Pause Bench. 4 warm up sets. 275 x 4 @ 8 275 x 4 @ 8 275 x 4 @ 8+ 275 x 4 @ 8+ 275 x 4 @ 9 275 x 5 @ 10
Incline Bench. 225 x 3 x 3
Press. 135 x 5 x 3
Chin ups. bw x 20
Abs.
Another good day on the bench. I looked back in my log to see what I did the last time I did 6 sets of 4 reps. Here is what I found:
"5/5/2009
Pause Bench. 4 warm up sets. 255 x 4 x 6 @ 8
I came to a conclusion today. Everytime I set up my training I always end up feeling like death on squats and deads, and I feel great on bench. I'm not sure if it's because Squats and deads are more exhausting, or if I'm just doing too much weight. I'm doing the same percentages for each exercise though. I've got to come up with a way to balance this out."
Deadlift. 4 warm up sets. 445 x 4 @ 8 445 x 4 @ 8 445 x 4 @ 8+ 445 x 4 @ 8+ 445 x 6 @ 10
RDL. 325 x 5 x 3
Reverse Hyper.
Abs.
Solid day pulling. Looked back again to see how things have progressed:
"5/9/2009
Deadlift. 6 warm up sets. 440 x 4 @ 8- 440 x 4 @ 8 440 x 4 @ 8+ 440 x 4 @ 9 225 x 10 x 2"
I've never done alot of volume for the deadlift in the 80-85% range before, so I'm excited to see how it will help my pull. I think my form has definately improved.
Squat. 6 warm up sets. 435 x 2 @ 9 435 x 2 @ 10 435 x 1 @ 10
Reverse Hyper.
Abs.
Another sub par squat workout. I've been ignoring all the things I need to do to fix this and just pressing ahead, but I really need to right the ship. I think overreaching on squats last week, pushing it on deadlifts on Friday and then the work I did on Sunday all came to a peak today. Still, that's only part of it. Hopefully I'll get this under control pretty quick.
Pause Bench. 6 warm up sets. 315 x 2 @ 9.5 305 x 2 @ 9 305 x 2 @ 9 305 x 2 @ 9.5
Incline Bench. 1 warm up set. 185 x 10 x 3
Press. 135 x 5 x 3
Chin ups. bw x 15 x 2
Abs.
Not a bad day benching, but not a great day either. I was supposed to do 315 for all four sets, but after the first set I knew it was going to be just a little too much, so I did the smart thing for once and dropped the weight a little. I think I might have been a bit too aggressive with my programming this last week. I wanted to hit 93% for 4 sets of 2 reps. This is probably pushing the envelope too much, and may also have contributed to my squat problems on Monday. A month ago I was doing 300lbs for this workout on bench, so any improvement is good.
Deadlift. 6 warm up sets. 505 x 2 @ 9 505 x 2 @ 9 505 x 2 @ 10 405 x 10 (FML)
Reverse Hyper.
Abs.
Pretty decent day today. I would have liked to get 1 more set with 505 but I kinda let the bar get out in front of me on the 2nd rep of my 3rd set and it turned into a real grinder, so I decided to call it a day. Almost. Saw Mike today and he was busting my chops as usual about my ****ty deadlift, and he said he did 405 for 9 reps on upright rows today. He said if I could deadlift more than he could row he would call me a man, so I had to get 10 reps. It was a small victory, but a victory none the less.
Squat. 7 warm up sets. 430 x 1 @ 9 430 x 1 @ 9 430 x 1 @ 10 430 x 1 @ 9.5
Safety Bar Squats. 2 warm up sets. 225 x 5 275 x 5 315 x 5
Reverse Hyper.
Abs.
All things considered, this was a decent workout. I was sick as a dog on Sunday. Weighed in at 194 this morning, down 8lbs in 24 hours. I had all kinds of excuses in my head today as to why I shouldn't lift, but in the end, I realized there are probably people out there who would kill just to be able to walk to the gym, let alone train, so I ended up feeling pretty good about how things went. Still, I was about 5% off of where I wanted to be, but it felt good just to get some work in.
