Squatted 505x2 and bench pressed 345x2 within the last 2 days. In a bit of a holding pattern. These are good numbers for me but I'm trying some new things out to break past the plateau.
Still having leftover stuffing for carbs peri-training, god I love this stuff. I need to just make Thanksgiving food year round.
Haven't been recording all the bagwork and running I've been doing but it's been almost every night.
Thanksgiving training:
Axle press
160x5
190x3
220x0, 1
Axle incline bench
200 x 8, 8
Axle bench
220 x 10, 12
All pressing super-set with a mix of 115 dumbbell rows and chin-ups (bodyweight and weighted with 45 lbs)
Curls
Had a small friendsgiving at George's again. I made homemade stuffing and George had a smorgasbord of charcuterie meats, olives, bread, and spread along with tofu turkey (I didn't eat too much of it but it was actually really good) and mashed potatoes. Stuffed my face and watched the new Nic Cage movie Jiu Jitsu. I just tried to type out the premise and I'm having trouble finding the right combination of words. The best I can do is it involves an ancient kung-fu alien that demands humans engage in honorable combat with it. Some how Tony Jaa from Ong Bak is involved too. I don't know.
Work schedule is changing to late afternoon and evenings except Mondays. This means I'll have the mornings to myself, which bodes well for fasted cardio when I want to do it. I'm also off Friday now so I'll be avoiding the one day out of the week that there's a bizarre surge of traffic coming home.
Did a push-up and chin-up non-stop blitz workout the other night after a late work. Just went non-stop with the aim of 100 reps total across 10 sets of 10. I underestimated my push-up ability which has always sucked and went up to 12 sets when I realized how easy this was for the push-ups. Had to switch to doing lat pull-downs at some point instead of chins (I had already done weighted chins earlier in the day). Was able to achieve failure at the end of the 12th set. Lats and chest were sore the following days.
Last night:
Squats
385 x 5
425 x 5
475 x 5
Strip-sets
405 x 5
315 x 10
225 x 10
135 x 10
45 x 10 (front squats)
Walking back the 475 was brutal for some reason. My quads were just worn out and I had to take tiny baby steps to make it back to my stands. Very happy though. I'm liking the variety between SSB and barbell squat days in a short period.
That was a cheat day, I basically kept eating the entire day including at the office. Literally brought a quart of milk with me and was chugging out of it while eating cinnamon rolls, it was a gross sight to behold. Dinner was ramen, veggies, a burrito, milk, and more cinnamon rolls. Woke up with my stomach pissed at me, which means it should be a good bench press day. My chest is still sore from the push-ups so I'll keep my expectations in check.
With my competition delayed again I feel liberated to experiment more and not be so constrained to barbell lifting as much. Did a full-body session on Saturday.
SSB squats
380 x 8, 8, 9
Dumbbell press
115s x 8, 9, 10
-
Super-set with dumbbell rows of same weight and reps
Axle clean and push press
135 x 15
Axle clean once and strict press
135 x 10
This was so much fun. Just the thought of doing my usual squat workout and blowing my eyeballs out with over 500 lbs filled me with dread. Of course that's not a reason in itself to not do something (if anything it's a case for the opposite), but I really needed this change. I'm still going to barbell squat heavy to maintain and grow that lift, just not as frequently.
Mat pulled 585x4 earlier in the week. 1-rep over the previous week. This was a shockingly low-energy day. I felt tired just walking and subsequent attempts to hit a higher-rep top-set resulted in not even being able to move the bar.
Had a big cheat day Tuesday. Ice cream, pizza, wine, the works. Woke up with a pissed-off stomach and stronger shoulders than last week. Pressed 195x5 smoothly, couldn't get a 6th as a bonus. Last week I eked out 4 reps. Even though this is very low to me it's good to feel such an improvement within a week just from food.
Been jogging almost every night and mixing bag-work and shadowboxing in.
Failed a 385 lb bench press the other night, really annoyed at that. Now I look like a jackass being overconfident about having 405 in me, haha.
Went on a 30 minute jog in the evening.
Went to a second-part job interview today at a sports medicine office. Excited for this and to leave my current position.
Yesterday I did a strict press workout but took a break from the 5/3/1 protocol since that lift has been sliding so badly. Worked up to working sets of 195x4, couldn't even get 5. Wearing elbow sleeves because my left elbow has been pissy lately. Didn't really seem to help my performance, though I suppose they must have; on the other hand, getting a pump so easily felt like it was harder to lift. I also switched to the barbell from the axle just because I need to retape the latter. So lots of changes that night. Will switch back to the axle next time.
The good thing is my squat continues to improve and my bench press has been holding. I'm also down in bodyweight more than I expected, 203.8. This is a relatively "normal" rate of weightloss from my observations but it's much faster than I personally like for myself. Without a competition looming, half a pound to 1 pound a week is what I usually get. This has been closer to 2 and a little above.
Worked up to a 605 deadlift on Monday. Had someone express amazement that I'd uploaded this on the basis that I partied pretty hard on Halloween. That doesn't make any difference for me.
