Whats Wrong With Me?

Thats all that I could think about today during my session. It is days like these, that if I can get through them and somehow still have a positive outlook on my progression, then I will succeed. Basically, today was a total bummer. I felt like crap and performed below the level I wanted. Maybe I am jet-lagged, maybe I ate too much beforehand (its possible, I slammed a ton of meatloaf for lunch, remember, we don't judge here on my blog), maybe I am just tired, maybe starting to squat without a mirror had more of an effect then I originally thought, or maybe I should stop trying to make excuses. The bottom line is, I had to work hard as f*#k today because my body did not feel spry and my mind was not in it. I guess you need days like this every once and a while to show yourself how to persevere even when its hurts or you want to stop, cry and suck your thumb (okay maybe thats just me). Whatever the case, I'm going to keep my head high and continue on the path I have set for myself.

*Don't let the PR's fool you, I felt crappy as hell and that outweighs the gains I made*

Backsquat
2x3 @ 350# (PR. Ugly and poor, but, below parallel)
1x3 @ 340#

Shoulder Press
1x3 160#
1x3 170#
1x3 180# (almost pulled something on my third rep)

Deadlift
1x5 @ 430#

Luckily the deadlift and shoulder press felt pretty okay compared to the squats. Although the shoulder press felt very heavy. Surely, my head was not fully in these lifts today. I am going to rest and hope Friday goes better.

Sometimes I'm Stoopid..... But I Like It!!!!

I am in San Diego right now and made a point of finding a gym to get a squat workout in while I was here. There is a World Gym about 5 minutes away from where I am staying with a ten dollar day pass. I dropped my friend off at work this morningso I could use his car and I drove myself to the gym. My original plan was to PR in squats with 330# 3x5. Due to the fact that I can be embarrassingly stoopid sometimes I loaded the bar with 340# on accident. After the first set went up, hard as he'll I might add, I decided to leave it!

Backsquat
3x5 @340# (PR)

Bench Press
1x5 @ 250#
1x4 @ 260# (PR)
1x3 @ 270# (PR)

So as you can see it was another great day. I rested about 8 minutes between my squat sets and it really seemed to help. I am exhausted as hell, gonna go drink some beer.

PR City

Yesterday was fun. I have increased my rest and decreased met-cons for these last 1.5 months leading up to the USAPL Maryland States powerlifting competition. I have some goals in mind that part of me believes are reachable and I want to make sure I am putting 100% into my training efforts. Today was a good day.

Backsquat
3x3 @ 345# (PR)

Shoulder Press
1x3 @ 155#
1x3 @ 175#
1x3 @ 185# (PR)

Deadlift
1x5 @ 455# (PR)

As you can see I set a PR in each of my lifts today. I felt really spry (I have always wanted to say that) and it showed. The squats were great, depth was below, below parallel and I feel like I could have done the first set for 5 reps. The shoulder press PR was a little sketchy on the third rep, my left arm straightened before my right, I resembled that of a Saguaro Cactus, but I locked it out. I haven't mentioned this before but about a month ago I changed my deadlift stance to a much more narrow feet placement. this also brought my hand placement in closer. It took some time for me to get used to but I am able to get my body tighter during my pull and I feel much stronger this way. The 455# went up good, my back was a bit curved but nothing for me to worry about or try to change. For the first time ever, my grip was starting to give out around rep 4. I may have needed more chalk, but regardless, I finished the set of 5 with no issues.

Saturday

Sorry, with the Ryder Cup and Football I got distracted. I typically only train once on the weekend, so here it was.

Rode my bike about 5 miles to the gym, the weather was beautiful.

AMRAP 15
3 power snatches at 135
5 pull ups
7 toes to bar

8 rounds

At the start of round 5 I felt something strain slightly in my shoulder during a snatch. It was a lazy catch on my part. A little worried, I walked around, rubbing my arm and debating whether or not I should stop to prevent further injury. After stretching and rubbing my shoulder decided to continue. This wasted about 1:30. Without any further trouble, I was able to get 8 rounds, certainly could have done more without the delay. Pretty good workout but I wasn't thrashed like I should have been.

Friday

Well, my plan worked, I felt fresh going into todays volume session.

Back squat
3x5 @ 325# (PR)

Bench Press
1x3 @ 225#
1x3 @ 240#
1x3 @ 260#
1x1 @ 275# (PR)
1x5 @ 245#

Felt great during the whole routine, setting PR's is always great. I got plenty of sleep last night and the DOMS has yet to set in and the knee feels great. Saturday is for met-cons!

I Train Hard I Promise

Okay, so just because I am not on the "3 on 1 off" training schedule does not mean I am slacking. I am just really focused on building my powerlifts for this upcoming meet and to assure strength gains I need more rest. It is crunch time right now, I need to gain strength and lose weight before November 20th. Last week, as I mentioned in a previous post, I was thrashed going into my Friday session, volume day, and it turned into one of the hardest squat days of my life. I am going to attempt to PR today in the squat so I gave myself a little extra rest this week. Yesterday, Thursday, I got into the gym and did two met-cons, don't worry, the total time for both combined was 7:49.

Race with Louis, first to 100 double unders:
I squeaked out the victory!

1:23

I am satisfied with this although I am sure I can get it under a minute, especially since I started off 1, miss, 2, miss....

50 burpee-pull ups

6:26

My original plan was to do the pull ups strict, that lasted until rep 15, then I used a slight kip for the rest of the way. I did not stop and made sure I was at dead hang before each pull up. The one downside to the gym I use now is the pull up bar. It is across the top of a 7 ft cage. If I want to hang from it I have to bend my knees so my feet don't touch the ground (not to mention that my fat ass shakes the cage on every swing). This adds a bit of difficulty to kipping. Overall I feel pretty fresh today and ready to set some PR's!

I Am Spent

Today was a busy day. Alarm didn't go off this morning so I was late to work (not too bad cus I got to sleep in an extra half hour). Had a client after work then trained myself. I arrived at the gym around 7pm. I was not feeling 90% (remember 90% is the new 100%) so I was a bit apprehensive about the weights and scheme I was going to attempt, but I ended up doing what I should have, go heavy (or go home (wink)).

Backsquat
3x3 @ 340# (PR)

Strict Press
1x3 @ 175#
2x3 @ 180# (PR)

Deadlift
1x5 @ 450#

I was feeling strong once I got into it. Before I arrived at the gym I was contemplating using today as a "de-load" day because last Friday my body had not recovered (Friday is my volume squat day). I blame the sandbag runs from Wednesday 9/22/10 for leaving my back so thrashed. I will not make that mistake this week for my met-con tomorrow will be all body weight exercises. Always happy when I set PR's and I am really looking forward to competing in November.