more fun at the MAC

I spent another morning with my dad at the Multnomah Athletic Club today.

While I was warming up, I discovered, to my joy/embarrassment, that they do indeed have squat racks. They are tucked away in another corner of the huge fitness center room. I was super pleased and immediately changed my plans from working on clean and jerk to working on the straight up clean, and doing dynamic work sets in the squat.

Warm-Up

Lunges, Inchworms, Karaoke high and low, butt kicks, bear crawl. Double under practice (about 3 minutes). Shoulder dislocates; hip mobility. Overhead Squats w/ 15 lb bar (10); pull-ups dead hang w/ red band (10); push-ups (10); GHD extensions (10).

Clean

New “paper” 5 RM today. Previous 5 RM was ridiculously low (105 lbs) due to a simple error in training, and due to the fact that I rarely work the full clean especially in the 5 rep range (this low PR has stood since September).

I did not worry about whether the new PR would really establish a “max” in terms of my current neuro-muscular capabilities (with a 3 rep front squat of 185, a 5 rep front squat of 165, a 1 rep max clean and jerk of 165, I ought to have a higher 5 rep clean number than I do even after today). Instead, working with the long view, I just wanted to push myself to somewhere I’ve never really been before.

Result: 5 x 45 / 5 x 65 / 3 x 88 / 1 x 110 / 5 x 125 (PR). Volume: 1,369.

Squat

I hadn’t really thought about where my 135 x 5 x 5 from Monday was taking me with my training. The volume of that workout (and the time-frame too) was similar to a 70% x 12 x 2 @ 60s. So doing a 60% x 12 x 2 or a 70% x 12 x 2 didn’t make much sense to me. Instead, I broke with Corey’s protocol and attempted to do a dynamic effort 80% x 12 x 2. The trick would be still to move that higher weight using the prescribed slow descent and fast press (x131) movements that distinguishes a dynamic effort session from a normal session. Anyway, I think it worked, so I think this bodes well for my next PR attempt in back squat.

Result: 155 lbs x 12 x 2 @ 60s. Volume: 3,720

Bench Press

I had a few minutes left in my hour, so I thought I would add some bench press in there. I decided to use a slightly higher rep range today than on Monday, which seemed reasonable since I had just discovered a tentative 1 RM.

Result: 3 x 135 / 3 x 145 / 3 x 150 (PR) / 5 x 140 (PR) / 5 x 135. Volume: 2,665.

These are more “paper” PRs, the result of never training the bench press. I think I’m going to bench more or less once a week this spring and see what I can do with it. Just for kicks and the sake of variety. (And yes, for further Yokeage, P.B.)