Jesse Again Faster

End of the Year Wrap up

2011-12-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

So, I'm thinking I'll start posting here again in the new year. It's been a crazy ride the past six months. I dropped weight down to around 212 in July and ended up jacking up my back something fierce. Had to take three weeks off completely from lifting and it took two months to build my lats back up and get back to serious weights.

After that though, I ran a solid program while going back to school, applying to med school, and working 20 hours a week. Ended the semester with a 3.6 GPA from all upper div science classes, while bringing my squat back up to 405x3/415x1, Deadlifting 495 again no problem, and building up my press and bench (last big PRs were 140x6 and 195x7 respectively) That gives me a solid 40 lbs on squat, 50ish on deads, and some good press and bench progress this year. Currently taking a week and a half off from lifting for the first time since august, then I'll do a mild reset and start working on next year's goals. I have high hopes for it, on both a personal and physical level.

Measurements

2011-06-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

So, I've cleaned up my food, and while I'm only down a couple of pounds, I'm feeling better, even with the stress of an imminent move. Weight is around 224.

Bicep- 17.5"
Forearm- 12.5"
Chest-43"
Stomach- 41"
Butt- 47"
Thigh- 25"
Calf- 16.5"

All of these were taken in a classic pose standing straight up with my arms flexed.

I'll take measurements again when the current program is finished.

Acomplishments

2011-06-12T14:48:00.001-07:00

Whelp, yesterday I concluded the final workout in my eight week stint with the Texas Method. This time around I saw a 45 improvement in my 3RM, I pulled a 25 pound PR on deadlifts, and I maintained bench and press, while adding half an inch to my traps.

Squat: 405x3. Hell. Yes.

Get Ready!

2011-06-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day!

Priorities

2011-06-06T14:40:00.001-07:00

So, I've been lifting hard and eating tons the past few weeks. I started cleaning up my food last week, making meals, and planning everything out. So far I've maintained weight, and I'm getting really close to meeting my strength goals. Just got to make it through one more week.

Let's Get Serious!

2011-05-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

Quick Note: I finally hit my biggest longtime PR. 405x1 Squat. I don't have video, but I'll be getting some soon. Now that I've deadlifted 505 (the same day), squatted 405, and am benching close to 250, it's time for me to consolidate my gains.

Namely this means that after mostly taking this past week off, I'm dialing in my food and leaning out, while trying to hold on to or slightly improve my strength. I've gotten a lot stronger over the past three months, but I've put on a lot of weight to do so. I'm currently sitting around 225, and I have two goals to meet by the end of June.

1. Get down to 205
2. Squat 405 for a triple

I'm going to go ahead and post my current pics so I have some accountability for how I do. I have 42 days to get where I want to go. Time to go out and start working towards it!

Day 27

2011-04-27T13:18:00.001-07:00

Whelp, it's been a long month. A good month, but a long month. After the initial weight loss I've hovered around 220, though I'm slowly looking better and better in the mirror. I haven't weighed or measured anything, and I really just eat what I want within the confines of the framework. Switched back to texas method for my programming, and despite a very hectic schedule and stress from personal stuff, I'm making solid gains in technique and putting on a little muscle.

Overall it's been a reminder that I'm eating to support my goals, and I'm ready for my single cheat meal and then back on the range for another month. Looking to ease down to 215ish by the end of may, then we'll see where I'm at strength wise.

PR's- no big ones to report, due to program switch.

Day 12

2011-04-12T09:47:00.001-07:00

Whelp, things have actually been pretty smooth. Working, studying, lifting, eating, sleeping.

That's about it. Gradually toning down my cheese consumption when I noticed that I was still have inflammatory issues. I'm down to 220 and look way better. Clothes fitting better, and still getting stronger slowly but surely.

Current PRs
Bench: 220x2
Squat: 360x3
Press: 155x3
Deadlift: 500x1 (did a relatively easy 475 last week)

The Day before Day 1

2011-03-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well, life has been crackling along. Set a couple minor PRs (including the first squat PR in 5 months), and other than that I've been slammed with work and class. One month out from a big test, and so, it's time again for...

60 Day Paleo Extravaganza!

The Rules
-Paleo + Cheese and Heavy cream (I'd say dairy but I never consume anything else)
-Be in bed lights off at 10 p.m. every night (been getting bad about this)
-Lifting three times a week.
-Eat to satiety and possibly a little further (I tend to lose weight too quickly, which is also why I'm leaving dairy in.
-Take 12g fish oil every day.
-Do a 5 minute foam roll/mobility session every day

From April 1st - May 30th

I'm doing this with my girlfriend because we've both been stressed and worn down from work and studying lately, and want to focus on taking care of ourselves some more. Cleaning up my food and re-establishing healthy habits is not only in line with how I see myself, it'll help set me up for success in other areas.

Be prepared for regular updates again.

500

2011-03-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a goal for a long time. Never really thought I'd get it this easy, or this soon.

Me deadlifting 500.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo33K4dbr1A

After this I went out for a celebratory birthday dinner and then hit the hay. Got up and drove down to the 70sbig seminar on Saturday. Met a lot of awesome and strong dudes, and learned a lot about setting up programming. Feeling good.

Notes on last lifting cycle:
Bench: 210x3 PR
Squat: 360x2 beltless.
Press: 160x1 PR (10 lbs, booyah!)
Deadlift: 500x1 PR (40 lbs)

It's coming...

2011-03-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

You are warned. Be prepared for awesomeness!

Gettin' Bigger

2011-02-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

So, after a caloric catastrophe a little over a week ago I've significantly upped my food intake. Rather than eating a few eggs for breakfast and a moderate lunch and dinner, I eat a few eggs, first lunch, second lunch, third lunch, and a big dinner.

My lifting has shot up.

I'm recovering waay faster and have more drive when I got into the gym. I'm keeping carbs moderate, but for the first several days I went hog wild and could just feel my body absorbing them like a sponge. My muscles got a little larger and felt better, and all the weight has felt light. Even a heavy 5x5 deadlift day with high % weights barely slowed me down from heavy squats two days later. I felt so good that rather than taking my planned 5 day break I hit the gym friday and am raring to go again tomorrow.

Now, on the opposite side. Quality has slipped because I haven't been prepping enough. As a result I'm seeing minor skin flair ups and higher basal inflamation. I'm going to the 70sbig lifting seminar next week, and plan on continuing to eat big (and up my fish oil) for the month of march. Then it's onto a strich Whole60 for April and May to clean up my diet in prep for non lifting stuff, and maintain my newly acquired strength.

But for now, eat big and get strong. I've started breaking PRs, this month should keep that trend up.

Life is good.

Level Up!

2011-02-15T12:56:00.000-08:00

Heh. Rpg joke for those of you who are nerdy like me. Well, like I used to be. I don't get to nerd out as much what with the full time job and grad school prep.

Anywho: Back here we are 2/15

Bench: 225x1 PR! That's another 15 lbs of PR baby!
Squat: 350x2x1. Two beltless singles at 350, no problem. Sweet!
Press: 145x2. Had a terrible sinus headache, I'll take it. PR... ish? I've done 135x4, 140x3, and 145x2 all in the past month so... meh.
Deadlift: 460x1 PR (booyah!), 5 lb PR, but my first lower body PR since late octoberish.

Overall progress is moving along nicely. Going to keep the weight increases slow but steady. Goals are on the horizon! Weight's steady around 204ish. It goes up when I get sick, and then back down as I get healthy and eat well. Shooting for mid 190s in a month or so, though that's not my main focus. Sleep been thrown off by sickness several times, but other than that great.

The Bounds of Human Achievement

2011-02-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

It's nice to have a reminder that people are capable of far more than we think of. Also, it's very humanizing to watch someone play with weight that would crush you. It he can do that with 900 pounds, what's stopping me from doing it with 500? (other than about 100 lbs of muscle :P )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA8s17YIbSY&feature=related

P.S.- the part at the end cracks me up.

Current Level

2011-01-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

Quick post here, just want a reminder to myself about where I'm at at this point.

This week I maxed in four workouts doing:

Bench: 210x1 (5 lb all time PR)
Squat 340x1 (beltless, 15 lbs short of beltless PR)
Press: 140x3 (PR? ish?)
Deadlift: 425x1 (relatively easy, could have done more, no belt).

Good stuff.

Poking the Ball

2011-01-26T10:31:00.000-08:00

So, the past several weeks have been full of studying, mediocre food, and stress. And lifting. Got in my routine and my schedule is holding together well. STarted planning out meals and prepping ahead of time. Guarding my sleep like a zealot. And shockingly...

Things are coming together.

I've got a study schedule, a food schedule, a work schedule, and a lifting schedule. And they all fit together, well even!

Still doing 5/3/1, though with more emphasis on quality of movement and high% back off sets. Hit my first legit PR single since I started the program, and feel like I'm ready to start hitting more over the next few weeks. More on that another time.

Back to work. The ball is rolling, just need to keep poking it forward to maintain momentum.

Life. Triage.

2011-01-10T15:28:00.000-08:00

Well, as one might have expected from my lack of posting... Life came up. I had to withdraw from the powerlifting competition I had planned at the end of january, and due to some long term goals (hello grad school!) a lot of my time is going to be taken up until april.

As a results, I've been in triage mode the past week or so, trying to manage my stress level down to something reasonable, and put together a plan for how I'm going to manage my time and stay sane.

The gist of it is this, my happy dappy lose workout schedule of 4 days a week in two two days blocks according to feel/convenience is gone. My schedule now looks like this.

Monday: Work, gym, study, sleep
Tuesday: Work, night class until 9, sleep
Wednesday: Work, gym, study, sleep
Thursday: Work, night class until 9, sleep
Friday: Work, gym, study, sleep
Saturday: Work, gym, study, sleep
Sunday: Study, Fun Stuff?

So, lifting mon/wed/fri/sat. This should actually work out pretty well, since it'll be a bench/squat/press/deadlift order, and that gives me 4 days between deadlifting and squatting, and the only back to back sessions are deadlift after press, which is the least taxing.

Now, food. I've been less than optimal this week, but I cannot eat gluten anymore. I don't know what's happened, but the two times I chose to have something made of grains the past week I've had crippling digestive distress for almost a whole day afterwards that magically disappears with good food choices. So, I'm not doing Whole30 level of clean, but I'm keeping it to occasional sugar and some dairy.

Biggest thing is going to be keeping my food consistent, keeping grains out, and keeping my sleep up. Those are the triage for my health right now, as I focus on other stuff.

Hard Routine: Day 3

2010-12-29T19:06:00.001-08:00

Food: Breakfast- small serving of ground beef and sour cream
Lunch: Two more servings of breakfast
Dinner: Pork chops with roasted veggies and some fruit

Supplements: Fish oil (~12g), Vit D- 7,000 IU, Magnesium- 2,000 mg

Felt: Okay. Only slept 6 hours, but felt okay. Bloating is visibly better.

