ColoWayno's log

[ColoWayno]

Hi folks, I'm a recovering runner who began SS in May of 2008 at about 5' 11'', 160lbs and age 45. I've been doing the Texas Method since June of 2009. I'm now 185 lbs. My wife and 3 of my sons (18, 22 and 24) are all doing SS or Texas Method now. My fourth son (20) is in the Army. I'm now the de facto "Coach" of the family.
I tried my brand new Chuck Taylors last night for the first time (yes I've been using the dreaded "Gel" running shoes all of this time). I've had problems with high arches in the past. I think I noticed my Power Cleans were easier to rack, though I felt some cramping in my feet. My guess is it is better to just let my feet adapt, as long as it's not creating debilitating problems rather than go out and buy arch supports. Is that reasonable?
Thanks for any input you might have for me.
I'm interested in increasing all of my lifts but would like to concentrate on getting my Power Cleans commensurate with the other lifts (at least to body weight). My bench and press have not gone up for quite a while so I've just decided to focus on bench for a few weeks and not alternate weekly.
I'm being deployed in March (as a contractor) but I should have access to good facilities where I'm going.
Here are the work sets from my Monday (2-15-10) workout (sets/reps/weight in lbs):
Squat: 6x3x238
Bench: 5x5x185 (PR)
Power Cleans: 6x3x138 (PR)
Then I did 2 circuits with BW + 35lbs of:
Dips 8
Situps on a 45 degree slant: 15
Chins 6
Then, although I'm focusing on bench for a while I felt the need to get in some presses:
Press 1x8x93

I'm going to try to post a video of my Power Cleans as I'm sure this is my most messed up lift.

Since I first posted this I've noticed that my chest is much less sore, now that I'm not alternating presses weekly. The tops of my traps are more sore for some reason. Also, I should have eased into the new shoes as I think I bruised my heel (or aggravated my plantar). Just ordered some of Rips shoes to try out. Hope I get them before I leave the country for 4 months.

[ColoWayno]

Weighed in at 186 lbs.
Yesterday was recovery day. I checked the weights I had been using against the "level of effort" chart in PP and realized that I'd been going extra light, even for recovery day, so I upped the squats.
(sets/reps/weight in lbs)
Press: 2x5x80
Squats: 2x3x225

I went back to my old gel shoes but I've got some of Rip's shoes on order. When I change shoes again I'll have a plan to ease into the transition as I think there's some legit adaptation that's going to need to take place.
My foot is still a little sore, but overall this is about the best I've felt on a Thursday for a long time. Next week I'll do 5x5 squats which seem to cause that lingering hamstring pain. Maybe I'll do those a few weeks in a row instead of alternating with 6x3's to see if I can adapt to them a little better.

My 18 year old son came with me to the gym last night (he usually works out in our garage but lately that's been too cold for him, it's been too cold for me since about October). He's been coming along nicely on his squats, getting really good depth and discovering how hard it really is to put 200lbs on your back and go nearly ATG. It was interesting for him to see (and fun for me to watch him see) what goes on at a typical gym, guys loading 1200lbs on the leg press, or 400 lbs in the squat rack and getting 6 inches of depth.

[ColoWayno]

Not going to whine about why I couldn't do my Friday workout on Friday.
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x3x273
Speed Bench: 10x3x140
Power Cleans: 2x3x140, 1x2x140 (FAIL! :mad:)
Pullups: BW + 35# (Set of 6, Set of 4)
Today was intensity day. I'm probably going to start trying speed reps on my squats since I've backed off of my previous PR and the weight still feels extremely heavy. I've been doing speed reps on my presses for a few weeks now. Even though I'm barely passed the "untrained" status in my power cleans they were really tough today. For the first two sets I felt very dizzy and missed a rep on my third and last set. I stopped at three partly because I'm nursing some sore back discs.
I didn't think about my sore heel until just now so that's good. Still wearing gels and waiting for the postman to deliver my new shoes.
Played two Chopin Waltzes while waiting for my computer to boot, right after working out. Tell that to the people who won't lift because they can't bulk up for their sport. ;)
AFTERTHOUGHTS (Day after):
The Speed Bench press actually made me a little sore. This is the second time I've tried it and must be getting a little better explosion. Decided to buy a lifting belt. I won't go cheap (like I tried to do with my shoes). Just re- read the section in SS on Shoes and Belts and feel a little foolish for not getting shoes sooner. It's time for the belt also as my lower back is chronically sore and I'm afraid to challenge myself under the bar because of that.
Probably going to try my Chuck Taylors again tomorrow, at least for some of my lifts.

[ColoWayno]

USA beats Canada 5-3 ... what a game! :)

[misspelledgeoff]

I won't lift in anything but Chucks. And that's after dropping nearly 250 bucks on two different sets of weightlifting shoes.

Welcome to the forums!


Not going to whine about why I couldn't do my Friday workout on Friday.
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x3x273
Speed Bench: 10x3x140
Power Cleans: 2x3x140, 1x2x140 (FAIL! :mad:)
Pullups: BW + 35# (Set of 6, Set of 4)
Today was intensity day. I'm probably going to start trying speed reps on my squats since I've backed off of my previous PR and the weight still feels extremely heavy. I've been doing speed reps on my presses for a few weeks now. Even though I'm barely passed the "untrained" status in my power cleans they were really tough today. For the first two sets I felt very dizzy and missed a rep on my third and last set. I stopped at three partly because I'm nursing some sore back discs.
I didn't think about my sore heel until just now so that's good. Still wearing gels and waiting for the postman to deliver my new shoes.
Played two Chopin Waltzes while waiting for my computer to boot, right after working out. Tell that to the people who won't lift because they can't bulk up for their sport. ;)
AFTERTHOUGHTS (Day after):
The Speed Bench press actually made me a little sore. This is the second time I've tried it and must be getting a little better explosion. Decided to buy a lifting belt. I won't go cheap (like I tried to do with my shoes). Just re- read the section in SS on Shoes and Belts and feel a little foolish for not getting shoes sooner. It's time for the belt also as my lower back is chronically sore and I'm afraid to challenge myself under the bar because of that.
Probably going to try my Chuck Taylors again tomorrow, at least for some of my lifts.

[ColoWayno]

I won't lift in anything but Chucks. And that's after dropping nearly 250 bucks on two different sets of weightlifting shoes.

Welcome to the forums!

Thanks.
I'm giving them another try tonight (at least for a few lifts).
So far I've only spent money on a floor for my garage rack, a few extra plates and my Chucks. (Not to mention SS and PP!). Someone gave me the rack, bar and basic weight set.
I'm trying to get my feet figured out before I deploy for 4 months and I haven't thought about that in almost 2 years of this stuff. I've kept them happily cocooned in gel where I thought they belonged.
As a result I pretty much don't have a Power Clean or strong feet.
Anyway, it feels good to be alive and learning even if it costs a few bucks and a little pain, doesn't it?

Oh, happy friggin' Birfday. Mine is Tuesday (Feb 23).

[ColoWayno]

Volume day (Monday, Feb 22)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs):
Squats 5x5x233 (1 lb off of PR)
Bench 6x3x194 (PR)
Deads 1x5x235
2 Circuits of BW + 35# of
Dips x 8
Slant Situps x 15
Chins x 6
Practiced pattern waltzing with my wife at the gym right after those sets.
Weighed in at 185lbs.
Wore a belt last night and it felt great. Coming back from a big offload on Dead Lifts, I think the belt will help me get to where I was (1x5x287) and beyond. Also wore my Chuck Taylors for all sets. Last time I didn't notice any pain in my feet until the next day... so far so good on that.
Starting to feel a little overuse from so many bench press reps and not alternating weekly with the OH Press. I think next week I'll go back to OH Press for a bit. I may see if I can do a Low Rep Max PR on Bench Press on Friday instead of speed sets.

Birfday today.
Afterthoughts: Hams are quite sore, but also noticing some pain in the quads. Used to be pretty much just the hams and I'm taking that as a sign that the hams are adapting and now the quads are getting to do more work. Feet are still fine.
Celebrated at Old Chicagos with the family.... Pizza, Pool and 1554.

[ColoWayno]

Recovery Day.... needed it
Weighed in at 186.4 lbs.
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats 2 x 3 x 220
Press 2 x 5 x 100 (felt heavy)
Power Cleans 3 x 3 x 90
Wore my Chucks for everything... so far so good. I'm worried about power cleaning in them but last night was light.
Then it was off to The Outback for a second birfday dinner with the wife and friends. 1554 to drink of course.
Everyone will and should play with training variables, but I just wanted to say how impressed I am in how well they are defined in SS and PP. When I change a little thing here or there it's not long before I notice I'm getting some trade off in benefits. For example, I stopped alternating presses weekly. I think my bench press will go up a little, but I'm also getting sore elbows and shoulders from just repeating the same exercise. So another slight course correction is in order soon. I think I'm pretty average everything (genetically speaking... except my good looks are way above average :p), so I imagine it's a little different if you are way above average... but overall SS/PP seems to hit the sweet spot pretty well.

[ColoWayno]

Intensity Day:
Weighed in at 185.8lbs.
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 1x5x255 tie for PR)
Bench 1x4x204 (5 reps would have been a PR, but I failed on the 5th rep)
Deads 1x5x240.5

Ok,the reason I have so many funny weights is because the gym I use has weighed all of their bars and only one of them is 45lbs. I also have micro-plates down to 1/2 lb so I can load any 1lb increment. I also have some 1 1/4lb plates. So it all depends on the bar I use and which microplates I grab from my bag and how close I care to getting to a certain weight. It is what it is.
Made up my mind to get to 190lbs by the time I deploy in a few weeks.

[ColoWayno]

Sunday: Team USA loses in overtime. :(
Breakfast: Small bowl of cereal, French Yogurt, Milk, Huge Apple Chicken Sausage, Latte
Snacks: Greek Yogurt, Whey Shake with Milk, Sleeve of Nuts, Mandarin Orange
Lunch: (3rd Birfday Dinner) Fish & Chips, New Castle Brown (pint) 90 Shillings (pint), Some kind of chocolate decadence.

I was so stuffed I had to go play frisbee with my son to get my appetite back. Ordered him to not make the old man run too much. I was 20lbs lighter last time we did that. Felt good to get the heart rate going doing something for fun.

Time to go make a shake and look around the kitchen.

Maybe snowing soon.

[ColoWayno]

Weighed in at 188.2 lbs.
Got my new shoes... the Rip by Rogue or whatever... used them for all lifts.
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats: 5x5x230
Press: 5x5x100
Power Cleans: 3x3x140 (these were hellishly bad)
5x3x120
Chins: 1 x 6 x BW + 35.
1 x 5 x BW + 35

Did a lot of extra power cleaning so I decided to skip the bar dips and situps this time.
I had one of the last sets at 120 recorded but I can't seem to find my post on You Tube. I'll try to link here when I can.

Ok, my son and I breezed through our squats and OH Press for one good reason... we grabbed the wrong bar and didn't realize we were getting about 4 lbs less than we thought (should have been a squats 5x5 pr!). Should be for the better for me since I'm compressing this week into 2 workouts, so Thursday will be intensity day with no recovery day. Going away for the weekend for some fun before being deployed (less than a month out). It also let me focus a bit more on my Power cleans which continue to be a problem.
************ warning: bad power cleaning video below ****************
Please comment if you can.
Ok, this is my first posting of a link so maybe I get it right... maybe I don't... the image quality is horrible so don't watch if that sort of thing annoys you.... next time I'll grab my kids Webbie instead of using my cell phone. This is also the very first time I've ever seen myself doing a lift...
This is the second to last set at 120lbs, so I was starting to get tired.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6dngKFkZGs

Really, the quality is so bad it almost looks like I magically make the bar appear on my shoulders.
The helpful guy that shot the picture was actually giving me some good cues which I thought I was applying, but I don't think I gave him a very good chest up. He also said eyes forward, which I found repeated in Starting Strength. The main thing he pointed out afterwords was that at the point of my jump my quads are almost out of the lift completely. Also, my back doesn't look like I thought it would... it looks a bit too round to me. So, all in all I guess that leaves me a lot to work on... maybe 185lbs will be within reach if I can fix some things.

[ColoWayno]

Forgot to say that I loved the shoes, felt solid on every lift. I got the cool little shoe bag which I proudly put them in when I changed back into my street shoes. I will take that bag to the dusty place I'm going soon.

Also, I got some wicked doms in my right bicep from playing frisbee on Sunday. Makes sense when you think about what the bicep does when throwing, contracting while under a stretch.

[ColoWayno]

Well... looking around the forum I can see that I should have gained more weight (as opposed to spending more time) on the novice program before switching to the TM.
So given that, I might try to go back to linear progression for a while, while gaining some weight. I think I'll wait until I'm settled in my new surroundings here in a few weeks before I change my routine.
So I guess the "Not" part of "Justified or Not" in the title of this forum will apply to me for a while.
I guess that's what the forum is for.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday, recovery
Weighed in at 187.
Figured out a way to get a workout in Friday morning so I went ahead with this recovery workout (sets x reps x lbs):
Squats: 2x3x215
Bench: 2x3x185

Wanted to practice power cleans but my left shoulder was pretty beat up from Monday, so I decided to rest it and get in plenty of practice Friday morning. Overall, except for the shoulder I feel very recovered.

Iced the shoulder when I got home and that felt really good. I have three of those clay filled "ice" packs. I think I may eventually buy a bunch more of those and encase myself in them after workouts. You can fall asleep with them on too and don't have to worry about over-icing because they don't stay super cold for more than about 20 minutes.

[ColoWayno]

Fridays workout:
Weighed in at 191lbs
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats: 1x5x257 (PR)
OH Press: 1x5x120
Power Cleans: 1x3x145 (PR)
Pullups: (BW+35lbs) set of 4, set of 5
Ended up squatting way to forward on one of the heavier warm up reps... muscled it out ok.
Spent a lot of time practicing Power Cleans and was worn out by the time I got to my heavy set. Managed a PR anyway.
I think the extra weight I've put on surprised me on my first set of pullups. Want to try to keep these reps up as I get heavier.

Saturday: Hiking in snow, snowfields, sunshine, frozen ponds, mountain views, with my wife. :)
Lame Bruce Willis movie
Massage

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Volume)
Weighed in at 187.2 lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 5x5x235 (PR)
OH Press: 5x5x110
Deads: 1x6x245

(Below, BW + 35lbs)
Dips: 5
Situps: 15
Chins: 6

Dips are going to be limited for a while by my left shoulder. I'm starting to think the problem started with a loose bench press technique. I think I know the things to fix once I'm benching again (hopefully next week). Will try light benches Wednesday.
Lost a little weight over the weekend away from home. Used to think that's when I gained weight, eating out and all.
My 160lb son is trying 1/2 GOMAD on whole milk for a while. He keeps asking me what he can do for his calves and I keep telling him exactly what we've been doing. He did 5x5x200lbs squats last night. :)

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday: recovery
Weighed in at 189lbs

Hamstrings are S.O.R.E.
The only way to get a workout in today was at the company gym. Not a barbell or dumbbell in sight.
I can't get too specific.... I didn't try to move an impressive amount of those plates, but I got a few reps in at "10" !!!!
Lat Pull Downs
Pectoral actuator thingy (????)
Back Extensions (woo hoo!)
Body Weight Squats (2 sets of 10)
And the best of all:
Sumo Deadlifted the back of the PreCor stationary bike, 10 reps.

Anyway, hopefully this got some blood circulating and muscles back in the ROM I'll need Friday.

[ColoWayno]

Friday:
Weighed in at 188lbs (was on the pepto all day yesterday for some reason)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x5x260 (PR)
Press: 1x4x125 Just went to failure
Deads: 1x5x255
Pullups: BW+35lbs, 6,6

With the belt the Squats and Deads are feeling light.
I'm going to have to post videos (may not be able to do that until I get back in August). People at my gym are starting to consider me an "expert". I'm probably still doing a crap job on most of these lifts... but people do notice after a while when you look like you're on a mission from God every time you walk in the gym.
I'm going to do a minor reset and start a linear progression once I'm deployed (soon). I think it should be easy to train there. I'll have a 12hr by 7 day per week work schedule, but almost nothing else to do but eat, sleep and train. I plan to do some light conditioning for the first 90 days. I want to ramp that up (and cut back on lifting) for the last 30 days. Yep, I'm going to California after that and to the beach. What can I say? I'll still be heavier and stronger than I've ever been.

[ColoWayno]

Monday, volume day
Weighed in at 190lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 5x5x238 (PR)
Bench: 2x5x190, 1x4x190, 2x4x185
Power Cleans: 3x3x120, 3x3x125
Situps (BW + 35) 15

My shoulder felt good so I decided to try for a PR even though I'd just had a two week layoff on benching. I'm glad I tried, the shoulder held up but I didn't get all 5 sets. Focused on keeping everything tight as my form had gotten very loose.
Power cleans are still my nemesis. I decided to just work the reps at a lower weight and try to establish a rhythm. I know I've been staying at the bottom for too long. I think I need a coach's or another experienced lifters eye.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Power cleans are still my nemesis. I decided to just work the reps at a lower weight and try to establish a rhythm. I know I've been staying at the bottom for too long. I think I need a coach's or another experienced lifters eye.

Hi,

this is probably obvious, but have you tried posting a video of your cleans ? There are a lot of very competente people aroudn here who could have a look and give you some useful feedback.

IPB


PS: sorry, just realised how dumb my suggestion was, you already put up a video of your cleans.

[ColoWayno]

Hi,

this is probably obvious, but have you tried posting a video of your cleans ? There are a lot of very competente people aroudn here who could have a look and give you some useful feedback.

IPB


PS: sorry, just realised how dumb my suggestion was, you already put up a video of your cleans.

I don't consider that video of acceptable quality. I'm getting ready to ship out for four months so my priorities have been elsewhere. I bought my kids a Webbie (video cam) and have asked them to find it for me but it's obviously not a priority for them (LOL) (could I have some cheese with that?) I hope to find a camera while I'm deployed that I can use so I can get some help from you kind folks. There might even be someone there who does these lifts... that would be cool.
My stomach is starting to get nervous about the whole thing, but soon I'll be in a new groove... and all of the free food I can eat.
Still, if you can make anything out from that video that would be sweet. It actually looks impressive because it seems like I just wink and the bar is racked.

Thanks!

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hello again,


Still, if you can make anything out from that video that would be sweet.

the video is really a bit too jerky for me. And to be honest, even if it were good, I don't think I can comment on anything beyond the most glaring faults in a PC lift.

Good luck with your deployment. I hesitate to ask you where to because one dumb question a day should really be enough.

IPB

[ColoWayno]

Hello again,

Good luck with your deployment. I hesitate to ask you where to because one dumb question a day should really be enough.

IPB

HA! Damn, if I said where I'd have one helluva job hunting all of my forum buddies down and even tougher job killing each one of you since I know how damn hard you guys are to kill.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

HA! Damn, if I said where I'd have one helluva job hunting all of my forum buddies down and even tougher job killing each one of you since I know how damn hard you guys are to kill.

Ok, I think I've got it. It was actually quite obvious.
Good luck again.

IPB

[ColoWayno]

Good luck again.

IPB

Thanks... I hope to be in touch here.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 190 lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 2x3x205
Press: 2x3x95

[ColoWayno]

Friday: Intensity
Weighed in at 191.5 lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x5x262.5 (PR)
Bench: 1x4x203
Power Cleans: After warm-ups, 5 failed attempts to rack 148lbs.

Wanted 5 reps on bench, but after focusing on upper body form, forgot to space my hands wide enough so I ended up narrow benching these.
What can I say about the Power cleans. I'm buying a video cam tomorrow but it'll be a while before I can get a video posted.
Drowned my PC sorrows afterwords with some friends that I won't see for 4 months. 1554 to drink. I think my glycogen is restored.

[ColoWayno]

Monday, volume
Weighed in at 190lbs
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats 5x5x240
Press 5x5x112
Deads 1x5x265

Here are some videos of my son and myself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRUhtRC0U70
Son Squats 200lbs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkpIZKX7bOw
Son Dead lifts 185lbs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0hqeAI4yWk
Dad Dead lifts 265lbs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SInzBLCLHmY
Dad Squats 240lbs
I'm sitting in the airport now. So blogging will be sporadic.
Let me know if you have any advice on my lifts or on coaching my son (he's fully aware I'm not a qualified coach).

Thanks.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday:

Ended up stuck in a hotel where I'm not supposed to be. Checked out the fitness center. They had some dumbells and a cheap barbell set with no rack. Managed to do some front squats with around 45Kg, which is all they had. Also practiced some power cleans with that weight.
I'm stuck here for two full days. Breakfast was a buffet, so that went well!

What the hell am I going to do in this hotel for two friggin days?

At least I've made it through security so far with all of my gear. Glad our special gear requirements don't include liquids and aerosols.

Ended up eating something bad at breakfast or lunch... the joys of traveling to strange lands.

[ColoWayno]

This is what passes for art when you are stuck inside a hotel for two days. This is some of the essential stuff I packed into my one carry on bag for 120 day visit to a strange part of the world.
Not shown is the video camera I used to take the picture.
Hopefully they've got plates larger than 1 1/4 lbs.

I'm really bored and going crazy here as you can probably tell if you are reading this.

[ColoWayno]

Got in late where I am supposed to be finally... hadn't eaten or slept properly... witnessed an "incident" (but didn't even know it). Anyway, the gym was just steps from my room so I had to go...

