Josiah's log - The De-pussification of Humanity

[Josiah Moye]

I totally agree with the whole "specialization is for insects" Heinlein quote. Modern "civilized" man has become weak and lost--accepting and falling slave to the reality of "get money, buy stuff." Fuuuck that. I think every person should have a large list of skills and experiences that they will develop throughout their life (not a list of junk to buy). Seems to me that fitness, and thus STRENGTH, would be a great place to start.

Where I'm at:
I've been training about 2 years, but the last 6-8 months have been a bit unfocused and not very productive. I've done a lot of traveling, vacations, changed my duty station, blah blah blah excuses excuses. Bottom line: it's time to focus. I probably fall somewhere in the advanced novice/early intermediate range of training.

Stats:
21 years old, 5'9" 210 lbs
SQ: 440
Bench: 275
Press: 190
DL: 525
PC: 270

Where I'm going:
Powerlifting, weightlifting, highland games, strongman, I want to try it all eventually. For now I want to get pack mule strong so I'm going to compete in raw powerlifting. I'm not a genetic freak and don't see myself being a pro athlete or anything, but I do enjoy teaching others, so I think having a wide array of training experience will make me a better coach in the long run.

I wanted to start this log for some extra accountability and to bounce ideas off of people here.

[Josiah Moye]

For 15 Aug 2011

I just attended the SS Seminar and it was the best class I've ever taken. Even if you don't want to be a coach, if you have any interest in fitness beyond just messing around, go to the seminar.


With that said, Saturday and Sunday were ~12 hour days, I had to drive 7 hours home, and go to work in the morning. I got about 3 hours of sleep that night.

So I decided to just do some light squats and practice form on press, which I found out at the seminar I have been doing wrong for the past 2 years. Gotta get the hips into it more. Gonna take some practice.

Press: 3x5 95, 1x5 135
Squat: 2x5 275

At the seminar I also found out that my squats are about 4 inches too low. This would cause me to lose some hip drive and probably explains the slight hip tendinitis I seem to constantly have. I'm trying to get the depth worked out on my squats now. Camera will be useful.

Another notable for this gym sesh was I fixed this airforce guys PC form. I taught him the lifts about a month ago and he hated power cleans because he never fully got the form down. So he wasn't even doing them for the first 3 weeks (which I was on leave for so I couldn't yell at him and fix him). Well yesterday we worked his form completely and got them looking pretty. He came in to work today and was like "man..." I was like "your traps are sore?" he's like "Yeah thats what I was about to say!" hahaha. Now he likes power cleans. Awesome.

[Josiah Moye]

For 17 August 2011

I gotta remember to post these up sooner...

Had a mock PT test in the morning. I think the run killed my legs a bit for PCs.

Bench: 247.5 2x5, 1x7
BB Curls: 90x15, 90x12
PC: 225x1, 230x1, 235x1, failed 240 twice.
DL: 365 1x5

Trying to focus on getting a reeeaal tight upper back when I first get set on my PCs and deadlifts, since I've been letting it round for a while. Definitely can feel it today.

SQUAT O CLOCK TOMORROW!

[Josiah Moye]

Press 140 3x5
Squat 360 3x5
Chins 46.25x8, 46.25x6

Working on my press form. Trying to get the hips involved more, feels better this way. Gonna keep making 5 lb jumps and take it slow n steady here and hopefully pass my old press pr of 170x5, which was purely upper body, none of the hips forward stuff.

Squats, still trying to find the right spot of not going too low. Once I fully relearn that stretch reflex I'll be golden.

[Josiah Moye]

8/22/2011

Bench: 250 2x5, 1x6
DB Curls: 50x11, 45x10
Squats: 365 3x5
Neck: 38.75 4x25

All good. Kept my squats nice and tight, pretty sure depth was good. Need to get a camera for those. First set was a bitch but what's new? Felt my left hip tendinitis on that set, but set 2 and 3 felt just about perfect.

[dsp]

With those numbers you think you're only advanced novice / early intermediate?! Your strong as hell dude! I aspire to get that strong before I hit intermediate stage, on linear progression. I'm guessing you actually did the main lifts before starting the program, or you did it before and are getting focused again?

Most people I see here going into intermediate have much lower numbers, maybe you are a genetic freak?

[Josiah Moye]

Nah I would still say adv novice/early intermediate still...numbers don't really show where you are in your training adaptation.

I did SS until my squat was about 290, then I had to stop due to NAVY PT stuff...so I switched over to CFFB amateur, to keep conditioning in with strength stuff. That program I would consider novice/advanced novice. I did that up to squatting 400 for 3x5 and my bodyweight got up to 218...but in making the switch to pure intermediate programming I've had constant issues, either injury, distractions...dumb shit...for the past 6-8 months.

I'm doing the GSLP right now which I'd say is an advanced novice/early intermediate program. Once I can't progress on this anymore I would accept calling myself an intermediate. Hopefully then switching to TM and doing it right this time.

By no means am I a genetic freak. I promise you that. Just do the program, or any program, stick with it, don't mess around with it too much, eat well, sleep well, and you'll get stronger.

Thanks for the compliments though man. Just keep at it you'll be here in no time.

[Josiah Moye]

24 Aug 2011

Press: 145 3x5
Chins: 47.5x7, 46.25x6
PC: 225x1, 230x1, 235x1, 240x1 (ugly)
DL: 375 1x5
Neck: 40 4x25

Press still feeling good, gonna take 5 lb jumps up to maybe 155, then back to 2.5lb jumps.

Chins were rough, hopefully will get that weight for 8 reps next time.

Felt off on PC. Had a hard time focusing on it today. Failed first attempt of 235, but went back and got it the 2nd time. The 240 was just ugly, feet sprawled, caught it low, so I called it there.

Deadlift felt easy. Trying to focus on keeping the upper back LOCKED TIGHT. It feels good this way. Gonna keep going up 10 for bit.

Unfortunately some time in October I have a Navy PT test. So on Damon Wells' suggestion I'm gonna just drop everything and train for the run. I want to have the option to become a PT leader so I gotta score well, otherwise I'd just sandbag it.

Oh and next paycheck IM GETTING A PROWLER! Will be a nice investment for the future gym, and for myself.

[Josiah Moye]

26 Aug 2011

Bench: 252.5 2x5, 1x7
BB Curls: 92.5x13, 92.5x11
Squats: 370 3x5
Neck: 41.25 4x25

Felt very good today. Bench was strong. Had a good spotter with a good handoff for once, I think that helped a bit. Plus I'm getting used to the slightly different form shown in the SS seminar--bottom position higher on the chest than I was used to.

I started recording my squats since I have nobody to watch me. Turns out I'm still about 2-3 inches too deep most of the time. And sometimes I divebomb the shit out of it. Messes up my back angle, knees come forward, back loosens a little. So frustrating hah. JUST GO HIGHER! I don't feel the yanking on my ASIS as much but it still flames up a little bit after a set of going too deep like that. Blah.

Not looking forward to dropping lifting for this damn PT test...might have to start that next week...need to find out the actual date of the test. God damn.

[Josiah Moye]

For 29 August 2011

Press: 150 3x5
Pullups 2x Max reps: 13,8
Squats: 375 3x5
Neck: 42.5

Gonna start taking 2.5lb jumps on the press.

Went to a different gym, it is pretty nice. Less mirrors on the walls than the base gym I went to, a couple sweet platforms with bumper plates, more squat racks. Only issue is the bars in the squat racks suck and the plates are shitty, collars needed.

They didn't have a weight belt for chinups, and didn't have an acceptable spot to do chinups, all they had was the ones attached to the squat racks or machines that were split bars, too wide for chinups. So I did max rep pullups on those for 2 sets.

Squats felt good, hip tendinitis feels like its going away. Controlling the lumbar more and not dive bombing it seems to be helping. Weight is getting real heavy here, might be due to switch it up and finally get on TM. But then again I kind of want to do a "Greyskull Reset" but at the same time I'm sick of being on these novice/early intermediate programs and want to do some INTENSITY DAYS. But with the shitty PRT coming up soon I might just go with the greyskull reset at least one time and see how that goes, since I'm gonna have to drop lifting soon anyway....so frustrating.

[Josiah Moye]

31 August 2011

Bench 255 2x5, 1x6
DB Curls: 50x11, 45x13
PC: Worked up to 250x1
DL: 385 1x5

Another PR set on bench. Hell yeah. PC felt in the groove today.

DL felt easy...too easy.

Unfortunately I found out today my PRT (Navy pt test) is the first week of October. So I'm gonna drop lifting for the next 4 weeks and focus on my run and pushups. I wrote a sprint program mixing in 400m sprints, 800m sprints, and 1mile runs. I'll post it up here soon and maybe you readers can give me some feedback on the program.

