Gillman's Folly of Enthusiasm

[mkgillman]

11June2015

Paused Squat
45x5x3, 135x5x2, 185x2, 225x2, 275x1, 315x1, 335x5, 345x5, 355x5, 320x5 - Due to schedule nonsense and what-have-you's I haven't done these a few weeks. Went pretty well, but this really isn't my favorite lift.

TnG Bench
135x15, 185x2, 225x2, 245x2, 275x5, 290x5, 300x5,4, 290x5 - Misloaded for the top set, so I just settled in and got more volume. I also elected to dump dumbbell bench in favor of a little more volume on TnG and I will probably not bother bringing the DB variation back.

Chins

Spent awhile thinking about how I am going to adjust programming going forward and I have a seed of a plan. The biggest change is that I am going to have one competition lift a day instead of trying to get in Squat and Bench on Monday. The rough plan right now is to do Squat/M, Bench/Tu, Dead/Th, and probably keep Friday just the way it is now. I think that from there it will involve having a close secondary lift everyday and then a quick couple of sets of little accessory work, but the details of that are hazy at this point.

[mkgillman]

12June2015

No No Squats
45x5x3, 135x5x2, 185x2, 225x2, 275x1, 315x1, 335x8, 350x8, 365x8, 345x5 - These felt very good until the fatigue set when there was a little discomfort in my right knee. It wasn't anything sharp or stabby, just something didn't feel quite right, so I racked it and moved on.

Press
45x10, 95x3, 135x2, 155x5, 165x5, 175x5x2 - I hadn't done these in a couple of weeks and it certainly showed.

No Deads
135x5, 225x3, 315x1, 345x5, 365x5, 385x5

[mkgillman]

15June2015

Comp Squat
45x5x3, 135x5x2, 185x2, 225x2, 275x1, 315x1, 345x1, 405x1, 425x1, 455x1, 480x1 (PR), 440x3, 415x4 - What an interesting night of squats. 480 is an all time squat PR for me and I felt a lot better with it than 475 last week. Of course, my video didn't work properly, so there isn't a lot of direct commentary, but you will just have to take my word for it. I did it, really! I dropped down to 440 for my first fatigue set and bar path was all over the place. I was initially hoping to get two sets in at 440, but after that first one I decided to just move down to my drop set. Yeah, so about that second rep with 415... Every now and then something happens in the gym where it becomes obvious that I have gotten stronger than I was previously and while that was ugly, I got my reps.

I've got one more week of straight training and then it will be a deload and test week where I'm fairly confident that 500 will happen. My left bicep is pissed off about squats right now, I think that I strained it last week with 475, and a deload and working through a base building period again will hopefully set things right.

Comp Bench
135x15, 185x2, 225x2, 245x2, 285x3, 305x3, 325x1, 300x3x2 - Bench went tolerably well as 325 is 10 lbs off my current pr and I had gotten in some volume before I hit the rep. I'm not terribly confident that I will have 350 in a couple of weeks, but I should be able to add a little bit to my PR bench.

[mkgillman]

16June2015

Deadlift
135x10, 225x4, 315x4, 405x4, 425x4, 445x4 - My pulls aren't great and my deadlift has barely moved in the last year. I think that consistently working up to a heavy single with drop sets isn't going to be the best answer as far as deadlifting goes, so next cycle I'm going to mess around with the plan. Right now, I think that I am going to alternate haltings and rack pulls on my heavy day and use beltless deads and sldl throughout the week to try and keep volume in there.

Incline Bench
135x10, 165x5, 185x5, 195x5, 205x5x2, 195x5 - Shoulder wasn't really thrilled about these today, so I just kept the weight modest and got my volume done.

SLDL
135x5, 225x3, 315x1, 335x5, 345x5, 355x5

[mkgillman]

22June2015

Comp Squats
45x5x3, 135x5x2, 185x2, 225x2, 275x1, 315x1, 345x1, 405x1, 425x1, 455x1, 485x1 (PR), 435x3x2, 415x4 - Heading in to the gym I was seriously contemplating giving 500 a ride depending on how 485 went. Well, it went, but I don't think that I had another 15 lbs in me yesterday. No concern about it though as next week will be vacation rolled into a taper and I am going to get that 500 late next week.

Comp Bench
135x15, 185x2, 225x2, 245x2, 285x3, 305x3, 330x1, 300x4x2 - Bench is moving along pretty well too. The top single was better this week than last week and volume was solid as well. A nice little bench PR seems like a pretty good bet for next week too.

[mkgillman]

23June2015

Deadlift

135x10, 225x4, 315x4, 405x5 - Went into the gym last night intending to take these fairly easy as the week before a deload is never the best time for pulling heavy. My lower back, specifically my erectors, were incredibly tight and were not getting looser as the weight was getting heavier. The set at 405 went fine and my back felt better under load, but immediately started tightening up after the set. I opted to just leave the pulling work off the table for the night and listen to mah body. On a positive note, my back was uniformly sore, so it would seem to me to be accumulated fatigue from squats and not a larger problem.

Incline Bench
135x10, 165x5, 185x5, 195x5, 210x5, 200x5

Chins

4x8 - Did a few sets of chins instead of SLDL to get some isometric work for my back. These wound up helping a bit.

Overall, I feel pretty dinged up and have fairly low motivation right now. Thing are a bit stressful at work and home for a bunch of reasons. One of my bros pointed out that no one is supposed to feel good the week before a deload, but it is just frustrating to have put in all the work and just feel kind of lousy.

[Lakshmi Meadows]

I'm confused, is next week a deload or are you going for 500 squat and a pr on your bench?

If you feel like crap then deload now so that you can get those at the end of next week.

[mkgillman]

I'm confused, is next week a deload or are you going for 500 squat and a pr on your bench?

If you feel like crap then deload now so that you can get those at the end of next week.

I was referring to deload in more of a meet prep context. I am finishing up sort of a transition training block this week and then, as I'm on vacation next week, take it nice and light and test a max next Friday.

As for feeling like crap, it is 50% physical, 50% mental, and 50% being a whiny punk. I always have a much harder time keeping up the intensity and working around the dings and dents that are always around as I know I'm approaching the end of a training block. I need to have a ghost coach who surprises me with this stuff I guess. Just get a call, "hey, you've got a meet next week!"

Hmmm...probably not the best idea.

[Bryan Dobson]

I always feel a bit crappy when transitioning for a test or meet. I take it as a sign that I have accumulated plenty of fatigue and I will get a good bounce out of a short deload. 2 weeks before I squatted 500 in sleeves, I squatted 485 in wraps and my back was very fatigued.
Take confidence in your work and that allowing fatigue to dissipate will add pounds. The work is done, the rest of the process is mental.

[Lakshmi Meadows]

I always feel a bit crappy when transitioning for a test or meet. I take it as a sign that I have accumulated plenty of fatigue and I will get a good bounce out of a short deload. 2 weeks before I squatted 500 in sleeves, I squatted 485 in wraps and my back was very fatigued.
Take confidence in your work and that allowing fatigue to dissipate will add pounds. The work is done, the rest of the process is mental.

Always so wise Obi-Wan