This is my restart of linear progression:
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats: 3x5x240 *
Bench: 3x5x175
PCleans: 3x3x115

Was too tired to do anymore

*It's a good gym but they have too many kinds of weights, lbs mixed in with kgs, etc. My tired mind was having trouble figuring out how to load the bar properly. When I unloaded my squat bar one of the weights was Kg instead of LBS... so what the heck. I'll have to be more careful next time.

[ColoWayno]

Sunday
Linear Progression restart 2nd session.
Weighed in at 195 (this was with shoes + gym clothes)

Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats: 3x5x250 (PR)
Press: 3x5x112.5
Deads: 1x5x275

Worked on keeping my knees from floating forward on the squats. Worked on starting position (especially hip placement) on the dead lifts.
They've got some 100lb York plates here. I didn't try to lug them over to use this time but I will. I've never seen those in a gym before.
I haven't been doing a lot of accessory exercises yet. I'm going to add in Weighted situps, chins and pullups soon.
So far things are feeling pretty good. I'm still adjusting to the new timezone but my appetite is improving. Couldn't eat properly for a few days there.
I'm going to start trying for 9 hours of sleep so there won't be a lot of time for much else.

12 hours work
9 hours sleep
1 hour shower+eating+getting places+?
2 hours free

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday, March 31 (Linear Progression Restart session #3)
Weighed in at 196lbs (dressed at gym)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 1x5x285 PR*, 2x5x260 PR
Bench 3x5x185
PClean 3x3x125

* Screwed up and loaded the bar wrong. I got my five reps (not sure the depth was great) but I was thinking wth? Was relieved (and felt stupid at the same time) when I figured out what I had done. Thought about just letting it be a single intensity set but I wanted to squat so I finished out my last two sets at the correct weight. I'm glad as hell I remembered to put on my belt. I blame this all on being so many time zones away from home and working 12 hrs a day by 7 days per week... and being a little stupid.
I think I'm going to look for a "Stupid things I've done" thread or start one.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (#4 in linear progression restart)
Weighed in at 197lbs (dressed)

(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 3x5x265 (PR)
Press 3x5x117.5 (PR)

Got back to my room in time for 8.5 hours of sleep.

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (Linear Progression restart #5)
Weighed in at 195lbs

(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 3x5x270 (pr)
Bench 3x5x190 (pr)
Power Cleans 5x3x130

I'm working out in the evening but I'm having to drink less liquid close to bed time since I have to get dressed and walk outside to the latrine. I'd prefer to do that only once a night if possible. I drink plenty during the day and only need to sip some while I'm working out. Still slamming a protein shake after the workout but I'm chewing dried fruit and a cliff bar instead of drinking my carbs at night.
I've had PR's in Squats/Bench and Press since I've been here. Hopefully the other two PR's will come soon.

Wish I could drink some 90 Schilling or 1554 or 2 Below or Guinness once in a while

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday
Weighed in at 196lbs
Linear progression restart #6
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squat: 3x5x275 (pr)
Press: 3x5x120 (pr)
Deads: 1x5x285 (pr is 287)

This is all getting hard. I still felt like I had a little in the tank with the overhead presses. My neck is sore today (Heavy pressing seems to do that).

[ColoWayno]

Friday (linear restart #7)
Weighed in at 197lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 3x5x277.5 (PR)
Bench: 3x5x195 (PR)
PClean: 3x3x135

Squats are really starting to feel heavy. I think the guys working out in the rack next to me thought I was going to have a heart attack. Of course if they would have gone any where near parallel with the 405 they had on the bar it would have broken them into pieces.
I had plans to add in assistance exercises but this is kicking my butt. I had a little left on the bench so I'm hoping to get one more 5lb jump.

Usually I'm dying to get under the bar for squats but today I had a little apprehension. I thought about repeating a weight or even dropping back five pounds. I didn't want to take a five pound jump, so I settled for 2.5. Does this happen to you after two days off? I'm hoping that I feel like starting the 5 lb jumps again for at least a couple more workouts.

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (Linear Progression reset #8)
Weighed in at 197lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: No work sets, just warmed up to a single at 255
Press: 3x5x122.5 (pr)
PCleans: 3x3x115

I was fighting stomach problems prior to this workout.... I think it's the DEFAC food getting to me. Managed a pr on Press. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do a minor reset on squats starting with the next workout.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Linear reset #9)
Weighed in at 197
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats: 3x5x260
Bench: 3x5x200 (PR)
PClean:

On power cleans I warmed up to 125 then failed a couple of attempts at 140. I decided to try something different. I did 2 reps at 130, 2 reps at 135, then started microloading up to 140. I did two reps each at 136.25, 137.5, and 138.75. Then I did two reps at 140 and called it a day. There were several failures in there but I managed to get two reps before moving up. This is obviously a mental game at this point. Sunday I'm going to try to get a video camera in to where I work out. I think it will be ok, but things are more sensitive here. I think I'm fixing some of the form problems based on watching other videos and reading the critiques, but I've got a way to go.

[ColoWayno]

I still don't have anyone to work out with here. There's a guy I work with that's pretty big and strong but he's got some reasons why he won't lift now. At least we encourage each other at the DEFAC. When one of us slows down eating the other will say, "are you going to let the food win?" The answer is "No, I will not!".

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (linear restart #10)
Weighed in at 199lbs
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squat: 3x5x270
Press: 3x5x125 (PR)
Deads: 1x5x295 (PR)

Ended my second 9 day "week". It was good to make 2 more PRs and still be in PR territory for squats after deloading.
The gym was busy and there didn't seem to be any good place to do floor work on the main floor. I hauled a bar off into a multi-purpose room (had punching bags, tv set for video workouts, matts, etc) and setup for dead lifts there. Unfortunately that meant doing a couple of decently long farmers walks with a 45 lb plate in each hand to get the bar loaded, then again to put everything away.

I don't feel terribly beat up but it might be a little soon to tell. Two days rest and back at it Sunday.
Still haven't done 1 assistance exercise (other than the farmers walks) or any conditioning work... hmmm? Maybe after I feel the need for a big reset I'll add some of that, but this all seems like enough for now.

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (Linear restart #11)
Weighed in at 201lbs
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats 3x5x275
Bench 3x5x202.5 (PR)
Power Cleans 5x3x115
EZ Curl Incline Situps 1x10
Chins: 1x8
I recorded my Power Cleans but am having a hard time uploading them from where I'm at. It's pretty obvious I lose all of the momentum from the first pull as the bar stops almost completely before the second pull... the bar obviously forgets that I pulled it real hard after it stops. No wonder that's where I always get stuck when the weight goes up. I wish I had my copy of SS here but hopefully I can figure this out in the gym.

Here's the link, finally...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rt3zGDz99k

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Linear restart #12)
Weighed in at 200lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: no worksets, warmed up to one set of 5x265
Press: 3x5x127.5 (PR)
Power Cleans: 5x3x135

I've been getting some tips on Power Cleans on the Technique forum. I'm disappointed that I couldn't get it all fixed at once but I think I made some progress. Should be posting a video soon.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (linear restart #13)
Weighed in at 200lbs.
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats: 3x5x280 (PR)
Bench: warmed up only (shoulder nag)
Power Cleans: I did many sets at 95 lbs trying to reach full extension. I tried one last set at 135 but I guess I was too tired.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6V0qkhNjbM

Pathetically light weight but if I can't get extension with 95lbs what am I doing with 135?

Good new, I got another PR in squats. Right now I'm leaning toward trying 282.5 next workout. Otherwise I think I may be done with LP on squats since it's been over a week between PRs.
I may have to reset on presses due to my shoulder, but I think I may be able to have a little more time on LP there.
Just going to drink a bunch of milk and eat as much of the crappy food here as I can stomach (at least it's cooked for me and paid for).

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (linear restart #14)
Weight 201lbs.
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Front Squats: 3x5x135
Press: 2x3x95
Deadlifts: 1x5x305 (PR)

Got to use the York 100lb plates on my deadlift. That was fun except for hauling them over to the bar and getting them on the bar, oh, and the lifting part wasn't fun either. So pretty much just the idea that I used them was fun.
Well, things aren't progressing very linearly anymore (except deadlifts!). Mostly I'm trying shoulder friendly stuff or light weights (or both). The good news is my shoulder is about as good as it was a week or so ago.
I could have back squatted, maybe for a pr, but I didn't want to aggravate my shoulder. Didn't know if deadlifts would work for my shoulder but since there really isn't much ROM they worked fine. If nothing else I think I can keep progressing on those.
Got a shipment of my protein shake in the mail so that should help add about 100g of protein to my diet everyday.
I'm not quite ready to give up on LP yet. If I can get my shoulder happy soon I may be able to get back on track before switching to 531 for the last 8 weeks I'm out here.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday
Weighed in at 200lbs.

I'm going to quit calling this a linear restart. I'm not sure what I'm doing right now but it's not very linear anymore. I could start 5-3-1 now and have 3 cycles before I go home or do a few weeks of TM. The good news is I got another PR on squats.
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 3x5x285 (PR)
Bench 1x4x205 (shoulder)
Power Cleans 3x3x125

When I got to the gym there was a guy doing power cleans so I asked him about it. He was getting back into lifting after 6 years (hadn't lifted since High School football). I wasn't too sure his technique was all that great but I had him take a look at a few of my reps. He knew some good things overall but it didn't end up being that helpful. He also told me I shouldn't shove my knees out on squats, so...

[PVC]

I'm going to quit calling this a linear restart. I'm not sure what I'm doing right now but it's not very linear anymore. I could start 5-3-1 now and have 3 cycles before I go home or do a few weeks of TM.

My thoughts are leaning towards this as well. It's getting to the point where, if I decide to squeeze out every last drop of linear progression, I'll go through short periods of actual linear progression interspersed with long resets in between. At best my progress would be only slightly faster than it would be on an intermediate program, and at worst I would end up wasting months of training trying to facilitate linear gains that can't occur any more.

I'm thinking that the best course of action is to play it safe and switch to intermediate programming for slower but more consistent gains. I'm already in the process of switching my deadlift to intermediate training. My squat just started its last reset today, and my press and bench have just now PRed after a reset a month and a half ago. The minute one of these three lifts stalls again I'm switching it to intermediate. Just my $0.02 USD.

[ColoWayno]

Thanks PVC.
I'm playing with a 13 week schedule (the remainder of my deployment)
I have pretty much decided that I'm going to finish out this week just figuring out my 1 rep max's and start 5-3-1 next week. My shoulder will appreciate the reset. That should give me time for 3 4 week cycles.
Figuring out the 1RM's should make for good and interesting workouts. I'm ready for a change.
I need to start working in more assistance exercises and conditioning. I'll start with 4 days a week lifting on 5-3-1 and see how it goes. As I ramp up the conditioning I'll cut that back to 2 days.
Then... vacation in paradise... ok, California really, but compared to here it's paradise.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday

I'm spending the rest of the week just figuring out 1RM's. So here is where I am so far:
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Deadlifts 1x5x305 (from last weeks session) 1RM is somewhere around 350.
Press 1x2x135 1RM is somewhere around 143.

Saturday I'm going to do the test for Squats and Bench. Monday I'll start my first session of 5-3-1.

Warmup included some back squats with just the bar.
I did my first conditioning session last night. It was pretty wimpy. I did 6 circuits of barbell complex (95lbs), 6 box jumps and chins. The barbell complex was 3 deadlifts, 3 power cleans, 3 push presses.

Followed all of that with two sets of 10 EZ Curl situps (holding the bar straight up, no weights on it yet).

Want to get out and run at least once a week. I think I'll have to get up early to do that.

[ColoWayno]

Saturday:
Weighed in at 200lbs

Today I did rep max tests for squats and bench. I'm estimating from sub-maximal sets.
(lbs x reps)

squats 275x7 so my 1RM is about 330
bench 195x8 so my 1RM is about 242

I did a real easy conditioning session, 10 minutes walking at 4mph on a 3% incline on the treadmill. I hate treadmills but there really aren't any streetlights here for running at night. I'm going to get up early 1 day a week and run outside but I need to find shoes for that. I also did 2 10 minutes walks earlier in the day.

So here are my baseline weights for 5-3-1 (approx 90% of 1RM for 5-3-1)
Press: 125
Deadlift: 310
Squat: 297
Bench: 218

I will program power cleans as an assistance exercise and sometimes as part of conditioning (barbell complexes). I should be able to get a lot of practice and good work on that exercise using 5-3-1.

[ColoWayno]

Monday first day of 5-3-1
(Cycle 1, Week 1)
Weighed in at 200lbs (I don't know how I stay exactly this weight)

Well as excited as I was about starting this I still went off and forgot to write down what I was doing. I remembered pretty well though. I'm not sure I got the starting weight exactly right but it was pretty close.
Press: 90% of 1RM = 125. I think I used 130 for my calculations.

Press: 85x5
100 x 5
112.5 x 8
EZ-Curl Situps 2x10 with just the bar.
Chins: 10,9
After chins I did a barbell complex for conditioning with 65lbs for 10 minutes. I tried a fancy one "The Bear" but realized that I have never high bar squatted in my life and I was having a heck of a time getting the bar to go where it needed to be on my back without killing my shoulders. I never stop giving myself reasons to laugh.
So I simplified it... a lot... I ended up just doing a hang clean into a full front squat, then a thruster from that position. I REALLY liked it although I could only manage one set with a 30 second break. I think working the hang clean like this should help my Power Cleans a lot. I'm going try to get to where I can do these on the 30 second mark and then inch it down to where I'm pretty much going full on for 10 minutes.
I also bought some running shoes yesterday. I'm thinking I'll run Saturday morning.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday 5-3-1 Cycle 1, Week 1
Weighed in at 200lbs (exactly again)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats: 1x5x190
1x5x220
1x10x250
10 minutes of chilling
Power Cleans (1 minute clock for 10 minutes)
9x2x125,
1x1x125

I was pretty happy with 10 reps on my squats. That was a weight that I was shaking under less than a year ago! I think I could have pumped out another rep. A guy ran over to spot me around rep 9 even though I was still feeling pretty strong. I'm not sure if for some weird reason the guy running over psyched me out into stopping at 10.
My power clean session was cool. Not all of the reps were great, but I think there were some really good ones. I've been watching a lot of video, especially what happens with the hips when they extend. I'm starting to trust my reflexes a little bit more. I think that kind of volume and low rep sets is just what I needed. That routine was suggested to me on a thread in programming (I'll link when I find it). What was great was I got every rack until the very last planned rep which I missed. I don't think I could have picked a better weight or rep scheme for where I'm at right now.

http://www.startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=16587

[jacob cloud]

I love those PC's on the minute. They add up, don't they? One cool thing is how many extra reps you get over time, and how easy it is to measure progress on that sort of scheme. Glad to see you liked some of the programming advice I gave you. Have fun with it, work into it a little over time, and let me know if you have any questions. It'll be cool watching your log. I'm pretty anxious to get back into 5/3/1 with some metcon work myself, soon.

[ColoWayno]

Yep, I was pretty tired by the end but still felt like I had time to get into a good start position and had a good chance at getting each rack.

Thursday (Cycle 1, Week 1)
Weighed in at 199Lbs (after workout)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench: 1x145x5, 1x165x5, 1x185x11
Dips: 1x5xBW, 6x3xBW
Treadmill jog, 1 mile in just under 10 minutes.

Bench felt fine but my shoulder didn't feel ready for the dips. I have to figure out if I can dip or if I should do something else for a while. I don't think they made anything worse. I may have to just do a few low rep sets once a week and then another assistance that's easier on my shoulder.

I think I may keep the jog to 10 minutes for now and just try to up the pace. I don't think increasing the time is a great idea at this point. I can tell it's been a while since putting in miles. A year ago I had a sub 8 minute mile. I feel it in my shins immediately.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Cycle 1 Week 1)
Weighed in at 201
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats: 1x45x8, 1x5x135
Deadlifts: 1x5x205, 1x5x235, 1x8x270

Saturday AM: 10 15 second (approx) hill sprints.

I opened with some easy squats because that still seems like the best way to warm up. Did all of the normal shoulder warmup and various other movements I'm used to doing.
This was my most disappointing workout of the week. I realized a while back that I was not really breathing right on the deadlifts (was breathing at the top) I'm still uncomfortable breathing at the bottom and extra reps just made a bad problem worse. I'm pretty sure it's an easy fix, I just have to slow down and take a big breath or two at the bottom.
The good news is I got my ass out of bed early enough to go out and do those hill sprints. I was thinking about the Wendler interview when Rip was talking about his hill sprints and blowing his calve on the 10th rep. I was feeling a little pain and tightness there but fortunately nothing bad happened. These sprints weren't very impressive but I found my form and energy improving toward the middle reps, getting more on my toes, etc. Now to work up to 20 reps and/or maybe some longer intervals mixed in.
Got a late start due to the fact that I hung out and had pizza instead of going to the DEFAC. It seems like a change of pace like that is needed once in a while.
Now to get two good nights of sleep before Week 2 begins.

[ColoWayno]

Just thought I'd post a few days of my typical diet here:
Saturday:
Breakfast (PFC): (nearly always the same)
4 Eggs Overcooked (they say it's safer that way, plus it's the only way they make 'em)
4 Turkey Sausage links
3/4 Cup (cooked) Oatmeal with 1TBLS of brown sugar
Cappuccino (12 oz cup, probably 8 oz of milk) with round tbls creatine

Elevenses (PC):
Fruit 1 cup (today was honeydew melon)
3 egg whites
2 Cups skim milk

Lunch (PF):
Philly Cheese Steak (beef, peppers, cheese with no bun)
1 Polish Sausage
Veggies (carrots, bell pepper, broccoli)

Teatime: (PC)
Protein Shake (50g Whey) in water
Small Orange (cutie type)

Dinner: (PF)
Hamburger with cheese (no bun)
Pork Chop
Veggies (carrots, bell pepper, broccoli)

Bedtime: Protein Shake (50g Whey) in water.

I hope carrots and bell peppers don't disqualify an otherwise protein + fat meal.

[ColoWayno]

Sundays diet was pretty much identical to Saturdays except I didn't have any fruit in the afternoon.

1st and 2nd Breakfast: the same
Lunch: same with a different meat (non memorable)
Afternoon: Whey+H20
Dinner: BBQ chicken, Broccoli and cheese.
Bedtime: Whey+H20

So my last real carb intake was with my second morning meal, and whatever carbs were in the BBQ sauce that coated the chicken I ate for dinner. That was some of the first chicken I've had here that didn't make you gasp for a drink of water with each bite.
In the afternoon I started to get that "dieting" feeling. I don't quite know how to describe it but if you've ever done deficit dieting or low carb you might know what I mean. I'll see what the scale tells me tonight. I'm not shooting for weight loss here.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (5-3-1 Cycle 1, Week 2)
Weighed in at 199lbs.
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats (warmup): 1x8x45, 1x5x135
Press: 1x3x90, 1x3x105, 1x8x117.5
Hang Clean+Front Squat+Thruster Press: 20x1x65 on 30 second clock.
Chins: 10x3xBW on a 1 minute clock
EZ Curl Situps: 6x5x(bar weight) on a 1 minute clock

I like doing all of this stuff on the clock. The Hang Clean combo should actually start being a good conditioning exercise next week when I cut the clock down to 20 seconds. I need to change the chins, add weight or do them faster. I planned on doing 10 sets of situps but failed to keep my arms straight up on the 7th.

I love this guy, but I've got to stop getting political in Ends and Pieces, so I'll post it here. Here's Thomas Sowells latest:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/05/11/a_duty_to_die_105521.html

RIP: Mom, Leigh-Ann, Evie, Ken, and Aunt Nance Ann

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (5-3-1 Cycle 1, Week 2)
Weighed in at 199lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x3x185, 1x3x210, 1x8x265
Power Cleans 10x2x130 on the minute.

I decided to do my distance run after benching on Thursday since my hill sprints won't be until Saturday morning.

I must say the DOMS is great from Mondays workout. I really didn't think I was working that hard on the chins. Also I haven't felt DOMS like this in my ABZ in quite a while. Sweet DOMS.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Cycle 1, Week 2)
Weighed in at 200lbs
(sets x reps x lbs)

Bench: 1x3x155, 1x3x175, 1x9x200

As soon as I walked in the gym I knew I had a problem... been running to the porta crapper every hour or so, now I have these achy joints. So I decided to just see what I could do on the bench press and get the heck out of there. I was pretty happy with 9x200.

After 9 hours of sleep, coffee and some Advil I feel ok. I'll play this evenings workout by ear. I could really use a day or two off but it's not to be until late July or so. My coping mechanism is just to sleep my ass off when I can.

I tried to find a simple meal replacement drink here to help me get some calories in. All they have are energy drinks and body building supps. This really sucks.

[ColoWayno]

Missed Fridays workout
Missed work on Saturday

I went and got some meds Saturday and spent the day sleeping in my room. I pretty much didn't eat anything solid Saturday until around 7:30PM when I had Jello, Honeydew and Toast. Can't wait to find out how much weight I've lost. :(

I'll go for hours feeling fine then I'll get intense abdominal cramps or nausea. Nearly puked last night before dinner but there really wasn't anything in my stomach.

