Squats

  • 135 x 10
  • 225 x 6
  • 315 x 3
  • 405 x 18
  • 475 x 10
  • 315 x 21

Sumo dumbbell lifts (slow on way down without pausing)

  • 80 x 12
  • 12 100 x 15, 15

Stiff legged Romanian style deadlifts off platform (Slow on the way down with pause at the bottom only coming to just above knees at the top)

  • One continuous set adding 20lbs every 6 reps until failure.
  • 95 x 10
  • 145 x 6
  • 165 x 6
  • 185 x 6
  • 205 x 6
  • 225 x 6
  • 245 x 6
  • 265 x 6
  • 285 x 4

Donkey calf raises with long stretches at bottom of rep and slow eccentric phase

  • 250 x 20
  • 400 x 20

Shelby and I met at the Highland Park Powerhouse - the original Powerhouse gym - to film a DC style leg training session for Dave Palumbo's RX Muscle web site. When the video is up in the next couple of weeks I'll post a link to it. I trained while Shelby, being one week post show off his 5th place light heavy finish at the Jr. Nationals, coached me through it.

Now as I'm writing this two days post training session, I'm sore as hell, like a 90 year-old-man sore. Lauren had to help me put on my shoes and socks this morning. Actually I haven't been this sore in a really long time and I feel it everywhere...quads, hams, glutes, erectors and calves. We started out with squats and I knew the multiple high rep sets were going to kick my ass and I was right. Even with my recent conversion to more of a bodybuilding style of training, I still rarely ever do more than one all out, high rep set of any exercise let alone squats - and it showed.

My strength still isn't quite at a 100 percent yet and that frustrated me throughout the training session and I really felt like a pussy after it. By the time squats were done, my legs were jello, I was exhausted and was never able to recover. I basically blew my wad on the 475 x 10 after the 405 x 18 and I was barely able to walk the weights back into rack and from there it was all down hill. By the time we got to the long drop set of stiff legs I was literally lying on the floor in between sets. This was from both exhaustion and to keep my muscles from totally cramping up on me. I would've puked if I had something in my stomach.

To be honest all that afternoon and night I dwelled on how poorly I had trained and how I had pussed out. My performance in that training session just didn't meet my standards. I knew even though I had given everything I had to get the 475 x 10 on the second work set of squats, I had saved a couple of reps on the 405 x 18 and I probably could've pushed myself further on every other exercises that followed even though I did give a decent effort on the long set of stiff legs. I sat awake in bed that night with a notebook and rewrote what I had done and analyzed it and wondered how I could give such a poor effort. I seriously agonized over it for quite awhile. Of course Lauren noticed this and tried to console me and said that she didn't think I pussed out at all and wondered how much more I could have expected from myself. The answer? More...a lot more. I always expect more, I have to. I don't know any other way. Even though many people refer to me as a perfectionist, I don't believe in perfection...there's always more that can be achieved.

The downside to all of this? You are obviously overly self critical and often find flaws within yourself and in everything that you do and you're never able to truly satisfy your need to obtain the level of performance that you desire.

The upside to all of this? In chasing the impossible you often pass everyone else that is caught up trying to achieve the highest levels of what each of them deem to be possible.