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

BW - 205

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3
245X2
285X1
295X1
315X1

295X3, 3, 3, 3

RDL -
245X2 (double-overhand)
245X7 (mixed grip)
245X14 (straps)

Shrugs -
455X5
365X17

Chins (neutral, shoulder-width)- BWX8, 5, 4

DB Curls - 40sX10, 7

Last workout of the Short-15.  Everything went pretty well, but as usual on this cycle's deadlift day I was exhausted by the end.

The 315X1 (my Everyday Max) felt good, and actually looked even better on video:

My grip on my left-hand got a little slippy double-overhand here, so I'm not 100% this lift would pass in a power-lifting competition.

I tried to keep going double-overhand on my back-offs, but it got dicey, and by my last set of 295X3, I had to go full mixed-grip:

Just like my last two sessions with Squat and Bench, this is my first time ever seeing myself deadlift, and to my eyes these look good.   I'm pondering if I should ask some Internet guru or other for a 'form check,' but the more I think about that the more distasteful it gets.

I wanted to go double-overhand strapless on RDLs to get more grip work in, but it was clear that wasn't happening today.  I ended up pulling a PR with straps at 245X14.

Since it was the last session I decided to go all-out and bump the weight up on shrugs by 50 lbs. for both sets.  Felt strong.

Chins and curls felt weak after all this other work.  I was able to use the adjustable chin station so I got that elusive neutral/shoulder-width grip I've been toying with.  My whole upper back is achy today from all this work, and it's impossible to say if any one movement contributed more than any other.

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 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 2. Deadlift

BW - 198

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
175X4
195X3
225X2
255X1, 1
275X1

225X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

RDL - 225X12, 15 (straps on 2nd set)

BB Shrugs - 405X6, 315X16

Chins (neutral, shoulder-width grip) - BWX10, 6, 4

Curls - 65X14, 6

Deadlifts were strong.  Cueing myself with 'Shins' and 'Speed,' especially on the back-off sets.  I've been tearing up my shins by starting reps off with them slightly above the bar, and pulling the bar into them instead of up them.  Held the 275 and the last back-off set for time.

Then my grip started giving out on my first set of RDLs.  12 was a Rep PR, but then I added straps for the 2nd set and set an all-around PR with 15.

Was getting pretty tired at this point, and my shrugging strength wasn't what it usually is.

At this point I was so tired I almost forgot about the chins and went straight to curls.  But I remembered.  A month or so back I did chins at an 'away' gym that didn't have a very good set-up, and I ended up doing neutral grip chins at shoulder width.  The next couple of days my mid-back was really sore from that.  I filed that away, and that's what I'm going to do for this cycle and see what the effect is.  With my scapula retracted, it almost feels more like a high row.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 6. Deadlift

BW - 197

Weighted Vest - 40 minutes; walking

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
185X3
195X3

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5
205X4
225X3
265X2
295X1
305X1
315X1 (20 sec. hold at top)

Shrugs -
135X76, 24 (no straps)

Nice little session.  Pause Squats felt strong, and so did Deads.  As always, my forearms got nicely fried by the strap-less shrugs.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 5. Deadlift

BW - 196

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
185X3, 3

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5
205X4
235X3
265X2
285X1
295X1
305X1 (held for 10 seconds)

BB Shrugs - 135X80, 25 (no straps)

Weighted Vest - 40 minutes; walking

Awesome session.  I don't really know how it happened.  I indulged in a bunch of eating and drinking and assorted debauchery the day before and closed down a bar and everything.  Woke up hung-over, ate some eggs, had some coffee and OJ and ibuprofen.  I got down to the gym and warmed-up, and went through the Pause Squats, and they felt pretty good.  Smooth, and the 2nd set with 185 felt better than the first.

Then the bar hit the floor, and for some reason my pulse started racing and I felt aggressive as hell.  I had to calm myself down a little on my work sets because I was worried I was going to spaz out and lose my form.  I just can't describe how awesome these pulls felt.

I took that same aggression to the shrugs and got the PR at 80 reps.  It was my grip that gave out.

