That was fun... (UPDATE)

I'm back from my "free day" workout. It turned out to be exactly the workout I was hoping for. I didn't train lackadaisically, but I also didn't feel rushed in the least. It's nice to know that a workout I thunk up pretty much spontaneously turned out to fit my intensity and time parameters like a glove. That shows me that I've accrued enough instincts to know what ingredients should go into a solid workout. This is not a boast, mind you, but rather a reminder, to myself: Confidence, Persistence, Patience, Humility. The key is to stick with what works... and to keep on sticking:

A natural-law argument for the virtue of weightlifting? HT to Elliott H. via Elliot B.

Since I'm sure you're dying to know, here's what I did:

17 March, 2014
"Carpe Ferrum" workout
230 lbs., < 60 min.

Overhead Squat:
8 @ 45 lbs.
8 @ 95 lbs.
7 @ 115 lbs.

[I had to get out from under the bar on rep 8 of the last set. Interestingly (right?), I set the bar from a hang clean, rather than from a back squat. I didn't use the Smith machine, but it is an option, "if you must."]

Farmer walk:
30 sec. @ 90 lbs. x 3

FSQ:
135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195, 205, 215, 225 lbs. x 3

[The idea here was to do triplets until my form started to deteriorate. In my earlier post about this workout, I said that I can front-squat about 65% of my back-squat, but apparently that was a low calculation. I based it on the fact that I most recently back-squatted 315 lbs x 4, and a few days later front-squatted 205 x 4. But, as I mentioned in my notes about that latter workout, I was feeling fatigued, and, what's more, ended a tough workout with FSQ. I was pleased, but not "stoked", to realize that I capped off a set of 30 front squats at 225 lbs. My guess is that I could crank out four good FSQ at 250 lbs. or so, which means I can actually front-squat about 80% of my back squat. Granted, if I went for a four-rep max on the back squat, I could probably do 350 lbs. or more, so the ratios are still pretty tentative. (I just don't like 1RM's for some reason.) In any case, I will continue with FSQ until I can do 90% of my 315x4 back squat (285 lbs. x 4). In udda woids, a ways to go!]

EZ-bar curls:
8, 8, 8 @ 70, 80, 90 lbs.

db pullovers:
10, 10, 10 @ 50, 60, 70 lbs.

+ + +

Today wasn't too intense, and I have a feeling that I'll be back in the gym for Even Keel B on Wednesday. Fun times. Now I'm going to drink it up for St. Patrick's Day with a range of fine micro-brews, and, despite a twinge in my conscience, some obligatory Guinness.