Luke 8-8-11 Squat

Worked out at Arcadia. The power rack was in use by this guy doing presses who told me I was acting like a woman because I he knew I wanted the rack and then he squatted 405 x 4 to depth and told me he competed in weightlifting at the 1984 olympics for Portugal... but anyway as a result I had to use the shitty open rack with built in safeties which barely allowed me to hit depth.

Squat
315 x 10 @ 9 (60 pound PR)
decided to do one high rep set to save time, begin a new cycle and see what I could do. My hamstrings and quads were all like wtf? after this set due to biking and high rep squat.

Pause Squat
315 x 3 x 2

Plyos

Abductors and Adductors

also biked 12 miles to work and back

Luke 7-18-11 squat 3x3

Squat

355 x 3 @ 9-

375 x 3 @ 9+

390 x 3 @ 10+ (5 pound PR) last rep was really slow

Note: I have been doing squats facing the mirror so I can see my depth which has generally been good. Also I have no spotter and instead rely on the pins, although I have not failed yet.

Pause Squat with 3 second self imposed count

345 x 3 @ 10 (10 pound PR) first 2 reps were quick counts

Leg Press

8 plates x 10

10 plates x 10 x 2

Abductors and Adductors

Bosu Ball Transversus

3.8.10--Canberra DAY! SKWAT

Okay I've fully celebrated Canberra Day and do not feel like editing even if its an egredfadiou smicstact i make,

WAHT DO YOU WANT FROM ME>

1. SQUAT
ewarmups
95x5
135xx5
175x5x4
204x1

2. Front SQUAT
95x5

3. Hip ADDUCTORSAAA
To put it in Clauy tertms:
10x10
@145

4. High Pulls
95x6

5. Cleans
95x5x2

6. CalvesL
140xuntil it hurtx2
165xuntil it hurt

7. Transversus
4 sets (including Dave being a total ASSHOLE) (JK <3>

Last week's workouts

I planned to get in more work last week, but was stuck in DC with no transportation and nowhere near a gym. I talked a friend into taking me to his gym, but it was $22 per visit, so I only made one.

On Wednesday
Squat:
Straps down, no wraps/sleeves

495 x 1
515 x 1
535 x 1

Did a box jumps, hyper-extensions, crunches, adductors and leg raises

On Sunday: (back in Wooden)
Bench:
275 x 3
285 x 3, 3, 3

Standing Press
185 x 4
155 x 4, 4, 4
These are harder after benching

Finished with Cable Triceps, Cable Flyes and Close-grip pull ups

12.28.09 Bench and Shitlift before the Shit Show

Bench Press
warmups
95x5
115x5 (wide grip)
115x5 (medium)
115x5 (close)
125x5 (wide)
125x5 (medium)
125x5 (close)

Standing Press
45x10
75x5x3

Tricep Pulldown
80x10x3

Deadlift
135x5
this is when the trouble started. It had been a good 3 weeks since I last deadlifted. Plus I wasn't using bumper plates and wasn't on an olympic platform. I didn't have chalk or a belt. And I'm sure I was tired from all the upper body work, but I knew I needed to get some deadlifting in so I overexerted myself....Okay enough excuses...time for the embarrassment.
185-failed... inner thighs were on FIRE and got it off the ground a little but I either didn't have the proper motivation of Matt, Luke, Ben, et al. not being there or I am just a pussy. Worst thing is my friend who I was lifting with doesn't know shit so he couldn't even give me advice on what I was doing wrong.

Hip Adducter Machine
I thought that maybe that burning sensation in my thighs was my body telling me to do this machine... so I did it until I could do no more at 130 pounds.

Gym was about to close so on my way out I noticed something that I just could not resist...

CYBEX EAGLE GLUTE MACHINEEEEEEEEE
150 (machine max)x10 (each leg)x3

I'll be in Big Bear snowboarding and drinking copious amounts of beverages until Jan 2. I look forward to seeing you all at the Wooden Center on the 4th so you can all call me a pussy for my SOFT deadlift. Happy New Years to all you guys.

Squat

Squat:
Straps down, under belt

457 x 1
499 x 3, 3, 3,

Felt alright, but a bit slower than I would have liked. The only squat rack in the gym faced a mirror which threw me off. I think last two sets were at depth, but the first was high

Walk-outs:
589 @ 10 sec
639 @ 10 sec

Man, this felt heavy. I am currently unprepared to even handle this weight. I need to be feeling something 600+ every squat workout until the meet.

