Benching Squatting and Pulling my way to happiness.

[fittofattofit]

Bodyweight is around the 185-186 mark now, down about 7lbs in 1 month which is just about on pace. I expected slightly faster losses but my adherence hasn't been 100%.

Followed the deads up with face pulls and bicep curls.

Then I SMASHED some chipotle.

So I assume chipotle wasn't on the diet plan either

Are you feeling and looking noticeably leaner with 7lbs off? Good effort with the 265 x 8 squats and I'm looking forwards to seeing the vid ... tough squatting volume while on a cut. Good to see the deads in there as well

[SideSteal]

So I assume chipotle wasn't on the diet plan either

Are you feeling and looking noticeably leaner with 7lbs off? Good effort with the 265 x 8 squats and I'm looking forwards to seeing the vid ... tough squatting volume while on a cut. Good to see the deads in there as well

Chipotle actually fits really well into my calories/macros. Just killed another burrito bowl a few minutes ago while uploading/narrating today's lifts.

I'm looking leaner then when I started, definitely. I'm just not leaning out quite as fast as I anticipated and it's a combination of adherence (I'm not as diligent with the food scale so I'm making the assumption that I've got some calorie creep coming in) and I'm also lower in total activity as of late, due to some video games. So, I am not surprised when I take a step back and look at things objectively.

Hoping to see about ~182-183 end of this month.


Today's session was really great, I'm pleased. I'm trying to make an effort to increase volume and to get back to following my program a bit more diligently. With the injury and not being able to go full tilt, I had to take things a bit easier but I think I'm ready to get back into the groove, only I'll have to keep the deadlifting light as I build back up.

Today was my triples at RPE 9.

330x3
315x3
315x3
315x3
315x3

Total of 5 sets. Everything felt good. Difficult, but good.

Bench Press (working on a new setup as you'll see in the video)

245x3
230x3 slight pause
230x3 slight pause
230x3 slight pause
230x3
230x3


Deadlifts:
135x4
135x4
185x1
205x1
225x1
255x1
255x1
255x1
275x1
315x1
315x1
315x1

I typed that all out in a column to make it look like more. LOL.

I wasn't planning on going past 225 but things felt pretty good and I think I'm ready to start loading the bar now. 315 was really challenging which sucks but I'm sure things will come back fast. I'll need to pick a damn stance and go with it though, as I'm tinkering with both full sumo and a semi (narrow) sumo stance. Semi sumo allows me to use more quad to break the bar off the ground but it still allows me to get my hips lower which reduced the force on my lumbar spine, which is the whole reason I opted for sumo in the first place. So I'm leaning in that direction.

Enjoy the vid (some static noise so you may need to drop the volume down a tad -- my editing skills suck):

[fittofattofit]

Great form on all of those lifts. I couldn't fault your squatting at all .. really strong and nice depth. It looks like you've got plenty in the tank. Same deal with the benching ... really solid platform and nice paused reps. Deads looked solid as well. Looking lean already BTW

[SideSteal]

Great form on all of those lifts. I couldn't fault your squatting at all .. really strong and nice depth. It looks like you've got plenty in the tank. Same deal with the benching ... really solid platform and nice paused reps. Deads looked solid as well. Looking lean already BTW

Thanks! I'm happy with squats/bench so far. Trying to get more compact and a bit larger arch on the bench but I think that's something that's going to take time. Regarding deads, after watching the vid I do see the bar rolling slightly forward just as it leaves the floor. My hunch is that I'm setting up just a tad too far behind the bar so I'm then trying to get over the bar a bit further before the pull. I could be wrong on that hunch, and it's something I'll practice a bit before I start really loading the bar.

I was just happy to break 315 off the ground since it's been 3 months since I've had anything above 225 due to the back. I feel good today, some DOMS starting to kick in but no noticeable injury-like symptoms so this is promising.

Today will be some OHP/weighted chins and accessory movements.

