Sunday, February 27, 2011

Military press, 5 rep + smolov day 1 week 1

Gorgeous day after several days of rain. A little cool, but nothing like my in-laws in WA State, where the low last night was -10. Here it's low 60s.

Started with Results and MGPM. Did a little dynamic work and less bar work. Wore elbow sleeves and knee sleeves.

Military

155kg x 5 easy
175kg x 5 still pretty easy
185kg x 5 still pretty easy, though it was probably enough for a deload week

Squat

250kg x 4 sets of 9 reps

Easy. Still working on foot position and staying planted without bringing my knees in. Actually moved my feet in about a half an inch on each side, which helped a lot. Felt much more solid.

I supersetted chins between squat sets, usual method.

My head is going to split. Not sure why, but it is. Got a baseball practice later -- teach the unteachable what they don't want to hear. At 12, they've got it all figured out.

Tough day at the office tomorrow. Already know it. Gotta do something I don't like doing. Hope everyone else's week is good.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Squat day, smolov day 4 week 3

Not much time to write this morning -- got to get to work.

Warmed up with a lot of dynamic work, some hard rolling on my scar, and a good bit of bar work.

Started with Results and MGPM. Wore knee sleeves, loose briefs, and a sweatshirt. Chilly day for SD.

Squat

295kg x 10 sets of 3 reps

180s rest between, felt ok. Some were tough, some not. Setup matters. Left knee had a few sharp twinges and my mid-back struggled with the first couple of sets. Felt like I was leaning too far forward, though I couldn't stick my butt out any farther or get my head up any higher. Think it's just the morning thing.

Concentrated on keeping my whole foot down -- had a tendency to roll on the outer edge. Tougher than I thought.

Curled between sets. Sue me.

Put on my loosest suit for the last set with the straps up but fairly loose. Once I got a feel for seating the bar, I was surprised at how good it felt. Got to get ready if I'm gonna make good on Bob's suggestion to compete this year. I'll have to start shirt work before long too.

Have a great day, folks.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Bench, 5/3/1 rep, smolov day 3 week 3

This work was done yesterday. Got a house full of sick folks, so I'm just getting around to posting. Will likely train later and post again.

Started with Results and MGPM. Just about out of the powdered muscle, but True Protein is back-ordered. Put in a huge order of stuff with them anyway this morning and will likely go ahead an B-O the MGPM. I like it.

Did almost no dynamic work. Been a week off and was a little unsure what to expect today. I've got to solve the scheduling dilemma. Did a fair amount of bar work on each exercise to warm up.

Wore loose briefs, knee sleeves, neoprene wrist wraps, and elbow sleeves.

Bench

200kg x 5 reps easy
210kg x 3 reps fine
235kgx 1 rep got 4 reps, thought the top of my head my come off

DB snatch
30kg DB, sets of 10 reps, did 5 or 6 sets between sets of other things

Squat
285kg x 7 sets of 5 reps

Felt fine. Nothing exciting, which is how I like it. My scar has been hurting when I jiggle it (scientific term), but I don't feel a thing when I use it. Waiting seven days between squats, I noticed it a lot more than recently.

Have a great day. This afternoon should be nothing but squats with some assistance stuff thrown in. Been loving the instructional Wenning squat videos on EliteFTS -- great stuff that's reminded me of some things I miss because I'm working alone.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Deadlift day, 5/3/1 rep, smolov week 3 day 2

Finally returned to the rumpus room. Gorgeous, very warm day.

Not gonna type much today after this workout. Sorry.

Started with Results and MGPM. Wore knee sleeves for the squats, loose briefs for all, leather belt for squatting and Spud DL belt for DLs.

Did some dynamic work and some bar work. Not enough of either, really, but I wanted to get on with it.

Deadlift

240kg x 5 felt heavy
280kg x 3 really tough
310kg x 1 got 2 reps

The weight on the 682# reps felt ok. Setup must have been better, and I was a lot more conscious of a bellyful of air. Really pushed the heels away and it came up pretty easily. Held it down for the second rep and decided that was it -- the second was a bitch. Think I'll stay here for the next cycle.

Squat

285kg x 5 sets of 7 reps

Felt ok. Easing down is much harder than coming up with the weight, honestly. No crashing down.

Think my head will split open. Just didn't feel much like being out there today, which likely has to do with the layoff between. I should have been pumped, but I was struggling. Glad it's done and I didn't get hurt.

Everybody send thoughts and prayers to Bob. Glad to hear the decomp is working, brother.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Military press, 5/3/1 day, smolov week 3 day 1

Got home early today to lift. Seriously needed it -- this has been a tough week at work. So it goes.

Gorgeous cool day here, though downright balmy compared to what most of you are fighting. Cool here is high 60s and breezy.

Started with Results and MGPM. Need to order more of the Powdered Muscle and some malto from True Protein. Love those guys. They'll have it to me tomorrow. Helps when they're just up the road in San Marcos, but hey, it's a poor dealer can't deal himself the best hand.

Did a fair amount of dynamic work to warm up and a fair amount of bar work. And then I set to it.

Had the heater on in the rumpus room and the fluorescent work light.

Military Press
140kg 5 reps, super easy
155 kg 3 reps, too easy still
165kg got 14 reps.

Seat is still 85 degrees.

I thought it'd be enough of a jump after last week, but I had several things going for me. For one thing, this was the first time for military under the Free Spotter, so I didn't have any adjustments to make for liftoff. No extra arching, no worrying about banging my hand on j-hooks, nothing but lifting. Makes a huge difference. Huge. Also, it meant I could use any path I wanted and leave my hands extra wide if I needed to. Love that thing. Pics posted below.

Chins

the usual way -- all my chains, three sets until failure. Don't care how I get them, honestly.

Squat
265kg 4 sets of 9 reps. Honestly, pretty easy. Need to run the weight up, but that's what this week is all about, so I need to stay patient. Weight came up smoothly and easily. At the end, I was feeling my hips in a big way.

Alright, let's see how you post pics. (As the image to the left clearly demonstrates, guys are dangerous with a camera.)

So the next image shows the cams that clamp the rope. Other pics will show how the rope hangs from the rack, the back of the plate, a shot taken while I was warming up for military press (140kg at that point, if I remember correctly).















Make sense?