Week 10 – Madcow5x5 – Day 26A

Squat:

5 x 135 5 x 160 5 x 190 5 x 225

Been sick the entire weekend and still sick during the workout.  Getting my sweat on proved to clear up my nose.  It's never disappointed in refreshing me and I think I actually feel better than before.  I missed last Friday's workout and so I've sort of been thrown off my rhythm.  Squat is getting insanely heavy and I decided to knock it down and reset the entire lift.  I'm going for 275 again in 4 weeks time.  These were all too difficult, I performed a slight pause in the hole to get some stretch in on the earlier sets- I got to the gym late.

Bench:

5 x 75 5 x 95 5 x 115 5 x 130 5 x 150

My bench felt extremely strong today.  Things of note that I made a point to remember:  shrug shoulders; perform 3 sets of empty barbell to get the form down;  grip width should accommodate a forearm position that is perpendicular to the ground when pressing; press a bit closer to the nipple rather than lowering the weight down to the upper stomach area; tighten the lats pre-press and maintain tightness all through out the rep.  I PL arched the last set because I didn't have a spotter and I really wanted to finish all 5 sets.  I used thumbless grip on the first 2 sets.  I feel this helps me in getting accustomed to the feeling of the bar at the base of the palm.

Rows:

5 x 75 5 x 95 5 x 115 5 x 135 5 x 150

These definitely felt heavy.  I'm definitely using some jerk on the movement now and notice that my chest goes up.  I think this is ok for now.  I'm going to try to minimize raising my chest as much as possible and keeping the form as strict as I can.