Clint's SS Log

[hagrid's dad]

Age: 40
BW: 205 (down from 285 last June, thanks to low carb)

Starting lifts (1/2/12)
Squat: 60 lbs (w/out full depth)
Press: 70 lbs
Bench: 95 lbs
DL: 105 lbs

Current lifts:
Squat: ?? (not certain I've ever done an acceptable lbbs)
Press: 90x5x3 (95x3/2)
Bench: 135x5/4
DL: 215x1/1 (205x2, 195x5)

Rowing machine:
500m -- 1:47
1000m -- 3:56

[hagrid's dad]

15th workout: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012.

Warmed up with a few minutes of rowing. Crowded at the gym -- some sort of circuit-training class was there. (At one point, they were using the power rack for pullups and the squat rack for reverse pushups -- I ended up doing my presses starting with the bar on the floor, and still had some guy take the space in front of my bar while I was between sets so he could watch himself in the mirror doing one-legged body weight squats.)

Squat
45x5x2 -- as usual, the first set was ugly with knees cracking and stiff legs
65x5
85x3
95x2
105x5x3
These feel much better than last week -- but I need to get the camera set up again and make sure they are.

Press -- did these from the floor -- not sure if that's why I failed
30 lb ez-bar x5
45 x5
55 x4
65 x2
72.5 x5
72.5 x4
70 x3

Deadlift
95 x5
135 x2
145 x1
155 x1
165 x1
175 -- failed (didn't even get it off the floor)
170 -- failed (partly mental?)
Need to stick to deadlifting once a week -- two days off isn't enough recovery for me.

Situps:
BWx10
+5x10
+10x10

Extensions:
+10x10
+15x10
+20x10
+25x10
Surprisingly easy -- have to keep increasing the weight.

[hagrid's dad]

16th workout: Friday, February 10th, 2012.

Warmed up with rowing, some dynamic stretching, and air squats. Brought the camera and filmed my squats (still not happy with my depth!) and benches.

Squat
BWx10x2 65x5 75x5 85x5 95x3 105x2 115x5x3

Higher volume of warmup sets than I've been doing -- I liked it. Still not happy with my form, though.

Bench -- set up in the rack, since the gym was mostly empty.
45x10 75x5 95x5 105x3 115x2 125x5x3

Still having trouble maintaining shoulder retraction when pushing the bar up -- not sure if it's a lack of strength in my upper back or a lack of the right mental cues. Adding Bent Rows to try to fix this.

Bent Rows
45x10 65x8 75x5/5/5/8

Back Extensions
25x10 35x8/10

Assisted Chins
-126x12 -116x6

Weighted Situps
+12x12 +15x8 +20x6

Then just for fun, I tried suitcase walks with 45 lbs, and did a few sets of Barbell Curls -- apparently we're supposed to do these on Fridays... who knew.

[hagrid's dad]

17th workout: Monday, February 13th, 2012.

Warmed up with rowing. Decided to start with presses ahead of squats, and to reset squats all the way back to the drawing board. Deadlifts were great -- I'd been getting a "head rush" on every heavy rep. Finally realized (from a post somewhere on this site) that I was taking too deep of a breath.

Press
20x10, 30x10, 40x8, 45x5, 50x3, 55x3, 60x3, 65x3, 67.5x3, 70x3, 72.5x3

Went a bit nuts on the warm-up sets, but I wanted to make sure I did every rep with good form -- I'll repeat 72.5 next time for the standard 3x5.

Squat
BWx10x5
(15x10, BWx10)x5

Started "warming up" with air squats shoving my knees out and getting my butt down -- went a bit nuts and ended up doing 15 sets of ten. But I'm pretty sure I now have the feel of the movement down. Next time I'll film it, and slowly ramp up the weight to see where my form breaks down.

Deadlift
95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x2, 165x1, 175x5, 185x1

Holding a half breath rather than a full one totally changed the experience of this exercise. And I did the warmup 5's without pausing for more than a quick breath.

Assisted Chin-ups
-126 x14
-105 x7
-105 x7

Weighted Sit-ups
+15 x14
+20 x9
+25 x7

Suitcase Walks
2 laps (about 20 yards each way) each side with a 50 lb dumbbell

Finished with a bunch of stretching, mostly of shoulders and hamstrings. (Felt really mobile after all the body-weight squatting.)

[hagrid's dad]

18th workout: Wednesday, February 15th, 2012.

