Heavy Squats

30 Jan 14

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x2, 335x2, 355x2, 365x1, 375x1, 385x1
 

The first lift is my opener, the second lift is just prep, and the final lift will be my second attempt at the meet.  Did this without a mirror and probably could have gone deeper.  I'm sure the opener was fine, but the other two felt close.

I don't think I'll have an issue hitting depth meet day though.  I had to cut Smolov short as it was messed up due to storms, work, etc.  I only missed the last two sessions, so I got most of it.

Bench before the snow.

Tues, 28 Jan 14

Bench warmups: 145x5, 160x5, 180x3, 200x1
Work: 220x7x5

Easy. Thought I'd put the bench in today as I might have to shovel snow later.

Week three begins....

Mon, 27 Jan 14

Bench warmups: 135x5, 150x3, 165x2, 185x1
Work: 205x6x6

Squat warmups: 135x5, 200x5, 220x3, 245x2, 270x1
Work: 300x6x6

Truly, truly brutal after the two heavy days last week.

Smolov week 2, day 4

CG Bench Press w 20 lb chains: 135x5, 145x5, 155x5, 170x3, 190x2, 210x1

Rev CG bench press: 135x5, 145x5, 155x5, 170x3, 190x2, 210x1

Bench Work: 235x10x3

Squat warm ups: 45x5, 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 305x2, 330x1

Work: 345x10x3

Brutal. Took me almost 2.5 hrs. to get through this. I was also doing laundry in between sets lol.  Bench was pretty easy except bi reversed yesterday's pattern. Instead of doing 135+chains I did the weight -20 of chains.  So 170 was 150 lbs weights and 20 in chains.  High speed again.

Two weeks out.

Sat, 25 Jan 14

CG Bench w chains: 45x5, 135x5, 135+20x5, 135+40x5, 135+60x5
Rev CG Bench w chains: 135+20x5, 135+40x5, 135+60x5
Work: 225x7x4, 225x10

Squat warmups: 45x5, 135x5, 215x5, 240x3, 265x2, 295x1

Work: 325x8x4

Nice long Saturday training day. Lots of close grip high speed work to start. First half of bench work paused, then high speed up. For fun I thought I'd see how many reps I could get out of 2 plates. (No bounce)

Foam rolled the hell out my hips and vastus lateralis. They've been a little beat up. Seemed to help.

Deadlifts

Fri, 24 Jan 14

Deadlifts: 225x5, 315x3, 365x2, 400, 425

Beat my opener but couldn't hit my second attempt. Deadlifts just get in your head when you miss.

Heavy squats

Thu, 23 Jan 14

Warmups: 45x2x5, 135x5, 205x5, 225x3, 250x2, 280x1
Work: 310x7x5

Man, with all the snow removal it was hard to grab the bar. Part of me just wanted to balance it on my shoulders hands free.

That would be the part I didn't listen to.

Blizzards and benching

Wed, 22 Jan 14

Warm ups: 140x5, 155x3, 170x2, 190x1
Work: 210x7x5

Blizzard outside today and no work. Decided to bench as my shoulders feel pretty good. I'll squat tomorrow.

Hip almost back to normal....

Tues, 21 Jan 14

Bench warmups: 135x5, 190x5, 210x3 wait, what...
Bench work: 195x6x6

Squat warmups: 45x2x5, 135x5, 190x3, 210x3, 235x2, 260x1
Squat work: 290x6x6

I decided to do bench first in case I couldn't squat and didn't want to risk getting bummed out.  Then I got confused looking at my work sheet and started doing my bench press warmups with my squat numbers.  Anyhow, needless to say bench went well.

My hip had the slightest hint of tenderness, but since the weight was far less and there was good high rep work I thought it would be good recovery stuff.  I've dropped the squat 1RM goal down by 10 lbs from 400 to 390.  I'm still hoping to hit 400 as my top lift in competition, but I don't want to wreck myself before the competition.

Hip still sore, but bench is good.

Mon, 20 Jan 14

Squat warm ups: 45x5, 135x5, 225x5, 250x3, 275x2, 305x1
Squats: 340x1x3

Bench warm ups: 45x5, 145x5, 160x3, 180x2, 200x1
Bench: 220x10x3

Started to squat, hip felt iffy until I hit weight and then it felt real heavy.  I stopped, and am planning on dropping that by 10 lbs to see how it goes.  Bench was easy, and I'll continue on for week 2 with that.

