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Thread: Petesmithings Log

  1. #31
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    Jan 2017
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    64

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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
    • starting strength seminar jume 2024
    • starting strength seminar august 2024
    12 APR
    Squat: 250x5x3
    Press: 127.5x5x3
    Chinups: BWx9x3
    Box Jumps: 20"x10x3

    Session Notes:
    Still leaning to the right side on squats. Didn't show up as much on the first set. I think I focused more on "sit back with the hips" for the first set. Still need to sort that bottom dip out. Press went well. Need more consistency on form feeling the same with every rep. Chinups good. Did a little work trying to start power clean from the hang, couldnt get the jump and pull body under. Need timing work. Distracted by conversation after first try so I decided to work in some box jumps because I wasn't really feeling explosive with the empty bar. 20" was easy, 24" next time.

  2. #32
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    Jan 2017
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    64

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    14 APR
    Squat: 255x5x3
    Bench: 205x5x3
    Deadlift: 310x5x1

    Session Notes:
    Got video of squat sets. Still a little dip to the right. Showed up on first workset. Watched some form clips and cleaned it up a bit for second and third set. Squat felt very strong. Kept going with transition to almost low bar, pushed through elbow discomfort, and surprisingly it got better. I have a theory about my shitty form with a dip to the right, watched a squat video for a (poor) technique post earlier this week, started emulating poor techniques in my own squats. Watched good form videos, form got better. No more lurking technique posts to try to learn from others. Bench was strong. Deadlift was pretty strong, grip a little stressed but still held up well. Form was good, but not great. I suspect overthinking technique is the problem, I seem to do a little better when I focus on setting my back and then rip the bar off the ground.

  3. #33
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    Jan 2017
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    64

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    17 APR
    Squat: 260x5x3
    Press: 130x5x3
    Chinups: BWx10x3

    Session Notes:
    Squat wasn't good. Had bad form, couldn't figure it out. Felt strong in the sense that I still had plenty in the tank while bleeding out energy from bad form. Felt a little mid back soreness (maybe tightness?) starting on heavy warmup weights. Press needs more consistency, banged the uprights on one set. My rack is in a position to where if I stay close, its easy to bang uprights, but if I take a full step back I'll bang the suspended ceiling lights. Best solution for the future will be to use extra collars on the bar before I put on weights to act as spacers and give me a little extra width. Of course that doesnt solve the core problem of inconsistent form, but I should be less likely for injury. Did some Power Clean work in between chinups. Still got some work to do learning form before I can do them as a working set.

    19 APR
    Squat: 210x5x3
    Bench: 210x5x3
    Deadlift: 315x5x1
    Axle Bar DL: 115x3x1. 155x5x1

    Session Notes:
    Light squat day was necessary to figure things out. My form dip/twist is coming from and unbalanced stance. I'm dropping my left foot further back by an inch or two, but still lowering my hips as if my feet were parallel. Gonna have to work something out to make sure I'm keeping my feet parallel. Think I'm gonna draw a chalk line on my stall mats to line my toes up straight on. First bench didnt feel good, felt heavy in elbows. Didnt have the bench moved in the right position under the bar. Pushed the bench back a couple inches and next two sets felt strong. Deadlift not doing well. Got 90% of 5th rep and grip slipped at lockout. I'm noticed that my setup feels slightly more and more unbalanced and the set goes on. Let go of bar, took 25 seconds rest and set up again, got a 6th rep pretty easy. Checked video, and as I suspected the bar is slowly drifting to the right side after every rep because of the bumper plate bounce. Enough that I could detect that my setup wasnt balanced as the bar drifted and I kept my feet planted in the same spot. I'm right on the edge of grip limitations, and thats been part of my problem. Going to switch over to mixed grip, as I feel like like double overhand limitations are holding me back and potentially affecting form. Adding in a "back off" set for deadlift, doing one 5RM on an axle/fat bar to help develop grip.

