Beaverbob's Log: Implementing the ideas of those much stronger than myself

[beaverbob]

13/6/2012

Log

SQ: 255 5/5/5

OP: 125 5/5/4

DL: 325 5

Notes:

SQUAT: Light day today, going for form and explosive power on these. Was really feeling the stretch reflex and I suspect many of these were well below parallel. I did Kelly Starrett's 10 minute squat test last night and I was feeling good and lose, able to hit depth easily.

OVERHEAD PRESS: Close...so close! Working on hip drive. I was pressing in the seated press rack, due to the actual squat rack being busy. Looks kind of like this so I have to take a few steps back so that I'm not straddling the seat. It's a hassle but it's doable. Hard to get properly set under the bar though, having to step over fixtures on the floor. I will get 3/5 next time.

DEADLIFT: Today is my favorite day, as I enjoy squats and overhead presses, but I especially enjoy deadlifts for whatever reason. 325 went up easy, this is the one lift for me that keeps progressing at a steady pace. Feels good.

[beaverbob]

18/6/2012

Log

SQ: 285 5/5/4

BP: 175 4, 155 5/5

PC: 95 5/5/3/3/3

DIPS: BW 10/10/7

ABS: 15/10/10 (hanging leg raises)

Notes

SQUAT: Feeling good again, one missed rep as I was getting light headed and felt like rep #4 took all I had left in the tank.

BENCH: Seriously getting mad/discouraged/confused. Can't figure out why I am so weak in the bench consider all my other lifts are progressing. I can't activate my chest and I feel like it's all triceps, severly limiting the weight I can lift.

POWER CLEAN: Had some helpful pointers from a guy who was training oly lifts. He could see me struggling. He was trying to get me to activate my traps, and when he cleaned (and most other people I see) it looks like a casual flick of the wrist (not literally) and the bar goes up smoothly. When I do it, it's a horrendous bastardized reverse curl. I am still trying to wrap my head around the 'pop'.

ACCESSORY: I like dips, what can I say. I did hanging leg raises for the first time today. My gym has a 'power tower' combination leg raise/dip/pullup station. Decided to alternate dips and leg raises to be more productive. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to ab work but this is something I can vibe with.

[beaverbob]

21/6/2012

Log

SQ: 255 5/5/5

OP: 125 5/5/3

DL 330 5

Notes:

GENERAL: Some background. I’ve been messing around with my carb intake, trying to find the sweetspot between improving my lifts while losing bodyfat. I’ve been on a paleo/primal diet for the last few months. I wouldn’t even call it a diet, as I enjoy it and can see myself sticking to this type of eating indefinitely. My strength has been progressing, but my BF% has been hovering around 20%. Otherwise, I feel great, full of zest and healthy eating primal.

In my latest head-slapping idea, I decided to take paleo one step further and go full keto (the state where your body burns fat for fuel, rather than glycogen). It was a fucking stupid idea, and I hate it. Keto-flu was pretty bad and I've felt 'out-of-it' for a few days now.

Today, I’m putting my foot down. No more nonsense. Back to the basics that got me to this point in my novice strength training career. I will be mindful or carbs, realizing they are immensely important to strength and energy. Last night’s workout was the last straw, I felt weak and shitty.

I’m starting my carb-up today, slowly, basically yogurt and berries. Need to get my stores replenished for the Spartan Race this Sunday. After that, I’m going to get my squat up to 315 finally. Felt good to get that out on paper. Lesson learned: as a novice, don’t get fancy, and don’t worry too much about BF%. As the title of my log says, learn from people much stronger than yourself.

[beaverbob]

24/6/2012

Log

5 k run
Rope climb
Barbed wire crawls
Kettle bell pull
Waist deep mud pit walk
Fire jump
Sandbag carry
Javelin throw
Loaded wheelbarrow circuit
Wall vaults
Other misc. obstacles

Notes

Yeah, I did the Spartan Race. It was challenging, but I got through it. The obstacles themselves weren't particularly hard, it was my conditioning that was lacking. The course was designed to favour a crossfit crowd. Overall, I got muddy, scraped and cut up, all in the pouring rain. And I had a great time. Taking a day or two off before my next workout, feelin a bit wrecked.

[SoulySpoken]

Hey, man. The beginning lifts of your log were very close to mine. Your squat has increased very well, I had some trouble with mine. I deloaded and now I'm working my way back up. I just switched to the advanced novice program so hopefully I will recover better on squats now.

[beaverbob]

Hey, man. The beginning lifts of your log were very close to mine. Your squat has increased very well, I had some trouble with mine. I deloaded and now I'm working my way back up. I just switched to the advanced novice program so hopefully I will recover better on squats now.

Hey SoulySpoken,

I deloaded at 225 and progressed steadily to 290ish where I currently sit. Since it's the summer, I am away a lot and rarely get three solid work outs in one week. Because of this, I'm still doing the regular novice program (no light days if I have more than 2 days between heavy squats). I am working out shortly, will feel good to be back.

[beaverbob]

5/7/2012

Log

SQUAT: 225 5/5/5

BENCH: 155 5/5/5/5/5

DIPS: BW 10/7/6

Notes

GENERAL: Ah, summer. The sun is shining, and all my weekends are booked up with out-of-town weddings, cottages or camping trips. I've also been looking to move into a new place, so my recent evenings have been consumed with viewings, meetings and paperwork. Realistically, 2 workouts a week is what I'm aiming for from now until September. I still enjoy going to the gym, but I also enjoy hiking and camping, swimming in lakes, and boating. It is what it is, I enjoy life. Last Next weekend I am embarking on a 4 day solo hiking trip. I plan to crush the entire Western Uplands Trail (biggest loop) in one go, 78k.

