I also hate morning workouts too....but its necessary at times.
Even though today went OK, I still hate lifting in the morning. Not enough food yet in my belly to provide sufficient fuel for awesomeness. Anyway…
Squats
45x5x2, 135x5, 205x3, 265x2, 315x5, 335x5, 350x5
I SHOULD be happy. I ramped back up 45lbs in one week. But I’m not. Because 350 should NOT be working weight. It should not feel hard. At all. I’d be at 405x5x3 today - sets across mind you, not ramping sets - if I hadn’t gotten sick. Damn you, Mr. Sick! But I’m trying to look at the bright side. 350 is closer to what should be working weight for me right now than 305 is. I am estimating it’ll take all of next week, too, to get back to where I was. Maybe even into the following week. But by sometime that next week, I will resume my gains. Finally. <sigh>
Bench Press
135x5x2, 185x3, 225x2, 255x5x3.
This too. This was the weight I did for a DELOAD 5x5. Now it’s a challenging 3 sets of 5. Dammit. But, it’s better than 245 on Monday. OK. Relax, Wolf; breathe. It’ll come back soon and it’ll be fine.
Power Cleans
135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 195x3, 215x3
The one part of my lift that felt good. Even though I only did ramping sets, and the heaviest (215) is 15lbs less than what I was doing for several sets of 3 (230) previously, these at least FELT good. They snapped up quick.
Finished with four 200m runs at about 9mph. Not very fast at all, but still getting my anaerobic conditioning back.
I also hate morning workouts too....but its necessary at times.
No lifting today, but I played softball and didn't feel like a weak, slow piece of shit. That's always good. I cracked one ball real good, made some good plays at first, and felt faster running the bases than usual. I feel like this week's lifting is gonna be a lot better than last week's. 405x5x3 dammit!
Getting better and better, but still surprised how long full recovery from that damn virus is taking.
Squats
45x5x2, 135x5, 205x3, 275x2, 335x5, 350x5, 360x5
Really wanted to put on that 25er and do 365 but the 350 was challenging already, so held back with a 10lb jump. Rested about 3.5 mins between first and second set, closer to 5 between second and third. That set of 360 knocked my socks off. I was beat for like 10-15 minutes after that. I did my first warmup for the Press ~4 mins after finishing the 360x5 set and I was definitely still breathing a bit heavy and heart rate elevated. Should''ve waited a bit longer.
Press
95x5, 115x3, 135x2, 160x5x3
5th rep was challenging on both sets 2 and 3. Oddly it was up towards the top that was hard. I've always ALWAYS been able to lock out whatever I could get an inch above my head, but I felt like my triceps were the weak link today. Weird.
Deadlift
135x5, 223x2, 313x1, 418x5
These were odd too. Felt sluggish and fatigued in warmups, but the work-set was strong and fine. Still about 50lbs behind my best 5, but at least this felt good.
The odd numbers were because I had a 45, then a 20kg plate, then 45s after that. Allowed me to make a 13lb jump from last week, which I was perfectly fine with, even though 418 is not a normal number to be on that bar.
Finished with 5 or 6 runs of 200m. Again not too fast, I was really really beat before I even began these. Did each one progressively faster by a tick, starting at about 7.2, up to about 9.0 by the last.
Once again an incrementally better day, but still lacking the full snap that Rob talks about. It's returning, but slowly.
Squats
45x5x2, 135x5, 195x3, 255x2, 315x1, 355x5x3
Returned to sets across today. The average weight of my last workout was 348 (335, 350, 360), so this is approximately equivalent to a 7lb jump. Last time I ramped back up to 355x5x3 and then back up to 365 and 375 it was easier. Today wasn't easy, but no reps were in doubt. Rested a bit over 4 mins between sets.
Bench Press
45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 260x5x3
Again lacking the snap I should have at this weight, but I did feel stronger as I went.
Chins
10,9,8 - kind weak, but better than 9,8,6 last week!
Sprints - did 5 or 6 200m sprints, starting slow at about 7.5 and ramping speed each one. Did the last one at 9.2.
And a globo gym story I'll be posting in the joined a new gym thread.
Last edited by Michael Wolf; 07-18-2012 at 06:20 PM. Reason: added link
Today was fun. I got my lifts in, wooed a possible disciple/convert to the serious lifting way of life, and one of my clients PRd his squat and DL today. And soon I shall be wolfing down meat and beer with spar and michele (see what I did there?). Good Friday.
Squats
45x5x2, 135x5, 195x3, 255x2, 315x1, 365x5
Since I'd been making such big jumps every workout, I decided to make today like ID on the TM. Even though I'm still working back to previous recent strength levels, I felt a bit fatigued with all the big jumps 5 workouts in a row, so decided to push the intensity and lower the volume. Seemed to go pretty well. The 365x5 was hard, but not limit, and felt good to push it up.
Press
45x5, 95x5, 120x3, 145x2, 165x5x3
Felt good. Easier than 160 the other day.
Power Cleans
135x3, 160x3, 185x3, 205x3, 215x3x3
These were ok. Some reps better than others, a few early jumps and one arm pull, but overall ok.
Sprints
6 x 200m going from 7.2 to 9.2 with 1:30 rest
1 x 400m @ 7.6
Before I went o squat, I noticed a fairly new trainer squatting in the rack. He's been at the club for about 4 months and was never a trainer before. We've spoken a few times, and he always seemed a nice, sincere guy. I recommended SS a while back, and he's read it, though not completed it. Since he was there squatting, I offered to squat with him and show him a few things.
He eagerly accepted, and was loving it. We went through the squat, press, and then even the power clean. Because I was also lifting, we didn't have time to go through the entire teaching progression for each lift, but he got it pretty good considering. He was really excited, said he'd never learned the lifts so well or been coached in such a detailed, efficient manner (thanks Juli for hammering this into me).
I was excited to have another convert on board.
Great way to end the week! I've had encounters like that before. I'm not a professional trainer, but it's worth the extra time it takes just to spread the knowledge :-)
Didn't lift today, but did meet and have a beer with 3-time olympian and bronze medalist Cheryl Haworth, who was fun, funny, and cool.
Wolf and Haworth.jpg
I went to the screening of the movie about her, Strong!, which I really enjoyed. Cheryl attended, stayed afterwards for a Q&A, then had a beer with a bunch of us afterwards at the bar across the street. Cool stuff.
As a random note, she said her best squat was 225kg. I didn't ask, but I assume it was high bar. I had asked about her thoughts in the strength vs technique debate - without saying so explicitly, she was favoring technique. She said plenty of women were/are stronger than her, but she could lift more. I obviously agree with Rip's analysis, but it was interesting to hear a different take from a competitor at the highest level.
Either way, that's a strong, strong girl!
Cheryl was a very fascinating figure - I advise all y'all to watch the documentary when it comes out later this week on PBS.
I asked her during the post-film Q+A why the men's team in the US was doing so poorly compared to the women. She was too kind to really answer the question.
Then I asked her what she was snatching these days (the most recent article I could find on her suggested she was training for a 2016 comeback) and she said she wasn't really lifting. She did say she was enjoying Crossfit, however, which caused a large hoot to go up in the auditorium (which was full of Crossfitters and those of us who found barbells via Crossfit.)