Less posting, more lifting.

[mstrofbass]

Just so I can make everyone happy and open myself up to some added ridicule (never bad to let the ego get chopped down a bit), I guess I'll go ahead and start posting my log here. I was pretty regular about posting it elsewhere, until everyone left and there was no discussion there.

Background: Never been very athletic at all. Always a pretty tiny ~180 lbs., 6' 2" (ish), skinny fat weakling. Started working out back in early 2007 doing the basic bis/tris, chest/back, legs splits. Made a pretty big difference by itself. Then Mr. Jacob Cloud introduced me to Starting Strength and getting stronger. I was quickly enamored by the thought of actually getting strong, and my journey commenced.

I spent years trying to get my LBBS to focus on my posterior chain, and still don't really have a good feel for it. I think I finally got it worked out, but it doesn't matter since I have an utterly ridiculous case of tendinitis, and have stopped squatting since March. This was mostly due to me not recognizing what it was, and just trying to workout and play soccer without taking care of it, so no one to else to blame.

Maxes as of when I quit squatting in March:

Squats: 3x5 - 305-315 (using a modified TM program)
Deadlift: 385x5, then recovery finally failed and I pulled 395x3 one week, followed by 405x1.
Press: 3x5 - ~150
Bench: 3x5 - 225 (I never really benched much)
PC: 225x1
Power Snatch: 165x3 (alright, these were muscled up about four inches, but I had virtually no squat, so I could have gotten them with just a bit)
OHS: 135x7

My recovery has always sucked due to not eating enough protein (something I suspected but never wanted to deal with) and not getting proper rest. I SHOULD have been much stronger than I was, and, thankfully, my recovery had been much better in the months before March that I managed to add probably 75 lbs. to my squat in < 6 months. Over the past few weeks, my recovery has been excellent, and I've been focusing on getting the necessary amounts of protein and sleep. It is amazing how much better all this shit works now.

[mstrofbass]

Current stuff:

28 y/o male (as of Nov. 14th), ~220 lbs. ~20-22% BF (probably a percent or two in my man boobs). Been doing TM for presses, and deadlifting once a week. Asked JohnnyPain for some advice related to adding more work to assist deadlifts since I wasn't squatting at all. And I will start this log as of last week when I started on his suggestion.

General program is modified TM Press and JP's deadlift suggestions:

Sunday:
Press 3x5
SLDL 1x6-8, 1x8-12
Dips: 3xfailure (depending on how I'm feeling)

Tuesday:
Press 2x5


Thursday:
Press 1x3,4,5 (as many at the specified weight I can get, up to five, then increase weight)
Press Starts 3x3
DL 1x4-6, 1x8-12

[mstrofbass]

Sun 10-31-10

SLDL - 1x6-8, 1x8-12
WU - 45x5, 65x5, 95x4, 135x5, 185x5
215 - 8
170 - 12
Was just working my way up. Was unsure what to start with.

Press - 3x5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3, 125x2
162.5 - 5, 5, 5

Curlz: Did some just to show my trainee how to do them. He has a $20 bet he can beat his dad in arm wrestling over Thanksgiving, so working on some bicep strength.

[mstrofbass]

Tues 11-2-10

Press - 2x5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3
125 - 5, 5

Was going to do some other chins, but there were 50 billion people in the gym, and a group of three people were using the squat rack that has the straight bar I like to use.

[mstrofbass]

Thurs 11-4-10

Press - 1x3-5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3, 135x2
180 - 3

I should have been able to get at least four...not sure what happened.

Press Starts - 3x3
195x3
205x3
205x3

I do these belted, because like Starr says, each rep pushes you out of optimal positioning, and this starts taking its toll on my back. After a couple weeks of doing these, they seem to be helping...or my recovery is outpacing everything else. It's hard to say which, but all I know is my first rep at 195 went up high enough I was worried I was just going to have to press it all the way up.

DL - 1x4-6, 1x8-12
WU - 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1
385 - 5
285 - 10

Grip was an issue on the DLs since I used minimal chalk (trying to hide it from the employees). Probably could have gotten the sixth otherwise. Was unsure how much to do on the back off set. Probably could have gotten all twelve, but grip was again an issue, even using mixed grip (didn't think I'd need to chalk up for this).

[mstrofbass]

Sun 11-7-10

Press - 3x5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3, 130x2
165 - 5, 5, 5

I knocked these out like they were nothing. Yay for good recovery. Depending on what happens on Thursday, may think about adding back a set. These sets are what made me think press starts are starting to work. The initial reps out of the hole were amazingly easy.

SLDL - 1x6-8, 1x8-12
WU - 135x5, 185x3
225 - 8
180 - 12
These were easy. I was amazed and couldn't figure out why...but I just realized last week I had a shit-ton of warm up sets. Tempted to bump these up 15/10 lbs., respectively.

