Today's workout

Squat: 245 lb x 5 x 3; set 1, set 2, set 3
Bench: 135 lb x 5 x 3; set 1, set 2, set 3
DL: 315 lb x 5

APT issue is definitely there as my hips were super tight when I stretched them tonight. Will need to keep on working on this. I raised the hooks on the squat by 1 hole to see if that helps my setup (looked like I was bending over/down too much before). I think I like this a little better. Weight felt easy and shoulder felt good.

Stuck with 135 on bench because I want to make sure I get my form down so I don't mess up my shoulder anymore. Lowered the hooks 1 hole to see if that helps with keeping my shoulders setup when I take the bar. Thoughts on that? Wife came into the garage and immediately called for me during my first set. Gym setup is 2 car widths and around the corner from the door she came in. Messed up my concentration a little bit, but nothing major. Discussed the issue I have with that and she agreed to not call for me until she sees I'm not mid-set (she stopped talking once she realized I was mid-set as she knew not to talk during a lift). Bench felt ok, but not great. Will continue with 135 next session.

DL felt off today. I think I rushed my DLs (no real break between warmups and work set). Left hand felt like it was going to lose the bar on the 4th rep and rushed the 5th. Pulled with my lower back on the last rep. Will stick with 315 until my grip catches up to my legs. Grip issue was strength as the bar felt stuck to my hands the whole time. Just felt like my hand was going to open up and let the bar out of it.

Lifting with knowledgeable powerlifters is awesome.

Squat buttwink looks better on early reps, then reverts to a little buttwink on later reps of first set. Loosening up the front of your hips, and strengthening your glutes and core (all APT-fixing stuff) should help.

Bench - You're doing it better, but you're getting loose all over the place. Stay tight. It looks like in place of pulling the shoulder blades down and back hard, you're bending the elbows. Really focus on doing an "anti-shrug", getting the shoulder blades down and back as far as possible and keeping them there. Once you do this right, you'll be able to lock out your elbows without having the shoulders come loose.

DL - get your core tighter and keep it tight the whole time the weight is off the floor. There's some back movement in those. Also, stay back. The back movement is worse on the reps where you get the weight forward.

Thanks again for the feedback cha. I have a feeling I rushed the workout overall, causing some of the issues again. Seems like a lot of my issues are always caused by lack of concentration/rushing things (not just now, but when I was lifting regularly before). I'm working from home today, so hopefully I will be able to workout earlier in the day to make sure I have sufficient time to not rush things. Hopefully I will also be able to find my iPod so I can listen to things other than CDs that are all scratched up. Kids borrowed my iPod while I was in Shemya October/November and now no one seems to know where it is.

Today's workout

Squat: 265 lb x 5 x 3, set 1, set 2, set 3
Bench: 135 lb x 5 x 3, set 1, set 2, set 3
DL: 315 lb x 5

Squats felt good. First and third sets of bench felt better. The second set felt like aids. I think I didn't reset my shoulders properly before starting and I fought that the whole set. DLs felt better. Plan on upping weight in squat and DL unless something looks off upon further review of the sets.

DL - The first two reps, your body moved forward as the weight was starting to come up. You did better on reps 3-5. Stay back.

Haven't lifted this week as we have been busy at the house. Should be able to rectify that tomorrow morning.

soooo kyut!

We could use a team mascot like that for teamYugo .

I'm good with him being our mascot!

cute puppy - what kind is he?

He is a chow chow mix. The mother is 100% chow chow but the dad is an unknown mixed mutt. They said he is some type of bully (don't think pit, but possible - they are thinking American bulldog or Staffordshire terrier mixed with something else). It was an accidental breeding when a neighbor's dog knocked up the chow.

Its gonna get pretty big, isnt it?

Adorable! Does it have a bluish tongue?

It has a partially blue tongue, not full blue.

It should be about the size of a lab (50-70 lbs).

Today's workout

Shoulder rehab
Squat: 285 lbs x 5 x 3, set 1; set 2, set 3
Bench: 135 lbs x 5 x 3, set 1; set 2, set 3
DL: 335 lbs x 3 x 2; set 1, set 2
Barbell Rows
Hammer Curls

Squats felt fairly good. Trying to work on keeping a big chest and keeping the weight on my mid foot (I tend to go to the balls of my feet). Hopefully working on this now will help when the weights get heavy. Plan is to increase weight next workout.

Bench still has aids. Don't think I'm maintaining tightness in my back. Will maintain 135 lbs for these until it looks better.

