Miha's training log

[Mihael]

I planned my workout to be at 16:00 but my friends managed to persuade me to go and play basketball. I came home at 18:00 and very tired, but doing the workout was something I had to do although I don't know if the squats will be beneficial since when I did them it went very very hard, the hardest workout till now.
Squat 65kg 5x5
I concluded that my form sucks badly and around 40% of the reps were being "toes involved". Bringing the hip far back also seems to be a problem and when I rise I have this feeling I'm pushing with my shoulders. Another problem is that I feel like the moves are too forceful and something else but my legs is doing the work. The back don't hurt and nothing hurts actually, but I can't shake the feeling that there's a huge improvement I need to be doing with my form. Starting from tommorow I'll be doing thorough stretching routines every day.
Bench press 53,5kg 5x5
Didn't have any problems there other that I'm trying to keep my shoulders not involved and back squezeed but I don't know how to be sure I'm doing it right. I can feel my triceps doing the work but I don't feel any burn in the chest.
Barbell row: 50kg 5x5
Deloaded to 50kg to focus on the technique (mainly bringing the elbows far back and squeezing my back so I can feel it). Went rather good.
Deadlift 1x5  The last 2 reps went very hard and my grip seemed very weak, almost like I'd drop the bar
Close grip bench press 10/6/6
Replaced dips with close grip bench press
Overall this week was a mess. 3 Kempo trainings that took alot of time and nerves, bad sleep and failing on my squat form. My weight was at 68kg today and the best vertical I recorded was reaching 285 cm on Thursday (at around 69,5kg).
 

[Mihael]

I trained with a friend today and he was checking my form.
Squat 65kg 3x5  I was told that the weight presses my back downwards too much and that the back arches. We took the weight down to 50kg. On this weight I went down deep, below parallel, my back was straight and I didn't use my toes, just pushed from the heels.
Barbell row 52,5kg 5x5 The form was good on lifting but my back arched on lowering it back down.
Box squats 35kg 3x8 First time I did this, but this weight seemed very easy
Maximum height jumps 3x5
Deadlift 85kg 1x5
Overhead press 42,5kg 3/4/3/3/2 
Upright row 42,5kg 5/5/5/4/3
 

[Mihael]

Squat 55kg 5x5
This time I had a spotter watching me and my form was good, back didn't round, went deep, glutes tight and pushed from the heels, hips up.
Box squats 55kg 3x8
Bench press 55kg 5/5/4/4/3
I'm still thinking on how to involve dips or with what to replace them so did a closer grip bench press 3xF
And yes, my workout timetable is kind of messed up, but this is a period when I'm still reviewing my form, especially in squats.

[Mihael]

Squat 57,5kg 5x5  Knees go too far forward
Overhead press- deloaded to 40kg since I was stalling 5/3/3/3/2 - felt very weak today, prolly cause I didn't have the chance to eat much in the morning
Deadlift 5/5/3 - grip failed on the last 2, forearms very sore
Pullups - Couldn't do even one, hardly even gripped the bar

[Mihael]

Glute activation and hip mobility, shoulder dislocations
Squat 60kg 5x5 
Bench press 55kg 5x5
Barbell row 55kg  5x5
Things went very well today and looking forward to seeing how my body is going to react to increased weight next workout.
 

[Mihael]

