[enright3060]

DL:

135x5
225x5
315x3
365x1
385x1
365x1
365x1
365x1
315x5

As my back is slowly getting better, my strength is starting to return. I had big improvement from last week (+45 pounds). I am not quite back to where I was 5-6 weeks ago, but I feel a lot better. Watch out Misses, I am not going to roll over on our race to 500.

BOR:
135x5
155x5
185x5
190x5
190x5

Box Squats to 13” box:
135x5
135x5
135x5
135x5
135x5

This was pretty light, but my body is healing and adjusting to four days of heavy lifting. As my back gets better, I will increase the poundage and go up to 75% of Friday’s squat poundage.

[enright3060]

Ugh – today the iron felt heavy as hell. I have started to regress on the bench. It may have been because I rolled Saturday’s push II to Sunday because of prior obligations. I don’t think I had enough time to rest and recovery for ME bench on Wednesday. After I was going nowhere on the bench, I lowered the weight. I did not close-grip because my triceps and shoulders are fried.

Push 1:

BBBP:
135x5
185x5
225x5
255x2 (I am starting to regress)
255x1 (just sad)
225x7
225x6
225x5
245x1

[enright3060]

Squat Day:

Back Squats, ATG
135x5
225x5
275x5
315x1
335x3
335x3
335x3
335x3
335x3

Felt good and my form was sold. I had several people watch my working sets, which was kind of cool and yet creepy.

Front Squats, ATG:
240x5
240x5
240x5

Z-Squats:
225x5

Chins:
3xbw
3xbw
3xbw
2xbw
2xbw
2xbw
2xbw
2xbw
2xbw
2xbw

Better than last week…

Back Squat 185x20 –

Why? The gym I lift at is full of high school students on a S&C program. Most of them are cheating. For example - Last week, I overheard a kid argue that the bar actually weighted 55 pounds so he could put 155 down on bench instead of 145. Today, a football player is supposed to be doing box squats. He turns the box vertically, which makes his ROM about that of a bar stool. I cannot imagine that is what his high school coach wants (unless he is a complete idiot). At the same time, this is acting like a douche (flexing in the mirror to let everyone know how strong he is by doing a 185 squat with 2 inches of ROM). Although the iron may never lie, people do and I got pissed. I politely went up to him and asked if I could work in. I took the bar and quickly knocked out 185x20 with a full squat. I doubt the subtlety of my message sunk in.

Overall, this was a good day of lifting. My back is at about 90% and steadily improving.

[Stonebreaker]

Ah, the sweet subtlety of a 20-rep full squat....

Was there no coach for this S&C program about? Or were vertical box squats and arguments about the weight of a standard bar the inevitable result of letting a bunch of kids run loose in a weight room with no supervision or guidance?

[enright3060]

Originally Posted by Stonebreaker

Ah, the sweet subtlety of a 20-rep full squat....

Was there no coach for this S&C program about? Or were vertical box squats and arguments about the weight of a standard bar the inevitable result of letting a bunch of kids run loose in a weight room with no supervision or guidance?

The kids are unsupervised and running around full of testosterone and jackassery. They have a lifting sheet, which they are supposed to follow. The program is not bad, but too many of these kids are fascinated with the bench (especially decline). Without supervision, most high school students (at this gym) would rather appear to be strong than actually try to become strong. I like when they put too much weight on the bench and do the push + row combination to get the bar up (teamwork is important).

How is your body holding up? – I know it is a struggle to lift with injuries.

[mschatz]

I hate high school aged people.

[Standard]

I like this high box squat theory, this does seem alot easier then actually getting stronger.

I showed one kid in my mma class the box squat cause he was no where near depth, and today he was doing squats or as he would say legs, he pulled over the bench, so i'm surprised. He then continues to load on way too much weight and is hovering about 6" above the bench, but telling me he was touching it, i could have put a coke can on the bench and he wouldn't have touched it.

[enright3060]

Monday’s Pull day

DL:
135x5
225x5
315x3
365x1
365x1
385x0 (err… grip slipped about 3/4 the way up, but the bar was moving way too slow)
365x1
365x1
365x1 (I am slowing down)
335x1

BOR:
135x5
185x5
195x5
195x5
195x3 (I did this about 2 minutes after the last set because some dude asked me what I was doing and why.)
195x5
135x10

I had no idea what to expect today. I gained + 45 on deads last week as I am trying to heal from a back injury. Today, the weight felt a bit heavy, but I had no pain. I expected more today, but it did follow a hard squat day on Friday. The back injury has hurt my deads the most, but I hope that I can make substantial improvements in the next 3-4 weeks.

[enright3060]

Bench:

135x5
185x5
225x5
255x4 and ¾ (spotter touched the bar)
255x5
255x4

SOHP:
135x5

Push Press:
185x5
205x1
225x1
225x1
225x1

Bench:
225x9 (err … wanted ten, but I was a bit tired)

CGBP:
225x5 (This was explosive)

I am happy with today’s push. I did not push last Saturday because I was out of town with my parents. Actually, it turned out to be a good idea because I am not sure that the ME horizontal push (Wednesday) and veridical push (Saturday) split works best for me – as my numbers start to plummet under this split. I may try to alternative which of the two presses I start with on ME day and keep a DE day at 50-65%.

[enright3060]

Squat Day, Athletic stance - ATG:

135x5
225x5
275x5
320x3
320x3
320x3
320x3
320x3
365x2

It took me a while to warm up. I was feeling a bit sluggish at the start, but I felt better towards the end.

Front Squat - ATG:

250x5
250x5
250x5

Chins:
Bw x2
Bw x2
Bw x2
Bw x2
Bw x2
Bw x2
Bw x1
Bw x1

Notes: As a side note, last week I railed against a bunch of stupid high school students on a S&C program. There have also been several college football players (Most are from Univ. of Missouri and some potential junior college transfers) who are also lifting at the gym. I had a cool conversation with one of them, which went as follows:

Player 1: Are you a powerlifter?
Me: No, I have never competed. I do lift for strength and power.
Player 1: You should compete. Your motherfucking squats are unbelievably fucking strong.
Me: Thanks. **** ego stroked ****

Later, one of the players started asking me for advice on how to properly do a front squat and hit the correct depth, which was pretty cool.

Thanks to all the people of Sherdog S&P who have helped me lift properly, which made this conversation possible.