My Original Plan Was to Lift All of the Heavy Things

[itsagoodday]

Got two days worth of catching up to do, did squats on Sunday and bench Monday.

Sunday 4/3 - Home Gym

Legs Day

SQUATS
3x145
(2x) 3x185
(3x) 2x215

Add wraps
3x215

I knew this wasn't going to be a pretty session, as I'd been sitting on my butt for two days straight doing computer work. I stretched and foam rolled first, but I still wound up feeling like I'd been sitting on my butt for two days straight lol. This workout was basically just me trying to get things to feel decent, and to keep myself moving so I didn't have too many days in a row of not squatting. So I did accomplish that. I wound up repeating weights if they felt terrible, to try to get them a little better the next time around. It worked. It was just ugly The only set that felt good was the last set with wraps. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

I took some videos of these squats, but should probably just delete them. At one point I was doing some sort of weird good morning on the way down into the hole. I'm used to leaning coming out of the hole, but since when do I lean all the way down? As a result, one video is pretty much just 60 seconds of me dropping f bombs.

FRONT SQUATS
8x100
6x110
2x120

My quads were annihilated by the last set, I failed on the third rep. It wasn't my quads being jerks, my legs were just exhausted. Called it a day there.

GLUTE HAM RAISE
(3x) 6xBW

----------------------------

Monday 4/4 - Gym

Chest Day

BENCH
5x95
3x115
2x125
1x130

Using my old narrower grip that felt so good last week, and it felt like garbage today. I also grabbed the thicker bar again, which always makes like more difficult. 130 was a pretty gnarly grinder, which it shouldn't have been. I also tried using the wrist wraps on all of these sets today just to see how it went. Well, forget the wrist wraps, I still don't like them on bench.

WIDE GRIP BENCH - middle fingers on rings
5x95
3x105
3x115
(2x) 1x125

I have no explanation for this whatsoever. I am so confused. My regular narrower grip felt terrible today. But when I went to use wide grip (which usually feels awful) as an accessory, it felt great using the "pull the bar apart" cue. So I took it for a ride and put more weight on to see what happened. Wound up working back up to pretty much where I had been with regular grip. Only issue I had was on the first single at 125, I had problems with power off my chest (this is always what happens with wider grips for me). I came back and tried it again and focused on launching the bar off my chest as fast as possible, and it went up nice as can be. Huh. I don't even. Like seriously, what just happened.

DUMBBELL INCLINE PRESS
8x35's
6x40's
6x40's

Ergh, these weren't terribly difficult but 40's was the limit for what I could get into position on my own today.

DUMBBELL INCLINE SKULLCRUSHERS
8x20's
6x25's
4x30's

CHIN UPS
(3x) 3xBW

Well, those felt nice. The first set of 3 was beautiful, pretty much launched through the roof on all three. They got harder after that lol.

DIPS - superset with push ups
6
5
5

PLYO PUSH UPS
6
6
6

Hehehe, just a little comeback attempt at plyo push ups, where you push hard enough to launch yourself off the ground. I actually used to be decent at this type of stuff, but again the increased bodyweight pretty much grounded me on everything but the most basic push ups

Not sure if I'll be able to get into the gym tomorrow, I'll see how it goes.

[thehobbes]

I took some videos of these squats, but should probably just delete them. At one point I was doing some sort of weird good morning on the way down into the hole. I'm used to leaning coming out of the hole, but since when do I lean all the way down? As a result, one video is pretty much just 60 seconds of me dropping f bombs.

Lol, well remember the 10 to 1 rule, for every 10 hard and meh workouts you have at a compound it all leads up to one amazing one where you're blasting PRs and owning it.

Chest Day

BENCH
5x95
3x115
2x125
1x130

Using my old narrower grip that felt so good last week, and it felt like garbage today. I also grabbed the thicker bar again, which always makes like more difficult. 130 was a pretty gnarly grinder, which it shouldn't have been. I also tried using the wrist wraps on all of these sets today just to see how it went. Well, forget the wrist wraps, I still don't like them on bench.

WIDE GRIP BENCH - middle fingers on rings
5x95
3x105
3x115
(2x) 1x125

I have no explanation for this whatsoever. I am so confused. My regular narrower grip felt terrible today. But when I went to use wide grip (which usually feels awful) as an accessory, it felt great using the "pull the bar apart" cue. So I took it for a ride and put more weight on to see what happened. Wound up working back up to pretty much where I had been with regular grip. Only issue I had was on the first single at 125, I had problems with power off my chest (this is always what happens with wider grips for me). I came back and tried it again and focused on launching the bar off my chest as fast as possible, and it went up nice as can be. Huh. I don't even. Like seriously, what just happened.

