Trei's Attempts at Lifting Heavy Shit

[savage]

You did not hit 230 on the bench because you were probably fried. You were doing singles with 90%+ of your 1RM before attempting 230. You can't really expect to set a new PR after fucking around with weights so close to your current PR beforehand.

[Trei]

Yeah, that's pretty well what I had expected anyhow. My main goal was to hit 225#, 'cause I wanted some ego stroking. Anything after that was just bonus. If I was fresh I probably could've gotten 230 or 235, I expect.

[Trei]

2011/9/5

Some random chinups (pre-squat, and on either end of my bench warmups):
4
2
2

Squat:
320# 3x5
Back to 5# jumps on my way back to 340#. Finally started putting chalk on my back AND OH MY GOD IT'S WONDERFUL!

Bench Press:
185# 3x5
Gonna see if I can't eek out some more LP on this. Also going to actually not be a dumbass and get spotters for all my work sets from now on (first set wasn't spotted, 2 and 3 were). If only because of how much it helps the reps.

Deadlift:
395# 1x5
Got this fucker this week (last week I couldn't get rep 3 off the ground). 5th rep was resisting the lockout and was a grunter, but I got it. Fucker.

80# 1x13 one-armed DB rows (or would that be 2 sets, since I did one for each arm? Whatever).

[Trei]

2011/9/7:

Squats:
325# 3x5
Wanted to record these, but as I found out after my first set, the card for my camera had enough room for 35s of video. Which was just enough to see myself unrack the bar. Fuck.
Oh well, all 3 sets felt good, if hard.

OHP:
120# 3x3
Swithched to sets of 3 since these tend to be silly hard for me and I don't want to stall on this while I try and eek out some more LP on the BP.

Chins:
1x4
2x2
Still suck at these. Surprise!

[Trei]

2011/9/9:

Squats:
330# 3x5
10 pounds and I'm back to my previous best work sets. I need to work on speed on the way back up, it seems like. Anyone have any tips?

Bench:
187.5# 3x5
First set I was an a retard and slightly cheated (I was about an inch high on a few reps, so I made up for it with a few quickly-paused reps on the second and third sets. Otherwise easy enough, minus reps 5 on both sets 2 and 3.

PC:
150# 5x3
Used a bit of elbow on the first and third set, and apparently did something stupid when I went to put it down at the end of the third set and caught it without a hook grip by surprise and almost dropped it (no bumper plates).
Fourth set, for some reason, I decided to not use my belt. Consequently, my rack was fucked because my back wasn't as tight as it should be, or something, and I I didn't explode out enough. That pissed me the fuck off, and on the fifth set I put my belt back on and thought to myself as I set up, "fucking explode!" Fifth set was my best of the five, go figure.

GM:
135# 3x10

[Trei]

2011/9/12

Squats:
335# 3x5
Reps were a little slow, but otherwise fine.

OHP:
122.5# 3x3
Same thing as squats.

PC:
155# 2x3
155# 1x2
Multiple chest-racks (ow...), and then an outright fail on the third rep of set 3. And we don't have bumper plates so I had to catch the damn thing. Pretty sure the people around me thought I was roid raging or something (despite not having the look :P) 'cause after setting it down in frustration, I ripped off my belt (lever belt) and chucked it just over the bar and hit the base of the hack squat machine.

Guess I'm doing a deload on these and fixing my damn rack.

[Trei]

2011/9/14:

Starting Advanced Novice stuffs to give me some extra recovery since I'm 1 squat-session away from my previous working-set max. Trying out front squats for Wednesdays for now.

Front Squats:
175# 3x3
First time actually doing these, and my wrists hate me for it. I'll get used to it, though. Incidentally, first time in my life where my wrists have ever been considered "inflexible". Going the opposite direction of a front squat (so bending palm-side) my wrists are hyperflexible, or something. I can close them to about a 30 degree angle, such that I can touch the bottom of my forearm with any of my fingers - index is uncomfortable, though).

Bench Press:
190# 3x5
Tried for a bigger arch than I'm used to today on the first set, and I fucking hated it. Back to my normal way of doing it. Also, I apparently need to be more careful with my spotters. The lift-off on the second set was off-centre and almost fucked me up. Oh well.

Deadlift:
400# 1x5
First time ever deathlifting with a belt, and doing it from now on. After how hard 395 was I expected this to be brutal, but I guess a 1.5 week rest was good for me, reps 1-4 FLEW off the floor. 5 was a little dirty, but still easier than rep 5 was at 395. 5 pounds until I'm a member of the 4-plate club.

DB Rows:
35#x12 per arm.
Meh.

[Trei]

2011/9/16

Squats:
340# 3x5
Had the bar placed wrong, or so it felt, on the first work set so it was dirty as fuck. Second set was a bit better, but not great; still a bit of a grinder. Last rep of the third set I think I got a taste of what Justin was talking about on the 70sbig attacking the bar post: All four reps were grinders, and I wasn't about to let myself fail on something I did 2 months ago. Went down, bounced up, told my sticking point to get the fuck out of the way, screamed and flew through it. Felt awesome.

OHP:
125# 3x3
First 2 sets were slow, third was okay but hard. I'll accept this.

Chins:
2x3
1x2
Still sucking. Oh well.

[Trei]

2011/9/19

Squats:
345# 3x5
AWWWWWWWWWWWW YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH! Back to PR land! And more screaming. See caps.

Bench:
192.5# 3x5
Loud grunts on fifth reps of each set make the barbells move faster. Proven fact.

Chins:
1x4
1x3
1x2
Better than last time. Cool.

[Trei]

2011/9/21:

I definitely thought I wasn't going to be doing much today, 'cause my back was hurting since I woke up. Directly below and to the left of my left shoulder blade. Not sure what it is, but I woke up with it. Had it happen 2 times before since March, both times from waking up (no training the night before). First time, I figured fuck it and squatted, and... was out for a week. Second time, went to work (construction, as a general labourer) and by 10:30 I was going home and out for a week. This time? Tried again since I wasn't doing back squats today anyhow, so figured I'd see how it did with front squats. Fine. End result?

Theme of the session:
What is best in in lifting? To crush your milestones, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the plates.

Front squats:
180# 3x3
Easier than last week. Even my wrists were happier.

OHP:
127.5# 3x...3.5?
Went to do the third set, and on the first rep I apparently forgot to, ya know... get the fuck under the bar. Got it halfway up and then it came back down. "Fuck that shit", I thought, and immediately got the next 3 reps out. With a bit of difficulty, but got it.

Deadlift:
And this is where the theme of the session stems from.

405# 1x5
Fuck. Yes. Hit a milestone for reps. And as if to add icing to the cake, 4 plates was easier than 400#.
Downside? I was an idiot and forgot to fucking record this.