SQUAT: Been over a week since I've been in the gym so I hit 225 with vigour and no belt to get my legs back. Felt good enough that I will make try to pick back up where I left off at the next workout.

BENCH: If you've been following my log you know bench is a weak spot for me. I am trying to incorporate some more volume into my workouts to see if I can break through the 175 barrier. I'm also doing dips to help strengthen my pecs and triceps.

[beaverbob]

6/7/2012

Log

SQUAT: 275 5/4/4

PRESS: 115 5/5/5

DEADLIFT: 315 5

CURLS: 95 10/9/8

Notes:

GENERAL: Woke up at 5am to stretch and warm up at home and was at the gym when it opened at 5:45 am. Needed to get a jump on the day as I was headed out of town for a wedding. My last workout was at 5pm, so only 36 hours had passed between workouts. I slammed some coffee but no food. Once my CNS and body got warmed up, I fell into a groove. I really enjoyed the gym at this hour, virtually no one there. My gym is usually absolutely packed, so this was a nice change because a) my equipment was available and b) no distractions. I am seriously considering making the permanent switch to the 5:45am gym sessions, as it gives me plenty of time to get ready for work after. I need to experiment with pre-gym food intake, something light and quick to go with my coffee.

SQUAT: Jumped up 50lb since my last session. Although I missed the two last reps, I was happy to be able to get back to the range where I left off.

PRESS: Again, been a while since I pressed and I found I needed at least one 'transition/refresher' workout after taking a break to get back to my previous best. Overall, 115 felt good and solid for 5, confidence builder here. I don't use a belt for the press, should I?

DEADLIFT: Same thing as the press, didn't go straight for a new PR after taking some time off. 315 did go up well. I am trying to press my heels into the ground and pull the bar back into myself. I feel like I am using mostly lower back and not enough hams. Also, I am having a hard time resetting my back in between reps. I am going to make a post in the training forum in detail, but basically, I can get my back flat when I'm not holding onto the bar, but for reps 2 through 5, I can't seem to reset.

CURLS (FOR THE GIRLS): Confession time - I did these in the squat rack... and it was amazing. Haha, there was literally no one except a little old lady in the gym so I took the liberty. Also, this is the first time I'd done barbell curls, ever. I will definitely continue to do them (just not in the squat rack.)

[SoulySpoken]

BENCH: If you've been following my log you know bench is a weak spot for me. I am trying to incorporate some more volume into my workouts to see if I can break through the 175 barrier. I'm also doing dips to help strengthen my pecs and triceps.

Hey, I struggle with bench, too. I used to reset every time I missed a couple reps. When I miss reps now, I just reattempt the weight next workout. Then, I usually get the 3x5. If i get more than 13 total reps, I add weight the next workout. On one workout, I noticed that you dropped the weight and did a following 2x5. You should've tried the same weight for 3 sets across. Maybe you only get 4,3,3. But next time, I bet you'll get 5,5,5. Even 5,5,4 or 5,5,3 or 5,4,4 works to continue progression. No need to add additional sets.. like 5x5. I noticed that you did that too. You want the least amount of volume to spur progression.

More volume, means that you're going to use less weight for your 5x5 across.

If you do 175 for 3x5 and only get 3x3. You become accustomed with the intensity, but the volume isn't as much as 3x5 so you recover faster making 175 for 3x5 feel easier next time.

Sorry about the rambling about my programming theory lol I'm just letting you know something that worked for me. I didn't make this up, it's in SS and Practical Programming. When I stopped following the book and experimented on my own, I didn't get as far. I'm still a novice so I'm going to keep following the book dilligently

[beaverbob]

8/7/2012

Log

SQUAT: 275 5/5/5

BENCH: 175 5/5/4

PC: 95 3/3/3/3/3

DIPS BW 10/10/6

HANGING STRAIGHT LEG RAISES: BW 10/10/10

Notes

SQUAT: Good to go, I powered through these. During one of my rest periods, I was sitting on a square metal platform. I noticed it's the exact height as the bottom of my squat. After my 275 work sets, I did some box squats (or squat to box, not sure which is which) with 135lbs. I'd never done box squats before, had read about them in SS and other publications, and I wanted to give it a shot. I did the touch-and-go type, not the Westside ones where you actually sit down on the box. It's a good guide for depth and a cue to sit back. If I ever feel my form slipping, I will go back to the box for a refresher.

BENCH:

When I stopped following the book and experimented on my own, I didn't get as far. I'm still a novice so I'm going to keep following the book dilligently

Man, you have no idea how timely that comment was. I read my log this morning before the gym just to get my numbers for today's workout and I saw what you wrote. Helped me big time. You pointed out I'd been slipping and throwing in some of my own idiot programming for no reason. I went back to basics today and hit all but the last rep. I will go up to 180 next workout. Really appreciate it SoulySpoken!

CLEANS: The failure continues. I can't seem to wrap my head around the movement. Proper in-person coaching is a must here.

DIPS/ABS: I alternated these, but my shoulders got really beat up. They weren't able to rest in between dip sets because of the leg raises, and my shoulders failed before my triceps did on the dips.