BW - 224
Squats - 315X5
Bench -
215X1
205X2
Deadlift - 315X5
Squats were slow, but totally do-able. Still just fighting around or through lingering strains.
Paused the first rep at 215 and missed the 2nd one just off the chest. Hit a smooth double at 205 as a back-off. The 205 felt cleaner this week than last week. We'll try 215 again next week.
Deadlifts moved better this week than 305 did last week.
Showing posts with label pausing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pausing. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Monday, February 15, 2016
Texas Method - Week 5 - Intensity Day (coached)
BW - 229
Squats -
BarX5
135X4
205X3
265X2
315X1
355X3
Bench -
BarX5
95X4
135X3
175X2
200X1 (paused)
220X1, 1, 1 (paused)
Cleans - up to an ugly set of 150
Squat went well today. Definitely felt like I could have gotten 5. 355X3 is a Rep PR.
Added commands in on bench. Tried to go for 3, but failed on 2 so we did two more singles. Been a long time since I paused. I never really noticed the difference before. My best set previously with pauses was 215X2, I believe. So it is what it is. 220X1 is still a Rep PR.
Cleans were just not coming together for me today. My coach was trying some new cues, and I was not adapting quickly. Actually DROPPED the bar across the end of my collar-bone on my top set.
Squats -
BarX5
135X4
205X3
265X2
315X1
355X3
Bench -
BarX5
95X4
135X3
175X2
200X1 (paused)
220X1, 1, 1 (paused)
Cleans - up to an ugly set of 150
Squat went well today. Definitely felt like I could have gotten 5. 355X3 is a Rep PR.
Added commands in on bench. Tried to go for 3, but failed on 2 so we did two more singles. Been a long time since I paused. I never really noticed the difference before. My best set previously with pauses was 215X2, I believe. So it is what it is. 220X1 is still a Rep PR.
Cleans were just not coming together for me today. My coach was trying some new cues, and I was not adapting quickly. Actually DROPPED the bar across the end of my collar-bone on my top set.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Phase 1. Week 3. Accessory
BW - 206
Press -
BarX10
65X5
95X3
115X6, 4
Chin-ups (close, v-grip) - BWX5, 3, 3, 3 (all paused at bottom)
Close-Grip Pulldowns - 2 sets of 10
Hammer Curls - 35sX14, 10, 8
Decent session.
115X6 ties a Rep PR, and was my goal for this weight. Moving up next week.
The chins were all paused at the bottom, but weren't "dead-hang." I kept my my scapula retracted and my elbows slightly bent at the bottom.
Tried some strict CG pulldowns to see how my lats would feel the next day. Results are indeterminate. I'm contemplating changing this day up a little bit to be a bit more of a body-building style lat day after the OHPs. Meaning I might cut out chins for a while, or minimize their place in my lat training.
Press -
BarX10
65X5
95X3
115X6, 4
Chin-ups (close, v-grip) - BWX5, 3, 3, 3 (all paused at bottom)
Close-Grip Pulldowns - 2 sets of 10
Hammer Curls - 35sX14, 10, 8
Decent session.
115X6 ties a Rep PR, and was my goal for this weight. Moving up next week.
The chins were all paused at the bottom, but weren't "dead-hang." I kept my my scapula retracted and my elbows slightly bent at the bottom.
Tried some strict CG pulldowns to see how my lats would feel the next day. Results are indeterminate. I'm contemplating changing this day up a little bit to be a bit more of a body-building style lat day after the OHPs. Meaning I might cut out chins for a while, or minimize their place in my lat training.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 3. Bench
BW - 199
Bench -
BarX15
95X5
115X4
135X3
145X2
155X1, 1
165X1
135X17, 5
Incline - 95X15, 10
Dips - BWX12, 10, 8
Solid session. I was trying to cue 'Speed' hard on the singles and the back-off sets. It definitely helped some, although sometimes it causes me to forget the pause on the back-offs. 135X17 is an all-around PR even including the days when I bounced the bar off my chest.
I moved inclines over to the less steep bench so that I could load the lift a bit more for the rest of the cycle. 95X15 is a Rep PR in incline on either bench. The combination of the flat bench and the shallower incline angle caused more stress on my triceps. They were really burning on the 2nd set here.