Training: Squat day week 3 wendler 5/3/1. Hit an almost all time PR with 335x4. Figured out that I've been keeping my stance too wide, and it's leaving my quads out of the lift.

Felt the first urges to eat something not clean, but it was easy to say no. I'm only wanting chocolate covered almonds.

Hard Routine Day 2: Slightly less hard

2010-12-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

Food: Breakfast- 5 eggs scrambled, piece of fruit
Lunch: Huge serving of spaghetti squash with B. Sauce topped with sour cream
Dinner:

Supplements: Fish oil (~10g), Vit D- 9,000 IU, Magnesium- 2,000 mg

Felt: a good bit better this morning. Constant hunger feeling has died off some, and not really sore yet from lifting. Good signs.

Training: NO training, was exhausted from work. Came home and stayed up a bit too late.

A Little Clarification with my cleanup stuff. I'm leaving fat-centric dairy in my diet. Sour cream, heavy whipping cream, and the occasional butter are staying in. Nothing protein-centric on the milk front, and no Sugar, Grains, or Legumes. I have my reasons, and I've done this enough now that I feel confident tweaking it some.

HR day 1 recap

2010-12-28T05:12:00.000-08:00

Food: Breakfast- onions sauteed with eggs
Lunch: Greek salad, then some chicken drumsticks
Dinner: wonderful spaghetti squash with Bolognase sauce

Supplements: Fish oil (~8g), Vit D- 4,000 IU

Felt: Like complete sh*t. Mentally okay except for a crash around lunch. Physically, my entire body was feeling achey and sore, like it was hungry, even after I ate a lunch and was feeling satisfied.

Training: Mediocre Bench session. hit 180x4, then 6 on bench. Couldn't find the groove for the life of me, and was feeling rushed. Supersetted my assistance work, then boogied on out.

THE HARD ROUTINE

2010-12-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

Well, this past month's been fun. Set PRs (rep-wise at least) on everything, had fun, started steady.

Ate everything in damn sight. Clean, not clean, unclean, sugar loaded, gluten infested.

Suprisingly I'm only up 9 pounds. Got on the scale this morning and I'm up to 206. Ate my last dirty meal until after my birthday. That's right, 68 days of clean eating. Also, no missed training sessions until after my first lifting competition. Been rocking along with 5/3/1 and going to finish out this cycle and stick with the program with a minor variation or two.

Cheers to some fun times ahead!

Pain... Oh the Pain

2010-11-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

My quads haven't felt this destroyed since I squatted 315x5x5 a month and a half ago. Squatted on Sunday after a heavy bench session and hill sprints Saturday (which weren't a great idea before squats, fyi). Felt fine sunday, felt sore yesterday, feel just as bad today. Need to get more consistent with my fish oil, been off my dose somewhat the past four or five days. Also having to sleep in suboptimal space thanks to a rennovation, but that'll be cleared up soon!

Really enjoying Wendler's program so far. I have every weight I'll be lifting for the month written down already, and I'm feeling a renewed interest in hitting the gym. Time to go get the blood pumping to ease the soreness.

Also, 25 burpees last night. Time- 1:08. It's a start.

Quick points

2010-11-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

1. Hitting only one lift a day and getting out of the gym in 30/45 minutes is fun.

2. Hill sprints make me want to die

3. Burpees aren't as bad as hill sprints

Food's still going strong. I've had a bit of cheese a couple of times, not a single other "cheat" type deal. Sitting around 198 now, still leaning out. Feeling great!

Deloading... some more.

2010-11-11T05:29:00.001-08:00

Well, I've kind of been going nuts this week. The last thing I want to do after missing my PR attempts is to skip lifting, but I've beat my body enough, and I'm working construction every day this week... so it's not like I'm not active. Food's been good, but I'm still dropping weight. Definitely going to start 5/3/1 next week, got some personal stuff cleared up and have reset my priorities.

Now, as for this week. I'm staying out of the gym until probably sat/sunday. I've got a kettlebell, a bunch of lumber and concrete, and plenty of time. So it's lots of farmers walks, weighted carries, and picking stuff up overhead. Throw in a little running/sprinting and I'm staying active and doing something different.

It's like Jim Wendler says: "If you think not lifting weights for a week will make you weak, you're a f#$ing idiot"- So... okay. Maybe taking a day off won't hurt. It might even help.

*Twitch*

I Can't Count: Or... why Texas Method hasn't been working

2010-11-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

So, I've been tired, my lifts have been hard, and I've gotten scared of the weight the past week and a half. I just assumed I wasn't eating enough, which might have been part of it, but my soreness level was steadily dropping and I felt great outside of training sessions.

Then I read this: Mark Rippetoe explains the Texas Method

And it blew my mind. My 5RM is 335, you know how I know this? It's the weight I maxxed at two weeks ago on intensity day. Know what I tried to do for Volume Day this week? If you guessed 335... you're correct! What should I be doing? 300!

Recovery day at 80% of volume day? Nah, where's the fun in that! I've been doing 3x5 at 275/300, instead of 2x5 at around 240, which is where I should be at.

Shocklingly enough, this was leaving me exhausted for intensity day. The only reason I've been able to keep up on my benching progress at all is that it was so dreadfully under-trained before I started TM.

So, in hindsight. I should have stopped jumping the damn weights up so fast. I saw big gains when I got my belt, and for some reason assumed I would continue ramping up at that speed. Fortunately I figured this out without any major injury. The only trouble I've had is a slightly bruised rib from my belt and a bad miss last week.

So, this week? Nothing about 225 until Saturday. 225 tonight, 225 thursday. Lots of moderate weight, proper technique reps. I'll see how I feel saturday, and then I'm going to transition to 5/3/1, which already has a built in deload. I still believe the Texas Method could work for me, but Wendler's program let's me do three things I've been really wanting to.

1. Get in and out of the gym in under an hour
2. Get in the gym 4 days a week
3. Get in some conditioning every workout. I'm thinking sprints and kettlebells to start with.

Whole30 challenge has been great! Day 17 and been perfect other than a little cheddar this weekend. Still slowly leaning out, think I'll keep this up until December, see how lean I can get.

Cheers!

Day 11

2010-11-04T10:09:00.001-07:00

Rocking along here. Energy has been solid, soreness is non-existant. Still not eating quite enough to support my lifting, but I'm feeling great, and I'll take that. Have a few more in depth things for a future update.

Flashing Light: Tank on Low

2010-10-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well, day 7 here. I've been eating to satiety, my acne's cleared up. My joints are feeling better, but my strength numbers just aren't quite up to par. I went in for intensity day today. Maxing squat, deads, and bench. Squat I nailed 365 without straining, went for 385... and bombed out just out of the hole. Bench, arms felt tired from work, nailed 195, got pinned by 205. Deadlift, nailed 435 much easier than last week... 460 stalled at the knee. Ironically with deads, it wasn't that my muscles gave out, it was that I ran out of breath after about 4 seconds... what the heck?

Anywho. After a 54 shrimp dinner I'm headed to bed. More clean food should equal better performance. Time to go test out that hypothesis.

Day 6

2010-10-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here, having stopped myself from going into the kitchen 5 times to find something sweet. There isn't anything sweet in the kitchen that's clean, but I keep wanting it. Bah. Not giving in. 24 more days to go.

Recovery session yesterday was lackluster. Front squat rack position feels like crap, and my right wrist and elbow don't feel quite up to snuff. Not sure what I need to do to correct everything. Been struggling to stay focused. Feeling kinda off overall this week, not sure exactly why.

Day 4

2010-10-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Day 4 is in the books. Stayed strong, cooked more good food, ate to satiety lots of times. Plugged my food in today for a lark, still eating a bit light on cals, but I feel fine, so I'm rolling with it. Will probably try to eat more on lifting days, and not worry about it too much.

Also, while I'm going to at least finish out the year on the Texas Method, I'm starting to get the itch for some high frequency training, so I might mess around with that down the road.

Rockin' along

2010-10-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

Well, today is day 3 of Whole30 3.0. This time I've got company when I do it, in the form of my amazing girlfriend. The past month has been hit and miss in terms of stress and personal stuff, but training has been consistent, and I'm shootinf for a new round of PRs this weekend. Switched things up to alternating intensity days for 5,3,and 1RM in order to keep my type of loading changing. I've been focusing on Bench/deadlift moreso than press/powerclean because I'm looking to get my total up and start competing in meets come end of the year/spring.

Nothing huge otherwise to report. a few "PR"s, though nothing major lately.

-410x5 deadlift (5 lb pr, woo)
-360x3 Squat (Don't know, but over 95% and still felt good)
-225x3 Front Squat (limit is totally in my arms, not torso or legs), previous PR was 190, last year
-190x3 Bench

I've also been cooking up a storm lately.

Article for thought

2010-10-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

I read. A lot. Mainly fitness articles and whatnot, which are very prevalent from a variety of legit sources, thanks to the internet. Here's one for thought.

16 Tips

Relevant Quote from the article
"I've never met a guy who wasn't jacked as hell and functionally strong who could full squat 315 x 10, conventional deadlift 405 x 10, walking barbell lunge 225 x 10, bench press 315 x 10, weighted chin 90 x 10, weighted dip 135 x 10, military press 185 x 10, and row 275 x 10."

I think I found some goals for next year...

Intensity to the Max

2010-10-06T06:12:00.001-07:00

Wow, so I did some math, and I haven't recorded the last 5 workouts...

Bad on my part, but life's been kinda stressful and busy the past two weeks. It's not an excuse, I still need to do better. That being said, only two big things were taken away from the past two weeks of training. 1. A stronger press translates to much stronger push press/jerk, but won't help technique any. I PR'd press last week with 150 during a fasted lifting session. Three sessions before that, during my recovery week, I jerked 195 overhead, and had lots more in the tank, just no technique. 2. I need to make sure I get under a heavy Bar to squat every week at least once. The first week back from my recovery was terrible for my squat. I literally felt like I was going to be crushed by the heavy weight on my back after a week with nothing more than 135. One week of TM workouts later, I almost tied my PR, and yesterday 315 felt light on my back when walking it out. It's all a mental groove, and if I don't squat... I get out of it.

I went in the gym in the middle of the afternoon yesterday, to grind out a major volume session.
Squat: 45,95,135,185,225, (belt)275WA 315x5x5
Bench: 45,95,135WA 165x5x5
Deadlift: 135,225,315WA 365x1x5

That's 5 sets of 5 reps with just over 80% of my last 1RM in both squat and bench, with one last 5 rep set at 80% of my Deadlift max. I took 3-5 minute breaks between all my sets (longer before my last squat sets), and spent probably an hour and a half, maybe a little longer, in the gym. I did my whole deadlifting segment in 7 minutes, which was kinda stupid, but I was ready to go.

