Really didn't like the bar I was using, it was fat and smooth and tricky to hang onto, especially with how sweaty I was getting, but when that stuff comes up I try to see it as a challenge to make sure I'm mentally tough as I sometimes get too set in my routine.

The gym itself is perfect, 3 power racks, 2 benches, dumbells up to 150, a space for pulls, piles and piles of plates, a boxing ring and not much else... perfect. There's a dude Pat who yells and gets pretty fired up who's been kind enough to yell at me a bit for some of my singles,.. it helps. The owner Jason seems like a really cool dude, he was training a kid in a wheelchair today, and I had to bite back a few tears when I saw how hard he was working. I'm a softy for that kind of stuff.

Megan is on her 3rd week of Smolov and she's crushing it, It's hard on her, but she's rolling thru it like it's nothing, I got fired up on one of her sets and she told me to chill and will yawn before a heavy set... I have no idea how she's doing it, or making it look so easy, but she's doing it.

Week 9 day 2 - light week

Warm up
- stand still and let the gym make me sweat profusely... went through 2 shirts
- hips are still a little tighter than I'd like, but they're loosening up

Back squat
barx5, 60x1x5, 80x1x2, 100x1x2, 120x1, 140x1, 160x1, 180x1, 190x1, 200x1, 205x7 (belt on 2nd single)

Bench
75x5, 90x4x2, 105x3x2, 120x2x6

Been counting everything above 180 as one of my 10 reps. Spoke with Willie, and he says the singles should be an afterthought and to keep them light and easy-ish...

Was arching much better today, or at least keeping a very flat back. Around 160 or 180 I was right at parallel, then as I got a bit heavier the weight pushed me down into below parallel land. I don't like searching for depth, this way I just get set, and do my thing and I don't even notice that I'm going deeper, my back stays very tight and I keep a good position.

I like putting my belt on 2nd rep of my goal weight, I've done a lot of work without my belt now, and after I do a single no belt, I'm very confident for the rest of my workout, then it's just focus time and I just keep squatting my little heart out.

Low back is feeling it, but that will go away in another day or two I think.

Bench is light, the only challenging part was that I was sweating so much my hands and back were slipping. Going to just take this slow for a bit, not push it as hard as I did last time.

Monday light squat

@ Island performance center

Warm up
bike
rollover into v sit
mountain climbers
lat, pec stretch
hip stretch during workout.

Back squat in kilos
60x1x3, 80x1x2, 100x1x2, 120x1, 140x1, 160x1, 180x1x5, 190x1, 200x1x2, 205x1

Did 9 heavyish singles, I was having an impossible time keeping an arch, and was overall beyond tight after a 14hr drive to PEI. 180 felt light, but I just couldn't make my body do the right stuff, Then I just slowly worked up to what I'm going to be doing singles with to see how it felt,

I'm really hoping I loosen up and can start getting 10 singles with 205kgs by Thursday.

Saturday front squat max

Was feelin it heading into this one.

Warm up
bike
dynamic stuff
lat, pec, hip stretch

Front squat
barx3x2, 135x1x3, 185x1x2, 225x1x2, 275x1, 315x1, 345x1, 365x1, 385x1, 405x1

was feeling very flat, but as usual the heavier the weight got, the more pain free and effortless the squat itself got, my upper back keeps rounding over and no matter how hard I drive up with my elbows, they still drop. I'm not very satisfied with my form on the week, I feel like I'm missing something, but I do feel it could just be fatigue, in general I feel like I've always got an upper back pump all day long.

It will be interesting to see how I handle these weights the next time I cycle through. I felt like I made big imrovements in poundages this cycle, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle 455 with good form next time around.

450 back squat for singles coming up after a 13 hr drive to PEI... fun times

Friday front squat max

Warm up
-the usual, then I waited around for 45 minutes for a squat rack to open up. It was my own call, as I wanted to squat inside a cage for maxes. I'm not sure of the proper etiquette there or anything, but in a cage I'll max by myself and feel totally safe... so I go with what feels good. I did get into a pretty pissy mood when I was watching people barely using their racks, but if you're going to train at a commercial gym, this stuff comes up.


Front squat
135x1x5, 185x1x2, 225x1x2, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 385x1, 405x1, 425xf

I was in a bad mood, but I did sincerely try as hard as I could, and I was completely intending to get to 435-445, 365 felt very heavy, and made me want to walk out of the gym. 385 was alright, easier than 365. 405, my elbows dropped pretty good, but I still came up well. I thought I had the 425 in me, but I got in the hole, and it was like someone pushed me right between the shoulder blades and the bar rolled off my shoulders. I really should have taken this one again, my energy levels were pretty good, but my heart wasn't in the workout.

I do find this level and frequency of front squatting to really be rough on the upper back, and mines just about trashed. I'm very happy with the progress tho, i've hit at least 405 every day this time, I've hit 2 445s and a 435 and 2 405's. Hopefully tomorrow I can hang tough for one more go. I really feel like I'll smash a 455 front squat next time around.

Thursday front squat max

Warm up
bike
rollover into v sit
mountain climbers
hip, lat, hamstring, pec stretch

Front squat
barx3, 135x1x3, 185x1x2, 225x1x2, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 385x1, 405x1, 425x1, 435x1, 445x1

Went in feeling like I was barely hanging on, then the bar just kept going up. Just one of those days.

Did a few things differently tonite, mainly stretching my hamstrings... this is supposed to be a fairly big no no, but I did feel much steadier in my squat tonite, and my pelvis seemed to round less. I also took a few extra wram up sets all under 50%, I may start to do even more, I was much more comfortable. I also really got a big air before I started my descent and really forced my elbows up, this kept me much more upright.

Megan also got me to ditch the wrist wraps on a heavy set tonite, felt fairly fine, gonna have to go without them for a bit.

Wed front squat max with video

Warm up
bike
rollover into v sit
mountain climbers
hip stretch
lat stretch

Front squat
barx3, 135x1x3, 185x1, 225x1, 275x1, 315x1, 345x1, 365x1, 385x1, 405x1

Went into this workout with good intentions, but my warm ups were very discouraging, everything felt heavy as hell, and I was rounding over with 345. My training partners bailed me out, as they always seem to, and I kept going with a low goal of getting to 405. after 385 Megan got on me about keeping my elblows up and getting big air in my chest, it really helped on the 405 which felt like my best rep, I took a while considering keeping going up, but I shut it down there.

Not sure how the rest of the week will go, this is already really hard, I'd like to keep everything over 405, but I'm not sure if my body is on board with me.

445 front squat

Tuesday front squat max

warm up
bike
hip stretch
rollover into vsit
mountain climbers
lat stretch

Front squat
barx3, 135x1x2, 185x1, 225x1, 275x1, 315x1, 355x1, 375x1, 395x1 (belt on), 415x1, 425x1, 435x1, 445xf

Still fighting the flu, and I was feeling it tonite, the weights all felt much heavier tonite, and I was surprised I got as far as I did. My upper back was already rounding when I got to 375, but they kept going up with a good speed so I kept going up. My plan was to just go until i missed one, I wasn't pissed right away when I missed 445, but after I watched the video, I really wanted that one over.

Bench
230x3x2, 265x3x5

- not much arm and elbow pain, workout was pretty easy. I'm running the bench from sheiko #30, so I'll be handling light weights for a month, then maxing, then choosing another program.

Monday front squat max big PR

Warm up
bike
rollover into v sit
mountain climbers
hip stretch
lat stretch

Front squat
barx3, 135x1x2, 185x1, 225x1, 275x1, 315x1, 345x1, 365x1, 385x1, 405x1 (belt on), 425x1, 445x1

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sxX80CW_Tbk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I was pretty pumped for hitting this, especially on my first day back front squatting in 3 weeks, even more especially as it was a goal that took me about 14 weeks to hit, and more so that the last time I tried it I couldn't even hang onto it. I had a goofy celebration that I always get emberassed about after... I saw Willie do it, and it always pops into my head when I hit big lifts. I doubt anyone really cares either way, But I'd prefer to be more businesslike.

I was up most of the night with a horrible pain in my stomach that didn't go away until some heavy peptp bismal usuage, but I was feeling so shitty, I had 2 powerades, and a chocolate bar on the way to the gym... I'm really happy I had the night I did.

next up 455. It'll be nice to be closer to 500 than I am to 400.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sxX80CW_Tbk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Saturday light squat

Warm up
bike
hyerextensions - 40
rollover into v sit
mountain climbers
-forgot to do the hip stretch, and now they're feeling very strained and achey... dunno for sure if skipping the stretch for 2 days is the culprit, but I wanted to note it.

Back squat
135x5,185x1,225x1,275x1,315x1,365x1, 10 singles between 405 and 440

- The workout was pretty easy, just on the painful annoying side. After a couple reps my knee pain was pretty down, Voltaren has really been helping there. Low back was pretty rough, but I got Sam to adjust me and I was feeling much better, it was still pretty sucky tho and made things a lot harder than they had to be. Arm pain was minimal, but the front squat week coming up is very good timing, I can tell they're just about to get bad.

