Not bad, not bad.

Worked up to a top set of 330×1. I’d say RPE… 8.5 or so. I reckon I could have either done another 1-2 reps, or a little more weight. But it’s up there.

Watching the video:

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Squat. 330×1 top set. . Bar x 10, 135×8, 175×5, 205×4, 240×3, 265×2, 315×1, 320×1, 330×1. . 265×3 pause squats. Leg presses. 10 minutes stationary bike. . See how I shift to the right? Compensation habit from my left knee issues. Been working on it, but obviously comes out in heavier work. . Still happy with the squat. Hitting depth. Better body tightness (push 360° into the belt). Take time to let things settle before moving. Confidence returning. . . . #gym #squat #pausesquats #🍑 #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531 #strong15 #liftrunbang

A post shared by John Daub (@hsoisauce) on Oct 15, 2018 at 4:57am PDT

I saw a lean towards the right. It’s a long-standing thing due to compensating for my left knee issues. I struggle with it a bunch. Today, wasn’t on my mind — I was more thinking about being tight, especially in the upper body and torso (360º push into the belt); about (hip) DRIVING out of the hole; hitting depth; not rushing anything (take time to set up, unrack and take a moment to settle, step back and settle, just take your time – and strive to NOT lose tightness, tho since that will happen be sure to tighten back up after each phase), and just nailing the damn squat. I did alright.

Biggest thing is that I feel my confidence is returning. I opted to change my squat approach because I was having confidence issues, cutting depth, etc.. I’m not cutting depth; in fact, often going deeper. I think this is working out well for me because it’s not highly fatiguing (esp. to my knees), I get more warm-up/work-up, which translates into a little more opportunity to get technique dialed in before doing heavier sets, and then some heavier singles because that’s where I need the confidence return.

Yeah, things kinda messed with my head a bit because I’m hitting that tipping point, but nailing it well today was confirmation I need to just keep going. 🙂

Pause squats I think are a big help here: gotta be tight, gotta hit depth, gotta hold.

Leg presses I think are also helping since I’m taking a stance closer to my squat. Plus, I try to make every rep deeper than the prior one – get a stretch, going rather deep. I also think this is helping.

6th cycle, fixing my squat; modeled after Strong-15

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 8
  • 175 x 5
  • 205 x 4
  • 240 x 3
  • 265 x 2
  • 315 x 1
  • 320 x 1
  • 330 x 1
• Pause Squats
  • 265 x 3
• Leg Press (feet high and wide)
  • 90 x 10
  • 270 x 15
  • 360 x 15
  • 450 x 8
• Stationary Bike
  • 10 min.