Squat was good, set 4 and 5 were kind of crappy, I had one or two reps with bad bar path, but I got decent depth on everything. Bench was fine, oddly, 165 didn't feel bad, and I kept up my speed on all my sets. Deads... I was up to 315 about 2 minutes after I finished Bench. Then I pulled 315... and it was hard. Like... max hard. So, after 5 singles, I staggered over to the water fountain and gave myself maybe two minutes, then went back to it. My hamstrings were completely done, and on rep 4 of 365, my glutes tapped out. I lifted that last rep of 365 with muscles I literally did not know existed before then, and I have no idea how I did it, but I got it up, and locked out, and didn't hurt myself.

Then that evening I went for a 2.5 mile walk at the local park, and felt great actually. Ate a hearty dinner, got my legs rubbed on, and was asleep by 930. Feel fine today, actually. Maybe I'll be feeling it tomorrow...

P.S.- after eating clean for over 3 weeks, had some candy two days ago, and almost threw up. Looked at the label later, and the first 5 ingredients all made me cringe: HF syrup, soy, whey, and some really funky stuff I couldn't pronounce... in frickin' Reisons. By body did not like having those in my stomach, but I seemed to be okay after a couple of bathroom visits in the evening.

Go Pick up something Heavy!

Messing Around: Also known as...

2010-09-22T07:49:00.000-07:00

How I PR'd one of the girls without a lick of glycolytic work in months.

Grace today, RX'd, time of 5:33. That's right kids, 24 second PR since I did it last, with zero push press/push jerk practice. After about rep ten it was pathetic hip drive then press out the weight. Also, thanks to some yoga people camped out in the open fitness space, I did my best to control every rep without dropping (did end up dropped two reps near the end). Had the good "OMg-I-wanna-die-need-water-everything'sonfire" feeling right afterwards... then after about 5 minutes felt fine and got back to doing stuff. Did my adductor support work, a little more bodyweight stuff, then hit some really heavy shrugs, for fun times.

Shrugs- 135,225,315, straps 405, 495(PR), 600(1). Everything except 600 was for a set of 5. I really like doing shrugs, since you can move an everliving crapton of weight with them. 600 didn't have a great ROM, but I got the damn thing up past my waist, using my traps... so I'll call it good.

Also, first time I've trained fasted in months, hit the gym straight after work after eating an early lunch. Solid numbers for 8 hours without food. Hit the pool to cool down, then went home and demolished a chicken, bunch of veggies, and and about a pound of fruit. Then I cleaned up, rolled out, got rubbed on, and hit the hay. Talk about an amazing evening!

P.S.- day six of squeaky clean eating and counting. Leaning out a bit, and recovery has shot up. Feeling great.

Intensity Redux: Now for fun!

2010-09-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, still feeling it in my obliques/abs, so I took an extra rest day and dialed in my nutrition this past weekend. Hit the gym on Sunday for one last set of maxes, so that I could have a point to pick back up from after taking a deload week. I decided that rather than keep it to a traditional deload, I'm going to do really light weights in the core lifts, and then just screw around and do mixed modal/odd object/bodyweight exercises that I've been missing. I figure set myself up with a 5 week cycle, 4 weeks on, 1 week deload, and follow that the rest of the year. Which gives me exactly three more 5 week cycles, and I should hit my final PR of the group the 1st of January. Seems fitting, yes?

Anywho. Intensity day went well, despite the sore and slightly spasming abs.
Squat: 45,95,135,185WA 225, 275, 315, 345, 365(PR), 375(PR!)
Bench: 45,95,135WA 155, 175, 185,195(PR), 205(PR!) 215(f)
Deadlift: 135,225WA 315,365,405,435,455(PR!)

So, ten pound PR in all three main lifts, for a total of 1,035 lbs. Pretty spiffy way to coast into recovery week!

Also, finally got my girlfriend back squatting with the bar. Going to dump powercleans for now and keep her on a linear progression of squat/press alternating with dead/bench until she runs out for now.

More posty goodness tonight. Doing grace again, should be fun!

Recovery

2010-09-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Just realized I never logged my recovery day.

Squats: 49,95,135,185WA 225x3x5
Press 45WA 95x3x5
Powerclean: 135x3x5

As you can tell, the weights were laughably light, but I felt completely destroyed. Thursday was the day things started getting better, and my stress level has dropped completely. Also, today, finally, I feel recovered. Been doing lots of moderate manual labor the past three days, getting lots of fish oil, sun, and sleeping better.

Going to hit maxes one more time tomorrow, then take a recovery week. That way I can screw around, doing lots of bodyweight/different stuff I don't normally do in the gym, then come back and hit my core lifts hard again in a week.

Also, today is day two of Whole30. Will be posting pictures later.

Update

2010-09-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

Well, after sitting for most of yesterday, my legs feel just destroyed. I'm wondering what I've messed up in them, but I chalk it up to worse recovery factors. Also, today's recovery day, so keeping it light on all fronts, just going to have some fun.

Chilling out a bit

2010-09-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

Well, a whirlwind weekend, a bunch of stress, and a few poor decisions later, here I am again. Made it through Intensity Day, despite the fact that I was stupid and did deadlifts again, instead of maxing powercleans like I had planned out.

That ended up wearing out my back (deadlift to max 4 out of 5 workouts? Brilliant! /endsarcasm)which meant that my squats were subpar on volume day. I was feeling it after the first set, and failed on the 5th work set at 300 on rep 3. I could have made it if I had been a little more cautious, but I was trying to get deep in the hole, and my back just couldn't stand up to it. Benching was kept at 155, and then I kept deadlifts to easy weight, three sets of ten reps at 225.

So, in summation:
Intensity-
Squat: 45,95,135,185WA 225,275,315,345,365x1
Press: 45, 95 WA 135, 140, 145x1 150(f)
Deadlift: 135,225WA 315, 405, 435x1, 455(f)

So, no new PRs, but I tied squat and Press PRs even though I was feeling off, and ten lbs off my deadlift for a 945 total (CFT), not shabby.

Volume Day
Squat 45,95,135,185,225,275WA 3005x5x5 (failed 3rd rep of last set)
Bench: 45, 95, 135WA 155x5x5
Deadlift: 225x3x10

I've tweaked my left middle oblique and it's stinging me whenever I had to do serious torso support, which is annoying, think I pulled it doing the really heavy dumbell rows, and then aggrivated with a misplaced belt. Laying off the assistance exercises this week, except I've started doing Adductor supplemental work, since my knees are coming in on all of my really heavy squats (classic sign of weak adductors that can't hold a static support position). Those aren't too bad actually, doing 3 sets of 20 reps on nautilus machine to bring them up to par with everything else.

I also realized this week that I should probably take a back off week next week. I've been under a whole bunch of life stress the past few days, which threw my diet out of whack, and my sleep hasn't been great. Combine for a recipe for non-optimal recovery, and I still haven't taken a back off week yet. Going to take it really easy on recovery day, then hit my maxes hard saturday, and take next week mostly off. Do warmup sets, and then have some fun messing around in the gym. Nothing really heavy, give my body a little of a reset. Maybe do some yoga or something...

Recovery day: grippy mcgripperson

2010-09-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

My adductors and upper legs were pretty shot going into the workout yesterday. Other than that I felt fine.

Squat 45,95,135,185,225WA 275xx3x5. First set I forgot to put my belt on, I was trucking. Felt good, just kinda heavy. I've noticed a specific trend where my legs are in perfect line with my toes on the down, and then as I'm coming up out of the hole they move inward several inches, and then straighten out as I finish. After doing a little research and reading a well timed CFJ article, I found that this is apparently due to relatively weak adductors (the ones on the inside of the leg that pull it in). I blame the ham/quad heavy nature of my deadlift focus that's put them ahead of my stabilizers. So, I'll be adding in some assistance work to bring up my weakness. Hopefully that can help get me up to the next level with my squat in the next month or two.
Bench Pres: 135,155WA 165x3x5. Failed on the very last rep, was several inches out of the bar path and couldn't quite get it up. Feeling better overall.
Deadlift 135,225,315WA 405x1, 405x3. Wanted to see if my grip is up to snuff, so I checked, and I was able to pull 405 with a double overhand, though my grip almost gave out on the set down. It's a good thing, because it means I'm not overly relying on switch grip. If I want to get it up higher I'm either going to have to do more grip work or start using the snatch grip (Shudder).

Assistance work:
Dumbell Rows: 100x5, 110x5, 120x1. These have been feeling easier, so I tried some heavier weight. Will move up to 110x3x5 over the next week or two. Left side weakness has mostly resolved itself.

Went home, slept great, ate a big breakfast, and have been stuck at home due to rain half of the day.

Very, very pumped, since I'm going to the Whole 9 Nutrition Workshop tomorrow! Stay tuned for that and hopeful PR updates!

Volume Day, Again! This time... with Vigor!

2010-09-07T19:35:00.001-07:00

Volume day today, overall great, note to self, stop trying to make my squat 5 rep sets go at the same pace as my partner's air squat sets...

Squat: 45,95,135,185, 225, 275 WA 300x5x5. Form was good until the last set, these were heavy as all heck. Didn't rest long enough between sets (around 2m, maybe shorter)... and was completly fried by the end of them.
Press: 45,95 WA 115x5x5. Didn't rest long enough between these sets as well. Started to do 125 across, but failed on the first set, so dropped down to 115 to get the volume.
Powercleans: 135WA 155x3x5 Was really tired by the time I got to this, started taking longer rest breaks (5m or so), felt great by the last set.
Shrugs: 135, 225,315 WA 405x3x5

Finished with a 505 lockout hold. Held it for 5 breaths with simple alternating grip. It's good to know that my grip is at least not going to be my deadlifting weak point for a while. Overall felt good, rediculously hungry after workout despite eating stew with meat in it.

Finally, my girlfriend has been training with me lately, and after doing her deadlift 5x5 wanted to try a heavy single. She'd pulled 135 the first time she picked up the bar, so I started her there. She pulled 135,155,175,185,205, then 225 with switch grip! I was incredibly proud, it's awesome to have a strong partner to lift with! And I'm not the only one who thinks that Girls Lifting Weights are Hot

Alright, sleepy time. Cheerio!

Intensity Day!

2010-09-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

Soo... I'm now officially a member of the YMCA where I've been training the past few weeks. I have big cajones, but I felt guilty for going in after the first time, so I went legit.

And then went in and busted some PRs out of the park!

Squat: 45,95,135,185WA 225,275,315,335,355(PR), 365(PR!)
Bench: 45,95, 135 WA, 155,175,185, 195 (PR), 205 (f)
Deadlift: 135,225 WA, 315, 405, 425(PR), 445(PR!)

Dumbbell Rows- 100x5 per arm, go home.

30 pound PRs on both deadlift and squat (ten pound all time squat PR), 5 pound bench PR (with no one spotting me). Also, I'm wearing my belt on the third notch comfortably now, albeit with some work to get it off. I can even buckle it on my own. Pretty awesome for only having it a week.

I realized that my lifts on Saturday put me at a 1,005 pound PL total. Pathetic by serious PL standards, but a great benchmark for me! If I can keep steady gains even fractionally this good, I'll have my thousand pound CFT by the end of the year like I want. I'm also only 5 pounds away from pulling 450! Yay!

