Fatass learns to fit

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Okay, this is the real week 23 ending.

Squats 202.5 lbs x 2 x 5 (~90% of last 3x5 PR)
Bench press 165 x 3 x 5 (last rep last set failed)
Deadlifts 250 x 1 x 3

Figures. As soon as I start publicly logging things go to shit.

Squats are a recovery day and went decently at least. I've finally found out that yes, craning your face to the ceiling is a bad thing.
Benches went well, but the last rep of last set crashed hard into the safeties as form totally broke down. I lost the whole legs-to-scapulae tightness and it was unrecoverable.
I have NO idea what happened with deadlifts. The first rep went up well, second was harder, and the third got about two inches off the platform and wouldn't come up in two successive attempts.

I definitely should have taken another rest day rather than hitting the weights. I'm due for a two-day-off.

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At this point my calculated 1RMs are thus (lbs) @166 lbs on a 5 ft 7 in frame:

Squat: 264
Bench: 196
Deadlift: 287
Press: 127
Cleans: 129 (still getting LP)

Not sure if I need to move on to an intermediate program or start eating more (though I'm loathe to get fat again). Opinions?

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Weak 24

No, that's not a typo.

Squats 225 lbs x 5, 3, 205 x 5
Seated overhead press 107.5 x 4, 105 x 2 x 5
Power cleans 115 x 5 x 3

Filmed my squats. What a fucking trainwreck. I make it to parallel about half the time, squat-morning because my elbows drop, and I end up craning my face to the ceiling. Time to deload 10-15% and FUCKING START AGAIN. I think the bar is rolling down my back but I'll have to repeatedly view the video to see for sure.

Seated overhead press is stalled hard at 107.5. Rolling that back to as I keep flaring elbows out, especially on the left arm.

Cleans went decently; towards the end I start to catch with my hands, a guaranteed trip to elbow tendonitis.

I have this incredible urge to drop to one plate squats and do a day of form work tomorrow, for as long as it takes to get it right, or die in the attempt.

Yes, I mad. Fucking furious.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Week 24

Squats 202.5 lbs x 5,3,2 (~90% of last 3x5 PR)
Bench press 165 x 3 x 5
Deadlifts 250 x 1 x 4

I did submit my video to a couple of lifters I know and got great advice - I'm trying to do low bar form with a high bar position. Oops.

Corrected this on today's light squat day, and aside from issues with it rolling down my back on set 2 - which ended up breaking up into sets of 2 and 3 respectively - it went really well. I need to bend forward just a little more and it sets fine right over mid-foot and goes like breaking glass.

Finally cracked the body weight bench for reps! I've never come close before, and now it's in the books.

Deads are still an issue. Reps one through three came right up, four was a struggle, and rep 5 just did not want to come off the platform. It's still one more rep than last time. Clearly I need to video this too.

[Red Finn]

Not sure if I need to move on to an intermediate program or start eating more (though I'm loathe to get fat again). Opinions?

I'd guess that at 47 you will probably have to make fairly small increases in caloric intake, lest you get fat.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Week 24 continues, took another two-day rest.

Squats 225 lbs x 3 x 5
Seated overhead press 107.5 x 3, 3, 5
Power cleans 120 x 3, 3, 3, 1, 3

New lever belt arrived yesterday. Doing proper low bar squats was a breeze as long as I get a slight forward lean to keep it in place. Took three attempts to unrack it properly for set one, two for set two, and finally got it right for set three.

Seated OHP is still a mess because of foot slip issues on the floor. On set three I moved the bench forward and braced my toes against the foot and 107.5 went up like it was supposed to all along. Let's see how it works next OHP day.

Cleans, how I love and hate you. Started to run out of gas and had issues racking on sets four and five, bailing two reps on set four. Set five all managed to rack but ugly. This'll stay at 120 until I get the rack corrected.

I am now the proud owner of of two plate squats for reps. I am a happy man for a few days.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Week 24

Squats 205lbs x 2 x5
Bench press 170 x 3 x 4
Deadlifts 250 x 1 x 5

Squat active recovery is good for learning how to lowbar squat. I finally have my hand position good. Very smooth tonight.

Bench press is a new PR, and has the same problem for the same reason as seated OHP - foot slip on the floor pad. I'll obviously need to replace the pad with something thin and has a bit of stickiness.

Deads I belted up for the first time and videoed and all five went up. I'll review the video tomorrow on the big screen.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Week 25

Squats 230 lbs x 3 x 5
Seated overhead press 107.5 x 5, 3, 4
Power cleans 120 x 3, 115 x 3 x 4

I traded out the power cage flooring with some rubberize flooring, which gave a very nice grip for my feet.
Squat went up like it's supposed to, aside for a squat-morning on the last rep that had to grind up.
Seated OHP is still stalled hard. I've got videos to go over tomorrow to see what's wrong with the form.
Cleans just aren't racking. I dropped them from 120lbs to 115 lbs until I can correct this.

The video from deadlifts was illuminating; the change needed is to stop rolling my shoulders forward, but the rest is tight and snaps just right.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Week 25

Squats 207.5lbs x 2 x5
Bench press 170 x 5, 5, 0
Deadlifts 255 x 1 x 5

Squat recovery day.
Last set of bench press didn't unrack properly and just totally lost it. Benching in the power cage prevented it from being a catastrophe.
Deads went up well with a little form struggle on the last rep. Another PR.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

End of week 25

Squats 240 x 2 x 1
Seated overhead press 95 5, 5, 7
Power cleans 115 x 5 x 3

I've been feeling worn down all week. Ragweed is kicking my ass hard this year despite medication. I feel like I'm drowning in my ow snot. I've also been eating a little over maintenance to see what happens.

Shit, no wonder why the squats felt so off. I can't into reading my own logs. Both came off the rack fine but everything felt off and I bailed both sets after one rep.
SOHP is on deload again for some slight form adjustments. I have a tendency to not fully lock out at the top and the left arm lags behind the right out of the rack position. Did last set AMRAP on a whim, I'll be adding five pounds a session until 105, then decide how much to add after depending on how that session goes.
Dropped back to 115 on cleans for form work. These racked up nicely overall with one rep getting waaaaay out in front of me. I'm starting to learn how the drop-to-squat works.

Here's to hoping week 26 - six months on any program for me - goes well!

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Week 26

Squats 210 lbs x 2 x 5
Bench press 170 x 5, 5, 4
Deadlifts 260 x 1 x 5

Last rep of bench press stalled out of the hole and landed on the safeties. I get on more shot at this.
Deads went up nice and smooth for another PR.