So far today, Gatorade, applesauce, oatmeal and a Cappuccino.
For lunch I managed a small burrito and an egg roll.
For a snack I ate some Pringles
I've downed 3 bottles of water (liters?) plus 20oz of Vitamin Water and 20oz of Gatorade. I've just started my fourth bottle of water.
Many many trips to the latrine. I just bought 4 containers of Cottenelle's, those things are literally saving my ass.
It's kind of fun getting to eat some things that I normally avoid... at this point I think the only thing that matters is being able to keep it down.

Last night I set a recent PR, 7 hours without running to the latrine. I think I'm past the worst. I jumped on the scale, not exactly dressed the same as usual, but I weighed 197... not too bad. Right now I plan to proceed as if nothing bad happened.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Week 3, Cycle 1)
Weighed in at 198 lbs (only 2 pounds lost!)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press: 1x1x95, 1x1x110, 1x6x122.5

I just did my press then a few casual reps on my BB Complex then split. I was just glad to not miss this workout completely.

On the BB Complex I felt I had 0 explosion in my legs which has me a little bit worried about the squat today. My plan is to try to eat enough to replenish... do a long, slow warm up and go for it.

I was happy to have only lost 2 pounds... kind of amazing really. I suppose my effort to stay hydrated is what kept me inflated.

[jacob cloud]

Good deal. Hopefully you've read the 5/3/1 book and realize that somedays are indeed "Jack Shit" days. Nothing wrong with that. Just focus on recovery and you'll be back quickly.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Week 3, Cycle 1)
Weighed in at 200lbs
(Sets x Reps @ Lbs)

Squat: 1x1@240, 1x1@260, 1x3@280
Power Cleans: 10x2@115 (1 minute clock)

This wasn't exactly where I was hoping to be at this point but I'm still in the game so that's good. I tried PC's @135 and felt no explosiveness. If I've got the energy later this week I might try them again.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Week 3, Cycle 1)
Weighed in at 198lbs

(Sets x Reps @ Lbs)
Bench: 1x1@165, 1x1@190, 1x4@210
Dips: 10x2@BW on a 30 second clock
Jog: 1.05 miles in 10 minutes.

The dips are sort of like a painful physical therapy right now, at least I hope there's some value in doing them. I'm pretty sure they aren't making anything worse. I've narrowed my grip on the bench press a bit and those don't bother my shoulder at all now.
Jogging felt better this week.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Week 3, Cycle 1)
Weighed in at 198lbs
(sets x reps @ lbs)
Deadlifts: 1x1@240, 1x1@270, 1x5x300

I think I have my breathing figured out on dead lifts which is good.

[ColoWayno]

Trying to clean up my diet a bit here. I wasn't really doing well with so many meals so I'm going to try 3 meals a day plus an improved post workout meal or bedtime shake.

I have a feeling I'll lose a little weight at first until I get the intake adjusted.
(Sunday)
Breakfast: 4 eggs with ham and cheese
1/3 cup of cottage cheese
1 cup whole milk
1 12 oz Cappuccino.
1 Banana
1/4 cup oatmeal

Lunch:
Asian style beef ribs (no sauce)
Pork (some kind of mildly sweet sauce)
Cooked Peas + Carrots (1/2 cup)

Dinner:
1 Whole Cornish Game Hen
1 Piece of Meatloaf
1 Cup Curry Veggies

These guys at the DEFAC list Fat and Protein, but never Carbs on the servings. I think I'm getting enough from breakfast and the veggies but I really don't have a good way to tell. Anyway the only carbs I'm getting after breakfast are from veggies or sauces. I'm skipping the really sweet meats like General Tsao, etc.

(Monday)
Breakfast: 4 eggs with ham and cheese
1/3 cup of cottage cheese
1 cup whole milk
2 12 oz Cappuccino.
1 Orange

Lunch:
Ribs
Teriyaki Chicken
Cooked Carrots
Salad
Iced tea (unsweetened)

Dinner:
Two Chicken Breasts
Curry Shrimp
Curry Veggies
Cooked Cauliflower

Post workout:
1 cup orange juice
2 cups lowfat milk.

Tuesday:
Breakfast:
4 Eggs w/ cheese (cook couldn't understand ham :( )
1/3 cup cucumber slices
1/3 cup cottage cheese w/pineapple slices
1 cup whole milk
1 Cappuccino.

Can't remember lunch, but I had some BBQ chicken nuggets for dinner. I couldn't finish them without scraping off the sickening sweet sauce. I really have developed a distaste for shit like this.
I didn't log Wednesday, but I've added more veggies and/or salad to my 3 main meals and it's making a huge difference when I visit the "comfort room".

Thursday:
Breakfast: Cucumber slices,
4 eggs w ham&cheese,
1 orange, bacon,
1 cup milk, 1 Cappuccino
Lunch: Beef
1 deep fried mexican thingy with chicken and cheese (yep, stuff I usually avoid)
Peas + Carrots
Salad

[jacob cloud]

I've narrowed my grip on the bench press a bit and those don't bother my shoulder at all now.
Jogging felt better this week.


Might have already been mentioned, but if you're having shoulder pain on bench, really tucking your shoulders BACK (and to some extent, "down")and tucking your elbows IN has helped me more than I can explain. I can feel the "right" spot to have my shoulders now, and as long as I keep my elbows from flaring out, I have very little shoulder pain while benching (knock on wood).

[ColoWayno]

Thanks Jacob. Unfortunately I didn't start paying much attention to my form on BP until I started having some shoulder problems. Since I worked on that my shoulder has gotten very slowly but steadily better even though I've continued to bench. I'll keep those cues you gave me in mind.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Week 4, Cycle 1)
(Sets x Reps @ LBS)
Press 1x5x50, 1x5x65, 1x5x80
BB Complex 1x29@65 on a 20 second clock.
(1 hang clean into a full front squat, thruster press)
Pullups/Chins 9x3@BW+10, 1x2@BW+10 (1 minute clock)

I missed a rep on my BB Complex trying to smash a @#$@%ing mosquito.
I missed my last chin up rep due to failure. I love it when that happens.

I have a question about 5-3-1. I assume conditioning goes along as normal during recovery week? What about accessory exercises?
I had a little extra energy for this workout and wanted to use it.

Saw some actual low bar squatting going on last night. This guy was strong as hell and had 4 wheels on the bar for 405. I had to stop and give the guy props. Asked if they power cleaned but they hadn't.

I can tell I'm in for some DOMS from those chins/pullups. Not sure how cool that is during "recovery" week but it feels pretty sweet.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Week 4, Cycle 1)
Weighed in at 197lbs
(sets x reps @ lbs)

Squats: 1x5@135, 1x5@165, 1x5@195
Power Cleans 7x2@132.5

Technically I should have had less weight on the bar for my recovery squats but would have been too embarrassed to load up all those little plates to get to 120.
Ok, I'm a guy therefore an idiot. I made the mistake of saying something in my shop about the DOMS I was getting from my chins the other day. So of course since there's a chin up bar right outside our shop, a stupid contest had to ensue, just as my DOMS was setting in deep. After seeing a bunch of partial rep chins I had to show these young guys how they are really done.
This may have contributed to the problem I had with power cleans, maybe doing the BB complex the day before is a mistake too. Although I will say now even when I have a bad day with these, I know the difference when I do a rep right. The weight snaps right up on my shoulders. This still surprises me. That's when I know I'm getting it right.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Cycle 1, Week 4)
Weighed in at 195lbs
(sets x reps @ lbs)
Bench: 1x5@95, 1x5@115, 1x5@135
Dips: 10x2@BW
Jog: 1.1 miles in 10 minutes.

So, it's clear I'm losing a little weight. Amazing how much better the running feels 5 lbs lighter. Gotta up the calories though, next week I gotta lift hard.

Food Log continued:
Breakfast:
V8
4 eggs, ham & cheese
Bacon
2 Oranges
1 Cappuccino
16oz whole milk

Lunch:
2 Chicken Breasts with wings
Medium Salad
1/2 cup rice

Dinner:
Stir fry with Beef and Shrimp, 1/2 cup rice, veggies
Large Salad

Post WO: Tart Cherry Juice, 50g protein shake

Saturday:
Breakfast: 4 eggs w ham & cheese
Bacon
1/2 cup cucumber slices
16oz whole milk
1 Cappuccino
1/2 Grapefruit

Lunch:
2 Chicken Breasts (fried)
Steamed Veggies (1/2 cup)
Rice (1/2 cup)
Medium Salad with Olive Oil and Vinegar

Dinner:
Stir Fry w/Beef+Chicken+Shrimp+Veggies+1/2 cup rice
Large Salad

Sunday:
Breakfast:
4 eggs with ham&cheese
3/4 cup cottage cheese with fresh pineapple
8 oz whole milk
1 Cappuccino
1/3 cup Cucumber Slices

Lunch
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup steamed veggies
medium salad w/olive oil + vinegar

Dinner
Stir Fry with chicken+beef+shrimp+veggies+1/2 cup rice
Large salad with soy oil based dressing (this is crap, but they don't always have the olive oil)

-Rinse Repeat- I'll probably quit logging food for a while unless there's a dramatic change. When I go very low carb in a few weeks I'll do some more logging.

I've added in a tuna salad in the afternoon on most days, with olives and mayo.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Cycle 1, Week 4)
Weighed in at 197lbs
(Sets x Reps @ Lbs)
Deadlifts 1x5@135, 1x5@185, 1x5@205

Got 9 hours of sleep. I feel amazingly rested this week.
The weights on recovery week are pretty light so I just go for close approximations (at least on the bigger lifts) that are easy to load and don't make me look like an idiot (so I'm not loading tons of little plates to get to a 200lb deadlift instead of just going for 205)

All of the veggies and salad have made a huge difference in how I feel. This last week has been about the only normal week I've had over here. I'm a true believer now.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Week 1, Cycle 2)
Weighed in at 196lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)

Press: 1x5x85, 1x5x100, 1x8x115
BB Complex: 30x1x65 on a 20 second clock
Pullups/Chins: 7x3xBW+15, 3x2xBW+15 (1 minute clock)

BB Complex = 1 hang clean into a full front squat followed by a thruster overhead press.

Waiting to see what kind of DOMS sets in from the pullups and chins. The BB Complex seemed to kick my butt more than usual.

Good sleep after this workout which took less than an hour. Lights out for nearly 9 hours. Woke up once briefly.
Using a 1RM calculator:
Last 1RM for Press 140.1
New 1RM for Press 142.6

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Week 1, Cycle 2)
Weighed in at 196lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 1x5x200, 1x5x230, 1x6x260
Power Cleans 10x2x125
EZ Curl Situps 10x5xEZ Curl Bar

Well this workout pretty much confirmed what I suspected, that I've dropped off on my squats quite a bit. That last set felt like a 5RM, I managed to grind out 6.
I'd like to know which factors contributed the most to this disappointment:
1) Getting sick and losing 4 or 5 lbs
2) Reduced volume (5-3-1 vs 2x or 3x a week squatting)

I'm adding 8 oz of milk to my post workout nutrition and 8 more to breakfast. So, post workout I had 8 oz lowfat milk, 50g protein shake and about 30g carbs in tart cherry juice. Trying to not grow my gut so I can fit into my clothes.

I also didn't feel much snap in my power cleans. I think I pretty much need to start over with a decent coach. Didn't find any from Colorado on the new list of SS coaches but I'm sure we have them.

I want to get certified for snorkeling this fall. I'm planning a trip with my wife and some friends to Nicaragua next Spring. Also want to try surfing while I'm there. I'll have to see if I can squeeze in some coaching sessions too.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Week 1, Cycle 2)
Forgot to weigh in.
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench: 1x5x145, 1x5x170, 1x8x190

Something I ate was on the fast track out so running was out of the question. I'm going to try to run tonight after Dead Lifts.
Next week I'm going to start trying the Big But Boring approach and throw in some back off sets to try to halt the downward spiral.

I'm past the half way point on my deployment. Having these blocks of time carved out helps the time fly. Less than 2 more cycles of 5-3-1 and I should be on my way home.
Looking forward to vacation and the Fall. My 48th birthday is in the fourth week of February. I would like to be doing a 5RM 3 plate squat by then. August will be spent mostly on vacation. I want to do some hiking with my wife and sons in September while the weather is good, but that shouldn't completely stop me from progress toward my goal. After September though I should be hitting the weights pretty hard. I'll be working on a plan between now and then.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Cycle 2, Week 1)
Weighed in at 198lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Deadlift: 1x5x215, 1x5x250, 1x8x280
Jog: 1 mile in 10 minutes.

Started getting a little mid-afternoon meal of tuna salad with olives and Miracle Whip. Upped my post workout meal to 16oz milk + 50g protein shake.

Here's Gov Christie taking no prisoners.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/04/gov_christie_to_teachers_unions_you_punch_them_i_p unch_you_.html

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Cycle 2, Week 2)
Weighed in at 196lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press: 1x3x90, 1x3x105, 1x7x120,
(backoff) 2x3x115
BBComplex: 20x1x65 on a 30 second clock
Chins: 9x3xBW+15, 1x2xBW+15

BBComplex = 1 hang clean into a full front squat, 1 thruster press.

It's getting a little hot over here. It's been hovering around 117 during the day. A little cooler yesterday and today thanks to a nice sand/dust storm.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Cycle 2, Week 2)
Weighed in at 198lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x3x215, 1x3x245, 1x4x275
(backoff: 2x3x245)
Powercleans: 10x2x125 (one minute clock)

I forgot to note in my log that when I got sick I stopped taking creatine. I'm adding that back in now ... I obviously need all of the help I can get. I'm hoping it doesn't mess up my digestion which has been pretty good lately. I think I've finally figured out the right amount of food to maintain weight. I think creatine will add a few pounds and hopefully some energy.

It's amazing how quickly my squats have fallen off. Possible factors:
Weight loss from being sick
Only 25-40oz of milk per day instead of 1/2-3/4 gallon
Reduced volume on the lift
No Creatine
Heat
Homesick

Shit, I don't know. It seems like I have more apprehension getting under the bar for squats only squatting once per week. Part of this is probably just lack of experience with this amount of weight.

The good news is that I've gone back a belt size and my clothes are fitting better (which is good because I'm stuck with these clothes for a while).

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Cycle 2, Week 2)
Weighed in at 196lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)

Bench: 1x3x155, 1x3x190, 1x6x210lbs
backoff sets: 2x5x185
Jog: 1.16 miles in 10 minutes

This was a good day in the gym. I loaded the bar 10lbs heavy for my last two work sets by accident so my disappointment at only getting 6 reps only lasted until I figured that out. I also had a lot of energy for my jog and I'm getting close to an 8 1/2 min/mile pace.
It seems my bench press hasn't dropped off much if at all since going to 5-3-1.

1RM est from last weeks bench = 236LBS
1RM est from this weeks bench = 244LBS
This probably had a lot to do with how I felt on the given days. Could also be creatine and/or improved diet. I dunno, but I'll take it.

I want to get back to the Texas Method later in the fall. So my current plan is
August: Vacation... recover from deployment... try to lift once per week or so.
September: Hiking while the weather is good. Consistent lifting, ramp it up to adjust to high volume workouts.
October: SS Linear Progression, hit the calories and weights hard (get a little bit fat).
Mid Nov-Dec: Begin Texas Method (depending on how long I can keep LP going)
Feb 23rd (my birthday) Squat 1x5x315!
Feb 23rd drink beer (first squat, then drink)
I need to figure some goals for my other lifts as well. Haven't thought about it too much.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Cycle 2, Week 2)
Weighed in at 198Lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Deads: 1x3x225, 1x3x255, 1x6x290

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Cycle 2, Week 3)
Weighed in at 197lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press: 1x1x100, 1x1x115, 1x6x125 (PR)
BBComplex (Hang Clean into front squat with thruster press) 20x1x65 on a 30 second clock
Chins: 9x3xBW+30, 1x2xBW+30 on a 2 minute clock.

Press was another PR, Yeah!

I probably looked pretty funny doing my chins. I literally stood on a box under the chin up bar for 20 minutes with 3 10lb plates dangling between my legs doing my timed sets. After about 15 minutes I got a big smile from a lady who had been working in the area, probably because I looked stupid.
I wanted to increase the weight and possibly do fewer sets. I decided to give myself a 2 minute clock instead of 1 minute and see how many sets of 3 I could do before missing a rep. I was surprised to still be going after 5 sets. I just couldn't quite eek out that last rep on the 10th set. Maybe all of those years of doing weighted chins before discovering SS are paying off.

Just realized I forgot to do back off sets for my presses. Maybe I'll do a couple after benching on Thursday.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Cycle 2, Week 3)
Weighed in at 198lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x1x230, 1x1x260, 1x2x290 (GM'd the last rep)
Backoff set: 1x8x225
Power Cleans 10x2x125

I feel like I've lost the killer instinct for squats (if I ever had it). I feel like I'm yelling at a kid in the outfield who is picking dandelions, and the kid is me. I just want me to leave myself alone.

That said, I've never had 290 on my back before (but I did 3x5x285 a month and a half ago).

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Week 3, Cycle 2)
Weighed in at 198lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench: 1x1x170, 1x1x190, 1x4x215
Backoff: 1x8x185
Press: 1x8x100
Jog: 1/2 mile in 4 minutes.

I wasn't super happy with my bench session, but that is a PR for 215.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Cycle 2, Week 3)
Weighed in at 197lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x5x135, 1x5x200, 1x5x230
Deadlifts: 1x1x225, 1x1x275, 1x6x305 (pr... was my back rounding?)
Squats: 5x10x150 (I spaced these about 3 minutes apart.)

My wife just showed me our new puppy on Skype. Yep, it's cute. It's a female bullmastiff/boxer mix.

Took some advice from my whiny thread in Recovery and added a ton of squats to this workout (65 reps!). We'll see if I feel more in the groove next week (which is a light week... kind of wish it wasn't. Hmmm?)

I need to check my form on deadlifts. I'm pretty sure I'm losing some back extension. Not sure how bad it is. Time to take the camera.

I changed my schedule up a little bit. I'm now eating Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I'm putting the 4th meal later in the evening after workouts. I think I felt hungrier for each meal and it felt less like stuffing myself. Also had my protein shake about an hour after that last meal.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Cycle 2, Week 4)
Weighed in at 197lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press: 1x5x85, 1x5x100
BB Complex 20x1x65 (on a 30 second clock)
Chins 5x3xBW+45, 1x2xBW+45 (on a 2 minute clock)

I was going to repeat my "5" week instead of doing a recovery week but my shoulder was bugging me on the presses. I will probably repeat my "5" week for squats and deadlifts, but probably not for bench.

I was really happy with the chin session. I didn't know if I'd be able to pull myself up 1x with that plate but it went up easy. I might throw in a second chin session Thursday. I'm thinking a single heavy set after some warm ups.

After workout meal: >1 can of tuna with olive oil and black olives, salad with egg and cheese, fresh pineapple, 16oz milk and (about an hour later) a 50g protein shake.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Cycle 2, Week 4)
Weighed in at 199Lbs
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats: 1x200x5, 1x230x5, 1x260x7
(Backoff set) 1x8x230
Power Cleans 10x2x130 on a 1 minute clock

I decided to not take a light week on squats to see if I can stay "in the groove" better next week. This is basically a repeat of cycle 2 week 1. I managed to add a whole rep to my 260 set.
My power cleans are always light. I did increase them by 5 lbs this week.

I will say that 199 lbs now doesn't feel as strong as 199 did when I was pumped up on a lot of milk, though I think I'm a little leaner now.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Cycle 2, Week 4)
Weighed in at 197lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench: 1x5x95, 1x5x115, 1x5x135
Chins: 1x1xBW+45, 1x1xBW+70
Intervals: 4x1/4 mile @ 8 min/mile pace. 2 minutes rest.

Trying to get the treadmill interval thing working for me. It tries to time out during rests if you don't play with the speed or something. Plus, there's the hopping off and on a moving belt problem. So far so good. I just use the handrails to make sure I don't go flying.

Did a single heavy chin up. I'm enjoying these a lot now.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Cycle 2, Week 4) 1 Cycle to GO!!!
Weighed in at 198lbs
Squats: 1x5x200, 1x5x230
Deads: 1x5x135, 1x5x165, 1x5x195

So in summary, this week was supposed to be a recovery week and mostly was. I did repeat my last "5" workout for squats in order to keep a little sharper on them. I added squats as warm ups to this workout. I also did heavy chins this week which is probably not part of recovery but I'm enjoying them too much.

I have 1 Cycle to go before I'm outta here!!! I would like to finish well and I don't care so much about over training a little because I'm going on vacation when I get back home, so who knows what I'll do. I want to up the conditioning some too so I'll probably try to throw another running session in the mix.
I'll think of something by Monday!

[GVA-66]

Ooh Colo...

Your chin up sessions are awesome. Your getting soooo big and soooo strong. I can visualize your massive muscles flexing and rippling with each rep. Your wife is such a lucky woman ;-)

[ColoWayno]

* Checks CP for personal information *

Ahh... thanks.

I guess I asked for it.

[drewcarroll2]

dude, Your numbers look great. Is the body weight solid? well done bro!

[ColoWayno]

dude, Your numbers look great. Is the body weight solid? well done bro!

