Rathofthebeard's SS NLP Log

[rathofthebeard]

Squats:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 3
285 x 2 (belted)
340 x 5 x 3 (belted)

Bench Press:
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
135 x 3
185 x 2 (belted)
215 x 5 x 3 (belted)

Deadlift:
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 3
285 x 2 (belted)
335 x 1 x 5 (belted)

Tunes: Morbid Angel - Whatever the Hell the new album is called. It popped up in my recommended on Amazon and I gave it a shot. Not bad, but Suffocation has been doing the same thing better for quite a while. A decent pump up album but it probably won't get much time in my playlist. Also, Sound of Perseverance by Death.

Notes: Squats felt good, a lot better than the last time I squatted 340. Looking forward to smashing a new PR on Friday when I actually get all my reps at 345. Bench went well, got all the reps. Need to focus more on leg drive and keeping it consistent throughout the whole set but overall it felt well. Deadlifts felt good. Focusing on really keeping my back in hard extension for every rep. I think it went a little soft on the last rep of my working set because I really had a hard time locking it out. There is definitely improvement though and I'm looking forward to keeping it going.

[rathofthebeard]

Squats:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2 (belted)
275 x 5 x 3 (belted)

Press:
45 x 5 x 2
85 x 5
105 x 3
135 x 2 (belted)
162.5 x 3 x 5 (belted)

Barbell rows:
135 x 5
155 x 3
180 x 8 x 3

Tunes: Kalmah - Palo

Notes: Good day today. Squats went smoothly, really focused on sitting back and using hip drive. I did notice that I got a little bit onto my toes on a couple reps, so I need to work on that. Press went well. I'm finding that I need to be more aggressive than I think once the weight gets heavy. I really have to think about throwing the bar hard from the bottom or I get stuck hard halfway through the rep and it turns into a ridiculous 4-5 second grind to lockout. If I focus on exploding it upward, I'm usually able to grind through the reps much quicker. Just an observation. Don't know if I really need to warm up for barbell rows, but I figure it can't hurt. Hypertrophy and all that.

[rathofthebeard]

There are bad days, good days and great days. Today was a great day.

Squats:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 3
295 x 2 (belted)
345 x 5 x 3 (belted)

Bench:
45 x 5 x 2
115 x 5
155 x 3
205 x 2 (belted)
220 x 4 x 2 (belted
220 x 5 (belted)

Deadlift:
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 3
315 x 2 (belted)
365 x 1 (belted
345 x 5 (belted)

Tunes: Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising and Twilight of the Thunder God

Notes: Well, I've solidly returned to PR territory in all of my lifts. Feels good. Finally conquered 345 on the squat. A little nervous going into the gym this morning because I was still feeling sore, still fatigued from the week and I just did not want to train. However, once I got a few sets into the warm up, the squats started feeling better. I felt a little less sore and the weight moved well. Got to my working set and crushed the first one. Took five minutes and nailed the second set. Took a full 7 minutes before my last set and every rep was a grinder but I got through them. Racked the bar and breathed a sigh of relief. Bench was OK, I should probably start microloading but I was really hoping to hit 2 plates before I needed to do that. I got through 3 reps and the fourth was such a grinder that I just racked the bar on the first two sets. On the last one I forced myself to lower it and that was one of the hardest reps I've ever done. It felt max effort; my form went to crap and it took a full 4-5 seconds to hit lockout but I did. For about half a second or so, I really thought I was going to miss but I kept pushing. I adjusted my deadlift programming a bit, adding a top single before a back-off set of 5. I find that really helps mentally to handle heavier weight before a working set, plus it puts bigger numbers in my log book.

[rathofthebeard]

Another good day.

Squats:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 3
295 x 2
350 x 5 x 2
350 x 1
350 x 5

Press:
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
115 x 3
140 x 2
165 x 3 x 5

Deadlift:
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 3
315 x 2
375 x 1
355 x 5

Tunes: Kalmah - 12 Gauge and Amon Amarth - With Oden on our Side

Notes: A little hiccup with squats this morning. I got a little overconfident and tried to crank them out too fast on the last set. I think I leaned over too far at the bottom of my second rep of the final set (leaning over too far? With a low bar squat? Inconceivable!), lost my balance and ended up having to dump the bar forward onto the safeties. I dusted myself off, stripped the bar, racked it, re-loaded it and promptly ground out a final set of 5 with much better form, paying careful attention to keeping the bar over the middle of my foot and staying balanced throughout the movement. Press moved nicely for three sets and then the last two were real grinders for every rep but I got all of them. Deads were deads. I really like having that 1 top single before the back-off set. Weight is moving up rather well.

[rathofthebeard]

Squats:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2 (belted)
280 x 5 x 3 (belted)

Bench:
45 x 5 x 2
115 x 5
155 x 3
195 x 2 (belted)
220 x 5 x 3 (belted)

Rows:
135 x 5
155 x 3
185 x 8 x 3 (belted)

Lat Pull-down:
140 x 12 x 2
140 x 11

Tunes: Arch Enemy - Wages of Sin

Notes: Even light squats are starting to feel a bit heavy. Still, made it through with only about 3 to 4 minutes in between sets. Bench went well. I realized partway through my warm up that I was really letting my elbows flare and I think that may be why I missed reps on the last session. I really focused on fixing that and, combined with the pause and explosive launch off the chest, all 3 sets felt much easier than my last bench session. I'm probably going to chance two plates next time I bench on Monday. Making progress on both rows and lat pull-downs. Performed both with underhanded grip.

[rathofthebeard]

Squats:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 3
300 x 2
355 x 5 x 3

Press:
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
115 x 3
140 x 2
167.5 x 3 x 5

Deadlifts:
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 3
325 x 2
385 x 1
360 x 2
360 x 1
360 x 1
360 x 0.75

Tunes: Death - Sound of Perseverance and Amon Amarth - With Oden On Our Side

Notes: Squats moved nicely. Took around 6 minutes between working sets and got them knocked out. Press was tough. After the second set, pretty much every rep was a grind but I got through it successfully. Deadlifts were another story. I'm noticing that as I grind through the rep and get close to lockout, the bar wants to slip out of my pronated hand and I tend to have to drop it just shy of the finish line. I'm guessing that I'm not concentrating enough on really squeezing the bar hard enough. Chalk might help but I don't think that's the underlying problem. I'm probably just being a pussy. Oh well, I'll repeat today's weight on Monday.

[rathofthebeard]

Squats:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2 (belted) (warm-up PR!)
360 x 5 x 3

Bench:
45 x 5 x 2
115 x 5
155 x 3
205 x 2 (belted)
225 x 5 x 3 (belted)

Deadlift:
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 3
275 x 2
315 x 5

Tunes: Some Eluveitie, some Amon Amarth, some other assorted stuff.

Notes: Squats moved pretty well. Someone else was using the only power rack (for empty bar good mornings and dumbbell lunges, no less) so I had to settle for one of those annoying racks with the two fixed safeties and the slanted rack with fixed bar supports every 3 inches or so. It worked, it just sucks having to take 4 steps back to make sure I'm clear of the vertical portion of the rack. I had had really bad low back pain over the weekend, mixed with some pain in my hips (sciatica, I think. Damn, I sound old) so I took some ibuprofen this morning before leaving the house. Still hurt when I got to the gym but the pain was pretty much gone by the time I hit my first working set. I don't know if that's better living through chemistry, better living through getting blood flow to the affected area or a little of both but I was grateful. Bench was fantastic. First two sets at 225 went smoothly at about an RPE 7.5 to 8. Last set was probably about an 8 or 8.5 but I definitely had some in the tank. With two plates achieved, it's time to chase 3. It's occurred to me that, in order to work on my deadlift technique, I need to do more deadlifts. I didn't have time to work up to a really heavy set so I went kind of light and called it a day. I'm probably going to replace rows with light deads and alternate between light and heavy on each workout. So I'll deadlift heavy again on Wednesday, do another light day on Friday and so on and so forth.

[rathofthebeard]

Squats:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
285 x 5 x 3

Press:
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
115 x 3
145 x 2 (belted)
170 x 3 (belted)
170 x 0 (belted)
155 x 4 (belted)
155 x 2 (belted)

Deadlifts:
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 3
325 x 2 (belted)
385 x 1 (belted)
355 x 5 (belted)
315 x 1 (no belt, just to get the bar back to a rack and strip it easier).

Tunes: Amon Amarth - With Oden on our Side (This has been my go-to lately. Just such a kick ass album!)

Notes:
Squats went well. Felt alright, I knocked 'em out with about 4 minutes between sets. Press failed spectacularly. Just one of those days, I guess. I think that press is definitely nearing the end of LP. I'll re-try 170 when I press again on Monday and if I fail again, do a final re-set and run LP out again as much as possible. Deadlifts felt super solid. I'm really paying attention to my grip and I never felt in danger of dropping the bar. I locked out every rep fairly easy. Gonna add fahve on my next heavy deadlift session.

[rathofthebeard]

Squats:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2
365 x 5
365 x 4
365 x 3

Bench:
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
155 x 3
205 x 2
230 x 1 x 3

Deadlift:
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 3
275 x 2
320 x 5

Notes:
Not a great day. Everything just felt super heavy and ridiculously difficult. I'm going to chalk it up to the suck of nearing the end of a novice LP. Accumulated fatigue that I can't quite recover from, etc. I suspect bench failure may be a form issue. I'll concentrate more on keeping my elbows tucked next time. If that doesn't work, time to microload. Deadlifts were about the only thing that moved well, and they weren't even heavy.

[rathofthebeard]

Squat:
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2
365 x 5 x 3

Press:
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
125 x 3
145 x 2
170 x 2
145 x 5
150 x 5

Deadlift:
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 3
335 x 2
390 x 1
360 x 3 x 2

Tunes: Dyscarnate - With All Their Might

Notes: Squats felt better than Friday and I managed to get all of the reps. I think it's time to re-set the press again. I'll probably drop down to 155 for sets of 5 on my next press session on Friday. Deadlifts felt good, still having some grip issues though. I dropped to two sets of 3 because of those stupid 12-sided plates. It gets really tiresome standing up again for 5 full reps. I tore a callous really bad on my right (pronated) hand during my last triple. I suspect this stems from my grip not being as secure as it should.