zen and the art of strength training

[kopp]

Squat 3x5x220--last rep of 2nd set and last two reps of 3rd set may have had a little too far forward lean, but most of the reps were deep with chest up, knees out, back arched
Weighted Pullups 25x5 4/1 4 BWx 5 5
Front Squat 3x5x95

I am pretty overall exhausted from the last three weeks of lifting. There was no way I could deadlift again today. Instead I settled for progress on the back squat. I felt like I was pushing my luck with all of the stress I have put on my lower back, which hasn't been helped by how much I have been working (7-9 hours on feet in shit shoes). This is why I didn't do presses, because I didn't want to overwork the lower back. The pullups went well, the first set of 5 is a rep PR at 25 pounds. I also used this time to practice the front squats, which should start getting worked in. I enjoyed them, it was tough keeping my upper back tight and rigid, though I liked how easy it was to go very deep with them, and the bounce at the bottom. Over the last two days I have eaten an enormous amount of food, including about 1/2GOMAD, and gotten great nights of 7+ hours of sleep.

BW- 192

Next week I am taking a deload week. Instead of lifting mon-wed-frid I am cutting back to 2 days, tues-fri. Instead of doing sets of 5 I will be doing sets of 3, and I will take 5-10% off all the working sets. This will cut total weekly volume by over 50%, but should be heavy enough to prevent any de-training. The exception to this is I am going to continue progress with the Front Squats, which shouldn't matter since they are still so light as to not have much of an effect beyond movement patter/form work, and getting over any initial soreness of a new lift. The broader goal is to walk in on monday, July 4, totally refreshed and ready for another great month of lifting.

Goals by July 27, at which point I am going to Boston for 4 days which will serve as my next planned deload period.

Back Squat-3x5x240
Deadlift 1x5x345
Press 3x5x130
Bench 3x5x200
Front Squat 3x5x145

These all assume normal 5 pound progression on Bench and Squat, 10 pound progress on Deadlift, and 2.5pnd progress on press with the assumption that I will probably have 1 poor performance on each lift.

[kopp]

deload week workout #1
Front Squat 3x5x105
Back Squat 5x145 185 205
Bench 5x95 135 175

Went to the beach yesterday and bodysurfed to the point of total exhaustion. Also do this dumb thing where I put my GF on my shoulders and see how deep I can walk until i about drown. Anyways, it was real exhausting, I got burned and banged up my elbow. Today's lift occurred around 2:30pm. The bench was the hardest part. I have slept well the last few nights but food intake hasn't been was it should be. Going to rectify that situation between now and friday. Friday I should move up to a single set of 5 on the working sets from last week on back squat and press. Then hopefully be ready to go at it for another month. Depending on my work schedule my first real lift may be sunday due to work and the holiday...not a big deal either way.

[kopp]

Workout A

Squat 3x5x225---felt decently heavy. First set was the best, some of them may have been quad dominant (sore quads afterwards).
Bench 3x5x185---strong, may need a spotter in the future though.
Pullups 5x5xBW--Most were crisp from a total deadhang,

Didn't continue with the light week idea for a few reasons: 1) I feel refreshed and wasn't sure what I would get out of another light workout other than wasted time 2) I work monday and wouldn't have been able to lift until tuesday 3) I felt like another 5 days (until tues) without progressive lifting would have added little to getting over residual fatigue, but may have contributed to detraining.

First lift of the slightly modified routine went predictably fine. Like I said before, I should be able to do this with little adjustment until at least the end of the summer. The squats were the hardest part, not sure why. The last two days food and sleep have been excellent. Hoping for the 'B' workout saturday after work, and then taking off until Tuesday. Going to try and limit alcohol intake to "moderately drunk" (as opposed to utterly wasted) overly the holidays.

BW 194

[kopp]

Workout 'B'

Deadlift 1x5x325---felt pretty heavy, lower back felt good throughout, could really feel it in my hamstrings
Press 3x5x125----solid, of all the lifts I think these are going the best
Front Squat 3x5x115---

Today's lift, and probably most B lifts for the immediate future are going to be brutal on the upper back. These F Squats are an underrated upper back developer.

[kopp]

workout A

Squat 3x5x230----did a lot of warmup. These were deep, on the way up I have a forward lean. I am going to take a day to do exclusively form work.
Bench 3x5x190----felt heavy, a few of these were real slow, but I did all of them without help
7x2x105---speed sets, really tried to throw the weight through the roof, the second rep was almost always faster than the first.
Weighted Chins 25x5 3 2--sort of the low point of the workout, not as good as previously

Recovery has been spotty. Food has been good but all weekend I got shit sleep. Last night I slept great, fortunately. I have been working a lot, all the time on my feet has led to a slightly irritated lower back, which I am blaming on work but may also be the result of all the lifting. I am going to do some kettlebell swings on my off days to help loosen my lower back and do some active recovery. Today during the squats my lower back felt irritated but afterwards felt really good. I liked doing the speed sets on bench. I am going to do these more often, and with some of the other lifts as well. Once the summer ends and I have hopefully finished milking LP, speed work is going to be a regular feature of whatever I do.

[kopp]

workout B

Deadlift 1x5x335
Press 130x5 5 3 2
95x10
Front Squat 3x5x125

Exhausted from today. The deadlifts felt great. I got Dr Scholl's for my shoes and my back pain has improved dramatically, today my back felt as good as it has in over a month. Throughout the deadlifts my back stayed tight and stable. The presses are still going great, this was pretty close to my goal for all of July, really have been surprised how quick the press strength has returned. The last set at 130 I had some excessive layback which caused me to break the set up. The front squats are continuing as expected, really hitting good depth with these. My recovery since tuesday has been solid, 7+ hours each night and 4 meals per day. I have also had about a gallon of whole milk since my last lift.

