Reply With QuoteBest log name ever!
Member
How to Make a Nuclear-Powered Robot Shark
Two people bugged me about not having a log. It might have been three people. So, this here is going to be my very own training log. But I didn't do anything today but work, loaf, and drink a lot, so the real log starts tomorrow.
I've been dinking around with SS for about two years, with varying degrees of commitment and success. A lot of time was spent laboring with poor form, inadequate gear (no shoes, no belt, no bumper plates, shitty bar), inadequate nutrition, and training interrupted every few months by a month or more off. In the past year, I have become steadily more focused and proficient, finally legitimately exhausting my novice gains, and flirting with a sort of semi-novice bastardization of the Texas Method that I lovingly call the Oregon Method as I try to milk a little more relatively uncomplicated gains out of my training, without introducing the time demands of 5x5 sets. I train twice a week, sometimes three times; it's about as often as I can muster without straining the rest of my life too much, and allowing me not to stress out about the lifting, and just do it when I can, which has allowed me to settle into a kind of casual non-rhythm with it.
The basics are thus:
I was born in 1976, which means as I write this in 2010, I am 34. The latter is subject to change annually.
I am about 5'11"
I started SS at around 170lbs, and am currently a healthy 210.
Lifts are as follows:
Squats started at 90lbs, if I recall correctly, and peaked at 335 (5,5,4); they're currently back at 315 (3x5) and feeling pretty good, but I doubt I'll surpass 335, or if I do, not by much.
Deads started at 135, and peaked at 410; they're currently back at 400 (5 singles with less than a minute between reps), and feeling much stronger. Shooting for the coveted 2x BW, which I will certainly get.
Bench started with something low, I don't even remember; it's now up to 230 1RM and 202.5 for 3x5, and feeling pretty strong. Shooting for BW for work sets, and I think I'll get there.
Press started with the bar, and is currently up to 138 (3x5). I've added in push presses to move this along, and those are at 155 for 3x3; they are harder than I thought they'd be, but very helpful.
Power Cleans started with the bar because I am uncoordinated and always picked last for team sports (which is why I don't play team sports), and peaked at 165 (barely; it was a train wreck and I missed like 7 reps), with my best completed work sets at 160. Currently back at 150, and seeing how 2.5lb jumps works out.
I can do 3x8 chins, and am trying to add 1 rep to all three sets each time I do them, which is maybe once a week or less.
I work out in my unheated, detached garage, where I have a squat rack, flat bench, York Needle-bearing Olympic Training Bar (that only weighs 41.5 lbs, but I just call it 40 to save on math), 230 lbs of bumpers, 195 lbs of iron, 5 lbs of fractionals, a Concept 2 Model D rower, a set of Rogue rings, and a new Rogue Games plyo box (the idea for which, i.e. a 3-sizes-in-one plyo box, was submitted by me to Rogue, and they rewarded me with a free one--they are so F-ing cool, so you should buy something from them, seriously), a Tivoli Table Radio with mini-plug for my iPod, and a little whiteboard for tracking my last several sessions of work sets, and for tidbits of instructional or inspirational info. I use tons of chalk, and always start with a base coat of Mammut liquid chalk; the latter, or something like it, being something I highly recommend (I've used TiteGrip as well, and liked it, too).
I eat pretty well, and recently started doing the creatine at 5mg/day. I think it's helping, as I feel better able to finish my reps lately. I have a protein shake with about 70g of protein from whey isolate and milk every morning, and another after working out. I'm kind of trying to cut back on overall food intake a bit, to cut some fat and hopefully help my wife like the larger me a bit more. This so far has meant easing off on the carbs on my non-lifting days and non-day-after-lifting days, and has so far been working OK, at least insofar as my ability to keep adding weight on my lifts.
Once I decide to call it good on making strength gains, I plan to drop back to doing whatever minimum amount of training it takes to maintain my PRs, or as close to them as possible, while mixing in some metcon type conditioning (yeah, I like to call it "metcon," even though CF is not cool around here), and returning to my beloved rock climbing, from which I have been on indefinite hiatus for far too long. I'd like to be able to do a muscle up, too, but wouldn't stop at just one.
So, yeah. Welcome.
Last edited by Ian Kovtunovich; 12-18-2010 at 01:02 AM.
Member
Best log name ever!
Member
Ian, I've been wondering why you don't climb and strength train at the same time and program the increases at a more leisurely pace over a longer period. I'm finding it is working for me so far and I'm enjoying having two exercise hobbies that I like. Its pretty obvious in other posts I'm not lifting heavy weights yet but I don't seem to be too close to any big stalls yet (I hope) and it also seems I'm within a hair or three of my best climbing condition. I cannot imagine loosing focus on climbing for so long or even for a week unless a serious injury was present.
Member
Ian, your stats are practically identical to mine. You probably drink as much as I do as well. Too bad there are 60 miles and lightyears of politics between us to keep from training together.
Member
Obama and the Republicans seem to be learning how to compromise...Originally Posted by Alex Willess
Member
Obama and the Republicans have voters, Ian and I don't.
Member
Most excellent log title. Nice to see. Your gym and conditions sound remarkably familiar to me except I am now on an Oly bender. I'll be watching you Wazowski. Always watching!
Member
Perhaps we'll find ourselves in the same gym one day. We can train and talk about the weather!
Member
It's mostly just life circumstances. I have a 5-year-old daughter, and time is limited. I was climbing regularly, then got spread a little thin with kung fu and school, but I was still climbing a bit. Then kung fu got me into CrossFit, and parenting responsibilities made kung fu infeasible, so I was climbing and CF-ing. CF introduced me to barbells, and since I was doing CF on my own and realized I was missing out on a lot of fun WODs because I didn't know my way around a bar, I decided to take a "couple months" to learn the lifts so I could mix those in with my CF workouts. Much to my surprise, I found lifting to be very engaging and enjoyable, and also, it started taking more and more time to finish a workout, such that I couldn't climb and finish an SS workout in an evening due to time constraints. So I sort of just drifted into the SS, and decided to ride it out as far as I could without getting into much complicated programming.
Over that whole period and a bit before, I had gone through several injuries and recoveries in climbing, including a couple times trying to push too fast coming back from an injury, and getting tweaky elbows and having to take more time off (lamest one: shortly after my wife got preggo, we were going to head to Spain with some friends to climb at Siurana. I was training hard in the gym, and on my redpoint burn on a gym .13-, did some mean pulley damage on a shallow two-finger pocket. We were days away from buying our tickets; I was so pissed!). During this off-and-on period of climbing, I took a couple bouldering trips, to Bishop and to Lake Tahoe, and had a really good time. Even though it was a drag not being able to send hard, it was also a very enjoyable way to climb. No expectations, no worries, just out enjoying whatever and chilling with friends. I know that I can come back to climbing any time and get myself back to climbing hard, and I know that I will. One of these days, I'll shift focus back to climbing, and I feel like, with the strength base and added training insights, I am going to hit a high point with my climbing. I have several routes at Smith that are either unfinished business or prospective projects or things I'd like to try to flash/onsight, not to mention stuff at Red Rocks and Maple Canyon...
Until then, time dictates what I can focus on, and life has enough stress and obligations, so I'm happy on the path of, uh, most resistance for now!
Member
Maybe we could engage in an epic political battle here in Oregon. You could be Bill Sizemore, and I could be Earl Blumenauer!
Posting Permissions