famendoza's 5/3/1 training log

[famendoza]

This is going to be a continuation of my intermediate training log. For some reason it was deleted - which is unfortunate since I kept a lot of important info there. Either way, here we are.

I've added a copy of this log at AmpedTraining - here's the link http://www.ampedtraining.com/community/showthread.php?tid=320

My current 1RM bests as of 3 weeks ago is
Press 155
Deadlift 395
Bench 210
Squat 325

I used these values to come up with my first 5/3/1 cycle. The training maxes for cycle 1 are:
Press 140
Deadlift 356
Bench 189
Squat 293

I've already gone through wave 1, and am finishing wave 2 tomorrow. I got my bench day in today:

Bench
45x10
95x5
135x5
151x3 (80%)
161x3 (85%)
170x7 (90%)

85x5x10 (45%)

"Kroc" rows (both arms)
70x20
70x7
70x5

The bench was a little tiring today - should have gotten an easy 9er on top set. Still going strong though.

BBB for bench feels easier as long as I don't pause too much at top...

Kroc rows - basically I put the dumbbell on the floor, then lifted it on the floor to my chest, almost as if trying to start a chainsaw. I noticed I wasn't having my back as straight and I felt it as the sets went on. I tried to go for 25 reps but my left hand gave out on rep 21. Got a couple more sets in just to get the feel for more reps.

[famendoza]

Squats
135x5
185x3
234x3
249x3
263x10

135x5x10

Chin-ups
4,4,3,2,1,1,0

Overall, squats went fine, I was able to rip out ten reps for the top set. My main thing to fix is grip. I have to
- find a good place to grip
- keep the grip tight (as if I'm crushing the bar between my back and my arms)
- NOT bounce the bar, and loosen grip and upper back tightness, as I come up from the hole.

I followed my advice through most of the top set, but the last few reps I "just plum forgot". However the BBB was all "crush the bar".

As per last week I'm using custom orthotic soles placed within my VS athletic shoes. I'm finding no problems with the squat. That is also my experience with the deadlift (!!).

BBB template made me sweaty and panting. I guess I just gotta keep doing it to condition myself. An increase in weight will come in the next cycle.

Wave 2 is over. Onto the 5/3/1 Wave cycle starting Sunday.

[famendoza]

Press
65x5
85x5
105x5 (5)
119x3 (3)
133x4 (1)

60x5x10

GHR
5x10@BW

Press was a little harder than I thought I'd encounter it for the top set (was aiming for 5-6 reps). Tried to go for a second top set, but no go. All my prescribed reps were in though, so 5/3/1 cycle 1 for the press was successful.

BBB was not as agonizing - next cycle the weight goes up by 2.5 lbs (whatever keeps it at ~45% of training max).

GHR was good, using 2.5lbs next cycle.

[famendoza]

Power Clean (warm up)
95x3
135x2
155x1
165x1 + jerk
175x1 + jerk
185x1 + jerk **** ALL TIME PR****

Deadlift
225x3
267x5
302x3
338x6
338x2 (1 min afterwards)
338x1 (1 min afterwards)
338x1 (1 min afterwards)

160x5x10

Situps
2x10@BW

I'm happy with today's workout. The power clean at 185 is MY ALL-TIME PR ever with the power clean!! The jerk right afterwards wasn't even all that hard. And I haven't even been focused on training the power clean since about three weeks ago. Very good!

The deadlift was coolio but tough on the top set. I wanted to match last week's rep max but I felt odd on the 6th rep on my top set. I should have NOT stopped because I can see I was good for at least 1 or 2 more reps with room to spare - it just felt heavy. I just squeezed out what I could with the extra sets. Anyway, it was successful given the 5/3/1 protocol for this cycle.

Very good workout - PR power clean without focused training says it all. On to the bench on Thursday.

[K.Diesel]

I'm happy with today's workout. The power clean at 185 is MY ALL-TIME PR ever with the power clean!! The jerk right afterwards wasn't even all that hard. And I haven't even been focused on training the power clean since about three weeks ago. Very good!

Big time congrats on the PR!

[famendoza]

Big time congrats on the PR!

Thanks K. What makes me happy about it is that it was part of a warmup. I remember not even being able to get 82.5 kg on the squat clean, and hear I go just getting it as a lead in to deadlifts!

[famendoza]

Squat
135x5
185x3
219x5
249x3
278x7
278x2

Bench
95x5
135x3
142x5
161x3
180x6
180x3

Snatch from above knees (using strange rack)
45x1
65x1
95x1
115x1

'Kroc' Rows (both arms)
70x20
70x10
70x7

I had to combine today's workout (squats) with the benching workout, due to unforeseen circumstances at work yesterday. In either case the lifts were successful according to 5/3/1 protocols. The squat bar got a little too forward as I rose up from one rep (the 5th one I think), since coming up my grip was not as tight (bounced off my shoulders). I've been doing this a couple of times and this time it caught me. Silly me. Keep driving the bar down like I want to bend it on my back!! The bench was good, although the second set I did (to make up volume) was tighter at the beginning than the first one although it didn't last very long. I focused on a tighter grip, again like I want to tear the bar apart. This should be done more often though.

The snatch was a fun diversion, so not alot of training done on it - I planned on using it as a squat warmup but I put the priority on 5/3/1 and already had two lifts on my plate. The DB rows I hope work their magic as I ascend in my deadlift and bench. They increased a few more reps on the second set. I want to get to eventually 30 reps on it before I increase weight.

Break time (deload) next week.

[famendoza]

Hill runs
10 runs on hill

30 min walk

6 runs on hill
30 second rest
2 runs on hill


So that was 18 runs in total - each week I'll try to increase it by 1-2 runs on a hill to see if I can get 20 runs in one shot. I'd like to call it sprints, but I didn't think I did that really :S

[famendoza]

Treadmill (Exercise test in a cardio gram clinic)
5 speeds every 3 mins for a total of 15 mins

Later today:
All lifts Deload:

Press (140)
70x5
85x5
100x5

Deadlift (356)
180x5
215x5
250x5

Squat (293)
150x5
180x5
205x5
205x2 (pause 10seconds, 5 seconds)
205x2 (pause 10seconds, 5 seconds)

Bench (189)
95x5
115x5
135x5

Snatches till 95lbs

Today I covered Cycle 1's deload. I figured that given the loads set, and the lack of time I have with nightly performance testing, I'd rather cover it now and give myself time to do hill sprints and just sleep.

The treadmill was part of an exercise test ordered by my GP. I figured I did well, given that my cardiogram didn't alarm the graph takers. Also that was my first time in like 3-4 years on a treadmill. In fact I can't remember ever having been on one. I like rowing machines better. Anyways, 15 mins for my first time seems ok.

I added pause squats just to see how my strength levels were doing from a dead stop. Not something I'll do every day.

Onto cycle 2 starting next week (hopefully not interrupted by performance testing).

[famendoza]

10 hill runs
2 hill runs

30 mins approx walk
5 laps jogging around 400 track
40 mins approx walk to mall
20 min walk back home

I tried to tie my previous hill run totals from last Saturday, but I was slowing down intensely by around rep 6 of the hill run. The last 4 were more hill jogs than runs. I took a 30 second breather and squeezed out two more runs. then I wandered off to find a 400 meter track. Found one, did a single lap walking around and finding the slippery patches, then did 5 jogs around it. Then I walked all the way from there to the mall bought a couple of things and came back home.

I didn't manage to increase my ability to do hill runs from last week, so perhaps I should expect an increase in ability every two weeks or something. We'll see.

[famendoza]

I should note the new training maxes for Cycle 2 are
Press 145 (+5)
Deadlift 366 (+10)
Bench 194 (+5)
Squat 303 (+10)

I'm basing the increments on the advice of Jim. I figure these are fair increments, although I do see a projected increase in the press that may be unsustainable without using 2.5 increments for the training max within the next 4 cycles.

Press
45x10
65x5
85x5
108x5
116x5
123x6

5x10 45° back extension

BBB press
65x4x10
65x1x8

Felt a little stiff today. The all-out top set was tougher than it should have been, but still got the reps in. 45° back extensions were a nice diversion before the BBB portion. The back extensions felt more 'hammy' than back though - it probably was the angle. The addition of 5lbs for the BBB portion was far too tough - I'll scale it down to 2.5lbs.

I also did a bit of golf ball rolling under my feet, and tennis ball rolling on my back and quads. Unfortunately I probably did not accomplish a lot with this.

Deadlifts are next. Hope the gym is open as in Ontario, we have family day this coming Monday.

[famendoza]

Warm up - P.Clean
45x4 (P.clean, full clean, full clean, full snatch)
95x1
135x1
155x1
185x0
185x1 (+ jerk)
185x1 (slow on the elbows)

Deads
225x5

274x5
292x5
311x8
311x4 (after 1 min rest)

BBB
162.5x5x10

Situps (nearly horizontal)
BWx10
BWx10
BWx5
BWx5
BWx3 (felt really swollen/deadwood)

Warm-ups were wisely chosen, as I felt uncharacteristically stiff. My hands were pretty chilly coming in so this helped. The all-out set could have been done with 9 reps, I suppose - I don't know how much of a recovery 1 min rest gives, but apparently it was enough to get 4 reps on a secondary set, so an additional one in the previous set shouldn't have been out of the picture. Next time.

BBB was a pain in the ass as usual. It's the rainmaker (cause I sweat like a hog when I do it). One thing I am noticing when performing any set is that as the set goes on near the later reps (7-10), my left arm at the elbow joint starts flexing. I have to think about making it straight. This does not seem to happen at heavy weights/low volume. It's like it wants to lift the bar with the elbow, where as my right arm does not.

Abs were definately in use for either the 5/3/1 or the BBB, cause situps were unusually hard. 5x10 should not have been a problem, felt like someones hands were on my traps keeping me from coming up - oh well, time to inch my way back up.

Bench on Thursday (hopefully!).

[famendoza]

Warmup

Snatch, CJ with bar x4
Snatch x 95 x 3
CJ x 135 x 2

Bench
95x5
135x3
146x5
155x5
165x8

DB Rows (Kroc) both arms
70x20
70x10
70x5

Given that I'm working more and more nocturnally, I made a deal with my coworkers to get to the gym in the morning - to make sure I wasn't slacking I removed BBB for today. I think doing warmups with snatching and CJ with empty bar is probably a better thing than just cardio rowing. Loosens me up.

Like many things, sometimes I focus on one aspect of a movement at the exclusion of other beneficial aspects. I only realize I had omitted something important AFTER I complete the task. In this case, in the bench I focused on getting the scapular retraction (remedying bad movement after noticing shoulder drift upwards on previous weeks), but didn't focus much on driving heels to the ground, and only focused on "no" explosive bounce at the top (which tends to bring my shoulders forward) on my all-out set. Although sufficient to get a good number of reps, I need a cue to focus on all three aspects. I may have left some reps on the bench rack, so to speak.

Rows should probably move up in weight - I don't think I should wait till I get 30 reps on the darn thing.

Squats tomorrow.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Snatch
45x4
65x1
65x1
85x1
85x1
95x1
95x1

Squats
135x5
185x3
227x5
242x5
257x8

Chinups
BWx4,3,2,1,4,2,2,1,1

Squats were tough today, almost like they indicated something weird going on. The last (8th) rep was not easy for some reason. We'll see how next week goes. Also, I concentrated on toughness on the grip, but it's just weird going from rack to rack and getting the correct grip. I'm just odd. I'll make this better.

Chinups I tried a ladder approach, but the wrong way. I'll do it 1,2,3,4, style next time.

Wayy too much Miley Cyrus country music playing - makes her sound like a 40-50 year old.

Wave 1 done for Cycle 2, onto Wave 2!

[famendoza]

12 hill runs

walk for 25 mins

jogging 400m x 5

walk back home for 25 mins

The hill runs were still at a fairly slow pace, but the slowness allowed me to squeeze in two runs before I needed a break. Maybe I can develop a pattern increase the hill runs? We'll see.

[famendoza]

warmup
Rowing machine 5 mins
Power clean - 65, 95, 135, 155

Press
95x3
116x3
123x3
130x3
130x1

45 degree backextensions
1x10

Over the weekend I developed a stomach flu that I think is starting to fade away. I ate some chili that did not agree with me and had 2 bouts of explosive vomiting. Between now and Saturday night, the only solid food I had was an apple. I also seemingly have lost a bit of weight (187lbs if my scale is to be believed). Either way the training session today was way more of a challenge than it should have been. Basically all I did was the prescribed reps. The 45 degree backextensions I did for like a single set, then I said 'screw it' and left the gym.

I feel very achy right now. Sucks.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Rowing for 5 mins
P.Clean to 185x1

Deadlift
225x3 (OH)
275x3 (OH) **PR**

292x3
311x3
329x5

The "Nothing" today. I think I'm gonna leave P.Cleans for warmups on dead days as I feel more pooped out than yesterday for P.Cleans. I got a PR on the double overhand deadlift (no hook) with 275x3 which is cool. No Rep PR but got my requisite reps (3) plus a few more.

Feeling a little better than yesterday. Will increase eating gradually as of today.

Bench is next.

[famendoza]

Some new useful info.
Framed from the perspective of recovery within a workout, what Shaf describes about long rest times seems to coincide with what I've experienced as well, the rest times between the squat+bench being the biggest flag that I'm 'going down':
http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showpost.php?p=105312&postcount=21

Definately very insightful. I'll have to consider this given my benching+pressing seems to be heading towards the circular basket, and I have no excuse at 190+lbs.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Rowing 5 mins
Press
45x5
95x5

Bench
95x5
135x3

155x3
165x3
175x5
175x4

Push press
95x3x2
115x3x3
135x3x2

Today I pressed for volume. Looking over at what I think should be a focus is the pressing movements since my upper body grows at a much slower rate than I think it should. The bench was good. I loaded the Push Press cautiously mostly because I wanted to practice form and push something challenging - I may need to work on technique cause 135 for 2 triples went up pretty unstable. I think I was on my toes for a couple.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Snatch 45,65,95

Squats
135x5
185x3
225x3

242x3
257x3
272x4 (way sleepy)
272x5
272x3 (wayyyyyy sleepy)

Chinups
3,3,3,3,2 (much better rest between <1 min)

Friday I was wayyy sleepy with the work I've been doing. I thought I could get away with it but the day of reckoning came today - After doing the 1st top set, after rep four I started to slowly close my eyes. On the last attempt at a decent top set (note I technically did all my reps for the day so it was just to see if I could get a rep PR) I nearly dozed off on my last rep. If the bar had been a pillow, I would have gone straight to sleep.

Thankfully this did not affect the chinups. Something I've realized is that I like chinups with a slightly wider grip than shoulder width - I can get my chin over the bar easier that way.

Today I got a great night's sleep. And I have to think of how I'll accomplish cardio in today's snow storm.

Wave 2 is done, onto Wave 3.

[famendoza]

40 mins
snatch
65 lbs x 1 x 10
75 lbs x 1 x 7
85 lbs x 1 x 7
95 lbs x 1 x 5
105 lbs x 1 x 3

cj
135x1
155x1
165x1
175x1x2

Rowing for 20 mins.

The snatch and clean and jerk are too addictive - I've got to lay off these things. I'll see how my pressing goes tomorrow. It'll probably be fucked up. I will try to see if I can manage a triple with 137 - sounds ghey I know.

[famendoza]

Warmup
3 min rowing

Press
65x3
95x3

108x5
125x3
137x1

Push Press
135x4x2

Incline
45x5x2
65x5x2
85x5x2
95x5x2

Overhead Squat
45x3x2
65x3x3
85x3x2
95x3x2
115x3x2
125x2x2 (HARD)

So today was a meh press day. I fulfilled my quota as per 5/3/1 but it's not looking good going forward without major changes. I tried light versions of the push press and the incline bench (haven't done that in years) for additional volume. I'm thinking the OHS might be good, in that on my hard sets - I actually felt my abs working hard on that one. I could never get that feeling in the press. This press needs to go up, and perhaps adding the incline on press days, and push presses on Bench days could help it out (and top it off with OHS after the incline).

[famendoza]

Warmup

3min row
foam roll on upper back (stiff)
P.Clean
95x3
135x2
155x1
185x1

Deadlift
225x3

274x3 (oops)
311x3
347x1 (REALLY TIRED)
275x5 (makeup from first set)

Situps
10 BW

More foam rolling on upper back afterwards.

Damn. Today the top set was more difficult than anticipated. I believe this is directly correlated with the soreness in my traps for the OHS yesterday. I guess I'll have to live with this for a bit of time, then acclimatize. The good thing is no reps were missed, although today's showing was only adequate. The traps sore surprisingly made the situps harder as well.

[Paul Sousa]

On the press, I would suggest trying dips or maybe the bradford press for an accessory. Both have served me well in improving my press. Also, do you breath at the top or bottom of the press? If it is the bottom, you should try and change that so you exhale/inhale at lockout and use the stretch reflex at the bottom.

[famendoza]

On the press, I would suggest trying dips or maybe the bradford press for an accessory. Both have served me well in improving my press. Also, do you breath at the top or bottom of the press? If it is the bottom, you should try and change that so you exhale/inhale at lockout and use the stretch reflex at the bottom.

Thsnks for the suggestions. I press from the shoulders usually, but for heavier sets I utilize the stretch reflex. This is obviously me trying to get the weight up however I can. I'm changing my press method as I believe I have not done the following things which may help in technique:
- kept the chest high enough
- squeezed the upper arm right beside the lats (I remember hearing this from Bob Hoffman's press routine in the Deszo Ban blog - don't have the link handy).

[famendoza]

Warmup
rowing 3 mins

Bench
45x5
95x5
135x3

146x5
165x3
185x3
185x2
185x1
185x2
185x1
185x2 (iffy on last rep - racked fast)
185x1

Push Press
135x3 (..testing)
135x4
135x2 (rep missed)
135x2
135x1
135x4
135x3
135x2
135x1
135x1 (rep missed)
135x1

'Kroc' Row (no deloading of dumbbell both hands)
70x15
70x9
70x6
70x5
70x5

Today's workout was my first chance to try out laddering. I didn't get too far with the bench, but the push press (PP) looked promising. The bench just seemed hard overall on all the reps, and did not attempt to push any reps on the ladders beyond the first ladder.

I'm gonna reduce the PP ladder to 3-2-1, to avail myself the opportunity for more ladders per workout. The PP form I practiced today was a little different than what I've been doing so far for any previous press or PP attempts. I think I actually IMPROVED my form (as I actually move my head as opposed to layback) - so I'll stick with getting as acquainted with the new form. Basically it's
- chest HIGH (like i'm showing my boobies)
- abs taught and out (kinda like I'm tensing a beer belly)
- upper arm (humerus) as tightly packed towards the lats as possible without allowing elbow to go under or behind the bar.

I do note that I cleaned all my PPs, and that holding the chest high, and not being careful about where the bar lands (carotid), can have you unconscious. I actually felt dizzy on the way up of a PP, and it went behind. I couldn't save it so I stepped back and put the bar down in front of me (that was my very last miss).

Also this time it looks like I actually did dumbbell rows correctly, by not deloading on the floor. This was much harder (duh!) and my reps reflect that. If I get to 20 reps on first set, I'm increasing to 75lbs.

[famendoza]

Warmup
row for 3 mins
snatch 45,65,85

Squat
135x5
185x3

227x5
257x3
287x2
287x1
287x1

Front Squat (testing)
45x3
65x3
95x3
115x3
135x3
155x3
175x3

Chinups
3,2,1 BW
3,2,1 BW
3,2,x,1 BW

Squatting felt too heavy, have decided to immediately cease my dietting (lost 20 lbs) and resume the diet I was going on before. I'll ease my way into it again. OTOH - Chinups were cool, except for that miss.

so far in the day...
2L milk (went down quick considering I haven't drunk anything like that in a while - about 2 months)
2 veal sandwiches (trying to find caloric/protein intake online - it's Pizza Nova)

planning on more sandwiches (surprisingly a lot of protein in turkey hams). Also allows me to eat more (carbs - appetizing).

[famendoza]

hill runs
- dunno but it was greater than 12 reps

walk 40 mins

Ate late breakfast consisting of
- 1/4 of 1.3 L milk
- yogurt (forgot size - small)
- 2 waffles
- 3/4 pound of meat, along with rice
- 2L choco milk

[famendoza]

Press
70x5
85x5
100x5

Squat
150x5
180x5
215x5

Deadlift
185x5
220x5
255x5

Bench
95x5
115x5
135x5

No orthotics today - will remove them for next cycle..,.