[SideSteal]

Accessory day today, no vids.

One of my close friends (and a new client) showed up to lift so I got to work my training chops helping him with his deadlift. Then random gym goer asked me as well, so I helped him too.

BB OHP:
140x8
135x8
135x8
135x8

These felt "decent". Certainly pushing close to failure by the last set.

Pendlay Rows:

I was hesitant on these since I deadlifted yesterday but after the first set I loosened up a bit and they got better. I was about to stop after 1 set.

135 x 8
135 x 8
155 x 8

Weighted chins:
BW x 5
45 x 8
25 x 8
25 x 8
25 x 8

I followed this with some bicep/tricep supersets.

And now I'm eating chicken.

=)

BW: 185.6 today.

Will be adhering strong this week, with 1 possible refeed mid-week.

[fittofattofit]

OHPs at 135 and the weighted chins are looking strong. I love pendlays as a row although they're not the ones to do when your back is tweaky
Helping others with their deadlift form must help you to solidify some form cues in your own mind. What particular cues do you use for your deads?

[SideSteal]

OHPs at 135 and the weighted chins are looking strong. I love pendlays as a row although they're not the ones to do when your back is tweaky
Helping others with their deadlift form must help you to solidify some form cues in your own mind. What particular cues do you use for your deads?

Agreed regarding Pendlays. I discarded them for quite a while during this injury but things are really close to fully healed now so I'm ready to get back to them -- just have to rebuild strength so I'm starting light.

As far as my own cues for deadlifts, since I'm pulling sumo I'm currently focusing on keeping the knees out and driving the floor down with my feet rather than thinking about pulling the bar off the ground.

[SideSteal]

Hypertrophy day.

Squats: 275x8, 255x8,8,8
Bench: 210x8, 200x8,8,8
Deads: several practice pulls between 135-225. 3x275 and I stopped there. Wasn't feeling it.
Seated calf raises 3 x a bunch.

Vid incoming shortly.

[SideSteal]

Hypertrophy day.

Squats: 275x8, 255x8,8,8
Bench: 210x8, 200x8,8,8
Deads: several practice pulls between 135-225. 3x275 and I stopped there. Wasn't feeling it.
Seated calf raises 3 x a bunch.

Vid incoming shortly.

[fittofattofit]

Your squats looked very good ... the first rep on each set looks a bit tentative and then you get into it with great depth and really solid form. Looking very strong on those. Benching looks really tight as well

[SideSteal]

Your squats looked very good ... the first rep on each set looks a bit tentative and then you get into it with great depth and really solid form. Looking very strong on those. Benching looks really tight as well

Definitely agree with you regarding first rep of my squats. Even when I feel 100% and have no aches or pains, my first squat is usually border-line for depth and you can just tell I'm sort of feeling things out.

[SideSteal]

Solid grind today. Triples at RPE ~8ish, supposedly less intense but still a grind!

Squats:
300x3,3,3,3,3,3

Bench Press:
230x3,3,3,3,3,3

Really pleased with bench. 1 set was awful due to setup, didn't get as tight as I should so I left some slack in the system, so to speak.

Front Squats:

These are murder after back squats.
205x8,8,8

First and last set were grinds, second set was amazing. Not sure what happened but I hammered it out.

Face pulls 3x a bunch.

Post workout chipotle burrito bowl afterwards. Double chicken, lettuce, cheese, white rice, black beans, hot salsa, mild salsa.

BW at 185 yesterday and today. Looking a bit leaner the past two days as well.

[fittofattofit]

Big day of triples! Huge session with those fronts thrown in as well. Good that the leanness is coming through

[SideSteal]

Solid session today.

It started out rough. Wasn't feeling it on the squat, some stiffness in the hips and the bar just felt heavier than it should. When I hit 275 it felt awful so I regrouped, hit it again for a single, then went 300x1 and on to my worksets.