I've got a little gut going, but not bad for my age (47). When I first got here I was going for the gains in the weight room and had to expand the belt a notch. I've lost that extra inch since then though. I'd like to see if I can dial it in a bit more over the last few weeks here without losing a lot of strength (preferably none). I'll probably log more of my plan here as I go.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Cycle 3, Week 1) Last 5/3/1 cycle before I go home!
Weighed in at 198lbs
(sets x reps x lbs)
Press: 1x5x90, 1x5x105, 1x9x117.5 (PR Est 1RM = 151)
Back off: 1x6x105
Chins: 4x3xBW+50 (cheated last rep of last set), 1x1x50 (2 Minute clock)
Back off: 1x8xBW
BB Complex: 20x1x65 on a 30 second clock.

Feels like I'm making decent progress again! The real test will be squats tonight.
I met my match at 50lbs using that chin up rep scheme. Should I repeat the set next week to see if I get it, or should I change it up?

Ok, after becoming thoroughly confused about diet advice, here's the basic outline of what I'm doing given my Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri workout schedule:

It looks like my macro breakdown on a lifting day will be around 39% fat, 39% protein and 22% carbs.

Sat-Sun: (rest)

3 Meals
Restrict carbs to morning meal (milk+fruit+oatmeal+milk) plus daily veggies (carrots and bell peppers in 2 large salads)
Plenty of protein from Eggs and Meat
Fat from Eggs, Meat and Olive oil
Protein Shake before bed
Start reloading carbs with last meal on Sunday.

Mon: (press day)

4 meals (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Post workout)
Continue to reload carbs, especially at breakfast.
Eat big overall.
Post workout meal, Tuna, Lettuce salad, 16oz milk
Protein Shake before bed

Tue: (squat day)

4 meals
normal carb intake (mostly in morning meal, and post workout meal)
other than that, same as Monday.

Wed: (rest)

Same as Saturday.

Thurs: (Bench day)

Same as Tuesday

Fri: (Dead lift day)

Same as Tuesday


I hope to be able to burn some fat cells over the weekend and keep the energy up on lifting days.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Cycle 3, Week 1)
Weighed in at 198lbs
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats: 1x5x205, 1x5x235, 1x7x270
Power Cleans: 10x2x130 (1 Minute Clock)

Increased squats by 1 rep and 10 lbs over my last "5" day.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Cycle 3, Week 1)
Weighed in at 198lbs
(sets x reps x lbs)
Bench: 1x5x150, 1x5x170, 1x10x195*
Press: 5x10x70
Interval Run 5x1/4 mile @ 8 min/mile pace, 2 minutes rest.

* My spotter got a little too involved in this set so it doesn't really count.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Cycle 3, Week 1)
No Weigh in
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Deads 1x5x215, 1x5x250, 1x5x280
Squats 5x10x155

Abz Rollups: 1x50 (flattening your back into the floor)
Knee Raises: 1x25 (each leg, stand up, raise your knee to your chest level)
BB Grapler Abz: 4x8x70 (sort of a dance with the barbell weighted on one end).

I'm gonna be abzilla.

Since I need my back to start feeling better I'm taking a break from heavy squats and deads. The plan is to keep my all-out sets to 5,3 or 1 rep. I'll use some of the extra energy to try some ab work. Some of the extra energy won't be there anyway as I get more serious about shedding some fat.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Cycle 3, Week 2)
Weighed in at 198lbs (3 day avg = 198)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press 1x3x95, 1x3x110, 1x7x125 (PR)
Chins 3x5xBW+25, 1x4xBW+25
BB Complex 18x1x65 (on 30 second clock, missed reps due to mosquito that eventually got me anyway)
Ab Rollups 1x50
Standing Knee Raises 1x25 (Each Leg)
Cable Crunches 4x8 (100 lbs on the stack)
Plate Choppers 4x8x25

I'm going to try to drop a few pounds over the next 3 weeks and see how I feel. Hopefully I can drop about 5 or a little more without doing too much damage.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Cycle 3, Week 2)
Weighed in at 196lbs (3 day avg 197.3)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x3x200, 1x3x230, 1x3x260
Power Cleans: 10x2x130 (1 minute clock)
Good Mornings: 5x10x40 (2 minute clock)

Ended up using a 40 lb bar. It didn't occur to me to weigh it until after the workout. No wonder everything seemed light.
I'm taking it easy on the squats to make sure I don't aggravate my lower back. I started taking Ibuprofen for the first time in a couple of months. I guess that's not a bad drug-free run.

I went super light on the GM's since it's new to me. I can feel it in the hammies though.

[RobertFontaine]

Have you tried aleve? I find it seems to do a better job with swelling. It's good to see an old guy doing 5/3/1. Being a youthful 43 it gives me some hope that I'll still be able to lift when I get old like you.

[ColoWayno]

Have you tried aleve? I find it seems to do a better job with swelling. It's good to see an old guy doing 5/3/1. Being a youthful 43 it gives me some hope that I'll still be able to lift when I get old like you.

I've "borrowed" that from a guy at the office before. It does a good job.

One of my favorite "age" quotes was from an oldster, Ronald Reagan, when he debated Walter Mondale in 1984. When the issue of age came up he said:

"I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponents youth and inexperience".

[ColoWayno]

July 8 (Thursday)
Weighed in at 195
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench 1x3x160, 1x3x185, 1x7x207.5
Press 5x10x75
Ab Rollups 1x50
Standing Knee Raises 1x25 (each leg)
Grappler 4x8x35

July 9 (Friday)
Weighed in at 195
Dead lift 1x3x230, 1x3x265, 1x3x300

July 12 (Monday)
Weighed in at 195
Press 1x1x105, 1x1x115, 1x5x130
Chins 3x5xBW+25, 1x3xBW+25, 1x5xBW
Ab Rollups 50
Standing Knee Raises 1x25 (each leg)
Plate Choppers 4x8x25

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (Week 3, Cycle 3)
Weighed in at 197
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)

Squats 1x2x185, 1x1x225, 1x5x265
Power Cleans 10x2x135

I'm not really following 5/3/1 anymore for squats, and this will be my last week for the other lifts as well. I have two weeks to go after this and I probably won't be doing a "program"... just doing some lifts.

In Late August or September I'll be starting over with a big reset and linear progression.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Cycle 3, Week 3)
Weighed in at 194lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench 1x1x170, 1x1x195, 1x3x220 (third week in a row I couldn't get a spotter to keeps hands off the bar... Did I do these reps? I'll never know. Would have been a PR)

Chins 1x5xBW, 1x2xBW+25, 1x1xBW+45, 1x1xBW+75 (269=PR)
Intervals 6 x 1/4 mile @ 8min/mile pace, 2 minute rest

Still enjoying my chins. I think my BW is only 3 lbs lighter than my last PR which was +70.

[RobertFontaine]

Why are you stopping 5/3/1? - Personal schedule? Not Productive?

I'm also on Cycle 3 / Wave 3 oddly enough so I've enjoyed peeking over your shoulder.
http://www.canadabodybuilding.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17893

[ColoWayno]

I'm taking kind of a long vacation after a long deployment, so I'll be mostly out of the gym for 3 or 4 weeks... I'll grab a workout here and there if I can get it.

When I get back I'm going to do short versions of linear progression and advanced novice. After that I was leaning toward using TM for a while though I'm not completely committed yet.

I think I'm just sort of getting the hang of 5-3-1 and how assistance exercises fit in, etc. so I will most likely make use of it in the future.

As for the next couple of weeks (before I go home) I still have to think of something.

[RobertFontaine]

Enjoy the vacation :) A little healing time is usually a good thing.

Yes Texas Method or Starr's Intermediate 5x5 are almost certainly more efficient programs for advance novice/intermediates. I went from 18 months of SS (insanely productive), to 10 months of DC (moderately productive) to month 3 of 5/3/1 (still waiting to see how productive it will be).

My Squat/Deadlift stalled under the DC program as it is more of a body part HIT'ish program but it's fun and I put on some muscle.

I'm hoping that 12 months of 5/3/1 will put me solidly into the intermediate lifter categoy. I'm pretty sure TM or intermediate 5x5 would do it quicker but I like the simplicity and the short workouts.

Another option if you like volume is sheiko. It is apparently quite productive but it takes significantly more gym time.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Cycle 3, Week 3)
Weighed in at 194lbs
(Sets x Reps x lbs)
Deads 1x1x250, 1x1x280, 1x1x315

Shortest workout ever! I hit my minimum reps in everything except squats on my 5-3-1 run. I'm sort of out of steam mentally and I have two weeks of deployment left. I'm tinkering with the idea of doing some speed work, maybe like the TM template:
Monday: Squat Volume, OH Press Volume, Power Cleans or Deads, 1 assistance
Wednesday: Bench (light), Chins, Ab work
Friday: Squat DE, OH DE, Power Cleans

I think I'll just repeat this for two weeks. If my shoulder feels better I might switch to bench press.

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (free wheelin' it)
(Weighed in at 193lbs)

Just walked 1.5 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill. Was a nice evening but there's some sort of kidnapping threat or something... so the boring treadmill had to do.

Read a lot of good posts about DE work and decided to skip it this go around. My current plan is to do something Rip recommended to a baseball player who has to incorporate sprinting.

Mon: Squats, Pulls, Sprinting
Tues: Press + Chins
Thu: Squats, Pulls, Sprinting
Fri: Press + Chins

Reps will be light with an emphasis on bar speed... but not like in DE.
I've been doing a volume day and an intensity day on chins, I think I'll keep doing that.

Sadly, my current sprinting pace is equivalent to my former distance run pace but so be it.

[ColoWayno]

Monday
Weighed in at 194lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 3x5x240
Power Cleans 3x3x135
Interval Run: 5x10-15seconds @ 6 min/mile pace

Felt tired and weak on squats and power cleans.
The interval run on a treadmill is interesting. I let the treadmill accelerate the belt until it stopped accelerating, then counted the time from that point. Not too satisfying but I suppose it gets the job done, sort of.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday
Weighed in at 194lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press 3x5x105
Chins 5x5xBW+25 (3 minute clock)

I was expecting to do OHP reps closer to 120. I warmed up to a single at 115 then just decided to back off to 105. I guess this is what a caloric deficit is doing to me, but I've only dropped about 4 lbs; that and the fact that I haven't been doing sets across like that for a couple of months.

Hammies are real sore from my sets across on Monday. Hopefully they'll have recovered for Thursdays squat session.

I'm still enjoying chins.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday
Weighed in at 193lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squat: 3x5x225
Deads: 1x5x305
Intervals: 4 x 1/4 mile @ 7.8mph pace, 2 minute rest (7:42 minute mile)

Hammies were still sore from Monday so I did lighter squats. 1x5x305 for deads ties my PR. I'm hoping I'll have a PR in me next week on deads to end this adventure on a high note.

Strangely, my hammies feel better than before that workout. This all leads me to believe that I need more frequent, higher volume workouts on squats (along with plenty to eat) in order to make any progress and not be sore all of the time.

[ColoWayno]

Friday
Weighed in at 194 lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench 3x5x190
Chins 1x1xBW+80 (PR)

This will be my last Friday night workout here. If I'm organized enough by next Friday, I may try to get in a morning or afternoon workout before jetting out of here.
Then 24 hours of travel, lots of airline beer, food and sleep.

[ColoWayno]

Monday
Weighed in at 195lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 3x5x250
Power Cleans: 5x2x140
Interval (treadmill) Run: 8x~50 yards @ 6 min/mile pace.

I feel more mentally able to exert myself on squats this week.
I need a coach for power cleans. I'm getting a tiny bit stronger but my technique is not consistent and is probably never really all that good. I easily get too tired to concentrate properly. Keeping the sets at 2 reps seems to help that.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press: 3x5x115
Chins: 5x5xBW+30 (3 minute clock)

Thursday
Dead lift: 1x5x315 PR!

Friday
I'm so excited to be leaving today I can't concentrate. I'm going to try to sneak off to pack, take care of laundry and other "chores". Those are going to include some Squats, Bench and Chins.

I was out of time so I skipped everything but the chin
Got 1x1xBW+90 !!!! PR

[ColoWayno]

Monday (8/2)
Weighed in at 189lbs (back to normal, neked morning weigh in)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 3x5x220
Bench: 1x5x195

Drug my jet-lagged butt to the 'Y' for a very low energy workout.

Now that I'm having to scrounge for my own food, I'm losing weight. It sure tastes a heck of a lot better though.

EDIT: also realised that being at 6000 feet makes a difference in how you feel.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (Vacation workout)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats: 3x5x235
Press: 3x5x110
Deads: 1x5x315

It's good to sneak a few minutes away on these family vacations to workout.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Vacation Workout 2)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats: 3x5x235
Bench: 1x3x205 (Wow.... weak)
Chins: 3x5xBW+25

[ColoWayno]

Friday (Last Vacation workout)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 1x5x235
Bench: 1x5x185
Press: 1x5x105
Deads: 1x5x315
Chins: 1x5xBW+25

Going to have to get used to volume again next week. So far I'm looking forward to getting somewhat back to normal.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (Easing into volume)
Weighed in at 188lbs
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats: 2x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x135, 1x2x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x220
2x5x235
Press: 1x8x45, 1x2x95
2x5x105
Power Cleans: 1x3x45, 1x3x95, 1x3x115
2x3x125

I'm surprised at how quickly the upper body strength has gone... hopefully it comes back quickly too.

[ColoWayno]

5' 11", 191lbs
OK, I have 25 full weeks until my 48th birthday, starting Monday, August 30th. I think I'll keep a countdown of weeks to go in my log. I'm upping my goals a bit from what they were.
Dead lift: 1x5x375lbs (Current 1x5x315) +60lbs = 2.5 lbs per week (updated after week 1, lowered this goal from 400).
Squat: 1x5x335lbs (Former PR 3x5x285, Current 3x5x235) +100lbs = 4lbs avg per week
Bench: 1x5x250 (Former PR 1x2x220, Current 3x5x185 (easy)) (+65lbs = 2.6 lbs avg per week)
Press: 1x5x150 (Former PR 3x5x127.5, Current 3x5x105) (+45lbs = 1.8lb avg per week).
Power Clean: 1x3x175 (Former PR 5x2x140 or some such thing, Current 1x3x125) (+50lbs = 2lbs avg per week)
Chins: 1x3xBW+90 (Former PR 1x1xBW+90) (I'm not sure about this goal since my BW will go up as well).
These seem like a stretch to me, but there you go. Hopefully I can add 20-30lbs to my squat in the first couple of weeks since I'm expecting a few significant resets in there and much slower progress towards the end.
UPDATE Sept 18, I'm most likely going to lower my bench press goal.
All of the former PR's were about 3 or 4 months ago.

Putting the mobilitywod link here so I can find it.
http://mobilitywod.blogspot.com/

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (Return to volume)
Weighed in at 190
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 1x8x45, 1x5x95, 1x4x135, 1x2x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x120
3x5x235
Bench 1x8x45, 1x4x95, 1x2x135
3x5x185

[ColoWayno]

Friday
Weighed in at 191.8
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 2x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x115, 1x2x135, 1x2x185, 1x1x205, 1x1x220
3x5x235
Press 1x8x45, 1x2x95
3x5x105
Deads 1x5x135, 1x1x225, 1x1x285
1x1x315

Squats felt ok but that dead lift didn't feel right at all. No harm done except I didn't get my 5 reps. This all made me contemplate skipping the novice phase and going straight to advanced novice... I'll see how it goes next week, the first week of my 25 toward my goals. I'm feeling a little discouraged at this point but it's early

[ColoWayno]

Monday (25 weeks to go counting this week!)
Weighed in at 191 lbs
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squat 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x5x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225
3x5x245
Bench 1x8x45, 1x4x95, 1x3x115, 1x2x135, 1x1x165
3x5x190
Power Clean 1x3x45, 1x3x95, 1x2x115, 1x1x125
5x2x135

This workout felt much better than my last. I'm thinking I'll try for 2 weeks of straight novice style linear progression (though that was probably my last 10 lb jump on the squats). Then I'll move onto advanced novice. I had a 10 minute walk to Safeway after this workout to fetch some fixings for dinner, then a 15 minute walk home from there. Drank a bottle of Nesquik on the way home. Was a beautiful summer evening here. Gotta get some sleep now.

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 1 small potato, 4 cups whole milk (60gm protein) (fish oil, niacin, baby aspirin)
Snack: 1.5 oz heart healthy nuts (9gm protein (not sure this kind really counts)).
Lunch: 5oz tuna, herb+greens salad, feta cheese, 2 tbls olive oil, 2 cups whole milk, 1/4 cup blueberries (42gm protein)
Pre Workout: 6 oz steak, 1/2 sweet potato, herb+greens salad, feta cheese, 2 tbls olive oil, 2 cups whole milk (58gm protein)
Post Workout: 16 oz Nesquik (mmmmm) (16 gm protein)
Dinner: 2 plates of ground grass fed bison nachos covered with cheese, sour cream, salsa (? 40gm protein?)
Creatine+Glutamine hot tea
Bedtime: (Cassein Shake, fish oil, niacin) (25gm protein)
I believe that's a neat 250 grams of protein!

Sleep: sleep was pretty crappy ... probably about 4 really solid hours after taking something at around 1:30. I will try to make a little of that up tonight.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 192.4 lbs
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 2x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x5x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225
3x5x250 Smooth!
Press 1x45x6, 1x75x4, 1x95x1
3x5x110
Chins 1x5xBW
3x5xBW+30

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 3 bison sausage patties, 4 cups milk (about 70g protein), coffee (fish oil, niacin, baby aspirin)
Snack: 1.5 oz nuts (9g protein)
Lunch: 10oz tuna, green salad with 2 tbls olive oil and feta, 1/2 cup blackberries (40g protein)
Pre Workout (15:45) : 6oz Steak, 1 whole sweet potato, 2 cups milk, coffee (58g protein)
Workout (17:45)
Post Workout (19:00) : 16oz chocolate milk (16g protein)
Dinner (19:30): Chicken Breast, Baked rice + veggies, Green salad w/Almonds + Olive Oil (30g protein)
Bedtime: (Casein Shake, fish oil, niacin) 25g protein
(248g protein)

Slept good Tuesday night with a little help.
Wednesday night... not so good. It looks like my eating/workout plan is good for working out but not so much for getting to sleep.

[ColoWayno]

Friday
Weighed in at 191 lbs
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 2x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x5x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225
3x5x255
Bench 1x8x5, 1x4x95, 1x3x115, 1x2x135, 1x1x165, 1x1x180
3x5x195
Dead lifts 1x5x135, 1x2x225, 1x1x275
1x5x315

I'm probably going to reset and recalibrate my goal for deadlifts. I thought I could make a couple of 10lb jumps but I can't see it now. I'm glad I got my reps at 315. So far I'm happy with the progress on the other lifts but my starting point for this run on deadlifts is my all time PR.

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 3 bison sausage patties, 3 cups milk (about 60g protein), coffee
Snack: 1 oz cashews (5g protein)
Lunch: 10oz tuna, salad greens, 2tbs olive oil, 1/2 cup blackberries (40g protein)
Pre Workout (15:30) 1/4 chicken, 3 small red potatos all covered in shredded cheese, 1 cup milk, coffee (about 48g protein)
Workout (17:30)
Post Workout (19:00) 16oz chocolate milk (16g protein)
Dinner (20:00) Split Peppercorn Burger and Chicken salad with my wife, 16oz Beer (40g protein?) I had trouble eating this and finishing my beer.
Creatine + Glutamine tea.
Bedtime: Cassein Shake (50g protein)
(259g protein total)

So at 4% into my schedule my progress toward my goal is:
Squats 20%
Bench 15%
Press 11%
Deads 0%
Power Cleans 20%
I'm closer on most of these since I'm usually doing 3x5's and my goal is usually just 1x5s.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (24 weeks to go counting this week http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=15104&page=13)
Weighed in at 192.4
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 2x8x45, 1x8x95, 1x6x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225, 1x1x245, (Walkout 295)
3x5x260
Press 1x8x45, 1x4x65, 1x1x95
3x5x115

Spent part of the weekend wrestling with a deck sander and did some painting. Those things are wicked heavy so I haven't quite recovered from Fridays dead lifts yet. I'm drinking a lot of milk and eating a bunch of food so I'll see how I feel in the afternoon after a nap. I have a feeling a warmup will erase 90% of the pain and let me get my lifts done.

So I got this done... mostly... I bailed out on the power cleans after a couple of warmups. I figured it might be better to wait for a stronger day so I'll give these a try Wednesday. Squats and press felt good though amazingly.

My puppy just peed on the carpet because she couldn't get outside because I've stained the deck... gotta go.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 190.8 (wth?)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 2x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x5x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225 (belt on), 1x1x245, Walkout 295
3x5x265 Starting to get heavy
Bench 1x8x45, 1x4x95, 1x3x115, 1x2x135, 1x1x185
3x5x200
Power Cleans 1x3x115
5x2x145

I've been on low fat milk. I'm wondering if that's why my weight hasn't gone up. I guess I won't worry about weight until my lifts stall.
I'm leaning toward going to a light squat day next week. I'll keep PC's on Wednesday. Reasons: I need a day when I'm not whipped by squats to do PC's, I think I can progress just as fast by keeping 5 lb jumps up longer.

