NROL, Strength III, workout 3A

Workout 2A was an unmitigated disaster so I dropped the weights on the squat today. I managed to go the whole workout without back pain so I’m pretty happy with my progress.

Here are today’s stats.

Squat – 3×200, 2×210, 1×220, 3×205, 2×215, 1×225

(These squats went great. I basically dropped every set by 25 pounds. Zero back pain. It was amazing. My form was exceptionally good on most reps. On a few I noticed that I was coming up on my toes. Maybe that has something to do with my back pain in my past. Every time I did that the next time I thought a lot about my heels on the way up. Perhaps that will help me keep my body in line in the future.)

Quarter Squat – 2×245, 2×245, 2×245

(I dropped the weight here by 20 pounds. My form was really good. I dropped the safety bar a notch lower this time and that allowed me to go a little lower.)

Squat – 6×186, 12×135

(I couldn’t get all the reps in that second set on either of my previous lifts. This time I got it done so I’m happy with that. My legs felt like jelly by this time. It’s pretty sad when you’re struggling to push up 135. Especially considering the gym was pretty crowded today. I did it though. This set made me thing that I remember the fat loss phase of this program too fondly. I haven’t done 12 reps in a while and it SUCKS.)

Seated good morning – 6×95, 6×115

(I finally feel that I’ve got these down so I bumped up the weight. I’ve never had any trouble on the previous lifts but I was always worried about my back. With no back worries here I decided to go for it. The range of motion is so small that I think I could probably do 135.)

Swiss ball crunch with medicine ball throw – 4×30, 4×30, 4×30, 4×30

(Tried to come up as soon as possible. I think I did all right. I’m not really sure what muscles this move is designed to work. Sometimes I feel it mostly in my quads. That can’t be right can it? Who knows.)