After not being able to do overhead motions for 3 weeks, I assumed overhead squat max day would fall by the wayside. Not so, yesterday was an impromptu max test.
My previous max was 45kg, and I honestly wasn't totally sure I could do that reliably, partly because of the lack of push-press practice in the meantime. I've also picked up a bad habit somehow of lowering the bar too far back on the right side, so after 38kg or so I'm afraid I'm going to end up dropping it down my back (possibly with bonus arm-wrenching) if I lower it back to my shoulders. So my max testing ends up being a session of light power cleans for my trainer as well (which I always feel bad about).
Anyway, we proceeded, and the new max -- which is also a new push-press max -- is 48kg! I tried for 49kg, but didn't quite connect the leg drive on the push press and it was literally the second to last minute of my hour session so there was no chance of retrying. I have no doubt that I can do it, though, and probably 50kg as well.
The real breakthrough of this session was that somewhere in there, possibly my second attempt at 46kg (after dropping it on the way up from the squat the first time), I just suddenly figured out the balance point overhead. After that, everything was much easier than the light weights had been. I'm not sure if it's another example of my needing a fair amount of weight to really figure things out, or if it's just a matter of having enough repetitions in a row, but I'll take it.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
New max of the time period
Hello, sadly neglected blog.
I haven't been inspired to write too much this month because so much time was dedicated to shoulder rehab and many of my favorite activities have been off-limits in the gym. Band external shoulder rotation moves and new stretches have been extremely effective, but not very interesting blog post fodder. Fortunately, last week saw my return to overhead movements, and this week I will be learning snatch progressions, whee!
While the shoulder was healing, the front squat cycle continued as per usual, and this week was max testing. My new front squat max:
77kg!
I unracked 78kg and started to squat when I lost my nerve, mostly because I felt a little light-headed. It's the first day of Shark Week, which may have contributed, but most likely I just didn't breathe properly. I would have taken another shot at it, but I was already running out of time. It's extremely frustrating sometimes to have a limited slot of gym time vs. the freedom to stay until the job is done.
Another thing that happened over the last 3 weeks is that I returned to ice hockey. I play on a Saturday night league, and I've noticed a little leg tiredness on Mondays. This week was particularly tiredness-inducing because my team was super-shorthanded, with only 8 skaters. I had expected it to take a toll on this front squat max, and maybe it did, but it's hard to tell. 77kg is proportional to my back squat max, but it didn't feel like it was as hard as I'd expect a "real" 1RM max to be.
I haven't been inspired to write too much this month because so much time was dedicated to shoulder rehab and many of my favorite activities have been off-limits in the gym. Band external shoulder rotation moves and new stretches have been extremely effective, but not very interesting blog post fodder. Fortunately, last week saw my return to overhead movements, and this week I will be learning snatch progressions, whee!
While the shoulder was healing, the front squat cycle continued as per usual, and this week was max testing. My new front squat max:
77kg!
I unracked 78kg and started to squat when I lost my nerve, mostly because I felt a little light-headed. It's the first day of Shark Week, which may have contributed, but most likely I just didn't breathe properly. I would have taken another shot at it, but I was already running out of time. It's extremely frustrating sometimes to have a limited slot of gym time vs. the freedom to stay until the job is done.
Another thing that happened over the last 3 weeks is that I returned to ice hockey. I play on a Saturday night league, and I've noticed a little leg tiredness on Mondays. This week was particularly tiredness-inducing because my team was super-shorthanded, with only 8 skaters. I had expected it to take a toll on this front squat max, and maybe it did, but it's hard to tell. 77kg is proportional to my back squat max, but it didn't feel like it was as hard as I'd expect a "real" 1RM max to be.
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