Almost all my reps were very tight and grooved, they didn't feel as fast as yesterdays, but on camera they were the same, if not very close.

Friday light squat

Warm up
bike
hyperextensions - 50
rollover into v sit
mountain climber

Back squat
135x1x3, 185x1, 225x1, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1x8, 425x1, 440x1

hip, lat and hamstring stretching
- trying to make sure my back doesn't tighten up again.

kettlebell swing 80 pounds 2x20
- I could really tell I've only been doing singles lately, lol.

the tweak in my back turned into captain manglitis striking again, was up till about 6am cause I couldn't find a way to sleep where I wasn't cramping up. Checked my blindspot driving and my whole left side cramped up like crazy and I just about crashed... fun times. Had to take it slow tonite, was semi expecting to have to do singles with 315... but I got up to 405 and they were moving well. On the plus side, the voltaren gel on my knees is helping quite a bit, besides the totalled back my warm ups went pretty well.

My squat in general is really starting to take off, numbers will come and everything, but my form has never felt this good. I've taken videos of nearly every squat for almost 2 years, watched every half decent squat video on youtube, read every article there is on squatting, tried every shoe I could get my hands on, every style I could think of... and finally I'm starting to feel solid. Now that my body is in the right position and I don't feel like I'm going to face plant every rep, I'm very excited to work on the little things, I've been able to get tighter and tighter all the time lately just because I'm not thinking about the big things anymore. Pretty sweet. Basically I was trying to stay too upright, and I'd be forced into the right position by the weight, hence the shakiness... then I'd catch my torso, hope the bar wouldn't roll up my back, and in general hope for the best... now I'm just bending forward a bit, sitting back a bit more, and now things look the way they should.

Thursday light squat

AM workout
no work today, so went in to bench, I'm a fairly social guy so not having training partners around and no atmosphere isn't so much fun, but not a huge deal either.

Bench
barx25, 135x15, 185x5, 225x5, 265x5, 285x5

I'll be semi happy when I get 295x5, but I'm just going to keep going up 10lbs every training session doing 5's until i miss a rep, figure out where I'm at, then do a sheiko bench routine. I really felt like I was in the 380-390 range before I hurt my pec, so kinda sucks, but I'll get it back, and all the squatting will likely help, but I also doubt I'll bench very big until I stop squatting everyday... or start working a lot less.

PM Workout
Warm up
bike
hip stretch
rollover into v sit - Since I started these again I haven't had problems with my pelvis rounding
mountain climbers - they just seemed like a good idea

Back squat
135x1x3, 225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 440x10 singles

Used some Voltaren gel on my knees before training. Didn't eliminate the knee pain by any means, but it sure made my warm up a lot easier. I got in huge shit with my chiro for taking a lot of Aleve before training... he even called Sam Dube' to help give me shit... no joke. If the gel keeps working like this it will really make training a lot more enjoyable. I'm going to have to figure out how to get a bit more psyched up tho, the pain usually keeps me pretty up, today I felt kind of flat, but Megan might have also made me sick, so I'm not sure.

The squats themselves have been feeling really good. I've been sitting back into them and really locking my torso, I only really let 1 rep fall out of groove tonite, and it wasn't bad at all. I know I'm out of groove if I bounce into the hole, as I try to fall back. Good squats I just go up and down smooth.

One little snag, I tweeked my back tonite a bit, low right side... I get a little anxious over it as I had an injury there that wouldn't go away for around 6 months, but I'm hoping it's just some floating pain and will go away, I think an adjustment would be a good idea either way though.

Wednesday light squat

Warm up
bike
hip stretch
rollover into v sit
mountain climbers

Back squat
135x1x3, 225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 440x10 singles

Deadlift
545x1, 565x1, 585xf - smoked my knee, and that just ruined me. My knees are very very sore. Was really not feeling deadlifts tonite, but did half decent. the belt was akward, but I'll get used to it.

Belt went on for my 2nd single with 440. Definitely made things easier, by the 3rd single my knees quit hurting during the squat... killed afterwards... by the 4th single I was feeling pretty ok. It was just work after that. I was very concerned with getting bentover and on my toes for my squats, but after watching the videos, I noticed I was pretty much full of shit, I focused on sitting back a bit more, and letting myself lean forward... worked very well, and whenever I try to go straight down, like on my front squats, I wind up falling forward. This way I was able to stabilize fairly well, and although I thought I was falling forward, turned out they were supposed to feel that way, lol.

Been noticing a scary compensation pattern, my right leg is tighter than the left, I've had a few problems getting that glute to fire, so I think my right leg is taking a bit more of the load, and my left side has been cramping up lately. Last time it was left leg and right side.

Tuesday light squat

warm up
bike
hip stretch
dynamic stuff

back squat
405x1x2, 440x1x8

These hurt a ton, I never managed to get loose the entire training session. Reps 3-7 were pretty good, but 1-2 I was tight and my descents were rough, 8-10 I was just getting tired and they werent as fast, still fast tho.

I'm really hurting today, and really hoping I'll loosen up a little earlier tonite, these workouts are getting to be very painful and tedious.

Saturday and Mondays squat workouts

Saturday

warm up
bike
hip stretch

Back squat
135x1x5, 225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 445x1, 465x1, 485x1, 495x1

- Shut it down at 495, hit it well, but came forward on the way up. What Megan and I figured out, was that my hamstrings are so tight that my pelvis was rounding, and I'd been noticing that my low back hasn't been as solid as usual, and I've struggled on holding my arch. I also noticed that I took out a few dynamic movements that really loosen up the hamstrings.

Monday - light squat

warm up
bike
hip stretch
dynamic stuff

Back squat
135x1x3, 225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 440x10 singles

Used my weightlifting belt for the first 5 sets or so, then my powerlifting belt for last 5. Reps with my power belt definitely felt easier. Still couldn't quite set my back the way I wanted to, and the belt made it more difficult to arch, so I'm going to need more practice in it. But I can definitely see how I'll get at least 20 pounds out of the belt, and more as I get my technique dialed in. I really look forward to deadlifting in it.

Friday crap squat

Warm up - bike, hip stretch

Back squat
worked up to 435x1

This was a bad workout, the gym was very crowded, and I wound up warming up with a mirror right in front of my face. I told myself to be mentally tough and just do it as I've had problems getting too comfortable in certain racks, but the mirror really threw off my timing. Told myself I always suck at my warm ups, and I'd smooth out as I got heavier. Then I got heavier, and still couldn't find my squat, I was very tight and nothing was flowing, so I just stopped. Didn't get pissed off, just stopped. Tank is running fairly low right now. One more max today, no expectations just want to have good attempts, get good depth, good rebound and try to find my next gear.

If I had this to do over, I would have gone and taken 5 mins, and started over right from a plate and worked back up and if I didn't get my numbers, I would have just worked on drilling my form.

Thursday squat / Friday AM bench

Back squat - sans belt
135x1x3, 225x1, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 445x1, 465x1, 485x1

Went in feeling hella rough. Very tired and fatigued. But somehow, as it seems to always happen, the heavier the weights gets the easier the squats go, my last one was the most pain free, and probably one of my faster ones. Really working on getting a good rebound out of the hole and driving my head back to get through my sticking point. My back has been getting tired, and hasn't been staying as flat as I'd like it to, making me go a bit on my toes, and I've got to fight to not shift forward.

Stopped early at 485, but I wanted to stop on a good note, and rest up, I've still got 2 more maxes, and I'd like to get as many reps above 500 as I can. Besides, everyone could tell I was exhausted... I'm trying not to be too pissed that I can't keep getting better every day like I did in week 2, but it's been almost 42 days, and 36 squat workouts... I think I'm allowed to be a touch tired, I'll adjust tho.

Next week's light week is 440 for 10 singles everyday, then a front squat max week, which is always fun, then 450 for singles, then another max week... If I don't hit above 525 this week, then I'll be able to do it next time around I think. I'm really looking forward to doing 10 singles a day with above 450, I'm not sure how far I'll be able to take it before I'm basically maxing on my light days, but every week I can hang on takes me that much closer to 600. Still have my belt to put on, I'm not expecting much more than 20lbs out of it, but every pound at this point is just gravy, I barely think about my belt anymore, but considering on front squats I notice a fair difference from my weightlifting belt... it should be good.

Going to shoot for 505 tonite,

Friday bench

225x5, 245x5, 265x5

-weights felt heavier than I would have liked them to, but wasn't particularly challenging. I'd like to get up to 3x5 with 295, being 80% of 365. That would be a good place to start I think. I'm either going to do a sheiko bench routine, or just do the bench portion of russian power. Lots of different things to try out, and I've got some time before I have to decide.

Have barely done any upper body training and haven't lost any weight... I need to do some back work, but honestly, my upper back feels pumped all the time already, I did some face pulls after my last back workout and I think they messed up my squat, so I'm just going to take it slow and add it back in when I can.

