Adarq.org

Training
FS 4x98.5, 5x93.5
BS 6x100, 7x95 (PR), 8x92.5 (PR)
BP 5x77.5, 4x75, 6x72.5, 3x5x70 (WG)

FS notes:
Not saying I would have had got the rep but annoyingly caught the pins on the bottom of the 5th rep which threw me off balance and I failed the last rep. This hasn't happened for ages because the pins are set pretty low. I guess I went lower than ATG if that's possible. But it's ok i'll definitely get it next time. I would have repeated it anyway to get better form so no harm done.

OH and the 5x92.5 was very pretty - almost the nicest set of front squats ive done!

BS notes:
Finally some PRs. I got the 100x6 I was chasing as well but I will stick with these weights til I get more depth before progressing.

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Diet notes:
Been struggling with dieting. I managed 2 days in a row and then yesterday had a family function and did really well - ate within my restrictions. But somehow later that night used up all my (finite) discipline along the way and unfortunately ended up finishing all the left overs (!). Threw me off my game and today I was so disgusted with myself I ended up eating more junk in the morning. Anyway. Will start over tomorrow.

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Programming notes:
My program is coming around organically. I'm taking bits and pieces from Lance and keeping what was working for me before - dropping what wasn't and hopefully it will serve me well going forward. Here is how it looks -

Mon: FS 2x5, BS 1x6, 1x6-8, 1x7-8 (aiming for a total squatting volume of about 28-32 reps)
Wed: FS 2x5, BS 1x5, 1x6 (aiming for a total of 20-21 reps - higher intensity on the BS than Mon)
Fri: FS singles to a max, BS 1x3, 1x5 (aiming for a total of ~15 reps, higher intensity than Weds)

So it's waving intensity up and volume down thru the week. I know it's the opposite of what Lance recommended (waving intensity down and volume up) but it seems to suit me better psychologically - because I look forward to going balls out on fridays but knowing I have to do less volume.

at this point why are you still worried about going deeper? your depth is great, you need to keep adding weight to the bar!

Pretty sure you wouldn't approve of my depth on back squats. In fact I remember you told me to squat deeper in the first place in my old log But have a look at the video first :-

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P2x-CBJz1w" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P2x-CBJz1w</a>

Btw is it ok to backsquat to parallel or just slightly below if i'm doing ATG front squats as well?

If you're front squatting I think you'd be better suited to do low bar squats and/or very hip dominant compound movements like RDLs/isolation glute exercises like hip thrusts. You should get plenty of quad hypertrophy from the front squats, no reason to be redundant with high bar squats.

Fuck your half deadlifts dude.

Quote from: entropy on December 03, 2012, 12:14:41 pm

Quote from: LBSS on December 03, 2012, 12:01:46 pm

at this point why are you still worried about going deeper? your depth is great, you need to keep adding weight to the bar!

Pretty sure you wouldn't approve of my depth on back squats. In fact I remember you told me to squat deeper in the first place in my old log But have a look at the video first :-

Btw is it ok to backsquat to parallel or just slightly below if i'm doing ATG front squats as well?

word, i guess i figured that because your FS depth has improved so much your BS depth had followed. on that video, you could be deeper but you're at or below the plane. 

Well in a way I can squat a lot deeper on BS if I take some weight off the bar but you might say that's pointless and I should be looking to add weight instead. Maybe it's psychological, don't like being at the bottom of a backsquat with a heavy weight, feels precarious. I don't mind with front squat, that feels perfectly comfortable even with limit weights, but with BS I feel i could easily snap some shit up, esp when I hit my sticking point and then I have to work very hard not to get bent over and squat morning.

whether it's okay to BS to parallel or slightly below depends on what you're trying to get out of the BS. hell, some of adarq's best vert gains came when he was half-squatting to pins.

This is what I wanna know. Do I get more out of doing deeper and lighter backsquats, or do I get more out of doing heavier parallel ones. Who knows.

raptor, i'm kind of sick of training already, i dont wanna add any more exercises cos it feels like I live in the gym already. That's why I don't do RDLs anymore, just cant be bothered with another exercise unless it's absolutely improving my athleticism - which I found RDL not to be doing. I think i got nothing out of the 3-5 months I spent working on my RDL. On the other hand, i'm not squatting much right now so maybe I should just work on adding some weight before looking to assistance exercises like hip thrusts. But perhaps if I did do them, i would find it easier to progress my BS? I dunno. I'm willing to hear suggestions. I agree with you about HBBS tho - i use a HBBS placement (kind of) but my backsquats are closer to LBBS than HBBS - do you agree?

