Gaucho's Log

[Gaucho]

Figured I'd start a log for accountability and motivation.

Stats: 39 y/o, 5'8", 180 lbs.

Will be doing Greyskull LP and then switching to an intermediate program, probably TM. My goals right now are: 315 squat for a single, 250 bench for a single, 175 press for a single, 405 dead for a single. I trained and ran a few 5ks over the past months, and now it's time to shift focus back to strength for a while. I'll probably add one day of conditioning so long as it doesn't interfere with my strength progression. We'll see how it goes. I work out in my garage.

My lifts as of last few workouts were:

Squat: 220 x 5, 5, 5
Bench: 192.5 x 5, 5, 5
Press: 127.5 x 5, 5, 5
Dead: 275 x 5

Thanks for reading, and comments/advice are always welcome.

[Gaucho]

October 21, 2011

Press: 130 x 5, 5, 5
Dead: 285 x 5
Chins: +25 lbs. x 6, 4
Cleans: 125 x 3 singles for practice
Neck: 35 lbs. x 4 x 25

Press was hard, this is very close to my limit. My 3x5 PR on the Press is 135. Deadlift wasn't too bad, probably will jump 10 lbs. for next week. Chins were too heavy, will reduce the weight to 20 lbs. until I can complete 2 x 6.

[Gaucho]

October 23, 2011

Squat: 225 x 5, 5, 5
Bench: 195 x 5, 5, 5
Curls: 72.5 x 12, 12
Neck: 35 lbs. x 4 x 25

The good news is that I watched Rip's bar position video, placed the bar higher than usual for today's workout, and after squatting today I have no left elbow or shoulder pain which has been a problem of mine in the past. The bad news is that squats felt heavy as shit. This could be because I had the bar too high, shitty diet, don't know. Anyway, based upon the poor showing I decided to skip conditioning today.

[Gaucho]

October 25, 2011

Squat: 230 x 5, 5, 5
Press: 132.5 x 5, 4, 4 [Fail]
Chins: +20 lbs. x 6, 6
Neck: 35 lbs. x 4 x 25

Failure on the press, which sucked because the number 4 reps went up fine, but number 5 reps on sets 2 and 3 wouldn't budge. That's okay, I'm gonna eat as much as I can this week and give it another try this weekend. If I fail then, I'll reset.

[Gaucho]

October 27, 2011

Bench: 197.5 x 5, 5, 5
Dead: 295 x 5
Curls: 72.5 x 12, 12
Neck: 35 lbs. x 4 x 25

[Gaucho]

October 29, 2011

Squat: 235 x 5, 5, 5
Press: 132.5 x 5, 5, 5
Chins: +20 lbs. x 6, 6
Neck: 35 lbs. x 4 x 25

Got my press, so I'm pretty happy with that. Squats felt heavy, in fact everything's felt heavy lately as shown by the fact that my final sets have been limited to 5 reps. I figured the reduction in conditioning would have a noticeable impact on my strength (the last 5k I ran was about two weeks ago), but so far this has not been the case.

[Gaucho]

November 1, 2011

Squat: 240 x 5, 5, 5 [PR]
Bench: 200 x 4, 3 [FAIL]; 180 x 9
Curls: 75 lbs. x 12, 12
Neck: 35 lbs. x 4 x 25

A PR and a fail all in the same workout. Gave the bench a second try to make sure it wasn't a bad set, and sure enough, it wasn't. Did a reset to 180 and will work my way back up. Also, I ordered a Men's Economy Bar from Rogue which will replace my Cap Barbell piece of shit bending barbell I use now. Should have it for next squat workout this weekend, really looking forward to it!

[Gaucho]

November 3, 2011

Press: 135 x 5, 4, 4 [Fail]
Dead: 300 x 5

Left shoulder pain after a few practice power cleans, called it a night.

[Gaucho]

November 5, 2011

Squat: 245 lbs. x 5, 5, 5 [PR]
Bench: 182.5 lbs. x 5, 5, 7
Curls: 75 lbs. x 12, 12
Neck: 35 lbs. x 4 x 25

Got my Rogue Economy bar and it's great. The thing feels glued to my back when I squat even without center knurling. I think this bar will go a long way to ease my shoulder pain. The diameter is also larger than the Cap barbell I was using, which was way too thin and 10 pounds lighter than advertised (supposed to be 45 lbs, but really was 35 lbs). Even with a mountain of chalk the Cap barbell didn't feel close to as secure as the Rogue bar. May throw in some conditioning later today or tomorrow.

[Gaucho]

November 6, 2011

Conditioning
400m sprints x 4: ~1:50, 1:47, 1:42, 1:42
2 sets of 20 push-ups and 5 BW chins

Walked 400m after each "sprint" lap. I also gave myself enough time to catch my breath after each set of push-ups and chins.