Pain from my injury sustained earlier this month is pretty much gone. I can low bar and high bar squat 440 lb without feeling any pain. I can now sneeze without feeling pain on my right side as well.
On Wednesday I'm going to try for 225 lb x 5, something that I've been chasing for a while.
And after that, I'm thinking hit a 3 rep max, then 2 rep max, then go for a 1 rep max of 260 lb.
All in good time.
Reverse Grip Bench Press
340 lb x 3, which is a 3 rep max. Previously I did 2 reps with this.
Next Friday, I'm going to try for a 2 rep max with 350 lb. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if I can get 3 reps with 350 lb.
High(er) Bar Squat
Threw on a pair of Fat Gripz Extreme onto the center of the bar to experiement with on Saturday. Worked up to a single at 440 lb, and then did 410x3 for 2 sets.
It gets a little harder coming out from the bottom position. I'm thinking because the bar is placed higher on the back, the distance between the bar and the hip is higher compard to a high bar squat with a bare bar, so the torque is greater.
It's an interesting variation on the high bar squat that I might do every now and then. I do prefer the feel of a narrow steel Olympic bar digging into my traps than having the load distrubited over a greater surface area with the Fat Gripz.
Paused until work sets. Paused first rep on work sets.
Contemplating how to de-load.
I was thinking about going lighter and doing paused reps, but I don't like going lighter unless I have to. Also thought about "speed bench presses", but I'm not sure how this would work with a reverse grip. Also, I don't have any bands or chains so I would really have to grip the bar to make sure it doesn't fly off my hands.
I was also thinking of doing overhead presses today and Friday, and bench press on Wednesday.
I don't want to make huge changes, so I'll stick with reverse grip bench presses as scheduled, but lower the weight (should be 302.5 lb this week), and lower the volume (3 sets instead of 5).
Rest between sets is lowered from 3.5+ minutes to 2+ minutes.
Even though I'm built like Wolverine, I do not have his body hair or Adamantium laced bones or claws. I also discovered this week that I do not have his healing abilities either.
I got injured on Monday, and I am still not 100% healed.
FRAK!
My obliques had feeling more sore than normal after the mat pulls on Friday, March 1 2013, but didn't expect it to be a problem. I have used similar weights before with rack pulls, and being sore and training with soreness is normal for me, so this injury was unexpected and would have been difficult to avoid.
Ended up hurting myself during a routine low bar squat over-warmup set at 460 lb.
Normally this weight is no problem at all, but coming out of the hole I felt a sharp pain on my right side, below my rib cage and I went down after that. I probably strained some muscle on that side.
Couldn't finish the remaining squats for the day.
Good news is, recovery has been quick since Monday.
I've tested out front squat for 140 lb on Thursday (didn't log this) and it didn't hurt at all. Probably because the pain occurs when I bend over, and a front squat keeps my torso upright.
I increased the squatting workout on Friday, working up to 280 lb for 3 sets of 5.
Originally I was planning on sticking to high bar squats for 3x5 until I build my strength back up, but on Saturday I was curious as to how a more bent over, low bar squat would feel. It felt alright for most of the sets, but did feel a bit odd using 320 lb x 5. Not painful, but not normal.
So, after poking my injury with a stick and determining I can squat high and low bar with semi-light weights, I'm going to do both during the same workout for the upcoming week. Probably 3x5 for low bar, and then 3x5 for high bar, and just keep on adding weight day by day. I want to have the volume high to keep my stamina up, but we'll see how it goes.
Being forced to lower the weight for my squats is kinda like being forced to de-load. This will give me some time to recover, and hopefully end up coming back stronger.
I've mentioned before that injuries are education, and I'm going to take this opportunity to figure out how to train around this new injury and recover as soon as possible (without getting re-injured).
Bench Press: 300x5x5
In other news, I bench pressed (reverse grip) 300 lb for 5 sets of 5:
I remember when I benched 300 lb for the first time (actually it was 137.5 Kg, or ~302.5 lb) on April 28, 2011, it was a milestone for me, and I felt like I was finally a real man. Now, almost 2 years later, I'm repping it out. Consistency works!
The first time I benched pressed 300 lb+
I may take a de-load week for bench press for this upcoming week, simply because my triceps and chest have been feeling worn out lately, and I'm starting to have irrational (probably) pec tear paranoia. I've been benching twice a week since last Fall I think, and have kept on adding weight mostly every week since.
Either I'm going to stick with benching on Monday and Friday, and simply lower the intensity (weight) and/or volume.
OR, I might do overhead presses on Monday and Friday, and bench press only once on Wednesday. We'll see.
Note: This is the first solid article on the reverse grip bench press. I'm working on my own article on the topic, and thought I was going to be the first, but Jamie Lewis beat me to it!
Felt a sharp pain and maybe even some "tissues moving" (maybe crunching? I'm not sure) on the right side of my body, bottom of the rib cage towards my back.
Seemed like the right side of my body collapsed a little bit as I experienced this pain. Felt this pain coming out of the hole and caused me to drop all the way down with the bar crashing onto the safeties. This brought me to one knee momentarily.
My obliques has been sore since Friday (probably from those damn mat pulls) and throughout today's warm up.
Should I continue? Hmm...
High bar squatted 140 lb from the bottom of the pins, and my right side still hurts. Bah, guess I'll stop squatting today. Hope this doesn't affect bench press.
Face Pulls
70 lb: 15
Reverse Grip Bench Press
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.
45 lb: 10
140 lb: 5
230 lb: 3
280 lb: 1
330 lb: 1
300 lb: 5,5,5,5,5
+5 lb from last week.
Last rep, last set very tough. Felt my hands rotate out of place (towards almost a neutral grip).