Nice work on all those singles and doubles. The grip seems to be a mystery at this point, that's very weird. On meet day do they have an area where people can warm up however they need before going in for their first attempt? I assume they would have to or people would be getting injured all the time. At least you could get a feel for what kind of grip is working well for you on a particular day.

[itsagoodday]

Lol, well remember the 10 to 1 rule, for every 10 hard and meh workouts you have at a compound it all leads up to one amazing one where you're blasting PRs and owning it.

As long as I'm blasting PRs on meet day and not the workout after that, it's all good

Nice work on all those singles and doubles. The grip seems to be a mystery at this point, that's very weird.

I think I'm probably just weird.

On meet day do they have an area where people can warm up however they need before going in for their first attempt? I assume they would have to or people would be getting injured all the time. At least you could get a feel for what kind of grip is working well for you on a particular day.

Yup, they've always got a couple of warm up stations set up. Feeling out different grips the day of the meet is certainly an option, but I'll probably stick with my old grip one way or the other, just because I know power off my chest is more reliable with it.

Since wide grip has proven itself to be usable with the right cues, after the meet I'll have to think about alternating days with different grips. Give both my old grip and the wide grip a fair shake, and see which one comes out on top. Bench. Just a giant snowglobe

[itsagoodday]

I wound up taking a rest day today, but am aiming to get workouts in Wed Thurs Fri. I want to get my last heavy deads session in Wed or Thurs, and then other than some lighter stuff the following week, that's it for deads until meet day.

So just sort of a side note on non-lifting stuff. I've mentioned earlier that I've been realizing that I have an issue with amines in food. I've been slowly figuring it all out, finding out what foods are high in them, what effect they have on me, what I can have a lot of, a little of, or none at all. It's been really interesting. And it's solved some life-long mysteries for me.

I am celiac, and also have problems with dairy. There have been some foods I've had problems with that definitely didn't contain gluten or dairy, so I couldn't figure out what the issue was. And there have been things like citrus, where it seems like sometimes I can have it, and sometimes I can't. Very frustrating and very confusing. Just some things I've figured out...

What I can't have. A lot of things that are just really naturally very high in amines, it seems best to avoid completely. Amine content increases with the age of a product, so for something like a banana I'm ok if they're a little green or 'just' ripe, but over-ripe bananas make me feel terrible. Avocados are a big no. Fermented foods (sauerkraut, tofu, etc.) Processed meats. Mushrooms. Interestingly, some of these things, like avocados and hot dogs, I have *never* been able to stomach, even as a kid. So this is probably not even a new issue for me, just something that it's taken 39 years to figure out lol.

There are other foods that are still fairly high, but I can still have in smaller quantities, or if I spread out portions over the course of the day rather than in one sitting. Chocolate falls under this category (thank heavens).

So it's really just been within the last month that I've been making progress understanding what I need to eliminate completely from my diet, and what I just need to cut down my intake of. The results have been staggering. No migraines. None. I was getting them regularly. I'm very light-sensitive, and when bright light hits me I can feel my eyes almost wincing at the light, but nothing happens. Amazing. I'm also not getting issues with recurrent and unexplained nausea. I'm not having problems with brain fog, concentration and fatigue. And here's the thing that's really blowing my mind. I haven't had a binge eating episode for two weeks now. I'm not having issues with cravings or control problems at all. I've been averaging for the most part just a little less than maintenance, and I feel great. Occasionally I've added up my calories at the end of the day and had to go get something else to eat because I'm too low (!!!). It's just the weirdest thing.

Don't know if posting that information will help anybody else, but just in case... there ya go

[SophieM]

As long as I'm blasting PRs on meet day and not the workout after that, it's all good

Seriously!

And congrats on getting some diet related things figured out. That can be a big pain is the a$$ to get figured out.

[VO2Maxima]

I have no explanation on bench. Middle finger on the rings is a pretty common grip around here, I don't even know if they consider it wide, I think everyone just thinks I close-grip everything, to the point where when I do close-grip I think everyone just assumes it's the same and I'm having a bad day lol. I guess you could always play with both during warm-up, and if close feels terrible give wide a shot.

[itsagoodday]

Seriously!

