[enright3060]

I felt a little ragged on Wednesday. Between my workout on Wednesday and today, I slept approximately 20 hours. I also was pretty careful with my diet. I felt a ton better, and I was not having any discomfort in my left leg. Quickly into my workout I realized that my leg is better – so I decided to push for a PR today.

Back Squat - ATG:

135x5
225x5
275x5
315x5
340x3
375x1 (PR, +10)
385x1 (PR, +20)
340x3

Some dude told me that if my squat was any lower, my ass would be on the ground. Complements are nice (He also told me that although squatting ATG is “manly,” he hates squatting and is glad is does not do them anymore after he hurt his back. Although it is a bit of a hasty generalization, I find it interesting that almost every man at my gym has a “blown out” back and therefore cannot squat).

Front Squat:
275x1 (Ok, I am a little tired at this point)
225x3 (The end of the bar hit part of the rack. I almost dropped the weight, which caused me to abandon this a bit early)
185x7

Chins:
BWx2 +1 neg.
BWx2 +1 neg.
BWx1 +1 neg.
BWx1 +1 neg.
BWx1 +1 neg.

I am thinking about adding a DE squat and bench day to my workout. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking of this:

Monday:
Deadlift
BOR
Chins

Tuesday:
Squat (DE)
One DE assistance

Wednesday:
BB Bench (ME)
OHP
CGBBP

Friday
Squat (ME)
Front Squat
RD/ or Chins

Saturday
Bench (DE)
One DE assistance

Does anyone have any suggestions? Is five days too much or should I try to only shoot for a four day split (By putting the DE Squat on Monday). Obviously, if I feel like I am overtraining, I will have to cut back, but I would like to try adding in DE workouts first. – Thanks in advance -

[enright3060]

I have decided to mix up my routine to add a day of low to medium intensity squat and press to my workout. I have decided on the following split. I will see how this goes. If I feel that this split is not allowing my body to adapt to the stress, then I will go back to the three day split I was using before.

My routine will look at follows:

Monday:
DL
Squat/ or Front Squat (Low to medium intensity- less than 85% of 1rm)
BOR/ or Chins

Wednesday:
BBBP (ME)
SHOP
CGBBP

Friday:
Squat (ME)
Front Squat
RD/or Chins

Saturday:
BBBP (low to medium intensity workout)
SHOP (same)

Here was my low/medium intensity press day.

BB Bench Press:
135x5
165x5
175x5
185x5
205x5

SHOP:
95x5
105x5
115x5
115x5

I was just a bit sore when I started, but the workout was not too bad. I worked primarily on bar speed, which has been giving me a bit of trouble on my ME bench.

[enright3060]

After hitting a PR on Friday’s squat day, I was not sure how my body would respond to deads. The DL felt pretty heavy. I lowered the weight a bit so hopefully my back can recover.

DL

135x5
225x5
315x5
350x3
365x1
365x1
315x5 (I hate hex plates – those fuckers often end up making the bar rest at an angle, which I have to reset and then pull again)

Box Squat to a 12” box
135x5
185x5
225x5
250x5
250x5

BOR:
I was pretty tired, and my back feels pretty fried -- I focused on trying to keep my form perfect.
135x5
155x5
155x4 (lost focus for second)
155x5 (better)

Overall, this workout was ok. As I said, the DL felt heavy, but my bar speed was solid on each rep. The box squats were pretty easy even after a heavy squat workout a few days prior.

[enright3060]

The weights felt extremely heavy today, and I put up less weight today than I did in the last two press days. I think I have made several mistakes. First, my idea to add a low to medium intensity press day was a mistake, and my body is still rocked from Friday and Monday’s workload. The additional press day on top of heavy squat, deadlift and medium squat did not help. My triceps felt fried as soon as I started moving the weight. In addition to a bit of bit of fatigue, I have changed my diet and I have started to losing weight. When I started this split, I gained about 11 pounds in the first 5 weeks. After a few weeks of no weight gain or loss, I decided to eat better (not less). As a result, I have lost about a pound and ½ over the last three weeks. I am eating about six to nine times a day, but I have cut out the crap and starting eating far more vegetables. I assume both the weight loss and training fatigue are responsible for the shit that was today’s workout. Hopefully, this workout will work as a reset day, which will allow my body to heal and adapt properly.


BBBP

135x5
185x5
225x5
235x5
240x4
240x3

SOHP:
135x5
140x5
145x5
145x5

CGBP
165x5
185x4 (I did not rest enough between sets)
185x5 (much better)

[enright3060]

Back Squat - ATG

135x5
225x5
275x5
315x3
345x5 (Bar speed a bit too slow on 5)
345x3 (I could have made four, but did not want to grind)
345x3
345x3

Front Squat:
185x5
225x5
225x5
225x5


I am in a bit of a hurry so I'll edit this post later to put in my other notes.

[enright3060]

DL

135x5
225x5
315x5
365x2
385x1
385x1
385x1

Box Squat to 12” box (Low Intensity Squat)
135x5
185x5
225x5
250x5
250x5
250x5

I worked out at the Univ. gym, which was a good change. I also avoided having to use hex plates for deads. Overall, this was a decent effort. I did not get a chance to do chins because I spent about 35 minutes helping an 18 year old freshman from blowing out his back and knees while squatting. He was doing way too much weight with about 1/16 ROM and looked like he was going to fall flat on his face. I got him to do squats to parallel with decent form and we also went over a proper DL form. I generally don’t offer advice to other people, but I was actually fearful that he was going to hurt himself badly. He seemed grateful. Hopefully, he will stick with it.

[enright3060]

I have had do a reset on my bench do to stalled progress.

BBBP:
135x5
185x5
225x5
235x5
235x5
235x5

SOHP:
135x5
140x5
150x5
150x2 (x4 Push Press)
135x5

CGBP:
165x5
185x5
190x5

Other than the SOHP, this was a good day of lifting. I had to do a “reset” on bench because my last two bench workouts started to stall and/or fell back a bit. The weight today felt good and I lifted explosively; bar speed was not a problem. I will go to 240x3x5 next week. SOHP, however, was still a bit of a problem. I need to reset this weight or try a push press next week. Anyway, I need to think about it a bit further. Unlike the SOHP, CGBP was fine. I will move the weight up a bit next week.

[enright3060]

Back Squat, Athletic stance – ATG
135x5
225x5
275x5
315x5
365x2
365x2
365x2
365x2

Good effort – the bar speed was real fast on rep one and did not slow a lot on two (although it did require a good effort to move the weight). Next week – I will try to push my worksets to 365x3x3.

Front Squat – ATG:
245x3
245x3
245x3

Chins:
BWx2 + 1 neg.
BWx2 + 1 neg.
BWx1 + 1 neg.
BWx1 + 1 neg.
X1 neg.
X1 neg.
X1 neg.
X1 neg.

I really need to work on my chins/pull-ups. My upper back strength is a big weakness compared to the rest of my body. I will do chins x2 a week, and my goal is BW x 5x5 by the end of the summer.

Dumbbell Snatch:
I was just experimenting with this movement The weight was a bit too light, and I will have to raise it next week.

50x5 (both left and right hand for each set)
50x5
50x5
50x5

DB speed was a bit slow on my right side (I am left handed). I picked it up a lot as I got used to the movement.

Decent effort today – proper nutrition and rest have helped a lot. I also feel the dynamic effort box squat on Monday is helping me explode out of the hole. I must work on my upper back strength, which is lagging behind the rest of my body.

[enright3060]

Dynamic Effort Push (less than 70% of 5 rep max)

BBBP
135x5
155x5
175x5
175x5
175x5

SOHP
95x5
105x5
105x5
105x5

Push Press
135x5
135x5
135x5

CGBP
135x5
155x5
155x5

Good workout – I tried to lift explosively with each rep.

[oyaji poi]

You seem to mention DOMS and fatigue a lot. How's your nutrition? Are you eating enough protein, especially before bed? Coincidently I had some DOMS this week, usually it's not that bad. But I missed a few meals this week, even one pre-bed protein meal on a workout day, and I woke up hungry and very sore. That combined with lifting heavy and working (teaching at my uni now) and I was a hurting unit.