[famendoza]

Press
100x5
115x5
130x1
130x1
130x1
(fudge...)
115x3,2,1
115x3,2,1
115x3,2,1

Good morning (waiting for incline bench)
65x3
95x3
115x3

Incline bench
105x3,2,1
105x3,2,1
105x3,2,1



Ok, my first failure at 5/3/1 and no surprise its the press. And no surprise that I have yet to understand all of the technique required. I've always wondered why occasionally I'd get super easy reps, and then sometimes super hard ones on the same weight. I think I've stumbled upon proper forward torso movement going under the bar, alas too late in the 115lb ladder setup I did after I missed my set of 5. I tested a single rep at 115lb after I finished my ladder reps, and found it to be accurate to what I felt (as opposed to a random "easy" rep). Needless to say - there's still a lot more discovery for me.

Incline was similar, a certain angle (not looking at the bar), got the groove right and made 105 easier than the 95 I did 2 weeks ago. Also ladder repped.

Good mornings as I did not even see a 45 degree back extension.

BTW I did this all in a gym with bumper plates. I like them although I didn't get a chance to drop them in conquest to a higher clean, but it made cleaning the press from the floor WAAAY less annoying. The plates are lb incremented not in kgs.

[famendoza]

Warmup
P.Clean
45x5
95x2
145x2
165x1,1,1

Deadlift
280x5 (overeager !>!>)
245x5 (made up for missing 65%)
320x5
320x1,2,1,2,1,2 (ladder)

Front Squat
45x3
95x2
145x2
175x2
185x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3

So today went better than yesterday. In fact I got a chance to sneak in quite a bit of volume on the deadlift - about 9 additional reps with the ladder. I chose 2 because I realized going to 3 was going to quadruple the number of reps I'd be doing on the deadlift with 320. Here' I'm only doing 14 reps. No grinding. Another epiphany - my feet were too close together in the deadlift. I'm not going sumo or anything, but my feet are just a hairbreadth slightly outside hip width - and it felt MUCH better, less stress on the back, more on the hamstrings. Very nice.

The front squat was done also with ladders, this time from 1-3. I noticed a bit of breakdown, and experienced what Rip warned about with heavy front squats, that they tend to curve you forward without actively bringing your chest up. This was most evident at the bottom of the squat. Bracing my abs only helped slightly - maybe they need to be strengthened as well... and my knees came in (not dramatically, slightly but could be felt) on the concentric as the sets wore on. Nothing grinding though, which was the point of this whole approach. Cool beans.

With the bumpers at the gym I'm visiting its a cinch getting plates on - love not annoying myself with switching plates between my cleans and my deadlifts. Still, I can't drop'em. But the gym seems to have some Oly advocates in their midst - this could be a good chance to bolster support. There's also rumour mill talk of getting an olympic platform section of the gym. And I'm covertly bringing in chalk.

Next up - the bench.

[famendoza]

Bench
95x5
130x5
150x5
170x5
170x1,2,1,2 (tired...)

Push Press
135x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3

Snatch
65x3
85x2
95x1
115x1,1,1
125x0,0,0

Squat
135x5
205x5
235x5
270x5
270x1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2

Chins
BWx1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2

OH Squat
95x3
115x3
125x1,2,1,2,1,2

Made up for missing Thursday by combining Friday and Thursday. Push pressing needs to get better in technique, as I was almost missing some push presses behind me, and I punched my chin at least twice. Bench was not gonna be cooperative today. Ladder was cut down to 1,2 for 2. Squat seemed very cooperative, but I went on side of caution and did 1,2. I did feel better though, and pushed for a 4th ladder. Maybe next time that should be a 1,2,3.

OH squat felt much stronger, and some of the strength trickled down in the snatch. However, my snatch is still behind my OH squat. I think its a mental thing as I can get the bar up to my chest. The third pull should come, but it doesn't. Anyways its a fun lift - not a core lift.

Chins felt garbage, and I ended my ladder on the third one.

Ok - no more combining workouts for a while - Pressing will be on Sunday, to ensure that with performance testing I get adequate time.

[famendoza]

Hill runs
20 reps = 10 mins

Walk
40mins

Two jogs around 400 m track 6 mins

The reps on the hill runs were slightly different than before. I only ran on the concentric, then slowed down considerably on the eccentric. I actually thought of this midway so I don't know when I stopped running downhill, but it occurred very early onward.

I did not run too much - rain was annoying. During the jogs I focused on trying to perform hip extension - pace was very even throughout. I think this is a good thing.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Pclean till 155lbsx1

Press
105x3
120x3
135x1
135x0
135x1

120x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3

Incline Bench
115x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3

Good Morning
65x5
115x1,2,3,1,2,3 (felt tired)

Another failure at the press. Things aint looking good for 5/3/1 but I'll carry on either way. OTOH the ladder with 120 lb looked good, but some reps were not crisp. I have a week to decide whether I try for 120 with the ladder or bump up to 125lbs. Clearly if I can get 125lbs and 3 ladders crisp, it SHOULD be a foregone conclusion that 135x5 should be doable. Apparently with 120lbs and 3 ladders I'm still just screwing it up somehow. More investigation needed.

The incline bench feels better if I aim more towards my throat on the eccentric. Not ON my throat but close by. Certainly this has room to grow. The foot "plate" is a bar, which sucks ass. I have to put my feet on the floor to get a flat surface. A bar for a foot plate?!? Who designed this piece of crap!?!?!

Good mornings - If I got LOW, I feel the hammies. This is good. I was just tired.

I was tired BTW, since I got called the previous night to work from 1AM (since our support in India got cut off due to unforeseen network issues) to 10:30AM that morning. Afterwards I helped out in my ballroom/latin dance class, THEN I did my workout. I got back home and slept from Sunday 7:30PM to Monday (today) at 9AM. Heh, flex hours at work are cool.

[famendoza]

Warmup
PClean till 155x3

Deadlift
265x5 (oops too much :) )
300x3
340x3

320x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3

Front Squat
155x3
155x3

Well, today was a condensed day since I had about 30 mins to actually do my workout. I prioritized deadlifting over everything else. I lost my mind initially for the 70% set and went over 2 reps. No worries, the rest were fine. Even the 300x3 no chalk was necessary (although alternate grip was). The 340 went without a hitch.

The 320lb ladder was very good. I had an adjacent mirror I'd check out of the corner of my eye for a few reps, straight back, bar sliding up legs, and very easy pullback at the top. The slightly outside hip width stance (a hair, even a fine camel hair outside) works well. It feels "shorter", possibly because of slightly less vertical pull. I will note that my back, although straight, was a bit achy throughout, although not once did I grind through anything. All I did was concentrate on "up", and all sets were cool.

I have no doubt that my left leg on front squats caves in slightly, if I think about bending down a bit lower than just slightly past parallel. This tells me
- I should reduce the width of the heel distance
- OR
- I should push out the left leg.

I'll go for #2 for now.

[famendoza]

Ladder approaches:

http://www.irongarmx.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12088
http://powerandbulk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5756

I'll sub it in for the Big but Boring workout.

A different approach:
http://www.gustrength.com/training:single-double-triple-progression
I currently haven't connected the dots, but when I read this, I actually was inspired to perform the laddered approach. I'll revise my commentary when the dots connect.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Press 45x5

Bench
45x5
115x5

140x3
160x3
180x3
170x1,2,2,1,2,1,1 (<-- stopped at 1,1)

Push Press
135x1,2,3(hardish...),1,2,3(better),1,2,3 (better)

C+j
175x1x3

The bench is probably another one that needs technique tuning to get more out of it. I was having problems with my wrists today, and an odd pain on my right pec on eccentric. Having thought over it in hindsight - my grip was closer to a close grip, than a regular grip. Which means my chest wasn't contributing at all... I gotta practice the bench more. Grip must stay consistent. Just keep benching the empty bar...

The push press, wrist problems again on the right hand. This coupled with forgetting to push head through, made the first ladder VERY hard. The 2nd and to smaller degree 3rd, where much better in terms of crispness. I'll go for another do-over on this one - I want crispness.

And I tried for a C+J with 175lbs. Easy catch, easy jerk - plus I got to actually drop the bar for the first time. Thank goodness for bumper plates.

[famendoza]

Warm up
Snatch
65x1x3
95x1x2
115x1x3

Squat
45x10
135x5
220x3
250x3
285x4 (<- better technique on the hips back, Hamstrings kept taught)
270x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (didn't like the way I did the 3 here),3(much better)

OH Squat
45x5
65x3
95x2
115x3
125x1,0 (hmmmm...)
115x1,2 (felt tired - no go on ladder)

Press
45x5x4
65x5x2
95x3x3

Squat day went very well, the snatch on 115 came up nicely. 125 is still not "confident". Will address this. Squats themselves, focused on getting hammy taught and low back+upper back locked. I was inspired by Rip's video on teaching the press, and one of the points Rip mentioned on the video, is the tendency to slack the back because of loose abs. I carried the lessons from that into the squat. Basically, I focused on TIGHT abs and absolutely NO slack on lower+upper back.

The other thing I did was get the hams taught, which gave a real good bounce on the concentric. This could have not been possible without the lower back tightness - and a bit more focus in the set on keeping tight and sitting back, but NOT going slow. This focus, along with the other cues, allowed me to easily finish the 270 ladder afterwards, although the last triple I redid since I didn't like how tough it was. I figured it was a lack of focus and tightness, which resolved itself in the repeat triple. Next ladder is 280.

Note that the above cues are recommended all over this board, the Q&A and elsewhere on the Net. Clearly, this is something I have drifted away from using, even though they made the set much more crisp in motion. The lesson learnt from all of this is that practice makes perfect, and that more practice the better. To me, the inverse allows much detraining not only in strength, but in groove. And there's gotta be some resistance (bodyweight squatting lies to you sometimes - the bar does not).

That is what I did with the press. Again, inspired by the vids, I redid my approach to technique, and focused on 3 things
- locked lower+upper back
- general lower body and 'butt' tightness (helps with keeping lower back tightness)
- elbows slightly forward (not something I haven't done, but felt different with the above cues)
- shoving face into bar (a cue for getting under the bar that works for me)
-***bar resting on deltoids. I made this a NEW focus. In my attempts to perform this, I did feel like I had to contort myself to get bar on shoulders and chest up, WITHOUT relaxing abs and hyper extending lower back. Nevertheless, this made my presses much snappier - up to and including 95lbs (yeah yeah I know :S). The other focus was not undoing all of this focus on the eccentric recovery, as I noticed my tendency to do so. Basically the bar would almost crash onto me on previous reps, making the setup loose and having me loose focus on getting tight - vicious circle. Practicing the eccentric to get into position for the next press and doing so while keeping the above cues in focus was a challenge. I'll continue this on Sunday for my press workout. Also this was a deliberate act to include the press on this workout, to keep just working the motion of the press with some weight (95lbs is about 70%), since I've been reading here
http://powerandbulk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=45756
Read CarnalKid's first post.

OH Squatting sucked today, but my focus was on the squat and press, so I don't feel too horrible about cutting this down.

[famendoza]

20 hill runs (sprinting on uphill, fast walk on downhill)

40 min walk.

Damn - I felt a little bit more than tired - it's like I got squeezed out of enery. My movements felt heavier even an hour after the the walk.

[famendoza]

Warmup

PClean till 155x1

Press
65x5
95x3

115x5
130x3 (ugly grind on last rep...)
145x0
145x1 Push press :(

120x1,2,3 (too much grind),1,2,1,1

Incline Bench
125x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3

PClean 135->Jerk, lower bar behind back, then reps low bar squatting with weight
135x10
135x5
135x5

K, I should have seen this coming given my reaction to the cardio session yesterday. Pressing just seemed like crap - and the push press cinched it. Even the 120 ladder was just too unpredictable - some reps would come out fine, but a lot of reps were grinding - which to me signals a recovery problem.

Thankfully this was only on the press, however the press is what I wanted to get up. OTOH the incline bench seemed 'mahvelus' in comparison. There was no grinding, and the reps were easier to manage - and I was able to put in the cues I logged on last week for the flat bench, into action. And they made quite the difference.

I wanted to try something for the heck of it - so I did a power clean followed by a jerk with 135. Then I lowered the bar back down behind me, high bar style, rolled it down to low bar, kept tight and did reps for squatting. I would then roll up the bar to high bar position and push press it above it before lowering it down before me. I did this twice, although the third time I had to rack the barbell on the power rack (ran out of juice pressing up behind me).

So to recap - crappy press and not optimal press practice, improved cue actions for bench (incline in this case) leading to a nice session there.

Is the lack of recovery a total body experience or just related to pressing? Tomorrow I'll find out on the deadlift.

[famendoza]

Power Clean
95x3
165x2

Clean+Jerk
165x1x2

Full Squat Clean
185x1 PR
185x1
195x1 *****PR*****
195x1
195x0
195x1
195x1 **WOW**

Deadlift
280x5
320x3
355x1,2,1,1

330x1,2,1,2 (iffy 2nd rep),1,1

Front Squat
195x1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2,

C+J
165x1x2 CRISP

Well, the accomplishments of today are quite a contrast to yesterday's poop-filled workout. First of all, 195lb full squat clean on my first try for PR!!! DURING ANOTHER WARM-UP!! THAT'S 1-2bs AWAY FROM A BODYWEIGHT CLEAN!! I totally should have attempted at least one jerk to get a BODYWEIGHT overhead anyhow, but I wasn't as confident - the jerk portion of the 165lb C+J wasn't crisp, and my triceps felt tired (no surprise....). But the cleans were crisp, and I think I learnt something today about the clean - I was always afraid of coming down fast enough, something that HAD to be done to get the 195er - less thinking about the pull up and super vertical height and, more thinking about the quickly going up a bit and then going for the pull down (3rd pull?). During execution, no thoughts but get bar on shoulders as I squat- WICKED! The very last one had me on my toes for a split second but I got on my heels. I regret not taking the jerk on this one.

Deadlifts were modest for this one. Fulfilled my goal for the schedule and tried for a bit of a ladder. Didn't get too far with 355 (and I didn't intend to), and the 330lb ladder didn't get too far either. C'est la vie. Still great considering yesterday.

Front squats, I notice I cave in, not knees so much, but torso on the deepest part of my squat - which probably means somewhere along the line I relax to try to get deeper, without being aware of it. This must be fixed. I didn't feel like going for a 1,2,3 given the deadlift workout.

After all of the above, I tried 165 for a clean and jerk. I utilized the exact same technique for the 195 and the clean and jerk portion came out crispy. I REALLY regret not trying the jerk, I'll try it in 2-3 weeks time.

I quit my old gym and am now going to a gym with bumper plates. More expensive, but it's value add for me. Plus I have the racks+plates to myself!

[famendoza]

Warmup

Press
45x5
65x5
95x5

Bench
115x5
150x5
170x3
190x2,1,1
170x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (great - crisp)

Push Press
95x3
115x3
135x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,3 (tried to go for a set of 4 missed last rep)

C+J
155x1x4 (practising..)

Kroc Rows (sorta...)
75x10 each side

So I had a full nights rest yesterday night. Which probably explains my ability to actually complete my reps today. The bench felt more comfortable, although I probably could have had it better together with a little form adjustment (and thus more reps) on the top set. The form adjustment did happen though (grip mainly) as well as remembering the cue about scapulas, and EYE SIGHT direction. Just seeing past the bar as though I had x-ray vision helped a ton on the 170lb ladders, which lead to me completing them easily - no struggles, no doubts. Excellent. I'll remember these cues (and the grip width) as I go onto my recovery next week.

Push press felt crisp throughout, although I thought I could pull off a quadruple after my triple, but only ended up with another triple. Anyways this means I go up to 145lbs on the next cycle.

The rows are giving me grip problems - I guess I'll have to get better at rows to get better at grip. I don't suspect its the deadlift proximity (which I did yesterday including a small ladder), but rather it's fallen out of use and needs to be kickstarted again.


Squatting is up.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Snatch
45x1x3
65x1x3
95x1x2
115x1x2
125x0,0 (maybe next time)

Squat
135x5
235x5
270x3
300x3,2,3,2 (Better showing than last 5/3/1, very tight overall)
280x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (NOICE, TIGHT - no looseness even tightness solved a slightly aching back)

Chinups
BW x 1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 - VERY good, added a 4th ladder so add 10 lbs

Situps
BWx3x10 (getting back on track here...)

Ok. Today was a great day for the squat. Sure, I missed 125lb snatches (they escape me for now even though the bar goes high relative to the body - my feet clap too fast so my push under isn't aggressive enough). But the performance of the 300lb squat was a great improvement over last cycle's 5/3/1 squat. It was so good infact, that I almost thought of doing a reverse ladder with the weight. However I decided to remain consistent and went with 280, which, with the learnt cue tightness (upper back lower back, ABBBBSS, hammies, NO SLACK whatsoever on bar sitting on scapular spine, actively crunching bar down on back), made it a cinch. A new cue I picked up during the squat (yes...), THINK ass up, not just merely hope it happens, actually 'become one' with your ass (best way I could put it). I guess it brings full circle the cues that Rippetoe has mentioned - but I once I actually thought and focused on ass up, the bounce came nicely.

A nice thing about the tightness. Even though I had an aching back after the 300lb squats (I think I was loose on one squat, which gave way to Murphy's Law), tightening the core during the 280 ladder (upper+lower back, abs and glutes+hammies), allowed me to bypass the pain. Yes, I said bypass. I felt nothing but a tight core overall. Nothing painful at all.

The chin-ups were great as well, even did an extra ladder, although the last reps were leaning towards grind. They weren't but an extra rep or two done above the triples would definitely have been grinding. My focus could have been a lot better though - I remember a cue I did a cycle back, that for some reason I couldn't action well. It had to do with 'feeling the V' from the upper back all the way to the lower back, and tightening it to allow the chin-up to be stronger. Conceptually easy to picture, but couldn't put imagery into action. Need to work on this.

No OH squats today. Came into gym a little late.

Entering deload week. I'll probably compress it all into one or two workouts next week.

[famendoza]

Hill runs
at least 16-18 of these. I lost count listening to my iPod.

40 min walk

10 laps around (5 laps walking, 5 laps jog).

[famendoza]

Skipped Deload week went straight into Wave 1 of my 4th cycle. I'm redoing my Press weights as the last press cycle was not successful.

Warmup (P.Clean)
45x3
65x3
95x3

Press
100x5
115x5
130x5,3,3

120x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,4 (Excellent)

Incline Press
135x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,4 (Excellent)

45° Back Extension
(10lbsx10)x5

Ok. Today was a much better day. For one thing I skipped the deload figuring I was good and rested from last week, and didn't really need to back off. I'll see how my decision affects this cycle but I'm optimistic about this week, given how my press workout went. This was a MUCH better press workout than last week. The 130lbs felt better, although there was a little layback, but overall I performed way better. The press ladder was MUCH easier, which means I go up to 125lbs. The intent is to keep the volume high, and let it do the work (no reps to near failure).

Incline press also progressed excellently. 135lbs was easy. On my 2nd 1 rep set, it felt almost like nothing. Grease the groove indeed. 145lbs next set.

Back extensions on 45° degree are useful. I noticed one thing - keeping my neck curved downward (chin near chest) was slightly less stressful to my back than extending the neck (chin up). I think I was sinking deeper with my back when I extended my neck - at least that's how it felt.

Deadlift tomorrow. This workout's got me pumped for tomorrow.

[famendoza]

Interesting conversation about how effective accessory exercises have been in some ppl's training. The verdict looks meh:

http://powerandbulk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=45928

The GHR is talked about here as well. Lends support to my idea that just sticking to the core lifts (and perhaps variations of the core lifts like push pressing, rows, and front squatting).

On a different topic, here's some more interesting thoughts about priority of exercises:

http://www.gustrength.com/eric-troy:a-strength-training-fallacy-the-false-compromise

[famendoza]

Warmup
P.Clean
95x3
145x3

C+J (full cleans)
165x1x2
185x1
195x1 *** PR ****

Full Clean
205x1x3 ** BODYWEIGHT++ PR **
205x0

Deadlift
255x5
290x5
325x6 (good)
325x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (GOOD!)

Front Squat
195x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (last few reps a bit more struggle, last rep heel off floor)

And the PRs on the clean just keep on coming. 205 is a milestone, in the sense that it represent above bodyweight (193-195lb is me right now). That I was able to do it three different times says quite a bit - but it is DEFINATELY challenging to time the 3rd pull. Last rep I missed but I think it was because I braced my feet on the stomp (silly me - thinking power cleans on a full clean). In my previously deleted thread I had made a milestone of benching above 205, since it not only represented above body-weight, but also a nostalgic look back at when I tried 205 waayback as a squat and nearly failed my only rep. Now I'm throwing that on my shoulders. I'm jerking that weight next week. Oh also I clean and jerked 195, basically I made BODY-WEIGHT OVERHEAD. Awesomeness.

