Will's Strength Training Log

[Will Morris]

Heavy day:

Squats: 340lbs for 1 set of 5 reps

Bench Press: 135lbsx5, 200lbsx3, 240lbsx2, 270lbsx2 reps (personal record for 2RM)

Power Clean: 190lbs for 5 sets of 3, then 135lbs for 5 sets of 5 (strictly technique work)

[Will Morris]

Clean and Jerk: 175lbs for 10 singles

Squats: 310lbs for 5 sets of 5

Presses: 135lbs for 3 sets of 5 (these were heavy, probably due to the clean and jerks before....I'm probably going to do bench press on C&J day from now on)

Deadlift: 315 for 1 set of 5 By the time I got to deadlifts, I was completely spent. I got 315 really easily, but I could barely budge 375....My deadlift is atrocious, and I need to find some way to get my deadlift to start coming along. I'm sure the fact that I have small hands and fairly long forearms comparatively speaking has something to do with it. I haven't quite decided to try sumo style, but I have retooled my deadlift form where it is on the money. Then again, I could just possibly be a horrible deadlifter, genetically speaking.

[slowjoe]

One way to improve the deadlift, is to move it to the start of the workout. Worked for me, anyway.

[Will Morris]

I may have to do that. I've also considered moving deadlifts to Wednesday since I can fly through the rest of my workout no problem. I haven't done so yet because I didn't want to overtrain myself to the point that I can't hit the weight I shoot for on Friday because of what I did on Wednesday.

I guess I could move them to Tuesday and do nothing but deadlift...

[Will Morris]

Power Snatch: 10 singles 120lbs

Squats: 245lbs 2 sets of 5

Bench Press: 245lbs 3 sets of 5 (I think this was a personal record for multiple sets of 5)

Workout got cut short this morning, but later I will go back and do

Front Squats: 230lbs for 3 sets of 5

Chinups: 3 sets of 15 (with 25lbs added)

going to attempt light deadlifts with a sumo stance to see if that helps or if I can even stand doing them that way

[Will Morris]

Heavy Day:

Squats: 345lbs x 5 reps (personal record for 5 reps)

Press: 155lbs x 2 reps

Power Clean: 185lbs x 5 sets x 3 reps

Sumo Deadlifts: 315x5 reps (not a fan, though my grip seemed much stronger this way than traditional deadlifts)

Kroc Rows: 40lbs x 40 reps x 1

[Will Morris]

I had switched to Texas Method because my gains were stalling out, however, after adding a gallon of milk each day (most days), the gains are coming on much easier so I have now switched back to linear progression.

Squats: 3 sets of 5 @ 315lbs

Bench Press: 3 sets of 5 @ 240lbs

Today was the first day that I tried lifting at home on my new squat stand and bench. The squat stand is only temporary while I can find someone to fabricate me a true power rack. No spotter this morning as my typical workout partner tapped out on me. The squats felt a little squirrely, and I could tell that when I was coming up that my hip drive was almost non-existent and I was slightly asymmetrical when coming up. Also, looking back at the video of my second and third set, I think I am going about 3-4" too low.

[Will Morris]

(Light/ Recovery) Squats: 2 sets of 5 @ 250lbs

I did these about 4"+ lower than normal, and came to a complete stop with about a 2 second pause at the bottom. These were still very light when I committed to lifting it back up, but I was really focused on my hip drive. Overall, these felt really good and it is a bit of a confidence boost to know that I can power that much weight out of a complete stop and lower than a competition squat.

(Heavy) Front Squats: 3 sets of 5 @ 225lbs

These felt good as well. I'm getting more confidence with holding the weight in the tips of my two fingers with my elbows out to the front as much as possible (as in the rack position of a clean). Flexibility in my wrist is getting better, and I was able to power these up fairly easily.

Presses: 3 sets of 5 @ 140lbs

Slightly less than my bodyweight. First set was a little goofy, but the second and third sets were easier. I think it was the right idea to back off the weight on these slightly and start building again.

Chinups - 3 sets of 15 @ bodyweight

Weighted Dips - 3 sets of 8 @ BW + 80lbs

[Will Morris]

Forgot deadlifts:

Deadlifts - 2 sets of 5 @ 315lbs

Attempted my first set with a Double Overhand Hook Grip. That lasted all of two reps, then switched to DOH. I performed a second set with a mixed grip, since I wouldn't be able to do a second set with a DOH grip. At the end of my second set, I had to listen to a Crossfitter explain to me that 1-Legged Deadlifts off a 4" block were much better for my "core", and I was going to injure myself deadlifting that much weight.

[Will Morris]

Squats: 3 sets of 5 @ 320lbs

Bench Press: 3 sets of 5 @ 250lbs

Power Clean: 5 sets of 3 @ 175lbs

Bench felt great. Still have a lot of room to improve there, I think. Power cleans were terrible. Didn't have the platform so I had to carefully lower the weight each time so I didn't get kicked out of the gym...by set three I was tapped out. Thinking of resetting these back to 135 and slowly moving up. 135 feels really light, but by the time I get to 175-190, the weight is too heavy for perfect form.