Box Squat:
w/ greens
225 x 5, 5, 5, 5

The set up here wasn't too great and the plates were sliding all over, so I didn't got heavier. Weight felt pretty light.

Finished with adductors and leg extensions. (Due to time)

Squat

Squat:
275 x 8
315 x 5
335 x 5
355 x 5
375 x 5

All of these felt pretty solid and form was much better than last week. I was planning to try 405, but my right hamstring felt a little tender and I want to make sure that heals up.

Hang Cleans:
Did a few full cleans, but too much on the hamstring. Switched to hang clean

145 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 5, 2 sets

At this point the gym got crazy busy because it was closing in an hour, so we did whatever we could.

Superset of adductors, leg extensions, calf extensions. Finished with bridges.

Leggs

Low-pin Zerchers:
Dropped these so I was about at parallel with a wide stance. This is about 4" below where I would set up for a sumo.

275 x 7
315 x 7
365 x 1
315 x 5, 4 sets

365 was much harder than I expected. Things felt much easier at the end, so perhaps it was just getting used to the positioning.

Speed pulls:
155 x 3,
205 x 3
245 x 3, 5 sets

Kept it light for recovery

Good Mornings:
135 x 10
225 x 6

Right hamstring has been bothering me for a week, but got really aggravated on these, so I stopped. The good news is that the lower back feels fine.

Did a quick circuit of free-motion calf extensions, adductors and abductors for groin stretching.

Finished with band-resisted GHR abs + ball toss.

Front Squatta

Lower back is feeling 100% strong at weight less that 135. I switched to front squat today to stay more upright while still getting in some actual squatting. I can tell the very bottom part isn't fully healed, but it feels good to squat. If I push out as hard as I can when squatting, the pain is minimal. I think this whole injury is probably due to core weakness, which I am actively working on correcting.

Front Squats:
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 8
285 x 8

Ab/Ad ducctors:
stack x failure, 3 sets

180 x failure on adductor.

Took nathans advices and did some stretching on these as well.

Front Squats:
The other guys were front squatting, so I jumped back in. MOAR LEGS

185 x 8
205 x 8
225 x 8

Standing cable abs:
These hurt a two weeks ago but felt find today so long as I pushed out. I did a full pause at the top and bottom to increase the contraction. Held the last rep until failure.

90 x failure, 2 sets
100 x failure, 3 sets

Recovery Effort: The Deadlifting

Off-week for deadlift. Felt pretty tired today for some reason

Stiff-legged Deadlift:
407 x 5
427 x 5
457 x 5

I wasn't expecting to go over 407, but things felt easy and the sciatica felt ok, so I pushed myself a little.

I was planning to do good-mornings next, but on Monday, the squat suit had left some big gashes above my hips and today the belt re-opened them. I had to get bandaids to stem the bleeding, which was a first for me. The bench-shirt armpit gashes are at least hidden somewhat. Bleeding from your hips is not so hot.

Lunges:
135 x 10 each leg
225 x 8 each leg (exhausting)
245 x 4 each leg
225 x 5 each leg

Seated Good-Mornings:
I discovered this jumbo pad for the bar that lets you put the bar right on the neck. Doing good mornings with it feels like using an SS-bar, which is brutal.

135 x 10, 4 sets.

Hyperextensions:

green band x 2 reps

These are amazing in their ability to immediately irritate my sciatic nerve.

(superset)
Adductors
220 x 30
220 x 20
220 x 12

Hanging Leg Raises:
3 triple-sets
220

Deadlift: Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness

Decided the sciatica had settled down enough that I could try deadlifting today. It still hurts at times (like right now as I type this), but it's manageable. I'm hoping it goes away completely before the American Cup.

Deadlift:
(warm-up sets omitted; done raw)
557 x 5

Felt pretty good. Not my heaviest 5 reps ever, but I didn't want to push it. I forgot my long socks so my shins are awesome.

Seated Good-mornings:
(no belt)
135 x 10
185 x 1 (awrrrr)
Moving up in weight realllly aggravated something so I dropped it back down. Then I added a full pause at the bottom where I set the weight on the pins. This seemed to stretch things pretty well.
135 x 12
135 x 20
135 x 15

I felt rather limber with all that stretching.

(superset)
Hip Abductors:
180 x 30
220 x 30
250 x 30
280 x 20

Lying Hamstrings:
70 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
150 x 6 (owww)
the lying version seems to upset something. The pain actually got worse with ever set, which normally doesn't happen.

Finished with ball twists (3 sets) and seated calf raises, 3 tri-sets until failure.