RussB's Advanced Novice/Beginning Intermediate

[RussB]

31 years old.
5'6", 190 pounds and holding.
Male.

I'm not sure exactly where to post this log, but I still think I have some time on advanced novice linear progression for my squats, or at least I hope so.

I started lifting (while being concerned with doing effective exercises) about a year and a half ago, or Fall 2010. At that time I weighed about 155 lb. and had been running pretty seriously, so it was a change in my fitness philosophy, in that I realized I couldn't weigh 155 and be as strong as I should be. Got some barbell equipment in my basement in December 2010, and began with the Stronglifts program, more or less. After learning of Mark Rippetoe shortly after, then finding this site, I switched programs to the SS novice LP in Spring 2011 (bought SS 3rd ed. later in 2011). Made good progress, despite [edited out excuses].

Recent Numbers:
I won't bore you with the details of all of my previous logging, but suffice it to say that I had many deloads brought on by life, and a lot of stagnation. Over the last few months on advanced novice I got my lifts up to (in some cases back up to) the following:

Lift Weight (lb.) Sets_x_Reps
Squat 280 3x5
Deadlift 345 1x5
Bench Press 225 3x5
Press 135 3x5
Power Clean 170 5x3

I do some chins too, and occasionally some dips, but I don't focus too much on them and do them as I have time and energy. I also throw some conditioning in every now and then. I'd like to do sprints once per week and then a moderately long (30-40 min.) slow run each week, but it doesn't usually happen.

Programming:
I'll also note that my wife is expecting (our third child) and is due in about 3 weeks. I'm going to stick with my current program for as long as I can, but I'm thinking that when recovery gets to be too much, I might swing over to Wendler's 5/3/1 for at least a while. I'm definitely interested in hearing any thoughts on programming.

My current programming looks like this, although it does vary a little bit depending on time constraints:
M
Squat 3x5 (Will often happen on Sunday night)
Bench Press/Overhead Press 5x5 (using a TM type program, exhausted my novice LP)
Chinups, back extensions, some other type of not too taxing assistance work (open to suggestions here)

W
Light Squat 3x5 with 80% (sometimes 2x5, sometimes 3x3 with 90%)--Often on Tuesday Night
Pressing:
If Bench Press, something lighter (have only done this once so far)
If Press, perhaps try to doe my last press intensity for 3x3, or something like that
Deadlift 1x5

F
Squat 3x5--Often on Thursday night
Bench Press/Overhead Press 1x5 (TM Intensity)
Power Clean 5x3

[RussB]

First,

Some video of my recent squat sets at 270 lb. These were from Friday, April 27.
Warmup-225x2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NTKOOW6eII#t=0m16s

Set 1-270
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1CTRGkc150#t=0m28s

Set 2-270
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuRKzuttQiQ0m24s

Set 3-270
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CteGaTghA5Q#t=0m25s

You'll notice that I lift in my basement with a less than ideal setup. Feel free to comment on my setup, but know that I try and make improvements as I can, which isn't very often. So it will be a while before you see me with any truly safe setup, or with proper shoes, or with a belt. I have my heels on plywood because after trying it to see whether I would like the heel lift, well, I did, and so I'm sticking with it for now.

My own critique of these squats:
1. Hips moving slightly back out of the hole on some reps
2. Knees unstable. Some lateral movement, but mostly front to back. Sometimes they shoot forward at the bottom of the descent. I think this is because of my focus on getting depth. If I can cut these just a little higher I think I can eliminate that. Also just focus on keeping everything very tight to feel the bounce point.

What did I miss?

[RussB]

Log for 4/30/2012, Monday

Squats: 275 for 5,5,5
Notes: These felt very heavy but good. I think my form was better (knees more stable), but no video corroboration.

Bench Press: 205 for 5,5,5,5,5, then 190 with close grip for 8
Notes: These felt pretty heavy, hope I did not overdo it. 190 is my bodyweight, so I was just playing around with the close grip at body weight. It wasn't too taxing.

Did not have time to do my chinups.

[RussB]

Log for 05/02/2012, Wednesday

Note on videos: I workout alone in my basement, so I make noise. Mostly grunting/roaring, but you might want to turn down your volume

Squat were actually done on Tues Night
These were my light squats although I did 255 for 3x3 to get some more videos of heavyish squats to look at my knees (they were moving too much for my liking in my 270 lb. squat videos above). They look a lot better to me, although I still see some backward drift of the hips out of the hole, and some knee movement at depth, as well.

