caveman goes for 5/3/1 for 300/400/500

[caveman]

From during lunch today, 9/8/15

I was supposed to bench last night, before or after squatting and I didn't. I've just been in a funk lately and it's been a challenge to just get the bare minimum in.

Bench - 212.5 for 5, 5, 5, 5, and 8. Probably should have stopped at 7 because 8 was a real grinder. Paused the first reps of each set. A little elbow discomfort for the first rep of each set, but seemed to get better by the end of each set. Put on my wrist wraps after the first set because both wrists felt achy. Getting old...meh.

Happy to get this in, still struggling to get back in to a routine. Just realized that I left the bar loaded on the rack. Whoopsie.

[caveman]

From during lunch today, 9/11/15
Body weight 198.5 (seriously I need to get a little more strict on not being a boozing glutton)

I had one goal today. Squat 405 pounds on my 40th birthday. I had hoped to squat 405 last year but it didn't work out, lost the bar forward out of the hole, and that was only with sleeves, not the wraps I planned on wearing today. Then we moved, I got hurt, got better, got less hurt, got better, and here I am today, well over a year later.

I can't adequately put into words how happy I am that I squatted 405 pounds for a double today, with probably one more in the tank. The last 3 weeks have been difficult in terms of lifting. My parents were visiting, I was in a funk, and was just generally unhappy and unmotivated to do much of anything. A few days ago that started to lift, and now I'm feeling good about things, (with the exception of my gradually worsening elbow tendonitis).

It will be challenging to have another lifting day be this good. I smashed 4 milestones today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cQT6FxsUwU
double body weight squat
squat 400 pounds
squat 4 plates
squat 4 plates for reps.

My previous best was 390 for a double last week, and before that was 385 for a single last year in sleeves and also in August with wraps and those were both grindy.

[RandallEW]

Based on bar speed, you might have had 2 more in you - outstanding, and congrats!

[caveman]

Thanks Randall!

From last night, 9/14/15
Bodyweight 200.8

Bench - 215 for 5, 5, 5, 5, and 8. This was relatively easy. Hopefully because I'm stronger, or that for once my elbows weren't bothering me, but more probably because I gained ~4 pounds last week. I'll take it regardless, and try not to give it back as I shed some weight to make it back into my weight class.

Squats - 345 for 5. I kept losing the bar forward and as a result my lower back was feeling it. Decided to strip the bar to 315 and proceed. This was mostly better, but still felt awkward, not at all like Friday's squats. 315 for 5, 5, 5, and 5.

Push ups - 30, 25, 10. Gave up on the 3rd set, my elbows started complaining a little so I just stopped.

I've been trying to get back onto a 4 day split, but life keeps getting in the way. Less than a month to the meet, so I'm going to try and stick with the texas method style of programming until then and just have the meet fall on an intensity day.

[caveman]

From last night, 9/16/15
Bodyweight 198.7 (almost back to my intended weight class)

Bench press - 175 for 5 and 5. Easy, though each wrist was complaining just a tad at the top of the rep.

Squats - Just a bunch of air squats and some more with the empty bar. I just could not get my legs warmed up/loosened up. The back of my legs were still very sore from Mondays volume squats and I was hoping that with some extra warmups I could power through it. That's not how it played out, though they are feeling much better this morning, so I should be good to go for some heavy squats tomorrow.

[caveman]

From Friday night, 9/18/15
Bodyweight 198.3

Bench - 245 for 5. Elbows felt OK, barely a twinge. All of the reps felt ugly, but I got all 5 so I guess they couldn't have been that bad. I think this may tie my 5RM.

Squats - 405 for 2. This felt a little harder than last week, but given the circumstances it was 10PM, I had power walked 2 miles in 33 minutes at a company event at 3PM, I'm still pretty pleased that I got 2 and think I could have got 3. Funny story. I decided to try some Nose Torq for the first time. Not being a complete idiot, I decided to break it out for the last warmup single at 365. I think when I pushed the protective seal in that pushed some of the ammonia out, and I caught a big a whiff before I was ready for it. I almost suffocated, as my chest and lungs locked up preventing any more intake, my ears burned, eyes watered, and it almost seems like I can still smell it if I think about the memory. By the time 405 was loaded I was still feeling the effects, so I didn't think a second hit would be prudent.

Deadlifts - 405 for 1, 425 for 1. The deadlift slippers I ordered arrived earlier in the week and seeing that I haven't deadlifted in like forever, I thought this would be a good opportunity to try out the new footwear and see where I was at. Use of the slippers was much less eventful than the use of the NoseTorq. A small tendency to feel like I was falling backwards at the top of the lift because of the lack of a heel, but otherwise these felt good. 405 went up fast enough to go for something a little heavier. 425 was hard, probably had a little left but not much. I did notice the next morning that I had some red dots around my right eye and cheeks from broken blood vessels. My back felt a little more sore the next day than I thought it should have. I'll video next time to make sure that I'm keeping my back flat.

