10 minutes on the black Rumble Roller and lacrosse ball.
L-Sit V-Grip Pull Ups
Body weight (~200 lb): 8
Low Bar Squat (Paused)
Exhaled and inhaled at the bottom (1 breath).
45 lb: 20
140 lb: 10
230 lb: 5
320 lb: 3,3,3
Overhead Press
ARGH 260 lb was so close!
My back (low and middle) was feeling a bit sore, probably from maxing out on front squats yesterday. For some reason, the left side was a bit more sore than my right. This might have caused my core to be weak on one side.
Maybe I'll try again next week.
45 lb: 10
75 lb: 8
100 lb: 5
140 lb: 3
190 lb: 1
230 lb: 1
260 lb: MISSED
Dammit almost had it. Left arm did not want to extend.
260 lb: MISSED
Not even close.
230 lb: 1
Wanted 3, but out of energy from attempting 260 lb.
I've been wanting this for a while now. Pretty happy I got the LMAO2PLATE OHP for 5 reps milestone!
Maybe I'll try for a 260 lb 1RM soon.
Bench Press: 350x2 (2RM)
On the first set, I slipped on the bench despite having that rubber anti-slip mat. Maybe it had something to do with the shirt I was wearing.
On the second set, I got 2 reps, but missed on the third. Had I not slipped on the first set, or had I wore my Three Wolf Moon shirt, I probably would have gotten 3 reps.
Thinking of going for a 1RM of 380 lb this upcoming Friday.
An Observation On Personal Records (PR's)
Lately I'm starting to notice from reading other people's blogs and updates in my Facebook feed is that a lot of people who consistently get stronger, along with those who are freakishly strong, tend to keep track and try to beat their personal records (PR's) on a variety of rep ranges and exercises.
I think there's something to this, as far as training effect, getting stronger and motivation goes.
I mean, if someone were to improve on their 5 rep max on say, the bench press, then their 3 rep max may be higher as well. And if this someone hit a 3 rep max, then they might be in a position to set a new 2 rep max. If they set a new 2 rep max, then maybe they're strong enough to get a new 1 rep max. Going by memory, this has been the case for me. If I hit a rep PR, then I usually can get another PR in a different rep range, and sometimes even a new 1 rep max.
Motivation-wise, having a 5,3,2, and 1 rep maxes on all major lifts gives you a lot more to shoot for (ie. more PR's to break). Trying to break a 1RM on the squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press (total of 4 personal records) won't last very long and is not sustainable. But if you go keep track of your 5RM, 3RM, 2RM and 1RM on the big 4 lifts (at least, the 4 big lifts that I do), that's a total of 16 different PR's to try to break. Choosing from 16 different personal records to try to break, say, on a weekly and bi-weekly basis seems a lot more feasible than simply going for 1 rep maxes.
And that's only with 4 rep ranges and 4 different lifts. The number of PR's "to break" would increase with different rep ranges (say by adding 10RM, 8RM and so on) and different exercise or a variation of an exercise (ex. paused squats, paused bench etc), giving you more opportunities to break PR's and get stronger on a regular basis.
I don't know about you, but whenever I hit a PR in any rep range, I feel good about myself, and it validates that my training is working. Whenever I'm planning to hit a PR, it's usually on my mind days before I attempt it, and I'm pretty psyched for my workout.
At this point, I'm keeping track of my 1RM (it's on the "About The Author" section of each post on my blog), but I need to add 2,3 and 5 rep maxes (maybe others) to that section, or maybe new page so I can easily look it up.
Anyway, check out these blog posts I came across this past week:
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.
I missed this weight last week, probably because I did not recover from the volume day workout.
I got it this week however, I think in part because I "deloaded" on Monday (normally I would have done 302.5 lb x 5x5, but only did 230 lb x 3x5). This made me feel nice and fresh for Friday.
My back cramped half way up, and this nearly made me lose control of the bar. Managed to lock it out though.
Also, I hit a 320 lb 5 rep max (previously it was 315 lb)
Originally I was planning on doing a deload as well (something like 280 lb for 3x3), but I felt good that day so I went for it. Also, Craig Hirota hit a bench press PR as well, and that got me fired up to get one or two of my own!
Even though I had planned for a deload, sometimes you gotta do what you feel is right vs doing what you planned.
I'm going to cut down on the number of sets on Monday (volume day) from 5 sets to 3 sets. I'm finding 5x5 with progressively heavier weights (I'm up to 300x5x5 now) is more difficult to recover from. I'm hoping that dropping the number of sets will still allow me to continually progress in the bench press, and not be too sore/un-recovered for overhead presses and intensity day bench presses.
Injury Update
The pain is almost gone.
It only hurts when I sneeze, and I can barely feel any sensation when I squat. In fact, I can now explode a little bit harder out of the hole.
I'll continue squatting and adding weight every workout for this upcoming week (low bar squat: 3x5, high bar squat 3x5, adding 5 lb per session).
Overhead Presses
I am chasing 225 lb x 5 reps. My best is 4 reps and my 5RM is 220 lb.
My plan is to get 5 sets of 3 first (15 total reps), and then try for a 5 rep max at 225.
This week I got 12 total reps within 5 sets:
Not a bad week despite recovering from an injury!
Anyway, check out these blog posts I wrote this past week:
My right side feels like it's sore and tender now, rather than a sharp, stabby pain I had earlier.
Foam Rolling
20 minutes
High Bar Squat
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.
45 lb: 20
75 lb: 10
100 lb: 10
140 lb: 10
165 lb: 10
190 lb: 10
210 lb: 10
230 lb: 10
Overhead Press
Taken off the racks.
Testing out a thumbless, or false grip starting at 140 lb since I'll be going light today.
45 lb: 10
75 lb: 8
100 lb: 5
140 lb: 3
165 lb: 2
190 lb: 1
210 lb: 1
230 lb: X,X
Missed first time with thumbless grip. Changed to my regular grip and missed. Normally I have no problems with this weight. Probably missed because Monday's bench press at 300x5x5 is affecting this, or that injury, or both.
140 lb: 8
Barbell Curl
Started from the top (instead of the bottom), as described in the book Starting Strength.