330x3
315x3
315x3
315x3
315x3
315x3

Solid overall. Took a vid of 330 but my phone ran out of space (again). Took 1 of the 315 back-off sets and filmed that. Barely made depth on rep 1, reps 2 and 3 were parallel or slightly below.

Bench Press:

255x3 --- This was rock freakin' solid. Good bar speed on reps 1 and 2, got stuffed under the bar quite nicely. I was really pleased with this set and I probably had 2 more reps in the tank.
240x3
240x3
240x3
240x3
240x3

This was a grind but I got it done.

Noting today was a PR, but I'm happy to have hit the above sets/weights. Things are looking up.

Deads -- I ran singles up to 295 and I stopped there, pulling it for a few singles and calling it a day.

Thankfully my back is now pain free. Now I just need to re-build the deadlift. Hopefully it comes back fast.

[SideSteal]

Solid hypertrophy session after my short vacation.

Squats: 275x8, 255x8,8,8,8 --- I was incorrect in the video labeling this a weight increase. This is the same load as last week but an increase in volume as I hit a 5th set of 8 this week.

Bench 215x8, 200x8,8,8,8 5lb increase from last week on all sets and an additional set of 8. These sets really went well in terms of ease/bar speed.

Deads: 245x1,1,1,3 Then I called it quits and did some curls. I'll be taking it quite easy on deads for a while yet, but the intent is to slowly add weight over weeks until the pulls actually feel good again.

Vid:

[fittofattofit]

Strong squat triples the other day and looking very comfortable with those 8 rep squats today ... your form is very good and very consistent. Great job on the benching ... arms and shoulders are looking tanked in that vid!

[SideSteal]

Strong squat triples the other day and looking very comfortable with those 8 rep squats today ... your form is very good and very consistent. Great job on the benching ... arms and shoulders are looking tanked in that vid!

Thanks!

Today was a rest day but I won't likely be able to lift tomorrow since my son has a cold and consequently I'll be with him.

So, back to back squat/bench days it is!

Today was triples leaving ~2-3 reps in the tank.

Squats:

305x3
305x3
305x3
305x3
305x3

Was hoping for a 6th but being honest with myself, that 5th set I probably only had 1 rep left in me which means it's time to stop. I think the previous days hypertrophy session had a small impact on my performance today, but I still got it done and I'm pleased overall.

Some minor elbow/shoulder pain started around 3rd set or so. I know exactly what causes this but I don't know when it happened -- occasionally I'll push on the barbell instead of pulling it down over my shoulders. This transfers some of the load down the elbow and bad things happen. It's been a long time since I've done this, but between yesterday and today's sets, I must have done it at some point.


Bench: Shoulder/elbow was definitely in my head, so this wasn't quite 100% comfortable but the weight went down and back up again.

230x3
230x3
230x3
230x3
230x3
230x3

Front Squats:
205x8
205x8
205x8 seriously stick a fork in me I'm toast. These are so nasty after back squats.

Weighted Chins
(bwx5)
45x8
25x8
25x8

Calves:
90x a bunch.

[fittofattofit]

That was a big session with the heavy squats and benching. Bummer about the elbow .. unfortunately those nagging injuries do play with your mind. You id well to be benching 230 with the elbow barking at you

[SideSteal]

That was a big session with the heavy squats and benching. Bummer about the elbow .. unfortunately those nagging injuries do play with your mind. You id well to be benching 230 with the elbow barking at you

Thanks.


Today is goofed up schedule-wise, so I may end up training twice today. Not sure if I'll do that, or just do my squats tomorrow.

I went in the early AM to sneak in my bench. Today is my heavy day. Made another 5lb increase and managed additional volume too. Shoulder had very minor discomfort but nothing serious.

I'll also note that since I didn't squat first (normally I squat before bench) I had slightly less hip mobility which could have potentially made this slightly more challenging. Perhaps it's a wash with the fact that I'm also fresh, but who knows for sure.

