Basement Barbell Club

[ambivalens]

Moving my training log here from T-nation. Not sure why, I like that there's alot of mature people around here. Info on me:

A little background first, in case all of you trainspotters out there care. I'm 29, turning 30 in a couple of months. Got 2 kids - one girl that's nearly 2, and a wee little girl that's 8 weeks this coming weekend. Just with those two finding time to work out is tough, and in addition I have my job (trauma nurse (male) working evenings - 3 to 10) and some schooling going on part time. Time is of the essence, you might say.

I work out in my basement, got a Bodysolid power cage and all the things I need (almost). Still lacking somewhere proper to do dips - as a substitution I'm using a couple of trees with heavy duty branches. Gets it done, sort of. Often when I'm working out my 2 year old daughter is with me, which is both fun and annoying at the same time. Gets a bit heavy when you almost hit her in the head with the bar squatting :P

I'm also verbose. Overly so, but what the hell. Used to work out alot, but got fat and sedentary when we had our first kid. It's high time getting back into it, so I'm starting low and working my way back up. Used to squat 140 and press 80-ish kilos (my 2 favorite exercises), but I'm starting from the beginning and leaving my ego at the door.

Stats:
1m89cm tall, 111 kg heavy (way too much fat, my wife is a wonderful baker)
Currently started 5/3/1 with focus on leaning out and a long term plan - no short term goals except "keep on trucking". Started squatting like I've never done it before, at 55 kg, to get my motor skills back.

Current goals - by the end of 2011
Squat: 120kg - current as of 02.08.2011: 100kg
Deadlift: 150kg - current as of 02.08.2011: 125kg
Bench: 100kg - current as of 15.08.2011: 95kg
Press: 80kg - current as of 02.08.2011: 67.5kg

[ambivalens]

Sunday today, press day. DELOAD WEEK.

I'm in my 4th week of 5/3/1, deloading and just relaxing. Switched over from SS because I need to lose about 15 kilos to be able to look myself in the mirror without a feeling of shame. Therefore, 5/3/1 with about 3000 cals per day, lost 2 kilos in a month now, slow and steady.

Press, 3x5 - bar, 30kg, 35kg. Nothing much to say about this, deloading isn't very exciting or action packed. Because I'm a jackass I decided to do a few heavier singles and doubles to see how it went. 3x40kg went up very easy as expected. 2x50kg went very easy as well. 2x57.5kg posed more of a challenge, but went up. I guess my 1RM right now is somewhere around 62.5kg.

Did some more random assistance. Did some skullcrushers because they have sentimental value - they were the first exercise I really started focusing on when I thought I was training weights real hard. Got pretty strong triceps too, haha. Some practicing the hang-clean, some DB presses, some kettlebell work. Might have been some more in there, but my 2 year old daughter and the neighbours 2 kids came in to blow up my party. The oldest one, a 5 year old girl showed me some real shoulder power pressing 3 kg overhead. Very cool :)

[Regin Smidur]

Ah, a fellow cellar dweller. Welcome, and good luck with your weight loss and strength goals.

[ambivalens]

Ah, a fellow cellar dweller. Welcome, and good luck with your weight loss and strength goals.

Thanks, mate! I'll see if I can find a picture of the cellar I took the other day, so you can have a look at my setup.. which is basically a power cage :P

[ambivalens]

I believe I might have managed to attach an image to this post. If not, I'm sorry.. :>

It's a sweet setup, except it gets down to -15 degrees celcius in winter because of what is basically a missing door. And it's actually not underground, so there's no heat from mother earth herself to be had.

[ambivalens]

Monday, squat day. It's really Tuesday, but my wife and 2 kids left for a holiday late last night, so I dropped my workout in favor of being with them.

Warmed up today by destroying the kitchen. While the family is gone, I'm tearing it down and building a new one. All the old crap is out now, a good 10 hour warmup.

Squat, 3x5 - 47.5kg, 52.5kg, 60kg x 15 - Felt very good. Spent a lot of time during squatting warmup experimenting with foot positions etc. When I go wider than shoulder width, my knee and hips really give me trouble. If I go slightly narrower than shoulders (just sliiiiightly), I can squat ass to grass without any issues at all. On the last set I believe I could have hit 20 reps if I wasn't such a pussy, but I racked it at 15, because my rest between reps was getting upwards of 5 seconds.
Squat, 5x10 - 2x50kg, 2x45kg, 40kg - These felt excellent. No issues after I discovered the stance thing. Even now my knee is only marginally annoying me, so perhaps I'm on the golden road to squat redemption. All these assistance squats were ass to grass, while main sets were to parallell.
Romanian Deadlift, 3x10 - 40kg, 50kg, 60kg - Still haven't watched Rips new video on these, will do tonight since I'm all alone and can actually sit on my ass for more than 3 minutes at a time.

Ended todays workout with some HIIT tabata kettlebell work - cleans, figure 8s, snatches and swings.

I'm currently defrosting a 1 kg steak, and 5 seconds after this post goes live, my grill will be roaring with fire, expecting wonderful meat.

[jgh]

Currently started 5/3/1 with focus on leaning out and a long term plan - no short term goals except "keep on trucking".
I think this is an excellent and underrated goal, if you think about it. To quote Dan John, "The goal is to keep the goal the goal."

Nice cave, btw!

[ambivalens]

I think this is an excellent and underrated goal, if you think about it. To quote Dan John, "The goal is to keep the goal the goal."

Nice cave, btw!

Thanks! I'll get another picture up soon, there's a boxing bag and some stuff in there too. Definitely something that needs to be documented for posterity ;>

Since I started training 2-3 years ago (casually, no real goal, no real knowledge), I've wanted to "get strong fast", kind of like those "get rich quick" schemes. But something Wendler wrote in his book on 5/3/1 got to me - I don't remember exactly what his words were, but something along the lines of weight lifting being for life, and that there's no need to rush it, because even if you just up the weight slowly, in 5 years you'll be lifting some serious weight off the floor anyway. So now I've settled down and come to terms with going slow. My life is so active outside the gym that I can't focus 100% on optimal recovery and all that. Wife, kids, work, the house, the yard.. you know :) And I want lots of conditioning too, because I want to play ball and run around with the kids without being winded after 10 seconds.

[ambivalens]

Wednesday, bench day. It's really Thursday, but redoing the kitchen has delayed me.

Warmup, boxing bag, shoulder dislocations, lots of shoulder prehabs (rotator cuff giving me issues on bench), BW squats, rope skipping.

Bench, 3x5 - 47.5kg, 52.5kg, 62.5kg x 15 - Went very smoothly today. No specific shoulder issues to complain about, form was good, body tight. Weights were easy, but when I was getting to rep 12 on last set stuff started hurting (the good kind).
Bench, 5x10 - 4x50kg, 1x40kg - Very, very easy today.
Kroc rows, 2x20 - 37.5kg dumbbell - A screamer as usual. As I get to rep 15 and above I start howling like a wounded moose. Feels great, heart pumping like a beast.

Morning workout today. Now it's on to wiring the electricity for the kitchen, and then getting started on the new roof in there. Nice, countryside wood roof going to look good.

[ambivalens]

Friday, deadlift day. It's really Saturday. What a mind blower!

Got to sleep in today, felt wonderful. Very tired from this weeks work, needed the extra time in bed.

Warmup - Boxing bag, BW squats, shoulder dislocations, jump rope. Also did some mobility work, hip stretching and quads etc.

Power Clean, 5x3 - 40kg, 45kg, 50kg, 55kg, 60kg - Quite happy with these. Some left wrist issues at first, but it calmed down. Got to last set quite easily, cueing myself "EXPLOSIVE!" mentally as I went up.
Deadlift, 3x5 - 65kg, 75kg, 85kg x 15 - Went quite well, no big troubles. Had to reset grip at rep 12 in last set, no big deal. Some issues with flexing my lumbar too hard, fixed later in assistance sets.
Deadlift, 5x10 - 75kg, 70kg, 65kg, 2x60kg - Felt heavy during the first set, rest was pretty easy. Lacked music, fixed that and really got steaming.
Romaninan Deadlift, 3x5 - 60kg, 70kg, 80kg - Felt good today, some technique fixes from watching the latest platform video.

