BruteForce: Power Overwhelming

[bruteforce]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Great PR.

Thanks! 345x5 gives me a bigger confidence boost than the 365x3 for pushing my deadlift past 405 next week.

Originally Posted by jesseisrael

Boring but big is a good template but it does get BORING!

Haha, yeah, its not exciting or flashy, but its been treating me well. In another few months I may have to venture out past it and mix things up a bit.

Sunday weigh in
254#s Down 1.2 from last week.

[bruteforce]

Great Bench day today. Missed 225, but got 3 forced negatives with it. Sticks about an inch off the chest. Everything else was pretty awesome though.

Bench
Bar x lots
95x10
135x3
165x5
185x3
210x1 - a little wobbly but honestly felt light
225x0 - didnt feel too heavy except at the sticking point
205x1/2/1
215x1 - matched max weight I've done before.
125x10x3 - lower back had had enough by this point. Starting to cramp up on my from being arched and tight so long.

Ugly DB Curl - doesn't matter how i get it up as long as I don't swing it.
55x3/3 (Planned progress)

DB Curl
35x8/8/7 (Planned progress)

Stayed away from rows as they put a lot of stress on my shoulders. Bench didn't bother the rotator cuff at all, which I was pretty happy about.

A little miffed that I missed 225 again, but I rocked the heavy singles and everything that normally feels heavy felt nice and easy. First day using NO Xhaust from Big Rigg Supps, like it pretty well so far. Been off pre-workouts for a couple months, and this is probably my favorite so far.

[BendtheBar]

Nice job on the negatives. How close was the 225?

[bruteforce]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Nice job on the negatives. How close was the 225?

Pretty close. 215 went up easy. 225 I lose my tightness when it gets below about 2 inches off the chest. On the way back up, sticks at about 1-1.5 inches. With a spotter helping to get it to 3-4 inches up I can take it the rest of the way.

[bruteforce]

Squat day. Did very well today on most reps, the stretching and depth work is starting to pay off. Weight is still down, but hey, what do you expect when you go from 3/4 squat to the real deal?

Squat
Barx10
95x6
135x5
185x3
225x5
245x3ish wish i had a video, not convinced i hit below parallel.
275x0 - had to ditch the bar at a weird place. 1/2 way up just stuck for a good 5 seconds. Irritated, but coming out of the hole went well.
245x1
135x10/10/5 - needed a bucket on the last set here, and didnt feel up to doing more after that.

SLDL
135x6
185x5
225x5
245x3
275x1 PR +20 pounds
315x1 PR +60 pounds

Very nice.

[jesseisrael]

Nice progress. Remember there is no hurry you have plenty of time to keep hitting PR's.

[bruteforce]

Originally Posted by jesseisrael

Nice progress. Remember there is no hurry you have plenty of time to keep hitting PR's.

Thanks. I've got a lot of things to work on with squats, but things went much better this week than last. Bar position on my back was good finally, not on my neck but not in danger of slipping down my back. Was able to actually push my knees out and get to parallel, just reached too far on that last set.

[BendtheBar]

Your weight will bounce back fast. Like Jesse said, one rep at a time. You keep that up and monster numbers are coming.

[bruteforce]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Your weight will bounce back fast. Like Jesse said, one rep at a time. You keep that up and monster numbers are coming.

Thanks BtB. Really looking forward to moving "real" weight.

Shoulders today. Completely destroyed and loving it.

Push Press
warmup
115x5
135x3
155x2
165x1 (PR +5 pounds)
bunch of partials at 170, couldn't lock it out
95x10x3
145x1x4

CGBP
135x5
145x5
155x5
165x3
175x1
185x1

Dips
BWx2

Lockout was an issue at heavy weight, but tiring myself out on the higher rep stuff seems to have been a good idea. Able to fight hard for 145, come close to failing, but lock it without having to worry about losing too heavy of a weight.

Good depth on dips today. Good session.

[bruteforce]

Power overwhelming. Huge PR for deadlift today. If I can PR a dead whilst cutting and running a 70+ hour week for work, I can't freaking wait to see what I can do when I get to bulk again.

Deadlift
135x5
225x5
305x5
345x3
385x1 - 5/3/1 prescribed, no rest between sets except to load the plates

415x1/1 PR lockout was messy on the first, belted up and nailed the second

425x0 - upper back was rounding a little on 415 and wasnt having any of it at 425

225x8x5 - easy.

Pullups - neutral grip
bwx2 any time i can haul my @ss off the ground is a good day

Lat Pulldown
130x10/9/6

Weighted Crunch
25x12
25x6 drop bwx6
bwx7

BB Calf Raise
135x12x3

Fantastic day today. Felt pretty beat up going into the gym, but got it done.

For the week,
Bench - upped reps for heavy singles, matched previous PR
Squat - form is starting to come together, still needs work
PushPress - PR + 5 pounds
Deadlift - PR+10 pounds w/ 2 singles at weight

Not bad during a cut.