Was planning on 1 set of 5 for these, but my left forearm didn't like the weight. I don't think it would have held out for another rep so I decided to go with 3 reps for 2 sets. Lost the second rep of the first set forward, but I think I corrected that on the 3 rep. I noticed it while it happened, so I tried to focus on getting back for the rest of the reps. Not sure if I did that well though, will let you guys decide on that. Decided to go with my top 2 Motorhead songs on DLs to pay respect to Lemmy.

Went light on the rows and curls as I am not sure how my shoulder will take them. Felt fine during the workout, but want to make sure the next couple days it still feels good.

Definitely need to work on my grip, but I'm not sure deadlifting 3 times a week right now is the best thing for me. Once I get my working sets up I plan on switching over to 5/3/1 for a while. I'm thinking I may want to add in some sumo DLs and some front squats as assistance excercises while on 5/3/1. Not going to add front squats to my workouts yet, but I may try some lighter sumo deadlifts on my middle workout and conventional pull on my first and third. Not sure yet, will figure that out on Wednesday.

Today's workout

Shoulder rehabs
Squat: 305 lbs x 5 x 3 (used the 35s just for KC); set 1, set 2, set 3
Bench: 135 lbs x 5 x 3; set 1, set 2, set 3
Sumo DL: 225 lbs x 5

First set of squat felt a little off. Weights felt ok, just form felt off. The second 2 sets felt better. Possibly going back into the habit of letting my ass go back on the way out of the hole though. Next workout I will be moving out of baby weights and into toddler weights (ie 315 or above).

First set of bench felt off too. I think I may have done better on the second 2 sets, at least they felt better. Not sure I mentioned this, but I moved my hands in a little bit last workout and it feels better on my shoulder. I was putting my index finger on the rings but moved it to my pinkies. Will stay at 135 next workout and may up it if it feels good again. No idea why the bench videos are not focused correctly, had them the same spot where I filmed the DLs.

Sumo DLs feel weird. I'm sure there is a lot of room for improvement on my form. I'm guessing I should have my ass lower than I do, but my hips were not going to allow that. Will slowly up weights on these and see how it goes.

Today's workout

Squat: 315 lbs x 5 x 3, set 1, set 2, set 3
Bench: 135 lbs x 5 x 3, set 1, set 2, set 3

Was tired and had family stuff come up so I only did the 2 lifts today.

Squat was ok, nothing great.

Bench felt good. Plan on upping the weight next session. I moved around a bit on the first set as I was playing around with leg drive for each rep. The others I tried to set my legs on the first rep and keep tension for the rest. Still not sure how to bench properly, but my shoulder felt good.

Probably won't have a consistent schedule for lifting until the end of January. Have a bunch of family stuff this week and then I go on vacation for a week starting the 15th. Plan on meeting with the local "coach" sometime after vacation.

Looking over these videos I have come to 2 conclusions:

1. I really need to figure out a more permanent solution for videoing and stop using random boxes. The angles are all weird and seem to be out of focus.

2. I really need to lose my gut.

Yet another S&F stalwart falls. R.I.P S&F.

I guess lose might not be the best word, maybe downsize? Not looking for any visible abs, but there is definitely a bit too much girth around my middle. Most likely not healthy IMO.

We're obviously quite different in terms of strength and bodyweight ...but yeah, there is really no point in maintaining a higher bodyweight in the interest of being able to squat and extra 50 or 100lbs... certainly if you're not competing, and even then you obviously have to weigh up (lolol pun) the cost/benefit.

That said, squats look pretty good to me (I watched 2nd set)... although your tempo trolls me and maybe the bar is coming forward a bit at the bottom (although I think everyone does this).

Having the weight come forward is one of the things I have always had an issue with. Hopefully I can figure that out sometime in the future. Most likely a strength issue (abs/ass) combined with a concentration issue. Will keep working on it though.

Not sure what you mean by the bolded. If you mean it is weird how I structure my set of 5 (single, double, double in the second set) I just go with what feels right. If I have to do 5 "singles" (breathe after each rep) I do that, if I fell like I can do more on a single breath I do.

Hahaha. Yeah. I mean single, double, double. I'm sure it's fine and doesn't make a difference at all. I guess I must just have an inner obsessive compulsive disorder lifter.

Nice. Will have to show my wife that picture.

As for me, haven't been lifting much lately due to life. Nothing major, just busy. Hopefully will be getting a session in tonight.