Then I went out and ate an ever loving crap-ton of food. Then went to bed before ten and slept amazingly.

Back at it tomorrow, cheers!

Recovery Day

2010-09-03T05:04:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my recovery workout. Basically it's go it and do 3x5 across with moderate weights, say like 20 lbs off of Volume day work sets, depending on how your body is feeling. The whole point is to get in some solid poundage (volume wise), while promoting recovery through blood flow to all your target areas, and not stressing them very hard. The whole point of recovery day is to give you a stimulus that helps you RECOVER from Volume day.

Speaking of which, here was my Volume Day from Tuesday
Squat: 45,95,135,185,225 WA (all warmups are done for 5 unless it's intensity day), 285x5x5.
Bench: 45, 95, 135WA 155x5x5
Deadlift: 135,225,275,315WA 405x1x5 (all time 5RM)
Dumbell rows: 100 lbsx2x5 each arm

And here's Thursday's Recovery Day.
Squat: 45,95,135,185,225WA 275x3x5
Press: 45,95WA 120x3x5
Powerclean: 45,135WA 155x3x5

Much lower volume wise, and with moderate weights all around. I felt trashed going into my recovery workout, even with good sleep, fish oil, etc. Afterwards I felt great, but really hungry.

Had an amazing "Cheat" dinner of two Quesadillas and half a pound of grilled beef from taco truck. Wasn't too bad, since it was corn tortillas, with avacado on each one, and I've been dosing with with fish oil. Slept good, feeling fine today.

Cheers!

The Whole Shebang!

2010-09-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Alrighty! Well, life goes on. In my case there's been loads of lifting, job hunting, interning, and not much blogging of late. The short of the lifting? Lots of 1RM work, some serious benching, and getting serious about my long term goals.

As far as programming goes, I'm currently on a three day a week schedule that's not likely to change anytime soon. Here's my daily breakdown.
Monday- Martial arts (2 hour class)
Tuesday- Gym (Volume day)
Wednesday- Martial arts (2 hour class)
Thursday- Gym (Recovery day)
Friday- Rest Day
Saturday- Gym (Intensity Day)
Sunday- Rest Day/ Martial arts (3 hours)- depending on how I'm feeling.

This is all on top of my work schedule, which usually has me doing heavy manual labor 2-3 days a week. It's about as busy as I see it getting, and I really like only lifting three times a week.

As far as program goes, it's very simple. After I stalled out of linear progression (even when eating a ton and drinking over a gallon of milk a day), I took a month off, and lost a bunch of my new strength. I tried to jump back in linearly, but my body wasn't having it, so I moved on to the Texas Method. It's a simple Intermediate lifter pattern, where you try to add something each week, instead of every single workout. Still doing all the basic movements. Squatting, Pressing, Benching, Deadlifting, and Power Cleaning, with some moderate accessory work added in (shrugs and barbell rows, and a little body weight stuff).

Volume days- 5x5s across with squats, alternating pressing movements, and deads or cleans, heavy weight for all sets. (deads just do a 5RM)

Recovery days- 3x5 across for squats, other pressing movement, and dead/cleans. Moderate weight, it's basically active recovery/technique work. No records, just solid volume.

Intensity day- Work up, and hit a 3,2, or 1RM in each of the big three for the day. I'm currently favoring 1RM, since I'm regaining the last of my SS gains.

I'm going to stick with this program for the rest of the year. I'll probably take a deload week once or twice, but I'm committing to stop the bouncing around I've been doing this year. If I want to add conditioning, I'll play around with barbell complexes on my lighter days. We'll see where things go.

Last Intensity day (I did all my 1RMs over two of them), I was at Squat- 335 (back up 25 lbs), Press- 140(up 5lbs), Deadlift 415(tied all time high), Power clean 190! (finally broke the barrier I've been at since last November approximately.), oh and I finally have a max for my Bench- 190 (up like 15 since I finally started benching a month ago).

These are my five main lifts, and they're all I care about for the moment. I've still got my year end goal of a 150 press and a 450 deadlift hanging out there, so lots of improvement to be had.

Food's been solid in support of lifting. I've got a good schedule worked out for it as well.
Monday- Keto/paleo
Tuesday- Keto/paleo
Wednesday- Keto/paleo
Thursday- Mexican/ eating out cheat dinner
Friday- Paleo
Saturday- Eating out cheat/ massive extra food
Sunday- Paleo

I try to do a relatively simple keto run the first three days of each week. All this basically boils down to is eating very few veggies these days, and lots of meat. I don't really eat fruit much anymore, since I found that when I dropped it out I lost most of my sugar cravings. Not to say I turn it down, I just don't plan on it. Thursday dinner/ Saturday dinner are usually grabbing a big meal after the gym. I don't sweat it if I get Mexican (which I usually do), or go get a steak somewhere. Since I've planned out things, I know when I'm going to eat extra, and I'm not tempted otherwise. So far it's panned out pretty well.

I'm mainly in a maintenance phase right now, but I've noticed a very gradual leaning/muscle building results with the above combo. I measure my intake about one week a month to keep an eye on things, but overall I just play it by ear. Also dosing around 10-12g of fish oil a day.

Alright, that's enough of an info dump and it's 10:15. Sleepy time for rest, recovery, and justice!

P.S.- I got a belt! Pictures forthcoming soon!

Week 3... bleh

2010-08-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't missed a workout, but been really busy with some work stuff shifting around and starting legal work again.

Did overhead work, lots of push pressing, 155x5 is about where I'm at right now. However, just figured out tonight that one of my big issues is that I'm putting the bar about four inches too far forward, and so I can't bring my pressing muscles to bear near as efficiently. Figured that out on set three tonight, last two went up easy peasy. Felt weak after the last couple of days, heavy deadlifts will fix that next week. Ended today with 20rep squat set at 135, just to get my heartrate up. Piece of cake.

-Did kips and hips: 5:02
-overhead work, nothing above 155 for 5, several times lower than that.
-front squat 185x5. It felt like nothing but quads, and I can move way more weight, just need to get used to them again, feels weird and ackward.

Favorite workout? On the minute for 15 minutes: 2 power cleans at 155 + 2 pullups. Got my heartrate up, felt good, and destroyed my traps.

Tweaked the hell out of my right wrist, have been favoring it a bit the past four or five days. Figure I need to work in more pushing work, since I tend to favor pulling stuff in my workouts. Also, pullups suck majorly.

Weight's not coming back off, even though I haven't had a cheat meal since last thursday, and I have been paleo (with some dark chocolate and cheese) since last monday. Might be time to break out fitday and start checking intake, since I'm getting the calories somewhere. Also just feeling blah. Following my programming regularly, working out... I just don't really have a goal right now, and I feel like my programming sucks. On top of that, I don't have the money to hire anyone to do it for me... so I'm not completely sure what to do.

Still hangin' in there.

Week 2 Cycle 1: Recap

2010-07-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I had an interesting few days. Between long work day, local gym not having a weight room, and not having internet for four days, it's been a bit hectic.

Last cycle looked like this

Day 1: Helen
Day 2: Back Squat 3x7
Day 3: Fran

Helen wasn't RX'd. 1 pood KB, short but hilly runs. 9:55. Felt fine
Back Squats: 245, 265, 285, 305, 310(bad form), 300, 315(f). Felt dead
Fran: Wanted to die. As usual for fran. Legs felt like hamburger when I got up this morning, combo of heavy mixed modal activity + heavy squatting. Still managed a time of 9:59 RX'd. I think that's a new PR, if not it's close, and I haven't done fran this year I don't think.

Almost four days into strict paleo again. The whole "strict, but cheat saturdays" thing wasn't working. And if I let even some cheats in then whenever I get emotional I eat like shit. So strict paleo for a few weeks no cheats* until I'm adapted again.

*-I'm including a moderate amount of Lindt dark chocolate and some cheese in my cooking. Other than that squeaky clean.

Week 1 Day 2

2010-07-21T08:04:00.000-07:00

Warmup: Standard

Buy In: 100 Singles again

WOD: 3 Rounds for Time:
10 Deadlifts (275)/10 Box Jumps

Cash Out: 50 total double unders

Recovery Level: 8/10
Food: Solid Paleo, w/ some dark chocolate + a spoonful of cookie dough
Sleep: woke up twice, around 8 hours

I've been frickin' hungry lately. Not sure if it's sticking to clean foods, of if I just need to eat more, but I've been hitting four+ meals and am still running into bouts of serious hunger. That being said feeling pretty good, except for my upper torso feeling it from the past two days.

WOD Time: 4:45. This one was really heavy, really good, and I should have done two more rounds. I was running short on time, and I almost threw up after gulping a bottle of freezing water directly afterwards. Overall feeling fine, did full mobility work afterwards.

Week 1: Day 2- "If I Had a Catchy By-Line..."

2010-07-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

Warmup: Standard

Buy In: 100 Singles again

WOD: Shoulder Press 5,5,5,3,3,3

Cash Out: 50 total double unders

Recovery Level: 6/10
Food: Solid Paleo, w/ some dark chocolate
Sleep: good, but only 6.5 hours

Warmup felt great except for pullups, I only got four in a row the second set, definitely feeling it a whole lot in my shoulder girdle area, especially around my lat insertions under my arms. Blah.

WOD: 45,74,95WA 115, 125(4), 120, 130, 130, 130. My arms were still feeling shot from yesterday, not used to the whole lifting without a day off yet. Warmup sets felt heavy, second set of five failed by about half an inch on the middle sticking point. Hit 130s, used a lot of stretch reflex on the last two sets, but no knee bend. Could definitely have hit a lot more if I was fresh. Really looking forward to tommorrow's WOD, lower half of my body feels completely fresh...

Six weeks

2010-07-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

I'll start with today's session.

Warm up: 2 rounds of:
10 overhead squats
5 strict pullups
10 situps
10 back extensions
5 pushups
10 bench dips

This is going to be my standard warm up from here on out for this training cycle, and will just be listed as warm up, unless I modify it.

Buy In
-100 single jumps

WOD
5 Rounds for Time:
10 Jumping Pullups/10 Pushups/ 10 Situps/ 10 Air Squats

Cash Out
-25 Double unders
-5 TGU on each side, nice and pretty

Warmup felt great, dips were pretty hard until everything loosened up, but solid. I was sweating and twitching somewhat after the buy in, jumping rope is harder than I remember it.

The WOD is a half Angie by volume, but broken into manageable sets. Failure was (no surprise here) pushups. Time was 8:30 on the nose, and my three round split was 4:42. This makes me happy all around. I'm going to be looking at hitting my metcons in the 8-12 minute range, often heavy, with the times hopefully moving down over the next month and a half as my conditioning improves.

As I haven't specifically said, but is probably implied by this point, I'm embarking on a six week Metcon trip. It's back to crossfit style programming for me. I'm looking to maintain my strength gains, improve my metcon conditioning back to what it was (hopefully better), and work on some of my goats (like double unders, front squats, Overhead work, and mobility). To that end I've sat down and programmed myself a 3-1-2-1 week split MEBB style schedule. I'm going to follow it strict for six weeks, and then I'll reevaluate where I'm at.

