Nic Lane

[Nic Lane]

I've been reluctant to track my lifts here because I already do it with my phone/computer and this'd be one more thing to do... but maybe it will serve as a good backup, or help me see patterns that I don't see in my other log's format. Today was volume day (I do Volume Thursday, Recovery Sat/Sun, and Intensity Tuesday).

Squat: 295x4x5
I've stuck with 295 for three weeks now while moving intensity up 5lb per week. 335x1x5 and 340x1x5 were not a problem. I'll see how 345x1x5 goes next Tuesday. I've been running IF with a calorie deficit on my off days and I’m waiting for it to catch up with my squats. It's only been a couple weeks, but so far, so good.

Bench: 165x4x5

Easy reps. My bench, press and chins have all been (very) slowly recovering from a nerve injury in my right shoulder. Things have been going well and I've done a good job of keeping the injury from recurring (with scalene and pec minor stretches as well as being strict with form).

Deadlift:

I just decided to switch deads from intensity day to volume day. I've also decided to do RDLs on recovery day for a little lighter low back work. Because I just made these decisions, I had already DLed last intensity day, Tuesday. I did RDLs today to both try out the movement and because I did deads two days ago.

RDL: 240x1x5, 225x1x5

Grip was starting to slip with 240 which surprised me because it doesn't for DL warmups. Went to my locker and got chalk which fixed the problem. Didn't have any issues keeping my low back locked, but I'll need to focus on keeping my knees more static - they were flexing if I didn't pay close attention to keeping them just unlocked a little.

Barbell curls: 70x3x10
I'll stick with this weight until I can get the rest period down to 60-90 seconds. This was 3 minutes between sets.

[Nic Lane]

Recovery day.

Squat: 235x2x5

Press: 117.5x3x5

RDL: 225x2x5

Better than Thursday, 225 was too easy.

Chins: BWx3x9

Neck harness: 45x3x8,10,12

Wrist rolls: 55x7

I do these on the end of my bar set on the pins at squat height. One "rep" is rolling weight up to the bar, once toward me and once away from me.

[Nic Lane]

Intensity day.

Squat: 345x3x3,2,1

Was going for 5 but lost the weight forward coming out of the hole on my 4th rep. I decided to go for another triple but knew (ok, was 85% sure) that I wouldn't make the third rep and didn't want to bail on the pins again so racked it and did a final single. This may be the past two and a half weeks of caloric deficit catching up to me or maybe I was just a little sloppy on the 4th rep of that first set. I'll try 345x1x5 again next week and see how it goes.

Speaking of caloric deficit, I'm down about 4 pounds to 205 following a simple IF template. I'm planning to stick with it until either the end of October or 10 pounds - whichever comes first. I'm expecting my lifts to stall or regress a little. I anticipate that will suck psychologically but I imagine I'll be able to regain that strength ground pretty quickly once I switch back to eating a modest surplus.

Bench: 190x1x6

I did six because one of my early reps may have had a little bounce off my chest. The one I worried about bouncing was probably a good rep but I had the extra one in me and I felt better about the set this way.

Power Cleans: 165x4x3

I suck at cleans. The last sets had some sloppy reps with arm pulling.

[Nic Lane]

Volume day.

Squat: 300x4x5

Not too easy, not too hard. I held squat volume at 295 for three weeks, but missed my last intensity day. If that pattern repeats I'll try just holding V constant for two weeks.

Press: 125x4x5
These felt good.

Deadlift: 320x1x5
Strictly speaking, this may have been a set of four and a quick single. I stood up, caught my breath, shook out and reset between 4 and 5 (probably took 30 seconds). These reps felt good. I'm trying to stay really solid on my DL form because I think my low back, and thus my DL, is not as strong as it could be due to previous form faults and sloppiness.

No curls today. I ran out of time. I may just drop them and let chins be my arm work. It's not like I was putting a ton of effort into them anyway.

[Nic Lane]

Recovery day.

Squat: 240x2x5

Bench: 150x3x5

Chins: BWx3x10

The last rep of the last set was a struggle.

RDL: 255x2x5

Neck Harness: 45x3x10

Prowler: 4 rounds in 10 minutes (STRONG gym heart rate method)

I missed last week and it shows - this is a tie with last time, no improvement (maybe slight improvement because I had 30 seconds left on my timer after getting my HR down to 80% the last time... so I probably could have gotten it back up to 95% again but not back down before the clock ran out. Instead, I chose to just lie on the pavement for 30 more seconds.)

[Nic Lane]

Intensity day.

Squat: 345x1x5

Last rep was a grind, but I got it.

Press: 140x1x4, 140x1x2

Missed the 5th rep so did another short set to at least get in the work. Repeat 140 next time.

Power Cleans: 165x4x3

I repeated 165 this week to work on form. I'm not sure if I'll do 167.5 or 170 next time.

[Nic Lane]

Volume

Squat: 300x4x5
Recorded a set just to check in on depth. No problems.

Bench: 170x4x5
All solid.

Deadlift: 325x1x5
These felt good. I found some advice from TomC to someone else suggesting they get more weight back on their heels and it was very helpful. I also thought about trying to pull in my sambas instead of my lifting shoes (Rogue DoWins) thinking that the slight heel on my shoes might exacerbate the challenges of a long torso/short legs but I didn't want to change two variables at once.

[Nic Lane]

Recovery

Squat: 240x2x5

Press: 120x3x5

RDL: 255x2x5

Chins: BWx3x11,10,10

Neck Harness: 45x3x10

[Nic Lane]

Intensity

Squat: 350x1x5

Awesome set. Hard work, but no problems. Taped the set and depth was fine albeit with imperfect hip drive.

Bench: 195x1x5

Also a good set.

Cleans: 170x5x3

These were fantastic. My weekday workouts are usually over lunch during my workday and I lift at 24hr fitness. Today I was home and was able to do my cleans on a platform with bumpers and a decent bar. 170 was a breeze - makes me wonder how much energy I'm using at the globo gym catching the bar at the hang because I only have iron plates to work with. I'm really shot after a few sets at 24hr and I felt great after 5 sets at home. I also wonder if I'm pulling from a slight deficit at 24hr because they have those goddamned 12-sided plates. I may move cleans to recovery day (which I always do at home) so I can use my own gear. I just wonder if it'd mess with recovery (granted my clean isn't that high). We'll see.

[Nic Lane]

Volume

Squat: 300x4x5

Good sets. Had to use the half rack with fixed safeties that are just a *bit* high, so if I go a little too deep the bar hits them providing a noteworthy distraction.

Press: 125x4x5

These were fine.

Deadlift: 330x1x5

Deads are feeling good lately mostly due to a form tweak, but maybe also due to RDLs on recovery day. I got the bar a little out over my midfoot on a couple of the middle reps, but the set still felt just fine.