Squat Dive Bombing is a Crime.

Fully agree. Don't do it. It's better to think that you're not bouncing (unless you're deliberately pausing, imo, you're gonna be using the stretch reflex).

Yea, will attempt to fix this... 99% mental because I was doing fine a week or so ago.

WOAT energy levels, just a tiring, stressful week.

8/9

DL: 6x325
OHP: 5x1x105 (10-30s rests); 6x95; 7x85
Pullups: 4, 4, 3

Wasn't dive bombing this time, but still weird... if I try and change direction once decent depth has been attained, I get stuck. If I run it to the bottom, I do better. Form is obv askew somewhere else, useless without vids, yadda yadda.

Wasn't even going to go to the gym today because I'm tired as hell, been burning the candle at both ends a bit lately and it shows. Was legit dizzy/shaky through the lifting so I figured it's better not to potentially injure myself.

8/12

Squat: 5x225, 6x205, 7x185
Bench: 3x165, 8x135

Also, in schizo move #32429384, I'm really not that fat and don't need to do a ridiculous cut... thinking to reinstate TM and do something leangains-y, perhaps +20/-20 or +20/-40 or even +0/-20. Not gonna be nitty enough for the %s to matter, but seems like a decent idea.

Warning: TLDR post ahead, mostly just me coming full circle on retardation/fitness ADD.

DIET: realized there's absolutely zero reason to get fancy on diet, just gonna approach a moderate deficit ala Bixby's SS Log and target ~1lb fat/week. Could RFL but don't feel like the strain, effort, or risk of any type of LBM/strength loss (even if these are non-risks when RFL is executed properly). I'm in no hurry though. Also pretty encouraged by scale and looks recently, weighed in sub 175 today, and I'm starting to look like I could be kinda skinny in certain spots if I can drop 10lb or so. That should be a breeze, even at a moderate pace. Basically, back to basics/FAQs. But will probably still eat a tiny more on workout days, fast 14-16 hours, and try and load up as many cals PWO as possible to leverage some of that fabled Leangains magic.

PROGRAMMING: realized there's absolutely zero reason to ditch TM, just gonna scale back volume day a bit to reflect the deficit. This should have been obvious. Curls and abs might be a bit unnecessary on a cut, but if curls and abs screw my recovery that much I'm the biggest ***** in HF. (In before curls and abs screw my recovery).

SQUATS: I'm 75% sure I was crushing squats because my form was getting wonky, specifically knee cave, torso lean, and lack of depth. Which would probably explain why I collapsed so quickly once I couldn't fake it anymore. Gonna reset a bit and approach squats conservatively.

I think that's it actually...

8/14 - Recovery

Squat: 2x5x195
OHP: 2x5x85
Curls: 3x10x50
Rollouts: 3x10

New gym pet peeve: there's one ab roller, and there's always some dude doing a set of like 50+ with terrible form. Legit heard one guy say to another "make sure you arch your back as much as possible so you work your back AND your abs" and then saw the guy proceed to bust out a 5+ minute set, bouncing every rep off his elbows that were extended no more than 135 degrees. Like, jesus dude, you'd probably be better off doing ONE rollout. Of course, both dudes were ripped, so what do I know / genetics gonna genetic.

Was about to post how a continued deficit seems best for you given your goals. It's a long hard road...

8/16 - Weak as ****, bulk bulk bulk

Squat: 4+1x230
Bench: 5x165
DL: 5x325

Squats were insanely tough and hitchy, but the form was solid. Nothin else to say really.

Post-golf last-minute 70-minutes-until-the-gym-closes volume day lite...

8/19

Squat: 4x5x210
OHP: 5, 5, 7 @ 95
PC: 5x2x165

Plan was 3x5 squats but those were real easy so I did an extra set. Reset based on recent suckage, but these felt great. OHP was also real easy, I know I've said this 100 times but I feel like my form is settling in... kinda using a narrow stance, thumbless, lean backy thing now that seems to make pushing things over my head easier. Didn't expect much outta PCs given a couple hundred golf swings today, but those were never in doubt. Suppose I owe 167.5 next time.

Changing the world two bros at a time? Two high school kids I always see there on Tuesdays doing the big barbell lifts with too much weight and horribly injurious form. Today both cut 1/3 of the weight off their 1/8th squats and upgraded to 1/2 squats after noticing me do a couple sets.

8/21 - Recovery

Squat: 2x5x195
Bench: 2x5x135
Curls: 10, 10, 9 @ 55
+5 Rollouts: 8, 8, 5

Yea, failed some assistance, wanna fight about it? Years of you guys telling me you don't need direct bicep or ab work.... (not really serious). On a serious note though, weighted rollouts are insane and I felt like I was gonna tear something. Pretty awesome.

Recovery daying the full plate bench like a boss. And curls on recovery day? Aren't you afraid you're gonna mess with...... o wait, biceps are useless...

8/23 - Diet Intensity

Squat: 6x230
OHP: 4x105; 4x95
DL: 5x330

Squats were feeling good, 7 was a possibility but figured I'd leave a bit for DL. OHP... hey, 5 woulda been nice but cutting, haven't heavy OHPd in a while, still figuring out how to lift things over my head, etc. DL was incredibly hard but hey, moved some weight there.

Diet's sucked a bit recently due to a few things that came up, NBD. Feeling very nonpressed at the moment for some reason. Anyway, arbitrary weigh in after normal day of eating:

8/25 - 173.6

Gotta eat a ton of food tonight, gonna go do volume day.

8/25 - Volume

Squat: 4x5x215
Bench: 4x5x152.5
PC: 5x2x167.5

Not sure if this is causative, but I used one of those spinny bars on PC for the first time today and PCs were pretty much a joke.

8/27 - lolcovery

Squat: 2x5x195
OHP: 2x5x85
Chins: 10, 10, 11 @ 50
+5 Rollouts: 8, 8, 13