I'm shooting for an under 9 min 1.5 mile. My best ever was 8:54 or something like that back in the days when all I did was bodybuilder stuff with sprints 3x a week. So I think with focus on the sprint training side I could do the sub-9.

Pissed that I gotta cut off my bench progress since I've been doing so well with it recently. But eh that's life. The reason I want to do so well on the PT test is because I want to have the option of being a Command Fitness Leader (CFL) so I have an option there to start coaching people. Get some people in shape. As long as they will let me have my guys lift...it doesn't fit into the Navy's typical PT program model. May have to find my ways around that BS.

Anyway just rambling here now. ITS RIBEYE TIME

[Josiah Moye]

Alright so here's my running program starting next week. If anyone has any thoughts/tips on this I'd appreciate it.

Week 1:
Mon: 2x400m sprint
Wed:3x400m sprint
Fri:3x400m sprint
Sat:2x800m sprint

Week 2:
Mon: 4x400
Wed: 2x800
Fri: 4x400
Sat:1x1600

Week 3:
Mon: 4x400
Wed: 3x800
Fri: 4x400
Sat: 2x1600

Week 4:
Mon: 5x400
Wed: 3x800
Fri: 5x400
Sat: 2x1600

Week 5: 1.5 mile test

I just look at this as an experiment in running and then how fast I can get back into lifting. Hoping to return to my previous weights or very close within 3-4 workouts.

[Josiah Moye]

2 Sep 2011

Age PR: turned 22 today. Whoop. So my bday present to myself was squats!

Press: 155 3x5
Chins: 47.5x7, 47.5x6
Squat: 380 3x5
Neck: 43.25x10, 40 4x30


Decided to just jump up 5 on press, I got a lot of room here...feel like I'm getting the form down (more of an olympic press) after watching the press video and some of the old press videos.

Chins just made it. I was feeling dead today altogether, was not excited for squats. Mainly the fact that I'm gonna have to stop squatting next week was demotivating me. Took a while to get my anger focused for squats. First set felt ugly and hard, but got the blood flowing. Second and third set was hard as fuck but solid. Summoned all rage for last set--the blackout set. Tendinitis is now just a small little twinge that doesn't bother me too much. I'm sure if I continued to squat it'd be totally gone within about 3 weeks. I dunno what's gonna happen with it once I start running.

Alright heavy weights I'll see you in a month. Haha.

[Josiah Moye]

First day on the sprint program. Holy shiiiit that sucked.

2x400m sprints
1) 1:16
2) 1:32

Went as hard as I could on both sprints. For the first sprint that amounted to getting a bit further than half way before my lungs were gassing and my back and legs were seizing up.

Took about 3 minutes to rest. Dying...

Second sprint was a fight for survival. My hamstrings, ass, and back were on fire the whole way. Pushed as hard as I could.

Took about 5 minutes of walking and voodoo magic to bring myself back from the dead after the 2nd one.

Being unadapted to something and then doing that thing hard suuuucks ass. Gonna get back to it harder on Wednesday.

Also throwing in some pushups throughout the day. Starting with 25 pushups for 6 sets throughout the day. Will try to increase by 1 every day.

[william jackson]

I'm not envious of that sprint routine. I cannot imagine doing 400m repeats. I did 100m repeats a while back and almost puked after 6, and that's with full recovery. I got a cute little hill that I run now.

You hear that? You are a genetic freak!

[Josiah Moye]

I'm not envious of that sprint routine. I cannot imagine doing 400m repeats. I did 100m repeats a while back and almost puked after 6, and that's with full recovery. I got a cute little hill that I run now.

And don't forget your bike. Does it have tassles?


You hear that? You are a genetic freak!

Obviously. Hah.

[william jackson]

No tassels, but a nice basket of kittens.

[Josiah Moye]

7 Sep 2011

Fuck running.

Did 3x400 today.

1)1:13
2)1:31
3)1:32

So did better on my times there. I took about 5 minute break between the first and second sprint. Wanted full recovery between sprints. I figure the rest time will come down as I get better. Not gonna sacrifice the potential for intensity by going into the sprint still exhausted from the last one. Needless to say, sprint 2 and 3 sucked ass. Glad I beat the time for both the first 2 sprints though. That's progress already.

Sprint 3 wasn't as explosive as 1 and 2, it was all I had though. Tried to imagine a lion chasing me...it helped but I would have definitely got my ass eaten.

Its weird..my lungs and my heart are rested before my legs. My legs feel like dogshit going into the 2nd and 3rd sprint...kinda like the first time you squat when you're in high school, and you put too much weight on...it felt like that.

Afterwords I somehow made it home, slammed some chocolate milk, and just laid there for about 30 minutes regrouping my soul.


In other news, I started training a girl from work. She started talking about how she wants to "tone up" which I explained to her is gain muscle and lose fat (she's already super skinny, just needs some muscle). Told her I'll show her what to do and she came to the gym today. Got her benching pretty decently and she was a natural when it came to doing squats. Showed her the bottom position, got it on her back, set her to it and it was pretty much perfect. Just needed a couple tweaks and her squats are already beautiful haha. Love it.

Another person squatting correctly; another angel receives her wings!

I shed a tear of joy.

Now I just hope I can get her to stick with it.

[Josiah Moye]

For 9 Sep 2011

3x400

1)1:12
2)1:25
3)1:33

Shit sucked as usual. I've accepted the fact that 400m sprints just suck.

But I'm makin progress. The run time and rest times came down a little. Not looking forward to next week doing 4x400s. Agh.

Got the 2x800s to do in a little bit.

[Josiah Moye]

10 Sep 2011

2X800

1) 3:04
2) 3:41

Damn. I was shooting for under 3 minutes for the 800, just missed it. I destroyed the first lap at a 1:19 pace which proved to be too fast and I couldn't keep that up for the 2nd lap. Gotta get the pace down.

I rested for about 3:30 after the first run, but I think it wasn't long enough because I was dying the 2nd lap. Probably shoulda took 5-6 minutes.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the first week's performance. Look to see better gains in the next 2 weeks.

I still hate running though.

[william jackson]

Prey run.

[Josiah Moye]

True Willie. That's why imagining a lion chasing me seems to help.

12 Sep 2011

Death day.

Texas decided to heat up again. Last week felt like spring and today felt like hell.

4x400
1) 1:12? I don't know cuz I forgot to fucking click the timer.
2) 1:27
3) 1:36
4) 1:34

Did my first sprint and blew it up. Destroyed it. I felt good on that first one...like goddamn Ussain Bolt. Probably broke his record. Unfortunately I forgot to start my timer. The broken kids that were walking the track thought I was the flash or something.

After busting that shit out though my legs felt like absolute garbage salad. I think I had a poor recovery this weekend. Lack of sleep last night, saturday didn't eat extremely well...caught up to me I think. So..bad day. Didn't get worse though so that's a plus. Will come back hard later in the week.

But damn riding home on the ole 2 wheeler is a chore after sprints. Hopefully that chocolate milk I just administered will kick in soon.

[Josiah Moye]

For 14 Sep 2011

2x800
1) 2:59:40 - COUNT IT
2) 3:26

Better than last time. I'll take it. Almost 2 weeks down of this lame ass running shit.

Today I caved in and tried the mobilitywod stuff. Went to the first 2 wods, the 10min squat and the wall/couch stretch for hip extension. Holyy shiiit. I found myself maniacally laughing through the pain of both of them. The hip thing was hard I could barely get the front leg up haha. Goddamn desk work. I think my whole body will be my goat.

Related only by awesomeness: I started watching the Ricky Bruch movie with English subtitles thanks to a poster on 70sBig. Goddamn he's a BEAST. This movie rocks so far. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slzt2JA3zIs&amp

And somewhat related shittiness: I got rear ended while on my bike today by some broad not paying attention. Bike runs, has a nice tank dent though. I'm fine, scraped knee and tweaked ankle a LITTLE. Hopefully tomorrow ankle will be fine for the 400s.

[Josiah Moye]

16 Sep 2011

4x400

1) 1:09
2) 1:21
3) 1:30
4) 1:27

Ankle was a little stiff today..but only hurt when I moved it a certain way. So I tried not to do that while I was running. It worked out well. Still improving!

Gonna go MOB. Damnit. Can't believe I said that.

[Josiah Moye]

17 Sep 2011

1x1600: 7:18

Goal is to try to get these down under 6 mins. Might have been better if I didn't forget my damn stopwatch at home. Had to use my phone, which I wasn't gonna carry with me on the run (its awkward). I dunno. Hopefully will shave off at least 30 seconds on the next 1600 day.

[Josiah Moye]

19 Sep 2011

Fuck these just don't get better.

