Week 5 Deadlift. 197.5kg/435lb x 8 top set. Rep PR.
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Kilos. 65x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x3, 155x3, 175x3, 197.5x8.
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Deadlifts. Technique squats. Light calf work. Pulldown abs. Sled drags. Bike.
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I reduced squat day volume, so I didn’t feel like death today; good deal. Pulls still felt heavy, until rep 2 of the top set – everything suddenly clicked and pulling just felt sweet. I also reduced today’s volume from 5 to 3 sets of technique squats.
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Adding “heavy” ab work. No high rep body weight crunches; pulldown abs 5-10 rep range. One day in the middle for more rectus focus, one day for more oblique focus. Why? I think a weak torso is also contributing to my squat suckage. Thinking about adding a little ab work every day, TBD. Starting with squat and deadlift day; start light, have somewhere to progress to.
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#gym #fitness #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531 #liftrunbang #sleddrags #getstronger #squat #squats #deadlift #deadlifts #oldmanstrength
Week 5 Bench Press. 112.5kg/248lb x 7.
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Kilos. Bar x 10, 55x5, 65x5, 77.5x3, 87.5x3, 102.5x3, 112.5x7.
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Bench press, then more bench press first-set-last (5x5-8). All pressing superset with banded face-pulls. Barbell rows. Farmers walks. Holds. 10 min bike.
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Still getting used to kilos. “2.5” feels weird (decimal) but it’s about 5 lb, so it’s a proper increment. 😄
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Bench was ok. Shoulders are popping and feeling weird. Too much slouching all day long. 😣 Happy about the pause: I always think it’s long enough and video tells me otherwise. This pause was finally a pause! 😄
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All else was as expected. Solid, uneventful, generally consistent day.
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#gym #fitness #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531 #liftrunbang #benchpress #farmerswalk #stronggrip #oldmanstrength
Week 5 Squat. Top set 147.5kg/325lb x 1
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Kilos. Bar x 10, 65x8, 80x5, 95x4, 110x3, 120x2, 130x1, 140x1, 147.5x1.
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Hold 170x15sec. Pause Squats 115x3x2. A few calf raises. Reverse sled drags.
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Making adjustments. First, I went back up 1 hole for the J-hooks and to my surprise I just can’t get under the bar as well, so back to the lower. I still think the ideal would be a hole mid-way between the two. Second, dropping leg press. Given how I feel come Thursday (deadlifts), I think it’s too much work here on squat day and I’m not recovering in time. I’d rather keep the sled drags.
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As for squats, working on pushing my butt back and keeping the bar over mid-foot. Working all the technique things I need, and naturally things are much harder - my weak points are all exposed; very evident in the video. I didn’t push back enough and about a third of the way down see the slight lean forward? Then the slight scoop/lean out if the hole?
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I believe Strong-15 was the right choice before, but given the technique change, the weakness exposure and that you build strength through reps (Ed Coan) not to mention more reps is more chance to solidify technique, I am thinking I may want to move squats to 5/3/1 with a low starting weight, or no preformatted program and just focus on reps and technique with simple old progression. 🤔 it feels like a big step backwards, but if it’s the right step…
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#gym #fitness #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531 #liftrunbang #strong15 #squat #sleddrags #oldmanstrength