Wed max squat

Warm up
bike
hip stretch

Back squat - no belt
135x3x1, 225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 475x1, 495x1, 515xf, 525xf

Was feeling a little off, not as tight right fom the warm ups. My back wasn't feeling as strong as usual. I almost got the 515, but it rolled on my back, and that was that. I was going to attempt 5lbs heavier, but couldn't find 2.5s, so I went 525 and missed that too. I hate taking the same weight twice.

Going to get 505 tonite, then decide where to go from there. I feel a lot better after missing a couple reps, last time I did this I crushed my ribs on my belt and my whole right side spasmed, it was very painful. But I missed well, didn't drop the bar on the supports, bars are still good.

Tuesday squat max/ wed AM bench

Went in feeling fairly ok, good session.

Warm up
hip stretch
bike

Back squat - no belt
135x1x3, 225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 445x1, 465x1, 485x1, 505x1, 525x1

Called coach Willie after the 505, it was a bit of a grind, and I didn't know whether to leave it in the tank, or go for it. He said go, Had a vey smooth descent, good rebound, fought through the sticking point, kept position. Probably the best squat of my life so far, way better than my last 525.

Tonite, I'm going to attempt 535, it's only 10lbs more, but I'm feeling some nerves, I don't like to miss reps, but the worst that happens is I'll miss, and try again tomorrow, and probably be pissed about it. Hit it, and i'm only 10lbs away from my goal of 545 no belt. As it is, I'm very close, I've set a nice small attainable goal, I think I'll hit it as long as I can keep my head tonite and the pain isn't too bad.


Wed AM

Headed in to train with Willie, wanted to ask him a few questions about the week... I was mostly over thinking things, he said just go to max, and the worst that can happen is you miss. fun times.

Bench
225 for 3 sets of 5
-felt fine, no pain, tons of elbow discomfort, may need to get some rehbands for those to help get me through benching again.

dumbell flys
3x10

face pulls
3x15

side laterals
3x15

I'm not dying to get back to benching or anything, I don't mind the layoff at all, but I also want to hit 405 before I die, so I've gotta get it back and going again.

Monday squat max

Warm up
bike
hip stretch

Back squat
135x3x1, 225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 475x1, 495x1, 515x1

went in with a plan to do at least 495, but if it was feeling easy try for 515. Hit 495 deep and in position, so after talking with megan, decided on 515. Hit it nice and deep, a bit slower than the others, but I can do that right now and I kept position fairly well. I was very happy with the squat, and called it my max for the day.

Tomorrow I'll attempt 525, I'm not nervous about hitting it. I think I could have tonite, I can definitely get there tomorrow.

All the weights felt light tonite, lighter than 430 felt all week. I think the day off gave me a good recharge.

Saturday squats

warm up
bike
hip stretch

Back squat
430 for 5 singles.

-I was trashed for this one, Wanted to stop much earlier, just not feeling like it was a good idea to push much harder with a max out week coming on, Willie suggested I take a few days off to get ready for it.

I'm feeling good heading into the max out week, I really drilled my technique in this week, stayed on my heels well and hit everything pretty deep. I think I'm going to get a really good bounce out of the hole. I'm still rebuilding my squat, so I think I'll keep going no belt. No need to rush things, I've still got a ways to go of squatting everyday, so no need to rush things.

Friday squats

Warm up
bike
back foot elevated hip stretch
- when I'm more adjusted, I'll start working on my shoulder flexibility more. Right now it's going ok.

Back squat
135x4x1, 225x1,315x1,365x1, 405x1, 430 x 10 singles

Deadlifts no belt
455 3x3

These felt good tonite, got into position with good depth without having to put my gut on my thighs, meaning I was on my heels well and stayed off my toes. I'm feeling a little nervous for next weeks max out week, but I think I handled these weights like I would have the heavier ones, so I should be ok.

Thursday light squats

Warm up
bike
hip stretch

Back squat
135x5 singles, 225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 430x 10 singles

Really wasn't feeling this workout, felt very tired and drained, pain in my knees was gone fairly early on, and my arm didn't hurt too bad, but each squat still felt like death until probably my 7th single with 430, then they felt fine.

Mon to Wed squats

Monday 10 singles with 430

Tuesday 10 singles with 430

Wednesday 5 singles with 430     6 sets of 2 deadlift with 405


Nothing too serious to report, took a light week after the front squat max week. Trained with Willie Monday morning and he laid out the next couple weeks, and ok'd my form, always nice to get feedback.

Pain is getting to be less and less, I've been warming up with my pinkies off the bar, and it spares me a ton of arm pain so far, I noticed willy does something like this but just holds the bar with his fingertips. Knees have been loosening up finally, but still leave enough pain to keep my head in the squat.

Willie told me I could even take a few days off this week to get ready for next week, but I opted to keep squatting everyday. I'd like to keep going until I'm doing 10 singles everyday with about 475ish, ideally 495. That might take a while, but worth the wait.

Saturday front squat max

Whew, back is very fatigued and throwing off my form pretty good, knees feeling ok, was happy with my form on lighter weights, but as soon as I got a bit heavier, I broke down pretty good, I could tell just from my fingers coming off the bar during my descents.

Warm up
bike, hip stretch, lat stretch

Front squat
bax2, 135x1, 225x1,275x1, 315x1, 365x1

That was all I had, 365 felt like a ton. I'll have to find out from Willie what I'm doing this week coming up.

Friday front squat max

Warm up
bike 3 mins
back foot elevated hip stretch
lat stretch
-I'm starting to adjust to things, so I'm doing less warm up. These two stretches are good, and I feel help to improve my technique without any damaging effects to muscle tension.

Front squat
barx2, 135x1x2, 225x1,275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 385x1 405x1 belt on, I was surprised how much the belt helped me today, 405 was better than 385. 425x1 - ugly grind, back rounded right over.

-Today my back was just tired, 425 was a rounded over mess, and I was fighting technique from 365 on. but I was very businesslike today, which I liked, and it was much easier because my knees were feeling much better. Not having to battle through a full body cramp is a lot less draining mentally, makes it much easier to be more excited about max attempts.

Thursday front squat max

Went in feeling tired, and as I got going I was pretty dubious as to how I was going to get to my goal weight, worked out fine, and my squats got better as I got going.

Warm up
bike
hip stretch

Front squat
barx3, 135x1x2, 225x1, 315x1, 355xx1, 375x1, 395x1 belt on, rounded over in the hole, 415x1 - stayed upright, 435x1 - smooth, stayed up and on my heels, good squat

Deadlifts - no belt
405x1, 495x1, 545x1, 585x1, 605xf - this was really close.

- did pulls because I totally forgot about them on wednesday. I'm happy that I can pull 585just about whenever now... but I'm really no where close to being satisfied until I've got another 25 on each side. I'm going to put a belt on sometime, Im hoping combo of a belt and okie bar would give me 30-40 extra pounds on my pull, which would be just swell in my opinion, I'm close anyways, and things are going very well.

Mon/Tues/Wed front squat

Talked to Willie and told him about the shoulder and arm pain, asked him if I could front squat, he told me to max out all week, and front squat for a week every 3 weeks.  I really like the idea, and its been working out really well for me, in terms of being able to enjoy training. My knees still hurt a lot, but once you get warmed up you can pretty much just ignore it, and hey, that's not bad.

I did take Saturday off, so I didn't want to max right away, so I did my top attempts...

Monday - 385
-my right groin was hurting, and I didn't want to go any higher plus 385 was the goal for the day anyways.

Tuesday- 405
went up and down fairly smooth

Wednesday-425
-rounded in the hole a bit, but I felt good to take 435, but I'm going to just take 10lb jumps, maybe even 5lbs. so I should get to 435 and more fairly soon, might as well stay rested and just get it, as long as I stay on my heels, as I have a tendency to get on my toes when the weight gets heavy, may squat in the cage tonite to encourage me to not worry about the bar falling on me.

Overall, feeling pretty good, looking forward to the rest of the week

Friday light squat

This was my first day giving up on my reps. I'm emberassed to say the pain just got to be too bad in my arms and knees, and low back, and I threw in the towel. I lost my head for a bit just because it got so bad. I hate getting dramatic in the gym, but man, this really hurts. not sure what to do actually, I'll ask Willie.

Warm up
-regular

back squat
420 for 7 singles.

Thursday light squat

Warm up
-regular

Back squat
135 2x3, 225x1,315x1,365x1, 420 for 10 singles

Knees weren't too bad, got pretty warm, still hurt like hell every rep, but a lot more tolerable. Upper body, I went pinkless up to 365, then switched to regular grip, this helped a bit, I'd like to do all my reps pinkyless for a few days to give my arms a break, but it still feels very uncomfortable. I've been taking more sporadic videos of my squats, more just as check ins, and really working to feel depth. I'm pretty sure I'm all good there.

