Clean and Jerk. Week 3 Cycle 7

No hair  = more aerodynamic 

The clean and jerk begins the final week of cycle 7. The weight for my final set ended up calculating to the exact same weight (220lbs) as last month, but that's okay, just meant I had to beat the reps from last time (6). I did just that and left a few in the tank.

Assistance work is also coming back to normal levels:

• 5 sets of 10 reps of weighted chins (+25 lbs)
• My shoulder still hurts, and I keep agitating it doing hill sprints, so I avoided the dips and did 5 sets of 5 military presses (135lbs). These were easy. My shoulder only hurts in dip position, not on bench of ohp, which is nice. 

Goals for today:

175x5

200x3

220x1

Lifted:

175x5

200x3

220x7

Progress on week 3 clean and jerks over 7 cycles has thus far been:

Cycle 1: 195 x 5

Cycle 2: 200 x 6

Cycle 3: 205 x 5

Cycle 4: 210 x 4

Cycle 5: 215 x 5

Cycle 6: 220 x 6

Cycle 7: 220 x 7 (this set done more quickly than last cycle's, too)

Video of final set below:

Squats. Week 2 Cycle 7 | Hill Sprints # 42

Wanted to get at least something worthwhile on camera.
Also, my hair is gone

Today was good. Squats called for a final weight of 375lbs. Last month was 370 x 8, so again I wanted 8 reps today. Unfortunately, I forgot to wear my converse (flat soled shoes) and my first two sets felt terrible, so I went barefoot for my final set. It felt a little awkward at first, especially with sweaty feet, but after the second rep it felt awesome. I got the 8 reps with at least one or two left in the tank. I will be going barefoot again in the future, for sure.

Unfortunately I continue to suck at recording my lifts and only managed to get the weights in frame. Because of this recording failure I decided to go 'heavy' on my front squats to at least get something on camera. Last time I went heavy on front squats I put up 300lbs, so I figured I'd try for 3 plates today. It went up ugly, but felt easy.

Goals for today:

295x3
335x3
375x3

Lifted:

295x3
335x3
375x8



Week 2 progress on squats for 7 cycles has thus far been:

• Cycle 1: 330x4
• Cycle 2: 335x5
• Cycle 3: 345x7
• Cycle 4: 350x8
• Cycle 5: 360x8
• Cycle 6: 370x8
• Cycle 7: 375x8

Big week for squats next week when I leave behind the 300's and go for my first 400lb squat set. 

Assistance work was short today as I had to leave the gym early. I just did a few sets of front squats: 135x2, 225x2, 275x1, 315x1, 225x3, 225x3, 225x3.

Video of 315 front squat:

Video of final set (pointless to watch, really) below:

Bench. Week 2 Cycle 7 | Hill Sprints # 41

Today was easy since I only went in and did the prescribed reps. My bench has somewhat stalled, so I'm seeing if just hitting the required reps for the next two bench workouts will jump start things a bit.

Goals for today:

185x3
210x3
235x3

Lifted:

Same as above.

Assistance work: I cut the weight and volume quite a bit.

• DB rows with 75lbs for 5 sets of 10. 
• Flat bench 135 for 5 sets of 5.  

This took all of 5 minutes.


I'll be back Wednesday with a real squat workout.

Deadlifts. Week 2 Cycle 7 | Hill Sprints # 40

Not much to say other than that today was good: I hit the reps I wanted (13) and my assistance work is on the rebound. On an unrelated note, I remember when today's final weight (425lbs) was my max three years ago. Woo.

• Assistance work: 5 sets of weighted (+45lbs) wide grip pull-ups for: 7, 7, 5, 5, 5 reps (better than last time!). 
• Ab wheel 5 sets of 8. 

Goals for today:


355x3
380x3
425x3


Lifted:


355x3
380x3
425x13









Week 2 deadlifts over 7 cycles has thus far been:

Cycle 1 Week 2: 375x11
Cycle 2 Week 2: 385x11
Cycle 3 Week 2: 395x12
Cycle 4 Week 2: 400x13
Cycle 5 Week 2: 410x13
Cycle 6 Week 2: 415x13
Cycle 7 Week 2: 425x13 (+50lbs and +2 reps)


Video of final set below:

Clean and Jerk. Week 2 Cycle 7

Loaded the bar like I loaded my socks. 

Today's numbers called for a final set of 210lbs. The last time I did this weight was in week 3 cycle 4, in which I did 4 reps. Now last week I did 200 x 9 and the week before that 220 x 6, so I knew I wanted to be somewhere between 7-8 reps for today.  Unfortunately for me, I am not too smart, and I loaded the bar incorrectly. I  forgot to place a 2.5lb'er on on side, putting the weight at 207.5lbs. Still I did 9 reps, which matches last week's reps at 200 lbs. Can't complain about that.

Goals for today:

165x3
185x3
210x3

Lifted:

165x3
185x3
207.5x9












Assistance work is still off, but better than last time. I'm also still avoiding weighted dips since my shoulder still hurts (where my clavicle ends).

• Standing OHP: 5 sets at 135lbs for: 6, 6, 6, 5, 5 reps. (none of these are to failure)
• Weighted (+25lbs) chin-ups for 4 sets at: 10, 10, 10, 7. One un-weighted set for 5 reps. 

I'll keep taking it somewhat easy on assistance work and hopefully it will continue to improve back to where it was before I got sick.



Week 2 clean and jerks for seven cycles thus far have been:

cycle 1: 185x7
cycle 2: 190x7
cycle 3: 195x6
cycle 4: 200x7
cycle 5: 205x6
cycle 6: 205x8 
cycle 7: 207.5x9


Video of final set below: