UB: Strong Week 1. Deadlift

Defranco Mobility and Stretching

Standing Calf Raises - 135X15, 195X15, 225X15

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
185X5
205X5
225X5

Power Shrugs - 275X11, 6

Chin-ups - BW(205)X9, 5

Cable Crunches - 1/2 stack X25, Stack+40X20X2

Treadmill - Light jogging for 10 minutes

Similar to the shoulder assistance last session, this is the first time I have done direct calf work since I started training for strength.  I've always had big claves, so I kind of expected to work up to the full stack on these, but I only got about 3/4 of the way up.  Nice to have an easy target to work towards.

With the Deadlifts, it's funny that Paul Carter and one of his readers were just discussing that Deadlifting relatively light weights never "feels light" the way it does in other lifts, and that was my experience here.  135 and 185 always feel light, but once I cross 200 things feel "heavy" even if I can lift 50lbs. heavier in that rep range.  Nonetheless, I just tried to focus on form and getting some "pop" in the reps.

Power shrugs are going to be interesting.  I may go ask Paul about these.  275 is below my DL max, but way above what I should be able to rep out with Deads, so I thought it would be in the ballpark of what I should be shrugging.  For the most part I think I'm right, however there is a grip issue here, and I'm not sure if I should invest in straps or add in grip work to try and compensate.  Whatever the case, I didn't get 12 so I'll stick with this weight again next week.  Also, my traps feel achy today, so definitely got some work in.

Nice on the chins.  Been awhile since I've gotten 9, so that felt strong.  The real question is:  Was this due to the lat pull-downs I'd been alternating in on my 2-day 531 split, or some other factor(s)?  I'm inclined to the former.  I started throwing those in because I'd had the best progress previously when I was on BLAB and doing a combo of chins and various kinds of pull-downs, and here we see a great chin set following a few weeks of alternating chins and pull-downs.  Hopefully this will prove to be one of those "keys" to future gains in this area.

I'd tried cable crunches once before and found them awkward, but so many strong guys like them (and there's no ab-wheel at the gym, nor am I inclined to buy a good one yet) that I thought I'd give them another go.  Once I went full stack and added some of those weights that fit on top of the stack, plus a 25lb. plate on the pin, I got a weight that seemed more challenging.  However most of the work seems to happen at the turn-around point between the eccentric and concentric motions.  I'll keep them in a bit longer and see, unless I decided to trade them out for grip-work to help the shrugs.

Finished it off with a 10 minute lope on the treadmill.  Sometimes it can be nice to just set a slow jog and zone out this way.  When I'm actually out on the road I have a hard time maintaining a speed like this.  My body either wants to walk or go more full-out, so I will try to remember this going forward when I want to get some light cardio in.