I remember last time, I think this week I got lazy and started to cut my squats, I think I came by it honestly, you get really tight and sore doing this, but this time I've been warming up more, and getting down there easier, without losing the tightness in my quads and hamstrings. So I'm feeling good, I was very tight and on my heels tonite, I have a tendency to get on my toes and I think that stops me from getting the depth I'd like to show, and I have to use my back in the lift. but I felt it well tonite, so even though I'm kind of dreading the next couple days, I'm really going to focus on the perfect reps to drillmy form heading into the max out week... that I already have no idea how I'm going to get through, but I did last time, so we'll see what happens.

Wed squat

Went in looking forward to training, got started and immediately regretted the decision. Hurt like hell, but knees were much better tonite compared to usual. I got some work done on my arm today... He loosened up my right lat, didn't help too much, but I think that's mostly because I squatted again so soon, overall, it was much more tolerable. Tried a few reps without my pinky on the bar, I find it very awkward to hold the bar, but really alleviates the pain, I'm going to try to use it through the whole training session tomorrow, I'll go regular grip on my max outs.

Warm up
-regular stuff

Back squat
135x3,225x1,315x1,365x1, 420 for 10 singles

Conventional deadlift
420 for 3 sets of 2

-I was supposed to do 10 sets, but I was finding it very hard to get into position so I just stopped. I'll do all 10 on Friday.

tuesday light squat

Megan did a few releases on my hips tonite before training, and I was able to get to depth much easier, and much better I feel, just felt like I was in a stronger position. Knees were bad until around my 2nd or 3rd working set... then they were just sore without the sharpness. My shoulders were both very tight and sore tonite, making my entire right arm knot up and the left arm not much better. This really ruined the session for me. I'm getting really fed up with training through this much pain, but I'd also like to squat a PR, so it's a fairly easy trade off.

Warm up
-the usual suspects

Front squat
up to 225x1

Back squat
420 for 10 singles

Monday light squat

went in feeling fairly ok, but when I started to squat I was feeling pretty horrible, by the end I was feeling ok. Besides the blinding pain this would have been an easy workout.

Warm up
bike 5 mins
knee extension 40 reps
rollover into v sit x10
dynamic hip stuff
stretching for pecs, lats, shoulders

Front squat
up to 225x1

Back squat
10 singles with 420

- My knees had some pretty sharp pains on each rep, if they'd stop hurting this would actually be enjoyable... well, my arm is pretty mangled to the point where I can't close my hand by the end of the workout, but besides those two things, this would be fun.

Saturday max out

This one really hurt. I remember my knees used to loosen up around 80 percent, and now they just don't really loosen. Did my best just to get excited and ignore it. Shoulders have been very tight and cramping under the bar, and my right arm has been taking a beating. I'm not feeling as fatigued at least, and my squat feels very comfortable.

Warm up
bike 10 mins
leg extension 40 reps
dynamic hip stuff
band dislocations
stretching for lats, pecs and shoulders

Front squat
barx10, 135x5, 185x1,225x1

Back squat - no belt
225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 485x1, 505x1 - went up smooth 525x1-grind, pithced forward a bit, bar rolled on my back, stuck with it

very happy getting 525 no belt, I wanted to hit that before I put one back on, but now I kind of want 545. I'm not expecting much more than 20 pounds from the belt, and anymore would be great.

Only did 2 military workouts this week and 1 back workout, I've been doing them in the mornings with Megan as she does cardio, I've been doing a half hour of walking, and whatever assistance I can get thru, but after tearing my pecs, I'm ok just focusing on squats and deadlifts for a bit.

Friday Max

Warm up
bike 10 mins
leg extension 30 reps
dynamic hip stuff
static stretching for pecs, lats, shoulders
band dislocations

- going to keep biking for 10 mins, knees felt the best tonite that they have so far

Front squat
barx10, 135x5, 185x1, 225x1

Back squat - no belt
225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 475x1, 495x1, 515x1

- Felt good tonite, not too run down, knees weren't totally destroyed, made it easier to concentrate on form. Going to attempt 525 tomorrow, I was going to try it tonite, but decided to save it for tomorrow.

Thursday squat max

Warm up
bike 5 mins
leg extension - 40 reps - I find these help warm up the knees
dynamic hip work
static stretching for pecs, lats, shoulders
band dislocations

Front squat
barx10, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1

Back squat - no belt
225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 445x1, 465x1, 485x1, 505x1
-bailed on doubles again, no gas left in the tank

-also bailed on military tonite, arms and shoulders were tight and wrecked from deadlifts. I was feeling pretty rough.

Wednesday max

Probably one of my more painful workouts, and one of my best workouts... funny how that works. My right knee is getting very tight, maybe even tighter than the front squat program, arms are getting tight, but still under control.

Warm up
-regular stuff

Front squat
barx15, 135x5, 185x2, 225x1

Back squat
225x1,315x1, 365x1- at this point I just wanted to get to 405, this was pretty painful. 405x1 - everybody said it went up easy so... 435x1 - once again easy, started to stretch my right hamstring betweens sets as per Megans advice, helped enough. 455x1, 475x1, 495x1 - slow descent, went up easy-ish.
-was too tired and mangled to do the doubles.

Deadlift
315x1,405x1, 495x1, 545x1, 565x1, 585x1 PR, and I hit it without a belt. Feeling pretty confident my pull will be over 600 from now on... I'm so happy about this, but not even close to satisfied until I'm at 635-650

- so, tied my beltless squat, and crushed my deadlift, good day at the gym... and I get to squat all over again tomorrow...yay team.

Tuesday max out

Was throwing up again last night, so still not feeing too shit hot, but I'm just hoping that when I get over this my numbers will just be that much better. Not the most fun maxing out when you're seeing stars though.

Warm up
bike on high
dynamic stuff
stretching for lats, shoulders, pecs,
band dislocations x15

Front squat
135x5, 185x2, 225x1

Back squat
225x2, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 435x1, 455x1, 475x1, 485x1, 445x2
-the doubles are by far the hardest part

This was a tough workout, I would hit my squat, tell myself I was going to stop, sit down then talk myself into going higher. fun times.

Monday max

Sick as balls again, losing weight like crazy, puking like crazy... threw up in a Dennys bathroom not long before this training session. Megan wants me to see a Dr, but I'm pretty sure it's just overtraining, I went from the russian squat routine, which is very hard, right into squatting everyday... which is brutal.

I'm not looking forward to tonite, not because it will be hard, more because I won't be able to perform where I'd like to, I just need to remember I've got nothing but time, and pushing too hard when I'm very dehydrated is generally a bad idea.

Warm up
bike
dynamic hip stuff
stretching for pecs, shoulders, lats
band dislocations

Front squat
bax10, 135x3,225x2, 275x1, 315x1

Back squat
225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 435x1, 455x1, 475xf - got really on my toes and it just went straight down. 475x1 - stayed on my heels, kept tight, it was a bit slower on the descent, but overall a good max.

-asked Willie after about retaking attempts, and he told me to pick smarter attempts, so tonite might just be 455-465, then I need to drop down for doubles, that I didn't do last night as I was seeing stars pretty good and was ready to stop at 435, then I said I was going to stop, felt like a wuss, and kept going.

This will be a rough week, but I still love everynight I'm in the gym

Sunday military

Megan was doing cardio so I went in to get my missed workout in.

Military
155 for 7 sets of 5 reps

-nothing serious, but I'm very very tired.

Saturday squat/military

Regular warm up

Front squat
barx10, 135x3, 225x1

back squat
225x1,315x1,365x1, 405x 10 singles

-I was totally exhausted, but the reps felt easy enough. Didn't wear my rehband shorts for the first 5 days, wanted to see how I felt without them, if they actually gave me anything. Wore them today, and it just kept my groin and adductors warm and loose... Going to keep wearing them.

Checked my depth just wearing rehbands, if it was an issue, I was going to redo the whole week, but I was going more than deep enough, very clear calf to hamstring contact. Feeling pretty good about that.

Military
-couldn't do it. Might have to do this in the mornings.

Week 1 thoughts
-so far so good, eased into things first couple days and I think that was good. Getting more comfortable with the highbar form all the time.

Not terribly sore, but extremely fatigued. I've been doing AM cardio with megan all week, I think it's been helping, but I can nap on command right now.

Friday squat

Regular warm up

Front squat
barx10,135x3,225x3

Back squat
225x3, 315x1, 365x1, 385x1,405 for 8 singles

Was feeling fairly awful heading into this, once I got going I was fine, right knee wasn't a problem at all.

Thursday - squat/military

Warm up
bike
dynamic hip work
stretching for pecs, lats, shoulders
band dislocations

Front squat
135x3,225x2
Back squat - no belt
315x1, 5x1 365, 375x1,385x1,395x1,405x1

- just taking this very slow, and considering I could have done this whole workout with front squats. I'm just going to ease into things. Starting to feel pretty tight, but my knees arent too bad so far.

