Up from 355 lb at the start of the year, which is a +25 lb increase in a little over 4 months. Not bad!
Now I just need to work on my squat, deadlift and overhead press, which have a combined increase of 0 lb in my 1 RM so far this year 🙁
Front Squat: 330 lb (1RM)
On Tuesday I worked my way up to a 330 lb 1 rep max on the front squat!
I did this mainly because I figured out how to make front squats more comfortable.
Hated front squats before simply because my anterior delts and collar bones can't take the pressure of a loaded bar. It's very painful for me and I would always end up with bruises on my shoulder and collar bone area.
Also I don't have the flexibility in my shoulders and wrists to maintain the rack position.
I put on a pair of Fat Gripz to the bar to act as padding. This took care of the bar-digging-into-shoulder-and-collarbone pain.
And I used a pair of straps to hold onto which eliminated the need to put myself in a double Americana arm lock with the bar in the rack position.
I don't normally do front squats, but I'm going to add this in the mix mainly to build my quads and my erectors (in my back). Also, I read that Dan Green uses front squats to build his back squat. He's a pretty strong guy, so it's gotta be good!
My lower and middle of my back was pretty sore the next day, especially the left side, which I think affected my OHP...
Overhead Press: 260 lb (MISSED)
Attempted a 260 lb OHP on Wednesday, which would have been a 5 lb PR, but I couldn't lock out my left arm:
At first I thought the issue was my left triceps, but it wasn't sore at all and felt fine. I think the issue was my core wasn't stable enough and because of this, I didn't have a solid base to push off of. This was probably due to the front squats done on the previous day. Lower back and middle of my back was very sore, and somehow this resulted in some instability.
I did mostly extend my right arm, so I'm pretty sure I'm capable to pressing 260 lb with both arms. But extending my right arm while not extending my left caused my body to slightly bend to the left side which made the back pain a little worse. It's feeling fine now, so I may try again next week.
Thoughts About Upcoming Meet Openers & Attempts
There's a CPF meet coming up in June, and I've given some thought to what my openers, 2nd and 3rd attempts would be.
I'm going with the strategy of opening with a 2RM or 3RM (or a weight that I use for my "over warm-up" set), 2nd attempt to beat a 1 rep max, and 3rd attempt to beat my 1RM again.
So it looks like this:
1st Attempt
2nd Attempt
3rd Attempt
Squat
210 Kg (462 lb)
235 Kg (517 lb)
240 Kg (528 lb)
Bench Press
160 Kg (352 lb)
170 Kg (374 lb)
175 Kg (385 lb)
Deadlift
230 Kg (506 lb)
250 Kg (550 lb)
255 Kg (561 lb)
Total
600 Kg (1320 lb)
655 Kg (1441 lb)
670 Kg (1474 lb)
This could change in the future, but I think this is doable. I would have to be 100% and injury free.
I still need to mail in my application form, so I think I'll do that this week.
Also, I need to really work on my squat and start deadlifting again. I haven't deadlifted in a month due to an injury, but I have been doing 1 arm suitcase deadlifts to maintain pain tolerance during the hook grip, and hit my obliques and other muscles on the side of my trunk.
I should also review the rules and make sure they allow the reverse grip bench press and the performance enhancing Three Wolf Moon shirt...
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:
