LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 5. Squat

BW - 199

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
205X2
235X1
245X1
255X1

Paused Squats - 215X3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 3ppsX22, 20

Leg Curls - X16, 12 (same weight as last session)

Standing Calf Raises - X18, 15 (same weight as last session)

Last squat session of the cycle.  Pretty awesome, although I was out of gas after the 3rd pause squat set, so I shut it down there.  I filmed my squats, and this was the first time I've ever filmed my lifting.  I wanted to make sure I was getting depth (I reset my squats about a year ago to go deeper) and it turns out I may have been worried about nothing the last year:

That's my 235.  The rep actually felt really easy, like barely a warm-up easy.  I recorded the next 2 attempts as well from different angles so I could see which angle might be most helpful for the future.  Here's my last single at 255:

This felt like it slowed way down about half way up, but watching the video it looks pretty fast and smooth.  I think I need to adjust my perception of what is fast/easy and what is slow/hard.

For all the assistance, I stayed at the same weight as last time, but got more volume on everything. 

All in all, feeling pretty good about where my squat is at after the LRB Split and the Strong-15 Short.  Looking forward to how the high-rep back-offs will go on the upcoming Big-15 cycles.

 

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 200

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3
245X2
275X1
285X1
295X1

265X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

RDL - 245X11, 6 (no straps)

Shrugs -
405X10
315X21

Chins (supinated) - BWX10, 5, 5

DB Curls - 35sX21, 9

Fun day at the gym.  Got drawn into some good conversation with one of the bigger/stronger guys at the gym after I started spotting his bench sets.  Meant longer rests between a lot of my sets, but this guy is friendly and eager to talk shop, and so I think it's best to roll with that and soak up as much information as I can.  I actually spotted him on OG T-Bar Rows (assisted reps) the other day as well.  Some interesting pointers from both conversations:
1)  He finds using a shorter bar on the old-school T-Bars to be easier leverage-wise.  He finds the full length bar sometimes seems to want to pull him forward, and it's easier to stay back with the shorter bar.
2)  He feels like once he started going touch-and-go with his deadlifts on rep sets he saw more improvement in his back strength.
3)  When he was body-building and squatting just to parallel, he felt like he strongly felt parallel like his hamstrings and hips would almost lock and bounce right there.  Since he's started going super deep with his squats that's completely disappeared.  I asked him if he thinks he's stronger since he started going deeper and he said he thinks so, but he didn't seem sure about that.
4)  After his main sets of bench press, working up to 330X5, and then backing off to sets of 5 around 305, he did sets of 5 paused with a cambered bar, and was singing the praises of that assistance exercise.
So right there are interesting points to keep in mind about 4 key movements.  Look forward to talking with him more in the future.

Deadlifts were strong today.  Honestly, I don't even remember much about the 295X1.  I set-up and before I knew it the pull was over.  I look forward to deadlifting all week and then don't even remember my top single.  Wtf?  The back-off sets were only okay.  They're doing some remodeling on the gym, and the new-ish platform I was pulling on wasn't level.  I kept shimming it up to try and fix it, but nevertheless the bar kept rolling away from me between reps. 

Instead of holding deadlift reps for time, I decided to save all my grip and attack 245 again on RDLs without straps.  So 245X11 is a Rep PR without straps.  The 2nd set was largely hampered by grip, so I feel this was the right choice.

Shrugs were a lot stronger this week.  Chins were weird because the adjustable station I've been using to do shoulder-width, neutral grips was unavailable due to the remodeling, so I had to do plain old supinated.  10 reps at 200 lbs. isn't bad for me lately though.

I don't track PRs on DB curls for god's sake, but curling was surprisingly strong today, and 35sX21 is certainly a personal best.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 4. Bench

BW - 202

Bench -
BarX10
95X5
115X4
135X3
145X2
155X1
165X1, 1

145X13, 5

Incline - 105X12, 8

Dips - BWX12, 8, 6

Good session.  145X13 is a Rep PR.  The back-off sets for the last 3 sessions, 125X20, 135X17 and this 145X13 all have higher, projected 1RMs than any other in my lifting history.  Ah, but will I ever see myself stronger in the lower rep ranges?  Only time will tell.

Also, got a good tip from reading this post by John Phung about leg drive.  The basic take-away is barely keep your butt touching the bench as opposed to letting your body actually rest there.  I'll keep going with this and see if it continues to feel good.

105X12 is a Rep PR on Inclines.  This is on the shallower, curved incline bench. 

Dips were alright.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 4. Squat

BW - 203

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X3
185X3
205X2
235X1, 1
245X1

Pause Squats - 205X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 3ppsX20, 16

Leg Curls - X20, 16 (heavier than last week)

Decent session.  My right knee has been feeling wonky this week.  At first it seemed like squats were making it feel worse, and then by the end of the pause squats, it seemed to feel better than when I started.  Just wait and see.  Hope it's not a side effect of the weight gain.

Cuing hard with 'chest up' and pushing through 'heels.'  245X1 was good.  The 3rd reps on the last couple of pause squat sets were a little wild card as my form tried to break down, but there was no doubt of hitting them all.

Keeping my stance close on leg press, and quads continue to burn.

Hoping the leg curls will help with the knee.

Skipped calves.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 201

Deadlift -
135X5
165X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
275X1, 1
285X1

245X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

RDL - 245X12 (with straps)

Shrugs -
405X7
315X18

Chins (neutral, shoulder-width) - BWX8, 6, 5

Curls -
65X16, 8
45X15, 12

Good deadlifting today.  Everything felt strong and smooth.  Held the 285X1, and the last back-off set for time at the top.

Was pretty tired after all this.  I was pretty sure I could get an all-around PR on RDLs if I did one all-out set with straps, and I did.  Up till now, I've been using my back-off DL weight as my RDL weight.  Possibly, I should stay at this weight and stop using straps for the extra grip work...

Loading and un-loading the bar for shrugs felt like it took years, I was so tired.

Chins felt okay despite the low energy.

Even though I was tired, I had a while to wait for the bus, so I did 2 extra sets of curls just with an empty bar.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  "If you've got energy for extra curls, you could have done extra RDLs or chins." 

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.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 3. Squat

BW - 198

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
205X2
225X1
235X1, 1

Pause Squats - 195X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Leg Press -
2ppsX30
3ppsX20

Leg Curls - X20, 12

Calf Raises - X13, 10

Walking - 30 minutes

Nice session.  All the squats felt well grooved as I was cuing "chest up" hard.  Both 235s felt strong.

Pause squats were more challenging this week and a lot of fun.  I'm going to try to keep the number of sets up next week, but that may require cutting back on some of the other assistance if I'm feeling wiped.

Leg Press was all narrow stance.  My quads were burning after the 2nd set.

Was pretty tired at this point so I just got a couple sets each on the curls and the raises.