Military
145 for 5 sets of 7

- I was pretty gassed after squats, so these were tough, but I got through them just fine

Tuesday military Wednesday sq/dl

I sorta fell into squatting every day again, not set timeline, but off the top of my head I'd like to give it 6 weeks. A few things i'm going to do differently is to warm up much much better, the no warm up had its place before, but this time I'm going to really loosen up my shoulders and hips before squatting, and probably start doing some glute activation stuff... my left glute isnt working that well I don't think. The other thing, if it gets to be really really painful, then I'm just going to tone it down. I'm also going to go beltless for a while, see how that goes, and high bar. So far, the bar placement is perfect, no strain on my arms or shoulders, and I really like that way my squat looks.

Tuesday
Warm up
dynamic hip stuff
stretching for shoulders, pecs, lats
band dislocations

Back squat
worked up to a 365 double. - these felt too heavy for comfort

Military
4x9 with 135

Face pulls - 50
side laterals- 2 sets


Wednesday
Warm up
dynamic hip stuff
stretching for pecs, shoulders, lats
band dislocations

Back squat
10 singles with 365
-the first one felt horrible, the last one felt weightless... so I think I'm onto something.

Deadlift - warmed up sumo
495 for 2 sets of 3 reps
-going to go for 3x3 next week, no need to rush it.

Saturday Military Monday squat

Thought I was over being sick, but Megan and I are both dying, quesy stomach and shaky legs and light headedness lke crazy. Not a huge deal, I got the big bottle of Cold fx, and a ton of Vitamin C.

Saturday Military
warm up:
hip, shoulder and lat stretches

Military
155 for 7 sets of 5
-felt heavier than I would have liked, but I think it's mostly from focusing on getting my head through every rep.

face pulls - 3 sets
side laterals - 3 sets


Monday Squat
-went in with good intentions, but it was a tough night.

Warm up
dynamic stuff
shoulder, lat and chest stretches

High bar back squat
135x3,225x3,315x2,365x1
-I couldn't believe how heavy these felt, literally felt like 500 on my back. I'm not going to panic quite yet, at the very worst, my squat will just be stronger for it when I switch back to a lower bar position.
-I wanted to do some heavy stand ups and gh sit ups, but not today.

Friday Squat

Was thinking about 445 all day, came up pretty short. Not feeling the heat though, I made a lot of progress and think I just burned out, and hit my peak on Monday.

Warm up
bike for 5 mins
bodyweight squats
-got into position pretty easy

Front squat - used thick plates caused a lot more bar whip than usual today as well
365x1- went up well, but I was having problems walking the weights back in
405x1- went up but not smooth, if I had this to do over I'd have taken 385
425x1- upper back found this heavy, rounded a bit
445xf- just went straight down, you always feel like a tool when you get all fired up to look like you unracked the bar and dropped it. I just set up for shit, and it went straight down.
430xf - went for a small PR, but I was just tired
All in all, tonite sucked, I'm still very happy about monday though. I think if I spent some time doing singles I could squeeze out a PR, but I'm not sure if that's what I want to do right now, I'd really like to get my back squat going again. Something to think about.

Thursday military

Warm up
dynamic hip stuff
stretching for lats, pecs, shoulder
stick dislocations

Military press
135 for 5 sets of 7 - really focusing on pressing back a bit, head through, getting the weight on my traps, and holding it at the top for a second. I usually get lazy and don't fully lock it out.

I wanna see what happens to my posture from no horizontal pressing, could be kinda cool. I'm interested in seeing how my deadlift form reacts once I bring in back in.

Wednesday squat

Warm up
-didn't really do one, I just sorta grabbed a bar and got a rack. Knee felt bad, but that's usual. Thought it might warm up, but just stayed very tight and was clicking, my knees were clicking on each rep. Pretty sure that just means I'm uber tight, which is exactly what I want right now for a max.

only went:
 Front Squat
275 for 6 sets of 2

-Probably should have warmed up more, but I'd rather stay tight.

Tuesday bench

Pec bruised almost all the way across now on the left side. It doesn't hurt, the knot is gone, but I've decided not to bench until the bruising is gone. Lets me try some fun stuff on miltary press, and if I put a lot into military maybe I'll get something on my bench.  That meant finding my max today.

No real warm up

Military from the racks
135x10,185x5, 205x2, 225x1, 245xf - couldn't press it past the top of my head.

No big deal, I really just wanted a number to start with, and I'm really going to work on getting my head through each rep. I need to loosen up, I need to warm up my hips and shoulders warmed up with an actual warm up. Fun workout.

Fri-Sat-Mon

Friday
Warmed up
foam roll IT bands
dynamic stuff
bodyweight squats
10 mins on the bike
-Knee was still killing me.

Front squat
275 for 6x2

then sat aound and did a whole lotta nothing waiting for Megan. I'd spent all Thursday night puking my brains out and all in all it was a pretty rough training week.

Saturday - Bench

-Took the day off, my left pec is bruised up now and still a little tender. Looks like a minor tear. I'm really surprised how easily this happened, I guess they really do just happen on the lighter sets.

I think I'm jus going to have to focus on military for a few weeks, and dumbell flys. sucks, but I might just have to move my hands in for a bit, but I can also do more to protect myself I think, I've gotten lazy.

Monday squat
 Finally over being sick, weight back to normal, just a 240 gorilla in training. Knew I was going to have a good day when I could squat down with no knee pain... it was still there as I got going tho, but more just uncomfortable instead of scarey.

Front squat
315x1,365x1,385x1-this went up real easy, 405x3 - was supposed to do 2 doubles, but I really wanted the triple, then shut her down. I want to max well on Friday.

I'm really proud of this squat, it's probably the coolest thing I've done so far. Best part was it didn't really feel all that heavy. On Friday I'm going to attempt 405-425-445-455-? 445 being great, 455 being huge. I'm going to get 445, today just confirmed it for me, so 455 is a reality.

Thursday Bench

Bench 225 for 7 sets of 5

Was feeling pretty rough before training, wound up throwing up a couple times before I even left. I got the stupid idea to train anyways, but go light... then threw up around 6-7 times in the bathroom. The dehydration messed up my left pec, it'sfeeling pretty tight and knotted, so we'll see what comes from that.

Looking back... it was good intentions to suck it up and train anyways, I picked this up from Paul who just plows through whatever comes up... I've gotta remember I'm not Paul, and I think if I had this to do over, I would have just deloaded the entire week, and redo the whole thing.

Wednesday heavy squat

Still haven't managed to get back to 240, and still not feeling the greatest. But I had a better workout then I was expecting. Right knee pain was the worst it's been, I was hoping the day off would get it looser, but I just recovered enough for it to really get tight and hurt. My right groin started hurting on all the reps as well, that's got me a little worried, but I'll warm up a little more next time.

Front squat
380 for 1 set of 3 reps
- was supposed to be 3x3, but I was pretty happy getting 1 set

Light squat on Friday, then next week is the grand finale... should be pretty cool.

Monday sick tuesday bench

Monday squat

Woke up early, then just started throwing up all day, managed to lose 10lbs. As I generally do whenever I get hurt, I started doing as much as I could, as soon as I could. I got a few gatorades down, soup, sandwich, couple waters 2 rows of cookies, oatmeal.

Kept it all down, and got to bed at a decent time.

Tuesday bench
rained so I had the day off anyways. Couldn't get my weight past 235, so I knew I was still hurting. Went in planning a very easy workout, that changed into an ok workout.

Warm up
gh stretch
back foot elevated hip stretch

Bench
this was a planned 295 for 5 sets of 7, what I did is:
225x2x7,255x7,275x7,295x5 - almost lost the 5th rep forward and just threw off the whole set, but I think I would have gotten 7... 5 sets not even close.

Didn't do any assistance, was feeling pretty rough and achey. Hoping this workout will speed up my recoverey from this flu. Planning to take a light squat day tomorrow, and save the 380 for Friday.

Saturday heavy bench

Man, I'm tired, things are going well very happy to be feeling this overtrained and performing like this, but I'm feeling the burn, very lucky to have good training partners that push me on, I've just got to get to the gym and they get me going.

Warm up
gh stretch
back foot elevated hip stretch
face pulls
hammer curls

Bench
325 for 10 sets of 3
- missed a rep on my 2nd last set, then got them on my last one.

I wasn't planning on doing this well, but so it would be a shame to deload now, I'm going to put the weights up another 10lbs and see how it goes. The longer I can hold on, the closer I'm going to be to 405, and I'm getting pretty close, I can feel it.

Heavy front squat 360 for 4x4

Been keeping my weight up fairly well, went into this workout around 245, going to try to keep this on and maybe even get up to 250... the eventual goal being 265, that's probably as heavy as I'll get in my life, and hopefully I'll be the size I need to be for some big numbers.

Headed in a little nervous as I am before all of these workouts. I really want a payoff from this program, I've been hurting like crazy, and I want it to be worth it. Taking Wednesday very light helped my knee quite a bit, I'm probably going to keep the light days very light until this is over, I've only got 3 heavy workouts left.

