[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
8x225 (Tried for 9, but couldn’t lock it out. I don’t know why. I wanted a PR.)
[/quote]
You may have needed to press it towards your face more[/quote]
The bar touches right at the tip of my xiphoid process on my sternum, about a bar’s length below my nipple line.[/quote]
Yeah it was likely the technical error I mentioned then
Deadlift
5x135
5x225
3x285
3x325
8x365 (Had to hitch up the last 2 a bit. Lots of breathing and bar rolling. No grip problems. I’ll take it as a PR.)
1x405 (I was beat up here from the set before. It felt sloppy.)
3x325 (These felt sloppy. Hard reps to get.)
10x285 (Not quality.)
5x285 (Not quality.)
Pendlay Row
155 lbs for 4 sets of 10
I can’t remember if I did an extra set of 5 after this or not. Odds are I did. I always do that.
Goodmornings
115 lbs for 6 sets of 10 (I tried a few different grips here. Bar was still rolling all up and down my back.)
Weighed in at 205. Tomorrow I will do shrugs, and I want to try the ab machine I found in the gym. Should be an easy recovery day.
Shrugs
100 lb dumbbells for sets of 10/10/9 (I tried to get a good squeeze. My grip died here.)
Trap Bar Shrug
2 plates per side for a set of 10
3 plates per side for a set of 10
2 plates per side for a set of 20 (10 fast, and then 10 with a squeeze.)
2 plates per side for a set of 10 (With a squeeze.)
Days like today kind of make me wish I had straps to use so I could overload my traps and not necessarily kill the F*** out of my hands. The skin on my hands is actually painful to the touch right now. I didn’t end up doing any abs. I lied.
Weight: 206.2
The local gym is closed, so they are having their members go to a different gym for a few days. I have a project due tomorrow and I could use a down day, not to mention that I’m not up for the drive tonight. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day, and I can get everything done tonight.
Press
5x45
5x65
3x95
5x115
3x130
8x145 (Died half way up 9. All reps were paused.)
3x130 (TNG from here on out.)
10x115
5x115
Pull Up
9/7/6 (Almost got 10, but it wasn’t a satisfactory rep, so no count for you!)
Dips
10/10/10
Pull UP (again)
5/5/5/5/5
Dips (again)
10/5/5/5 (Last set was nicely paused at the bottom.)
The pull up bar was large and without knurling, so I had to re-grip twice. As always these are from a dead hang. Nice thing is this weight room has a texas bar. I ate like crap today, and I am tired now. I actually met a few T-Nation readers today (which is odd because I don’t have never met anyone else who is on here spontaneously before). I said I would post my diet and a few old logs from a few months back, but I’ll have to do that tomorrow. I am way too tired to put that kind of effort in right now, and I still have to log my patients for the last few days.
I didn’t find the scale at the gym today. If anyone has any questions fire away, and I’ll get to them sometime in the next 48 hours. Tomorrow is meathead day 1 of the week. If anything else comes to mind, I’ll throw it up as an edit to this post.
EDIT #1: Heavier weights felt good on the press today. Lookin forward to starting to get to the heavier stuff now.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
8x225 (Tried for 9, but couldn’t lock it out. I don’t know why. I wanted a PR.)
[/quote]
You may have needed to press it towards your face more[/quote]
The bar touches right at the tip of my xiphoid process on my sternum, about a bar’s length below my nipple line.[/quote]
Yeah it was likely the technical error I mentioned then[/quote]
Where do you touch the bar to?
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
8x225 (Tried for 9, but couldn’t lock it out. I don’t know why. I wanted a PR.)
[/quote]
You may have needed to press it towards your face more[/quote]
The bar touches right at the tip of my xiphoid process on my sternum, about a bar’s length below my nipple line.[/quote]
Yeah it was likely the technical error I mentioned then[/quote]
Where do you touch the bar to?[/quote]
Ideally where you see in this video
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]trivium wrote:
8x225 (Tried for 9, but couldn’t lock it out. I don’t know why. I wanted a PR.)
[/quote]
You may have needed to press it towards your face more[/quote]
The bar touches right at the tip of my xiphoid process on my sternum, about a bar’s length below my nipple line.[/quote]
Yeah it was likely the technical error I mentioned then[/quote]
Where do you touch the bar to?[/quote]
Ideally where you see in this video
Ill have to make a video soon.
Today’s lift
Face Pull
170 lbs on stack for sets of 15/15/15/15/10
Immediately dropped to 150 and did 5
120 lbs on stack for a set of 20 (Very controlled reps.)
Rear Lateral Raise
20 lb dumbbells for sets of 15/15/15/10/10/15/10
Standing Straight Bar Curl
75 lbs for sets of 10/10/10/10/10
Weight of 204.4
Really behind on my work. Its going to be a long night.
I find these logs interesting. I wonder what happened to these guys…
The food part will be coming soon.
Absolutely pissed about this lift.
Squat
5x45
5x135
5x225
5x265
3x300
1x335 (Failed half way up rep number 2.)
3x335 (Failed half way up rep number 4.)
3x300
6x275
4x275 (Failed half way up rep number 5.)
Leg Press
290 x 20
380 x 20
470 x 10
560 x 5 immediately dropped to 380 and got 5.
380 x 10
Leg Curl
105 on stack for sets of 10/10/9/5/6
I have no idea what was wrong with squatting today. I fell forward a bit, but I still felt real comfortable throughout the rep. I just got stuck in the middle of the rep for some reason. I really wanted at least 5. 300 felt easy on the way up. The sets of 275 could have been better too. I am very confused about this lift. Hopefully the rest of the week goes smoothly.
I am still sore from my last leg workout. I plan on going tonight as well. I have a ton of work due by friday, and I am expected to work full shifts as always (9 to 12 hours depending on the procedures) for the rest of the week, so this is gonna come down to the wire, and I may have to delay a day or so.
Bench Press
5x45
5x135
5x185
3x210
4x235 (Failed 5. WORST BENCH PRESS I HAVE EVER USED. See below.)
3x210
10x185
5x185
Dumbbell Bench Press
70 lb dumbbells x 10/11/10/10
Kroc Row
3x10 @ 100 (Biggest dumbbells they had. Very, very little rest here. Gym closed before 40 reps)
The gym I went to last week closed, and I had to go to another gym. They had the worst fucking bench ever. I couldn’t get my feet set at all because it was like up to my knee in height and had a giant fucking thing on the bottom of it, and I had to do a fucking JM press to get the weight off the pins because they weren’t adjustable. I almost had a fucking accident trying to re-rack the weight on one of my sets. AND TO MAKE IT BETTER, THE DAMN BENCH WAS WOBBLING FROM SIDE TO SIDE AS I WAS TRYING TO PRESS. My shoulder blades weren’t tight at all, and I was having shoulder pain. Totally wasted my efforts here…then I walked through piss in the locker room because some asshole apparently thought the sink was the toilet. What the fuck is wrong with people??? I am absolutely pissed about this lift…literally. Also, I was having shoulder and wrist pain for some reason. Worst day of eating in a while, terrible sleep last night, tons of work to do, and some little fucker was bragging about how he squats 285 as a max and it is better than the one guy who comes in and squats 405 for sets of 10 with “poor form.” Jesus Christ. I’ve seen this guy. He is a fucking tank. Probably an assisted lifter, but still that is easily a 500 lb squatter. He has passable form IMO. This guy didn’t even look like he had ever touched a damn weight. If I had money I would buy him a gift card to the fucking all you can eat buffet here and a copy of 5/3/1.
I found a picture. This is the worst bench I have ever used. Obviously designed by someone who has never lifted a weight in their entire life.
My legs are still sore, I had a real rough day at work, I am behind with my project, and I didn’t sleep well last night. Plus the gym closes in an hour. Ill never make it. Today’s lift will have to wait until tomorrow because of my current circumstances.
