Three Stages to PR 1RM

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

I can get into a bad rhythm of overreaching, unproductive and frustrating training when I don't have concrete squat/dl progressions. My quad tendon ready to squat again. Gonna try hard to just post the essentials. The plan is three blocks: 3x12, 3x8, 2x4 with each block lasting 4-6 weeks or so. Let's see how close I can get to 4 wheels before the year's up.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

8/12

Squat 185x3x12

Subject: Re: Three Stages to PR 1RM Tue Aug 12, 2014 5:21 pm

Dude, I'm happy you feel ready to get back to squatting, but please keep stuff to one training log. If each of us made a new training log whenever we tweaked something and came back from it, I'm pretty sure we'd put the size of wikipedia's databases to shame.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

08/12 Squat 185x3x12
08/15 Squat 190x3x12
08/19 Squat 195x3x12
08/22 Squat 200x3x12
08/27 Squat 205x3x12; tweaked back during warmup reps
08/30 Squat 210x3x12
09/02 Squat 215x3x12; very minor strain proximal sliver of vastus medialis about halfway up take off leg on 31st while jumping
09/05 Squat 198x2x12, 220x3x12; misload, thought quad strain was getting better now it's worse but doesn't seem isolated to VM
09/08 Squat 225.5x2x12,1x15; felt rly slo/hvy cuz bball 2hrs yesterday, did 3 xtra reps cuz i thought i lost count (but i didn't)
09/10 Deadlift 415x1x5
09/12 Squat 230x3x12
09/14 Squat 235x3x12
09/16 Deadlift 425x1x5
09/18 Squat 240x3x12
09/22 Squat 245x3x8; hurt back coming up

09/28 Squat 250x3x8
10/01 Squat 255x3x8
10/03 Squat 259x3x8
10/05 Squat 265x3x8
10/06 Squat 270x3x8
10/08 Squat 275x2x8, 1x10
10/10 Squat 280x3x8
10/12 Squat 285x2x8, 1x9
10/14 Squat 290x2x8, 1x13
10/16 Squat 295x3x8
10/19 Squat 300x1x14
10/22 Squat 305x3x4; strained quad penultimate leg just prior; felt very weak; good news back feels better; can get into DL start position

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

I think I'm just gonna keep editing the post above this one each day I squat because I like being able to see the whole picture at a glance. But I'd like to post videos (haven't been taking video until today) and maybe say something more. It'll be sort of like having a table of contents to my log. I'll make a new log around New Year (when this training culminates) any maybe keep the same format that I've started here.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Today was supposed to be 220 but I fucking misloaded the bar and didn't realize until I put my belt on for my last set. So I started my work sets over again. Quad strain seemed a lot better over last few days but from my first warm-ups I was feeling it. Probably feel like crap tomorrow. Quad hurt way too much to do eccentric pistols on that leg but w/e it's the other leg that had the quad tendinopathy so no biggie. Anyway, I completely forgot to video myself. Otherwise not a bad session at all!

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Played (crappy) basketball for two hours yesterday which effected this a lot. Felt like 300lbs+ walking it out. Moved really slow. Wound up doing some extra reps because I thought I may have lost count. My strained quad felt horrible last night but I woke up and I felt a lot better. Must be that extra GH release from my nightly 9mg melatonin supplementation. I could work on hitting depth early in the set. The last reps are a little deeper cuz I wanna make better use of the SSC as I fatigue. Really no reason I don't do this for the entire set. If I ever do a full power meet this will be a big concern.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Squatted early in the morning Friday. Heard Mashette present her summer research on rectal thermometers. Very proud of her! It's incredible to me that people can be so dumb who are supposed to be experts or whatever. Silly old man tried to grill her on a totally irrelevant characteristic of her data but she handled it well : ) Then I was busy later so I couldn't make the training session at in the Oly Room. Ran into Lorenzo at an ungodly hour and we shared what was likely the only straight bar in the CRCW. If you watch the video you'll see there was a minor issue on my last set trying to rack (and rerack) the bar because the j-cups were a little too low for me.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Video from last two sessions both felt slow.

