Road to novice

[adm]

Squat: 3x3@127kg (279lb)
Bench press: 4x6@71kg (156lb)

Hamstring curl: 4x12@24kg (52lb)
Bicep curl: 4x8x17kg (37lb)

Squat was no joke this time but no real drama either, there was still something in the tank, not much but maybe even 2 reps. This is another PR without the belt, next time I will wear it but for now it is quite nice. Bench press felt heavy but in fact there was a lot in the tank left 4 reps I think. Some curls as accessories, leg curl was a thing.

[adm]

Squat: 2x3@133kg (292lb)
Press: 4x6@41kg (90lb)
Deadlift: 2x5@95kg (209lb)

Bicep curl: 4x10@17kg (37lb)

Squat was hard but more due to the pain at the back of my pelvis, this problem returns again. The form itself didn't look bad and I think it was not super heavy for muscles but the pain even not too intensive is a blocker. Presses were neither easy nor difficult. Deadlift was visibly heavier than previously but pleasant. Setting position was relatively easy and I felt almost comfortably.

[adm]

Squat: 2x2@139kg (305lb)
Bench press: 4x4@75kg (165lb)
Deadlift: 2x4@99kg (217lb)

Bicep curl: 4x12@17kg (37lb)

Squat was heavy but apparently I was lucky and luckily my form was quite good this time. No pain this time. Bench was probably too easy. Form was not especially good by I had a few reps left in the tank. Deadlift was reached the moment where it gets heavy. I think my hips were too high. I cannot find this spot between hips too high and squatting the bar.

[adm]

Squat: 1x1@145kg (319lb) 1RM PR
Press: 4x4@43kg (94lb)

Bicep curl: 4x8@18kg (39lb)
Hamstring curl: 4x12@25kg (33lb)

Squat was a disappointment, I had hoped to feel like I could do at least one more rep but I didn't. The rep was very heavy and the form was not too good and most likely the second rep would not happen. There are positives as well. I think the whole process let me kind of move forward from a stuck point. Trainings have not felt like a nightmare and I feel fresher than before. My best result which was 5 reps with 143kg is still far away but eventually I will get back to those numbers. I thought the press would be lighter but this time I had maybe 2 reps more in the tank. Leg curls were poor as my butt was getting up. I will try to adjust the setup of my equipment and if it won't be be possible I will keep using smaller weight with higher reps. Fun goes on.

[adm]

Squat: 3x5@91kg (200lb)
Bench press: 3x4@77kg (169lb)
Deadlift: 2x3@103kg (226lb)

Bicep curl: 4x10@18kg (39lb)

I'm unhappy with the squat form. I still suffer due to lack of consistency. Anyhow now kind of a deload for squat. Bench was much heavier than on Monday so I think my recovery was not very good but clearly there were still reps in the tank. Deadlift... hmm I let myself to lower my hips and use more my quads and I cannot say it was a revolution but I felt more powerful. I suspect that very light squat also allowed me to save plenty of leg power.

[adm]

Squat: 3x5@91kg (200lb)
Press: 3x4@45kg (99lb)
Deadlift: 1x3@107kg (235lb)

Bicep curl: 4x12@18kg (39lb)

Squat form as always sucks, some reps look good in some I overextend my midback. Press was rather heavy, generally I try as much as possible to stay upright but my hyperlordosis makes it difficult. Deadlift was rather fine. Not a great workout but all what I planned has been done so not too bad either.

[Mr. Bingley]

If I may be a little bold I think you're beating yourself up, and not giving yourself a chance to build your deadlift with all this heavy squating. Looking at these pages it seems that you've got a lot less in the tank when it's time for the deads. Have you thought about perhaps doing some type of a HLM so you're doing your heavy squats on a different day than when you want to do heavy deads (and only do light squats on the heavy dead day)? It may give you some energy to move them both along and get that dead past your squat, where it belongs.

[adm]

Mr. Bingley first of all let me give my appreciation to your training and your work on this forum. Suggestions are very welcome here so whenever you have any, do not hesitate to share them. I think your suggestion here is most likely very accurate. Especially on Friday I could feel the difference. I made some small form adjustments at the same time so light squat may not be the only reason but I will find out soon. For next couple of weeks I want to finish my "experiment" and then I'm going to try something else. This will be probably another experiment as I let myself play with training a bit even if it means doing something what is not optimal. Anyhow HLM and not to heavy squat and deadlift is something which seems like a really good idea and I thank you for pointing this out. The fact that my squat is better than my deadlift has become something so normal that I didn't even think about fixing it. When you mentioned that I thought it would be great and I will give it a try. Thank you!

[adm]

Squat: 3x5@91kg (200lb)
Bench press: 3x3@79kg (173lb)

Bicep curl: 4x8@19kg (41lb)
Hamstring curl: 4x12@25kg (55lb)

The last squat rest session, on Friday I'm going to try something heaver to see how it feels. It will be also an opportunity to see how squatting heavier will affect my deadlift. This light squat session was also an opportunity to try to figure out something from form perspective and I'm going to try a bit wider grip. This needs some experimentation so this is not a definite conclusion yet. This week of squat rest made me kind of hungry of something heavier. Bench didn't feel light at all but I had reps left in the tank so I'm happy with it. Bicep curls were kind of a challenge but this is not too important as I do those more for fun. Hamstring curls felt clearly light than before. I think my for was better most likely due to the fact that I was not in hurry and probably because of light squats so my hamstrings were not tried. Overall generally easy session, next one will be definitely more difficult.

[adm]

Squat: 3x5@135kg (279lb)
Press: 3x3@47kg (103lb)
Deadlift: 1x2@111kg (244lb)

Bicep curl: 4x10@19kg (41lb)

I wanted to test how my squat compares to a couple weeks back. The conclusion is that there is no game changer. The week of rest hasn't helped much as well. Sets were generally very heavy. However there are a couple of positives. Wider grip looks like something promising and I will try to stick to it for a while. First reps in all the sets felt generally easy. Form requires more work but it felt quite well, second reps where fine, later it was worse. Most likely reps were a bit too deep (generally all of them were below parallel which is good and bad at the same time - I would prefer if those were a bit closer to the parallel). In my opinion the above shows I got a bit stronger than a month ago but still far from my best. Press, here I cannot say too much good things. I did what I planned, there was no more than one rep in the tank. Deadlift was rather fine. I would not call it easy or anything like that but it feels better than a month ago. Fun goes on!