Based off of this data, it seems like I should be able to do something like 430 - 275 - 435 at the meet (give or take a little depending on how things are going). I'd be very happy with that. Now I need to actually try and lose a pound or two so that I can make weight!

[caveman]

From last night 9/21/15
Body weight 198.5

Bench press - 220 for 5, 5, 5, 5, and 7. Went for 8 but gave up quickly. Surprised a little because the paused first reps of each set moved pretty well. Elbows felt about the same as on Friday. Not perfect, but close.

Squats - warmed up to 185 and stopped because I felt a knot or something in my left hip. I tried some stretching and additional warm up sets but it wouldn't go away. Decided to play it safe and call it. The last time I tried to power through, it bothered me for months. I'm just trying to hold everything together until the 10th!

Seeing that squats ended early, I thought I would try and make this an upper body volume day.
Overhead press - 95 for 10. Hip didn't care for these, and neither did my elbows. Called it there.

Push ups - 35, 25, and 20. On that first set I'm pretty sure that I could have done 40. I was surprised by that. I wonder if these are helping out my elbow health. I certainly get a nice pump afterwards, that's got a count for something.

Followed this up with more hip flexor stretches and making whoopee with the foam roller and then some ice. Still doesn't feel quite right today, but no pain so I'll try and get squats in tomorrow and just skip intensity this week for squats.

[caveman]

From last night 9/24/15
Bodyweight 197.6

Ratcheted up the strictness of the diet. More protein, less carbs, no after dinner snacking, less Starbucks, less alcohol, smaller portions across the board. Showing some benefits on the scale.

It was late at night 10PM, I was hungry and tired, but decided that I would try and get some volume squats in, to make up for skipping them on Monday, rather than worrying about the active recovery stuff.

Squats - 345 for 5 then 315 for 5 and 5. 345 was difficult and it felt like I was getting loose right at the last moment to drop and bounce out of the hole. Maybe it was a butt wink? Knees did not cave, and my left hip while it didn't feel 100% did not make any requests to stop squatting. Decided to drop the weight back down to 315 to get some volume in. I probably should have done 320 instead, but I just wasn't mentally in a place to do that. I think honestly, if I could lose a couple of pounds in bodyweight and squat anything over 400 at the meet, I'll be happy. It's only 2 weeks out, so hopefully holding on instead of trying to really go after it won't bite me.

Been giving a lot of thought to attempt selection. Based on last weeks effort, I think my maxes are 425, 270, and 435, so I'm thinking something like this:

Squat - 375, 405, 415-430
Bench - 235, 255, 265-275
Deads - 385, 415, 425-440

Thoughts?

[caveman]

Did some HIIT rowing last night. I think I my best split and best overall average time, but it was still brutal.

Weighed in this morning at 196.6. Pretty strict week on diet and the scale showed. Need some more weeks like that.

Hoping to do intensity day stuff this evening in my singlet. I'll probably work up to my 2nd attempts if everything feels good. Otherwise I'll stop at openers, just to get some practice in the singlet.

[caveman]

From Friday night, 9/25/15
Body weight 196.6

As intended I donned the singlet. If anything it's good motivation to work on my pooch.

Bench - 250 x 3, and then 250 x 2. Surprised this fell of so much from last week. Though weight loss and benching don't seem to go well for me. Anyways, attempt selection seems reasonable given this performance. Oh, and elbows felt mostly fine, a little twinge here and there, but not too bad.

Squats - Last warmup with loose'ish Harbinger wraps was 335. Then opener at 375 for 1 and then 405 for 1 as my second. These didn't feel all that good, probably because I squatted heavy just two days earlier. Pretty happy that I could hit 405 under these conditions. It takes me about 1 to 1.5 minutes to wrap one knee depending upon how smoothly the wrapping and tuck at the end go. Freaking out a little about how to time the wrapping correctly for the comp. Too early and my legs my fall off, too late and I'll miss the attempt...

Deads - 385 with hook grip. 415 with mixed grip. I think I'm going to go with the mixed grip for the comp. I'll work towards using the hook grip in the future because I like the idea of it better, but it's painful to hold the weight at lockout.

Openers and second attempts all went well. If I was more experienced I would bump up the 2nd attempts to get a better idea of how much I could squeeze out of the 3rd. But in this situation I have a personal goal to squat and deadlift over 400 pounds in a competition.

Using a singlet didn't cause any problems. If anything it was a little awkward making the move to lift up my non-existent shorts when bending down to deadlift. I can deal with that.