Going Intermediate - very slowly

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Thursday January 14th, 2010

(Key: weight x reps x sets)

(Intensity day)


Power Clean

85 x5 deadlift
85 x3 hang clean
105 x2 hang clean
125 x2
135 x1
140 x2 x5

Weight is still within my previous PR, so no surprises to report. As usual with this lift, the first set felt worst than the following ones.



Bench

50 x5
90 x5
120 x5
140 x1
152.5 x5

An odd one, in a positive sense. The volume sets done last Saturday felt demanding, especially taking the bar off the rack. But today, the workset felt actually ...easy. I hesitate to write this for fear of being accused of hubris, but really, I had some margin, and that was a surprise for me. Almost sad I'll have to wait two weeks to do this again. And before anyone makes me notice it, yes, in absolute terms the weight is pathetic.




Squat

50 x5
100 x5
140 x3
185 x1
202.5 x5

Again, no surprises, I had done this weight for sets across before Christmas last year.


With today I have completed the first two-weeks cycle of the program, and had a workset with all the lifts.
In a sense I've run-in the program, getting used to the rhytm and the swings between volume and intensity days, and to the recovery required after my volleyball session. From next week, I'll start pushing past my old PRs, at least on some lifts (the deadlift for example will take a bit more time).

IPB

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Sunday January 17th, 2010

Actually, I preferred the snow. The snow took no more than a day to clear off, but left in its wake a lot of ugliness. In particular, the green, grassy areas along the edge of the road are now in a bit of state. While covered in snow they became invisible, and people, through incompetence or laziness, drove and parked on them. They are now dug up, with deep furrows ploughed by the big tyres of the 4x4s. I don't expect the council to mend the situation very soon.
Still, it's a gorgeous winter Sunday, the sky is clear, the sun shines and the temperature is finally above 5C for the first time since...I don't even remember. A nice morning to go to the gym

(Weight x reps x sets)

(Volume day)

Squat

50 x5
100 x5
140 x5
170 x2
186 x5 x5

After reading The Active Hip 2.0 feature in the Article section, I've tried to focus on moving my knees out as soon as I start to descend, rather than waiting until I'm half way down. I need a bit more practice to make the movement familiar, but I sure felt like going down was nice and easy.



Press

40 x5
60 x5
80 x5
92.5 x5 x5



Hang Power Snatch

Burgener warm-up
50 x3
65 x3
75 x2
85 x3 x7

Things are already slowing down a bit on this lift, and I also think there is still plenty of stuff to fix on the technical side, as can be seen from this video:

http://www.vimeo.com/8812221

As I tend to do with the Clean, I am too impatient and don't finish the pull completely. The third rep is a very good example, the bar starting from mid-thigh instead of taking off from closer to the groin. Plenty of work to do.



Given that my press is weak and my shoulders need all the work they can get, once I got home from the gym I spent the afternoon decorating the entrance at home. I have to say that I felt pretty chewed up once I finished. On the other hand, dinner tasted better, albeit with a slight wiff of paint.

IPB

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

I saw something quite unusual this morning in the gym: a young lady using the squat rack. It's the first in almost eight months. Her techinque had plenty of scope for improvement, and her depth was barely past negligible, but top marks for the effort. If only there was a proper instructor to encourage and guide her, I'm sure she could get a lot out of her time in the weightroom.

(Weight x reps x sets)
(Recovery day)


Power Clean

85 x5 deadlift
85 x3 hang clean
105 x3 hang clean
125 x1
125 x3 x3

Last night I went running. Nothing long, but at good pace (for my standards, obviously). This morning the bar was heavier than usual. No spring in the legs, and keeping an acceptable form was a bit of a struggle.


Bench

50 x5
80 x5
110 x3
125 x5 x3



Front Squat

40 x5
80 x5
110 x3
127.5 x5 x2

While doing this I realised I had been using almost the same weight the whole morning. I might increase the load on this exercise in the coming weeks. I'm keeping it at around 60% of the squat, but I think I can go a bit higher, to around 65%.