Donno what will happen training my DL like this. This is sorta the lower bound for number of lifts I can do with 10lbs/wk progress. 445x1x5 would be hypothetical equivalent to 50x1x1 and I would do this time after next. I'm expecting to shake off a little more rust and have a better performance next time so I can come off next week expecting to pull 445 for a solid five reps the week after. At worst I won't be investing a lot of into this and then I'll know it was a mistake. I'm interested to see what happens.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Figured this warrants a post,,,, ,, Pulled the trigger last week on metal squat shoes after eyeing them for most of a year. I just received them and I'm actually not all that impressed. Quality seems a little chintzy for spending nearly $200. The last of the shoe seems to fit my feet just fine so that's a relief. And I'm sure it will only improve as the leather molds to my foot. What I don't like is that they actually don't feel very flat. I wish there was more contact with the floor. The toes are lifted. It almost feels like a reverse rake. Also, I thought they looked pretty badass in pictures but now I'm getting a definite rental ice skate vibe. I still do like them though and I'm being as hyper-critical as possible. Excited to use them!

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Post video a little later. I had planned this stage to last 6 weeks or less and now I've finished 6 weeks. Tempted to tack on another session or two. It'll make the next stages a little more aggressive. Maybe I should be less greedy. I think I'm going to see a big PR at the end of the year. If I push further in uncharted territory I could hurt something. Squat is going good though.

Assistance (should log this stuff):
eccentric partial pistol on slanted floor (no bosu ball bounce

)
eccentric calves 2 plates smith machine
...
(@ Field House)
RDL 240x2x12
Rubish 45 deg bench DLs 95x(roughly)3x10 (INCONCEIVABLE LOW BACK PUMP)
knee extensions 2x25lbs for 4-5 sets of 10
glute-ham-gastroc two sets AMRAPish (motor learning apparent from first to second set)
^ the last three exercises are new today. One thing that's lacking is practice pulling off the floor. I think there's some weird incongruence between starting strength off the floor and dynamic strength. I've got the ROM covered once it gets moving, and I've got extra low back work so I can lock out my doubled over spine, but I am only pulling weights off the floor when I DLx1x5 once a week. That's a concern because I think the start of my DL has some things that can be tweaked. The bar will sometimes get yanked off my shins when I separate it from the floor. That's bad and I think it contributes to the bar losing some velocity at the point. It seems like I can get a good burst and get it off the floor but then my muscles stop firing momentarily before I pull it again. I am not sure exactly why this happens. Do I pull it off the floor, get scared, and wait to react against the downward momentum of the bar? Do the muscles actually prefer to fire in bursts? Is training like this detrimental to running, jumping, et al gaited movement because the muscle twitches are unlearned? I think there's some cuing I need to play with. Anyway point is I will do halting DLs sooner or later. Still have my fingers crossed about how this DL training will go with very low volume/high intensity and several assistance exercises (previously have not done any)

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

OHP 95x3x5
LTE 45x3x10 (assuming ez curl bar is 25lbs for the time being)
Seated DB press alternating with off limb near lock out 20sx2x20

One of these days I'm actually gonna stick with upper body training. I mean it's bound to happen right? I feel stupid saying this will be time because I think I say that every time and my credibility is zilch

I'm feeling my traps a lot more than I used to. This is due to what's effectively activation exercises I'll casually do at home doing whatever-- I think I started doing these because (1) I wanted to get more scapular elevation so I could put the ball higher over my head and (2) I made a slow realization that my traps are pretty weak/small/unincorporated into movements. People talk about "gluteal amnesia"; I think I have "trapezial amnesia". That's why I'm doing the alternated DP press pausing at the top instead of the bottom like most people do them/

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

5x6=30 pull ups
some face pulls

Man I used to be able to rep out 20 pull ups when I was a kid. It'd be nice to get back to that.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Think I'm gonna stop posting on the internet cause a nutjob is stalking me. Srs.

Elite Posts : 2446 Join date : 2011-10-30

Dubya wrote:: Think I'm gonna stop posting on the internet cause a nutjob is stalking me. Srs.

need pics to evaluate

Master Posts : 1912 Join date : 2011-10-31 Age : 32

will_diebolt_fanboy, pls respond

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Hopefully this has blown over or I'm gonna stop worrying at least. Piece of shit stalked/doxxed me. Gonna keep my vids private for the time being. I think dude might have tried to log onto my email too because I got some notifications.

