I live outside of chicago, confirmed not you. Guy is certainly your doppleganger though.

Well that sucks, would've been nice to find another bro to hit up the gym with.

6/30:

Cressey foam roll (very tight spot on my right hamstring that I worked out and made feel excellent )

Front Squat :
5x45
5x65
5x95
3x135
5x140
5x160
9x185 (1rm 240.49, -12.8)

Had to do these on a new rack and in the first set w/ just the bar I actually hit the fixed guards, so I had to front squat and walk it ~3' backwards before I could do a complete movement. I sort of lost grip on the last set and was barely holding on to the bar with 1 finger on 1 hand and 2 on the other. Prob could've got more if not for that.

OHP:
5x45
5x65
5x85
3x105
5x100
5x115
9x130 (1rm 169.0, +1)

Rows:
5x65
5x95
5x115
5x120
5x140
10x160 (1rm 213.3, +3.6)

DB OHP:
10x45
10x45
8x45

Planks
3x30s

-------

Decent day overall and got some new 5/3/1 1RMs. I think FS would've went much better in a normal rack, but oh well.. Way too hot to do sprints outside but my hamstring is feeling better, so I really need to stop sucking.

Yeah I hear ya, I have to drive 40 minutes to find someone decent to train with.

7/3:

foam roll + lax ball

Squat:
5x45
5x45
5x135
5x185
3x205
3x215
3x245
9x275 (1rm 357.5, +2.2)

Bench:
5x45
5x45
5x95
5x135
3x150
3x170
10x190 (1rm 253.3, -.2)

Dips:
10,10,8

Ab Rollouts:
10,10,10

Chins:
4,4,4

Random Q, any reason you do 2x5 with the bar for warmup vs 1x10?

It's just random. Like today my first set of squats didn't feel right so I racked the bar, did some stretches and came back to it. For the bench, I set up in a power rack and I wasn't sure where to put the safety bars. So I did a set of 5 w/o them in place and then I put them in there and did another set to make sure they were at the correct level.

that's how the rip warmup calc says to do it, too. I doubt it matters AT ALL but that's how I do it two

google it,its been posted before, yall just never click mah linkz

I click on your links, just not the ones that tell me what I need to warm up with. There is no calculator that accurately depicts the necessary reps required for me to do what I need to do before my work sets. Not only that, a Rip calculator probably isn't that useful for 5/3/1.

lol i was just ranting <3

7/5:

foam roll + lax ball glutes, forearms, bis/tris

Cleans:
5x45 hang
5x65
5x90
3x110
3x135
3x150
3x150
3x150

DL:
5x150
5x185
3x215
3x220
3x250
10x280 (1rm 373.3, +22.3)



I think I really need to focus on bringing my chest up. There is still a clear hump in there and I would like to fix that eventually... This looks to be a WR rep max, but I'll need to submit the proper documentation and verify through the rest of my log. I was super gassed at the end and I really think I had the strength to continue, just not the conditioning.


Incline Presss:
3x10x135

much easier, +5lbs next week

DB Curls:
2x10x30

My shoulders were kinda hurting here, so I think I'm going to reset down to like 20s and reallly pump em out, gnomesane?

Back Extensions:
3x20xBW

Finally got all 3 sets of 20 because I'm normally in a hurry to get out. Tonight I took a little longer in between sets to make sure I finished them. Going to apply this same strategy next week and if that succeeds, I'll start loading the exercise.

Dam boy, you got dem sexy knees and socks.

Is there a reason you can't get your back tight? It's not even starting straight and seems like your mid to lower back. But that being said. Looks strong imo.

Perfectly rounded knees iyam.

It feels tight, it feels straight, but it isn't. I never have any pain from DL, but I have gotten some decent DOMS from the back extensions.

Could it be a posture thing? Recent progress pic for reference that seems alright, idk.

oh my, he finally posted noodz

Your posture seems fine if that's relaxed. You can see in your videos though that your back isn't flat when you start. I mean, you keep it in that position throughout the DL, which is good, so it's obviously tight to a large degree I'd assume. Also, maybe you aren't setting your lower back before lifting?

Here is a video from Ripp talking about that: http://startingstrength.com/index.ph...sition_control. The actual "trick" for feeling what a set lower back is starts at 8 minutes but listening to the whole thing is likely somewhat helpful. I dno, Ripp certainly talks enough but he always seems smart, .