Got to work at 7:30 am, and just got home (6:54). All of the gyms (all one of them) close at 7 today. The ones at home are open till 9, but the drive takes an hour and a half, so I wont make it. I’ll have to make tomorrow a two-a-day. I need to eat and sleep hard because I am going to have to be early.
The legs are still sore. I love it. Since I am not progressing this week, that is a definite plus. I am considering just going up to 220 in weight. I noticed that when I hit my first plateau on a lift it was when I wasn’t gaining weight. The thing is that I have to find time to be more consistent with my lifts for that to become a possibility, as I am not going to smash food and miss lifts. I don’t want to, but I may have to get a little puffy to get 1200.
I am getting pretty close to quitting. I can’t take not having the equipment I need. I don’t have a gym where I can use chalk, the bars are completely worn smooth, they are closed a lot of days, and the staff there just doesn’t give a shit about you.
Today’s lift
Deadlift
5x135
5x225
5x305
3x345 (Felt really easy. I mean really, really easy. I did start to have a hard time holding on to the bar though on the last rep.)
At this point in time, I was feeling like I was going to hit a PR pretty easily because I felt so good, so I decided to go with 4 plates per side and try to break my previous record of 2. 405 was 20 lbs heavier than my last set was supposed to be. No big deal, right? I remember last time I just about got 3, and I honestly felt like I could get 5 if I was fresh and feeling this good.
0x405 (Got it to my knees before I lost grip.)
I took 15 minutes break because an older guy at the gym was lecturing me on form and missing lifts. What he was saying was correct. He said that “if you can lift 405 with bad form, there is no reason you cant lift 500 with good form. You’re strong as hell, but you have to get the form down.” The problem is that when my grip fails, I have to figure out how to compensate, and it makes my form go goofy. I showed him a video of my form from 3 months ago where I got 405 x 2. He said it looked good, but I was way off with the set he watched. I tried to collect myself and go again.
0x405 (One inch off the floor and I just couldn’t get it anymore. I couldn’t hold on to the bar.)
The bar was completely smooth. It was 1000 years old and the knurling was almost nonexistent. It was not a regulation bar either.
Then I got curious and tried to do 315 pseudo-sumo. Felt interesting, but odd because I don’t do sumo lifts. I definitely felt other muscles firing. So, 1x315
I just got pissed and left. I stopped to talk to the manager to ask if they would consider getting a new bar for deadlifting. The manager told me to go buy straps, because they wouldn’t consider getting a new bar. The bar costs just over $350. Hard to believe when they advertise that they have a brand new machine room that I estimate to be worth close to $25,000.
I am taking tomorrow completely off and restarting this cycle with the same exact weights for deadlift. I am also moving to 4 days a week. I just don’t have time to make entre days out of lifts like I want to. I am going to switch my squat and deadlift days back to regular. If I have to, I will buy a Texas bar and bring it to the gym every time I lift. I don’t care how stupid it looks. Since it will be my bar, I think they shouldn’t have a problem with me using chalk on it.
Straps are a must buy for you I agree.
You might should try changing your training for the duration of your stay with this gym. Switch to a more bodybuilding style and stop worrying about chasing numbers in an environment not conducive to such endeavors. You will still build muscle and be strong.
Yesterday I wasn’t too happy with how my lifts went. I had to go to a family member’s birthday party about an hour and a half away, and I decided that I was going to find a gym when I left. The gym there is probably the best gym I’ve ever stepped foot in. Here is the second lift of the day.
Deadlift
5x135
5x225
5x305
3x345 (Did not feel easy like earlier.)
3x385 (I am not counting rep number 4.)
0x415 (I pretty much got it. It was sloppy though, so I am not counting it.)
2x345 (Failed rep 4.)
5x305
Goodmorning
4x10 @ 135
Kroc Row
100 lb dumbbells for sets of 10/5 (No rest here. I just had to get a few more reps for the week.)
I kinda felt like my lower back was a little sore from earlier. That’s ok though because the second workout was much better than the first.
My 8 to 10 rep maxes are much better than my 5 to 1 rep maxes. Anyone know why that might be?