Anyhew

warm up
bike
foam roll IT bands
dynamic stretches

Front squat
360 for 4x4

-this wasn't that bad, and I'm happy to come back from only getting 3 of 5 sets with 340. My training partners have been great, they come over and cheer me on for each set I do, it really helps.

Thursday Bench

Had the day off, and got a bit too much sun, I was worried it was going to affect... or effect... my workout, weights felt heavy early on, but then I got going and I was ok. Ate well, so that probably helped a fait bit.

Warm up
gh stretch

Flat Bench
225x5,275x5, 305x5,5,5,4,4,3,3

face pulls 75

I was pretty happy with how this workout went. I get worried I have the bar too high on my chest, my videos don't look too bad, but I'm worried I'm pec benching. I don't want to tinker with things because they're working so well, but I also constantly worry about injury. I typically do 135x20,185x10 for my first few warm ups, and make sure I get nice and loosened up and feeling good. I'm happy that next week I'll be handling weights that are suppsed to give a 363 max, and I plan to do multiple high rep sets. I'm going to hope to handle some big weights, and plan to handle 385. I've been watching the progression in my head for a while, 315,335,355,375,385. I just need to keep my volume high right up until it's time to cut it.

Tuesday bench wednesday squat

Went in feeling very off my game, and in no mood to train at all. Got it turned around, but I was still very drained, making me even happier with my numbers.

Bench
285x7,7,6,5,4

face pulls 75
hammer curls
side laterals

- 285x7 is a 350 max, I think this is the highest I've ever been with this cycle, so I'm really sniffing for a PR on bench soon, I'm only 40lbs away now from 405, and I'm nothing but happy with that, If I could get to 375 I'd be happy, 385 would be awesome. I'm going to let the week ride out and see how I do, 305 for 5's is going to be a tough workout, and 325 for triples will be interesting as well. But I want to get to the numbers the for the next week, so I'll push hard. I'm not far from where I need to be, the 285 felt really light and fast. Hitting 295 for a couple 7's next week will be huge for me. I don't know how I keep progressing, I've been hammering the volume 3 times a week and just trying to overtrain like crazy, and the numbers keep going up. I'm at the point now, where next week i'm supposed to be doing sets that would add up to my 1rm... so going past that, for mutliple sets, multiple times a week would be just deadly... I've got a lot of momentum in bench right now, interested in seeing where it goes. Once i'm over 405 on the bench, I'm promptly going to stop caring about it I think... I don't think I'll ever bench 500 without getting super fat and unhealthy... but 455 might happen. Either way, learning to bench twice a week instead of once was awesome, 3 times a week was even better.


Wednesday squat

Unfortnately just shit kicked. Left glute med is making me limp when I walk, and my right knee is toast, very sharp stabbing pains. I decided to not even try to do the 6x2 @80%, I went very light, did a nice long warm up... didn't help much.

front squat
6x2 with 225

Megan gave me some good advice to stretch my hamstring, it helped a bit, I remember I hurt my knee benching and it was just some tightness in my hamstring I'd loosen up then be fine.

Monday squat

Have been feeling a little fluish lately, and wasn't feeling the greatest headed into this workout. Right knee is having some very sharp pains, I wonder how far to let this go, I don't see it getting better anytime soon. Maybe some extra biking or maybe leg extensions or bodyweight squats on off days. Every workout is really difficult from here on out, and I've got to be fairly fired up and well fed and hydrated for each one.

Front squat
340 for 3 sets of 5

- got really light headed and pale, I was seeing stars big time. tried for a fourth set, but I died. This is still better than the time I ran this before. I've got a light day coming up, and I'm really going to warm up until Im feeling ok, then start my sets. At least my calves are handling this ok. I've got 360  for 4x4 on Friday, and I consider that a heavy front squat workout, and I've gotta PR my reps, without much rest.

should be interesting.

Saturday bench

warm up
hip and gh stretch

Bench
295x3, 315 7 sets of 3, 315 for 2 sets of 2

fat grip curls - lots
side laterals

-Pretty happy about this workout. I'm not sure if I'm going to deload and max, or go for another week or two and see how far I can take it.

Thursday bench Friday Squat

Was feeling pretty horrible all day, feeling a lot of nausea and flu like symptoms. Went not horrible, but I did better on this workout last time.

Warm up
back foot elevated hip stretch
gh stretch
cable hammer curls

Bench
255x5,275x5,295x5,5,5,4,3
-skipped 2 sets
-i was dying, weight felt very heavy, I was muscleing it up, I got more 5's last time, but I also strained my pec very badly, so overall this workout has improvement. I'm happy-ish with how I did. Not sure how to approach next weeks bench after this, we'll see how Saturday goes.

I'm going to have to tone it down sooner or later I think. but maybe I just haven't done many bench specialization programs. Marks had around 32 lifts at 80% while I'm around 90 on average 80%. Marks programs also used assistance work as big part of the program through heavy partials.

I have got to start doing more chinups.

Friday
-Went in with the best of intentions, ready to do some work even though it was a light day. My right knee was just done, knees had a very sharp pain. Went until I thought it would be a better idea to just stop. All the reps were slow and ugly as crap, I should have lightened the weight.

315 for 4 sets of 2

I'm just going to use it for extra recoverey for the next workout, it's going to be another doozy.

tuesday bench Wed Squat

Bench
275x7,7,6,5,5,4
- had to do an extra set. May need to repeat this week, or May just keep going, we'll have to see.

Overall, fairly happy about the workout.


Wednesday
Rushed my warm up a bit, not that I really do much of a warm up lately.
Warm up
bike 3 mins
mountain climbers into calf stretch

Front squat
315 for 6 sets of 6

It was a fun nite tonite, lots of good people in, the guys were kind enough to hellp me out on most of my sets just by a bit of cheering. Simply watching is enough to help me out most of the time. I don't know why, but this was one of the harder workouts I've ever done. Its only 315, but holy crap, 36 reps'll getcha

Monday squat

Warm up
bike 5 mins
25 bodyweight squats

-was feeling relatively good, knees were aching pretty good.

Front squat - light
315 for 6 sets of 2

 these never felt hard, but they never really felt all that easy, Wednesday is going to be a hell of a night, I don't think I could have done 6x6 tonite, I hope I recover fast, I need to hit 345 for 5x5 next week. I would like to hit all 5 sets of 5 with 345, I did that last time, but I'd get to 4 reps, rack, then do it again for 5, so I'd like to do even better this time.

Saturday bench

Warm up
gh stretch
back foot elevated hip stretch

- having some annoying sciatic pain again, Otis showed me a few moves, so we'll see if that fixes it up.

Bench
305 for 9 sets of 3

- was feeling pretty exhausted headed into this one, but turned out ok. I was on my feet, bsically just standing around all day helping my dad install a hardwood floor, really tightened up my left hip.

Happy I did so well this workout, if I can rest up a bit and get through next week that would be pretty huge.

Friday squat

Warm up
bike - 10 mins and my knees still ache
dynamic stuff

Front squat
315 for 6 sets of 5 reps

this was pretty brutal. Each workout is getting harder, and I'm feeling fatigued, I've noticed my reps have slowed down a bit. overall I was happy I gutted this workout out. I've got 5 days and a light squat before I have to do 6's. If I can just get through those then it's downhill from there, well the 340 for 5's won't be the most fun. I don't even think I got half the reps from when I did it before, so  I'm pretty sure I'm seeing some progress, and I'm really working for it, this is not easy.

Thursday bench

I really hate the 7x5 night, I like 5x7 cause it's over in 5 sets, 7 sets is just brutal, It felt heavy right from the get go and I was already tired from the first 3 sets, but you can just keep pushing. I missed some reps, but overall, I was happy with how I handled the weights.

Warm up
face pulls
back foot elevated hip stretch

Bench
285 x5,5,5,5,4,4,3

assistance
face pulls 50
side laterals 20
hammer curls 30

Big front squat day tomorrow, not going to be an easy night at all, but only difficult because I'm feeling tired, it's lighter than the last time I tried this, but I think I'm still doing more work, I never actually got to 6 sets except on a light day, so I'm feeling good about getting to 345 for 5 sets of 5, that would be much better than the last time, should be able to finish the whole program.

Monday squat tuesday bench

Good long weekend, good rest.

Monday front squat

warm up
bike
dynamic stuff

Front squat
315 for 6 sets of 4
-this was not easy. I'm not going to have any problems hanging onto these, and I'll get to 6x6, then back down to 5x5 without too much trouble, after that, we'll just have to see what happens.

Tuesday bench
- hot and humid in the gym tonite

Warm up
gh stretch
back foot elevated stretch
-left hip very tight today

Bench
265 for 7,7,7,6,5

-This is a good night for me, I'm hoping to get through this week, and next week, then deload and max out, see where I'm at, then try a new bench routine I think.

