Exercise Log 3.17.14 (Leg Day + Cardio)

I’m very backlogged on workout writeups, but had a fun and productive week.

This week was a St. Patty’s day leg workout. Unlike most, I wasn’t just working to burn off calories to justify beer binging, this is one holiday I felt good staying out of.

Rocking the luck of the Hyrulians in the gym

Anyways, finally broke my front squat plateau! But after doing so I’ve realized that perhaps one of the reasons I hit this plateau is my training is very skewed towards working up to a one rep max attempt on almost every workout, and this appears to be much more frequent than the typical weight trainer.

Most weight trainers focusing on strength gaining generally tend to work at between 70%-80% of their one rep max sets of 4-8 reps depending on the workout. Well I’ve been working fairly well above 80% and in almost every major compound lift (front squat, bench press, deadlift days) I’ve been using the third or 4th set to build up to a one rep max (either to reinforce the idea that I can hit the current max, or to attempt to improve it). I have also been doing working sets at 85-90% of my one rep max, to put myself closer to the max lift window, this also has a big strain even doing sets of 5 in, requiring pauses that split the set up as I go.

As you guys know I’m chasing numbers – my rest day logs illustrate I am aiming to improve my fitness by directly lifting more weight in my main lifts (and for cardio, moving faster). So first let me mention the positive takeaways from trying to go for new maxes routinely. For one, attempting the maximum motion of the lift (and this translates to running a bit) that you’re working on really exposes inconsistencies and helps you find weaknesses. There is nothing that shows you more about your deadlift than trying a max rep. It also exposes you to something new, the idea of what lies beyond your limits.

The negative though is that it fatigues you mid workout, and it requires an overexertion of neurological energy that you can’t always recuperate from. Sometimes you blow your nervous system out by overstimulating your muscles after a big lift. I’ve also had creeping injuries creep up. I’m doing what I think is a great job learning how to cope with these without stopping training, but I know if I keep this up on a routine basis I will suffer enough routine injuries to seriously disrupt my training pattern.

So while I think it’s important to test out one rep maxes and test your potential – you learn so much in the attempt about yourself – I’m doing to do so a lot less and with less weight (down in the 70-80% window instead of the 85-90% window). Hopefully after a couple months of revising this mentality, I will find myself with better gains and no more plateaus like the front squat plateau I just now broke.

Rant aside, time to log my workout!

Front Squat: Set 1) 5 reps @ 135lbs. Set 2) 5 reps @ 145lbs. Set 3) 5 reps @ 155lbs. Set 4) 2 reps @ 165lbs, 1 rep @ 175lbs (note on this lift: this was a solid front squat one of my best one rep max attempts, I did stick mid lift but I kept my core tight and didn’t wobble or flex in, there was probably a 15 second pause mid lift where I didn’t know if I was going up or down then I just cinched in and tighted up everything and it moved up to the top!). Set 5) 8 reps @ 135lbs.

Angled Leg Press / Calf Raises: Set 1) 10 reps ea. @ 270lbs. Set 2) 10 reps ea. @ 360lbs. Set 3) 10 reps ea. @ 450lbs.

Bulgarian Split Squats: 4 sets of 12 reps each leg @ 50lbs.

Box Jumps: 10 reps @ 11 platforms (not sure how big each platform is). Wanted to do more but picked a bad time to start this – a class was starting in the room so I had to do something different.

Seated Calf Raises: Set 1) 10 reps @ 45lbs. Sets 2 & 3) 10 reps @ 90lbs. Sets 4 & 5) 10 reps @ 135lbs.

Romanian Deadlifts: 4 sets of 10 reps @ 110lbs.

Quad Isolation Leg Extension Machine: Did this with a slow tempo, 4s down. Set 1) 10 reps @ 135lbs. Set 2) 10 reps @ 150lbs. Set 3) 10 reps @ 165lbs. Set 4) 10 reps @ 180lbs. Set 5) 10 reps @ 195lbs.

Finished up with a 2 mile run. Not that great but I’m recovering my running abilities from the big winter freeze.