Update and Some Thoughts

Monday

Bench Press: 275x1, 235x3x3

Wednesday

Cleans: 265x0x3, 220x5x3

Friday

Squat: 435x3, 390x5, 350x5

This week and last week were more or less testing weeks.  I’m pretty surprised by my bench, somewhat disappointed in my clean and ok with my squat.  Last week I maxed out on dead lift and it was right about where I expected it to be.  Next week will be lighter to rest up a bit for the next six week phase of the program.

I know I’m strong enough to pull 265 on my power cleans.  But since I do them infrequently at best my catch is as the French would say, “A pile of shit.”  My technique and pulls feel good but when it comes to actually getting under the bar I struggle.  It doesn’t really mean anything, just that I’m bad at them.

The next six weeks I’m going back to a ladders-type set up that I got good results from last summer.  I’m going to start at a certain percentage of my max lifts from the last two weeks.  Each day will have one main lift and 1-2 accessories.  The warm-up sets will ramp up in a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 fashion.  The weight that I use for that single will be the first set of my 9 work sets and will stay the same throughout.  The work sets will go 1(last warm-up set), 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3.  Each week I’ll add weight to the work sets.

I liked this set up last summer because it is simple to follow and tough as hell, especially if you’re keeping tabs on your rest.  To gauge my rest I usually used whatever music happened to be playing.  If I’m going fast enough I should be able to complete one round of 1, 2, 3 per song if each song is 2:30 to 3:00 minutes long.

On Friday I ran out of time and had to finish my training on Saturday morning.  In the past I was never a fan of doing this for a couple reasons.  1. Warming up twice is twice the boring.  I just want to lift and 2. I used to very neurotic about my food, especially my peri-workout nutrition.  But lately I’ve relaxed it a lot (my neuroticism, not my actual diet) and just let it flow.  I ended up liking splitting it up because I did some stuff I wouldn't have done if I had had time to finish on Friday.  It’s taken me a while to realize it but I just need to let stuff go and let life work itself out, especially when it comes to things that in the long run are pretty insignificant, like one single training session.

I’m right in the midst of finishing Lon Kilgore’s Anatomy Without A Scalpel.  It’s essentially an anatomy book written for exercise professionals.  It deals only with the structures that would be relevant to a strength coach or other professional.  It is well written and full of Dr. Kilgore’s personality.  I really liked that it’s not just dry material.  He adds his own two cents on subjects that deal with the anatomy and kinesthetic aspects of exercise.  The part about footwear choices and how they affect the foot and ankle is worth the book price alone.  If you are an exercise pro I would highly recommend it.

There wasn’t an update last week because I went up north with my girlfriend Amy, her son Tavian, and my mom and stepdad.  Unfortunately we were not blessed great weather until Sunday about an hour before we left.  It didn’t rain but was definitely on the cold side of things. 

I helped my stepdad, Pete, cut down a tree near the water line in their back yard.  I’m sure many other men feel the same way but I came to the realization that I’ll forever and always be relegated to the status of helper monkey/tool-getter when it comes helping my dad and stepdad with things.  Definitely not complaining because they know a ton more than I do when it comes to stuff like cutting down trees and vehicle maintenance.  And in life, no matter how big you get, it’s not a bad idea to get told what to do and just do some grunt work.  Now get me a 13 mm socket head.  

I hope every one had a great holiday weekend and ate as much food as I did.  My cheeks look like I'm storing nuts for winter.  I'll blame the ham.