[Kevin T.]

Went away for the weekend, so I missed Saturday's workout. Moved on and went ahead with today's.

January 7, 2008

Lower Body - Max Strength

A) Front Squat: test 3RM + 2 x 3 back off:
5@ 95, 3 @ 135, 3 @ 155, 3 @ 165(3RM), 2x3 @ 155

B) Barbell Reverse Lunge 4 x 6/side @ 95, 115 (form = ew), 105, 105

C) Deadlifts off blocks (bar just above mid shin) 3 x 6 @ 225

I really want to work on front squats. These felt really good, the only thing that is holding me back is holding the bar. I was doing fine with the clean grip up to 165. After that, my left wrist was screaming at me. I tried going to straps but I just can't get comfortable with them enough to push the weight higher. Same with the BB style hold. I'm sure it's just a matter of adjusting to find what works, but I just can't get comfortable with those two alternatives and a barbell crushing my throat is not on my to-do list. However, I plan on doing warm-up sets of front squats every lifting day to work on form and stretch out the wrists and arms for the set up. Also, daily stretching of the wrists should lead to improvements after a few weeks. Because I won't be able to hold heavier weights for a while, it will keep me from being an idiot and pushing the weights when my form isn't solid. So, it'll work out.

2nd set of reverse lunges were gross. I was very off balance and everything was just off. Finished that set off and went back down to 105. Last 2 sets were solid, especially the last one.

I used two boxes to hold the bar up about 4.5" off the floor. The bar ended up just above mid shin. I could really feel these in the glutes. Nice. I need to work on my PC strength. My rack pulls are worse than my normal pulls. Need to really hammer the PC. More band pull-thrus, band GMs, RDLs, rack pulls, etc. I haven't looked at the other lower body day of this phase to see if theres any unilateral work, but if there isn't, I will get single leg work in there. I really want to work on single leg squats, Boyle style, as well.