Pleased with this though:

260x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3

This is approaching PR territory for me which feels pretty damn good. I had 1 rep in the tank on these sets, but barely. 1 ugly ass rep.

I also was only about ~80-90% on my execution of the bench in that I just wasn't quite as compact as I could have been. I also dinged the rack on a couple of reps due to set-up issues, which normally don't occur.

Overall though, I'm quite pleased. My goal of 300x1 on the bench and 225x10 will both happen this year, probably much sooner than I expected.

[fittofattofit]

Strong benching and it looks like those goals are going to come easily

[SideSteal]

Solid day today.


An interesting one too. I had a great day doing a few fitness consults and training one of my clients. The gym was so humid though, that the floor was actually getting slick and I saw one person almost biff it on the incline DB press because his feet slipped from under him. Dangerous if you ask me. I also had a scheduling conflict so I was prepared to skip today's session and lift on Thursday per usual. I could use the additional rest IMO.


But, I went in anyways.

Squats started out really rough. Once I hit 225 I got this pain and stiffness in my left side. The same thing happened on Saturday's lift and I decided to bail on it (I didn't journal Saturday but I hit 340x3 on squats followed by only 1 back off set at 325x3 and they were just total grinders, movement quality was poor and I was barely leaving 1 rep in the tank so I decided to just stop squatting at two sets rather than try to fight it).

Sets went like this:
275x8 (Looked fine, felt ugly. Depth was legit).
255x8
255x8
255x8
255x8
255x8

So I still managed 6x8 and honestly all but the first and last set were good. In fact they were really good relative the issues I started with.


Then I moved on to bench.

One of my goals this year is 225x10, the other being 300x1.

Warmed up with bar, 135, 135, 185, 205 and aside from the slippery floor pissing me off (hard to set myself and drive my heels down when the balls of my feet want to slip forward) --

But the bar went up really fast, and things felt really good aside from the frustration of the floor. It just meant me taking extra time setting up.

225x10 -- nailed it. Took a pause between 9 and 10 at the top for about 3-4 seconds to get a big-ass breath of air in. 10th rep was slow but the bar never came close to stopping. Really happy with this.

I've been good lately about sticking to the program and not "going for it" when things feel good but I couldn't resist tonight. I figured since it was a hypertrophy workout it's probably not a huge deal.

Followed with
205x8
205x8
205x8
205x ....5 I just ran out of gas. I MIGHT Have been able to pant my way through the set but I just racked it and said "you're done".


Deadlifts:
135x3
135x3

then a bunch of singles from 185 up to 275, then 1 single at 295, 2 singles at 315. Every pull felt pretty solid technique wise except for the final pull at 315 which was just ugly as piss. Hips shot early, bar went up slow, so I called it quits. Stripped to 225 and pulled a triple just to not leave on a sour note.

Solid session though considering I was going to stay home and play video games.

[fittofattofit]

Awesome to nail that 225 x 10 I'm sure you were tempted to go for the 300 as a single but leaving it for some other time sounds smart to me. Nice volume hyper sets at 205 to follow. Good work on the squats .. I got 340 x 3 as well

[SideSteal]

Awesome to nail that 225 x 10 I'm sure you were tempted to go for the 300 as a single but leaving it for some other time sounds smart to me. Nice volume hyper sets at 205 to follow. Good work on the squats .. I got 340 x 3 as well

Thanks! Would rep you back but I don't post enough to get off spread. LOL.


I wasn't tempted to try 300 only because I was just toast after doing 225x10. The challenge will be not attempting 300 in the next couple of weeks. I'm really trying not to interject random PR attempts, especially not 1rm attempts until it's time (not in the middle of a training block).

But, no regrets about yesterday, I was pretty damn happy. I don't recall the last time I set a bench PR even if it's a volume one.

[SideSteal]

Started my intensity block today. Loads go up, reps go down, panic ensues.