Pretty tuckered out, and so I cut the dips short after 3 sets. Getting to that point in the cycle.
Bench -
BarX15
95X5
115X4
135X3
145X2
155X1, 1
165X1
135X17, 5
Incline - 95X15, 10
Dips - BWX12, 10, 8
Solid session. I was trying to cue 'Speed' hard on the singles and the back-off sets. It definitely helped some, although sometimes it causes me to forget the pause on the back-offs. 135X17 is an all-around PR even including the days when I bounced the bar off my chest.
I moved inclines over to the less steep bench so that I could load the lift a bit more for the rest of the cycle. 95X15 is a Rep PR in incline on either bench. The combination of the flat bench and the shallower incline angle caused more stress on my triceps. They were really burning on the 2nd set here.
Pretty tuckered out, and so I cut the dips short after 3 sets. Getting to that point in the cycle.
Monday, October 15, 2012
5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 5. Week 1. Bench
BW - 201 (hmmm)
Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5, 5
135X5, 5
185X3
210X3
235X1
BW Lunges - 5 sets of 10
Bench -
BarX15
95X5, 5
115X5
130X5
150X5
Chins - BWX8, 7, 5, 5, 6, 5
BB Curl - BarX20
Hypers - 5 sets of 15
Mostly good session except for the benching.
I moved up to the tier 3 %'s for the off-day Pause Squats. The 235 was slow but absolutely do-able, and that's reassuring.
Doing lunges on this day is part of the additional leg work I'm adding into this cycle. Back-off Fronts on Squat day, BW-Only Lunges on Bench day, and high-rep leg curls on Deadlift day.
I started trying out a thumbless grip on Bench here. Funnily I was only able to get the requisite 5 reps when a good day would have been closer to 10. Not blaming the grip though. I just think it was an off day benching.
Paused Chins are starting to feel more solid.
I did this set of curls just to off-set all the pressing on the day. Everyone talks about programming to have pulling movements equal or outweigh pressing movements, but it seems to me that very few of the popular programs actually accomplish that.
Had a long time till the bus would show up, so I did a bunch of hypers. Started putting my hands behind my head instead of across my chest, and I'm surprised at home much heavier that feels.
Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5, 5
135X5, 5
185X3
210X3
235X1
BW Lunges - 5 sets of 10
Bench -
BarX15
95X5, 5
115X5
130X5
150X5
Chins - BWX8, 7, 5, 5, 6, 5
BB Curl - BarX20
Hypers - 5 sets of 15
Mostly good session except for the benching.
I moved up to the tier 3 %'s for the off-day Pause Squats. The 235 was slow but absolutely do-able, and that's reassuring.
Doing lunges on this day is part of the additional leg work I'm adding into this cycle. Back-off Fronts on Squat day, BW-Only Lunges on Bench day, and high-rep leg curls on Deadlift day.
I started trying out a thumbless grip on Bench here. Funnily I was only able to get the requisite 5 reps when a good day would have been closer to 10. Not blaming the grip though. I just think it was an off day benching.
Paused Chins are starting to feel more solid.
I did this set of curls just to off-set all the pressing on the day. Everyone talks about programming to have pulling movements equal or outweigh pressing movements, but it seems to me that very few of the popular programs actually accomplish that.
Had a long time till the bus would show up, so I did a bunch of hypers. Started putting my hands behind my head instead of across my chest, and I'm surprised at home much heavier that feels.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 4. Week 3. Squat
LRB Diet - Week 9
BW - 197
Squat -
BarX10, 10
95X5, 5
135X5, 5
180X5
205X3
225X7
135X20, 12
Pendlays -
BarX15
120X3
155X3
140X15
Dips (paused at bottom) -
BWX5, 5, 5, 5, 3
Hoo-boy. I did not get very much sleep the night before, and this session was mentally and physically exhausting.
225X7 is in line with the top-sets of my last two sessions, but no weight PRs. That's fine and good, but the real story is then in the back-off sets. Jefit says this a volume PR for me, even over the 195X20 session I did back in May when I was cutting my squats much higher. I'd thought about form in the days between my last session and this, and theorized that if I kept my butt pushed back a bit at lock-out, I would be able to take a breath or two between reps without losing my arch as much. This worked out very well and holding the weight with locked knees felt much safer for my back. Also, being able to keep my arch tighter resulted in an almost painful low-back pump.
My goal for the back-offs was to hit 20 reps with 135 (5 more reps than last session), and then do a 50% set. I was nervous going into the 20 because I felt a bit wiped from the top-set, but the new lock-out positioning helped me get it very solidly. I then rested ONLY 60 seconds (this is how 50% sets work after all), and went back for another set. I thought I would be lucky to get 10 as tired as I felt, but I ended up getting 12! I probably could have gotten 15 with an all-out-maybe-dump-the-last-rep set, but I'd beat my goal, and called it good.
So that's my last regular squat session of the cycle. I have two more pause-squat sessions, and then it's on to the "Birthday Squats." I'll be using my current, projected 40RM of 125, and working up and then backing-off to it using Paul Carter's "Big-15" progression. That will look like this:
BarX45
95X5
120X4
145X3
180X2
205X1
125X35
Gotta make sure I get more sleep the night before, and eat up a bit.
As fried as I was, 140X15 is an all-around PR in Pendlays.
For Dips, I'd been saying I was going to work up to +45 by 5, and then re-set my form to full depth and with a pause at the bottom. I got to thinking about this, and realized it's the same bullshit I used to tell myself with Squat and Bench. "Yeah, I'm gonna reset my bench form to close-grip and pausing every rep at the bottom, but I just want to hit 225 with my hands past the rings and a lot of bounce of the chest first." Why? All that does is delay me hitting the target with the harder form. So I said fuck it, 45X5+ will feel so much sweeter when I hit it deep and with a pause at the bottom than it will cutting high. And how shitty would I have felt about myself if I'd done +45X5 today, and then discovered next session that I can't get much more than 5 BW reps with a deep pause? Not lying to myself is a good thing.
Honestly, I almost skipped dips altogether because I was so tired, and that meant ab wheel was just not going to happen.
BW - 197
Squat -
BarX10, 10
95X5, 5
135X5, 5
180X5
205X3
225X7
135X20, 12
Pendlays -
BarX15
120X3
155X3
140X15
Dips (paused at bottom) -
BWX5, 5, 5, 5, 3
Hoo-boy. I did not get very much sleep the night before, and this session was mentally and physically exhausting.
225X7 is in line with the top-sets of my last two sessions, but no weight PRs. That's fine and good, but the real story is then in the back-off sets. Jefit says this a volume PR for me, even over the 195X20 session I did back in May when I was cutting my squats much higher. I'd thought about form in the days between my last session and this, and theorized that if I kept my butt pushed back a bit at lock-out, I would be able to take a breath or two between reps without losing my arch as much. This worked out very well and holding the weight with locked knees felt much safer for my back. Also, being able to keep my arch tighter resulted in an almost painful low-back pump.
My goal for the back-offs was to hit 20 reps with 135 (5 more reps than last session), and then do a 50% set. I was nervous going into the 20 because I felt a bit wiped from the top-set, but the new lock-out positioning helped me get it very solidly. I then rested ONLY 60 seconds (this is how 50% sets work after all), and went back for another set. I thought I would be lucky to get 10 as tired as I felt, but I ended up getting 12! I probably could have gotten 15 with an all-out-maybe-dump-the-last-rep set, but I'd beat my goal, and called it good.
So that's my last regular squat session of the cycle. I have two more pause-squat sessions, and then it's on to the "Birthday Squats." I'll be using my current, projected 40RM of 125, and working up and then backing-off to it using Paul Carter's "Big-15" progression. That will look like this:
BarX45
95X5
120X4
145X3
180X2
205X1
125X35
Gotta make sure I get more sleep the night before, and eat up a bit.
As fried as I was, 140X15 is an all-around PR in Pendlays.
For Dips, I'd been saying I was going to work up to +45 by 5, and then re-set my form to full depth and with a pause at the bottom. I got to thinking about this, and realized it's the same bullshit I used to tell myself with Squat and Bench. "Yeah, I'm gonna reset my bench form to close-grip and pausing every rep at the bottom, but I just want to hit 225 with my hands past the rings and a lot of bounce of the chest first." Why? All that does is delay me hitting the target with the harder form. So I said fuck it, 45X5+ will feel so much sweeter when I hit it deep and with a pause at the bottom than it will cutting high. And how shitty would I have felt about myself if I'd done +45X5 today, and then discovered next session that I can't get much more than 5 BW reps with a deep pause? Not lying to myself is a good thing.
