zen and the art of strength training

[kopp]

found this in an old journal, it was my shoulder press progression from the end of 2009-start of 2010: It took me roughly 4 months of pressing to go from 3x5x95 to 3x5x135. I am hoping that I can get back to that point by the end of the summer.
2/22--140x 2 1 -
2/18--140x 4 3 2
2/15--135x 5 5 3 1
2/11--135x 5 4 1
2/5---135x 4 2 1
2/1---135x 3 2 3 2
1/26--130x 5 4 4 2
1/20--130x 3 2 3 2
1/11--125x 5 5 5
1/8---125x 5 3 4 1
1/5---125x 3 3 3 3 3
1/2---120x 5 5 4 2
12/19-120x 3 3 3 3 3
12/16-115x 3 5 5 4 3
12/12-110x 5 5 5
12/7--110x 5 4 105x4
11/23-110x 4 3 3 2
11/18-110x 3 3 2/1 105x 3 3
11/13-105x 5 3 5
11/9--105x 4 4 4 4
11/4--105x 3 3 3 2
11/2--100x 5 5 5
10/30-95x 5 5 5

[kopp]

BW= 175
noon lift on base:

Squat 3x5x185
bench 3x5x135
deadlift 3x5x225--still DOH, these are getting heavy for the grip
Pullups 3x3--hard

Good lift today, the squat form felt really good. My bench is weak and felt heavy. The last few times I have benched and DL my upper back has been extremely sore the next few days. Next lift should be thursday.

[kopp]

11 Am lift in Garage--really beautiful day

Squat 3x5x195---on last set put out a chair to check depth, this sort of screwed me up. Either the chair was too high (due to change in how I sit back when I have weight on my back) or I am going 3-4 inches too low. I should have waited and done this at the end of the workout
Press 3x5x105
Deadlift 3x5x235--all DOH
Pullups-5 5 3 3 --not as hard as previously, though some were swinging.

Good workout overall, it took me well over an hour, maybe closer to 90 minutes. Going to make one more ten pound jump on the squats and DL, then drop down to 5 pound jumps and drop the DL to 2x5. I am gunning for 6 more lifts before leaving for spain. Really happy with progress over the last three weeks. Now it is time to finish my Gargantuan from Jimmy Johns and start on today's gallon of milk.

[Bronan the Barbarian]

Glad to see that it's going well. Keep up the good work. You are going to want to be 200 lbs. when that Michigan winter comes around. The extra weight helps.

[kopp]

3pm lift at school gym

Squat 3x5x205---end of ten pound jumps. These were quad dominant, resulting in me barely being able to walk afterward and my hamstrings/butt feeling unworked. They were also too deep, had a hard time keeping my back tight at the bottom and leaning a little (not too much) forward on the way up. Tried to go down slow as opposed to flopping under the weight.

Bench 3x5x145---felt good, stronger than at 135
Dips 3x7---these were surprisingly hard. I am hoping to do more of these once the summer starts and I begin lifting at the school gym regularly.

Didn't do deadlifts or pullups because my forearms are sore/ not up to the task. Also my legs were way too rocked by the squats to deadlift again. I need to get my work schedule before I can know what days I am lifting next week, still planning to deadlift 3x5x245 post squats during my next lift. Food intake has been great. Thursday I ate probably 6000 calories and a gallon of milk. yesterday not quite as much, sleep has also been good. My only problem is I am constipated, and haven't had a real shit in 3 days. My girlfriend bought me some probiotics, laxatives and fiber which I have been taking... so far to disappointing results. This poo child growing in my stomach may get in the way of my training/food intake in the coming days.

[kopp]

11 AM lift at school
BW 178

Squat 3x5x210---great, considerably better than saturday
Press 3x5x110
DL 245x 5 3 2---progress on these needs to slow down, probably going to 1x5 per workout with 5 pound jumps, these felt very heavy, form deteriorated
Pullups-4x5---good improvement on these

All in all a solid day, making better than expected progress on the presses in particular, planning a ten pound jump in bench wednesday. Shoulders were pretty sore from dips saturday.
Food was off saturday but yesterday and today I ate a lot and 1/2 + gallon of whole milk. Have been sleeping great.

[kopp]

Garage lift 1 PM

Squat 3x5x215
Bench 3x5x155
DL 1x5x255
Chinups 3x6xBW

Long as fuck shift at work. CLosing five nights in a row, knee and back pain. The lift went well I thought, the bench was better than expected, going up another ten pounds next lift. Good food intake the last few days, 96oz of milk today.

[kopp]

11AM lift at Detrick

Squat 1x5x220 2x3x205---my hips were raising faster than my shoulders, causing an excessive lean forward before straightening back out. That was the reason for the lowered weight. Need to work on this, possibly with more sets of lower reps around 205---focusing on getting correct form.

Press 115x 4 3 2--just could not bring the fury on these
DL 1x5x265-first 2 were DOH, last three were mixed grip
Chinups 4x5xBW--originally wanted a fifth set but my grip and left bicep were cramping.

All in all a shit day. This was probably a result of sub par food intake yesterday, bad sleep last night, and that I have been lifting every other day for 5 workouts now. Body is exhausted.

[kopp]

On a family vacation to Disney. For the record, the happiest place on earth is really hot and full of screaming children. More like hell really... There is a fitness center where I have been doing leg presses, dips, and lat pulldowns. Nothing spectacular but at least it is something. The two week trip to spain will probably involve no strength training beyond moving alcohol from the table to my mouth. Should be able to get a summer pass at college and restart lifting regularly after june 2. No big deal, this was expected, and now that I know how quick the strength comes back I am not too worried.

[kopp]

quick lift tonight, got back from disney earlier, spent 14 hours in a car, leave again tomorrow.

Bench 1x5x155 2x5x165
Deadlift-3x5x275---all DOH, felt great. these are a totally different experience when you haven't squatted yet in the workout. Felt really strong.