Finished off with the death march - http://youtu.be/2o_lal2jpQc

Grand workout, felt really good. Now it's off for a shower and hopefully a haircut if I can find someone willing to do it this fine Saturday.

[ambivalens]

Sunday, press day.

Have been working on the kitchen all day today too. Got the ceiling finished, walls are up, and 50% of the new cupboards etc. have been assembled. Tomorrow I'll need to work on the plumbing a bit, the pipes need to be moved over like 1 meter. That means crawling around the dirt cellar a bit.. :P

Press, 3x5 - 32.5kg, 37.5kg, 42.5kg x 16 - Very easy. Some real pain from rep 11 and up to 16. I was 100% determined to get 16 and _not_ 15, and it went up.
Press, 5x10 - 2x35kg, 2x32.5kg, 1x30kg - Very, very easy, all done with a full stop at the shoulders.

I ditched the chins today because I'm a pussy. My left arm has been giving me signs of some tendonitis bullshit, and chins definitely aggravate it far more than anything else, so I decided to be a little sissy today. Replaced it with 2 rounds of tabata HIIT, one with kettlebell snatches, cleans, squats and swins, and one with barbell presses, rows, cleans and curls. Got me nice and sweaty. As a coup de grâce I finished with a death march, 17.5kg dumbbell in each hand. Figured I needed punishment for the wussy chin behaviour.

[The Emancipated Freak]

That's quite a nice mancave you have, almost looks like a bedroom. Anyway, good luck with the lifting.

[ambivalens]

Thanks, freak :) It's my little cave under the house, where I get to do what I want to (mostly.. :P)

Monday, squat day.

Slept very, very bad last night. Just couldn't get to sleep no matter what I did, got maybe 2-3 hours total. I was apprehensive going down to the mancave today, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do and all that.

Power Clean , 5x3 - 30kg, 35kg, 40kg, 45kg, 50kg - I've added PCs on both squat day and deadlift day as "warm ups", sort of. I go heavy on DL day, lighter on squat day. These were easy, discovered that a hook grip alleviates 95% of my wrist flexibility problems in the rack position. Grand news!
Squat, 3x3 - 52.5kg, 57.5kg, 65kg x 15 - At rep 8 my body was telling me to rack it, time for leisurely lounging. I decided that was a no go, and pushed through to 15 reps. Heartbeat out of control, which usually happens when I've had terrible rest before a training day.
Squat, moronic triples, doubles and a single - 70kgx3, 90kgx2, 100kgx1 - Because I was having a bad day, I decided to prove to myself that I wasn't having a bad day.. wait, what? Captain Moron rides again. The weight went up quite easily, the last single was a battle on the way up though.
Squat, 4x10 - 50kg - These last sets were just a result of being stubborn. I was so ready to call it quits.. no such thing.
One arm barbell deadlifts, 2x5 - 40kg, 50kg - These were quite easy, but a bitch to find the right grip spot to keep the bar balanced. Eventually that stuff pissed me off, and I decided it was time to eat chicken and get ready for work.

[jgh]

One arm barbell deadlifts, 2x5 - 40kg, 50kg - These were quite easy, but a bitch to find the right grip spot to keep the bar balanced. Eventually that stuff pissed me off, and I decided it was time to eat chicken and get ready for work.
I ran into the same problem trying to do farmer's walks with double barbells. They turn into a real logistical pain in the ass once it gets heavy and the only real solution I've found is to buy/make those farmer's walk handles. Realizing that, I said screw it and don't try to do walks with too much weight (80kg is the most I can do without logistical issues and that's only because I happen to have two 40kg kettlebells).

I'm not sure what your goal is with the one arm barbell deadlifts, but I bet you could get a better training effect doing something else that's similar since the balance issue is so limiting. Even if you tape the center of gravity (only works if you have high quality weighted plates), I've found that the bar still ends up swinging around and you have to constantly correct it with your wrist.

[ambivalens]

I ran into the same problem trying to do farmer's walks with double barbells. They turn into a real logistical pain in the ass once it gets heavy and the only real solution I've found is to buy/make those farmer's walk handles. Realizing that, I said screw it and don't try to do walks with too much weight (80kg is the most I can do without logistical issues and that's only because I happen to have two 40kg kettlebells).

I'm not sure what your goal is with the one arm barbell deadlifts, but I bet you could get a better training effect doing something else that's similar since the balance issue is so limiting. Even if you tape the center of gravity (only works if you have high quality weighted plates), I've found that the bar still ends up swinging around and you have to constantly correct it with your wrist.

I hear you on the logistical nightmare. I'll give them another spin too see how it goes, but I'm very open to suggestions on exercises that would be better to use. Perhaps I'm just adding another assistance exercise needlessly, but it's mostly due to the fact that I enjoy spending time working out. The idea was to strengthen my core/abs somehow..

[jgh]

I hear you on the logistical nightmare. I'll give them another spin too see how it goes, but I'm very open to suggestions on exercises that would be better to use. Perhaps I'm just adding another assistance exercise needlessly, but it's mostly due to the fact that I enjoy spending time working out. The idea was to strengthen my core/abs somehow..
Ah, sounds like you were actually doing suitcase deadlifts then? Just trying to visualize it better. I think you would get more core involvement if you incorporated these into walks rather than just stationary lifts. I usually do some kind of suitcase carry in my warmups except I use 'em to warm up my core rather than tax it. I know you're in a basement, but if you can figure out a way to walk around with a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell, I bet you'll enjoy the feeling.

The goal is to stand up straight while walking with the weight at one side, which is pretty tough since the abs have to fight to keep you upright. My gym fortunately has a mirror in my walk path so I can try to correct myself-- I'm never as straight as I think I am.

[ambivalens]

Ah, sounds like you were actually doing suitcase deadlifts then? Just trying to visualize it better. I think you would get more core involvement if you incorporated these into walks rather than just stationary lifts. I usually do some kind of suitcase carry in my warmups except I use 'em to warm up my core rather than tax it. I know you're in a basement, but if you can figure out a way to walk around with a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell, I bet you'll enjoy the feeling.

The goal is to stand up straight while walking with the weight at one side, which is pretty tough since the abs have to fight to keep you upright. My gym fortunately has a mirror in my walk path so I can try to correct myself-- I'm never as straight as I think I am.

Hm, I can get my dumbbell up to about 50 kg, do you think that'd be enough weight to be useful? Sounds very nice, I've lately been loving doing the death march, which I picked up from CalStrength I believe. Insane heartbeat and a good soreness all around. I really like the idea of farmer's walks and all that, it's just that I have no way to load them very high. As I mentioned, I can only get 1 dumbbell up to about 50kg, only 25-30ish on each of them if I'm to carry with both hands.

[jgh]

I do the suitcase carries with 50 pounds and that's pretty good for me. You're quite a bit heavier than me so I think a 50kg dumbbell would be plenty for you. Again the idea is to resist the bending with the core. You can get this effect with pretty light weights and you'll really start to feel the abs kicking in if you walk longer distances (or more laps in your basement). I'm obviously a zealot for these but I really do think they are great for everyone. Dan John points out that suitcase walks are great for avoiding broken ankles too, since the muscles you train in suitcase carries are the same ones that would protect your ankle on a compromised footstep. woooo carries!

There's more ideas in this article:
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_secret_of_loaded_carries

[ambivalens]

Great article! I'll get to trying some of these in the days coming up. I have alot of room outside in the yard and the road I can walk around and do things like these, atleast now in the summer time. I'm not sure what I'll do during winter, but I'll figure it out. Thanks for all the great tips!

