My Log - SS, etc.

[Tor]

Ah, well, shit. Tried 430 twice, and missed it both times, but should illustrate what I was talking about as far as setting your back.
<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0m971_9bJNE"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0m971_9bJNE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>

[Locutus]

Ah, well, shit. Tried 430 twice, and missed it both times, but should illustrate what I was talking about as far as setting your back.

Maybe it's just me, but it looks like you're still not setting your lower back fully even with the improved setup. Have you tried loosening the belt one notch?

[Tor]

Yeah, I know what you mean, my back rounds as I drop those last few inches. I will say, though, that being able to take that big breath at the top makes me FEEL much more rigid.

I'd be inclined to think the back rounding was more of a flexibility issue than a belt one, but I'll try loosening the belt anyway and see what happens.

Tor

[jacob cloud]

Was actually planning on DL yesterday but forgot to take my chalk to the gym. I was pretty pissed but got over it. I hear what you're saying, but agree that maybe the vid doesn't quite show it. 1RM efforts are typically sorta ugly anyway. I need to get a vid of mine, just to check and make sure my form has improved. I know I don't have a "pretty" back arch, but I just want to get it decent.

Anyway, since I set a squat PR last week and am feeling pretty beat up, I'm going to lay off most weights this week. I'm also going to stop being a slave to the scale, and will probably not weigh myself til Friday. I was *bad* on the diet this weekend but am committed this week. I say that every week.

So I'll be running a bit and working on metcon this week and doing a little bit of upper body stuff, but not much. My left bicep is still killing me.

So anyway, went yesterday morning and did 3x5 Push Press w/ 185 and ran some 400m intervals at 8mph and 1.0 incline. Did some stretching. Later in the day, played around at the park on the chin bar and rings. Working on shoulder ROM still so I can do kipping pullups without intense pain.

[jacob cloud]

This "deload/recovery" week is freaking boring. The strange thing is that the little bit of work I've been doing is different enough from my normal routine that I'm actually pretty damn sore, especially in the upper back - which is great, since that's probably my weakest link.

Hit the gym yesterday morning for a quickie.

PC: 185x3, 195x3/3/3/3
Dips: 5,5,5,5,5

c2 Rower: 1000m, 3:48.7

stretch

I love me some power cleans. Form is slowly improving but I'm having a very hard time swinging my elbows forward. This needs to improve, quickly. My dips suck - I have had a very hard time doing them since my shoulder surgery. Before that, I was doing heavy weighted dips w/o issues. Now, I don't even have a decent ROM unweighted. Need to get lower, so I'll be throwing dips in more often.

I never really row over 500m, so I paced myself on this 1000m and it was fine, considering I'm in keto. Short term goal is to run a sub 8 minute mile, this is a low-impact way to work on that.

Been good on the diet this week. Snuck a peak at the scale this morning: 240.2 Sweet. I haven't seen 230's in a LONG time. 2 years, maybe? Unfortunately my girlfriend is making cupcakes and sweets tonight for a Halloween party at her work tomorrow...she's going to make this tough on me. This, after she made a statement that she could see a lot of improved definition in my shoulders last night. Women.

Also, I am thinking about switching up the routine next week for a little more intermediate-style (TX Method), vs. the classic SS format that I've basically been following with some minor mods.

[jacob cloud]

Fri 10/31
Weight: 240.2 (yesterday morning, so close to hitting 239.x!)
Diet: Decent

AM Workout:

OHP 1RM: 165, 175 (PR) - very, very slow, but got it
PP: 205x2, 185x3,5 - triceps 100% beat after OHP)
Elliptical: 30 min, 385 cal
HR: Avg 137/Peak 159 over 1 hour workout

Been relatively good on the diet the past couple days. GF baked a bunch of goodies for her office but I only nibbled on a bit. Otherwise, great. Big cheat for dinner tonight and tomorrow, though.

So, I've put a lot of thought this "off week" into my workout regimen, and I'm going to change it up from a basic SS style to a more intermediate TX Method, with a few distinct focuses. Here's the plan for the next 6 weeks:

Mon: (Volume Day)
Squat 5x3 - start @ 375, +10/wk
Bench 5x5 - start @ 200, +5/wk
PC 6-8x3 - start @ 185, +5/wk

Wed: (Recovery Day)
Thrusters 3x10(?) - start @ 95, +10/wk
Pullups/Dips 25 reps - superset each until I get to 25, add reps once I can do 5x5 cleanly
Back Ext 3x5-8

Fri: (PR day)
Squat 1x2 - start at 405, +10/wk
Bench 1x3 - start @ 215, +5/wk
PC 1x2 - start @ 210, +5/wk

The end goal is to get a new all-time 1RM PR of 455 on the back squat in the 6th week, to add some pounds on my crappy bench, and to work on power cleans.
Notes/Reasoning:
* The first couple weeks will be relatively easy, in continuation of this week's rest theme, since I've been feeling pretty beat up. It will get pretty hard around week 3-4.
* I'm leaving out "real" overhead work. Though my press, at 175, isn't great, it's still a lot better than my shitty bench. I think I can live w/o it for 6 weeks.
* Wed is something of a mild metcon. Also, my chins/dips suck, this should help.
* The volume is low. I will also be trying to continue cutting weight, in keto during the week. 225 or bust!
* I'll be tossing in some mild running/rowing/elliptical work if I feel good. Usually 400m sprints Mon, 800m runs Wed, 1mi jog Fri. Intensity decreases as keto increases. Not a bunch, but enough to work on my 8 min mile goal (IMO the minimum standard of running fitness), and/or to at least maintain current conditioning and burn some calories.
* Post-workout stretching/core work will focus on hip stability/mobility. My hip flexors are way too tight and I think this is the cause of my daily back pain. I sit on my ass all day so I need to work on this.
* Deadlifts are out. They beat the crap out of me and I don't see how they'll drop below 455 if I'm squatting that much. I'd rather get my PC up anyway and then work on DL again. It shoots up quickly, and considering my all-time PR is 485, I should kill that in a matter of weeks when I start DLing again, especially if my back is feeling better by then.
* After the 6 weeks, I'm hoping on going on a 4-6 week calorie surplus over the holidays with more volume, higher reps, etc. to pack on a couple pounds of LBM, especially in my upper body.