Deadlifts again modestly going up - made 6 reps for the 325. And then completed 3 ladders with the same weight. VERY GOOD. Also has made me VERY tired - but as Shaf said, not destroyed, which is important.

Front Squats - I really had to concentrate to get good upright form, and there were still a few buckles, which I corrected on notice. It's kinda like I'm trying to bring my torso down a notch to shove my elbows at some giant's face. Silly description I know, but it's not absolutely super stable upright as I am coming down. Almost the buckles pulled me forward on my last rep, as my heel left the floor before I was aware of it. Debating whether to redo this (it was challenging and a few rep fixes required - but nothing grinding) or just keep going. I'm leaning towards adding another 10lbs and seeing how many completed ladders I get (probably 1,2).

Bench is up.

[famendoza]

Warmup
P.Clean
115x3x3
135x1x5

Bench
115x5
115x5

135x5
155x5
175x6

175x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,4(GOOD),1,2,3 (last rep grindy, but I was a little loose)

Push Press
145x1,2,1,2,1,2(last rep grindy),1,2 (better alright...)

Kroc rows (both arms)
70x16
70x13
70x10
70x10

Good progress for the bench - my performance on the ladder for 175lbs ladder is such a contrast to that of 170lb ladder trip the previous three weeks, that I think it was HIGHLY indicative of a lack of sleep the past three weeks, along with other stress from work. Technique was a secondary factor (focus probably was harder to come by half asleep). Food doesn't seem to have been an issue.

Push press was tougher again. There were two hairy push presses, I guess I was just not focusing on the push up - because subsequent push presses were hard work, but not hard. Oh well, just means I'll have to work at it with volume.

Kroc rows were easy cause the handle of the dumbbell of the gym I was at was slightly thinner than usual - so I guess this is 'cheating' heheh. I'll see how I do given that its basically 49 reps, with a 75lb dumbbell. A thinner handle makes the weight lighter.

The theme this week seems to be good performance. It might just be the light weights. Let's see how this carries out for this cycle.

Squats coming up.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Full Snatch
65x3
95x2x2
115x1x3
125x1x4 **PR**

Squat
135x5
210x5
245x5
275x5
275x1,2,3,1,2,2,1,2 (TIRED)

Chinup
BWx1,2,3,1,2,2,1,2,3 (TIRED)

So today I came in a bit tired, past two days I've had interrupted sleep from emergencies at work. Given that, my concentration was focused on the snatch, and was rewarded with a PR snatch of 125. The snatch form was slightly altered, less hand grabbing with the hook, more focus on just index,middle and thumb for the hook with ring and pinky 'along for the ride'. More focus on keep bar close to legs WHILE brining knees back - and for a couple the double kneebend came right at the same time as the bar slide into the hip. The result being a verticale thrust up of the bar, so much so that it felt almost slow-mo in the way it racked above. Must have been my perception+focus which waned as the workout progressed.

The squat took a beating performance wise. My ladder was not great today, and the lack of sleep compounded problems. As I predicted it prevented a prolonged focus on thoracic tightness, and as a result I sort of pulled am adductor on the eccentric. It's not a huge problem, I think it will heal up by my next deadlift workout. A bit of a letdown but predictable. The good news being, of the ones that were tight, they were the crisp reps.

Same thing to a smaller extent in the chinups. Crisp reps were harder to come by on my second ladder. At least it gives me a chance to practice chinups next time:)!

Onto wave 2. The press will be an interesting task on Sunday.

[famendoza]

14 hill runs, two different hills (8 on one, 6 on another)

40 min walk


Now the hill runs mentioned here are much different than the ones described before. The hills are exceedingly larger than the one I used for my previous cardio workout. The first hill I used I thought was rather large, but the second hill was immense compared to the first one. I felt rather beat up just simply running up and WALKING down. At least it's a good training ground.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Snatch 65x1x4

Press
105x3
120x3
135x3,2,2

125x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (last rep not crisp)

Incline Press
145x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (Nice - once I learnt to get tight in my core)

45° Back Extension
(20lb behind head) x5x10

C+J
95x1
165x1
185x1

Press was ok today. I got the requisite reps, but I was aiming for 4 reps. Fail. Second set aiming for 3 reps - third Fail. Third set was same as second set.

What's surprising is the 125lbs ladder was only 10lbs lighter but much more manageable. I actually tried for another set of 135 afterward, but only got 1 rep.

Incline Press is beginning to turn the page to 'really concentrate'. Today's lesson was a carryover from the squatting two weeks ago - keeping torso tight, which required me to envision back extension as my lower and upper back "crunching" together, with my abs bracing. It made ladder #2 onwards easy.

45° Back Extension bench has a little wall for my heels to catch against, allowing me to feel my hamstring contributing quite a bit. I immediately set a barbell for C+J after these to test my current level of explosiveness. I got 185lb C+J easily, so I'm looking good. Helps form as well.

Press is still looking promising - let's hope 5/3/1 week pans out well. Next, onto the deadlift!!

[famendoza]

http://powerandbulk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=45928&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I had linked to this thread earlier in my log. Seriously, this thread went from educational to awesome. I suggest that if you need guidance, especially after you fail miserably for the third time on a fiver program, to look at this thread and get you some ideas to mold your own template.

I'm sure I'll change my mind, but everything in the thread sounds compelling.

[famendoza]

Full Clean
95x3
145x2
165x1x2
185x1x2 (+Jerk)
205x1x3 (missed jerk 3 times...)
205x0
205x1 (missed jerk again)
195x1x2 (MISSED JERK both times)

Deadlift
270x3
310x3
345x4,1,1

Bench
145x3
165x3
185x3,2,2

Front Squat
135x2
155x2
185x2
205x1x2 (too tired for ladder)

Push Press
135x2
145x3,1,2,3,1,2,2 (again too tired)

You know, if you work from 9AM-3:00AM for two days straight and attempt to get only 6-7 hours of sleep afterwards, you'll be too fatigued to actually put out your best effort. Hence my lackluster effort after about 2 days of system testing. I tried jerking 205 and none of my attempts were any good - I think I'm doing what I do for my snatches and cleans (to a lesser extent) which is to tighten and brace my legs on the downward stomp'n clap. Which doesn't allow me to get under the bar. Which probably was the case cause my focus was hard to come by, being tired as heck.

Dead's weren't spared - that was a fiver attempt on the top set, alas only two singles came out of that one.

Bench got the brunt, being after deads. Top set was a triple (so I made my reps) plus two doubles. After my 175 quadruple ladder, that's a big drop in performance.

Front Squat wasn't happening. Push Press might have gone well had I not fudged the last rep. Not a good way to setup for training.

Let's see how Squat goes. Thursday's another system testing day AURGGGHH!!!!

[famendoza]

Snatch
45x3
65x3
95x3
115x2
125x1x3
135x0x5 (hmph! - nearly had it twice)

Squat
135x5
225x3
260x3
295x5,3
275x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (last set was focused greatly)

Chinup
BWx1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (ok back on track)

OH Squat
115x2x2
135x1x2 (HEAVY! - couldn't even snatch balance it!!)

I did JoeDeFranco's simple six afterwards.
http://www.defrancostraining.com/ask_joe/archives/ask_joe_08-10-31.html#question02

I honestly thought today was gonna be a toughie given my previous workout. However it went better than expected. Although I missed 135lbs for the snatch, the 125 popped up easier than last time. This is good, but I have to learn to extend and reverse extension quicker and not 'stall' my legs for stability. I think stability here is the key - maybe I SHOULD do a snatch balance/snatch for this lift. Hah, although considering I treat it as a warmup, it's rather funny me prioritizing it as a core lift. Maybe the fun has carried over into 'what's next'.

Squats went cool. Kept the tightness for 295 and got a easy fiver. The second set I was unsure, but I should have gone for five again. Really I should have gone for 6-7 on the first set and left it at that. The ladder is now my way of testing my form and torso tightness. Strangely my GRIP got tired - and all I'm doing is trying to get a stiff bar on my scapula!!!

Chins, on my 2nd ladder the top rung was TOUGH. Besides that it was all doable. Hence I should stop sitting on the fence and add weight already!!

OH Squat (finally) was tough. 115 felt heavy and 135 felt really heavy. In fact I was aiming to start at 135 but when I realized I couldn't coordinate myself to snatch balance it I realized I should probably work my way up. It was a tough lift and I probably was more weight forwards on toes than I should have been. So maybe I should learn to snatch balance.

Good day. 5/3/1 week coming up!

[famendoza]

Warmup
Full Clean
95x3
115x3

Press
115x5
130x3
145x2,0,1,0
130x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (VERY GOOD!)

Incline Bench
135x3
155x1
155x2 (heavy...)
155x1 (man...)
155x2 (heavy!)
155x1 (end)

Full Clean
135x1x2 (+ Jerk)
185x1x2

Ok. Today was a GREAT day for the press. In my previous log entries I mentioned a way to keep the torso pressure and back alignment proper. The key was the shoulder blades (as I practiced over the weekend). Keep torso tight, then push shoulders out and then down while at the same time pushing chest as high as possible. This is is ONLY the upper part, lower back and abs stay straight as possible (no hyperflexion of the lower back while keep chest up, as I used to do - misinterpretation of a cue). This results in taught shoulders with slack taken out as much as possible. The pressing angle is kept by the chest being up while the shoulders are kept down (retracted in other words) as much as possible. To an outside observer, it almost looks like I'm trying to push my shoulders down (retraction) and in front (chest up), with my traps seemingly relaxed (but are most definately not) and my neck sticking out vertically (like I'm trying to go giraffe style). This helped keep tight in all my presses, gave me a double for the 145 (remember last month I couldn't even do 1 rep), and gave me a moderately challenging but not grinding 130lb ladder series WITH VERY LITTLE REQUIRED REST TIMES BETWEEN SETS. Remember, 130lbs was only good for 1 rep last press cycle. Even in failure, one can learn, adapt and overcome.

But my incline sucked today. I dunno why that is, it just 155 felt too heavy, even though I completed a lightly challenging 145lb ladder series last week. Oh well, we'll get it next time. Remember 170lb bench ladder? and the contrast with 175lb bench ladder? Yeah, it happens.

The final two full cleans were supposed to be with jerks. Only the first group was, the 185 felt not good with me. Which sucks cause I hate to think the JERK is regressing. But it could be just that I'm trying to superimpose a technique for pressing into the jerk (the above spiel), and I need an adjustment period until it gets going well.

Deadlift next.

[famendoza]

Full Clean
135x1x2
185x1x2
C+J
185x1
205x1 (EXCELLENT - except jerk was pressed out)

Deadlift
225x5
275x2
290x5
325x3
365x1,2,1,1,0 (VERY HEAVY)
330x0 (GASSED)

Front Squat
135x3
185x2
205x1,2,1,1,2,1

Situps - BWx3x10

First half of DeFranco's simple six (just the rolling part and the shoulder capsule thingie)

Mixed response about today's workout. On one hand I basically put 205 over my head with my pressed out jerk (+15 over bodyweight). On the other hand, the 365 deadlift did not rep out at all, and exhausted me for any subsequent deadlifts. No go on a ladder after that - which sucked. I also felt light headed at least 3 times during the execution of the 365 - which was no good, given I've repped this weight before. When I took a knee for the third time, that was it for deadlifts. Either way, the deadlift portion is completed sufficiently for this cycle.

Front Squat did not show itself well after my near exhaustion. Probably wasn't a good idea to fail in deadlifts - affected everything else.

BW situps on the other where no issue.

Bench next. Given today's performance I will probably include a deload week. Conditional on my bench and squat performance.

[famendoza]

Here's an interesting discussion generated by a shoutout to raw squat article created by Paul Carter:
http://powerandbulk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=46072

Here's the original article:
http://functional-strength.blogspot.com/2010/04/developing-your-raw-squat-pt-i.html

Basically in the thread, they're stating that quads are king based on EMG studies. The breakdown:


To follow up on what chuck touched on (since he stole that from me), every EMG study ever done on squatting both loaded/unloaded/half/paralell/full squats show that the quadriceps bear the brunt of the load in raw squatting.

The deeper your squat becomes, the more the glutes become involved. However the amount of hamstring involvement stays relatively the same.

Baiscally the deeper you squat, the more the glutes will end up becoming involved, however the quads still bear the brunt of the work. This has been shown to be true in every study done regarding squats.

Basically the vastus medialis and vastus lateralis do about 49% of the work in a full squat, the glutes do around 35% and the hams about 15%. The higher you get, the less the glutes are involved and the quads come into play even more. You will see this in every study done on squats and muscle activation.

So yeah in raw squatting, quads are king.

[famendoza]

Snatch
45x5
65x3x2
95x2
115x1x3
135x0
135x1x2 **PR**
135x0 (ouch missed in front and hit my left thigh!)

Bench
115x5
135x3

155x5
175x3
195x1

180x1,1,2,1,1 (DAMN..)

Squat (pain in thigh whole time)
135x5
225x3

245x5
275x3
310x1,1

High Bar Squats (trying these out, ignored pain)
135x3
155x3
185x3
205x3
225x3
245x3x2
265x2x2 (heavy)

Man, this week was hell on sleep. Too many emergencies, too many screwups at work. Anyways, the plan today was to complete my reps. And since that occurred, and a PR came, today was a good day.

The PR with the snatch was a good PR. The first 135lb snatch was a bit arm bendy on the catch but i fixed that immediately. I also did not have as much control in the bottom, and rushed a bit to recover, but I didn't lose balance or have to step forward to recover. The second one was more in control, and less arm bendy on the catch. The third one was a miss and I did not train to escape a heavy miss, and the bar hit my left thigh (if I hit a thigh with a bar, it always seems to hit one, not both thighs). That ended the snatching. It made the following two exercises not as fun.

My bench performance was adequate for the schedule, but not strong. The 5/3 lifts felt very heavy, and I had trouble unracking 195. As a result I needed a spotter to unrack the 195lb to complete the rep. Also my ladder with 180 was complete crap. Expected given my lack of sleep.

My squat performance was adequate for the schedule. but again not strong. The 275 felt heavy, my focus on tightness wasn't as good. I recognize this happens as a result of a lack of sleep, so sleep has to be addressed this month onwards. 310 was a 1 repper, twice. The thigh bump didn't help.

I decided to practice high bar squatting, given the previous articles I posted about the quads being the highest engaged muscle in the activity (not the hams/glutes as I was told). This recent article from Matthew Perryman http://www.ampedtraining.com/strength/highbar-squat-underrated/ intrigued me as well. The message conveyed from each article combined (quads do most of the heavy work in squat at any depth, high bar being quad and glute prominent (based on the studies cited by PC) and possible better carryover of high bar to other lifts vs low bar) convinced me to attempt it.

The bar placement was ontop of shoulders, just slightly behind neck (I shrugged my shoulders back to make a flat spot on top of them). Higher than my low bar squat bar placement. My feet angled out a bit but the placement was slightly within shoulder width, or slightly wider than deadlift stance for another reference point. I wanted to see where I would slow down. The 265 was a big slow down on the second reps for both sets. I was still feeling the thigh throughout all my high-bar squats, but with a tight torso, and different grip for the bar, I could ignore the pain emanating from the muscle.

I'll practice high-bars in ladders, and see where I end up. If it results in better low-bars and deadlifts, I will be a happy lifter.

Looks like I need a recovery week. Here I come recovery week!

[famendoza]

Snatch
45x3
65x3
75x2x5

Clean
135x3x3

Press
75x5
90x5
105x5

Deadlift
190x5
230x5
275x5

Bench
105x5
125x5
145x5

Squat
165x5
195x5
225x5

This week was a deload week for me, done in response to last weeks performance. I put the emphasis on the snatch and clean first - that was as an extended warmup for all lifts, plus movement practice. My left thigh was still hurting from Friday's mishap, and it made the squat an exercise in pain management. Bench is still feeling not strong. Press on the other hand felt strong. Deadlift also felt good.

I may do another day in the middle of the week, with the Push Press, High Bar Squat, Incline Bench and Power Clean\Dumbbell Row.

Bought a camcorder - let's see if I can use this for a video version of this log.

Onto Cycle 5 either way next week.

[famendoza]

Clean+Jerk
165x1
195x1

185x1
185x1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VRgQtCAQoA

Snatch
95x1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POZ693B95Pg
115x1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLEhYKZRZWg

Push Press
145x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NairgIMxgI

HB Squat
205x5
255x6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muxsjPtEOQQ

Low Bar Squat
305x1
305x2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35FYY_ryUas

Incline Press
135x5
155x2
155x3

C+J attempts with 205, missed jerk both attempts, bad miss the second time around.
Miss #2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yipznaurs9g)

This was really a lame attempt to get some minimal volume work in with moderate to heavy weights on the clean+jerk and videorecord the heck out of it. Everything remained else remained about the same intensity or below as the prior week, but with a significant drop in volume.

I had camcorded almost all of my work out (sans a few ones before I got the ok from the staff), but the conversion from MOD (JVC Everio's format) to Youtube is way slower, and fraught with too many conversion errors than I anticipated. Man, I'm gonna have to figure out a quick way to shove videos to Youtube or that's all I'm gonna be doing once I head home!

[Kincain]

I like the running! :D

[famendoza]

Warmup
Power Clean till 95lbs
Snatch till 65lbs

Press
100x5
115x5
130x6 *PR* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AeWc1UX3oA

130x1,2,3,1,2,3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvywR6b6pR8) ,1,2,3

Incline Press
155x1,2,3,1,2,3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee-Fh7HRdNU) ,1,2,3

Clean and Jerk
95x1
165x1x2
185x1x2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-w9AHMhJvQ

Back Extensions
25lbsx10,10,10,10,10

Today's workout was great, in spite of having about 2 hours of sleep total (with a half hour nap on the way to the gym by TTC subway) because of overnight and morning work coming together (yes I work on the weekends when I need to backup offshore resources). I was worried with past experience on the press exercises, that the lack of sleep would lead to total craptitude on the workout. However, I actually PRed on reps for the press at 130lbs. The last rep was a struggle - no wonder given my perception of being under the bar was a bit off, heh. Still I got it. One wonders if it would have been a struggle had I been slightly more careful with my shoulder prep before touching the bar (depress shoulders down and back, chest up!).

The ladder with the same weight after my PR was so casually done I was actually talking through one of the sets! This gradual volume increase with the press is really helping me along here. So is the shoulder/chest technique.

The incline also looked great today, with a full ladder completion for 155lbs. I was stoked about this, given the performance of the last two ladder attempts at the same weight.

The clean and jerk: I practiced the tips I received from Charles Staley about getting a wider squat and a faster, bouncier recovery from the catch. Read more about it here: http://www.startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showpost.php?p=123879&postcount=61

Only thing that went wrong? I forgot to set the aspect ratio of my camcorder to 4:3, and so you still see me stretched out nice and tall at 16:9.

Deadlift is up next.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Snatch
45x4
65x1x5
85x1x7

Power Clean
135,155,175x1

Deadlift
225x5

255x5
295x5
335x7 **new PR for reps** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVc2dtWaPzM
335x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z6Zytt40YM
335x1

HB Squat
135x5
225x3 (back was TIRED)

Front Squat
135x3 (still too tired)

Situps
BWx7 (back tired...)

Clean + Jerk
135x1
135x1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_FkTvUtxoM

Rolling, V-sits, Mountain-climbers.

Today was a great day. New rep max for my deadlift at 335x7. My back according to the filmer and the film itself, was pretty flat for a rep out. I was expecting major roundness like crazy for this rep max. Neither set showed significant back-rounding, which is great. My feet were once again hair width wider "if at all" than hip width. Chalk also helped tremendously but I only needed it for the top set which means my grip is improving. Again, I focused on torso tightness in the same manner as the press and backsquat. Looks like it helped a ton.

In hindsight, I should have gone for one more rep on the first set, rather than followed up with a triple. My back (lower back) was especially sore after that arrangement.

Tried following up with squatting - I wasn't comfortable squatting at all after the deadlift workout. Neither Front or HB squat got anywhere.

My Clean and Jerk weights were adjusted based on the deadlift workout. I concentrated on putting form into practice, given the load was light.

As of right now, my lower back is still sore. Damn. But great workout with the deadlift - new PR means good things.

Bench is coming up next.

[famendoza]

Snatch
65x3
95x1
115x1
125x1,0,1,1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=022PTunhZnw
135x0,0,0,0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2nRGjDSsQ4

Bench Press
115x5

140x5
160x5
180x7 **PR** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JucEu9uDm2o

180x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccm3bMD8sQo) (NICE)

Push Press
145x1,2,3,1,2,3(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVW-o5YeURI),1,2,5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_HMFd6ipcc) (NICE)

Kroc Row (both arms)
75x20 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67igKj3f9JI
75x10
75x5

Today's a mixed bag. On one hand my snatch performance revealed dysfunction I don't quite like. On the other hand my bench performance was great.