Also, you could try engaging your lats more? I can't really tell if that might be the issue, if it's mobility, or if it's not setting your lower back. Unless you're doing it specifically for a reason and for sure are rounding your upper back instead of your lower one, I think it can be a legitimate DL technique but seems not worth trying to mess around with until you're super strong and learn more about it.

7/7:

foam roll- mostly legs and t-spine. I need to start doing more shoulder and arm SMR, so I'm going to look into that.

Front Squat:
5x45
5x65
5x95
3x135
3x150
3x170
10x190 (1rm 253.3, 0)


OHP:
5x45
5x65
5x85
3x105
3x150
9x135 (1rm 175.5, +6.5)



In the mirror it didn't look my head was moving under the bar so I adjusted midway through, but it seems like I was doing fine the first several reps and the extra neck movement seemed to make me off balance.


Pendlay Rows:
5x65
5x95
5x115
3x135
3x150
9x165 (1rm 214.5, +1.2)


DB OHP:
3x10x45

Very nice presses!

Ya that's relaxed. Consistency is key for progress pics imo.

Watched that and am doing that stretch and think I'm feeling it. Rip made the explanation make since which is good because I don't know most of those terms.

I felt like my lats were engaged well for the first couple reps, but then I paid less attention to that throughout the rep. I'll just work more on this aspect of mobility. Time to google some stuff.

7/10:

Cressey foam roll + lax ball, also lax balled pecs, tri/bis, and forearms.

Roll up and see both squat racks are taken by bro 1 doing upright rows with 55lbs and a group of bros working their biceps. No big deal, I'll do bench.

Bench:
5x45
5x65
5x95
3x135
5x160
3x180

Power rack opened up so I setup shop there so I could have the rack as a spotter.

3x135
11x200 (1rm 273.3, +19.8) WR

Squat:
5x45
5x135
3x185
1x225
5x230
3x260
9x290 (1rm 377, +19.5)

Bonus: video

Double bonus: Bro doing some machine press with a neck brace




Dips:
10,10,10

I think the break in between bench helped with this.

Pullups:
3,3,3

Ab Rollout:
10,10,10

----

Good day at the bronasium.

11 x 200 bench? Christ get swole son


True story, I once did 1x200
:humblebrag:

thanks brah. I think benching in the rack really helped me focus everything into the pressing and allowed me to eliminate any thought of fail. And as a result, I crushed it.

Gotta remember to do bridge sprints tonight and then going to have another huge day on Wednesday.

ETA: Just realized my Wendler 1RM totals for the 3 powerlifts is >1000lbs now.

add 40lbs to total in one sesh

NBD

I should be adding another 10-20lbs tonight as I get to DL 315 for reps. First time 3 plates since my return to the gym. The goal to beat my previous rep max is 6, so I'm going for 8.

I knew my original totals were a little low and def think I have plenty of easy gains left. I was actually considering inserting in a Smolov Jr. bench cycle after my deload, but since I'm gaining so much I think I'll wait to use that to break through a plateau. Thoughts?

Wouldn't stop doing what you're doing til it stops working.

7/12/2012

Weight: 202.8

Power Clean:
5x45
5x65
3x95
3x115
3x135
155,165,175,180x,180,185,185x (+5 lbs)

I need to do a lot of form videos. It gets pretty bad when the weight is heavy, but once I get these figured out I'm just going to do heavy singles.

While doing these, a female trainer was trying to teach an older guy a front squat-push press complex and he had some obvious flexibility issues. She was kind of flabbergasted that he couldn't do it and another trainer intervened and stated it might be he hip flexors that weren't allowing him to get into position and he should probably try to foam roll those. This immediately turned me into skeptical house as I know it's extremely difficult to roll those spots. Whatever. Old dude continued on in his rope shaking, walking OHP circuit and the next time he got to the front-squat/push-press the female trainer mentioned it again and this time I was paying attention and noticed that the old guy's hips were never in the correct place from the beginning. I opened my mouth and mentioned that it could be an issue with the erector spinae, but these I realized that I don't want to try and give these people advice. When I shut up, the female trainer interjected that when her client foam rolls his lower back it is very tight and it hurts. I just let this go. In retrospect, I prob should've shut up about the erectors and piped up wrt the foam rolling... Damn it.

Deadlift:
5x185
5x205
5x235
3x270
5x315 (1rm 367.5, -5.8)

Pretty meh. Some dude was working in on me with these DL sets and I'm not sure I got the needed rest before the last set. Also, he went to try and pull this... and he didn't get it off the floor.

Incline Press
2x10x 140

I was supposed to do a 3rd set and two more exercises, but I just felt like getting out of the gym, so I did.