If anyone sees anything absolutely stupid about this, feel free to chime in. I'm no pro, but I think this will work for me. It gives me something to shoot for, and a very solid plan of attack for the next 6 weeks. It works on my weak spots and sets me up for a good mass-gaining phase, I think. Hopefully the strength gains will be doable while losing some major fat. I've been in keto 3-4 days/wk for a month or two and am pretty used to it. I am hoping to dial in the diet a little more in line with the Anabolic Diet rules as well.

[jacob cloud]

Mon 11.3
Weight: 239.0 (this morning)
Diet: 5/5
TX Method, Day 1

AM Workout:

WU: Bike 1m
BS: 375x3,3,3,3,3
Bench: 200x5,5,5,5,5
PC: 185x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

OK, I had planned on this being relatively easy. It was not. I was good on the diet Sunday and Monday and was 100% in keto. Every movement was tough, but I done good. I skipped my planned PM workout of some medium intensity 400m sprints and stretching. It was dark by about 5pm and I just got lazy and didn't want to leave the house. Gonna have to get over that.

Today, I am sore. My recent switch to a wider squat stance and better knee control has my hams screaming. I also widened my bench grip yesterday and...wow. I better grow some chesticles out of this. I think the narrowness of my grip has been limiting me. Hopefully in 6 weeks I can set new PRs on bench and squat. The lack of upper body strength is especially embarassing.

Also, a fellow fatty friend of mine is on track to get down from 210 to 190. He's hardcore when it comes to this sorta thing, so the competition is in my mind every time I think about cheating on the diet, and it's working. 239 is the lowest I've been in like, 3 years. 225, here I come!

[Robert Callahan]

* I'm leaving out "real" overhead work. Though my press, at 175, isn't great, it's still a lot better than my shitty bench. I think I can live w/o it for 6 weeks.

Hey! I didn't even know this area of the forums existed, i typically just stick to the Rip section... anyways I was going to say that your thrusters constitute some overhead work and that you could potentially break the thrusters up into front squats and presses or even push presses? I don't know if that would slow the workout down and reduce the "metcon" effect of it, but it is an idea.

-Robert

[jacob cloud]

Hey! I didn't even know this area of the forums existed, i typically just stick to the Rip section... anyways I was going to say that your thrusters constitute some overhead work and that you could potentially break the thrusters up into front squats and presses or even push presses? I don't know if that would slow the workout down and reduce the "metcon" effect of it, but it is an idea.

-Robert

Thanks for visiting. I like this forum, so I figure what better way to see it take off than to contribute a bit, right?

When I asked on his forum, Rip suggested a 65% press/bench ratio. My press 1RM last week was 175 - on bench...I dunno if I could get up 235 today. Maybe 245 if I was lucky. So I might be as bad as a 75% ratio right now, which is a definite imbalance, and might help explain the incredible pain the shoulders been giving me lately. I need to get that bench up quite a bit, and I don't think my press will suffer much if I lay off it for 6 weeks (notice I did hit PP quite a bit last week as a last hurrah). Thrusters suck so bad that I want to be decent at them. Plus the metcon nature of 'em should help me burn some calories and get rid of these damn love handles. When I first did SS, I was adding 2 sets of dips after every bench workout, and I made great gains. This is another reason I want to add dips on Wed.

If I get my bench 1RM up to 275 soon I'll be ecstatic. Ultimately, my goal is to press 200, then 225/BW, and bench 315, maybe 1.5BW. But I really think keeping the strength ratio is going to be key for shoulder survival, for me, considering my pansy-ass AC joints, so I'm keeping an eye on it.

Not exactly decided on how I'll do the reps/weight yet though. There's talk on the CF forum about a 21-15-9 challenge - I'm leaning towards this, with, say, 2 minutes of rest between sets. But man...even reps of 5 are tough on keto. Not sure about 21-15-9. Not even sure about 3x10! We'll see, I might play around with it. It might not even matter all that much since I'm really just trying to get the blood flowing on Wed to help recovery and to build up for a nice heavy Fri.

[Tor]

Hey Jacob,

Just a comment that came to mind when you mentioned that you were expecting day 1 of Texas Method to be relatively easy and then surprised to find it wasn't...

My first day on TM I went from 340x3x5 Squat to a 295x5x5. I thought this would be a fucking breeze. Imagine my sense of child-like wonder as I started to puke after my fourth wobbly set. I was sweating, shaking, and felt about as strong as a ten-year old with polio. Could have been an off-day, could have been a result of the previous week's lay-off, but it hasn't got much easier since.

Now on to 325x5x5, and squated 400x1 last Friday, a 25 pound increase in 1RM over the past five weeks.

Tor