Busy week with the NFL combine in town – I love getting together with all the great coaches, but it also throws a serious wrench in work and training.

Regardless, I opened it up a little bit on some of my lifts so it was a fun week. Here’s how it went down!

Sunday – Squat/Lower Body

Training Crew: Stevie, Lance, Allen Tucker, Chris the Intern, Big Mike, Zach Moore, Emme, and even Bill at the end

Back Squats, 225×3, 275×1, 325×3 (Belt), 345×3 (Belt)

These went a lot better this week, although they still leave quit a bit to be desired.  I’ll post video below, but you can clearly see on the 325 set that my right hip is still weak and my knee is caving. It’s something I’ve been working on, but I need to continue to hammer it.

I also need to remember to set my chest on every rep, and really push my knees out hard the whole time.

It’s not great, but it’s the most weight I’ve had on my back in quite some time. I’m trying to exhibit some patience here 🙂

Deadlifts, 315×1, 405×1 (Belt), 455×1, 495×1 (Belt and DL suit), 545×1

Hadn’t thrown a suit on in probably 2 years and I wanted to have some idea of where I was at.  545 wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t horribly slow either.  I think if I would’ve kept my lats tighter it would’ve been a lot smoother, especially at lockout.

Regardless, I weighed 187 today so that’s not bad. I’ve hit 545 two times before in training, but never after squatting first, and NEVER at this bodyweight. I was closer to 210 or 215 back then.

I need to get my bodyweight (and my DL) up if I’m going to hit the numbers I have in my head.

Stevie had a rough day. He was dabbling with briefs and I think it was throwing off his groove in the pull. He’s got to find that happy medium between hips too high and hips too low. Once he does that he’s got a monster pull in him.

Big Mike squatted today, and this guy is just a beast at 220. I’m pretty sure he did 495 for a triple, 545 for a triple, 565 for a double and 585 for a single. Felt good to put some wraps on someone as well.

Overall, the energy in the gym today was just too much to pass up.  Regardless, I’ll be taking full advantage of my deload next week!

Tuesday – Bench/Upper Body

Training Crew: Stevie, Zach Moore, Chris the Intern

Bench Press, 2×2@225, 2×235, 1×245, 1×255, 1×265, Miss@280

Working on technique and some cues that Charlie gave me the day before. Bench felt as solid and tight as it probably ever has.

Unfortunately, I slept like crap the night before and just wasn’t feeling all that great psychologically walking into the gym.

Let’s be honest – it felt great technique-wise, but 280 as a dumb choice. I should’ve stopped at 265 and called it a day; that’s still a pretty good lift for me.

Ah well, live and learn – in other news my lower traps have NEVER been this sore from stabilizing a bench press!

DB Rows, 4×5@95

I superset those with:

DB Incline, 8×70, 6×80, 5×90, 3×100

Trying to hang with Lil’ Stevie – again.

2-Rope Face Pulls, 3×8@70

KB Windmills, 3×5@20 kg

Not a bad workout, considering where I was at from a motivation standpoint today. I hope that when I have a bit more pep I’m set-up for some serious upper body PR’s.

Thursday – Lower Body Accessory

Training Crew: Stevie, Zach Moore, Emme

Speed/Technique Squats, 7×2@225

I recorded these from a bunch of different angles to see what I need to address. Overall technique is much better, but still needs work. It’s very inconsistent from rep-to-rep.

For some good news, though, my left thigh has been getting really sore after lower body workouts. I’ve always had a tendency to shift right, and therefore I get more DOMS on the right side. I think symmetry is coming around for sure.

Conventional Deadlifts to Knee, 5×225, 2×5@275

Offset Step-ups (same side), 2×8@12kg, 6@16kg

I had Zach Moore watch me on these and it made a huge difference. Left side is very stable, right side still needs a bit of work.

Glute-Ham Raises (#4), 2×8

Band Jackknifes, 2×8

Pretty good workout overall.

Saturday – Bench Assistance/Upper Body

Training Crew: Stevie, Mike Ronacarati, Allen Tucker, Lance, Brett “Jakt and NOT Tan” Simmons

Floor Press w/4 Chains, 3×135, 3×155, 1×175, 1×195, 1×205, 1×225

Chins, 3×5

Long day for not a lot of work, at least on my end. Stevie and Big Mike were in shirts again, and I really couldn’t even tell you what they hit and/or missed. Big Mike worked up to 545 of a 2-board and then back to do 475 for a single. Stevie had 5 bills in his hands for the first time, which was pretty damn impressive as well.

Plus, any day AT is in a bench shirt you know it’s going down!

All in all, a pretty good training week. Next week is sporadic as I travel to Louisville Thursday/Friday, so it may be a good time to back off for a few workouts.

Here are some videos from this past week. Stevie has been shooting them with his camera and then uploading them to YouTube, so you can get a glimpse into how things are going.

My lifts are far from perfect, but I feel like they’re getting better.

 

Stay strong

MR

(Lead Photo Courtesy of THE Allen Tucker)