4x400
1) 1:07
2) 1:19
3) 1:24
4) 1:23

Once I blast that first 400 out as fast as I can, feeling like I'm flying but probably looking ridiculous, my legs feel shot. Actually about like 80% of the way through the sprint is when my legs start to feel useless. It sucks haha. A friend of mine in Florida, who I keep telling to start a log here, summarized these 400s very nicely today: "Every session is a gut check." I agree...every session I think "Damn do I really need to do this...I think I could stop at 2 sprints and be fine..." But gotta keep rollin on.

For some reason the absolute worst rest period is between the 2nd and 3rd sprint. Can barely walk right after that second sprint, and I need an extra 30 seconds at least on the rest.

It rocks to continue to see these times come down though. It'd be sweet to get under 1 minute.

Running is still gay though.

[Josiah Moye]

21 Sep 2011

3x800
1) 3:01 (DAMNIT!)
2) 3:18
3) 3:38

My friend who is doing this program at the same time as me, he is a decent runner already, did great on the 800s today by trying to keep it "smooth and relaxed." So I tried to do that...didn't work. I don't know how to run smoothly. I think I just have to blast through each lap at as break-dick a pace I can go...and just truck through whatever bullshit pain/thoughts that try to slow me down.

I don't know how to run "smooth and relaxed."

On the upside, my second 800 was better than the last 800 day. And I used smaller rest times. So I'll take it.

[250orBust]

Fucking right, looks like we have identical goals and are close together in strength levels. Looking forward to watching your progress on Texas method once your done your PT test.

[Josiah Moye]

23 Sep 2011

Holy motherfucker

4x400
1) 1:05
2) 1:18
3) 1:30
4) 1:27

I don't know what it is about sprint #2 but it absolutely destroys my legs for sprint 3. I took 6 minutes rest and my legs still felt like jello. My breathing was fine but legs were just shot. So sprint 3 blew. Making #4 bad too. Don't know why today was bad. Maybe it was the massive amounts of free pizza I had yesterday. BUt it WAS FREE. And damn good. Maybe my mind just wasn't there...but I was pumped for the run all day. I don't know. Blasted the first one out just fine though. We'll see how tomorrow's 2x1mile runs go. That is gonna be fun....not.

Goddamn 1 more week of running and then back to man land. Whew. Can't wait to show these skinny punks how the 1.5mile is run.

EDIT: Oh and when we were doing the free pizza thing at work...we had a bunch of interesting facts for all our coworkers...one of those "office cohesion things." Anyway one of them said "I ran a 1:54 half mile" and I was said "WTF That is FAST." to the guys around me. Of course they were like "That's not that hard...just a minute a lap" HAha wtf that's pretty much a DEAD SPRINT for 2 laps. Am I just that slow, or are they full of shit? I think they're full of shit.

[250orBust]

23 Sep 2011

Holy motherfucker

4x400
1) 1:05
2) 1:18
3) 1:30
4) 1:27

I don't know what it is about sprint #2 but it absolutely destroys my legs for sprint 3. I took 6 minutes rest and my legs still felt like jello. My breathing was fine but legs were just shot. So sprint 3 blew. Making #4 bad too. Don't know why today was bad. Maybe it was the massive amounts of free pizza I had yesterday. BUt it WAS FREE. And damn good. Maybe my mind just wasn't there...but I was pumped for the run all day. I don't know. Blasted the first one out just fine though. We'll see how tomorrow's 2x1mile runs go. That is gonna be fun....not.

Goddamn 1 more week of running and then back to man land. Whew. Can't wait to show these skinny punks how the 1.5mile is run.

EDIT: Oh and when we were doing the free pizza thing at work...we had a bunch of interesting facts for all our coworkers...one of those "office cohesion things." Anyway one of them said "I ran a 1:54 half mile" and I was said "WTF That is FAST." to the guys around me. Of course they were like "That's not that hard...just a minute a lap" HAha wtf that's pretty much a DEAD SPRINT for 2 laps. Am I just that slow, or are they full of shit? I think they're full of shit.

Unless they are college track gods, they are completely full of shit.

[Josiah Moye]

24 Sep 2011

Fuck. So I'm definitely developing some achilles tendonitis in my right foot. Started feeling stiff the past couple days and I thought maybe it was remnants from the bike crash but its definitely different. Its inflamed and I feel it on any kind of push off. Gonna take today off, get some icing in, and possibly modify the schedule for next week so I don't fuck it up more and be worse off for what I've been training for this whole month.

Maybe 2 days a week of 400s is no bueno for someone who is strong but coming off of no running for months. Maybe I shoulda bought new shoes...I'm using these old pieces of shit. Maybe the slight sprain I got from the bike crash caused me to use my foot in a different way than I normally would while running, and that did it. Don't know what the exact cause is but its probably a mix of all these things.

It isn't terrible now. But like I said I don't want to turn it into a serious injury. I might even be good by Monday...but I'm considering cutting the 400s out and replacing them with less intense 800s. Probably would still do the scheduled 400s next Friday to get that work in if that's the case. Will see what happens.

[skipbeat]

I do not envy your current situation at all haha... I hate running. It's interesting to follow, though!

Good luck with the injury! dont let some pussy ass running shit ruin your IRONMANLINESS.

[Josiah Moye]

Hah thanks skipbeat.

26 Sep 2011

Dogshit.

2x1600
1) 6:46
2) 7:44

I've got 2 dilemmas right now: 1. my achilles - still slightly tweaked...I feel it every now and then...its maybe 85-90% good. So I can run on it...but I'm not sure about going 100% balls out on it. 2. Distance - So I got my 400 down to 1:05 which is pretty good for my stocky ass, but I can just barely break 3 minutes on the 800, and 6 minute mile is out of the question right now. So sub 9 1.5 mile is probably not gonna happen at this rate.

Due to both of those, I'm going to focus this week on getting more distance in. This will keep the intensity down for my achilles and allow me to just work on the endurance aspect. I've got the heart and lungs from 400s, but my legs can't keep up the pace. I think what I should have done for my sprints was make the rest period a jog. So just keep jogging around to keep working the legs while I recover the breathing.

I'm thinking Wednesday do one more 3x800. Shoot for under 3:00 on those. Then Friday do another 2x1600. Saturday do a 1.5 mile test and see how it goes. Then next week will be the actual test.

The test itself will be in the early morning, so it won't be hot as fucking balls like it is when I normally run. That could give me some time. So my ability to break 9 is going to be real questionable. I'm gonna have to push the shit out of it to do it. No doubt I will give it all I got.

Unrelated to gay ass running: Ordered my prowler yesterday BABAYY! Gonna man up my apartment's parking lot, neighbors aren't gonna know wtf is going on.

[Josiah Moye]

28 Sep 2011

Achilles flared up after monday's run. Blah.

Might run tomorrow if it feels better. My test is next Wednesday though, so I might hold off til Friday or Saturday, just to get one last run in without spacing it too far from the test day. But far enough to allow my achilles to be fine for test day. Gay situation all around.

[Josiah Moye]

1 Oct 2011

Last fucking training day of running. Wednesday next week will be the test.

Wanted to just get a light run in to keep the grooves greased so I did a mile in 6:57. Felt shitty. Achilles was slightly sore going into it...gonna ice and ibuprofen til the test day.

With this shitty past week I'll be happy to get under 10:15. I'll give it a good push for under 10. Pushups, goin for 75. Situps 105. This should put me in the "Outstanding" category PT score.

Then I'll be back under the bar. Gonna put together a plan to gain 30 lbs by the next PT cycle. Really make a push for 500lb squat.

[Valhall]

Good luck!

[william jackson]

I bet you are a giggling school girl with that prowler coming in.

[Josiah Moye]

Thanks Valhall. And yeah Willie I was! hahah. Got her in yesterday! She's looking beautiful and tempting sitting here in my dining room next to the squat stand lol.

Got the PRT tomorrow. Wanted to use this time to put down my plan for once I'm back in the gym.

At first I was a little overzealous in my 30lb in 5 months idea. I asked Rip (http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=26826) and will follow his advice of 4lbs a month, so 20 lbs total until next PRT. Will take pictures and measurements and whatnot to be able to see the progress.

DIET:
I will start my eating at about 4500 calories a day, just as a baseline. Gonna aim for about 330g protein per day. Gonna keep it mostly clean, IE real foods. Although bread, rice, milk, and potatoes are not off limits. Rip advised maybe a half GOMAD. I could do that on accident. Gonna do it, although I'm usually pretty damn sensitive to sugars...I think I'll try it and see how it goes. I think as long as I shoot for the pound per week target I'll be alright as far as muscle/fat gain goes.

