Getting Physically & Mentally Stronger Through Barbell Training
Texas method recovery day.
Had some pain on what appears to be the surface of my right patella.
Maybe it is true, that squatting is bad for your knees and will make your knee caps explode!
Or not.
It went away after doing squats.
Body weight (200 lb): 12,11,11
1 minute rest in between rounds.
Using the Ironmind Headstrap Fit For Hercules neck harness and low pulley attachment.
I ate this yesterday at Ye's Sushi All-You-Can-Eat restaurant:
Pretty much had a food coma for most of yesterday, and it's fueling today's workout.
Texas Method volume day.
About 3.5 minutes in between sets for warm ups.
Last week I did these after low bar squatting for 5 sets of 3 reps. Really fried my lower back. Experimenting with adding these after high bar squats.
Definitely felt better, but it might be hard to maintain solid form as the weight gets heavier in the future. We'll see.
Paused until work sets.
Paused first rep on work sets.
Let's see how my training went this past week:
Decided to add a couple of sets of low bar squat to Monday's already high volume squat workout, and it was quite challenging. Maybe it's my lack of conditioning, but I had to lie down on a bench with my feet elevated during the later sets. I have never done this before.
I did 2 sets of 5 after 5x3 of low bar squats. My low back muscles felt extremely pumped after the sets of 5, and may have made the high bar squats more difficult than it should have been. I think I'll try adding the 2x5 low bar squats after 5x5 high bar squat to see how it feels.
Surprisingly, I did not experience much DOMS in my legs or lower back the next day, and I could walk up and down the stairs just fine.
Maybe, because my body proportion is similar to that of Wolverine, I have similar healing powers too! I definitely do not have the body hair though.
For overhead presses, I missed again (twice!) at 260 lb even though I didn't bench as much on Monday (3x5 instead of the usual 5x5), allowing my triceps to be "more fresh" on OHP day.
Maybe it has to do with my grip width, and how it affects my upper body position. I find that with a wider grip, I can stand more erect, but with a narrower grip, I need to lean back a little so that the bar is over the center of my body. I used a narrow grip, and I'm pretty sure I was standing more erect than leaning back, because the bar felt a little too forward as I tried to press the weight up.
Or maybe, I'm just not strong enough to OHP 260 lb. Yet.
I did get a body weight (200 lb) 7 rep max, and I'm hoping for 225 x 5 for the next session.
Out of all the lifts that I do with a barbell, I think I'm making the most progress with my bench press.
I hit a new 3RM at 330 lb. Previous my 3 rep personal best was 320 lb a little over a month ago. +10 lb increase is not too bad!
I think this weight would be a good opener for the bench press in a powerlifting competition.
Also, I think I finally (and accidentally) figured out how to utilize my lats to drive the bar up during the bench. I'll need to experiment more though.
Anyway, check out some of the articles I wrote this past week:
And take a look these:
Body weight (200lbs): 10,10,10
1 minute rest in between rounds.
Using the Ironmind neck harness and low pulley attachment.