Snatch - The camera doesn't lie. I'm very unstable at the bottom at heavy weights and the 125lb snatches reveal that. The unstableness may be all mental, but I think its lack of commitment to the movement that makes it so. This reveals itself further in all my 135lb misses. Actually the first miss wasn't so bad - but the other misses were me not really trying to snatch. Kinda like, 'why bother' - which reflects badly on my attitude to these things. If its about getting scared I guess I should train to be less scared. But the fact is I actually got the form (not the snatch) on the first one, the other's were just really lame attempts. If I need to get comfortable to get the form right under heavier weight fine. But I still gotta go out and do it. Even if it means a day of failing while doing good form - let's shake out all the bugs, so to speak. Let's ask Charles.

Bench - looked great, which seems to confirm my lack of sleep has been holding me back. The rep max on 180x7 coupled with the excellent ladder execution shows good things. One thing - I noticed on my rep max video it looks like I'm impacted by the bar *downwards* on the eccentric, my whole body does a twitch down, and then I come back up. Looks like I'm slacking somewhere, and the impact is losing me reps.

Push Press also progressed nicely. Going to 155 next (ooh all time max press). Full ladder and I got a fiver at the end. Don't mind the girls ass, she was being an obvious attention ditz.

Kroc rows were good. The 20 rep surprised me after all the other stuff. Looks like I'm good to go for 80lbs next.

Squats are up.

[famendoza]

Snatch
95x1
115x1,1,0,1,1,1 (last two here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfHbWzdCGJ4)
125x1
135x1,1 145x0,0,0 (both 135 and last miss of 145 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqLI_fyMe1E)

Squats
135x5
220x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWWhqLGMY-k
255x5
285x8 *PR* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F98vipYiRag
285x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 (ladder 2 and 3 top rungs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQc7TTW_Mk4)

Today was an awesome day. Initially I had reservations as my sleep was not as optimal as the other days. I made it a point to focus just on the snatch and squat. It paid off.

The snatch got a lot of work today, and I was able to learn a cue that made 135 snatches much easier to handle. The cue was to think shrug as the 2nd pull arrived, and when thinking shrug, at once think pull under. The cue for the shrug was something I picked up in Greg Everett's book, but I was reminded by my good friend at the gym. It made a huge difference in terms of groove, confidence, and stability. I didn't have to do practice runs of the 135lbs snatches, what you see in the video is exactly what I executed. I tried 145lbs and on my last miss almost had the pattern down right - but I chalk the failure up to me needing to get stronger and more experienced. Great snatch day.

The squat was awesome. I remember a few cycles back I could barely do 2 reps for 285. Now I'm doing 8 reps which is a PR. Again, coulda woulda shoulda gone for an extra rep or two, but I'll leave it to the viewers to judge. The ladders made up the volume anyways. Again, used the same shoulder/chest up cue that I've been using for the other exercises (although the cue originated in the squat). Awesome squat day.

Wave 1 is done, Wave 2 pressing starts next week.

[Kincain]

hey nice famendoza, i'm jealous of you c&j! :)

[famendoza]

Warmup
C+J
65x4
95x1
135x1
155x1
175x1x2

Press
65x5

110x3
125x3
140x4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aytI7h_yaI

135x1,2,3,1,2,3(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI9zdsqUAEI),1,2,3

C+J
135x1
155x1,185x1,195x1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cNdhyjJ-LI

Incline Bench Press
165x1,1,2,1,2,1

Glute Ham Raise
BWx2x5 (weak)

Today was a decent day. I went above 3 reps for the 140lb press, although I admit the last one was a touch and go rep that was kinda hard. I tried for a fifth but I think I had a last minute twitch somewhere that halted that. The ladder I put together with 135 almost makes it seem sorta odd. The only hard rep in the ladder was the very last rep on the very last set. Oh well, we should be able to surpass 5/3/1 week nicely.

The clean and jerk portion with heavy singles was cool. I especially like the fact that my recovery on the clean is much improved (no pausing) and that the jerk portion for all lifts came out crisply. One of my training colleagues even mentioned it looked like I just did a push press, although in my vids no pressing can be seen; I take it he meant that it looked so easy I just flung it up. I like that. From this, I'm confident that my C+J to 205lbs and beyond will be more powerful and crisp.

The incline bench felt much like 155lbs felt a month ago - heavy. The weights I'm handling on the incline are slowly closing in on my flat bench #s. So I expect many challenging ladder encounters.

I just found out my gym had a Glute Ham Raise bench all along, in a completely different section of the gym - the machine section. I figure that's why I never saw it before - my affinity is way tuned for the barbell lifts. I'm kinda torn now between doing the 45° back extension and the GHR. To accommodate both, I'll just alternate weeks. Let's see if I remember to do that :)

Deadlift is up next.

[PVC]

I went above 3 reps for the 140lb press, although I admit the last one was a touch and go rep that was kinda hard. I tried for a fifth but I think I had a last minute twitch somewhere that halted that.

I thought you weren't supposed to go to failure for any of the lifts?

[famendoza]

I thought you weren't supposed to go to failure for any
of the lifts?

It happens. Especially if you misjudge the previous rep, like I did. I'm not ecstatic about it, but at least I know what I couldn't do that day, and it gives me a direction as to what I should reasonably expect on 5/3/1 day next week.

The reason that Wendler doesn't want failure is the reason most experienced trainees don't want it - it doesn't aid in practicing good form under intensity or setting up your mind in a state of confidence, which is required to lift heavy weights. Thankfully, the ladder setup I finished for 135lbs press made the 140 miss not look so bad in the overall picture of my training.

[famendoza]

Clean and Jerk
45x8
65x5
115x2
135x1
155x1
185x1,205x1,215x1 *PR*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADn8070ILmk

Deadlift
225x5 (overhand)

275x3 (hook) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b89CcHgD8Vg
315x3
355x6 *PR* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoHq-nH7_1k

315x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzxNEp3BqzI

Front Squat
95x3
145x3
185x2
205x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZUfgqZ9Nd8

Situps (declined slightly)
BWx2x10 (running out of time)

Knees to Elbows
BWx3

Today was perhaps the best day of all cycles I've had so far. TWO PRs IN THE DEADLIFT AND THE CLEAN AND JERK. Back to Back.

I was energized in the gym for some reason. I started with an warmup that for some reason just kicked up the energy, then immediately went straight to testing my PRs for Clean and Jerk. I finally managed to get a good 205 C+J, it happened twice but the second one in the vid has NO pressout. And then I attempted 215. The first attempt failed, but my second attempt was much more successful, once I got over my fear of coming down. It was harder to recover than most, and I didn't think I'd make the jerk, but something told me I was gonna make it. And I did! The energy definitely showed there. Also - I can now officially put over my head more than I could ever bench (210 bench vs 215 jerk). Isn't that crazy?!

It didn't stop there. The deadlift I warmed up with an easy 225x5 overhand, went to hook grip for my first wave 2 set. For the top set I was determined that if I was gonna make just 3 it was a decent day, if I was gonna make 4-5 it was a good day, and above 5 was a great day. I made six reps. What's funny is that the video shows a back position slightly WORSE than my 335x7, yet my lower back did not ache AT ALL. In fact it felt more like my hamstrings were doing most of the work. This was great, since I was expecting legendary soreness from this set.

The lack of lower back soreness allowed me to attempt to do a follow up deadlift ladder with 315. According to my colleague (who was gracious enough to help me film - he was great help), all of my 315lb deadlifts had flat backs, no rounding at all. I'll let you judge the film.

I was also able to do a Front squat ladder. This one is where a lot of my mobility problem are exposed. Dunno if this is due to my hamstring flexibility but I exhibited alot of tuck under in my hips. Also, a lot of hip leading which meant a lot of the time my chest would wobble slightly downwards and you can see that in the vid. Time to get cracking at getting better here.

Abs, well, I felt I was running out of time so I tried doing situps to see if I would expose any lower back problems. None occurred so I was validated :). I also was shown how to do knees to elbows, and tried it for 3 reps. Interesting, and kinda fun.

All in all it was a great day, and it will be hard to top. I already foresee bench being a big letdown, but we'll see. Bench is up next.

[ColoWayno]

That looked like a nice job on those C&J's to my untrained eye. It looks like your lock-out at the top is really snappy.
Once I get my power clean out of rehab I might just have to try these.

[famendoza]

Warmup

Snatch
45x5
65x2x3
95x2x2
115x2x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKO-5--rJf4

Bench
115x5
135x5

150x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyRoVsHXctQ
170x3
190x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq3sOJ_cUI0

185x1,2,3,1,2,3(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvkx7cENDIg),1,2,3 (last rep HARD)

Push Press

135x1 (crap)
135x2 (crappier)
155x0 (damn - and felt dizzy)

Yeah, today was decent. I managed to nail "going down" on the snatch warmup. Even with 115 I always felt a little apprehension just going down, I'd always pause catch, then resume going down. I think I'm getting over that.

The bench was good, although I didn't get a PR. The top set, my right wrist had a twitch on the fifth rep and immediately felt like I added 20lbs to the bench. My ladder immediately afterwards was a mixed bag, some parts of the 1st and 2nd ladder felt good. The last ladder wasn't crisp. Will redo this ladder.

Worst hit was the push press. Somehow I did not recover well from the last workout because here I could barely do 135, and 155 on rack got me dizzy. I notice that if I get dizzy during a workout (like I did on my last 5/3/1 day for deadlift), I probably didn't get enough sleep, or there is some other recovery issue. I did feel sluggish throughout the whole day.

The good news is the bench went up. Bad news is that it wasn't a PR.

Squats are up next.

[famendoza]

Snatch
65x3
95x1x3 (tired...)

Squats
135x5
205x3

235x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTHAH-Kv3eY
270x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfzhwgVDOk
300x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TY5o1nT0_o
300x1,2

High Bar Squats
135x3
225x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTpfcYYV-Ss
245x2
265x2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxFrFDpqUds
275x1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHpgDnOSLpE

Boy, talk about a change in intensity! The tired feeling that came about near the end of the Bench session on Wednesday carried over to Friday. I first felt it in the snatches - they felt way too heavy and I was having form inconsistencies at 95lbs, so I cut off training for that.

The squat was surprisingly the only lift this week with NO repmax. Usually its the press or the deadlift, followed by the bench. The squat is usually a reliable old friend but Friday - no way. The last rep in the 300x3 was an example of not keeping the torso tight and relying on raising the chest to finish the rep.

The high-bar squat did not go unscathed - 255x5 was done almost 3 weeks ago, and 265x2 I found very difficult, and 275 felt like I just barely got it. The camera doesn't capture well the feeling of nervousness I had with that lift.

During Friday's session I was also helping a new member of the Adelaide club get acquainted with good deadlift form. I gave him a basic rundown
- feet hip width apart
- shins close to bar
- grip bar, shoulders down and back, chest up
- bar close to body at all times, during lift
- stand up straight

and had him perform the deadlift several times. His biggest challenge was to stand up straight - his previous reps looked like unfinished reps before lockout. His form improved, but he needed to reduce weight to do a set of 5. Good chum, hope to run into others looking to learn.

Let's see how 5/3/1 week unfolds. Press is up next.

[famendoza]

Warmup
P Clean
45x6
65x5

Full Clean
115x1x3

Press
115x5
130x3
130x1 (to test readiness)
145x4 *PR* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU1mqVUZCu4
150x2 ****PR****
150x1,150x2*WOW*,150x1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3JYB-L23JA

ladder:
135x1,2,2(yeah, fooled around here not ready),
135x1,2,3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Hj3BDTqv8
135x1,2,3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vld2brpaqJU

Incline Bench Press
135x2
155x1
165x1,2,2,1,1 (not strong enough)

Today was an AMAZING day compared to my squat day. The press got not one but TWO PRs, one of which I was able to duplicate twice so that I could get it on video. Plus the help of a cute girl. I also credit the good night's rest I had yesterday.

The warm-up was needed, I felt kinda cranky and stiff coming into this session, and I thought it was gonna be a big bleh like the squat day. The first set 115x5 was not as fresh as expected. 130x3 was much better. Got the girl to come down from front desk to be a muse. Redid 130 for 1, then got setup for 145. Nailed it for 4 reps although the last one was a grinder - and it was a genius idea to have a girl there as motivation, oui? PR for reps. I kept her there afterward for the 150lb attempts. Yes, I actually broke Wendler's rule about not fucking with the schedule, because I had already completed 145 as a 5/3/1 top set last month. This month I surpassed it and I was feeling good, so I went ahead and got a double for 150lbs. PR for reps.

I was completely wrapped up in getting the press and talking to the girl, that I had forgotten to video the historic event. So I decided to redo it. The first time I got a grinder cause I didn't rest enough after the 150x2. The second one was after a long convo with the girl. That got me my 150x2 on camera. The last one I thought I had it but I only got one rep. Still - I'm only 5lbs away from my all time 1 RM effort for the press. So I've gotten stronger on the press with this program, and the ladders have helped me practice quality reps for strength, which I believe was a major factor in getting stronger in the press.

The first ladder was funny. Before the third rung of the first ladder, I decided that I wanted to throw a 9KG ball up in the air as high as i could for 6-7 times. Also I decided I wanted to do push-ups with floor handle bars for a set of 10. Then I decided it would be a good time to start my triple. Nope.

The other two ladders #2 and #3 exhibited good form, but what was interesting to me was that I wasn't thinking of good form or the cues other than the initial setup. Instead, I was thinking of the push up as a straight push from the shoulders to above my head. almost as if I was pushing up a smith machine. I thought I had the bar forward of my head, since I didn't perceive myself going under the bar. Surprisingly, those presses were the EASIEST TO EXECUTE. And more surprisingly, I WAS doing good form, head going under the bar as soon as it passes the forehead. In addition, I felt the triceps and forearm activated in a way I had not ever felt. I perceived the activation as helping the press be evenly pressed up, not one side slacking at all. Even though it was done slowly, it just went up. I need to restudy this and re-practice, because this may mean good things - I just need to package this up as a cue for myself. The shoulders down (gravity pulling my shoulders down) and chest up were the first part of good setup. This pressing part may be the next thing.

The incline bench presses were once again tough at 165lbs. I'll give it another go the next cycle. The fact is that I got 2 PRs on the press, the most notoriously horrible exercise to get any PRs in.

Deadlift is up next

[famendoza]

Warmup

Clean and Jerk
45x6
65x4
115x1x3
145x1
165x1
185x1,1,1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVvDLc2VAcM

Deadlift

225x3
275x3

295x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kgd8krsr5c
335x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RTt6w_UvwI
375x3, 375x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sz5p_i4ePI

ladder
335x1,2,3
335x1,2,3
335x1,2,3
(Top rungs of last two ladders here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBzLnaRiwEE)
335x1

Front Squat
95x3
145x3
195x2
215x2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqd0f9ZfZIs
215x3

Today was a great day. The clean and jerks were good warm-up as I was feeling a bit drowsy today, and they somehow woke me up. The 185lb C+J were done quickly, although the recovery could have been better. Jerk part was better than clean.

The deadlifts were the main event. 295x5 felt alright, 335x3 felt harder, and the first set of 375x3 was hard. I was kind of pissed after I found out some dude had walked into most of my first set. It got me so fired up I came up with enough reserve energy to do another 375x3!! The last rep on that was VERY slow.

The deadlift ladder was very much improved upon. In the latter sets, I found a better grip than I had gotten in all my previous sets (including the top sets). Somehow my fingers decided to be better grippers, and most of the grip was in my fingers and not my palm, yet no slippage (common to my hands prior) was present. The final ladder was me just wanting to pull 335 once, since the weight was just there. Somehow I don't think 375x3 was representative of what I could do, but I'll settle for it - it's way better than the 365x1 of last month for 5/3/1 week. Also once again the top set did not make my lower back feel sore at all - just a mild tiredness. The hamstrings and adductors took alot of soreness. Good stuff.

Front Squats were different. Hard still with 215, but I chose to squat with a much wider knee angle from the hip, as opposed to slightly inclined from midsection. I felt a mild stretch above my knees but my back managed to stay in good form for the most part. My new problem is my stomach muscles not always being strong enough to support the front part of the rack. The second rep in 215x2 says it all.

Good day for the deadlift. Could have been better but still good is better than decent. Front squats are not getting as much volume. Need to fix this - either make deadlift ladders smaller or come up with a different volume scheme for front squats.

5/3/1 Bench is up next.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Snatch 65x5, 95x3

Snatch
115x1x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_jsN4J6xjM
135x0
115x0 (darn...)

Bench
45x10
115x5
135x5

160x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsVpeHQa_Eo
180x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwlTZR1WBWI
200x3, 200x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osg3rYZ07vY

ladder
185x1,2,3
185x1,2,3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpbJBNn1xf8
185x1,2,3 (last couple of reps hard)

Push press
155x1,2,2,0,0 (oops...)

Today was a good day for the bench. The snatch suffered a bit, I'm betting the ladder for the deadlift on monday following my 375x3x2 was not the best idea. More to come on that.

Snatch came in feeling strong, but petered out pretty quickly as 115 came. 135 just felt way too heavy. Heck even 115 felt heavy afterwards. Just not quick enough.

Bench came in strong and stayed strong. No rep max for 200lbs, but two sets of triples is good considering the recovery wasn't good from Monday. My only problem is that I'm starting to doubt my technique - I actually bench reps differently in the first few reps of 160 and then a different way (tucking my elbows in) on the last couple of reps. I sort of repeated the same thing on 180. 200 was all about what pattern I trained for, and I managed to get two triples, but I just didn't feel comfortable about the form used. I feel too loose, even when attempting to get as tight as possible. A spotter was used to unrack the bar on both my 200lbs attempts.

I did a ladder with 185lbs - in retrospect I probably should have stuck with something about 80% of the 210 mark. The ladder was completed but it was hard - it shouldn't have been - all the reps should have been crisp. I'm really using this to build volume and somehow it feels misused at this point. Reps are harder to come. I'll reduce the ladder load to whatever (75%-80% of the training max) and keep it there for all weeks minus deload.

The ladder may have affected my ability to perform the push press with any decent weight. I'm betting its the same story with Monday's incline press. Moving the percentage down will probably have a beneficial effect. Having said that - I'm using push pressing and incline pressing as assistance. I may be too concerned about increasing poundage here.

I'll adjust intensity changes downward with the ladder - it should be no more than 80% of my training max - probably safer to do it at 75%. I should probably be more conservative on scheduling ladders - it may be just the first week and the second week, no third or 4th week ladders. It may also be a good thing to just feel out second week and adjust volume downwards if need be. And assistance weights should be loaded to useful weight values; I shouldn't be forced to play catchup with assistance.

Squat is up next.

[famendoza]

Snatch
65x3
95x2
115x2
125x1x2
135x1x2
145x0
145x1x3 *PR* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el-C2FQbsmI
155x0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOwBlwtqZkI
155x0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJHX6mJTXtE
155x0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9L78f8OPH0

Squats
135x5
225x3

255x5
285x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4U6S5QuMUI
320x2 (with a miss) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2b1IA5uLBw

High Bar ladder:
245x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHJY1LL5HX4

Today was a good day. The squat left much to be desired (I've gotten weaker perhaps?), but my snatch went up.

The snatch felt way better and snappier than Wednesday. Highly likely it had much to do with recovery of the traps from deadlifts on Monday. The 145lb snatch is a new PR, that I was able to replicate 3 times. The very first time I performed the snatch at 145, the second and third pull were snappy, and the squat stable. You can see that in the video, the very first snatch at 145, my feet barely move off the floor but the hip snap was hard. I almost felt like I banged the bar with my hips, but I didn't or it would have been caught in front of me. I tried 155lbs attempts, but that was a greedy mindset and gravity taught me a lesson. The failures are good though, in that I know I need to get stronger in the 2nd pull again, I didn't stop squatting as I did the shrug.

The squat was a different story. Basically my hamstrings were tired (the backs of my legs felt leaden on the top set) although this did not make itself known until the top set. The 255x5 felt alright, 285x3 felt heavier than usual, and 320x2 felt SUPER heavy. I went for a third rep and BAM fail. I should have racked it after the 2nd. I don't like to go for failure and the 2nd one was a struggle that should have indicated to end the set. I will need to stop squeezing out reps if there's grind preceeding them.

High Bar was a refreshing change, although my knees felt achy immediately afterwards (and dissipated afterwards as well). It was made clear to me that if I don't have control of the thorax, I begin to immitate a tree about to topple forward. On one of my reps, I am actually on my toes for about 1 second before I put my heels down again. My abs/back weren't tight enough. But I fixed that later on. There's still a little bobbing action I want to get rid off.