Saturday Bench

warm up
gh stretch
back foot elevated hip stretch

Bench
295 for 9 sets of 3 reps

- my touch on my chest isn't smooth right now, just a bit of a bobble that I'm trying to fix up.
-happy getting all the reps, I'll likely put the weights up 10lbs for next week and see what happens. If I can get to 275 for 7's, 295 for 5's and 315 for 3's I'll be in PR territory.

didn't do much for assistance, I was pretty tired from the 9 sets.

Friday squat

I seem to keep making the mistake of taking the light days for granted on this program, but they're still a lot of work, and hard. I'm looking forward to really getting into this program, but I may make the light days a bit easier either with lighter weight or less sets, I'll play it by year.. or ear... whichever it is, and see how I do.

Warm up
15 mins on bike
-going to start doing this for a bit just to save my knees.

Front squat
315 for 6 sets of 2

assistance
face pulls
pull aparts
hammer curls

Mon - Thurs

Monday - squat
-after deciding to just call it a day trying to get ready for the meet, I needed to chose what to do, I considered Sheiko quite a bit, I'm likely going to do the bench routine, but I really had an itch to redo the russian squat program but with lighter weights, and really try to get all the reps and volume.

Front squat
315 for 6 sets of 2 reps

Tuesday - bench
- was throwing up after training the night before, this session was a dud, I was very flat and had no energy.

255 for 3 sets of 7
-was supposed to be 5 sets of 7
-wasn't thrilled, but even feeling as crappy as I did, the weights were fairly easy, I was only doing this for 265-275 when I hit 365, that's not that far away.

Wednesday squat

Front squat
315 for 6 sets of 3
-last set did 5. Feeling confident that 315 for 6x6 will be challenging, but that I'll get all the reps this time.

Thursday - bench

275 for 5,5,5,5,5,4,4,3

assistance
face pulls - 50
dumbell flys 3x10
dumbell extensions 3x10
side laterals 3x10

-Hoping now that I'm feeling a bit better and I have more of an appetite Saturdays bench I'll get all the reps

Saturday squat

watched some videos after training, I can understand why the guys looked so weird that I just bailed.

Warm up
bike 5 mins
dynamic stuff
bodyweight squats

front squat
315x2, 365x1
-did this just for a bit of extra confidence

swicthed racks
 squat with chains
135,225,315,365

-stopped there, my arm was so knotted up I could barely lift it. The squats themselves looked easy, felt shaky, looked very smooth. I like taking videos, becuase if I didn't see it I'd never believe they were the same squat. I've always been weird like that.

Plan tonite was double 5 plates with chains, or don't compete... I might try again Wednesday. I'm really not chomping at the bit for this one, knowing I'll barely be able to bench isn't such a highlight for me.

Friday squat

went in hoping for a big night, got more of the same lately. I'm going to chose not to compete at this meet coming up, I'm torn up all over, and just not having fun getting ready for this meet.

back squat
went up to 445x1 - felt like shit.

I've lost straight weight squatting, and I just don't feel like forcing it anymore than I already have.

Thursday bench

Went in deciding to see where I could get to, then just do some assistance.

Warm up
gh stretch
back foot elevated hip stretch
face pulls
side rotations
external rotation

Bench
135x10 - felt fine
185x10
225x5 - these were fine too - a pretty good sign
275x5-these hurt, my descents weren't the best
295x5 these hurt a bit more, but still manageable
315x3 just couldn't press well enough to get to 5

-i'm gladened to know I didn't lose too much, but it's frustrating as anything under a 405 bench is frustrating for me, lol.

By the end of this I had a good ache in my arm, and I'm a little worried tomorrow it'll be back to usual... The ART did work, just i'm gonna mess it up again. I'm looking forward to squatting tomorrow and seeing where I'm at.

Wed squat

Was feeling pretty beat up, and I didn't really care about today, moreso Fridays squat, so I just warmed up then shut her down.

Saw an ART guy today, he said he's never seen anything like my arm. Pretty annoying injury.

Tuesday bench

failed training night in my mind. My plan was to just go up till it hurt, then drop down and do some reps. Was too torn up to really do much.

Bench
barx25, 95x25,135x25, 185x10, 225x12
-just stopped there, I was pretty pissed I only got 12 reps, but they were extremely painful, and it was difficult to maintain form, and I always slow down when its messed up.

mondy squat

it was very difficult to get on a rack tonite, had to take the crooked one, got me pretty annoyed before I even started. Hate it when that happens, and it's something I have to make sure doesn't happen.

warm up
shoulder rotation stretch
stick dislocations
external rotator stretch
side extensions

Squat with 45 lbs chains
worked up to 475x2

-wondered how I could hit this, but on Friday I struggled with 470 and no chains for a double. I was much faster this week as well, my descent much smoother. I think the chains help with that. Going to take Wednesday off completely and see how that helps things.

Saturday Bench

Decided to skip the bench, and just did a rehab circuit I thought would help me recover from all the tendonitis.

inverted barbell rowx20
cable pull apartsx20
face pullsx20
dumbell flys x15
tricep extension x20 with the 30s
external rotation x20

3 sets

this was work. I'm probably going to squat again on monday just to get my confidence back asap. I'm not dying that I'm probably just going to pass on my benches at the meet. Or just attempt lower numbers. I'm waiting to see an ART guy, he'll hopefully be able to help me figure a few things out. Right now my arm is just destroyed.

Friday crap squat

warmed up well, then proceeded to shit the bed.

Back squat
worked up to 470x2 - was supposed to be 4

-I was just off, and almost got stapled with 405 on my warm ups, that just rattled the crap out of me. Everything went downhill from there, my descents sucked, too slow, couldn't find a comfortable place to put my feet, arm was throbbing.

If I had this to do over, I would have gone back down to 3 plates after the 4 plate bobble, then worked up 405,425,445,465 ... instead I went 405,445,470.

Not a great night, going to regroup, I also accidently lost 10lbs, Megans been dieting and that's thrown me off a ton as well... so I'm going to haveto either get the weight back on, fix my form, or pull out of this meet if I'm only going to squat 500 again and can barely bench right now.

super frustrated. But what I learned from my last meet, when I competed when I shouldn't have... is that no one really cares, you don't get brownie points for being tough. If things line up great, if not, the guys will do fine at the meet by themselves.

Thursday Bench

Decided to try to bench, and just see how it felt, did a very slow warm up, felt alrite. almost no tightness.

Bench
barx20, 95x20,135x20,185x10,225x6, 275 2 sets of 4

Brachial on my right arm was just trashed, as soon as I got to 275 it was extremely noticeable, and really slowed down my descent. Handled the weight fine on the concentric, but the eccentric was very painful.

Choosing between the 2 I'd take the brachial pain, the pec being better is a serious load off the mind. Just gotta figure out how to squat 4 more times. I think I'll only be able to back squat once a week if I want to be able to bench in competition. Plus I'm not sure I can even get the bar on my back more than once a week. I'll see what it's like tomorrow, and maybe I'll be able to safety bar squat the other 2 days if it doesn't throw me off too much.

assistance

barbell rows
225 2x10

face pulls
2x25

dumbell flys
2x10

hammer curl
1x30

Wed light squat

Brachial on right arm was very bad,when I train through I'll usually lose a few bench days, and training in general gets really miserable. I want to have a really good Fiday squat, so I switched to the safety bar and bent a bit more at the waist instead of going straight down as I could have.

Safety bar squats
315 for 3 sets of 2, 365 for 2

did some with hands on the handles others without hands, found it more difficult to balance with no hands, I think in general I'll just keep my hands on the handles, I'd rather use the heavier weight.

Tuesday bench

Pec is slightly bruising, not up in my armpit, but moreso on the muscle itself. Not really sure what that means... but it probably means I'm out for bench at the meet. Although, I did some reps with just a plate, and that was the first time in a while it hasn't hurt, so that's a good sign.

Military
95,135, 165x7,4, 135 for 4 sets of 7

I was supposed to do 165 for 5 sets of 7, but my max is probably a bit lower right now, so I'll have to work at this for a bit. new goal of 250 on this, something to keep my eyes on the prize.

face pulls- 50
flat bench - 50

- defintitely need to add in more back work.

Monday squat

knees weren't aching at all, so wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign, but as I got squatting they didn't feel so hot, then as I got heavier they felt pretty much fine. Pec still not happy. Calf is more or less fine again.

Warm up
-did the Paul warm up, hadn't done it for a while, and didn't feel too tight as I was doing it.
lat stretch
pec stretch

Squat with 45lbs chains
405 x 3 singles, 425x1 single, 445x3 reps
-was just planning on doing singles and stayng fresh for friday, but I felt like the workout was doing more harm then good. I planned on doing 10 singles with 405, but started going heavier as I was feeling the weights were too light for me to hit some smooth squats.

the 445 triple felt really good, felt like I left a couple reps in the hole, and I'm starting to feel like all the front squatting is paying off even if I didn't hit the numbers I was hoping for.

deadlift with 75lbs chains
- I've never been a big deadlifter before a meet, and I'd rather be fresh, then fully trained on pulls. I've done all my best deadlifting without deadlifting at all before the meet, then again, I've only done 2 meets where I trained it regularly.

