Squatman Junior's log

[Squatman Junior]

Monday, 8/8
Squat: 285 x 5 x 5 (good bounce)
Press: 107.2 x 5 x 3 (no problems)
Power Clean: 160 x 3 x 5

Wednesday, 8/10
Squat: 225 x 5 x 2
Bench: 160 x 5 x 2
Chin ups: BW+10 x 5 x 3 (discovered the gym's dip belt)

Friday, 8/12
Squat: 350 x 5 (went for rep two a little too quickly, rep three borderline depth)
Press: 108.3 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 385 x 5 (picked up a pair of straps, going to switch to triples pretty soon)

[Squatman Junior]

Monday, 8/15
Squat: 290 x 5 x 5 (6min. between work sets)
Bench: 165 x 5 x 3
Power Clean: 162.2 x 3 x 5

Wednesday, 8/17
Squat: 230 x 5 x 2
Press: 110 x 5 x 3 (layback, grind)
Chin ups: BW+12.5 x 5 x 3

Friday, 8/19
Squat: 355 x 5 (good hip drive, good bounce, took my time)
Bench: 170 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 395 x 3 (strapped, went up easy, laid down gently - but felt like a fourth would hitch. cowardice or discretion?)

[Squatman Junior]

Monday, 8/22
Squats: 295 x 5 x 5 (6min. rests)
Press: 110 x 5 x 3 (good hip action, went up easy)
Speed Deadlift: 225 x 1 x 8 at 1min. intervals.

After considering it for a week, I decided to alternate speed deadlifts with power cleans. It might be a bit early in my progression, but we'll see how it goes.

The presses felt way better today than they did last Wednesday. The most likely explanation is that skipping coffee on Light Day makes a big difference, but it might also be that Light Day occurs at the trough of the recovery phase, where performance is reduced. I don't feel ready to switch over to Texas for those yet, so I'm going to try adopting an advanced novice type setup for the pressing exercises where I go a little lighter on Wednesdays and continue as usual on Mon/Fri.

[Squatman Junior]

Wednesday, 8/24
Squat: 235 x 5 x 2
Bench: 155 x 5 x 3 (felt heavy)
Chin ups: BW+15 x 5 x 3

Friday, 8/26
Squat: 360 x 4 (felt like I mistimed the bounce on rep 5)
Press: 112.2 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 405 x 3 (strapped, went up easy)

That was my first miss on squats in a while - but I knew it was coming soon. I ate a lot all week but was a bit deprived of sleep. I psyched myself out before even stepping into the squat rack for the work set. Got amazing bounce on the first four. They didn't feel hard, no grind. Then the bounce ended earlier than I expected on the fifth, and I whiffed. For now, I'll take the miss in stride and continue with 365 next week.

I would also like to thank Chuck from Chuck's log. One of his videos showed his method for safely dumping a squat. It helped me go in without fear and remain calm under failure conditions.

The deadlifts felt good. I had one or two more in me. It might be that speed deadlifting on volume day made a difference, but I can't know for sure. Skipped the static holds. I just know that my grip is little girl weak now.

Wednesdays continue to feel retarded heavy.

[Squatman Junior]

Irene left my normal gym without power, so I scoped out another one for the day (Strong and Shapely in East Rutherford, NJ). They have a pretty impressive setup: a ton of barbells, bumper plates, a lifting platform, etc. When I started squatting, I couldn't find any 2.5lb. plates, so I rounded down, but I found a pair later on when benching (and even a pair of 1.25s). A bunch of the barbells were fatter in diameter than I'm used to, which worried me for a second ("have I been using a women's bar for my entire training career?").

Monday, 8/29
Squats: 295 x 5 x 5 (6min. rests)
Bench: 172.5 x 5 x 3 (grip width was probably off - different ring markings, so my normal reference points weren't there)
Power Clean: 165 x 3 x 5

I made a good discovery on power cleans. For the first rep, I set up well and my elbows start really loose, but in the subsequent reps, I realized that my arms have been tightening up. So I made sure to take my time to reset properly between reps, paying extra attention to long arms / elbows loose.

