2010-04-30 ME Lower

I am your Battle Priest.

Headache came back during my Squat PR, and got worse when I tried to do some back work after the Glute-Hams. I'm rolling the **** out of everything for...well, the rest of my life.

Dieselcrew Shoulder Warmup
6 GHR reps

Squat: 95, 95, 135
3x 185, 225, 265, 305, 315
Lost the third rep of 315 forward...and then let out arguably the saddest growl ever in the process of forcing it back into the groove and locking it out.

GHR: 10lbs
5x8 - 15lbs
PR here too.

Did a few reps of Hatfield Back Raises but called it quits when my headache came back.

2010-04-29 SE Upper

Need to roll this ****ing shoulder. Everything exacerbates it.

Pause Bench: 45, 65, 85, 135
7x2 @ 170lbs
Felt a little slower than the squats did, but then again, I have a hard time getting motivated for anything other than DE and ME bench work. Squats are ****ing awesome all the time; bench is only ****ing awesome when you need to be pissed just to get the weight out of the rack.

Press: 45, 95
120lbs - 5
Shoulder.

Tested other movements, everything made it worse.

Rolling time.

2010-04-27 SE Lower

On the advice of strong folk on other forums (and sort of on here), I've decided to give speed work a rest for a while and try some Prilepin-inspired SE work. Lining things up with the rest of my schedule put today on the heavier end of the cycle there, but it went very nicely.

Then I got to the ab work and strained a hip. Ow.

...oddly enough, I'm still calling this the most enjoyable training day I've had in a while.

Dieselcrew Shoulder Warmup w/ 5lbs

Squat: 95, 135, 185, 225
7x2 - 275lbs
2.5 mins between sets.
Went pretty well. Hip started acting up a tiny bit but then vanished completely after I made a mild technical fix. Speaking of technical stuff...yeah, technique's getting better.
Yay.

Deadlift: 135, 185
5x1 - 225lbs
Easy (no ****, 5 singles at 60% is easy?).

Front Squat: 135
205 - 5, 5, 5, 1, 5, 5
Yeah, uh. I kinda fell forward at the bottom.
This was the least embarrassing dump of my entire training career, though. I got it back up by taking it down to 135 and then squatting it up after discovering that I couldn't Clean it from the pins. Had I realized I was going to do this, I wouldn't have bothered deweighting. Oh well.

FatGripz Rack Pull:
165lbs - 5
175lbs - 4, 4, 3, 3

Fallout:
10, 10, 9*
*****ING OW
First set was wonderful
Second set was pretty good
Third set I lost control on the 9th rep, veered off to the right, and apparently shredded my already mildly problematic left hip. Athletic Trainer visit tomorrow, methinks.

2010-04-25 ME Upper

Still getting the residue of that headache, and was generally unable to get into things. Didn't want to push my luck with any volume.

Dieselcrew Shoulder Warmup - 5lbs
This brought the headache back to about 3x what it was when I walked in. Did some neck stretching to alleviate it, which did a reasonable job.

Incline Bench:
5x 45, 45, 65
3x 85, 105, 125
1x 135, 145, 155, 145
This bastard hasn't gone up for a while. There's a reason I'm keeping it in.

2010-04-23 ME Lower

Went into this somewhat hopped up on caffeine.

GHR: 5
DB Rows: 5ea x 10lbs

Deadlift: 5x135
3x 185, 225
1x 275, 315, 365
0x 375
1x 335, 335
Intended to get 375. Would have gotten it if I'd had the sense to load it up in place of 365 - hell, I might have been able to get 385 given how psyched I was - but when I went for the big PR I wasn't as psyched and wound up calming down a tad when I was setting my grip up. This did not have a positive effect.

Lunges:
70bs - 5, 5, 5
Fairly easy.

45-degree Back Raise:
80lbs x 12, 12, 10
Gave myself a vicious headache on the last two reps of the final set, cut workout short.
Officially using this as my other low back movement (the main one being hypers, at least right now).

2010-04-22 DE Upper

Was unable to make it in for DE Lower.

Right shoulder acting up again towards the end of the workout.

Press: 45lbs
115lbs x 6-7, 7, 5

Blast Strap Push-Up:
3 sets (didn't count reps)

FatGripz DB Row:
40lbs - 12, 12, 10

Plate Halo:
3x10 - 35lbs

2010-04-18 ME Upper

Lowered the volume. I feel...iono, unfatigued.

That said, I also didn't get a PR that I thought would be fairly easy, and am becoming frustrated. Methinks the next 3 weeks - potentially the next one week - will be pretty pivotal with regards to my program selection.

