11 OCT 11 -- This One Was For Crom

It's a good thing that I'm not a professional blogger, as I would be a poor man. Creative titles for these entries are more than elusive, but this one was inspired by what Jim wrote the other day over at his blog: "Lift for Crom, crush your limitations and see them driven before you," just as Conan would do. I did just that today.

Overhead training max is at, yes it's still there, 250 lbs. 5/3/1 day.

Warm up sets

45 x 15
100 x 5
125 x 5
150 x 3

The warm up weights felt like air. After those sets were completed, I knew this was going to be a good one, so I cranked up the MP3 player a notch and set it for one of my favourite stacks, Tool.

Working sets

190 x 5
215 x 3
240 x 1

Yep, a nice big one. Hallelujah! You're a strong dude reading this and probably smirking at the feeble weight hoisted, but for me, this was a superb lift. I met the requisite for today, completing all of the 5/3/1 sets and with no disappointments. I can move up 5 lbs for the next wave. Admittedly, it wasn't a pretty overhead press, not picture perfect, but it went up, the limitation being crushed. Crom sat upon his throne laughing.

I am taking Wendler's advice, and will be keeping the assistance work scaled back while I go through the Wendler-Podda squat cycle (I don't know if it's called that, but I 'll be referring to it as such) over the next several weeks. He suggests removing the dead lift during the cycle, but I'm going to do it anyways. I'll keep my other work scaled to compensate.

Military press

145 x 10
150 x 10, 10, 10, 8 (on the last set I was steamed from not enough rest from the previous set)

Chin ups were 14 x bodyweight, 45 x 3, and a final 50 x 3.

No vids today, sorry, as I was by myself at the gym. There might not be anymore this week, but if I get a chance, I'll throw some on my channel and post them here. I'm a little hesitant putting some of these vids up on Youtube as I don't want to come across as a show-off, but rather to share my personal progress and compare my training with others doing the same program. If someone doesn't like that, then just don't watch. I'm serious about my training, as are others, and in the internet age, long-distance training comparisons are the norm. It's not about egocentricity, but rather passion for hard training and strength gains.