Happy Mother's Day to all the Super Moms out there!
Anyway, this past week I found out that my Titan singlet is almost ripped. I'm a bit hesitant to get a new singlet to be honest. I might just wear this and hope no one notices haha.
On Friday I got a new 3 rep max at 480 lb. I did 460x3 last week, which did not feel too hard, and I was certain I could get 480x3.
This upcoming Friday, I'm going to try for 500 lb x 2.
Bench Press: 350 x 3 (3RM)
I also got a bench press 3RM on Friday at 350 lb. I changed my shirt for the last set to help prevent any slipping on the bench. It felt a bit shaking, but 3 reps at 350 lb didn't feel like much of a struggle.
High Bar Squat: 480 x 2 (2RM)
On Saturday, I got a high bar squat 2RM at 480 lb:
I might have had 3 reps on a good day (didn't even make a squat face on the 2nd rep), but my low back was a bit sore and everything else ached. Still, a PR is a PR, and that's good enough for me.
Upcoming Week
The powerlifting meet is only a few weeks away (June 9), and I think this could be my last heavy week where I'm shooting for PR's before I start tapering off and making sure I don't burn myself out.
Here's what I'm looking at for this week:
Front Squat: Aiming for 2 reps at 370 lb, or maybe 3 reps at 350 lb, depending on how I feel.
Bench Press: I'm going to try for a 2RM at 370 lb.
Low Bar Squat: As mentioned early, going to attempt 500 lb for a double.
My PR scoreboard has been getting a lot of action this past week:
Front Squat: 390 lb (+20 lb PR)
Did this on Wednesday after getting 380 lb (+10 lb PR). I missed 390 lb the first time because I didn't take a big enough breath before descending.
I find that it's hard to take a huge breath with a bar racked on the front of my shoulders. The belt is tight around my waist, so it doesn't seem like I can get much air by belly breathing. Also since the bar is racked across my shoulders, if I try to breath in into my chest, the loaded bar prevents much air from getting in because it's "pushing down" on my chest and not allowing my chest to expand.
Maybe I'm not breathing properly. I think I'm going to have to focus on shrugging my shoulders up a bit more when I unrack the bar or try harder to belly breathe, or both.
Low Bar Squat: 460 lb x 3 (+20 lb PR)
On Friday, the right side underneath my ribs felt a bit sore (probably from those front squats for some reason). I was a bit hesitant to go for a PR or two, but it felt better as I warmed up, so heck, why not?
Also, I wore a singlet to get used to the feel of wearing a singlet. Even though I have a 2XL singlet from Titan, which is supposed to be for people weighing 242-275lbs (I'm roughly 200 lb), it's...to put it bluntly, ball crushing at times, especially in the hole during the squat.
The weight felt pretty light coming out of the rack, so I was pretty sure that I could hit 3 reps.
This upcoming week I'm going to try for a new 2 rep max at 480 lb x 2. I would not be surprised if I hit 3 reps though.
If that happens, then I would try for 500 lb x 2. That would be pretty awesome, and I'm sure I would want to hold the last rep ("I WANNA HOLD IT!" - Captain Kirk). We'll see how things turn out in the upcoming weeks.
High Bar Squat: 460 lb x 3 (+20 lb PR)
I like the feel of a near perfect rep, but for the last rep on this set, it was slow and ugly and I had to grind it out. I think the problem was that I didn't tighten my back (especially my lats) before descending.
Currently my low and high bar squat numbers are nearly identical (with main difference being the 1RM, where my low bar squat is 515 lb and my high bar squat max is 500 lb), but I think that as the weight continues to increase, my low bar squat will start to pull away at 3RM or less.
Reverse Grip Bench Press: 330 lb x 4
I was aiming for 5 reps, but I slipped.
Man, I'm going to have to start changing shirts before attempting PRs and/or start looking for some shirts with some sticky rubbery stuff on the back (if there is such a thing).
Next time, I'm going to try for a new 3 rep max at 350 lb x 3. Previous best was 2 reps with 350 lb.
Benching 3 Times Per Week
In an effort to get in even more paused bench presses as practice, and maybe even a bigger bench, I'm going to start bench pressing 3x per week instead of 2, at least for the next month or so. That means that overhead presses will take a back seat until the powerlifting meet in June is over. I'll probably throw them in once a week as a warmup or at the end of the workout.
At least on the surface, there seems to get a relationship between a bigger bench (or bigger <insert lift here>) and frequency of performing the lift. Smolov Jr for bench presses have you benching 4 times per week, and some (maybe all? Not sure) variants of Sheiko gets you bench pressing 3 times per week. Well, I'm not going to be doing any sort of specific bench pressing bro-gram, but just throwing in a bench press workout on Wednesday, something along the lines of working up to a few heavy paused singles, and then some paused back off sets.
John Phung – Squat and OHP PRs by Brandon Goris (Pretty cool that I got mentioned on this site. Lift.net is full of monsters, and I want to be a monster too!)
I was planning on 1 PR for this week, but ended up with 4!
Front Squat: 370 lb (1RM)
On Wednesday I got a 370 lb front squat, which is a +20 lb PR from last week. Not too shabby!
For the upcoming weeks, I'm going to fill out the "Front Squat" row in my personal records scoreboard starting with a new 2 rep max (I'm thinking 350'ish), then 3, and maybe 5.