Honestly, I almost skipped dips altogether because I was so tired, and that meant ab wheel was just not going to happen.
Friday, September 14, 2012
5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 4. Week 2. Squat
LRB Diet - Week 8
BW - 197
Squats -
BarX10, 10
95X5, 5
135X3, 3
165, 190X3
215X9
135X15
Pendlays -
BarX15
110, 145X5
130X17
SL High-Pulls -
130, 145, 165, 165, 170X5
Dips -
BWX5, 5
+35X8, 6, 4
Chiro Crunches - 1 set of 40
Ab Wheel - 2 sets of 6
80+% session. I won't say +10%, because RPE was pretty high on everything, but lots of little PR's today.
215X9 is an all-time Rep PR, and projects to an all-around PR with my deeper form. Added 5 reps to my back-off set weight. Will try for 20 with 135 next time. It looks like the weight for my 35 birthday squats is going to be at 125, so 135 for 20 should be a good prep for that attempt. Might want to add a 2 sets of 10 to follow it though. 40 total reps with 135 might be even better prep.
I also added additonal sets to my squat warm-ups based on a recent article by Paul Carter. I will say that the 2nd set of each warm-up weight felt better than the first. Hard to say if it helped my top sets any. I'll try to keep this up with Squating and Benching and see if I think it's having an impact.
130X17 is a small all-around PR on the dead-stop rows. The last few reps had one or two breaths between each, though.
16X5 was my previous best on the High-Pulls. They still felt like they were right at the top end, but I suddenly remembered 2.5 lb. weights! So I was able to bump up to 170 and get 5 for a small all-around PR on this move as well.
8 reps with 35 lbs. was my goal for dips this session and I got it. Next session, I will go for 5 with a 45. After I get back from vacation, I'm going to reset to BW dips for a little bit, and start pausing my reps at the bottom. I'm worried that I've started cutting reps high, and pausing is the best way I know to fix that for any movement. Looking forward to feeling humbled.
Started to do the swiss-ball crunches per normal, but I'm getting really bored with them. I've noticed that an Ab Wheel has been able to stay at the gym for a while without being stolen, so I'm going to switch to that for awhile.
BW - 197
Squats -
BarX10, 10
95X5, 5
135X3, 3
165, 190X3
215X9
135X15
Pendlays -
BarX15
110, 145X5
130X17
SL High-Pulls -
130, 145, 165, 165, 170X5
Dips -
BWX5, 5
+35X8, 6, 4
Chiro Crunches - 1 set of 40
Ab Wheel - 2 sets of 6
80+% session. I won't say +10%, because RPE was pretty high on everything, but lots of little PR's today.
215X9 is an all-time Rep PR, and projects to an all-around PR with my deeper form. Added 5 reps to my back-off set weight. Will try for 20 with 135 next time. It looks like the weight for my 35 birthday squats is going to be at 125, so 135 for 20 should be a good prep for that attempt. Might want to add a 2 sets of 10 to follow it though. 40 total reps with 135 might be even better prep.
I also added additonal sets to my squat warm-ups based on a recent article by Paul Carter. I will say that the 2nd set of each warm-up weight felt better than the first. Hard to say if it helped my top sets any. I'll try to keep this up with Squating and Benching and see if I think it's having an impact.
130X17 is a small all-around PR on the dead-stop rows. The last few reps had one or two breaths between each, though.
16X5 was my previous best on the High-Pulls. They still felt like they were right at the top end, but I suddenly remembered 2.5 lb. weights! So I was able to bump up to 170 and get 5 for a small all-around PR on this move as well.
8 reps with 35 lbs. was my goal for dips this session and I got it. Next session, I will go for 5 with a 45. After I get back from vacation, I'm going to reset to BW dips for a little bit, and start pausing my reps at the bottom. I'm worried that I've started cutting reps high, and pausing is the best way I know to fix that for any movement. Looking forward to feeling humbled.
Started to do the swiss-ball crunches per normal, but I'm getting really bored with them. I've noticed that an Ab Wheel has been able to stay at the gym for a while without being stolen, so I'm going to switch to that for awhile.
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