Texas Volume A 6/28/10

- Squat 5x45, 3x225, 5x275, 5x275, 5x275, 5x275, 5x275
- Bench 4x45, 5x165, 5x160, 5x160, 5x160, 5x165
- Chinup 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW, 4xBW, 4xBW

Um. Well, I thought I was working with 255 on squat, but the thought just totally slipped my mind when I loaded 'em up. And the weird thing is, though I was gasping like a fish after every set, I did good work there.

Bench was bad news from the getgo. Knew I didn't have it in me to put out 5x5 at 165, so I went down in weight for a few. Next week's volume goal is 165 across.

Feels pretty good overall!

Texas Intensity B 6/25/10

- Deadlift 3x225 (overhand), 3x275 (overhand), 2x295 (mixed)
- Press 5x45, 3x95, 2x120, 1x115
- Dips 5xBW, 4xBW+35, 5xBW+45.

Bah. Those dips didn't feel very satisfying, and my press is frustratingly weak. That's the one lift that makes me think I shouldn't be progressing from SS yet.

On the other hand, I'm pretty proud of what I managed with my deadlift despite having a hand towel over each hand, since the calluses are still healing.

Back to Volume A next workout. Goals are squat 5x255 across, bench 5x165 across, pullups 6xBW across. Five sets each.

Texas 'Recovery' B 6/23/10

- Barbell Row 10x45, 3x115 (hands got sliced up)
- Dumbbell Row 12x40, 12x40, 12x40 (both sides)
- Bench 5x45, 5x160, 5x160, 5x160
- Squat 5x45, 5x255

Fuck.

As it turns out, recovery ain't so easy, especially when your hands are fucked up as hell. This alone kept me from doing barbell rows, and it held me to one working set of squats.

I probably fucked up the form on dumbbell rows bad, and on my second bench set, I hit the support hooks, resulting in having to take a one-minute break while a dude walked over to spot me because he thought I was failing. I guess that the 5x5 Presses and Dips on Monday were too much, and I hadn't fully recovered, because after doing so much on my intensity day, I thought I'd be able to rep a lot better this time 'round.

My hand injuries will probably prevent me from doing a >1-rep deadlift on Friday, too. I'm just going to have to slap on 265 and rip it for one rep. Hopefully I have some luck.

Texas Volume B 6/21/10

- Deadlift 5x225, 5x225, 5x225, 5x225, 4x235
- Press 5x95, 5x100, 5x100, 5x100, 5x95
- (Wide grip) Dip 5xBW+10, 5xBW+10, 5xBW+10, 5xBW+10, 5xBW+10

Holy shit, I should not do 5x5 deadlifts, ever, and never with bare hands and no chalk on a bar like the one at that gym. Cut both hands at the pinkies. Worse yet, I remembered afterward that today was supposed to be rows, not deadlifts. But yeah, first time working with that type of deadlift volume ever, and so glad never again. Pretty sure my bleeding hands were as important as my dying muscles in not picking up that bar a final time.

Presses were also pretty hard to do with shitty gripping, but I'd sucked it up by the last set, and my arms were annihilated. I think I could've done a lot more dips at more weight fresh, but damn, the gasping, the sweating, and the general fatigue. 'Feels good man.' Next time, rows and not deadlifts! Jesus.

Texas Intensity A 6/18/10

- Squat 5x225 (good form), 3x295 (lacking form), 2x310 (lacking form), 2x310 (decent form)
- Bench 5x135, 3x155, 2x180, 2x185, 2x190
- Chinup 3xBW+10, 2xBW+20, 1xBW+25

My weight right now, according to my home's scale, is 185. According to the scale at the gym, I believe it's 175 or so. So um. Yeah.

In either case, I can finally bench my body weight! Unequivocally! As long as the barbell is actually 45 lbs. I'm a little suspicious, since I seem to have gotten stronger by a pretty considerable amount compared to how I was at school if this is indeed the case.

