Yesterday was a squat day at Apollon. I was still feeling pretty optimistic after a great day last Sunday, and another week without back pain. It was fun squatting with the ladies last week, but I was really looking forward to squatting with the dudes again, since I finally felt like I could keep up. Although I just used it last week, they were all using the safety squat bar to a box, this time, with 3 chains per side. Since the chain is enough to make this a different movement, I went along.

Here's how it went:

Bar (65) x 5

155 x 5

205 x 1

245 x 1

295 x 1

Put my Jack Brief on

335 x 1

385 x 1

425 x 1

475 x 1 - This one was a little shaky off the box, but I finished it pretty easily. I new that the problem was that I was too tentative on the way down, which screwed up my timing off the box.

495 x 1 - I crushed this one, and let out a big "F*CK YEAH" at the top, like a meathead dumbass. I was so freakin happy I would have done a cartwheel, if it wouldn't have caused 3 more injuries. No back pain at all... Just felt like the old me.

So I learned something really important today. Now that my body is feeling better, I need to stop approaching weights like I am still hurt. I hesitated on the 475, which made it slow and difficult. But when I truly committed to the 495, It came up like an empty bar. While the 495 was easy, it was a big improvement over last week (515 with no chain), so  bagged it there. Until I am absolutely sure I am 100%, I am going to try to leave a round in the chamber, just to keep the progress moving forward. At this point in my career, Staying healthy is the key to progression. I'll start pushing the envelope when I get closer to a meet, but I don't think my body has many misses in it, so I need to take risks sparingly.

After the squats, I did some speed pulling with 275 (about 6 singles). This is really light, but it was more to practice starting position in the pull than anything else. Deadlift beats me up the most, so I need to be very careful with them. Plus, I believe we will be working up in the deadlift next week.

Finished with some work on the adduction machine. Yes, that stupid inner thigh machine the housewives use. It looks dumb, but the internal rotation has been helping my hips a great deal. With my dignity already spent on the thigh machine, I did a few sets on the crunch machine. Two good squat days in a row!