  4. #34
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    Jan 2017
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    21 APR
    Squat: 265x5x3
    Press: 132.5x5x3
    Chinups: BWx11x3
    Box Jumps: 30"x10x3

    Session Notes:
    Did squats outside the rack so I could get video from the behind. I think part of my problem is not lifting my elbows high enough to get a tight shelf on my back. I want to relax too much and let the elbows drop and I'm generally losing overall tightness of the lift. At this point I'm just picking at straws with my bad form. Press was ok. Need to figure out appropriate starting rack position and make sure I have wrists in the right position. Not sure if I should be floating or resting on the front. Box jumps were challenging, had to slow the pace a little and concentrate to avoid eating shit.

    And if you haven't figured it out, I'm a complete motor moron. Not sure if I should be happy with my progress that I can still keep going so easy with horribly inefficient form, or sad that I cant get my shit together. At this point I'm just happy that I can keep making progress without causing myself significant injury. Time to re-read the book from front to back again I guess. And yes, I know, see a SS coach. I'd be lucky to make things work to afford one, if I even had one local. An out of state commute is out of the question unfortunately.

  5. #35
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    Jan 2017
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    64

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    Some updates for the week. Started getting a sore throat last Saturday (4/22). Got even more sick as the weekend progressed. Definitely wasn't up for Monday's session (4/24). Illness was pretty bad. Didnt always feel terrible, but it was sapping my energy. Had several symptoms including moderate muscle soreness and fatigue for no reason. Started in my back early in the week and transitioned to soreness in the thighs. Missed Wednesdays session (4/26) as well. Was also a pretty high stress week for me, and probably high cortisol levels and shitty recovery between stress and illness. Tried for a session on Friday (4/28). Got through squat warmups and just didnt have it in me to do a workout. Fatigue from illness and awkward soreness during warumps just wasnt good for a training day. Had weird soreness in my back, could feel specific strands of my lats in the middle of my back feeling fatigued and under stress at relatively easy weights. Left elbow and both knees felt inflamed and just didnt feel right going through the motions. Could feel shitty form and loss of muscle memory for squat reps. I just didn't feel like pushing it with the fatigue, extra rest was in order. Slightly worried about the discomfort in my joints, felt like I could have potentially had a serious joint injury if I did heavy weights. Im just going to assume extra inflammation from high stress. Started getting an itchy throat again this weekend, pretty good chance I still haven't recovered from illness. So far down an entire week of training. Starting a new job tomorrow, dont think I'm going to want to make time for lifting this next week either. I'm just going to plan on focusing on the new job this week and letting my body recover from illness. I'll probably end up having to do a reset and get back to the program in another week, I'm expecting two weeks of training lost.

  6. #36
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    Jan 2017
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    7 MAY
    Squat: 225x5x3
    Bench: 180x5x3
    Deadlift: 265x5x3

    Session Notes:
    Still might not be fully recovered from illness. Feels like lingering upper respiratory infection. Haven't exactly kept up with nutrition maintenance either. Need to work on eating better calories and more protein again. Form was shit as usual. Quickly irritated left elbow again on squat. Knees kept collapsing in. I think part of the problem is I cant feel the shelf on my back on the left side, not sure I'm keeping the bar level. I suspect one side might be higher/lower on the shoulder blade than the other. Weight was challenging. Figured a 20% deload was in order, did the math and it seemed a little low. All the numbers that I had in my head that I should be able to do were almost right on the money for a 15% deload, so I just went with that. Bench went fine, getting back into the groove for form. Deadlift went ok, just lost all kinesthetic memory of form. Going to be difficult to get workouts in with new job schedule. Switching from a M/W/F schedule to Su/T/Th.