PROGRAMMING:
Program will consist of first getting back to previous lifts. Will hit the gym Thursday, keep it really light and easy. Maybe work up to 40-50% on the lifts. Will see how it feels. I don't want debilitating DOMS after that first day. Then Saturday I'll pick it up a little bit. Hopefully get 65-75%. By Monday I'll be feeling good, back in the swing of things, hopefully around 85%, then roll into Wednesday back in action.

Basically will go SS style to get back into things with big jumps back up to my old weights, then back to the advanced novice for a couple weeks probably, then finally switch to TM and get some damn HEAVY DAYS in!

Oh and I'm planning on pushing the prowler around at least on Saturdays, maybe also on Wednesday light days on TM. Prowler suicides look grueling.

GOALS by March:

Squat 500. My old 1RM is 440, so it'll be a challenge but possible. Hopefully my deadlift will move along with it and I'll get at least 545 on that. Bench 315. Press 215x1. Powerclean...fuck if I could just get 275 I'd be happy (except then I'd want 315 of course)

Also on the to do list is finding a good powerlifting meet to compete in early next year. If I could find one in March that'd be optimal but I just need to get in a competition so any I can find will be good.

ALSO on the to do list is to find a good strength gym. Gonna give Steve a call about his CF gym in San Antonio. Hopefully they have open gym rates or something.

I'm damn excited to get this ball rolling though! Navy bullshit out of the way. Got the prowler here to MANLIFY my apartment parking lot...its gonna be NUTS.

[Josiah Moye]

5 OCT 2011

Alright finished the PRT. Didn't do quite as well as I wanted. Definitely a learning lesson for future tests.

Situps - 99
Pushups - 71
Run: 10:48

Next time I gotta practice situps and pushups more. I did zero situp work, I think if I just did a couple max sets on situps per week I coulda got the max score that I was shooting for, and I usually do get (105). I was fine with 71 pushups, the next jump would have been 81. I wouldn't have been able to get that in time...so I just kept it at 71. And I could have been like most of the jokers who take the PT test doing 1/4 pushups and get 90 pushups, but I can't bring myself to do it. So I'm happy with 71 legit pushups.

The run is whatever. Kind of a learning experience on the training. Next time I will change it up to maybe doing 1 set of 400m sprints per week, then more longer distance stuff. Also I wonder how much an effect not training that last week due to the achilles shit had. Not making excuses though. I know what I need to change up for next time though.

Overall the score averaged out to "Excellent," which isn't the best at "Outstanding," but still keeps me eligible to be an ACFL. I have that as an option to gain some experience training people and I'm gonna try to jump into that.

MORE IMPORTANTLY: Its GYM TIME tomorrow babayyyy! Gonna keep taking care of the ankle so I'm ready for prowler time on Saturday.

[Josiah Moye]

6 Oct 2011

WOo! Felt good to get back in there. Kept everything light and easy to get the motions going again.

Squat 3x5: 185
Bench 3x5: 135
DL 1x5: 225

Did a warmup on a bike and I think I used too much resistance and my quads kinda locked up after I got off that bitch (haha, bitch thread has me stuck using this word now). It was weird. Anyway I'm pretty sure I will be fucking sore as shit tomorrow, despite the lightness.

Going to just eat normal the next couple days. Then Sunday the FEEDENING will begin.

One thing I'm trying to do now is remember to take my damn creatine. I haven't used it consistently but need to get into it. Took some today and will take it every day.

[Tom Narvaez]

Just noticed your log. Good luck man, I will be following along.

[Josiah Moye]

Thanks Tom.

8 OCT 2011

Squat 3x5: 135
Press 3x5: 115
PC 5x3: 135

Well my legs felt like complete ass today. I was hoping to jump my squat up to 275 but I don't know what it was, maybe I didn't warm up enough, I don't know, but my hamstrings felt like they were gonna rip in half with just the bar. So I did a few warmup sets with the bar and still felt like that, so I held off on squats at first then came back to it after press and power cleans where I started to warm up and feel better for squats. Still felt like I was going to pull something if I went up in weight more. Hopefully Monday this DOMS will be manageable and I can actually do some decent weight.

Press and PC was easy. We'll see how those muscles feel in a couple days. Lol. Coming back from layoff sucks.

After the lifting me and my unlucky roommate busted out the prowler in the parking lot. Holy shit it is no joke. We did 3 prowler suicides. Started with 90lbs and it felt challenging but I could do more...so went up to 140 and that was absolutely death. Dropped back down to 90 for the last suicide. This thing is no joke. Took a video of the death session:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8s-8KA5gBs

It is pretty fun though. I'm sure it'll suck a lot less next week when my legs aren't already jello.

[Josiah Moye]

For 10 Oct 2011

Squat 3x5: 225
Bench 3x5: 205
DL 1x5: 315

Legs felt slightly better this time. Figured out I need to take my warmups real slow coming back from a layoff. Noted for future reference lol. I usually do all the lifts pretty quickly, even warmups, and the muscles not being used to that explosion didn't like that.

Stayed at 225 on squats yesterday..its been feeling like I'm on the verge of pulling something...but today my legs feel actually pretty good, so tomorrow's workout should be solid. Hopefully I can get 275 or even 315 back on there.

Bench felt good, probably go up to 225 next time.

Deadlift felt good, probably take a 20 lb jump next time. Gonna take it a little slower with my deadlift as I had recently reset it for form prior to the layoff.

[armin]

Sick weights your handling. subscribing.

[Josiah Moye]

12 Oct 2011

Squat 3x5: 315
Press 3x5: 135
PC 4x2: 215

Legs felt good today. None of that 'about to pull' feeling. 315 was heavier than normal but still not too much. Will get 335 or more Friday. Unfortunately the lightness caused me to forget about my too much depth problem...started to feel my hip a little bit. Need to keep tight, remember to take my video camera, and get my depth figured out.

Press felt kinda heavy at 135. Will get 145 next press day then take 5 lb jumps til I feel like its time for 2.5lb jumps again.

Power cleans felt pretty good. Didn't want to go for singles yet. Started to feel my hip on set 3 and 4. Decided to keep it low volume. I'll probably get 225 next time for doubles, maybe work up to singles.

I want to just jump in and go fucking heavy on everything so bad but I'm trying to be patient. Its a pain in the ass.

Somewhat unrelated rant/stream of consciousness: I read AC's log on 70sbig today, and it got me fucking pumped. First because he's just a beast. Second because it is inspiring to see other MEN who grab life by the balls and GET SHIT DONE. I'm surrounded by so many people who seem to be just coasting and have no problem just sucking the tit of the government the rest of their life. People who think it is acceptable to follow the herd. I brought up the concept of someone (like Justin from 70sbig) who didn't waste his life partying and being an idiot through college. This idea to them is so foreign and strikes against their experiences/beliefs so they have to rationalize it with shit like "That's the college experience!" then "If you go against the majority you're seen as a social outcast and can't get anything done," etc. Fuck that. Why go with the crowd? Why be average? AC's log pumped me up because hes fucking rocking life: beastly strong lifter, working on masters degree, and works as a damn bouncer. Huh you know there's probably not much time in there for fucking around with girls and drinking. But when its all said and done, and he's on his death bed, I think he'll be happy he rocked life and accomplished a lot of shit. I don't think he'll say "damn, life woulda been so much better if I had only fucked 20 more chicks."

[skipbeat]

fuck, I thought I could at least beat you to 300 for squats. sick powercleans man!
This AC guy sounds like it'd be a good read, I should check it out

[Josiah Moye]

Haha I was like "shit skipbeat trying to get 300 this week, I better get back up there!"

Thanks man.

[Josiah Moye]

Started the day with a little SEGER! Can't have a bad day after waking up with this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dq_RQl_gHU

14 Oct 2011

Squat 3x5: 335
Bench 3x5: 225
DL 1x5: 365

Felt good. But my cockass fuckin left ASIS tendinitis is back a little bit. It doesn't hurt bad its just fucking annoying. I think its from last workout divebombing 315 like an idiot. Note to self(and readers): control the bottom and don't relax your fucking hamstrings for depth. Just kind of frustrated...

Good news is my bodyweight today was 205.5. Last Thursday it was about 204 (fucking gym changed scales, so I'm not sure on accuracy of all this). Will keep up the eating at the pace I'm going. I gotta say though, it feels much better adding another ~1200 calories onto the diet. I always feel like a damn VIKING when eating a surplus, in many ways, it's great. Although milk makes me smell...interesting.

Anyway gonna hit the PROWLER tomorrow!

[skipbeat]

Good shit man. I was wondering, since you just got off some conditioning work, if you could help me program some conditioning into my own program? I want to start running with this lil lady over here, and it's not just for those reasons. I haven't done any worthwhile cardio in.. too long, my resting heartbeat is quite fast, and I break a sweat walking. Goals: lower resting heartbeat, have reasonable endurance. Secondary: improve sprint speed.

