All posts tagged "texas method"
Recovery day:
Warmed up with 3 rounds of Cindy and got to work. Focused on speed and proper form for the squats today. The presses felt really strong and the cleans felt buttery. The OHS felt weird, so I called it after the first set. Total gym time: 40 mins.
Volume day:
Did another burpee/samson stretch warmup today: 3 sets of 15 burpees followed by 15 sec samson stretch on each side. Another rough day. I’m feeling worn out these days, especially on volume day. Squats and push presses went ok, but I was pretty near failure on my last 2 sets of presses. I dropped a 45lb plate on my shin when I was unloading the bar after the presses and it effed up my power cleans. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do all 6 sets, so I jumped up and tried to hit my goal of 185. It was ugly, but I got it up. The chinups were rough too and I was already sore in the lats for some reason. My tank was empty after that second set so I just went for unweighted dips. Total gym time: 65 mins.
Intensity day:
Warmed up with a quick circuit: 10 DB swings (50lb)/10 pushups, 3x. I thought today was supposed to be GOOD Friday? Well, I felt like crud and had a hard time in the gym today. The last three reps of the squat were slow, ugly, and questionable. I’m contemplating staying at that weight for next week or knocking down the number of reps a bit. I failed TWICE on the second rep of the press, but it was mostly a grip issue. Failure was not an option, so I reracked and hit it again. The deadlift felt really strong today. Missed the TGU and could barely get the dumbbell in the starting position. My lats were pretty fried from yesterday’s kung fu class, which I’m sure had something to do with it. Rather than risk smashing my skull, I just canned the TGU for the day. Total gym time: 45 mins.
As penance for missing the TGU and an all around ugly day in the gym, I did 50 burpees for time. My score was 2:17, which is a PR. The strategy this time was just to go for it - did 30 in a row, took a couple deep breaths and knocked out the remaining 20.
I also got a really good comment from a huge bodybuilder in the gym today. He wanted to use the bar after I was done deadlifting, so he watched my work set and told me I was setting up really well and being very precise. Then he stripped the bar down to 315, started banging out some ROWS while screaming “LIGHT WEIGHT, LIGHT WEIGHT!” Nice.
Recovery day:
Those front squats were tougher than I expected and the going was slow. Presses were also moving pretty slow and got pretty ugly on the last couple of reps. The cleans felt like warm butter and the OHS felt good too. I added an asterisk because my grip slipped on the second set, so I only got 2 reps. I made up for it by doing 4 reps on the last set. Total gym time: 50 mins.
Update: Lawd, this workout fried my core. Next time I’ll do a regular light back squat if I’m also doing TGU and OHS.
Volume day:
Did another burpee/samson stretch warmup today: 3 sets of 15 burpees followed by 15 sec samson stretch on each side. The warmup went fine, but that was all that went fine today. I had to work hard for every single rep of every set of squats and presses. I’m chuffed that I got all my numbers though. Had to cut the pullups and dips schedule for today because I had no time. I didn’t have much left in my tank anyway. Total gym time: 55 mins.
Intensity day:
Felt strong today. The squat cage was taken so I had to use the plain old rack, which made me a little nervous, but the squats felt good. They were cheering me on during my TGU, which I got without a problem - just had to go slow and steady. All PRs today! Total gym time: 40 mins.
Recovery day:
A much-needed light day since I’m feeling pretty sore from Friday’s session. Started with 5 rounds of Cindy to warm up. Everything felt solid today, especially those OHS. I was tempted to give 135lb a shot but I decided not to get too far ahead of myself. I added the pullups on the end because I haven’t been doing enough regular unweighted pullups recently. Total gym time: 60 mins.
Volume day:
Did my burpee/samson stretch warmup again - 20 burpees, 20 seconds samson stretch on each side; 15 burpees, 15 sec samson stretch; 10 burpees, 10 sec samson stretch; and 5 burpees, 5 sec samson stretch. The squats were tough, but those push presses kicked my ass for some reason. Power cleans, on the other hand, felt great today. I also got a good comment from one of the trainers at the gym today - “I love the way you work out — it’s proper!” Total gym time: 70 mins.
Intensity day:
Squatting 315 feels like a big milestone to me - probably because it’s 3 plates loaded on each side of the bar and looks impressive. Then again, it’s just 5lbs more than I did last week. I’m happy either way. I only did one rep on the deadlift because I forgot my chalk and I couldn’t safely hold the bar - the weight wasn’t difficult. The gym was also too crowded to do TGUs today, so I skipped em and went on my way. Total gym time: 35 mins.
Recovery day:
Well, I’ve had five days to recover from my last volume day, so I was plenty recovered by the time I hit the gym. Everything was gravy today. Total gym time: 45 mins.
Volume day today:
Well, I made my numbers for everything except the weighted chinups today but nothing felt good. To make sure I was sufficiently warmed up today I did 20 burpees followed by 20 seconds samson stretch on each side; 15 burpees, 15 sec samson stretch; 10 burpees, 10 sec samson stretch; and 5 burpees, 5 sec samson stretch. I think I missed on the second set of chinups because a) I used a pullup grip for the second set and b) I was rushing the rest between sets since they were trying to close the gym. That’s also why I subbed one arm pushups for weighted dips - they kicked me out! Total gym time: 60 mins.
Intensity day today:
I don’t think I warmed up properly today because I wasn’t even sweating when I approached my work set for the squats. I did some joint rotations and light sets before attempting 310, but I didn’t do any kind of mini-met con to get the juices flowing. I’ll make sure I always include this in the future. My last rep on the squats was ugly, but it counted. As penance, I did 2 more sets of 5 with 225, focusing on perfect form. Presses and deads were easy peasy. I failed on my first attempt on each side with the TGU, but I shook it off and got one clean rep on both sides. Total gym time: 45 mins.
Recovery day:
Man, waking up before the sun rises sucks. It was a long, sore walk to the gym this morning and I my hamstrings and lower back were feeling pretty bad. Volume day wears me out, so let’s hope recovery day does was it’s supposed to. Surprisingly, everything felt pretty good today. Total gym time: 45 mins.
Volume day today:
Squats felt good but I almost had a problem on the last rep of my last set. Whether from fatigue or moisture, the bar slipped a little on my back and could have caused a serious problem if the weight wasn’t as manageable. Push presses were tougher than I expected, but cleans felt strong. Volume day is definitely my least favorite day of my current programming. Total gym time: 60 mins.
Intensity day today:
I was feeling lousy and almost ditched out of today’s session because I had some inexplicable soreness in my lats and glutes. Decided to man up and go anyway and everything turned out to be cream cheese. I mistakenly only did one rep of squats (wrote it down wrong), but it was very easy and I could have easily done the five if my brain was working. I also realized today that I’m psyching myself out too much on the squats and deadlifts - taking too much time between sets to get my head into it. I guess I’ve somehow convinced myself that these are heavy weights and impressive numbers (maybe because I’m used to seeing Zach’s paltry numbers?) but they’re really not. Total gym time: 40 mins.
