Road to Not Weak: Matt's Training Log

I like the chest up cue, but it has to be taught carefully. Chris Duffin had a really good video devoping on trying to use "chest up" as a cue to shift the weight back.

SSchwartsenator wrote:

http://gregnuckols.com/2014/01/02/fixing-the-good-morning-squat/

This is a good article, it hit me in the feels.

My mind is blown at how much better powerlifting articles have gotten. It must have been within the past few years that you'd be ridiculed for suggesting a quad dominant movement to fix a squat weakness

I like that article too. Nice to (virtually) meet you btw, Matt.

Quads are dumb

Chris Anderson wrote:

Quads are dumb

Yeah I can see them getting annoying when they have their own gravitational pull and zip code

10/17/14

Squat:
Warm ups
170 5x5

Bench:
Warm ups
138 3x8

Notes:
With some discussion over my good-morning squat, I've decided to add a volume day on squat, and will be throwing some accessory quad work in as well. The 170 I did today was a bit low, even for 5x5, but I was convinced to deload for a few days after my max-effort squats. Also benched today after some coaching from Coach Kane, and it felt pretty good. My right side is descending faster than my left, however. Was told that the answer is to keep benching.

Quote :

Coach Kane

I like it.

DDaddyKane wrote:

Quote :

Coach Kane

I like it.

Coach Salty Daltey

10/20/14

Squat:
Warmups
260 5x1

Notes:
This was tough, but form didn't feel too poor. Lifting alone because training at the Field House got canceled, so I'm not sure. Didn't feel like my ass was rising up too fast tho. Wrists also feel much better. Didn't get to bench because there were 9000 people benching at the rec.

10/24/14

Squat:
Warm ups
243 3x5

Bench:
Warm ups
143 5,4,5

Notes:
Squat definitely felt good today. Only the last two reps of my third set were questionable with the good-morning thing, and I only felt like my hips rose up first on my very last rep. Overall a good squat day.

Bench feels way better after the tips I got from Kyle and Wes at 22nd Street. Only 143, and I think the reason I missed the fifth rep on the second set was because I got rushed. Otherwise, some slight wrist issues.

10/27/14

Squat:
Warm ups
248x5
243x4
243x5

Bench:
Warmups
149x3
143 2x5

Notes:
Kind of a shitty day tbh. Gonna deload on squat by 10-15% and work back up with more reps per set, try to get through this plateau. Bench was decent, just working it more often now. Gonna hop on a real program as soon as I get bench up to speed.

10/29/14

Deadlift:
Warm ups
330 1x3, 2x1

OHP:
Warm ups
100 2x4, 1x2

Rows:
100 3x8

10/31/14

Squat:
Warmup
220 5x5

Bench:
Warmup
149x4
143x5
143x4
143x3

Notes:
Squat felt great. Bench sucked as per usual

Here's the vid I was thinking of when we were looking at your shoulder mobility. Mobility WOD is usually all hardcore crossfitty, but they have some really good stuff every now and then. I would look through some more of their shoulder stuff, and see what you can work on to fix that imbalance.

11/10/14

Squat:
Warm ups
176 4x8

Notes:
I have been terribly sick the last week, still not feeling 100%. Missing the gym and a ton of meals and rest has fucked me. Today felt awful. Also skipped bench because I'm a fuck up

Fuck my life. Just accidently erased this entire post. Been lazy, haven't been logging. Gonna spew a couple weeks all in one post.
-------------------------
11/12/14

Deadlift
Warmups
315x3 (Felt really heavy, was sick so I wasn't 100%)

-------------------------
11/14/14

Bench
Warmups
143 3x5 (Last few reps were shitty on each set, bad form for those last few.)
--------------------------
11/17/14

Squat
Warmups
226 3x5 (This felt decently heavy, for sure lost some progress by not squatting in a while. Hopefully can work back up quickly.)
226x1 w/ wraps (This was done for science, because fucking around is fun. This was super odd but enjoyable. May investigate more.)
---------------------------
11/18/14

Bench
Warmups
145 3x5 (This felt good. Last rep on each set was a grinder, but didn't lose tightness too bad.)

Rows
105 3x8

11/18/14

Deadlift:
Warmups
320 5x1, 30 second rest between reps.

OHP:
95 3x5

Notes:
Today didn't feel bad. Was originally gonna do 315 because of being sick recently, but glad I did 320. Didn't feel too awful. OHP wasn't too hard either, which gives me hope that maybe I won't always suck at upper body anything.

