Tonight was interesting. I didn't feel great all day, not sick but low energy and lethargic. But I decided when I got to the gym I was going to see if I could front squat more than anyone else there. Which admittedly isn't very much, at 365, but I thought I could do it, easily, even on a bad day. I was wrong. I also pulled sumo but we'll save that for later.
Regarding front squats, I've written a couple times before about this, but I have truly terrible ankle mobility as a result of 10-15 severe ankle sprains on both sides, and another ~10 not as severe on both sides, mostly sustained during my illustrious high school basketball days. Without lifting shoes on, I can barely get enough ankle movement to squat low bar; I need 3/4" heels to high bar, and can't really get upright enough to front squat properly without a heel of about 3-4", which is obviously impractical for other reasons.
So when I front squat, even with my highest heeled shoes, I still need to lean over more than is ideal to make depth and the bar is forward of mid-foot. Because of this, I can't really front squat enough weight to make it a worthwhile lift to generate a stimulus, so I don't do it. Other than messing around, I haven't front squatted in 5-6 years. Despite this, I thought I still might be strong enough to squat 370 and beat the gym PR of 365. And I probably am, but have been not squatting long enough now that between not front squatting at all for 5-6 years and only squatting twice after 10 weeks off completely, I wasn't able to do it today. Still, it was a fun thing to do.
Front Squat
95x3, 135x3, 185x3, 225x2, 265x2, 295x2 - beltless
315x1, 335x1, 355xF - 3" belt
225x1, 275x1, 315x1 - beltless
Notes: The 355 miss was me just not preparing properly and then wussing out. I worked back up but had run out of motivation and gas by then so stopped after coming back to 315..
Press
165x5, 185x5 - beltless
200x5x2, 205x5 @8.75 - belt
190x5 @8.5 - beltless
Notes: Pretty solid, not much of note except that pressing after front squats is a little harder than after high bar or low bar. Front squats tax the pressing musculature more, and I felt the fatigue. But no problems.
Chins
BWx5, BW+8KGx5, BW+12KGx4, BW+16KGx3, BW+43x2, BW+48x2, BW+24KGx2, BW+45x3, BW+35x3, BW+12KGx4, BW+8KGx5
=38 reps, 33 weighted
Sumo DL
190x3, 225x3, 265x3, 315x2, 345x1, 365x1, 385x1, 405x2
Notes: My back has continued to bother me when trying to deadlift so tried pulling a relatively narrow sumo to see how it felt. It was better, though not perfect. #pullsumoeatbutt
Tonight was weird, but good. I squatted with a normal bar, and it hurt but I was able to do it. Then I benched and actually worked up to some lighter work set weights, which was a total surprise.
Squat - rehbands
High Bar+Low Bar: 95x3+3, 135x3+3, 185x3+3, 225x3+3, 265x2+3
Low Bar only: 295x3, 315x5
Notes: Was able to get into a slightly better position than last time I squatted, which was around 10-11 weeks ago I believe. Still quite compromised though, with lower elbows, bent wrists, and still hurt in the shoulder despite that. But I was able to complete the reps without any issues, up to an easy 315x5 top set. Not much but felt good to low bar squat. Quads a little sore presumably from Monday's front squats.
Bench Press
[95,135,175,205,225,245] x5
[260,275] x5 - first and last rep paused
290x5 @8.75 - paused
300x5 @8.5 - first and last rep paused
275x5 @7.5 - first and last paused
225x10
Notes: WHAT?!? This was a total shock. A month ago, the empty bar still hurt. A few weeks ago, the empty bar was finally OK but even 80lbs still hurt immediately and I felt it was prudent to stop there. Started easing back into the bench around a week ago, did up to 185 the first time, 225 the second, and suddenly today was able to bang out a 300x5 set. I really didn't expect this sudden surge in ability to bench, but I'm pleased. One more thing I'll be able to do with some reasonable actual weights before surgery. Which yes, I still feel I need.
Chins
BWx5
BW Rows
BWx10x3
Last edited by Michael Wolf; 03-30-2016 at 07:37 PM.
That is some great benching.
this is starting to resemble a program
Glad to see you surprise yourself under the bar! For what it's worth, and I know that this is entirely anecdotal data, my SLAP/shoulder issue would present very similarly regarding ability on some days and not others for a number of months after initial injury. I'm not trying to talk you out of surgery, just commiserating with you I suppose.
Thanks, dood.
A what? Is that the thing where you try to produce appropriate levels of stress, over time, via the manipulation of volume and intensity, to drive continued progress? Never heard of it.
I was glad too. If it were only a SLAP tear and it was getting better like this, I'd probably put it off and wait to see if it continued improving. Unfortunately the reality of the situation is such that I'm still more confident that surgery is the better long term option, though this definitely made me think twice. Or thrice.
Nice being able to squat again. I wouldn't want to squat this way permanently, but it's better than the last time I tried squatting for a bit, three months ago.
Squat
135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5 - beltless
345x5, 365x5, 385x1, 405x1 - belt
Notes: Happy with how easy 365x5 was on only the second time back after such a long break. Was probably a 6.5. Went up a little for singles just to feel the weight.
Press - belt, no wraps
215x2; 225x5 @8; 235x2x2 @9,9.5; 225x2 @9
Notes: Somewhat harder than these weights would normally warrant, but I'm pretty sure this is solely due to fatigue from actually benching two days ago, for the first time in almost five months.
Deadlift
185x3, 275x3
Notes: Nope. Not tonight. Made myself stop.
Chins
5, then 7 sets of 6
Notes: Some fatigue here too from the bench, so kept it down to 6s and only 47 total reps.
KB 1A PR
24x5, 32x5, 36x5x3 (kg)
Training and gaining, gaining and training.
Squat
135x5, 225x5, 315x5 - beltless
355x5, 385x5 @6, 415x2 @6, 435x1 @7, 455x1@9 - belt
Notes: Shoulder stuff aside, had a left knee issue tonight. When it got heavier, I was getting that shooting twinge about half way down, just on the left side, that makes it damn near impossible to stay tight and not fall in. Since the weights were relatively light, it didn't really get hard, but it suddenly came home at 455, which is where I planned to stop anyway. It was weird because when I was having this issue back in the Fall, it would be somewhat sensitive between sets, when bending over to get things in general, when taking stairs. Whereas right now it's fine for pretty much everything except the descent of a squat. Ah well. At least I can squat till surgery.
Bench Press
135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 265x5
295x5, 315x5 @8.75 - first and last reps paused
335x2 @8.5 - first rep paused
350x1 @9.25 - paused
365x1 @9
275x5 @7.5
Notes: This was an awesome and unexpected surprise. Even though bench went well last week I really didn't expect to do a solid paused 350 and TnG 365 today, but kept going up and they were just there. No pain, slight feeling of weakness.
This is the 315x5 set. Will post a couple more tomorrow: Instagram
Press - beltless, no wraps
95x5, 135x5, 165x5, 185x3, 200x2, 215x1, 225x1, 185x3
Notes: All easy, just didn't want to reduce pressing frequency to only once this week.
Chins
BWx5x5 - easy