8/4 - Back Squat 5x5

Top weight 215 x 5.

I never used to squat in the gym by myself. No surprise, my legs look like pencils.

When doing back squats my shoulder/rotator cuff continue to keep me from getting a low bar placement on my back. A high back squat throws everything off and limits how much I can do, but my shoulder pain allows only so much. Felt better today, but still not great.

As for the today, I never failed, but I was close. Saw some stars after reps 3 and 4 of the last set. Chriss said they were all deep, so that is good. I could have pushed it a little heavier but 215 was set 5 and I was done. I suspect I would not have gotten all reps with 225 after all that. Failing on a set of squats is a little rougher than a missed clean or press. In the back of my mind I definitely do play it safe with back squats.

Chris M made a big 40 lb jump on his last round and failed on a rep. Seeing that it is all worked out OK for him helps me for next time. I did not know the other guy we were working with and honestly I felt like he was not paying attention when spotting, but he was there when needed, so I guess I was wrong.

Chad C, Jim, Aaron, Ian and some others had some serious 300+ lb sets. Awesome.