Building Curves

[serinebean]

You could try roll outs using the BB with plates on each side? Or is that too much weight to pull in?

I blinked a few times, sorry for not keeping up, intestines falling through? What happened?

Your bench pics look sweet!
*I had a trainer that put her feet together at the end of the bench and made me do it too. Sometimes she'd have me hold my feet up and bench press....errrr.
My best presses were done in the position you posted, and when I didnt break my form at the top of the lift.

[ilovethe80s]

ab wheels dont look too expensive. let me know what you think of it.


i found this looking for yoga poses that focus on abdominals
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/1707

kinda like the vacuum!

and the full boat pose which i did the other day with a kids yoga dvd from netflix.
i'm warming up to the ab wheel the more i think of it.

Cool, will trat - they do something similar in kapalabhati yoga, it is supposed to massaeg your internal organs as well as be great for the ab separation.

You could try roll outs using the BB with plates on each side? Or is that too much weight to pull in?

I blinked a few times, sorry for not keeping up, intestines falling through? What happened?

Your bench pics look sweet!
*I had a trainer that put her feet together at the end of the bench and made me do it too. Sometimes she'd have me hold my feet up and bench press....errrr.
My best presses were done in the position you posted, and when I didnt break my form at the top of the lift.

I love the idea with the barbell! Will try it tomorrow morning. The intestines are from hernias and ab separation from pregnancies. Might be getting it all fixed for good this Spring, though. The feet on the bench is a great cue for feeling the pressure on the traps, not sure about actually benching from there though? haha. I should try it again, when I was doing it before there I was doing it wrong, I was feeling the trap pressure but digging my traps into the bench as much as possible rather than trying to push toward the head of the bench.

[ilovethe80s]

Smolov 4
10 x 3 (120)
Once again, tried a bunch of different foot placements, and the only place I was able to get good drive from was the one that hurt my knee. I didn't trouble it too much, the wrap didn't help and I didn't really need drive to get the weight up for this anyway, so I just dealt with the less-than ideal placement. I'll save the torture for when I need it. Paused all 3 reps some sets.

I am SO sore from Saturday. I really dragged out my failure squat rep, I stayed in a partial squat and fought it for a good 15 seconds, took several breaths mid-lift to keep fighting (and still failed) and then farther annihilated myself with good morning squats. That spot between butt and hamstring where people complain about banana roll, it feels like someone slipped a metal tube in there - it is so hard and sore I couldn't even foam roll it last night. And my adductors are on fire, they have been a constant source of tension, and I have noticed the are becoming very dense. Not like, so much aesthetically muscular(oh how I wish, haha) but they are really becoming a lot more like my hamstrings, in that they are extremely hard, feel heavy and very dense feeling, it takes a lot of pressure to even foam roll or massage them. I slept covered in icy hot and still stiff today but at least things are loosening just enough to roll and stretch a bit. Yikes, I think I need to hold off on the squat ambitions till after this meet. All these girls who complain about their banana roll and inner thighs need to take up powerlifting, haha that will take care of all that straight away

[ilovethe80s]

Dynamic Squat Week 8
This:


looked liked this to me at 5am:



Man I dread those, but they really help me out close to a meet. Just 2 more sessions of this torture left to go.

A. Dynamic Box Squat 8 x 2 (was supposed to be 126 including bands -I went 110+orange bands)
B. 1 Medium Weight Single at 160
C. Speed Pull 10 x 1 (supposed to be 70%; since I was using bands plus 3" deficit, went with 215 )
D. Hack Squat 2 x 10
E Calves + Core


I am really just guestimating my weight on the banded dynamic box. Bands calibration says at 57" that would be 87 pounds??? That would mean bar would be only 39 pounds to come to 126, and of course the only tension is at the top, so I'm ok with my estimates for now. Will get a better handle on this for next cycle.

I definitely notice an acclimation thing going on with the pulls. I dead a quick warm-up pull with 135, then jumped into the 215+bands. My first few pulls were a bit slow, but by the 5th rep or so I was jerking this weigth off the floor fast like it was 135.

Last meet, someone told me (when he was trying to convince me to shoot for 341 instead of the 330 I wanted to pull), that after you do a couple of heavy pulls, your body doesn't know much of a difference between how much you pull after that. All it knows, is that it is some heavy-a** weight. This advice made no logical sense to me at the time but I believed it anyway ( he had gotten like a 50lb PR on a dead at our last meet). I am not sure if there is any truth to what he says but if not, I don't want to know about it because it helps my lifts greatly, haha. that's a good coach right there, make up fairy tales and you believe them and do better because of it

Thanks again serenebean for the rollout rec - you saved me some $, haha. It does work with the barbell! Unfortunately, when I got to the stretched position at the bottom, my hernia was a problem, so glad I did not invest in a wheel. I tried putting on a weight belt with a golf ball over the hernia (getting desperate now) but still no bueno.

Geek, I'm not sure where you are split, but if it is on the lower abs it might work for you? Mine is from where the belly button was, up to the sternum so it is tough doing anything with arms going up and opening sternum. I switched to splited leg raises on the dip station to finish core work today.

[ilovethe80s]

Smolov 5
6x6 (110)
Paused Single at 145
Rows 4 x 3 (145)

Smolov was easy enough again today.

I hope these impromptu paused singles don't throw me off too much. I try to just walk away from the session and trust, but can't. Last session I tried a paused 135, this time 145. I wish I video'd it. I counted out 1-2 at the bottom, but sometimes we count faster than we realize. It felt hard, but no sticking points anywhere.

Interestingly, I found it a lot easier to get into position for the heavy single, than I did for a set. When looking at the weight and thinking of how to get it up, my feet naturall go where they should, arch is a little higher, pulling the bar harder... everything falls into place. Maybe it was because I had all those lighter sets to practice on first. Note for next meet - take a LOT of warm-up sets.

I would really love to see a paused 150 at the meet.

I was so satisfied after the paused 145 that I left my gym, went up and started journaling then realized I forgot rows so had to go back.

[Euqinom]

I was so satisfied after the paused 145 that I left my gym, went up and started journaling then realized I forgot rows so had to go back.

Cute!

[ilovethe80s]

Cute!

: )

[ilovethe80s]

Smolov 6
7 x 5 (115)
Shoulder Prehab (band internal/external rotations, face pulls)

Since Dave Tate says it takes 1000 repetitions to change a motor pattern, I was planning on doing some light bench drills yesterday. However, of all things, I had to give my hips a break.

I've been in denial of hip pain that started last week. Left hip (same side as injured knee so wonder if I am compensating for that somehow), had some spasms, sharp pain and got a little limp to my step. I was actually relieved to wake up after my last dynamic squat day with some pain on the other side as well, so hopefully it is nothing brewing.

Yet another I wish I had found when first starting:
http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/...much-ya-bench/

Anyway, EASY benching this morning. The new jhooks contributed to that. I can actually pull the bar out of the rack and retract scapula as one movement, rather than lift UP OVER the hooks, roll the shoulders up and attempt to reset. Huge difference.

Big difference in bar speed at this weight over the last few months. There was a brief moment of slowness a couple inches off the chest even at this weight before, and I don't see/ feel that at all now. I paused the last rep of each set for a 3 count and still, even by the end, the weight flew up.

[serinebean]

Im glad I could help you save some cash! Rollouts are super fun (for me) in terms of an ab workout, looks like you are goofing off when youre really working hard!

Ah! I see about your ab situation. I do hope you can get fixed soon.

Ok that grim reaper and barbell pic was hilarious! hahaha! Just made my morning!

She put her feet on the bench because she was 5' tall lol! When she had me lift my feet up and off the bench and hold them, she said it was good for core. It may very well be, but I hate it, and dont think its a secure position to do work from.

Bench drove me nuts for the longest time. I ended up watching some power-lifting videos on you tube that gave me enough tips to do it better.

[ilovethe80s]

Im glad I could help you save some cash! Rollouts are super fun (for me) in terms of an ab workout, looks like you are goofing off when youre really working hard!

Ah! I see about your ab situation. I do hope you can get fixed soon.

Ok that grim reaper and barbell pic was hilarious! hahaha! Just made my morning!

She put her feet on the bench because she was 5' tall lol! When she had me lift my feet up and off the bench and hold them, she said it was good for core. It may very well be, but I hate it, and dont think its a secure position to do work from.

Bench drove me nuts for the longest time. I ended up watching some power-lifting videos on you tube that gave me enough tips to do it better.

Yeah, the barbell rollout was a great idea! Will revisit once I am fixed up. Yeah, bench is hard enough, balancing with feet on the bench does not sound ideal to me, haha

[ilovethe80s]

ME Squat

Today did not go as planned.

Concentric Bent Knee Good Morning
45/8
95/5
135/5
185/3
185 + roughly 40 lbs chain/3
205 + 40 lbs chain/3
215+ 40 lbs chain/3

RDL (NOT my first choice of moves today)
135/5
185/5
205/5
interrupted by kids

Left glute is pulling, very sore and stiff like there is a metal rod under there. But the muscle on the hip, front, top of thigh, is having rhythmic hot pain pulses going through it. It does seem to respond to pressure and foam rolling. But it really hurts, burns and spasms. And I have to move an new oven in and old oven out of here today, ugh. Praying this is just me getting used to benching and not something brewing.

Oddly, good mornings didn't bother me. I focused on the deadlift throughout the GM's as louie simmons preaches (which is why I chose bent-knee and did't worry so much about placing it down too gently as I came down with it). They got a little sloppy toward the end (I have been getting really hungry and lightheaded mid-squat day lately) but I still felt some power that I am sure will translate well. Vid of my last sloppy set below, if they look grueling, it is because they were, haha.

I was supposed to squat for my second move today though and that was really painful. Switched to RDL, I should have just went with full good mornings. Then the RDL's were interrupted when husband dropped off angry baby and he immediately began trying to hop the fence into the weightroom in fury. His face after his haircut yesterday pretty much sums up his disposition lately:


So session abandoned.

Lots of foam rolling ahead, and I don't know if I need heat or ice? I might need to skip my dynamic day Tuesday and might drop the cycle which has me going to 80% speed pulls the tuesday before meet day, for lighter work. I did that last time and was fine. I think I need to do just as much or more prehab, stretching and foam rolling the next coming weeks as I do lifting.

[Euqinom]

As far as I know, heat and ice both are supposed to increase bloodflow.
I'd personally not foam roll today, and have the body fix it as best as it can, and start treatment tomorrow.

Have you been logging weekly impressions about physical stuff? Seems that you're experiencing a clustering of minor injury this week.

[Naeara]

I just discovered your thread, and have a lot of reading to do!! BUT, I wanted to say that it seems you have made some tremendous progress and I am thoroughly impressed with everything you're doing!! I am looking forward to making it through all of the posts, and I hope that you don't mind but I also subscribed to this thread so I can keep up with your progress and collect some ideas for training and diet!

Keep up the hard work!!!

[ilovethe80s]

As far as I know, heat and ice both are supposed to increase bloodflow.
I'd personally not foam roll today, and have the body fix it as best as it can, and start treatment tomorrow.

Have you been logging weekly impressions about physical stuff? Seems that you're experiencing a clustering of minor injury this week.

I am positive this is from whack foot positions on bench, most notably extra extra wide but feet tucked under me almost to where my shoulders are, and flat, like the exorcist. ugh, I am disgusted with myself! I knew it didn't feel right but did it anyway. There was no point during the actual lifting that I was like 'woah there goes my hip' but that night, spasms and pain started.

I had ice on this morning, heat on it now. Took some ibuprofen too. I fell asleep earlier than normal last night, so maybe that is a sign that something is trying to heal.

I think I see several reasons why I am suddenly crumbling:
1. The main reason - mechanically bizarre positions on the bench
2. I have been getting up at 5:00 and training at 5:05, no warmup other than a few light sets.
3. I go to bed at 12:00-1:00, so not enough rest/ recovery. And with my current programming, it is 6 days/week.
4. I just started logging my foods because my jeans started fitting a little too nicely when they were busting at the seams last fall - sure enough, a few days were 1400 cals, one was 1100.... kept thinking I would make up cals the next day, but not a single day over 2000. This also explains my faint feeling I am getting on my max squat days.

Euqinom - you are one of those people who says just the right thing that gets you thinking on the right track and figure out the source of all your problems.

Taking control of it now.
The meet I am lifting in has a record of 17 women competing! Even more reason to not want to pull out for a stupid injury. Resting, eating, icing and heating... Most nights I am so busy cooking for and waiting on kids that I forget to eat, but I need to remember. I have not stretched out on the mat in a couple weeks, probably. Need to stop sacrificing my body for lifts and ignoring warning signs. All hell broke loose with my shoulder o my second Smolov week last cycle, this time it is the hip - I hope this pain fades into the background like the shoulder did!

I just discovered your thread, and have a lot of reading to do!! BUT, I wanted to say that it seems you have made some tremendous progress and I am thoroughly impressed with everything you're doing!! I am looking forward to making it through all of the posts, and I hope that you don't mind but I also subscribed to this thread so I can keep up with your progress and collect some ideas for training and diet!

Keep up the hard work!!!

Thanks so much, + welcome

[Euqinom]

Euqinom - you are one of those people who says just the right thing that gets you thinking on the right track and figure out the source of all your problems.

That makes me blush and feel proud.

It's what I used to do on WSB a lot, though, track per workout, per week, and per cycle. Per week I'd look back on Friday and think what seemed to stand out: "Grumpy. Left Shoulder irritated." "Superstrong. No mood to workout though". "Great on DE". It helped me realize patterns. Every fifth week, I'd start logging my bad mood, and struggling on bench, bad sleep. One line only, but it's such a useful tool.

17 women?! That's AWESOME!
Have faith in your body and in your s trength! Healing up takes priority over everything!

Oh, and if you can, take those 15 minutes for the shoulder stretch. It's really really really worth it.

[geek23ka]

one of the reasons i love this thread is the conversations between the two of you. you're both detailed and thoughtful.

omg that is one mad bb, ilt80's. HAHAHA so petulant and adorable. my guy clambers over the baby gate, too. ugh.

heat before workouts, ice after for the first fifteen to twenty minutes, then heat when you want. heat opens up the blood vessels and allows healing. ice right after the workout will clamp down the vessels and prevent too much swelling. after that, you want the blood flow in order to take away waste product and bring nutrients. i dont know anything baout foam rolling, other than it sounds painful and probably good for you. might be good right after heat application, yeah?

<< was a nurse once upon a time. havent worked since baby was born.

i am excited for you to go, especially since there are lots of women for you to beat! hahaa. no. really. srs. beat the pants off of them, girl.

i dont know if you've ever read bukowski or seen Barfly (about bukowski. based on his book, Hollywood) but he was a boxer before he was a writer and your post about food reminded me of a passage in Hollywood. he's at the bar drinking after getting beat up and wants to fight this guy and beat him and then grabs someone's sandwich from their hands and takes a huge bite and says "I need fuel, man."

get some fuel!

ha! i found the movie clip. it isnt youtube unfortunately so i can't embed it.
http://video.yandex.ru/users/enichka72/view/10/#

[ilovethe80s]

17 women?! That's AWESOME!
Have faith in your body and in your s trength! Healing up takes priority over everything!

Oh, and if you can, take those 15 minutes for the shoulder stretch. It's really really really worth it.

Did the shoulder stretch after a good foam rolling session last night

Yes 17 women is unreal. All the other meets I have been to, there have been like, 2 or 3 including me. New trend? Crossfit is kind of popular here, I wonder if it is crossfitters?

one of the reasons i love this thread is the conversations between the two of you. you're both detailed and thoughtful.

omg that is one mad bb, ilt80's. HAHAHA so petulant and adorable. my guy clambers over the baby gate, too. ugh.

heat before workouts, ice after for the first fifteen to twenty minutes, then heat when you want. heat opens up the blood vessels and allows healing. ice right after the workout will clamp down the vessels and prevent too much swelling. after that, you want the blood flow in order to take away waste product and bring nutrients. i dont know anything baout foam rolling, other than it sounds painful and probably good for you. might be good right after heat application, yeah?

<< was a nurse once upon a time. havent worked since baby was born.

i am excited for you to go, especially since there are lots of women for you to beat! hahaa. no. really. srs. beat the pants off of them, girl.

i dont know if you've ever read bukowski or seen Barfly (about bukowski. based on his book, Hollywood) but he was a boxer before he was a writer and your post about food reminded me of a passage in Hollywood. he's at the bar drinking after getting beat up and wants to fight this guy and beat him and then grabs someone's sandwich from their hands and takes a huge bite and says "I need fuel, man."

get some fuel!

ha! i found the movie clip. it isnt youtube unfortunately so i can't embed it.
http://video.yandex.ru/users/enichka72/view/10/#

'he's like a goddamn seagull' lol. Thanks for the info on the heating/ icing, you were a nurse? awesome!

Eating as I type, haha.

Inner hip hot spasms have dimmed to almost non-existent. If I take a step out to the side, a jolt of pain in the glute, up to yesterday. Have not felt it yet today. I do have a heating pad on now. I am SO relieved and grateful, looks like it will heal soon on its own. I had to do help a friend squat this morning (her husband watched all of our kids - six altogether!) and was hoping to not heave to demo anything, but did - I took a narrower than normal stance and did not feel any pain.

[ilovethe80s]

Yesterday
Smolov 7
Bench 8 x 4 (125)
Pull ups 4 x 5

Today
Smolov 8
10 x 3 (130)

VERY careful on bench this week. Needless to say, I did not recruit much glute, I squeezed the bench between my knees before getting on it (narrow). Got feet back a bit and only one small shuffle outward rather than my usual splay. No pain at all there. No leg drive either though for most of my sets. But on a good note, no struggles getting the weight up even with no drive, so at least 130 a safe opener for sure. Even if I forget every single cue, it should go up.

On the last 2 sets each day, I walked my feet back just a smidge more, just so that my knees were below bench level, tested the waters by spreading feet an inch or two more, and that made a difference in drive. That seemed not punishable by death, so this is what I am going with for the meet.

Cals yesterday were back up to 2200 (must log this now since I seem to be capable of undereating lately).

Feeling better overall. Looks like the Curse of Smolov Week 2 is just about concluding!
--
Either skipping dynamic squat day altogether tomorrow, or limiting it to deficit speed pulls (no box squat) and maybe some banded good mornings. I only seem to get these spasms when I have to go wide for something. I'm going off my speed pull cycle regardless. The 80% speed pulls this week and 85% speed pulls I am supposed to do next Tueday are scaring the crap out of me in my weakened state. Just keeping it light for technique reinforcement and confidence off the floor, and saving the heavy work in those final weeks for the good mornings. That is much less risky, and served me well last time.

My back feels AMAZING from the good mornings the other day, even though it wasn't my best day with them technique-wise. Feel tight and strong there. Every good morning is a big drop in the bucket toward a big deadlift

[Euqinom]

VERY careful on bench this week. Needless to say, I did not recruit much glute, I squeezed the bench between my knees before getting on it (narrow). Got feet back a bit and only one small shuffle outward rather than my usual splay. No pain at all there. No leg drive either though for most of my sets. But on a good note, no struggles getting the weight up even with no drive, so at least 130 a safe opener for sure. Even if I forget every single cue, it should go up.

Start practising with belt/band set up this way, you don't want to blow out your hip or knee during the comp. Plenty of time left!

Great to hear 130 is a good opener!

[EB68]

Haven't looked in here in a while and just got caught up. You are one strong young lady, much respect. And those goodmornings would send me to the graveyard!

