Doing the Program (for real this time)

[Dag]

Bench - watched a couple videos by Dan Green and Rip last night. Need to figure out how to properly unrack the bar and get my back tight since I don't get a handoff.

I think there's a couple things. Make sure the saddles aren't so high you have to stretch to lift the bar out. Also helps if they don't have a steep angle so you can slide the bar out more than lift it out. Most aren't like that though. If you can set up as far up the bench as you can without hitting the uprights on the ascent, that seems to help too.

- Going to work on these to get my tricep strength up. I've got twigs for arms (under 15" flexed...), and I think getting my triceps stronger would go a long way in helping my bench and OHP.

Oh good. Another member of the Small Arms Club. Welcome. Your jacket and patch is on the way.

BTW, the squats looked good to me but I'm pretty much the worst squatter in the world so...

[Aaron Montgomery]

I lowered the saddles so that I'm not stretched out anymore. Mine are set at a 90 degree angle. Setting up as high as possible seems like a good idea, which I tried to do today.

Being 6'1" makes having small arms even worse. I try to wear long sleeves unless it's above 90. Eventually once I get close to hitting 5/4/3/2 on the main lifts I'll get to work on looking swole. My chest and arms are smaller than they were last year since I'm doing SS and not lots of volume with less weight. 3x5 is great for strength, but not size...

[Aaron Montgomery]

3/18/17
187.6lb
Squat - 195 3x5
OHP - 110x4/5/5/5/5
Inc db curls
DL - 295x5

Squat - finally adding weight to the bar. Filmed all of my working sets. Depth on last set looked solid.
OHP - first set felt horrible. Set 2 was better, sets 3 and 4 felt great. Set 5 was a bit slow.
DL - need to drop to 5lb jumps again. Lower back felt fatigued, probably from issues with hang cleans 2 days prior. Going to try lowering my hang cleans by front squatting them onto the pins next week, and see how things feel after that. Considering dropping the cleans for now, since cleaning 44% of my DL probably isn't helping improve my DL at all. We'll see...

[Aaron Montgomery]

3/21/17
188lb
Bench - 165 3x5, 135x8 (working on getting back tighter, and still getting used to trying to touching bar to chest)
Squat - 205 3x5
LTE - 60x6/7/6
Deadlift - 300x5

Bench - Jordan said that doing squats before press can interfere with the press, so I'm doing these first now. Going ok. Might have to drop to 2.5lb increases soon.
Squat - going good. I think I'm finally getting depth consistently now. Gonna stick with 10lb jumps for as long as possible. Squat Depth Check 205x5 - YouTube
LTE - working on getting triceps stronger, which will hopefully transfer to my presses.
Deadlift - Was too aggressive with the 10lb jumps last week, bar was slow today. Deadlift 300x5 - YouTube

[cgeorg]

Squats look real good, and fast. Watch out for the lumbar rounding in the deadlifts.

[Aaron Montgomery]

Squats look real good, and fast. Watch out for the lumbar rounding in the deadlifts.

Thanks! I think I accumulated too much fatigue from last weeks 10lb jumps on the deadlift, so I'll jump 5lb and see how the deadlift feels on Saturday. From there I'll decide if I should stick with deadlifting twice a week, or every other workout.

[Aaron Montgomery]

3/23/17
189.4lb
4k cals/day
OHP - 112.5 3x5
Squat - 215 3x5
Chinups - 7x3 (a triple every minute for 7 minutes)
Hang-clean - 115 2x3 (will submit form-check later)

OHP - did a lot more warmups today, and pressed before squatting. Shoulders felt a lot better, so I think I'll continue to press before squats. Only slow rep was the last rep of the last set (only took 5-6 minutes between working sets).
Squat - Looking ok. Still having issues consistently hitting depth without knee slide, but last set was good.
Chinups - meh. I think my hands may be the limiting factor here.
Hang-clean - lowered weight in order to video form. Hernia surgery sites didn't feel too good after second set, so I stopped. Will submit form-check later.

*MUTE*! Hang-Cleans 115x3 - YouTube
OHP warmup - YouTube
OHP warmup - YouTube
Squat 215x5 - depth check - YouTube

[Aaron Montgomery]

3/25/17
189.4lb
Bench - 170 3x5; 135x8
Squat - 225 3x5
Deadlift - 305x5 (5 rep PR)

Was on a time crunch and got up early to lift, didn't rest longer than 5 minutes on any sets/warmups. Didn't eat before lifting, which probably contributed to why I felt dizzy and under energized this morning. But a solid session nevertheless.

Bench - Felt ok. Bar path was slower than I would have liked, but no grinding. I think I'm getting more consistent with my setup now. Putting shelf liner on the bench helps keep my back from sliding up or down.
Squat - I think I reached depth consistently. Feels like the bar path is slowing down now though.
Deadlift - This was really rough. Wanted to quit after the 3rd rep. Time to switch to deadlifting every other workout, instead of 1st and 3rd workouts of the week. Wish this didn't feel so heavy already...

Squat 225x5 depth check - YouTube
Deadlift 305x5 - YouTube

In other news, I have a tentative training session with Austin Baraki in one week!

[JT_]

In other news, I have a tentative training session with Austin Baraki in one week!

Nice Dead PR! Also, super jealous you get to train with Austin. I think he's a beast. Looking forward to seeing how that goes for you.

[Aaron Montgomery]

3/28/17
189lb
Bench - 172.5 3x5; 135x8
Squat - 235 3x5

Was mentally distracted/agitated before lifting this morning, so wasn't very focused. Didn't get enough sleep and forgot to take my caffeine.

Bench - Was supposed to OHP today, but changed my schedule this week so that I can bench/squat/DL on Saturday with Austin Baraki. Bar bath was miserably slow for a 2.5lb increase and 2 days of rest.
Squat - 1st and 2nd sets were ok depth, but realized I accidentally did 6 reps on sets 1 and 2 after reviewing the videos. Set 3 was miserable and not low enough. Hip flexors on right side are really hurting at the bottom of the squat today. Will repeat today's weight on Thursday and try to keep my head engaged.

Bad session. Will repeat squat weight on Thursday, pop my 200mg caffeine pill, and try to stay focused. Guess today proves that TRT isn't a "miracle" drug.