I hurt my back kinda-sorta-bad last Monday because I was so alarmed and pissed about this. I wanted to blast through my reps and went way too low on the descent and relaxed my back. I was a dumbass and finished the workout after doing this. For a few days I was grabbing the walls when I walked and getting up from laying down was like some kind of elaborate turkish gettup #KevinAlvy

Felt good enough to squat today and pick up right where I left off so I did 250x3x8. I was very careful keeping my back tight and slowed down the eccentric. The least rep of my workout seemed like RPE 9 which really sucks. I expect it to feel a lot better next time I go in.

Unfortunately I don't think I'm gonna do that DL meet because I don't feel comfortable DLing and I'm not gonna do a meet without at least a month's prep. I gotta get it together man. I keep backing outta these things.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Found a NASA meet in south Illinois on dec 20. Looks kinda far away but the timing is right. This might be a good DL meet for me. Now if I can just stay healthy and make some good progress in the meantime,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,

Elite Posts : 2446 Join date : 2011-10-30

Iowalifter wrote:: For a few days I was grabbing the walls when I walked and getting up from laying down was like some kind of elaborate turkish gettup #KevinAlvy

das not it

Master Posts : 1912 Join date : 2011-10-31 Age : 32

Not even a chick stalker? 2/10WNB

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

Fucking miscers

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

255x3x8 went pretty well considering I'm coming back from injury. I definitely lost a lot of technical skill guarding the injury or whatever. It's coming back pretty fast though. I was kinda scared on the first reps and I got into a better groove as the sets went on. Still felt too heavy for my liking but it I'll just have to see where things go. I was feeling really optimistic before my injury and so hopefully I can get back to that. Oh, I moved my stance out just a little. I was trying to do this a while ago and reverted back without thinking about it. I think it's gonna be a little safer.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

259x3x8 today. Wasn't supposed to do this until tomorrow at the earliest. Felt fine. Got kinda slow because I had to fight the tendency to GM through the sticking point. Feels like I'm getting the neuro strength back. Weird how the body protects itself when injured. I guess I shouldn't complain though.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

265x3x8. Actually I did 9 on my second set accidentally. Last set felt the best. Actually if I cue thoracic extension it seems to prevent the tendency to goodmorning. I get the feeling that my femurs are shortened and I'm just more compact. Donno why that happens but that's how it feels. Started doing some ballistic stuff after I squat before the eccentrics: one leg box jumps and barbell SVJ. The big thing here is just that I get way too emotionally invested in jumping; if I don't jump very high it's all that I can think about all the rest of the day and really ruins my shit. So I have NEVER been able to carry out an intelligent plan in all these years despite having some pretty good knowledge on the subject. The main thing is just compliance and getting in some kind of pattern of stimulus that the organism will adapt to. I don't think I should have any troubles just doing this stuff after I squat when I'm already warmed up. I won't be getting feedback from the rim about how high I'm jumping. Hopefully I can see some transfer from this. During the seance the first set is gonna feel kind of stiff with too much muscle tone as a result of the prolonged quasi-isometric type of work at first so maybe I should wait a little longer after I squat for that to dissipate or whatever.

Class II Posts : 221 Join date : 2014-05-26

275x2x8, 10

Did an extra two reps on my last set. I've been figuring I can get another two reps on these sets of 8 if I had to and I wanted to see how it felt. Did this on a whim after the 8th. Reason for being concerned this is to plug a rep max into 1RM calculator. Considering that this was my last set and I felt like I could have actually done another 2 (=12) I'm feeling pretty good.

I've done 5 squat seances in 8 days and 3 in the last 4 days. I don't really feel beat up at all. My back is still a little iffy but doesn't bother me squatting. More reason to feel optimistic.

Only thing I don't like is I wish I hadn't wasted my money on these overpriced metal squat shoes. They're already getting worn down at the heel from walking between sets. There are so many design flaws on this fucking shoe. They should have put some kind of outersole to wrap around the heel because I can see the leather is worn down. The outersole will probably start to split at that seam also. I'll may just buy Mark Bell's Crossfit shoe at some point. Ideally I'd rather just squat in my oly shoes but I donno if that will ever be a good idea given my structural conditions/fear of knee injury.