Daily training. Annual improvements.

[hector]

Strength
Squat: 360 x 1s x 5r
Squat: 335 x 3s x 5r
Bench: 250 x 1s x 5r
Bench: 250 x 4s x 3r (PR for 4x3 triples)

Aux
Ab Wheel: 3s x 5r

Volume
Squat: (1,800 + 5,025) = 6,825
Bench: (1,250 + 3,000) = 4,350
-------------------------------
Total: 11,175

*****************************

"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."
-Michael Jordan

Tonight consisted of failures from which I eked out some victories.
Goals were ambitious; I planned on squatting 360 for 3 sets of 5 and bench 250 for 3 sets of 5. Both would have been 3x5 PRs.

I made the first set of 360x5 squats. But it was ugly. Form felt weird, maybe due to taking too many days off. Bar path was off. Last two reps were grinders. So I squeezed out some backoff sets at 335. In a sense this was a failure because I fell far short of the goal. I still see it as a success because that's the heaviest set of 5 I've squatted in years.

Similar story with the bench. After the first set of 5 I knew tonight wasn't the night to hit 3x5. So I followed up with 4 sets of triples. (Which is a 4s x 3r PR!)

Tomorrow's hypertrophy day!!!!!

[EricK]

Having the sense and maturity to lower the load when called for is not a failure IMO. You can make up those few pounds in no time because being conservative helps you to keep going forward, while being greedy just gets you stuck (or hurt). Good call; you'll get those for 3x5 in no time.

[hector]

Having the sense and maturity to lower the load when called for is not a failure IMO. You can make up those few pounds in no time because being conservative helps you to keep going forward, while being greedy just gets you stuck (or hurt). Good call; you'll get those for 3x5 in no time.

Thanks! WHat you write makes sense.

[hector]

HYPERTROPHY Day

Leg Press: 630 x 3s x 5r (PR)
Bench: 215 x 4s x 8r
Bent Over Row: 225 x 3s x 5r
Press: 140 x 3s x 8r
DB Curl: 35 x 4s x 8r

Jefferson Curls: Done between sets of presses and DB curls.

Volume
Bench: 6,880
Press: 3,360
BB Rows: 3,375
-----------------------------------------------------------
Total: 13,615


************************************************************
Weird pain in hamstring during leg press. Chalking this up to sedentary nature of past few days. Lots of driving and desk duty.
Jefferson Curls are a life saver.

I WILL BENCH 300 IN 2017!!! EVEN THOUGH 250 FELT HEAVY JUST THE OTHER NIGHT!

[Chris]

Looks like you're well on your way to a 1000lb leg press. That'd be a neat milestone.

[hector]

Looks like you're well on your way to a 1000lb leg press. That'd be a neat milestone.

Maybe! Right now I use a longer ROM than most recommend on the leg press. I might have to shorten it a little bit when I'm moving actual heavy weight.
Cool to think about, regardless.

[hector]

Strength
Deads: 470 x 1s x 5r
Bench: 250 x 1s x 5r
Bench: 250 x 5s x 3r (5s x 3r PR)

Volume
Deads: 2,350
Bench: (1,250 + 3,750) = 5,000
---------------------------------
Total: 7,350

*******************************

Planned on going higher volume.
Few factors worked against me.
(1) Ate a rich dinner first. (Social obligation. Not easily avoidable.)
(2) Worked out late at night. (Because of the late dinner.)
(3) My lower back tensed up like a MF after my warmup sets of deadlifts at 135. Not sure why. Or what it meant. Guess is that it's because I've continued to be especially sedentary these past few days. Going to have to do some YouTube yoga.

[hector]

Strength
Bench: 210 x 5s x 8r
Leg Press: 360 x 5s x 8r
BB Rows: 225 x 5s x 6r
Press: 135 x 5s x 8r
AB Wheel: 2s x 8r

Volume
Bench: 8,400
Rows: 6,750
Press: 5,400
--------------
Total: 20,550

************************

I have a lot of mobility issues. Along with those issues comes occasional and slight pain, tightness, and impaired ROM. They stem from past injuries and a current sedentary lifestyle. Two things that have offered some relief in the past are Jefferson curls and deadlifts. Well, add high rep leg press to the list. Love that machine.
I was surprised to find that after my leg press work that the sciatica and slightly impaired ROM of my leg were both gone. I don't understand the mechanism at work. Maybe it's because I use a large rom on the leg press the weight is pushing me into a stretch. Sort of like the opposite of traction. If that makes sense. Except that's just a description of a process, not an explanation.

Bodybuilding day remains fun. I'm giving it a few weeks to see what happens and if any results come from it.
Was cool to break 20k in volume.

[tersh]

re leg press relief: There also seems to be something about loading the pelvis from the bottom that tends to re-align stuff in a way that you can't while standing.

