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.
Another minute or two between updates. Good news is that no training has been missed. Actually everything was jumping ahead of schedule due to my greediness, so I backed off the weights and re-cycled. My last heavy bench workout I worked up to 352 for a triple, then backed it down last week to 319. On squats, we backed it down quite a bit. We switched to high bar, deeeeeeeep (rock bottom) squats. Talk about sore! I will do these for a couple of more weeks, then go back to heavy rack squats on Sunday’s and put the high bars on with my deadlift days. Speaking of deadlifts, we are still rotating Romanian deads with regular deeds, and I feel healthier doing it this way.
Good training today. Felt strong on all lifts today. I worked up to 341 for an easy triple on the bench, worked with 80’s on db inclines, and used 80 pounds on dips today for 8 reps.
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.
Back up to 319 x 5 reps today. Easy, but I was aching more than usual in the left elbow and shoulder, plus for some reason hurting at the insertion point of the upper right bicep. Might be the weighted dips stretching that area. Since I love dips so much, rather than cut them out I just cut out the extra weight this week. Bodyweight holding at 214. No drastic drop in weight. Skipped running yesterday, but we’ll be back at it tomorrow morning.
Good day of training. Finally started training with over 400 on the deadlift. Hit 407 for an easy double. I remember when I did that for 10 reps back in the day. Oh well, it’s coming back.
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.