I was thinking of doing it just 2x a week. She's really into this stuff (wants to run marathons yada yada) so for the most part I'll try it her way, but I've always read that interval training is the way to g for increasing vo2 max. It should be done ideally on lifting days so I still have a full recovery day off, right? Any pointers you could throw my way would be greatly appreciated man, if you could post it to my log, even better. http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=26229&page=3 For convenience. Thanks again!

[yorick]

First, if Josiah is your real name, it's an extremely cool one.

Second, it looks like you are doing a great job making progress. I also liked your prowler video above.

Keep up the good work.

[Josiah Moye]

Hey yorick yeah it is my real name. Thanks for the encouragement haha.

15 Oct 2011

Prowler really sucked today. I guess I didn't REALLY need a log entry to write that down. It just sucks. Plain and simple. Started with 140 this time thinking it would be cake. Wrong. We have to use the low handles on the way back for suicides, and I got stuck on the last run back, about halfway through, for like 30 seconds the thing would just not budge. Pain in the ass. So I dropped it to 90 for the next 2, which still made me feel like ralphing.

Just some random programming thoughts:

I was just thinking I might be able to blast up on SS (maybe take 10 lb jumps up to 365/375?!) for the next week or 2, back to my previous weights, then if the optimal recovery I'm having now can carry me past that point either on SS or advanced novice, all the better. I'll just keep riding the wave. I usually start to crap out on LP around 395...but I've never had a chance to go through that point while eating in surplus...so we'll see about this time through.

Once I stall though I'm going TM for sure. I'm not in a rush to get there but I am tired of sitting on the fence here.

And next week I'm going to start to ease back into chins.

[Josiah Moye]

17 Oct 2011

Squats 3x5: 345
Press 3x5: 145
PC 8x2: 225

Started school today. Had to go to gym after, at 7:30. Gym closes at 9, didn't have time for chins.

Squats felt shitty on the last set. Will see how I feel Wednesday, but I might take 5 lb jumps from now. Sucks.

Press was good. PCs felt great. My last set was better than my 4th. Haven't done volume like this on PCs in a long time. I usually would just PC as a warmup for DLs, work up to a few singles and then go to deadlifts.

Fucking hip tendinitis on my left side is annoying the hell out of me. I'm going to try squatting in my boots. Lower heel, still sturdy though. Shoes might be bad for me with my short femurs.

[skipbeat]

Hey J, what were your old PRs? And pfft at you bitching about STARTING 5lb jumps at 345. *middle finger*

[Josiah Moye]

Before layoff my rep sets were:

Squat 3x5: 380
Bench 3x5: 255 (last set was 6)
Press 3x5: 155 (easy, best was around 165)
DL 1x5: 385
PC single: 250

My old 1RMs are on the first page. Hopefully I'll be repping those (or close) at the end of this cycle.

[william jackson]

Yo Jo-jo!

Your gym got bumpers? Damn I miss the Schofield gym.

Building back up after a reset blows. Stay motivated.

[Josiah Moye]

Nah man no bumpers. Bumpers make things so much easier but I do kinda like man-handling the weight back to the floor. Just sucks when you miss though....

FUCk yeah Schofield was legit. I miss that place and our training there. I wonder where we'd be by now if we were still there rockin.

Yeah man I try to harness my PISSED-OFF-ness about lifting less than before to motivate me to smash it. Next PRT I don't think I'm going to cut out lifting altogether. I'll just go for the minimum I need to be in the "Excellent" category.

[Tom Narvaez]

I'm jelly of your power cleans.

[Josiah Moye]

Death city

19 Oct 2011

Squat 3x5:350
Bench 3x5:235
DL 1x5: 375

So dead today. I hate missing sleep. Got 6.5 hours of sleep last night. Squats felt shitty, I dunno. I forgot my damn camera again.

Bench was good, except my elbow is flaring up a little bit from the squat rack position, for me this usually means the bar is drifting down during the set, so I'll have to fix that.

DL was hard but good. Gotta remember to set the upper back tight.

Might have to change to Tues/Thurs/Sat next week due to college schedule. Will see about that.

Gotta go eat some massive amounts of food and head to snoozeland.

[Josiah Moye]

21 Oct 2011

Squat 3x5: 355
Press 3x5: 150
PC(fucked): 230x2,1,2,1,1,1,1 (kill self)
Chins 3xmax (give-a-shitometer almost on E): 15,10,7


Fuckin hot dogshit today. Squats were murder. Last rep of 2nd set sucked, then last 2 reps of last set sucked. With the last one feeling like total ass.

Press felt good, another 5 pounds in there easy. My glimmer of gold in a brown dogshit day.

Could not get in the groove for power cleans today. Fuck. 4th set I looped it and missed, well I held onto the bar (no bumpers) and basically caught it with my left thigh. Not cool. Gonna probably have a ridiculous bruise there.

I was just empty today. Felt drained. My weight was up to 208, gained 2.5 lbs lol. So its not food (gonna cut milk intake in half so I don't keep gaining more than necessary). I'm getting about as much sleep as I can get with my schedule...7.5-8 hours usually. Just started school though so that change of routine could have some effect on all this. Nevertheless I think I'm going to switch to advanced novice routine next week so my body can catch up easier. Hopefully knock out 2-4 weeks of adv novice then get to TM, which I'm really looking forward to (except for shitty monday workouts hah).

And Tues/Thurs/Sat schedule will be the best option for me now with school, so I'm doing that next week.

[Josiah Moye]

22 Oct 2011

Slept almost 11 hours. Had another fun prowler death session.

Did 40m sprint pushes.

2x90 lbs
4x180 lbs
60-90 seconds rest between each.

The last 2 are the worst, then carrying all the shit back up 3 flights of stairs adds to the fun. I oddly love this terrible device.

[william jackson]

The prowler sounds badass. I just discovered an old tire behind my gym that I flipped around a little today. I'm going to try and abuse that baby until the weather turns sour.

[Josiah Moye]

25 Oct 2011

Switch to ADV novice...
Squat 3x5: 360
Bench 3x5: 240
GM 2x10: 95
Chins 25x8, 25x6
Neck 3X25: 20

Squat felt a lot better, still hard as shit but better. Good rest was all I needed. Very slight rounding on a couple reps...its heavy...get over it. Will see how that goes next session though, if it gets too out of control I'll repeat weight. Lower back was definitely feeling fried though going into bench.

Bench was ezpz, up 5 again.

I don't have anything to do back extensions so I'm gonna play with GMs and RDLs. Not very experienced with either of these so it will be a learning experience.

Trying to get back into the weighted chins...was still sore from 4 days ago...yeah...but figured I'd be ok to do some. Not trying to kill myself here either.

Last week I definitely felt run down...so far this week feeling good.

[Josiah Moye]

27 Oct 2011

Nice n light.

Squat 2x5: 285 - Good
Press 3x5: 155 - Solid, up 5
DL 1x5: 385 - ezpz up 10
Neck 4x25: 30 - don't really give a shit, up 5

BW: 210

Well bw was 210 today, so that 2lbs from last time. Not sure how reliable these measurements have been since I haven't been able to weigh in at the same time on the same days, on the same scales. Fucking annoying. I should just get my own scale but that's gay. Hopefully neeext Thursday it will be more routine, and I'll weigh just 1 pound heavier. Lol.

[william jackson]

I was benching to Seger's "Hollywood Nights" today. It was dope

Let me know how your RDL's work. I've been doing high volume/light weight with them for a few weeks for the hamstring work since I've been front squatting. My hammies get sore as a mutha. I caution you to use caution, the "bounciness" of the movement causes me to lose my lumbar when going 225+. Sore backs suck.

Good luck brah.

[250orBust]

Looking good bro, LP to 400. Youve got the power!

[Josiah Moye]

LP to 400 would be beautiful.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dJolYw8tnk

I have the power!

29 Oct 2011 - Beat down day

Squat 3x5: 365
Bench 3x5: 245
GM 3x10: 115
Chins 30x8, 30x6
Neck 4x25: 35

Prowler 40m pushes ~60s rest
2x90
4x180

Squats were hard but good. Starting to get a feel on the depth, sometimes I still go too low though. Getting better. Didn't have any rounding today. All good.

Bench fuckin hard but got it. 2.5lb increases now

By the time I get to GMs and chins my giveashit is starting to dwindle, they were alright though. Neck same thing, whatever.

