Tzanghi's SS log

[tzanghi]

Great blog. Very Similar progress and weights to me but with 25 pounds less bw!

Thanks, man. It's funny that you mention the BW because I've looked at other skinnier guys, and I think the same thing haha. I think it's best to start SS at a very low BW for efficiency because then you'll be at a lower weight class if you plan to compete. I trained for four years with splits and what not just looking for muscle definition, and I feel like I have a decent amount of useless muscle on me since it wasn't developed towards strength.

I'll definitely check your log out!

[tzanghi]

Squats- 2x5x280; 4x280 This is starting to piss me off. I'm eating and resting right and yet my squat's not going up. I may give the advanced novice a go again if this continues happening. I'm gaining weight too, so I don't get where the weight is going if my squat isn't climbing.

Bench- 3x5x190; This was relatively easy, but scapular contraction is getting a little hard.

Cleans 3x3x135; 2x2x135; I had a few misses here. This dude that used to train olympic showed me a video and told me my butt was too high, but I thought I was using the right set up from the book. When I looked at the video I think he was right, I just don't think I would be down as far as he was suggesting.

Dips 2x10xBW+25; 9xBW+25

The fact that my squat hasn't gone up in a while really pisses me off. I remember doing 280 with decent form a couple weeks ago and it was easy and now I can't complete 3x5 despite my increasing eating a lot.

[tzanghi]

Squats 3x5x280 These weren't that tough. The bar just felt good today on the back for the first 2 sets and I still finished the last one strong. I have been reading up on stalls around the same weight on squats, and most of the advice is to eat more, but I don't know if that's my problem. I've been gaining a good amount of weight recently(1.5 lbs/week), so that really should be a problem. I do run a good amount so that may affect it, but it has never been a real issue before. I just don't get where all this weight is going if I'm not building much muscle. I'm going for 285 on Wednesday so we'll see how it goes.

Press 2x5x117.5; 4x117.5 I think I'm gonna deload. I don't feel like wasting 2 more workouts because I'm quite sure I'm gonna stall if not at this weight, soon. I really enjoy the press, so I want to make sure I'm making timely gains.

Deadlift 5x275; 0x300 The 275 was rough, and I think I rounded the back a bit. It's a shame to see how poor my deadlift has gotten from my back problems. At least I'm back on track to pick up where I left off. Tried 2 singles at 300, didn't budge the first and then picked the bar up an inch or so before realizing my back was never going to hold.

[tzanghi]

Squats 3x5x285 This was awesome. I think I could have done 295. This was a PR anyways. I used a closer grip than before and really tightened my back, which seemed to make it easier. I also recently watched the Karwoski interview, and his comment that he didn't understand how anyone could lift without getting angry motivated me to try that. I didn't get that pissed, but told myself I was going to own the lifts today. Busted these out, bar bouncing up and down on my back at the top. My back even loosened up a little on the last set and I still busted them out. This nice older guy in the gym was trying to give me some motivation on the last few reps, but I didn't need it today.

Bench 3x5x192.5 Same story as squats. I think I'm having some trouble with scapular contraction, but I fucked these sets up as well.

Power Cleans 5x3x135 I finally feel like I'm getting the timing and form down before the jump. I think I was pulling the bar a little with my arms after the jump on some reps. On other reps I felt awesome, just jump, shrug, and rack. Just gotta keep doing them, and I'll get the form down.

Dips 10;9;8 xBW+25

[tzanghi]

Went on vacation so I'll sum up. Deadlift is slowly coming back. Squats are at an all time high. Press is fucking with me. Bench is about to break through my last stall.

I'm going on a diet as I have gained 15-20 lbs since I started this log. Want to shed some BF before packing on some more so I don't have to drop all the fat at once. I'm also going to change my programming up a bit I think to account for my deficit. Stay tuned.

[tzanghi]

Started a new program today as follows:

Saturday: Squats(3x5); Press/Bench(3x5); Chins/Dips(3x5-8)

Monday: Light Squats(2x5); Press/Bench(3x5); Chins/Dips(3x5-8); Deadlift(1x5)

Wednesday: Squats(3x5); Press/Bench(3x5); Chins/Dips(3x5-8); Power Cleans?(3x3)

I'm still not sure where to put cleans. It looks like it might be too much if I do cleans on Wednesday 2 days after deadlift but I guess I'll play it by ear.

So todays workout went like this:

Squats(2x5x225) I am a little sore today from playing some football yesterday and didn't wanna overdo it.

Bench(3x5x197.5) This was harder than it should have been considering I deloaded a while ago after stalling at 200.

Chins(3x7xBW-30) Deloaded here because chins regressed. I think as I start to shed some weight these should get better, but I don't see why they haven't improved at all since I started doing them.

Power Cleans(2x3x135; 2x135) Had a miss due to bad form on the first set. Again I was a little sore, so I didn't wanna try big weight here. I subbed these in for deadlifts because I deadlifted Friday. Next week these will be DL.