And congrats on getting some diet related things figured out. That can be a big pain is the a$$ to get figured out.

I have so many issues with food it's just getting silly now lol. My blessing with the amines thing is that in terms of what I need to cut out completely, most of that was stuff I wasn't having anyway because I either didn't like it (mushrooms blah) or already knew it made me sick (hot dogs double blah).

I have no explanation on bench. Middle finger on the rings is a pretty common grip around here, I don't even know if they consider it wide, I think everyone just thinks I close-grip everything, to the point where when I do close-grip I think everyone just assumes it's the same and I'm having a bad day lol. I guess you could always play with both during warm-up, and if close feels terrible give wide a shot.

You're right, that probably isn't even considered a wide grip, it just feels really wide compared to where I'm coming from lol. I'll have to start calling it "wider grip" instead of "wide grip" for accuracy It's nice to know I have another tool in the tool bag if my regular grip poops out on me at the meet, though hopefully it won't!

[itsagoodday]

My last heavy deadlift day before the meet was appropriately heavy That just leaves me with a moderate weight day next week, working up to hopefully just an opener level of weight or whatever I can keep moving fast. And then no deads after that, aiming for them to have about ~9 days off completely

Wednesday 4/6 - Gym

Back Day

DEADLIFT
6x135
5x185
3x235
3x265
1x295
1x310
1x320

REVERSE BAND DEADLIFTS - light band
1x315
1x335
1x350

I was on the fence going in as to whether I wanted to do squats or deads today. I foam rolled my calves hard before going, which was the right thing to do for squats, but my deads don't particularly like. So that was stupid. Everything felt heavier than it should have, and lockouts on the heavier stuff was hard today (how much do you use your calves on the upper part of a conventional deadlift? I have no idea, could have been them or just one of those things). Well, whatever. Whatever was going on, overloading lockout with the reverse bands was... interesting. I was hoping the 350 wouldn't feel too bad and be a nice confidence booster, but instead it was a battle. So the best I can do is tell myself, hey, I didn't miss any of those weights or even come close to missing them, no matter how rough they felt.

And for an entertaining note, I was making some pretty awesome loud involuntary growling noises fighting for lockout on 320, 335 and 350. I put down the 350 and looked up to see a guy like ten feet away with big eyes and his mouth hanging open. I think I scared him with all the growling. I may need a rabies shot or something. Maybe I should call a vet.

WIDE GRIP LAT PULLDOWNS
8x90
6x100
4x110

DUMBBELL ONE ARM ROWS
6x85's
4x90's

CHIN UPS
2
2
1.5

And that's all she wrote. Man, in and out in less than an hour just doesn't feel normal on a deadlift day. Cutting all the back-off sets where all the volume was is saving me a ton of time.

[SophieM]

And for an entertaining note, I was making some pretty awesome loud involuntary growling noises fighting for lockout on 320, 335 and 350. I put down the 350 and looked up to see a guy like ten feet away with big eyes and his mouth hanging open. I think I scared him with all the growling. I may need a rabies shot or something. Maybe I should call a vet.

You probably just scared him. I mean, it wasn't pink dumbbells.

[itsagoodday]

You probably just scared him. I mean, it wasn't pink dumbbells.

LOL! I don't think my gym even owns any pink dumbbells. We have like one ratty set of dumbbells that are <10 lbs, but six nice pairs of 100's. We also don't have many women members. These two facts are probably related to each other

[SophieM]

LOL! I don't think my gym even owns any pink dumbbells. We have like one ratty set of dumbbells that are <10 lbs, but six nice pairs of 100's. We also don't have many women members. These two facts are probably related to each other

It's like the chicken or the egg: Which came first, lack of female members or lack of pink dumbbells?

[thehobbes]

Impressed by your commitment to figure out the food problems. Very interesting, I have never heard of amines. That sucks when you go to such great lengths to exercise and eat well and then end up having diet intolerances like that. Even though you have to be extremely careful at least there IS a solution, and getting such amazing results from following it has got to be priceless.

DEADLIFT
6x135
5x185
3x235
3x265
1x295
1x310
1x320

REVERSE BAND DEADLIFTS - light band
1x315
1x335
1x350

Wow, damn nice run on those DL today!

And for an entertaining note, I was making some pretty awesome loud involuntary growling noises fighting for lockout on 320, 335 and 350. I put down the 350 and looked up to see a guy like ten feet away with big eyes and his mouth hanging open. I think I scared him with all the growling. I may need a rabies shot or something. Maybe I should call a vet.