Goals for this time period.
-Find my new Max on Front Squats
-Get 200 lbs to lockout overhead
-Get 25 consecutive double unders
-Get 15 consecutive pullups (either way, preferably strict)

Feel solid after a PWO meal of salmon and spaghetti sauce. Time for a contrast shower and then a big healthy meal of Paleo Stew.

Cheers!

Messing Around

2010-07-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

Last couple of workouts were somewhat laid back. Took two days off after the last past, had terrible systemic soreness from that workout. Ate squeaky clean for four days, before having a pair of cheat meals, tooling along well with food and sleep.

Friday: Descending Swing Sets: 20,20,15,15,10,10,5,5. 15 sec rest in between each. Made sure to go hard on every rep, on both the rise and the down. Got the blood flowing and felt good.

Saturday: Went back to the gym, hit some heavy metcon action, in a familiar format.

21,15,9 reps of Back Squat(165) & pullups. Time: 11:00. Pullups destroyed me. I didn't even set the bar down for the first squat set, but when I got to the pullup bars I realized that they were about six inches too close to the wall, and that I couldn't kip off of them as a result. Some awkward side kipping and really funky looking movements later, I hit squats again, two sets, no problem. Next set of pullups was worse... etc. Time's a few minutes off of where I was, but I get my pullups in order and it'll shoot way down. Felt great afterward, it was the good "I'm going to fall over and die" feeling.

Two days later I'm sore as all get out.

Change of Venue

2010-07-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

Buy In:
-Work
-Pullups, dips, squats, messing around mainlyb

Workout:
Squats: 45, 94, 135, 185, 225, 275 WU 315(5), 325(3), 335(f)
Bench: 45, 95, 135 WU 155 (5), 175(3)

Cash Out:
3 Rounds as fast as possible
5 pushups/10 squats/15 situps

Hit the local YMCA to train for the first time in forever, mainly for company and because they have benches. I didn't realize just how pathetically weak I am on bench, a meager 155 for 5 reps. Though that was after a heavy work day and some really hard squats. It was funny in a way, I had always wondered if I was simply not trying hard enough on my squats... today I actually had a mirror to see myself in... and I looked at myself during my 315... my face was cherry red and there were veins running an inch long popping out of my neck. Also, I want to ease of the weight a little and get my technique locked down, it gets fuzzy above 300, which is fine, but I need to work on dialing it in again.

Benching was very disappointing, I didn't really have much left in the tank by the time I got around to it, but I thought I would be able to hit 185 easily... the odd part was that it didn't feel hard at all, it just felt like I couldn't get my muscles to engage properly... probably because I haven't benched consistently in almost four years. It's a glaring deficient that I'll have to start addressing. That's okay, I'm sure there's lots of room for improvement!

Short term goals:
-20 dips
-15 pullups
-185 5RM bench

Other than that I'm just going to be easing back into my metabolic conditioning, with a CFFB/ MEBB type setup. Short somewhat heavy metcons, or lifting with a short metcon finisher will be the order of the day.

Eating's back on track today, feeling better. Cuts down in the cognitive dissonance when I'm working out and eating right. Makes me feel right.

Toodles!

Reps

2010-07-11T11:41:00.001-07:00

Well, after that fun 1 rep max session, a few days off, and a few days fighting off a surprisingly nasty virus, I was back to lifting. Thought I'd try my hand at some high rep squats last night. Figured 225 was a reasonable starting point.

It was easy!... for the first 4 reps or so,
Rep 5 "man, I'd be putting the bar up normally"...
Rep 8 "not too terrible, over a third there... oomph"
Rep 11 "over half way... this is getting awfully heavy"
Rep 16 "My back, my fricking back! Agg!"
Rep 20 "....." There were no thoughts, no words, only the certainty that I had to get out of the hole. I then staggered back, set the weight in the rack, and dropped onto the floor.

That fun little internal monologue aside, it didn't floor me the way I thought it would, and if I was fully back on my feet I think a real test would be 275 for 20. 225 wasn't that hard, even on the last rep, even though my back was tired.

Also, I'm not feeling it much today. Just a little systemic lower body tiredness. Food's continuing to slowly dial back in.

Goals- 2.0

2010-07-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, after looking back at my goals post the first of the year, I realized I've come a long way, and am close to achieving them.

Exceeded my squat goal- which was the one that needed the most improvement, 90 pounds at the time, and I've already bested it, and have plenty more in the tank.

5 pounds off my Press goal, again, with gas still in the tank.

Still 35 pounds off of my DL goal, but I've repped 405 for 5, and feel like I've got more in me when I'm fresh. That being said, 400's a lot easier than it used to be.

However, I have lost some stuff in the pursuit of these goals.
-Pullups are down to around 4
-Running is non-existant
-GPP is down, pretty handily
-Agility is down
-Flexibility is down.

That being said, all of those are easier to increase than maximal strength. Going to play around for the rest of the week, then start some home grown MEBB programming for the rest of summer. Strength days will be single lift focused, with accessory exercises, and I'm interested in getting my total volume up. That and playing with things like kettlebells, cartwheels, handstands, and get ups.

Also planning on trying some more high rep stuff, say some heavy rep squat days, and some serious benching. After a month or two of that I'm thinking I'll probably do a repeat of PTTP, subbing Bench Press and Overhead Squat... or I might repeat linear strength progression with squat, deadlift, and bench press and dips instead. Who knows, I'm not going to stress about it at this point.

Cheers!

CFT Baby!

2010-07-05T05:29:00.000-07:00

Workout: 1 Rep Max on Back Squat, Shoulder Press, and Deadlift.
BS- 355
SP-145
Dead- 415

Total: 915

Well, after almost three months of linear strength progression, it was time to retest everything. I came into this after a nine hour work day, almost hit 385 on squats, and had more in shoulder press. Deadlift has more in it for a single max, I was just exhausted by the time I got around to it. I was really only taking 2-3 minute rest breaks as well, still, great gains!

SS29

2010-07-05T05:28:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275(4)WA 320x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95, 110x2x5

Called the workout early on account of time. Squats were ridiculously heavy. Think I've about run out my linear gains for now, going to test my maxes soon.

Fail

2010-06-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

70's Big

This was very well timed for me, as I had my first failed workout on SS today after just under 3 months of clockwork like gains in my squat and DL (stupid press). I was worried that I'd hit my max, needed to reset, was finished with my gains, etc.

Then I read today's post and realized that I simply wasn't recovering enough in the calories department. I contrast shower, foam roll, sleep 8 solid hours a night, dose fish oil... and ended GOMAD on friday... without increasing my food intake. No wonder my recovery suddenly went to shit, I added it up and I've only taking in 2500/3k cals a day for the past four days... not enough for my 5'11, 210 self to recover. It hasn't been all that clean either, which probably isn't helping either.

However, now I'm at a quandry. Do I take my gains and go back to GPP, or do I stay on this pony and attempt to ride out for as long as it'll go. I'm really excited with the improvements I've gotten, so much so that I've stuck with this longer than I originally planned on. I'm just not sure which I wanna do. I'll keep my recovery work going today, and make a decision tonight.

SS28

2010-06-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275(3)WA 315x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 105x3x5
Deadlift: 135, 225, 295, 365(3)WA 405x1x5

Squats left my lying on the floor gasping. Had a heavy day of roofing the day before, which was hell on my back and ankles, and low sleep and crap food= not feeling great. That said, made it through them. Presses were heavier than they should have been, but still fine. Deads were fine after reseting my position. 405 came off the ground pretty easy, but I was several inches too far away from the weight and it literally pulled me over onto my face. I was fine, and after a few minutes and some careful repositioning, I was able to get my 5 reps in.

I realized today that I'm happy with my gains. I hit 3 and 4 wheels on squat and dead respectively, and even in my "reset" I'm pumping out my old struggling sets with my press. 405 was my old 1RM, so to pull it for 5 after such heavy squatting was really nice.

Food's been all over the place. Ended GOMAD friday, but there's still some ice cream around the house, and I've been eating out because of work some, so I'm going completely squeaky clean starting tomorrow.

SS27

2010-06-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275(3)WA 310x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95, 100x3x5
PC: 95, 135WA 165x3x5

Arms were still shot, Squats were good yesterday. Today's the last day of GOMAD, back to strict paleo tomorrow.

SS26

2010-06-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 255(3)WA 305x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95x3x5 (Reset!)
Deadlift: 135, 225, 295, 365(3)WA 395x1x5

Was pretty beat when I got home, but I hadn't worked out in 5 days, so I needed to get one it. Squats were fine once I warmed up. Body felt like one large contusion on my foam roller, but I worked the big kinks out, and made it through fine. Arms were shot after construction today, and so I decided to go with a real reset, and climb my way back to my old weight rather quickly. Deadlifts were daunting, but I was happy when I realized that 365 was my pre SS 3RM... and it's now warmup weight! It's now ten thirty, and I've got another long day of work tomorrow out in the heat (yay! no, really, having work is good, paychecks are a great thing).

Cold shower, and bed time!

P.S.- Pizza is not worth it. Ever. At the risk of sounding slightly gross, I have never had as much flatulence in my life as the past several days, and I kid you not, I put on 11 pounds in three and a half days. I'm back on the milk+paleo kick, and I'm dropping the milk after this week, at least in GOMAD format. I've gained plenty for my body to work with, now it's time to dial my quality back in to promote my best recovery and health, and then go back to GPP after my squat eventually stalls.

Delayed

2010-06-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a hectic past few days. Spent the extended weekend in Ohio. Had a great time, and was blown away at a Dan Inosanto seminar. Between all the time on the road, and the long days in the summer heat, I've lost a workout, though I'm not sweating it. I'll hit my workout early tomorrow, get back on track.

Gluten is not worth it, not for me. Ever.

More on that later.

SS25

2010-06-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was still feeling it from all the sleep deprivation, but I got my butt up and worked out early anyway.

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 275(2)WA 300x3x5(Heck yes!)
Press: 45, 75, 95, 115(3)WA 130x3x(4,4,1)
PC: 95, 135WA 175x3x(5, 1)

Squats were fine. Realized after the last set that I couldn't hear anything while I was doing it. Presses have officially hit the reset point, not sure why exactly... but it happens, and I'm still at my old 1RM, so I'll take it. Tweaked my knee hopping down stairs after squats, which messed with powercleans, so I called it there, feeling okay this morning.

Got a martial arts seminar this weekend, so maybe some light GPP work in the hotel, but no weightlifting before monday. Should give me time to recover and hit it hard next week.

Decided to stick with the linear progression until my squat stalls, or I hit 375x5. Mainly because that would set me up for a 400 lbs 1RM back squat. As it is now I'm close to my year end squat goals, so there's no reason to hop off this train if it's still running down the tracks.

