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Thread: Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

  1. #2231
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    • starting strength seminar december 2024
    • starting strength seminar february 2025
    • starting strength seminar april 2025
    Got in a solid lift today before heading home ahead of the storm. Found out during the workout that my evening classes tonight were all cancelled due to the storm, so got to take a bit of extra time and didn't have to rush anything. Also got to lift with about half my class, who came in early to get their lift in since their offices closed early and the gym was closing at 5:30. Was nice to have a big gym full of open gym-ers, half of whom were doing my program.

    Bench Press
    350x2 @ 8.5
    350x2 @ 9
    350x2 @ 8.5
    Notes: Though still quite a bit shy of my best doubles, 350 at least feels like a legit weight in my hands again on bench. Widened my grip back out almost to its previous width and felt good there today. Didn't rest or focus properly for the second set, but regrouped well for the third.

    Press
    201x5x5 @ 9,8.5,8.5,9,9.5
    160x10 @ 9.25
    Notes: Presses felt solid today. Sets 2 and 3 really moved well, was happy to get that kind of bar speed at this weight for volume after my pressing struggles over the past couple months.

    Weighted Chins
    +12kg/26.4lb x 6 x 5
    Notes: Last week's weighted chins were easy so took a big jump. Felt solid.

    Handstand practice + one strict handstand pushup + a bunch of TKEs to round things up.
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 01-26-2015 at 06:35 PM.

  2. #2232
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    Snatch Grip DLs and strapping in are both feeling a lot better. Still awkward, but a lot less so than a few weeks ago. Even barbell rows didn't totally suck today. They still sucked, though. As Rip said: "Fuck barbell rows. Really. Fuck them."

    Snatch Grip DL
    405x3 @ 6.5
    415x3 @ 6.5
    Notes: These still feel a lot harder than they are/than they look once I see the video and bar speed. Felt like 8, but bar speed is fast, especially after the straps 'catch' during the first rep of the set. I'm keeping volume low for now as I continue to add weight every week.

    Clean Pull
    275x2, 295x2, 315x2, 335x2, 345x2x2
    Notes: Didn't feel very explosive today, slower off the floor than I'd have liked. But it still feels good to do *something* somewhat explosive. I want to clean again.

    Barbell Row
    225x5, 245x5, 255x6
    Notes: Still fiddling around with different degrees of knee flexion and the bar placement. I still don't like any of them. But I disliked my 255x6 final set here slightly less than usual, and it was one in which I returned to very close to the standard deadlift set-up with knees bent more than recommended in SS. These just feel awkward to me no matter what I do.

    Sled Push - 2 min clock
    Empty: 1 high handles down, low back
    +50: 1 high down, low back
    +70: 1 high down, low back
    +80: 4 high down, low back
    3 high down and back (alternating)

    Finished with TKEs.


  3. #2233
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    Apr 2010
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    Pretty good day today. Upper body strength is finally returning somewhat reliably.

    Press
    230x3 @ 9.5
    250x1 @ 10
    225x3 @ 9.5
    Notes: I let my knees unlock slightly again here, after shoring that up on volume day. Not surprising that it's a bit harder to curtail when the weight approaches max, so I'll keep working on it. Still, it's unlocking but not contributing to the lift, so I know my strength is there for these numbers, which is nice. 250 was slower/harder than when I first did it in June, but I was benching a lot more then and waited longer for my triples and doubles to go up. Today I did it just because I wanted to have that under my belt again. I'm coming for 275.



    Bench Press
    305x5x5 @ 8,8,8.5,8.5,9
    Notes: Consistent 4 mins rest. 23/25 reps felt solid today, which is a lot better than my bench has been in general lately. Used a finger width narrower than my standard grip for all sets, stuck with that today.

    BW Chins
    11x4, 10
    Notes: 4 mins rest between sets here, too.

    Finished with a bit of handstand practice (no handstand pushups today) and some KB presses and push presses. Also ordered an EZ Curl bar, which shipped today straight to the gym so I can do a bit of tricep work.

  4. #2234
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    May 2011
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    Illinois-"Chicagoland"
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    I would compliment your lifting if I weren't so distracted by your samurai topknot.

    (Nice lifting, btw. 275 will fall for me, as well, this year.)

  5. #2235
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    Oct 2014
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    Great pressing. Sorry if you have explained this before, but why do you save 2.0 for the last of your reps, just kind of a feel thing? I ask, because I guess I have subconsciously modeled my sets after you in that way.

  6. #2236
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    Quote Originally Posted by Karl Schudt View Post
    I would compliment your lifting if I weren't so distracted by your samurai topknot.

    (Nice lifting, btw. 275 will fall for me, as well, this year.)
    Thanks man. Got a lot of catching up to do, but I really want to hit that 275 this year.

    Quote Originally Posted by cubillini View Post
    Great pressing. Sorry if you have explained this before, but why do you save 2.0 for the last of your reps, just kind of a feel thing? I ask, because I guess I have subconsciously modeled my sets after you in that way.
    In a hurry now, will cover this later.

  7. #2237
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    Apr 2010
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    Today is 3 years to the day since I began this log. When I get home tonight after coaching, if I have the energy left, I'm going to write up a little retrospective of my training over that period.

    Didn't feel great today, just low energy and some left thoracic lat/erector stuff going on. Warm-ups felt OK though, so I went for it. Also, my knee felt GREAT today so I squatted just a bit. Gonna see how it feels over the next few days and take it *very* slowly. But good news.

    Squat
    45x5x3, 135x5x3
    Notes: Very happy with how fine this felt. Didn't notice any issues with my left knee, at all. Going up and down stairs feels totally normal today too, not even a hint of an issue. First time it's been that way in at least 4 months. Also felt good to be somewhat warmed up for the deadlift. No matter what else I do (rolling, rowing, extra lighter DL sets), I don't feel properly warmed up to DL if I haven't squatted first.

