Today’s workout was a little odd.

Squat

• 2x5x45 (warmup)
• 1x5x75
• 1x3x115
• 1x2x155
• 3x5x195 (work)

I struggled a bit on the first work set but got the 5 reps. Ensured a good 4-5 minute rest between the other work sets and actually felt more powerful and stronger in them. Not sure if I just needed a little more rest between warmup and first work set, or if perhaps it was just a neuromuscular adjustment/adaptation to the weight.

I’m kinda stoked tho. Next workout I do 205#… breaking the 200# mark is kinda cool. No it’s not grossly strong, it’s not even my bodyweight. But it’s just a cool milestone/barrier to pass. 🙂

I also think that it’s time to get a belt. I’m not sure I’ll start using it right now, most recommendations seem to be to wait on using a belt until you’re doing more than bodyweight. Nevertheless, I see no harm in getting it ordered now because it may take time to make, ship, and so on. Plus doing some manual break-in work. Might as well get the ball rolling so I’ll have it when I need it.

Press

• 2x5x45 (warmup)
• 1x5x45
• 1x3x55
• 1x2x70
• 3x5x85 (work)

Biggest thing I noticed here was I’m not pressing the bar up in a state where the bar is constantly parallel to the ground. It’s worse with lighter weights, so the fix is to lift heavier. 😉  Still, it’s there and something I’ll need to keep aware of.

Chin-ups

• 1x9xbw
• 1x6xbw
• 1x5xbw

I noticed on my very first rep that my chest was going all the way to the bar, but subsequent reps did not… chin over the bar, but chest was dropping. That is not good. The chest needs to come to the bar to get a proper full range of motion, especially the back muscles squeezing at the top. I worked to combat that, tho it still wasn’t as ideal as it could be. So, reps didn’t go up, but form improved… but needs more.

I’m thinking about perhaps dropping the reps and trying to go uber-strict on form, because I cannot see how I’ll work my way to full-on proper chins if the final bit of the concentric motion isn’t there and is weaker than the rest of the movement.

Commentary

This workout was good and bad.

Good: tickling the 200# mark with squats. That every workout I think damn this weight is going to be crazy, and nailing it every time. It’s really cool. Seeing progress is motivating.

Bad: distraction.

Instead of the usual rock music over the stereo, the gym was playing… NPR. WTF? The thing is, music is something I can tune into the background. But the sound of people talking distracts me. The people in the gym I can usually tune out because their conversations are usually chit-chat and something I don’t care much about. But when you hear news, inevitably you’ll hear a trigger word that keys something in you, some issue or some news topic that perks your interest. And try as I might to filter it out, I can’t. So, my brain wanders… the hard part being that then I’ll recognize I’m losing focus and then actively try to filter things out, but that’s still a problem because now I’m focused on being focused, not on lifting. *sigh*

So it threw me a bit, and is perhaps one reason why my lifts felt a little off. Nevertheless, you adjust, you deal with it, and you still get your work done and get out of the gym.

I’m not sure I want to put the iPod earbuds in. We’ll see.

Anyways, I still feel overall good and am enjoying the progress on this program. This marks week 4 of following this “Starting Strength”-inspired program. I’ll reflect back on my first month come Friday.