Week 7 Squats

Squat day!!! 
I was still REALLY sore this morning from all of the hamstring work on my last leg day. Anyways my squat work went pretty well. I was pretty unsatisfied with some of the depth on my lifts but I felt pumped before I started. Excuses. 

Here are my top 3 squats sets from today and one of my front squat sets. 

http://youtu.be/zSqeyiTjEng

I did some warm-up sets and then 5x110 5x125 2x135 3x145 1x155 and then 4x4 65 front squats.

I tossed in some hack squats today, abs and that was about it. I was super warn out. 

The Hamstring Pump

Week 6 Day 2 squat workout. I tried to target hamstrings and lower back today. 

Hamstring work- Any squats or deadlifts are going to work your hamstrings but what about accessory work for those hammies? I find the more accessory work I am doing on hamstrings (at least once a week) the stronger and better feeling by squats are. 

Stiff leg deadlifts- probably my favorite hamstring exercise. Going into a normal deadlift postilion with less weight than your normal deadlift and feet shoulder width apart. First, Deadlifting the bar up and then, (keeping your legs stiff) (if you bend at the knee it is only slightly) keeping your arms at a dead hang, keeping your back straight (do not bend or arch your mid or lower back), lower the bar to the ground until it touches and then using your hamstrings, hips, and glutes bringing the bar back up to a standing position. Some people have a hard time starting off hitting the ground on there stiff legs, you can also work into them going almost to the ground and then pulling up like normal. I do sets of 4x10 on stiff legs normally for assistance work.

I also through in some band good mornings. Using an exercise band, securing it to the bottom of a squat rack putting the band over your head (in a loop), bending over with hips out and back parallel to put the band on and then thrusting forward with hips and glues to a standing position. I do this for 3x12 or 4x10. You can use different weight bands or double wrap the band. Today I double wrapped the red elite fts band.

I also had my main squats sets today... 
warm ups 
4x115
3x4x125

Front squat 4x5x45

I also did some awesome calf and trap work today. 
Calves.. worked up to 10x185
Shrugs.. worked up to 10x165

Trying to get used to that 185 weight on my back for squats. 

Check out my youtube channel for video uploads

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC87HYfnre7u5R4x5aC7bhQg

Bench Week 6 Heavy day

This is my workout from yesterday. 
Below is my Bench set before my top set. 2x100
2x100

This is my top working set for the day 

1x105

Below is one of my 5x3 at 95 lbs.

95x3

I have been sick for a few days now so I was not really feeling my best. Not quite as strong as my lifts usually are but not terrible either. After all of my bench sets I through in some Australian Rows, lat pull downs, shoulder raises, pull-ups, dips and forearm work. 

Holy Leg Day

Well I started week 6 today of the Gale Hatch squat program. I have my front squat numbers set really low because I am still working on my form and handling of the lift. I also kept my max low on this program to insure I hit all of my numbers and for testing program purposes. My max on this program is set at 165. I am pretty confident I can hit 185. 

Despite being sick I dragged myself over to the gym and to my surprise I felt really strong and had a fantastic workout. I am going to tribute this to my cheat day yesterday, which was amazing. *cough cough* five guys. 

My Workout
Warm up squat 6x85, 4x95
Working squat 6x110, 6x125, 3x140, 2x145 (belt)
Front squat 5x45 4x45 4x55 4x55
Good morning 4x10 (1x65 3x85)
Bent over row 3x10 (1x95 2x115)
Shrugs  3x10 (95, 115, 125)
Calves 4 x12 (135 155 2x165)
Split squats 3x8 (10 lbs each hand)
Hanging knee raises 4x10 (5 lbs on feet)
Planks 2x30 seconds

A lot a volume today. I was just feeling so good I had trouble stopping. ohhh yeah. All of my squat sets felt really easy. I hit depth on every rep and my back felt really strong today. I am pretty much in love with this program. I tried to hit some lower back today too since my deadlift has really been giving me trouble. This program is a lot of squat work but my legs are getting really strong and blowing up. I also put quite a few days in between my leg days to insure I am not over working myself (Monday and Friday). On a day like today I did more work than usual but some days if I am sore or not feeling it I will just do my working sets for that day and then be done. 

Below is the excel file for this program

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqDfpQ0A9vF1dENwdnZ2aEV2NEwxQ0ZFU2JnNG5tTEE#gid=0 

CONCUR THE SICKNESS 

Nutrition 
I have been eating pretty clean and sticking to my macros.. 
Today I hit 1550 calories. 210g protein 30g carbs 55g fat. A little low on my carbs today but I have been trying to keep it really low everyday and then spike it on my cheat day once a week. So far my body has been responding well to that and I am not feeling too tired, sluggish or weak. 

I will try and start posting videos soon, hopefully sometime this week. 

Off to bed. Have a goodnight.