How Fatman (Kind of) Got His Groove Back

15 March 2017

SlingShot bench press 340x5, 350x4, 360x3, 370x2, 390x1, 370x1, 370x1

Upped the weight on all repetition sets and kept the singles lighter.

Seated cable row 10-8-6-5

Incline bench press 5-4-3-2-1

Two-DB preacher curl 4s x 8-10

Rope pushdowns 3s x AMAP

Seated DB curl 10-8-6-5-5


17 March 2017

Squat 390x5, 410x4, 420x4, 440x2, 450x1 (wraps on this set), then 400x5, 370x5

Squat is finally moving up. 420x4 felt like a joke. 440x2 was easier than 445x1 a week ago.

I've realized that part of the reason for my squat sucking is my lack of confidence walking out heavier weights. This messes up my setup and I end up getting mauled by seemingly moderate weights. All my doubles and singles these past few weeks were done with an extremely narrow stance (for me, I squat with the feet fairly wide out) and they felt awful and heavy.

Some of it I can trace back to the squat near-disaster I had a few months ago (collar and plates slipping off one side of the bar). Now whenever I unrack the bar I have a fear in the back of my mind that the plates are slipping, so I take small, mincing steps and never quite get into the right position and feel like I'll tip over with the weight on my back.

Using double collars seems to help. So do heavy walkouts, although I'm always skeptical about these and they kill my arms and shoulders. And now that I feel like I'm getting my squat groove back, I'm taking another week off lifting. Such is life.

Front squat 3s x 5

Hack squat 3s x 15