Ok, this is the 3rd of 3 threads about me getting back to the "Big 3" powerlifts.

I waited a while to start this thread because of a few reasons. My work schedule when I started back to the gym was insane and I really couldn't make it to the gym more than twice (sometimes once) a week. Partly because of my schedule, my recovery had to be taken into consideration, and squats generally take a lot out of me. I didn't think my body could keep up. My legs tend to grow quicker than other body parts, so I was never worried that my upper body would get too far ahead. Probably an additional delay was fear. I tore my right quadricep in the muscle belly almost 2 years ago, and leg work has not been pursued as readily as it used to be. Additionally, my knees are not in the best of shape. Some days they hurt, other days they perform better. They click and snap all the time. I'm thinking thats not a good thing, but so far they are holding together. :-)

Today I visited the altar of the squat rack. It felt like home. Almost. It was more like when you return home and realize nobody cleaned up your mess while you were gone. lol. It has been a long time since I had any real weight on my back-- probably right before I got real sick and was unable to work out for months, which is nearly a year ago.

I don't know if any of you have this happen, but after a layoff from the gym, my legs cramp up on the first couple weeks back. None of my other muscle groups do this, but strangely, glutes, hams, quads and the other surrounding muscles (like the sartorius, etc.) start cramping even after a warmup set. Today was no different, but I did expect it.

For the record, I squat well below parallel and my stance is approximately shoulder width.

Bar x 20 felt like it wanted to cramp at end of set
95 x 12 started cramping, but walked/stretched to keep it looser
135 x 6 cramping more after the set, but the set went well.
185 x 6 again with the cramping, but during the set, the first rep seems to loosen things up and I don't mess with it until after the set.
225 x 6 same as above
275 x 6 set started to feel like there was some weight on my back, finally. By end of set, cramps were worse.

I considered going to 315 and I feel pretty confident I could have knocked out 6, but they would have been tough. I really didn't want to take the risk of an injury on my first day back. That would have made for a very short thread!

I could barely walk because of the cramping, but I hobbled over to the back hyperextension bench and did three high rep sets and stretched out my back before/between each set. I finished out the workout with calf raises.

I hope to stay healthy and injury free and continue this log for as long as it makes sense. Since I won't update this more than once a week, feel free to use this thread for "All things related to the Squat".