Took an extra day off yesterday since hams were torched and haven't been sleeping well lately.

Deads and such
Deadlift: 285/5, 340/4, 395/2, 455X3X5 sets, 340/12 - kill me now.
Chins: haven't done in quite a while so I am not very good right now but it will get better: 3,3,2,3,3
Curls: 3X6 3X12...went very light since I haven't curled in a long time
Hammer curls: 4X6...went light here too...felt good on the left elbow

A Good Squat Workout:
Squat: bar/5,5 135/5,5 225/5 315/4, 335/3, 360/2, 380/2, 360/2, 380/2, 405/1, 360/2,2, 270/12 (I felt like a million smackeroos after this one...not really LOL)
Leg curls: 5 sets of 10

I felt a lot stronger during this "week's" squat workout than last. I must have supercompensated or something. Maybe I just ate better. Who really knows? I don't but I'll take it.

More or less yes.

Deads, rows and curls
DL: 135x5x2, 225x5, 340x5, 395x5, 455x5, 310x12
One arm row: 5 sets of 12 with 40s (went light since I haven't done these in years...very fast pace)
Curls: 75x6x3 sets, 45x12x3 sets (went a little heavier than last time...kept the pace fast though...arms are going to get insane)
Reverse curls: 45x12x3 sets

Arms were done after all that volume in a fast pace style. Deads felt good...much easier than last week but the volume was also much lower this week too. Video showed good speed. The thing with deads and me is that everything between 455 and 515 feels pretty much the same. I can't tell how it looked unless I check a video. In this way, modern technology is awesome.

Squats: bar/5,5, 135/5, 225/4, 315/4, 345/2, 385/1, 425X1X5, 315/10
Leg Curlz: 5x10

Nice heavy day. Felt good. I can tell that this is making me stronger. I'm definitely not as intimidated by 425 anymore.

Just posted in your log.

Nice!

Great Deadlift Session
Deads: 135/5, 225/5, 315/4, 405/1, 455/1, 495/2,2,2,2,2, 405/8

I finally got my butt down to UPenn to get my realtime coaching from Steel. It was great. The plan got changed from 10 singles with 455 to 5 doubles with 495 with a back off of 405 touch n go. Also we dropped out the direct arm work and lat work to help elbows and shoulders get a break and to recover. That's the beauty of having your coach there. They can see if a weight is going to be too easy and they can coach you through the lift WHILE you are lifting.

UPenn has a great gym. I agree with Steel. It is probably the best gym in the USA. It was also nice to deadlift with those beautiful Werksan bars and round Werksan plates. Everything had such a nice feel. I'm going to have to get over it though when I get back to deadlifting at my gym. I really appreciate the opportunity to train is such a top level gym like they have there at UPenn.

Terrible Squat Day...still gets PR's
Squat: bar/4,4, 135/4, 225/4, 315/3, 365/2, 405/4*PR,4*PR,1 (stopped due to sharp knee pain), waited till pain subsided and then went for 315 but only did 1 since the knee was still tender. To to back it off a little here....but good progress has been made. I'll be back next week.
Leg Curls: 5 sets of 12

The plan today was supposed to be 5x4 with 405 and finish off with 315X8X2 which is both physically and mentally challenging. After I did the first set, I had to wrap my head around that I needed to at least try to do it again for four more sets. After the second set, I had to wrap my head around that I had three more goes at it. Each time I got more composed...but that got ruined on the third go when I felt something a little off in my left knee. Nothing new...it just means I have to take it easy and rest it up this week and probably take some anti-inflams for a couple days. Thought maybe I could at least do the 315 sets....but it wasn't going to happen since even that bothered the knee. What's done is done. Now, I have to recover and come back stronger next week. Leg curls were fine.

Benching and Pressing
light pressing to warm up the sore squat-shoulders : barX10X3
Bench: bar/5, 135/5, 185/5, 225/3, 275/1, 315/3,3,3,6
Presses: bar/5, 95/5, 135/5, 155/5, 175/5, 195/5

Kept it simple today. My shoulders, elbows and pretty much everything in between are still dealing with the high amounts of tension they experience when I squat. Its to the detriment of my bench and press...so I decided to stray from the plan and go with light-moderate weight on these around 75%. I used Prelipins table to come up with the total amount of reps I would do on bench and the reps per set. So, I know I got a decent stimulus from this. Actually, my arms felt better after this whole thing. I'm going to keep it here for a bit and maybe just do incremental sessions for now (i.e. just add a some weight each week with this same exact rep/scheme until I'm doing 80% comfortably again). Then at that point, I would be adapted enough to push through what Steel is throwing me for bench.

I need also to start mobbing my entire anterior shoulder capsule prior to squat workouts (and probably as much as possible...like everyday) so that my arms and shoulders don't experience as much tension and eccentric work when I squat. I need to start mobilizing the crap out of it. That may actually be the best solution to this whole thing. So I'm going to start posting my shoulder mobilization work so that I make myself accountable for that. Every bit of extensibility that I can gain in the anterior shoulder girdle will help everything out greatly in terms of performance and recovery. So here I go jumping on the mobilization-train.

I just want to go on record to say that while I may not be done competing in bodybuilding....I no longer have any plans to compete in bodybuilding in 2012.

My heart is just not in it. Things are just harder when you aren't passionate about it. I don't believe in doing something just to do it. You have to love what you do...and while I love bodybuilding, I'm just not into the competing. I've done four shows between the ages of 23 and 27 and that's good for now.

Powerlifting, however, is the bug that I'm on and I will definitely be competing in that in 2012. I feel I have a legitimate shot at a 1500 total next year (the current total of my best lifts is 1450: 450squat, 425 bench, 575 deadlift). 1500 was my lifetime goal anyways when I first started this journey (I started with a 970 or something--a lot has changed since 2008)...and I look forward to blasting past that in the next few years. Funny how goals change depending on the path you take in life.

At powerlifting competitions most people say that male powerlifters peak out in their lifts in the late 30's early 40's. I've heard the same thing for bodybuilders.

At this point, I feel like I want to peak out in powerlifting, and not in bodybuilding. I also don't want to go for both because that would mean less than optimal peaks in both. So powerlifting it is for me---stating the obvious but now its on record.

Squats: bar/5, 135/5, 225/6, 315/5,5,5,5,5(w/mask on)
Leg curls: 5 sets of 12

Then it was off to the Halloween Parade with the girls.

Bench
Light presses: bar/10, 10
Bench: bar/10, 135/10, 225/10, 295/2, 315/2, 335/2, 365/2, 335/9, 225/17
Presses: 135X10X 5 sets

So my left shoulder/elbow has not felt this good in a month. Two things for this...a lighter squat workout on Monday, and laying off iso exercises that stress the elbow out. I felt so good that I deviated from the plan again but this time to make it harder.

The last two sets of bench I did wre 335/9 and 225/17. The plan was supposed to be 335x3x3 and 225x12. After I did my first three reps with 335, I thought myself, just keep going as i didn't see the point in separating this up into 3 sets. I was feeling good so I went for it. Also, for the 225 set, I figured it probably would be hard since I just blew my wad on 335 but when I got to 12, I still hadn't seen any stars so I went for 5 more.

Presses were supposed to be the seated dumbell variation but I went for standing barbell variation because I love it and I love barbells. I needn't do any lateral raises or front raises or tricep work because basically after doing 5 sets of 10 on presses with 135, I really didn't need to do anything but find a place where I could sit and wait for the painful shoulder, pec, and arm pump to subside. I was good...believe me.