Wednesday 24.9: Squats, Elizabeth

Wednesday. Smolov squat 4x9 (102.5kg). Metcon, Elizabeth, 21-15-9 of: power clean (60kg) and ring dips, not for time.

Today it began, hard core squatting. It was something like 2+ weeks since I started this Smolov back squat program and now it's taking me to another level. There's gonna be squatting at least every other day. Phew, I'm anticipating tough stuff ahead of me! Those squats got me so I took Elizabeth without the time pressure, just worked through the movements.

Strength.

• Smolov squats 4x9 (across 102.5kg)

Alright, doing 9's is something I've practically never done. There are going to be sets like this every Wednesday, 4x9 is the thing in the middle of the week. The only difference is that the weights are going up every week. I'm looking forward to getting stronger legs in the long run. That should transfer to pretty much everything. All strength derives from legs and the engine is also better when legs are strong as hell.

The weight today was moderate. Not that heavy but doing sets of 9 reps got to me. I had no doubt in my mind about finishing these sets but they definitely burned my lower body. Had to take a good rest between sets in order to recover enough. I went ass-to-grass as my new style tends to be. Another thing I've changed lately is the width of my grip. Traditionally I've had a wide grip but currently it's a lot more narrow. Got this tip from Chad Vaughn's video clip that I posted on this blog couple of days ago. I'll give it a shot. At least now it feels good and solid.

Squats

Metcon. Elizabeth, not for time

• 21-15-9 of:
• Power clean, 60kg
• Ring dip

My legs were dead after those squat sets. I really didn't have any energy left at that moment. I figured something needs to be done and Toni texted me he's going to hit benchmark workout Elizabeth in the afternoon so I decided to give it a shot. This was a little different as my focus was not in smashing my records and go all out from the beginning. This was more like "for quality" type of workout.

I took all cleans as singles, focusing on trying to get the contact point on my quads a little higher than normally. Thus, getting a better bounce with the help of my lower body. I could have knocked these in bigger sets but that was not on focus. Had there been clock running, I would have definitely done cleans in 2-3 sets every round.

On the ring dips I felt strong. That is clearly a upper body movement and my tired legs didn't bother in this movement. Got first round 15-6 and second 10-5. Last round went unbroken. This is probably the best I've ever done in a 21-15-9 workout with ring dips. For some reason I found a good rhythm and just kept going. Okay, let's take into consideration that I did this one with ease, not with pedal to the metal. Checked it from the video, it took about 7:40 to finish the reps. Good feeling.

Elizabeth