I didn't update my log for a week now cause I thought that the forum will be switched to paid membership immediately and although I love this site and the forum, my financial situation won't allow me to be a member. At the moment I'm trying to get the last piece of euqipment I need, the dip bars.
I've been doing the 3 day per week routine, sticking to the program as it is outlined since I now got most of the equipment needed (no upright rows anymore for example). Things went really bad, cause seeing pictures of myself squatting and comparing it to how a good squat form should look like, made me see loads of errors:
The problem is, my back rounds once I go under parallel. I'm unable to maintain the arch once the bottom of the squat is reached. It's most likely a harmstring flexibility issue and I stopped squatting 3 days ago, but doing a flexibility workout twice a day (hip mobility and squat stretch.)
The stretches helped and today, while I was in the squat stretch, although it was very hard to keep the chest up and back straight, my back was almost straight. The weird thing is that when I'm descending into the squat my groins hurt, like they're being forcefully stretched, but when I'm in the squat position (below parallel, and maintaining the back straight) I don't feel any stretch in my harmstrings, but alot of stretch in the groins. I heard that the harmstrings should be tight at the bottom, and for an inflexible individual like me, they should feel a stretch in that position, but I don't have that stretch feeling.
The feeling when I descend down to the squat is very weird, it starts with a great tightness in the groins and once I get lower, it feels like something (harmstrings) pulls my lower back and doesn't allow it to have the arch.
Should the groins hurt when you descend into the squat  and how long will it take until I can squat with proper form if I do the above mentioned stretches any day. Anything else anyone reccomends how I could fix this problem ?
What was happening before is that my back was round and I first went up with my hips and then did a good morning. It was very painful to see on the pictures but I just thought it's a minor form issue that'll get fixed in time.
Now my problems are the back rounding and knees travelling a bit too forward, but the things that concerns me the most is the sharp groin pain when I descend to the squat.
Any advice or impressions would be much appreciated.
 

[Mehdi]

Probaly tight adductors; The squat stretch should help witht that Mihael. Find the position where your lower back stays straigth. Keep that position and let muscles stretch. Don't go for maximal depth, go for proper technique, and let it stretch. The more you do this, the more your muscles willl stretch, the easier to get your depth after a while.
 

[Mihael]

I've been doing this for the past couple of days and improvements are evident. Now I can't believe how stupid and ignorant I was before not realising my form was an invitation to back injuries. My friend who trains with me is taking pictures of my squat form and today was a really good day regarding that. I did multiple descends into the squat and squat stretching to the position where my lower back is straight and afterwards my hips and quads hurt more then when I did squats with 70kg before.
I'm trying to copy this kind of form to the very detail :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq8CWv8UPAI
He states at one point that when you do the squat stretch you should feel a stretch in your harmstrings. I don't feel any stretch there, they even seem relaxed. All I feel is a big stretch at the front on my thigh, close to the hips. Not the groin, but prolly hip flexors. I studied through some anatomy images and concluded it could be hip flexors. They stretch when I shove my but back like the guy on the video does and it hurts a little (not as much as it did before), and I'm even having problems crossing parallel now cause of that pain, but when I do cross parallel, the back make a slight bend, again, not as much as they did before.
Mark Rippetoe also states you should use the bounce from the bottom when the harmstrings are tight. What does it mean exactly and am I doing something wrong cause my harmstrings ( the bump at the back part of my thigh) doesn't feel tight. How does one even keep the harmstring tight ?

[Mehdi]

You're probably squatting straight down instead of pushing your hips back. You won't feel much stretch in your hams if you sit down instead of back. Post a video of your squat technique, this would clarify things.

[Mihael]

I'll see if I can borrow a camera. I think I'm pushing my hips back, and according to the pictures the friend took of me on my mobile phone, they are far back, but the pain doesn't originate from under the thigh, but in the inner of the thigh (hip flexors?). When I compare myself to the video I posted here are the 2 differences:
The angle at which his back is to the floor is around 45 degrees when looking from the floor. Mine is a bit more bent down, around 35 degrees when comparing to the floor.
My but is around 5-10cms higher then his and when it comes lower the back isn't arched like his anymore.
if I can get a camera this weekend, I'll have my form taped and posted here.

[Mehdi]

Inner thigh = adductors. Try posting video, will be easier for us both that way.

[Mihael]

Will do. I'm doing the other exercises very regularly, but putting the squat flexibility as the No.1 focus now, and for what it's worth, my vertical increased by 6cm from when I started this thread. My home gym is almost completed now, all I need are the dip bars, everything else is in place, including a brand  new knurled bar and two 25kg weights. Bench press went up to 60kgs as the working weight and OHP is at 42,5kg, almost 5x5 today. Deadlift I have flexibility issues too, still learning the power clean, and chins are at 4 reps max. Pullups I can do one but hardly and not from a dead hang. Weight is at 70kg (makes jumping improvement even more impressive since I gained 2kg which is around 4cm less by some calculus I did before). Bodyfat by the looks in the mirror is the same, and there's constant increase in muscle mass, mostly the back and the chest, and very little improvement in the arms, but the way the chest is growing looks scary.

