25 Jun 2011
Squats were ok aside from the fact that my lower back was killing me. I tried tightening my abs to alleviate the pain, it helped a little. I feel like I'm hyperextending my back into a hyperlordotic arch when I get low. I was reading earlier today that low bar parallel squats with an individual who has longer legs and a shorter torso puts more strain on the lower back due to my back being more horizontal during the lift. I need to do some more research on this topic to find out the optimal way of avoiding lower back pain when doing these squats. Anytime I incur pain on myself, I always want to stop and re-evaluate my form and possibly re do the same weight to avoid hurting myself further once I get into heavier weights.
Surprisingly, I stalled on the 4th and 5th set of my bench. The bar today was different than the one I used on the previous A session. The knurling was in a different place so I may or may not have been in my normal width grip position.
Rows are still fairly easy. Maintaining a rigid body and white knuckling the bar helps a lot with stability on the lift.
Warmups:
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 155
Bench:
5 x Bar
3 x 65
2 x 85
5/5/5/4/4 x 100
Rows:
5 x 5 x 100
Warmdown:
2 x 15 sec. warrior lunge + twist
2 x 15 sec. butterfly
Foam rolled legs, upper back, lats
23 Jun 2011
Today's workout was fairly straightforward. Was in somewhat of a rush since I a graduation ceremony to attend afterwards. I ate around the time I left for work and downed about 6 oz. of black coffee on the road to get ready once I got home. Had to wait some 12 minutes for a guy to finish his sets on the squat rack. Squats were fairly easy, felt unstable for some reason today. I didn't have the same "tight" feeling I had compared to Monday's session.
Bench was fairly easy as well. I feel like I'm using different muscles on my left side compared to my right side when doing the positive on the bench. I gotta have someone record me to see how my form's looking.
Rows were easy. Felt really good as I didn't use much hip drive. Lift was steady, quick and powerful only using my upper back and avoiding my chest from lifting up.
Warmups:
2 x 10 Shoulder dislocations
3 x 30 sec. static Squat position stretch, pushing knees out
3 x 10 Leg swings
Squat:
5 x Bar
3 x 95
3 x 115
5 x 5 x 145
*Bench: *
5 x Bar
3 x 65
2 x 85
5 x 5 x 95
*Rows:
*
5 x 95
PWO Stretches:
Foam rolled the legs, upperback and lats
2 x 15 sec. Warrior lunge /w 7 sec. twist
21 Jun 2011
Today's workout definitely ties for the best workout yet. Con Edison power outage forced me to go to the other gym in the area. I got to stretch a bit more before my worksets as someone was using the squat rack when I got there. I managed to work up a good sweat just from stretching alone and my body ended becoming very warm and loose.
Squats were amazing, no pain in the lower back. The squat rack had the hooks lower than the other gym's rack so I really got a chance to go underneath the bar and start with a really tight upper back which helped with stability a lot. I set the safety pins to the perfect height- my hips parallel to the ground. Stance was a bit wider than shoulder width and toes were pointed out. I noticed when I was stretching before than when I did body weight squats, I would shift my weight towards my left leg. This may be why my lower back has been strained on my left side (!!).
Presses were pretty hard today. I gave myself ample rest for the 4th and 5th sets. My forearms were really tight and burning by the last couple of reps on the last 2 sets. I definitely noticed my back arching a bit to compensate for muscle fatigue. Really happy I managed to finish the 5x5 though.
Deadlifts were easy. And no back pain!!
I finished off the session with 3 squat walk outs of 225 lbs each and I foam rolled my legs and upper back. In hopes of trying to replicate this amazing session, I'm going to take note of all the things I did differently today:
Drank half a cup of coffee right as I was leaving
Extra stretching
Lower starting point on the squat for tight upper back
Parallel squatting instead of ATG
Warmups:
3 x 30 sec. static Squat position stretch, pushing knees out
3 x 10 Leg swings
2 x 10 sec. Shoulder/Pec stretch
Squat:
5 x Bar
3 x 95
3 x 115
5 x 5 x 140
*Press:
*
5 x Bar
5 x 5 x 70
*Deadlift:
*
5 x 165
Walkouts:
3 x 10 sec. x 225
PWO Stretches:
Foam rolled the legs, upperback and lats