On Monday morning, I put on my weightlifting shoes and headed over to the power rack to do some squatting. Immediately I tripped over something and stumbled. Looking down, I saw that the bottom of my left Wei Rui lifting shoe (rubber sole plus raised heel) had come almost entirely unglued and was hanging by a patch under my toes. Glad it didn't happen while I was walking out a heavy barbell from the rack. So the Wei Ruis went into the trash, marking the end of an era.
They had a good run. I bought them in October 2011, almost 11 years ago, and they're the only weightlifting shoes I ever owned. I might buy a replacement pair, but squatting in my thin-soled, $10 Everlast gym shoes actually felt better and way more solid. It even eliminated the knee pain I've been dealing with for a while. Maybe this is the year I discover that elevated-heel squats are not for me.
Lifting has been going well. I changed up my press training program and am not deloading (doing singles) every fifth week like before. Squat and deadlift, I follow the usual cycle of 4 weeks regular training, then one week of heavy (submaximal) singles.
Squat: 465 lbs. x 3, 485 lbs. x 2, 495 lbs. x 1, 505 lbs. x 1
Front squat: 275 lbs. x 3, 300 lbs. x 1, 320 lbs. x 1, 340 lbs. x 1 (PR)
Bench press: 325 lbs. 3 sets x 5
Incline bench press: 270 lbs. 2 sets x 5
Standing overhead press: 180 lbs. 2 sets x 6
I widened my grip a bit on overhead presses. For the past decade, I've been pressing from the rack or from stands, but have stuck with the narrow grip I used in my clean-and-press days. Which seems unnecessary. A wider grip lets me use more shoulder strength and less triceps, and alleviates some of the shoulder pain I've been dealing with on and off. All fairly basic logic, but it's funny how we tend to stick to ingrained patterns.
Deadlift: 465 lbs. x 3, 500 lbs. x 2, 510 lbs. x 2, 530 lbs. x 1, 550 lbs. x 1 (PR)
Back when I started lifting (seriously) for strength, I set 550 lbs. as my lifetime squat and deadlift goal. It was encouraging to finally hit this number on one of the lifts. Squatting 550 is not a realistic goal anymore, but I feel like I have a few more pounds to squeeze out of the deadlift. Either way, it feels good to still be setting PRs at this geriatric lifting age.
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