Brian - Deload Squats

Week between intensity and volume training.

Squats w/ Gordon's Belt;
Warmup - 45x10, 135x5
Working - 185x3, 185x3, 205x3, 205x3, 205x3, 205x3, 205x3

These were all really really easy sets. I tried to work the bar down lower on my back now that I'm working on technique. Before I was squatting with it pretty high on my neck. Now I'm holding it in the same place as Kik. At first it felt like I was holding a lot of the weight with my arms but after a few sets I kind of settled in and it felt way better that way than in the normal high position.

Gordon's favorite thing to do is give red lights on squats, so when he started telling me I was going too low I realized I must be about to sit on the ground. I adjusted the last few sets so that they were parallel. In this new bar position it seems that I'm subconsciously back to squeezing my knees in a bit, but I recognized it and had to consciously stop it.

Stair jumps - Did everything Kik did, except better. Made it up to 5 steps with feet at the railing post, and then did 4 sets of 2 step hops per leg, without any breaks.

Good mornings - 45x10, 95x10, 95x10, 135x6

All of them felt easy. I stopped because I got stomach pains for some reason.

Also, Danny, tell me what's wrong with this picture? You see what the gym has degraded to after you left? It's a shame, really.

Oh, one last thing. Someone (presumably) stole Jon's longboard from behind the desk today. It's really bad timing as someone literally just stole his bike the day before. I can't imagine someone stealing a longboard from behind the desk and walking all the way through the gym with it. It would be *incredibly* ballsy, and in my experience people don't really steal things there to being with, let alone something like that. Hopefully it was just misplaced during closing, but we checked behind the desk and at the main desk lost and found. If anyone has seen it or knows where it is please let me know.

Gordon: 11/3 - 11/9

Weight is still 170. New 13mm leather belt came this week, which helped with 5x5 squats immensely. Started adding more back exercises this week to improve my deadlifts, but probably added too much at once because my lower/mid back were sore the whole week.

11/03/09 Medium, Deadlift assistance
Good morning: 5,5,4,4,4@235 (slow)
Deficit deadlift: From 2 green plates; 5x4@275 (medium)

11/05/09 Medium
Squat: 3x3@225
Bench: 8x3@155 (fast); 2@255 (slow, failed on 3rd rep) Added a heavy set at end of speed sets

11/07/09 Volume
Squat: 5x5@330 (slow) With new belt, all reps were at or below parallel. Gonna start wearing wrist wraps again for squats >315, left wrist felt sore after.
Rack pull: 3x4@285; 8@225 (fast) Back was really tired, so called it early and did a back off set instead of 6 sets of 4.
11/08/09 Volume cont.
Deadlift, sumo: 3x5@285 (medium)
Bench: 5,4,4,4,5@225 (slow) With wrist wraps.

Gordon: 10/24 - 11/1

10/24/09 Volume
Bench: 5x4@220 (slow)
10/25/09 Vol cont.
Squat: 5x5@320 (slow)
Deadlift: 2x2@385 (slow, rounded lower back, very rounded upper back, wanted triples but couldn't lock out 3rd reps; PR+10)

10/27/09 Assistance
Good morning: 5x5@225 (slow)
Rack pull: 6x4@275 (fast)
Ab wheel: 4x11 from knees

10/29/09 Medium
Squat: 5@335 (SLOW, paused on reps 4 & 5)
Bench: 1@255; 1@275 (SLOW, PR+10)

10/31/09 Volume
Deadlift: 3x5@275 (medium)
Bench: 5x5@220 (slow)
11/01/09 Vol cont.
Squat: 5x5@325 (SLOW, ~1 rep per set above parallel)

Weight is still 170. New deadlift and bench PR's this week, but my deadlift isn't progressing as well as I'd hoped. I think I will drop the weight some, and add more sets/reps to volume days. I'm also going to add good mornings and rack pulls once per week to help strengthen my pull.