Deload week comes up. Not a minute too soon.

[famendoza]

Snatch
45x5
95x2x3
115x1x3
135x1x4 (I liked my catches)
155x0x3 (poop..)

Clean&Jerk
135x1
185x1

Clean (too tired for some reason)
185x1x2

Press
80x5
95x5
110x5

Deadlift
200x5 (double overhand)
240x5 (double overhand)
275x5 (hook)

Exhibition for floor dude's mom:
C&J 135x1, 185x1 (jerk was all over the place), 185x1 (better!)
Press 95x1 (show her technique to acquire proper back tightness)
Squat 95x1 (show her exercise from which I learned the technique to acquire proper back tightness)
Snatch 95x1x2

Today was a deload, although I had planned to duplicate at 215 C&J. After I tried 185lbs I reconsidered. The 135lb snatches went up alright, but 155lbs was a no go again. The press was good, and I focused on slow correct movement. The deadlifts at 275 should have been attempted double overhand before committing to hook grip.

After I finished I finally met with floorguy (he's one of the floor male staff at Adelaide Club in downtown TO) and his mom. He had been instructing her on lifts, including the C&J and the power snatch (her knees prevent her from dropping into squat position). She had pretty good technique for someone who just started. We talked and I helped give her a big tip on how to keep upper back tightness. Mainly:
1) stand up straight, head forward
2) slowly push down shoulders towards floor. Don't roll your shoulders forward, just bring them down vertically
3) While your shoulders are down, raise the chest. Think of tilting the bottom of your ribcage up slightly. You should feel tightness in your upper torso and shoulders, and the lateral portion of your traps should feel a slight stretching sensation.

This effectively leads to scapulae retracted and tight, and chest up, which is the upper back position required to squat (low bar) and overhead press properly. In addition, this aids pulling technique as the shoulders are as low as they can go when tension occurs prior to the pull. This means there is no slack as you pull, which you do not want as it lower your ability to exhibit power in the shrug (should you be doing the snatch and the clean&jerK). The technique is also helpful in the deadlift, as slack should be eliminated prior to the lift to remove components which deform as you pull upwards before the bar reaches the knees.

I was able to show demonstrate this cue and its usefulness for floorguy's mom for the clean and the snatch. She remarked how her own trainer had not mentioned anything but raise chest, which only gave her the appearance of a tight back without taking into account scapulae retraction, and that my technique was more tight - paraphrasing "it was like night and day". She alluded to the fact that the trainer was emphasizing more on conditioning than form. I mentioned that conditioning was a more advanced form, and that perhaps form should be looked at more closely before advancing further into conditioning.

I hope she takes the lessons she learns here and applies them to her workouts; performing movements for conditioning without honing good form is a path towards injuries and as a mature female, she runs a greater risk.

Either way, it was enjoyable to actually be able to demonstrate the skills I had learned; her ability to pick up what I taught her quickly, seemed to validate my ability to be competent wrt lifting and communicate effectively in the gym. I hope to get more opportunities to do this, it's enjoyable. Floorguy and his mom left afterward, I packed up and left as well.

[famendoza]

Clean
45x5
65x4
135x1x3

Clean and Jerk
155x1x2
185x1 (just clean)

185x1,195x1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yswipXYW9SA
205 (missed clean)
205x1 (just clean)
205x1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEPka5QC13I
205x1 (miss)

Bench press
105x5x3 (I tried different forms)
130x5
150x5 (tried a different form based on my 105)

Squat
135x5

170x5
205x5
235x5x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLGB7uAI40Q

Today was a continuation of my deload for the Bench and the Squat. I thought I was gonna try a PR C&J but twas not meant to be.

I was cleaning, and then I attempted my first C&J with 155lbs. The eccentric to my shoulders quickly became PAINFUL. I tested just a press with 60lbs and it confirmed that I had VERY sore triceps. No idea why, just that they were VERY sore, and I only felt the exquisite soreness on the eccentric. It took me a few minutes before I redid the 155lbs, and once again soreness coming down.

I decided that since I wasn't gonna pull PR, I was gonna test the low hip position for the clean. You can see for yourself, but I found that the low hip allowed the bar to be caught and racked earlier, and with higher elbows than my attempts in the previous week. It took a bit of getting used to though. It just seems to put the bar in the right place for the 2nd pull without having me lock my knees at all. I also did not feel thrown forward as I suspected I might with a lower hip position (which necessitates more forward knees, more acute angle of the knees and possible a more forward bar position). For 185 and 195 the bounce at the bottom came great. The 205 example there's a bit of a pause, but no more elbows dipped down. I think I'll train more of the lower hipped pulls for the clean. I suspect I will get mileage for this lift, and the snatch. Even with sore triceps the lockouts of the jerks did not seem to bug me, but the eccentrics were HORRIBLE.

The bench, I think I'm going to settle with an arc for pressing off the chest. I tried it with 150 (after giving my scapulae locked cue to myself), and even with amazing triceps soreness that I had, I was able to stabilize the humeral angle and not feel my elbow wobble. Having said that I'm practicing form with 150lbs so I'll test its effectiveness on Wednesday (bench day).

The squat, I focused on my shoulders down, scapulae locked cue, which held the bar nice and tightly. The other cue was a push out of the torso and a rigid lower back position, which made the squat easy to bounce. I felt the bounce in both the hammies and adductors, so I know I'm on the right path. Tried this for 3 sets.

In my cleaning session, there was another guy who made lifts as well. He liked my form for the clean, but had issues with my snatch form. It isn't up to par, so I figure I better address the two biggest concerns he had:
- too much of a curve in the catch area
- not finishing the pull, making my hips cross the frontal plane to bang into the bar.

Also, while I was benching and squatting I had a beer - a light beer a Heineken. There was a fancy function there that I crashed (in smelly gym clothes to boot) - the guy who was cleaning weight with me was also the DJ for the function. Girls were, as usual, dressed incredibly provocative and generally traipsing around. All in all cool, met with the director of the club had a chat, will probably train with him. Seemed excited, and I like more training partners.

Cycle 6 coming up!

[Beltshumeltz]

285x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4U6S5QuMUI
320x2 (with a miss) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2b1IA5uLBw


I'm surprised how fast you come down on the 285x3 warmups. I actually rewinded to see you unracking the bar to see if you had it on fast-forward.

[famendoza]

I'm surprised how fast you come down on the 285x3 warmups. I actually rewinded to see you unracking the bar to see if you had it on fast-forward.

Yep. IIRC I just wanted to get that set over with to spend quality time with the 320lb squat. Didn't happen since I was an idiot that week and went overboard with the laddering of my deadlifts (335lbs for 1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3/1).

[famendoza]

I just realized my snatch is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO slow. Look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAxoSvRXY9w

and then look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el-C2FQbsmI

I'm like stuck in molasses compared to the 2-3rd pull of Brent there!

[Beltshumeltz]

But he was obviously doing his first set in a high-G planet, given the speed at which the bar bounced on the floor. His other sets however were surely on Earth.

[famendoza]

But he was obviously doing his first set in a high-G planet, given the speed at which the bar bounced on the floor. His other sets however were surely on Earth.

I don't think he sped the tape up if that's what you're implying. The difference between the speed of the first pull and the 2nd/3rd is significant, in stark contrast to my own. And the speed of his first pull matches my own.

I want that speed.

[famendoza]

Warmup

Clean
45x8
Snatch
45x5
Snatch balance
45x5

Press
65x5

105x6 (wasn't counting...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DXUA0-G7_0
120x5
135x5 (wasn't happy with last rep being so grindy) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6mLYHP1qdI
135x1
135x6 *PR* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtaA3FE3XKg

press ladder (load between 75%-80% of training max)
125x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3/3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIbixtw6bhc

Incline
135x1
155x1, miss (lol, stood up to a clean rack)

GHR
BWx5x3

Today was a good day. Press form was my main goal as I knew the reps were in the bag for this press wave.

The press at 105lbs overall had an even tempo, but the bar path seemed to degrade a bit on reps 4-6 (wasn't counting and did an extra rep). This degradation was more pronounced on the first 135x5 set on the last two reps (the 4th rep on 135 is equal to my 6th rep on 105) with the last being the worst. I retried the top set after a bit of a break and got six reps for a rep PR, with reps 1-5 being even with only very slight degradation, and the sixth rep being a grinder and a bit sloppy in form, although better than my 5th rep on the first set, arguably.

The ladder was a good chance to practice the form without worrying about grinding efforts, and I was able to setup better and practice getting the bar path nearly vertical. The last set demonstrates this, and there is consistency on the bar path DOWN as much as UP.

The incline bench press was a no go. Tried 135 for a warm up, then tried 155lbs and on my second rep I couldn't press it. I was stuck without a spotter! Luckily, the load was "light" enough that instead of just hanging around till somebody helped, I set my elbows up parallel to the ground, racket the bar, CURLED my body off the inclined bench, so that I was on the seat in clean rack position, and stood up. I was just lucky I could essentially get my torso tight enough, and have enough power in my hips to curl my body to vertical.

Did GHR with a few sets, to get accustomed to the motion again. I hate the fact that my heels come off the back plate, and I'm just on my toes as my body comes up. I'll have to fix this situation somehow - or just go back to the 45 degree back extensions.

Deadlift is up next.

[famendoza]

Clean
45x6
65x5
95x1x3
135x1x2
155x1x2
185x1x3

C&J
185x1x2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqrYymESs3Y

Deadlift
225x5

265x5
305x5
345x5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYP4PJ2n1lE

295x1/2/3/1/2/3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwa9Aig4Myo

Today was a decent day. There was no rep max on the deads.

I practiced the low hip clean, however the 185lb cleans were very heavy. The jerks I tried moving my hands a bit farther but it felt very uncomfortable although I could do it. Will experiment.

The deadlift itself was heavy throughout. I just felt flat after the cleans, and the 305 dead was heavier than it should have been. The 345lb deadlift was not the best deadlift session I've had, but I've had worse and I fulfilled my reps so it was decent. No grind per se, just a slowness throughout the whole thing. My grip was slightly weaker than my back today, and my hands would open up near the top.

The ladder immediately following was not grinding at all (reps were fast), but I could feel myself and my hands get tired. I left the training area after the second ladder - I didn't want to continue training while feeling flat.

As I was talking to one of the ladies at the gym I didn't feel my usual confident self. Too much 'guess so', 'maybe', 'might look into it'. Very weird.

Bench is up next.

[famendoza]

Warmup

Snatch till 115
Snatch Balance
65x3
95x3
115x1
105x1
95x2

Bench
115x5
135x5

140x5
160x5
185x5,185x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1feyg6t4lBg
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1feyg6t4lBg)
Bench ladder
160x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3

Push press
95x3x2
135x2
155x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzfhCFecXK4

Bench day was decent today. No rep PRs on the bench, even though I tried twice.

The snatch was up to 115lbs nothing major. I tried the snatch balance but I guess I'm just scared to drop the barbell - I should stop being scared since it's OK to do that. I found that 95lbs was fine, but 105 became a challenge and I didn't want to drop down. Funny that I have snatched 145lbs but 105 on the snatch balance is a problem. It does expose my unwillingness to drop down, and my inability to remain in balance when I do so.

The bench technique I focused on today was keeping the humeral angle the same while keeping shoulder blades down and retracted and keeping tight on decent. The area where the barbell touched was the lower portion of my sternum, close to the belly. The arch between the low position and the top position of the barbell wasn't consistent as the weights got heavier. This is something I have to practice. I like this as I don't feel weird in my shoulder as much.

I got practice with the 160lb ladder. What I found out was if I grip a certain way, the lift become way easier, and faster on the concentric. I wish I could say just that my grip was tighter, but maybe more so that I had some "punch" that I have to conceptualize as a technique cue.

Push press finally got somewhere with 155lbs. Had to overcome occasional "perception" problems (no worries, no fainting). My concern is that my form on the push press was me going on my toes and is on the verge of becoming a jerk. I don't remember if I locked my legs once the extension was done, or if there was a tiny dip afterward. There are occasionally moments where the press is easy. I need to replicate this.

Squat is up next.

[famendoza]

Warmup

Snatches, various singles of 65 and 95lbs - checking form since I didn't feel "explosive"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aI4WaNvlsM

Squat
135x5
185x5

225x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsXOUhi1I28
260x5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nylEMtFKKuw
295x6 *PR* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-vTo5f8lDE

Squat ladder:
260x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEOHwCGhvng

Friday, I felt rather sick - caught a cold dunno how, but it's a cold (I'm feeling weak today on Saturday, achy joints, my movements feel so soft and delicate as if I've aged like 900 years and I need someone to guide me to the sponge bath. And that someone isn't a hot eastern euro nurse).

I didn't feel at all like wanting to test out my snatch limit, so I focused on getting as many reps of 65 and 95lbs and seeing what my form from the side looks like. As I started off, I kept swinging the bar out. Bringing it closer deliberately feels "off" but that's expected given my lack of training in that section, plus being sick. The more vertical the bar though, the more unstable I felt in the catch. I tried to go fast, and keep the bar close, but all I manage to do is jump REALLY high. If you were to see my videos, you'll note I even once do the dreaded schoolgirl donkey kick. It's like I'm going WEEEEEEEE, when I try to keep the bar close. I'm also not leaning enough. The few times I get the position right (lean back, pull back and close, and feet actually jump back not too high), the bar path looks clean.

The squats are now posing a new challenge. The upper body taken care of (the bar was locked down on all sets), the new challenge is my hip tucking, which really is a result of sacrificing lower back tightness, for greater depth. I never examined it till now (and my back hadn't given me any problems during the squat at all even till now), but there is major rounding going on. As my worksets go on (225->295) the rounding gets worse. The 225 ones are closer to the spectrum of tight back (and they actually did feel good too, like I was using my ass to come up), whereas the 295, I felt a TON of hamstring pressure on the ascent, which didn't translate into a quick concentric.

I've attached my pics for 225 and 295 (first rep for each set) - so that I can investigate the root cause of this.

Same deal with the 260lb squat ladder. The squats sprung up a little better, most likely due to it being a lower weight, than an improvement in mechanics. Hip tuck is my new defect to squash.

Having said that a PR for reps for 295. Could be pointing in the right direction in terms of programming - I can rep out in spite of my dysfunctional squat mechanics and my being sick and chilly.

Wave 2 pressing coming up!

[famendoza]

Been sick on the weekend and up to Monday. Common cold - although it felt like a flu with all the chills I got. Didn't feel strong coming in to the gym. This was another gym, not the usual Adelaide club, but Eclipse at Yonge and Eglinton for you Torontonians.

Press
45x5x3
65x5
95x3
105x3 (oops thought this was my start set. nope!)

110x3
130x3
145x3 (tough last rep)
145x1 (tough single)

P.Clean
135x3x2

Full Clean
155x1x3
185x1x3

Deadlift
225x3 (overhand)
275x3 (hook)

285x3
325x3
365x3 (tough last rep, though not as tough as my last press rep)
365x1,1,1 (just wanted to feel it in my hands)

C+J
135x1x5

So basically because I came in sick and weak, I just stuck to the schedule. I added a few reps with the top set weight, but I really was feeling like a big failure, as if pushing myself was gonna make me collapse into an abyss of no return. Sticking to the schedule was the only thing that was stuck in my mind - no matter how tough, how much of a bitch, shrew, trifling creature the weight felt like, the schedule would be met.

No videos were taken cause some jackass was complaining about it in a passive aggressive manner, and I didn't want my mental energy to be focused about confrontation with some dude, although it made me feel mad and wanting to punish something. If I wasn't gonna be able to camcord it, I sure as fuck am gonna lift it. I wasn't prepared for conflict with another person, but I sure was gonna conflict with the bar.

Funny thing is, afterwards we talked and I just felt cool again. He seemed interested in what I was doing, so we talked and I yapped away my lifestory as if I was addressing a high school kid on why I enjoy lifting and what my goals are. I was candid about what I wanted to achieve, how I was going about it, and why I didn't freak that I looked slightly pear-like, cause I wanted to get strong, and I actually enjoyed lifting weightt. I love the process, it makes me feel like as going through it isn't going through the motions, but rather achieving something monumental even if objectively it's likely I'll just reach average strength levels. It'll be my accomplishment and no one will be able to take it away from me. I can change, I can adapt, I can lead my way into whatever program, template or training method I can use for lifting weights. And the process is fun for me, even if it doesn't necessarily accomplish things (or even if I fail) I can always take something away.

After all that we parted ways, I did a couple of clean and jerks and hit the showers. No video means no coming back here, but maybe on a deload.

I enjoy NOT having to upload videos for this log entry - I hate waiting hours for this stuff. I do like video taking and the result, since I can look at myself and see what I'm doing wrong, whether I'm lying to myself or telling myself the truth about my form or posture. Youtube is WAY slow on uploads.

I may combine squatting and benching - I'm running out of days to actually train at night. Next week is looking like a nightmare - so 5/3/1 week may also just stick to the schedule.

[famendoza]

Warmup

Cleans
45x6
95x1x6
Snatch pulls
95x4

Bench
45x10
115x5
135x4

150x3,170x3,195x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiRqis0Gh54

Today was a pretty short day. Still recovering from my illness this past weekend, so I felt good that I was able to stick to the schedule without it all falling apart. So far I'm liking the new bench form, which is a little closer grip, since it allows me to keep the humeral angle cool, which makes my shoulders not feel awkward. The lower part of my sternum is the target on the eccentric. The only trouble was the very last rep of the triple for 195lbs, the arms went uneven, but I carried through. I think it was also problematic since I stopped actually focusing on the concentric - that was bad and I'll remember to think "push up". The form was still good with a minimum of impact (there's still some residual impact as I lower the bar). Overall nice, quick and left the gym in like half an hour.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Snatch
45x4
65x3
95x3
115x2
115x2
135x0x3

Squat *IMPROVEMENT IN HIP FORM*
135x6
185x6
225x3

240x3
275x3
310x3
310x2x2
(all 5/3/1 squats - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_lmVeG42JQ )
265x3

So today was a good day. I only did the reps on the schedule, but did a few more sets with the top weight at a reduced density (doubles).

The snatches are still being bar forward. I'm just practicing getting that bug out of my system and getting the bar to come up instead of around and up. I could not do this with 135lbs but I don't know if this is because of fatigue involved with my sickness, or crappy technique. The snatch misses with 135lbs were incredibly frustrating - it's like a bully that seems to sneer and kick me when I'm down. Only when I'm feeling at my best, like I could explode the world, does the bar submit to my command. Hate that, and I want this cold (and coughing up of phlegm) to be over with.

The squats were a much better story. For has been improved specially in regards to the hips. You'll notice a much reduced tucking on the eccentric. This was due to me trying to bounce of the bottom instead of keeping my back tight and bouncing off the hamstrings. The hamstring bounce I haven't gotten used to yet. In fact there's another muscle that didn't feel used today - the adductor. The reason I say not included is because I didn't feel them being used during the movement, and I suspect this has a lot to do with why my 310lb squats were grinding on the last reps of each set completed. My abs were probably also not as tight, my evidence being the slight rounding of the back in the latter reps. Keeping adductors and abs tight will be a factor of improvement after this cycle.

My perception of depth in those squats was challenged by the camera. Prior to the camera, I did not feel as though I was getting deep enough until I touched my calves. The camera today told me otherwise, that I was in fact going too deep and sacrificing lower back tightness for depth. I was going deep enough (just breaking parallel) once I fixed the hip issue, although as I did more reps I'd get a little bit sloppy and add depth by rounding. Again, keeping tighter and less time between reps is what I need to focus on. The hips were a much needed improvement. We'll see how I can improve them as cycles go on.

5/3/1 week is coming up Sunday. Starting with the press.

[famendoza]

Warmup
Clean&Jerk
45x5
95x1x3
145x1x2
165x1
185x1
195x1

Press
95x5

120x5
135x3
150x1,1,0 (all 5/3/1 presses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4bqeKRZgz4)
115x3 (slow - just going through the movement pattern)

Dips
BWx5 (pussed out - NOT TIGHT ENOUGH)
BWx10
BWx12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvIOlESsgRU
BWx8 (failed last rep)

So the lack of PRs carries on this week. I feel like a little kid who was promised a steamroller for hard work digging up a garden with vigor, but ends up getting a shovel and told to do more hard work.

The warmup was a clean. I just went with singles until 195lbs. I felt as if I didn't do at least bodyweight on the clean and jerk, I wouldn't know if I was ready to press the weight I was scheduled to press. I just needed the jerk part to confirm I could support something heavy overhead. Also I hadn't practiced the clean and jerk in a while and didn't want it to backslide like a fat dude on a waterslide in reverse.

