And now...

...For the rest of the story!



First off, congratulations to Matt 4board on a 1670 total at the SPF Iron House Classic April 24. Matt went 630-410-630, setting PRs in the squat and deadlift. He had some issues with his benchpress attempts and was left with his opener. Matt felt he left a little on the platform with his squat. He attempted a 650 deadlift and got it most of the way up before he started to pass out and couldn't complete the lift. That's still a helluva pull! The prognosis was his massive traps (largest seen in the state of California, according to some) cut off the blood supply to his head. Keep your head up GoldDigger! Good things to come!



Anyone who reads this tome may notice that training days have shifted to Monday through Saturday. I did it to have one day a week off from the gym. Between working there and training there seven days a week, it got to be a bit much.

I am going to continue with the 531 program for the squat, floorpress and deadlift and a dynamic effort benchpress day. The DE work will continue to cycle every three weeks (coinciding with the 5-3-1). On the deload week, I will be using a modified repetition method; meaning I will stop a rep or two shy of failure in whatever exercise I use. Also during the deload week, I have been using the benchpress for 3x5 with slightly higher percentages than what is called for. This keeps me familiar with the bench (so I do not find myself simply good at floorpressing!) I have a goal in mind with my floorpress and at the point I reach it, I will consider switching to another exercise (maybe benching). Two days a week I have devoted to conditioning with the various methods; the Prowler (barf), complexes and circuts and hill sprints. (I am still looking for the "perfect hill".) And I have learned not to do the Prowler the day before I squat. It does affect my squat in that my legs feel heavy (and it has woken me in the middle of the night with severe debilitating leg cramps too). We also "start" the new week on Friday with the squat, putting it in its rightful place at the top of the weightlifting chain. (So technically the lifting week would be Friday-Monday-Tuesday-Thursday. I guess I could move the squat around but that makes too much sense. Maybe later someone can talk me out of it but Friday always seems to have been "Squat Day". It just feels right.)

Check out Kirk Kawoski's unedited view of squatting at the end of the powerlifting movie, "Power Unlimited"; "Strap on your #$%^, leave your *&^%# at home, put a bar on your back and bend your knees." Outstanding.

Stay strong,
Ed T.