Crazy busy at the gym -- overlapped with a large class of some sort. Ended up doing my squats sporadically throughout the rest of the workout. Finally had an epiphany that I should have understood from my several read-throughs of the Squat chapter in SS -- I was failing to get depth on my squats *not* because of any flexibility issue, but because my femurs and hip bones were trying to occupy the same position. Hence: get the knees out. Filmed myself several times doing air squats until I finally got it. My toes are *way* farther out than the 30 degrees described in SS, but that shouldn't shock me -- my toes are always pointed more outward than normal.

Now if only I could comfortably get the bar into a low enough position -- I did it with the empty bar, but had my hands so wide that I couldn't easily rack the bar. Did a bunch of body weight squats -- some with knees sufficiently out, others without. Did a few sets with the empty bar. Vowed to get a broomstick and work on this at home.

Aside from the squatting, everything went well: added 5 lbs to the bench without difficulty, and with a tighter chest than before. (Still not holding shoulder retraction through the whole five reps, but getting closer.)

Bench:
45x5, 95x5, 105x3, 115x2, 130x5/5/5

Chins:
-116 x10
-94 x4

Back Extension:
30x10, 35x10, 40x10

Situps:
+20 x12, +25 x8, +30 x6

Suitcase Walk: 2 laps each side w/ 55 lbs

Farmer's Walk: 2 sets of 3 laps w/ 90 lbs

I was surprised by the Farmer's Walk. I expected it to tax my grip, but I really felt it in my legs and hips. The shocking thing is that together with the two 45 lb dumbbells, I basically weighed what I weighed a year ago. And it felt *really* heavy.

[hagrid's dad]

Ugh. A month without updating -- time for a bunch of retrospective and copying stuff over. Summary of the month: still flailing on squats, starting to make real progress with Press and Deadlift.

Feb 17th:
- Rowing machine warmup
- Press: 72.5x5/3, DL: 185x3, Chins: -116x12, -94x6, SU: +35x8, FW: 3 laps @90 lbs

Feb 20th:
- Rowing machine warmup
- Squats: 65x2x2, 85x2, BP: 135x3/3/3/2/3, Dips: -105x12/10, BE: +45x10, SU:+40x8

Feb 22nd:
- Rowing machine
- Sq: 65x5x2, Pr: 75x5, DL: 175x1, db Rows: 45ea x6x3, WGPU: -126x5, Dip: -94x8, FW: 100

Feb 23rd:
- Rowing machine
- Sq: 75x5, BP: 125x5, Ch: -116x10, -105x6, unilateral db curl-to-press 20x10ea/10ea

Feb 24th:
- Rowing machine (1k in 4:25)
- Sq: 75x5, Pr: 65x5, Ch: -116x12, -94x6, Dip: -94x10, -84x5, BE: +50x10/10

Feb 27th:
- Rowing machine (1k in 4:06)
- Sq: 85x5, Pr: 75x5, PC: 85x3/3/3/3/3, Ch: -105x11, -94x4, Dip: -84x10, -74x5, BE: +55x10/10, SU: +45x8

Feb 29th:
- Rowing machine (1k in 4:20)
- Sq: 85x5x3, BP: 135x5/4, DL: 190x1, db Row: 55 ea x5, Dip: -74x8, -63x7, FW 2laps@120

Mar 1st:
- Rowing machine (1k in 4:03)
- Sq: BWx5x4, IncPr: 95x5, Ch: -94x7, -84x4, BE: +60x10/10/10, curl-2-press: 25x6ea/5ea, FW@130

Mar 6th:
- Rowing machine (1k in 4:08)
- Sq: 45x5, PrL 75x4, DL: 195x1, Ch: -94x9, -84x5, Dip: -63x8, -53x4

Mar 8th:
- Rowing machine (1600m in 7:12)
- Sq: 105x3, Pr: 75x5x3, 80x3, Row: 95x3/3/3/5, Ch: -94x10, -84x6, Dip: -52x5/5, -42x2, FW:2x130

Mar 12th:
- Rowing machine (1k in 3:56)
- Pr: 80x5/5/4, DL: 205x2, Ch: -84x5, -74x4, Dip: -52x5, -42x3

Mar 14th:
- Rowing machine (20s "intervals" -- too short)
- Sq: 85x3, BP: 135x4/3/3/2/3, Row: 105x5x4, Ch: -84x5

Mar 16th:
- Rowing machine (4x250m: 53s/53s/53s/58s)
- Pr: 85x5/5/5, Row: 125x4/3 (too ambitious), Dip: -52x8, -42x6, FW: 2x130

Mar 20th:
- Rowing machine (700 m in 2:40 -- pushed too hard on first 500 m, gassed)
- Pr: 90x5x5x5, DL: 215x1/1, Ch: -84x6, -74x4, Dip: -42x6, -31x3

On the DL, my left hamstring felt tight at the bottom position, but I just "worked through it" -- hurt my left QL on the work set. Scored it as two singles because "one breath" turned into ten or twelve breaths between reps.

Current thoughts:
Squat: Have to recommit to these, and swallow my ego. I can "lift" a much higher weight than I can *properly* squat. Probably need to start with 65 lbs and work up *slowly*.
BP: stalled, because I'm doing Press twice a week -- deliberately compensating for over-benching in my misspent youth
Press: finally seems to be moving -- I think the dips and extra lower back strength are the key
Chins & Dips: really want to advance both to real body weight by the end of April -- I won't have access to an "assist" machine after that.
DL: making amazing progress, but I need to be more cautious -- maybe repeat 215, and probably go up by 5's from now on. (It'd be nice to get back up to a 5 rep work set, too.)

[hagrid's dad]

Took the rest of the week off -- I *did* overdo it on the Deadlift. Left outer glute still sore a week later.

Monday, March 26th:
- Rowing machine (1k in 4:04)
- Press: tried 95 lbs -- too heavy. Got it up for a *slow* single, vibrating and swaying through the sticking point. Did another single, then dropped the weight. Maybe try 92.5 next time?
- Chins: -84x9, -74x4
- Dips: -42x6, -31x3 (the -31's felt poor -- not sure I'm getting full range of motion)
- RDL: 45x10, 95x5 -- felt fine, good even
- DL: 135x5x2 -- still felt fine (wish I'd done RDLs to start last week!)
- DL: 165x3 -- felt okay
- DL: 190x3 -- planned to do 5. Left leg started to feel funky -- knees coming in a bit, felt something around the left thigh. Called it a day.

[hagrid's dad]

Odd day at the gym -- hit the lunch hour when the weight room is full of people with trainers. Still hip soreness -- RDLs and BEs don't cause any soreness, but even air squats do. It seems to be external rotation of my left femur that hurts.

Wednesday, March 28th:
- Rowing machine (500m in 1:55)
- Chins: -94x10/6, -84x5
- Dips: -52x8/5/4
- Back Extensions: +50x10/10
- Bench Press: 135x2 -- Expected to get more -- arms already fatigued from dips...
- dumbell Row: 50ea x6

[hagrid's dad]

Monday, April 2nd:
- Rowing machine (500m in 1:51)
- Press: 45x10, 65x5, 75x3, 85x2, 95x3/2 -- an improvement over last week.
- Squats: ASx5/5/5, 45x5/5/5, 65x5/5 -- felt good.
- Chins: -84x9, -74x6
- Dips: -42x6
- RDL: 95x10
- DL: 135x5, 165x3, 185x2 -- felt tight, but not particularly heavy, 205x2 -- ouch. left glute/tfl/whatever still not fully right. Perhaps *just* do RDL's and squats next week?

[hagrid's dad]

Wednesday, April 4th:
- Rowing machine (500m in 1:57) (hips felt very stiff when I started)
- Bench: 45x10, 65x5, 85x5, 95x5, 105x5/5 (oops), 115x5, 125x5, 135x5/4 (getting much better shoulder retraction up to about 95 or 105, still losing it after that)
- Squats: ASx5x4, 45x5x2, 65x5x3 (feels good -- and *hard*, not in quads but in adductors/glutes. Definitely had soreness/stiffness from Monday's squats -- will *slowly* start to raise the weight again.)
- Romanian Deadlifts: 95x10, 105x5, 115x5, 125x5, 135x5x3 -- felt good. 135 felt heavy, but still didn't "tweak" whatever the DL is tweaking off the floor. Bar was well below the knee at "bottom".
- Chins: -84x8/7/7/7
- Dips: -52x9/5/5
- Farmer's Walks: 110 x 1 lap, 120 x 1 lap
- Suitcase Carries: 65 x 1 lap each
- Bicep Curls: 40eb x 10, 50eb x5/6 --- not sure why I did these, particularly after volume chins.