The 5/3/1 press was an unsure doubtful beast. I thought for a minute the bar had actually told me 'I have a doubt' and bobbled itself a bit on the racks. Nevertheless, I carried the press schedule out. The plan was to go for a double again, meeting my all time rep max of 150x2, but it was not to be. In fact I only get 150 ONCE this cycle, as compared to the last cycle which I managed to get two doubles on 150. It's as if I was demoted from garbage truck driver to garbage picker - the garbage was still picked up, but I got waayy too close to the smelly stuff instead of relaxing in the nice cushy truck cab. The bar was farther out in the 150lb attempts, and in the last attempt my wrists said 'not tonight honey'. REJECT. Elbows - goddamn elbow. They need to be setup properly or the drive goes awry like a drunk near a cliff.

The dips almost made me lose my faith in strength training. On the other hand it solidified my position that I have crappy upper body strength, so there's a plus. The first set I only did 5 because for some reason I had forgotten to TIGHTEN UP, which would probably have netted me a set a of 10. The next sets I did tighten up and progression was as scattershot as a shotgun in Resident Evil. The third set was my best set, but probably because I got scared in my second set of the burning sensation my muscles were giving me. Almost on cue, as if the universe wanted to defy my expectations after I gleefully set them, I had planned on meeting 12 reps again and instead got 8 reps on my final set and failed the last rep.

So I have two things I have to work on - upper body strength, and bar path execution. Right now my dips are in 'weaker than a starving kid in Somalia' land. Ladders need to be climbed, rep maxes need to go up, and I need to eat, sleep and lift smarter.

Deadlift is up next.

[famendoza]

http://powerandbulk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=46570&sid=e07317423ef5e2f029e799ba382a1c7d

Lots of good stuff in this thread. Basically - is the constant push to progressively increase load in strength training, or for that matter weight training, a bad thing in the long-haul? There are a couple of other threads where musulman addresses that very question on powerandbulk. I know consensus isn't king, but I'd be dishonest if the commentary isn't a catalyst in rethinking my approach to training. I've had changes of gears in training modes for the past 15 years (martial arts, to weight training), and although all were exciting as a new Christmas toy or a transformers toy as a kid, their suck factor really made me question my own sanity in joining them. I notice I have a lot less patience for sticking with annoying things - things that make me want to crawl under my bedsheets and lie there to avoid - as I get older. In some ways I regret not having known about strength training till now, and not taking advantage of being young dumb and determined when I was doing karate (did that shit for 8-9 years) and swapping in strength training itself. No direction from my adult male peers sucks. At least that time I would have a strength base, and probably would have met my strength needs outright. I'm kind of a late starter (really, 26-27 is a late start to training hard period). Learning all sorts of shit (exercise, importance of social competence, ability to be more proactive) that I should have learned when I was younger, and more willing to take abuse. Never actively pushed to make mistakes, and now am having to make the mistakes I should have made years ago. There IS a societal expectation of having gone through that process, persevered and succeeded, in my age. Otherwise you're just an immature baby.

[famendoza]

Warmup (yes...)
Clean and Jerk
45x5
95x2
145x1
155x1
165x1
175x1
185x1
195x1
205x1x2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv2Ixx1Tkz4

Deadlift
225x3 (overhand)
275x3 (overhand - good sign)

305x5
345x3
385x2 **PR**
385x2 **PR** (uglier than a mandrill's butt)
(all 5/3/1 deadlifts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9MOM_Wm8Pw)

315x3,2,3 (felt like pulling something that wouldn't destroy me, high as a kite from the 385 pull)

Today was a good day. By good I mean I was able to break a PR in reps for the deadlift, and do so twice. Also, the clean and jerk I was able to do twice in row was 205 - a feat I have not been able to do in a while.

The warmup consisted of clean & jerks going up by 10 pounds from 145-205. I wanted to capture at least my top clean and jerk for posterity since it was the only way to satiate the narcissist gremlin currently residing in the left side of my brain. The gremlin decided that it would place the camera in a high traffic area (a bicep curl/arm pull machine), and have people stop so it could capture the clean and jerk for eternity. The gremlin got it's wish and I got a clean and jerk - pressed out, to piss off the gremlin.

The gremlin got wise to my interrupting its narcissistic tendencies and we came to a compromise - it chose a non high-traffic film area, and I chose to actually complete my deadlifts. Of course when the gremlin got greedy after a pretty good double of 385lbs, and wanted to attempt a second set for 385lbs, I chose to punish the gremlin by lifting 385lbs in such an ugly manner it would turn the Kraken to stone. I put the gremlin in its place, and the gremlin whipped me up by having me do 315 in the most tired state I've ever been.

I throttled the gremlin's self serving behaviour by leaving the gym and not doing any accessories. The gremlin will be back. Hopefully it won't screw me on the bench, since I suck at it.

Bench is up next.

http://philspector.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/gremlins.jpg

[famendoza]

Youtube videos will come up tomorrow.

Warmup

Snatch
45x5x4

Bench Press
115x5
135x3

160x5
185x3
205x1,2

Today was a decent day. I managed to meet the schedule for the bench today, in spite of a pretty crappy morning and afternoon.

Going to work in the morning was a pain - it was pouring here in T.O., and I got splashed 3 TIMES crossing streets. I felt like a drunkard at sea, trying to navigate while getting splashed in the face of a storm.

Afternoon was no better as work caught up to me, and a bug found ended up costing a day's worth of work, and doubled up a day's worth of work for me. Felt like moist crap on a stick getting beaten down on a mangy rat's hide.

The evening picked up with the bench workout - except I suddenly got a dose of ADD and forgot to film about 50% of my workout - including the double on the 205. Not film-worthy, let alone Oscar-worthy, let alone sponge-worthy, but I wanted something better than the single I achieved on film.

The good part of today was helping a budding lifter with details on the deadlift, as well as planning goals and using strength training to augment his goals. In turn he helped me on the bench liftoffs. I like the camaraderie I've experienced ever since I've decided to be a bit more social this past year. It's so DYSFUNCTIONAL seeing people but not talking to them, especially because of your own hangups. In my case, I enjoyed helping someone, and likewise was able to enjoy getting helped (the liftoff).

The squat is up next. I forgot to ask this morning about the U of T schedule, hopefully I can reach someone tomorrow and get started on Friday.

[famendoza]

Snatch
40kgx3x2
50kgx2x2
55kgx2
60kgx1x3
65kgx1x2 (143lbs - felt good)

Squat
135x5
225x3

260x5
295x3 (heavy...)
330x0 (AURGH)
330x1 (TOUGH!!)
330x0 (ehhh...)

260x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3

Clean & Jerk
60kgx1
70kgx1
80kgx1x2
85kgx1x2
90kgx1 (just clean)
90kgx1 (just clean - missed jerk)
90kgx1 (just clean - missed jerk)
95kgx0x2 (missed clean)

Today was a good day although the squat was more full of crap than gas station toilet. I made a beeline from work to the U of T Athletic Center and kind of felt as giddy as a 13 year old dude getting his first kiss at arriving at my first training center with REAL Olympic platforms and bumpers.

First thing I went for as I finished changing was to test out the platforms. The snatch was my test and surprisingly actually did as commanded and went up. Even though I was as tired as a shiftman working morning and evenings on the same day, I was able to demonstrate good strength here with the 65kg snatches. I didn't go for 70kgs but a little voice in my head went 'you'll regret it, things will go south from here, HERE'. Turns out that voice was right.

The squats were unusually tough today. Now, no doubt a lack of sleep on my end (I'm not living up to my bargain and that's my stupid crap behavior - which is stupid like a bear eating tree bark) is partially to blame, but I persevere on less sleep. The 330lb squat was a pain in the ass today. I failed the first one and felt as though I had broken up with a hot girl. I made the second attempt at a 330lb squat, although had it been any slower we'd have to capture it with elapsed time cameras. The third fail felt like a kick in the balls and an ex having a makeout session with some dude right in front of me.

I broke my rule about doing a ladder, mostly because it was my catharsis for performing craptacular on the 5/3/1 squat. Me breaking the rule was my way of trying to reclaim some sort of victory on the squat, which bitch slapped me like I owed it money. I shall do it no longer.

The clean and jerk session was me getting OCD on a sugar high - I just HAD to test motion while I had my limited time at the athletic center. I'm like a little kid wanting to play on all the equipment, I didn't want to leave not knowing how it felt to drop a bar. Boy did it feel good, although my 95kg clean should have been a sure thing, but instead it was Major fail and I was Private suck, and I had to march 20 miles and fail to rack the bar as punishment.

I didn't videotape as I haven't been able to convince the staff to let me just yet. Once the G20 summit in Toronto is over I'm considering an extended stay at the Athletic Center, and see if I can continue my video journal there. If I can, as much as I like the amenities at Adelaide Club (like SOAP!), it will be my backup gym.

[famendoza]

Powerclean
115x3
135x3

C&J
135x1x2

Press
45x5 (warmup shoulders)

80x5
95x5
110x5

Deadlift
200x5 (overhand)
245x5 (overhand for first 2 reps)
285x5

Bench
45x6
65x5
95x5 (all shoulder warmups)

105x5
130x5
150x5

Squat
170x5
205x5
240x5x2 (practising form from last week and week before)

Push Press
45x5x2
115x3x2 (hmmm..)

It's been about a week since I was last at the gym. My bad time management coupled with increased responsibility has pretty much kept me sequestered at work. I snuck a bit of time today to workout, but at Eclipse at yonge and eglinton, because of the protest rallies in downtown. The G20 summit has made going downtown feel like visiting Detroit, with cop cars set ablaze and people rioting. That environment is more suited towards fantasy Double Dragon or Contra, not working out. Pumping lead is a viciously painful method of working out, more so than pumping iron.

I made it a chore today to do all exercises. My main goal was to just do the prescribed weights, using light Olympic exercises to remove my amnesia of pulling and squatting without feeling like my joints belong to a 90 year old whose never exercised before.

My main goals today were to investigate
- shoulder issues
- hip issues squatting

Last week I noticed that on the eccentric, my left elbow would be less supportive coming down, and the arm felt almost like it would lose control. Today, I felt that on the push press (115 is a relatively light weight). The width of my grip was a culprit but eccentric felt like night and day with a wider (thumb and a half) grip with forearm vertical. Felt very unstable as though my left elbow would sway inwards, such that it was behind the bar, and I'd have to keep it shoved forwards. My muscles supporting the left bar were more on their own, and I felt like my normal supports (lats) decided to take a long vacation. I don't notice this if my grip is half to a 3/4 thumb away from the beginning of the knurl.

Hip issues to me mean the following - being unable to detect that I've reached proper depth and not attempting to get there by rounding or shoving knees forward. I was able to detect the height, but I had to use mirrors - e.g. my kinesthetic sense was crappier than baby's diaper after breastfeeding. After a few I decided I'd just worry more about being on my heels and shoving the butt back, with a bit of forward knee movement. It fixed the depth and no rounding showed up, but I don't feel a bounce at all. This suck worse than a $2 ho because I'll need that bounce for heavier lifts. What's worse is in my attempt to measure depth and control my lower back from rounding, I had to slow down the squatting motion which increased the time under tension, and used up more energy. I felt like I had a thorough workout and I was only doing 240lbs. Also, my uneven hip came back a bit. I felt like the squatting was a big /facepalm, like the more I tried to control it, the more it made it rebel, cause destruction and set cars aflame.

Either way I finished the 6th cycle. Everything from here on in will be PRs. I'm planning on going conservative now. Here are the training maxes for next cycle:

Press 160->165 (5+)
Bench 215->220 (5+)
Squat 345->350 (5+ given the difficulty in pulling off the 330lb squat)
Deadlift 405->415 (10+ deads are going good - no misses in any week so far, and I don't think that I'm slowing down still.)

I think the deadlift has been thriving more in this program, than the squat has. The bench is as bad as the squat. The press is good as well.

It probably has to do with the part of the week they're allocated. Presses and Deads are placed at the beginning of the week. Plus I practice pulling and overhead pressing way more than squats and benches. The incline is not helping. And I should high-bar more often than low bar. I'll increase rowing and squatting more (front, high bar). Let's see if that works.

[famendoza]

C&J
45x7
95
135
155
175
185
195

Press
65x7
95x3
110x5
125x5
140x3 (!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTMa7kyVhHE

It's been a while since I last trained, and I felt anxious coming into the gym. My first few thoughts coming into the gym were frustration at my inability to stick to the schedule because of erratic work schedules. Yet entering the gym felt like such a calming experience, like visiting relatives. I felt a rush of confidence come in that was sorely lacking at work.

The warm up was a ramp up of C&J. Except for the 45's everything was a single, as I was looking forward to trying out a new jerk technique. The technique was more successful when I wasn't trying to do it with heavy weight. When I went heavy (185lbs and up) I crept back to my old way of approaching the jerk, which depended highly on shoulder push. There was little push through of the head, and it felt more like a push press, with a lot of upper arm emphasis. Naturally I pressed out the jerks for the 185 and 195 instead of it being a lock at once. This was a setup for disappointment to come later on.

At the beginning the press felt promising, as if I was going to be conquering big weight for reps today. As I got to my first work set, it dawned on me that I could actually fail. The last rep of my first workset was a struggle between man and bar that felt like an omen of things to come. The last rep of the second set got me swaying like a weeping willow with my arms. This got me worried about being unable to complete my reps, so much so that I took a 7 min break. A futile effort, as I was only able to grind out 3 reps for 140lbs, before I slammed into the brick wall of failure.

Because my gym in its infinite wisdom decided that they'd cut down hours from 6AM-11PM to 6AM-10PM, I was forced to vacate the premises earlier than expected. I felt betrayed, as though someone had given me a free drink coupon, on the condition that I buy a happy meal. Given my hectic work schedule I usually arrive at the gym around 8-9PM so basically my training time is now at a premium.

Anyways with this week being a crap week (I'm going to have to work Canada Day and my floater day), I may revisit this wave next week. Tomorrow I'm planning on deadlifting, and Saturday get in Bench and Squat.

[famendoza]

I've decided as of today that I want to focus training the Olympic lifts and am now attending a gym that allows me to fulfill that training (the UofT Athletic Centre in downtown Toronto). The lifts provide me miles and miles of entertainment, not only appealing to my OCD side (I OCD on the weirdest crap like a dog sniffing nuclear waste sites and getting high on finding the next green glowing radioactive canister), but also appealing to my fondness of novelty (like Godzilla, BJJ and the UFC, Database programming and now iPhone development). This is also inline with a challenge I have for myself:

Press overhead my weight or more.

I can clean and jerk it, and given Olympic lifts emphasize overhead exercises more than anything else, I decided to give it a go. The training I'll follow is listed in the beginner guide from Greg Everett's Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches. I'm starting off on Week 2, Day 1 of the guide, and will alternate day off/day on (basically i'm always skipping a day). Basically there'll be weeks were I train 4 times a week and ones were I train 3 times a week. I'm not binding myself to the week as a unit of time for progression.

The training

Today was a great day and an interesting day. The great part was the PR I pulled off TWICE!! 70 kg and then 75 kg snatch. That's a 10kg INCREASE after a layoff of serious training for about 4 weeks. What's even more interesting is the lack of correlation between my deadlift (now in decline at 365x1) and the Snatch (which I thought followed the deadlift) - I guess that correlation is about as certain as my future in iPhone development. The interesting part was me finally succumbing to the injury plaguing anyone who pulls on a bar - my callus tore off just under my left ring finger OUCH!! It bled a bit, then I bandaged it up. Feels like someone stabbed my hand with a hot poker.

Snatch
20kgx1x5
40kgx1x2
50kgx2x1
60kgx2x1
65kgx2x1
70kgx1x1 *PR*
75kgx2x0
75kgx1x1 ***PPPPPRRRRRR***
63kgx1x3

Clean & Jerk
60kgx3x1
70kgx1x1
80kgx1x1
85kgx1x1
90kgx1x1
95kgx2x0 *missed jerk on both attempts*
75kgx1x3

Ran out of time to do pull-ups, as the gym girl kicked us out sharp at 9PM. Unfortunately none of this was filmed, as this gym currently does not allow video recording so my PR wasn't caught for posterity, fame, narcissism etc. Met up with some good folks there that train hard and heavy, and share a positive interest in Olympic weightlifting so I'm feeling warm and fuzzy that I made the right decision coming here.

[famendoza]

Today was an interesting day. I start off by being almost cock-blocked from using the Olympic squat rack - because I'm not on a list of officially endorsed competent lifters LOL as per U of T Athletic Centre rules. Anywhooo I manage to make a deal with one of the strength and conditioning staff members there (a lady who's nice and trains there). If I could show her I wasn't a complete ditz with using the rack, I would be allowed to use the rack for that day without needing to apply to the exclusive list. Note, the power racks are fine for the general public, but the Olympic squat rack, OH NOES!!!111! that can't be made for the commoner's use. I understand their thought process, but it only illuminates the bad state training is in - I mean aren't you supposed to provide a service by TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO USE EQUIPMENT SAFELY?!?! ISN'T THERE A WAIVER ANYWAYS? I guess I at least know why Olympic equipment isn't prevalent in other gyms around Toronto. People need to cover their ass from lawsuit-trigger happy clientele looking for a quick buck. And now I have to pay for that state of the nation. URGE TO KILL RISING!!! Plus some mofo member over there gave me a snide remark asking if I could squat my bodyweight as a way of validating my usage of the Olympic rack - I shot back that I could do 315 for reps. That shut 'em up, but I shouldn't have to validate myself for this shit. It's just a squat rack. I'm starting to think downtown Toronto's filled with a bunch of whiners who're looking to cause trouble at gyms and ensure that every gym implement processes that cover asses, to the point where I'm sure at some point I'll have to hand in a TPS report, stamped triplicate, and if I miss a signature there'll be a waiting list of which I'll be number 9999 - and they'll have just started serving number 81. Anyways now I have to email the head honcho to get the OK to go on the VIP listing; I'll throw in if I can videotape my session as well. If everything goes well I should be able to squat IN THE OLYMPIC SQUAT RACK!!!!111!! AW3S0M3N3SSS!!!!!!

Either way I got the OK to use the squat rack for that day (thanks nice lady giving me the pass, you are awesome!!!), but eventually near the end of my training session, good ol' callus rip started bleeding everywhere. Had to get the ladies to clean that off the Olympic bar. I'm going to put a solution together for this, since my next training session is on Tuesday.

The training

Other than the callus tear AGAIN, nothing exciting but that's what training's about. *LOL stupid me can't read and I did clean pulls instead of a clean DL until the 95kg pull (that was actually performed as a clean deadlift). ** I snatched it up before actually performing the snatch push press.

Front Squat
20kgx1x5
40kgx1x5
60kgx1x3
70kgx1x3
80kgx1x1
85kgx3x5

Clean DL *
60kgx1x3
70kgx1x3
80kgx1x2
90kgx1x1
95kgx2x2

Snatch Push Press **
20kgx5
30kgx3
35kgx1
40kgx5x5

Me being dumb - JUST FUCKING AROUND AND NOT TRAINING AND HURTING MY POOR WIDDLE CALLUS TEAR. NOT GOING TO DO SNATCH BALANCE OUT OF NOWHERE NEXT TIME!!!!
Snatch Balance
40kgx2x2
60kgx2x0 (TEAR!!!!!!!!!! BLOOD!!!)

[famendoza]

The training

So I get to the gym in a hurry since I decided that I'd leave my self about 50 mins to train in total. It's a good thing I decided to train since I managed to get close to a PR in the clean and jerk and managed to do so while training the Jerk part twice. I got tips from one of the other girl gym staff who actually is a lifter in the 58kg class. Glad I was able to meet her since she helped see things that I couldn't see all those times I've recorded in my camera. The jerk was one of those things - I wasn't sitting down enough and I was springing forward. With the cue "sit down" I was able to get the jerk up, and me under the bar quicker and stronger and steadier. It felt like I had taken a shortcut, or heck even a wormhole, in the movement and somehow managed to get a good jerk. On the whole, my clean was approved of by her, no mean feat considering she's seen it all as she was a competitor; granted I've power cleaned so I've at least got positive transfer from that.

She also observed my rendition of the snatch and found that I swung the bar WAY too forward on the second pull, and circle it around behind me on the catch. These mistakes manifested in the first 70kg miss and second 70kg miss, highlighting my erroneous pattern. I got to readjust movements or I'll never get to bodyweight in the snatch. Glad I got another lifter on my side. She was also gracious enough to give me a ride home, which speaks beautifully to the class of the staff at the gym. It is an awesome gym and I'm glad I'm finally here.