Went home and had some more food, and then the wife came along for my walk. And the weather was even pretty nice.  Just an awesome, awesome training day.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 198

Pause Squats -
BarX12
95X5
135X5
165X3, 3, 3

Deadlift -
135X5
165X4
205X3
235X2
265X1
285X1
295X1 (held for 10 seconds; double-overhand)

BB Shrugs - 135X70, 30 (no straps)

My schedule got all flipped around the last week, and that plus some hard partying this weekend means my workout schedule is getting a bit inverted now as well.  Because Deads had to get moved to the end of the workout "week," that means Week 5 will have to start with Bench so that I have a couple days off between Pulling and Squatting.  Starting my week with Bench...I'm such a bro now.

Also, I ended up wanting a lot of down-time this weekend because I was staying out drinking so much, so I missed my 3rd weighted vest walking session of the week.  I'll pick all this slack back up this week.

Even though I was sweating out a lot because of all the drinking this weekend, this session was still solid.

Pause Squats all felt strong.

Deadlift was a little bit rough, and the 285 felt slow going up.  But I rallied, got my mind right, and the 295 came up like it should have.  Wish I could have held it a bit longer, but I was able to do the shrugs still without straps so I'm okay with it.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 3. Dead

BW - 198

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
175X3, 3

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
275X1, 1
285X1

BB Shrugs - 135X70, 30 (no straps)

Weighted Vest - 25 minutes walking

Another good session.  Nothing really to say, as everything went about as it should have with bar speed, etc.

Forearms were really burning after the shrugs.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 2. Dead

BW - 200

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
165X5, 5

Deadlift -
135X5
165X5
185X4
215X3
245X2
265X1
275X1, 1

BB Shrugs - 135X65, 35 (no straps)

Everything went pretty well even though I'm operating in a big sleep/nutrition deficit because of having company in town all week.

Pause Squats were smooth, but I'm making them be harder by pausing long in the bottom and really focusing on exploding upwards.  What I mean is, these would be easy if I just dropped into the hole, held it for a beat, and then casually stood back up.  Much harder this way.

Deads are all still feeling strong and fast.

Decided to try the shrugs without straps for some extra grip work, and it wasn't a problem!  So I'll keep that as I work towards getting 100 non-stop.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 1. Dead

BW - 200

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
155X5, 5

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
185X3
225X2
245X1
265X1
275X1

BB Shrugs - 135X50, 50

Weighted Vest Walking - 20 minutes

Everything went fine.

With the light end of the squats, I haven't even been locking out all the way.  More bodybuilder style squatting.  Also, rest times are bare minimum on all the barbell movements.  Set, rack, load, breathe, set.

Deads were all fast and had a lot of pop.

I was originally going to use a plate-loaded shrug machine for the 100 rep shrugs, but I had a barbell loaded with 135 right there after deads so I just used that.  Kind of rough on my junk, though, so I might go ahead and use that machine from here on.

Got another 20 minutes with the vest.

LRB 365: Strong-15. Christmas Vacation

12/20
BW - 205

Chins -
BWX8, 6, 5, 5, 5

T-Bars -
45X10
70X10, 10, 10

Shrugs -
135X20
225X20
315X20, 20

BB Curls -
BarX10
65X5
BarX40,10

12/23
Squats -
BarX10
95X5
125X5
145X4
165X3
185X2
195X1
215X1
225X1

Pause Squats -
175X5, 5

Deadlift -
135X5
165X4
195X4
225X3
265X2
275X1
285X1
295X1
235X3, 3

Leg Curls - 4 sets of 20, 1 set of 26

12/24
Bench -
BarX10
85X5
95X4
115X3
125X2
135X1
145X1
155X1
125X16

Inclines -
105X10, 10
95X10, 10, 10

DB Flyes - 3 sets of 20

Rope Pushdowns - 4 sets of 20

Squats felt much better now that I'm not sick.  Faster, but also combined explosiveness with better control so that I didn't lose lower back tightness at lockout.  Good Session.

Deadlifts all felt pretty fast.  Traps are getting sore from these now when they weren't under higher weight/reps on 5/3/1.  Interesting.