11/22/14

Squat:
Warmups
226x3
243x1
254x1

Bench:
Warmups
149 2x5
150 1x4

Notes: Just wanted to work up to some singles on squat, these felt really good, I felt really tight at the bottom. Speed out of the hole was really slow tho, so that's something I may need to address. Bench was awesome today, actually felt really good. First time ever benching 150 for reps, so that's neat. Had the opportunity to go to Magni for the last set of bench, and didn't really warm up for the last set but idk. Will repeat that weight on Monday.

11/24/14

Squat:
Warmups
245x1
265x1
275x1

Bench:
155x1 Paused
165x1 Paused
175x1 TnG
155 3x3
___________________

11/26/14

Deadlift:
Warmups
335x1
355x1
365 ----> Missed
340x1

Bench:
Warmups
160 3x2
160 2x3

Notes:
Training is feeling really good coming up to this mock meet.

11/28/14

Squat:
Warmups
245x1
265x1
285x1
295x1 <----- PR Attempt, Missed
295x1 <----- Second Try, Missed

Bench:
165 5x1 <----- Paused

Magni Mock Meet
12/6/14

Squat:
1. 275 Make
2. 290 Make
3. 300 Miss

Bench:
1. 165 Make
2. 175 Make
3. 185 Miss

Deadlift:
1. 335 Make
2. 350 Make
3. 365 Make

Notes:
Super duper fun, I definitely want to do the whole competing thing. Really happy overall with my lifts, except for squat. I really wanted to PR on squat, and I feel like my second attempt was really good, but should have asked for 295 instead of 290 just so I could have 2 tries at a PR. Oh well, next time I'll hit it. Third attempt just went down too fast, lost my balance and rolled forward. Bench went well as well, I feel confident that I would have gotten 185 easily, but got too excited at the bottom and forgot to pause. Lowballed deadlift, feel I easily could have pulled another 10 pounds at least.

______________________________________________________________________

12/8/14

FIRST DAY OF TEXAS METHOD.

Squat:
Warmups
220 3x5

Bench:
Warmups
143 3x5

Notes:
Official first day on a program in the books. Cut down the volume a little bit because of the mock meet, but this still felt pretty good. Bench was really easy, but the squats felt heavy. Really looking forward to the light day on Wednesday. Also didn't really know what my five rep max was, so I may have started a bit too low on weight. We'll see next week how things go.

12/10/14

Squat:
Warmups
175 2x5

OHP:
Warmups
95 3x5

Barbell Rows:
100 3x8
________________________

12/12/14

Squat:
Warmups
254 1x5

Bench:
Warmups
154 1x5

Deadlift:
Warmups
320 1x4, missed fifth
___________________

12/15/14

Squat:
Warmups
225 5x5

Bench:
Warmups
145 5x5

Notes:
First day really doing 5x5, and it was not fun. Also had to do it at the rec, and I absolutely hate squatting with those bars that don't have knurling in the middle. Some reps definitely looked better than others. On bench I tried three sets with more of an arch, felt good surprisingly. Science and shit.

12/22/14

Squat:
Warmups
245x1
275x1
235 1x5
230 4x5

Bench:
Warmups
150 5x5

Notes:
Felt good, went up to some singles, then went down for the five by five. Messed up plate math though, and went too heavy on first set. Still got it though. Bench also felt good, was doing heels up.

12/24/14

Squat:
Warmups
185 2x5

OHP:
Warmups
100 3x5

Rows:
115 5x5

_______________________________________________________

12/26/14

Squat:
Warmups
275 1x1
285 1x1
300 1x1 <------- PR (Belted)
255 1x5

Bench:
Warmups
165 1x4, missed fifth

Deadlift:
Warmups
325 1x5, Reset each rep

Notes: Got my belt for Xmas, hit a relatively easy PR squat, very happy. Bench was good, I missed last rep because I got out of the groove and touched too high, very confident that I could have gotten it otherwise, fourth rep was pretty fast. On DL I noticed that my setup is different every time I do it, so I've started taking a few seconds to completely re-approach the bar after every rep in order to get it into muscle memory.

12/29/14

Squat:
Warmups
235 2x5 (Beltless)
235 3x5 (Belted)

Bench:
Warmups
155 5x5

Notes:
Something something core strength. Squats didn't feel too bad today, although I was noticing a very slight forward lean in the hole on my last few reps of my belted sets, not sure if that was me losing tightness or what. If it continues I'll probably try to change up belt positioning or something. First set of bench was very difficult, don't think I warmed up enough. Last four sets weren't too bad - I'm very  happy with how much my bench has progressed in the last month.