week 2

let me start by stating the fucked-upness of this week!  work has been BY FAR the craziest, most stress inducing, and time consuming it has ever been, had to travel up north again for the clinical trial i'm participating in, and got hit with some emotionally hard hitting news about a family friend.  i'm blessed beyond words, weeks like this don't come around very often (or at all), didn't manage it well and made it through with minimal sleep and my diet went off the rails a few times.

i really felt the effects in my training.  on top of that, i'm definitely seeing/feeling the difference between all the weeks i was doing whatever i wanted in the gym (typically stuff i'm good at, and would feel like hitting that day) vs. following a program from a coach, hitting on all the spots where i NEED the work.  these days, squat days are disaster days.  but i'm not gonna get comfortable with low bar back squats again without... low bar back squatting!

Day1
Back Squat	x10	bar
	1x8	95
	2x3	125
	1x3	150
	3x3	165-175	165 x2, 165, 170	no belt, no sleeves
Bench Press	x10	bar
	2x4	65
	2x2	80
	4x2	95-105	95, 95, 105, 105
	2x5	90
Leg Press (machine is 103#)	20,15, 15, 10	up in weight every set	180, 210, 230, 250 (+103)
Pull ups	2x2, 3xMax		3 last set
Bent Over Rows	3x25		65#	straps
Face Pulls	3x30		20.5#
Chest Fly	3x15		45#
Rear Delt Fly	3x15		35#

for the back squats, i was experimenting with full grip (i do false), and with 165# on my back, it was killing me!  on the first set, after the second rep, i just racked the weight.  then went with my usual false grip.  didn't even realize until i was done... i never put on sleeves or my belt!  okay, maybe i'm willing to admit that equipment sometimes has the placebo effect on me. :)

struggled getting the bar off the rack for bench. next week i'll ask someone to help me with a hand-off for the heavier sets.  tight right hip still effecting my attempt at arching.

after this session, i had major soreness in my left bicep.  i think i might've had my arms bent for the chest flys...???  hopefully i'm not, all of a sudden, benching so badly that it hurt my bicep...???

Day 2
Standing Strict Press	x10	bar
	3x5	60-80	60, 68, 75
Deadlift	3x2	135
	2x2	165
	3x1	225		sets 2, 3 belt
	1xMax	145	25 reps	beltless, straps ok
Rack pull from below the knee	x3	135
	x3	185
	x2	225
	3x1	265-280	265, 275, 275	belt
	1xMax	195	12 reps	straps
Shrugs	3x8	135
Narrow Grip Lat Pulldown	3x20		50#
Cable Rows	3x20		50#
Chest supported rows	3x20		15# Dumbbells

i could kick myself for not trying heavier on that last set of shoulder press.  fixed my elbows (only slightly in front of bar, not full front rack position) and focused on not pressing away from my face. i actually got through those five at 75# fairly easy

the deadlift was embarrassingly difficult. :(  225# is a weight i'd expect myself to hit for a triple on pretty much any given day, but it was really fucking heavy for me today.  i had to belt up for sets two and three.  the 25 reps at 145# almost KILLED ME!  i couldn't pinpoint any specific part of me failing, i just ended up so wasted tired, i had to call it at 25.  took a chunk of time to recover.

for the heavy rack pulls, not sure if belt was okay, but there wasn't a chance of it happening without, so i just went for it.  felt so defeated by this time (shitty training wednesday and today was feeling heavy), i didn't want to have to stop.

forearms fried doing the cable rows.  15# dumbbells felt a little light this week, but i couldn't quite jump to 20#

looking forward to next week.  gonna spend the remainder of the weekend resting and getting my mind right, so that next week will be GREAT!