Start Up Cash In Sell Out Bro Down

[xng]

2017-12-17

sq 252.5x5x5
dl 265x5x2

This was fine. Elbows down, scapulae together, zeroing in on the problem of squatting down fast enough without getting floppy. As the meet gets closer (January 14), I might shift things around so intensity day falls on Sunday, to get some eyes on my heavy squats. Hate to move volume squats to a weekday, but all weekdays will be better now, because I broke down and joined Ironworks. Now I have gyms a mile from home and half a mile from work. Sorry, Oakland Y. You were bad. Berkeley Y, you are good, and I will go to you when I have time for a nice bike ride and a sauna.

[chromoly]

but all weekdays will be better now, because I broke down and joined Ironworks.

YASSSSSSSS

[xng]

2017-12-19

sq 200x5x3
pr 120x3x2, 100x5x2
bp 147.5x5
negative chins (rings) 5

Great Western Power Company is totally adequate, hallelujah. I didn't even go to the CrossFit section, where they probably keep the nice barbells. Upstairs they have perfectly good racks and fractional plates. People were doing wild climbing feats downstairs. A dude spotted me correctly on the bench.

I've never pressed 120 for a triple before, so I guess that's a PR. Press and bench both felt pretty snappy, even though I went ahead and added 2.5 lb in defiance of last week's weirdness. Good times

[Wilhelm]

Absolutely a PR. Nice!

A dude spotted me correctly on the bench.

I always train alone, but i can kind of grasp the significance of this. : )

Is Great Western part of the Ironworks place you joined?
I find it interesting thinking about people training in several different places.
I will almost certainly never train in a gym, but it's interesting watching and reading about others doing it.

There is one gym in our little town, but we can't add a monthly bill, and having to leave the house to train would really curtail how much i would accomplish.

Plus, there are people there. Bleh.

[xng]

Absolutely a PR. Nice!

A dude spotted me correctly on the bench.

I always train alone, but i can kind of grasp the significance of this. : )

Is Great Western part of the Ironworks place you joined?
I find it interesting thinking about people training in several different places.
I will almost certainly never train in a gym, but it's interesting watching and reading about others doing it.

There is one gym in our little town, but we can't add a monthly bill, and having to leave the house to train would really curtail how much i would accomplish.

Plus, there are people there. Bleh.

I prefer to bench alone, but I'm too lazy to drag a bench into the rack. I need one of those upside-down DON'T TOUCH MY BAR shirts.

Ironworks and Great Western are part of the Touchstone family of products. I feel out of place at climbing gyms because I'm not a wiry monkey with forearms bigger than my thighs, but climbing hippies are nice people, and the barbell equipment is decent.

Your barn gym is probably nicer than the town gym. After I leave the metropolis, I'll get me one of those.

[xng]

2017-12-21

sq 295x3x2, 235x5
pr 100x5x2
dl 330x5, 220x5 double overhand

A Berkeley work of iron. I have a bad head cold and felt like my sinuses were going to burst out of my eye sockets, but this went OK. The last squats were slow. I took kind of a leisurely setup for the last two deadlift reps at 330, and my lockouts felt squishy, but this was better than the last time I tried 330 for 5. That Ohio Power Bar is a beautiful thing. I was worried it would tear up my hands, but it felt great.

[chromoly]

That Ohio Power Bar is a beautiful thing. I was worried it would tear up my hands, but it felt great.

It really is a gorgeous thing. Solid lifting despite feeling like your head would explode.

[xng]

2017-12-23

pr 107.5x5x5
bp 127.5x5x4, 127.5x10
asst chin 181x2
lpd 140x8 (pro), 150x8 (sup)

Hahaha, welp. I guess I've been lowballing my bench. After the fifth rep of the fifth set, I was like, hmm; and I did another five reps χωρίς πρόβλημα. Bigger jump next time.

[xng]

2017-12-24

sq 255x5x5
dl 275x5x2

This felt fine and great. Why are volume squats getting easier even as the weight goes up? Maybe DayQuil is a PED.

[Wilhelm]

Your work capacity might be increasing.

Volume begets volume?

[xng]

2017-12-26

sq 275x1, 295x1, 305x1, 315x1, 205x5x3
pr 122.5x3, 117.5x3, 100x5x2
bp 150x2x2, 135x5

Now, my hour of boohoo is upon me, because I will not have access to a barbell until next Tuesday.

Dear Leader told me to work up to a max single today on the squat, then do my light day as normal, then pick up after vacation where I left off.

I tweaked my neck again while warming up the squat with 185. My head was straight and I wasn't doing anything abnormal. Now my neck hurts, but a little less than usual, because symmetrically. Perhaps I need... CHIROPRAXIS.

The presses at 122.5 were extremely grindy. I think the last rep took fifteen seconds, like three whole eras of grinding. So I took off five pounds for the second triple. Then, on the bench, 150, which was supposed to be a 5rm, turned out to be a double. I don't even know. Maybe that set of ten on volume day was a mistake? Maybe the weights at Great Western don't weigh what they say? Maybe these are the consequences of spending Christmas Day supine, or maybe that max squat took a lot out? I managed another double, then backed off.

[chromoly]

The presses at 122.5 were extremely grindy. I think the last rep took fifteen seconds, like three whole eras of grinding.

....
Maybe the weights at Great Western don't weigh what they say?

DING DING DING WE HAVE A NEW WINNER OF THE INTERMIDIOT GRIND TROPHY! 15 seconds is a longggggggggg lift.

Btw, the colorful Rogue bumpers are supposed to be within 15 grams of stated weight. But if you are using some other ones, who knows.

[xng]

The presses at 122.5 were extremely grindy. I think the last rep took fifteen seconds, like three whole eras of grinding.

....
Maybe the weights at Great Western don't weigh what they say?

DING DING DING WE HAVE A NEW WINNER OF THE INTERMIDIOT GRIND TROPHY! 15 seconds is a longggggggggg lift.

Btw, the colorful Rogue bumpers are supposed to be within 15 grams of stated weight. But if you are using some other ones, who knows.

Wellllll, that was fifteen subjective under-the-bar seconds, and I don't have video, so who can really say. My companions were busy yelling. Definitely my grindiest lift ever, even slower than the Squat That Made Me Cry (2017-10-15, 310x2).

I believe in the Rogue weights. This Rogue 150 just felt a lot heavier than last week's 147.5x5 on Great Western's upstairs no-name weights. I should probably make a point of using a consistent set of weights for heavy sets.

[xng]

2018-01-02

sq 257.5x5x5
dl 275x5x2

Another whole week off. No bueno. Now I have like a week to remember how to squat before I have to start chilling out for the meet.

Last Thursday (36 hours after neck tweak), I got some sort of horrible muscle spasm in the left trap. It hurt acutely for a minute, then obtusely ever since. It's still stiff. I am scheduled to be destroyed by a massage on Monday.

Squats felt hard but OK. Held the light deadlifts at 275, since they had started creeping up over 80% of 5rm.

[xng]

2018-01-03

bp 145x5
pr 110x5,3+2, 105x5,4+f, 100x5
lpd 140x8 pro, 150x8 sup
cable row 100x10
asst chin 140x3

RIP my press.

[xng]

2018-01-04

sq 205x5x3
pr 95x5x3

Just a bonus light day. I am sore, but also the front of my right hip hurts. I noticed it during warm-ups on Tuesday, so it wasn't because of the epic post-layoff volume. It did get worse since then! Whee! Might save for Sunday the last heavy squats before the meet.

[Wilhelm]

Have a great and fun meet, @xng

[xng]

2018-01-07

sq 185x3, 155x5,1
pr 115x1, 120x1, 125x1, 100x5x2
dl 320x5, 220x5 double overhand

Quit squatting early since my hip is still mad. It is a pulled adductor; we can tell because squatting in an absurdly narrow stance with toes pointed straight forward doesn't hurt. I am doing huge ibuprofen and squatting very light this week. At least deadlifts don't hurt!

[xng]

2018-01-09

sq with extremely narrow stance, toes pointed forward, mostly high-bar 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x5, 135x5x2
bp 145x5
pr 105x5, 100x5x3
lpd 145x8 pro, 155x8 sup

Took a break from coffee, crashed my bike, hurt my elbow. The bike is fine, the elbow is only superficially wounded, and the withdrawal hasn't killed.

The squats felt very weird and awkward, and my knee started hurting during the second set, so I was probably doing them wrong. Back to normal squats, still very light, next time.

[Wilhelm]

Sorry to hear about your bike. : (
Glad you are OK.

How long till your meet now?
Am i remebrering correctly that you have a meet upcoming?