Still sticking with High Bar Squats…deeeeeep…here is an example:
We do 5 sets of 3 reps at the top weight. Well, me and Courtney Stanley do that, the rest move on to leg extensions after 1 set at their top weight…that should get them a lot stronger. After squats we hit heavy hack squats, then still-leg deadlifts for the hamstrings. We finish Sunday’s with heavy bicep work.
My bodyweight is down to 212 today, finally hitting a drop spurt after hanging at 216 for the last few weeks. Besides eating better, I have been taking my youngest son, Max, on long walks of 2 miles or more through the woods on trails that are up and down hills…great for both of us.
Squat day. I showed up a little early so that I could get stretched and warmed up before the others were ready. This way I could do heavy rack squats, and by the time they were ready, I could start high bar squats with them. I took my high bars as deep as I could, and evidence of this was the fact that I ripped out the ass of my shorts on my 2nd set. From that set on I just kept trying to get deeper so that I could hear them rip more and more. After squats we did some 1 legged squats. Talk about a burn. I haven’t do e these before, but I think we will be doing these instead of leg extensions.
Wow! Long time no update, huh? Well, things haven’t been too bad. Feeling strong on everything and my cardio is getting better as well. On the bench press I hit an easy 319 for 5 reps friday before last, then backed it down last week to 297 to recycle. Still doing rack squats, hitting 407 for 5 2 weeks in a row, then dropping down last week to do some full range Hatfield squats.
We are still hitting the track for 2 miles on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. However yesterday I went to the gym instead and hit 30 minutes on the treadmill and then 30 minutes on the bike. My bodyweight has been fluctuating between 215 and 219, so that has been a sticking point for me, but this past 7 days or so I have been dropping again, and I’m refocused on hitting 200.
Deadlifts are up tomorrow. I’ll see about putting some videos back up this week, at least of my deads and bench.
Haven’t missed a beat this past week. Last Friday I recycled on the bench, took it back down to 286 for 5 reps. I’ll continue to do these mini-cycles to stay fresh and not max out too soon. This week I’ll go back up to 296, then next week 308, then the week after back down to 296.
Sunday’s square were still in the rack, and will be for quite a while. 363 for 3 sets of 3 reps, easy weight.
On deadlifts last week I went up to 386 for 3 reps. Today I did stiff-leg deads without a belt and hit 325 for an easy 3 reps. I will alternate deads this way to keep my back in shape.
I haven’t skipped out my cardio, either. Monday, Thursday, and Saturday we hit the track at Erickson Field.
The diet was going pretty well for the most part, but it took a hit this week. Nothing bad for me, just to much of a good thing
Good training day. Second week of racks squats, and I also added back work to the agenda. Stuck with 319 on the squats, but I increased the sets with my top weight, moving it up to three sets. I’ll feel this tomorrow. Finished with biceps and forearm work. I’m feeling like I actually workout now, getting nice and tight during the training, and the next day feeling sore but not crippled. Monday I’ll be back down at the track to peel another layer of fat of this sexy body.
Ok, a little lax on the updates, right? Well, I have been very consistent in my training, but not my blogging, and very inconsistent on my eating habits. A little catch up:
Because of the pain in my IT bands, I have switched to heavy rack squats…I have started doing much light deep box squats on my deadlift day, just as a way to warm p for deads. Just doing heavy rack squats feels good, getting heavier weight on my back is a mental boost. I trained for the Nationals in Baton Rouge for an entire training cycle by doing no full squats, just racks, and didn’t even put gear on until 2-3 weeks out from the meet.
Deadlifts are going well. This is the first time in years that I have actually trained the deadlift, so any deadlifting is a plus for me. I should be back over 400 for reps in the next couple of weeks.
The Bench Press is my baby, and it’s coming along nicely. Slight shoulder pain, but not so much that I can’t ignore it. This week I hit an easy 297 for 5 reps (paused the last one), and then dropped down to 231 for 20 reps. One indication that my shoulder is close to normal is that I can do dips again, this week hitting 2 sets of 15. 5 weeks ago is was all I could do to even hold myself up on the bars, the shoulder didn’t want to support me. I modified how I was doing them so that I could some kind of range of motion, and now can do regular dips.
I finally got into the cardio part of my training. This past tuesday I hit 2 miles on the treadmill (quick walk at an incline), and this morning I went to the track and ran/walked …the running part had me hurting.
Okay, a little setback. Evidently I have developed iliotibial band friction syndrome, which has started causing me sharp pain about halfway down in the squat. It hurt to go up the stairs all week, although the pain started to go away y Friday. I arrived at the gym early to put myself through a longer stretching session and allow myself more time to warm-up. It didn’t help. Now I’m researching ways to heal the band.The iliotibial (IT) band is a tough group of fibers that run along the outside of the thigh. The gluteal muscles and the tensor fascia lata muscle attach to the top, and the lower part attaches to the tibia, just below the knee. Looks like ice, specialized stretching, and a foam roller to roll over the area is the only way for it to heal (besides quitting whatever is causing the pain, which at this point won’t happen).