Doing the prowler on Saturdays like this will be good I think, since it gives me more time to recover for next squat session. It was a brutally long day. But fun. Lower back is crying. Gotta go grocery shopping, we're running on empty in the house. And I still fit in the 4th notch on my lifting belt, its getting to be a tight squeeze though. I've already stopped mass milk intake cuz its just not necessary for me to gain weight. I'm a pretty beast eater so fuck milk. Still use it for morning shake and a small glass of chocolate milk + creatine after workout (it's the perfect creatine mixing liquid).

[Josiah Moye]

WHEW

1 Nov 2011

Felt like a viking today.

Squat 3x5: 370
Press 3x5: 160
PC: 225x1, 235x1, 240x1, 245x1, 250x1, 255 (fail), 235x1, 235x(fail)

Interesting thing happened. Apparently on my ride over to the gym a bee got caught between my boot and sock, so when I went to take off my boot all of a sudden I felt this pain in my thumb, right by the knuckle. Sure enough the fucker stung me. Pissed me off. Maybe it helped release adrenaline or something and helped me have this awesome workout. Maybe I'm on to something here.

Anyway, squats felt almost perfect. Just a very slight twinge in the left hip if I relaxed too much at the bottom (happened on a couple reps). But it is finally starting to go away! Finally getting rid of 6 months of shitty tendinitis. Combo of fixing depth/relaxing issue, and couch stretch I think really helped it. Squats were still hard, but felt good. I'm feeling like LP to 405 is in the near future at this rate. I'll ride it out as long as I can!

Press was solid. Getting this oly style press form down seems to be making a big difference. I might take another 5lb jump...yeah...might = will.

Wanted to ride the wave of awesomeness on my PCs and do some singles. Just kinda burnt out at 255, plus I was running out of time to get to class. Next time I do singles on PC I'll do more singles at maybe 240-245.

Looking forward to (my favorite) DEADLIFTS this Saturday!

[Josiah Moye]

3 Nov 2011

BW: 208.8
Squat 2x5: 295
Bench 3x5: 247.5
GM 3x10: 115
Chins: 35x9, 35x7
Neck 4x25: 37.5

All good. I probably coulda got 250 on bench...but I'm getting to PR land so I'm cool with keeping it slow n steady. 3 workouts will put me at previous PR for reps on bench.

About 209 BW, down a pound from last time but it's about where I should be overall.

If I can squeak out another 4-6 weeks of LP on adv novice, that'd put me at some pretty nice numbers to start TM with.

[Josiah Moye]

Another glorious Saturday skull fucking day.

5 Nov 2011

Squat 3x5: 375
Press 3x5: 165
DL 1x5: 395
Neck: 3x25 37.5

Prowler 40m sprints:
2x90
5x180
60-90 seconds rest.

Saturdays are like a Rocky montage for me. Or the Ricky Bruch movie.

Squats were awesome. I feel worse than I really am when I do them, like I feel all fucked up on some reps but when I look at the video I look alright. Hip tendinitis is barely there anymore, awesome. Felt fucking phenomenal on these today.

Press was fucking hard but got it with good form. This was a PR match for 3x5. Gonna start 2.5 lb jumps.

First time I recorded deadlifts in a while. They FELT perfect, I swear, but on the video my upper back was not as tight as it could be. Gonna blame this on my shitty DL anthropometry (short femurs) and stay at 395 next DL workout.

Added a 40 to the prowler pushes. Legs were jello by the end of everything. Just chugged some chocolate milk though, so everything's better. Time to feast, recover, and do some lame homework.

[Josiah Moye]

Was just thinking...I lost about 10% off my lifts during the month training for the PT test. That was with zero lifting whatsoever, only running.

So when I do eventually go on a legit RFL 4-6 week cut (thinking about doing that maybe in April or May next year). I can't see any reason to lose more than 10% off lifts... at most. Did RFL a couple years ago to prepare for Navy Body fat tape BS, didn't lose any strength that time, it was 4 weeks, but I wasn't as strong then as I am now.

Just brainstorming stupid shit. Training in a few hours. Fuckin can't wait.

[Josiah Moye]

8 Nov 2011

Squat 3x5: 380 - Hard as fuck but got it. Felt like I was rounding a little but the video angle I had was mainly for depth checking so I don't know if it was acceptable, still got em though so up 5.

Bench 3x5: 250 - Solid. up 2.5

GM: 115 3x15 - Read KSCs log how he does GMs and tried to emulate that. Felt it like crazy...
Chins: 40x7, 40x6 - up 2.5
Neck 37.5 4x25 - up 1.25

Bought The Strongest Shall Survive, read the part on megadosing. I'm trying it. Started Sunday. Its a shit ton of pills but if it works, could be worth it. I guess its an experiment. Maybe it'll cause me to be full baby arm status all day every day. That'd be sweet.

[skipbeat]

shitfuckchrist, nice lifts man. i think most people's problem on RFL is doing too much, seeing as how you only lost 10% with strictly running and no lifting, you could probably get by with the minimalist approach. how was your diet while you were running though, were you losing weight?

/want baby arm status

[Josiah Moye]

I cut my diet down, just cuz I wasn't doing as much overall. But it was basically maintenance, I think I lost like 3 lbs. Negligible.

So the only factor that really changed there was no lifting. I figure on RFL I'll still be lifting, so the only factor that changes is weight loss. I could accept 10% strength loss with 25-30lbs fat loss in 4-6 weeks. Then take the strength gains at a pure intermediate pace from there. But again, might not even lose that much strength. Anyway I'm gonna stop thinking about bullshit weight loss right now and just focus on getting stronger for the next 4-5 months.

[william jackson]

8 Nov 2011

Hard as fuck but got it.

Its a shit ton of pills but if it works, could be worth it. I guess its an experiment. Maybe it'll cause me to be full baby corn status all day every day. That'd be sweet.

Good luck with the baby corn...

[Josiah Moye]

Haha get outta here Willie. I know you're just worried about the SHARK ATTACK!

10 Nov 2011

Squat 2x5: 305 - nice n light
Press 3x5 167.5 - PR babayyyy!
PC 2x2: 225, 4x2: 215 - Was splotting a little at 225, dropped down to 215. Ran outta time.
BW: 210.2 - cool.

Press PR though for reps! I got a little overzealous and did some weird thing and tweaked my upper back a lil bit on rep 4 of my last set. I don't know wtf I did, just some odd little tweak. Still got rep 5. We'll see how it feels tomorrow. Should be alright, I can still move.

And for all you haters of the new press form, here's video from my press workout today (I've been doing the press this way for a couple months now; didn't just randomly change it).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb-Wix5Yo2w

Got away from me a little on last rep, but otherwise pretty solid. Now just to get up in the 200s!

[simonsky]

nice pressing broski. we also have the same ending four letters in our name.

anyway, does the bar rest on your delts when you press?
anthropometry prevents me from doing so with vertical forearms that is why I gave up on doing "oly style" pressing.

[Josiah Moye]

Thanks man. Nah the bar doesn't rest on my delts if my wrists are straight and elbows straight down/slightly in front. Doesn't mean you cant do it this way. The hips go forward first (keep back neutral), start it up (aim for your nose), then whip your trunk and upper body back through as it clears your head. You'll feel this whipping motion in your quads (gotta squeeze them hard to keep knees straight), hip flexors, and abs.

[simonsky]

when I asked rip and he said that the bar should rest on the delts to maximize the force from the hips and legs, I stopped doing it. probably a stupid thing to stop trying hehe.

will do this later because of your vid. thanks for giving me motivation haha

[Josiah Moye]

Hmm. Yeah actually now that I double check my notes it is supposed to start on the shoulders. But I pretty much can't physically get it there with straight wrists, elbows forward, bar in the heel of hand, and the close grip. Short upper arm? Maybe. I have short femurs too so that could make sense. I'm gonna try to play with this more next workout to really double check myself.

Glad I could motivate someone!

[skipbeat]

strong humping. it almost seems like you're doing the reverse of what tommy suggs showed in his video, where he tells the trainee to start with the layback and then hump backwards, you hump forwards to start the bar up. maybe I'm just misunderstanding everything?

anyways, nothing wrong with adding a little hip drive into everything we do. i hump the counter when i make breakfast.

[Josiah Moye]

Nah I'm doing it roughly the same way, watch rep one. You might be getting confused when I go back to straight standing between reps.

Its hips forward before you press, then shoot hips back (I like to think more of my chest/shoulders coming forward under the bar, but its the same effect). I think I'm just doing it fast enough now where it might look different. Before I had it decently coordinated it was like...alright push hips forward...then up and whip back. Now I've just got it to one smooth(er) motion.

The "hump forward" is basically a layback at the same time. You get your hips in front of your feet, with the bar still over mid foot, this gives you a little layback to get your head out of the way. Then up and BAM hips back. Lockout.

[william jackson]

Nothing like setting a PR to Britney Spears.