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 4 cups milk, grapes, coffee (60g protein) (Fish oil, Niacin, Baby Aspirin)
Snack: 1.5 cups milk (where are my cashews?) (12g protein)
Lunch: 10oz tuna, 1 oz cashews (found them), 2tbs olive oil, Salad greens and herbs, 1.5 cups milk (55g protein)
Pre Workout (15:30) T Bone steak, 1 Sweet Potato, 2 cups milk, coffee (56g protein?)
Workout (17:45)
Post Workout: 16oz chocolate milk. (16g protein)
Dinner: Thai Peanut Chicken, Rice, 1 cup milk (40g protein)
Creatine + Glutamine tea
Bed time: 2 scoops whey 50g whey
(289g Protein)

Sleep: I've been stressed out about work so I started taking a benadryl to help. It's working pretty well. I've also been using a device called Respirate which uses music to accomplish guided deep breathing. My blood pressure is always lower after using it. Pretty cool way to spend 15 minutes but the midi music track they use SUCKS.
Update: Couldn't get to sleep last night until I was done on the pot, which took a couple of hours (on and off) and was very uncomfortable. Sorry to share.

[ColoWayno]

Friday
Weighed in at 192.6lbs (Weighed 201 at the gym dressed)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x115, 1x4x135, 1x2x165, 1x1x205, 1x1x225 (belt on), 1x1x245, Walkout 315 (wow)
3x5x270
Press 1x8x45, 1x4x65, 1x1x95, 1x1x110
3x5x120 (belt on)
Dead Lifts (all belted) 1x2x135, 1x2x225, 1x1x295
1x5x325 PR!
Chins 1x5xBW
1x2xBW+45
Switched to whole milk yesterday...

Food:
Breakfast: 4 huge eggs, grapes, 3.5 cups milk (58g protein)
Snack: 1.5 cups milk (12g protein)
Lunch: Chicken Breast (thai peanut sauce), Herb+Greens salad + almonds + 2TBS olive oil, 1.5 cups milk (42g protein)
Pre Workout: Bison Brat, Egg Salad, Quinoa, Oatmeal, Blackberries, 4 cups milk, Coffee (60g Protein) (Random stuff ehh?)
Post Workout: 16oz chocolate milk (16g protein)
Dinner: Ribeye steak, brocholi (50g protein)
Creatine+Glutamine tea
Whey shake (50g protein)
(288g protein)

8% into my schedule here's where I sit:
Squats: 35% (35 of 100lbs to gain)
Bench: 23% (15 of 65lbs)
Deads: 16% (10 of 60lbs)
Press: 33% (15 of 45lbs)

Still doubting I'll be able to make enough progress on deads but we'll see! Stuff is going to slow down real quick. Gotta keep eating.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (23 weeks to go counting this week http://startingstrength.com/resource...=15104&page=13)
Weighed in at 193.6lbs (workout time weigh in dressed, 198)

Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 2x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x5x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225 (belt on), 1x1x255, 1x1x315 (walkout)
3x5x275
Bench 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x115, 1x2x135, 1x1x185
3x5x205 PR!
Power Cleans 1x2x95, 1x2x115, 1x1x125, 1x1x135
5x2x145 PR!

The last rep on my power cleans needed a little arm help at the top to rack it. I'm still having trouble with fatigue when it comes time to do my power cleans. I started to feel sick to my stomach on my last set of bench press (was a PR!). I took long breaks on my warm ups for cleans and felt a little better by the time I finished my work sets. I should be doing 8 sets of 2 but my workout is already taking over 2 hours and I'm very fatigued by the end. Squats felt heavy, but good. Very little GMing I think. I think my heavier dead lifts are carrying over here.
Food (back on lowfat milk):
Breakfast: 4 eggs, grapes, 3.5 cups milk (58g protein)
Snack: 2 cups milk (16g protein)
Lunch: Burger Patty, Herb+Green Salad with almonds + olive oil, 1.5 cups milk, blueberries (42g protein)
Pre Workout: Burger Patty, Sweet Potato, 1.5 cups milk (42g protein), Coffee
Post Workout: 16oz chocolate milk (16g protein)
Dinner: Chicken, Rice, Beans (25g protein)
Shake: 50g protein
Creatine+Glutamine tea

249g protein.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 192.2lbs morning, 200 dressed/evening
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Press (cleaned) 2x6x40, 1x4x60, 1x2x90, 1x2x110
3x5x125
Squats 2x8x45, 1x4x95, 1x4x115, 1x4x135, 1x2x185, 1x2x205
2x3x225 (belt)
Chins
3x5xBW+35 (235)
I've been pretty inconsistent with chins so I was happy with that.

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 1/2 apple, 3.5 cups 2%, coffee (58g protein)
Snack: 3 cups milk (1.5 2%, 1.5 whole) (24g protein)
Lunch: 10oz tuna, leafy green salad, almond slices, 2tbs olive oil, 1.5 cups whole milk (52g protein)
Pre Workout: Steak (3 or 4 oz), 1/4 cup blueberries , 2/3 sweet potato, 3 cups whole milk, coffee (45g protein)
Post Workout: 16oz delicious chocolate milk (16g protein)
Dinner: Chicken, Rice, Green Beans, 16oz 2%, (46g protein)
Creatine + Glutamine tea
Shake: (50g protein)
291g protein

Sleep/Recovery: it took quite a while to fall asleep. Shoulders are sore from those chins as I've been very inconsistent in doing them.

[ColoWayno]

Friday
Weighed in at 195lbs (morning) 203 (evening/dressed)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 2x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x5x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225 (belt on), 1x1x245, 1x1x260, walkout 315
3x5x280
Bench 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x5x115, 12x135, 1x1x170, 1x1x190
1x4x205(fail), 2x2x205 Backoff 1x7x185
Deads 1x5x135, 1x2x225, 1x1x275, 1x1x315
1x5x335 PR!

Food:
Breakfast: 3 egg omelette w/bacon+sausage, 1 cup milk, potatos (40g protein)
Snack: 1oz Cashews, 3 cups whole milk (29g protein)
Lunch: 10oz tuna, salad greens, ricotta cheese, almond slices, olive oil (45g protein)
Pre Workout: Pulled pork, slice gluten free bread (wife got it for me to try), 4 cups milk (57g protein)
Post Workout: 16oz chocolate milk (16g protein)
Dinner: Ginger Salmon, Veggies (30g protein)
Creatine + Glutamine tea
50g shake.
(267g protein)

Sleep/Recovery:
I'm starting to feel a pulled muscle developing in my left pec. It popped before about 5 years ago when I was doing my own made up program that didn't include any warmups. Might research doing some prehab with the Star protocol if that's appropriate. I'm now more hopeful about my deadlift goal than my bench press goal. Went to the volunteer day at my church and shoveled rocks for an hour Saturday morning.

12% into my schedule here's where I sit:
Squats: 45% (45 of 100lbs to gain)
Bench: 31% (20 of 65lbs)
Deads: 33% (20 of 60lbs)
Press: 44% (20 of 45lbs)

Average Weekly Weigh in: 3 week change = +2.1lbs
Week 1: 191.5
Week 2: 191.9
Week 3: 193.6

[ColoWayno]

Monday (22 weeks counting this week http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=15104&page=13)
Weighed in at 192.6lbs (morning)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 2x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x5x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225, 1x1x250 (belt on), 1x1x270, walkout 315
3x5x285 ties for PR
Press 1x8x45, 1x6x65, 1x2x95 1x1x115 (belt on)
3x5x130 PR
Power Cleans 1x3x95, 1x2x115, 1x1x125, 1x1x135
5x2x150 PR!

My work computer was on the fritz so I took the morning off while it was being repaired. Squats felt hard but very smooth for me. Very little if any back angle problems. The PRs on the press took everything I had. Felt a good jump in all of my warmup cleans, but nothing on my work sets. Get to watch my team the 49'ers tonight instead of being at the gym.
I've got a problem in that my workouts are starting to take more than 2 hours. This leaves me in bad shape for whatever is last on the schedule. I need to either back off or start taking some chocolate milk or something. Part of the time issue today was helping a guy who is partially paralyzed use the leg press.
Food:
Breakfast (07:30) : 3 eggs, sausage, 2 cups milk, 1/2 apple (46g protein)
Pre Workout (09:30): 12oz milk, 12 oz chocolate milk. (24g protein)
Post Workout (13:00): 12oz yogurt shake, bananna, protein/creatine shake (75g protein)
Lunch (17:00 late): 10oz tuna, leafy greens+herbs, cashews, 2tbs olive oil, blackberries, 1.5 cups whole milk: (57g protein)
Dinner: (20:30) KFC! (grilled)+ green leafy salad with feta cheese and 2tbs olive oil, 1.5 cups milk (47g protein)
Bedtime: Greek Yogurt (14g protein)

263g protein

Sleep/Recovery:
Slept OK last night. The first 4 hours were solid. The next 4.5 were off and on. I'm feeling a little pain in my lower ribcage on my back. Must have pulled something slightly. I'll have to see what it affects on Wednesday.
Update: ended up with the runs today... maybe too much milk and yogurt, though I tried to make up for it with a couple of salads.

[TartanEagle]

My workouts are pretty long, as well (about 75 - 90 minutes). You may want to reduce your warm up volume, if possible.

[ColoWayno]

My workouts are pretty long, as well (about 75 - 90 minutes). You may want to reduce your warm up volume, if possible.

I'd be pretty happy with $1.50 at this point. I may not change a lot though since I think I won't be on Advanced Novice much longer. I'm sure I'll end up having to deal with this at some point though no matter what program I'm on.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 195lbs morning, evening dressed 201
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x6x115, 1x3x185, 1x2x205,
2x3x225 no belt
Bench 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x3x135
2x3x185
Chins 1x5xBW, 1x2xBW+25
3x5xBW+40 (241)

I'm going light tonight except for chins. I'm going to try sticking with advanced novice as much as possible until I hit at least a 15lb pr in squats at 300.
I probably should have done light chins too, but I got them done. Pec felt ok but I can still tell it's not 100%. Hopefully it will be by Monday.
Food:
Breakfast: 2.5 eggs, 1/2 apple, 3 cups 2%, coffee (40g protein)
Snack: 1.5oz nuts, 12oz milk, creatine tea, (21g protein)
Lunch: 10oz tuna, salad greens and herbs, 2 tbls olive oil, 1 oz cashews (45g protein, about 600kCals)
Pre Workout: (15:45) 5oz grass feed ground beef, 1/2 cup (uncooked measure) rice, 2 cups whole milk, coffee (51g protein)
Workout: (18:00)
Post Workout: 16oz yogurt drink (22g protein)
Dinner: Chicken breast, salad greens w/almond + feta cheese + 2tbls olive oil, mashed potato's and gravy (30g protein)
Shake: (creatine + whey 58g protein)
267g protein

Sleep/Recovery: My lower back has a bit of an ache. Nothing that unusual. Probably because I tried for more explosion on my squats and may have gotten a little sloppy. Time to go stretch out and get some sleep.

[ColoWayno]

Friday
Weighed in at 202 (evening, dressed)
Sorta not feelin' too great today. We'll see how it goes.
Squats are getting high. Time for a 10% reset on all of my lifts. This will probably be my only reset before starting TM. Still want a 300lb squat before changing programs.
The good news is that I got my squat session done in 40 minutes.

Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 1x8x45, 1x8x95, 1x6x115, 1x4x135, 1x2x185, 1x1x205, 1x1x225, 1x1x245, 1x2x265, 335 walkout
3x5x290 I recorded the second set and they were high. Tried to fix on the third set but muffed the video start. Would've been a PR.
Press 1x6x45, 1x2x95, 1x1x115 (all cleaned)
2x5x130, 1x4x130 (fail) Repeat at this weight. The first set was cleaned. Grabbed the rack for the last two sets.
Deads Skipped these tonight


Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs scrambled with cheese+milk, 4 cups milk. (64g protein)
Snack:
Lunch: Double Cheeseburger, Fries (58g protein)
Pre Workout: Oatmeal, 1.5 cups milk, 4oz ground beef (grass fed) (40g protein)
Post Workout: 20oz, chocolate milk (20g protein)
Dinner: Ribs, Chicken Salad, 1 cup milk (38g protein)
Shake: whey + creatine (50g protein)

(270g protein)

Sleep/Recovery:

Average Weekly Weigh in: 4 week change = +2.3lbs
Week 1: 191.5
Week 2: 191.9
Week 3: 193.6
Week 4: 193.8

[ColoWayno]

Saturday ... I'm reserving this day for whatever I want to do.

Today:
Made breakfast for my son and myself (the wife was working)
Played through lessons from my jazz piano book and some scales
Did a page of stretching from Bob Anderson's stretching book.
Took the dog on a long walk in an open space by my house.

Now for lunch, shower and a nap.

I have an appointment for a massage tomorrow.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (21 weeks counting this week http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=15104&page=13)
Weighed in at 193.8lbs (morning), 201 evening dressed
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 1x8x45, 1x8x95, 1x6x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225, 1x1x250, 340 walkout
1x5x270, 2x5x250 Recorded the 270 set and it was ugly. Recorded one of the 250 sets, I think it was pretty good. Forgot my cable for my camera but I'll post some of these.
Bench 1x8x45, 1x4x95, 1x2x135, 1x1x165
3x5x185
Power Cleans 1x3x95
8x2x135 Recorded one of these. I think it was pretty good. I'll post when I find my cable.

Breakfast (07:30) : 4 eggs, 3 cups milk, 1/2 apple (52g protein) tried adding some coconut milk to my cappuccino, couldn't tell.
Snack : 12oz milk (2%), creatine tea, 1.5oz nuts (18g protein)
Lunch 10oz tuna, salad greens, 2 tbls olive oil, 3 cups milk (2%) (64g protein)
Pre Workout (15:45) 1/2 cup rice (uncooked measure), 5oz ground bison, 12oz milk (whole) (47g protein)
Post Workout: 20oz chocolate milk (20g protein) added 4oz coconut milk to this.
Dinner 10pc nuggets from Wendys (23g protein), salad greens w/2tbls olive oil, Parmesan Cheese
Bedtime: Creatine+Glutamine tea, 50g whey shake

(274g protein)

I'm going to start trying to sort out when to drink whole milk and when to drink lowfat. I think with a protein fat meal I'll use whole. After a workout or with a protein carb meal I'll use lowfat. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes but what can it hurt.
Sleep/Recovery:

[ColoWayno]

Ok, this first squat video (290lbs) made me think I needed to reset the weight to reestablish depth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0u0VtwAEDo

Here's my effort to do that at 250
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvoIKL-dC3Q

Note the applause at the end.

Here are some power cleans at 135
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNOF4WlBFb4

Sorry about the mirror shot on the first squat set, that wasn't intentional.

Posted all of this in the Technique section as well.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 195lbs morning
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats

Bench

Chins


Woke up in the night with lower GI troubles. Ate a small breakfast. We'll see how it goes.
16:30: had to take some of the Loperamide I got when I was overseas. This is ridiculous.
19:40: I'm sitting this one out tonight. Hopefully I'll kick some butt on Friday.
Food:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 strawberries, 1.5 cups 2%, coffee
Snack: 1.5 cups whole milk, 1 oz cashews.
Lunch: 4oz ground bison, picked at the rice.
Pre Workout: I didn't sweat trying to eat more today.
Workout: ???
Post Workout:
Dinner:
Shake:


Sleep/Recovery:

[ColoWayno]

Friday
Weighed in at 194.6

Did some fasted cardio this morning, walked the dog for about 10 minutes. I'm going to try to make that a habit and stretch it out to 20-30 minutes. It's already cold enough early in the morning for my hands to feel a bit numb so I'll have to start piling on the layers soon. I'm going to follow that with a page of stretches from the Anderson book. I'm also going to start trying to replace some (most?) of the milk I've been drinking with meat and veggies.

I'm switching to a Sat - Mon - Wed schedule to accommodate my wifes schedule. So, this ended up being kind of a recovery week. Probably not too terrible a thing.
So my transition plan is:

Sat: Squat, Press, Power Cleans (just a few sets to warm up), Deads (it'll be 2 weeks and a day since I deadlifted)
Mon: Squat (light), Bench, Chins,
Weds: Squat, Press, Power Clean

Then back to pretty much what I've been doing:
Sat: Squat, Press/Bench, Power Clean
Mon: Squat (light) Press/Bench, Chins
Weds: Squat, Press/Bench, Deadlift (probably 2 weeks on/1 week off)

Week 1: 191.5
Week 2: 191.9
Week 3: 193.6
Week 4: 193.8
Week 5: 194.5

0.6 lbs per week.

[skills101]

Hey you have rip's shoes -sorry if this was brought up somewhere in your log, but how do they feel? Been thinking about buying a pair.

[ColoWayno]

Hey you have rip's shoes -sorry if this was brought up somewhere in your log, but how do they feel? Been thinking about buying a pair.
They seem really good. I've only had those and chucks. I have high arches and they seem to give me decent support. I've had them since March and they are holding up well. I heard another guy say that one of his straps broke, but I see little signs of wear on mine.
So, I guess that's a "recommend".
They seem to be sized like normal shoes too.

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (is the new Monday) (20 weeks counting this week http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=15104&page=13)
Weighed in at 194lbs (morning), 201.5 (dressed/afternoon)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats 1x8x45, 1x8x95, 1x6x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225, 1x1x245 (belt on), walkout 340
3x5x270 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ym25u51y7c (3rd set)
Press 1x8x45, 1x4x95
2x5x120, 1x7x120
Power Cleans
2x2x135 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QfmvJ5UO7g (first set)
Deads 1x2x225, 1x1x275, 1x1x295, 1x1x315, 1x1x330,
1x3x345 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrcXEpjQbSg
I only had my phone so these videos are not great quality.
I'll probably deload the deads also to work on form.


Did 25 minutes of walking before breakfast.
Food:
Breakfast (07:30) : 4 eggs, 4oz gf ground beef, 2 cups milk, small bowl steel cut oats (80g protein)
Pre Workout: (12:30) Shake, 16oz 2%, 35g whey protein, 1 Banana, A little chocolate syrup (50g protein)
Workout: (13:00)
Post Workout: (15:30) 16oz chocolate milk, Creatine (16g protein)
Lunch (16:00): Pei Wei, Ginger Broc Beef and Pei Wei Spicy Chix Salad (split all with my wife about 70/30) (40g protein?)
Dinner: (21:00) grass fed burger pattie, 1/2 avocado w/lemon juice, glass white wine (25g protein)
(211g protein)
Bedtime: Shake 50g whey
Total: about 260g protein

Sleep/Recovery:

[ColoWayno]

Monday (the new Wednesday)
Weighed in at 193.2lbs morning, 200 evening/dressed
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Bench 1x8x45, 1x6x45, 1x4x115, 1x2x135, 1x1x155, 1x1x175
2x5x190, 1x9x190 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl6CW9wUWgc (Set #1)
Chins 1x5xBW, 1x2xBW+25
1x5xBW+45 (245), 2x3xBW+45 (failure) Time to reset these and try the 5,5,max routine.

My upper body is fried. Everything was still sore from the dead lifts on Saturday.
Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 5 little smokies, 1/2 apple, 2 cups whole milk, small bowl oatmeal, coffee (55g protein)
Snack: Beef Jerky, 3 Strawberries, 1 cup 2% (23g protein)
Lunch: 1/3 cup rice (uncooked measure), 4oz ground bison, 1 cup milk (36g protein)
Pre Workout: Chicken Breast, Salad + Olive Oil & Feta, 1oz Cashews (35g protein)
Post Workout: 16oz lowfat chocolate milk (16g protein)
Dinner: Wendys 10pc chicken nugget, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1.5oz heart healthy nut mix (44g protein)
Creatine
Shake: 50g whey

About 260g total protein

Sleep/Recovery:
Sunday night: Slept well from around 10pm to 4am with no assistance. Pretty spotty after that. I'm happy that I've been getting some good sleep without taking benadryl or something else.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 194.2lbs (morning)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Press 1x8x45, 1x3x95, 1x1x115
2x5x125, 1x6x125
Squats 1x8x45, 1x8x95, 1x6x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225, 1x1x245 (belt on), 1x1x260, walkout @350
3x5x280 I'm not positive about depth except I think I was good on the third set.

Here's the 3rd squat set:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_VOElBEiG8

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs w/cheese, 2 cups milk, 1/2 apple (48g protein)
Snack: Beef Jerky, 5 strawberries (15g protein)
Pre-Lunch: 5oz tuna, salad greens, feta cheese, almond slices, olive oil (25g protein)
Lunch (out at a Chinese restaurant) 1 cup hot&sour soup
Pre Workout: 10oz ground bison, 1/3 cup rice (uncooked measure) (60g protein)
Post Workout: 16oz chocolate milk (16g protein)
Dinner: 1/4 chicken, salad +veggies, olive oil, feta cheese, almonds (40g protein)
Creatine
Protein Shake (50g)
(254g protein)
I don't like to eat a lot of Chinese food but this is a little social gathering, so I did a pre-lunch and I'll probably just order some soup.

Sleep/Recovery:

Average Weekly Weigh in: 3 week change = +0lbs (gotta step it up)
Week 1: 191.5
...
Week 4: 193.8
Week 5: 194.5
Week 6: 193.8

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (19 weeks counting this week http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=15104&page=13)
Weighed in at 193.6lbs (morning)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Bench 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x115, 1x2x135, 1x1x155, 1x1x175
2x5x195, 1x7x195
Squats usual many warmup sets.
Singles at 225, 245, 265, 275, 285, 295(PR), 305(PR)
Chins 1x5xBW
2x5xBW+20, 1x8xBW+20

My depth is pretty much always suspect.
Squat 285: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNOLg7Tin9Y
Squat 295: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJSYNf9amQA (really cranked my neck up on this rep)
Squat 305: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nld-tWxNy8
Chins 8xBW+25 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4xIFspEBB8

I've obviously stopped gaining weight, and I'm having recovery trouble with my hamstrings. I went out and cheated at Biaggis last night and everything.
I decided against the volume workout for squats today so I did a bunch of singles into some new territory. Hopefully my hammys will thank me Wednesday.

