Deth

For the past few sessions of my strength work I really haven’t been feeling it. I don’t know why but I just plain have not felt like doing it all. Of course I forced myself to do it anyways and felt a bit better about it as I got moving but it hasn’t really been the enjoyable “me” time that it usually is. Today it felt great and I looked forward to it and got into that zone even as I was warming up with the empty barbell.

As always I started out with squats and I am still doing the front squat thing. I did these front squats today for three sets of five at 200 pounds even. They felt really great today with my knee, well really it’s my quad not clicking at all. The weight wasn’t heavy but it’s not been heavy the past few sessions either and they were a real mental challenge. Today it didn’t feel tough at all. I strongly considered doing my two extra sets but I decided in the end to just enjoy the fact that they felt great today and not get greedy.

Next up I had my strict presses at 100 pounds for the three sets of five. These felt really solid today and my lockout is seriously better than ever. It felt very stable yet not at the end of my range of motion. I thought I might be a bit tighter in the shoulders today after doing lots of ring dips yesterday but that didn’t happen.

Next up my power cleans for the five sets of three at 150 pounds for today. I really was moving well with these with great timing causing just about every single rep to feel weightless and just like it was floating into position to finally pull it into the front rack. The bar was staying very close for every rep. I tend to get sloppy once in a while and push it a bit forward or over compensate and pull it too far back but that wasn’t really occurring today. I blame that on originally being taught to “bump” the bar with cleans.

Next up I did three sets of 10 hip thrusts at 150 pounds. This was still light for me with these but on the other hand it’s been quite a while since I’ve done these. It’s going to take a little time for me to get used to the weight of the bar sitting on my hips but that will come with time. We have a pad that I may try sometime but I want to try without it first so I have more stability. I did it before so I should be able to get used to it again.

I also included the hamstring curls the box. I certainly feel I use my quads much more than my glutes and hamstrings for nearly everything so I figure I can do some extra posterior chain stuff to help me have some more muscular balance.

I knew it was likely temporary that I was in a bit of a funk but at the same time I am glad it’s passed. It’s awesome to have the garage gym back to being my happy place instead of just doing it because it’s good for me to do so. I was really feeling the general happiness today of being in my place and having my time out there. When I’m out there and especially when I am out there lifting it’s just a good feeling of contentedness. It’s just me versus the weight and gravity.

Now if only my post nasal drip would go away. It started with a couple of sneezes last night and now has my throat a bit irritated. I don’t have allergies but pollen (and dust) do irritate my nose and eyes.

Music this morning was Dio