03 Jul 2011
July 4th weekend, no gym on Monday so I decided to go today to get my Week 6 started. Squats were done fairly well. I noticed that instead of looking up (which exaggerated my lower lordotic arch), looking down and keeping my spine neutral with little lordotic arch helped ease the strain on my lower lumbar region. Of course, this execution of the lift results in my back being a bit more horizontal than one would like (aka doing somewhat of a good morning). I think this trade-off is worth it to avoid injuring my lower back.
Press...press...press... I stalled for the 3rd time today. My forearms and shoulders just can't handle the amount of fatigue they go through. Doing squat walkouts after the squats are probably not helping my muscle endurance right before pressing. My traps and shoulders are really tired after squats and squat walkouts.
Deadlifts were pretty heavy today. I accidentally let go of a little tension on my 4th rep- I felt that one. I switched to alternating grip for the last rep as my grip was failing. I think I'm going to start using chalk on the next B session.
Warmups:
3 x 10 Shoulder dislocations
3 x 10 sec. Doorway pec stretch
3 x 10 Leg swings
3 x 30 sec. static Squat stretch
Squats:
2 x 5 x Bar
5 x 120
3 x 145
5 x 5 x 170
Walkouts:
10 sec. x 220
10 sec. x 240
Press:
2 x 5 x Bar
3 x 65
5/5/5/4/4 x 75
Deadlift:
1 x 5 x 195
Warmdown:
2 x 15 sec. warrior lunge + twist
2 x 15 sec. butterfly
Foam rolled legs, upper back, lats
02 Jul 2011
Good workout today. Squats are getting tiring. Managed to overcome the bench press hump and finished all sets @ 100 lbs. I was able to replicate my Wednesday squat technique fairly well today. My hammy's and glutes were definitely engaging a lot to keep my torso upright as much as possible. Noticed that looking up slightly helped keep my torso fairly more upright. Visualizing the lift definitely helps. 2-step mental cues on the positive: "Chest up", "Split the floor".
Bench press was really good today. My upperback was very tight against the load. Again, white knuckling the bar helped stabilize my lats and traps. I felt very fatigued after the 4th set. I thought I wouldn't be able to crank out the last rep, ended up grunting a little on the last 2 reps. Rested quite a bit for the last set and banged it out; I was pretty happy about it.
Rows are still fairly easy. I noticed that grip strength improved a LOT when I wrapped my thumbs around my index, middle and ring finger instead of just my index finger.
I weighed myself this morning and was sitting at around 170 lbs. That's 20 lbs gained in a month's duration. I've only gained roughly 3% body fat according to the fat caliper, most of which is around my belly area (no more abs!). I'd like to see how much I can gain maintaining this 6-8 meal day diet per day. It's pretty exciting to think about progress I've made in another month's time.
Warmups:
3 x 10 Shoulder dislocations
3 x 10 sec. Doorway pec stretch
3 x 10 Leg swings
3 x 30 sec. static Squat stretch
Squats:
5 x Bar
5 x 115
3 x 135
5 x 5 x 165
Walkouts:
1 x 12 sec. x 215
Bench:
2 x 5 x Bar
3 x 65
2 x 85
5 x 5 x 10
Rows:
5 x 5 x 105
Warmdown:
2 x 15 sec. warrior lunge + twist
2 x 15 sec. butterfly
Foam rolled legs, upper back, lats
30 Jun 2011
Felt a bit groggy today. Half cup of coffee picked me up a tad. Squats were 10 times better than last work out. Virtually no pain. Some mental notes I took to try and replicate this again:
Did not look at the mirror. Surprisingly, this kept my core a lot more rigid.
Tried to make sure that the bar was over my toes and I wasn't leaning over to avoid putting stress on my lower back
Pushed straight up, thinking about splitting the floor apart and engaging my hamstrings when I was coming out of the hole
Controlled descent.
Walkouts are getting pretty heavy. I feel as though tiptoe-ing the weight back onto the rack is a terrible idea and could possible injure my calves and or foot arch muscles (??)
Press was disappointing to say the least. I managed to complete the first 2 sets, but buckled on the last 3. I feel like my right arm is compensating for a weak left. I read somewhere that performing dips helps with improving strength on the press. I think I'll wait until I deload once or maybe twice, if I happen to get there soon, before I start adding some accessories. It's a bit strange that I'm having such a hard time with this lift. I was lifting up to 95 lbs before my 5 week break.
Deadlift was pretty easy still. I blundered on the last rep and lost a bit of focus. Definitely felt it in the lower back. But other than that, the lift is still pretty easy. One or two more weeks and I'll most likely be resorting to alternate grip.
Warmups:
2 x 10 Shoulder dislocations
3 x 10 Leg swings
3 x 30 sec. static Squat stretch
Squats:
5 x Bar
3 x 115
2 x 135
5 x 5 x 160
Walkouts:
2 x 10 sec. x 250
Press:
5 x Bar
3 x 60
5/5/4/4/3 x 75
Deadlift
5 x 185
Warmdown:
2 x 15 sec. warrior lunge + twist
2 x 15 sec. butterfly
Foam rolled legs, upper back, lats