[ilovethe80s]

Haven't looked in here in a while and just got caught up. You are one strong young lady, much respect. And those goodmornings would send me to the graveyard!

Thanks! Love good mornings... that particular set was indeed like death though haha

Start practising with belt/band set up this way, you don't want to blow out your hip or knee during the comp. Plenty of time left!

Great to hear 130 is a good opener!

Will do! Did the waiting rooms last night, I did not even realize I had shoulder tension till I did them. Got about halfway up and left arm felt stuck, like 'woah, where did that come from??' Backed up and slowly worked through the point again and its all good. Best stretch ever!

Yeah, I think I am liking 130 as an opener. Unless my 135's triples day just goes along swimmingly next week... But 130 gives me a good enough starting point to take maybe 10 pound jumps in attempts, 15 pounds if feeling daring. I just keep remembering how many people bomb out or fail their bench attempts, and the fact that I am a scatterbrain on there, and thinking it is smart to start low.

[ilovethe80s]

Dynamic Squat
Dynamic Box Squat (narrow) - 8 x 2 (128)
1 Medium Weight Single - (155)
Speed Pulls (sort-of) with 3" deficit and 50lbs band tension - 135/1 x 2, 185/1 x 2, 205/1 x 3
GHR - 3x8
Calves + Core

Did not use the regular wide box stance, used athletic stance or even a tad narrower. The narrow foot placement, not only did it not trouble the healing hip, but it actually felt really comfortable. So comfortable that I am considering reeling it in... I feel like it is so much easier to hit depth, and my body naturally wants to come up out of it. Like with wide, I sit back and my body is like 'we're sitting? imma hang out here for a while then' and it takes some real effort to come out. Narrow, and I don't know if it is tight hams or what, but even though I am not 'bouncing', feels a lot easier to spring right out. I did notice before that when box squatting heavier than I could handle (and resorting to cheating), when I got stuck on the box, I would instinctively bring my stance IN before re-attempting to get off the box again. hmmmm.

I'm very happy about being able to stick to my cycle, even with the narrow feet modification. Maybe by next week I can go wide again. But I have to believe that this foot placement will also help my dead. My deadlift stance is extremely narrow. Insteps maybe 6" apart if that. So taking a narrow squat stance from time to time, I should think would do me good.

I did cower out of my deadlift cycle, though. Tested the waters on the way up and stopped with 205+deficit+band. Today was supposed to be 80% for a total of 272 on the bar for speed. I think with the deficit/band set-up, I might be somewhere close to that number, but that is a lot of weight to put the healing hip through right now. Plus, I just don't want to pull 80%+ this close to the meet. Leading up to last meet, I actually never went over 185 bar weight (plus deficit/ bands). I know the strength is there, I mainly need the confidence off the floor, and form reinforcement, since I do dive bomb and have the potential to get sloppy over time.

I can see why speed pulls should be done with the same weight throughout, though. Very important to be able to anticipate the weight of the bar when pulling for speed.

[Euqinom]

Will do! Did the waiting rooms last night, I did not even realize I had shoulder tension till I did them. Got about halfway up and left arm felt stuck, like 'woah, where did that come from??' Backed up and slowly worked through the point again and its all good. Best stretch ever!

I have that too. I have good shoulder mobility, but once I lay down and relax into it, I realize how much damage desk work really does. I LOVE doing them!

[ilovethe80s]

Smolov 9
Bench 6 x 6 (115)
Row 4 x 8 (115)

Last Smolov week. Countdown is on, 10 days till the meet.

I've realized that I am almost afraid to put too much effort into pulling the bar apart/ bending the bar, because I feel like it will use up all my energy and I won't have anything left to lift the bar up with. But if I do pull apart as hard as I can, the weight seems to move a lot easier, so just have to get used to trusting that.

Small hip spasms and glute pain after attempting going a bit wider to get my drive back on the bench. Noticeably better drive, but not worth it.

