September 23, 2013 Lower Body / Heavy

• Squats: 315*1 350*1 365*1 380*X
• Front Squats: 245*1 260*1 275*1 285*1-nailed it
• Good Mornings: 205*1 215*1 235*1
• Overhead Squats: 75*6 95*5 115*5

45 minutes

I think I'm bumping up against my limit for strength at my current weight on this cut, finally.  What was holding me back the past couple years was lower back strength, and core strength. In my past sessions you'll see me refer to getting 'folded over' on squats, an indicator that the core/stabilizers were not up to par. The good mornings took care of that, as did rotating heavy/light workouts week to week. That ensured I was still getting the heavy work in, but that I was also not burning out, and putting in good reps at lighter weights. I think the 375-380 range is my posterior chains' max right now. I'm not getting folded, I just can't get out of the hole if I try to put more weight on the bar. Hopefully that changes this bulk.  Front squats are going great too, definitely helping matters. I'm only 20 lbs. away from my squat PR, and 15 away from front squat PR.   

I added in overhead squats here to help with balance issues, hit my core more, and hopefully have some carry over to snatches.  Tough exercise, almost fell on my rear when warming up with the bar. 

September 22, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope: 50, 50 (1:50)
• Broad Jump: 8' 8", 9' 2" NEW PR!!, 8' 9", 8' 11", 8' 10", 8' 10", 8' 11.5", 8' 7", 8' 10", 8' 7"
• 500m Row: 1:49

23 minutes

Good session, brief jump rope then shattered my PR for broad jumps, at the gym anyway.  Highest average I've had by far.   Four months ago every one of these would have been a PR.  So that's good.  Good session overall, finished with a row.  This coming competition at the gym will feature a 1000m row for time, going to build up to 100 over next couple weeks and then hopefully start shaving time. 

September 20, 2013 Lower / Posterior Chain Heavy

• Deadlifts: 400*1 435*1 450*1 475*1
• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 165*3 185*1 195*1
• Hanging Power Snatch: 135*3 155*1 165*1 NEW PR!! 170*X
• Sled Push & Pulls: 90*16 3:00
• P.U.P.P.: 1:20

So first; I rotate heavy/light sessions on my upper body workouts week to week. I also do that with squats, but don't for my dead/o-lift days. Going to start doing that. It's really helped propel my squatting quite a bit. Went heavy on deads here, going to use deficit deadlifts the next few weeks on both heavy and light days, then retest.  Cleans went well but I was somewhat burn out from the deadlifting. On snatching, I think my grip had been a bit to narrow, the bar was hanging a tad below the hip crease which is where you want it to be when in the hang position. I'm not sure if that contributed to the PR here, but it couldn't have hurt. Been trying for 18 months to get past 160 and finally did it.  Finished with some sled work and some core stuff and called it a day. 

September 19, 2013 Upper Body / Light

• Incline Bench Press: 200*10 205*7 195*8
• Pullups: 70*4 70*3 70*3
• Standing Press: 95*10 105*10 115*9
• Cable Rows: 150*9 130*10 130*8
• DB Flat - 100*6 gassed.

39 minutes

Good session, nothing particularly stands out.  I enjoy the cable rows on these higher rep days; I have trouble finding a row that I'm comfortable with at higher reps, but cable rows fit the bill quite well.  Other rows I feel like lower back stabilizer fatigue sets in at higher reps.  Plus I don't like doing T-Bars at higher reps because I have trouble breathing.   

September 18, 2013 Sprinting / Broad Jumps

• 100m: 8
• Total: 800m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 4", 10' 1", 9' 4", 9' 8"

left hamstring is still bothering me, it's weird, it's fine when I walk, deadlift, or squat. But about 20m into any sprint it starts feeling like I'm getting stabbed in it, fairly high up in the hamstring, and feels like it's about to cramp or tear.   It's not super-intense, but bad enough to slow me down a bit.  Powered through here, then went to jumping, really threw myself into the 10' 1" and 9' 8" ones here, almost face planted on the 10. Good times though, best jumps I've had in about a month. 

September 17, 2013 Upper / Heavy

• Bench Press: 265*1 280*1 290*1 300*1
• T-Bar Rows: 160*3 170*2 180*1
• Push Press: 230*1 240*X 240*1
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 90*2 90*2 90*1
• Landmine Laterals: 70*2 80*1
• Dumbbell Incline: 110*3

42 minutes

on the push press press my forearms were quite sore.  Going to drop neutral grip pullups to 85 next time I go heavy on them.  Same with 80 on landmines, going to pull it back to 75.  Rep at 80 felt sloppy. 

September 16, 2013 Lower Body / Light

• Squats: 315*4 335*3 340*2,1
• Front Squats: 230*3 240*3 250*2
• Good Mornings: 155*5 165*5 175*5
• O.H. Squats: 45*10 55*10
• Bird-Dogs: 10

Messed up 3rd rep on 340 squats, so I reracked and did one more.  Tried overhead squats, going to start low on weight til I'm used to balancing.  Solid session.  Turned 32 yesterday.   Don't feel like I'm slowing down at all, in fact I'm improving still in pretty much every area fitness wise.  I think the stretching/foam rolling helps with that. Plus not making common mistakes such as pressing way more than rowing helps keep my shoulder joints fresh.  I also make sure my hips/quads are thoroughly stretched as well so that the joints in my hips & knees don't end up going.  Still, I wonder how many more years do I have before I experience some sort of descent, or some sort of increased effort to maintain the level I'm at now.  Hopefully not for a long time. 

September 13, 2013 Upper Body / Heavy

• Incline Bench Press: 235*2 250*1 260*1 270*1ish
• Pullups: 95*2 95*2 95*1
• Standing Press: 165*2 180*1 155*3
• Unilateral BB T-Bar Rows: 175*2 180*1
• Sled Push & Pull: 90*10, 1:40

43 minutes

good session, not sure if on the 270 the spotter helped me, they were pretty zealous..decided to toss some more weights on pullups, went great.  Standing press....I always wonder how much weight I could slap on if I lead off with it on this day for a couple months.  The thing is I just love incline benching so much, I feel like it's so much easier to maintain tension throughout the lift, as opposed to with flat bench.  The sled pushing & pulling went well, love gassing myself out at the end with those

September 12, 2013 Lower

• Deadlifts: 405*1 435*1 455*1 475*1
• Deficit Deadlifts: 405*1 425*nopenopenope
• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 155*3 175*1,1 185*1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 145*3 155*1
• Pull-Throughs: 110*10 120*10
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10

44 minutes

Someone actually broke my deadlifting record (again, they use 5 rep max as the record), so I feel somewhat obligated to reclaim it as quickly as possible, I think 455*5 was what the guy got. There can only be one king.  I was going to keep focusing on squats but now I don't know...maybe do both?  Added in deficit deadlifts here, stood on 2 45 lbs. plates, so about 2".  Wasn't sure it would make a huge difference..yeah it does.  Going to work these in from now on.   Cleans & Snatches went well, I'm focusing on snatch form right now, it's going good. Pull-Throughs were nice again too. 

September 11, 2013 Sprinting / Broad Jumps

• 50m: 2
• 100m: 1
• 200m: 2
• 100m:2
• Total: 800m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 1.5", 9' 2.5", 9' 3.5", 9' 4.5"

My left hamstring was still a bit tight, couldn't hit top speeds again.  Kind of annoying.  Was taxed by the time I did broad jumps after fighting through the leg irritation.  Lacked explosiveness.