[stronger]

nice press. my 2nd favorite exercise

[mstrofbass]

nice press. my 2nd favorite exercise

Thanks. It's definitely one of my favorites (hence why I dropped bench completely). Probably behind snatches and deadlifts though.

[stronger]

Thanks. It's definitely one of my favorites (hence why I dropped bench completely). Probably behind snatches and deadlifts though.

I've gotta agree with the snatch part. It's just so much fun. I wish I could drop bench completely but I'm also not good at it so I need it

[msingh]

you're a smarmy son-of-a-bitch, i'll be ridiculing you regularly on this log. Good luck.

[mstrofbass]

you're a smarmy son-of-a-bitch, i'll be ridiculing you regularly on this log. Good luck.

Luckily, you fit in the category where any support you give is bad, and any ridicule you provide is good.

[mstrofbass]

Tues 11-9-10

Press - 2x5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3
130 - 5, 5

Chins - BWx10,5,2 - Sucked because the only decent straight bar for chin ups is a smooth squat rack support bar, and I didn't have any chalk. So grip was the biggest issue with these. First time to do them in a month or two as well, which made my biceps a bit unhappy.

[mstrofbass]

Thurs 11-11-10

Press - 1x3-5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3, 135x2
180 - 2, 2, 2

I let the bar get way out in front on the third rep of the first set, and couldn't recover, so I decided I'd do a couple more sets of doubles.

Press Starts - 3x3
205x3
205x3
205x3

Focused on not dropping the bar too low after each rep. Need to start increasing the weight on subsequent sets.

DL - 1x4-6, 1x8-12
WU - 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1
395 - 4
295 - 12

I wasn't feeling particularly good by the time I got to DLs, and my patellar tendinitis had been really acting up, so I didn't even expect to get this many. Probably could have gotten five, but decided to call it. The back off set went well though. I had no problem this time (because I chalked up), and I wasn't particularly close to passing out like I was the time before. Lower back was a little tight afterwards, but that's not unexpected.

[mstrofbass]

Sun 11-14-10

Press - 3x5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3, 130x2
167.5 - 4, 5, 4

Unlike others (http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=20066), I do not do very at the gym when I'm hungover. I could have gotten all five of the first set, but my partners were talking and it distracted me.

SLDL - 1x6-8, 1x8-12
WU - 135x5, 185x3
235 - 8
185 - 12

Not particularly easy, and I snapped my knees into a locked position in the middle of one of the reps which was kinda scary...shifted a ton of the force to the tendon at the bottom of the hamstring. But otherwise it wasn't bad. Knocked the back off set out with ease.

Dips - BWx12,5,3
I failed to get more on these not because my triceps were tired, just because I had no energy.

[mstrofbass]

Tues 11-16-10

Press - 2x5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3
130 - 5, 5

Pull ups - BWx8
Grip was an issue, and I have a pull or something in my anterior delt. I stayed away from these and chins because of it, and was hoping it healed in the past month, but almost immediately started causing problems again. Not as bad as it was originally, but still enough to make me stop after one set and switch to a modified Starr rehab protocol.

DB Rows - 20 - 2x20

[mstrofbass]

Thurs 11-18-10

Press - 1x3-5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3, 135x2
182.5 - 2, 1

Not making a whole lot of progress on these, so I think I'm going to add back a set on Monday.

Press Starts - 3x3
195x3
205x3
215x3

Didn't have my belt so I was a bit worried about these, but they went fine. Gonna have to stick with 215 as my upper set for a bit.

DL - 1x4-6, 1x8-12
WU - 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 365x1
405 - 3
305 - 12

I figured this is what was gonna happen. I initially figured I'd use the reps I got the week before to gauge my recovery (if I got four, I'd stick to the same weight, if I got five it was a good jump, if I got six I could make a slightly bigger jump), and then didn't. I need to up my calories a little more I think, since I haven't upped them a whole lot from before when I was just doing one heavy set of deadlifts a week.

Gonna go ahead and reset on these though.

[mstrofbass]

Sun 11-21-10

Press - 3x5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3, 130x2
167.5 - 5, 5, 5

These went up without any trouble whatsoever. They were surprisingly easy.

SLDL - 1x6-8, 1x8-12
WU - 135x5, 185x3
235 - 8
195 - 10

I don't have my log on me, so I'll have to check to make sure this is right. Seems like I screwed the weight up somehow.

Dips - BWx14,6,5
These went pretty well.

[mstrofbass]

Tues 11-23-10

Press - 2x5
WU - 45x5, 75x5, 95x3
130 - 5, 5

Chin ups - BWx5
Felt my rear delt acting up on these, so I quit a bit early and did some rows.

DB Rows - 25 - 2x20

On the plus side I got a massage today (11-24). Hopefully it'll help my quads and traps out a bit.