Pause Bench. 6 warm up sets. 315 x 1 @ 9 315 x 1 @ 9 315 x 1 @ 9 330 x 1 @ 10 (5lb PR)
Incline Bench. 2 warm up sets. 225 x 5 225 x 5 225 x 7 (2 rep PR)
Chin ups. bw x 30 (3 rep PR)
Abs.
Today was one of those days I wish I had on tape so I could look back and say, "see, it wasn't all bad". Lets start with benching. I had someone give me the full commands today just to get in the swing of things. I also went without a handoff, and decided I'm not going to take a handoff at the meet. I'm just so used to not having a handoff that I think it would hurt me rather than help me. I also realized that I should NOT take a breath after lifting the weight out of the rack. I did 314 at the last meet 11 weeks ago, so I'm pretty happy with where my bench is right now, especially considering I am down a few pounds. My old 5 rep PR on incline bench was 225, so hitting 7 reps on my last set with 1 or 2 reps to spare was interesting. I will say this about the chin ups. I did this with palms facing eachother, I did not touch my chest to the bar or do each rep from a dead hang, and I'm sure I was kicking my legs the last 4 reps or so. However, when I got done, I had a massive pump in my biceps and lats, though I probably did little to work on my scapular retraction. **** it. It was a good day.
Deadlift. 5 warm up sets. 455 x 1 @ 7 485 x 1 @ 8 515 x 1 @ 9 530 x 1 @ 10
Reverse Hyper.
Abs.
I was planning on doing some singles with 530 today, but on my first set something popped in my lower back, so that was that. It hurts, but not terribly bad, so I hope it will be fine by next weekend. I biked 14 this morning and it didn't make it any worse, so I guess if I just do some stretching and give myself a little rest I'll be ok.
I really didn't do much except stretch and do some reverse hyper and ab work. The good news is that the pain in my spine has moved to the lower right portion of my back, so at least it's going somewhere. I might try some light squatting on Wednesday just to see how it holds up.
Squat (no belt). 135 x 5 225 x 5 275 x 3 315 x 2 365 x 1 405 x 1
Reverse Hyper.
Abs.
Put my back to the test today. Didn't have any pain while squatting so I think I'll be fine. I don't know if I'd want to do a big conventional pull right now though. As long as I keep stretching I think I'll be fine. Worse case scenario I'll pull sumo at the meet.
Squat 424 - good 452 - good 480 - good (12lb meet PR and 5lb all time PR)
Bench 292 - good 308 - good 325 - no good
Deadlift 468 - good 501 - no good 501 - good
Total - 1289
The squat went as well as I had hoped it would. I didn't really know what to expect. I thought my back might explode as the weight got heavier but it held up and I managed to hit a small but good PR. After going 3/3 in the squat, not having my back explode, and hitting a PR, I figured anything else I got out of the meet would be a bonus. Unfortunately there would be no bouns as the rest of the meet was pretty much a fail. The bench started out well enough. The way I handled the 308 I thought the 325 was a lock. Unfortunately it wasn't and I was pretty disappointed. Had I hit my 3rd attempt I probably would have felt really good about the meet. (EDIT: I just realized that they switched the press command judge between my 2nd and 3rd attempts to the same woman who kept me down there forever at my last meet. No wonder it felt longer. That's life I guess.) After I got done benching I knew the deadlift was going to be rough. My back was not at all happy. I decided to pull sumo in an effort to try and save my back. I could feel it getting worse as I was warming up, but Wade gave me some Therma-genic cream to put on my back which definately helped loosen it up. Still, I could feel my spine pinch everytime I pulled the bar. My opener wasn't bad, but holding the bar in the top position hurt. When I pulled my second attempt I kind of lost my balance a little at the top and they gave me two reds. This pissed me off so I figured, what the hell, I'll just pull conventional on my 3rd. I wish I could say the 3rd pull felt as easy as it looked, but it hurt bad. Still, I was glad to be done, and there was no way I was pulling less than 500. Overall, I'm just glad to be done so I can get back to 100% and start preparing for the next meet.
Other notes: Wade benched 694 in the single ply mens SHW bench only.