22 Nov 2011
Squats:
2 x 5 x Bar
5 x 165
3 x 185
2 x 205
5 x 230
I notice that when using the belt, sometimes I would find myself becoming unbalance and leaning forward. I think I can alleviate this with a wider stance. Other than that, the lift was pretty easy. Belt helps a lot.
Bench:
****2 x 5 x Bar
5 x 85
3 x 105
2 x 125
5 x 140
Pretty easy. Tucked my elbows in. Pushed my feet into the ground to receive the load on my upper back.
Power Cleans:
****Worked mostly on practicing on an empty bar. It's a bit harder to practice the full pull with no weight. I don't think I'm engaging my hips or hammies enough and using too much of my arms to pull with. I think I need to go over some more youtube videos and/or video tape my self to see if I'm doing it right. The first pull is pretty intuitive, it's just a deadlift pull until I'm upright. The second pull is where I'm sort of getting lost. Hands were burning like crazy.
Accessories:
10.5/4/3 x BW + 10 Dips - Fairly difficult, I'm thinking I'll go up in weights again. I think my bench going up near my 5RM max will definitely hinder my ability to pump out reps on these weighted dips.
3 x 12 x 10 lb Reverse Crunches - Pretty easy again.
10 min. treadmill
17 Nov 2011
Squats:
5 x Bar
5 x 165
3 x 185
2 x 205
5 x 225
Bench:
****2 x 5 x Bar
5 x 75
3 x 95
2 x 115
5 x 135
Power Cleans:
****10 x 95
8 x 115
Accessories:
****11/6/4 x BW + 10 lbs - Going to ramp up weight again. I will keep increasing the weight until I can't do greater than or equal to 10 reps on the first set.
3 x 12 x 10 lbs Reverse Crunches - Pretty easy, I think I need to progress on this exercise, maybe start doing dragon flags? I'll have to look into how to do them.
15 Nov 2011
Relatively short workout. I've decided yet again to do a force deload of volume down from 3x5 to 1x5. I'm totally breaking out of the 3-stall-deload-2-deload-drop volume scheme, but I've been plateauing for a number of weeks now and I'd like to see more progress. My weight hasn't moved, but I'm fairly satisfied sitting at ~180-182. Aesthetically, I think I've developed plenty of muscle size to let me start cutting back on the cals to lower body fat for better muscle definition.
For boxing, I think I have sufficient muscle to fight and so I will begin to incorporate more explosive and anaerobic exercises (maybe even lifts? Power cleans?) in the coming weeks. I still want my strength gains to continue going up for as long as I can manage it. I'm definitely looking to build up my speed and endurance and most importantly core strength.
I think a good indicator of whether or not I'm recovering fast enough is if I'm capable of finishing a workout within an hour's time which also includes accessory work. Anything over indicates I'm resting more frequently and for longer periods of time thereby indicating I'm not recovery quickly enough anymore.
Squat:
5 x Bar
5 x 155
3 x 175
2 x 195
5 x 220
Not too bad. Knocked down volume to 1x5. I want to get through my 240 plateau so, I think lowering the volume will help significantly with recovery times. Hopefully, I won't lose too much strength in the meantime.
Press:
****5 x Bar
3 x 65
5 x 80
Felt pretty heavy. I want to get to 115 lbs. Also forced deload and knocked volume down to 1x5 on this lift.
Deadlift:
****5 x 185
3 x 205
2 x 225
5 x 240
Back was pretty stiff and sore after picking up weights after top work weight. My Inzer 10mm Lever Belt came in today. I think I'll start using it next week, but some breaking into it is needed. I've got the setting for it to be fairly tight.
Accessories:
4/3/2.5 x BW Pull-ups - Really difficult, my biceps were pretty sore still from boxing.
3 x 45 sec. Prone bridge - Second set was a doozy, abs were burning all over the place.