During the last few reps of a true 20RM squat, just do what Jesus tells you.

– Mark Rippetoe

I wasn’t doing 20RM squats, but I think Jesus was talking to me today.

Squats

• 2x5x45 (warmup)
• 1x5x90
• 1x3x135
• 1x2x180
• 3x5x230 (work)

This was the toughest work set so far. The bar speed was slow. A time or two I had to take two breaths before the next rep. Last rep of each set involved a good involuntary yell. I almost didn’t get rep 15 out… around rep 12 I thought “Lord, am I going to make it? should I give up now? hell no! keep going… if you can’t do it, then you won’t do it, but until that point, keep doing it.”.

It felt good to accomplish it, but holy crap….

There were two guys in the gym that were watching me: the owner, and another guy that’s certainly the strongest guy I’ve met in the gym. They offered some observations about my form going to shit during the work sets. I didn’t agree with 100% of what they said, but there’s no question some of the things they said jived with things I myself observed and felt. Biggest things? 1. my abs were NOT tight, 2. my chest was not up. Now, before this workout I was wondering to myself if I had been going low enough, hitting parallel, so I think that was more on my mind than anything else. I know when I got under the bar I would cue myself to tighten my abs, but once the bar started moving all I cared about was moving the weight and getting the reps. Form went to hell.

After thinking about it, I’m going to do a full reset on squats. Is this the right time to reset like this? Well, in reading the Rippetoe tomes I don’t think this merits a full reset… I think I would just forge ahead, either keeping the weight the same for the next workout or microloading (e.g. going up 2.5# instead of 5#). It’s probably too early for a reset. But, I don’t care. The program is a little biased towards young guys, and while I’m not old, I’m not young either. I don’t need to risk injury… better to lift today and tomorrow than just today. Plus, going to less weight will help me get my form in order. I know I’ve been chasing the weight numbers because hey… it feeds my ego like it’s never been fed before. I’ve never done this before, never moved weights like this, and with all the other crapola in my life, having something good like this is wanted and needed. But, ego is starting to take over. I have to remind myself of Henry Rollins:

I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear to me: pain is not my enemy; it is my call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn’t ready for and spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you’re not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.

I’m old enough to know to learn from the wisdom of others. No, my ego didn’t want to hear what the 2 guys in the gym were telling me, but it’s what I needed to hear. When I thought about all my possible options, I think that a full reset, dropping 10% (25# in this case), and working my way back up with a greater emphasis on the form points that I’m not hitting (chest up, abs tight) is what is needed.

Oh, and the belt… wore it lower today, that felt better. I also think I should tighten it up one more notch… it’ll be really tight when I’m standing around, but when I’m under the bar it’ll be just right. As it was, tight when I stand around lead to being a little too loose when I was under the bar.

Bench Press

• 2x5x45 (warmup)
• 1x5x75
• 1x3x105
• 1x2x135
• 3x5x150 (work)

Put more of the Dave Tate “So You Think You Can Bench” series into play. Had the feet further back, rolled the bar to the front of the pegs, pushed into my heels as I pressed, squeezed the bar. I wasn’t perfect with it, but it was better. I can feel the difference the “whole body” and pressing with the legs makes. A long ways to go before I really get it, but this is a start. Also, I was doing better at remembering to squeeze my grip really hard… made my wrists a lot happier.

Pull-ups

• 1x12xbw
• 1x9xbw
• 1x8xbw

I admit, I’m getting tired of doing these reverse/inverted rows. I really want to move to actual pull-/chin-ups. Today I thought, “maybe I’ll just work my way to 10 reps across” and see how that goes… then move on. But no no no. I said I have to get to 3×15 before I move on, and I need to stick to my plan. I still am getting stronger, because reps are going up… and hey, bodyweight is going up too. So if both weight and reps are increasing, I am getting stronger. Just forge on. I’ll be there soon enough.

Commentary

Today was a humbling experience.

It was good for me.

On the one hand, it was nice to have the ego stroke of moving big weights and setting more PR’s. But on the other, it was a time to be humbled and realize that I need to slow down, back up, fix some problems, and from there I can progress. It’s a long-term journey, not a sprint (probably the only way I’ll allow “marathon” to be used in my exercise regimen is here as a metaphor). I have to remember, I’m not doing this for the ego stroke, for a competition, or for anything other than trying to be strong, useful, and healthy… it’s really for my health and well-being. Injury will not help my physical, mental, nor emotional well-being. A little humility will allow my ego to be fed for much longer. 😉