Saturday

Sat, 18 Jan 14

Squat warm ups: 45x5, 135x5, 210x5, 235x3, 260x2, 290x1
Squat work: 320x8x4

Bench warm ups: 45x5, 140x5, 155x3, 170x 2, 190x1
Bench work: 210x8x4

Knee sleeves and wrist wraps.  My right hip was getting sore by the end of the squats.  So, I guess I'm using my hips lol.

Smolov continues...

Thu, 16 Jan 14

Squat warm ups: 45x5, 135x5, 200x5, 225x3, 245x2, 275x1
Squat work: 300x7x5

Bench warm ups: 45x5, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2 (paused)
Bench work: 195x7x5 (paused)

In Sydney for work so off to the Y! Nice long workout, chatted with a young powerlifting guy, had a great session.  Paused benches for the practice.

Smolov Jr. Bench

Tues, 14 Jan 14

Warm ups:115x2x5, 1390x5, 145x2, 160x1
Work: 180x6x6

Nice light bench day.  Felt really easy.  I'm following the program, which says that the lift I want to make for my top lift on competition day will be the result of this though.

Smolov Jr. to the end.... Squats

Mon, 13 Jan 14

Warmups: 45x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 250x1
Work: 280x6x6

Phew, that was a lot of work! Wore my belt and knee sleeves and were my knees warm!  It's going to be a weird work week but I think I have it sorted.

I'm running Smolov Jr. squat and bench with my 1RM set to my max competition lift goal.  Hoping this works.

Heavy squats

Saturday, 11 January 2014

Squat Warmups: 45x2x5, 135x5, 225x5, 295x3, 330x2
Work: 360x5x2, 385x1

Heavy doubles today at my opener. A single of my second attempt. Walkout for 400, but didn't feel right, so only went down a few inches. Decided no injury is the better part of valour. 

Belted, knee and wrist wraps. Knee wraps were too tight on 400 as well and it was hurting my left knee quite a bit. 

Still confident I'll be able to hit the 400 by competition day.

More benching. I need it.

Fri, 10 Jan 14

Bench press warmups: 45x2x5, 135x5, 185x3, 205x2
Paused Bench work:  225x10x3

Working on my strict paused bench. After feeling out the weight I decided on triples at 225.  I'm going to move this weight some more until it's a smooth easy triple, since my opener is 231. I'm more confident in adding weight to my deadlift to help my score.

Deadlift day

Thu, 9 Jan 14

Deficit deadlifts (3 3/4"): 225x5, 275x3, 315x2, 365x1
Deficit deadlifts (1 3/4"): 375x10x1

Feeling good today. Warm ups on 4x4 wood pieces, then dropped down to a pair of 2x6 for the work sets.

Bench day. bleh.

Wed, 8 Jan 14

Bench press warmups: 135x5, 175x3, 195x2, 215x1
Work: 235x4, 230x4x5

I was rushed tonight and just didn't feel my benches. My initial work weight was definitely too heavy, and my fourth was too much.  I reset and tried a fifth and left it on the pins - likely psyched out.  Dropped the weight down 5 lbs, but still felt really heavy.  Anyhow, finished up and called it a day.  Next session I'll see how I feel and it will either be 230x5x5 or 225x5x6.  Not sure yet.

Heavy squat day

Tue. 7 Jan 14

Warmups: 135x5, 210x5, 235x3, 260x2, 290x1
Work: 320x5x5

Man, that was hard. I probably should have balanced my warmups a little better but decided to switch things up a bit. I was REALLY beat by the last set. They'll need a bit of a tweaking. Wrist and knee wraps and belt.

Figuring out my openers.

Sun, 5 Jan 14

Out nice and early to the gym with my coach to figure out my numbers for the upcoming PL meet in a month.  Warmed up and managed a PR in squats of 385 and deadlift of 455.  Bench number was 250.

Bench press work

Fri, 3 Jan 13

Big blizzard outside. I'm going to be doing a lot of snow removal later and have a competition practice on Sunday to set my lift attempts for my first competition in a month.

Floor presses: 135x2x5, 155x5, 185x3x5

No leg assistance, little arch, all chest and arms.

Deload over

Thu, 2 Jan 13

Squats

Warmups: 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2
Work: 315x5x5

Belted, knee sleeves and wrist wraps. Man those SBD sleeves are tight!  Thought I'd do some remedial  floor press work after, but without pins on the outside of my rack I can't get in there.  No matter what I tried I simply couldn't get in the right position to lift.  I might try my floor jacks and some 4x4's next time to make a safety arrangement.