Part of the ride back home was a subway ride. I demonstrated my other lifts on the camcorder I stowed away in may bag. These lifts were from previous recordings, the purpose of which was to demonstrate I've done stuff other than the Olympic lifts and to get feedback from someone experienced in lifting (at 56kg she deadlifts 125kg). Needless to say she was unimpressed, and in fact called me a pussy for failing on the 320 lb. squat, saying that it was "easy" for me and I quit too soon. Also my eating was apparently NOTHING compared to hers. Either way, I've got a long way towards my goals, and if harsh criticism is part of the path there, so be it.

Clean and Jerk
20kgx1x5
60kgx1x1
70kgx1x1
80kgx1x1
85kgx1x1
90kgx1x1
95kgx1x1 (iffy jerk)
95kgx1x1 (wayyy better jerk)
80kgx3x1 (~85% of heaviest C&J for that day)

Snatch
40kgx1x1
50kgx1x1
60kgx1x1
70kgx1x0 (missed behind)
70kgx1x0 (missed in front)
70kgx1x1
60kgx3x1 (~85% of heaviest snatch for that day)

Ran out of time to do pull-ups - jeez don't I sound like an excuse maker. I come to the gym way too late.

[famendoza]

Today was supposed to be a day where I would be video taping online. However I did a disservice to myself and the staff that was waiting there by oversleeping. I missed an important opportunity to show the staff that the camcording would not be a bother, and I apologize to them when I came in. Sucks, but it's my fault. I suck, and made a bad first impression. Sorry team.


The training
The training was a mixed bag. The snatch balance felt good, but also felt slow on the elbow lock. The back squat was a change of pace I haven't had in a while, not to mention being done high bar. It was much tougher than I thought for something that should have been easy (110kg == 242lbs). I'll be loading this at 2% increases to adjust to the volume and the form of lifting - there were some slow reps near the end. What was cool though was being able to drop the loaded bar behind me to prep the bar for the snatch pulls - can't do that in a regular gym!

I don't know how to do snatch pulls, and it's apparent in what transpired in my training. I was doing something along the lines of how I start the snatch below my waist, but once it got to waist level, the pull did not seem to mimic the appropriate mechanics. The reason I say that is because I decided to actually snatch 63kg aftward with those same mechanics, and it was a no go for 3 lifts before I modifed the mechanics and was more on my heels (and perceived to be leaning back a bit more) before the lift became natural with no misses.

I use the squat down version to grip. My start position is entered by me breathing in and tensing the torso straight, and raising my hips in line with the barbell. The above two sentences sound out of place, but I'm describing how I enter the snatch position.

Snatch Balance
20kgx1x3
25kgx1x3
30kgx1x3
35kgx1x3
40kgx2x3

Back Squat (High Bar)
60kgx1x5
70kgx1x5
80kgx1x3
90kgx1x3
100kgx1x1
110kgx3x5

Snatch Pull
40kgx1x2
50kgx1x2
55kgx1x2
60kgx1x1
63kgx3x2

Snatch
63kgx1x0 (behind)
63kgx1x0 (forward)
63kgx1x0 (forward)
63kgx1x1 (alright)
63kgx1x1 (BETTER)

[famendoza]

I forgot how to read, and in the training terminology preceding the Beginner template, the reps and sets were from left to right. I interpreted them the other way, and have been doing more reps for fewer sets on certain lifts (like the back squat). E.g. I should have been doing 5 sets of 3 reps instead of 3 sets of 5 reps. Doh! I'll have to fix this for my next "week", which involves a lot of squatting (front, OH, back).

[famendoza]

Began in the afternoon. Missed the whole rainy period here while I was productive in the gym.

The training
Began with the clean and jerk. Every thing looked promising till I got near limit weights. The clean and jerk for 95 kgs was passable (straight arms, no pressing). However the 98kgs just buried me on the jerks. The cleans were fine, but a little bit tough (strangely, the tough part starts not at the bottom, but near the middle of the squat between "the hole" and the recovered stance. I would have expected the hole to cause problems). The jerks just got worse as my attempts grew. The first one was closer to a near miss. The second two were closer to full all-out misses. Will have to try these again. The three singles at 80kg just felt harder to execute properly (note the misses), most likely because my mind was on missing the 98kg jerks.

The snatch presented the same problems on the climb up. A miss/catch on 70kg, then just misses (forward) all around on 75kg. As with the clean & jerk, the snatch contained its fair share of misses on the three singles - causing me fear, uncertainty and doubt about my preparedness on this session. After a bit of focus on pulling back on my traps, and getting the setup at the bottom closer to correct, the 60kgs flew up correctly.

I finally attempted pull-ups, given I had plenty of time to do so. I chose the straightest bar I could find in the gym. They seem to be a rarity nowadays with every gym having power racks equipped with those angled handle bars they call a pull-up station. They remind me more of demon horns on a power rack, beckoning the average gym trainee to train his "lats" with the wide grip shoulder destructor, not realizing the detrimental effect it'll have on their shoulder health. Demon it is indeed. Anyways I prefaced my pull-up story with the above nonsense to distract from the fact that my pull-ups SUCK! A 4 rep is the highlight of my pull-ups, and they just got worse and worse. I tried to see if I could get another triple at the end (just for the heck of it) and saw it just get worse. On top of that the straight pull-up bar was just murder on my hands, particularly the hand with the callus tear. I'm gonna need to find me some athletic tape to fix this craptacular situation.

Clean & Jerk
20kgx1x3
40kgx1x2
60kgx1x1
70kgx1x1
80kgx1x1
90kgx1x1
95kgx1x0
95kgx1x1
98kgx3x0 (I made the cleans, but missed the jerks)
80kgx1x1
80kgx1x0 (caught too far back on my shoulders, tipped backwards)
80kgx3x1

Snatch
20kgx1x3
30kgx1x2
40kgx1x1
50kgx1x1
55kgx1x1
60kgx1x1
65kgx1x1
70kgx1x0
70kgx1x1
75kgx3x0 (still can't duplicate my feat from before)
60kgx2x0 (caught too far forward, swung forward ..)
60kgx3x1

Pull-ups
4,3,3,2

[famendoza]

Came in at the nick of time for about an hour's worth of training. Good times before that talking with a coworker on the subway about the need to be challenged NOT STRESSED at work, in order to improve the morale of subordinates.

The training
Quickly got in the gym pulled together the squat rack, and set up the bar for squatting. One thing I noticed was a tendency for my left knee to buckle in before being pushed out on the squat. When I made deliberate attempts to keep pushing the knee out I noticed a weakness in my left leg on the concentric. I can't quite describe it unfortunately, but I dread the eccentric since it feels like I'll grasp failure even though I have not, and I feel like I have to put every ounce of rapidly depleting strength to finish the concentric portion of the squat. One of the squats in the 3rd set actually went very knees forward and I thought I was going to lose the bar right then and there. Looks like I'm gonna have to suck it up and go up only 2-3 kilos and get the knees part sorted out - even if all the squats end up making me feel like I've got a jointed left peg leg about to burst.

The snatch deadlift was a forgettable experience. I practiced flaring my knees and pushing them back during the concentric. On my right hand side, a dude was power snatching 90-100 kg. I want that strength.

The push press was the first exercise where I felt I had just gone under the razor-thin boundary of what I could do 5x5 MAX. I did 60kg 5x5 and none of it felt even remotely comfortable. Thoughts of failure, dread and much doom did fill my head while on my second set, since I was thinking I had overshot the weight, and that the weight choice was going to catch up to me on later sets. I caught a second wind on my fourth set since it went VERY fast, almost like I decided to actually power my way into position and take the reins for victory, so to speak. The final set caught the momentum from the fourth. The grip and elbow position throughout all sets was sadly inconsistent. Looks like another form correction area. This looks like another lift that should be pegged at 1-2 kilo increases max per session.

Squats (high-bar)
40kgx1x10
60kgx1x5
70kgx1x5
80kgx1x3
90kgx1x2
100kgx1x1
115kgx5x3

Snatch Deadlift
40kgx1x3
50kgx1x3
60kgx1x2
70kgx1x1
79kgx1x3 (oops one extra rep)
79kgx1x2

Push Press
20kgx1x8
30kgx1x5
40kgx1x3
50kgx1x2
60kgx5x5

[famendoza]

Was almost held up indefinitely due to a work issue. Thankfully I was able to masterfully maneuver myself out of it and get to the gym; unfortunately my maneuvering didn't account for time and once again I got only an hour's worth in the gym so pull-ups were thrown out for today.

The training
The good: My 70kg snatch came with no misses and was powerful as a snatch enough to catch it somewhat high (a few inches above parallel), but ride it down for a squat before recovering. The epic fail: 75kg snatch. I figured since 70 kilos went up just dandy I should've been able to squeeze out a 75'er. Around the 8th attempt, I figured I should lower the weight by about 3 kilos - that didn't help. The exact pattern of fails:
75kg
not pulling under
miss forward
miss backward
miss forward
miss forward
miss forward
miss backward (this one was almost made it :( )
not pulling under
72kg
miss forwards
miss forwards, but had it stable for a bit above while I duck walked then got my left foot back in squat position but lost it.

Sucktacular as that is, I gotta realize that the 75kg was a one shot deal two weeks ago and that I have to focus on smaller gains to inch forward. The fact that the 70kg came strong with no preceding miss means that it's getting stronger. The fewer the misses at that level the better - i guess?

The clean and jerk looked promising at the outset, but I felt hurried and rushed as I was nearing closing time at the gym. That probably didn't help me to complete the 95kg jerk part. So my performance was worse than the last time on this lift.

I did notice something I didn't quite know how to describe but I felt it should be noted. When I'm closer to PR weights specially in the snatch, I'll perform the snatch great, but feel very "depressed" immediately afterwards. Like my traps will feel incredibly tired, and my torso will have a hard time staying stable, ruining my confidence for heavier AND EVEN lighter lifts at times. I remember feeling this today, and the last time I did my PR snatch. My traps and the sides of my torso felt like I got stepped on by an invisible giant.

Ran into a fellow lifter who's doing great in his performance. He did 112kg in the snatch and 150kg for the clean and jerk which is awesome. I'm shooting for bodyweight in the snatch (88kg) and 110kg in the clean and jerk, and was wanting to do this before the end of the year, but if I'm sensing a pattern here - these weights might not come till next year.

Snatch
20kgx5x1
40kgx3x1
60kgx2x1 (first one was a PR power snatch, second one was a full snatch)
65kgx1x1 (almost a power snatch wow)
70kgx1x1 (first time ever no miss on the first attempt and almost felt like a power snatch)
75kgx8xZERO
72kgx3xZERO
60kgx3x1 (easy....)

Clean & Jerk
60kgx1x1
70kgx1x1
80kgx1x1
90kgx1x1
95kgx2x0 (urge to kill rising, missed both jerks)
80kgx3x1

[famendoza]

Got to the gym fairly early, and left early too. Only thing is THAT I LOST MY LOG BOOK!!!! That log book has been with me since I started barbell training for real back in May 2008. It's recorded everything I've done so far, and now it's somewhere in some locker at the U of T AC. So many memories written down on paper - PRs passed, barriers broken, things learnt during my 2 years time, now carelessly thrown away. First piece of gym equipment I've ever lost.

Otherwise, leaving the gym, physically I felt excellent, like I had taken a relaxing massage. Not sure if its simply cause I drained myself and am relaxing out of sheer fatigue, but I feel good too, and actually a bit sleepy - drank a 1L chocolate milk and I felt I should have drank 2L.

The Training
All of this is from memory. I came in thinking I should do a 50kg OH Squat, but I realized after several warmup sets that it was too easy. I conservatively tried 55kg and that still didn't feel slow, so I went with 60kg and that was a good weight to try. Went for three doubles - none remotely tiresome, second rep just slightly slower than the first. The hardest part was arguably getting it into position, as I had to behind the neck push jerk in snatch grip position - for the first time ever.

I also came in thinking I should do an 88kg Front Squat for five triples. After the first triple I realized two things:
1) My stance was a bit wide so bringing it closer on heels (hip width or a hair thinner), and with toes out at 45º made it feel strong and stable.
2) Because of #1 88kg was not heavy

So I went to 90kg. Concentrating on keeping my chest and elbows up, and back locked REALLY helped with the bounce off on the bottom. I looked a bit higher than directly forward, which helped keep my elbows up. Coupled with the foot adjustment I'm ready for 95kg next week. My back squat stance (high-bar) will also borrow this foot stance.

I don't know how to do clean pulls. I don't get their purpose, and I probably was overextending. I first did it as though I'd pull and pretend to go a bit down for the rack, but they felt awkward that way. After two sets of that, I changed it up so I'd pull as high as I could once I got it at mid thigh. I'd get it to the chest there. Still even though I don't get it as a training tool, I felt it made the subsequent transition to suddenly doing two clean & jerks feel way easy.

Overhead Squat
20kgx1x6
30kgx1x3
40kgx1x3
45kgx1x2
50kgx1x2
55kgx1x2
60kgx3x2

Front Squat
40kgx1x10
60kgx1x5
70kgx1x3
80kgx1x3
88kgx1x3
90kgx5x3

Clean Pull
40kgx3
60kgx2
80kgx4x3 (learning how to do this...)

Clean & Jerk
80kgx2x1

[famendoza]

Took video of this for the first time in a bit yesterday. Then I tried to import it to the iMac without realizing that Max OS X doesn't support the MOD MPEG-2 with AC3 audio format that digital video is stored in (for JVC, Panasonic etc), and that to attempt to edit such video would require me to FFMPEG it ("free" solution - don't worry guys I did ffmpeging 3 years ago to make DVDs from AVIs that magically appeared on my computer and I'm fed up with it). So no elegant solution for moving editing that didn't involve me using Windows. Damn. And you want the editing, otherwise its a 5 minute youtube video of me farting around, with 20 seconds of action.

I was supposed to do this yesterday in a two-stage workout format (before and after a group class I was attending that same night), but I decided instead to chat with a girl. Who I found out later was attached. SOL on that one.

Had a function today, pretty expensive one that I went to last month, and had a lot of fun, and felt it was worth it. Attending it today was the worst decision I've made in the past few months, making me regret spending even a dollar on it. I traded in today's time at the function for working a night shift OT tomorrow - OT with no pay. The function started off alright, then as the night went on, sucked more hardcore than a butter-face porn actress, except about 1000000x as bad. Tons of negativity in the form of passive aggressiveness alongside some real out and out nastiness. A confrontation (quickly shuffled aside) took place as well. I felt like a little part of me died attending this, and along with the prospect of having to face "performance testing" tomorrow, just smashes together the kick-in-the crotch that will be my end of the week.

So it's a good thing I got a close to PR snatch yesterday. Almost makes the week worthwhile. And I did it with a power bar and York "bumper" grip plates. So a near PR on substandard equipment - golf clap everybody.

I should mention in the videos I'm at the Adelaide Club, not at the U of T Athletic Centre. They still allow me to take videos (and I thank their good souls that they do, and allow me to do so without paperwork), whereas U of T does not.

FYI The york bumper grip plates weight scheme is the following:
black = 5lbs
green = 10lbs
yellow = 25lbs
blue = 35lbs
red = 45lbs

and the bar is 45lbs.

The training
So I started by snatching the bar, but with great focus on keep the elbow to my side and a tip from Pendlay to another trainee, which in essence was to not let the bar swing out forward below the knees. Failure to prevent this results in missed lifts - basically by the time the bar reaches the knees if its in a bad position, you're about to abort that lift, unless God-willing you can wrestle it out of a bad position. I'm training to get good positions, not wrestle myself out of predicaments of my own making, so I practiced both tactics for all my lifts. Although I may still have a bit of swing out, I believe it improved my positioning for the 2nd and 3rd pull as all my catches seem smoother than they felt.

I made a classic mistake of mine, I kept trying to go for the PR on the snatch even though I was supposed to end it with a 72-73kg snatch attempt. Thankfully my memory finally had the good sense to kick in and remind me of my task.

Although I think I've got the hang of the elbows to side tactic, the tactic to keep the weight from pulling me forward will need work. I think I understand the reasoning behind snatch deadlifts and snatch pulls now.

Snatch (in lbs)
45lbx5x1
65lbx3x1
95lbx2x1
115lbx1x1
115lb miss
115lbx1x1
135lbx1x1
145lbx2x1
155lbx2x1 (70kg no misses!!!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I58mu-3mrNk
165lb miss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhtoxj1D2rI
160lb miss, then GOT ITx1! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAqo4ugZyc0
145x3x1 (one miss in between) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AdjKAG3uiU

Didn't do the Clean & Jerk or pull-ups, I will redo this workout on Saturday (hopefully).

[famendoza]

Came into training mid afternoon which gave me plenty of time and plenty of space needed to concentrate on lifting. Coming at such a fortuitous time led to an excellent training session - a 76kg snatch and 100kg clean & jerk. Breakfast was more like brunch, and wasn't big.

The training
Snatch went great all the way to 70kg no misses. 74kg was my next target after acquiring 72.7kg last time. After 3 pulls I got it. The thing is when I land things, they feel so easy, that I feel tempted to increase weight. And I'm glad I went with that inclination today, because after another 3 pulls I got my new max PR of 76kg for the snatch. TWO increases in one day for the snatch. Again, landing the 76kg felt so easy on the catch, receipt and recovery that I'd figure I'd go for 78kg. Of course that's like an increase in 10lbs right there, so of course I did not get it. Greed's reward is inheriting the wind so to speak. I figure I could probably land 78kg in possibly a week or so, to readjust the technique of staying on heels until the 2nd pull and aggressive extension and turnover.

I though with the snatch getting all the increases lately, the clean & jerk was going to show me no love. On the contrary, with the help of a very good correction that one of the gym staff noted I should apply, I was able to get very strong jerks, attain TWO PRs (97kg and 100kg), and bring my total up to 3 digits!!! 100kg club for this lift.

My main problem is a lack of speed in transitioning my feet from initiating the jerk to landing the split. For future reference, concentrating on really getting that split started as soon as the dip is done will help improve my form. I did 90kg twice, one with meh form (pressed out jerk), the other with good form, simply based on my foot work. The 95kg, 97kg and 100kg followed the same pattern, once I actually got them.

With the 100kg weight, I REALLY had to concentrate as the weight had a tendency of making me feel light-headed. I note that the first clean, I had to abort as soon as I recovered cause I was losing my perception.

The cleans at 90kg onwards show a new problem that I haven't experienced a whole bunch. Basically, I miss cleans at the bottom at heavy weight. More precisely, as I catch them, they get thrown forward out of my catch. A lot of the misses below are because of me losing the clean rack on receipt. What's more interesting is that I have NOT had this problem with the 100kg clean but with 90kg, 95kg, and 97kg.

One thing I notice is that my left ankle aches like crazy after a heavy Olympic lift workout. Right now it's bugging me.

The double PRs I got today more than make up for my crappy pull-ups. I figured out the pull-up bar hurts my hands less if I grip with my fingers and not the crease of my palm.

The callus under my left middle finger 1st knuckle from the hand has bled internally. I see the scab forming underneath. My trimming is not up to snuff.

Snatch
20kgx1x4 (mixing power and full snatching)
40kgx1x3 (same deal...)
50kgx1x1
60kgx1x1
65kgx1x1
70kgx1x1
74kgx1x0 (bad pull)
74kgx1x0 (almost there..)
74kgx1x1 *PR*
76kgx1x0 (bad pull)
76kgx1x0 (almost there..)
76kgx1x1 ****PR!!!****
78kgx1x1 (nope)
78kgx1x1 (Nope)
78kgx1x1 (fell forward brushed top of head)
68kgx1x0 (I'm being retarded)
68kgx4x1 ~90% of 76kg - easy

Clean & Jerk
60kgx1x1
70kgx1x1
80kgx1x1
90kgx1x1 (dropped clean)
90kgx1x1 (pressed out jerk a bit)
90kgx1x1 *nice*
95kgx1x0 (dropped clean)
95kgx1x1 *Nice*
97kgx1x0 (dropped clean)
97kgx1x0 (dropped clean again WTF)
97kgx1x1 **PR!!**
100kgx1x0 Clean *PR*, then I nearly fainted after I recovered from the clean so dropped bar
100kgx1x0 Almost got jerk, got lightheaded again
100kgx1x1 *****PPPPRRRRR!!!!!!******
90kgx3x1 All easy

Pull-ups
5,5,3 *sucks*

[famendoza]

Bought a new log book yesterday. Made sure to note down my PRs from yesterday, as well as the fact that I'm starting my log book at the first day of Week 2.

The training
Came in with plenty of time. In fact I came and got to the training room by 3:00pm and left the training at around 4:05PM. Got a lot done.

Front squat felt hard again, but I didn't give up. REALLY felt it in the stomach muscles as I needed to brace my self so I wouldn't cave forward. Felt almost like butterflies in my stomach. For now, continue on with another 5kg increase, and once failure occurs, adjust to 2-3kg increases.