I'm looking at one of JP's templates. So I'm moving Deadlifts to my middle (Mon) workout. I'll do power cleans to warm those up. I'll do chins on day one (Sat). I may also add heavy chins on day 3 (Weds) if I have the energy, though I'm starting to think I might be better served doing GMs or something (or nothing)

Food:
Breakfast (08:30) : 4 eggs, 6 little smokies, 2 cups milk, small bowl oatmeal, 1 Apple (65g protein)
Pre Workout: Bananna, 12oz milk, Beef Jerky (27g protein)
Workout:
Post Workout: 16oz chocolate milk (16g protein)
Lunch: 2 bison patties (8oz before cooking), 1/2 avocado with lemon juice (45g protein)
Dinner: 5oz steak, mashed potatoes, spinach (30g protein)
Snack: 3 hard boiled eggs (21g protein) (204)
Creatine
Bedtime: Shake (75g)
Total: around 280g protein.

Sleep/Recovery:

[Squatson]

How many chins can you do? You might consider practicing the chins, and training another lift that helps bring up your chinning strength. If you can only do 5-6 chins, do some lat pulldowns. Find somewhere to do chins when you aren't at the gym, bang out doubles.

[ColoWayno]

I just did 5,5,8 at BW+20. I might have had an ugly rep left in the tank on the last set. I haven't tried an all out BW set lately, I'm sure I'd be disappointed but I would expect to be able to get 12 or more. When I was about 25lbs lighter I could do 20.
For now I'm starting to follow something like JP's 5,5,max routine for chins.

[Squatson]

check out my log in the competitive section...today will be my 2nd workout doing the program you mentioned.

[ColoWayno]

check out my log in the competitive section...today will be my 2nd workout doing the program you mentioned.

Cool, I'm looking forward to seeing how this works.

[ColoWayno]

Monday
Weighed in at 194.4lbs morning, 202 dressed/gym
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Press a couple of warmup sets
3x5x127.5
Power Cleans
5x1x130 bleh
Deads 1x2x135, 1x2x225
1x5x315

Did about 25 minutes of walking before breakfast. It's dark, there are many rabbits which means there are also predators about. I saw a family of Coyotes about 30 yards in front of me the other day. I started packing heat.

Everything felt pretty bad. The only good sign was that my press sets were getting progressively easier, except for the last rep which got progressively harder. Strange. I wanted to do some recording but the Monday night crowd made that pretty hard. I'm really looking forward to getting my bar and I can start getting more use out of the video camera. Gotta get my platform up to snuff. I'm thinking about extending it to 10x8 to give me more room for floor work.

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 6 little smokies, 1 apple, 3 cups 2%, coffee (65g protein)
Snack: Beef Jerky, 1/2 cup raspberries (15g protein)
Lunch: 10oz tuna, salad, olive oil, 1oz cashews (45g protein)
Pre Workout: 2 burger patties, rice (1/3 cup dry), 12 oz milk (55g protein)
Post Workout: 3 cups chocolate milk (24g protein)
Dinner: fail
Creatine + Glutamine
Shake: (75g protein)

About 280 grams protein total
Sleep/Recovery: Sleep has been pretty good, no drugs and usually about 7 hours. I'm getting some vague aches here and there.

[ColoWayno]

LOOK DOWN, YOU FUCKING MORON! HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU HAVE TO BE TOLD THIS??? AND SHOVE YOUR FUCKING KNEES OUT!!! COMMIT TO THE DEPTH AND USE IT TO REBOUND, DOUCHEBAG!!!!!
Classic Rip.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 195 lbs (morning)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Bench 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x115, 1x2x135, 1x1x165, 1x1x180
2x5x200, 1x8x200
Squats I just did some doubles and singles up to 300

This ended up being a bad angle for judging depth... what do you think?
1x300 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6Gd_IXtuYw

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 5 little smokies, 2 cups milk, 1/2 apple (45g protein)
Snack: 25g whey, 12oz milk (37g protein)
Lunch: 10oz tuna, salad, 2tbls olive oil, 1 oz cashews (45g protein)
Pre Workout (15:30): 2 chicken breasts, 1/2 sweet potato, 1/2 cup raspberries (50g protein)
Post Workout: 12oz chocolate milk (12g protein)
Dinner: Nachos w Ground Beef and Cheese (40g protein) (~230 total)
Creatine
Shake (75g protein)
About 305g total protein

Sleep/Recovery:
I'm sleeping longer and harder, but it feels like I'm not getting enough. I think it's related to the time of year. I really want to sleep pretty much all of the time. Gonna get T-levels checked out here soon. I feel I could really be using that kind of a boost right now. For two days in a row I chose a little extra sleep over the morning cardio. I think I just need to go to bed earlier.
I'm having some pretty significant energy problems. The bench sets felt good, then nothing felt right on the squats. This could be in part because in messing around with my deadlift form I did something to my intercostals (on my back) or the lower end of the lats. Moving weights around or bending over to pick something up hurt quite a bit. The pain didn't seem to bother my lifts though.

Average Weekly Weigh in: 3 week change = -0.2lbs, but up from last week.
Week 1: 191.5
...
Week 5: 194.5
Week 6: 193.8
Week 7: 194.3

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (18 weeks counting this week http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=15104&page=13)
Weighed in at 195lbs (morning)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Press 1x8x45, 1x3x95, 1x1x115
2x5x130, 1x7x130 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgVPnR9js8I (set of 7)
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x5x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225, 1x1x245 (belt on)
2x5x265 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG4mDWQaaW0 I think I needed a chest up cue here.
Chins
1x5xBW+25, 1x7xBW+25

This was my first workout in my garage in a while. I did some work on the platform today. Fiddled with the lights and camera a lot during the workout. I only have a wooden chinup bar that I made a long time ago so I hoofed it down to the park to do those tonight. It was cold so I stopped at two sets. I also only did two sets of squats since those were the first fives I've managed in a couple of weeks.
I was really happy with my presses tonight. I'm feeling good about setting a PR on Wednesday. I'm still having a problem with squats but I'm working through it. Want to get the weight back up there but I need to be getting good depth.

Food:
Breakfast (09:00) : 3 eggs, 6 little smokies, 3 cups milk, 1/2 cup berries with yogurt (75g protein)
Lunch: Bowl of chilly (I was working on my platform) (5g protein?)
Lunch 2: 10oz steak, Potatoes+Veggies (60g protein)
Pre Workout: Caffe Latte (8g protein)
Post Workout:12oz chocolate milk (12g protein)
Dinner: Chicken, Steamer (steamed milk) (35g protein)
Creatine
Shake: 75g protein.

About 270g total protein.

Sleep/Recovery:

[ColoWayno]

Monday
Weighed in at 195.4lbs morning
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Bench 1x8x45, 1x4x95, 1x2x135, 1x1x155, 1x1x175, 1x1x195
1x5x215 PR, 1x10x185 Meant to load 205 for sets across. I was happy when I realized my miztaik.
Power Cleans
3x2x135 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJfI6F5ssPQ I'm not getting better at these
Deads
4x1x305, 1x1x325 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBU8d6QmU1M (325 rep)

I think I need to change my program so I'm getting one day every two weeks just to focus on power cleans. So, I think I'll alternate dead lifting with power cleans. I may still use power cleans to warm up on dead lift day. So on my middle day I'll just do pressing and cleaning, or pressing, cleaning (warmup for deads) and dead lifts. I think dead lifting once every two weeks will be ok, especially if my power cleans are going up.

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 5 little smokies, 1/2 apple, 20oz whole, coffee (55g protein)
Snack: Shake 25g, 12oz milk (37g protein)
Lunch: 8oz ground Bison, Sweet Potato, 1/2 cup berries, 8oz 2% (50g protein)
Pre Workout: 5oz tuna, salad greens, olive oil, 1 oz cashews, 8oz 2% (33g protein)
Post Workout: 12oz chocolate milk (12g protein)
Dinner: Chicken, Salad w/Olive Oil, 1/3 Avocado (30g protein)
Shake: 75g whey
(292g total)

Sleep/Recovery: Sleeping a lot and pretty hard, but waking up tired. Went for a 2.5 mile hike yesterday ahead of a forecast cold spell. Going up the first hill my legs felt a little odd and tight, but things loosened up nicely. Took a bit to get the lungs going too but it wasn't too bad after the first 5 minutes or so.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 197 lbs (morning)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Press 1x8x45, 1x3x95, 1x1x115
3x5x132.5 PR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ-5syJdeic (ok, a buddy dropped that mirror off from a construction job, I don't have anywhere else to put it)
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225, 1x1x245(B), 1x2x275
2x2x300 PR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McCFqyM7aVo
Still doing these odd squat workouts. I think I'm actually getting a little too deep on my squats. I think I should be just hitting a hair below parallel otherwise I get too much lower back rounding, or butt wink.

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 12 oz 2%, 3 strawberries (33g protein)
Snack: beef jerky, 12 oz 2% (27g protein)
Lunch: 8oz ground bison, 1/3 cup rice (uncooked measure) (50g protein)
Snack: 12oz 2%, Beef Jerky, Creatine (27g protein)
Pre Workout: 25g shake, 12oz milk (37g protein)
Post Workout: 12oz chocolate milk (12g protein)
Dinner: Chicken Breast, Green beans (30g protein)
75g shake
(about 290g protein)

Sleep/Recovery:

Average Weekly Weigh in: 3 week change = 2lbs
Over 8 weeks I've averaged almost exactly 1/2 lb per week.

Week 1: 191.5
...
Week 6: 193.8
Week 7: 194.3
Week 8: 195.8

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (17 weeks counting this week http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=15104&page=13)
Weighed in at 195.4lbs (morning) 202.8 (dressed, evening)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Bench 1x8x45, 1x8x95, 1x3x135, 1x1x185
3x5x207.5 PR 3rd set http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mBsga6ABwY
Squats 1x8x45, 2x4x95, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225
3x5x245 2nd set http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9AcIy_l9wo
Chins
BW*13, BW*9

I was charged by a large coyote on the way to the Y to do my chinups. The Y was closed (closes at 7 on Saturday apparently) so I had my son and dog escort me to the outdoor chinup bar in the same park. The only thing we saw the second time was a rabbit. My huge garbage can has been knocked over twice in the last couple of weeks. It's time to order my squat rack with a chinup bar built in.

I'm still trying to find my groove on squats. Tonight I was focusing on chest up and feeling the right depth. I forgot to set my knees in place and sit back properly.

Food:
Breakfast: 3 egg + ham + cheese + veggie omelet, 3 cups milk, a few large strawberries (65g protein)
Lunch: Pei Wei, Kung Pao chicken + some of my wifes Pei Wei Spicy Chicken salad (35g protein)
Pre Workout: 8oz cappuccino + 4 shots of espresso (8g protein)
Post Workout: 12oz chocolate milk (12g protein)
Dinner: A bit of chicken salad + 3eggs+ham+cheese scrambled. (45g protein)
Creatine
Shake: 75g whey

Sleep/Recovery:

[EDIT]
In reviewing those squats I'm kind of shocked at how badly my back was rounding. I'm obviously not focusing on the right stuff.
[\EDIT]

[fnet]

Jeez, Wayno. Was that your knees cracking or was someone eating celery off camera? They sound a lot like my knees. I think your squat depth has improved.

[ColoWayno]

Jeez, Wayno. Was that your knees cracking or was someone eating celery off camera? They sound a lot like my knees. I think your squat depth has improved.

Thankfully, it's the Velcro belt I wear. It took me a minute to figure out what it was myself.

[ColoWayno]

Monday
Weighed in at 193.4lbs morning
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Press 1x8x45, 1x3x95, 1x1x115
3x5x135 PR Set 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0W4hk4fBF4
Power Cleans I skipped these tonight

Deads 1x5x135, 1x2x225
1x5x315 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GspAo4GMGAc


Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 20oz 2%, coffee (41g protein)
Snack: Beef Jerky, 12oz whole milk (27g protein)
Lunch: Meatloaf, carrots, spinich (40g protein)
Pre Workout: Beef Jerky, 12oz whole milk (27g protein)
Post Workout: 16oz chocolate milk (16g protein)
Dinner: Chicken Breast, Green Beans, Salad w/Olive Oil (30g protein)
Shake: 75g protein

Sleep/Recovery: I was sleeping ok until last night. I spent most of the night laying there with a headache. A bit of Ibuprofen and I feel a lot better.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GspAo4GMGAc

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Weighed in at 195.8 lbs (morning)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Bench 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x135, 1x1x185
3x5x210 PR Third set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z1uG6dZsgI
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225, 1x1x245
3x5x255Second Set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFyPC-xKcik I think this was decent.

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 5 little smokies, 3 cups milk (65g protein)
Snack: 12oz whole, beef jerky (27g protein)
Lunch:10oz tuna, salad + olive oil, 1 apple (40oz protein)
Pre Workout: 16oz whole, 50g whey, 1.5oz nuts (75g protein)
Post Workout: 16oz chocolate milk (2%) (16g protein)
Dinner: Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich (26g protein) (249g protein)
Creatine
Shake: 75g whey

Approx 325g protein total.

Sleep/Recovery: I slept good and unaided. I may have to skip a bench press workout and deload a bit. I felt strong enough but my left pec is feeling strained after each workout. It usually feels good enough to bench again a few days later but then I'm in pain again. I don't think anything is seriously damaged at this point but I'm on my way there. I was looking forward to keeping the PR's coming but I think this is the smart move. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be setting PR's again on my way to 2 wheel worksets.

Average Weekly Weigh in 194.8: 3 week change = 0.5lbs, but down from last week.
Week 1: 191.5
...
Week 7: 194.3
Week 8: 195.8
Week 9: 194.8

[ColoWayno]

I'm contemplating a week off from lifting. I'm definitely taking two weeks off from bench press.

[slowjoe]

Probably a silly question, but have you considered larger jumps in your warmup sets? I see 245 followed by 255 here on your squats.

I'd hate to be warming up at 5kg less than a working set (although I tend to NDTP and go sets-of-5 from start to finish.)

[ColoWayno]

Probably a silly question, but have you considered larger jumps in your warmup sets? I see 245 followed by 255 here on your squats.

I'd hate to be warming up at 5kg less than a working set (although I tend to NDTP and go sets-of-5 from start to finish.)

I really didn't plan that warmup very well. I've been kind of all over the place with my squat programming, playing it by ear until I can find a rhythm with my technique.

[ColoWayno]

So, the plan is to start again Saturday. Had a little mishap last night. A guy leaving work rear-ended us (my wife was driving) on the way home from work. It shook us up pretty good and I felt a tweak about the thoracic/cervical area. I had a little head-ache all day.
I still expect to be back in the game on schedule. The pec problem is clearing up as far as I can tell. I still plan to lay off of bench press completely for another week, then ramp up quickly, but starting very light.

[fnet]

Sorry to hear about the accident. My wife and kids were rear ended about a month ago. The lady didn't even have insurance. Even at low speeds the impact can really shake you up. I've had it happen to me more than once. I get nervous whenever I'm at a stop. I'm always looking in the rear-view mirror to see if someone's bearing down on me. I'm glad you're all okay.

[ColoWayno]

Thanks! I'm feeling better today and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do tomorrow.

[ColoWayno]

Saturday

Press 1x8x45, 1x6x65, 1x4x95, 1x1x115
2x5x122.5, 1x7x122.5
Squats 1x8x45, 1x4x95, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x205, 1x1x225
3x5x265

I felt ok for the most part considering the week layoff. My hammy on the left side came up pretty sore after the last set of squats.

[ColoWayno]

Monday
(193 lbs morning)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Deads: 1x3x325, 3x1x325

I'm missing one video camera cable. I switched to singles so I could video coach myself between reps.
My hammies were still amazingly sore going into this but I didn't notice during the reps.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (194.5lbs morning)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats
2x5x275, 1x4x275
Press
3x5x127.5
All felt heavy ... I kind of had a week off from eating big too.
After this I did 5 minutes alternating between punching the heavy bag and doing 40-50 jumping jacks.

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs with ground bison, 16oz milk, 1/2 apple (46)
Snack: 12oz 2%, Beef Jerky (25)
Lunch: Double Cheeseburger (50)
Snack: Bison patty, 1 avocado, 12oz 2%, coffee (37)
Post Workout: 24oz 2% chocolate milk (22)
Dinner: Chicken Salad from Wendys, 1 chicken breast (60)
Bedtime: 75g whey (75)
Creatine + Glutamine

About 315 g total protein.

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (196.2lbs morning)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats
3x5x275
Bench
3x5x95
Chins
2x3xBW
I almost forgot ... I did 6 minutes of conditioning alternating on the minute between hitting the heavy bag and doing jumping jacks. I think I'll push this out to 10 minutes and change it up a bit here and there.

Squats felt fairly solid but heavy. I think my dog ate my USB cable so that's on my shopping list.
Starting slow again on Bench and Chins, trying to beat that tendinitis.

Bodyweight is bouncing back pretty good.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (196.6lbs morning)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press
3x5x130
Power Cleans
4x2x135
Deads
1x5x330

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs w/cheese, 3 bison sausages, 3 cups milk, coffee. (65g P)
Snack: 50g whey, 12oz milk (62g P)
Lunch: Pei Wei Curry Chicken (25g P)
Pre Workout: 1 bison patty, 16oz milk (45g P)
Post Workout: 24oz chocolate milk/creatine (22g P)
Dinner: Chicken breast, salad w/olive oil (30g P)
Shake: 50g whey

Total: about 300g protein.

[Dunbar]

Pretty damn impressive.

Even with really fresh milk I'll be lucky if I get within 30 pounds of your squat.

I hope the dogs ok.

God speed or is that God strength?

[ColoWayno]

Thanks Dunbar, the puppy is a vacuum. She's 8 months and over 50lbs now. The minute we drop some Tylenol on the floor she's probably a gonner, but she's fine for now.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (194.6lbs morning)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x225, 1x1x245(B)
3x5x280
Bench 1x8x45, 1x6x95
3x5x135
Chins
3x5xBW
8 minutes heavy bag/jumping jacks

My arms were on fire hitting that bag.

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 7 smokies, 3 cups milk, coffee. (60g p)
Snack: 50 whey, 12oz milk (62g p)
Lunch: Mahi, Veggies, Rice (30g p)
Pre Workout: 1 bison patty, 12oz milk, 1 Avocado (45g p)
Post Workout: 24oz chocolate milk (24g p)
Dinner: Chicken salad, split pea soup (30g p)
Shake: 50g whey

About 300g total

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (196.4lbs morning)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats
3x5x285
Press
1x5x135, 2x3x135 (fail)
Chins
3x8xBW
I think the lack of heavy benching is hurting my progress on overhead press. I wasn't sure whether the extra rest would help enough to overcome the lack of work, I guess I know the answer. I'm looking forward to getting my bench numbers up, hopefully without the tendinitis.
I did the chins in the park. The wife was gracious enough to take a walk around the park with me between sets. She even held my chalky hand.

I skipped the heavy bag today because I needed to pound in a bunch of fence posts.

Food:
Breakfast: Steak, 2 eggs, hash browns, Cappuccino (60g protein)
Pre workout: 8oz milk, bananna (8g protein)
Post workout: 12oz chocolate milk (12g protein)
Lunch: Chicken salad, chili (30g protein)
Post post pounding: 8oz chocolate milk (8g protein)
Dinner: Pork chop, 1/2 potato, 3 squares of Dove chocolate (20g protein)
Creatine
2nd Dinner: Pork chop, 1/2 potato (20g protein)
Snack: celery + peanut butter + 10oz milk (20g)
Shake: 75g whey
(253g total)

[ColoWayno]

Monday (195lbs morning)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench
3x5x165
Power Cleans
bleh
Deads
1x3x335

I was just tired today I guess. Sleep was crappy last night. /excuses

Food:
Breakfast: 2 small bison sausage patties, 3 eggs, 12oz milk, Cappuccino (55g protein)
Snack: 50g whey, beef jerky, 12oz milk (70g protein)
Lunch: Bison meatloaf a few fries (40g protein)
Pre Workout: Roast Beef, Potato, 1/2 cup blueberries, coffee, 8oz milk (38g protein)
Post Workout: 24oz chocolate milk, creatine (22g protein)
Dinner: Ground Bison Nachos (30g protein)
Shake: 50g whey

(305g total)

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday, did a white knuckle drive from the Springs to Idaho Falls through blowing snow. Most of the blizzard had passed but there were a lot of icy stretches and strong winds.
Friday, going to try to get into the YMCA here in Idaho Falls for a quick workout.

[ColoWayno]

Friday:
Squats
1x5x290
Press warmed up to a single at 115
On my last two squat reps I retweaked a muscle near my shoulder blade that had been acting up.
Other than that I was feeling ok on squats, though 290 felt heavy. After that I just decided to stick with warmups for the OH Press and call it a day.
I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow morning, right before I start the long drive home, ahead of more snow I hope.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (weighed in at 194.5)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x225, 1x1x255(B)
3x5x290
Bench 1x8x45, 1x4x95, 1x3x135, 1x1x155
3x5x185
Chins
2x10xBW, 1x8xBW
Conditioning
5 1 minute rounds on the heavy bag alternating with 4 1 minute rounds jumping jacks.

