Dec 29, 2014

 ** Barbell Bench Press **
- 45.0 lbs x 10 reps
- 95.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 145.0 lbs x 6 reps
- 145.0 lbs x 6 reps
- 145.0 lbs x 6 reps
- 145.0 lbs x 6 reps

** Dumbbell Shoulder Press **
- 30.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 40.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 50.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 50.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 50.0 lbs x 5 reps

** Dumbbell Row **
- 50.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 60.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 70.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 70.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 70.0 lbs x 5 reps

** Pull-up **
- 5 x 10 reps

 ** Barbell Squat **
- 45.0 lbs x 10 reps
- 95.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 135.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 185.0 lbs x 3 reps
- 210.0 lbs x 9 reps
- 210.0 lbs x 9 reps
- 210.0 lbs x 9 reps

Felt good doing all the upper body work in the morning, and that left me open to do squats at night.  This is the second consecutive day of squatting, which I figure I can get away with since it's still "day 1" of sorts, working at 70%.  I wanted to compare the Smolov Base mesocycle set/rep scheme with the Smolov Jr. set/rep scheme, the main difference being that the Smolov Base uses a more pronounced daily undulating periodization scheme, working through a range of 3-9 reps over the 4 workouts, whereas with Smolov Jr., it's 3-6 reps.  I gave the 9 reps a try and I found that it was indeed, anything past 6 reps that I started to feel more gassed...possibly because besides the one or two sets of widowmakers I did with 155 (bodyweight), I never worked above 5 reps.

I also closed my squat stance slightly (from ~130% shoulder width to about 115%; this stance is basically just the stance I naturally go to when I step back and it feels comfortable), and did a lot of distraction work with the band, doing child's pose and letting the band just provide distraction force backwards (so it imitates the bottom of my squat, just with me lying down instead of standing up.  With a combination of these two things, my hip felt fine and I felt powerful pushing through the sets, so I'm pretty happy the impingement I felt yesterday was not there today.  I also focused more on screwing my feet as I initiate the squat, which hopefully "opens the groin" and pushes my knees further apart than yesterday, which should also help minimize the risk of impingement.