Deload week.

I opted for this deload to work up to a reasonably heavy but not bad single. Just warm-up sets, then a triple, a double, and a single. Just something that gets me up there in the weights but nothing really stressful nor strenuous. So today worked up to 315 for a single and that was fine.

This will be my basic order of business all week for the deload: work up to a reasonable single. Then, any additional work will just be something light but also starting to experiment and groove for next cycle. For example, I’m going to add in pause squats because I do want some more squats for that volume and work, and I think pause squats will serve me best right now to help with my tightness and “confidence in (and out) of the hole” issues. So this week is some light experimentation to see how things will groove out.

One fun change too?

I opted to try out the “new” powerlifting equipment at the gym. That is, instead of using standard olympic plates and the power racks, using the calibrated plates, a Texas Strength Systems combo rack, a Texas Power Bar, etc. — the University of Texas Longhorns Powerlifting team is now officially based out of Ignite Fitnez, so all their equipment is here and we’re allowed to use it (except during team training time, which is evenings and thus not a confict for me).

It was different in a good way. The equipment itself was like butter. Really enjoyed using it. There are currently 3 combo racks and I’ll cycle through them all to see which I end up preferring (they’re all basically the same but each slightly different). All in all, I dug it and am likely to stick with them for squatting, benching, and deadlifting – Pressing may stay over in the power racks because of logistics.

One downside? The power racks are in front of a mirrored wall (and back at my prior gym, in front of the windows) — so I’ve always had some sort of visual feedback. This is a blessing and a curse, but now? No such thing — what’s in front of me is a big area of the gym. So I’m going to have to get better with my own body awareness here (squat depth); probably use video to help me mind this. Learn to trust what I’m feeling and not demand at least a hint of visual confirmation, y’know?

But then the flip side of this is the area where these racks are is up front. So there’s a lot of foot traffic, potentially right in front of your eyes. It actually didn’t cause me much problem today, because I tend to angle my eyes downward when squatting, so it wasn’t a big deal — but the gym was only medium-busy — it’ll be interesting to see how other group classes and a more busy gym affect this. Plus being up front like that, it felt like I was in a fish bowl or a zoo – on display for everyone coming into the gym to watch and see. I mean, not like people can’t watch you anyways, but it just felt more “on display”. Plus, it was right up against where the big “shelves” are that people put their stuff – we’ll see how socially distracting it becomes (e.g. will people want to talk – I tend to avoid chit-chat, because I’m working).

Don’t get me wrong – the benefits outweigh everything. It’s mostly that today was novel and new, and in time I’ll adjust and it won’t be a big deal.

5/3/1 (deload

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 200 x 3
  • 225 x 3
  • 275 x 2
  • 315 x 1
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked
• Pause Squats
  • 225 x 3
  • 225 x 3
• 1-Leg Leg Press
  • 45 x 10e
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 45 x 10
• Reverse Curls
  • 70 x 12
• Stationary Bike
  • 10 min