zen and the art of strength training

[kopp]

week 5: squat

Main Lift: Squat 3x5x270 ---Goal reached
3x10x135

I didn't lift yesterday as I'd planned because my back was still really exhausted from deadlifting. Today it felt a little better though my lats were cramping during these sets. The 3x10 were way more exhausting than they should have been. All in all today was okay, I got my goal weight though I felt uninspired and slow.

I also realized this morning that since starting law school I have become very boring. At 9AM, while a hundred thousand other people in Ann Arbor were drinking and pregaming for the football game, I was walking to the library to work on legal citations. I have about 3 more hours of work I want to do today, and about 5 hours tomorrow, and then I will be done with all my reading for next week.

I will probably press on monday, take a light day on wednesday, and start week 6 with Deadlifts on friday.

[kopp]

I am resetting back to 225 next workout. Doing 2x5, 1xmax. Hoping to get up to 275x 5 5 8 by the end of the year. I was going to rotate volume and intensity but I don't have the time to do 5 sets. The lower weight will give me a chance to perfect my form and work on some higher rep stuff.

[kopp]

week 5: Press

Main Lift: Press 150x4 1 1 1

Incline Bench 165x4 4

Today was the culmination of a pretty poor week. I did do a little better on the press, depending on how you measure success. Generally though I have felt totally exhausted, slow, and demotivated the past week. My quads feel like somebody hit them with a baseball bat. I think I pinched a nerve in my left calf which is irritating every time I squat. Saturday after lifting I slept the entire afternoon and got zero work done. Shit.

Ok, enough complaining. Taking wednesday as a light day of light squats and presses. Friday I am going to get my goal of DL 415x3 1 1

[kopp]

Light/ recovery day

Squat 5x135 185 205 225
Press 5x45 95 105 115
Pullups 3x6

Have been feeling a lot better. I got a good night of sleep last night. These felt good, my form on the squats was perfect I think. Very deep, weight on the heels, back arched, chest up. My lower back above my left butt cheek and my left calf are still sort of aching after squats, which has been occurring for the last 2-3 weeks. It hasn't so far led to any range of motion or strength issues, but is still sort of annoying. Deadlift and the beginning of week 6 on friday.

[kopp]

I went rock climbing with the law school climbing club. It was one of those big indoor buildings. This was the first time I have climbed since last year. It totally destroyed my forearms and biceps. I am still planning on Deadlifting tomorrow. However, if it ends up my grip is not feeling up to par, I may switch up exercises and start out week 6 with squats instead of DL.

[kopp]

week 6: Deadlift

Main Lift Deadlift DOH 275x3 315x2 355x1 DOH PR!--I crushed this, could have done more.
mixed grip 415x 3 1 1--- (GOAL)heavy as fuck, nearly passed out after third set

Assistance: Front Squat 185x 3 3 3 3 ---originally wanted 5 sets but my left calf really started aching and feeling uncomfortable. My lower back/left calf felt very solid during the DL, but for whatever reason is still aching during any sort of squat movement. All in all a great day I think. Deadlifting 415x3 1 1 was my goal for the end of October, and I accomplished 3 weeks ahead of schedule. So I am obviously happy with that.

DL Programming and goal for end of year: I am going to continue deadlifting heavy regularly, and every 3-4 weeks doing a volume day of multiple sets of 3-5 reps. Something I haven't been doing much of the last few weeks is speed deads, so those might be a good addition occasionally. In general I really like front Squats as a DL assistance exercise. The front squat seems to really work the lats and upper back. I am going to keep them as a steady assistance exercise after the DL.

Goal by end of 2011: 440x 3 and 385x1 DOH

[Bronan the Barbarian]

415x3? How much do you weigh these days?

[kopp]

Week 6: Bench Press

Main LIft: Bench 200x 5 5 8

Assistance: Pullups BWx 11 10 5 5
kroc row: 60pounds x 40reps each arm

This weeks bench session was considerably better than last time. Still, this movement is progressing very slowly. In July I was able to bench 200x 5 5 6, so two rep increase over almost 3 months is not great. All the other lifts have been increasing at a faster pace. Even my OHP is increasing at a faster pace than the bench, which is odd. The pullups were par for the course. The kroc rows went well. My upper back is torched. I am a little worried that the upper back work will interfere with tomorrow's squats. We shall see.

415x3? How much do you weigh these days?

Hovering around 200. Haven't gained any weight since July when I quit milk.

[kopp]

Week 6: Squat

Main Lift: Squat 225x 5 5 20

Trap Bar Deadlift 3x5x315

Today was one of the toughest lifts of my life. I hadn't planned on doing 20 reps. But then I got to 15 and thought I had as might as well get 17, and then I knew I could bust out 3 more. This was a 9 rep improvement over how many I did mid August. I accidentally sprayed spit all over the mirror in front of me, and just about passed out afterwards. 20 rep squats are brutal. The trap bar dl were also brutal, particularly on my lats and quads. My quads were burning very badly. My lats were already sore from pullups and rows yesterday, and today was like taking a baseball bat to them.

Right now my plan is to press wednesday. My GF is coming to visit sat-tuesday, so I will probably take a few days off from the iron game. Based on that I am going to DL, bench, and Front squat on friday so I don't fall behind.

[kopp]

week 6: Press

Main Lift Press 155x2 1 1

I did not get much sleep last night, and was very tired today. Decided to push on some heavy weight and then call it a day, my butt and hamstrings were cramping real bad, and I would like to be fairly fresh for dl and bench on friday. 155 is the most I have ever pressed. Next week's press I am going for 5x5x135. Hoping to get 3x3x155 sometime towards the end of November. i had wanted to get it during October but that isn't going to happen.