so true sir....

u know.....ive finally understood what u mean by lifting being more mental than physical....ever since ive started dc ive been focussing so much of my energy on food rather than changing programs my gains are freaking amazing...and training to failure is VERY difficult on the mind.....on my last workout, doing 12 reps with 225 was KILLER!! ive been pushed that much EVER before....

and its really difficult mentally to see myself struggling with a 300 lbs deadlift when my max is more than 350!!! i lost 15 lbs in 15 damn days!!!! but im determined to gain it all back...slow and steady

peace

Sentinel

Coming back from an injury is one thing, but in general "master the body master the mind". People seem to have a profound need to mind-fuck themselves. I'll say it once again, It aint like working for a living. Don't think. Just do. Leave the thinking to physics class.

0311, maybe I'll try both ways just out of curiousity. Long as you don't make fun of me :) but I'm really thinking it's similar to starting a bench press with the bar in the bottom position (like Kubik advocates in Dinosaur Training or even if you were to put a squat bar low and get up under it....it's harder. And why am I still talking about this?:arg:

It's easier with the barbell on the catch bars. Here's my point of view. If I was to try this, I would put the catch bars LOW, like below my chest level. So when I get under it and get in position with my chest touching the bar, I'm squatted about 1/3 of the way down. When I press it, I'm front squatting up as fast as I can, then let the momentum press the bar up quick over my head. If I was to do this, it would be sooo much easier than having to squat down with the bar, then back up....Essentially, using the bars make push presses a HALF a movement.

BUT, since I have not, nor will I ever do them with the catch bar, I honestly won't have a fucking clue as to which is harder. All I can do is picture both ways in my head, and speculate! :D

DE Squat/Deadlift: Tough day for some reason. I increased my banded box squats to 255 for (8 x 2) speed squats. I think the reason why it was SO fucking tough to keep my speed fast is because I put the bands around a 60 lb dumbbell PLUS the bottom of the rack...Same as DE Bench. I think I really fucked this up...Reason being because usually (if I remember correctly), I only choke the bands around the bottom of the rack and NOT around an extra DB. So the bands had a much much heavier amount of resistance! So in the future I'm going to keep the 255, but not include the extra DB and just focus on increasing speed faster with each passing week. I think next week I'm gonna work up to a new 1 RM for these.

SLDL's this week instead of DE Banded Deads. Did 3 sets standing on some plates w/ 275 lbs RAW. Easy weight still, so I slowed down the reps a little to really get the work in.

Same DE supplementals as previous. I went with a 90 lb DB for DB swings instead of 100's because my back was too pumped from SLDL's. Next week when I go back to speed deadlifts, I'll gun for 100 lb DB's for these.

Calvers I did 1 set DC style with 320 lbs. 12 reps with a good 15 second stretch between each rep, and a good 5 second negative per rep. Fucking smoked my calves.

Banded abs pulldowns I did my first two sets with 15 reps vs. the usual 10. Abs still hurt from doing these! It's been 2 days already. :arg:

ME Bench day added another 20 pounds to my wide grip pause presses! Fucking sweet. Paused for a good 2 seconds on my chest before blasting that bitch up. Shit, last time I did these was 10 weeks ago LOL. Back then I barely got 365 x 1 by the skin of my teeth. Today I blasted up 375 x 1, then 385 x 1. Next time I'll skip the bullshit and go for 395 or 405. The extra sets drained me for my top set. Afterwards I did a drop set of 315 x 5 which was fairly easy. I didn't have a spotter for these so I just stopped at 5 reps.

Reverse band JM presses was a tough exercise to follow up with. I did 4 x 5 ramping up to a top set of 245 x 5. My triceps were screaming by then. :)

JS Rows I stayed with 265 for 3 x 8. I'm feeling better in regards to fatigue with these. I'm able to cut my rest between sets down some so I can get the fuck out of the gym. Did 3 sets of hammer strength shoulder presses with the machine that is plate loaded, and each side is independant of one another. Put 2 plates and a 25 per side and did 3 hard sets of 10-12.

Finished up the day with three sets of face pulls, some biceps, and a few 20 rep sets of banded pressdowns to pump my triceps up for recovery.

I felt especially pumped today since I started the BN CEE added to my 3 scoops EAA's and waxy maize preworkout. Super pump in the gym, especially my delts. Postworkout was the same... 2 heaping scoops WMS and 4 grams CEE, ten minutes later my triple serving of protein.

Tonight for the next 12 hours I have to chip away at my 2 NY steaks, 3 chicken breasts (Pollo Loco), ect...Mmmmmm.

http://www.goodcowfilms.com/farm/bas...er_simpson.gif

[QUOTE=Eric3237;22974] "master the body master the mind"

This is so true, and I know that most people don't think this way. When you look around the gym you can sure tell who is lost in thought and who is just looking for attention.

How many calories do you consume in a day ?

A LOT! I couldn't really guess. Everyone seems to be SO worried about keeping track of bullshit like that. In reality, if you're focused [as I am] on a gallon of whole milk per day, 1-2 pounds of meat, protein shakes w/ 2 tbsp olive oil per shake, and plenty of carbs, then there's no reason to whip out the calculator and add that shit up!

If anything, I'm MORE worried about keeping track of protein intake, and scarfing carbs on workout days.

Seems I forgot to update my journal. ME Squat/Deadlift saw another 20 pound increase in my low box squats up to 385 x 1. Yes, I still felt like I underestimated again. The 385 was tough to get up, but it kicked my ass enough to where I couldn't do another increased set. Next time I'll go for the even 4 plates. BTW, the low box set me at almost 4 inches BELOW parallel. I gotta say it's hard to hold your breath when you sit down and rest for those few seconds before trying to squat. :) Also did a DROP set of 295 x 6 rizzaw.

Goodmornings I worked up to a triple of 285 lbs easy enough. I'm still being ultra conservative until I get comfortable. No belt or any of that shit for these. Brought the bar down until my upper body was perfectly parallel with the floor. Next time I get these I'm going to try and hit the home run with 315 x 3 which I'll obviously make. :D

Same old shit for the rest. Hit the pullthroughs hard. Banded abs pulldowns I got 3 x 15, 2 x 10 hard ones. Best abs exercise there is.

That's because some people if they don't pay attention, will become muscle filled blimps! And numbers....they just make people feel more secure. It's not a waste of time to everyone, it's a sense of control. I myself do the same strategy you do :) .