Weekly review is back! For the time being at least.
Basically a "weekly review" is a weekly post summarizing my progress for the past week, training updates, bragging listing PR's achieved, and stuff I find interesting on the topic of strength training that I think is helpful.
I used to post a weekly recap, but stopped for some reason.
Training Updates
I've been doing the Texas Method ...and then slowly started experimented with my own programming (which was basically Texas Method at the core), and now it's totally different.
Because of time and energy constraints, curiosity and a desire to get the most out of the least amount of effort, my training is basically this:
So far, so good. I think I'm at ~60-70 PR's in a row now. And not bullshit PR's in useless exercises either. All the exercises that I track and attempt PR's on are supportive of my main lifts, which are the 1RM in the squat, bench press and deadlift.
Workouts are short and focused because I'm only doing 1 exercise, and my top set is usually a PR attempt, with the occasional back off sets or another PR attempt.
I'm interested to see how far I'll go with this, as far as strength gains are concerned and how long I can keep this up.
Warm Ups
Over the past 7 months or so, I've removed foam rolling and mobility work. At first, it was because I didn't have the time. But now, seeing that not doing any of those didn't impact my training at all (except make it shorter), I've decided not to include them in my warm up. Unless something is overly tight, or I want to foam roll my thighs to prevent them from cramping during the OHP.
Currently I'm experimenting with cutting a set or two during my warm ups.
For example, my reverse grip bench press warm up used to be:
- 45 x 10
- 140 x 5
- 230 x 3
- 280 x 1
- 330 x 1
- 370 x 1
Now, it's:
- 45 x 10
- 140 x 5
- 230 x 3
- 320 x 2
- 370 x 1
It's one less set, but I'm doing 2 reps at 320 instead of 1 rep at 280 and 1 rep at 330. The time it'll save is small for each workout, but over the course of a lifetime, I'll be saving a lot of minutes!
Personal Records
Hit 9 PR's this past week!
Actually, it's more like 8 plus an EZPZ instant PR barely worth talking about (paused bench @230x10). Still a PR though.
Anyways, here they are:
Paused High Bar Squat: 515 x 2 (2RM)
Thought my eyeballs were going to pop out while trying to grind the 2nd rep of 555 lb x 2 (missed the 2nd rep).
Overhead Press: 245 lb x 4 (4RM)
Missed on the 4th rep on the 1st attempt at this. Quads started cramping. Took some time to stretch out my legs before attempting this again. +5 lb PR.
Front Squat: 430 lb x 2 (2RM) & 315 lb x 9 (9RM)
+10 lb PR! Was contemplating another rep. But during the silent contemplation, I could notice a little less blood going to my brain from the bar being across my neck, so I re-racked it.
Wanted 10 reps with LMAO3PLATE, but it was getting increasingly difficult to breath with every rep. Ran out of air :/
Bench Press (Reverse Grip, Paused): 410 lb x 1 (1RM), Bench Press (Paused): 330 lb x 3 (3RM) & 230 lb x 10 (10RM)
I was thinking about going for 405 lb x 2, but pretty sure I would have missed the 2nd rep, so I went for a less difficult but still difficult 410 lb paused RGBP for a +5 lb PR.
Also got in some regular bench press work. Middle of my back cramped up on the 4th rep with 330 lb. Did 230 lb x 10 for the hyper trophies.
Paused Low Bar Squat: 550 lb x 1 (1RM) & 500 lb x 3 (3RM)
+30 lb 1 rep max. 500x3 matches my low bar squat 3RM, and my high bar paused 3RM.
Stuff You Should Read
- YOUR WARM UP IS MY WORKOUT by Emevas
- I agree with this.
- The Science of Steroids by Greg Nuckols
- No plans on taking sterons, but still an interesting read.
- “Wall Squats” Help To Fix Squat Technique by Boris Sheiko
- Wall squats is something I'm going to try. I find myself leaning forward too much, and I think this might help.