5x5 squats are getting more difficult, it is harder getting depth and good speed out of the hole. The last couple reps are almost paused at my sticking point now. Hopefully I can continue adding 5lbs/week for a couple more weeks.

Gordon: 10/13 - 10/18

Weight still 171, at least strength is increasing incrementally still.

10/13/09 Light
Squat: 3x3@225
Press: 5,4,3@157 (slow)
Cable row: 3x8@160

10/15/09 Medium
Bench: 4@245 (Slow) Wanted to get 5, but tweaked left wrist a bit. Should've worn wrist wraps
Good morning: 4x6@185; 3@225 Nate called these 'pussy weights,' will do reps at 225 next time
Deadlift: 6x3@185 (fast)
Ab roller: 3x11 from knees

10/17/09 Volume
Squat: 5x5@315 (SLOW) Nate's leather belt helped a lot.
10/18/09 Volume cont.
Deadlift, sumo: 3x3@375 (Very Slow off ground) May have rounded some?
Bench: 5x5@215 (medium) Used wrist wraps

Gordon: 9/22 Light

Wow being sick was not good for my weight: today's weight in the locker room was 170. Light workout for recovery.

Good morning: 3x5@185
Bench: 3x8@160
Chin up: 3x10@bw

Gordon: 8/22 & 8/23

8/22/09: Speed day

Box Squat: 9x3@185 (fast)
Bench: 8x3@135 (medium fast)
Bent over row: 3x6@154 (medium)
Hanging leg raise: 6,8,8,8
Cable standing crunch: 3x8@100

All the speed sets started out medium, then got faster as the sets went on. Didn't quite know what to do with all the extra hours at the gym, so did some abs too.

8/23/09: Accessory day

Good Morning: 3x5@185 (medium) per Nate's advice I'm going to start progressively adding weight to gm's
DB curl: 8@30; 4x8@35 (slow)
Calf raise: standing - 2x8@160; seated - 2x8@90
Sit ups: 3x10@45

Was really unfocused today and babbled too much. Need to increase work capacity (conditioning) and focus.

Also, I've decided to enter into a bodybuilding pre-competition phase on account of an ex coming into town this weekend, and me needing to show her what she's missing. The plan is to drop to 1000 Cal/day, take ECA stack, and carb/water deplete starting today. John I'll need advice for good tanning salon, Andre for hair removal/manicure/pedicure, Shanker for ways to push her out of my life, and Rene for fashion tips :D

Gordon: 8/16 & 8/18

8/16/09 - Accessory day, not much happening, just did some stuff that shouldn't take away from recovery.

Good morning: wide stance, 2x8@95; 3x5@135 (medium)
BB curl: 8@60, 70, 80 (slow)
Standing calf raise: 3x10@160
Incline sit up: 12@40, 45, 45

8/18/09 - Volume day, weight this morning was 179, on target for my bulk plan.

Squat: 5x5@295 (slow)
Bench: 5x5@195 (medium slow)
Deadlift: 5@353; 5+1@353 (slow)

Squats felt ok, starting to get tough to finish though. May just go up by 5lbs next week. Bench is recovering slowly from my brief hiatus. Deadlifts felt ok, except the 1st rep, which was REALLY SLOW, possibly from hips raising before pulling. After I finished the 2nd set, Nate told me to do another rep, so I had to do another one. Gym etiquette is weird like that.

My stupid velcro belt actually failed on me on the last rep of a set of squats at the bottom of the hole. I was lucky to finish that set, despite losing abdominal pressure all of a sudden. I need to order a new belt soon.

Gordon: 8/2 - Speed day

Hi all. I am the other Asian guy that's not as strong as Frank but definitely getting heavier than him. My notation is: Sets x Reps @ Weight in pounds, then I put in parentheses some notes, usually the bar speed on the last rep.

Box Squat, with box at parallel, for speed: 8x3@185 (fast)
Good Morning: 3x10@95 (medium)

I am on the Texas Method, from Practical Programming. I am subbing in some speed work for high intensity days, since Rippetoe also seems to like speed sets.