200/300/400/500

[hector_garza]

This is good.



This is not. Ever high-bar...? 😈

Also probably a good idea to get curls in the rotation.

I have squatted high bar! That was back when I squatted ATG.

I already leg press and t-bar. That's two strikes. If I squat high bar then that's 3 strikes, I'll be out.

What then? I guess I'd have to port my log over to bodybuliding.com.

Thanks for the curls suggestion. You're on the money and I've been lazy not to include those.

[hector_garza]

Strength
Deads: 465 x 2s x 5r (PR, followed by another PR)
Bench: 245 x 5s x 3r (PR)
Bench: 225 x 2s x 5r
T-Bar: 200 x 5s x 5r (YEAH, A FOURTH PR)

Volume
Deads: 4,650
Bench: (3,675 + 2,250) = 5,925
------------------------------
Total: 10,575

******************************

Thought I'd left my chalk at home and couldn't deadlift. Which was a sort of relief, because I was in bitch mode and feeling beat up. Thought to myself "OK. Just some medium squats and some dips and we're out. 40 minutes. Easy.".
But then it turned out I did have my chalk. So it was on.
After my warm up deadlift sets, and still in bitch mode, I didn't feel like doing 460 x 3s x 5r. (This would have matched my highest 5RM ever.) So, I told myself that if I deadlifted 465 x 1s x 5r then I could call it a day, since that would be an all time PR.
So I did 465 x 5.
And the weird part is, it wasn't difficult. And I actually felt better after I did it.
And it was a 5RM PR!!!!
I felt so good I did another set.
Which was a little tougher, but still felt good.
And which was a 2s x 5r PR!!!
Then I went to bench, where I set a 5s x 3r PR.
For T-Bar I was only planning on 3s x 5r. But it felt doable. And I had just listened to Stan Efferding talk about how the back could take more volume than most lifters thought, so I went for 5s x 5r.
If I'd had more time I would have added leg press, curls, ab wheel, and mobility work.

[Christopher John]

Raining PRs in here, Hector. Well done! You're about 80lbs ahead of me on deadlift. What's up with overhead press? Doesn't look like you've been doing them lately...

I already leg press and t-bar. That's two strikes. If I squat high bar then that's 3 strikes, I'll be out.

Ed Coan squatted almost exclusively high bar until he was a few weeks out from a meet. I'd say that's a good enough endorsement to keep you from that third strike. Also, the Juggernaut guys program similarly, if that adds more merit to the idea.

But seriously, might be a worthwhile variant to consider until your elbows start behaving.

[Chris McCarthy]

That is one heck of a session!

[hector_garza]

That is one heck of a session!

Thanks!
It was glorious.
Then work got crazy and I had several days of inactivity since.

[hector_garza]

Raining PRs in here, Hector. Well done! You're about 80lbs ahead of me on deadlift. What's up with overhead press? Doesn't look like you've been doing them lately...



Ed Coan squatted almost exclusively high bar until he was a few weeks out from a meet. I'd say that's a good enough endorsement to keep you from that third strike. Also, the Juggernaut guys program similarly, if that adds more merit to the idea.

But seriously, might be a worthwhile variant to consider until your elbows start behaving.

Thanks!
I have been slacking on overhead press in an effort to focus on my bench. I feel like putting 25lbs on my bench to get to 300 would actually be easier than putting 15lbs on my press to get 200.

Ed Coan is inspirational. Have you had a chance to listen to any podcasts he has been on?
I think, not sure, it was the supertraining podcast I heard him on awhile back. Awesome stuff.
Not only was Ed Coan squatting high bar, but he also did incline bench a lot. And was bodybuilding half the year.

If the elbow pain continues then I'm going to take your advice and work in some high bar squats.

[hector_garza]

Squat: 315 x 3s x 5r
Dips: 2s x 3r

Only had a few minutes. Really, didn't even have those few minutes. But had to get something in because the inactivity was killing me. Felt gross.

Slight leg pain with squats. Stretched before squatting and hips were super tight.
At this point I think the key to keeping the pain at bay is regular squatting and regular mobility work.

The worst leg pain was after days of inactivity (lots of work), coupled with lots of flying.
The best feeling squats are when I'm on top of my mobility work and squatting most days.

[hector_garza]

Strength
Squat: 335 x 3s x 5r
Bench: 250 x 3s x 3r (PR!!!!)
Bench: 225 x 3s x 5r

Other
T-Bar: 205 x 3s x 5r
Ab Wheel: 1s x 5r

Volume
Squat: 5,025
Bench: (2,250 + 3,375) = 5,625
-------------------------------------
Total: 10,650

**************************

I saw a guy in my gym squat 500.
Had never seen anyone squat 500 in person before. Legit as balls. Squatted low bar, but went way, way below parallel, ATG, so it was even harder than a regular squat since, according to what I know from SS, some of his muscles relaxed at the bottom of the movement and could no longer contribute to the movement.
I went over and talked to him about his programming. He does 5 x 5, increasing by 5% every week, working up from 70% to 90%, then re-tests his 1RM after doing 5x5 at 90%. Then starts the cycle over again based on a new 1RM. Probably more to it. Said it was his own variation of Westside Barbell programming, scaled back a little bit since he couldn't handle the Westside frequency, especially after hitting new PRs.

HIT A BENCH PR!!!!!!!!
Just benching a single set of 250 for a triple was a PR. So it was awesome to get 3x3 at 250. I remain strong in my belief that I WILL BENCH 300 AND PRESS 200 IN 2017!!!!

Finally gotten strong enough with the T-Bar to do some damage to myself. Lats have DOMS.

[Eric K]

Awesome stuff, hector! You'll definitely tame 300!

[Mosin Warrior]

Nice work, Hector!

Pretty awesome to see someone squat 500. Having done percentage based programming, I feel like there has to be more to that guys programming. That, or he can grind 5's way better than he should be able to if he can hit 90% 5x5. Hell, the best programming I've come up with caps my 5x5 at 80% and I've always had solid results from it.