Barry's "Get Stronger Until I Can't" Log

[Barry Charles]

Tuesday 1/10/2017

I'm beginning to think maybe my age is starting to have a larger affect on how I feel in general? Maybe its time to just pop some ibuprofen on training days and man up.

There are plenty of experts on this site who can help with programming.

The thought that has helped me the most is that if you set goals, whatever they might be, single PRs, set PRs, volume PRs, etc, and you are meeting these goals, you are doing something RIGHT.

You may worry that you didn't do it optimally or efficiently, that you set them too low, but so what? The more times you meet your goals the better you will get at achieving your goals. Failing to meet your goals just has you running around chasing the variables. I'm not talking positive reinforcement I'm talking gaining positive empirical experience.

Ed Coan talks about programming every single work rep/set/weight a block at a time. He claims to have missed very few along the way. Among many things going for him, he was always able to know what kind of progression to follow and how to set his goals. This may be the most important skill to develop.

[BarryF]

There are plenty of experts on this site who can help with programming.

The thought that has helped me the most is that if you set goals, whatever they might be, single PRs, set PRs, volume PRs, etc, and you are meeting these goals, you are doing something RIGHT.

You may worry that you didn't do it optimally or efficiently, that you set them too low, but so what? The more times you meet your goals the better you will get at achieving your goals. Failing to meet your goals just has you running around chasing the variables. I'm not talking positive reinforcement I'm talking gaining positive empirical experience.

Ed Coan talks about programming every single work rep/set/weight a block at a time. He claims to have missed very few along the way. Among many things going for him, he was always able to know what kind of progression to follow and how to set his goals. This may be the most important skill to develop.

Well it would appear that what I would describe as chronic soreness in my back that I had been attributing to lack of recovery due to either not enough rest days, too much volume, too much intensity, or whatever, may not have had much to do with recovery from my training. My back pain came back Monday/Tuesday leading into the light workout I did Tuesday. I still felt it some today(Thursday), so as an experiment I popped 4 Ibuprofen and voila, squats felt great today(other than being a little heavy after being sick). Is it possible to have some chronic inflammation in the back causing soreness??? I don't know but it makes me think that could be the case.

[BarryF]

Thursday 1/12/2017

Squat:
350x5x3

Deadlift:
455x1,1,3@7

Tomorrow I'll do some bench and press and then resume somewhat normal training on Monday.

[BarryF]

Friday 1/13/2017

Finishing up recovery week after being sick.
am BW 199

Bench:
245x5x4 this was a 3x5 PR before Smolov JR.

Chins:
+40x6x3

Press: Haven't pressed since November. Glad to be back at it.
135x5x3

[Bryan Dobson]

Pain and inflammation can become a performance inhibitor. At the same time you want to manage how much ibuprofen you use to maintain it as an effective tool.(overuse can decrease effectiveness)
First recongnize which training days produce The inflammation. And see how many times you can go without the "I" . If you are getting pains that wake you up or keep you from sleeping it is time to dose up. I like,e to hit 400 mg immediately before bed after those training days, another 400 with breakfast and 200 again the next evening. That is it..maybe once every ten days for me when I reach that point in a loading cycle..regular off-season training I like to avoid it.

[BarryF]

I've actually made really good progress since 2015 when it comes to depending on Ibuprofen. Needed it A LOT that year for mainly knees, and some elbows. All the common trouble areas...knees, elbows, hips, shoulders....no issues and very seldom have to use ibuprofen anymore. At this point it would appear as though a 400 mg dose a couple hours before squatting might be all that is needed, which would only be twice a week. Does not bother me enough just walking around, I can just notice that my back(mid, not lower) is sore often times. Then when it comes time to unrack 315+, the discomfort is enough to interfere with training. Today for example, my back feels fine, enough so that I feel like I could squat although my legs are not recovered enough. I will probably dose for the next few squat workouts just to make sure I can finally train effectively, but I will definitely try to discontinue altogether when I can. It seems as though these somewhat chronic aches and pains tend to come and go over time even though they sometimes persist for a while.

[BarryF]

Monday 1/16/2017
BW 197.6

Back was aching last night, so took 3 ibuprofen before bed. Took 4 about 2 hours before training today. Everything felt perfect.

Squat:
350x6x4, last set @8 or so. This is about 80%, and I'm happy with this workout considering I am still recovering from the crud and down about 5 lbs. Squats felt really good today. Had to rest a little longer between sets to catch my breath. I've got asthma and it really kicks my ass when I get sick.

Bench:
225x1
255x1
285x1@9 Not strong enough for a new max yet.
250x5x3 +5 lb PR another good result considering the circumstances.
235x5x2

Chins:
+45x5x3 added another 5 lbs since last time. Set 3 was @10, so time to add reps here for a couple weeks.

Press:
135x6 Ran out of time, so I might do these tomorrow along with some type of light pulls...maybe bb rows.

[BarryF]

Thursday 1/19/2017

Bench:
w/u to 265x1
230x6x6

Press:
135x5x3

[BarryF]

Friday 1/20/2017

BW 199
Squat:
310x8x4@7

Deadlift:
485x4@9.5 Felt very tingly all over and light headed after third rep. Worse after the 4th, so sat down very quickly after the set. I chose this weight to see where my strength is after being sick and having lost weight. Pretty happy with this result considering the circumstances, as my previous 5RM is 480.

[BarryF]

Monday 1/23/2017

Bench:
225x1
255x1
285x1
305x miss... guess strength is not back yet, was hoping this would go easy...wasn't close.
255x5@10
235x5x4

Chins:
+45x5x2 much harder than I was expecting

A few rows.

Press:
140x5x4
140x8