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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.