[ilovethe80s]

Smolov 10
Bench: 7 x 5 (120)

Today almost didn't happen. I paid for my benches with hip pain, jolts and spasms all Thursday. Was going to skip today, but I notice that the pain is always intense 24 hours after benching, and slowly subsides after that. The wider I go, the worse the pain (but the better the drive). I do believe that this is something that will resolve itself when the volume goes back to normal. The pain doesn't show up immediately post-bench, so I am hoping I can do a bench with decent leg drive without blowing my chance of deadlifting at the meet.

I used zero drive on my bench today. Stability, but no drive, very narrow feet. Going to have to reserve it for when I need it. Hopefully this means my hip will be ok for tomorrow, my last ME squat day before the meet.

I saw that I actually did note this hip issue in my journal last time I ran smolov. Same spot place in the cycle. I think that trying to hit 5-6 reps with moderate weight is a lot harder on my hips than the lower rep ranges. Straining to hold the position, execute the drive through each lift... starting to make some more sense now.

Note to self, do NOT run smolov 2x in a row again up to a meet. This volume stuff works great, but each and every time I have tried anything like it, I never come out unscathed. Tow more bench days left... Oh please, please, please let everything hold together for just another week!

[beatha]

Everything will hold together. Me and a million (or so) other lurkers have our fingers crossed with / for ya

Best of luck!!!

B

[ilovethe80s]

Everything will hold together. Me and a million (or so) other lurkers have our fingers crossed with / for ya

Best of luck!!!

B

Awww, thanks. I sure hope you are right! The positive affirmation feels great, you are giving me hope

[ilovethe80s]

ME Squat
Last max effort squat day before the meet! Picking my moves for this session was a bit like selecting a wedding dress. lol. Hip clicking put a bit of a damper on the day.

Low Box Squat 155/5 x 3
Good Morning (Strict) 95/5 135/5 135/5 135/5 140/5
Floor Wipers (sort of) 4 x 8
Calves

Since I just concentric good morninged for max effort last week, I went with a narrow stance low box squat, figuring that is second best in resembling my dead (and narrow doesn't irk my hip right now). Wamring up sets went ok. Once I hit 155, my hip started clicking about 2/3 of the way up on each rep. So for fear of some sort of an explosion, I decided to stay at that weight and just go for 5's.

Sort of disappointing. But looking at my notes, this was the exact same session I did for my last ME Squat day before my last meet, but with just 5 pounds more. And the session felt pretty light and I remember last time, last ME Squat day was a bit of a struggle. So I am hoping I can at least hope to beat my previous 341 in the dead.

Moved on to regular good mornings (which I can handle much less weight on than concentric). Again, all well until 135, which was met with loud clicks at the same point as the squat. These felt VERY light ( big difference from a few cycles ago, leading up to the last meet). 3rd set clicks went away (???) so added a bit more weight and was met with more clicks, and stopped.

Decided on floor wipers today, but the back and forth action was pulling at a hernia, and I have enough shiz going on right now. So did a very mild tilt instead of full sweep, going to pretty much straight up and down in the end.

Now left hip feels tight and hot. No spasms thank goodness. I don't know if the clicking is an indicator of anything serious, or just random clicking that will go away. My knees click about 30 times each time I bend. Well, the one that had the cartilage tears does. Could I have loose cartilage in the hip, too? I really hope it is nothing.

Definitely taking an 'off season' after this. I feel like a train speeding along the track and its wheels are falling off and stuff.

For the meet
I am set on a 325 opener.
Second attempt 345 - if successful, a 4lb PR
Third of course, I will see how I feel. I am hoping for at minimum 360. 370 is their world record in the division I am competing in, so if the day is turning out awesome, might take a stab at that.

[geek23ka]

man, i wish we had an ortho doc journaling here who could tell us what our weird clicks are. no spasms = good. we are definitely all here and reading your posts. i wish i could help you sort stuff, 80's, bc then i would feel useful instead of just doing this for you



which i am doing.

and i know you're anxious, but i'm so excited for you!

[ilovethe80s]

haha I love that gif! That ^^ is always great too, makes me feel better about the hip