Dieselcrew Shoulder Warmup

CG Incline: 45, 45, 65
3x 85, 95, 105, 115, 125, 135
~2 x 145

JM Press: 45
70lbs - 7, 6, 4

Pull-Up:
8, 5, 6

FG DB Rear Delt Fly:
12.5s x 10, 10, 10

Plate Halo:
3x10 - 25lb Plate

2010-04-16 ME Lower and Deload Plans

I'm going to with the "Nixing speed work and heavily slashing volume for a week" approach and do some rehab/prehab work. And rolling. It was acting up a lot today.

GHR: 5 reps (yeah, I know)
Dieselcrew Shoulder Warmup w/ 5s

Deadlift:
5x 135
3x 185, 185, 225, 275, 315, 335
Probably didn't have the greatest form on the last rep of 335.
Switched from the usual.

DB Lunges: 5x45s
60s - 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Pretty easy.

Dimel Deadlift:
135lbs x 10, 10, 10
Testing to see if these did anything for my lower back. To the best of my ability to tell, they didn't.

Unilateral DB Hold:
65lbs x 20sec, 20sec, 20sec, 20sec, 20sec
Not hard enough to be worth it.

2010-04-16 DE Upper

My right shoulder is beginning to trouble me.

Bench w/ Chain: 45, 45, 85, 85
8x3 - 120lbs
Speed was...present. No exceptionally slow reps, but my form was somewhat lacking and I didn't have a whole lot of particularly fast ones.

Press: 45
110lbs - 8, 7, 6, 5, 6
Good. Taking 115 next week.
Aaaand yeah, I'm probably maxing out on Incline instead of 2-Board. Doubt 2-Board's going to do a whole lot for my bottom-end strength, and I'm guaranteed not to have spotters this weekend, and...yeah.

Blast Strap Pushup:
15, 9, 7, 6, 8
Delts = fried.

DB Row w/ FatGripz:
35lbs - 15, 12, 10, 10, 10
Up the weight.

...flaked on shoulder prehab work this time. Probably a bad idea given that my shoulder is giving me trouble.
Will not skip it again as of next week, for either day.

2010-04-13 DE Lower

I think I'm going to adjust the schedule so I'm doing the two DE days back-to-back. I don't anticipate serious work obligations on Thursdays until next semester - and know for a fact that I won't have any over the summer, since OChem isn't going to meet on Fridays - but I'd rather have a decent spot.

Dieselcrew Shoulder Warmup

Box Squat w/ Light: 45, 95, 135
12x2 - 185lbs
Easy

Squat Workup:
185lbs - 3
225lbs - 2
275lbs - 1, 1, 1
Not quite as fast as I'd've liked, but easy.

Speed Pulls (Straight Weight):
185lbs - 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
Dunno if the bands are really doing it here. I'll know more about any DL strength issues in a couple of weeks.

Front Squat: 3x135 (had this sitting on a nerve in my shoulder, or something similarly unpleasant)
205lbs - 5, 5, 5
Strongly considered taking this for another 2 sets, but...well, that I can do next week.
Doing Front Squats next week as well, then switching over to Rack Pulls for the first three weeks of the next cycle...then 3 weeks Front Squat, repeat until progress stalls and I have to re-assess.

FatGripz Rack Pull: 5x135
6x 155, 165
5x 155
4x 155
Not the improvement I was hoping for, but w/e. We'll see next week.

Fallouts:
10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Took some time to set up the Blast Straps (which are going to stay at "push-up" length pretty much constantly, methinks). These felt like they were doing more for shoulder stability (...when I actually locked my shoulders in properly) than for my abs...right up until I left the locker room and noticed that my midsection was so tired I couldn't push my abs out anymore.

2010-04-11 ME Upper

Dieselcrew Shoulder Warmup

Floor Press: 45, 45, 70, 95
3x 115, 135, 155
1x 175, 185, 195, 200, 205
My right arm has some serious issues. VERY uneven lockout.

JM Press:
1, 1 - 85lbs (...Jon forgot how to math)
65lbs - 8, 6, 5, 5, 4
Meh, about where I used to be.

Straight-Arm Pulldown:
45lbs - 12
45lbs + block - 10, 7, 7
...**** it, doing either pull-ups or regular pulldowns next week.

Bent Over DB Rear Delt Fly w/ FatGripz:
10lbs - 12
12.5lbs - 12, 12
THIS ONE I'm keeping.