Overhead Press: 240 lb x 2 (2RM)
Did this one on Wednesday. Could have sworn I had overhead pressed 240x2 before, but I couldn't find any record of it.
Low Bar Squat: 440 lb x 5 (5RM)
On Friday I did 440x5, which is a +10 lb PR from February. My form was pretty good for all reps I think. I am satisfied.
High Bar Squat: 440 lb x 5 (5RM)
The next day (Saturday), I managed a high bar squat for 440x5, which is also a +10 lb PR. The last time I got a 5RM was on the same day I did a low bar squat 5RM.
Also, I wanted to get in a training session of squats and deadlifts because I was going to have Chinese buffet for lunch (or in my case, a post-workout meal).
Gymboss Interval Timer Review
I wrote a review for the standalone interval timer known as the Gymboss.
TL;DR: It's a good interval timer.
Buy it if you want something that's compact, simple to use and has a vibration function.
I'm going to stop calling what I'm doing "Texas Method" mainly because what I do now deviates a bit from the program, and I don't want to be confined to a "method" or a "system" if I want to alter my training somehow. (As I write this, I'm reminded of Bruce Lee's saying of, "Using no way as way" & "Having no limitation as limitation").
I've already made many changes. My training now contain some elements of the Texas Method, namely, a higher volume day and a higher intensity day, but sometimes I'll have 2 or 3 PR days per week (Wednesday, which is usually a "recovery day", Friday, and sometimes Saturdays like yesterday). My recovery days are usually "intense" ie. attempting 1 rep maxes, and sometimes they're high in volume. My "intensity days" are sometimes high in volume as well.
I think it's about time to stop calling it the "Texas Method".
After getting a high bar squat PR of 500 lb last week, I figured I could probably get a front squat and low bar squat PR this week...and I did!
Front Squat: 350 lb
Front squatted 350 lb on Wednesday. Felt pretty easy, so I'm thinking about jumping to 370 lb next time.
My current goal is 400+ lb on the front squat.
Also, I've adjusted my grip so that my fists are placed underneath my chin while holding onto straps. Feels a little bit more natural this way than having my fists in line with my shoulders while holding onto straps.
My collar bones and anterior delts are still sore and tender the next day, but during the workout, it doesn't feel so bad. I am adapting. Resistance is futile.
Low Bar Squat: 515 lb
On Friday, I hit a 515 lb low bar squat. First low bar squat PR since September 29, 2012. That's about 7 months...which is TOO DAMN LONG for a 1RM PR in my opinion.
My previous best was 510 lb.
I'm pretty happy with how the squat turned out. Depth was good, and form was good too. I'm glad it didn't turn into a squat-morning or anything like that.
I'm going to save my squat 1 rep max attempts for June at a powerlifting meet, and hit some rep PR's along the way.
Speaking of PRs...
Personal Records
I've made a table that shows my personal records in the main lifts that I do and in the rep ranges that I train in:
Looking at the table, there's a lot of empty boxes. I think I'll fill out the 8 and 10 rep maxes after that powerlifting competition, and work on the 2,3 and 5 rep maxes for now (probably starting with 5RM first).
One good thing that I discovered from having an organized table of PRs is that when I look at them, I'm thinking in my head, "What PR should I break next...??". Makes me look forward to training and possibly breaking a PR.
It would be nice if Fitocracy implemented an at-a-glace PR table like this!
I've also included this table under "Credentials" in the "About John Phung" author bio box that's at the bottom of every post. I think the result of one's training are just as important as other common "credentials" in the fitness industry (and among e-fitness gurus on the interwebz).
For some reason, during my warm up sets, I touched the bar just underneath my chin before unracking. I tilted my head back before taking it off the rack, and the bar was at a higher starting position than normal (around the Adam's apple level, as described in my article "3 Ways To Increase Your Overhead Pressing Strength". The higher starting position lead to a greater stretch reflex.
Also, I've been focusing on driving the bar backwards and flaring out my elbows after the bar clears my head. This makes it easier to keep the bar balanced to press the weight straight up.
385 lb Reverse Grip Bench Press
An ice storm in my area lead to a power outage on Friday, so I had no electricity from around 8AM-6PM, with the exception of whatever power that was left in the battery in my phone.
My home gym is in the basement, and there's only one small window. Not much sunlight shinning in that day, so the lighting was horrible.
I missed the first try at 385 lb, likely because of not enough leg drive. The 2nd attempt, I focused more on leg drive and pressed the bar up. Legs are important in the bench press.
Initially I was planning on doing a 460 lb over warm-up, then dropping down for a triple at 440 lb.
But 460 lb went up without much struggle, so I added 10 lb to the bar.
470 lb went up without much struggle, so I added ANOTHER 10 lb to the bar.
480 lb wasn't too bad, so I thought, "heck, let's see if I can high bar squat 500 lb. The worst that can happen is that I get injured again...not the end of the world..."
And I did it!
Last time I attempted 500 was sometime in September/October 2012, and my last 1RM high bar squat PR was late September, so I'm pretty happy with this.
Also, 500 lb high bar squat is a milestone that I've been wanting for a while. Previous best was 495 lb. I've low bar squatted over 500 lb before, but high bar is a little more difficult, and a little more satisfying to get.