Food's been decent. Milk+ Meat+ some veggies basically. still at 202, so apparently not eating enough, though I've filled out, and am getting bigger at a consistent rate.

Edit: After doing a little math, I realized that if I can keep up the steady progression, 375 is only 5 weeks away, and is barely 2/3 of what I've already improved. I'll probably stall out before then... but if I could... dang!

SS24

2010-06-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 255(3)WA 295x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95, 115(3)WA 130x3x(3,3,1)
Deadlift: 135, 225, 275, 325(3)WA 385x1x5

Alrighty. Still having trouble catching up on my sleep. Had a rough night with martial arts, smashed up my hands with breaking stuff somewhat. Squats felt great, presses majorly sucked. Deadlift was fine after the first two inches of the first rep, though that was the most difficult thing I've done in a while. Almost done with the linear strength progression for now. Not sure how much more I'm going to get out of my press, but we'll see.

Body weight is up to 204/5. Feeling good about it, and definitely feeling stronger. Ironically, even though I've definitely gained fat, my waist is still fitting on the same notch no problem. It's my legs, butt, and arms that are breaking out of everything. A good sign from what I've read on mass gaining.

Should be getting lots of sleep tonight, now off to the contrast shower!

SS23

2010-06-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 255(3)WA 290x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95, 115(3)WA 130x3x5
PC: 95, 135WA 175x3x5

Only got 4 hours of sleep Thursday night, and was busy yesterday, so I made up the workout today. Only had 5 1/2 last night, and really didn't feel like doing this after working all day, but it was time to man up and get it done. Squats were fine after 225, actually. Not sure why, but it seems like there's a plateau there, and after that I'm fine.

Presses were terrible. I was using stretch reflex to eke back up after the first rep on every set. I'm chalking this one up to carrying boards, drilling, digging, and moving concrete that I did earlier.

Power Cleans were heavy, but fine. I think adding in some technique practice with 45 before my weighted sets is in order. Hopefully that should continue to help.

So close to 300!

SS22

2010-06-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 255(3)WA 285x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95, 115(3)WA 130x3x(5,5,4- failed last rep of last set)
Deadlift: 135, 225, 275, 325(3)WA 375x1x5

Felt kinda cruddy going into workout this morning. Hands are still somewhat beat up from hitting stuff at martial arts monday, back was tight, quads were tight, mouth was broken out (bad fish oil, no bueno!)... But I got under the damn bar anyway.

Things got better. Hit all my squats, though I need to eat more, wasn't fully recovered. 130 felt fine until the last set, still only missed one rep. Deadlifts were more solid than last time. Double overhand until 275, don't sweat it. Chalk up and hit the warmups with explosive power(fast, fast, fast). 375 didn't want to come off the ground, but I got it going, and banged out 5 solid reps. Got full extension on all of them, and had decent technique on my lowerings as well. Feeling pumped overall.

Had some dark chocolate yesterday, and I'm feeling it today. Aparently I can drink gallons of milk okay, but when I eat chocolate there's a mental switch that flips over, and I start getting trouble. Also haven't been eating enough since I'm never hungry because of all the milk. Actually down weight today for the first time in... since gomad started. Going to eat ten oz. of ground beef for lunch, and my PWO quart of milk. That should help!

SS21

2010-06-07T05:57:00.001-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225WA 280x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95WA 125x3x5
PC: 95, 135WA 170x3x5

Squats are heavier and heavier getting out of the rack. Still feeling good. Made all my reps no problem. Presses actually felt managable through all sets, though I had a bad tendency to drift forward on a couple of reps and almost lost them. Powercleans are heavy, but fine.

Still having a little trouble keeping the sleep uniterrupted, though I'm getting the full 8+ worth total. Elbow is slightly tender, not sure how much longer it's going to like linear progression, hopefully long enough to finish out until next friday!

Cheers!

SS20

2010-06-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225WA 275x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95WA 125x3x5
Deadlift: 135, 225, 275, 315(3)WA 365x1x5

This was actually the workout I did friday, but it's been a stupidly busy weekend, so I'm posting today. GOMAD's on day 5, going strong, acting like a baby mammal. Up 6 pounds so far, only a couple of which is water weight from what I can tell. Drinking the milk's not been a problem at all.

Squats are getting more solid, not less, which is reassuring. Presses were barely there on friday, from all of the work I did on Thursday. Just for the record, breaking out a chainsaw to cut down and then haul off several trees, while fun, isn't great for recovery. Slightly tweaked my right elbow, though it was fine with presses, I was careful with deads. Speaking of, I got all my reps with the deadlift, but I realized after I set down the last rep that I hadn't locked out my knees. Need to be aware of that for the future... but it's hard to be aware of anything after rep 2-3 of heavy deads.

Feeling good overall, though I noticed recently that my flexibility has gone to heck. Starting some of my stretching drills I used to do for martial arts in addition to my foam rolling and lacrosse ball recovery work, should hopefully help.

Had terrible sleep friday night, but it was great last night (9+ hours with only one interruption) and I'm hitting the hay early tonight. Also, had a tiny piece of dark chocolate yesterday, after over three weeks. Sadly it just tasted too sweet, so I'm not going to be eating any more. Other than that Paleo+dairy is going great.

SS19

2010-06-02T05:53:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225WA 270x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95WA 125x3x5
PC: 95, 135WA 170x3x5(failed 4th rep last set)

Sleep was cruddy last night. Got woken up at 530 and couldn't get back to sleep, so slightly cranky. Day 2 of GOMAD. The allure of milk is gone, now it's just a chore to drink more. That said, downed almost half of my gallon, already, so it's not a huge deal. Need to eat more food on top of it though.

Squats a getting harder to hold upright, but I'm still hitting them solid (at least I think so, and it feels like it). Felt good on all the reps, and know for sure I was way past parallel on the last rep of every set. Presses were hard as hell. I hit 125 for 5 on the first set, and considered dropping down to 120 for the others. I stuck it out though, but progress is going to slow down some more. Feeling a "one jump a week" place right now on those. Which is still fine, since that's twenty pounds a month... Considering I'm going to hit my old 1RM next increase... I'd say that still good progress.

Powercleans felt okay until the last set. I think total training volume is just catching up to me on the third exercise, because I was somewhat whipped. Also, I'm going to slow down PC increases, since I'm basically doing a string of singles now, and I'm really not sure about my form. Need to go do some reading and video watching, and get my technique down further.

SS18

2010-05-31T05:01:00.000-07:00

Squat: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225WA, 265x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95WA 125x3x5(fail, fail, fail)
Deadlift: 135, 225, 275, 315(3)WA 355x1x5

Several things learned this workout. 1- I hate working out early in the morning. 2- It's a bad idea to squat with an extra six inches in your stance than you're used to. 3- Presses run out faster than other lifts.

Squats felt fine up until my first work set. Hit three and failed on four, in the lower back. Bad start, but I reset to a proper stance and banged out three work sets no problem. Press was damn heavy, and I got three on the first set, four on the second, and four on the third. I'm sad because this means I'm going to need to drop to one increase a week, though today might have just been an off day all around. Deadlifts are fine, but they feel weak as heck with the double overhand grip. It's frustrating too, since I try to pull double overhand for all my warmup sets, and it's literally inhibiting all the other muscles, so when I switch to alternating grip, the grip is rock solid, but the rest of me is tenous until I get the first rep. At 355 the hardest part was getting everything to engage to lift the first rep off. Bar didn't move for half a second, then I got going with full recruitment and banged out 5 reps no problem.

Had some trouble sleeping this past weekend. Got covered in a huge mess of poison ivy from work friday... Jesus. It was like have chemical burns on my hands and little ones all over my body. Very frustrating. Doing better today though.

Cheers!

Edit: Also, drank my first glass of milk today. Going to start GOMAD+ Paleo tommorrow, to put on some mass and hopefully help my recovery. We'll see how it goes.

SS17

2010-05-28T04:45:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225(4)WA 260x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95WA 120x3x5
PC: 95, 135WA 165x3x5

Didn't sleep very well last night. Got to bed and sleep plenty early, but had had a stressful day and woke up several times during the night. The moderate sunburn and inflamed nettle section didn't help either, but I still got around 7 hours, so no real complaints.

Squats are getting close, and I'm having trouble with my knees starting to drift inward as I come out of the hole. Have to video my next workout, to make sure I'm still getting deep enough, but I got everything, and I've got two rest days. Presses felt better than last time, still really frakkin' heavy. Powercleans... I'm sure its a technique issue, since some reps kind of float up, and others I have to dip somewhat to barely squeek in. Have to do some reading this weekend, and practice my technique some more.

Feelin' good. Stoped fitdaying anything except my weight. I was getting a little neurotic about my protein and carbs, so I'm not going to worry about it. Eat lots whenever I'm hungry, let my body sort it out.

Ketosis Note

2010-05-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, it was brought to my attention this morning that apparently as a result of my impromptu experiment I was kicking out ketones at a prodigous rate, and it was affecting the way my breath smells. Note to self, make sure to eat at least a piece or two of fruit a day to keep carbs above 30g.

SS16

2010-05-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

Squat: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225(3)WA, 255x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95WA 120x3x5(PR)
Deadlift: 135, 185, 225, 275, 315(3)WA 345x1x5

Squats are feeling good. Not sure how much more improvement at this rate, but good. Press is getting damn heavy. First two sets were fine, accidentally push pressed the last rep of the last set, and couldn't get it up legit afterward. Doing the same weight next time, but I'm happy, two work sets at a new PR is still great. Deadlift felt fine. Having grip trouble with double overhand over 300 for reps, not sure if the grip is just weak, or if it's because deads are the last thing I'm doing. 275 is no problem, but I almost lost 315, completely with the grip.

Didn't eat a single carb yesterday until dinner, kind of as an experiment. Did absolutely fine even with manual labor work, until the end of the day. Got a slight headache/ usual low carb feelings around 6, though not bad, and it went away as soon as I ate a greek salad. Good to know I'm fine and fat adapted again. Slept TEN HOURS last night. Fell asleep around 8, got up at 6 ready to go. Had workout done by 8, hitting it today. Sleep really does make that much of a difference.

Will have some recipes and links for next time. Cheers!

SS15

2010-05-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

BS: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225(3)WA 250x3x5
Press: 45, 75, 95WA 115x3x5
PC: 95, 135WA 160x3x5

Only 5 lbs off my old squat max. Still feeling fine, though recovery is just barely keeping up. I've noticed my recovery varies according to how many calories I eat (shockingly, just like 70sbig suggests!) and while I refuse to sacrifice food quality, I'm looking for some coconut milk, or maybe some more fat sources to jack up my total cals number to more like 3500 instead of 3k a day. Presses felt about as heavy as last workout, but hit all of them. Wondering if I'll make the next increase, but we'll see. Powercleans floored me today. Warmup went easy. Took a couple minute break, went to get the first one, almost didn't catch it. Noticed that I'm having to dip to catch the weight today, and that I'm barely getting my last reps. Will keep the same weight next time and see where I fall out. I was somewhat suprised, because I hadn't had any trouble before now.

