The Road to 405

[Ryan Arnold]

3/29/16

Today I took a tour of Planet Fitness. I was bored and had never been inside one and wanted to see what it was like. Its just crazy that globo gyms like this are the norm. I fear we have a long battle ahead of us.

So I walk in at the same time as another guy who wants a tour. He's in his 60's-ish and this is his second time there. He told the woman, "I'm more serious about joining this time." We take the tour together. First words out of her mouth are, "we do not cater to Bodybuilding or Powerlifting here, we cater to a general fitness crowd where everyone feels welcome." She then explained some circuit designed by the house trainer. Seemed like it changes daily. Then on to the tour. Huge cardio floor and a smaller area with machines and dumbells. No barbells. Then I honestly didn't even understand what was going on in the next area. A sign on the wall said Biggest Loser. There were all these yellow machine-type things (I literally didn't even recognize them). Another sign said "30 minute circuit." She explained how when the light turns green you "go" and you do one machine or cardio thing for like 30 seconds or a minute and then rest when the light turns red. This goes on for 30 minutes. Absurd. Then me and gramps checked out the locker room. He was very happy it was bigger than the one at Blink. He seemed pretty happy and stayed after I left to talk to the girl about joining. Oh and when we got to the machine area earlier on she said almost word for word what Rip describes in SSBBT3 - "we will always have an employee on hand to show you how to use the machines if you don't know how."

I guess this is what you get for $10-$20/month

[Ryan Arnold]

3/30/16

Squat: 175x5x3

175x5 - YouTube

Press: 115x5x3
DL: 285x5
Chins: BWx5

Still feel the pinch at the bottom of the squat. Was hoping for 185 today but body told me 175 was right. Going a little too deep but that will work out in time.
Press still moving well and feeling fine.
DL also feeling good. Weight may be heavy enough to hook next week.
Tried some chins but they did not feel great so just stopped. Next week.

[Ryan Arnold]

4/1/16

Squat: 195x5, 205x5x2
Bench: 145x5, 155x5, 165x5
DL: 305x5

Played basketball yesterday so came into this workout sore and with a little knee pain so not sure how it would go. Thankfully it went better than expected. 195 felt so light I jumped to 205 for Squat and it felt fine.
Bench same deal. All reps were easy.
By the time DL rolled around I was a bit fatigued and also running out of time so only made a 20lb jump from Wednesday. But it felt fine.
Playing golf tomorrow but two days "rest" should be good. Next week should be an almost real training week with loads heavy enough to cause stress and adaptation. Looking forward to it

[Ryan Arnold]

4/4/16

Squat: 225x5x3

225x5 - YouTube

Press: 125x5x3
DL: 325x5

325x5 - YouTube

Chins: BWx6

Same deal with squats. They still moved well and don't feel particularly heavy yet, but I do get a little pinch at the bottom. Not enough to adjust anything though.
Press also still moving well and basically felt zero discomfort during these.
DL I hooked today and felt fine. Did not feel super heavy but its questionable whether I'll be recovered in 48hrs. Will see how I feel tomorrow. I think I can do 340x5 Wednesday and 355x5 Friday and be okay. Then add PC next week.
Chins felt better then when I last tried, almost normal. So can add them in without reservation when necessary.
Overall a good session

[Ryan Arnold]

4/6/16

Squat: 245x5x3

245x5 - YouTube

Bench: 185x5x2, 195x5

DL: 340x5

340x5 - YouTube


I feel like I'm about 90%. Didn't really notice any pinch at the bottom of the squat today. I haven't had to grind through any reps yet but I probably could if I had to. Things WILL get heavy next week. I'm going to try to pretty much give it all I got for the next few weeks leading up to this Meet. I don't think I'll do a taper. If I have time I'll switch to some 3's, 2's, 1's two weeks out. I'll just take a light day/openers the Wednesday before and then go for it. 405 Squat probably not going to happen but ya never know. I feel good again so anything is possible.
Bench I still feel the incision stretch but it still felt pretty light today.
DL felt better today then it did Monday. I also think I did a little better at getting squoze without shifting to my heels.
Appetite is coming back too. Feeling strong.

[Ryan Arnold]

4/8/16

Squat: 265x5x3
Press: 135x5x3
DL: 350x5

350x5 - YouTube

Squats got a little slow. Necessary recovery is pushing past 48hrs. Will adjust next week.
Press was fine.
DL I decided on just a 10lb jump as 48hr recovery getting tough there too.
Pretty sure I'm 100% or close to it now though. Will see if I can salvage some respectable numbers at this Meet.

[Anthony King]

Deadlift came back quickly. Good to see you doing well.

[Ryan Arnold]

Deadlift came back quickly. Good to see you doing well.

Thanks Anthony! Hoping to put hernias in my rearview for a while. Like forever.

4/11/16

Squat: 255x5, 270x5, 285x5

285x5 - YouTube

Bench: 195x5, 205x5, 215x5
DL: 360x5

360x5 - YouTube

On to ramping sets. I think I can still get enough volume here while approaching my previous lifts as fast as possible. Squat and bench felt fine. I think DL looked pretty good too. Going to adopt a one day on, two days off schedule for a bit, probably right up to the Meet in fact. I also am just going to treat this Meet as a training Meet and not worry about my numbers. Wherever I am at in my training when the time comes is fine. I think the goal for this year is going to be to compete at 264 in the Fall and see what kind of numbers I can put up.

[Ryan Arnold]

4/13/16

Well so much for that 1 on/2 off plan. It won't work schedule-wise so need to just assume M/W/F is what I'm working with. Took a light squat day, Press and Chins.

Squat: 225x5x2
Press: 145x5x3
Chins: BWx6x4

Press finally got a little hard. I guess 10lb jumps can't last forever.
Chins saddened me. I've never in my life struggled to do less than 8 chins. They should improve for a while but depending on weight gain I don't know. But its assistance so whatevs.
I may throw Cleans in next week. We'll see. May just wait until after the Meet

[Ryan Arnold]

4/15/16

Squat: 255x5, 275x5, 295x5

295x5 - YouTube

Bench: 195x5, 210x5, 225x5

DL: 375x5

375x5 - YouTube

I'm pleased I got all planned reps today after a crap night of sleep and having to lift in the morning. But Wednesday I was going too deep on my squats so I seem to have overcorrected today as they seem high in the video - although it could be the angle. Not worried about this as depth is rarely an issue for me. All these lifts felt a little heavier than I would have liked. Will have to eat a lot this weekend.
I filmed DL from the back to see if I could pick up any unevenness. Couldn't see much. Just trying to figure out why I only feel DL in my left erector. I'm not sure my right side has ever been sore. I don't really see it as a big problem, its just weird.