Absolutely smoked 405 lbs; it felt easier than 375 last week. 365 today felt like 275 or maybe less. I’m going to end this squat cycle here and work on deadlifts and cleans for a change up. I’ll still go up to 315 for 3-5 reps but take shorter rest periods.

I’m also 5-7 lbs heavier than I’d like to be right now. Hopefully I can lose those few lbs before I head home for Christmas.

Great day. Used an N02 supplement for the first time; seemed to help me concentrate more effectively. I had NO FEAR on squats, went absolute ass to ankles on every rep. Planting my feet higher up on leg press seems to hit the hamstrings a bit more.

Been getting on the Kurt Kinetic trainer in the mornings before work. I seem to have a better mood when I get in a morning ride.

Wasn’t feeling good today, had some stomach issues. Started to lose confidence in the last two sets but got them done. Next workout calls for 375×5 and that will be tough. I might try one of those N02 supplements for some extra oomph. I think I’ll stop this squat cycle at 405×3 then work on deadlifts until I can rep close to what I’m squatting now. I believe my back is the weak link in my squat lift. I will limit back squat to 225lbs, add in Zercher/front squats and train a bit faster. I’d still like to see how close I can get to a double bodyweight squat max.

I skipped a few workouts and went to Big Bear for Oktoberfest and my birthday. It was a great time; felt great to get away.

The 355×5 work sets were challenging. As usual the first two were really rough then I settled in. The next workout will be hard but I’m looking forward to it.

Calves were still sore from Sunday, took 2 aspirin beforehand. 3 min rest on squats, didn’t seem to catch my breath until 2:30, longer than normal. 375lbs for 5 will be HARD! I’ll do an hour tempo on the bike tonight and that will be the last workout til Monday. I’m going to Big Bear for Oktoberfest! and it’s my burfday!

Squats 135×5×2 185×5 225×4 275×3 315×2 355×3×6 sets
Leg press 5 plates x 15 x 4 sets
single leg curl 80x10x3 sets
Lower body stretching

Another good day. The squats are still submaximal efforts so far. I probably could have done 6 rep sets but I want to stay on schedule. I did wear my Rehband knee sleeves today. I have to start stretching every day now. I can’t believe how much my flexibility has decreased this past year. I went to a chiropractor last week (first time ever) and he noticed my hamstrings and lower back are pretty tight. That will surely interfere with my ability to get aero on the bike. I have noticed I haven’t ridden in the drops much this past year.

Still not sure what caused my lower back issue but it seems to have subsided quite a bit. I haven’t had a severe flareup in over a week. Right now at bedtime I’m taking ZMA and GABA along with a protein shake w/natural peanut butter to slow digestion, and milk thistle several times a day.

I was hoping to have my Polar CS600X back from repair by now. Actually I do have it back; they just didn’t fix the damn problem. I customize the display to show relevant data on one screen. When I’m on the trainer doing intervals I like to view watts, HR and interval countdown. While climbing I like to see HR, power and incline % and so on. My settings keep getting wiped out and I’m not sure if the problem is software or hardware. Polar claim they swapped out the hardware but the problem is still there. There are some bugs in the ProTrainer software as well so who knows. I’m going to send it back one more time. I’d probably switch to Quarq if they had a compact SRAM crankset (and they weren’t so pricey). Perhaps over the winter I can decrease my weight and improve climbing enough to not need the compact anymore. I doubt it though.

This workout marks the start of a Russian squat routine cycle. After my warmup sets my work sets will go like this:

workout 1: 80%x3x6 sets (355lbs)
workout 2: 80%x4x6 sets (355lbs)
workout 3: 80%x5x6 sets (355lbs)
etc: 80%x6x6 sets (355lbs)
etc: 85%x5x5 sets
etc: 90%x4x4 sets
etc: 95%x3x3 sets
etc: 100%x2x2 sets
etc: 105%x1x2 sets

I’ll probably stop with the 95% workout. I don’t need the ego stroking bad enough to risk injury. I do all my squat workouts without wraps and only use a belt for the heaviest sets. I can extrapolate my max from that point anyway. After that I’ll probably drop back to 315 for my heaviest sets and concentrate more on deadlifts and Olympic lifts. My lower back is the weak link in the chain right now. My squat is way ahead of my D/L.

PM Workout
90 min tempo on trainer while watching Road Worlds.

It’s just too hard to hold the bar on front squats with a cross-arm grip. I ordered some straps for squatting; should be here soon.

Lower back still hurts when I walk but not when I lift. It’s not getting any better; in fact it might be getting worse. I have an appt with a chiro on 10/7.

Squats 135x5x2 185×5 225×3 275×3 315×2 335x2x5 sets
Front squat 155x7x8x10
leg press 5px15x3 sets (painful pump)
1 set calves

back was fine, no problems at all. could have done 4 rep sets