Testing, Testing

How is it that a week of sleeping and lying around on the couch leaves me more run down and sore than a week of training?

I talked Casey into bringing me to the local gym for some 1RM testing this morning. The results? Well, they are what they are.

Deadlift:

I had high hopes for this one, something in the 330-350 range.

5 @ 135
3 @ 185
3 @ 225
1 @ 255
1 @ 285
1 @ 315

All of the reps felt pretty solid and pretty fast. Was expecting good things on the day. 315 came up off the ground without too much trouble, little slow, but once it got a bit below my knees I locked it out quick. Not a problem.

My erectors, however, felt pretty taxed during the lift. I felt like I lost tension in my core and my lower back muscles were straining pretty hard, losing the fight, and starting to round. I think if I threw caution to the wind, I could have hit my mark. However, after exhausting my lower back muscles, I didn't think it prudent to do another max effort pull.

I tried a single at 225 to confirm and, yes, my lower back was cooked. Though I was ticked not to take a crack at 330, I felt it in my best interest to back off until I get a few more heavy singles under my belt. Heaviest I've pulled is 5 @ 285 since 2 winters ago when I pulled my previous PR at 308.

315 is a meager bump on that, but I'll take it. I think it may be time to get more focused with the core work.

Repeated the max test on the bench press while I had a competent spotter (little bro).

I was expecting a max around 230.

Did some ballistic push ups to warm up.

5 @ 135
3 @ 165
1 @ 185

Set of 10 pushups

1 @ 210
1 @ 230
1 @ 240
0 @ 250

Previous best at recent bodyweight was 205 in September when I was last visiting Casey.

And that's that. Will test Front Squats and Miltary Press back in Madison later this week.

Hope everyone had a merry and relaxed Christmas.