Spinoza's log

[spinoza]

Ok, I haven't been keeping an intermediate log (Texas Method) since I switched from SS a few weeks ago.

I just finished an intensity day. Here were my lifts:

Squat: 5x380 -- felt good, only struggled a bit on the 4th rep, mostly because I went extra deep and my spotter lunged at me being over-cautious, which distracted me a little. No belt. I keep meaning to get a belt, but I figure as long as I'm making good gains, I'll do this belt-less.

Press: 3x195. I only did triples because I decided I wanted to go for a 1RM afterwards. I put 25 more pounds on it and repped out 220. I was surprised because, honestly, 195 was giving me trouble -- I did these more easily last time I did them several weeks ago, but my janky shoulders have been flaring up on me lately.

Power cleans: I hadn't done these in a couple of weeks. I decided to go for a 1RM on these also. So, I did a couple sets at 3x255, and then threw 20 more pounds on it and rep'd out 275.

I'm pleased about today's performance. On volume day 5 days ago, I did deadlifts and managed 495 after 5x5 squats, 5x5 press (press was painful that day, but my shoulders did much better this time around -- partly because I loaded up on ibuprofen), and 3x465 deadlifts.

So, after my work sets, here are my best 1 rep lifts. I'm pretty sure I can do better, but I just wanted to throw some extra weight on after my work sets to test myself a little. One day, I'll dedicate myself to true 1RM lifts.

Deadlift: 495
Squat: Haven't tested it yet -- I'm sure it's at least 405, seeing as how 380 went up so easily.
Overhead Press: 220
Power Cleans: 275
Bench Press: Haven't tested it yet... I'm estimate 300.

So, things are going up nicely.

500+ deadlift, 400+ squat, and ~300 bench. I guess that's a solid +1200 combined PL. My goals, then, are a +1300 PL for this year -- I'd like to actually test myself soon for a true gauge of my combined total, but I'm still making too much progress to let that interfere with my programming.

Next week goals:

Volume day:
Squats: 5x5x330
BP: 5x5x225
Deadlift: I may do rack pulls instead of deadlifts. Not sure how much weight to use yet. Thoughts?

Intensity day:
Squats: 5x390
BP: Going to test my bench, so will do some triples (3x260) then put on 300.
Power clean: 3x5x260

[spinoza]

Just finished volume day. I had a long weekend of beer-induced tomfoolery, so all things considered I did alright.

Squatted 5x5x330, BP 5x5x225, and DL 5x455. Done. (Elected to do normal deadlifts instead of rack pulls.)

I've been lifting semi-low weights on volume day compared to intensity day. As long as my intensity day lifts continue to go up, that's alright. And the lighter weights lets me work on form (also, on squats on volume day, I go very low).

[spinoza]

Recovery day... done. Felt bleh.

[spinoza]

Woot!

Ok, so, first things first: I power cleaned 285. And my technique still sucks -- I should be getting lower in the catch, but my knee only has a small bend to it. Still, I've been adding quite a bit of weight every week for my 1RM. I did 285 at the end of my workout (and the end of my power clean worksets). So, I'd say I'm at least good for a 290. I'm hoping I'll hit 315 soon.

Anyway, here's what I did.

Squat: 5x390. Felt good, although unfortunately I stopped high on two of my reps -- the second rep and the fifth rep. This was disappointing, but I was well below parallel on the other reps. Next intensity day I'll be doing 5x400.

BP: I struggled with this one. 5x260, but the last rep was so ugly I probably shouldn't count it. Anyway, I'll be going to 265 next week, and if I only make 4 reps, that's still progress. BP is definitely my weakest link.

PC: Did some warm ups at 225, then did 2 sets of 3 reps at 255, then 1 set of 2 reps at 275, then 1x275, then 1x285. 275 was a PR, 285 was a big PR.

Next week intensity day (and volume deadlift) goals:

Overhead press: 5x200, then going for a 1x225 PR.
Squat: 5x400.
DL: 5x470. I'll be skipping 5x465, since that is what I had wanted to do last time but slipped up and did 5x455. So, I'll be adding 15 pounds instead of 10.
PC: I'll do some semi-light PCs (225, 255, 275), then go for a 1RM PR at 295. If I make that, I'll go for a 1RM PR at 300.

[spinoza]

Just finished volume day. I know, it's been 6 days since my last workout (intensity day). A family crisis took priority over working out -- I'm still a wreck over it but I needed to hit the gym anyway, and it actually went pretty well.

