Novice LP. Team Training. Session 3

BW - 222

Squat - 255X3X5

Bench - 160X3X5

Deadlift - 280X5

First set of squats was a little off.  Last two were as they should be.

Bench and Deadlift both moved as they should, as well.

Novice LP. Team Training. Session 2

BW - 221

Squat - 245X3X5

Press - 100X3X5

Deadlift - 275X5

Everything went really well.  Light as it should be.

Conditioning. Week 1. Tempo Run

Tempo Run - 1 mile @ ~12:35

No problems here.  Easy, sub-pace run.

Novice LP. Team Training. Session 1

BW - 220

Squats - 225X3X5

Press - 95X3X5

Deadlift - 265X5

We did a bigger reset than I expected following low-back issues and a two-week vacation.  Dropped way down and re-run the LP with an aggressive progression.  May even head into triples as the intensity increases.  After that, we will look to move into 5/3/1 or HLM.

Everything was fast and easy.  Actually had to make myself slow down between squat reps, as I was starting to get out of control.

Conditioning. Week 1. Intervals

Intervals - 4X1/4 mile @ ~2:12

Back from a long vacation.  Should be a perfect time to start getting back on the road as Spring should (hopefully) spring soon, and overall intensity will be reset lower in the gym.

Pretty cold out at the beach today, but got in my first 4 intervals.  Plan is to add another 1/4 mile interval each week, and then do the same total distance in a non-stop run in the 2nd half of the week.  So I did four 1/4 miles here, and later this week, I'll do a one mile sub-pace run.  Next week, do five 1/4 miles, and a 1.25 mile run, etc.

To start, I'm running an interval, and then walking the same distance for a rest.  I will probably need to ratchet down the rest periods at some point.  Getting up to twelve 1/4 mile intervals with 4-5 minute rests in between will get pretty boring.

Texas Method Team Training. Week 15. Intensity Day

BW - 226

Squat - 325X1, 2, 2

Bench -
210X3
200X5


Deadlift - 325X4

Low back was still giving me issues, so I borrowed my coaches belt for Squats and Pulls.  I've never used a belt before, so there was acclimation.  It helped quite a bit in the hole on Squat, and getting the bar to my knees on DL.

On Squat, the first set went well, so I went for a double on the 2nd.  I was going to go for 3 on the 3rd, but the 2nd rep slowed down quite a lot about 1/2 way up, so I cut it.

Failed on the 4th rep on Bench, so we dropped down and hit a back-off set.  We noticed today that on these heavier sets, I may have a habit of touching ever lower on my chest after each rep.  Something to keep an eye on.

I probably could have gotten 5 on the DL, but I'm going out of the country on vacation this week, and I didn't see the need to risk something happening for that one rep.

Looking forward to my break, and then picking this back up afterwards.

Texas Method Team Training. Week 14. Volume Day

BW - 222

Squat -
315X5
305X5
295X5
285X3
275X3

Bench - 190X5X5

Chins - BWX5, 3, 3

Pull-downs X6

Back was feeling okay, but power output was still low.  Coach decided to see how I handled a descending set of 5 on Squats.  The first 3 sets were all brutal.  Final reps on every set were very slow, and I was completely gassed following the sets.  On the 4th set, I cut if after 3.  Just went for 3 on the final set, and all reps were strong.  Definitely felt like 5 would have been easy, but it also felt good to end feeling strong(ish).

Bench sets all took focus, and I was having trouble keeping my butt down on final reps, but everything went well.

I decided DL was a bad idea after the way squat went, so I did some chins instead.

One more training session before I go out of the country on vacation for a week.  We'll probably do 3X3 across instead of 1X5.  Just to promote a bit more adaptation carrying through the break.  We did that when I went out of town for a week for Thanksgiving, and the results were solid.

I see a lot of veteran lifters talk about "your body will let you know when it's time to back-off, if you're listening."  I've been going full bore since after Thanksgiving, so maybe that's what this is.  I'll go on vacation for a week, come back and ?probably? reset, and see what happens.  Switch to sets of 3 on Volume and Intensity days is an option, and so is 5/3/1.  Coach just switched one of the older guys in our group over to Wendler's thing because of a nagging knee issue.  We'll see!