Week two of the Texas method.
Squat: 117.5kg 5×5
Bench Press: 77.5kg 5×5
Deadlift: 150kg 1×5 – been really working on making sure the first part of the lift comes from my quads, improving.
Pull-ups: 2xNegativesx5 trying to get these up.
A good session, despite feeling like I have a minor cold.
Today was the first recovery day in my new training programme built around the Texas Method. I was surprised to find I was still sore following Monday’s volume day, after all whilst I’d done two more sets of five I’d also dropped the weight used.
Squat: 100kg 2×5
Overhead Press: 56.25kg 3×5 – made up some of my own fractional plates to hit this weight as 2.5kg jumps are too big.
Good Mornings: Small Barbell 5×10
Pull-ups 3xFailure
At the end of it all however I’m feeling more recovered than when I started. There’s nothing like a good set of squats to get rid of the sore legs!
I’ve decided to change over from the Starting Strength routine to a version the Texas Method. Perhaps if I wasn’t also running three times a week I could have eeked out more from the novice routine but I’ve got several trail races and a half marathon to run this year.
So the new routine has Monday as a volume day, with the increase in volume I’ve been guessing at starting weights:
Squat: 115kg 5×5 – This was my fist squat session with a belt and it was big improvement.
Bench Press: 75kg 5×5 – went well, might have been able to start a little higher.
Deadlift: 147.5kg 1×5 – thankfully not as cold today so my grip wasn’t suffering quite so much.
I really enjoyed this workout and a few hours later I feel like I’ve had a good start to the day.
I’m going to be switching my own training routine to a version of the Texas Method with an emphasis on powerlifting. The essence of the Texas method is three days per week. The first day is a volume day, the second a recovery day and the final day an intensity day.
So here’s a version for powerlifting:
Monday:
Squat 5×5
Bench Press 5×5
Deadlift 1×5
Wednesday:
Squat 2×5 at 80% of Monday’s weight
Overhead Press 3×5
Good Mornings 3×15
Pullups 3xTo Failure
Friday:
Squat 5RM
Bench Press 5RM
Powerclean 5×3
I have debated swapping the deadlift and powerclean sessions over but have decided to go with it as is for the moment. The routine itself is based on Mark Rippetoe’s Practical Programming For Strength Training 2nd Ed.
The UK is still covered in snow, which my son loves. So today I found myself training in the garage with the door open whilst my wife and son played in the snow on the drive. Beats the hell out of looking at yourself in a mirror if you’re stuck in a globo-gym I can tell you. A bit chilly though, I needed to wear my fleece gloves whilst squatting!
Squats: 115kg 3×5 – I wasn’t looking forward to this as my right knee has been playing up, but with some sleeves to keep my knees warm it felt pretty easy.
Overhead Press: 55kg 3×5 – ouch that bar is cold! Brought a whole new meaning to the concept of ‘warming up’!
Deadlift: 145kg 1×5 – grip was suffering in the cold.
Pullups: 2,1,1 – really suck at these.
Reading a forum the other day I saw someone asking about buying larger diameter plates for the deadlift. He wanted them in order to raise the starting height of the bar so it’d be eaiser to add additional standard sized olympic plates.
Fair enough it’s one way of making the loading easier and we’ve probably all done it at least once, however it’s not ideal, especially if you’re planning to compete in any powerlifting, weightlifting or strongman events that will require a similar movement as you’ll miss out on training the deadlift from the usual start height.
So here’s a simple alternative, get a pair of 1.25kg plates and place them in front (or behind) the innermost plates on the bar lip side up. Then roll the bar onto the 1.25kg plates. Load the bar as normal then roll back off the 1.25kg plate when loaded and lift as normal.
The UK is covered in snow at the moment. Locally we’ve had around 10-15cm of snow 2 nights ago followed by temperatures of around -8C last night. As a result the snow has stayed and Wiltshire is white!
Fortunately the snow is very powdery so despite the roads being tretcherous the local paths aren’t too bad at all. So I’ve just had a nice 2 mile trail run with Otis (my dog) in the snow.
It was awesome, it’s a beautiful route normally, but covered in a brilliant white blank it’s breathtaking! I was very glad to be wearing my innov-8 roclite shoe though their grip in the snow/ice is great – wouldn’t like to have tried that in road shoes.
What a fantastic way to spend 25 minutes!
Feeling knackered after the Christmas holidays still and training on a different day as a result of fatigue.
Squat: 110kg 3×5 – backed off on these to rest my back.
Bench Press 82.5kg 5,5,3 – damn nearly managed all three sets of 82.5kg, I really need to get some fractional plates sorted and microload this lift.
Powerclean: 30kg 5×3 – as I believe I’ve found a cheap source of bumper plates I’ve decided to start powercleaning again instead of doing barbell rows.
Just because it’s Christmas day that’s no reason to miss a workout. Besides I was looking forward to this workout as I was due to try a new squat personal best (PB).
Squats: 122.5kg 3×5 hard work, but went up well enough. I’m looking forward to trying 125kg.
Overhead Press: 52.5kg 3×5 making some progress here.
Deadlift: 145kg 1×5 I’m finding the pull easy but it’s tearing up my hands.
Christmas is coming! Hurray! Unfortunately it’s been a hectic month though and I’ve missed a few workouts and failed to log those that I have done. Oh well, today’s workout was:
Squat: 120kg 3×5 – a bit of a struggle, it didn’t feel heavy as such, but I felt drained.
Bench Press: 82.5kg 3,3,4 – a terrible set I think I’m suffering from the late nights this week.
Barbell Rows: 52.5kg 3×5 – no problem, at least one lift went well.
Chin-ups: 3×2 – gave these a go again now my elbow seems to have recovered. Dissapointed to have dropped a few reps but glad to be back doing them.