LMAO that's awesome. It's kinda like the opposite of when you expect somebody to have a normal person sneeze but they end up doing that dainty little squeak-wheeze accompanied by "jazz hands." Go on with your bad self and dat beastly growling lol!

[itsagoodday]

It's like the chicken or the egg: Which came first, lack of female members or lack of pink dumbbells?

LOL! The average pink dumbbells lady would probably also not be too happy with some other things, like the fact that we can't find the remote controls for the tv's and you can't reach them unless you're at least 6'2", or the fact that the mold over the shower is just a few days away from sprouting legs and walking away

Impressed by your commitment to figure out the food problems. Very interesting, I have never heard of amines. That sucks when you go to such great lengths to exercise and eat well and then end up having diet intolerances like that. Even though you have to be extremely careful at least there IS a solution, and getting such amazing results from following it has got to be priceless.

I actually am really happy to identify the cause of the migraines and other just random stuff that makes ya feel lousy. Avoiding some foods and being careful with others is a small price to pay, really.

It's kinda like the opposite of when you expect somebody to have a normal person sneeze but they end up doing that dainty little squeak-wheeze accompanied by "jazz hands." Go on with your bad self and dat beastly growling lol!

Grrrrr I can only imagine that the lady who first taught me how to lift would be pleased. I remember her saying "It's OK to make noise! Breathe!!!" I have that whole breathing and making noise thing mastered now. Go, me.

[itsagoodday]

Thursday 4/7 - Gym

Legs Day

SQUATS
5x135
3x165
1x195
1x215

Add wraps
1x235
1x250

Got called a knucklehead for deadlifting heavy the day before I did squats lol. Yeah, I should have done them the other way around. That's ok. Just wanted to see how things were feeling, and they actually felt surprisingly good today. I'm still mulling over my squat opener weight, so my goal today was to put up a wrapped single at 235 to see how much I could bury the depth and still stand up with it. Actually went well. I took video to check my depth, but can barely see a darn thing past the guy who insisted on side spotting me even when I told him I didn't need it lol. But I did bury it, so that was the goal. Slowed down for just a fraction of a second on the way up, but that was just from adding the extra depth, so no biggie. Is it opener material? I think it could be. That's the heaviest weight I was considering for an opener. It would certainly be easy enough to plan on that, but I would still have the option to drop 5-10 pounds off before the meet starts if I'm just not feeling it. I'd like to feel out another 235 single at least once next week and take more video where someone isn't standing in the way lol.

So I tested the jump from potential 235 opener to potential 250 as a second. That went fine, too. I'm comfortable with a 15-20 lb jump at those weights. Again had a side spotter, unfortunately one guy decided to hold the bar on the way up which meant I went up a little crooked (sigh), but I had it fine on my own. 250 was a little slow, but considering the pounding my back took yesterday on heavy deads, I was actually pleased with how it felt.

FRONT SQUATS
6x105
4x115
2x125

SINGLE LEG EXTENSION
8x50
6x60
4x70

I am not giving my quads the option of wimping out again anytime soon. Even if I drop every other accessory, I want to keep front squats and/or the single leg extensions on my program up to the meet just to make sure I still have their attention.

1 LEG LYING HAMSTRING CURL
8x22.5's
6x25's
4x27.5's

CHIN UPS
3
2
2

So my right leg has been giving me grief for a while now, knotted muscles, restricted ROM at times, general aches and pains, occasionally feeling like I'm wearing the whole thing backwards. I didn't think it was anything I was doing at the gym. I think I've figured out that it's how I'm sleeping on that side. My bad hip is on the right, and it seems like I'm just getting it a bit twisted and probably pinching some things in the process. The last few nights I've tried to sleep more on my left, and just be really careful about keeping my hip straight if I'm on the right. Right leg feels 1,000 times better already. I think squats reflected that today, they really did feel solid and depth was not an issue in the slightest. I just gotta keep all my random parts functioning for two more weeks, just TWO MORE WEEKS, you hear that right hip???

[VO2Maxima]

So my right leg has been giving me grief for a while now, knotted muscles, restricted ROM at times, general aches and pains, occasionally feeling like I'm wearing the whole thing backwards. I didn't think it was anything I was doing at the gym. I think I've figured out that it's how I'm sleeping on that side. My bad hip is on the right, and it seems like I'm just getting it a bit twisted and probably pinching some things in the process. The last few nights I've tried to sleep more on my left, and just be really careful about keeping my hip straight if I'm on the right. Right leg feels 1,000 times better already. I think squats reflected that today, they really did feel solid and depth was not an issue in the slightest. I just gotta keep all my random parts functioning for two more weeks, just TWO MORE WEEKS, you hear that right hip???

