Leg Squats and Wintergreen

Well, I buckled down and did leg-press.  I was not going to be able to handle another sub-par Bench workout today, and so squatting with a regular bar was out of the question.  I have been suffering from some major shoulder pain since (I am guessing since I can't think of anything else that may be the cause) the camber was a touch too narrow on the cambered bar squats I did, so those were out too.

I am planning on trying some low-bar squats with a regular straight bar next workout, to see if my elbow has recovered enough to do so.  The plan is to do Leg Press on Bench days and Squats on Press days, until my elbow fully recovers.  Hopefully DLing will prevent too much loss of core strength vis-a-vis squat progress.

Leg Press wasn't too bad--I hate it on principle and on the premise that my squat will suffer, not because I inherently don't like the exercise (although it does make my left knee a bit more touchy than does the squat).  I could definitely feel a difference in my quads: it is much more quad dominant than low-bar squatting.  This is only feeding my fears re: loss of squat strength.  As a result. I will have to do a bit more in the Deadlifting to compensate for loss of attention to the posterior chain.  I have already planned some heavy Sumo DLs for next workout, so I will be doing SOME form of DLs every other workout, instead of every fourth workout like I have been.

Bench was great!  Hitting Leg-Press actually paid off!  I got 260 for a single (almost a double) and so tying my all-time 1RM PR of 275 shouldn't be too far off.  (If I had been doing a 1RM test, I'd have probably successfully gotten 265 or more--that is how good 260x1 felt.)  Work sets were all 7s, barely getting the last rep on set three.  Some elbow discomfort, but nothing too worrisome.

Chins were disappointing, but not surprising considering I haven't finished a whole workout in a while.  Rows were easy considering those are on a deload right now.

All in all, this was a very satisfying workout.


8.6.13

Leg Press 405x8; 315x15
Bench 245x3; 260x1; 210x7,7,7
Chins (BW) 10,6,6
Rows 3x5@182.5


In other news, methyl salicylate--the main ingredient in many liniments and topical analgesics (including two of the three I use) can apparently be fatal if not used wisely.  I suppose I will have to be a touch more prudent in my consumption of these products.