Bench felt pretty good.  Trying to focus on initiating the concentric with my legs.  Really burned myself out on the AMAP back-off set, and had to drop my weight mid-way through my incline set as a result.  Chest and shoulders were sore as hell the next day.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 4. Week 3. Press/Dead

Saturday:

Band Pull-Aparts, wide-grip - 100 straight reps

Sunday:

LRB Diet - Week 10

BW - 197

Pause- Squats -
BarX5, 10
95X5, 5
135X5, 5
160, 185, 210X3

Klokovs -
BarX10
55, 65X5
75X3
85X2
95X1
100X1
105XFAIL
85X5

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185, 225X5
250X3
280X8

Shrugs -
225, 315X10
405X5
455X3, 3, 3, 3, 3
475X2, 2, 2, 2, 5

Band Pull-Aparts; Medium-Grip - 5 sets of 25

Brutal, balls-to-the-wall session.  Spent about 2 hours in the gym.  Goddamn pause squats still feel heavy as hell over 200 lbs.  One thing that did feel good was sitting down into the first set with the empty bar for a long, long time.  It just seemed to really stretch out my hips and allow everything to open up for the pause, and felt pretty awesome as well.  Regarding how heavy the top set is feeling, I don't think I'm ready to jump up to the next % tier of the program, and will have to stay here for a while OR just go ahead and take a shot at the next tier, and see if I fail or not...

Decided to do another "testing" day for the Klokovs using the Strong-15 #'s.  That 100X1 was maybe the hardest grind-out of a rep I've ever done.  The first few inches of this lift are just brutal, as even once you've broken the bar off your neck it still moves SLOOOOOOW for the next little bit.  I ground just as hard on that 105, but it would not break.  I upped the weight a bit for the back-off set to make it a bit more challenging.

280X8 on Deads is a Rep PR, and a tiny, tiny increase to my projected 1RM.  I was mainly focused on keeping my hips high, because my shins and knees have been taking a beating lately, and I think it's because I'm starting with my hips too low.

Did the 475 for double on shrugs, because I think I can move up to that for the triples, but I didn't want to jump straight in.

Had a few minutes till the bus would come, so I hit some band pull-aparts.

This was my last regular session before I go on vacation.  I'll hit the gym once more to try my "birthday squats" idea, and I may also get in one more conditioning session once the squats are done.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 4. Week 2. Press/Dead

LRB Diet - Week 9

BW - 198

Pause Squats -
BarX10, 10
95X5, 5
135X5, 5
160, 185, 215X3

Klokovs -
BarX10, 10
60, 70X3
80X12

Deadlift -
135, 135X5
205, 235X3
265X10

BB Shrugs -
225, 315X10
405X7
455X3, 3, 3, 3, 5
405X12

Ab Wheel - 3 sets of 5-10

Pause Squats still feeling heavy.

Klokovs were pretty solid today, and 80X12 is a Rep PR.

Deadlift felt great, and 265X10 is an all-around PR.  My 3rd of the year.  Started with 285X5 in February, then 335X1 in May.  Maybe I'll hit another before the year's out!

Bumped up to 455 for the triples on shrugs.  Felt tired as hell by the time I got here, and my grip was rough even with straps, so I did a back-off set of 405 instead of progressing to singles.  405X12 is an all-around PR.

Got 3 sets of nothin' on the ab wheel before I called it and went home.  Pretty good session, but I was beat down by the end.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 4. Week 1. Press/Dead

LRB Diet - Week 8

BW - 197

Pause Squats -
BarX8
95, 135X5
160, 185, 210X3

Klokovs -
BarX10
55, 65X5
75X15

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
190, 220X5
250X11

Shrugs -
225, 315X10
405X5
425X3, 3, 3, 3, 3
455X1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 5

Chiro Crunches - 5 sets of 40

Pretty satisfying session, and looking leaner than I've been in over a year.  That 210X3 still felt pretty heavy though.  Probably an 8 or 9 out of 10 on the ol' RPE scale.

Klokovs felt a bit back on track.  I approached them somewhat differently, in that on the first 3 sets I paused every rep on my back so that I would have to take them from a dead-stop.  Then on the top set, I paused every 5 reps for breath.  The hardest part of this lift is breaking it off the neck, and that's why I "trained" the pause/break on all the up-sets so that I would be prepared for the top-set.  As the weight increases on this lift, I'm going to try and incorporate more pausing.  The difference between attempting this lift from a pause vs. with the stretch reflex is pretty drastic.

250X11 is right in the strength range for my last session, is a Rep PR for the 9-11 rep range, and everything felt pretty good.  So that's a good session.

So with shrugs I really hemmed-and-hawed and decided to go up to 455 for singles, and then when I decided to do max reps on the last set, I got 5 which is hilarious.  So next time, I'll do 455 for my triples I guess, and do 475 for singles and see how many reps I get at the end with that.