Pillow between your knees when side-sleeping. Also sounds like work on that side's glutes and TFL would be useful, possibly on piriformis. Roll it out as best you can with a golf ball, and if it acts up at the meet, talk to the chiropractor there (or see her now, rumor has it this is probably enough time to get a decent amount of improvement out of it).

[thehobbes]

Got called a knucklehead for deadlifting heavy the day before I did squats lol. Yeah, I should have done them the other way around. That's ok. Just wanted to see how things were feeling, and they actually felt surprisingly good today. I'm still mulling over my squat opener weight, so my goal today was to put up a wrapped single at 235 to see how much I could bury the depth and still stand up with it. Actually went well. I took video to check my depth, but can barely see a darn thing past the guy who insisted on side spotting me even when I told him I didn't need it lol. But I did bury it, so that was the goal. Slowed down for just a fraction of a second on the way up, but that was just from adding the extra depth, so no biggie. Is it opener material? I think it could be. That's the heaviest weight I was considering for an opener. It would certainly be easy enough to plan on that, but I would still have the option to drop 5-10 pounds off before the meet starts if I'm just not feeling it. I'd like to feel out another 235 single at least once next week and take more video where someone isn't standing in the way lol.

So I tested the jump from potential 235 opener to potential 250 as a second. That went fine, too. I'm comfortable with a 15-20 lb jump at those weights. Again had a side spotter, unfortunately one guy decided to hold the bar on the way up which meant I went up a little crooked (sigh), but I had it fine on my own. 250 was a little slow, but considering the pounding my back took yesterday on heavy deads, I was actually pleased with how it felt.

Nice, do you have a third wt in mind after the 250 or is that something you'd more go by feel on on meet day? And yeah that is impressive with a sprinkling of crazy hitting those today right after DL day. Lol at the side spotting, wtf. At least you seem to be extremely comfortable with people in your space and by the bar when you're doing heavy singles. I'd be like "bahhhh, personal space!" and drawing chalk circles as imaginary force-fields around myself.

[itsagoodday]

Pillow between your knees when side-sleeping. Also sounds like work on that side's glutes and TFL would be useful, possibly on piriformis. Roll it out as best you can with a golf ball, and if it acts up at the meet, talk to the chiropractor there (or see her now, rumor has it this is probably enough time to get a decent amount of improvement out of it).

Thanks!!! Will have to try a pillow again too, I've tried it before and it drove me nuts all night lol. Definitely not going to get a chance to head out to 'cuse before the meet, but I will have to hit you up for a chiro session in the not too distant future. Never actually had one before. I had a lady that did some deep tissue massage when I was rehabbing an injury last winter, but I've never had anyone work on me other than that. The hip has been fun to deal with at times, it would be interesting to see if you could do anything with it or have some insight on it. It's something I was born with, both hips were dislocated at birth and I was in a full cast as a baby. I suspect it's an issue with the socket being shallow or something along those lines, but I really don't know. There was a time when I thought maybe I just really needed to work on my hip mobility and that would make it all better. Big fail. The more I worked on it, the angrier and more unstable it got. The Agile 8 almost removed my ability to walk properly lol. For a while now I've mostly just been avoiding the stuff that I know pisses it off, and it's usually pretty quiet. But that's also kind of like ignoring the 800 lb gorilla in the room

Nice, do you have a third wt in mind after the 250 or is that something you'd more go by feel on on meet day? And yeah that is impressive with a sprinkling of crazy hitting those today right after DL day. Lol at the side spotting, wtf. At least you seem to be extremely comfortable with people in your space and by the bar when you're doing heavy singles. I'd be like "bahhhh, personal space!" and drawing chalk circles as imaginary force-fields around myself.