Sleep's doing fine, waking up on my own relatively early. Sadly don't have any sweet potatoes for a PWO meal, but I'll make do by eating big.

Cheers!
Jesse

SS14- Back on track

2010-05-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Squat: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225(3)WA, 245x3x5
Press: 45, 65, 95WA 110x3x5
Deadlift: 135, 185, 225, 275WA, 335x1x5

Great workout, got around ten hours of good sleep last night. Made all the difference in the world. Hit all my squats, though they're damn heavy. Hit all my presses, which has me pumped, since 115 is my old 5RM and I did three work sets no problem. Deadlift is getting surreal. All the warmup sets are easy peasy, then by the time I'm done with my work set I just kinda slump over the bar. For some reason my neck muscles were tired from clenching so hard when I did it... wth? Anywho, back on track.

Still rockin' along on the paleo, doing better.

SS13

2010-05-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

Squat: 45, 95, 135, 185, 225(3)WA
Press: 45, 65, 95WA

Felt drained by the time I got to workout today. I knew it wasn't going to go well when 185 warmup was feeling heavy, so I decided to do a light day and not stress about it. I probably could have gotten by with waiting one more day and hitting it hard tomorrow, but I want my body to get caught up with recovering from workload, so I did my warmups and called it there. Still having trouble getting enough sleep. Been waking up earlier and earlier, even after I fixed the major source of a light problem I was having. Just need to get to bed earlier I suppose.

Still completely clean with the diet, though stress level has been high. Hopefully got a break today in the job hunt, so if that goes well things will really be looking up. Time to contrast shower and eat a light meal.

SS12

2010-05-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

BS: 45,95, 135, 185, 225(3)WA 240x3x5
Press: 45,65,85, 95(3)WA 110x3x5
PC: 95, 135WA 155x3x5

Squats were stupid hard. Last rep of last set was shit technique, but it was more than deep enough, and I made it back out. Presses were harder than sunday, powercleans felt fine, oddly. My recovery is really lagging, as mentioned below.

Doing okay, barely, the past couple of days. Was stupid and stayed out late, got short shifted on sleep sunday night(4.5 hours), then had trouble sleeping last night(6ish). Life stress is bugging me again. The iron helps. Found this quote that really resonated with me.

"The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it's impossible to turn back.

The iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you're a god or a total bastard. The iron will always kick you the real deal. The iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends come and go, but 200 pounds is always 200 pounds."

-Henry Rollins

SS11

2010-05-16T16:16:00.001-07:00

Squat: 45, 95, 135, 185WA, 235x3x5 (will add in more warmup sets next time)
Press: 45, 65, 85WA 110x3x5(heavy but still fine)
Deadlift: 135, 185, 225, 275WA, 325x1x5

I was planning on taking another day off... but I feel fully recovered this morning after a good night's sleep, so I thought I'd get back at it! Squats are still heavy(duh). Press is continuing to move up, feeling great as well. Deadlifts are doing fine, the hardest part is that my hands are still having trouble re-adapting to the stress of pulling heavy weight.

Today is the first day of the Whole30 2.0. You should check it out. It'll change your life.

Easy, Hearty, Filling!

2010-05-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Annnd, we're back today. This time with the first installment of what I like to call "Mass Gain Meals". I've historically had a really hard time maintaining weight while dialing my food in. I'm on day seven and have decided that it's time to stop messing around and get serious about some calories intake.

If I can eat clean, then I can eat big. So I'm setting a goal. I want to be 200 pounds by the time I finish my strength progression, using purely clean sources. 200 is what I weighed before I started eating clean again, and so it seems like a good goal to reach for.

Ironically fitday won't be as much help to me here. I tried to enter a goal weight of 200, and it wouldn't accept it, because it was higher than my starting weight!

*AHEM* But back on topic...

So, the very simple, clean, and high calorie treat today is what I like to call "Calm Curry" Mainly because it doesn't have any kick to it, but has a decent curry-like texture.

Ingredients are simple:
-However much frozen hamburger you can stomach (this batch was around 18 ounces)
-Olive Oil (Virgin here, use whatever tastes the best)
-Baby Carrots(ten to fifteen, chopped up)

Cooking directions are a bachelor's dream.
1. Defrost frozen meat partway in microwave(1-2 minutes)
2. Slice up carrots into bite size pieces, add to bowl
3. Add salt, onion powder, any other spices.
4. Add olive oil and mix until desired consistency
5. Cook another 2-4 minutes, checking and stirring every minute, until warm.

Directions for eating:
1. Start
2. Don't stop.
3. No, Really. Don't stop until you're done. Your body will betray you and tell you you're full. Keep eating until it's gone.

The batch of this I made had almost 100g of protein and over 1,400 calories. 5 hours later I'm still full from it, and should be fine while sleeping. I'll admit, I was shamefully bested by my own concoction though, I couldn't finish the last 5 or so spoonfulls.

Anywho, cheers!

SS10

2010-05-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

BS: 45,95, 135, 185WA 230x3x5
Press: 45,65,85WA 105x3x5
PC: 95, 135WA 150x3x5

Day six being full clean. Well, technically I had some sour cream with my paleo tacos last night, but that falls far enough over on the healthy/f-off scale that I still count it as good. Down six pounds to 194, squat's slowly getting heavier, but my technique is rock solid. Probably going to have to slow down to 5 lbs alternating workouts before much longer. Another 5 sessions and I'll be doing my old 5RM (that had cruddy technique to boot) for three sets across. Might have to slow it down before, if not will do it then. Same with PCs, currently at 155... which is fine, but I'll probably slow down around 165 or so. I'd rather slowly climb the ladder up then run up and have to reset early. I've been doing this close to a year and a half, no need to get in a rush now.

Been pondering goals and timeline for my strength progression. First, I need to eat more. I'm back in my "eat clean, don't eat enough, lean out" mode... nothing wrong with that at all, but I need to be getting more calories in to support my strength training. I've got no problem swapping fat for muscle, but without enough fat I won't put on muscle. Still working on getting intake high enough from clean sources, but it's made loads of difference in my recovery. I'll probably take next week to fitday everything and see what all I'm actually taking in, so I know what to add.

Finally, planning on riding the strength train for a while. Right now I'm looking at maintaining my progressions until the third week of June. That gives me fifteen more training sessions to keep ramping up, which should put me past my old maxes on all my lifts. Heck, if I can even keep it going close to the rate I'm at, I'll be pulling a 5R deadlift at around 400... which would make me really happy!

Just finished my PWO meal, contrast shower, and am now heading out to head off life stress. Can't be having cortisol that I didn't put in my system with iron now!

Cheers!

SS9

2010-05-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Squat: 45, 95, 135, 185WA, 225x3x5
Press: 45, 65, 85WA 105x3x5(heavy but still fine)
Deadlift: 135, 185, 225, 275(3)WA, 315x1x5

Food's still dialed in solid. Day 4 clean, sleep's good, life stress is getting sorted out. Still have a nagging suspicion that I'm not eating quite enough, but my recovery has gotten better three workouts in a row now, and I'm staying on track.

Press weight is going up alternating workouts, and it's probably going to be going up 2 1/2 pound increments soon. That's no big suprise, since I'm about to hit my old max, the goal now is to keep slow but steady increases going. Squat's getting hard again, but my technique is truckloads better this time around, full depth on every rep, even if my last rep is kinda shaky coming up.

SS8

2010-05-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

BS: 45,95, 135, 185WA 220x3x5
Press: 45,65,75WA 100x3x5
PC: 95WA 150x3x5

Everything felt heavy, probably from bad recovery. Still getting re-adjusted to Paleo without cheats, and my sleep was crappy over the weekend. Overall feeling better, and down almost 5 pounds, since my inflammation level has been dropping.

SS7

2010-05-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

Squat: 45, 95, 135, 185WA, 215x3x5
Press: 45, 65, 85WA 100x3x5(heavy but still fine)
Deadlift: 135, 185, 225, 275(3)WA, 305x1x5

Went down to the Whole9 seminar. Missed a good chunk of sleep, but it was totally worth it. I learned one or two new things, but the biggest thing for me was the way they approach it. It's not about "Paleo" or eating like our ancestors... It's about sitting down and figuring out which foods make you healthier, and which don't. And then from there making informed, conscious decisions about how you eat. I came home last night and realized it's simple. I just need to plan out my food like I've planned out my workouts. That way the same energy that I put into them can be channeled effectively into making myself healthier.

Dallas also made a point that really resonates in my head. "I don't want to get stronger by doing something that makes me less healthy. Isn't being healthy and living a long, full life the reason that we do this stuff anyway?"

Something for me to ponder. Ate an amazing meal last night, then worked out, ate an entire sweet potato and two pork chops for a PWO meal, then hit the hay.

I slept the best I have in memory.

SS6

2010-05-06T04:37:00.000-07:00

BS: 45,95, 135, 185WA 210x3x5
Press: 45,65, 75WA 95x3x5
PC: 95WA 145x3x5

SS5

2010-04-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

Squat: 45, 95, 135, 185(3)WA, 205x3x5
Press: 45, 65, 75WA 95x3x5(these are heavy, slowing down increases after today)
Deadlift: 135, 185, 225WA, 295x1x5

Working on getting my fish oil dose back up. Ran out of Nordic Naturals last week, been taking pills again, heading out to get more right now.

9 Days 'til Whole9 Seminar!

SS4

2010-04-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

BS: 45,95, 135, 185(3)WA 200x3x5
Press: 45,65WA 90x3x5(starting to feel heavier)
PC: 95WA 140x3x5
PU BWx3x6

Food's been better, got more fish oil from the store, pills just aren't as good as Nordic Naturals though. Sleep's been better. Looking forward to next weekend! 11 days left!

SS3

2010-04-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

Was in a huge hurry, and discovered that while a regular SS workout can be done in 30 minutes, you get a very metcon like effect, and it's not optimal.

BS: 45,95, 135WA 195x3x5
Press: 45,65WA 85x3x5
Dead: 185WA 285x1x5

I've been on a bender the past two days. Eaten oodles and oodles of calories, but now it's time to clean up the diet, two weeks out from Whole9 seminar!

SS2

2010-04-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

Back Squat(BS)- 45, 95, 135, 160(3)WA 190 x3x5
Press- 45,65WA 80x3x5
Power Clean(PC)- 95WA 135x3x5
Pullups- BWx3x5

Wow, none of that stuff was particularly hard, but I feel kinda tuckered out afterwards. Did a bit of grip strength work(plate holds) afterwards, feeling good. Technique's rock solid, though I'm surprised how quickly the squats tire me out, since the weight is still so light.

Explanation Time

2010-04-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

So... as I alluded to yesterday, I'll be posting a little less frequently on here, seeing as my workout schedule will be three days a week for a while. To keep it short and simple, I'm doing the Starting Strength linear progression training model. I plan on doing it until June, provided I'm able to keep making gains, and hopefully in the next month and a half will be able to put on some serious strength and some lean mass.