[Squatman Junior]

Wednesday, 8/31
Squat: 235 x 5 x 2
Press: 105 x 5 x 3
Chin ups: BW+17.5 x 5 x 3

Friday, 9/2
Squat: 365 x 4 (missed on the fifth rep again - failed to stay tight, hamstring slack = no bounce)
Bench: 175 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 415 x 3 (strapped, back starting to round on reps two and three)

Squat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OLQosC6iRc
Deadlift: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5xRu1bwfdQ

I rested a bit better this week, but I still missed rep five on squats, so now I have two data points to work with. That means I have a bunch of options to consider, all of which can provide me with more information to work from:

1. rest more and stay the course: 300x5x5 volume day and 365x5 intensity day
2. reduce volume: 300x5x4
3. increase volume: 315x3x8
4. switch intensity to triples: 370x3
5. reset
6. some combination

It feels a little early to switch intensity to triples, and I'm loathe to reset, so that leaves (2) and (3). Volume day hasn't been too grueling, so I'll try upping the volume first. The plan is to do 315x3x8 for volume and 365x5 for intensity, and if I miss again, I'll at least have another data point.

[Squatman Junior]

Monday, 9/5
Squats: 315 x 3 x 8 (5min. rests, good depth, good hip drive)
Press: 113.3 x 5 x 3 (layback got worse for the last couple reps)
Speed Deadlift: 225 x 1 x 8 at 1min. intervals

- Physically, my body handled the triples without complaint. No form breakdown. Mentally, though, I found the sets to be more draining. I am eager to see how well I recover.

- I think my misses last Friday and the one before squeezed the belt into my bottom left rib. I've been dealing with some minor pain there, but it hasn't affected any of my lifts or gotten worse (so far).

- I was at yet another different gym today, as both my regular gym and my designated backup gym were closed for Labor day. I made a pretty embarrassing blunder while cleaning up after my speed deadlifts. I had taken the bar from the incline-bench press and already removed a pair of plates from it. I figured I could save some time by power cleaning 135 and backing myself into the incline press to rack it, but I didn't fully commit to setting up to press it, and I missed the hooks. Oops!

[Squatman Junior]

Wednesday, 9/7
Squat: 245 x 5 x 2
Bench: 155 x 5 x 3
Chin ups: BW+20 x 5

Friday, 9/9
Squat: 320 x 5 (felt heavy)
Press: 105 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 365 x 5 (mixed grip), 315 x 6sec. static hold (double overhand)

On Wednesday the rib didn't complain until I started doing chin ups. I'll probably have to lay off on those for a week and then work back up on the lat-pull down. On Friday, my rib felt fine. I did some investigation with the safety pins, and I found that when I dumped the bar last week and the week before, I did indeed relax my core, which explains the sprained rib perfectly. Did some practice dumps, keeping my core tight to build some confidence. I wish the safety pins could be just one inch higher.

Unfortunately, it soon became clear that I had both over-reached and under-recovered. 315x3x8 squats (and the speed deadlifts) was too much volume. I had to remind myself that I'm in it for the long haul, so I don't need to rush. I ended up settling on 90% of 5RM for my work sets today. Moving forward, I'm going to do a reset, working back up with a 5x4 volume day, and see how far that takes me.

[enlightenedsnipe]

Hey man, just wanted to say good luck with the TM and that you're on the right track. I did a similar setup orginally and did everything wrong (high volume, too heavy recovery, etc.). You should consider dropping the 3x8 volume down to 290-300 and either leaving off speed deadlifts entirely, or moving them to tuesday so as to spread out the hit from volume day. I had a lot more success when I followed a split setup like that and reduced my deadlifting to once a week as per Justin Lascek's suggestion (went from 350x3 to 405x3 in eight weeks).

I also went through the sprained oblique from the belt in exactly the same manner. You've got the right of it, just don't overdo squats for a few weeks and it'll sort itself out. Good luck with everything!