The squats felt pretty good. I think I figured out part of my woes on bench press, I've been bringing the bar down too low on my chest. I could feel that pull on my pec a little when I went low on a couple of reps. I brought it up a little higher after that and it all felt great.

I felt better than I thought I would getting back from the road trip.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (weighed in at 196)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press 1x8x45, 1x6x55, 1x2x65, 1x1x95, 1x1x115
2x5x125, 1x6x125
Deads 1x5x135, 1x3x225, 2x1x275
1x5x335

(Afternoon update) My left shoulder decided to get all cramped up this morning. It started out mild and peaked during the middle of the day. I've been taking Ibuprofen and working on it the best I can. It's feeling better now, we'll see.


Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 2 oz bison sausage, 2 cups milk, coffee
Snack: 1 cup milk, 50g whey
Lunch: 2 thick slices of turkey with cheddar cheese, milk, salad w/olive oil
Snack: Meal Replacement shake, milk, 1.5oz nuts
Post Workout: 24oz chocolate milk
Dinner: 4 thick slices of elk roast, potato, carrots
Creatine
Shake: 50g whey

[ColoWayno]

Friday (weighed in at 198 woohoo, time to put on the breaks?)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x225, 1x1x265
3x5x295 PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nailed the depth on almost all of these... only rep 1 of set 1 was close to being questionable.
Bench 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x2x135, 1x1x165
3x5x195
Chins
2x10xBW, 1x5xBW (205 dressed)
Heavy Bag / Conditioning, 5 1 minute rounds alternated with 1 minute of jumping jacks (3 sets of 10 each round)

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 4 strawberries, 2 cups milk, coffee
Snack: 1 cup milk, 50g whey
Lunch: 3 slices elk roast, potato, carrots, small salad with 1 oz cashews and olive oil, 7 strawberries
Snack: Milk, 1.5 oz Nuts (in a hurry)
Post Workout: 24oz chocolate milk
Dinner: Ribs + chicken salad + baked apples
Creatine+Glutamine

[ColoWayno]

Here's a couple of form checks:

Squats: 5x295

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

Deads: 5x335

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DlY7_sOVjw

[ColoWayno]

Monday (195.5)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x225, 1x1x275(B)
1x3x310 PR
Press 1x8x45, 1x4x55, 1x2x65, 1x1x95, 1x1x115
3x5x130(B)
Chins
BW x 10,10,8
Conditioning - Heavy Bag/Jumping Jacks 5 1 minute rounds of each

Afternoon note: Food hasn't sounded good today for some strange reason... also have had a headache.
It's time to think about programming. I've been following the novice template since I got back from vacation at the end of August.

I'm not sure I want to go to the Texas Method or 5-3-1.
(I'll use this space to edit my thinking here as I go)
So here's something that's been rattling around in my rusted out brain (it probably won't make sense to me either after I write it down):
I really liked a split routine that I tried while I was deployed (recommended by Rip to a sprinter), but that doesn't constitute a "program". So to make it a program I would probably do a 4 week cycle a bit like 5-3-1 going from high to low volume and a recovery week. I would still squat 2x per week.
The split would look like this:

The 8 and 5 sets are sets are sets across unless noted. Week three I'll do a single set of 3+ reps.
Mon: Squats (3x8,5 and 1x3+), Power Cleans (5x3), Conditioning
Tues: Bench(3x8,5 and 1x3+) + Chins (3 sets across at body weight)
Thu: Squats (ramping sets, or something a little less taxing than sets across), Dead lift (1x8,5, and 1x3+), Conditioning
Fri: Press (3x8,5 and 1x3+)+ Chins (1 set, weighted)

I'll probably work from a working 1RM like in 5-3-1 and use my 1RM chart to figure out percentages to use for the 8-5-3+ reps.
So I'll use the 1x3+ set to estimate my working 1RM for the next round. So week three will always be a test week.

Now I need to do some playing around with percentages. I'll adjust these as I go until I feel I have something reasonably workable.
Someone also suggested I look at more assistance for the upper body. I'm wondering if I threw in some close grip bench on bench day if that would be enough.

I would probably want to do something different on my second squat day, maybe just ramping sets instead of sets across. I'll most likely miss a Thursday here and there so those weeks I would probably do press + dead lifts on Friday and go by how I feel on the second squat, chin and conditioning sessions.

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs with ham, 1/2 cup berries, 2 cups milk, coffee
Snack: 1 cup milk, 50g whey, 1.5oz nuts
Lunch: 2 thick slices of turkey each with a slice of cheddar cheese, green salad with olive oil + cashews (I had to get up and take a walk up and down a big hill between courses just to finish)
Snack: 1 cup milk, 50g whey, Apple, Coffee
Post Workout: 24oz chocolate milk
Dinner: Burger + 1/2 avocado.
creatine + glutamine

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (196.8)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench
3x5x200
Deads
1x3x340, 1x1x340

Food:
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 1/2 cup berries, baby carrot, 2 cups milk, coffee
Snack: Milk was baaaad, couldn't drink. 50g whey, beef jerky
Lunch: 5oz steak, salad with olive oil and cashews
Snack: celery, apple, almond butter, 50g whey, coffee
Post Workout: 24oz chocolate milk
Dinner: chicken breast, asparagus, rice, sweet potato
Shake: 50g whey
Creatine + Glutamine (for the glutes you know)

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (197)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats
2x5x300
Conditioning (heavy bag/jumping jacks 5 rounds each)

Those squats were heavy. I waited about 10 minutes after my second set to see if I was feelin' it for the third, but I called it a session.

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (197)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Press
1x3x132.5, 2x5x132.5
Chins
3x10xBW

I guess I wasn't mentally ready for my first set of presses. Glad I finally got 3x10 on BW chins. My guns feel pumped!
So I'm moving to this split. I probably won't start the loading scheme until the first of the year. I may just play around with reps and sets until then.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Nice job on the lifting. That heavy bag seems to be working out OK for you even if you didn't get some competent coaching and just listened to some bozos on the internet. As for 5/3/1, I find it works pretty well for me, although I confess I haven't tried or even done much more than quickly skim the Texas Method. Wendler's approach seems very simple and low in volume depending on how many assistance exercises your use. It fits my recovery capabilities just fine. The hardest thing is setting up the excel spreadsheets and that's really not too tough if you're familiar with cross referencing tabs from one month to the next.

[ColoWayno]

Nice job on the lifting. That heavy bag seems to be working out OK for you even if you didn't get some competent coaching and just listened to some bozos on the internet. As for 5/3/1, I find it works pretty well for me, although I confess I haven't tried or even done much more than quickly skim the Texas Method. Wendler's approach seems very simple and low in volume depending on how many assistance exercises your use. It fits my recovery capabilities just fine. The hardest thing is setting up the excel spreadsheets and that's really not too tough if you're familiar with cross referencing tabs from one month to the next.

Thanks, I figure I'll be tinkering with this for a while. It'll be higher volume than 5/3/1. I think going for one top set of three on week three (instead of sets across) will give me some real contrast in training variables and should make things interesting. It'll also give me a week of really low volume (but high intensity) followed by a week of low volume and low intensity. Hopefully I can start the whole thing over feeling fresh and with a little more weight.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (weighed in at 198.4)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats
1x3x315 PR
Deads
1x1x340

Since the weather has been nice, I've been going for walks during the day. I have a couple of good hills to climb and I've already started to notice that I'm not getting as winded.
It must be time for a reset on dead lifts which is disappointing. It seems I'm finding a rhythm on squats... yea!

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs w/veggies+cheese, 2 cups milk, 1/2 cup blueberries, coffee
Snack: 50g whey, 1.5oz nuts
Lunch: KFC, breast + wing
Snack: Beef Jerky, 1 Apple+ 6 baby Carrots w/Almond Butter, Milk, Coffee
Post Workout: 24oz chocolate milk
Dinner: Chicken Breast, Rice, Green Beans, A bit of chocolate.
Creatine + Glutamine

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (weighed in at 198)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Bench
3x5x205 No tendon pain!!!!
Chins
3x10xBW
Conditioning - hike
I went back to one of my old trails today at lunch and did a small fraction (probably 1.5 miles or so). It is very steep and I took it nice and slow. I want to get back into that a bit as I approach 200lbs bw.

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs w/veggies+cheese, 2 cups milk, 1/2 cup berries, coffee
Snack: 50g whey, 1 cup milk
Lunch (post hike): 12oz chocolate milk, 10 piece nuggets
Snack: Apple+Almond Butter, 50g whey, coffee
Post Workout: 12oz chocolate milk
Dinner: Dublin Beef (mashed potatoes, spinach and ground beef, yum)
Creatine + Glutamine
Shake 50g whey

Here's a map of my hike. The part up to the water tower is very steep and rises a bit over 330 feet in less than 1/2 of a mile. The way down is much more moderate as it's a service road.
I used to (will again) continue on up the mountain, Blodgett. I've summited this mountain several times. I've been within 20 minutes or so from the top during my (extended) lunch break. I won't be doing that anytime soon.
http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac150/ColoWayno/BlodgetToWaterTower.jpg

[ColoWayno]

Thursday

Just a note that the neked morning weigh in was exactly 200lbs this morning for the very first time.
I'd like to hold here and see what I can do with the lifts. I have no idea what my BF is but I'm getting stronger.

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (198.5)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats
3x5x300 PR
Power Cleans
1x3x95, 1x2x95
My son is home from Defense Language Institute so we worked out together. I was helping him with the setup for deadlifts and talking too much. That wasn't much of an effort on power cleans but since I haven't done them in quite a while I really didn't care. I got dizzy doing them. Pathetic, ehh?

[ColoWayno]

Monday (198, 203.5 dressed)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Press
3x5x130
Chins
3x5xBW+25 (228.5)

Got dizzy doing those presses too. I think I'm doing something wrong.

Tuesday Night Update: my hammys are killing me. I was probably going a little too deep just to make sure, since I wasn't recording those sets.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squats
1x3x315
Deads
1x1x315, 1x1x345, 1x1x315

Dead lifts are kicking my butt these days. I was going to try reps on the minute at 345 and got 1. The second rep would not go up.
I liked how the squats felt, even though I went into this workout with DOMS in my ham strings from Sunday. I just got some Vulcan knee sleeves and they felt very good. It took four shots of espresso to get me motivated to go. It's fog snowing here, no sun all day, so I decided to go to the Y instead of warming up the garage.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (198.4, 204.5 dressed)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Bench
3x5x207.5
Chins
3x11xBW

I was pretty happy with all of that. Since I'm doing chins 2x per week, I think I'll stop doing sets across on weighted chin day and just do one top set to failure. I'll try to target whatever reps I'm doing that week (3, 5 or 8).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeVDOu2_Fuc

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (199lbs)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Squats 1x8x45, 1x6x95, 1x4x135, 1x3x185, 1x2x225, 1x1x275(B)
3x5x305 PR
Power Cleans
6x2x115 On a 1 minute clock

The third set of squats was better than the second.

[danb6177]

Quick question. Why do you take glutamine at night and not in morning? I thought glutamine can only be affective on an empty stomach 1-2 hours before a meal? I thought the rule was arginine at night and glutamine in the morning. Just curious, maybe you know stuff i dont know (most people do)

[ColoWayno]

Quick question. Why do you take glutamine at night and not in morning? I thought glutamine can only be affective on an empty stomach 1-2 hours before a meal? I thought the rule was arginine at night and glutamine in the morning. Just curious, maybe you know stuff i dont know (most people do)
Well, you probably know more than me. It was kind of a random buy for me and I don't always take it. I probably waste a lot of $ this way.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (199lbs, 206.5 dressed)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Press 1x8x45, 1x6x55, 1x2x95, 1x1x115
3x5x132.5
Chins 1x5xBW, 1x1xBW+25
1x5xBW+45
Conditioning
I hit the trail at lunch and did about 1.3 miles (2km) in the mountains, with about 330 feet (100 meters) of vertical climb over the first 1/2 mile (.8km). I haven't started using the stop watch on any of this yet. Eventually I'll start doing some hill sprints up the steepest part. Just walking up there is doing the job for now.

My traps and upper forearms are feeling the DOMS from those PC's. I'm glad I'm doing them again, pathetic as they are. I think when I was at my best (around 150lbs) my traps were starting to show the effort. I think big traps look cool.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday

I think I'm going to call it a year. I'm headed out to Cali to see folk.
Next week: determine 1RM's, then start my new program the week after that.

Today: 25 minute walk on the hilly trails where I work. 52 degrees and sunny. Tomorrow: 100% chance of snow... hopefully I'll be out of here before it hits.

Happy New Year and thanks for all of the training advice in 2010. Looking forward to setting some new PR's with you all.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (198lbs)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Squat
1x2x320
Power Cleans
6x2x115

Tonight I'll try to estimate my 1RM. I'll probably pick a weight I think I can hit for a triple then guesstimate 1RM from whatever I get. I'm still working out how I'll translate that into starting lifts, and I'll probably tweak everything for a few months.

So here's what I came up with:

Squat 1RM ~= 340lbs.

Using the %'s I came up with initially I'll use the following weights for the first cycle:
8's = 340 * .725 ~= 245
5's = 340 * .825 ~= 280
3's = 340 * .875 ~= 300

But, I'm already thinking about going to:
8's = 340 * .75 ~= 255
5's = 340 * .85 ~= 290
3's = 340 * .90 ~= 305

For recovery week I'll probably do something like 5's at 65% or so.

This is pretty much based on the level of effort stuff in PP and my own experience and is all subject to change next cycle.

Here's my max effort:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItNORrHk9zY

And my still miserable but lovable power cleans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0b2MWUFPMA

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (196lbs)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Bench
1x3x220 failed on the fourth rep.
Chins
2x5xBW
I woke up wondering if my %'s are too low. I'm thinking about upping them, but I'm not sure yet.
1RM ~= 240
8's = 240 * .725 ~= 175
5's = 240 * .825 ~= 200
3's = 240 * .875 ~= 210

Or,
8's = 240 * .75 ~= 180
5's = 240 * .85 ~= 205
3's = 240 * .90 ~= 215

On squats the lower set seems like a big reset but not so much here. The higher weights here seem like no break at all. This could be because different things are different, or it could be because my estimate for 1RM on squats is a bit low.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday:

Temporarily relocated the 6' 1" grand piano (~= 800lbs) with the help of some friends.

[ColoWayno]

Friday:
25 minute walk in the hills. I'll probably do my 1RM tests for deads and press tomorrow and start the new program on Monday.

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (198lbs)
sets x reps x lbs

Press
1x3x140 1RM ~= 150
Deads
1x5x325 1RM ~= 370

So in summary:
Squat 1RM ~= 340
Bench 1RM ~= 240
Deads 1RM ~= 370
Pres 1RM ~= 150

Deads
8's = 370 * .725 ~= 270
5's = 370* .825 ~= 305
3's = 370* .875 ~= 325 These seem way low...
or

8's = 370 * .75 ~= 280
5's = 370* .85 ~= 315
3's = 370* .90 ~= 335 probably not too bad to start with.

Press
8's = 150 * .725 ~= 110
5's = 150 * .825 ~= 125
3's = 150 * .875 ~= 130 These seem ok, maybe low...
or

8's = 150 * .75 ~= 112.5
5's = 150 * .85 ~= 127.5
3's = 150 * .90 ~= 135 Maybe ok

So pretty soon I'll update the thread where I laid this stuff out and see what the peeps think.

[ColoWayno]

I'm going to go with the higher weights (8x75%,5x85%, and 3x90%) , even though that won't be much of a reset for bench.
So, for 8's week:
Squats 8x255
Bench 8x180
Deads 8x280
Press 8x112.5

[ColoWayno]

Monday (198)
sets x reps x lbs
Squats
2x8x255, 1x6x255 ouchy.... I was worng. Too much weights.
Power Cleans
5x2x120

Ok, 8's are tough and I started these too high. Too tired to think right now but must fix.

No cardio because we have a painting job going on at home and new carpet coming in the a.m.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (199, 205)
sets x reps x lbs
Bench
3x8x175
Chins
11, 10, 6 x BW

My quads are screaming from last night... ow, ow, hammies too.
I think I picked a better weight for benching.

[RyanWhittemore]

Hey Wayno, I wondered how you'd feel after those 8's. I switched to 8's for just one workout last month and had wicked DOMS. Hard to believe there is such a difference, glad it's not just me!

[ColoWayno]

Hey Wayno, I wondered how you'd feel after those 8's. I switched to 8's for just one workout last month and had wicked DOMS. Hard to believe there is such a difference, glad it's not just me!

No kidding, it's crazy. Hey, I'll PM you my phone number. I'd really appreciate any help I can get with my Power Cleans.

[Cmanuel]

just another CO guy saying hello from Fort Collins.

I recently switched from 5/3/1 after well over a year of use to a program with a high rep accumulation phase in it, and boy, the DOMs sure hurt during the first couple of weeks, but Im slowly getting used to it.

I like what you've done here in terms of modifications and I'm curious to see how it works for you.

[ColoWayno]

Cool... I was wondering who all we had here in Colorado. One of these days I'll be looking for a meet just to give it a try, I haven't had much luck finding anything on the web yet (though I haven't given it too much effort yet). Any suggestions?

[Cmanuel]

Cool... I was wondering who all we had here in Colorado. One of these days I'll be looking for a meet just to give it a try, I haven't had much luck finding anything on the web yet (though I haven't given it too much effort yet). Any suggestions?

I've been here for about 2 years now, and the only meets in the area that I've found on a consistent basis has been USAPL and NASA. There apparently is a few geared teams down in CO Springs and Pueblo but I'm not sure what feds they compete with.

Personally, I've competed with USAPL here in CO since I've been here. I compete exclusively RAW, and they have a good following in the RAW category. Also, their judging is strict, and every lift that passes in USAPL is a legit lift.

I've got a meet in March i'll be doing at 198 class and then theres 2 in the summer i'll be doing. I'll keep you informed. If you are interested in the USAPL CO meets check out Rocky Mountain Lifting Club's website. They are an aurora based gym and they put on all the USAPL meets in CO

[ColoWayno]

Thanks, CManuel. I'd like to go to one of those.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (199, 206)
sets x reps x lbs
Squats
1x3x305
Press
3x8x110
Deads
1x8x255
Chins 1x5xBW
1x8xBW+25

I backed off of my planned weights due to Mondays fiasco. I still had DOMs going into this workout (the kind that fades quickly during warmup though). I figured one episode like that in a week is enough. I'll add at least 10lbs to my deads for this 8's workout next time. I think I'll take at least 5 off of my squats, add 5 for bench and maybe only 2.5 for press.

Overall, I think I accomplished what I needed to this week. Hurt a little, learned a little.
Combining days 3 and 4 makes for a long workout but I finished in about 1hr 45mins.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (198)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats
3x5x280 Leisurely reset, I'm into that right now. ahhh.
Power Cleans
10x2x125 On a 2 minute clock. These felt good until around the 8th set.
Conditioning
Did a 20 minute walk up and back on a big hill by where I work at lunch. This evening I walk/jogged 2 laps around the park. It was like a summer evening (relatively speaking) which was a real treat. That should have been around 2/5ths of a mile. Hopefully these will morph into some more respectable running drills.

I'm hoping I can use this little reset period right now to build my power cleans back up.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (197.8, 204)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Bench
3x5x200 You know I originally put down 300. I think I have bench envy or something.
Chins
11,11,8 x BW
Conditioning
I know I'm not supposed to do conditioning every day but I figured what I'm doing is mild enough to not interfere too much at this point. So, I did a 25 minute walk on the trails and hills. I picked out a little hill to sprint on (from main trail to no trespassing sign by the Marriott for future reference) and did two whopping sprints for time: 33.7 seconds and 26.7 seconds. I should be able to get those down closer to 15 seconds.

I have to get my workout done pretty quickly tonight as my wife and I are meeting a buddy of mine at the "Salt Grass" steakhouse at 19:00. Should not be a problem.

Time for steak.

I had the 10oz Rib Eye, Sweet Potato. I ordered a beer but after my recovery chocolate milk and the promise of steak, I couldn't drink but a few sips. What is happening?