405x1,495x1, 525x1 belt on

- pull felt good, just walked up and pulled it, kept my back flat and tight, but didn't worry about arching, so much as I worried about just pushing my feet thru the floor to get rid of my sticking point at my knees. this is a PR deadlift for me so far, I did 525 with 45 lbs chains with a tough lockout, and this was more with an easier lockout, and at that meet, I had 590 at my knees with no belt, so I'm hoping 600 is about to go down.

Saturday bench

pec still very tight, not quite sure how to rehab this one as I've never strained a pec, but I think time and not pushing it will work the best... I'd really prefer to be able to just train hard 6 nights a week, as I get frustrated when I can't train the way I'd like to.

bench
225 2x3

rack lockouts
275x5
-these were still a bad movement

close grip pulldowns
Face pulls
dumbell flys
side laterals
2 sets each

Friday heavy squat

Right knee is still pretty tender, but overall feeling ok. I don't feel it, or my calf as bad on back squats, probably just due to the lesser range of motion.

Warm up
foam roll IT band, biceps
barx30 front squat

Front squat - finally got the hang of hands crossed over my chest.
135x10x2 sets

Back squat
135,225,315,405, 445x5

-short and sweet, I was thinking about attempting a 2nd and 3rd set, but wasn't a good night for it. I was all over the place, and felt very uncomfortable and had to expend a lot more energy than I should have. I'm just trying to find the sweet spots, I'm more used to being very upright, so I find bending forward, even just the little bit I need to throws me off huge. The hole is also throwing me off, front squats I cn just go straight down, back squat I need to sit more between my feet, and slightly back, but not nearly as far back as I used to squat.

All in all, I was moderately frustrated, glad I could squat at all, happy I got my 5 reps without having to get psyched up, just walked up and did it.

Next week 470 for 4 reps, then 495x3 ... I'm really looking forward to 495, that will give me a good idea of where I'm going to be for the meet. All in all, I'm not making the major improvements I was hoping for numbers wise, and I may open my deadlift very light, but all in all, I'm happy with what I've learned from this prep, and I'm looking forward to using it in my next training cycle.

bench deload

knew I had to have a light workout, pec is borderline, so a couple light workouts right now could give it the chance to loosen up a bit.

Warm up
bike
hip, gh stretch

bench
225 for 5 sets of 3
- still feeling tight on most reps

circuit
face pulls, rope pressdown, dumbell flyes, lateral raises
x3

-Had a general sharp ache, all up and down my arms tonite. frustrated that I can't train regular, but it was probably a good idea for a slow night afer hitting 365, I haven't had that in my hands for a while.

wednesday squat

Knee was acting really weird, and it was a sharp pain, which is my general rule to cutting off training.

warm up
bike
bodyweight squats
step ups
leg extensions

front squat
up to 275x2

barx50

-tried to get some blood into the area, but it was still a sharp pain every rep. I'm going to just have to wait to see how long it takes to go away.

tuesday bench

went in just wanting to work up to something heavy, and see where I'm actually at.

warm up
back foot elevated hip stretch
gh stretch

bench
135, 185, 225,275,295, 315, 335, 355 (paused) 365 touch and go

-nothing spectacular, but it's a gym PR. It's always a good feeling getting the feedback that your training is working so far.

Monday squat

Was feeling under the weather, and I just went with what felt good. Definitely off plan, but I don't think it's that huge a deal, and was probably a good thing, even if it annoys me a bit.

Warm up
tiger balm - just a little on patellar tendons.
bak foot elevated hip stretch
lat stretch

front squat
135, 225, 315, 365, 395, 415, 435xf
- form looked fine, got out of the hole well, just hit a hard sticking point

Back squat - no belt
405,455,475, 495
- all the reps felt fine, my legs feel strong right now, felt like I could have gone up to 515 for sure, I just wanted to save it until I was feeling more comfortable in my form, this is still  giant beltless pr.

saturday bench

having to train smart is really annoying. Pec feels fairly ok, but a deload is good timing.

bench
225 5 sets of 2 275x3, 315x3,2
-worked up after a bit, things felt fine, but I was hesitant. May switch to chains for the next few weeks after the deload.

did some back assistance work after

Friday heavy squat

Warm up
-went in early in the day and warmed up to 225 for a few doubles, just until my knees stopped hurting. 2nd warm up went very easily.

Front squat
345x6,2
-had to take a break to get the 6th rep on the first set, and just stopped on the 2nd set.

Not freaking out, feeling extremely fatigued, called Willie after, he generally hits the wall around the same point, we talked about how to proceed for the next bit. Basically, instead of trying 365 for 5, we're going to do 6-10 doubles, then just keep going up to 425. I like this plan better. But still have to keep the sets as high as I can.

If I can do 10 doubles with 365 I'll be pretty happy.

http://youtu.be/4bl6to2fLqU

Thursay bench

Felt pretty rough heading into this, but got going with a spike shooter and Kraddy.

Bench
295x5,5,5,5,2
-was supposed to do 7 sets of 5, but on my 2nd rep of my 5th set something in my pec went pretty wonky and I'm going to wait and see if it's anything bad

wed light squat

Warm up
tiger balm on knees
bodyweight squats
late stretch
-besides knees aching, I got into position easily.

Front squat
345 6 sets of 2

-This was still really hard, weight felt very heavy, everyone told me they were moving quick. I was just still tired from Mondays squat, I'll be recovered by Friday and get my 6's.

tuesday bench

The gym was empty,and I was feeling fairly flat tonite, had a pretty good workout.

warm up
tiger balm
back foot elevated hip stretch

Bench
275x7,7,6,4,5

was supposed to do 5 sets of 7, so unless I get all my reps on all my next sets, I'll have to redo this week and try to get all the reps.

Monday squat

Life is fairly back to normal, had to help move my moms house to her new one today, I sweated a ton and was a few pounds under my training weight of 245, didn't get it put back on, I was very nervous and uncomfortable heading into tonite with how poorly my training went in calgary, 130kg front squat was feeling very heavy, but I let my training partners know I needed some help tonite, and wound up having my best front squat workout so far.

Warm up
tiger balm on knees and calf
2 mins on bike on high till my knees didn't hurt too much
bodyweight squats

front squat
345 5x5
sets 3,4,5 I did 4 reps, racked it, took 10 deep breaths and did my final rep. Keeping the bar on my shoulders and upright was very tough, but I feel this was pretty good, and this was a very tough workout.


In general, I'm pretty sure this means I should be doing them ona  rgular basis.

training in Calgary

Back from the CPU Nats in Calgary, had a very good time, got to watch some great lifters, was very impressed with the female lifters and raw malelifters, didn't get to see too many equipped males lift, but all the CPU guys are very high level, and generally better than me, lol.

Training didn't go so hot, I was fairly exhausted the entire trip,and I'm frustrated to say not having home field advantage threw me off. I've become much too reliant on the familiarity of certain racks, and when I compete in Waterloo I'm generally thrown for a loop. This is something I'm going to have to figure out, and get over. I guess I'm a bit of a head case.

Friday squat in Edmonton

warm up
tiger balm on knees
-got into position fairly easily, knees were aching, but that's pretty normal these days.

Front squat
130kg 7 sets of 2
- was supposed to do 155kg, and I was supposed to do it for 5 reps, but it just wasn't going to fly, I was pissed at the time, and threw a bit of a hissy fit that I had to apologize for later, but in hindsight, this was exactly what I needed, and trying to do my training sessions on the road like usual was a bad idea.

Saturday bench in Calgary
-this was a straight up commercial gym, I could feel my testicles curling up into my stomach the second I walked in the place. They had hammer strength gear, but the benches weren't as high as they needed to be, somy set ups were piss poor. the plates were a little suspect as well.

Bench
295 3x3
-this was supposed to be 10 sets of 3, but that wasn't going to fly. The weight didn't feel particularly heavy, I just got frustrated, and didn't see much point in training a movement that wasn't the actual movement, plus my motivation just sucked.

Thoughts on travelling on training.
-met up with Paul in the airport, and I saw his luggage, and his training bag filled with supplements was bigger than my suitcase. He travels a ton, and related to me that even he didn't feel his sessions went very well. Next time I need to be much much better prepared, and pick out my spots to train, and line up training partners well in advance.

All in all, missing a couple sessions will likely only help me.

Tuesday bench

warm up
gh stretch
tiger balm on shoulders

Bench
265 for 5 sets of 7
-felt good got all my reps, 285 for 5 on thursday, 305 for 3's on Saturday. If I get all my reps this week, I may just keep going an extra week, I'd like a week where I'm doing 275,295,315. Not too sure where my bench is at, but I think I'll get 350 without too much trouble. Just gotta keep whittling it down week by week until I'm at 400. Now that I'm not hurting my arm every 5 minutes, it'll be a matter of time. Won't be easy at all, but should be doable in 2012.