[Josiah Moye]

Nothing like setting a PR to Britney Spears.

Yeah Will I got it special request for my press PR.

12 Nov 2011

EMBRACE THE INNER VIKING

Another pure MOTHERFUCKER of a Saturday.

Squat 3x5: 385 - Solid as fuck. Set good motivation for the rest of the workout.
Bench 3x5: 252.5 - Golden, pony boy.
GMs 3x15: 120
Chins 42.5x6, 42.5x6 - CMON 1 PLATE NEXT TIME
Neck 4x25: 38.75

----

Prowler death-40m sprints:
2x90
5x180
60-90s rest

Squats were ON THE MONEY today. Adv. novice program is rockin. I'm going to blast through old bench PRs in the next couple weeks. Fuck yeah I want at least 2 more weeks of this, I'll be PRing everything (except DL--which I think I had a really round upper back when I used to do it).

Took extra long in the gym today cuz I was teachin this dude how to squat properly and we were talking about training n shit. So got a possible training partner at least for Saturdays.

Got a crock pot full of chili to feast on. Rest time. Where's my beer wench?!

[Josiah Moye]

15 Nov 2011

Squat 3x5: 390 - Solid
Press 3x5: 170 - PR last 2 reps were a grind but I'll take it.
DL 1x5: 405 - ezpz
Neck 4x25: 40

Ooooooh baby!

Another strong day despite lackluster sleep quality the past couple nights. My training has never felt this dialed in. So great.

Squats and presses were golden like showers.

On DL I know I said I was gonna stick with 395...but I was like Fuck That and made the 10 lb jump. Although today I did experiment with using chucks on DL, and I think with my short femurs chucks are the way to go. I get plenty of quad involvement. Really deadlifts aren't feeling really taxing right now. I know I got a lot of room there.

Fuckin excited. Love this shit.

[Josiah Moye]

17 Nov 2011

Squat 2x5: 315
Bench 3x5: 255 - PR TIE
GM 2x5:125
Chins 45x6, 45x6
Neck 4x25: 41.25

Next week I'm in PR LAND on bench!

Back was feeling fried so I just did 2x5 on GMs. Good to go. BRING ON SATURDAY PAIN DAY

Edit: oh yeah BW was 211.8

[william jackson]

Damn you made a quick return to PRland. You ever notice that it takes longer for squats and DLs to come back? I also notice that powercleans come back really fast too.

[Josiah Moye]

Kinda know what you're saying on the squats and DL. But I think that's cuz I have always done it wrong. I think you gotta work up intensity before volume, as opposed to having normal 3x5 volume but low weight. Looking at Matt Reynolds' log the past few weeks kinda showed me how it should be done. Just work low reps, low sets, and get the weight up there before starting to add in volume. I think that'd work better.

So where I came back from layoff just doing like 225 2x5, he came back and did just a few singles. WHere I added weight to the sets across, he just added weight to singles and lower volume stuff, adding in sets slowly to get work capacity back. THe problem with the way I did it was the volume adds up and sucks, so you are capable of doing more weight but not for that volume. Meh. I just had a few brews so I'm kinda rambling. All I know is 395 squat TOMORROW! Thrashurday.

[Josiah Moye]

Well guess I was about due for a bad day.

19 Nov 2011

Squat 2x5: 395 - supposed to get 3 sets, called it after set 2; back fucked up
Press 3x5: 172.5 - good PR
PC - called due to back
Neck 4x25: 42.5

Prowler 40s:
2x90
5x180
Less than 1:15 rest

Tweaked my fuckin back somehow. I was feeling drained for some reason today, just empty. Weight felt heavy as fuck on my back. Went for it anyway. After set 1 I felt some slight twinge in my low back but tried to ignore it. Set 2 rep 5 I lost tightness and came forward, back rounded a bit. Felt my low back more after that. Was gonna go for set 3 but decided to call it before I hurt myself.

Anyway now my back feels pretty shitty, gonna rest up and take some ibuprofen. Should be alright by Tuesday hopefully and repeat 395.

Presses still went up alright. Said fuck it to power cleans. Had to get the prowler in. Don't know why my back just wasn't having it, but I'm walking like an old man now. Anyway just drank some fuckin egg nog and creatine. Perfect. Gotta eat up.

[Josiah Moye]

22 Nov 2011

Squat 5x5: 355
Bench 3x5: 257.5 - Getting hard, but good
Chins 47.5x6, 47.5x5, 47.5x3
Neck harness shenanigans

Back still aching today. Decided instead of fucking around trying to squeeze out the last few drops of novice LP, I'm switching up to TM style on my squats. 355 felt decent. Made sure to keep my form perfect. Weekly progress here we go.

I don't think DL is truly heavy for me right now so I'm keeping the adv. novice rotation with that and PC for now. Bench and press, continue LP. Probably need to start taking 1lb jumps for press by next week. Bench will be interesting on Saturday. I need to see if I can mark some damn plates so I don't get fucked by inaccurate weights.

[Josiah Moye]

24 Nov 2011

All gyms closed today of course, so I got to use my last resort shitty equipment on my slanted 3rd story patio lol.

Squats 2x5: 285 - Nice n light, still feels like hell after 5x5 on Monday hah.
Press 3x5:175 - PR
PC/DL - not possible lol
Neck stuff - over it today

Still PR'd press so I'm happy. Let the thanksgiving feedening BEGIN!

[Josiah Moye]

26 Nov 2011

Oooooh I want you to stayayy, ooooh I want you todayyayy. I'm ready for love! Ooh baby I'm ready for love.

Squat 1x5: 400 - Good to go
Bench 3x5: 260 - PR! Keep the train rollin
PC 5x3: 205 - Kept her light, haven't done these in a bit + back still iffy
Chins 47.5x6, 47.5x6 - Gonna start changing these up pretty soon.
Neck 4x25: 45

Prowler 40s:
2x90
4x180
Less than 90s rest - ground was damp today which made it extra shitty. Usually get 5 and wanted to go for 6 today but I was already burnt out by 4.

Bodyweight was 211ish, but it was morning so probably a couple pounds higher than that. Not too worried about it. Still fit into the same notch on my lifting belt so its cool.

[Josiah Moye]

29 Nov 2011

Squat 5x5: 360 - cool
Press 177.5x5,4,3 - Fuckkkkkk you. Gonna repeat on Thursday.
DL 1x5: 415 - felt heavier than it should since I haven't dl'd in a while, but still not bad
Neck 2x25: 46.25 - neck wasn't feeling great on these so cut it off

So today I was just getting over being sick the past couple days. Low energy and appetite. Probably didn't help the press. Squats felt good. Gonna see if I can take some tape in and mark some plates for press/bench purposes. The practicality of this is questionable because of how the plates constantly move, maybe I can always bury the marked plates under a stack of other plates but still its gonna end up getting fucked up and being a pain in the ass overall. Need to find a good solution for this.

[Josiah Moye]

1 Dec 2011

Squat 2x5: 295 - gravy
Bench 3x5: 262.5 - PR train keeps rolling along.
GM 2x10: 130 - I kinda hate these.
Chins 3RM - 55x3 - good; 65x3 - just barely got it. Cool. Then did BWx10,8,4
Neck: 4x25 46.25 - YOKESON. YOKE SON. YOKES ON. YO KESON.

Felt pretty damn good today. I discovered on Monday that I could widen my stance just a bit and get my knees out a little more. So my adductors are a helluvalot more sore than normal. Squats felt a lot stronger though with the slight variation.

Some pretty jacked old guy gave me some good words on my squats today. He was a cool dude. He was waiting for the rack then when he saw me doing legit squats was like "Eyy take your time!"

There's a chick at the gym with these massive thighs and looks German or something, just solidly built. Damn cute. See her in there all the time. Anyone reading this, what do you think...go for it, or "don't shit where you eat?"

[Josiah Moye]

3 Dec 2011

Squat 1x5: 405 - Woot
Press 3x5: 177.5 PR
PC 5x3: 210 - Decent, gotta be careful of splitting when it gets heavier. triples suck.
Neck 4x25: 47.5

Prowler 40s:
2x90
2x180
3x90

Fucking rained worse today, ground was like quicksand. Made the prowler rough. We got a random neighbor in on the fun though haha. It was cool, he went pretty hard for his first time.

Got my 4 wheels back on squat! The only thing I'm wondering is if my bar position is really in the right spot. I've had to play around with it cuz when I go lower I usually end up with shitty elbow pain. Need to get someone to film from that angle for me, it's hard to tell here.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIRYKJM158k

Repeated the weight I failed last time on press. Some girl was doing these pulldowns with the cable crossover machine right in front of me (cant see in video)...kneeling down facing me haha. So I think that helped get some more hip action in. The last set actually moved faster than the first 2. Anyway here it is:


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

I didn't feel quite 100% recovered through my warmups on squats. Didn't sleep well this week, so that's probably why. Gonna still increase volume day next week, but need to make sure I sleep a solid 8+ hours. If I feel slightly drained like this again next intensity day despite good sleep I'll hold the increases on volume day.

