Will I stand up next to a mountain?

[ICTRob]

Friday 1/18
January Wilks score goal: 200

Squat 285 - 45x5, 45x5, 135x5, 185x5, 235x5, 285x3x5
Bench 135 - 45x5, 75x5, 105x5, 135x3x5
Dead 285 - 135x5, 135x5, 185x5, 235x5, 285x5

Should have done one more warmup set on deadlifts, something like 225x5 and 255x5 between the 185x5 and the work set. Overall, another good day. Keep that LP going!

[ICTRob]

Sunday 1/20
January Wilks score goal: 200

Squat 295 - 45x5, 45x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5, 295x3x5
Press 105 - 45x5, 45x5, 65x5, 85x3, 105x3x5
Dead 295 - 135x5, 135x5, 205x5, 255x3, 295x5

I decided to lift tonight instead of tomorrow morning because the scheduling was better, and I had enough strength to do all of the lifts, so this was a really good day, and I'll get an extra night of rest before the next time on Wednesday.

On squats, I've been doing 5s all the way up, because I feel confident that I can complete the work sets with plenty of gas in the tank, but on presses and deadlifts, I just did triples on the last warmups to keep the tank full for the work set(s).

[ICTRob]

Wednesday 1/23
January Wilks score goal: 200

Squat 305 - 45x5, 45x5, 135x5, 205x5, 255x5, 305x3x5
Bench 145 - 45x5, 45x5, 75x5, 105x5, 125x3, 145x3x5
Dead 305 - 135x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 265x2, 305x5

Woke up at 3 AM, after going to bed at 9:30, and wasn't going back to sleep, so I went downstairs at 4 and got it done. (My original plan was to wake up at 5:30 and lift then.) Everything went well, and the weight is getting more challenging. On deadlifts, I took more rest between warmup sets than before, but my total session time was still only an hour.

[ICTRob]

Friday 1/25
January Wilks score goal: 200

Squat 315 - 45x5, 45x5, 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3x5
Press 110 - 45x5, 45x5, 65x5, 85x5, 100x3, 110x3x5
Dead 315 - 135x5, 135x5, 185x5, 235x3, 275x2, 315x5

The weights are getting heavy, but I'm still finishing the lifts. I'm stretching out my rest periods a little bit more, and easing down from "fahves" in my last warmup sets, so that I have enough left to finish the work sets.

One very nice thing about lifting at home, with the rack in my den, is that I can turn up my stereo and blast music that helps me power through the work sets. I feel much more confident with the adrenaline that gives.

[ICTRob]

Monday 1/28
January Wilks score goal: 200

Squat 325 - 45x5, 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 325x3x5
Bench 155 - 45x5, 45x5, 75x5, 105x3, 135x2, 155x3x5
Dead 325 - 135x5, 135x5, 185x5, 235x3, 285x2, 325x5

A very good day. The weight is getting heavy, and I'm taking longer rest periods to ensure that I complete the work sets. (Although today, bench presses were much easier than the other two lifts.) On Thursday I will go for 1RMs and after that I will continue on a once-every-3-days schedule, trying to continue my (re-run) novice LP as long as possible.

[ICTRob]

Thursday 1/31
January Wilks score goal: 200 actual: 223.32

1RM day
Squat 355 - 45x5, 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 325x1, 355x1, no 3rd attempt
Press 130 - 45x5, 45x5, 65x5, 85x3, 100x2, 110x1, 120x1, 130x1
Dead 365 -135x5, 135x5, 225x5, 265x3, 295x2, 325x1, 355x1, 365x1
Walk-off bodyweight - 258.2

Reached my goal! My 355 squat stalled in the middle, but I finished it, then decided not to try for more. Presses were good, but made me wonder if I've been sandbagging them a little bit. When I had to reset presses a few weeks ago, it felt like all of my upper body strength was gone, so I wanted to take it slow coming back up. Today's result is encouraging. The deadlifts were the best part of today - I chalked up for all three singles, and after the second one, felt like I could do more, and 365 was just about right - pretty tough, but manageable enough to make me wonder if more was possible.

My Wilks goal for February will be 250. I will be lifting every 3 days, continuing the novice linear progression, so that gives me 8 workouts to get stronger before the next 1RM day.

[ICTRob]

Monday 2/4

Squat 335 - 45x5x2, 135x5, 225x3, 285x2, 335x5x3
Press 115 - 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x3, 105x2, 115x5x3
Dead 335 - 135x5x2, 185x5, 235x3, 285x2, 335x5

Got sick over the weekend, as have a lot of other people, so I lifted one day later than planned. Squats and deadlifts were challenging but never in doubt. Presses were fairly easy by comparison. I'll continue with the LP every 3 days.

[ICTRob]

Thursday, 2/7

Squats 345 - 45x5x2, 135x5, 225x3, 295x2, 345x5x3
Bench 165 - 45x5x2, 75x5, 105x3, 135x2, 165x5x3
Dead 345 - 135x5x2, 195x5, 245x3, 295x2 345x5

Glad I got it done. The squats and deadlifts are getting much more difficult. My grip started to slip on the penultimate deadlift, and again on the last rep, even with some chalk for my hook grip, so next time I will use even more chalk. Bench presses still have plenty of room for gainz.

[ICTRob]

Monday 2/11
February Wilks goal: 250

Squats 355 - 45x5x2, 135x5, 225x3, 295x2, 355x5x3
Presses 120 - 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x3, 105x2, 120x5x3
Deadlifts 355 - 135x5x2, 225x2, 275x3, 315x2, 355x5 with straps

I waited an extra day again, this time for no real good reason, but am glad it's finally done. Squats were very challenging, presses were still pretty easy (but won't be forever), and deadlifts were solid, although I used straps this time because my grip started failing on the second rep at 315.

I'm not sure how much longer I can keep increasing squats and deadlifts by 10 every workout, but I'll keep doing that as long as I can.

[ICTRob]

Friday 2/15
February Wilks goal - 250

Bench presses 175 - 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 145x2, 175x5x3
Deadlifts 365 - 135x5x2, 225x5, 275x3, 325x2, 365x5 work set with straps

I didn't think I could keep doing heavy squats and heavy deadlifts on the same day, so I'm going to do a 4 day weekly split, with heavy squats and presses on day 1, light benches and deadlifts on day 2, light squats and presses on day 3, and heavy benches and deadlifts on day 4. So today was like a day 4.

Benches were solid, but going up 10 next time will be a real challenge. Deadlifts were good - I used a light amount of chalk on my last warmup at 325, and my grip was secure. The work set was tough, but never in doubt. After the work set, I reduced the bar to 275, removed my straps, and lifted the bar up once and held it for the count of 20 to work my grip.