There's an older retired powerlifter (like ~80 years old) at my gym who has pretty much adopted me. He's determined to protect me from myself lol. I've actually been getting some great support from the other gym members, I'm very appreciative of it. But at the same time it's like, please don't spot me if I tell you I don't want a spot. Now I'd absolutely take the offer up on heavy bench. Why are these same people never around when I bench? LOL

Third attempt for squat hmmmmm, not sure. I'll be delighted if I can get 250 on the second, that would be a great milestone to hit. I'll just have to see how it goes. I know I can get 255, I've put that up on several occasions in training. I suspect I can get 260 as well, just haven't tried it. That's assuming I do a decent wrap job and don't make any mistakes whatsoever though... which may be asking a bit much of myself

[itsagoodday]

Friday 4/8 - Studio

Chest Day

Wonder if my friend is getting sick of me asking him for help on bench lol. Went pretty well, I just stuck with my regular narrower grip and put up a fairly nice paused 140 again. Absolutely no indications that I'll be able to get 145 on meet day though, so I suspect 140 will be my third attempt. If they'd just let me hit middle ground with like 142.475, that would probably be perfect. Maybe I should find a meet that will let me lift in kg's so I can hit fractions of pounds

Anyway, did flat bench, incline bench, flat flyes, incline flyes, plate loaded incline press, push ups. Pretty solid workout. No idea if I'll be lifting tomorrow, but I will probably use it as a rest day. My brother is in town, first time he's been out to see my mom in the last 1 1/2 years, she's had 3 surgeries and the whole cancer thing since the last time he was out here. We haven't killed each other yet though, so that's a good sign.

[thehobbes]

Truly awesome you have some gym buddies there even if they do go all mother-hen mode on you sometimes haha.

Good luck with the family stuff. Maybe get some pie, pie makes everybody less murder-y.

[VO2Maxima]

Friday 4/8 - Studio

Chest Day

Wonder if my friend is getting sick of me asking him for help on bench lol. Went pretty well, I just stuck with my regular narrower grip and put up a fairly nice paused 140 again. Absolutely no indications that I'll be able to get 145 on meet day though, so I suspect 140 will be my third attempt. If they'd just let me hit middle ground with like 142.475, that would probably be perfect. Maybe I should find a meet that will let me lift in kg's so I can hit fractions of pounds

Anyway, did flat bench, incline bench, flat flyes, incline flyes, plate loaded incline press, push ups. Pretty solid workout. No idea if I'll be lifting tomorrow, but I will probably use it as a rest day. My brother is in town, first time he's been out to see my mom in the last 1 1/2 years, she's had 3 surgeries and the whole cancer thing since the last time he was out here. We haven't killed each other yet though, so that's a good sign.

Kilograms are obnoxious too, since you end up using a lift that's lighter than you're practicing with as your opener (unless you want to chance it and go with the higher number lol), and then you end up with a weird number like a 181.88lb bench wtf.

If you're confident with 140, use that as your second attempt and go for 145 on the third?

[itsagoodday]

Good luck with the family stuff. Maybe get some pie, pie makes everybody less murder-y.

Mmmmm, pie. Wait, you mean like hit him in the head with the pie, or eat it? Because in my family, we could go either way

Kilograms are obnoxious too, since you end up using a lift that's lighter than you're practicing with as your opener (unless you want to chance it and go with the higher number lol), and then you end up with a weird number like a 181.88lb bench wtf.

If you're confident with 140, use that as your second attempt and go for 145 on the third?

I would gladly take a weird number like a 181.88 lb bench, lol. But we would probably have to put a red wig on you and some padding in your singlet while you pretended to be me

I'll have to see if I can put up 140 with the thicker bar I've been using at the gym. So far I haven't been able to. Until I figure out what it is with me and microscopic changes in bar thickness on bench, I'm still expecting to lose a little off my bench at the meet. Maybe I should start training with axle bars for bench, then I'll get to meets and be like EASIEST BAR EVER!!!

[itsagoodday]

Monday 4/11 - Gym

Legs Day

SQUATS
3x145
3x175
2x205

Add wraps
1x235
1x245
1x255

I never say this. And I mean never. But squats felt amazing today I guess I've been really underestimating how much the lingering issues with my right hip / leg have been affecting them. So maybe that's been behind a lot of the weird issues I've been having with my squat sessions the last few months.

