Excellent news on all fronts!
Another good day. Things have turned around nicely, and even though my knees still have some rough days, my squat is stronger than it's ever been, DL and press are recovering back to PR levels, and bench is coming back solidly too. Last summer leading up to the July meet is probably the only time I've been this strong in all lifts at the same time. If I can keep it up a bit longer, I'll surpass that level.
Squat
470x2 @7; 495x2x3 @8,8,8; 470x3 @8.5
Notes: I originally planned, if warm-ups felt right for it, to do five doubles across at 495. Warm-ups did feel OK despite a bit of nagging knee stuff from my really ugly 305 power clean yesterday (not by accident that I haven't published the footage yet; the 295 in last night's vid was much cleaner), but I also wanted to pull heavy today so did the bookend sets at 470 and added an extra rep to the last one. Not as explosive as I was hoping for - very likely due to the additional high bar squats and power cleans I did yesterday - but solid for the most part.
Bench Press
45x10, 135x5, 185x5, 235x5
275x5, 300x5 (b), 315x5 @6.5, 320x5 @8
Notes: This feels more like my old bench. The combined fatigue of triceps from yesterday's pressing and overall fatigue from the day's workload made the jump from 315 to 320 harder pretty suddenly, so called it there with no backoffs. Still solid though.
Here's the fast 315x5 set:
PC Warm-up
135x2, 165x2, 195x1, 225x1
Deadlift
275x3, 365x2, 455x2 (b), 495x5 @6.5 - hook, 545x5 @8 - alt grip
1" Deficit DL
425x5 @7.5 (straps)
Notes: Cleans sucked but I wasn't really putting as much effort into them as they deserved, just kind of went through the motions. DLs felt solid as hell though. I've pulled 545x5 or more about 10 times and none of those times were as absolutely rock fucking solid as this one.
Here's the 545 DL including full set-up and barking at the bar, hopefully YouTube doesn't completely remove the sound:
C2 Erg - 20/1:40 x 8
Paces: 1:47.5, 1:31.7, 1:24.7, 1:21.9, 1:21.9, 1:28.4, 1:29.2, 1:21.9
Notes: Didn't get as high a top end speed as last Friday, but still OK. Sandbagged 6 & 7 a bit so 8 could be faster.
YouTube is being annoying about letting me edit the vids because some of the music playing in the background is copyrighted, so will try to get that sorted and post vids.
Last edited by Michael Wolf; 06-19-2015 at 09:27 PM.
Excellent news on all fronts!
I think you need to do some yelling and screaming, like Karwoski:
Nice pulling, btw.
Solid day today. Upped intensity a bit but lowered overall volume in anticipation of going for a new 1-rep PR on Friday.
Squat (XXL SBDs + Belt)
405x5 @6.5; 425x5 @7; 445x5 @8; 385x5 @7; 365x5 @6.5
Notes: Form was so-so. Not really dialed in but not all over the place either. But strength levels felt solid. Didn't take long rest periods and was still pretty strong on these.
Press (belt + wraps)
200x5 @8; 207.5x5 @8.25; 215x5 @9; 220x5 @9.5; 200x5 @8.5; 175x8 (no wraps) @8.5
Notes: Pretty solid here too.
Chins
6,6,6,6 - easy
HSPU
1,1,1 - first two easy, last one a little harder. Stopped at 3 since I'm benching tomorrow.
Have some vids, will try to upload later.
Today's 445x5 squat and 220x5 press. Upon review, the squat looks pretty fast. Felt like an 8 but looked easier/faster than that.
Sets do often feel harder than they look. When it comes to RPE, it seems that some people use pure bar speed, others use purely feel; both have some seemingly good reasons. I have come to use a blend of both; it's not as hard a metric as it could be if it were purely bar speed based, but I think after a certain number of years under the bar, the intangible of a lifter knowing how he/she feels is valuable info worth taking into account.
And thanks.
Didn't sleep well last night and had a bad and growing worse by the minute headache. Somehow talked myself into training and ended up having a good session even though the headache persisted throughout (despite two tylenol). It did go away after showering and eating though, so I feel OK now.
Squat Warmup (naked knees)
45x6x2, 95x5, 135x5, 185x5
Snatch Grip Deadlift
135x5, 225x3, 315x3 - DOH
375x3; 415x3 @5.5; 455x3 @6.5; 495x3 @8 - straps+belt
Notes: Normally I would've stopped at 455, maybe done another set there or a back-off, but I really wanted this 495. It would've probably been a 6.5 on a normal day, but feeling like crap made it an 8. Still, happy with a 5 plate SGDL for reps with gas in the tank.
Bench Press
45x10, 135x8, 185x5, 235x3 - beltless warmups
275x5 @6; 305x5 @7; 325x5 @8; 340x3 @8; - loose belt
Paused Bench
315x3 @8; 285x5 @ 6.5 - loose belt
Notes: Pretty solid, esp considering yesterday's pressing work. Pleased with the bench comeback thus far.
Chins
7,7,7
Notes: Had to do these between bench sets in order to have enough time to do conditioning. They were still pretty easy.
C2 Erg - 30/1:15 x 8
Paces: 1:51.1, 1:41.3, 1:38.6, 1:39.3, 1:40.6, 1:42.0, 1:40.0, 1:35.5
Notes: Had to shorten this in order to not run out of time, so did 30/1:15. Most of the discrepancy between rounds 2 through 7 was a function of how aggressively I started the first 2-3 strokes. Cruising speed was very close throughout.