Training in exile

[gatorinexile]

I'll throw my hat in the ring, too.

I'm a 6'2" 200# 41 yo father of a 4yo and a 2yo. I've led a very active life. I graduated HS at 175#. Lots of basketball growing up and as a young man in Florida. A stop in Atlanta saw me swell to 220#. Then I was exiled to the North country and started a life of adventure. Lots of white water kayaking, skiing, etc. Through it all I always weighed within 10 pounds of 200, but I was always doughy compared to my thrill seeking friends.

I never really lifted weights until I was about 30. I could barely bench 100#. I'd lift on an off for the next decade, but never in anything that even resembled a "program". I was just chucking around small pieces of iron with horrible form and no goals.

Marriage and kids made me less active outside of biking, and while I didn't put on much weight, my sedentary life made me even doughier. After my wife starting making fun of my skinny arms, I decided enough is enough.

I want to ski w/ my kids when I'm 60. Hell, I want to ski w/ my kids when I'm 70. I want to run with them, throw a ball with them. Live with them. So this winter I started looking around. I found Stronglifts and started that in my basement on Feb 11, 2013. Wanting more info, I found this place and am very happy I did.

Here's where I started (SL has you start w/ low weights):

202#
25.5% BF (calipers)
39" waist
110 Squat
90 Bench
45 OHP (seated)
65 BB Row
135 DL

I'm now in week 9. Some of my struggles are chronicled in other threads, but I've been making LPs consistently except for one time when I over trained / under ate. More here if you're interested.

Here are my latest stats. All lifts are PRs, as embarrassing as they are:

201#
21% BF (calipers)
37.5" waist
230 Squat
160 Bench
110 OHP (seated)
140 BB Row
245 DL

I still look forward to every workout.

My training goals are simple. Get strong, get fit, feel good. be happy.

I'll continue with my LP for 3.5 more weeks then I'll be changing things up for the summer. Maine summers are too short to spend too much time in my basement. Plus I really want to get outside and spends tons of energy there mountain/road biking, kayaking, etc. So I'll switch to some type of "maintenance" program for 3-4 months before returning to (hopefully) LP.

So, here goes:

[gatorinexile]

Weight x Set x rep
I've been adding 5# every session to exercises, 10# to DL.

Squat: 230x3x5
Bench: 160x3x5
BB Row: 140x3x5

Squats seem real heavy, but I keep making my reps....
Bench is also heavy, but not as hard as squats
BB rows seem too light. I've jumped them by 10# twice. I'm thinking of doing so again.

[gatorinexile]

New VS Athletic shoes just arrived. Can't wait to squat w/ these tomorrow!

Im very curious what the 3/4" heel raise is going to feel like after squatting barefoot for 2 months.


Otherwise feel good. No DOMS, but a strange soreness between left patella and spine. Took some Ibuprofen and that seemed to help.

[TartanEagle]

Hi Gator, where in Maine are you? I'm taking my family to Bath for a week this summer. We plan on doing plenty of kayaking and other outdoor activities.

[gatorinexile]

Nice! My Sister is across the river in Woolwich. Bath is a great little town w/ tons of history. One Destroyer every 18 days slid into that river and steamed off for battle in Europe and the Pacific. "Bath built" meant something, and sailors were very happy to be on one.

We're right outside of Portland.

[gatorinexile]

Drank too much whiskey and had a bunch of sweets late at night. Felt like ass this morning. Kids got up early and I only slept for 5.5 hours. Very atypical for me.

I persevered. Worked from home this morning and forced myself to lift before lunch, then went into office.

Squat: 235# 3x5
Press: 115# 3x5 (seated)
DL: 255# (1x5)
BW chins: 8 x 5 x 3

I feel much much better, though I will sleep well tonight.

SHOES! Wow. Rip and the rest of ya are right. They are a necessity. I had a waaaay easier time with my 235# today than I did w/ 230# on Tuesday. I felt like my form was better (been struggling with knees sliding forward at bottom), too. I need to take some more vid and throw it up on my squat form check thread.

Off 'till Sunday. Hoping to get a good MTB session in on Saturday.

[gatorinexile]

Fairly tame 1.5hr MTB session yesterday.

No issues continuing LP today.

Squat: 240x3x5
Bench: 165x3x5
BB Row: 150x3x5

I have put on a couple of pounds since upping my calories, but my waist hasn't grown.

The wife came down to tell me something while I was lifting. She stopped mid-sentence when she saw my VS shoes and said, "um, what are you wearing?" Haha.

[gatorinexile]

Sucked.

Missed final rep at squats. Felt low thru whole w/o.

Squat: 245 5/5/4 @!!@&&?!
SOHP: 120 3x5
DL: 265 1x5
BW chins: 8/5/4

BP stayed high for a while after this. Felt it in head.

[gatorinexile]

Sure hope I'm not nearing my novice LP already. I've really been increasing the calories lately and today's squat was the worst yet. I'm going to deload 10% and see if I can bust through.

Super happy about bench and BB rows. I'm going to continue to increase rows @ 10# intervals until I've caught up w/ my bench weight (two more sessions.)

Squat: 250 4/3/3 - Failed in hole on subsequent rep (5th/4th/4th)
Bench: 170 3x5 - Really heavy but got it all up
BB Row: 160 3x5 - No problem.

[gatorinexile]

Skipped the workout. I MTBed Saturday and Sunday. I had nothing in the tank Sunday evening and knew that a training session would over tax me. Fool me once....

Saturday: MTB for 2 hours
Sunday: MTB for 2.5 hours

I may be abandoning my modified SS novice program (for the summer) earlier than I had planned. I just can't train heavy 3x week and do everything outdoors that I want. It's too much.