Getting Physically & Mentally Stronger Through Barbell Training
Texas method intensity day.
Right side feels better. Going to do 3 sets of 5 and keep on adding weight every workout.
I feel better.
My right side feels like it's sore and tender now, rather than a sharp, stabby pain I had earlier.
Going to start off light, and add weight every set to see how it feels.
Not bad. Usually the first rep or two, I feel a little pain, but then it goes away.
I find that sticking my chest up and ass out seems to help.
Taken off the racks.
Testing out a thumbless, or false grip starting at 140 lb since I'll be going light today.
Started from the top (instead of the bottom), as described in the book Starting Strength.
Decided not to train today.
But then I changed my mind.
Did some high bar squats with an empty bar, and couldn't go full depth without experiencing pain from that injury I got yesterday.
Also grabbed the chin up bar on my rack and I could feel I was not going to be able to do a chin up.
Pretty sure I couldn't do any neck work (at least not in all 4 directions), so I just grabbed a rope and started skipping.
8 rounds. 3 minutes on, 1 minute off.
Injured! Dammit. Details below.
Texas Method "volume" day.
About 3.5 minutes in between sets.
My obliques has been sore since Friday (probably from those damn mat pulls) and throughout today's warm up.
Should I continue? Hmm...
Paused until work sets. Paused first rep on work sets.
Unracking the bar hurts a little, and reaching down and pressing the record button on my iPod hurts, but that's about it.
Let's see what happened this past week...
I haven't attempted a 1RM on the bench for over a month (last time being January 18, 2013, where I benched 360 lb).
This past Friday I managed to get a 365 lb bench press. It felt really easy, so I slapped on another 5 lb (actually removed all the smaller plates and put on a pair of 25 lb plates) and attempted 370 lb.
Got it!
It felt a bit harder, but not to the point where I felt like I was struggling with the weight and had doubts on whether I would press it up or not.
Only 30 more puny pounds to go until I'm a member of the 400 lb bench press club!
I was going to move onto my work sets, but then decided since I was wearing my new Three Wolf Moon shirt, I might as well go for three PRs! Put on 335 lb on the bar and cranked out a 3 rep max (previous 3RM was 330 lb, done on January 25, 2013).
Started my first week of the ROM progression method with mat pulls:
I have a feeling the weight that I'm using is too much for now. Pretty tough at this point to pull the weight that I'm using, and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to use the same weight as I remove a mat and lower the bar to the ground every week. I might stick with this weight, and then lower it later, or lower it next Friday. Not sure yet.
Also busted out some barbell curls.
I'm going to add barbell curls back into the mix because I want to get my arms (17" around, unpumped and flexed) as thick as my neck (18.5" around, unpumped and flexed).
Speed is something I'm working on (during the concentric part of the squat).
I'm trying to be more explosive out of the hole during squat, trying to come up as fast as possible for both my warm up sets and work sets.
I feel that it gives me a better warm up and better prepares me for my main sets, even when using the same weights. Plus, it feels cool to attempt to pop the bar off my traps and hear the plates rattling.
I do find it easier to explode out of the hole from a high bar squat than a low bar squat.
With a high bar squat, I pretty much just drop down somewhat slowly, then bounce and power it up with my quads while focusing on keeping my chest up.
With a low bar squat, I find I need to be more deliberate on the descent, and need to focus on keeping tight in and out of the hole. I think half way up I can finally explode while keeping good form.
Lastly, someone asked me about conditioning and the Texas Method, and I give me approach to it:
Anyway, check this out:
