And finally an Injury :(

Why does it need to happen when everything else is going the right way? Oh well, may be this is how I am supposed to get "rest weeks". So I was box-cleaning a mere 90 kg (have successfully handled 100 kg before), and couldn't catch the bar. I was lazy enough to not jump back quickly and the bar landed on the top of my knees. At that moment, it didn't take me long to move from the "WTF just happened" to "Ohh fudge! my knees!" mind state. The pain was so bad, I thought I'll puke or pass-out. I sat/paced/repeated for 15-20 minutes, until the pain was bearable and not bad. Next on the chart that day was front squats. I was brave (or stupid?) enough to actually go and try an empty bar squat, no way ! So I just went and shamelessly benched a few sets ( and hit 200 lbs for a single) and limped my way back.

So this is how my knee looks 36 hours post-event and after 4-5 ice-pack treatments. If you see carefully, the bulge is so bad that you can't see my knee and the latter seems to have mingled with my lower quad. I can "walk" with very little pain but any knee flexion beyond 90 degrees appears to be impossible.

I hope that the pain keeps decreasing and I can walk normally within 2-3 days and squat in say a week ? It's going to be a tough week without any training !

Just tripled 150 kg, 2xBW back-squat 10-20 kg away !

Not many days are like today. I mean, not in a bad way, but in a way which couldn't be more awesome than it is. Which is why, I have to freeze it in words. If that means I have to do it when Mr. Wagner is taking (possibly) the last lecture of Parallel Algorithms and is talking something about Shared Memory, so be it.

The day started on a low. As usual, I woke up at 5:00 AM, way before than I was supposed to. I tried to force some sleep, gave up, took care of No. 2, and gave it a go again. Surprisingly I dozed off into a dream involving a girl I had a crush on, few years back. My eyes opened at 7:00, I was 30 minutes late. I jumped out and started my morning routine of packing food and preparing breakfast.

I felt "normal" than usual while sipping on my pre-training drink in the bus. I got inside the gym, which was less-crowded (good news, I can focus better!). But this is where it started going downside, towards the worst kind, I didn't want to Squat ! I was not sleepy or groggy. I was feeling fine, but just didn't want to unrack and put a loaded barbell on my back. But there was no way out now, I started my daily stretching routine, while sharing few words with Chris who was C&J'ing at that point. Then had a chat with one of the trainers at the Gym about C++ and why it is much easier to learn it  while doing a project or following lectures. After these moments of digression, I felt I was ready, ready to unleash it on the bar ! Ready to freaking Squat !

Set - 0
Empty bar (20 kg), felt good, no soreness anywhere in the body, despite having doubled 270 lbs in the front squat yesterday.

Set - 1
95 lbs (43 kg), nothing wrong here. Wanted to make sure that my body was warmed up for further sets.

Set - 2
155 lbs (70 kg), didn't feel as explosive and powerful as usual, bad news. Repped out 5 and racked it back.

Set - 3
205 lbs (93 kg), didn't feel right again, felt the same feeling I had when I first came in, felt like stopping and doing snatches instead. Still did 5 fairly fast reps.

Set - 4
255 lbs (115 kg), things were getting better since the weight was getting heavier, I was timing the bounce off my calves correctly, did 4 good reps.

Set - 5
285 lbs (129 kg), OKish, not great, but not bad either. I stopped at 3 reps and changed the weight, 3 plates next !

Set - 6
315 lbs (143 kg), Usually the time when I make long paces, try to groove my focus, visualize reps, did 2 reps. Felt fairly easy, the bounce was well timed, but wasn't enough to make me feel 90% or more confident about getting a PR today.

Set 7 - 330 lbs (150 kg) (Trial 1)
Took a big breath, got under the bar, found the rack spot, unracked, got ready, took another breath went down, came up. Things seemed fine (but they weren't!) Took a mediocre breath (shit!), went down, couldn't come back up. Felt lazy and powerless, dumped the bar behind me with a huge thud ! FAILURE SUCKS !

Chris came, gave me a "WTF happened dude?" look, helped me take the weights off and re-rack the bar.

Set 7 - 330 lbs (150 kg) (Trial 2)
Took a even bigger breath, unracked, stood still for a moment, something was wrong with the placement of the bar, racked it back ( shit !, not good when you're having a bad time already). I could feel a few looks on me. My evil crowd-consciousness habit wasn't helping either. Terry, who just came in, saw me racking the weight back, assumed I squatted it and started congratulating me. Then I had to explain it to him , how I pussied out and didn't squat yet. BAD !