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (198.8)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Deads
1x5x305
Squats
1x2x315

Conditioning
12 minutes on the treadmill. 3 2 minute "sprints",3% grade @5mph, 0%@6mph, 0%@7mph

I'm starting this food section up again because the doctor moved my recheck up after he got my blood work back. I haven't seen it yet so maybe I'm worried about nothing. It probably means I'll be making some changes though. My Dr. is a skinny guy so I'm not sure he understands, but I know there are some things I should probably be doing anyway like getting back to the grass fed milk and meat sources.
Food
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 3/4 cup veggies, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 cup blueberries, 2 cups milk, coffee, 2.7g O3, 500mg Niacin
Snack: 1.5oz beef jerky, 1 cup milk
Lunch: Cheeseburger patty with lettuce
Snack: .5 oz beef jerky, 25g whey, apple, 3 tbls almond butter
Dinner: 2 bowls of beefy stew with veggies
Creatine, 50g whey, 2.7g O3, 250mg Niacin

[ColoWayno]

Friday (198.8)
Food
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 3/4 cup veggies, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 cup blueberries, 12oz milk, coffee, 2.7g O3, 500mg Niacin
Lunch: 1 pork chop, gluten free crackers with 2 tbls almond butter
Snack: 50g whey, 1.5oz mixed nuts, 12oz milk
Dinner: Salmon, Broccoli,

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (198.5)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Press
3x5x120 I forgot to check what weight to use... close enough.
Chins
1x5xBW, 1x1xBW+10, 1x5xBW+35

My back felt tighter than it should have after those chins, might be a recovery issue since I'm trying to balance concerns (high triglycerides, among others). I'm going to try using steel cut oats as one of my replacements for milk. As you can see, I'm still drinking milk, just not as much and whole instead of 2% (except for my recovery drink, I'm still wondering about that and just drinking less of it for now).
Food
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 3/4 cup veggies, small amount of cheese, 1/2 cup cooked SC Oats, 12oz whole milk, coffee, 2.7g O3, 500mg Niacin
Recovery: 1 cup lowfat chocolate milk (I'm still trying to figure out if this is ok right after a workout or if I'm jacking up my triglycerides. 1 cup is better than 20-24 oz like I was drinking.
Lunch: 50g whey, 2 tbls peanut butter, 1 tbls flax, 1 bowl beefy vegetable stew.
Snack: 1/4 cup blueberries, almond butter w/whole grain crackers, some little smokies
Dinner: Beef nachos - ground beef, tortilla chips, sour cream, salsa, guacamole
1 cup of hot coconut milk with cocoa powder (cocoa is supposed to help with blood pressure)

Sunday
Morning: BP 126/90 after spending 15 minutes on the "Resperate" guided breathing thingy.
I guess I might as well track this too since it's easy to do.

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 3/4 cup veggies, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/2 cup cooked SC Oats, 1/4 cup blueberries, 12oz whole milk, coffee, 2.7g O3, 500mg Niacin
Lunch: Pei Wei Thai Coconut Curry Chicken
Dinner: Chilies BBQ Chicken Salad, 2.7g O3, 500mg Niacin, Creatine
Before bed I'm using the "Resperate" for 15 more minutes and drinking some cocoa+coconut milk along with 25g whey.

I put up a new chinup bar. My old one was made from a wooden dowel. I used a small bar I had laying around and a nice solid brace made from 2x4's. Now it's time to pull down da house.... nya ha ha. I should mention the long, slow fall I took off of the ladder whilst building it. I stepped off of the second to last rung, thinking it was the last. That wasn't a problem. Stepping on a couple of plates that I was using to hold up wood I was cutting was a problem though. The plates slowly slid apart. It wasn't too bad. The worst of it was the drill I was holding came down on my tummy and made a boo boo. No blood stains on my shirt though so no biggie. I do think I was way better off having fallen with all of the abdominals and spinal erectors doing their job nicely.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (197.5 lbs)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squat
3x3x300 I have to watch the knees coming forward at the bottom... I can feel that certain hip pain... just have to concentrate.
Power Cleans
3x2x135 I'm working with Ryan Whittemore who coaches oly lifts on Thursday so I limited these today. I'm a little intimidated by Major Whittemore. : ) Maybe I won't die.
Conditioning
18 minutes on the treadmill, 4 minute warmup, 4 2 minute "sprints" followed by 2 minutes of walking at 5,6,7,7.5 mph (microloading, ha!)

I think I'm already noticing recovery problems from my altered diet. I just don't know that there is any substitute for a ton of milk in this program. I think the oat meal isn't agreeing with my (I'll have to pay attention to confirm that).

Before bed I did my hand grip protocol for lowering blood pressure. This was developed by the Air Force by accident. It was intended to help pilots stay conscious under heavy G's. Basically you hold a static grip (it's supposed to be 30% of your max) for 2 minutes, then rest 1 minute and hold again for 2 minutes. Then after a minute rest, repeat with the other hand. I used this before along with the breathing technique and it seemed to work really well, at least my blood pressure improved immensely. I'll use the resperate as I'm relaxing to go to sleep.

Food continuing trying to get my trigs and blood pressure down and lose fat.
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1/2 cup veggies, 1/4 cup cheese, 12oz whole milk, coffee, 1/4 cup blueberries, 2.7g O3, 500mg Niacin
Snack: 1.5 oz beef jerky, 1.5 oz mixed nuts
Lunch: 1/2 lb ground bison, 1 small orange
Snack: 2 cups lowfat milk, 1.5 oz beef jerky, creatine, coffee
Recovery: 16oz lowfat chocolate milk - I'm probably only going to have this much after heavy lifts and conditioning, so 2x per week, maybe 8oz after other workouts.
Dinner: 2 bowls of Beef Daub, Leafy salad. Beef Daub... my wife made it for me: beef, wine, egg plant, fresh herbs, carrots, shrooms, garlic... delicious.
Bedtime: creatine, 50g whey, 2.7g O3, 500mg Niacin

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (197, 202) (Morning BP 124/94)
Sets x Reps x Lbs
Bench
3x3x210
Chins
11,11,10 x BW
Conditioning
25 minute walk at lunch - up a hill and back down.
BP should be coming down over the next few weeks I hope.

Food:
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1/4 cup cheese, 2oz bell pepper, small orange, 12 oz whole milk, coffee
Snack: beef jerky, cashews - I'm going to find some lower sodium alternatives to this stuff.
Lunch: 1/2 lb ground bison, 1 apple
Snack: 12oz lowfat milk, 50g whey
Recovery: 8oz lowfat chocolate milk, creatine
Dinner: Chicken breast, sweet potato, green beans, leafy salad w/Olive oil

Wednesday (197.5)
Crashed hard last night, Monday night was pretty bad sleep-wise. I actually enrolled in a sleep study next week. I wore a oximeter hooked up to a computer and found out that I have low O2 saturation when I sleep. I should be able to improve this stuff with more conditioning and fat-burning.
I've been working on a breath building exercise, just take three nice deep breaths, then take a really big breath and let it out slowly against pressure from your lips. See how long you can keep blowing it out. I started out at a measly 25 seconds or so and am already up to about 45 seconds. I think I'll have to do better to feel decent climbing a 14'er. Calves are sore from the running on Monday. I tried to use a little POSE technique and it worked ok until I got up to the faster speeds, then I went back to my normal heel strike. I sorta can't wait until Spring gets here... but I need that time to work on getting in better shape.

[StrongIslander,NY]

Are you on some minimalist programming? was just going thru your log.

[ColoWayno]

Are you on some minimalist programming? was just going thru your log.

I wasn't sure what that was, but I think I know now... I'm doing a four day split with squats+power cleans+conditioning, bench+chins, squats+deads+conditioning, press+chins. I'm increasing intensity for three weeks, followed by a recovery week. So 3x8's one week followed by 3x5's and 3x3's. I'm adjusting as I go along. My second squat session during the week is like a TM intensity session, so 1 heavy set.

[ColoWayno]

Thursday (197.5) (Morning BP 121/90)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Spent about an hour drilling Power Cleans. Take aways: I need faster feet and to quit throwing my head back. Also I should experiment with starting with the hips lower.

Lower calves still hurt a little from my POSE running escapade. I will repeat that in a smaller dose next week and try to hit a reasonable recovery window, gradually increase the volume and speed, ????, and profit.

Food:
Breakfast: 3eggs, 100g veggies, 1/4 cup cheese, 16oz whole milk, 1/4 cup blueberries, coffee
Lunch: Shish Tauk (chicken+buttery rice), 12oz cappuccino.
Snack: 50g whey, apple + almond butter, creatine
Recovery: 8oz chocolate milk
Dinner: Tostada with avocado and ground beef
50g whey.

Other Stuff:
I've been doing the guided breathing and the gripper protocol for blood pressure issues. We'll see if it works. I'm pleased so far.

[ColoWayno]

Friday (198.5, 207) (Morning BP 125/87)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Press
3x3x130
Chins
1x3xBW+45
Conditioning
30 minute walk on the hills and trails by where I work. It was 65F and sunny as hell, sukkas. Had lunch on an outdoor table in my T-Shirt too.

Worked out in my street clothes which might explain why I was 207 dressed.

I'm changing my program around a little this week due to the extra power clean session. I'll do heavy squats and deads on Saturday. I'm travelling the week of Feb 14th so I'm going to plan around not being able to do much that week. I'll be working at an Army base so it's possible I could get into the facilities there and get some work done at night.

Food
Breakfast: 3eggs, 100g veggies, 1/4 cup cheese, 16oz whole milk, 1/4 cup blueberries, coffee, 500mg Niacin, 2.7g O3's, Hawthorn
Lunch: Chipotle steak burrito bowl, rice, cheese, sour cream, guaco, salsa, no beans. In the sun.
Snack: Almond Butter, small orange, 50g whey
Recovery: 8oz lowfat chocolate milk.
Dinner: Salmon, broccoli, smidgen of mashed potatoes, 500mg Niacin, 2.7g O3's, Hawthorn

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (198)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Deads
1x3x320 forgot that was a 40lb bar, s'posed to be 325. Would've squatted first but a guy was doing Romanian DL's in the rack when I got there.
Squats
1x3x320 PR! hmmm.... same as my DL, though I'm sure that wasn't a max effort on DLs. Also started with a narrow stance, fixed it after the first rep.

I actually feel like I need a recovery week which is good... since next week is one. The week is going to be a little bit short as I'm going to try to work around being out of town the week of the 14th. I'll probably compress it into 2 workouts early in the week, then start the new week on Saturday.

This morning I had eggs and Bison sausage.
After my workout I spent the day installing interior doors with a buddy of mine. My feet are very tired.
This evening I had much wine. Time to hit the sack.

Sunday Morning BP 118/84.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (197) (Recovery week)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats
2x5x255
Bench
2x5x165
Power Cleans
5x2x135
Chins
2x5xBW
Conditioning
22 minutes on the treadmill: 4 min warmup, 5 2 minute "sprints" alternating with 2 minutes of walking at 5mph,6mph,7mph,7.5mph and 6mph.
I'm compressing my recovery week into two workouts. I'm going to go pretty low carb this week.

Food
Breakfast: 3 eggs with veggies and a little cheese, 3 bison sausages, 12oz whole milk w/Coffee, 2.7g O3's, 500mg Niacin, Hawthorn
Lunch: Bison meatloaf, asparagus
Snack: 1.5oz nuts, 50g whey, 250mg Niacin
Recovery: 16oz lowfat chocolate milk, creatine
Dinner: Capri Chicken (cheese, tomatoes chicken), summer squash with walnuts and asiago cheese, spinach salad with quinoa+balsamic vinegar+olive oil
50g whey, 2.7g O3's, 500mg Niacin, Hawthorn

Tuesday (197) (morning BP 120/87)
Breakfast: 3 eggs with veggies and a little cheese, 2 bison sausages, 1/4 cup blueberries, 12oz whole milk w/Coffee, 2.7g O3's, 500mg Niacin, Hawthorn

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (195.5)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)

Deads
1x5x305
Press
2x5x105
Squats
1x3x280
Chins
2x5xBW
Conditioning
10 minutes walking on the treadmill. This sucks, it's too cold to get out at lunch time.
I did a sleep study last night, was hooked up pretty good. I took a picture, maybe I'll post it later. I woke up from that at 5:00 and went home and slept for another hour and a half. Sleep during the study was kind of spotty but really not too bad considering all the wires and things. My weight was down pretty good in part because I didn't want anything to drink before doing the study so I could just stay in bed all night.

Food:
Breakfast: McDonalds! Eggs and Oatmeal, Coffee
Lunch: Pei Wei Beef w/Broccoli+extra veggies, skipped the rice.
Snack: Celery+Almond Butter, 50g whey
Recovery: 16oz chocolate milk
Dinner: Beef Daub

[ColoWayno]

Friday (197) (Morning BP 107/76)

I don't workout again until tomorrow but I wanted to post that BP reading. Yesterday in the Dr's office it was 130/100 but I had just driven through traffic to get there and they pretty much set me down immediately.
The Dr. prescribed Clomid instead of Test. His argument sounded pretty reasonable so I'm on 50mg every other day. I'm also getting a CPAP machine to help with breathing while I sleep. I wonder if just getting my body fat down and BP down will actually do more to help me sleep.

Breakfast: 3 eggs with veggies + a little cheese, 16oz whole milk, 1/4 cup blueberries, coffee
Snack: 1.5oz mixed nuts
Lunch: 1/2 lb ground bison, 1 avocado, spinach salad with quinoa, seeds, balsamic vinegar
Snack: Apple + Almond Butter, 50g whey,

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (197) (Last evening BP 122/84)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats
3x8x245
Power Cleans 2 minute clock
8x2x140 Should be doing 10 sets but I think that was enough for today.

A home project is calling again so no conditioning. Besides, this felt like conditioning and I was pretty wasted after this workout.

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (197, 201 dressed)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Bench
2x8x180, 1x9x180 I'm going to start doing a little self reg with reps to failure on the last set on bench and press.
Chins
2x11xBW, 1x9xBW needed 10 minutes before the last set.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (197.5) (Morning BP 118/84)
(Sets x Reps x Lbs)
Deads
1x8x265
Squats 1x5x135, 1x3x205, 1x2x230, 1x1x275(B)
2x2x310 wanted one set of 3... maybe deadlifting first will be my excuse today.
Conditioning 1 minute sprints, 5 minute jog
Treadmill (elapsed time in minutes):
0: walk
2: slow jog
3: slow walk
4: "sprint", 5mph
5: walk
6: "sprint", 6mph
7: walk
8: "sprint", 7mph
9: walk
10: "sprint", 8mph
11: walk
13: "sprint" 9mph
14: walk
17: jog, .5 miles 6mph x 5minutes(this was hard)

I'm continuing with the Niacin, Breathing exercises and Grip Protocol (both for blood pressure concerns) and 5.4g of fish oil per day. My diet continues to be fairly low carb. I'm eating about 1/2 lb of ground bison per day in addition to everything else.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (197, 203) (Morning BP 107/77)
sets x reps x lbs
Press
2x8x115, 1x9x115 I was going to microload but forgot my plates. I'm happy that I got all reps+1 2.5lbs heavier than I was planning.
Chins
1x5xBW, 1x8xBW+30

[ColoWayno]

Saturday (197.5)
sets x reps x lbs
Squats
3x5x285 these were a real grind. the last set was wobbly.
Power Cleans
The power cleans were sort of a wreck too. I intended to get 8 or 10 sets of 2 at 145. I attempted 3 sets at that weight and missed 2 of the 6 reps. So I lowered the weight to 135 which felt ok and I did a couple of sets. I went to 140 and banged out 2 or 3 sets. Kind of quit counting and just tried to make something of it.
Conditioning Mostly 2 minute "sprints" (my sprints always have scare quotes)
Treadmill (elapsed time in minutes)
0: Walk
2: slow jog
3: walk
4: "sprint" @ 5mph
6: walk
8: "sprint" @ 6mph
10: walk
12: "sprint" @ 7mph
14: walk
17: "sprint" @ 7.5mph
19: walk
22: "sprint" @ 8mph (90 seconds)

[ColoWayno]

Sunday (196.5, 202)
sets x reps x lbs
Conditioning
Hour long hike in Red Rocks park (the one in Colorado Springs). It was about 2.75 miles, and about 500 vertical feet.
Bench
3x5x205 These were a grind
Chins
11,11,11 x bw ties a pr.

I did the hike first because it was warm and sunny, 70 degrees F. I was accompanied by my wife, youngest son, and two dogs.

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac150/ColoWayno/RedRocksRoute.jpg

[ColoWayno]

Picked a target for sometime in June:

Quandry Peak
Highlights:
An easy fourteener hike near the town of Breckenridge
Distance: 6.3 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 3200 ft
Hike Time: 4.5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Trail Condition: OK, but a few difficult spots
HikeType: Out and Back

After this I'll evaluate whether or not to pursue some other climbs. Compared to Barr trail on Pikes Peak, this should be easy, but, I was 35 lbs or so lighter when I climbed that last time.

http://www.14ers.com/photos/quandarypeak/200406_Quan02a.jpg

[ColoWayno]

I'm in Sumter, SC for a few days. I found a YMCA about 5 minutes away. So... I'll either go there or to the gym at Shaw AFB.

[ColoWayno]

Wednesday (Sumter YMCA)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats
5x1x315
Press
2x5x125, 1x7x125
Deads
1x2x315, 1x1x315 No chalk + southern humidity
Chins
1x5xBW+40

Being from arid Colorado you don't always appreciate the need for chalk (though I use it there). Sometimes I pack chalk for these trips, now I remember why.

Some guy used the rack after me and worked on 405lb 1/8th squats. It's amazing the amount of attention you get when you have 4 wheels up there, even if you are the worlds worst squatter. Seriously, 4 inch squats?

[ColoWayno]

Thursday
My flight was cancelled out of Columbia so I ended up hiking 6+ miles in the Congaree National Forest. My knees, ankles and lower back ached a little. I wanted to see a giant frog but it was not to be. I did see a turtle and a lizard. It was about 75 degrees. I'm still hoping to get home tonight on a later flight.

http://www.nps.gov/cong/planyourvisit/images/trailguide.jpg

[RyanWhittemore]

Hey Wayne,
Just had to respond to your post about 4 inch squats. On this trip I've been working out at a commercial gym for the first time in many years. I have been amazed at what I've seen. When a really big dude walks over to the squat rack, I inevitably think, "ok, this guy gets it. he must know how to squat." every one of them has proven me wrong. 405, 495 for 8-10 reps averaging about 4 inch depth. awesome squats. at least none of them have tried to correct my for. I am actually really curious as to how much weight I could handle for a 4 inch squat. Thinking of getting a spray tan first, then loadingup the bar, ripping the sleeves off my t-shirt and screaming my head off while I do it.
Hope the cleans are going well. Stop throwing your head back! Take it easy.

Whit

[ColoWayno]

It's takes everything I have to keep my mouth shut when those guys start handing out advice to the adoring crowd around the squat rack.
I've had a couple of good Power Clean sessions, and then a lousy one. I was really hoping it'd be a smooth ride up to 160 or so.

In other news: I made it back to the Springs, late but otherwise intact.

[ColoWayno]

Ok... so I'm now in this "Pilate Reformer" class cause my wife signed us up. So that's what I did today. To be honest, I don't think I had recovered from the 6.7 mile hike enough for a regular workout today anyway, that's why Rip says that LSD stuff sucks. But, I live in Colorado and there are 14'ers ... uhg. I know this is all going to suck. Hopefully I'll surprise myself and just adapt like hell, get a few more 14'ers under my belt and get it out of my system.
Anyway... back to the class. It actually wasn't a horrible way to spend an hour. It might not be a bad warmup before going in and lifting heavy. I don't think it's going to tax me too much. I'll probably just bring in a bottle of chocolate milk and drink it right after that class before lifting.

[ColoWayno]

Monday (194.2)
(sets x reps x lbs)
Squats
1x3x305, 1x1x305, 1x0x305
Power Cleans
bleh
Conditioning
25 minute walk at lunch. I should be doing my "sprinting" tonight as well.
10 minutes of Frisbee catch with son.

I guess I didn't eat enough over the weekend. I'm trying to rehydrate and take in enough today... so far (as of 13:30), 3 eggs, 1 strip bacon, cheese, pepper strips, 1/2 apple, 12oz milk, 1/2 lb ground beef, 1 avocado.
Afternoon: 50g whey, 12oz milk, 1/2 cup blueberries.

I knew I had no business lifting heavy-ass weights tonight. Recovery on my trip last week was less than optimal and I didn't eat enough over the weekend. Hopefully I can repeat and get this weight in 4 weeks... just need to not lose weight.

[Mark E. Hurling]

You know, now that I've gotten down to 210 lbs. and even lower a few days ago, I find myself thinking the same thing. Something that has never been true for me my entire life of battling my gut's growth.

[ColoWayno]

You know, now that I've gotten down to 210 lbs. and even lower a few days ago, I find myself thinking the same thing. Something that has never been true for me my entire life of battling my gut's growth.

When I get up over 200 lbs I feel like crap. I think I may get there someday, but it's going to take a while. I had some pretty ugly looking markers on my last checkup but I've dealt with all of that before. BP last night was 110/79, so it looks like some of the changes I've been making are working out.

[ColoWayno]

Tuesday (194.8, 200)
sets x reps x lbs
Bench
2x3x212.5, 1x4x212.5
Chins
12,12,12 @BW PR
Conditioning my heart rate max was ~ 170
2 minute walk
1 minute jog
1 minute walk
2 minute "sprint" @6mph (10 minute mile pace)
2 minute walk
2 minute "sprint" @7mph (8:30 minute pace)
2 minute walk
2 minute "sprint" @8mph - (7:34 minute pace) some wheezing ... very sad ...
3 minute walk
1 minute "sprint" @9mph - (6:42 pace) better than the previous 2 minute sprint.

If I have the energy tonight I might either do the power cleans I missed last night, or some "sprinting". I guess last night was the train wreck I'd been expecting for a while. I'm happy I've lost a belt notch though. I can fit into my "medium" jeans again. I should be ticking back up on the scale for a while until I feel the energy return.

Pretty good especially after last night. PR on chins, plus the energy to do some conditioning.
If all goes well, I'll do power cleans as a warm up to dead lifts on dead lift day.