Training 12/16

Used yesterday to test out some training maxes. That means no psych up, and ideally, no grinding (which I violated terribly on my last lift of the day). I worked up and hit 355 on squat - a 10 pound PR, although I don't even remember how long it's been since I hit 345. Military I worked up and hit 200 for a single, a 25 pound PR. While neither of these are particularly big numbers, it was nice to hit some PRs. Additionally, it really drives home the importance of submaximal training. Unfortunately, the big push is that you must train near-maximal in order to make progress. However, I didn't squat anything over 245 or military press over 135 for the last few months. That isn't an excuse to train like a total pussy - but it does mean to be smart. Strength, fortunately, can be trained at submaximal intensities. Speed and power, however, must be done with maximal intent (not maximal weight, however).
Now back to the "ideally, no grinding" part. Though I wasn't doing any psyching up prior to the lifts, I did get a bit more aggressive with the poundages than I probably should have. The squat I was fully confident in, and I probably could have hit 365. However, again, this wasn't an all-out test. On the military press, as I was working my way up, the weight was feeling fairly light, so after 175, I decided to make the jump to 200. Even though 185 would have been a PR, it felt like that would have been a bit too easy, and I therefore wanted to go a bit higher. And if I'm going to do 195, why not just make it an even 200, right? Of course, halfway through the rep, my levator scapulae got peeved and locked up on me, causing hellacious neck pain. While I was able to finish the rep, that was pretty much it for the evening due to being unable to move my neck much. Moral of the story - especially when performing training maxes GO LIGHTER THAN YOU THINK!
I feel a bit under the weather tonight, though depending on how I feel tomorrow, I'd like to attempt a bench press training max, followed by repping out with the 100s in an attempt to get 20. If all goes well and I hit that, I will be moving into a max strength phase (for bench), while likely focusing on power in the lower body. Though I haven't decided for sure. There's a possibility I may do a 5x5 variation, though there is the real possibility that I don't have the work capacity for it yet. Again, I will figure it all out in the next few days.
Here are the videos from yesterday: