Johnny's turning 50 SS log

[hbriem]

Nice work Johnny. Chins are very frustrating and can take a long time to improve. Adding sets without going to failure is a good idea.

[JohnnytheGeek]

26-Feb-2012 Sun.

Squat: 45X5X2, 95X5, 125X4, 150X3, 170X2, 195X5X3 PR
Bench: 45X5X2, 95X5, 135X3, 152.5X5X3 PR
Back Extensions w/5lbs.: 3X10
Assisted chins w/green band: 3XF: 7,5,3

Squat went OK. Wasn't too much of a grind. Made it through sticking point from last bench session. Waiting for my right side to catch up to my left in strength.
Went backwards on chins. Lost a couple of reps on first set compared to before.
I've been supersetting the back extensions and chins to try to speed things up.

[William Lohr]

Good work.

[JohnnytheGeek]

Scheduled got messed up this week with me getting home too late on Wed. and Thurs. for workout, so I got up early today, but was just not feeling it on the squats.

2-Mar-2012 Fri.

Squat: 45X5X2, 95X5, 135X4 175X3, 200X5,4,2
OHP: 45X5X2, 65X5, 80X3, 93.75X5X3
DL: 95X5X2, 135X5, 185X4, 215X3, 235X5
Chins w/green band: 5,5,3. Trying for 5X3, got one more rep than last time.

It's been a while since I've lifted in the morning. Knees were cranky even doing body weight air squats before I even put bar on my back. Couldn't get comfortable with my belt. When I get into the hole, the belt tightens up due to belly. When I come up, it feels loose. First set I set it too tight and couldn't even get good depth.

OHP went OK. I'm still cleaning the bar from the floor for each set.
DL was OK as well. Need to video to check to see what my back looks like. I'm really trying to keep in extension, but weight is getting heavier now.

[JohnnytheGeek]

4-Mar-2012 Sun.
BW 252 lbs.

Squat: 45X5X2, 95X5, 135X4, 175X3, 200X5X3 PR
Bench: 45X5X2, 95X5, 135X3, 155X5X3 PR
Back Ext: w/8 lbs. 3X10, supersetted with assisted chins, 3XF: 8,3,3 with green band.

Knees felt better today. I did the MobilityWod squat sequence for prep today. I videoed first two sets of squats and depth look good and couple of reps were a grind to keep from good morning it on the way up, but I made it.
On bench, my weaker right side is hitting limit as the arm was shaking like mad on the last couple of reps. Seems like I could take 20 more lbs on my left side.
Chins are pissing me off. No real progress. Thinking about going to a linear loaded assisted system with pulleys.

[JohnnytheGeek]

11-Mar-2012 Sun.
BW: 252

Squat: 45X5X2, 95X5, 135X4 165X3, 185X2, 205X5,2,0, 185X5
OHP: 45X5X2, 65X5, 85X3, 95X5X3
PC: 45X5X2, 65X5, 85X3, 95X3X5
Chins w/green band: 5X3.

I tweaked my back last Sunday so I laid off for a week. I tested squatting and 185 felt OK, so I tried 205 for work sets. My knees were caving in too much so I decided I should cut back for last set of 185. Presses went OK. Power cleans were not so good. My left foot shoots out farther to the side when I land then my right. Not sure why.
Made 5X3 with chins, next time I'll try smaller band for assistance.

[Oldster]

Great lifting, Johny! I see by posting you are reaching PR after PR!

Don't let your knees come inward, even for a single rep. Pretty hard on your knees. Better to lift a little lighter until form is perfected than to take a risk with form.

[JohnnytheGeek]

28 Mar 12
After 2+ weeks off from being sick with flu and traveling, I finally made back down to the basement to lift.
On the road, there was one gym where they had dumb bells that only went up to 50 lbs. I did some goblet squats, dumb bell OHPs, chins, back extensions and some aerobic work.

Squat: 45X5X2, 95X5, 135X4, 165X3, 185X5, 165X5X2
Bench: 45X5X2, 95X5, 135X3, 145X5X3
Back Ext: w/10 lbs. 3X10, supersetted with assisted chins, 3XF: 8,5,3 with green band.

Squat was awful. Put 185 on the bar and was good morning so badly I dropped back down to 165 to finish up.
Backed off a little on bench. Should begin my way back up there.
Increased weight on back extensions and eeked out a couple more overall reps on the chins from last session.

[JohnnytheGeek]

3 Apr 12

Squat: 45X5X2, 95X5, 125X4 150X3, 165X5X3
OHP: 45X5X2, 65X5, 85X3, 95X5X3
DL: 95X5X2, 135X5, 175X4, 205X3, 225X5
Chins w/green band: 5,5,2.

I decided to back down again and squat 165 this time. Not perfect, but better than last session. I took videos and did the lifts outside of the rack so I could get a rear 3/4 view. From back depth looks questionable, but from side, it seems closer.
OHP was nice that I hadn't lost anything in my layoff.
On DL, I tried it with my lifting shoes on. Previously I always did this lift barefooted. Didn't notice too much difference. Also tried last warm up set with belt. With my gut, I can't find a position where it doesn't get in the way, or it's too loose. Need to search the boards for suggestions on using a belt with a belly.
A little set back on my chins. Trying to figure out a rigging system for linear assistance instead of using band from bar.

[JohnnytheGeek]

10 Apr 12

After being away from lifting during Easter weekend, today I had a lesson with an Olympic lifting coach to work on my power clean. We worked through top down progressions similar to SS, but he was able to help me improve quite a bit and it didn't feel as ugly. In fact, I PR'd a set of 3 @ 50 kg. We also tried some progressions on the power snatch. I have some homework now that I can work on in future sessions.