2018-12-03 training log

/ hsoi

That was alright!

Through the summer and into the fall, my squats were horrible. Biggest things were confidence, which then affected my ability to hit depth. Plus all the knee issues and such, and in the end I opted to take a couple steps back. I lowered the weight, changed from a 5/3/1-base to a Strong-15 base. That has helped. The reduction in volume has been good because I can still progress yet it’s not putting as much wear-and-tear on my body – and that’s a good thing to do: to see how little work you can do and still make progress.

So today hitting 350 was not a PR (355 is my all time best) but it was solid progress.

I’ve been a little uncertain about things lately because sessions have been poor and lifts feeling so heavy. But I told myself today to just be focused, in the moment, and (shut-up-and-) lift. And BE TIGHT. I will either make the lift or I won’t, and life will go on. And the 350? I don’t even remember it. I was so into the lift, just being there and doing it and not necessarily trying to remember or process it – just put it on my back, settle, get tight, let things sink down (i.e. don’t fret about depth, just do what feels normal — which these days IS hitting depth), then power up.

It was a little messy (watch the bar path) as on the way up I felt a bit of hips rise and back remain down. But there we go. Did it and it felt pretty good.

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Squat. 350×1 top set. . Bar x 10, 135×8, 190×5, 220×4, 255×3, 280×2, 330×1, 340×1, 350×1. . 280×3. pause squats. No leg press, no bike; taking it easy. . Wow! First, feeling so much better than last week. Then today? Kinda surprised. Things have felt so heavy I was unsure how today would go. But I told myself it will or it won’t; just stay in the moment and lift. Oh – BE TIGHT! My cue for the day. 340 hit the sticking point. 😬 For 350? I was so into the lift I don’t remember doing it. 😄 It felt so easy, I wondered if I must have cut depth. Nope! Hooray for video. . While it’s not a great number and it wasn’t too pretty, it’s good progress for me. I’m more confident under the bar, depth happens. My knees feel better, my body feels better. I’m glad I took 2 steps back to work on my squat. Still a ways to go tho. . . . #gym #squat #pausesquats #🍑 #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531 #strong15 #liftrunbang

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All in all, I’m happy with how things are going.

Part of me wants to keep going because I’m so close, but this is time to call it and reset. In fact, this is the last heavy week I’m doing for a while. Next week will be a deload. The week after I’m going to just lift to have some fun (e.g. thinking about doing things like the Half-Hour Deadlift Challenge), then totally off for Christmas. When I come back, going to do a 6-week-ish cut and some hypertrophy-style lifting (planning that out now). After that, the plan is to resume 5/3/1 (and likely Strong-15 for squats) with a reset of weights and continue forward.

Anyways, tomorrow – bench!

7th cycle, fixing my squat; modeled after Strong-15

  • Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
    • bar x 10
    • 135 x 8
    • 190 x 5
    • 220 x 4
    • 255 x 3
    • 280 x 2
    • 330 x 1
    • 340 x 1
    • 350 x 1
  • Pause Squats
    • 280 x 3