The Road to 405

[bean counter]

Nice progress Ryan. I'm sure you've now got 405 in you whenever you want it.

[Ryan Arnold]

Nice progress Ryan. I'm sure you've now got 405 in you whenever you want it.

Thanks man! Yes I'm sure I'm good for 405 at the moment, which is nice to know. I did realize my squats were not convincingly below parallel yesterday so that will have to be remedied next week. An extra inch or two may mean triples soon but that's ok. Feelin' good

[Ryan Arnold]

7/4/16

Volume-Dependence Day

Squat: 315x5x4 - Plate milestone for volume PR

315x5 - YouTube

Press: 150x5x5

DL: 420x3x2

420x3 - YouTube

Yessir keep the PR's comin'. First set of squats seem to be mostly "at parallel" rather than below. Unfortunately I have video of this set and not of the others where I'm pretty sure depth was hit convincingly. But alas, we shall not have final confirmation of depth until Friday's workout - which will be in a foreign land (random San Diego Globo Gym).
Press has been neglected for a couple weeks but felt pretty much ok. Going to have to start microloading soon. Its possible 170 will be triples Friday. We'll see.
Deadlifts feel good. Getting used to the mixed grip again and its nice to not need 10mins post workout before my thumbs feel normal again.

[Ryan Arnold]

7/6/16

Recovery Day

Squat: 260x5x2
Bench: 215x5x3
Intensity Chins: BWx5, BW+17.5x5

Well I decided against bringing my gear to San Diego. I want to travel light and just relax while I'm there. It sucks to miss training time right now but in the big picture it shouldn't really matter. With a little luck I won't even have to deload when I get back. I still have 4 months until I compete again and really can't forsee any other missed training days other than sickness, injury, etc. I've been going pretty hard for 8 weeks so a little rest isn't the worst thing in the world right now. I remembered I planned it out to squat 365x5 (even tho a little high) before I went away and I accomplished that so I'll take it.

[Ryan Arnold]

7/12/16

Ramp Up Week Day 1

Squat: 265x5, 285x5, 295x5, 305x5
Press: 145x5, 155x5x2
PC: 95x3, 125x3, 155x3
DL: 225x3, 275x3, 315x2, 345x3 (DOH)

Was on vacation in San Diego for 5 days. Lots of sun, beach, booze, food and relaxation. Today went well considering all that

[Ryan Arnold]

7/15/16

Ramp Up Week Day 2

Squat: 335x3x3
Bench: 235x5, 240x5, 245x5
DL: 385x3

Nothing felt good today but it got done. That is all

[Ryan Arnold]

7/18/16

Volume Day

Squat: 265,285,305,315x5

285x5 - YouTube

Press: 150x5x5
DL: 365x3x2

Everything felt good today despite a weekend with a lot of travel and an impromptu fill in softball game for my friends team on Sunday. We won 8-4 and I went 3-3 with 2 doubles and 4RBI after not playing in 4 years. I'll take it.

Widened my stance a bit on squats and I think it actually helped a lot. Everything felt very smooth today.
Still ramping things back up after the short layoff. I think next week its time to build a 5th set of squats into volume day. 315x5x4 felt fine and I wasn't completely trashed the next day so I think I can handle 5 sets at a slightly lower %. Maybe 83% instead of 85%. Press felt fine. I'm considering ditching the belt for DL. I can breathe better at the bottom without it. I guess its just a question of can I hold the squeeze at the heavy weights? Will see how it goes. I'm in the process of planning out a 15 week training cycle leading up to this Nov. USAPL Meet. So will be taking things a little conservative for a couple more weeks since there will be plenty of time for things to get heavy. I feel good and am ready for a big 4 months

[Ryan Arnold]

7/20/16

Recovery Day

Squat: 255x5x2
Bench: 210x5x3
Chins: BWx4x5

Still in a deload following SD trip. Since I am competing in 15 weeks and don't want to risk peaking too early I'm going to take the next 3 weeks to ramp up to roughly where I was before the break. Then will have 11 or 12 hard weeks of training leading up to the Meet.

[Ryan Arnold]

7/22/16

Intensity Day

Squat: 345x5

345x5 - YouTube

Press: 165x5, 135x10

PC: 175x3x2

Everything felt a little rusty. I filmed squats from the back to make sure my knees were staying out with the wider stance. They are. But now I think I'm going too deep - even hit the safeties on the 5th rep. So will get a normal angle next week. 345 felt heavier than it should have but I think I can still make a 10lb jump next week. Press moved well. Will make one more 5lb jump then start making 2.5lb jumps. PC also rusty. Looked crappy but got the reps.

Oh I also tried to do conditioning but neither rower was working. The gym I train at sucks

[Ryan Arnold]

7/25/16

Volume Day

Squat: 265x5, 285x5, 300x5x3
Bench: 225x5
DL: 385x5, 345x5

Still ramping squat, and also added the dreaded 5th set. Everything should get heavy again in about 3 weeks and then its gonna be a good hard 3 months until the Meet.
Bench could have been heavier but was forced to use a shitty bar and didn't have hand off for most sets
DL is still light so added a back off set. I'll probably eliminate this at some point closer to the Meet depending on how I feel.
Overall good session