Set 1


Set 2


Set 3


Deadlift 350, 1x5

Notes: I see some back rounding but I'm not too worried about the amount. Definitely interested in hearing if anyone disagrees, though.

Press (remember, this is supposed to be my light TM pressing day)
Did 135 (which was my intensity day number on Friday). Intended to get 3 sets of 3 reps, but unevenly loaded the bar for the first set (minus 5 pounds on left side), so after two awkward reps, I stopped and investigated. Then I did 2 sets of 4 reps to finish it off. I videoed, but not sure if I'll bother posting them, since I do them seated (insufficient basement height).

By the way, does this seem like a good strategy for a TM light day that has me pressing? I figure I can go higher on the press, so I'll take my last intensity day and go for about 3 sets of 3 reps when presses fall on Wednesdays.

[RussB]

Log for 05/03/2012, Thursday night

Squat
280x5
280x5
280x5

Notes: These felt really good. This is where I last stalled, so they were obviously heavy, but I'd be pretty confident that I could get 285 (will be a 3x5 PR) if I wasn't going to build a chicken coop this weekend. Maybe I'll put my squats off until Monday afternoon (as I mentioned in my first post, I often times do my squats the night before the rest of my workout, just due to time constraints).
I wasn't sure going into tonight's workout because I was having some serious DOMS from deadlifts yesterday (350x5, video above). But, my back held up surprisingly well, with form breakdown on what felt like rep 4 of set 2 and rep 5 of set 3 (understandably). On the last rep of the night, I felt like I lost some quad tension and went too deep, bounding off of my knees, as I am prone to do. Then, coming out of the hole, my hips came up just a bit ahead of the rest of me. I muscled it up but it felt a little ugly.

More notes, thoughts on pressing: Was commenting on some stuff in Tom Navarez's log, and he has some interesting ideas, playing with different rep ranges but staying on the novice LP. It also had not occurred to me that I should micro-microload the press at 1# increments, so don't be surprised if I jump off of TM in the near future and start something else. Then again, with a new baby coming, I might be scrapping it all and getting on 5/3/1. Much to consider.

[RussB]

Log for 05/03/2012, Thursday night

Squat
280x5
280x5
280x5

Notes: ...

More notes, thoughts on pressing: Was commenting on some stuff in Tom Navarez's log, and he has some interesting ideas, playing with different rep ranges but staying on the novice LP. It also had not occurred to me that I should micro-microload the press at 1# increments, so don't be surprised if I jump off of TM in the near future and start something else. Then again, with a new baby coming, I might be scrapping it all and getting on 5/3/1. Much to consider.[/I]

Log for 05/04/2012, Friday
So after the above thoughts on pressing and novice LP continuation versus TM, I tried a ramped 5x5 today. Not sure if i got the percentages right, but I did my top set at 220, and the weight intervals looked like this:

Bench Press
160x5
185x5 (wanted to do 180# but subconscious laziness just loaded up 25# plates, realized after it was 185#)
200x5
210x5
220x5

Notes: Felt pretty good, if I was doing my TM intensity day I was going to hit my old 3x5 PR, set on 3/3/2012 (I've had a couple up and down months, but training schedule has settled down a little bit, at least for a few weeks into the future). Because I was doing the 5x5 ramped I didn't want the top set to be impossible so I set it at 220#. Will go for 225# top set on Wednesday, if training schedule goes as planned
I often get some pretty serious shoulder fatigue right after benching (pretty sure elbows are tucked good, form check might be in order though). And, I definitely get my old tricep tendinitis (believe this was developed from former bad squat grip-too narrow, thumbs around, pulling down on the bar, take your pick). Bench Press makes it flare up the worst these days. Squats don't seem to affect it anymore. If I rack a power clean poorly with vertical forearms, that doesn't help either. I'm wondering if the shoulder fatigue/weakness feeling is a precursor to worse things, but I think I just need to focus on getting chinups back into my program, and getting my weak overhead press numbers to go up (135#x5 seated is my PR)


To keep things in one place, this was the scheme that Tom Navarez suggested (discussion in his log) that made me rethink things:

This is the method I like:
1) Bench 3x5 +5lbs until significant stall (i.e. not 5,5,4 -- just repeat in that instance)
2) Don't reset, Switch toBench 5x5 +5lbs until significant stall
3) Don't reset, roll back 2.5lbs, Bench 5x5 +2.5lbs until significant stall
4*) Reset 8-10%, Switch back Bench 3x5 +2.5lbs until significant stall
5) Don't reset, Switch to Bench 5x5 +2.5lbs until significant stall

For press, you could just replace 5/2.5 with 2.5/1.25 or 1.

