Here's my Korte

[Jim Ouini]

Week 7 Day 2

Squat
Bar x 2 x 5
135 x 2 x 3
195 x 3 x 3

First 2 sets didn't feel that great, had problems settling in at the bottom. Last set was a lot better.

Bench
Bar x 3 x 5
135 x 3 x 3
185 x 2
235 x 1
270 x 2 x 1 (90% target)

Supposed to be 266, rounded up but resisted temptation to go to 275. Both reps were pretty easy, much faster and smoother than when I've tried to do it before. 2nd set I did that pause for one second thing and explode up. One thing I think about Korte it gives you a lot of practice to dial in your form over course of the program.

Dead
Bar x 10 (RDL)
135 x 3
225 x 1
315 x 3 x 3

Felt pretty hard. My lower back was feeling kinda tired from Monday's attempt, so they didn't move as fast as I would've liked.

 

[blut wump]

Have you thought yet about post-Korte? I just looked at Post #1 and you'll have little, if any, problems hitting next week's weights. You'll have six weeks before Christmas and its disruptions.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Thanks for the encouragement, I certainly hope I hit those weights. I too was thinking they'd be no problem since I haven't struggled yet at any of my 90%'s...still, I'm at the point where I'm concerned the weight will catch up to me quickly...

As far as post Korte, I was wondering the same thing - do I have a week or two to try and milk anything from it? I finish at 95% next week - I have to read Korte again, I assume the week after is 'competition' and I go for my targets. If I hit them, should I try to up it the week after? Just some things going through my mind.

After this I had planned on a DFHT run, but I read the word doc MC2 linked me to and it sounds kind of confusing. I also want to run a DF 5 x 5, since I miss rowing and OHP. Plus my arms I think have gotten even smaller, so something where I could throw bicep curls into the mix

 

[Jim Ouini]

Week 7 Day 3

Squat
Bar x 2 x 5
135 x 2 x 3
175 x 1
215 x 1
255 x 1
295 x 2 x 1

Supposed to do 284, but was thinking (hoping) I'd underpitched my squat and went for 295. Actually it felt pretty heavy, I had that sticking point at parallel coming out of the bottom. The good thing is my friend said he didn't think I could get any lower. So 2nd set I thought I'd go a bit faster and do that 'hip bounce' ala Rippetoe. Well suffice it to say I haven't mastered that and my friend said I didn't get as low as my first set. So that's dissappointing since I've spent a lot of time trying to dial in my form and I chuck it on my 2nd set.

Anyway, next week I may have to bust out the belt.

Bench
Bar x 3 x 5 (N-S-W)
135 x 3 x 3 (N-S-W)
185 x 5 x 4 (N-S-W-N-S)

Felt heavier than it should have.

Dead
Bar x 10 (RDL)
135 x 3
225 x 1 (mini-band)
315 x 3 x 3 (mini-band)

A couple days rest and my back felt better so these went pretty fast.

Week 7 impressions: except for today's squat snafu, it went pretty well. Made some mistakes with my form and possible overshooting the weight on my squat this week but I'll just learn from it and keep chugging along.

 

[blut wump]

That happens to me too when I try to bounce in and out of the bottom. I end up rising as soon as hamstring taps calf and it never feels as though I've gone as low as when I settle in at the bottom. I've never had anyone watching me, though, as I'm doing it.

You'll be stronger next week, anyway. The last week will be hard but you'll manage it. The belt does help but as to whether you'll be needing for those extra four pounds...

 

[Jim Ouini]

Thanks BW - you're my rock, man

I'm bringing my belt for dead on Monday and squat on Friday. Hell I'll bring it for bench too

Now whether I'll use it or not, I'm undecided.

 

[blut wump]

Next time you work with a spotter you can examine the difference between settling down in the hole and bouncing out of it. If you do a set of each, maybe on one of your 60% days, he (or she) can keep track of how low the bar goes. Make sure they're watching the bar rather than your manly glutes.

Don't forget that you've been banging out two singles this week when only one was called for by the program. I've been taking that as an indication that you're stronger than you think. It will have had an accumulating effect on stress through the week but was probably an excellent alternative to bumping the weight. If you're concerned about your squat and bench, though, you might consider stopping at one single this coming week.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Yeah I think I'll do that experiment, although at 60% my form might be different than at 90% Been working on that, though, trying to be consistent and treat all the sets the same.

As far as the two singles, I think I'll drop down to one single this coming week and see what happens. Especially for dead, my second single is always slower than the first, even though I try to rest for a good long time.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Week 8 Day 1

Ate pretty well this morning in anticipation of today's festivities. Had one of my homemade protein cookies (oats, casein powder, ANPB, banana, 3 eggs) with a cup o' tea a couple hrs before my workout in addition to my regular stuff.

Squat
Bar x 2 x 5
135 x 2 x 3
195 x 3 x 3

Paused each rep at the bottom to dial in my form again, except for last set, where I came down slow until the last few inches and did the hip bounce. Not sure I really like it, will probably put it on the back burner for now.

Bench
Bar x 3 x 5 (N-S-W)
135 x 3 x 3 (N-S-W)
185 x 5 x 4 (N-S-W-N-S)

My mind was on my upcoming deadlift attempt, so I wasn't really into it. My breathing was off, kind of short and as a result these felt kinda hard.

Dead
Bar x 10 (RDL)
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
275 x 1 (kinda hard )
325 x 1 (hard)
375 x 1 (felt better than 325)
425 x 1 (hard again )
475 x 1

Took a page from GP's warmup suggestion thread and tried to break my warmups into even increments (50lbs). Anyway, I got the 475, it was kinda hard. Not that I had any hitches but I felt some muscles getting involved that I usually don't as I brought the bar past my knees. But off the floor was no problem, fortunately, and lock out was pretty good.

So I suppose it felt like 95%.

Overall: Good start to Week 8. To be honest I was kinda nervous today and had some butterflies so it's big relief to get dead out of the way.

 

[blut wump]

That's one big old deadlift. Congrats. Is that a PR?

It is strange how a weight can seem heavy and then a heavier weight can feel easier. I was doing squats yesterday for 5 sets of 3 and failed on my second set final rep. I got stuck coming out of the hole and down I went. After re-rackng the bar I continued at the same weight and finished all five sets, even doing five reps on the last set. Go figure. I have to assume that it just shows that I don't have my form dialled in yet and slight discrepancies in position are causing the failure.

Good luck for the rest of the week.