The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope

[El Exorcisto]

1's Squat

Squat: 5@165, 3@230, 7@260

Arched back good morning: 5@135, 2x10@185

Ball-ups: 5 tucked on the concentric with slow negative, 5 straight legged concentric with slow negative, 5 tucked

 

My first three weeks of squats are under my belt. I could have had a shaky eighth rep but it wouldn't have been pretty. I got the Parkinson's in my left ham as the reps went on with my GMs. Ball-ups were a whole new hell by straightening my legs on the negative and even worse with straight legs on the way up and down. Today was a good squat day.

[El Exorcisto]

Morning weigh-in: 178.8

1s Bench

Bench press: 5@135, 3@150, 7@165

Dips: 5@bw, 2x10 +30

   superset with

Chins: 10,8,5

Barbell curl: 10,10,8 @ 70

 

Now I'm off to work.

[El Exorcisto]

1's deadlift

Sumo deadlift: 5@245, 3@275, 6@315

High box squat: 8x2 @ 255 - PR

Roll-out: 3x15

 

For some reason I'm still walking off my squat day and it showed. I was hoping for seven or eight at 3 plates but it wasn't happening. I put another 10 pounds on my high box squat and moved it the fastest yet so another pair of nickels get loaded next week.

[El Exorcisto]

1s Press

Strict press: 5@85, 3@100, 10@110 - rep PR

Axle C&P: triples at 130, 140, 140

Kroc row: 5@60, 5@110, 15@130 - rep PR

EZ bar curl: 10,10,8 @ 70

 

I'm putting a little more lay back into my press and it's a lot stronger. I can feel my lats flaring and everything feels so much more stable. I'm subbing in the axle over incline since my contest is a little less than a month out and I need to get familiar with the implement again although it will be a fucking 3 inch axle and I won't know the weight until contest day. My best set of Kroc rows ever was 12 @ 135 so I'll call this a rep PR. It was heavy and nasty so next week I'll just add a pair of chips.

 

The first round of 5/3/1 is in the logs. Everything was pathetically light but I got a lot of really solid work in. Somehow one top set has left me more sore than when I was doing pyramids which is strange. Now I get to do some new math with some baselines for PRs to break over the next block.

[El Exorcisto]

5s squat

Squat: 5 @ 215, 230; 8@245

Good morning: 2x10 @ 185

Hanging leg raise: 3x10

 

So I've had a gym membership for the last 3 years and today I decided I'd actually use it. It's a family membership, mainly for my daughter to take swimming lessons and my wife to do the cardio thing while she's cutting. Their power rack has seen some shit and had to be a much lower pick than I'm used to. I don't know if I set up wider than usual because the floor looked different or if my lats and upper back were still trashed from press day but I came this close to failing on my first squat ever. The bar rolled up my back when I dumped forward but I saved it and ground it up. I was hoping for nine or ten but it obviously wasn't happening. No injuries. Good mornings were uneventful. HLRs were way nastier than I can do it home. The neutral chin handles on their power rack were 8" high so I could totally stretch out at the bottom which was pretty brutal.

 

Maybe something like bench day would be cooler at a commercial gym but I like my shit hole garage gym so much better.

[matty_mcfly]

You expect us to believe that you prefer working out alone in your dungeon than working out surrounded by your typical after work gym crowd?

C'mon...

[El Exorcisto]

It was midday, so there were only 3 other people there. One captain upperbody, one guy setting up to deadlift, and a local doc running on an eliptical and curl-pressing 5 pound DBs. I can only imagine the fuckery early morning or after work.

[El Exorcisto]

5s bench

Bench press: 5@135,145; 11@155 - rep PR

Dips: 5@BW, 10,7 +35

Wide-grip pull ups: 3x5

Barbell curl: 3x10 @ 70

 

I thought I hit 10 on 5s week last block but looking back it was 12 @ 150. The 11th rep was a little shaky and it's a rep PR so I took it but I could have maybe ground out number twelve. Dips were harder than usual and I only hit 7 on my second set so I'll drop back to 25 and hammer it for higher reps. They appear to be doing their job based on my press and bench. First time in a long time doing wide grip pull ups. They're such a different animal than chins but they hammered my upper back something fierce. I'm making the switch to the as long as my shoulders don't hate me in the next few days.

[El Exorcisto]

5s deadlift

Sumo deadlift: 5@255,270; 10@285

High box squat: 8x2@265

Roll-out: 3x15

 

Nothing new, just getting the work in.

[matty_mcfly]

How is sumo feeling lately?

[El Exorcisto]

Better but I still hate it compared to a real deadlift.

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[matty_mcfly]

Seems like less direct contest prep than last time.  Just trying to get stronger and have that carryover?

[El Exorcisto]

Im just going to show up to have a good time and beat the shit or if myself. It's a small back yard contest so doing a real training block for it just seems like a waste of time that I could be getting stronger.

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[El Exorcisto]

5s press

Strict press: 5s@90,100; 11@105

Axle C&P: 5x2@150

Kroc rows: 5s@60,110; 15@135 - rep PR

EZ bar curl: 3x10 @ 70

 

Running late, nothing cool, off to work.

[El Exorcisto]

3s squat

Squat: 3@230,250; 6@260

Good morning: 2x10 @ 185

Ball-ups: 2x5

Hanging knee raise: 1x10

 

I built a new chicken pen yesterday and spent the day in the sun. I woke up crippled with a decent sunburn across my upper back. Putting a bar across it felt not so nice. If I wasn't so stiff and sore I had another rep or two in me but I'm happy at 6. Looking back I only dropped one rep from last block so I'm still on track. 

[El Exorcisto]

3s bench

Bench: 3@145,155; 8@165 - rep PR

Dips: 5@bw, 2x10 +25

Wide grip pull-ups: 2x5

Chins: 1x8

Barbell curl: 10,10,7 @ 70

 

I did my dips more upright and hammered my triceps a lot harder. When I was running out of gas on the 8th bench rep I almost missed at lockout so it looks like my triceps are my main weakness so I'll stick with more triceps-dominant dips for a while. 

[El Exorcisto]

3s deadlift

Sumo deadlift: 3s @ 275,285; 10@305 - rep PR

High box squat: 8x2@275

Roll-out: 3x15

 

Whatever I am doing is having a big effect on my sumo pull. Last 3s week I pulled 8@290 and this week I added 2 reps and 15 pounds. This is the first day that's surpassed the previous block's numbers in both reps and weight. Hopefully I see something similar happen to one of my presses. If not then maybe I should address my supplemental work after my contest.

 

High box squats felt really heavy tonight but I kept it down to 30 seconds in the rack. I don't know how much longer I can keep adding nickels but I'm not going to argue with results. I think these combined with good mornings are driving my deadlift. I'm leaving off any quad-focused supplemental work due to time constraints and my squat isn't progressing nearly as fast because of it. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'll watch for another couple blocks and see if things start balancing out or not and go from there.

[El Exorcisto]

 3s press

Strict press: 3s @ 100,105; 9@110

Incline bench: 3x5 @ 135

Kroc row: 5s @ 60,110; 15@140 rep PR

Ez-bar curl: 12,12,11 @ 65

 

Pressing was good today but my axle ate a big dick. I tried for 150 and missed the clean, reset and missed it again. I said fuck the axle and went back to incline bench. I don't have the time to put into getting my axle up but incline should do a better job of making me stronger. I hit another rep PR on Kroc rows but the last few reps on the left started jumping around in my hand a little. We'll see if I have 145 next week. I dropped weight back on my curls since my last reps at 70 have had a lot of lay-back and it's not getting any better.

 

Fucking around with the axle the past couple weeks was a mistake. I thought I'd be able to regroove it quick and get my old PR since I'm getting stronger. I'm not getting stronger at singles though. This block of training is all about work capacity and I need to get that through my head. My contest in a couple of weeks is going to be an excuse to get outside, pick up heavy shit, and be around a bunch of other dudes that think the same way. I'm too weak to think about being competitive and it's a hit to the ego fa sho.

[El Exorcisto]

1s squat:

Squat: 5@215, 3@245, 6@275

Good morning: 2x10 @ 195

Ball-ups: 3x5

 

My high box squats are carrying over to my squat and good morning. My top set fell off by a rep this block but I can feel the dynamics of my squat starting to change. I can feel myself sitting on my glutes in the bottom the same as I can coming off the box and I've never felt it before. My good mornings are feeling different too. I ended up pulling my left glute sometime tonight because it's aching now. Nothing serious but it's a new thing. This is my last week of training before a deload, then my contest on the first. I'm feeling the need for it fa sho. I'm always sore and feeling kind of beat up. I have really high hopes for my next block though. Things are feeling like they are coming together for me at least on my lower body lifts.

[El Exorcisto]

1s Bench

Bench press: 5@135, 3@155, 8@175 - rep PR

Close grip bench: 10@135

Dips: 15,12 @ bw

Pull-ups: 5 wide, 6 standard, 7 chins

Hammer curl: 15,11,10 @ 30

 

There it is. I hit 7@165 last block and put a rep and 10 pounds on this block. I wore a belt for the first time but I really doubt it added all of that. Everything I'm doing is working, and not just to get better at hitting a single. On the downside of that, my right elbow started getting cranky on the last couple sets. Not cool. Benching has never made my elbows sore. I was attributing my soreness the next day to barbell curls, and it was still likely a problem. I somehow thought close grip bench would be nicer on my elbow than dips which was wrong. I unloaded the bar after a set and set up for dips. A couple bigger bodyweight sets ripped me up pretty good and didn't seem to make my elbow any worse. I dropped barbell curls for hammer curls. I read somewhere that hammer curls do good things for elbow tendinitis but I can't find it anywhere.

[matty_mcfly]

Do you like the way the belt feels on bench? I don't think it doesn't much of anything for me, but I feel like I brace a bit better with it

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[El Exorcisto]

I actually didn't really like it at all. I might have felt my lats flaring a little harder but that's about it. I doubt I'll try it again for a while.

[matty_mcfly]

I don't think you track calories on MFP, but when/while you're cutting what's been your general caloric goal?

 

I can't seem to really get a handle on this, that and I don't do anything consistently enough.

[El Exorcisto]

I did the notebook thing for my two 3-month cuts and went with MFP the cut before last. My first two were really hard cuts at around 1500 calories a day. When I went to MFP I shot for 1800 and hit it or below about 90% of the time. The last cut started on MFP but I ended up giving it up and just winging it. I have a pretty good handle on what a shitty day of not eating enough should look like by now. I'm starting my next one a few days after my contest. I'll probably go with MFP for the first week to get a handle on it again and then just play it by ear. My last cut was 5 weeks and I dropped 13 pounds. I'm planning to do about the same this time around. I want to get down close to 165 in February so I have some room to work up to 175 for next years Lift for Autism.

[matty_mcfly]

Where is your weight at nowadays?