Set 7 - 330 lbs (150 kg) (Trial 3)
Took the largest breath known to mankind, my belly almost about to explode, cheeks rounded like a fucking clown, un-racked the bar, felt good, powerful like a beast, the first rep was easy (it's always is for me), took 3-4 quick breaths, a big final one and went down again. Sweetest bounce ever, but the bar speed sucked (which meant I was running out of gas). I also couldn't stop letting out a tiny grunt. Every single cell in my body was telling me to stop, to postpone my 3 RM PR attempt for later and remain satisfied with 2 reps. But could I? I already did 2 reps on Monday ! Why repeat it? I am not here to workout ! I am here to train !
Took an even larger breath, started going down (telling myself explode from the bottom ! explode ! explode !), and I DID ! The bar moved slower than ever, but I was going up, I didn't get stuck ! As I was coming up, I let out the air with tiny grunts and finally let a huge grunt out as I exploded up ! I did it ! a PR ! on a day when it wasn't going my way !

This is why I love lifting! The element of uncertainty ! Your chance to prove yourself wrong ! To defy and break the shackles put on your mind by the mortal body ! To come out better ! Stronger ! Faster !

Training-5x Week - 2 Updates

The second trial week of training 5 days a week in a row just finished and boy, wasn't it great ! Highlights were :

1. Added 5 lbs to my 3 RM Back Squat.
2. Added 5 lbs to my Snatch from blocks. It now, is a mere 62.2kg.
3. Got a new 3 RM of 80kg on clean from blocks + 3 x Push-Press.
4. Found out that I can clean 100 kg from the blocks.
5. Bettered my form on the 80kg clean (from blocks) and jerk.
6. Getting more and more eager to start pulling off the floor and ditch the blocks.
7. Last, but not least, technique seems to be improving everyday.
8. I seem to be stuck on the front squat. This has been mainly because of my lack of sleep on monday nights. Silly but true.

Squat numbers for the week :

Monday : 2 x 140 kg (310 lbs) x 2 (Back Squat) - missed a rep, tried again, missed again
Tue:  127 kg (280 lbs) x 1 (Front Squat)
Wed:  118 kg (260 lbs) x 1 (Paused Front Squat)
Thu:   140 kg (310 lbs) x 3 (Back Squat) - PR
Fri :    3 x 134 kg x 3 (Back Squat)

Squatting Heavy 5x (or more) a Week

I've been experimenting with more frequent heavy squats lately. For why such a seemingly crazy idea would not hurt and instead do wonders for you, read the following articles first :

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/max_out_on_squats_every_day

http://bretcontreras.com/2011/07/observations-from-squatting-daily/

To summarize on why it works and why anyone seeking strength and speed should implement it, here are my observations and myth-busters :

1. Your body gets "used to" squatting heavy. If you've ever felt "weird" (too tight/not flexible) squatting after a break of 2-3 or more days, you know what I mean.

2. CNS overtraining is broscience ! Yes I said it ! There is no such thing as overtraining. Everyone is different. Ofcourse, there are times when rest is needed but 99% of times, "your body is lying to you!". You just gotta push through. This doesn't mean that you push until you get injured. You must understand the fine line between optimum and overuse. It'll take time.

3. You become more flexible and efficient. Frequent squatting helps you to gain flexibility and you bounce out of the hole with more speed.

4. Practice makes an individual perfect. By squatting 5x a week or more, it will be nothing different than a walk in the park.

Having said these, don't jump into it right away. If you are squatting x days a week now, add a day of light squats. Then make this day a heavy one in 1-2 weeks (or more depending on how you feel). Keep adding more days like this until x=5 or even more.

My experience with frequent squatting has been splendid. I was doing 2 heavy days and 1 light day of powerlifting style squats. Once I switched to olympic style lifts, I started doing olympic ATG back and front squats. I made the light day into a heavy front squat day. This way I was squatting heavy 3x a week. I then added another day where I would squat at the end of the session. This obviously wasn't as heavy as the other three days as I was already out of gas. I did this for a month.
This week I added another day in my training. Yesterday I finished with heavy front squats with a 3 second pause at the bottom. I got 2 reps with 115 kg. It wasn't bad considering my best front (non-pause) squat is 125 kg. At the end of the session, I thought there is no way I could back squat today. But I was so wrong! I got a ATG back squat PR today ! I hit 138 kg (305 lbs) for 3 ! Tomorrow will be the 5th day in a row of squatting for me. Here how this week looks as of now :

Monday :136 kg (300 lbs) x 3 (Back Squat) - PR
Tue:  125 kg (275 lbs) x 2 (Front Squat)
Wed:  115 kg (255 lbs) x 2 (Paused Front Squat)
Thu:   138 kg (305 lbs) x 3 (Back Squat) - PR
Fri :    5 x 129 kg x 3 (Back Squat, Planned)