*This is where you could institute triples if that's an interesting path to you. This would extend the run even further without having to reset and may be a good idea. Avoid resets if possible.

[RussB]

Just a few notes on programming. Here's the current plan;

Squat: Continue Advanced Novice LP as long as possible. Right now that means hammering the 3x5 sets across for as long as possible. Next session I am set to hit my PR for 3x5, which is 285#. Hopefully I can grind out progress on these fora bit.

Deadlift: As long as I'm squatting on Mon and Fri, keep deadlifting on Wed. It's been working so I'll stick with it.

Press/Bench Press: Here's where it gets more interesting. I think I'll be trying ramped 5x5 to see if I can eke out some more progress on the presses. The percentages of the ramped sets are the only tricky part in this. Will do it by feel for a bit then come up with something more hard and fast.

Chinups: Need to get these in at least once per week in some serious manner, and then perhaps throw some BW pullups in as well.

Back Extension: Want to do these once in a while, nothing too serious.

[RussB]

Log for 05/07/2012, Monday

Squat
285x5
285x0*
285x5
285x5

Warmups began by squatting my 3-year old for a few reps, than increasing the load by squatting my 5-year old for 2 sets of 10. Actually felt pretty good, the 5-year old weighs probably just less than the bar, if I had to guess. He also wants me to post a video of him squatting, so check back later for some broomstick squats, I'll try to get a video up.

*Wow. Leaned forward WAY too much in the hole and killed this rep, which was the first of my second set. It is always tiring failing a rep so I thought I might be toast for the day, but I took some extra rest between sets and managed to get through, with form feeling okay, but too variable. I'm trying to dial this in and balance driving through the hips with avoiding driving the hips up faster than the chest. When I drive up with the chest it obviously kills hip drive and makes for the worse grinding reps ever, although they feel quite safe. When I drive with the hips and increase my back angle initiating the descent, I obviously need to Good Morning the weight up and it does not feel good. When I balance these two issues, I have really great reps with good bounce and hip drive. I do think I'm dialing in, but I can really tell when either aspect is just a little off.

Anyways, great to get back on the PR train, hopefully I can make make more progress using novice LP for my squats.

Press
95x5
105x
115x5
125x5
135x5

Notes: The last set was tough. Might have been too aggressive with the ramping sets, but 135 was my last PR for 3x5, so this weight should be tough. Will increase last set to 137.5# for Fri, consider my options for the ramping sets until then.

Chinups
BWx8
BWx8
BWx8

Notes: Need to figure out the best programming for these. I would like to hit three sets for over ten (maybe 12?), then start adding weight for 3 sets of maybe 7?

No video of kids squatting tonight.

[RussB]

Kids high bar rake handle squats
They were pretty keen on getting some video for a form check after seeing daddy's videos on youtube. So, if you care to comment, I'll give them your feedback.

[RussB]

Log for 05/08/2012, Tuesday
Light Squats-I program for M, W, F, but often squat the night before the rest of my lifts (S, T, Th), due to time constraints.
185x10 (not sure why, just because)
225x5
225x5
225x5
[I]Notes: I never want to do light squats (I'm always burnt out, and not as excited since they're not a PR attempt). But afterwards, I definitely feel better having done them. I guess that's a testament to their effectiveness in assisting recovery. And I was able to work on generating hip drive by ensuring that I don't lead with my chest. I think it will be easier for me to be consistent if I let my hips drive a millisecond sooner than my chest, if that makes sense. If I focus on that I think I'll be less likely to veer too far in either direction (hips rising way too fast as compared with chest, decreasing back angle--more "closed' vs. chest rising first and killing hip drive--opening back angle too soon). I'll try it while warming up for 290, and if it feels good with my last warmup (probably 255x1 or so) I'll see if I can implement this during my working sets.