Quote from: entropy on December 03, 2012, 02:43:18 pm

Quote from: Raptor on December 03, 2012, 02:34:58 pm

If you're front squatting I think you'd be better suited to do low bar squats and/or very hip dominant compound movements like RDLs/isolation glute exercises like hip thrusts. You should get plenty of quad hypertrophy from the front squats, no reason to be redundant with high bar squats.

Fuck your half deadlifts dude.

lol'd

Me too, although that's too bad for him.

What rep range/volume did you use for your quarter deadlifts?

OHP notes:
Kinda tweaked my back on OHP. I hate this stupid lift, always gives me back problems. I should focus on maintaining perfect form and only adding weight once i've mastered the weight. Patience will probably go a long way as long as I'm consistent over a period of 6-12months.

I have the same problem and i don't even lift as heavy as you , currently at 7-6-6@45kg if i remember well.
Why don't you switch to push press , the back problems for me appear at the bottom of the ROM and they all dissapeared when i switched to push-press. Lance is a big fan of push-press too , it's also supposed to have a much better athletic carryover ( which seems logical since there is a violent triple extension involved ). I hate the OHP and i loved the push-press ( but now i'm stuck with OHP because of my quad injury , FML , irrelevant ).
Just some thoughts material.

Quote from: entropy on December 05, 2012, 04:12:14 am

OHP notes:
Kinda tweaked my back on OHP. I hate this stupid lift, always gives me back problems. I should focus on maintaining perfect form and only adding weight once i've mastered the weight. Patience will probably go a long way as long as I'm consistent over a period of 6-12months.

I have the same problem and i don't even lift as heavy as you , currently at 7-6-6@45kg if i remember well.
Why don't you switch to push press , the back problems for me appear at the bottom of the ROM and they all dissapeared when i switched to push-press. Lance is a big fan of push-press too , it's also supposed to have a much better athletic carryover ( which seems logical since there is a violent triple extension involved ). I hate the OHP and i loved the push-press ( but now i'm stuck with OHP because of my quad injury , FML , irrelevant ).
Just some thoughts material.

Dabbled with PP earlier in the year. Did not mind them but not in love with them either! I dislike both of them equally I also do not think they are an OHP replacement. If I were doing PP i'd still keep an overhead press in there but my preference is to do less exercises than more. I don't think PP are safer than OHP though - I can fail OHP easier than PP because the weight is lighter. There is also an equipment issue -  if I had bumpers i'd reconsider PPs since they'd be easy to drop if something went wrong. But if I had bumpers i'd probably just do jerks instead!

One exercise I would consider replacing OHP with is the incline press. Is that a good idea?

Do you purposedly not lock your knees at the end of the movement (back up)? What's up with that? It looks like you're so weak when you stand tall, at the knee joint.

Yes mate, I relax at the top of the lift to get my breath back. I don't lock out my knees completely because I don't know, it just feels more in control of the weight and I prefer to be actively bouncing around (keeping my CNS primed) than statically locked out with a passive CNS if that makes sense. Do you think it matters? I find it better prepares me for the next rep this way.

Training
OHP 2x5x55
FS 5x98.5 (PR), 5x94.5

BS 3x105, 6x101
HIIT 6x 10 on, 13 off

FS notes:
Felt weak today warming up, the last warmup with 100kg felt like an RPE 10. But somehow I still got the PR and it wasn't too bad. Next week i'll go for the 100x5 which is fairly exciting! 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnDZFaH8EYA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnDZFaH8EYA</a>

Btw i'm going really deep now on FS - It's not surprising to me that I caught the pins last workout now that I think about it.

BS notes:
Wanted 5x105 but 3x105 will do for now - I didn't chase failure! The 6th rep of 101 was unsafely ugly. Stupid backsquat. But it's my fault, I shouldn't be working with RMs like this. Should keep a rep in the tank!!

So on friday i'll aim to get 5x105 and 3x107.5 - This might be too ambitious? Ideas welcome.

OHP notes:
Kinda tweaked my back on OHP. I hate this stupid lift, always gives me back problems. I should focus on maintaining perfect form and only adding weight once i've mastered the weight. Patience will probably go a long way as long as I'm consistent over a period of 6-12months.

Conditioning notes:
Got a stitch lol - that's how unfit i've become. But this is good, have to do my HIIT regularly to get rid of this damn lower ab fat.

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Decided to try splitting up squatting into two sessions - FS and BS. Will see if it leads to higher quality BS workouts.

Delaying weighted chins for another workout - can't be bothered today. Instead i'll do the first conditioning workout in about a month lol.