Next week is a bench week! I'm starting to love bench now that it's evening out to where it should be. Damn this shit's too much fun. Here we go!

[250orBust]

Squats were awesome man! Any idea where you would hit for a single?

[Josiah Moye]

Thanks man. I could probably get around 440-450 for a single. Last time I repped 405 (with worse form) 1RM was 440. So probably around there. I'm going to test in about 12 weeks, at a meet if the timing is right, goal is 500. Should be able to hit it if I can make steady progress for 12 weeks.

[william jackson]

JoJo, you got me jealous of the squat. Explosive reps, I bet you could grind 5x435

[Josiah Moye]

Quick bs update:

I think I just attained a certain level of viking status...I was ridiculously hungry-- just absolutely devoured a whole chicken like it was a snack, huge salad in a big ass mixing bowl (fiber is good cmon), and was still hungry. So I had a couple scoops of peanut butter and some milk for dessert. While blasting Viking Metal (Amon Amarth is BADASS). Can't wait to FUCKING LIFT TOMORROW!

Willie, thanks man. Getting form nailed down has helped a shit ton. So has gaining 8 pounds (so far).

[Josiah Moye]

6 Dec 2011

Interesting day today!

Squat 5x5: 365 - fuck this felt really hard for some reason, head not in the game?
Bench 3x5: 265 - yes sir, PR
DL 1x5: 425 - deadlifting sucks on volume days lol, good though, got another 10lb jump in me
Neck - said fuck it, time to go.

Might have to hold the squats stedy for a week or 2 on volume day. Will see how it goes on intensity day. Bench was good. I'm 10lb away from my old 1RM. Sweet.DL was harder than shit but good.

EDIT: Oh and huge ass burrito from freebirds for lunch on a training day is NO BUENO. Had to rip ass during my squats and it threw me off.

Story time, somewhat unrelated-
One of the several interesting things that happened today: When I got in, 3 dudes were near the end of their squat session. I was laying all my stuff near the rack and one of em goes "Hey you here to make us all look bad? Hah" Ended up teaching them how to squat properly, sort of. The one used the damn manta ray so his shit was all fucked up to start. And he wouldn't lower the weight to get it right. The other dude had the bar in the right spot to start with, and just needed a few tweaks. His looked good though and he was actually open to the idea. Then the other dude I helped out with his deadlifts, and squats later. Referred him to SS and he seemed into it. Maybe we'll see him here. Other interesting things will need to be posted in the "so I joined a new gym last night" thread. Lol

[Josiah Moye]

8 Dec 2011

Didn't have much time due to needing to finish a final.

Squats 2x5: 295
Press: 180 x 5,5,3

Rep 5 on the 2nd set was absolute grind, all I had.

Somehow my bodyweight was 209.8. That's 3 lbs in a week? Probably was just carb loaded last weigh-in (went to the damn chinese buffet) and not as much this time. Still, under 210 is unacceptable right now.

[Tom Narvaez]

well, I'm jealous of your lifts Josiah.

[Josiah Moye]

10 Dec 2011

Woop

On a trip to MD this week for training. Got 4 hours of sleep last night. Fuuuck

Squat 1x5: 410 - felt like dogshit, knees caving kinda bad on last 2 reps. Didn't look terrible on camera. Definitely need to chill out on volume days a bit, not to mention get more than 4 hours of sleep the night before heavy day.

Bench 267.5: 5, 5, 4 - motherfucker, still gonna jump to 270 next week and destroy it.

PC 5x3: 215 - felt pretty good til set 4, then started to get a little sloppy. Still decent though. Might be time for doubles soon.
Neck 2x25: 48.25 - cut em off early cuz I was over it

I gotta get a nap, some food, and some snootch and I'll be good to go.

[Josiah Moye]

13 Dec 2011

Squats 5x5: 365
Press 5x5: 160
DL 1x5: 435

Squats didn't feel the greatest. Was trying to hurry my presses and the last rep was stupidly harder than it should be. Haven't been able to eat quite as well as normal here. Schedule is all fucked. Ready for this week to be over. I hate the east coast.

[Josiah Moye]

15 Dec 2011

Squat 2x5: 295
Bench 270x5, 270x5? - motherfucker. I knew the guy I got to spot me was gonna be an idiot. He touched the bar on my last rep of 2nd set and said "ALL YOU." Goddamnit. So I was pissed, said fuck it. I'm gonna switch to TM on bench next week.
GM: 2x10 135
Chins: 47.5x6, 47.5x6 - ugly but counted the last rep
Neck 2x25: 50

Shitty week--bad sleep, bad food, different gym and work hours...all bad. And I'm not gonna be able to do intensity day til Sunday because I'm traveling on Saturday. Might do a 3rm instead of 5 on Sunday, just to keep the volume lower so I can go back in Tuesday feeling fresh, hopefully.

[Josiah Moye]

18 Dec 2011

Meh.

Plan was to go in and do a heavy triple on squats. Got up to 315 on my warmups and it was heavy as fuck. Usually 315 just pops up but today I was dying with it. So I called it on squats. Going heavy would not have been productive. Just did 3x5 225 to get the blood flowing and I'll pick back up on Tuesday.

Press: 185x5 - my motivation was killed but I still wanted to try for my press intensity since it'll be 2 weeks til the next time I can do heavy presses. Got 185 but it was ugly.
PC 3x2: 185
Neck stuff

Callin this week a mulligan. Hardly had any rest, food was all thrown off and random, plus I visited a lady friend on the weekends...so that definitely didn't help. Gotta refocus, rest up, and come back at it hard next week.

[Josiah Moye]

20 Dec 2011

Terrible Tuesday

Squat 5x5: 365 - good, up 5 next time
Bench 5x5: 240 - good, up 5
DL 1x5: 445 - good, up 10

Long motherfucker of a day. I'm feelin a bit under the weather today too, so my head felt like it was gonna explode on everything. Snot dripping out n shit. Deadlifts were the worst part. I don't think I was too sick to get in there and I needed today with last weeks dogshit, so I got in and did it. We'll see how that decision pans out in the next couple days but I'm just gonna get lots of food, sleep, and water and hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

With that said I felt kinda beat up throughout my body, just weird aches n shit. But my squats felt smooth. Should be good to increase next week. Bench still felt kinda fatigued from last bench day but 240 wasn't a problem. Deadlifts were acceptable I think. My upper back looks a little round but I think its very slight and also just looks that way due to the muscle. Slight enough to be acceptable IMO.

Tell me what you think. Here's the deadlift 445x5:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um6eQO1T69M

After I did it I watched the video and wanted to do a couple light reps just to see how I look with light weight. Did 315x2



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuqjQasD0xU

Seems acceptable to me, but I'm biased, what do you guys think?

[Josiah Moye]

Damn, lost a lot of pages.

Well anyway, highlight of this week was on Wednesday I broke squat PR by 15 pounds...got 480x1. Fuck yeah.

But then Thursday I did front squats and I'm feeling goddamn hip tendinitis flaring back up from it. So might be taking front squats out.

Also I'm signed up for my first meet, 18 February. The federation is called "Raw United." So all raw and drug tested. Hoping to break 500 on squat there. Never done paused benching before so gotta work on that. Deadlift if I could get 550 I'd be pumped.

[250orBust]

Oh my fuck. Hadnt checked up on your squats in a while. Unreal. As for your paused bench, If you have a solid platform and a strong back you shouldnt lose too much on a paused bench. 5% would be the absolute most.

[Josiah Moye]

Good day.

Squat up to 475x1, 485(f) 435x2x3
Press up to 210x1 (5lb PR - longest grind ever, Jesus) - 170x2x2, 175x2, 180x2x2
BW Chins 3xmax: 17,10,9

Feeling the goddamn ASIS tendinitis in my left side. It's not bad, and I'm sure will be fine as long as I cut out front squats and don't relax too much at the bottom. On my heaviest squats I tend to relax at the bottom and I get smashed down a couple inches too deep because of it and it throws me off and twinges the hip. Happened on 485, I relaxed and actually bumped the pin, fucked me all up.

Elbows not feeling terrible after today's training. Gotta keep that bar up there.

Oh and 5lb press PR! Worst rep ever though. Had to be like 10 seconds. Dropped back to 170 and did them explosively though before working up to some heavier doubles for more volume. Felt really good.

[Josiah Moye]

New log:

http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=28564