Damn, I get a little distracted with work and family, next thing I know I'm late on my log again. My apologies for whomever is trying to follow along!

A couple of weekends ago, I finally got a chance to test out my Metal Canvas squatter in full gear. Here's how it went:

Warmed up to 330 raw, then got my brief on (a jack) for 420.

Added the suit on at 510 and got it a couple of inches away from parallel.

Jumped to 600, and squatted it about an inch high.

Took 690 next and it was also about an inch high.

In addition to being high, I was taking a lot of time to get down. Normally, I would have time to work in the gear and iron out all the bugs before the meet, but that is not the case this time. So instead of plowing through, I changed to my Pro brief.

Re-took the 690 and it was a bit better.

Finished at 740 which broke parallel and was pretty easy.

Good Day

Monday was a bench day, and this is kind of embarrassing, but I just realized that I got a little out of order on my posts (due to my apparent talent for procrastination) and it's already up as my last post. So if you haven't already, go ahead and check it out.

Thursday was a general lower body assistance day and Friday was upper back assistance.

Last weekend was a circa-max squat day, our hardest day of the cycle in preparation for the meet. The goal was to work up with an average and strong band off a parallel box. Lots of band tension means lots of gear, so I planned on wearing a Metal Pro Brief with my Metal Canvas Squat suit.

I started raw, up to 240 with the bands, then put my brief on with 330. Got my suit bottom on at 420, then took 470, then 510. This last one stalled a little on the box, but I was able to save it. My box squat form is still a little sucky, but it's gradually getting better. I tried one more with 530, but the bands were making me pitch forward and I kept having issues getting the bar out of the rack. Since it was only a 20 lb jump, and the last set was a good strain, I let it go and stopped there.

After taking off my suit, I noticed that at some point, the material had started to split up the middle of the crotch. This probably explains the stall at the bottom of that last squat. Although it's a small tear, I will not have time to get it fixed and test it out, so I will be squatting in the trusty Metal jack Squat suit for this next meet.

I did hear from metal that this is an issue the suits were having and has been fixed, so I must have gotten one of the last of that batch. I look forward to testing out the new version when I can get my hands on it.

Monday was another shirt day.

After some spring cleaning, I had found my old Ace shirt which I had previously outgrown. Since I've recently lost weight, I decided to give it another go to a 2 board.

Warmed up to 315 raw, then put it on with a 3 board at 405.

Man, this shirt is tight!

Took 495 to a 2 board and immediately realized that there was no way I was ever benching in this thing again, lol.

I finished up by taking 585 and 615 to the 2 board in my usual shirt, just so the entire session wasn't a waste. This will be my last shirt day before the meet, and since my arms are pretty beat up already, I decided not to push it.

Thursday and Friday were lower body assistance and upper back assistance days respectively.