Based on my work schedule my next lift should be sunday, then either tues or wed, and friday.

BW post workout--197----I think I will be up to 200 by the end of next week.

[kopp]

workout A

Squat 3x5x235---last few reps knees were caving, quad dominant. A few were a real grind. In general I felt strong, went deep, and kept my chest up. did a lot of warmup with perfect form
Bench 3x5x195---last rep of last set spotter touched it. Still going up 5 pounds. These were really heavy, It may take me 2 workouts to get 3x5x200.
Chinups BWx 11 6 6---the 11 is a PR, a few of the last reps i raised my legs in a manner that could be considered cheating. All were from a full extension deadhang

Recovery has been good, plenty of sleep and food. My back is feeling much better. Next lift is tuesday, then friday. hoping for 3 more A/B rotations before July 27. Both July and summer goals are well within reach.

[kopp]

Workout B

Deadlift 1x5x345 (July Goal)
Press 135x 5 5 3 (summer goal)
Front Squat 3x5x135

Have been sleeping and eating well. Today's lift went good, it took a really long time though. The deadlifts were very heavy, and I paused about 5 seconds between each rep. The presses went well, especially the first set. ON the second set the fourth and fifth reps and on the third set the last rep were a real grind. I nearly passed out I was so exhausted. The front squats were normal, upper back is having a hard time staying locked due to fatigue from previous movements, but so far they have been really good. Moving down to 5 pound progression on F. Squats.

I am going to continue progressing on my Presses until LP without a reset no longer works. Unfortunately I don't have small plates, so the smallest jump I can make is 5 pounds. I am probably going to spend the next 2 workout at 140, my goal is to get 5x140 by July 27. Once I am no longer able to at least add reps each workout I am going to drop down to around 115 and do 3xrepetition effort, adding 5 pounds each workout. That should last through September. I will reevaluate long term press goals after July 27, when I've hopefully met all my summer goals and will have to establish new middle (August) and longer term (end of 2011) training objectives.

[kopp]

Lesson to be learned from below: Consistency is the key to getting and staying strong, more important than reps and sets. I would even go so far as to say that consistency is the only meaningful predictor of progress or regression. It is disheartening to see that beetween 2/18 and 10/18 I didn't really get much stronger, even though I did hundreds of heavy presses, solely because of a lack of consistency and having to restart over and over.

7/12 135x 5 5 3
7/7 130x 5 5 3 2
7/2 125x 5 5 5
6/20 120x 5 5 5
6/15 115x 5 5 5
6/10 110x 5 5 5
6/6 105x 5 5 5

5/13-6/6 Vacationing/Travel (no lifting)

5/13 115x 4 3 2
5/9 110x 5 5 5
5/5 105x 5 5 5
4/30 100x 5 5 5
4/28 95x 5 5 5
4/22 85x 5 5 5
4/17 75x 5 5 5

10/26/10-4/12/11---Traveling abroad, no lifting, lose 30 pounds (beginning of this log)

10/15 145x4
10/12 152x 1 1 1
10/10 150x 1 1 1 1 1
120x 5 5 5
10/6 147.5x 2 2 1 1
115x 5 5 5 5 5
10/4 145x 3 2 2
10/1 145x 1 1
9/29 140x 4 2 2
9/27 135x 6 3 3 3
9/23 130x 8 4 3
9/20 125x 7 7 5 3 1
9/16 115x 10 7 5 5
9/13 115x 5 5 5 5 5

8/18-9/13--No pressing due to lower back pain. did do a lot of benching during this period

8/18 115x10 6 3
8/12 105x 7 5 5

8/1-8/12 Camping trip to Tahoe

8/1 145x3
7/28 145x 2.5
7/23 125x 5 5 3
7/20 140x 3 1
7/16 135x 4 2 1
7/12 130x 6 4 4 2
7/9 125x 8 5 6
115x 6 5
7/5 120x 9 7 6
115x 6 5
6/30 115x 8 8 6 3
6/22 140x 2 1
6/18 140x 2 2 1 1
6/13 135x 5 3 2 3
6/10 135x 5 3 3
6/5 132.5x 5 4 3
6/1 125 x 3 3 2

5/27-6/1--vacation interrupted by funeral. Bad week for health

5/26 132.5x 5 3 2
5/21 130x 5 4 1
5/18 130x 4 3 1 1
5/12 125x 5 5 3
5/2 125x 5 3 1
4/29 125x 4

2/22-4/29--no presses, though I was doing pullups and dips as upper body work

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]

Workout A

Squat 2x5x240 3x3x205
Bench 200x5 4 4

speed sets:
Bench 10x2x105
Deadlift 10x2x185

today's workout went about as expected, the weights are starting to feel really heavy. On the squats I probably could have knocked out another set of 5 but i was getting worried about my form. I did a lot of warmup with perfect form and then decided to drop it down to 205 for a few perfect sets instead of struggling through another set at 240. I am not worried about it since progress with these has been great and i am sure I will get my July and summer goals.

The Bench went better than expected, considering what a grind 195 was. the first set was great. The second set I might have been able to get a fifth rep but I didn't have a spotter. On the last set the spotter helped on the fifth rep.

the speed sets were done as a superset, though I took some time between each exercise. Form was good, especially on the deadlifts. These were done in response to my lack of speed work, which I feel is holding me back. Even on my warmup sets I have a hard time getting the bar to move quickly, so I felt like this was necessary. Last year I Deadlifted 405 at a bodyweight of under 170, and I think a big part of it was all of the speed work I was doing at the time.

I don't know what next week's schedule will look like until I get my work schedule.
BW--200