Need to tighten up the form on the squat. It's definitely the most 'full-body' of the workouts I do, as it's the only one that can leave me gasping with oxygen usage on volume days. I'll try for the full 5x5 at 255 in 10 days, instead of working my way up from that 225 set last time.

Feeling stupidly proud of my chinups. First time using a belt to attach weight to myself, so it was very exciting. Adding weight feels like progress made; it's really hard to go from 5 reps to 6 reps, but adding weight is always quantifiable and feels cool.

Next week - deadlifts, overhead presses, and dips! Will do rows instead of deadlifts on non-record days; will mix in the bench for the overhead press; will mix in some machine work for the dips. I think. Looking forward to having some fun.

Texas Recovery A 6/16/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x135, 3x275, 3x275, 3x275
- Dip 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW
- Pullup 1xBW wide/2xBW regular, 3xBW wide/2xBW regular, 3xBW wide/2xBW regular

Fucked up that last set of squats. My mind wandered, and the barbell hit the rack.

Never realized how difficult wide-grip pullups were. Will definitely do more of those; looking forward to it. Found out that we've got weight belts to weight yourself down while doing pullups/chinups/dips, so I'm looking forward to that, too.

Dicking around 6/15/10

In what was probably a dumb move, I went to the gym, picked up a set of 25s, and did a set of 12 bicep curls and then a set of 10. No routine or anything. Then I headed over to the rowing machine and did a few at 110.

Finally hopped onto an exercise bike and did a Tabata HIIT - 20 seconds fast, 10 seconds rest for 4 minutes. Got my heart rate up to 160 or 170. Next time, will try to find out my resting heart rate. Probably wasn't maxing out, but limitations on the bike and the seat's savagely assaulting my crotch prevented more. My cardio sucks anyway, so that might've legit been my max.

Should try to figure out something more productive to do there on non-Texas days.

Texas - Volume A 6/14/10

- Squat 5x225, 5x255, 5x255, 5x255, 5x255
- Bench 5x155, 5x155, 5x155, 5x155, 5x155
- Chinup 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW

Note much to say here! All these were very doable except chinups, which have never really gotten any easier. (Cue John Locke IT'S NEVER BEEN EASY!) I'm gonna try adding 10lb in my backpack next week, or even next workout, since it's low-volume.

Didn't allow much time for recovery between sets today; it's a volume workout, so I expect that less recovery is intended anyway; and there was also that pesky time constraint. Wednesday can be... front squat, weighted dips, and pullups. Should be fun or something.

Texas Method? 6/11/10

Due to time constraints and an oscillating 'best lift' and previous inconsistencies, I've narrowed my choices of routine down to the Texas Method and One-Lift-a-Day, finally going with Texas. I didn't do great today, so I'm just gonna give some numbers straight up.

'Max Effort' (starting for real Monday)
- Squat 5x45, 5x135, 3x225, 3x275, 2x295, 1x305
- Press 10x45, 8x65, 3x95, 2x115, 0x125 (failed), 1x120, 0x120 (failed), 1x115
- Chinup 8xBW, 7xBW, 3xBW

Next week: Squat-Bench-Chinup, Front Squat-Press-Pullup, Squat-Bench-Chinup. LET'S DO THIS.

Summer activities commence 6/9/10

I got a summer pass, yay. First time lifting in about a month, and I was hungry and probably a little underrested. Nonetheless, it was exciting.

I'm not sure how much time I'm gonna have at the gym. Likely just about an hour. That's most likely not gonna be quite enough for me. On the other hand, I might be there five days a week, so I might opt to split up Starting Strength or Westside or perhaps even Pavel's 3x5 or a different lift. We'll see.

I was pretty happy with my numbers today, given the pressed time.

- Squat 5x135, 5x225, 5x275
- Bench 5x45, 5x135, 5x155, 5x165, 5x170
- Chinups 5xBW

Didn't have time for the deadlift today. I was a little lightheaded after squats, and I'm not sure if that's normal - as it's a very physically demanding movement, and I've had a long layoff - or my starvation. Probably a combination of the both. I'll see.