Pull-ups

2 x 4 four doubles
1 x 7 seven singles

Thought for the day: my pull-ups suck. Before I started SS (June 09) I could do seven good pull-ups. Pathetic, but almost certainly a lifetime best for me. Then I stopped, as they were not in the program. I'm back on them now, but I have also an additional 20# of bodyweight to move, and I can certainly feel the difference. Apart from the weight, I think my position is not correct, and I'll need to read again the relevant pages in the book.


IPB

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Thursday January 21st, 2010


I'm sitting on the bench in the changing room, after the shower. Another guy, a regular, looks puzzled as I put my two pairs of micro-plates away in the rucksack.

"Do you put weights in the bag as an extra-workout while walking ?"

I could try a joke, but I opt for an honest answer.
"Actually no. Fact is, the minumum increase in weight you can do with the discs we have here is 5 pounds, which on some lifts is too much for me. So I bought these micro plates to be able to make smaller increases"

Silence. Pause. The guy offers another comment.
"I guess not many people do that, right ?"

"I know, I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to training"


There's nothing like a bit of self-deprecation. It works every time.


(Weight x reps x sets)

(Intensity day)


Squat

50 x5
100 x5
150 x5
186 x2
206 x5

Technically, this is void. On the last rep, I went down too quick, and I touched the safety bar on the left. That's a real shame, I had it in me to finish the set properly, I only had to be less hasty. As a forfeit, next time I'll limit myself to 207.5, instead of the 210 I had in mind.



Press

40 x5
60 x5
80 x5
92.5 x2
102.5 x5 NO !

Geez, this felt real good, almost too good to be true. Indeed. As I start to put the discs away, I notice that my 2.5# plates are on the floor. I obviously forgot to put them on, so I was actually lifting only 100 pounds. After three minutes of self-abuse, I'm ready to give it another go. And this time all goes fine, five reps with the correct weight.

102.5 x5



Deadlift

100 x5
150 x5
200 x5
250 x1
257.5 x5
232.5 x5 back-off set

Grip showed a worrying tendency to open from the third rep onwards. I use a standard hook grip, and before my injury back in November, I could hold onto 270# without great problems. Of course, at the time I was deadlifting at least once a week, while now it's only once a fortnight. Got to think about this.


IPB

[Bergie]

Thursday January 21st, 2010


I'm sitting on the bench in the changing room, after the shower. Another guy, a regular, looks puzzled as I put my two pairs of micro-plates away in the rucksack.

IPB

I have had this happen as well. I use chains for my micro-weights. The guy commented that my carrying chains around made the rest of them look bad. I laughed and said, "no, it show that I am too weak on the press to make 5 lb jumps."

He gave me the deer in the headlights look and changed the subject.

Looks like your doing well so far with you intermediate program. Keep up the good work.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hi Bergie,

The guy commented that my carrying chains around made the rest of them look bad.

At least it didn't take you for some sort of S&M practitioner.

Looks like your doing well so far with you intermediate program. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the encouragement. It's early days, and I still have to conquer my fear of the 275# deadlift (which is the one that injured me).

IPB

[Bergie]

Hi Bergie,

Thanks for the encouragement. It's early days, and I still have to conquer my fear of the 275# deadlift (which is the one that injured me).

IPB

I understand that. I have a 245# squat coming soon. That's where I tore an adductor.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Saturday January 23rd, 2010


The house program is going well. Last Saturday it was the entrance, today it was time to freshen up the kitchen. That's quite a job, as I had to move lots of stuff out of the way, and there's plenty of tight, narrow spaces between the cupboards and the ceiling, unsuitable for a big brush like mine. At least the floor is carpet-free.
Same schedule as last Sunday: gym in the morning, redecoration in the afternoon. And same result too: I'm now pretty knackered.


(Weight x reps x sets)

(Volume day)

Squat
50 x5
100 x5
150 x4
175 x2
187.5 x5 x5

The grip didn't work very well today, I often felt the left elbow being squeezed a bit. I used a marginally narrower stance, to try and control better my movement, as I've seen in some videos that I tend to move just slightly towards the left.



Bench

50 x5
80 x5
120 x5
130 x2
141 x5 x5

A step backward with this lift. No problem with moving the bar, but the paths felt inconsistent. I also think I'm lowering the bar below the line of the nipples, towards the feet, and this is probably too much.



Power Clean

85 x5 deadlift
85 x3 hang power clean
105 x3 hang power clean
125 x1 x2
130 x3 x 8

I'm trying to learn to delay the jump, in order to make the bar come up straight, instead of moving away from me. In many occasions though I got too frantic, exploded the bar too soon, and had to chase it a bit to complete the lift. I got to make patience my mantra, but it's not coming easy.




After the session I had the nasty surprise to find a parking ticket on my car. Apparently I left it in a space reserved for vehicles "of a different class", whatever that means. I couldn't see any sign about this restriction, although I suspect the parking officers know what they are doing, and have set up everything to be legally watertight. After all, their job is to issue tickets. Seeing the equivalent of two months subscritpion to the gym evaportating like that filled me with a desire for vandalic revenge. It lasted only a few seconds, but I still feel like I was victim of an ambush.


IPB

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Monday, January 25th, 2010

The tube works today, so no need to use the car to get to the gym, and no need to bleed money to the Council vampires and their parking ticket enforcers. In case you ask, yes, I'm still very bitter about last Saturday's fine, although I've now mellowed my plans to sabotage all the ticket machines in the area.


(Key: Weight x reps x sets)

(Recovery day)


Hang Power Snatch

Burgener warm-up
40 x5
55 x4
60 x3
70 x2
75 x3 x3


Hang Clean Pull 140 x2 x3
Clean pull 140 x1 x3

My clean sucks (see for example: http://www.vimeo.com/8307530).
I've been trying to change it for a month now, and I spent some time thinking about it over the last WE too (I know, I shold get out more). I feel one of the areas that need improvement is the transition from first to second pull. As the bar goes above the knees, the knees are supposed to rebend slightly under the bar, ready for the explosion off the jumping position.
I dont' think I'm executing this correctly, and my jumping position is therefore a bit too upright, resulting in a bounce off the thighs.
For this reason, this morning I added a few pulls, for the hanging position and from the floor. I've got Power Cleans scheduled for Thursday, I'll try to video myself again and see if there is any progress.



Press

40 x5
65 x5
85 x5 x3


Front Squat

40 x5
80 x5
120 x3
130 x5 x2

I like this, it always leaves me with a nice feeling.


Chin-ups

2 x 8 eight doubles
1 x2 two singles



IPB

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Thursday, January 28th, 2010


There's one thing tha I like more than lifting, and that's riding my motorbikes. Last Sunday I finally managed an half hour ride on one of my babies. Half an hour is not much, but this is my summer bike, and it has been parked without turning a wheel for more than a month, due to bad weather and too much salt on the roads. It really needed some movement, at least to get the moisture out of the system.
What's the relevance with today's training ?

Well, the relevance is that I barely managed to close my riding suit. The legs were quite squeezed by the trousers, and the jacket (it's still the one I bought before I started SS) was really tight.
So, as a little experiment, I decided to eat just a bit less for the next few days. Nothing radical; just reduce milk intake by maybe a pint, cut a bit of carbs here and there, and see what happens.

Well, what happened is that this morning I felt marginally more sluggish in the gym, and some lifts were affected. Which was probably entirely predictable.

(Weight x reps x sets)
(Intensity day)


Squat

60 x5
110 x5
160 x4
190 x2
208.5 x 5

I stopped on the way up of the last rep. Just a brief pause, but a pause nonetheless. It's a bit early to start struggling, I hope this was just down to the reduced food intake of the last few days. And the bad night's sleep I had last night. Next time I'll make a really tiny increase to 210#, in order to get to a round figure, as I don't like to juggle too many fractional discs to get the working weight. From there on, it will be back to normal (small) increases.




Bench

60 x5
90 x5
120 x5
145 x2
156 x5

After the so-so squat, a decent bench. Weight was demanding, but always under control. A smidge more speed moving the bar up would have been great, but even so I am not complaining.




Power Clean

85 x3 x2 deadlit
85 x3 hang power clean
105 x3 hang power clean
125 x1 x2
135 x1 x2
142.5 x2 x5

Well, I'll got out on a limb and say these felt good. I thought the bar bounced less on my thighs, and travelled closer to me, on a more vertical path. I had an impartial observer with me (my camera), and tonight I'll see what's its opinion on these lifts.



Overall, this was a session that started weak, but grew stronger. Could have been worse.


Buona giornata,