  7. #37
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    Jan 2017
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    64

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    9 MAY
    Squat: 185x5x2
    Press: 115x5x3
    Chinups: BWx8x2

    Session Notes:
    Had severe DOMS with squats. Really struggled with depth even in warm ups. Managed to work my way up to 185 for two sets. Just couldnt control descent when my legs refused to work. Press was rather easy. Did chinups for time concerns, easy low reps for recovery.


    11 MAY
    Squat: 235x5x3
    Bench: 190x5x3
    Deadlift: 275x5

    Session Notes:
    Poor form on squats with bad knee cave in. Watching the video reminded me of NFL replays where RBs get hit in the legs and the knee caves in and they tear an ACL. Not good. Bench got easier with every set. Deadlift was easy.


    14 MAY
    Squat: 245x4,5; 205x5
    Press: 120x5x3
    Deadlift: 285x5

    Session Notes:
    Reviewed the book again before squats. Help to clean up some form issues, but still didnt eliminate knee cave in. I need to remember to keep torso rigidity to transmit power through the lift. Elbows up is an important cue for me to remember, as that sets the firmness of the bar shelf on the back. I might also need to work on a narrower stance to keep my knees out through ascent. Dropped weight down on the last set because I just need to work on form. I think I'm going to drop to 185 on squat and just work my way back up so I dont risk injury with poor form. Press was surprisingly more difficult given how easily the last sets went up. Still relatively easy though. Need to work on rigidity for efficient transfer of force. Locking knees during the forward dip helped. Had to think stand up as tall as I can in my legs. Need to figure out cue for torso and spinal rigidity though. Deadlift went up well, need to focus on some form corrections. Not sure what though, and didnt get video.
    Last edited by petesmithing; 05-14-2017 at 06:01 PM.

  8. #38
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    Jan 2017
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    64

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    16 MAY
    Squat: 185x5x3
    Bench: 200x5x3
    Chinups: BWx9x2

    Session Notes:
    Squat didn't particularly go well. Form was better with lighter weight, didn't have the major issues with knees caving in. Also tried a little bit of a narrower stance, which I think negatively affected my squat. Just felt harder and had the weird soreness on the inside of my right thigh again. Also didnt fix bar dip to the right side at the start of descent. Measured my shoulder width today (about 16", at the top of the armpit), figured that was a good width for inside measurement between my heels. Did some air squats to get a feel for width. I guess I should actually go wider? Fuck if I know anymore, I just keep fucking shit up. Will only do 5lb jumps until I figure this shit out. Time to bang my head on the book again. Bench went up easy. Chins relatively easy.

  9. #39
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    Jan 2017
    Posts
    64

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    18 MAY
    Squat: 190x5x3
    Press: 125x5x3
    Deadlift: 295x5x1

    21 MAY
    Squat: 195x5x3
    Bench: 210x5x3
    Chinups: BWx9x3

    23 MAY
    Squat: 200x5x3
    Press: 130x5x3
    Deadlift: 305x5x3

    25 MAY
    Squat: 205x5x3
    Bench: 215x5x3
    Chinups: BWx10x3

    Session Notes:
    Squat is shit, everything else is getting back to where it was. I think part of my problem is I should give up on low bar as it just keeps causing reoccurring problems. Been trying to go back to high bar, but thats not going well either.

  10. #40
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    64

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    starting strength coach development program
    28 MAY
    Squat: 210x5x3
    Press: 132.5x5x3
    Deadlift: 315x5x1

    30 MAY
    Missed workout due to overtime at work

    1 JUN
    Squat: 215x5x3
    Bench:220x5x3
    Deadlift: 320x5x1

    4 JUN
    Squat: 220x5x3
    Press: 135x5x3
    Chinup: BWx11x3


    Session Notes:
    Nothing new here. Squat form is still shit. Both presses going well with momentum. Deadlift close to grip limits I think. 315 was strong, but form at 320 felt sloppy and maybe incomplete reps related to grip limit getting the best of my concentration. Need to move forward with double overhand here, maybe work on stretching for hook grip if I can.

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