Not really starting but starting strength

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That sucks man! I wonder what is causing it...

Intermediate progress is still pretty fast and you're young.nothing too bad about ending LP with a 500 deadlift, ~440 squat, ~300 pause bench at 205!

As long as you keep that cut fairly slow it shouldn't affect strength gains too much either and you'll be even more of a beast!

Thanks dude. I'm starting to let it sink in that powerlifting isn't about who can get strongest the fastest it's more about who can make consistent steady gains without getting injured. So I'm moving towards this way of thinking after fucking myself up. As much as I love to train hard there's also a time to relax for optimal progress. Plus a year from now what I ended LP on won't matter at all. Trying to get a 405 3x5 squat and all those crazy goals I had were just not feasible and going for them at this point would only stroke my ego and just not be optimal.

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Sunday, 10/12/14

Squat: 135xlots, 185xlots
Just getting the blood moving through my joint with light weight.

Bench: 205 3x10
My form is so weird. My elbows start tucked and flare out when I start pushing. Even with light weight.

Deadlift: 295 1x5
I did my normal deadlift along with a ton of assistance.

Just a really thorough deload. I'm going to change my schedule around to workout on tuesday, thursday, and saturday when I start the texas method.

Hopefully my hip will feel good to go soon and my knees won't feel as achy. My chest tendons felt better bench pressing today but I still need to sort out my form so I'm probably going to move to close grip benching for the start of the texas method. Just getting healed up at this point so hopefully I don't lose too much strength.

[Red Finn]

Get your form checked on the squat. Maybe a coach, or at least a video check on the forum.

I don't know anything about pec tears. Maybe get a vicious massage? Check your technique there too.

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Get your form checked on the squat. Maybe a coach, or at least a video check on the forum.

I don't know anything about pec tears. Maybe get a vicious massage? Check your technique there too.

Good suggestion. I'll go ahead and record a squat session tomorrow.

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Tuesday, 10/14/14

Squat: 225 3x8
Working my way up with higher reps. Forgot to get a front angle of my squats so I'll record that thursday and upload a form check. This was cardio for me. I'm pretty out of cardio shape. I really should do some cardio work but it's so boring.

Press: 135 1x8,1x6,1x4
Taking it easy and not really pushing the weight hard this week.

Powerclean: 205 4x2
In my opinion 4x2 feels a lot better than 5x3 after the weight starts to get heavier.

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Thursday, 10/16/14

Squat: 245 1x8
My hips bothering me. It's really fucking with my mind that I can't squat 100 lbs less than usual due to pain. God damn it sucks. I feel like I'm stuck in a cage or something. idk. I'm not going to quit though because eventually this will heal up and I'll be back.

Bench: 215 3x5
Working on my form mostly. I'll just progress linearly from here. Really concentrating on keeping my elbows in and staying tight.

Deadlift: 295 1x5
My back rounded on the last set. VERY very very frustrating. I guess I'll go back to the starting strength form and progress from 275 and do my reverse deadlift thing on top of that. Idk. It's all just a huge mind fuck and this is a huge hill I have to climb.

I'm also starting to hate my gym a lot. I don't really have any other options though right now so I'll have to live with it. This will only kill me if I let it but I feel like shit knowing that I have these issues. I just can't quit no matter what and I won't quit.

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Saturday, 10/18/14

Deadlift: 255 1x5
Just trying to find a good weight to work up from. Idk if 255 is that weight but I'll just have to keep working on feeling out my form for a bit until I know it's perfect.

Bench: 220 3x5
Reshaping my form on bench as well.

Starting from ground up right now.

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Tuesday, 10/21/14

Squat: 275 1x5, 225 1x5
Hip is starting to feel better and got some reps in with a heavier weight. I'll work up now from 235 with 10 lb jumps. Focusing on not going too low.

Bench press: 225 3x5
I paused these reps but shouldn't have. The pause threw my form off so I have to repeat this weight touch n go and really focus on keeping my elbows in.

Deadlift:
I was experimenting with my form and what weight my back would round at so I decided to work my way up with 275. I can keep my back tight and locked at this weight so I'll start here and work my way up slowly really focusing on keeping my back locked tight.

Pull ups: 3x5 25 lbs 1xbw
I've been making some progress with weighted pull ups. 30 lbs next and hopefully I'll get all 3x5. 3xBW pull ups just weren't working for me but it seems I can increase the weight with sets of 5 so I'm going to do this for a bit.

I also did some grip work after my workout. Double overhand static holds with 295 and drop sets down to 235. I'm also holding dumbbells with my fingers. I'm going to do grip work after every deadlift day because if my grips strong then I can focus on everything else and not worry about my grip getting tired. Plus a strong grip will help my pull up numbers increase. In addition, having a strong grip is badass.

After did some rows, facepulls, and standing ab pulldowns.

I'm following a new guideline for my training: I'm not focusing on lifting the most weight possible anymore. Right now I'm going to focus solely on building a solid strength base without getting injured. This means good form as much as possible and less weight if that needs to happen.

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Thursday, 10/24/14

Squat: 235 3x5
Didn't notice my hip. Going to increase 10 lbs.

Press: 155 2x5, 1x7
Increasing 5 lbs for next week.

Powerclean: 207.5 4x2
Easy. 210 next.

I did some dumbbell shoulder press. 80 lb dumbells for 5 reps. That's a PR on shoulder press even though I was pre fatigued by pressing.

After these I did some lateral raises and called it a day.

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Saturday, 9/25/14

Squat: 250 3x5
Increasing 15 lbs.

Bench press: 225 3x5
Hmm. I think my form is ok so I'm going up 5lbs. Just gotta focus on keeping my elbows in and record every set.

Deadlift: 275 1x5
Back angle acceptable. Moving up 5 lbs from here.

Pull ups: +27.5 2x5, 1x6
I'm really focusing on pull ups now. I want a strong back. +30 lbs next.

One arm dumbbell row: 100lbs 1x20
I did these stricter than usual with no straps. These felt pretty strong. I'll go for 105 lbs for a set of 18 next.

Curls, grip work, and standing ab pulldowns.

Really hammering my grip work right now. The strong grip I bet translates to bigger lifts. There's a reason you can use more weight with straps.