[Mihael]

Warmup

Maximum standing jumps 5 x 287 - Couldn't reach my yesterday's personal best. Frustrating. I felt weak and drained out.
Maximum 2 leg running jumps - 292, 296,297, 295 - This made me smile and forget about the standing jump frustration
Maximum 1 leg running jumps - 296, 296, 300 - PR
Depth jumps with jump onto another box : 3 x 6 - seemed draining on the tendons.

Reactive jump squats 30kg 5x5 - concentration issues resulting in loss of speed and momentum, nothing I can do about it but pull my mind better next time

Squats 65kg 5x5 -kept knees out, relaxed back and harmstrings on like 50% attempts. Not good. Lowering the weight won't solve the problem, it's mainly a concentration issue. I don't feel any pull in my harmstrings when I go down. This stretch reflex I should be using and I prolly am not is making me worried.

Deadlift 90kg 3x3 - upper back rounds a little due to me not being able to keep the shoulder blades tightened. The weight is just pulling my shoulders down. Trying to repair this every workout so I'm going steady with the weight

Overhead press 45kg 5/5/5/4/5 - Too bad for the 4th set. Poor mental preparation prolly. Otherwise, happy with the obvious strength improvement

Chin ups - 4/1/3/2/2 - 12 total PR - the 2nd set was weak because I had under a minute rest and somehow gripped the bar far too wide

Total training duration (counting from when I started Depth jumps) - 1h 50min

And yet another sunny day in Croatia

[Mihael]

Standing jumps 3x286cm
Running 2 legged jumps 3x294, 2x296
Depth jumps 3x6
Reactive jump squats - 30kg 5x5
Squats 65kg 3x5

Did only 3 sets of squats and then a friend of mine took pictures of my form so I realised it was all wrong again. Back bending, not going bellow parallel enough. I'm really not sure if it's a form issue or a flexibility issue. Tommorow I'm gonna spend the afternoon in front of my mirror trying to atleast visually adjust where I need to be at the bottom and how to get there.

Deadlift -90kg 3x3 , went with 92,5kg first, but the squat failure and seeing how I'm in deep problems again made me lose mental focus and motivation. Deloading to 90kg acted like a placebo I guess and somehow I managed to pull it through.

Bench press - 62,5kg 5/5/5/3/3

Pullups 2/1/1/1/1

Didn't do barbell rows because the workout extended over 3,5h already

Very bad day overall

[Mihael]

Squats- 60kgs was supposed to be my warmup so I went with 3, but then decided to make it a work set so it went :

60kg 3/5/5/5/5

Squats aren't like the OHP or Bench press where it's easy to master the form and then it just depends on how much your muscles can take. A friend of mine took pictures of me on the 60kg squat and in the bottom position it looked really good. Back weren't perfectly straight but that's a matter of current concentration and varies from rep to rep. The problem with my squat is that it's more of a mental then a muscle challenge. I'm having troubles with everything here but the main focus on the squat: hip and leg power. A good thing is that me and the friend found the problem with my former squatting: I wasn't keeping the chest up so the weight rounded my middle back and with that, the lower back aswell. My left elbow was also sore today. Thinking of so many things at the same time I sometimes relax my upper back and the weight falls on the elbows although the wrists are perfectly inline with the forearm. It kind of sucks that after a month and a half I'm still stuck with 60-65kg weights, but being so tight and straight poses a big problem for me, more then actually lifting the weight. Yesterday evening when I did form practice next to a mirror when I tried to maintain the perfect position my body was under so much strain from all the "forced" tightness, that it turned totally red and every vein in my body pumped out. These observations are more like a mental note to myself. There is much to be worked on, and I'm a long long way from squatting as I think I should. The good thing is that I located the problem, and with perfect concentration I can make a perfect 60kg squat, but when it comes to 25 reps, my mind totally slips away and 1 set seems like an eternity, because of all the movements that should come naturally to me but I keep thinking about them and then I make errors.

Deadlift 92,5kg 3x3
Overhead press 5/5/3/4/3
Chin ups 3/2/2/1/0

Total mental and nervous system shutdown close to the end. I just hate it when that happens.