Workout Log: 29 December 2016

The last workout of the year wasn't so much a workout as it was just a test of where my 1RM is at for bench, squat, and deadlift. I was hoping for 1100, but I didn't quite make it. I think I could have gotten a bit closer if we'd done bench in between squat and deadlift, but eh, whatever. As it is, my right knee is feeling a bit janky after last week's 315x3x8 squat workout, so I was actually surprised that the 365 squat went up at all.

Bench: 280 (we already knew that from a previous workout and there wasn't any point in testing it again so soon).

Squat: 45x10, 135x5, 225x4, 315x3, 365x1
Failed attempt at 385.

Deadlift: 135x5, 225x4, 315x3, 405x1
Failed attempts at 455, 455, and 435.

So, that gives me a total of 1050 (280 + 365 + 405) which is 285 pounds more than where I was at the end of August when I started lifting. When I look at it in that context, I'd say it's pretty good. However, it's only 45 more than where I was at the beginning of November, though, and this is where the DL number doesn't make sense.

During the first week of November, my bench was 265, squat was 340, and DL was basically 400. OK, technically, it was 385, but it would have been 400 if my grip had held out - I had picked the thing up and just needed to lock it out, so I'm calling it 400 for purposes of discussion. Doing the math, we see that in the last two months, my bench went up by 5.6 percent and my squat went up by 7.3 percent, but my deadlift only went up by 1.25 percent. WTF?!

I don't buy it. The 405 went up easily and without any grip issues, but the 455 and 435 barely even moved. I suspect this was due more to fatigue than lack of strength; I don't know if I would have been able to get the 455, but I'm fairly certain that I could have at least done 425 if I were more rested (and if my knee didn't hurt).

Obviously there's no way that I can make a total of 1100 by the end of the year, but I think I'm actually closer to that 1100 than today's results would indicate. Once my knee feels better, I'm going to take another crack at it.