2010-07-31 Sled Dragging

Sled Dragging

4 Trips, 1 minute between. The usual sans 5lbs because the 2.5s keep falling off and I can't be arsed to deal with them.

Totally murdered myself. I weighed in at 166 this morning. Upping shopping trips to twice a week and fixing my sleep schedule so I can avoid having anything spoil and make sure I eat everything.

2010-07-29 SE Lower

I barely slept last night and I barely ate today, so this kinda sucked. Also not quite as recovered as I might like.
At least I'll be well-fed and well-rested tomorrow night for when I go for a sex PR.

Warmup

Squat: 95, 135, 135, 185, 225
6x3 - 275lbs
I need to make sure I eat a fairly large amount of food prior to lifting in future; the extra girth is extremely valuable for support.

Deadlift: 185, 185, 225
6x3 - 275lbs
Getting better on the form. 2 minutes' rest between sets was a tad horrific, though.

Front Squat: 135
215lbs - 3, 3, 5, 5, 4
Pussied out on the first couple, ground through the next couple, nearly failed the 4th on the last one.

Kroc Row: 10x30s
16ea - 65lbs
Trying to cut down the cheating here.
Need to start with the right next time, and probably take a break between sides.

Rollout:
4x10
"PR."

2010-07-28 ME Upper

Floor Press PR. Bodes very well.

Floor Press: 45, 95, 95, 95
3x 135, 135, 135, 155
1x 175, 195, 205
0x 215
1x 215
0x 225
Missed 215 the first time because it fell out of my groove. The 225 miss was legitimate; might have had it in me if I could have gotten pissed enough, but I'm trying to avoid psyching myself that far up outside of a competition context.

Dips:
6x BW, 10lbs, 25lbs, 45lbs
Doing 45 for my sets across next week.

Lat Activation Pulldowns:
10x 6, 6, 8, 6
No idea what those numbers actually equate to. Using a labeled machine next time.

Rear Delt Flyes:
5x8 - 17.5s
Took ages getting the Floor Presses done, and had to leave before doing the prehab.

2010-07-26 ME Lower

Made a...perhaps somewhat unwise decision today and went for 390 (partly at Saba's encouragement). PR.

Deadlift: 135, 135, 185, 185, 185
3x 225, 225
1x 275, 315, 390 (PR)
0x 355
The unwise component of this is that my form was the worst it's ever been for a deadlift (rounded back all the way up), and I was so burned out from doing it that I couldn't get 355 to budge. My hope is that since I should be at around 185 by the time of the next one, and will have been doing significantly more work for my low back and just general deadlift practice, I may be able to get 400 with decent form...but it depends. I'll try 365 without psyching up as part of the warmup, methinks.

GMs:
5x 135, 135
6x 185, 155, 155
Was totally shot after the Deadlift PR, hate doing GMs...yeah. Not a recipe for great success.

45-Degree Hypers:
3x10 - 75lb DB
Seems about right for strict work. May go up to an 80 next week.

Rollouts:
3x10
Going to up the volume on these next time.

2010-07-25 SE Upper

First shot on new bench cycle. It kinda sucked, but this is because I fail at keeping my arch when benching for reps. Given that I need to work on this...yeah. 4s are a bit of a doozy here. x.x
I'm going to pencil in the next two months or so of training so I actually remember to do the shit I said I'd do.

Warmup: Included some foam rolling today.

Bench: 45, 45, 45, 95, 95, 135
5x4 - 150lbs
As noted above, I tend to lose my arch. The first rep of the final set felt great, though - I need to get into the habit of really pulling the bar out with my lats.

Press: 45, 45
120lbs - 5, 4, 4, 4, 4
I'm torn on whether or not I should increase the weight here. On the one hand, I'm down by 16% on the total number of reps I'm supposed to have done. On the other, I'm going to be a good 3lbs heavier this time next week. >.>

DB Floor:
5x10 - 50s
Yay.

Seated Cable Row:
5x10 - 80lbs
Using the "Ox Horns" handle.
Decent feeling in lats, but Saba wasn't getting anything and this puts a rather annoying strain on the back of my left shoulder. I suspect this is partially because of my grip on deads, but still.
Might try switching to barbell rows.

Circuit: 2x10
Face Pull - 10lbs
Prone Internal Rotation: 2.5s
Push-Ups
Inverted Rows
Plate Halos (25lbs)

2010-07-23 SE Lower

Warmup and Calf Stretching

Squat: 95, 95, 135, 135, 135, 180, 225
6x3 - 270lbs
...holy crap. It didn't actually occur to me what this weight was.
Training partners are useful, aren't they? Having Saba around keeps my mind off of what weight I'm lifting and on lifting it properly. These weren't the best squats I've ever done, but they were a damn sight better than some of the ones I've done in the past, and my form's improving just from knowing that I'm accountable to someone there.
Weighed in at about 168 for the last two days, post-piss but pre-shit. Anything less than 171 next Friday will be grounds for some kind of punishment, presumably an increase in sled volume.
Didn't do sled work yesterday because I was deliriously hungry to the point of not feeling hungry anymore. My GSI threatened to eat me in Chem Lab if I didn't hurry up, and while the responses I thought of but didn't use were mostly innuendos, the thought occurs that I was getting damn close to hungry enough to eat her first. Maybe I should next time.

Deadlift: 185, 225
5x1 - 245lbs
Felt lazy, just used Saba's weight. Formalizing the cycles tonight.

Front Squat: 135, 185
215lbs - 5, 5, 5, 4
Might have had a full 5x5 in me if I'd gotten a bit more pissed, but I'm still getting the hang of seating the bar properly.

Kroc Row: 2x10 strictish warmup w/ 30lbs
20ea x 60lbs
Cheating to hell and back - almost to the point of the last few being heavy negatives. Going to watch some Kroc videos to look at these a bit closer. >.>

Rollouts:
3x10

Program Info

Decided that the benefits of the 8-week cycle were sufficient to warrant the change. The primary drawback was the reduced frequency of maxing out on central lifts, but the increased submaximal volume should account for this and improve time spent on technique practice.

I'll figure out how I'm going to structure the SE Cycles some time tomorrow or Friday.