Heavy, heavy back day so I did crunches for my core work.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 3. Week 3. Press/Dead

LRB Diet - Day 46

BW - 198

Pause Squats -
Bar, 95, 135X5
155, 180, 205X3

Klokovs -
BarX5
60X5 uh...heavy
70X3 heavy, da fug
80X6 WTF?!

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
215X5
240X3
270X8

BB Shrugs -
225, 315X10
405X3, 3, 3, 3, 3
425X2, 1
445X1, 1, 1, 3

Chiro Crunches - 5 sets of 40-45

Pause Squats felt a little heavy today, but not as heavy as...

...Klokovs.  As you can see from the notes above, I was completely baffled and caught off guard here.  I even "got up" for the top set because I was concerned by how heavy the other work sets felt.  3 weeks ago, I hit 75 for 15, and 2 weeks ago I hit 70 for 20.  It's inconceivable to me that a 5-10 lb. jump can cut my rep range down from the high-teens to the mid-single digits.  I'm gonna chalk this up to fucking astrology or fatigue from Bench Day or something, and I expect to rebound next time.

Deadlifts went really well however.  270X8 projects to a # 2 all time 1RM, and is a Rep PR.  What's more, the set was more about focus than straining, and I didn't walk away feeling gassed, nor do I feel wrecked today.  All good signs that my favorite lift is in pretty good shape at the moment.

Wanted to start flirting with increased weights on the shrugs so instead of hitting a back off set in the 300's after my triples, I started adding 10's and doing singles.  My form/ROM felt a little shitty, but I was able to get 3 on my last, all-out set.  Next time I may go with 425 for the triples, and bump up to 455 for the singles.

Skipped hypers at the top of the session to make sure my back was super fresh for Deadlifting, and so finally made myself get some ab work in the session.  I think that since I added in the additional shoulder work, the sessions just feel to damn long with both hypers AND crunches, so I'll have to start alternating.  I'll probably settle on crunches on Squat and Deadlift day since they've got heavier low-back movements, and do hypers on Bench day.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 3. Week 2. Press/Dead

LRB Diet Day - 40

BW - 197

Hypers - 3 sets of 15

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95, 135X5
155, 180, 205X3

Klokovs -
BarX10
55X5
60X4
70X3
75X2
90X1
95X1
100XFAIL
70X5

Deadlift -
135X5
135X5 (RDL)
200, 230X3
255X8

BB Shrugs -
225X10
315X10
405X3, 3, 3, 3, 3
315X14
315X15

Chiro Crunches - 20, 30, 40, 45

Decided to do the Klokov's LRB/Strong-15 style again to see where my top strength is with the lift.  When I did this 3 sessions ago, I failed on 90.  Solid progress.

8 reps with 255 was getting pretty close to my limits.  Probably 1 more rep, 2 would have taken everything I had.

Added an extra set of 405 on shrugs, and then hit two back-off sets with 315.  So more of a volume day.  I raised the pins one notch, and it made getting into position significantly easier.

Also getting back on the wagon with the core work at the beginning and end of the workouts.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 3. Week 1. Press/Dead

LRB Diet - Day 33

BW - 197

Hypers - 5 sets of 15; 30 second rests

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95, 135X5
155, 180, 205X3

Klokov Press -
BarX10
55, 60X5
70X20

Deadlift -
135X5
135X5 (RDL)
185, 215X5
240X10

BB Shrugs -
225X10
315X5
405X5 (add straps)
405X3, 3
405X5
365X5, 5
315X12

Full-bore, balls out session for me.  +10%.

I've shortened the rest on the hypers and lowered the reps a tad because I like the "pump" feeling I get in my low back.  It seems to help me keep my arch at the bottom of the pause squats to have my low back warmed up this way.

Going into my last set of pause squats, I thought about trying to rep it out a bit, but reminded myself that this is still kind of part of my warm-up, and that I still had a lot of lifting to do.  I'll put that idea on the back-burner until next cycle.  Not talking anything crazy; just going for 5 on the top set.

Continuing to PR on Klokov's in the higher rep range.  This was an all-out effort to get the 20.  Looking forward to what happens with this lift as the numbers continue to climb.  I assume that at some point the rep range on the top set will start to spiral down.

I'm renewing my focus on form with the deadlift a bit.  I'm trying to stay tight and almost motionless at the bottom of each rep so that the only  movement is taking a breath and/or taking the slack out of the bar before I start the next concentric.  This felt really great today.  I probably left a rep or two in the tank, and my low back didn't feel taxed at all after the top set.  It was actually my legs that seemed to be getting fatigued this way.  Front squats may return in my near future if that continues.

On to CNP shrugs!  OK, I made sure to note which level I stuck the pins in this time, because I'm positive it was lower than last time.  I was pulling these off just above my knee, and it was fucking hard to get up into position, yet kind of awesome at the same time.  I have zero illusions that pulling 405 from above the knee will help me pull 405 off the floor, but it was still a grind at the beginning of every set, and I'm sort of proud of them in context.  Rather than hit a high rep back-off set on 315 after the 405's the way I did last session, I decided to up overall volume by dropping to 365 for a couple sets and then hitting a modest back-off set.  I just wasn't ready to be done shrugging, but I was done with 405.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 2. Week 3. Press/Dead

LRB Diet - Day 23

BW - 197

Pause Squats -
Bar, 95, 125, 145X5

Klokov's -
BarX10
60X5
65X3
75X15

Deadlift -
BarX5
BarX5 RDLs
205X5
235X3
260X8

BB Shrugs -
315X4
405X5, 3, 3, 5
315X20

So used to going straight from warm-ups to Squat, I keep forgetting to do hypers.

75X15 on Klokov's is a new projected 1RM.

260X8 matches my 1RM projection from last session for Deads.  I think I could have gotten the 10 I wanted to try for, but the 7th rep was off and I felt a slight strain in my back so I took one more rep and shut it down.  Everything feels OK now, though.

I'm going to try throwing a bit more shoulder and trap volume in through a trip I have planned at the end of September.  CNP inspired.  I can't vouch for how good my form was on the 405 sets, but 315X20 was to my ears and a personal best.

UB: Strong Week 5. Bench

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Machine Lateral Neck Flexion - 20X20X3 each side

Bench -
BarX20
105X5
125X5
135X5
155X5
165X5

Flat DB Bench - 60sX12, 7

Dips - Gym BW 208+25X8, 4

Hanging Leg Raise - BWX5 (stopped for shoulder)

DB "Cleans" (external rotation) - 15sX13, 8, 10sX10

Treadmill - 10 minutes jogging

Everything moved smoothly on bench tonight.  I continue to feel more and more confident in my set-up, and then I just focus on pressing the weight instead of feeding myself cues during the lift.  Top set was the same as last week, but all the other sets were heavier.  Next week is the last week of the cycle and I'll be going for a 10lb. 5 Rep PR.  It'll happen for sure.

UB: Strong Week 5. Deadlift

Defranco Mobility

Standing Calf Raises (slow-eccentric; paused at bottom) - 305X15X3

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5
225X5
255X5
275X5

Power Shrugs - 365X12, 7

Chin-ups - Gym BW 212X10, 5

Cable Crunch - 100X11, 12 (kneeling); 100X8 (standing)

Treadmill - 10 minutes jogging

I started reading some Lyle McDonald stuff, and his post about calf-training really jumped out as relevant to what I'm doing right now.  I was bouncing out of the bottom, so I tried it today exploding up, squeezing at the top, taking a slow eccentric and pausing at the bottom.  Much, much harder.  I don't have the promised "can't walk the next day" thing going on, but I guess I didn't do the full routine.  The one thing I don't like is that I pretty much have to take a breath at every pause, and I don't like the way it feels losing tightness with my spine loaded like that.  It's a machine though, so I'm not too worried.

I was a little nervous coming in to set a 10 lb. PR on the deads today.  Similar to my last squat session, I scrapped the programmed weight increases for the initial sets in favor of lowering overall volume and saving everything for the top set.  Also this knotting I have in my mid-back started acting up for the first time doing deadlifts.  Not during the lift thankfully, but really angry after each set.  I gave myself plenty of rest between the top sets, and everything went pretty well.  Every successive set left me feeling more and more confident for the following set.  After I got the 275 I was grinning like crazy, and I don't think I've ever done that after a lift before.  Maybe the first time I got 10 chin-ups last fall.  I almost wanted to throw some more weight on and go again, but I'm trying to show some restraint as I'm scheduled to add another 10lbs. next week to complete the cycle.