Meals/ME Upper

First workout after the meet, here is what I am changing.
I am forgoing my upper ME lift and instead "greasing the groove" everyday with 225 on the bench. This means I will be doing between 1 and 7 reps of 225 on the bench everyday. I was really hoping to hit 265 this weekend and I think I need a different approach if I am going to get 275 come Dec 3rd. My deadlift went up so I am guessing that side of my training is working out well. Also in the morning I am doing light turkish get ups and practicing some kettlebell stuff. Nothing super intense, just 5 to 10 mins of incredible focused get ups (not counting reps) and 2 to 4 sets of between 5 and 10 reps of the KB snatch, clean and swing. The idea is to get some more low intensity stuff in that will add to the weight loss but not hurt my recovery. So, todays training.

Bench 225x1, 225x1, 225x1, 225x1 (I am deciding volume by feel) 2 mins rest
Incline DB Bench 45# 13, 11, 9, 8 (1 min rest)
KB row 70# 10, 7, 6 (1 min rest)
Side bends 55# 3 straight mins alternating sides every 10 reps

That was the first time I tried side bends, not a fan. I feel like I am doing it wrong.

Meals- Today, same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner; collards and roast pork. So begins the second giant pork tenderloin I purchased!

All meals/ME lower

Breakfast- Chicken split breast and kale
Lunch- Same as breakfast plus a cup of sweet potato
Dinner- Same as lunch but broccoli not kale

I decided to just get some volume today and work on my form with the super wide squat stance. I started with the bar and took 20 lb jumps. I did several sets of 5 then did triples until I hit 225 and did the rest as singles. My last set was at 335 which is when I really started to strain. That took me a while so I finished with 3 sets of Kneeling abs with the green band x20 super set with BW reverse hypers x20.

I am now positive that my hip flexors are a limiting factor when I squat super wide because they are on fire right now. They never get this sore when I do standard low bar squats.

Saturday/DE Press

My workout today
Bench 8x3@55% of 1RM (140#) +20 lbs chain (45 sec rest)
Elbows out Tri Ext 30# 15, 12, 12, 10 (1 min rest)
Chins with 35# 8, 5, 4, 4, 4 (1 min rest) the goal was 25 total reps
1 Arm Press L then R 50x5, 45x5 (3 mins rest)
1 Arm Press L only 40# ss with hammer curls L only 25# 10 sets with 30 sec rest
Standing abs with blue band for 3 mins

Dinner Chicken Split breast, cup of sweet potatoes and some broccoli

Yesterday and today were not the best. Yesterday started with me weighing in at 177.4, a gain of .6 lbs. So that means no snacking next week and I am going to have to increase my activity level in the morning, maybe throw in extra conditioning. Standard meat and veggies for breakfast and lunch but I went to a haunted house with friends so we pre gamed and then got pizza for dinner. It was delicious, but a poor choice. Then I ate work food like all day today. Once I start I just can't stop, it's free, tasty and plentiful. A deadly combination. I definitely took a step back this weekend. Just gotta double down my efforts this week.

Breakfast

Broccoli and split breast.

ME Upper

I went to look at a car today which pushed my workout back to 9. Decided to skip my ME lift and just hit my assistance work.

DB Bench 65# 12, 10, 9, 7 (2 mins rest)
BB row 155# 10, 7, 6
Bent over rear delt raises 15# 12, 12, 12

Dinner: I didn't cook any sweet potatoes or rice so I had to make due. Bowl of raisin bran and a split breast. Yummy.

Breakfast and lunch

Pork chop and kale. Fortunately, this was the last pork chop of this batch. Chicken will be a welcome change.

Dinner

A pork chop.

Lunch

Pork chop, kale and onions and half an avacacado.

Breakfast and lunch

Pork cops and kale. Dinner had sweet potatoes which is the pic.

ME Lower

Squat 275x1, 315x1(epic fail, story later), 295x1, 315x1, 345x1 (epic fail) (all with 40 lbs of chain)

And that's it. That was demoralizing. I did not feel strong coming into this. At the end of this mess I had already been at it for 55 minutes and was zapped. Let's see where I went wrong.
1. Too aggressive when feeling weak. I always try to hit it hard even if I feel shitty but I probably should have been more cautious.
2. Trying multiple new things. First time squatting with chains and first time squatting heavy with a super wide stance. That was dumb.
3. The first time I failed 315 I was so confident I didn't even set my rack up so I got to the bottom and had to place the bar down on one side and try to not destroy my floor with the other side. So dumb.

I am going to set aside some time to learn how to squat powerlifter style, my technique is definitely atrocious. Standard low bar is not gonna cut it for competition. O well, let's hope Wednesday is better. Food time.

Dinner: Pork chop and cup of sweet potatoes.

Dinner

Pork chop and a half and a cup of sweet potatoes.

Lunch/dinner

The pic is split breast and kale which was lunch and dinner was 3 pork chops and half an avocado. I dropped the other half on the floor :(

Breakfast

2 split breasts and kale.

Dinner

Chicken meatloaf, kale and sweet potato. The best part of convincing my mom to become a firebreathing cavewoman? Home cooked paleo meals. Mmmmmmm.

Lunch

Pork chop, collards and a cup of mashed sweet potato. Forget to take a pic.

Breakfast

Collards and split breast.