[ambivalens]

Missed bench day today. Been so friggin busy with the kitchen, had my electrician friend over to go over all my wiring and approve it, had to go back to IKEA to get some stuff I forgot to buy my SECOND time there.. and to top it all off I dropped a 40kg oak counter top on my left big toe, actually managing to split it open. At first I just took the pain and thought "Good lord, that hurt!" - as my white sneaker was turning red with blood I realized it was time to take it off and have a look. Lo and behold, that dang toe was split open and bleeding like you wouldn't believe. I taped her up and returned to work, seems to be pretty OK now. No more bleeding, just a lively thumping. Will hopefully get my bench day in tomorrow, but it's looking to be another idiotically busy day :(

[ambivalens]

Friday, deadlift day. Once again it's god damn Saturday, but I've been so stressed out and overworked these last 2 weeks the chips have fallen where they've bloody well decided to.

I'm drained. 100% so. Been working 16-18 hour days, first 8 hours on the new kitchen, then regular work for 8 more in the evenings. That's not really such a big issue, but my mother has been here the entire time. I'm not physically crushed, it's mental. I'm just Done. And there's no real end in sight. Atleast the wife returns on Monday, which usually means my mother pulls back into her cave. I love her, but there's a reason I moved a LONG way from home the first 10 years of my adulthood. Now I'm back in the neighbourhood. My heartbeat is out of control these days, and I'm noticing extra heartbeats all the time. Very fucking annoying. Okay, enough of the sob story.

Power Clean, 5x3 - 3x50kg, 2x57.5kg - So - SO - heavy today. I could hardly generate the power to clean those two last sets, but somehow I made it. Frustrating.
Deadlift, 3x3 - 70kg, 80kg, 90kg x 12 - OK. Heavier than usual.
Deadlift, 5x10 - 80kg, 2x70kg, 2x60kg - Went okay. No big issues, it just didn't feel fun.

Was supposed to do RDLs today too, but couldn't be bothered. Being in the gym was such a god damn chore, just wanted to go to bed. But, on the bright side, I get to go to work at 3 pm and work until midnight! Isn't that just sweet! Yay me.

Ignore my whining, I'm just tired.

[jgh]

Have you seen this article? http://www.t-nation.com/article/most_recent/3_tape_measures_of_progress
I'm referring specifically to #3. I've wanted to try charting my morning heart rate and doing the dot test thing but haven't had the energy so I tell other people on the internet to try it and tell me how it went... :) I'm mentioning this and the article because if you really do have an elevated morning heart rate, that's probably a sign to chill out for a little while. Rough times happen.

[ambivalens]

Have you seen this article? http://www.t-nation.com/article/most_recent/3_tape_measures_of_progress
I'm referring specifically to #3. I've wanted to try charting my morning heart rate and doing the dot test thing but haven't had the energy so I tell other people on the internet to try it and tell me how it went... :) I'm mentioning this and the article because if you really do have an elevated morning heart rate, that's probably a sign to chill out for a little while. Rough times happen.

Hey jgh, very interesting read!

I found this: http://www.zimm-co.com/PressTheSpaceBar/pressthespacebar2000.html to use as a replacement for the dot test, since we're living in the space age now and refuse to use pencils :> Perhaps I'll give that a try for a week or two, see how the numbers correlate with my own impression of my body.

We have nifty little heart rate monitors to clip on the finger at work, but since I usually work evenings I guess they're of little use for monitoring heart rate. Right now I'm at 99% o2 saturation, and a heartbeat of 63 :P

[ambivalens]

Been out of comission for almost 14 days. I was so beaten into the ground I decided to simply stay away from the barbell and recover. I stressed down, spent time with the kids playing outside in the yard, ate reasonably well (including lots of cake because of a torrent of birthdays and other parties), and tried to sleep as much as possible with 2 small children.

Did a general purpose workout today, just doing whatever I felt like, for as many reps as I felt like doing it.

Squat - 40kg x 5, 50kg x 5, 60kg x 5, 70kg x 3, 80kg x 2, 85kg x 1 - These were very easy and all reps felt very good. I'm going to start squatting more frequently, working up to heavier sets of 3s, 2s and singles.
Press - 20kg x 10, 30kg x 5, 40kg x 5, 45kg x 5, 50kg x 3, 55kg x 2, 60kg x 1 - Very pleasantly surprised at how well the press went today. The 60kg single went up quite easy, which has been a goal for a while. Next goal is 70kg for a single, then.
Power Clean, 5x3 - 40kg, 45kg, 50kg, 55kg, 55kg - Went alright, weights were pretty easy, but there's some sort of technique issue limiting me as the weight gets heavier. I feel its related to not exploding hard enough. Worked at slamming myself under the bar today, moderate success was had.

I'm contemplating a new program of my own devicing, based on what I want to achieve and which lifts I enjoy. That means the bench is out. Currently the program looks like this: Monday - Squat, Press, Power Clean, Wednesday - Deadlift, Kroc Row (want to keep this from my 5/3/1 routine, love it), [OPEN SPOT], Friday - Squat, Press, Power Clean.

[jgh]

I was wondering where you went! I tried out that link you mentioned and it was interesting to note my spacebar presses on various days. After resting 48 hours, I got up to 93 (two-handed) and after deadlift, I could only do 73.

Have you tried one-arm db bench before?

[ambivalens]

Hey man - yeah, I took a nosedive into total exhaustion. But now I'm hopefully back to my regular old self.

I did experiment with the one arm db-bench a little bit back in the day, but I haven't really tried it out since my shoulder started hurting. Perhaps I should give it a whirl, see if it aggravates it or not. Are you using it in your routine?

[jgh]

Hey man - yeah, I took a nosedive into total exhaustion. But now I'm hopefully back to my regular old self.

I did experiment with the one arm db-bench a little bit back in the day, but I haven't really tried it out since my shoulder started hurting. Perhaps I should give it a whirl, see if it aggravates it or not. Are you using it in your routine?
Not right now, since I'm still trying to stay pretty strict on GSLP. I just mentioned it since it's kind of a core-limited exercise and might be a way for you to maintain some pressing balance with the kroc rows.

I tried it a bit after going to a Dan John seminar (Intervention) where he was advocating mastering it before moving on to bench press. It felt pretty good on my bad shoulder and I used it as a way to guide how much I should be trying to bench while it was still hurting. ie, if I could only bench a 45lb db in my bard arm, then arguably trying to bench over 90lb could lead to some compensatory fuckedness. Shoulder is feeling pretty good now so I'm back to benching (eg, GSLP).

[ambivalens]

Not right now, since I'm still trying to stay pretty strict on GSLP. I just mentioned it since it's kind of a core-limited exercise and might be a way for you to maintain some pressing balance with the kroc rows.

I tried it a bit after going to a Dan John seminar (Intervention) where he was advocating mastering it before moving on to bench press. It felt pretty good on my bad shoulder and I used it as a way to guide how much I should be trying to bench while it was still hurting. ie, if I could only bench a 45lb db in my bard arm, then arguably trying to bench over 90lb could lead to some compensatory fuckedness. Shoulder is feeling pretty good now so I'm back to benching (eg, GSLP).

I think I'll give them a try on Wednesdays, see how they feel. Wish I had proper dumbbells, and not the kind where you need to dismantle them before adding weight :P Thing with my pain is that I can just bench through it with only very minor strength loss I believe, but it kinda lingers a bit and makes stuff like lifting the kids a hassle, which I'm not willing to accept. You know how when something hurts, even just a little bit, you unconsciously avoid movements that hurt.

How's GSLP working for you? Care to describe your routine? Tell me to google it if I'm being annoying, I just like hearing directly from someone doing the routine rather than reading reviews from "professionals" etc.

[jgh]

I mentioned it earlier in my log but there's a GSLP FAQ buried in JP's GSLP thread on his site that covers the program pretty well here:
http://strengthvillain.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=89&start=460#p11084

I'm not sure you can google for that. His forums are set up kind of stupid and he just has one thread for this topic with ~1000 posts, making it pretty hard to search through.