So I'm continuing to be careful with how I sleep so I don't twist my hip around, and it just keeps feeling better and better. Squats were deep, even and FAST. I had a ridiculous amount of power coming out of the hole today. I'm not used to that, so a couple of times I accidentally over-did my lockout and launched the bar off my back at the top. Ooops. I mean yay for power, but that's still not a good thing to do, luckily it didn't happen on the heaviest stuff so I didn't kill myself. I was worried maybe I was squatting high because everything just felt too darned easy, but I checked myself and had some other people watch me, and I was burying depth. So just a really good squat day then! Yup, that never happens

Still evaluating 235 for an opener, and today it was lightning fast and felt so easy I started thinking, maybe I should go up from there? LOL. Not going to happen though, 235 opener would still put me in a great place jumping to a second attempt. 245 was also ridiculously easy. I didn't slow down today until I hit the 255 single, and even that only slowed down a bit but still felt great. If I didn't have a meet inside of two weeks, I would have loved to put some more weight on there today. But I can wait for the meet Also doing a better job of wrapping myself, so very relieved by that. I'm not dropping them constantly and I'm getting more consistent tension, before I was winding up with a ton of extra material hanging off one leg, but even with the same number of loops around, on the other leg I'd have it too short to tie off. I'm getting better though, that's the important part.

FRONT SQUATS
6x105
4x115
2x125

I must have just been more stable today in general. I was using an angled squat rack, didn't quite step back far enough on the first set and came up underneath the bottom pin on my first squat. Managed to deal with it, stepped back a little more and finished my set without missing a beat. That would usually have killed my set, it doesn't take much to screw me up on squats. Sometimes it's the little things that you appreciate

1 LEG LYING HAMSTRING CURL
8x22.5's
6x25's
4x27.5's

CHIN UPS
(5x) 2xBW
1xBW - was going to go for one more double, but I was toast

Due for a bench day next, then I want to do my last (!!!) deads session on Wed or Thurs. I'm getting to the point where I just want the meet over with, because I have so many things I want to work on in my next training cycle and I'm really excited to start it

[thehobbes]

Niiiice, heavy squats with depth and the so much speed you're launching the weights into space! That's awesome a simple change in how you sleep is helping your hip so much. I never understood why one's body wouldn't wake you up and signal you to change position with something like that. Unless it's more of a matter of you laying like that for 8 hours straight causing harm. I once hurt my back because I took a nap on the couch and slept awkwardly trying to account for the cat chillin' on top of me, was fukked for a week.

Admirable recovery on the front squats. That messes me all up once I start hitting hooks or safeties.

Is the meet this weekend?

[VO2Maxima]

Glad squat day went well. If 235 felt easy, go with that. Remember it's just an opener, better to open light and go up from there, than to struggle on opener and either wreck your confidence or take more than one attempt to get that. I actually have a friend who just bombed out on squats at USPAs last weekend, didn't even get a shot at bench and deadlift, so go conservative.

[geek23ka]

still here and reading along.

seems like you're doing a good job of leading up to the meet. do you have butterflies in your tummy when you think about it yet?

[itsagoodday]

Niiiice, heavy squats with depth and the so much speed you're launching the weights into space! That's awesome a simple change in how you sleep is helping your hip so much. I never understood why one's body wouldn't wake you up and signal you to change position with something like that. Unless it's more of a matter of you laying like that for 8 hours straight causing harm. I once hurt my back because I took a nap on the couch and slept awkwardly trying to account for the cat chillin' on top of me, was fukked for a week.

LOL! Cats, sometimes they are evil even when they don't mean to be. Eh, who am I kidding, dogs are the same

Surprisingly my hip didn't hurt the way I was laying on it. It felt fine. I think that's why it was evading me what the problem was. I kept thinking well, maybe it's the way I sit on the couch to watch tv, or maybe it's the way I sit when I work at the computer, or maybe it's the way I stand on it. So I spent a few weeks trying to "fix" those, but it didn't help. Finally said well, maybe it's the way I'm sleeping and bingo. If it had actually hurt, I could have figured it out sooner lol.

Is the meet this weekend?

Next! Saturday the 23rd. This week is my last deadlift session though, I've only been deadlifting once a week anyway and I want them to have 9-10 days off completely this time. Squats and bench aren't getting time off, I'll just be going lighter on those next week.

Glad squat day went well. If 235 felt easy, go with that. Remember it's just an opener, better to open light and go up from there, than to struggle on opener and either wreck your confidence or take more than one attempt to get that. I actually have a friend who just bombed out on squats at USPAs last weekend, didn't even get a shot at bench and deadlift, so go conservative.

Oh man, that is my nightmare As I do more of these meets, I'm trying to find the right balance between playing it safe and pushing myself. That's a work in progress. Yeah, I wouldn't go over 235 for an opener. If it feels as good as it did yesterday, I can just take that as a sign to make a bigger jump to my second.

still here and reading along.

seems like you're doing a good job of leading up to the meet. do you have butterflies in your tummy when you think about it yet?