Warmed up with a few sets with the bar, 2 at 135, then singles as follows:
185, 225, 265, 300, 325

Working singles:
355x1 (borderline, might have missed depth)
355x1 (below parallel)
355x1 (missed depth, this rep sucked)
355x1 (good)
355x1 (good)

So, I have some work to do. I shouldn't be missing depth at this weight so I'm either going to dial it back a notch or put some more practice/attention to depth on my ramp up sets.

Bench Press:
Warmups: Bar, bar, 135, 135. Ramp up singles with 185, 225

Then I went at it:
260x1
260x1
260x1
260x1
260x1
260x1

Honestly all of these were pretty darn solid. I wouldn't say they were "fast" but they weren't grinders by any stretch.

Front Squats:
235x5
235x5

Then about 30 minutes after leaving the gym I started seeing spots. Potential migraine incoming. Hammered down 4 ibuprofen, a pop tart, a few swigs of coffee. Took a good hour and a half for the visual symptoms to start subsiding. Thankfully no sensation of "bout to vomit".

Taking it very easy tonight and may move Saturday's heavy session to Sunday to get an extra rest day in.

[fittofattofit]

Strong squat and bench singles. Really nice to finish off with those heavy front squats as well

[SideSteal]

Yesterday was my first heavy day in the intensity block. Definitely difficult and fun!

It's challenging gauging the correct number of sets at an RPE of 9.5. I started out on the low end of volume.

Squats:

Added additional warmups to see if that helped with depth.
Bar x 2 sets.
135x8, 5
185x5
225x1
275x1
315x1

Work sets:
355x2
345x2
345x2

Bench:
265x2
255x2
255x2
255x2

Deads: Pulled some warmups, then 315x1, 335x2, 335x1

Notes:

Squats were tough but I think I made depth.
Bench top set at 265x2 was really solid. I had at least 1 rep left in the tank and possibly an ugly 2. Next Saturday if I feel the same and the bar is moving as fast I'll be eyeballing 270 or 275 for a double.
Deads, while still lacking, felt good on that 315 pull. Technique is improving and I'm slowly getting back to full strength.

Will hopefully upload the vid from Saturday, soon.

[fittofattofit]

Great squatting! Mirin' 355 x 2!

[SideSteal]

Great squatting! Mirin' 355 x 2!

Thanks!

Turned it up a notch today. Second week of the intensity block.

Squats:
365x2
355x2
355x2
355x2

Depth good on all reps. Bar speed started to slow on the opening set.

Bench:
270x2
260x2
260x2
260x2
260x2
260x2

Really pleased with bench.


I've got about 2 more weeks and then I'll be testing my 1rms on Squat and Bench. For Squats I anticipate that I'll probably end close to my previous 1rm. However, given the injury that I'm now thankfully recovered from, I'd take it. Just being back to pre-injury loads would be great.

For bench, I'm confident that I'm going to bench 300 for the first time. It's going to happen.

Deads are another story. I've decided to just start at 275, pull 1x5 twice/week and add 5-10lbs per session. When it starts getting ugly I'll estimate current 1rm and plug it into my next cycle and periodize it per my other lifts. Still a good 80-100lbs lower than pre-injury but I'm thankful that I don't have pain and I can at least train the movement again. Missed that damn thing.

Pulled 275x5 today, did some calf work until my toe cramped, then I went home.

[fittofattofit]

Great squatting! What was your previous Squat max? You must be looking at close to a 4pps single
300 bench will be very cool as well.

[SideSteal]

Great squatting! What was your previous Squat max? You must be looking at close to a 4pps single
300 bench will be very cool as well.

Previous max was 410lbs on a single. I'm not sure if I'd be able to hit that right now or not, but I think it will be very close. On test day I'm thinking something like 380-405-420 provided things feel good. If for example I hit 405 but it's a grinder I probably won't push a PR attempt. Since this isn't a meet and I'm fresh off the injured list, I don't think it's worth it. But, if for some reason the bar is moving at a good speed and I feel good, who knows.