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Will I stand up next to a mountain?
And chop it down with the edge of my hand?
My goal is to join the 1000# club by the end of this year.
I started a novice program in the summer of 2015, but only stayed with it for about 2 months, then started another novice program in January. On October 4th, I decided to switch to an intermediate HLM program, because lifting heavy more than once per week just became too much to recover from.
My stats at the beginning of HLM:
45 years old
6'0"
275 lbs
51" belly (VERY fluffy)
End of Novice PRs:
Squats - 350x5x3
Deadlift - 345x5
Bench Press - 210x5x3
Press - 149x5x3
First HLM workout:
Wednesday, October 12
Light Day
Planned/Actual:
Squat 285x5x3 - YES
Press 150x5x3 - NO (5,4,0)
Power Snatch 105x3x3 - NO
The gym has one platform, and the person who was on it spent a long time talking to one of the staff members, just standing next to the bar. Maybe I could have been more assertive, but the experience made me strongly consider getting a home gym.
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My goal is to join the 1000# club by the end of this year.
Friday, October 14
Medium Day
Squat 315x5x3 - YES
Paused Bench 185x5x3 - YES
Power Snatch 105x3x3 - YES
A good day! During light and medium squats, I concentrated on going down to full depth, and they felt good. The paused benches went well, though I might try incline benches for the next medium day. Did power snatches for the first time in several months, and it went well. I can definitely go up 5 lbs next time.
My eventual plan is to do power snatches on light days, power cleans on medium days, and deadlifts on heavy days, as described in PP. Never done power cleans before, so I'll watch some videos and start gently, and we'll see how that goes.
Last edited by ICTRob; 10-18-2016 at 05:05 PM.
Reason: put my goal at the top
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My goal is to join the 1000# club by the end of the year.
Monday, October 17
Heavy Day
Planned - Actual
Squat 350x5x3 - YES (ties novice PR)
Bench Press 213x5x3 - YES (new PR)
Deadlift 350x5 - NO
Did bench presses first, because the racks were occupied. They went well, and it's always encouraging when I bench more, because my upper body is much weaker than my legs. After that, the squats felt GREAT. I definitely got full depth on all sets, and while the last set was more difficult, it was never in doubt. However, I was absolutely blitzed/gassed/rekt/annihilated/pulverized/whatever, and had nothing left for deadlifts. I tried one warmup set of deads at 135, lifted the bar once, and I could barely do that.
It was still a great* day, but I might need to adjust work set volume to keep making gainzZz on *all* of the lifts.
* When I can finish one lift's work sets, I call it a good day. When I can do two lifts' work sets, it's a great day, and when I can finish all three work sets, it's a FANTASTIC day.
Last edited by ICTRob; 10-18-2016 at 05:05 PM.
Reason: put my goal at the top
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You may even raise a little sand.
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My goal is to join the 1000# club by the end of the year.
Wednesday October 19
Light day
Planned - Actual
Squat 290x5x3 - YES
Press 150x5x3 - NO - 150x4,3 135x5
Power Snatch 110x3x3 - YES
Realized yesterday that I stopped taking creatine, so today I started doing that again. I need to remember that. Squats were good, but 150# on the press has been a sticking point for several weeks. I might just try a reset at 135 next week and go up by 5s. The last set at 135 was pretty easy. Power snatches were OK if a bit awkward, but they will get better with practice. On Friday I will try power cleans for the first time. If I can do them, I'll do the work sets at 110, same as power snatches, to practice the movement pattern under a manageable load. If I can't seem to do them, I'll do power snatches again instead.
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My goal is to join the 1000# club by the end of the year.
Friday October 21
Medium Day
Planned - Actual
Squat 320x5x3 - YES
Bench 185x5x3 - NO - did 155x5x3
Deadlift/Power Snatch ??? - NO - (nothing)
In PP, Rip and Andy mention close grip bench presses as a good medium day pressing exercise. I thought that sounded cool, but what are they? Found the description in SS, and it turns out that's how I've been doing all of my "regular" bench presses since the beginning. So the good news is that I should be able to bench more with a wider, standard grip.
The bad news is that it's going to take a while to learn how to do that, so today I planned to do the new, standard BP at 185 or higher, but when I did the last warmup of 185x2, it didn't feel very secure, so I dropped down to 155 for the work sets. Unracking the bar is a bit more challenging, because the bar doesn't rise as far and clear the rack as easily. (I was using a bench press with curvy-style hooks on the rack, not straight pin supports.). Next week I might just do standard bench presses every HLM day, just to get more practice, and hopefully I will be able to add weight quickly.
I didn't do any pulls today. I wasn't totally gassed like I was after squats on Monday, but my right calf felt funny. It might have been a cramp. I really need to clean up my diet and get more rest, and every time I lift, it's blatantly obvious that better recovery would help my stamina to just DTP and get strong. This transition to intermediate is also a bit confusing, and I've thought about consulting with a coach...probably should do that.
Last edited by ICTRob; 10-21-2016 at 08:22 PM.
Reason: grammar
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My goal is to join the 1000# club by the end of the year.
Monday October 24
Heavy day
Planned - Actual
Squat 315x5x3 - YES
Bench 175x5x3 - YES
Deadlift 315x5 - YES
I reset my squats because while they were going up, I was too obliterated to do deadlifts afterwards. This might put my goal in jeopardy, but I want to bring my deadlift up along with my squat, and today I had enough in the tank to do both. I added 20# to last Friday's work set and it felt fine. I plan to do presses on Wednesday at 135, because they stalled at 149, and then standard grip benches again this Friday, with another increase, either 10# or 20#. My close grip bench work sets reached 213#, and I will do standard grip benches twice per week until they match the close grip number.
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My goal is to join the 1000# club by the end of the year.
Wednesday October 26
Light day
Squats 255x5x3 - YES
Press 135x5x3 - YES
Power Snatch 115x5x3 - YES
Squats were easy, which makes sense because I reset the weights. Presses made my shoulders and traps burn, even though that weight was reset, too. Snatches were great, until the very last rep when I put the bar down awkwardly. I was tired, and tried to do something in between dropping the bar from above my head vs. bringing it down to the jump position before going to the floor. It didn't work very well, and I ended up falling to the floor after the bar. No injuries, just a lesson not to do that again, whatever it was.
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My goal is to join the 1000# club by the end of the year.
Friday October 28
Medium day
Squats 285x5x3 - YES
Bench Press 185x5x3 - YES
Power Snatch 120x3x3 - YES
A fantastic day. Squats were smooth. Bench presses were solid, but definitely harder, and I might go up only by 5# next time. Power snatches had better form than last time, but I still have room for improvement. Thinking about doing farmer's walks for future Medium days instead of snatches, which I already do on light days. My grip is weak, and the farmer's walks could help with that.
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My goal is to join the 1000# club by the end of the year.
Monday October 31
Heavy day
Planned - Actual
Squat 320x5x3 - YES
Bench 190x5x3 - YES
Deadlift 320x5 - YES
Everything went well. I decreased my jump on bench press to 5#, and it was challenging but comfortable, if that makes sense. I should be able to bring my bench up past the 213# I was doing on close grip benches.
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