Hey geek! Usually I'm calm at meets, which is funny. I used to show horses as a kid, and I'd get really nervous at shows. But with meets, I've been very chill when I get there. I do any worrying ahead of time lol. Not doing too bad on that front currently. Squats are really my only concern, because they can be so hit or miss for me on any given day. Bench, meh, that's the thing I need to do between squats and deads. Deads I just get excited about, which seems to be a good thing for them Overall, I look forward to my meets, I also really get a kick out of lifting with the other chicks. It's the only chance I get to be around other women powerlifters, and that's always a ton of fun.

So yeah, long answer to short question A little worried about squats, but overall looking forward to it!

[thehobbes]

Next! Saturday the 23rd. This week is my last deadlift session though, I've only been deadlifting once a week anyway and I want them to have 9-10 days off completely this time. Squats and bench aren't getting time off, I'll just be going lighter on those next week.

Good plan, looking forward to some kick ass results. Seems like most people enjoy the DL part of the comp more than anything - rip dat chit off the ground RARRWWW!

Lol imagining a pack of PL women hanging out talking about belts and chalk and beef jerky.

[itsagoodday]

Lol imagining a pack of PL women hanging out talking about belts and chalk and beef jerky.

Haha! Yeah, that's pretty much it. Except we don't so much talk about chalk as we're all covered liberally with it lol. Go to high-five a PL chick at a meet and one will be like "oooh, sorry, I'm covered in chalk" and the other will be all "that's ok, I'm covered with chalk too AND I just ripped a callous".

So yeah, it's great

[itsagoodday]

Wednesday 4/13 - Gym

Chest Day

BENCH
3x95
3x115
3x125
1x130
1x135
0x140 - oops

OK, used my regular narrower grip, ditched the wrist wraps (still don't like 'em on bench) and grabbed the thick bar again. This is actually the best that bar has felt for me, I'm glad I decided to focus on it these last few weeks. 130 was stupid easy, probably should have repped it. 135 was quite smooth. 140 died pretty quick lol. I haven't been able to put up 140 with this bar before, so even though 135 felt good enough that 140 really shouldn't have been an issue, I grabbed a random guy as a spotter. I don't know who the guy was or how much he knows his stuff, but he said something interesting. I got the bar off my chest and then just stalled out, which is pretty normal for me on a bench fail. He said "do you know where you lost it?" I said "sure, just off my chest." He goes "nope, before that. The second you started to press, your pushed it towards your feet and not up."

Huh!!! Well, if that's true, that would definitely have killed my press. I know I have a bad habit of pushing the bar towards my feet sometimes when I'm struggling about halfway up, but to my knowledge I haven't been shoving it towards my feet any earlier than that, like directly off my chest. But it's a possibility. What I do know is that I make more subconscious bar path corrections with a thicker bar, the bar tends to zigzag a bit rather than pressing up and arcing towards my head smoothly. I've never traced the hows and whys behind it though. But if I'm having alignment problems or some other issue where I'm just plain throwing the force behind my press in the wrong directions at times... maybe that's why I struggle with a thicker bar. Wow. Well, something to look into more after the meet. For the time being, it wouldn't be a bad idea to remind myself to press UP off my chest, I think even I can remember something that simple

DUMBBELL INCLINE PRESS
8x35's
6x40's
6x40's

LOL, still struggling to get the 40's into position but they're easy to press. First world problems.

DUMBBELL INCLINE SKULLCRUSHERS
6x25's
4x30's

DIPS - superset with push ups
4
2
2

REGULAR GRIP PUSH UPS
8
8
8

This was not my day for dips apparently Tomorrow should be my last deadlift session with any luck!

[melDorado]

Hi itsagoodday, really interesting your journal building up to your meet, I can identify with plenty, trying to keep yourself going til the meets over altho you feel so beat up, just done that, peaked about a month too early. Just finished 10 day deload and still not 100%. Sucks being 42!
Btw for bench I pretty much take the widest allowable grip, just feels better to my shoulder and I can lift most that way. I see most other folk go narrower tho. Once you know your way round a barbell, it's all about figuring what's optimal for you, right?
I struggle a lot with squats, I love doing them but I'm not built for them and depth is a constant battle. I've also had a dodgy hip lately. Glad you seem to be getting over yours, those are some great numbers on your squats so you must be doing something right. I've never used wraps, how do you find them?
Will be checking in to hear about your meet... Go kill it sister