Tinkering with the pulls

[NCuba]

Moday 9/13

SQ - 337.5 - 3x5 - easy, little elbow pain, figured out belt and had great 3rd set
Press - 162.5 - 3x5 -easy
PC - 135 up to 165 x2s - prob 12-15 reps total
chins - bw - ~30 total over 3 sets

Very good workout. Will need to stretch shoulder more, didn't do it over weekend and had a little elbow trouble on squats. 3 more workouts til new squat and press PRs, patience. I'm holding off max 5x3 PC attempts for the time being, I felt last weeks 210 screwed with my DL on Wed, probably will work my way back up with x2s, still doing them M/F. For chins doing bw (~220) on monday and pushing it +2.5 on Fri, instead of +1.25 both days. chins are getting heavy and I don't want them to screw with pressing and DLs so I'll stick the heavy ones right before the weekend.

[NCuba]

Wednesday 9/15

SQ - 345 - 3x5 - moderately tough, little to no elbow pain
BP - 222.5 - 3x5 -easy, but some "funny bone" nerve pain in right elbow on warmups
DL - 415 1x5 -easy

Decent workout which finished better than it started. Good breakfast but only coffee preworkout, pretty stupid. I hit my funny bone last night on some door jamb and felt pain at the bottom during BP warmups, which was scary but vanished by work sets. Tried out my belt on some of the DL warmups but didn't use it for the workset. My stance is too narrow and belly too big for it to work comfortably, I think, maybe I'll go on a diet when I get to around 500 and might need the belt.

[NCuba]

Saturday 9/18

SQ - 350 - 3x5 - tough, done with belt, elbow pain
Press - 165 - 3x5 -easy, tried belt on third set
Chins - +42.5 - 3x5 - pulled upper tri in warmup but went well

Squats suffered from too little food yesterday and a serious drunk last night. The sleep was good though. I'll be stuffing my face to hit the squat PRs hard this week (Wed.), aiming to close in on 405 for sets. Press goes for PR Wed. too. PC dropped today for lack of time.

[NCuba]

Monday 9/20

SQ - 355 - 3x5 - easier than last time, but really bad elbow pain during warmups that plateaued by worksets
BP - 227.5 - 3x5 - felt hard, left arm tight around elbow

I need to spend even more time warming up on squat to open up my shoulders and prevent elbow pain, which really screwed with the other exercises--I tried PC today but stopped after 1 at 135, I'm really surprised I was able to rack it. Eating and sleep have been good and look to continue to be good, I should push the lifts a decent amount over the next few weeks. All squats are now with belt and feel comfortable, I feel a little out of breath by the end but do think it helps me keep my posture. Elbow pain still seems to be hit or miss, I would have liked to see it gone by now but oh well.

[NCuba]

Wednesday 9/22

SQ - 360 - 3x5 - PR
Press - 167.5 - 3x5 - PR
DL - 425 1x5

First two sets were very good on squat, not so much the third where I lacked energy. A little elbow pain during work sets that was gone by press work sets, I'll take that. DL a little tough but no chalk. Reset 2 in the books! Arbitrary goals for next stall 405/250/185/495 on main lifts. Only half joking there.

[NCuba]

Saturday 9/25

SQ - 365 - 3x5 - PR
BP - 232.5 - 3x5 -
Chins - +45 - 3x5 - PR

Squats were tougher than I thought after two days rest. Second set was a disaster as I set belt too high and couldn't get a good breath. Chins a little tougher than I thought too, but bench was easy. I miss PC but can't do them after squats b/c elbow--maybe some two a days next week.

[NCuba]

Monday 9/27

SQ - 370 - 3x5 - PR
Press - 170 - 3x5 - PR

Left elbow was really bad today during squats, starting in warm-ups and persisting until press worksets. Also had a weird little neck/trap tweak during first workset. I'll try a wrap or sleeve or something, it's worse than an annoyance now, at least it goes away after with ice. Anyway I can't do PC after these, I might go back tonight, we'll see. Might also have to do two sessions to get my DL over the next few weeks. Muscles and joints feel fine on squats, but elbow is distraction and it's tough to maintain energy throughout the set. In light of these two things, realistic end of the road would be sometime in the next 1-2 weeks, almost certainly before 405. Oh well, press was fine and would have been better without nasty squat side effects.

[NCuba]

Wednesday 9/29

SQ - 375 - 3x5 - PR
BP - 235 - 3x5
DL - 435 - 1x5

Squats felt good. Bad pain from last workout persisted. It flared up again today but it didn't make me want to puke like last time, so it should go away (I dread the fucking gym these days). BP and DL tied PRs and both look to break through easily. DL would have been easy today but I forgot chalk again, so the last couple reps sucked a bit.

[NCuba]

Sunday 10/3

Press - 172.5 - 3x5 - PR
SQ - 380 - 3,3,2 - fail
Chins - +47.5 - 3x5 - PR
Dips - 3x4
bw 225

I did press first today in case the elbow bothered me, they were easy. Squats were terrible, a generous prediction of total possible reps would have been 12. I decided to do about half reps and reattempt on Tuesday. Off days were shitty, totally avoidable and totally my fault, and the strength just wasn't there today, even the last warmup double felt tough. Dips were thrown in to get my shoulder used to them, I used to be the best at these but they also gave me shoulder tendinitis!

[NCuba]

Tuesday 10/5

SQ - 380 - 3x5 - PR
BP - 237.5 - 3x5 - PR

Squats were rough, also had elbow pain. I won't attempt 385 on Thurs. b/c I think it would fuck with the DL attempt, but probably will go for 385 next Sunday. Regardless, the end is near. Missing 380 last time and ending up doing triples made me sad before it made me realize I don't really care if I do a weight at 3x5, 3x3 or 1x3 right now, I just want to hit big numbers. This means I'm likely moving toward TM within the next month or so (at least for the squat), pushing out max triples and all every week. Got some life things that might come up, so we'll see how gung ho I'll be able to be before November. Til that day of reckoning, pressing plows on ahead and DLs should be doable for at least a few weeks.