10-week pre-NLP plan (A.K.A. watch me do everything wrong!)

[Adam Levine]

Week of 10/15 - Week 9 - Focus on Deadlift/Chins
Notes:
- 10-week plan not going well. Squat and Bench are at the low end of "good enough" to start NLP. Press and Deadlift are not.
- Squat camp was this week - positive experience, but I won't understand the full results until I review an "after" squat video
- Great week for body stats.

Monday, 10/15
Squat:
0x10x2,45x5x2,65x5,85x3,105x2 - All hit depth
120x5x2
120x6 (missed depth on one - made it up so 5 hit depth)
Press:
45x10,50x5,55x3,60x2
65x5x3
Deadlift:
135x5x2,155x5,175x3,195x2
215x2
215x1

Intervals:
Treadmill HopOn/Hop Off - 3x30sec, 3:30 rest between intervals, 6.1/6.2/6.3MPH, peak HR 162
Form Notes:
Need to set my $#*#( back!

Wednesday, 10/17
Squat:
0x10x2,45x5x2,65x5,85x3,105x2 - All hit depth
120x5x3 - All hit depth
Bench:
45x10,70x5,90x3,120x2
142.5x4
140x3
137.5x4
Deadlift:
135x5,155x5,185x2
200x5
Intervals:
Treadmill HopOn/Hop Off - 3x30sec, 3:30 rest between intervals, 6.4/6.6/6.6MPH, peak HR 175
Form Notes:
Need to set my $#*#( back!

Thursday, 10/18
Active Rest: 109 minute stroll

Friday, 10/20 - East Lansing Squat Camp
Squat:
45x5,65x5,85x5,115x5
135x5x4 - No clue when I hit depth
Form Notes:
- 15lbs heavier than I'm used to.
- I'll have to look at next week's video to see if camp did me any good

Diet Stats:
Average calories/day: 1,619
Average protien/day: 187g
Average carbs/day: 158g
Average fat/day: 30g
Protien from dairy: 196g (15%)
Calories from dairy: 1,390 (12%)
Supplementation and drugs:
- 5,000 IU of Vitamin D per day
- 1 Flintsones multivitamin/day
- 250mg Magnisum Citrate/day
- 500mg Metformin/day
- 40mg Atorvastatin/day
- 1 OTC Omeprazole/2 days

Body Stats:
Age: 47
Height: 5'9.7"
Weight: 176.9lb (down 2.3lb!!!)
Neck: 16" (up 1/8")
Waist: 34.5" (down 3/8")
Body Fat (by Navy Calculator): 16.6% (down 0.7%!!!)
LBM (by Navy Calculator): 148lb (steady)
Average morning/fasting blood sugar:111

-->Adam

[Adam Levine]

Week of 10/22 - Week 10 - Last Log Entry
Notes:
- Last gasp workout to get deadlift right - it failed, my deadlift is an orthopedic surgeon's dream!
- This is a standard log entry. Results of 10-week plan entries will follow, along with a new log on a new thread.

Monday, 10/22
Squat:
First squat after squat camp
0x10 - missed depth
0x10,45x5x2,70x5,90x3,115x2 - Hit depth
130x5x3 - Hit depth
Bench:
45x10,70x5,95x3,120x2
142.5x5x3
Deadlift:
135x5x2,155x5,175x3,195x2
210x5

Intervals:
Treadmill HopOn/Hop Off - 3x30sec, 3:20 rest between intervals, 6.7/6.8/6.9MPH, peak HR 175
Form Notes:
Deadlift is a lost cause...

Wednesday, 10/24
Squat:
0x10x2 - Missed Depth
45x5x2,70x5,90x3,115x2 - All hit depth
130x5x3 - All hit depth
Press:
45x5x2,50x5,55x3,60x2
65x5x3
Chins:
(0x1+0-1-3x4)x3

Intervals:
Treadmill HopOn/Hop Off - 3x30sec, 3:00 rest between intervals, 7.0/7.1/7.1MPH, peak HR 176
Form Notes:
Press still needs work...

Thursday, 10/18
Active Rest: 109 minute stroll

Friday, 10/26 - Deadlift Last Try
Deadlift:
135x5x2 - Both total failures despite going light and focusing on form

Intervals:
Treadmill HopOn/Hop Off - 6x30sec, 3:00 rest between intervals, 7.2MPHx2,7.3MPHx4, peak HR 176

Diet Stats:
Average calories/day: 1,726
Average protien/day: 204g
Average carbs/day: 165g
Average fat/day: 29g
Protien from dairy: 215g (15%)
Calories from dairy: 1,360 (11%)

Body Stats:
Age: 47
Height: 5'9.7"
Weight: 175.8lb (down 1.1lb)
Neck: 16" (steady)
Waist: 34.5" (steady)
Body Fat (by Navy Calculator): 16.6% (steady)
LBM (by Navy Calculator): 147lb (down 1lb)
Average morning/fasting blood sugar:101

-->Adam

[Adam Levine]

Closing Entry - Goals round-up and analysis
Original goals for this 10-week period were:
- Learn the four main lifts with adequate form (good enough that I'm not going to end up in traction)
- Learn to analyze my videos well enough to know when my form is degrading.
- Get under 17% body fat (I've been on an 1600-1800-calorie diet for over 6 months, lost over 50#, and refuse to be obese again). 17%bf will enable me to gain 10-15lb of fat on NLP without becoming obese.
- Read PP and learn more. I've already read SS 3rd Edition, The Barbell Prescription, and a ton of stuff in Rip's Q&A forum.
- Develop a sensible NLP nutrition plan, factoring in my diabetes.
- A nice to have would be to learn form well enough that I can teach it to my wife and son.

Looking at them one at a time:

Squat with adequate form - Success
Successful. My squat is greatly improved, and good enough to start an NLP program.

Press with adequate form - Failure, with hope
I cannot achieve an adequate lockout position at any weight - my shoulders do not have enough mobility to enable a full vertical, introducing a moment arm into the movement. Also having extreme difficulty keeping my wrists straight. Form is currently not good enough to start an NLP program, though with some stretching, it may become so.

Bench with adequate form - Success
Successful. Bench form isn't great, but it won't hurt me. Still have difficulty keeping core tight and shoulders back.

Deadlift with adequate form - Abysmal failure
My deadlift is an ortopedic surgeon's dream. Can't brace core properly at any weight, which is odd, since I can do it for squat. Any NLP program I create will have to be done without deadlift.

Learn to analyze videos - Success
On looking at a video, I can generally see what I'm doing wrong. That doesn't mean I can fix it, but I can recognize it.

Get under 17% body fat - Success
Navy formula puts me at 16.6% body fat. I can do an NLP without a high risk of becoming obese again.

Read PP and learn more. - Failure, but fixing
I couldn't really get into reading a book on intermediate programming, being that I haven't started novice yet. I'll get to it over the next couple weeks.

Develop a sensible NLP nutrition plan, factoring in my diabetes. - Success
Done with the help of Coach Schudt - Sanity check nutrition plan for post-surgery and NLP?

A nice to have would be to learn form well enough that I can teach it to my wife and son. - Success
I have a plan for teaching my son, and think I can actually pull that off (maybe).

Analysis and next steps
- Generally a success. I can build a sensible NLP based on Squat, Bench, and Chins, and may be able to add Press later. Missing deadlift isn't optimal, but an NLP is still possible.
- Unfortunately, I won't be able to lift until about Christmas. I'm going to see Coach Schudt live, who will hopefully be able to get me started on a more optimal NLP around Christmastime.