Deadlift: 5x470 -- didn't feel too bad, so good.
Squat: 5x5x335 -- felt OK, got nice and low, but back became tired/tight, especially after last set. I think I got too low, and ended up good morning it a little. Need to work on that.
Press: 5x5x170. Felt ok, did them with little rest between sets, although I had to rest for a while before starting warmups on them due to tight back from squatting. Also, last rep of last set was pretty hard -- had to muscle it up.

So, bleh.

Intensity goals: squat 5x400, press 5x200 (will probably pass on the 1x225 PR attempt), and I'm not sure what I want to do with PCs at the moment. Motivation is hurting right now, so I'll probably just do some light PC work or maybe speed deadlifts.

[spinoza]

Recovery day, mission accomplished (yesterday).

Squats: 2x5x275, paused and ATG.
BP: 3x5x205
Back extensions: 5x10 w/45s

Ok, so far, pretty uneventful. But I do have one big lift on recovery day: chins. I'm terrible at these things. However, today I was able to do 5 full chins (next two sets I only managed 4 and 3 reps). It took me awhile before I was able to do one chin, but now things seem to be picking up steam. My two weakest lifts are chins and BP, but I've heard these two lifts are complementary so maybe getting good at chins will help me with BP and vice versa.

Anyway, after "recovery day," I went to a local pub to watch some football and ended up drinking a shit ton of cheap beer. So, yeah, I don't feel very recovered right now, but I was feeling pretty good yesterday before I decided it was a good idea to get drunk on Sunday.

[spinoza]

Just finished intensity squats and intensity overhead presses.

Squat: 5x400, felt good. I've been on a roll with squats -- increasing them by 10 pounds per week on intensity days. Volume squats are starting to lag pretty far behind, but that's alright.

Overhead press: did math wrong and pressed 205 instead of 200 for 3, and just barely. That was disappointing. So, to redeem myself, I loaded 20 more pounds and made PR'd my 1RM at 225. It was a struggle, but I got it up there. So, that's good.

I had to cut my workout short, so I didn't get to do my cleans. However, I did have time for one attempt -- so it was kind of rushed. I tried for 1x295, but barely missed it. That pisses me off, so I'll be back ASAP to try to get it.

Next week intensity goals:

Squat: 5x410
Deadlift (on volume day): 5x480
BP: 5x265 (pretty weak compared to my other lifts, perhaps with the exception of chins -- a ~1.3 BP:OHP ratio is probably a little unusual. I'm not complaining in the sense that I think the OHP is a more impressive lift; and, besides, my OHP goes up more slowly than my BP.
Chins (on recovery day): would like to get 6 or more reps for at least one of the sets

[spinoza]

Forgot to mention volume day goals for next week. Just to remind myself when the time comes, here it is:

Squat: 5x5x345, or 5x5x340. I don't know which I should do... on the one hand, I like going up by 5 pounds per week on volume days, but I've been going up by 10 pounds per week on intensity day squats. Next week, if I only do 5x5x340 on volume day and 5x410 on intensity day, that's a 70 pounds difference. Otherwise, if I do 5x5x345, it's "only" a 65 pound difference. So far, my body seems to be responding well to what I'm doing, so I think I'll let the difference between the continue to grow for as long as I'm able to push intensity day up. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

BP: 5x5x230.

Deadlift (already mentioned in previous post): 5x480. Btw, I do deadlifts first, because I want to be fresh for a max effort lift in the DL. This is how I've been doing it lately. I'm getting really close to a 5x500 deadlift.

[spinoza]

I was able to make it back to the gym to make a second attempt at power cleaning. I did 3x225, then 2x1x275, then 1x280, then I tried 1x295 and failed. Backed off to 1x290 and made it. So, I made a PR @ 290. Not was I was hoping for, but it's still a PR.

Next week, I'm going to back off the weights and do 5x3x265. Enough with the PR attempts in the PC for awhile -- need to work on form. I have almost no bend in my knee, I'm just powering it up which makes my life a lot more difficult. It's effective at building power that way, no doubt, since it must have more acceleration to rack that way, but I'd also like to see big numbers. Next PR attempt will be when I think I can make 315. I think I could do it right now with improved technique.

[slowgain]

This is the first intermediate log I have seen of someone who's lifts are still going up this rapidly. I thought I was making fast gains, but 10lbs a week on 5x intensity squats is nuts. And you can power clean 290 with bad form? I need to get to work.

How tall are you and what do you weigh?

It does sound like your 5x5 squat could be a little heavier, but it seems to be working at your pace. Do you always pause your recovery day squats? I've thought about doing it but I was worried it might disrupt recovery.

Nice 225lb press. I am many months away from that. I would expect your bench and chins to catch up rapidly if you focus on them, but I agree that OHP is a much more impressive lift.