Hit a Brick Wall
All my lifts sucked today. I can think of a couple reasons why they sucked but I’ll write about each exercise first.
Squat: 200 (5/5/3)
I pulled off 5 reps in the first 2 sets but each rep was a struggle and my form was crappy: I had to use my lower back to complete 1-2 of the reps in each set. In hindsight, I probably should’ve just taken some weight off the bar. This was my second attempt at 200; I did better than last time (4/4/3) but I’m resetting to 185 since my form sucked.
Bench: 145 (5/4/3)
This was my third attempt at 145, so I’m resetting to 135. I’ve made no progress on my bench for two weeks now (last time was also 5/4/3). My form wasn’t great either: I was lifting and lowering unevenly.
Deadlift: 185 (supposed to be 245)
By the time I got to deadlifts, I felt like complete sh*t. I did 2 warmup sets like always but felt completely exhausted by the end of the second set. Ironically, my form was the best it’s ever been. I didn’t know what to do after the second warmup set: should I do a set of 5 with less weight, do a set of 10 with even less weight, or just skip the lift completely? I decided on a set of 5 with less weight: 185 instead of 245. Even 185 was a struggle, which is insane: I was lifting 185 no problem back in January!
On a positive note, my dips weren’t affected at all by my fatigue on the big lifts: I still banged out a set of 6 and a set of 5 no problem.
What the hell’s going on?
Yeah, so something’s gone horribly wrong. I think I know what it is: my diet. Not only have I decreased calories but I’ve quit all supplements. That means I’ve been getting substantially less protein. In addition, I rode my bike to the gym today — a 20 min. bike ride — which was way too much cardio/leg exercise before a workout. My legs were probably tired from the bike ride and then I tried to do a full set of squats: it definitely wasn’t happening. I just joined a new gym, one that’s much closer to where I live, and I thought riding my bike would be a good warmup. It’s obviously way too much so I’m never doing it again.
What am I gonna do about it?
After the gym I went directly to GNC and bought a 5 lb. tub of ON whey. I’m sure I won’t get vasculitis again if I use the whey in moderation. Besides, I’d been using 4 supplements around the time the vasculitis first popped up and I’ll only be using 1 now. I’m taking a week off because I want to change my gym days to Tues., Thurs., Sat. instead of Fri., Sun., Tues. I can use the time off to get my diet in order and do some cardio. Hopefully I’ll return to the weights next week feeling a lot better than I did today and make some actual progress instead of wasting my time.
May 8, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Hey! I’m glad to see that you’re giving yourself a little rest, believe me when you go back to the gym your lifts will be awesome!
Your body will definitely let you know if it needs a break. I’ll raise my calories if I feel unusually tired, and I still lose BF, so don’t be shy about eating a bit more either.
Have fun and good luck!
As far as my squat #’s, I haven’t maxed since HS! Right now I do 135 at 5 sets of 8. My higschool max was 185, but I’m sure I could do more than that now. I’ve never tried to max, I never have time on leg day
July 23, 2007 at 11:42 am
Hey , man you might consider switching programs at this point -seems you been at SS for quite a while . I just got off SS reluctantly but it actually seems to be good a change (hitting different muscles with different exercises and with different intensities)