[hector]

re leg press relief: There also seems to be something about loading the pelvis from the bottom that tends to re-align stuff in a way that you can't while standing.

I never knew. It's fascinating stuff! And hugely useful. I wish I'd known more about this when my sciatica was worse.

[hector]

Strength
F Squat: 225 x 4s x 5r
Bench: 255 x 4s x 3r (4s x 3r PR!)

Ab Wheel: 2s x 10r

Volume
F Squat: 4,500
Bench: 2,700
-----------------------
Total: 7,200

*********************

Super quick, light workout.

Despite taking the last two days off for life, I was feeling trashed. It was late at night and wasn't sure back squats would be productive, so I went with the life I love but never do, front squats. Achieved a volume PR, if not weight one. While I've still never gone much over 225, 225 felt easier than it ever has before.

Bench was a PR for 4s x 3r. Well, a PR for any number of sets of triples.

DESPITE THE PROXIMITY OF 31 DEC AND MY LOW NUMBERS, I WILL BENCH 300, AND PRESS 200, IN 2017!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hector]

Strength
Squat: 315 x 3s x 5r
Bench: 245 x 3s x 5r (NEW 3s x 5r PR!!!!)
Bent Over Row: 225 x 4s x 6r

Aux
Leg Press: 270 x 2s x 20r
Ab Wheel: 2s x 10r

Hot Tub: 15 minutes

Volume
Squat: 4,725
Bench: 3,675
BB Rows: 5,400
------------------------------------------
Total: 13,400

***************************************

Squats felt heavy tonight. No idea why. Maybe it was combination of new bar, new gym, and lower training frequency lately. Last set was the easiest, which tells me maybe I didn't warm up enough.

Bench felt weird as well. The bar height was different at this other gym, the bar itself felt different. I told myself to get the fuck over it and lift. And it worked. NEW BENCH 3s X 5r PR!!!!!!! 245!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why did I do the leg press for sets of 20 at the end?
(1) Obliterates my sciatica. Walking feels amazing afterword. Weak, but amazing.
(2) Something about a heart adaptation, but a different kind than from cardio. Quote below:

The researchers found that systolic pressure doubled, and diastolic pressure was on average 2.5 times higher than at rest. This differs from cardio-based exercise, where diastolic pressure barely increases, if at all.

What this means is that there's minimal to no pressure difference between a systolic and diastolic pressure, meaning blood is being "squeezed" by the blood vessel in between the pressure exerted by the heart and the relative back pressure exerted by the working muscles.

To overcome that resistance, the smooth muscles of the veins have to bust their ass to push harder, effectively making your blood vessels dieseled out way more than the dude who just ran a marathon on the treadmill.

https://www.t-nation.com/training/is-th ... -worthless

[simonrest]

Congrats on the bench pr

[hector]

Congrats on the bench pr

Thank you! One step closer to 300!!!!

[hector]

Bodybuilding Day

Leg Press: 360 x 5s x 10r
Bench: 205 x 6s x 8r

Bar Hang: 1s x 1 minute

Jefferson Curls: 60lb dumbbell

Sauna
Swim

*****************************

Bodybuilding day is turning into mobility day. Which isn't the worst thing. After leg press, bar hang, jefferson curls, and the sauna my mobility is outstanding.

I WILL BENCH 300 BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR!!!!!

My last bench 1RM was 275. That means 205 is approximately 76% of 1RM. At that percent I think there are benefits to doing high volume work.

[Chris]

Congrats on the bench PR!

Maybe Friday's squat session felt off because of residual fatigue in your quads from your anterior squats on Tuesday? Might as well keep them in the rotation so the body can adapt...

...and by the by, I hear cleans are a good volume supplement to support your front squat. Better include those, too

[hector]

Congrats on the bench PR!

Maybe Friday's squat session felt off because of residual fatigue in your quads from your anterior squats on Tuesday? Might as well keep them in the rotation so the body can adapt...

...and by the by, I hear cleans are a good volume supplement to support your front squat. Better include those, too

In regards to residual fatigue, very possible!

In regards to cleans, I would love to! It always comes down to time. With finite time adding one exercise usually means dropping another. Like Erik K, except more so, I'm a phenomenally non-explosive person. Pulling more than 500, but 225 would be a good power clean for me.

[hector]

Squat: 365 x 1 x 1

***************

Legs sore today before training. Lots of walking this weekend. Did a few singles just to practice technique and get blood flowing before real training tomorrow.

[EricK]

Like Erik K...I'm a phenomenally non-explosive person...

[hector]

Like Erik K...I'm a phenomenally non-explosive person...

Eh, I guess being non-explosive means that, in theory, we'd be awesome if we switched to boring, ultra-endurance stuff. So, there's that.