Clean DL felt very easy, the challenge is coming back down slowly to ensure I can keep the bar close to me at all times. But we're talking here about 230lbs so that's a very light deadlift. Even in clean position.

Snatch Push Press has me thinking about bar placement, and my hands and wrists. I notice that I have to angle my arms approximately similar to a backsquat, but angled forward and up. In order to push press though, the arms need to be ideally vertical. Hard to do without the bar nearly rolling off your back as it almost did when I attempted near vertical arms. Tried to see if I could have skipped 10kg to 50kg snatch push press. Then I realized I was trying to take a 22lb jump on an exercise I'm not familiar with, and brought it back down to 45kg. No need to hurry stalling on this exercise :)

Front Squat
20kgx2x10
40kgx1x5
60kgx1x5
80kgx1x3
90kgx1x1
95kgx5x3

Clean Deadlift
60kgx1x2
80kgx1x2
95kgx1x1
105kgx2x2 (105% of max clean and jerk)

Snatch Push Press
20kgx1x10
30kgx1x5
35kgx1x3
40kgx1x2
45kgx2x5 (started 5x5)
50kgx1x5 (wanted to try an increase in weight ...)
45kgx3x5 (finished 5x5)

Afterward, I went to Shopper's Drug Mart and found Life brand sports tape - which I assume is the same as athletic tape. I'll be wearing this. I drained the pooled blood in the knuckle that had the "scab" beneath the callus. Turns out it wasn't a scab after all.

[famendoza]

The training
Short and bitter, like a pill. It was a non-PR day with the clean and jerk just maintaining itself for a brief moment, before and the snatch not coming together when it needed to. Thankfully 70kg still comes with no misses - thank goodness for small mercies.

I really need to stop pushing it when I feel like teh suck. Nothing gets accomplished when I feel like crap and my form matches it.


Clean & Jerk
20kgx1x5
40kgx3x1
60kgx1x1
80kgx0 (dropped clean)
80kgx1x1
90kgx1x1
95kgx1x1
100kgx0 (couldn't jerk - light headedness)
100kgx0 (couldn't push it all the way)
100kgx1 (pressed out jerk..)
100kgx0,0,0,0,0 It took this many attempts where I miss all my jerks before I quit
90kgx3x1 (strangely, easy)

Snatch
20kgx1x3
40kgx1x1
60kgx2x1
70kgx1x1 (very good!)
75kgx7x0 (goddamn it...)
60kgx2x1 (eh)
60kgx0 (losing it..)
60kgx4x1 (testing form change)

Pull-ups
5,4,3,0

[famendoza]

Came in early. Overall felt good coming in, had lots of sleep in the past two days. Food intake was not a problem.

The training
The snatch balance was for some reason a lift I wanted to practice a ton. Not only because I was wishywashy on the weight to practice with (I kept going back and forth between what I *CAN* do and what I should do to spur long term growth, and more importantly keep technique), but because I wanted to practice the technique of driving up on the bar while staying stable when placed in the squat position dynamically. This lift feels uncomfortable, as though at any moment I'll tip forward or backward, never truly dead-centered balanced, and my wrists hate the feeling of driving up in snatch grip. Given that it's supposed to increase my confidence in the snatch receiving position, I've got a lot of practice to do.

The squat on the other hand was done nicely with a weight that correctly challenged me. I narrowed my stance a bit from last week, and noticed an immediate improvement in my ability to keep my knees out and back locked. Like any challenging weight, the last rep of the last set was mildly difficult (aka slow), but only because I wanted the form of the rep to be close to perfect. During that last rep, it's almost as if I could feel every muscle fiber in my legs and torso, complain to me that "meh" form is good enough, while my mind was whipping them like a field master going 'No - perfection is necessary'.

The snatch pull presented a different challenge, in that I need to do what I wanted to accomplish (a more aggressive 2nd pull), while practicing other key points of form which I'm only now just starting to integrate:
- arms rotated inwards to get elbows directly out to sides
- getting heels glued to floor while bar remains just a bit behind toes
- getting the appropriate grip to stay upright.
- ensuring that bar travels VERY close to legs, and that on second pull stays close to torso WITHOUT ELBOWS FACING BACK!

Only the last snatch pull set did I feel I accomplished that, and even so, getting the snatch the first time after the pulls still gave me a forward orientation - I'm still letting my elbows relax as the 2nd pull arrives instead of keeping the correct orientation. Actually focusing on the correct elbow orientation lead to two nice snatches at the end.

Snatch Balance
20kgx1x6
30kgx1x5
40kgx1x2
45kgx1x2 (original increase)
50kgx1x2
55kgx1x2 (seemed a little slow on the drop the first time around)
50kgx1x2
55kgx1x2 (definitely slow on the drop - switched to weight enough to practice form)
50kgx3x2 (finally decided on acceptable weight)

Squat (high-bar)
60kgx1x7
70kgx1x5
90kgx1x3
100kgx1x2
110kgx1x1
120kgx5x3 (correct challenging weight)

Snatch Pull
60kgx2x2
60kgx2x3
60kgx2x3 (lost my footing on the last rep. REDO)
60kgx2x3

Snatch
60kg miss
60kgx2x1

As I noted while finishing my pulls, one of the 20kg plates had a cracked ring and had it sent away. One less 20kg plate unfortunately, but it was broken.

[famendoza]

Came in kinda pissed and didn't end up talking to anyone. Not sure why. I felt depressed, really uncomfortable in my own skin, as though I could not meet my own expectations for how the day should go for some reason. I'm sure people felt it and avoided eye contact for that reason. Hated it. Aside from all that, I was well rested and fed.

The training
I was fixated on getting a PR somewhere, which probably was an overcompensation of feeling like a socially incompetent piece of crap in my head prior to entering the gym. How I achieved that may have not been the smartest strategy, although I don't regret it.

The clean and jerk felt great up to the first 100kg clean and jerk. I had to press it out, and for the first time ever I felt very unstable in the torso, almost as I had begun a very subtle hula hoop contest while pushing a heavy weight over my head. I stabilized in about 10 seconds, but that felt as uncomfortable as rounding my lower back during a deadlift. Second one was awesome. As for 105kg I could not even clean it except but once, and no jerk came out of that one. I never clean anything at 103kg. On the other hand 90kg backoff sets were easy, which frustrated me further.

The snatch was a mission today. After performing 70kg I attempted to put on 75kg and proceed to miss a whole bunch forward and a couple back, me clueless as to why.

After reducing the weight to 73kg I still missed a whole bunch, but midway through I attempted something new, partially in desperation, based on an proprioceptive observation about my arms during the end of the second pull. I cued myself to pull my elbows up by thinking of the move as an partial upright row, in snatch grip. After 2 misses behind me, I got 72kg twice.

I then proceeded to go on ahead with 75kg and got it twice, the first time exhibiting extreme uglyness as I duckwalked forwards and back to remain stable. My left knee hit the floor and I had to stabilize the bar above me while regaining my footing. I did so and recovered. The second one was way better. After several attempts at 78kg (all misses behind me), I got 78kg the first time in the same ugly manner, the second was a miss that occurred on the recovery (never had that before), and the third 78kg attempt was successful in a much better manner. 80kg was misses all around, but with the upright row technique as the 2nd pull ends, they were all misses behind. Strange...

I did made one backoff attempt at 70kg, got it, observed my hands. They were mirror image in damage. My right hand now had all the damage that occurred to my left hand, in the exact same spots. Rip under the ring finger callus, pooled blood under my middle finger callus. The rip caused me to stop any further training for that session. Now I'll have to tape both hands for my next session.

So basically I volumed up on getting my PR attempt, and got a PR snatch and a possible new technique to practice with the snatch. OTOH my hands are now completely abused, and I probably overdid it on volume to get a PR to overcompensate on my shitty attitude coming in. Perseverance or Madness? We'll see.

Clean & Jerk
20kgx1x5
40kgx1x3
60kgx1x1
80kgx1x1
90kgx1x1
100kgx2x1 (first ugly pressout, second awesome)
105kgxFail,Fail,Clean Only,Fail,Fail *PR on clean*
103kgxFail,Fail,Fail (Couldn't even clean it)
90kgx4x1 (first ugly, 2,3,4th easy)

Snatch
20kgx1x6
40kgx1x3
60kgx1x1
70kgx1x1
75kgx4x0 (fails)
72kgx7x0 (many fails, but an interesting development in technique occurs...)
72kgx1x1 *nice*
72kgx1x1 *NICE*
75kgx1x1 *UGLY*
75kgx1x1 *BETTER*
78kgx3x0 (more fails, all behind me...)
78kgx1x1 *UUGLY*
78kgx1x0 (missed it coming up, TOUGH)
78kgx1x1 *PR not ugly*
80kgx4x0 (final set of fails)
70kgx1x1 (immediately afterwards my callus rips and I stop)

[famendoza]

Decided to go to the Adelaide Club given that my work was running rather late (7PMish). I had brought the camera with me, and even brought it out to tape, but I got wrapped up in training that I just plum forgot to set it up. Now the world will never know how awesome my 275lb high bar squats are :P
I also came in with the shittiest sleep I've had in quite sometime - 3 hours. I cannot sleep in my room, it's soooo goddamn hot even with air conditioning.

The training

Actually trained with the male staff member that's there and that I've made an acquaintance with. We went to buy food at Tim Horton's first, brought it back and ate half of it, then put the rest in the fridge for after training.

Squat was good, challenging, I felt a slight sense of a lack of self control on descent. Might have been just me looking at the mirror, plus the bulky power rack. Beyond that it was fairly non-eventful, and am looking forward to do 130kg. Pretty slick, given that 295 lb. (approx. 134kg) is my all time max in the high bar squat.

Snatch deadlift was uneventful, except my partner had never seen one and thought it was a snatch pull. I showed him the difference, which lead to him trying out his snatching at 65 lb.. He has the same problem I have, and that we both need to correct, which is timing the 2nd pull.

Push Press was slightly outside of expectations. Although 60kg has been done before for 5x5, 135 lb. felt heavy the first warmup set I tried it. The 140 lb. reps fluctuated between being easy and slightly challenging, within even the same set. Some sets more than others, and not in sequence. The very last rep was challenging in the sense that I actually had to prep myself to push press it. This crap should just lift itself right?

Honest to goodness this was a good training session, in spite of the lack of sleep, I had a good time chatting with acquaintances and I picked the right weights and finished the schedule for today. Couldn't ask for a better day.


Back Squat (lb.)
45x1x15
135x1x5
185x1x3
225x1x2
245x1x2
265x1x1
275x5x3 (correct weight ~125kg, moderately challenging)

Snatch Deadlift (lb.)
135x1x3
155x1x2
175x1x3 (~80kg, had to chalk up for this one, grip was giving away)
175x2x2

Push Press (lb.)
45x1x10
95x1x5
135x1x2
140x5x5 (~63kg, very last rep was challenging)

Snatch corrective drill from Glenn Pendlay's youtube channel. Slight back and forth rocking with slightly bent knees and then all of a sudden dropping down. Let's see how useful they will be on Day 3.

[famendoza]

Came into the gym tired - crappy sleep yet again. Had not that much to eat, stupid me and my not wanting to do the right thing and EAT. Emotionally felt better than my last Oly lift session. Met some new folks as well, very friendly and talkative and into Olympic lifting as well. Felt very welcome.

The training
I continued the snatch 2nd pull drill that Glenn Pendlay put on his site for 20kg. I felt a bit unnatural doing them for some reason, but they at least helped me realize where I should actually extend for the 2nd pull. This helped me finally nail 75kg as a lift with no failure (all prior snatch session I fail with 75kg at least twice if not all attempts). For some weird reason during my warm-ups, I felt very off balance because of the new 2nd pull position (higher up, more accurate on the hip) and 60kg were not all successful attempts - balance was my main issue, missing forward. Tried for 80kg twice, even after my back-off sets. I felt pumped I could do 75kg attempts back to back successfully with no misses, so I thought the power would carry over to the 80kg. No go though.

The clean and jerk was good until 100kg. Cleaning was hard today for some reason, and it's for that reason that only my third attempt was successful. I attempted 103kg about five times and was only able to clean it twice. 90kg was once again easy.

Of course I can't leave unscathed. My left thumb now has a tear, and it's not even thick callus there. Just a soft skin tear. I will be taping up my thumbs now. Any more tape and I'll basically be wearing gloves made solely from athletic tape.

Snatch
20kgx1x5 (snatch 2nd pull drill)
40kgx4x1 (snatch 2nd pull drill - a little heavy for this drill)
60kgx2x0 (wait .. what?)
60kgx1x1
60kgx1x0 (hmmm....)
60kgx2x1 better
70kgx1x1
75kgx1x1 AWESOME no misses
80kgx3x0 fail whale
65kgx2x0 (damn off balance)
65kgx5x1 better
70kgx1x1 nice
75kgx2x1 VERY AWESOME no misses back to back felt strong
80kgx2x0 fail, but no whale

Clean & Jerk
60kgx1x3 yup three in a row
80kgx1x1
90kgx1x1
95kgx1x1
100kgx2x0 (CANT CLEAN IT?!?!)
100kgx1x1 better
103kgx6x0 (only 3 cleans in that whole set, no jerk)
90kgx3x1 easy, then I tear my thumb

I was told that I don't complete the push of the jerk up high enough, and that I need to get more aggressive. Truer words have never been spoken.

Also that I should stop going to my previous PR as a warm-up - go to 103kg instead of 100kg.

I will redo this day as I was super tired coming in, and a better more rested day should net better results.

[famendoza]

The training
Originally I was supposed to redo Wednesday's workout, but I saw that my 70kg snatch was HEAVY and 75kg was going nowhere. So I turned it into the day 4. I'll continue on with the schedule as is.

The overhead squat was a surprise challenge. Maybe not that surprising considering I was having a hard time with 70kg snatch. 40kg felt alright, but 60kg felt hard just putting it into position, and annoying on the wrists. 65kg felt even more annoying, and was the first OH squat in a while where I was worried I would lose it overhead. None of that happened (I stabilized well after a bit of slowness), but it was still tough on my wrists.

The 100kg front squat was challenging in the 4th set, where I actually rounded my upper back and almost lost the load on the 1st rep. Luckily I was able to extend my upper back under load and continue forth. Last couple reps were slow.

Using the clean pull, I implemented tips that I was told by someone much stronger than me regarding my hips and shoulders. My hips have a tendency to rise too fast, so with 90kg I made sure to maintain an even extension before the 2nd pull. This made my subsequent 90kg cleans very easy to do. I still linger in the bottom of the clean, but I'll fix that.

Snatch
20kgx3x3
40kgx3x1
60kgx3x0 (flag!)
60kgx1x1
70kgx1x1 (ugly)
75kgx3x0 (BIG flag to stop)

OH Squat
40kgx1x5
60kgx1x2
65kgx3x2

Front Squat
60kgx1x5
80kgx1x3
90kgx1x1
100kgx5x3

Clean Pull
60kgx1x3
80kgx1x3
90kgx2x3

Clean Only
90kgx2x1 Better cleans.

[famendoza]

Had family & friends gathering, with Peruvian cuisine. Somewhat filling. Sleep felt not so good.

The training
Sweet and short. I must be undergoing some temporary performance degradation. I again managed to only make 70kg, missing 75kg several times. The clean & jerk was WAY worse, and may have had the same problems on Friday, had I decided to perform it right then and there. I could barely get 85kg on it, and 93 kg was a no-go. Overall traps felt very tired, almost squished, like someone danced a little jig with heavy booths on my upper back. Pull-ups sucked hardcore as well. Will put up with this to get past "the dark times". They are dark times indeed, cause they make me suck.

I went to Adelaide this time so weights are in lbs.

Snatch (lbs)
45x3x3
65x3x1
95x2x1
115x2x1
135x1x1
155x1x1
165x4x0 (fails)

Clean & Jerk (lbs)
155x1x1
185x1x1 (erhmm...)
205x4x0 (GODDAMN IT)
185x4x1 Actually got progressively better technique wise, but its 85kg so go figure

Pull-ups
4,4,2 <-- teh sux

[famendoza]

I woke up with a stiff neck, almost felt like I was wearing a loose cast. Must have been the awkward sleeping position my head was in (I roll around in bed a lot). The stiffness made it difficult to maintain good posture without it being annoying, as chest up shoulders done, head straight made the stiffness jump out immediately. It felt as though my neck was being pushed towards looking to my lap. This made it somewhat easier to look at my iPhone on the subway while playing Final Fantasy II, but also encouraged upper back rounding. I was expecting a crappy workout - even as an assistance day.

The training
The front squat felt heavy at 175 so I wasn't surprised at the lack of "pop" in my work sets. The first 230lb (approx 105kg) was like I was handed a heavy stone and asked to rise with it 3 times. All I was thinking was "elbows up, look forward and up", and hoping that would be enough effort to keep me from collapsing. I managed all 5 sets alright, although I had a close call in the last set (look in the video).

The mission on the clean deadlift was to get an even rise between my shoulders and hips on all my sets, from the floor to just under the knees. I was called on this last time I did my cleans last week - basically I was told my ass was going up before my shoulders. The video shows an even distribution for the most part, plus a locked back for the most part. Speed was also something I wanted to work on, and they seemed good.

The Snatch push press was perhaps the most annoying exercise. I've yet to come up with a good way of positioning my elbows and wrists with a snatch grip that feels "powerful" the way I'm told it's supposed to. The grip that is most "powerful" basically requires that I ride the bar on my freaking neck. Which brings me to my other annoyance:

I've also yet to master bringing the bar back down without it crashing and bruising the back of my neck.

The damn bar with its center knurling was massaging my neck with its cheese grater. Hell, I though bone was gonna come out exposed by the time I was done 5x5. If I place it any lower though, I have no platform to push off powerfully and it feels like it'll roll down my back. I'm open to any thoughts on managing this once it gets heavy other than to suck it up. I'm possibly not stiff with my torso when the bar is on its way down, so that could be fixed.

Front Squat (lbs)
45x1x6
85x1x5
135x1x3
175x1x3
210x1x2
230x5x3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vzd_XHx0QI

Clean Deadlift (lbs)
135x1x3
175x1x3
210x1x2
230x2x2
230x1x1
230x1x2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDjIkU9TLqs

Snatch Push Press (lbs)
45x1x10
65x1x5
80x1x3
100x1x1
120x5x5 (first set had extra rep) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y62bTwwhF3g

The one good thing that came out of doing the snatch push presses was that my stiffness in my neck suddenly relieved itself. There was a bit of tightness still resident between my shoulder blades, but my neck felt looser and warmer.

[famendoza]

Came in a bit pooped from work, but otherwise ready to train. Some days are just not that exciting, which sucks - time is money!!

The training
Came in, had an image in my mind for the third pull of the snatch. I've had this image for the past couple of days based on my experience when I pulled 78kg last time (slight relaxed arms as soon as the 2nd pull ends, almost like I'm upright rowing with a snatch grip) and a cue from Glenn Pendlay - "think of the third pull as if you're kicking a visor off your forehead with the bar". Those cues made 70kg and 75kg easy. And gave me my new PR 80kg. I thought I could carry this over to 82kg, but looks like mental fatigue came in. In fact, I almost got 82kg, except I couldn't lock my elbows and the bar came crashing down on my neck, and I fell forward. Thing is, that was annoying but I didn't feel hurt at all. It was quite embarrasing though, as if I had sharted loudly in the gym.

The clean and jerk was a different story. I just couldn't pull off what I had in mind with the jerk when it got heavy. I wanted to basically widen my split considerably, but I guess I my mental fatigue and inexperience made me scared to do so? I dunno. I got more cleans this time around than before, of course with lower weight - 102kg. The 90kg were springier this time around, with the clean recovery instantaneous. Guess what? I finally did what I wanted to mentally with the 90kg with the last jerk, which was a wider split. It felt comfortable, or at least as comfortable as 90kg overhead can feel.

Pull ups continue to suck, although the first rep makes me feel like they wont. Oh that first rep - WHAT A LIAR!!!

I decided to do snatch first today, even though clean & jerk was scheduled first today since I had that snatch image in my mind.

Snatch
20kgx1x7
40kgx3x1
60kgx1x1
70kgx0 <-- I'm not being aggressive
70kgx1x1
75kgx1x1
80kgx0 <-- almost
80kgx1x1 **PR**
82kgx5x0 <-- includes a bad spill on my part
70kgx4x1

Clean & Jerk
60kgx1x1
80kgx1x1
90kgx0 <-- i'm "complacent"
90kgx1x1
95kgx1x1
102kgx6x0 (2 high-pulls, 4 cleans, 0 jerks)
90kgx3x1

Pull-Ups
5,5,3