Muscle Snatch: 3x8 - 30lbs
L-Lateral Raise: 1x8 - 12.5lbs
45-Deg. Raise: 2x8/side - 10lbs
Decided to slash the weights on these and work back up.

2010-04-07 DE Lower

Dieselcrew Shoulder Warmup - 5lbs

GHR: 5xBW

Speed Box Squat w/ Lights: 45, 95, 135, 185
10x2 - 205lbs
Not exceptionally fast, but strong.

Speed Pulls w/ Short Monster Minis:
8x1 - 185lbs

Front Squat: 135
185lbs - 5, 5, 5, 5, 6
Figured out a better means of holding things in place - after I walk it out with the clean grip in regular position, I take my hands off of the bar and grab the back of my neck. It's a bit of a cheater front squat given that I keep my elbows high by actively pulling on my neck, but the idea here is to build my squat, not my front squat.

Pinch-Grip Dead:
45lbs - 10
55lbs - 8, 8, 8, 8+5Sec hold
Arranged as 10-2x5-4x2.5-25 (sans the 10 for the 45lb set)
Making some pretty nice progress on this movement.

Cable Crunch:
60lbs - 12, 12, 12, 10, 8

2010-04-05 ME Upper

Floor Press: 45, 45, 95, 95
3x 115, 135, 150, 165, 180, 185
Speaks for itself. Triple with a former 1RM.

Floor Crusher:
75lbs - 4, 5, 4, 4, 4
Be amusing to see how these go when I come back to them next cycle.

Pull-Ups:
10, 5, 5, 5, 5+Negative
Chalking this up to forgetting my phone and taking much longer rests than normal.

FG DB Cleans:
17.5s x 12, 12, 10
Started using a bit more body english than was healthy.

Decided to give my rotator cuff a rest.

2010-04-03 ME Lower

That said, given my quad discovery, I'm strongly considering following Wendler's example on the GMs and just dropping the damn things in favor of maxing out on High-Bar or Manta Ray squats, and using Rack Pulls as a supplemental movement for my high-intensity back strengthener. This is partially due to my lack of desire to buy any new stuff this month (went over budget by about $150 last month...spring break + meet in the same month was NOT easy on my wallet) and inability to keep the bar in place when GMing anything over around 225lbs. If I move my grip out (potentially beneficial for keeping the bar held down), I lose tightness...etc..

Anyway:

DieselCrew Shoulder Warmup

GMs: 45, 45, 95
3x 135, 155, 175, 195, 215, 235, 255
Not shooting for a PR today, just tying the old one...which is old. Part of the reason I hate GMs is that thanks to the bar rolling issue, my form is completely inconsistent (since I have to start the concentric the moment the bar starts to roll or risk a neck injury) and I can't set any new PRs (due to the shifting lever arm). Suspended would fix both of these, but given that none of my DL or Squat issues appear to be hip- or back- dependent...yeah.

GHR w/ Plate on Face:
15lbs - 6
2 reps with 15, then 2 with 10...or something
10lbs - 7, 5, 5
****ed up the machine setup for the 2nd set. Form was horrific on the first set (huge back dependence). 10lbs went better.

So there we have it, Jon's changing his ME Rotation. Setting up ME ME and DE Supp as:
MEME: Powerlifting Squat, Olympic Squat, Conventional Deadlift
DESu: Rack Pull, Front Squat
2 and 3 weeks per movement, respectively. Rack Pulls to build back strength, Front Squats to build up the quads, glutes, and abs.

I've been strongly considering shooting for a PR Triple on week 1 of each ME movement and then a PR Single on week 2, as well. Since I'm (probably) switching my ME Movement to something I can reasonably go for a Max Single on, it seems as though this might be prudent.

2010-04-02 DE Upper

Had my first run-in with a chalk nazi gym employee. I got careless with the mess, and he's new and naive. He couldn't prove it was me, though, so...yeah.

Still, faint suspicion he's going to have it out for me in the future.

Bench w/ 1 Set Chain: 45, 45, 85, 85
8x3 - 120lbs
Much faster than last time, but still not fast enough for me to be comfortable working up.

Press: 45lbs
105lbs - 8, 7, 5, 6, 6
Felt very solid. Lost my balance a couple of times, though.

DB Floor Press:
45s - 12, 12, 10, 8, 8
Need to be careful with how I execute this; my left shouldn't isn't too thrilled about some angles of descent.

Seated Cable Row:
60lbs + Block Thing x 12, 12, 12, 12, 10

Random Prehab ****

Very good day, outside of said chalk nazi.