BigA's Log

[BigA]

Squat (no belt + no wraps): 265x5x5 (VD)

morning bodyweight: 225.8

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 122.5 x 5, 122.5 x 5, 122.5 x 5, 122.5 x 5, 122.5 x 5
Press "Starts" (no belt): 150x3, 170x3,190x3
Weighted Chin-ups: 17.5 x 4, 10 x 4, 7.5 x 3

Morning bodyweight: 226.8

I went much heavier on the press "starts" today. I was conservative the first time I did it but the article written by the Starr gave examples that were not so conservative (ie for 200 max press, use up to 275 for press "start"). This was a very valuable experience for me as I had never really overloaded a movement quite so much. I have a new found appreciation for Rip's assertion that barbells use your abs a lot, especially the press. On the 190 set, my body automatically braced so tight just to support the weight that I almost couldn't even breathe. Anyone who says barbells don't use your "core" have never gone heavy at all.

It just so happens that this coincides with my reading of Dan John's article about "Anaconda Strength" and another article that suggested using heavy squat "unrack's" and 'walkouts" in order to build up trunk stability at maximal squat weights and also to psychologically get used to handling heavy weight. This inspires me to experiment with this at some point in my training to see how it feels and results of such exercises. But not now. Now I need to do Texas Method and get my piddly squat up to at least 550 and gain about 30-35 pounds.

[BigA]

SLDL (no belt + hook grip + chalk): 340 x 5, 340 x 5, 340 x 5
Squat (light): 185 x 5 x 2
Press (light): 85 x 5 x 2
Chins (BW): 3,3,3

Morning bodyweight: 225

[BigA]

Squat (no belt + no knee wraps): 295 x 5 (Intensity Day)
Press (no belt): 147.5 x 5, 147.5 x 5, 147.5 x 5
Weighted Chins: 17.5 x 4, 10 x 5, 7.5 x 3
Incline Bench Press: 182.5 x 5, 182.5 x 5, 182.5 x 5

The squat was not as hard as I thought it would be even though I raised the weight by 10 pounds. My 5x5 weight is a bit behind what it used to be so I think that I can increase the weight by 10 pounds maybe 2 or 3 more times. Eventually, I will settle into the Texas Method for squats. I'm still feeling my way through the program a bit. My 6 day a week routine got condensed to 3 again this week because the school gym I went to DOESN"T HAVE A DEADLIFT PLATFORM ANYMORE! This really frustrated me when I showed up there and found out. So im slightly tweaking my program to do lower body on tues, thurs, and sat and upper body on mon, wed, fri. I hope nothing else happens as I much prefer a split routine than a full body workout.

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 125 x 5, 125 x 5, 125 x 5, 125 x 5, 125 x 5
Press "starts" (no belt): 155 x 3, 175 x 3, 195 x 3
Weighted chin-ups: 17.5 x 4, 12.5 x 4, 7.5 x 4

This was my first workout in a commercial gym in months. Honestly, I felt like a douchebag doing my 5x5 press with a tiny 125 pounds and taking 8 min rest but the guys who were really wanting the rack found another one and then proceeded to press up to 85 pounds so that made me feel better. I also felt self conscious doing press "starts" as it looks like I was ego lifting. This is not really a big deal, I'm just not used to lifting in a commercial gym.

Something very noteworthy: All of this pressing with a volume day, intensity day, press "starts", and heavy (for me) incline bench presses are starting to pay off. The 125 felt light today. I felt like I could have increased it more than by 2.5 pounds. This is noteworthy because this is NOT in the beginning of any sort of new programming where I am starting off with a light weight. The weight has been increasing yet it's feeling lighter. I also only took two days rest instead of three due to a scheduling change so I basically had a 6 week cycle last week instead of 7. I also slept last night less (around 5 hours) than I usually do due to school. My bodyweight is not increasing either. And, I have the pre-made excuse of having long arms. So I don't know, maybe I am just having a good run. But I am suspecting for most of my previous training, the press was undertrained. Intensity day at this point feels more difficult to complete than volume day, maybe I need to up my VD weights by 5 pounds for a few weeks. I will experiment and see.

Overall, I am really, really happy with the decision to drop the flat bench and stick with the press and do inclines as the only "chest" exercise. Even though I am built really horribly for it, I just love the feeling of pressing a heavy weight overhead. It feels primal, like deadlifting. If I keep up this progress on the press, perhaps I will press bodyweight in about 9 months to a year. We shall see though. I'm feeling very optimistic at this point and happy with the way training is going.

Morning bodyweight: 225. 4

[BigA]

Squat (no belt): 275 x 5 x 5

Morning bodyweight: 225

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 85 x 5 x 2
Chin-ups (BW): 5,5,5

Morning bodyweight: 227.4

[BigA]

SLDL (no belt + hook grip + chalk): 345 x5, 345 x 5, 345 x 5
Squat (no belt): 185 x 5 x 2 (light day)

The SLDL's were absolutely brutal today. I almost passed out 2 times doing them and on my very last rep, the bar moved excruciatingly slow. My trunk felt like it was involuntarily contracting, like a python, trying to grind out this rep. I could feel my upper back rounding quite a lot. I really can't think of anything that would have caused them to be this difficult, especially since last week's 340x5x3 went up relatively easily. My eating and sleep are fine (at least, I think they are). In any case, my back is totally intact, I didn't tweak it at all. My trunk (including my back) feels totally exhausted though. The light squats were easy on my legs but it was hard to brace just because I was so exhausted. It's these kind of training sessions that really forge willpower in the long term. And they suck.

[BigA]

Friday

Press (no belt): 150 x 3, 150 x 3, 150 x 3
Weighted Chin-ups: 17.5 x 4, 12.5 x 2, 7.5 x 3
Incline Bench Press: 185 x 3, 185 x 3, 185 x 2

I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. I got my press reps in, the rest of my lifts were just not going to go up today.

Saturday

Squat (no belt): 305 x 5 (ID)

Easy gains on TM are over. Im going to now be adding only 5 pounds each week. I now feel satisfied with my deadlift / squat ratio (the change of programming set my squat back a bit but it's back on track). I reckon it's about 50-60 pounds difference.

Very much looking forward to my rest day tomorrow.

Morning bodyweight (Saturday): 228.2 (I had some food later last night.)

[BigA]

Yet again, I am forced to work out 3 times a week instead of 6 due to the gym being closed to labor day. I am definitely looking forward to having my own garage gym.

Squat (no belt + no wraps): 280 x 5 x 5 (VD)
Press (no belt): 127.5 x 5, 127.5 x 5, 127.5 x 5, 127.5 x 5, 127.5 x 5
Press "starts" (no belt): 160 x 3, 180 x 3, 200 x 3
Weighted chin-ups: 17.5 x 4, 12.5 x 3, 7.5 x 3

Interesting note for today: my first 3 sets of squats were very hard, making me wonder how I would actually be able to run the Texas Method, yet sets 4 and 5 were a breeze. This being my first TM workout after the easy gains, I was really surprised at how much 5x5 messes with your mind (some sets are easy, some are hard for no perceptible reason). I am feeling kind of apprehensive but I will do everything in my power to sleep and eat enough.

Also, an interesting thing happened today at the gym. There is a group of guys in the school gym that workout there regularly and one of the guys is really strong. Although he did parallel squats (could have gone maybe 2.5 inches lower) for most of his squat workout, he worked up to a 610 single and it was cool to watch. That heavy weight made him go well below parallel. Don't know how much the spotter was helping him. He had a belt plus wraps and told me he weighed around 215 and apparently, he totaled roughly 1750 in a raw powerlifting competition (he said 650, 450, 650.) I believe it, the dude is jacked, he is around 5 ft 6" with razor sharp abs.