I'm a weak bitch. I failed on squats after busting my ass to get the fourth rep in the third set (after a bad breath, honestly should have missed this rep). I failed on the fifth, but finally dumped the bar correctly as to not ruin my neck.

Then I went to bench and made sure this time to take enough rest between sets. I finally completed 145, but I was spent.

My sleep has been really lacking lately #newborn #nightshift. I went to bed at 7ish got up at 11:45. Went back to sleep at 1:30 and set an alarm for 3:30. I think this is my major flaw when it comes to training. It is hard to get a lot of sleep with a newborn and this is with my wife doing everything. I get up sometimes to entertain him while she sleeps but she lets me sleep so much comparatively. I noticed on my off days (wednesday) training goes so much better.

This is a longwinded way of saying I didn't move the bar again on deadlift. I even went down to 295. Warm ups at 255 felt like I was moving the earth and my lower back was screaming in pain. My form is good I don't know whats up. Well see on wednesday if I can move this effing bar.

squats 2x5x230
bench 3x5x145 (*WR*)
deadlift 1xfx295

So guys I have a question. I went to sleep at 9 am and because of the little guy I'm up at noon. I'm supposed to train today. If I don't get to go back to sleep. Should I train today and risk failing on everything or should I push it to tomorrow. I'm really nuts about doing everything by the book so to speak. Just curious?

take the day off, rest and food are very important when you're nearing the end of linear progression

do you honestly think im nearing the end? i feel like im just starting?

sounds like you're close to stalling out on a lot of the lifts

guess I should have said nearing the end of novice/noobie gains

i guess youre right.

I feel like my timing with lifting weights is really crappy and its going to make me advance quicker than I would if I could focus on sleep and food more. When I'm rested I can squat the world, when I'm sleepy give me the bar and I'm spent.

well I got about five hours of sleep. I'm going to go train and really bust my ass. We'll see how this goes.

It's gotta suck lifting with a sleeping pattern that ****ed up. I'm sure it'll get better as your kid gets older (don't have kids myself, but def the experience from watching my friends' kids).

Most def this.
Kid-dependant obv but first few months are usually hell w sleeping.
As soon as they get off night-feeding, they start sleeping better ie waking up less often.
That's how my two sons were at least.

well I got my squats done, but it felt like I phoned them in. Ohp wasn't happening so i just left after that. not sleeping sucks.

squats 3x5x230 (pr)
ohp fail
pcs n/a

meh did not want it today. thursday ill get back at it.

I am dreading hearing this because I have twins on the way this summer. Guess I need to build up my strength base before then.

get it in now. sleep is so abused when youre kidless.

Okay well I worked out today. Squats were good, but as evident in the video I'm keeping my head pointed too far down. I'm still pretty happy with how they are progressing though.

Bench was next and my first set was good, and then I didn't take enough rest and failed on the fifth rep of the second set. I attempted 4 reps on the last set and I was about 50/50 to make the fifth rep, who knows, but this is finally progressing for me.

Dreaded deadlifts were next. I warmed up with 2x5x115 then 1x3x175 then 1x2x250 which again felt like a ton. My work set was supposed to be 295 I got it halfway up and couldn't move it anymore. Then I decided to drop to 265 I grinded out two reps and that's all I had. I don't know what to do about these and have now failed three times.

Sleep has been way messed up. Slept from noon to ten pm on wednesday, was up till 7pm last night. Then I woke up at 2am this morning and started my workout around 5am. My food also hasn't been perfect, eating a lot of calories but not really a lot of protein. I went shopping after working out and bought a lot of good healthy, whole foods, so I can really focus on eating a lot of protein and good calories.

squats 3x5x235 (WR)
Bench 150lb fail
deadlifts 295 fail

I think the thing that is so weird about the deadlifts is that I feel so much stronger overall. I feel like my squats are the best they've ever been, and my pressing movements are improving every workout.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I had another terrible workout. Actually this is the worst workout I've ever had. Little guy got his shots today and it was awful. I stayed home from work to make sure he was okay. Well I normally start work at 9 pm, I fell asleep at 9 and had that watching my son not really sleeping sleep. I woke up at around 2, so I don't totally screw myself for work tomorrow.

I really have lost a lot of motivation to do weight training. I still love it, just when I'm sleep deprived the last thing I want to think about is squats and overhead presses.

I failed on my third rep of squats today, not fun. I said f it and went to OHP. Warm ups felt okay and I started my third attempt at 120, grinded out the first set and felt like there was a bowling ball in my stomach. The only time I've ever felt like this is when I did assisted chin ups using my iron gym, months ago. I took some rest and tried again, got four reps and felt the same pain. I said screw it and left. I'm never going to get to barbell rows ever.

I know I said I'd try to get my food better. I'm about 30% better on that front. Really need to focus on food and getting rest. SIGH.

on days like this, you can always go lighter if you want to get more work in. you just hit a squat pr the other day.. if it makes you feel better, I set a squat pr then had poor squat sessions the next 3ish sessions even while getting proper sleep and more than enough calories

I was gonna go lighter, just not feeling it.

Well today was better. I failed on squats but I'm pretty sure it's because I didn't rest enough between sets, but who knows. Bench was solid and I set a pr. I finally gave up and reset deadlifts down to 265, which felt like I was moving the world. Oh well forward progress!!!

squats 1x5x240 fail
bench 3x5x150 *wr*
deadlift 1x5x265

bench


deadlift

I think you can still make your setup quite a bit better on the bench. Work yourself much further down so you can get a solid arch going. You can see your torso being kinda loose by how much it moves. Looks like you got some decent leg drive now so that's good. It's a decent bench, but it can be improved imo.

Deadlift is a bit worse. You hurry the setup a lot. Use more time to really get your lumbar properly extended before lifting the weight. You also tend to jerk it off the floor. And bend your knees later on the descent so the bar doesn't bump into them.

I agree with you on both fronts. I'll make sure to work on that. Thanks for the input.

You are up on your toes when benching. Is this on purpose? Why don't you put your feet flat on the ground and get the kinetic chain starting from there on up through your legs and then through your stiff torso to the bar.
Also, your squats are not deep at all. It is hard to tell from that angle, but you should probably widen your stance and point your toes out a bit more and focus on shoving your knees out and spreading the floor. This will help involve your hamstrings more and it won't only be a quad exercise, helping you to lift more in the future and get more benefits from your squats.
Your back is also rounding on your deadlifts. You should take some weight off and focus on keeping your chest proud. Also, you just step up to the bar and pick it up, without really getting ready physically or mentally. Don't you need to make sure everything is in alignment before you start lifting massive weights and pump yourself up a little?
IMO you should concentrate on getting your form better for a lot of these exercises and not worry about setting a PR everyday. That will come.
Anyhow, I am doing the same type of program right now, and you are helping inspire me, so thanks and GL.

I finally got a chance to really watch the videos. Both lifts need a ton of work. My bench is all over the place. And my deadlift is really scary looking especially on the eat down. I'll really work on these. But thanks for the feedback

rollthadice,

youtube 'so you think you can bench' by dave tate. Up on the toes is std, and it really works. You should be pushing your heels towards the ground as much as possible though.

Agree with your comments on the DL.

if i need to be going deeper on squats, how much deeper? I thought my depth was fine, mostly because no one has mentioned it not being fine.