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The Warm up was not bad, but each set was done closer to a Working set.
IE: Resting between each set. I didn't actually time the rest periods, but it was likely 1.5min to 2min.

What does truly amaze me though is how adding 5# to the bar can seem like a ton. I feel like I could squat 10-12 reps constant with 75#, but as soon as I moved up to 80# on the bar for my true working set, the weight gets HEAVY... This has to be some type of mental issue... Very Frustrating...

But then if it was easy, everyone would be their perfect weight with a nice low BF%...

Cliff

Your weights will go up. If you can press 75# your squat should be much higher than 80#. But sometimes it takes a while to get rolling on it.

I don't use one now because I have a trainer watching me and a handy clock to check...but you can invest in a stopwatch. Then you can rigidly time your rests. More importantly, if you are like me and rush between work sets you can make sure you really are waiting enough. It doesn't really need to be exact, but you might find it easier to rest properly if you set it to 3 mins and just wait it out instead of trying to gauge your rest each set.

I agree completely. Nor do I feel that my Legs are proportionally smaller than the rest of my body, but when I get under the bar to Squat, my numbers show otherwise. Perseverance is key.. I will stick with it and get my squat numbers where they should be.



Rushing between work sets is exactly what I do, and I would benefit greatly from a good stop watch. I already use my Iphone for my workout music, and log using fitsync.com. I'll checkout the app store and see what options I have for a simple stopwatch. I already look like "That Guy" at the gym who is fiddleing with their phone while working out.

Cliff

20 reps at 80% of the working weight is a lot. 5-10 reps at 50-60% is plenty. Keep some gas in the tank for the work sets and invest your volume in the sets that count.

80% OR LESS Doc, meaning the 80% was for just 2 of those reps, all the other would have been lower than 80%!

John

thinking & believeing that, your half way there. Keep hammering away, soon you'll look back and smile.

Exactly... I WILL GET STRONGER, And LOWER MY BF%..

Cliff

Quick question for anyone who may be following my workout logs.

Last night, I completed all Reps and Sets for my BP, but....
1: Bar stability was low.. IE: shaking, and wobbly..
2: Some Reps were slow
3: Back Squirm on the Bench
4: In general, Form was not as good as I have had, but not horrible either.

Should I continue to add weight for my next BP? From what I have seen, the routine states that I should continue adding weight until some type of failure, either missed reps or truly bad form. Hmmm, maybe I just answered my own question.

There were a lot of odd circumstances in last nights workout as mentioned in my log, so that may have had a little bit to do with it.

Cliff

Yep.

I'd try again next bench workout with the same weight. If you still have to squirm to make the weight, you're not strong enough to do that weight. Back off to a weight you can do correctly and go again from there. Annoying to do it, but it's worth it in the long run. No one here is going to laugh behind their hands because you're re-setting weight in order to do reps correctly!

Peter

HMMM, as I have stated, my squats have been progressing slowly, but last night, I easily jumped 10# from 85# to 95#, and truly feel like I could have jumped 15# which would have put me at 100#.

The only thing I can think of which was different is the Meal Prior to working out and timing.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Half a Turkey Sandwich
French or Sourdough Bagette
Small Coffee 8-10oz
All from Panera Bread.
500 Cal
11.5g Fat
72g Carbs
27g Protein

Obviously, the Meal was high in Carbs, but overall, I was less than 10g carbs over my daily allotted amount.

Did the Meal help my squats, or have I just learned how to lift the weight?

Cliff

And just think, a few short workouts ago 5 x 85 squats was over-reaching and you had to drop to 75 to finish the work sets. Now it's 3 x 5 x 105. Nice.

Yes, I'm feeling pretty good about this.

I'm not sure if it's eating immediately before working out, the slight change in my Warm Ups, or If I have just learned to get in the groove and ignore the pain while lifting, but I just want to maintain this momentum.

Sadly, Both of my presses have slowed though, so working harder on those are my next goal, while maintaining the squat progress...

Thanks for the compliments..

Cliff

Now you know why athletes do all that pre-game ritual superstition stuff. "I don't know if it was my red underwear or not, but I was swinging better last night. I'll keep doing that."



They will. In order, you'd expect them to slow/plateau like this:

Press
Bench Press
Squat
Deadlift (conventional, anyway)

The press depends on a lot of smaller muscles, and it's never going to be as high as the bench press, which will never be as high as the squat. Because you're relatively untrained/detrained in the beginning, they're clumped together and go up fast. But the smaller lifts stall first.

Much to my annoyance when I did a linear 5-rep workout, my press pretty much zoomed up to the maximum I'd done year and year ago, and then stopped there like I was standing under a low ceiling. My bench press went up slightly and stopped. My DL went up steadily. I wasn't squatting in that program. I set goals of Press 0.75 x bw, Bench Press 1 x bw, DL 1.5x bw. Both the press and bench press fell short, stalled where they'd stalled before. The DL hit 1.5x so fast I ended up setting my goal as "sets across at 1.5x bodyweight."

Cliff--Those are some nice gains. You've accomplished a lot in just part of the year. Good going!

Thanks Andy, I'm pretty happy with the Gains.

However, Starting as an untrained and Out of Shape person has it's advantages of relative quick improvements. I just really didn't know how out of shape I was until I actually started working out and exercising again..

Cliff