I've tried to stick to it fairly strict but I've had some shortcomings:
- Didn't really do any of the frequency method stuff. I do some pushups but not enough to track
- Didn't have the neck harness until week 4. Borrowed it from a friend since they are expensive and I was too lazy for a DIY job
- I decided to go "light" this week (week 6) because my knees were getting banged up

All that being said, I can't honestly tell you whether or not I would have done just as well going back to SS. Having an injured shoulder so long left me focusing on deadlifts and squats a lot, so I had very little upperbody musculature, and doing those exercises first has been pretty nice since I can put a lot into them now. My main issue with the program is that you really have to crank up the intensity knob because you have two AMRAP sets every workout. My press and bench are weak enough that the AMRAPs for those are fine, but doing that 2x/week for squats has taken some serious improvements in my mental fortitude. Going forward, I'm not sure I will AMRAP my squats anymore since I don't really want a bigger squat ass at this point and, if I can adapt linearly with just two 3x5 sessions where I don't have to turn into Mr. Hyde, I don't feel a need to go farther.

I'll probably be repeating most of this in my log on Friday since I need to figure out what to do next. :-)

[ambivalens]

Thanks for the info, jgh, I'll look into that too :)

Friday today, went for a squat, press and deadlift kind of deal. Very good day, I'm moving back to my good old form as the fatigue slowly leaves me.

Squat, 20kg x 10, 40kg x 5, 50kg x 5, 60kg x 5, 72.5kg x 5, 82.5kg x 3, 90kg x 2 - All of these were fairly easy. Didn't go for a heavy single as I'm still trying to groove myself into this new program.
Press, 20kg x 10, 30kg x 8, 35kg x 5, 40kg x 5, 45kg x 5, 50kg x 5 - Very easy. A little work involved on the last set, but nothing to write home about. Went "easy" today, as I went heavier just 2 days ago.
Deadlifft, 60kg x 10, 70kg x 5, 80kg x 5, 90kg x 5, 100kg x 3, 110kg x 2, 120kg x 1 - Very doable indeed. Got a little dizzy after the last single, but I believe it was mostly due to me being a moron and pumping myself up for the lift by basically hyperventilating.. :P I also have the problem that I only own 130kg of iron plates. Need to get some more.

Also did some farmer's walks with weight in only 1 hand, due to some recommendations by jgh. 45kg dumbbell, 4 rounds of 15 paces each. Felt very good, had to work to keep a straight posture. I'll try some carries with my boxing bag (35kg) next time. I believe that's too little weight, but I'm not sure.

[ambivalens]

Saturday, active rest.

100 pushups spread over 6 or so hours at work, sets of 10 and sometimes 15.
20 chinups later in the day.
Uphill hike, 20 minutes.

[ambivalens]

Monday. Slept well, felt very good going down to the basement.

Warmup - shoulder dislocations with progressively narrower grip, BW squats, some mobility stuff, boxing. Snatched a 20kg kettlebell and walked around the yard with it, 4 rounds on each arm. Up some stairs etc. too.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 65kgx5, 75kgx5, 85kgx3, 90kgx2, 95kgx1 - Squats felt good. Last single felt quite heavy, but I believe I had another in me.
Press - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 37.5kgx5, 42.5kgx5, 47.5kgx5, 52.5kgx3, 57.5kgx2, 62.5kgx1 - Presses felt extremely good today. Weight was light all the way up to the
heavy single, which was more of a challenge. I believe I had a double or even a triple in me with that weight.
Power Clean 5x3 - 30kg, 40kg, 50kg, 55kg, 60kg - some trouble exploding properly again. When the weight approaches 60kg I neglect to push myself under the bar properly, resulting in too much arm involvement. Up to 50kg I also jerked the weight after cleaning it, but since the area in my basement where I can jerk after cleaning has uneven floor, I stopped. First ever C&J try, was fun.

Single arm snatched a 30kg dumbbell a few times before ending the workout today. I feel that my single arm explosiveness is alot better than with the barbell. I'm unsure why. Annoys me.

[ambivalens]

Wednesday. I felt good going into the workout, but got a quick reality check. Had 2 nights of about 4-5 hours sleep, our 2 year old is going batshit crazy every god damn night at about 2-3 am. Screaming bloody murder and refusing to fall asleep by herself, ending up with her in our bed, kicking and turning for hours. No sleep for daddy, who's a bad sleeper from the get-go.

Warmup - some boxing, shoulder dislocations, BW squats, light stretching and mobility stuff.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx5, 80kgx5 - This is supposed to be my light squat day, perhaps going up to 80kg was silly. Last set felt extremely hard. Pissed me off so hard. I'm trying to eat lots of good food now too, I want progress.
Kroc Rows, 2x20 - 37.5kg dumbbell. This shit had my heartbeat up to humming bird speed. Failed last set at 15 reps on the left arm. Pissed me off even more than the shitty squats.
Deadlift - 3x5x60kg. Tweaked my back the other day, that stuff flamed right up with the deadlifts, so I just completed 3 sets at the same light weight and called it.
Bench - 20kgx10, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx5, 80kgx5 - Pissed off with everything I decided to do some bench pressing, trrying the thumbless grip there too (also using it on the press now). 80kg went up alot easier there than squatting... Uh - What. The. Fuck. Why am I such a silly weak squatter? I don't get it.

What a shit day, except for the bench which was decent if nothing else. I'd like to bench my own body weight, after that it's all the same to me. 25kg to go then. Easy peasy...

[ambivalens]

So, right now my new program looks like this:

Monday
Squat, working up to a heavy single 2.5kg heavier than last Monday.
Press, (hopefully) working up to a heavy single 2.5kg heavier than last Monday.
Power Clean, working up to a set of 3 of 2.5kg heavier than last week.

Wednesday
Squat, working up to a set of 5 with 70-80% of Monday's heavy single.
Bench, working up to heavy set/triple/double/single.
Deadlift, alernating heavy and light every other week. I'm not sure how to program this.

Friday
Squat, working up to a set of 5 with Monday's triple weight.
Press, working up to a set of 5 with Monday's triple weight.
Pendlay Row, working up to heavy set/triple/double/single.

My main concern is the lower back in this program. Lots of squatting, and lots of deadlifting both through PCs and regular deadlifts. I'm not sure I'll be able to recover sufficiently to support this much lower back work. I eat well, but sleep can be hard to come by with the kids going nuts at night. Also, I predict I'll need micro plates soon.

If anyone reading this has any thoughts, I'm all ears.

[ambivalens]

Saturday. I was supposed to work out yesterday, but due to the big incidents here in Norway I was glued to the TV screen alongside the
wife and kids.

Warmup - BW squats, stretching, boxing bag, jumping, shoulder dislocations.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx5, 82.5kgx5 - These sets were OK. Last set was heavy and felt off. I later realized I'd loaded a 1.25kg weight on one side, and a 2.5kg on the other. So the weight was 83.75kg I guess. After these squats I did 5 sets at 60kg, videotaped them all and tried to better my form. I have noticed that I constantly carry the bar crooked on my back. The left side of the bar is always tilted upwards, making the weight on the right side slide. I tried and tried again to correct it, but could not get it down perfectly.
Press - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 45kgx5, 52.5kgx5 - Quite easy. Decided to stop it there, since Monday is pressing day again.
Pendlay Row - 40kgx10, 50kgx5, 55kgx5, 60kgx5, 65kgx5 - All quite easy. Focused on keeping my back parallell to the floor, worked out fine.

[ambivalens]

Monday! A grand training day today, body felt good and the lifts were decent!

Warmup, the usual stuff.

Squat, high bar first attempt day - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx5, 80kgx3, 90kgx2, 95kgx1 - High bar felt enormously uncomfortable in the neck area, since I've got pussy skin there. The squats themselves felt a little better, and my sticking point coming out of the hole felt better. Not as rough, faster ascent.
Press - 20kgx10, 32.5kgx8, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 55kgx3, 60kgx2, 65kgx1 - Oh hell yeah. So smooth and easy today, even the last single shot straight up without much work. No grinding, no nothing - just straight pressing.
Power Clean, 5x3 - 32.5kg, 42.5kg, 50kg, 57.5kg, 62.5kg - Wrists giving me real flexibility issues. 2 or 3 fingers miss the grip in the rack position, making the lowering of the weight rather clumsy. Pisses me off. But the weight came up rather easy those times I managed to explode properly and slam myself under the bar. At other times I basically arm pulled it up...

[ambivalens]

Wednesday July 27th, 2011. A good day once again. Slept well, and dozed for 30 minutes after the kids woke up with them in the bed. A good way to wake up for sure. Ate well so far today, hope to continue the trend.

Warmup, suitcase walks with 35kg dumbbell, some overhead 1 arm walks with 20kg kettlebell and then 35kg dumbbell. Stretching, shoulder dislocations. Showing the wife how to deadlift, she wants to strengthen her back. Hope she actually does it now that she has the knowledge.

Squat, high bar 2nd attempt day, light weights - 20kgx10, 40kgx6, 50kgx5, 60kgx5x2 - Nice and easy.
Bench - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx5, 82.5kgx5, 60kgx8(wide grip), 70kgx1(wide), 80kgx2(wide) - Experimenting with grip widths in the end there. Everything felt good actually. I'm usually strronger at close grrip due to my triceps being fairly strong, but wide grips went up just as easy or easier.
Deadlift - 60kgx5, 75kgx5, 90kgx5, 100kgx5 - Very light and easy today. Last set involved a little work, but every rep was smooth and easy.

It will be interesting to see if I can add 2.5kg to my bench every week. I have my doubts, but perhaps with enough food it's doable for me. Philosophized a bit today about why I'm such a weak squatter, and then it suddenly dawned on me: the first 2-3 years of my weight training career all me and my buddies were doing were bodybuilder type routines with basically no leg work. So it's no wonder my top half is more accustomed to hard weight work than my bottom. Good lord, I hope I can atone for this shit. Hopefully my body will come around and I'll be able to fix what I've done.

[jgh]

Warmup, suitcase walks with 35kg dumbbell, some overhead 1 arm walks with 20kg kettlebell and then 35kg dumbbell. Stretching, shoulder dislocations.
Nice warmup ;) How was it?

Re the squats, I think you will have no problem getting them up if you stay healthy and maintain an aggressive attitude about kicking their ass. The mental aspect is so huge.

[ambivalens]

Nice warmup ;) How was it?

Re the squats, I think you will have no problem getting them up if you stay healthy and maintain an aggressive attitude about kicking their ass. The mental aspect is so huge.

It was very good! I really enjoy carrying stuff, haha. Especially when you can get a good grip on it, as opposed to real life boxes etc :P The 35kg dumbbell up above my head felt pretty damn shaky, so I have alot
to gain from doing that type of thing I believe. I'm considering getting some sort of sandbag or something. My boxing bag only weighs 35kg, which is a little bit on the light side, I think(?).

Squats... Man, they give me so much headache. I'm a big fucking guy, barely able to squat 100kg for 1 rep. I mean, I can basically bench as much as I can squat. I hope squatting 3 times a week and now eating like a horse will fix it. I've decided I want to fix the fact that I'm weak before worrying more about my appearance. I am what I am, as Popeye said. Atleast I think it was him. Who knows.

[ambivalens]

Friday July 29th, 2011. What an awful scorcher today. No clouds, no wind, no nothing. Spent the first half of the day with the wife and kids - oldest one in the pool with the neighbours girl. Ate well for breakfast - we bought a new blender so the wife is going nuts making smoothies and ice coffee and what have you. It tastes so damn delicious, I'm eagerly helping her get rid of all she makes.

Warmup - waiter carries with 20kg KB and then 35kg dumbbell. Feeling stronger on these, with the exception of clumsy snatching with the 35kg db. Oddly enough snatching with my left arm is easy as pie, while the right is somehow off form. Then some clean-squat-push presses with the 20kg KB. Also hip mobility and shoulder dislocations.

Squat, high bar - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5. Work sets: 80kgx5x3 Backoff: 60kgx5 - Some experimentation with neck angle. Seems the squats are easier if I keep my neck higher than usual, looking more or less straight forward. First 4 reps of each set pretty easy, fifth hard every time.
Press - 20kgx10, 35kgx8, 40kgx5, 45kgx5. Work sets: 55kgx5x3 - Felt very easy today. Warmup sets were harder than work sets, no idea what that was all about. Technique is getting in the groove, bar path feels very good now.
Pendlay Row - 40kgx8, 45kgx5, 50kgx5, 55kgx5. Work sets: 67.5kgx5x3 - Work sets were pretty good, felt heavy towards the end. Arms were tired from the pressing.

My pressing is really coming along. If I keep eating and my body does what I tell it to, I'll hit a 70kg single in approx 10 days. Now that I think about it we're going abroad for a wedding in my wifes family next Thursday, and not coming back until Monday evening. That will push my progression off slightly. But the rest and cake will do me good! Om nom nom cake. And no booze, since we're bringing the kids.

After workout "snack": bowl of oats with lots of cottage cheese and wonderful raspberry smoothie with whole milk in. So damn good it's almost like sex. Except sex is better because there's nude wife involved.

[ambivalens]

I'm all out of plates. My deadlift isn't strong by any measure, but I can now deadlift all the weight I own, 130kg. Thankfully, since we're going to a wedding abroad, I can stop by the Rogue Fitness warehouse in Finland! There's no way to get good weights without paying a cockload of money here in Europe (that I know of), so Rogue starting up in Pori, Finland was very lucky. My wife is finnish, so we travel over there by car quite often. I'll get some bumper plates and whatever I can get my grubby little hands on in just a little over a week.

I sent an email to California Strength asking for a shipping quote on bumper plates from them: Price of plates: 499 dollars. Price of shipping to Norway: 2700 dollars :D The poor girl that answered me was full of apologies, even though it clearly isn't her fault. Pretty damn funny shipping price though :P Buying plates from Eleiko in Sweden is more expensive than a week in Vegas though, so screw that. Very pleased I found out we're travelling through Pori on our way to the wedding.

[ambivalens]

Monday, August 1st, 2011.

We've been having a bad heat wave here. Extremely hot, atleast by norwegian standards. So sleep has been even harder to come by than usual, but I've been eating well and recovering alright (I think). Heat + kids going nuts at night haven't equalled the best rest, but I've been doing alright.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx3, 82.5kgx3, 90kg 6 sets of 2 reps, 97.5kg single - Form felt creaky during the warmups, but as the weight progressed everything smoothed out. I also constructed a 13" "box" out of a piece of 2"x6" and set it on the ground behind me so I could touch and go it for proper depth. I _think_ 13" is okay. Maybe 12"75 would be better, but the 13" is what I have, and from the videos it looks ok. The last single at 97.5kg was _very_ easy. I was my usual negative self when it came to squats, but they worked out well today.

Press - 20kgx10, 32.5kgx8, 40kgx5, 45kgx5, 50kgx5, 55kgx3, 60kg 4 sets of 2 reps, 67.5kg single - Presses were beautiful today. It's my best progressing lift currently, I believe. 60kg went up easily during the doubles, the last single at 67.5kg was definitely harder. I'm guessing my absolute 1RM is somewhere around 72.5kg currently. Not sure 4 sets of 2 is enough, perhaps I need to add another couple of sets. We'll see in the coming weeks.

Power Clean - 50kg 3 sets of 3, 60kg 3 sets of 3, 65kg 3 sets of 3 - This crap again. My technique must be horrible. I noticed the bar coming up in a in a sort of ( bow outside my chest. Tried to correct that, think I got somewhere. Other than that I think the videos actually look OK, but I'm not a good judge of lifts like the PC, because the explosive part is so fast. I can't really see what I'm doing wrong. Wrist gave me issues all the way. I had some reps at 65kg that were REALLY easy, they just flew up. And others, where I failed to properly explode the bar were just muscling it up.

[DutchPancakes]

http://s3.hubimg.com/u/4229778_f260.jpg

You can do dips between chairs. Put weight plates on the seat if you're scared of them flipping. My brother does them like this and he's 115 kilos so I think you'll be fine too.

[ambivalens]

http://s3.hubimg.com/u/4229778_f260.jpg

You can do dips between chairs. Put weight plates on the seat if you're scared of them flipping. My brother does them like this and he's 115 kilos so I think you'll be fine too.

Hm, I'll try to put a couple of 20kg plates on each chair. That _is_ my main gripe, they feel so wobbly under my weight. I'm at 110 kg or thereabouts, so if he can do it, I should be able to too :P Thanks mate.

[ambivalens]

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011.

A great nights sleep! Kids slept through the night, and so did daddy, I can tell you that. Felt like a superstar when I woke up, wonderful, wonderful.

Light squats today, felt heavier than Mondays heavy squats.. :P But that's usual. And then Fridays will feel great again.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 65kg 3 sets of 5 - Joints creaky, hips sore, legs wobbly. A usual light squat day. Every week its like this :D

Bench - 20kgx10, 30kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 82.5kg 3 sets of 5, 90kgx1, 95kgx1 - Definite PR here. A couple of weeks ago I couldn't make 90kg move off of my chest, today I could move 5kg more. Grindy, to be sure, but still - it was moved. I think I may need to revise my current bench goal as outlined in post 1 of this thread.

Deadlift - 60kgx5, 70kgx5, 80kgx5, 90kgx5, 110kgx5 - Last set felt surprisingly hard. It might have been because I zipped through all the previous sets without much rest, or it might be the usual suspect: my awfully weak posterior chain.

This will be my last workout before next Wednesday. Going away for a long weekend, wife's cousin is getting married. I'll try to do some Pendlay Rows tomorrow morning or later today, just to get some back work in before I leave.

[ambivalens]

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011.

Came back from our holiday to Finland yesterday evening. A short week of lots of eating, not so much sleeping (odd beds and all kinds of troubles :P), and a wedding. Met lots of my wifes family, and had a very good time in general. It was a 2100 kilometer road trip, which the kids handeled surprisingly well. We took breaks and discovered many interesting sites along the way, so that was cool too. I also got to go to Crossfit Pori's warehouse and go nuts on their bumper plates. Brought home 115 kg of those babies (250 lbs), instantly wished I had more. Also got me a new 32kg kettlebell.

Squat - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 67.5kg 1 set of 5 - Light squat day, felt okay. Squats are by far the worst exercise to get back into after even a small break.

Bench - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 85kg 3 sets of 5 - Bench felt good today. Good form and good bar speed. Last 2 reps of the work sets felt harder, but lockout came easier than before. Will be interesting to see if I can keep going up 2.5kg like lately.

Deadlift - 60kgx5, 70kgx5, 85kgx5, 95kgx5, 115kg 1 set of 5 - Super, SUPER easy. This really felt like nothing. First rep I was sure was going to be hard to move, so I pulled hard, and the bar just flew up to lockout. I was like "uh.." and breezed through the last 4 reps.

Wandaful.

[ambivalens]

Friday, August 12th, 2011.

Slept almost 11 hours last night! Went to bed at about 10 in the evening, and got up right before 9. Wonderful feeling, and one would think it would be the perfect setup for a good day with the barbell. When I started warming up after 4 lazy hours in front of the computer playing video games with the wife, my head instantly started throbbing with a dull pain. Very frustrating. I told it to go fuck itself, and trucked ahead. Came through the workout just fine, but the pain never went away.

Warmup: first 2 rounds of 20kg KB carries, then 2 rounds of waiter walks with the 20kg. Then 1 round of carries and waiter walks with the 32kg KB. Snatching the 32kg was okay, actually carrying it overhead was a proper challenge, especially left hand/arm. Then a short 2-3 minute jog and some BW squats.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 82.5kg 3 sets of 5, forgot the back off set - Squats were okay. Nothing much to report. As usual they felt heavy, but no big issues, except a little tendency to let the bar travel a bit forward on the ascent. I later experimented with squatting a few singles barefoot, and the problem seemed to be gone. On a positive note, I easily singled 100kg barefoot.

Press - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 45kgx5, 57.5kg 3 sets of 5, 45kgx8 backoff - First work set felt pretty decent, a bit heavy as I was experimenting with grip width. Second set was HARD, grip width too wide. Third set I got pissed and used the grip I've always pressed with, and the weight felt easy and smooth for all 5 reps. So, now I know what grip to use :P

Pendlay Row - 50kgx5, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kg 3 sets of 5, 50kgx8 backoff - These felt good today. Experimented a bit with grip width here too, and decided that narrower was better.

After the rows I did some squat singles barefoot to see if they felt more stable than in my adidas non-weightlifting shoes. I think they did. 50kg, 75kg, 90kg and 100kg all went up with the bar staying in a stable trajectory. I have a tendency to let the bar (and thus me) float forward on the ascent. Perhaps barefoot is the way to go?

[ambivalens]

Caturday, August 13th, 2011.

It's a rest day, but I've been wanting to add more conditioning to my workout plan, so I decided on Saturday and a post-workout tabata HIIT thing on either Mon or Wednesdays.

Warmed up with 3 sets of death marches, 20 paces each. That got my heartbeat going, and my glutes felt like they'd been beaten up. Awesome.

Then 5 sets of 3 reps of the following barbell complex (45kg), about 60-90 seconds rest between sets:
Row, Power Clean, Press, Squat, Good Morning, RDL

Hot diggity. After the 4th set I was literaly drooling spit on the ground. I was doing this outside, so that kind of behaviour was luckily acceptable. I tried drinking, but I needed my mouth for breathing, and just spit the water out again. The 5th set was done out of pure spite, not power. I feel it was executed slower than the first 4. I'll add 2.5kg each week, I think. Or possibly up the repetitions, whatever feels right. If anyone happens to read this and has an opinion on upping weight or reps, I'm all ears.

Wonderful workout, quick and brutal.

[ambivalens]

Monday, August 15th, 2011.

What a shit day. The weather is overcast and really "heavy", giving me a horrible headache if I do as much as get my heartbeat up by 3 bpm. Bad sleep last night too, as the munchkin decided to wake up at 2.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx3, 85kgx3, 95kg 6 sets of 2 - These felt okay. Some reps were done with lack of tightness, and it was markedly harder to get out of the hole on those. Other than that squats were good today.

Press - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 65kg 6 sets of 2, 55kgx5 - Presses started out heavy when I got to the work sets. Form was off, headache was raging and I was constantly being interrupted. After 2 sets things started getting in the groove, though. Form got better, and I got much better at getting under the bar. Upped the weight 10 lbs from last week, just because there's a big discrepancy between intensity day and volume day currently. It should correct itself over the next couple of weeks with this change.

Power Clean - 50kgx2x3, 60kgx2x3, 65kg 2 sets of 3 - By the time I got to the PCs I was spent. There was literally no power in the 65kg sets. A couple of reps the bar travelled outside my legs in the deadlift phase, and I ended up just muscling the weight straight up into a press rack position, not even on the delts. Other reps were easy and very efficient. Very frustrating lift.

[ambivalens]

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011.

A decent workout day. Or, it was a very good workout day really, but I'm concerned with the future of my bench press, and as such it was only decent.. wat?

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 65kg 1 set of 5 - Light squat day. These were very easy, for once. I tried lifting my toes a bit before I descended, and form seemed to improve tremendously. Will try more on the heavier squats.

Bench - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 55kgx5, 65kgx3, 75kgx3, 87.5kg 3 sets of 5, 90kg single, 95kg single, 100kg single FAIL, 60kgx8 backoff - Work sets were quite good, actually. The weight feels heavy, but only the last rep of each set was really a challenge. Rest just "went up", no questions asked. 95kg single went up easier than last time, 100kg single failed the same way it did last, 3 inches off my chest. Just couldn't move it further.

Deadlift - 70kgx5, 80kgx5, 95kgx5, 105kgx5, 120kg 1 set of 5, 70kg x 15 (speed) - Deadlifts were quite easy today too. On the work set I let my back form slide on rep 3, but quickly got my shit together and finished with proper form. From now on it seems I really need to pay active attention to keeping my back in extension, as the weight is heavy enough to kinda pull it out of extension without me noticing in time. Double overhand grip.

I'm worried about how much further my bench will go. I feel that I will probably make next weeks 3 worksets at 90kg, but after that it seems quite sketchy...

[ambivalens]

Friday, August 19th, 2011.

A good workout. There isn't much to say about it, because it simple puttered along from start to finish. Hit all the weights, no big issues. Kept my press back at the same weight as last Friday, so that volume and intensity day will be a bit further apart. Currently they're 10kg apart, which seems ok.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx3, 85kg 3 sets of 5, 60kgx8 backoff - Squats, like always, felt decently hard during the last two reps of each set. But so did all the warmup sets. There's nothing to do but truck on through it, and work up a decent sweat.

Press - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 45kgx5, 50kgx3, 57.5kg 3 sets of 5, forgot backoff - Presses were okay. I was very upper body fatigued from benching on Wednesday, but the weight went up easier than last Friday anyway. Good times. I am looking forward to the work weight surpassing 60kg, as that's been a goal for a while.

Pendlay Row - 50kgx2x5, 60kgx2x5, 72.5kg 3 sets of 5, 50kgx8 backoff - Easy. Filmed my second work set, realized I wasn't keeping my back in proper extension, and as a result the last work set felt even easier than the first two, due to my back properly supporting the whole chain of events.

Lower back feels properly worked. That's about it, really. I've had some serious DOMS from benching on Wednesday, feels very good. Been a long time since I felt some proper soreness. The fact that I'm currently benching more than I'm squatting isn't even going to be mentioned. It's just one of those big "wtf" things that'll have to be passed in silence, and we'll hope it'll correct itself in time.

[ambivalens]

Saturday, August 20th, 2011.

Conditioning day. Decided to up my reps on the barbell complexes from 3 to 5. Holy batshit, superman. Yeah, you heard me. I said it. I kept the weight at 45kg, and these things FRIED me. Murder death kill.

I managed 4 sets. I couldn't finish the 5th set, so my new goal is to finish 5 sets at 5 reps, then up it to 6 reps. I felt like puking after the 4th, good times.

Complex:
Deadlift, Row, Power Clean, Press, Squat, RDL

I also did 3 death marches, about 20 paces each. I love that exercise.

I also spent some time philosophizing about weight training again. What I love about it is that it's a constant. Nothing can take it away from me, save perhaps severe illness. No matter what happens in life, I know I'll most likely be able to go hit the weights. Sometimes it's hard, both mentally and physically, but they're always there, always weighing just as much. Giving me resistance, having me work for my dues. It gives me a sense of security, knowing that I always have this hobby. Nothing much really scares me when I know that I can always hold my constancy together by going to the weight room. Well, except the thought of my children dying. That scares the living shit out of me, just thining about it. To see those pure sparks of joy and life extinguished... good lord, what a thought.

[ambivalens]

Wife: So, what should we eat before you go to work today?
Me: Meat!
Wife: OK!

She barbequed up 8 pork chops, of which I ate 5 1/2. And that was it! We just had meat! Damn I love that woman.

[jgh]

I also spent some time philosophizing about weight training again. What I love about it is that it's a constant. Nothing can take it away from me, save perhaps severe illness. No matter what happens in life, I know I'll most likely be able to go hit the weights. Sometimes it's hard, both mentally and physically, but they're always there, always weighing just as much. Giving me resistance, having me work for my dues. It gives me a sense of security, knowing that I always have this hobby. Nothing much really scares me when I know that I can always hold my constancy together by going to the weight room. Well, except the thought of my children dying. That scares the living shit out of me, just thining about it. To see those pure sparks of joy and life extinguished... good lord, what a thought.
jeez, that's not where I was expecting you to go with that! Here's a Rollins article you've probably already read to put your philosophizing back on track: http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/strength-articles/iron-henry-rollins

ps, I love just eating a pile of meat. Hats off to your wife.

[ambivalens]

jeez, that's not where I was expecting you to go with that! Here's a Rollins article you've probably already read to put your philosophizing back on track: http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/strength-articles/iron-henry-rollins

ps, I love just eating a pile of meat. Hats off to your wife.

Yeah, wasn't where I was expecting to go either. It's one of those thoughts that when it gets into your head, it's hard to shake for a while. Never happened to me before I had kids, I guess it sort of comes with the territory. What a great article by Rollins! Really inspiring. And I really agree with him about the iron being the best antidepressant there is. It really keeps me in a nice and balanced mental state. Before I worked out I could be up and down and sideways, but these days I'm quite balanced. I want to work out every day, but I haven't found any way to do it without my body becoming too exhausted (yet).

[ambivalens]

Monday, August 22nd, 2011.

Late workout today. Been working on the house most of the day, alongside my wife, stepfather and mother. We're finishing up with the new roof, got alot of work done today. Lots of climbing up and down on the roof, carrying stuff around, bending over. My lower back is usually where I feel a day of work the most.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 65kgx5, 75kgx3, 85kgx3, 97.5kg 6 sets of 2 - Easy mode! I tried low bar position again today, and it was a good experience. The bounce out of the hole is alot easier that way, it seems. All the reps went up just fine, with the exception of one where I totally lost my focus and sort of loosened up on the way down, going way too low and now staying tight at all. Fluke.

Bench - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 75kgx3, 85kgx2, 92.5kg 6 sets of 2 - Setup really does matter. The sets where I was perfectly set up were very easy, but if I missed proper alignment with the bar and proper back support against the bench the weights were quite a struggle. Interesting lesson learned. Will drop my work sets on Friday down a bit to match intensity day. Kind of a mini-reset too, which will probably be good.

Power Clean - 50kgx2x3, 60kgx1x3, 65kgx2x3, 70kg 5 sets of 1 - Finally hit 70kg! A couple of reps were failures (didn't count those), mostly due to bad form on the way up, kind of fucking up the deadlift because of too much anticipation come the explosive part. Technique issues, really. But once I really got into it the weight really got moving. One or two reps really just flew up without a hitch. Quite pleased with these today.

[ambivalens]

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011.

Day off from working on the house today, pouring rain. Pretty exhausted from the last 2 days, thought it'd impact my workout more than it did.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 67.5kg 1 set of 5 - Light squat day. Easy peasy.

Press - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 45kgx5, 50kgx3, 57.5kg 3 sets of 5 - Repeat of last Fridays weights. These felt pretty heavy actually, probably due to arms and upper body being fatigued from all the climbing on the roof the last 2 days. That said, the weights went up just fine.

Deadlift - 70kgx5, 80kgx5, 95kgx5, 110kgx3, 125kg 1 set of 5, 70kgx15 speed - Kaboom. I was pretty sure deadlifts were going to feel heavy today, but as I was warming them up another feeling hit me alltogether! The weights were really moving, no problems at all. Form was good. Before the last set I was walking around psyching myself up, grunting a bit and being all full of testosterone. First rep literally flies up, and I burst out laughing because its so damn light. The set was finished easily, my mood was booming.

[ambivalens]

Thursday, August 25th, 2011.

Not really a workout, but still logging it.

Clean and jerk - 5x3 at 50kg. The clean part is very easy now. Practicing pulling close to the body, both against the legs and trying to brush the chest. The jerk part is very hard because I catch the clean with 2 fingers off the bar. How do you correct it? Do the delt-bounce and readjust the grip? I need a proper grip, or the jerk is just AWFUL.

Also walked around with the 50kg bar above my head. I love those kinds of exercises.

[ambivalens]

Friday, August 26th, 2011.

Getting a cold. Throat hurts, joints ache, head feels heavy. Whole family is getting it it seems, even the baby is sniffly. Also, she's ditched the whole "sleep at night" plan, and decided it's best to get up at 2 am and start making some insanely annoying sounds and general noises. It's really taking a toll on both the wife and me. Averaging 3-4 hours of actual sleep these last days, I hope to any deity available that this stuff ends. I really do. Really.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx3, 80kgx3, 87.5kg 3 sets of 5, 62.6kgx10 backoff - These, surprisingly, felt easy. There were reps in the work sets that felt quite hard, but that was due to form breakdown. Mostly losing tightness and sort of having to "muscle the weight up" by sheer force of will instead of a proper squat. Feels good. Loving the squat these days.

Bench - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx3, 82.5kg 3 sets of 5, 60kgx10 backoff - Lowered the work weight slightly to bring it in line with intensity days. Felt quite good today. Proper form is key to a good bench press, this is a new discovery for me. Proper back support, a big breath, proper lowering of the bar - all very important aspects of how the weight feels when it moves through space and time (yes). No hitches today, quite easy.

Pendlay Row - 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx5, 75kg 3 sets of 5, forgot backoff - These rows felt alright today. Weights moved fine and dandy. I never really "feel" the rows anywhere though - no soreness, no nothing.

[ambivalens]

What a week it's been. Got sick after last workout, and decided to hang back and just take a rest week since we're having some issues with the kids these days too. Our oldest girl is just a wrecking ball of destruction these days. She screams 24/7, keeps trucking through the night, and is proving to be quite a challenge. The baby, who used to be such a good sleeper, has decided that going to sleep at midnight is a good idea, and then basically waking up every 2 hours making very annoying sounds (she's discovered that she can actually make sounds come out her mouth) for half an hour to an hour. Last night we got to sleep at 4 am (after having the 2 year old wake up the baby about 5 times with insane screaming, yelling, spitting and hitting), and I had to get up at 6 to go to work. It's pretty rough terrain to be in right now, and with the lack of sleep and energy affecting our moods very much we're at eachothers throats too. Also, I'm getting fat again. I have a tendency to slip when real life gets rough like this, and candy becomes a staple "go to". I'll get it back under control again, but I've added atleast 10 pounds of non-productive weight.

[Moving_Target]

You have my sympathy. Be glad she's not finger painting with her diaper on top of all that.

[jgh]

What a week it's been. Got sick after last workout, and decided to hang back and just take a rest week since we're having some issues with the kids these days too. Our oldest girl is just a wrecking ball of destruction these days. She screams 24/7, keeps trucking through the night, and is proving to be quite a challenge. The baby, who used to be such a good sleeper, has decided that going to sleep at midnight is a good idea, and then basically waking up every 2 hours making very annoying sounds (she's discovered that she can actually make sounds come out her mouth) for half an hour to an hour. Last night we got to sleep at 4 am (after having the 2 year old wake up the baby about 5 times with insane screaming, yelling, spitting and hitting), and I had to get up at 6 to go to work. It's pretty rough terrain to be in right now, and with the lack of sleep and energy affecting our moods very much we're at eachothers throats too. Also, I'm getting fat again. I have a tendency to slip when real life gets rough like this, and candy becomes a staple "go to". I'll get it back under control again, but I've added atleast 10 pounds of non-productive weight.
Definitely sounds like rough times. I don't know if you've gotten a chance to see Dan John's Intervention seminar but in there he details three overall states of life which he calls "red light, "yellow light" and "green light." Although slightly corny, it was a useful perspective for me. A red light situation is when many things are awry and the proverbial shit is already hit the fan-- you're rushing to clean it up asap. Yellow light is when the shit will imminently hit the fan unless something changes. And green light is smooth sailing.

He talks about your state of life as part of your training. If you are having trouble with training and you're in a yellow or red light situation, getting back to green or at least greenish yellow will probably be far more productive for your training over the long term than worrying about the training itself. For me, acknowledging this sort of thing was liberating because it gave me a chance to not feel guilty or discouraged about my training shortcomings and instead focus on getting out of red/yellow.

Things will work out and you'll come back stronger than ever!

[ambivalens]

Thanks for the sympathy, guys.

jgh: I think that's a very constructive way of thinking about it. I've tried just ignoring the "lights" and always just following a set way of life - and I've burned myself doing so. It's alright taking life into consideration - I'm not an elite athlete and will never be - no matter how interested I am in working out, it'll always just be a good and healthy hobby for me. Finally had a good nights sleep last night, feels wonderful. Waking up was like coming out of an actual coma, I'm sure of it.

[ambivalens]

Monday, September 5th, 2011.

Back in the game.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx8, 50kgx5, 60kgx6, 70kgx3, 80kgx3, 90kgx1, 100kg 6 sets of 2 - Felt good. Thought they'd feel heavier after the layoff, but everything was fine and dandy.
Press - 20kgx10, 30kgx8, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 55kgx3, 60kgx2, 70kg 2 sets of 2 FAIL, 65kg 4 sets of 2 - Presses, not so good. Felt heavy as hell with 70kg, and had to back down a bit.
Power Clean - Out of gas, gave up after 3 reps at 50kg.

So. That was first day after hellweek. Hopefully all will get better.

[ambivalens]

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011.

A better day in the gym. More energy, a little more oomph.

Squat - 20kgx10, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 65kgx5, 70kgx5 - Light squats to get warmed up and ready to roll.
Bench - 20kgx10, 40kgx5, 50kgx5, 60kgx5, 70kgx3, 82.5kg 3 sets of 5, 60kgx10 backoff - Easy. Atleast no regression there.
Deadlift - 70kgx5, 80kgx5, 90kgx5, 110kgx3, 130kg 1 set of 5 - Heavy. Should perhaps have repeated the weight I lifted before I got sick, but being smart is for stupid people. My back form was probably a bit off on a couple of reps, but I got through it okay. Still 20kg to go before Christmas, so I need to keep trucking.

[ambivalens]

Monday, September 12th, 2011.

Okay day. Motivation lacking, along with sleep and proper nutrition. Luckily the nutrition I've had has been idiotically calorie dense, so I'm doing "ok" gym wise. Weight wise.. not so much.

Squat - 102.5kg 6 sets of 2 - Felt pretty good. Last set was heavy, but that's the way its supposed to be.
Bench - 90kg 6 sets of 2 - Had planned 95kg, but that failed pretty hard pretty quick. So a small reset it is.
Pendlay Row - 77.5kg 3 sets of 5 - Felt ok. Not too hard, but not a walk in the park either.

[ambivalens]

Friday, September 16th, 2011.

Missed Wednesdays workout. First there was working on the roof from 8 to 15:30, then work called and I had to get there by 16-ish, working until near midnight. No time for my workout, nothing to do about that.

Squat - 102.5kg 6 sets of 2 - Moving intensity day to Fridays instead of Mondays, so I just repeated Mondays workout, more or less.
Bench - 90kg 6 sets of 2, then singles: 92.5kg, 95kg, 97.5kg - Slowly sneaking up on that elusive 100kg bench, god damn it. Should have it next week or the
week after. I refuse to diet before I hit 100kg - it's either 100kg bench or complete and utter blob-dom. I'll be as round as the damn Michelin man, I don't care.
Deadlift - 130kg 1 set of 3 - Finished off with some deadlifts instead of pendlay rows, since I missed Wednesdays session. Just repeated my last deadlift, and actually
had some grip problems. I'm going to attribute it to fatigue and not really preparing my grip well enough. Going to continue with double overhand still - managed a set of 5
at 130kg fine last week.

And so go the days of our lives.

[ambivalens]

Monday, September 19th, 2011.

Lacking sleep. The baby is doing her best to keep us up these days, so both motivation and recovery is suffering. Motivation the most, I believe. Today I went in, did my thing, and went out. It was 100% mechanical and joyless.

Squat - 90kg 3 sets of 5 - Felt mentally heavy. Had to really work to bother at all after the first set. But I got through it just fine.
Press - 60kg 3 sets of 5 - More fun, but still nothing to write home about. Felt like a pussy under the weight, it was hard to balance and the last rep of each set was a grinder.

Fin.