The program is ridiculously simple when you get down to it.

Alternate Training Days of

A:
Squat 3x5
Press 3x5
Deadlift 5x1

B:
Squat 3x5
Bench Press 3x5
Power Clean 3x5

The trick is that you start at a reasonable work weight for sets, and then add 5/10 pounds to each exercise each time you do them. I chose to go with around 60% of my maxes for each lift, and will be increasing everything by 5 pounds per time I do them(except deadlift, which will be increasing by ten for a while).

My starting work weights for each lift are:
Squat- 185
Press- 75
Deadlift- 275
Bench Press- 135
Power Clean- 135

Most of these weights are very easy for me to do, for now. We'll see where I'm at in a month.

Food's been dialed in, feeling good overall.

Starting some Strength Progression

2010-04-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

Well, after taking a look back at my logs and evaluating where I want to be with my goals, I'm shifting my training further away from where I was, and more focused on where I want to be. With that in mind, I'm going to take the next month or so and try a Starting Strength linear progression program. I'll fill in the basics, but really, on top of doing martial arts four days a week and working a physical job, I really don't have the energy to work out 5-6 days a week anymore, so I'm going with a classic 3 days a week schedule to see what kind of returns I can get.

Today is Day 1
Squat: 45, 95, 135 WA, 185x3x5
Press: 45, 65(3) WA, 75x3x5
Deadlift: 135, 185, 225(3)WA, 275x1x5

Unless mentioned all warmup sets are for 5. All of these weights are very easy for me to move, but I was surprised how tired I felt after finishing everything(I even broke a decent sweat). Don't have anyone to watch, but form felt great for all of the reps. Squats were deep in the hole, deads were with perfectly straight back, presses paused nice and long on the bottom of each rep.

This is workout A, next time will be workout B. All I do for linear progression is increase the weights each workout a little. The numbers here are roughly 60% of my relative maxes, but the whole point is to build back up to where I'm doing my old 5RM for three sets across, hopefully in the next month, and then keep building.

Final Note: Eating's been following my schedule, but the pizza I had on cheat day this weekend really kicked my gut's kiester. Considering putting that particular gluten loaded treat on the banned cheat list, since it hits me way harder than say... a hamburger with bun or some candy. Also trying to move my sleep schedule over somewhat to get ready for getting up at 6 in the morning regularly again, still working on it.

Cheers!

Worn Out

2010-04-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

WOD:
Power Clean 1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Haven't practiced PCs in almost two months at all, let alone consistently. hit 155,165,175 no problem, 185 fine to tie my old PR, and just couldn't quite nail 195... three times. I'm chalking it up to the fact that I'm a little low on sleep, not recovered fully from my last workout, and mainly due to the heavy lifting and moving large chunks of concrete I did earlier in the day for work. Frustrating, but hopefully I'll come back to this in a few weeks and knock it out.

Diet's been okay. I've got myself in a pattern of clean all week except for a mass gain meal or two, and then cheating friday at dinner and saturday at lunch. Other than that completely dialed in. Also, Nordic Naturals fish oil is amazing!

Death By Deadlift

2010-04-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

WOD: Standard Death by workout
Do one deadlift(225) the first minute, two the second, etc.

I did 11 rounds and 9 reps. The last ones weren't amazingly pretty, and my back is tired as hell, but I was really happy with it. I ran across this one from GO crossfit last week and decided to work it in. Not bad for a third day of the cycle after squatting, and I beat all of the people they had listed as well, so woot!

Didn't get enough sleep last night, shouldn't be a problem tonight.

Cheers!

Pressing Time II- the Pressination?

2010-04-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

WOD Shoulder Press 5x5 across
110, 110, 110, 110, 110.

Better than last week, still have some trouble with the areas under my shoulder a bit. Had a therapeutic massage friend work some OI stretching, which helped amazingly, hopefully in another session or two things will clear up.

I also realized that I might have the reverse of what benchers have, a relatively weak lower shoulder. I haven't done benching in a year, and I pretty much never do pushups and dips, since I hate them and don't have a place to do the former. It probably wouldn't hurt to start throwing them in the mix again.

All in all frustrated about lack of progress, but definitely doing better today.

Also, day two of perfectly strict eating.

Couplet

2010-04-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

WOD:
21-15-9 reps of
165 lb back squat
Pullups

Time: 8:58. Solid Met-con. Felt like I was going to die, but in a good way. The squats are easier than I remember, but were still the limiting factor. Split the first set 11-10, then 5s across, then 3 and 6 for the last set. Kipping pullups are still crappy, since I haven't been practicing them at all, and I still don't have a bar with lots of space overhead. Not the end of the world.

Had a perception backlash over the past day or two. I've put on some weight the past month, only about 5 pounds, but I hit the point where I completely lost my abs again. It's not a huge deal, but I've been in a rough spot mentally lately and it's bugging me, so I'm going to be dialing in my diet for the rest of April. Not going to change my training at all, since it's working and getting me to my goals. Been one day off the crack fully, and I've been craving chocolate. Held out all day though, going to allow myself half a serving of Lindt after dinner.

Tommorow's workout will be fun!

Pressing Time

2010-04-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

SWOD:
Strict Press 3x5.
105, 105, 110.

Still having some weird feelings with my left shoulder, and the under left part is still bothering me. Going to get my lacrosse ball on.

Food's okay, clean sunday/friday afternoon. Basically good except for friday and saturday evenings.

Sleep's been better since I've gotten the room darker again, though I've been a bit short the past day or two. (going to sleep early tonight)

Think my recovery issues stem from physical labor job + martial arts 4/5 days a week. Will continue to keep strength focus, with only one, maybe two metcons a week.

Woo.

300

2010-04-10T05:26:00.000-07:00

Well, first Back squat Max since.... Novemember. Heh.

WOD:
Back Squat 1,1,1,1,1,1
255, 275, 285, 295, 305, 315(f)

Would have had 315 if my music hadn't shut off in the middle of the hole. Not the end of the world, broke 300, which was the major goal. That's up 60 pounds since November. Not too much, but I've only put on 5 pounds, so feeling good overall. Strength is doing solid.

Yay!

Kips and Hips III

2010-04-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

WOD:
5 rounds for time
5 pullups
10 box jumps
15 KB swings

Time: 4:58

I'm happy. Good day, hit my glycolytic pathway. Got my heartrate up. Beat my last time. All in all good stuff. Now eating a good chunk of salad and a bunch of cooked chicken.

Good times.

Trap'd

2010-04-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

So, for some reason I've been completely wiped the past day or two. martial arts training has been constant, and good, if slightly frustrating because I've tweaked my lower back and shoulder area, which has caused me to chill out on the lifting for a day or two.

The reason was easy enough to figure out. Lots of rolling and falling two consecutive days after deadlifting max = back in rough shape. I had forgotten that it takes a while to get over dead heavy singles.

Knocked out a 3x5 last night for shoulder press(110 across). Would have done 5x5 across, but my lat insertion in my left shoulder was really bothering me. Didn't feel a thing doing pullups, but even after foam rolling twice, it was bothering me on the presses, so I cut it at three sets. That and it was already around 1030 at night.

Been having a little trouble sleeping due to stress, noises outside (stupid birds), and light issues. Sleeping in a pitch black room really makes a difference with me.

Anyway, short metcon will be up later. Looking forward to getting the blood pumping nice and easy.

4 Wheels!

2010-04-04T05:48:00.000-07:00

Because of my surprise belt test, and the subsequent heavy smashing that my hip took, I put off deadlifting for a day. I was actually not feeling all that amazing about it last night, since yesterday was full of heavy lifting(had to move a 4 inch diameter tree) and heavy dragging (loading up a tarp with several hundred pounds of dirt, drag, unload in a dumpster... repeat). So I was already kind of tired. But gosh darnit, I hadn't maxed deadlift since Christmas, so I did.

WOD: Deadlift 3,3,3,1,1,1
295, 330, 365(PR), 375, 405(PR).

I called it after the 405. Oddly, my system wasn't exausted and destroyed, so I'm positive I left a little on the platform. I'm fine with that, next time I'll come at it fresh and put on another 10 pounds. It felt great to hit that PR, really restored my confidence that I haven't gotten weaker. If anything, going from hitting 400 only with family watching and cheering me on, while blasting music... to walking in after a long day, hitting 365 for a triple... and then pulling 405 with no music and with a little left.

I'm happy.

One caveat however. I video'd my form... It's pretty crappy. My hips started a little high, and then straightened out in the first 3 inches of movement, and then I used my back for the rest. I got up this morning, and my back feels perfectly fine, so I did okay, but I need to do some technique sessions again in the not too distant future. (Also, I'm 95% sure it's the heavy squatting that's strengthened my back, since my hamstrings seen to be my weak point in my squat as well.)

Cheers!

Bangin'

2010-04-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

Went out for an impromptu training session tonight. Got tossed around for over an hour and a half, apparently it was an informal test... so now I'm a green belt in the Bujinkan. This is the first graded level, which makes me 9th Kyu, or bottom of the totem pole. That's cool... I wasn't even looking to end up there, though I have been interested in learning joint locks and throws/takedowns. Fun times.

My only complaint is that I'm banged the hell up, and that it will interfere with the DL heavy singles I'm pulling tommorow.

Oh, well, time for sleep!

Ideas

2010-04-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

Holy Cats! Was wandering around the internet and stumbled across this gem. It's a round table discussion with Mark Rippetoe, Pavel Tsatsouline, and some other strength coaches of renown.

Roundtable

Pressing Time

2010-04-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

WOD:
Shoulder Press 5x5 sets across at 105.

Made it through all 5 sets without too much trouble. The last two were pretty tough, but not as much so as the last shoulder press set. Felt solid overall, good to be moving weight.

Push it Up again

2010-03-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

Warmup: standard

WOD:
Shoulder Press- 5,5,5,3,3,3

Happy with the results today. 95,105,115(5RM), 120(PR), 125(PR), 130(f) Went all out, the first sets of five were no sweat, but by 120 it was really heavy. Made 125 barely and was pretty tapped out, but mainly was just hoping for a single at 130. Especially considering how tired my arms were from all the martial arts leading up to this, I am very happy with this consistency/improvement. Good times.

Stretched

2010-03-28T19:09:00.001-07:00

Once again it seems like I'm having a hard time staying on my schedule. I had a short repeat mentcon planned for today, but between more construction work, and a good 4-5 hours of MA training today, I've been gone/busy most of the day and I'm dead by the time I get home. I'm going to hit my strength work tomorrow hard... but I'm really wondering how well I can keep up a 3 metcon per week schedule on top of 2 heavy lifting days, when I'm training Martial arts 4-6 days a week. It just feels like something's going to give. I'm doing fine because I've got all my recovery dialed in, good sleep, good food (a few chips and salsa... but perfect besides that), and good fish oil (14-15g a day the past 5 days)... and I'm still doing good. Just feeling stretched.