Dillon's Intermediate Log

[Dillon Spencer]

10/14/18
Squats ID 305x5x1 (PR)
Deadlift VD 280x5x2
Razor curls BWx8x3
GHD sit-ups 25x12x3

The squat PRs just keep flying up! Felt like I could have hit 315x5 today, but I'll be patient and hit that milestone in a couple of weeks. Only weird thing is that squats were really pissing off my elbows today, which is strange because I feel like I've finally got my form as dialled in as it's ever been. I was cranking my elbows way up before, and now I've got them glued to my side. Even getting under the bar was painful today. Actually, it was mostly getting under the bar that was painful. They were fine once I was squatting, but before and after sucked. Even made unloading the bar more of a chore than it should have been. Might have to get more video and another form check to see if, now that I'm not cranking my elbows up, I'm doing something else that's pissing them off. Or maybe it's related to the bench press soreness I've been experiencing on and off. Or maybe it's nothing and it'll just go away on its own as most of my occasional boo boos seem to.

[Dillon Spencer]

10/16/18
BW: 205
Press ID 147.5x5x1 (PR)
Bench VD 185x5x5
Rows 185x6x3

Last rep of the press was a pretty good grind that required a fair bit of lay back to get done. Might be creeping up on time to start running it out as well. I'm going to try 150 for 5 next week though, because round numbers are fun. Did a small reset on volume day weight for bench as I understand is suggested when you start running out a lift, and because I thought it might give my elbows a bit of a break. These felt super easy and made for a nice short workout because I didn't have to rest very long between sets. Elbows felt just fine, too.

[Dillon Spencer]

10/17/18
BW: 205
Deadlift ID 350x3x1 (PR) 330x3x1 back off
Squats VD 275x5x5

Deadlifts felt good. Cool to pull 350 for reps, because that was my 1RM on trap bar deadlifts a couple of years ago. Now I pulled it conventional for a pretty comfortable triple. Squats felt kind of shitty today. Didn't feel as good about my form as I have the last couple of workouts. Got video of my last set and my elbows were still cranking up a little bit. Much better than previously, but still room for improvement. Maybe it's just because I was rushing my work sets a bit because I had to (yes, HAD to) get to my favourite pizza place before it closed. It was worth it.

[Eric Schexnayder]

Maybe it's just because I was rushing my work sets a bit because I had to (yes, HAD to) get to my favourite pizza place before it closed. It was worth it.

Priorities, man. You made the right call.

[j.r.]

Yessir, don't question the call of a good pizza. Feel ya on the pain of getting under the bar at the start of each session. For me it's shoulders, so I do a bunch of rolls, rotations, and dislocates. Tried any kind of an elbow warm up lately (as odd as that sounds)?

[Dillon Spencer]

Thanks for the support on the pizza priority fellas! Not that I ever, even for a single second, questioned it myself

My shoulders tend to be tight at the beginning of a squat session too, but so far they seem to work themselves out throughout my warmup sets. The elbows seem to come and go on different lifts. Hell, before I even started getting back into barbells I dealt with a pretty gnarly case of golfers elbow from all the chins/pullups I was doing. Now, sometimes it's squats, sometimes it's the bench, sometimes it's the press. The squat feels different than the pressing lifts though. Think I may try doing some light hammer curls between sets, because I read about it in someone else's log. Actually, it might have been yours Eric!

[Dillon Spencer]

10/21/18
BW: 212 (PR) Not today, but most recent on a reliable scale. The shitty spring scale at my gym tends to read light, as far as I can tell.
Bench ID 220x3x2 (PR)
Squat ID 310x5x1 (PR)
Press VD 132.5x5x5
Deadlift VD 285x5x2

This was a bit of a weird one. Post-work obligations and a couple of days with the flu postponed a workout, so I just decided to cram all four lifts into a marathon session today. It went surprisingly well! We'll see how it is to recover from, but I hit everything I planned to hit without too much suffering. Elbows felt pretty fine today, despite doing all three things that occasionally piss them off in one session, and forgetting about my plan to warm them up with some hammer curls. Might just be one of those things that comes and goes. Elbows felt particularly good on squats, both in terms of pain and position. Almost like they could be related, eh? Speaking of squats, 310x5 flew up no problem. Three plates are going to get absolutely crushed next ID, so that will be another fun milestone!

[j.r.]

Great work, Dillon! Looking forward to that 3 plate vid! You made 300 look easy a few weeks ago. Get it!

[Dillon Spencer]

Great work, Dillon! Looking forward to that 3 plate vid! You made 300 look easy a few weeks ago. Get it!

Thanks JR! I'm not nearly as diligent as you are with taking video, but that's one I'll be sure to get.

[Dillon Spencer]

10/23/18
Press ID 150x5x1 (PR)
Bench VD 187.5x5x5
Hammer curls 30x10x4
Rows 185x7x3
Incline DB press 55x10x3

Well 150 went up a little easier than 147.5, so now I'm not sure if I should start running it out or not. I'm finding it harder to tell on the press, because it's easier to cheat with more layback. Do I keep stricter form and start running it out, or accept the layback and keep grinding fahves? Open to suggestions here. Actually remembered to add a few therapeutic hammer curls between sets of the bench today. Correlation =/= causation, but the elbows felt fine. Recently I've been adding a bit of light pressing volume after my intensity press and bench volume, but today the racks filled up so I took the path of least resistance and tried some incline dumbbell pressing. Was guessing at the weight so ended up on sets of 10. Kind of liked it! Might do it more often.