Not much to say today, except this is my last training session in 2012. Business as usual. I did use an alternating palm grip for deads, but I'm going to try straps next time. Off to Hermosa Beach for New Years!
This was a great workout. I almost did 180 again on squats, but I went 185 anyway and I'm glad I did. They felt good, and the only typical adductor/hip pain was during warm ups. I'm not sure if foam rolling and stretching is helping, but I like the trend. I had my first failed set today on press. Looking forward to completing all of them next workout! My arms felt spent by the time I got to chin-ups so I thought I would perform poorly, but they went quite well. Almost BW x 8 for two sets now.
Music! I wish there was a better live video of this. It's one of my favorite songs of the last 15 years:
Squats felt a little better than the last workout, although my adductor pain was worse. The first set continues to be the worst one. Bench was fine weight-wise, but my left elbow was hurting still. Hopefully I can get it feeling better over the next couple days, or else it'll definitely start limiting me. Deadlift was tough but and I felt like my grip was going to fail. I'm not sure if I should get straps or start using an alternating-palm grip. I used it for the last rep and predictably my grip was much better. I used -30 pounds on assisted dips to work on my form and give my elbow a rest. I think I'm going to work up from there, at least until my elbow feels better.
Well, the Mayans were wrong and the world didn't end after all. To celebrate, I went to the gym! Good workout today. I feel like a wet noodle coming out of the hole during squats; too much forward lean. I'm a little concerned about depth, but I think I'm getting to at least parallel. Press was great. Rows were heavy but form felt better than last time.
Today's music, in honor of the Mayans' incorrect prophecy:
Pain. I realized today that my gym doesn't have 1.25 lb plates, so I can't micro load... Yet! I'll probably buy some this weekend. I'm going to need a little gym bag soon I think. Anyway, because of this, I did 175 on squats again since the bar was moving slow last time. It moved even slower this time, and I barely got it up. Blame poor quality and lack-of sleep last night. The adductors were painful. Bench is getting tougher but I'm still not near failure yet. Deadlift was tough, although my biggest problem was feeling like I was losing grip. Dips were awkward and hard. My form sucked and my arms were pretty tired. Meh, substandard workout.
Squats were exceedingly difficult. I had to REALLY push to get a couple of the reps up. Though my last set was stronger than my second, once again. I'm going to start micro-loading with 2.5 lb increments now, as I feel I'm very close to failing my first set now. I felt such a rush when I completed the third set. It was really intense, like I haven't felt before while lifting. Mega adrenaline!
So yeah, as the title says, I'm an idiot. I can't believe I did 95 lbs on overhead press again. I even loaded up 100 lbs like I was supposed to, then thought it was wrong and took it back down to 95. What the hell? The last rep was a struggle so I guess it's not the worst thing in the world. I'm going to micro-load this up to 97.5 lbs next time as well (in theory/if I'm not an idiot again). Rows were tough and I think I need to repeat the same weight again to get some form issues worked out. I'm definitely not tight at the top of the movement. My first set of chin-ups felt good, and my second felt pretty weak. I was spent at that point.
Music of the workout that got me through my last set of squats:
Umm, adductor pain, anyone? Ouch. I got through squats but man, my adductors were screaming. My form was quite sloppy on several reps and I don't feel like I hit depth on a couple either. Meh. Bench was pretty easy. Deadlift is getting heavy, but not max exertion yet. I'm thinking I'll only go up 15 lbs on deadlift next time. I added in the Good Girl Machine at the end, and I think I'll try doing it twice a week. Hopefully I can start building up some strength in the adductors so they won't hurt so damn much during squats and be in a constant state of soreness all week.
Today's song is presented in honor of my painful experience, as the title is quite fitting:
I used the Good Girl Machine at the beginning with pretty light weight, and it seemed to help the adductor strain/pain during squats. I think I'm going to progressively overload that exercise at the end of my 1st and 3rd workout each week to try to strengthen the adductors up. Squats went well otherwise, and I'd say my exertion was the highest yet. The last set continues to be the easiest one. Maybe I'm not doing enough warm up sets.
Then my workout got a little weird. I mistakenly did the same weight as last time for the standing overhead press. I didn't realize it until I was done and went to record my sets. Oh well. Rows went fine, I guess. I think I need to start doing 5 pound increases instead of 10 on those now. I felt my form starting to break down during the last rep of the last two sets.
I went to do chin ups and I couldn't stop my knees from hitting the assistance bar. I only got 6. Then I switched to another machine with no interference and still only got 6. On standing ab crunches, I'm not sure what was up, but I think last workout I read the machine wrong and was really doing 60, not 80. 80 seemed way heavier, and I only did 10 reps before going down to 60 x 15.
Okay then. That was far too detailed. How about some music?
Squats were hard once again, but I can't say they were appreciably harder than two days ago. Good sign! My adductors were still hurting at the top of every rep though - no improvement. I did a little research and think I'm going to do some light warm ups on the adductor machine (a.k.a. Good Girl Machine, see pic) and perhaps progressively overload it at the end of workouts once or twice a week.
Looks enjoyable. I am pretty convinced this is just a weak point, which makes sense since they really don't get any work in everyday life.
Bench was still easy, and deadlifts weren't really tough either, but at least they feel like it's taking some effort to get the bar off the ground. I added two sets of dips at the end with my body weight, and then used the standing cable crunch ab machine to get some work in there. The dips weren't too taxing so I think I'm going to keep doing them while bench goes up and then eventually start raising reps/weight.
Squats are getting difficult. The last rep of each set was tough and slower, and I had a bit of forward lean. I think my adductor twinge is a flexibility issue, but I'll keep a close eye on it still and continue to do some stretching. Press was finally tough, and rows are starting to give me a little fatigue now.
I'm going to increase calories per day to 3500. I've been gaining closer to a half pound a week rather than my goal of a pound. Unacceptable! Alas, I guess my metabolism is a lot faster than I thought.
Music of the workout, in honor of last night's amazing show:
Squats felt heavy, although it seemed like my last set was the easiest. The last rep of each set went up a little slower than the rest, but otherwise pretty good. I need to pay attention to my lateral movement as I squat - I'm feeling it a little more in the upper part of my right adductor. I wouldn't call it pain; it's closer to muscle fatigue, but it still feels weird. I'm not sure if I'm going down uneven and putting more stress on it, if it's an imbalance, if it's just tight, or what. Anyway, it's something to pay attention to until I can work it out. Bench was not challenging, nor was deadlift. I'm almost there though. Three sessions from now will be a PR for deadlift, and I think bench won't be far behind.
Finally, a workout that made me feel like I actually accomplished something. Squats weren't torturous, but I felt like I was noodling around through the movement, and the weight was significant. I could probably get 10 pounds more next workout, but it feels like that would be my last time and it would be a struggle. I'm going to bump it down to 5 pounds in the interest of continual progression. The overhead press wasn't too bad, and rows were still a bit on the easy side. I did chin-ups mostly because I feel like I haven't been taxing my upper body at all so far, and I kind of wanted to see where I was with straight up body weight. I'll probably drop them next workout for a couple weeks until I get used to the workload with all movements feeling heavy.
My weight was up around 174 this morning, so I think I'm going to stay the course with 3200 calories a day for now. Of course, that number is in perpetual evaluation mode, and I'll adjust as necessary. I'm interested to see what the scale does now that the weights are starting to get heavy.
