Last Workout For 2008 And New PR!
I decided to delay my leg workout from yesterday until today….seems I caught a stomach bug from my sister-in-law and nephew who had it really bad for a couple of days last week. Thankfully, it didn’t hit me too badly. I ate normally, and just felt a little fatigued. The only problem was with…how shall I say it…the ‘waste disposal’ aspect of my digestive system! I had to go often and without warning. I thought it wise not to do any squats until I got over that!
I started my workout with a 15 minute treadmill warmup and 15 minutes of ab work. I then started my squats, I wanted to end the year on a high by doing a new personal best lift, and I did it! My sets were 135×10; 225×6; 315×2; 359 x2; 370×2! All reps were nice and deep up to and including the 315’s. My first rep at 359 wasn’t very deep so I did another, again not as deep as I would like. My first rep at 370 was the same so I wasn’t satisfied so I went down again with 370 and made sure to go as deep as I could, and I almost got to parallel with it. Considering I did a lot of heavy lifting, I’m very happy with that last rep.
I’ve noticed that I have trouble going deep when I try the heavier lifts, even when I am very focused on doing it. I squat using a rack and have the safety pins set up, so I can bail out if I can’t get back out of the hole….but this has never happened to me and maybe that’s a problem. Could I have some kind of a mental block against going deep with heavy weight for fear that I won’t get back up? Maybe what I need to do is intentionally bail out on a lift so I can get used to how the movement works…that might make it easy for me to forget about failing and just go for it….I’ll give it a try!
After squatting I did several sets for quads…the leg press at 270 feels really heavy after squats! I also did 2 sets of walking lunges holding 25 pound dumbbells…on the last set my legs got rubbery and I didn’t know if I’d make it back across the gym! I did leg extensions too, finishing up the workout with a drop set of 100×15 and 30×35…my quads started to burn like crazy and I just closed my eyes and kept going, putting everything I had into it and pushing myself to the limit….great feeling! That’s all I had in the tank for legs, I’ll do calves next week. A couple of hours after my workout my wife and I went for a brisk 45 minute walk. I’m starting to feel the effect of the heavy squats with a little soreness in my lower back, and I predict I’ll have serious leg DOMS over the next couple of days….what a great way to end the year!
December 31, 2008 at 3:46 pm
You squatted 370!? Wow. That’s awesome. What a workout…
I’ve never bailed on a squat either, but of course I’m lifting a fraction of what you are. I like your idea of doing it on purpose in a semi-controlled manner. In fact, I am still doubtful exactly at what height I should be setting the safety pins anyway. This experiment would at last let me determine the answer to that question.
Enjoy the new year.
P.S. How exactly does one lift 359? Arent’ all the weights a multiple of 5?
December 31, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Do a deep squat with just the bar, take note of the bar position,and set the pins just below that. Should give you plenty of room to bail out. We have some odd weighing plates at my gym. I had 315 on then added two 22’s, then added two 5.5’s to get to 370.
January 1, 2009 at 9:27 am
Great squating Tony! I too squat in a rack with catch pins. Have bailed once.
If you weigh some of your weights at your gym, you would probably find most are "odd". At least, thats the way they are at my gym!