Bergstedt's Intermediate Log

[Bergstedt]

Maybe you didn't make that last deadlift rep, but you sure gave it all you had. Well done!

Thank you, slowmo!

Tomorrow is intensity day, so we'll see how the deads go. I'm thinking about starting off a couple of kg lighter, though.

[Bergstedt]

Today was both Sweden's national day and my first intensity day. Exciting!

It felt good and strong. I've started trying to really nail the depth on my squats, instead of consistently going too low. I think I might have been too much on the edge with these, though. In slowmotion my hip crease is clearly parallell to the top of my patella, but they just look a tad too shallow. What are your thoughts?

Since they felt pretty snappy I don't think that extra cm will ruin my attempts at higher weights.

142,5 kg squat - YouTube

Squats: 5*142,5 kg (PR!)

Bench: 5*82,5 kg (why are these so damn heavy...?)

Deadlifts: 5*145 kg as explosive as i could and with a 10 second hold in the top at every rep to work on grip strength

Chins: 5*15 kg extra.

Good workout!

[Bergstedt]

Ran a 5k at around 30 minutes with my gf today.

Running is something new to me, so just getting through 5k feels like a big success.

We have a 5k obstacle race scheduled for June 27th and a 10k race for August 15th, so we're trying to get in at least two runs a week.

[Bergstedt]

I booked a try-out workout at a local power lifting gym yesterday. We've agreed to come by later today, so this week's VD is going to be done there. They excused themselves for not having a female locker room, since they haven't had any female members in a long time, and that they also doesn't have any crosstrainers or treadmills. I'm lucky that my girlfriend responded with a "I don't care" to the locker room thing and with a chuckle to the fact that there are no treadmills or crosstrainers.

It's going to be interesting to try out a more strength focused gym, since we've only been going to a local "everyone can do it"-kind of franchise where the staff is more concerned with their wooden floors than with their members' back health, etc. I also think it will benefit our progress, since we're (sadly) pretty much the strongest couple at our current gym.

[Bergstedt]

The try-out session didn't happen due to problems at work, but it will hopefully happen on Wednesday. I still did my VD, and the squats felt so much better today than last week! The last set really smoked my lower back, though, which cramped up pretty bad. I have a foam roller etc. in the mail, so I hope to fix that problem ASAP.

Squats: 127,5 kg*5*5,

OHP: 45 kg*5*5 (it felt a bit too easy, but it should take care of itself these coming sessions),

SLDL: 40 kg*5*3 (since my lower back was crampy and this was my first time I started super light. I used it mostly as a weighted stretch, since the squats made my legs so stiff I couldn't pick up the bar without bending my knees quite a bit),

Chins: +2 kg*5*5 (total weight was 89 kg).

[Bergstedt]

Today we went to the power lifting gym. It was gloriously gritty and garage-y. I really liked it. Anna PR:ed with a 75 kg*5*3 squat at 52 kg bw. I had recovery day scheduled, so it was all cruising for me.

Squats: 102,5*5*2,

Bench: 75*5*3,

Power cleans: 45*3*3.

[Bergstedt]

I ran a 5k today. It was pretty tough. It was the hottest day all year and I ran fasted. Afterwards I spent around 20 minutes with the foam roller and lacrosse ball to work out the kinks in my lower back and T spine. After that was a 20 minute bath in water that was 12 degrees Celsius. Horrible at first and wonderful after a while.

[Bergstedt]

Intensity day today. I had bad DOMS in my quads after running yesterday, so squats didn't go too well.

Squats: 4*145 kg (jeezas! Heavy as hell)

OHP: 5*50 kg (still easy)

Deads: 5*147,5 kg (easier than anticipated)

Chins: 5*17,5 kg extra (pretty heavy).

[Bergstedt]

Week 3 Volume Day:

Squats: 127,5 kg*5*5

BP: 72,5 kg*5*5

SLDL: 60 kg*5*3

Chins: +4 kg*5*5.

I redid last week's VD squats since I only managed 4*145 kg on ID, which gave me a 141 kg 5 RM.

They were horrible, though. The weight is manageable in itself, but where was the groove?! The gym had a new Eleiko bar, which was almost too good, so I had a hard time sliding it far enough down my back, I also had no tightness in the hole whatsoever - and my knees consequently looked like impatient dogs trying to pounce something in front of my feet. This also resulted in some pretty bad lower back spasms.

BP was as light as the squats were heavy. So I have to do something about that. The SLDLs and the chins felt good, though.

[Bergstedt]

Recovery day today:

Squats: 102,5 kg*5*2

OHP: 47,5 kg*5*3 (super strict with pause in the bottom)

Power cleans: 50 kg*5*5 (tight and easy, so I went for sets of 5 across instead of 3).

I also did some gripper training with Captains of Crush T, 1 and 1.5.