squat
3x5x240
haven't video'd these in a bit

bench
3x5x240

dead lifts
1x5x240

so the bad news is I had to drop down to 240. the good news is...
[x]lower back in extension

the plan as of now is to dead lift every workout and increase in 5lb increments. I figure I'm still going so light I can get away with this for awhile

in other news I shaved my beard and suffered no noticeable strength loss

classic knee slide in the squat

no u

you just mean knees are too far out in front of my toes, right? I've been concerned about that. I'll tape from the side next time to get an idea of how bad it is, this angle isn't great

No longer fondueing it I see.

No he means they are moving forward at the bottom. They need to stop sometime before the bottom.

lol word. I've come to terms with the fact that I just have a weak ass lower back, in addition to being the elephant man. I'm really hoping this works and I can progress for awhile, b/c I know not having any kind of dl progression in my program has been ****ing with my squat progression

seems like six of one, no? either way, I'm glad you guys mentioned it b/c it's been in the back of my head for awhile. I've been doing air sqauts trying to keep good knee position and I keep falling over backward which doesn't fill me with confidence for my next trip to the gym

not at all. key part of a low bar squat is keeping tension in the hamstrings through the bottom. your knees are coming forward because you're letting them slack.

also practicing air squats isn't going to have much carry over at all.

As I get about half way down I feel the load shift from my hamstrings to my thighs and hips, any tips for keeping tight hamstrings the whole way?

deads look way, way better. doing it every WO is probably excessive. If you're going to, maybe alternate between adding 5 from here and going a little lighter just to keep the movement going and getting the form to be second nature.

eh i think I'm feeling it. have to sit back more it seems

I'm only talking for maybe two or three weeks. I should have plenty of noob gains to make on the DL still

yeah, but it's not like you're doing 135. 240+ is still a decent amount of stress on your low back and CNS. Gains on DLs aren't made by doing DLs every other day, they're made by recovering. So just be careful. I prefer the heavy/light alternative, because really the #1 thing you need to worry about is form.

fair enough...you are a ***** that knows how to do some dead lifting, after all. I'll do heavy/light but start with 10lb increases on the heavy days for awhile

should I add reps to the lighter sets or no?

i doubt it. Don't be afraid to experiment with weight/sets a little bit. Just throwing my $0.02 out there.

bleh I dunno. It seems like if I'm just going to dead lift light that I might as well be power cleaning anyway.

in the book rip talks about the low back and hamstrings fighting for the pelvis. on your way down, if you fully commit to forcefully extending your lower back (could think of this as curling your butt up towards your back), you'll feel extreme tension in your hamstrings. this is where the bounce comes from.

you feel the load shift because your back loosens up and lets your hamstrings "win."

I guess that explains why I don't get any bounce out of the bottom. the ass to back thing is a good cue, thanks.

notc,

I would stick to hang cleans for right now. You're just now getting your deadlift to look good (very good on the last video in fact) that the last thing you need to add is speed. Get your dl's looking good for several workouts in a row and then consider adding pc's.

Squat
3x5x245

Press
1x4x130
1x3x130
1x2x130
super fail here. I realized that the reason my press has been sucking is b/c I don't knee bounce anymore. so I guess that's good. I'll try this weight again next time

PC:
5x3x133
Set 1
Set 2

I thought I'd video a couple sets before I decide to ditch them. If you guys think they suck I'll just start doing light dead lifts on workout B days

So this log is going to serve a second purpose in the coming days. I'm trying to take a break from smoking P.O.T. starting tomorrow, Monday the 17th. I'm not saying im quitting or anything, and I'm not setting a lofty time goal but I'd like to at least make it to next weekend and reevaluate.

Assuming I'm able to take a few days off, it will be the first time in ~2 years that I've taken a break. Basically I've been a daily smoker with some short breaks for the last eight years, and I think it's time to take some time off. This might not work, but I thought I'd post about it here for some accountability. Not necessarily looking for any responses, but feel free as long as you're not being a douche

doubtful I'll make it even one day...how anyone can make it through the day and not want to smoke themselves ******ed is beyond me

squat
3x5x250
good morningd a couple reps on the last set, pretty heavy brah

bench
3x5x205 (tie PR)
my butt came off the bench on the last rep of the third set. prob would have been find with a spotter, which I'll probably need from here on out. Should be able to do 210 on saturday hopefully

Deads:
1x5x250

how did not smoking go today/yesterday?

it didn't. I have less than 0 willpower when it comes to stuff like that

went back through and realized I'll be PRing on squats tonight, holla. Thanks again to everyone that's posted in this log, you've all been super helpful.