    Deadlift
    555x5 @ 10
    465x5 @ 8
    1" Deficit DL
    415x5 (straps) @ 7.5
    Notes: 555 started well,but the bar kept bouncing slightly to my right when I set it down, and it took extra energy getting it off the floor, sometimes shifting my stance to account for it, etc. So by the 5th rep, I was out of gas and let the bar come away from me. That almost caught up to me right around my knees, but I kept pulling and locked it out. Not quite a Petreeeeezo worthy pull, but close.

    That top set really tore up my thumbs in the hook though. 465 would've felt easier had it not been for my hook grip. Strapped in for the 415 but didn't do a good job of it and felt awkward.

    Full video later, for now there's this: http://instagram.com/p/yfmyAYGIYX/?modal=true

    Sled Push - all done high handles down, low handles back on a 2 minute clock
    Empty x 1
    70lb x 1
    80lb x 8
    Then after about 3 mins rest, a bonus one way trip with 70lbs of plates and two cute blondes on the sled, for funsies. Love my job.

    GHD
    3x5
    Notes: Forgot to do these before the sled, proud that I still did them despite the prowler flu.

    Finished with TKEs.

  8. #2238
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    Mar 2011
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    Lexington, KY
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    1,850

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    Looks like some good news over past couple of weeks and some really nice progress. Congrats!

  9. #2239
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    Apr 2010
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    First, here's today 555x5 set. Things were going well through rep #4, but I let the fifth rep get away from me turning it into a slow grind (about 7 seconds) that stalled for a moment right above my knee, rather than a nice clean fifth rep. Still, only 20# off my best set of five, and without any squatting to help it along. I'll take it.




    As I mentioned in my earlier post, today is 3 years to the day since I began this log. I can't even begin to describe the positive benefits of my association with the community here since then, both via keeping a log / reading other lifter's logs and being active on the forums overall, as well as joining the seminar staff in June, 2012, a few months after I started the log. It's been a pleasure interacting with so many sincere, intelligent, great people; some online, some in person, and some who have become close friends and colleagues.

    It's also been a very frustrating few years. As I mention in my opening post, I lost most of 2011 due to injury. 2012 was the only year in which I trained the majority of the year able to progress in my lifts. I think over the past 36 months since I started logging here, only about 17 were months in which I was able to make progress in my lifts (and that doesn't even take into account 4 months of those 17 in which I couldn't bench press at all). All the other time was spent either unable to train some of the lifts due to injury, or time spent ramping back up after injury to previously acquired strength levels.

    One could look at my injury frequency and easily conclude that I must be doing something wrong. But when looking at my lifts, my technique, while certainly not always perfect, is usually pretty damn good and certainly much better than many, many lifters who continue for years with nothing more than minor tweaks. I run up against injury issues more frequently than literally anyone else I know who lifts. It's a pattern that goes back to my youth. I was always good at sports, but also always got hurt more often than anyone else I played with. I don't know what it is that makes me so injury prone. A lot of people often say their injuries taught them valuable lessons about being strict with technique and being careful etc... It's frustrating to me that I don't have those lessons. I'm always careful about technique and I don't know what I could have done differently - what I might do differently in the future - to prevent them. That said, I have learned the valuable lesson of patience. That, despite a burning desire to get back after heavy weights and new PRs, I'm not an exception to the rule that you have to ramp back up at the rate your body allows, not the pre-determined rate you want it to be.

    It's also frustrating how much of my potential I have not yet explored because of all the time off. Despite the setbacks, I've added 130 to my squat, 140 to my deadlift, and 35 to my press 1RMs. Bench is harder to say because I did do a rib-cage trampoline slamming spotter possibly touching 405 once in college; but I'd say a legit 60-70. Speculation of this sort is never particularly useful, but I'm reasonably confident that if I'd had a normal injury rate - everyone who trains hard has tweaks and setbacks - instead of mine, that I'd currently be sitting around 625/455/750/300 for squat/paused bench/deadlift/press. Obviously any estimate of that sort is prone to error, but I don't think those are unreasonable guesses at all, given my training history and the progress I've made in the short spurts of a few months at at a time when I haven't been hurt. Those aren't world beating numbers, but they'd make me pretty competitive in the 120kg class in USAPL.

    So, where do I go from here? I will continue to train as hard as I can, and hopefully hit those numbers in due course. Though I don't know what I can do in the injury prevention realm that I'm not already doing, I will try to be aware of my body and respond when it's telling me something. I'm very proud to be a Starting Strength Coach and on the seminar staff, and will continue to learn from Rip and my fellow SSCs. There are also a lot of training logs of great lifters, and resources outside the SSC community to keep up with and learn from, and I will try to continue doing that as well.

    Finally, I will continue learning from my students and clients. Since Solace opened in October, I now have the opportunity to work with so many people. I'm taking lots of new people through their first ever LP every couple months. I'm working with long time clients for whom I have to figure out how to continue spurring progress in only two hour-long weekly sessions, well into the Intermediate phase. I'm working with people who literally have no idea how to physically control their bodies in space. I learn tremendously from every single coaching contact and opportunity I have, and I'm grateful to be in a position now - a position I wasn't in three years ago when I started this log - where nearly 100% of my work is coaching strength training via the barbell lifts.
    Last edited by Michael Wolf; 01-31-2015 at 12:31 AM.

  10. #2240
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Nashville, TN
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    1,825

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    starting strength coach development program
    Good work on getting the pull back in all-time PR range. I hope the next few years afford you fewer setbacks, but your perseverance (and use of the hook grip on heavy 5 rep sets of deadlifts) has served as a testament to your toughness, and bodes well for what you are capble of accomplishing.

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