Scott's TM Log

[Tall Texan]

Assistance Day
Power Cleans 1x3 - 165
Dips 3x5 - bw
RDL 3x5 - 190
Curls 3x5 - 80

Annnnnnnd the elbow pain was back in full force today, both elbows. I was supposed to do 3 sets of cleans but it was just absolutely throbbing. Still managed to get my dips in relatively pain free. Both elbows feel perfect now but that wasn't fun.

Very sore from the Wed workout. Chest, lats, and legs haven't been this sore in a while.

[Tall Texan]

Recovery Day
Squats 2x5 - 225
OHP 3x5 - 115

Nice and easy. The DOMS was still pretty evident this morning but feels much better after the quick workout. I think i'm gonna tinker with my schedule again as I hate being rushed for work. I'll scrap assistance day at the gym and do my dips and pull ups at home, move RDL's to end of VD, and rows at the end of ID.

[Tall Texan]

Intensity Day
Squat walkout - 520
Squats 1x3 - 400
Bench 1x3 - 240
Deadlift 1x5 - 450
Push Press 1x2 - 165

So close to 4 plates for 5 reps but I fell short. Had Norman video me with his camera so I could still have my music, i'll upload it when he e-mails it. Disgusting form, my back was almost horizontal on the 3rd rep when I hit parallel. Just got crushed by the weight. It'll be about a month before I get back to 400. Dropping down the reps to 3 for VD/ID, and also dropping the weight so I can shorten up my stance and work my way back up. I was thinking something like 300 for VD and and 330 for ID with 10 and 20 lb jumps respectively until back to 400.

Last rep for bench was tough but felt good. Finally feel like i'm progressing again. Very happy that I can always have Norman spot me now since I switched up my days and not worry about looking like an idiot if I fail.

Murdered deadlift! Got to work in with a guy who started off doing Starting Strength and chatted it up a bit. Felt a bit like a competition because he was going for 460x3 and I didn't want to miss a rep since he didn't. Last rep was definitely tough but kinda thinking like I can continue with the 5 reps without stalling.

Went conservative with the push press as i've never really done em before. Only 5lbs more than what I'll attempt for 3 reps next ID. Felt pretty easy but my elbows were a bit fried from the squats so didn't push it too hard.

[Tall Texan]

Video of the 400 attempt. Not as bad as I remember it the first time. Wonder if not falling too far forward would have allowed me to at least get that 4th rep.

[Rob Israel]

Man, you do not let the bar down easy, huh?

Funny, because that dip forward was not awful, but it definitely fucked your rep up and makes your question very valid. Unfortunately there's no answer until you try 400 again, right?

KSC over in the new monitored programming thread seems to believe in just continuing up and not resetting. Maybe want to consider just hitting 405x? next week.

And congrats on the DL-- Wow. That is getting up there man.

[Tall Texan]

Thanks Rob, I remember watching the video immediately after and just being disgusted by it and when I finally got to see it online I thought "that wasn't so bad". Except for a friend who viewed it and said I looked like a puppy with my ass wagging as I was setting up, had no idea what that was either...Well I shortened up my stance and don't feel comfortable at all with it right now so the 405 will have to wait until I get my technique sorted out and elbows healed.

Volume Day
Squats 5x3 - 300
OHP 5x3 - 137.5
BBR 3x5 - 190
RDL 3x5 - 195



Absolutley depressing day. My elbows were killing me. I had planned to do 8 sets for squats but there was no way that was happening. Weight felt much too heavy for a freaking deload. I tried shortening up my stance and it didnt feel too comfortable. The tennis ball under the neck didn't do all that much for me although everyone got a good kick out of watching it. One thing i've noticed is that I look so much tighter with my initial set up of driving my head way back into the bar. I may tinker with that a bit more instead of moving my chin down into my chest. Bar path sucked and lower back was sore from Monday. Dunno where i'll go from here technique wise, just felt awful.

The lowering of the weight was pretty painful for OHP, not so much for the actual pressing part though. I was about to call it quits after the 3rd rep because of the elbows throbbing but a cute girl sat down on the leg extension machine right next to me and I was magically able to crank out 2 more sets...bless you madam.

[Rob Israel]

Tell your film crew we wouldn't have minded seeing the girl on the leg xtension machine...

Bummer about the elbows. Interesting idea about the tennis ball. It took me well over a year of squatting to find a decent place to look and keep my chin down. I may still raise my head sometimes.

What do you mean by "shortening your stance?" Was it broken before?

[Tall Texan]

Rip had commented that it was too wide

[Rob Israel]

Hmmm. Hopefully you'll get used to it. Or it's suppose to be too wide. Not that I would second-guess Rip... Actually I remember seeing that video he commented on now. It did look really wide. Making adjustments are tough after you got something ingrained like that.

[Tall Texan]

I did some reading and i'm thinking i'll stick with the wide stance. I get that the closer stance would have more carry over for sports, general strength, etc. But my goals are strictly powerlifting oriented and hoisting the most weight. Not saying the close stance is inferior, just not suitable for my goals. I was watching a Louie Simmons vid and he had an interesting point - "A close stance will never go wide but wide will go close".

I scrapped accessory and recovery day to let my elbows heal up, feeling good so far. Will still do ID this Monday but no squatting. I'll deadlift for sure and maybe OHP if there's no pain during warm ups. I'll resume squats Wednesday and aim for at least 3 reps of 405 next ID.