Dan's log

[elVarouza]

Yeah, you're probably right. I should start working towards a more 'grip it and rip it' approach.

[elVarouza]

12/17/13 Tuesday.

Felt awful today, really sore and tight. I haven't been recovering as well as I should be. Legs and upper body were still toasted from last week.

Squat:

45x5x2
135x5x2
225x4
315x2
365x1 (belt, wrist wraps)
405x1

All of these pretty much felt terrible. I really need to buy a foam roller and start stretching on off days. It takes me forever to get down to the hole cause I'm always super tight.

Paused bench:

45x10
135x5
185x3
235x2

These felt really tough on my chest. Switched to close grip.

225x3
275x1
275x5 (TnG)

If close grip allows me to get more volume in without straining my pec I might switch to it. I'm sick of making a lot of progress then straining my pec and regressing.

That's all I did today, felt that adding anything else would fuck up my recovery even more. Need to start eating like I mean it again.

[elVarouza]

Had a fun bout with insomnia Wednesday night, was up for 36 hours straight before finally falling asleep Thursday night around 10-11pm. I didn't want to deadlift after being up for 30 hours so didn't do shit on Thursday. Friday I was pretty dead so I decided to try doing some deadlifts after squats tomorrow.

12/21/13 Saturday.

Close-grip incline bench:

45x10
135x5
185x5
225x6x3

Did 6s instead of 5s, will probably up the weight next time to 235ish.

Seated cable row: 192x10x3
Standing DB hammer curl: 40x10, 45x10x2
Facepulls: 120x10, 140x10x5

[Bryan Dobson]

Its, the season to feel like crap! I hope you start feeling it soon.

[elVarouza]

Me too. I might need a break. Squats and deadlifts today were awful.

12/22/13 Sunday.

Squat:

45x5x2
135x5
225x3
315x2 (belt)
365x1 (wrist wraps)
385x3

Stopped here. 385 was way harder than it should be. Form was awful. Bar was coming forward on every rep, depth was bad. I really, really need to start stretching everything daily. I'm constantly way too tight to squat properly and it's killing my form. I hit 468lbs two weeks ago and can barely do 385x3 today. It's 100% due to my legs and hips being too tight and not allowing me to hit the positions I need to hit.

BW: 225lbs! It's like I'm accidentally trying to get to 220. I was 234lbs four weeks ago.

Deadlift (in lbs):

135x5
225x4
325x2
415x1 (hook)
465x1 (belt)
505x1

505 was tough. After the squats I knew deadlift would be terrible.

Ab wheel:

BWx10x3

Starting tonight I'm going to stretch my hips at least 10 minutes per day. I know I haven't lost any strength from two weeks ago; I need to get my form back together.

I got the video of my first attempt squat from the state meet two weeks ago. It was turned down 2 to 1, both reds were for depth. 1 white from a side judge, red from the other side judge, and red from the head judge on depth. Looking at the video again I can't believe I got a single red. What do you think?



Edited to say: shit like this really makes me hate the bullshit feds that pass 6" high squats.

Here's a picture of the bottom position:

[Rascal]

Wtf. That is definitely below parallel. It's like they weren't even paying attention.

[Bryan Dobson]

That squat looked good to me. On the training note I think I will take a seasonal cue. I can't train in December like July and August. The reduction in sunlight has an impact I believe. On my plane to jamaica! Gotta close

[elVarouza]

That squat looked good to me. On the training note I think I will take a seasonal cue. I can't train in December like July and August. The reduction in sunlight has an impact I believe. On my plane to jamaica! Gotta close

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's depressing to see the sun go down at 5 or even earlier thanks to the mountains. I definitely train better in the spring and summer than fall and winter. Less sickness going around too.

[elVarouza]

Wtf. That is definitely below parallel. It's like they weren't even paying attention.

The side judge in the picture gave a white light, maybe the other side judge's view was blocked a little. You know it's gotta be pretty close to good when the spotters are all 2" away from parallel!

[Effrim]

That squat looks good to me. Seems it was a mistake on the judges part.