[tzanghi]

So that was a good one day on that workout plan. I'm officially switching to 531 instead as I've heard good success with it while on a deficit. The program I'm going to follow will be this:

Sat: Squats 531; Bench 531; Abs; Maybe Chins; 2 mile jog

Mon: Assistance Day: Power Cleans(as assistance to Deadlifts) 3x3 or 5x3 probably depending on how I feel; Press BBB; Squats BBB; Dips 3x5-8; 2 mile jog

Tues: 4 mile jog

Wed: Deadlift 531; Press 531; Chins; 2 mile jog

Thurs: 4 mile jog

Friday/Sunday: Rest

I'm thinking about starting Carb-Backloading as I've read some serious success stories on BB.com. I'm not yet sure exactly how to run it, but once I get that down, I think I'm gonna combine it with IF. Right now I've been aiming for 1900 cals daily upping carbs on lifting days lowering them on non-lifting days. Once I enjoy the way I look again which I estimate will be 3-4 weeks, I will begin trimming the deficit.

Wednesday's workout: I did a day of 531 plus some stuff just to get rid of some soreness that might occur with the change in programming.

Squats: 5 × 115
5 × 145
3 × 175
5 × 185
5 × 215
5+ × 245 -Hit 8 here. Could've done more but didn't wanna push it too hard. Harder than I thought it was going to be though.

Press: 5 × 50
5 × 60
3 × 70
5 × 80
5 × 90
5+ × 100 --Hit 7 here and was really pushing it. That was kind of a let down.

Deadlift: 5x225 --Did these because I knew it'd be a little while 'til my next deadlift session and just wanted a little extra work. I was actually quite worn out after this though.

Dips: 7x BW+10; 7xBW+15; 8xBW+20

I kinda dig 531. Its probably a little more volume than SS but at lower intensity. It allows me to correct form issues at the lower weights. The two complaints I have are that I don't feel like I'm working hard and I don't know whether or not I am progressing. The other thing is I don't know how long I want to maintain a deficit, and it seems like I should resume something a bit harder once I start eating more as my LP gains have not been exhausted. I'll play it by ear.

I started this deficit weighing in at 191 on the morning I began(Sunday) and weighed in this morning at 185. I will keep this updated weekly on BW changes.

To anyone who wants to discuss my programming, I'm willing to take questions(not that many people follow my log). I think the rest of the forum has too much of a disdain for maintaining lean and healthy bodies, and these are two things I'm very interested in.

[Mr_Rogers]

I kinda dig 531. Its probably a little more volume than SS but at lower intensity. It allows me to correct form issues at the lower weights. The two complaints I have are that I don't feel like I'm working hard and I don't know whether or not I am progressing. The other thing is I don't know how long I want to maintain a deficit, and it seems like I should resume something a bit harder once I start eating more as my LP gains have not been exhausted. I'll play it by ear.

I started this deficit weighing in at 191 on the morning I began(Sunday) and weighed in this morning at 185. I will keep this updated weekly on BW changes.

To anyone who wants to discuss my programming, I'm willing to take questions(not that many people follow my log). I think the rest of the forum has too much of a disdain for maintaining lean and healthy bodies, and these are two things I'm very interested in.

Progress is progress.

I'm going to have to add in conditioning at some point and I Know it. I'd rather be a lean 85/94kg lifter than carry around useless weight, but that's just me. Keep up the good work!

[tzanghi]

Progress is progress.

I'm going to have to add in conditioning at some point and I Know it. I'd rather be a lean 85/94kg lifter than carry around useless weight, but that's just me.

I'm kind of at odds with the conditioning views on this site. For my whole life, conditioning has only been used to get someone "in-shape" as in to increase their endurance and cardiovascular abilities. This is to be distinguished from fat/weight loss which I have always heard low-intensity was better for. That's one of the reasons I jog instead of hills and sprints; it seems to wear less on the muscles.

I agree about not carrying around useless weight. It always boggled me why powerlifters do not try to trim down to perform better at lower weight classes like wrestlers do. They all claim strength losses, but I think this has to do with crash dieting right before the meet rather than preparing months in advance. Just my .02.

[Mr_Rogers]

I'm more concerned with fat loss, but I'm not sure just how it will effect my recovery. I plan on walking (I have a tendency to walk fast) a couple of times a week with the Mrs. and the dogs and see where that takes me. I'm hoping I'll be able to add muscle and lose some fat (or at least limit fat gain) with a minimal impact on my progression. There's really only one way to find out though. That seems to be where 531 shines, but I have no idea how that would work with the olympic lifts.

I'm a pretty scrawny/weak 85kg (187lbs) lifter so I'm looking to add quite a bit of weight and ideally train around 97kg (214lbs) and cut down to 94kg (207lbs) for competitions. The most I've ever weighed was 192lbs a couple of years ago then I got it in my mind I need to lose a bunch of weight...ended up around 145lbs before I found SS. I can't help but thing where my lifts would be if I knew then what I know now.