SHEIKO WEEK #4; #2

- Bench 135x3 (50%), 165x3 (60%), 195x3 (70%), 220x3x2 (80%), 235x2x3 (85%)
Pretty easy. My bench at least seems to have recovered since Sunday.
- Deadlift 265x3 (50%), 315x3 (60%), 370x2x2 (70%), 420x3x2 (80%), 445x2x2 (85%)
The doubles with this were much more difficult than they should have been. I believe that the volume in this cycle is really catching up to me. But I also am being very strict about relaxing between every rep, which makes the reps after the first MUCH more difficult. This could help explain why I am weak off the floor, if I'm in the habit of using tendon stretch. The first rep on all of these was easy, but the second was difficult for all of the doubles.

I also messed up the sets of 370 -- I did one triple instead of two doubles. Oops.
- Bench 150x5 (55%), 180x5 (65), 205x4x3 (75%)
- Flat dumbell flies 25x5x10 (10%)
- Lunges 135x5x5
I discovered that my lunge form avoids using my left glute. I corrected this, but it fits in with the squat issues I've been correcting.
- Pull-ups Bodyweightx15
Actually done in the middle of the lunges. Full ROM, all the way down relaxed to completely up with neck above hands. Very happy with this.

Gym news:

Rene was in the gym today again. He's a pretty funny dude. He was doing dumbbell rows with 120# dumbbells. He definitely seems like the best training partner so far. I'm going to try to start going in at the same time he is so he can watch my technique.

This other guy that I've seen a few times was there also. He always does sumo deadlifts, except his form needs a lot of work. He leans way over the bar, meaning his knees are out in front and he scrapes the bar all up his legs every rep. This means he literally has a massive bleeding gash down each of his legs, starting above the knee and going down to where the bar rests at ground. He tries to tape it up, but it doesn't really work and he just bleeds all over the place.

Life news:

Today was my first day of classes. It was not really that exciting, just an intro to a graduate architecture class. I've already taken graduate architecture at UCLA, so I don't expect it to be very difficult. Afterward, I talked with one of the post-docs in our group about research thats going on right now. I'm not sure which project I want to do. None of them particularly caught my eye. I will start with something and see what is interesting as I learn what each is in more detail. I really want to stay in this group, though, because the people are really cool and cooperative, and they seem to be one of the few groups that actually likes to have fun during the day and after work.

I've also decided to focus on really upping my calories. This is for a few reasons. I think I still have plenty of wiggle room to compete as 198--I dieted down to 193 in the afternoon before weigh-in, and I had some more pounds to lose if I hadn't decided to drink some water. I also think that in order to make the kind of gains I need on bench, I need to gain significant upper-body mass. Finally, I think it will help with my recovery.