Another Mixed Bag For My Lifts
I was feeling good this morning. My legs weren’t twitching any more like they were last night from all of the step ups. I don’t think I slept super well last night either though. I slept long but not very deep.
I did play Watchdogs a little bit this morning. During the summer I really didn’t touch the XBOX but that’s how I have always been with video gaming. The brighter sunshine makes it harder to see the screen for one and I’d much rather enjoy the fresh air than sit in front of the TV.
The front squats were the worst for me today. They were pretty heavy at 225 pounds and I was supposed to do three sets of five. Well the warm up sets felt to be a bit off to me. They didn’t feel bad but just off and I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what was going on. It felt as if my non dominate leg was being very dominant today for the squats. They didn’t look bad but when I felt it even more with my first heavy working set I racked the bar and decided to stop for the day on the squats. There’s always next time and that next time will come along much sooner if I remain uninjured.
With the way my arm had been fro so long I have to admit I was feeling a little intimidated with my strict shoulder presses at 125 pounds for three sets of five. It turned out that I had nothing to be concerned about with them at all. They felt great and I fairly easily got through my three sets with no problems at all. I feel like using the 2 pood belt gives me a lot more confidence in knowing that my back isn’t over arching. After I finished my sets I looked at my notes and saw that I was actually supposed to do 122 pounds today and not the 125 that I did. Oops. I guess I got the 95 + 15 pound plates stuck in my head from it being similar in the front squats.
Finally I moved on to the power cleans. I did these for five sets of three at 175 pounds. The weight’s getting up there for me now for these cleans but they actually felt fairly light today. Very nice and super explosive lifts. They looked great. I noticed from my videos that there were two good things that I’ve been trying to improve for a long time. Both of them tended to happen when they got heavy enough that I had to start getting under the bar out of old muscle memory and not necessity any more. First thing I noticed is I wasn’t getting under it by jumping my feet out way wide I tended to do with power cleans. I haven’t had to do that in a very long time but it’s just sort of how I learned them. At that time even my squat stance was much wider than it is now. The other thing I saw today is my feet weren’t automatically turning way out. They were nice fast and good feeling lifts and a great finish my my strength session today.
Music for my lifting today was Overkill.
By lunch time it was sunny and in the mid to upper seventies. With out tree gone the patio was in full sunshine so I took the cushions out to the chair and just sat back and closed my eyes to relax and take in some nice warm sunshine. The humidity had dropped off and it was the first day that it wasn’t cloudy all day in I don’t remember how long. I think I may have even taken a cat nap. It just felt good to get some sunshine. The mosquitoes and flies that were so ridiculous all summer long didn’t really seem to be out which was another plus.
We ate supper out on the patio too. Can’t pass up on these opportunities because they’ll become few and far between for the next several months. It was a nice evening to do that but the mosquitoes were awake then. That and a bee kept buzzing around and landing on me.
It was also a great evening to go for our daily walk. That is one of the things we hope to keep up with during the winter as long as the weather is cooperative. We won’t go for one when it’s 38 and raining but we will go when it’s colder. I don’t mind the cold myself but my girlfriend hates it. She likes the summer heat but I hate that.