1 plate, 2 plates, 3 plates (4?)

I've kept a handwritten log for a couple of years. I started using the SS app for an LP this year. I hope an online log will also help with accountability.

The title refers to my modest goals for 1RMs: 135 press, 225 bench, 315 squat and deadlift, and 405 DL as an outside possibility. I'm a 53 year old man, 6', 188, with a sedentary job that requires occasional travel. I had an ACL reconstruction over 10 years ago and a follow up arthroscopy due to scar tissue.

Entering my first official powerlifting meet should also help accountability. I entered the USAPL's annual Powerlifting for Pups that will be held at Atlanta Barbell on August 13th. I wanted to enter last year but procrastinated and it filled up fast.

I did the Starting Strength October Iron Fest in Atlanta in 2014. They haven't had it in Atlanta again since and I'm not sure I could travel to other cities to do it in the future.

I started an LP 1/1/16 at 181 and about 21% body fat according to FitBit. I spent the fall day-hiking as much of the Georgia Appalachian Trail as I could each weekend. As much as I enjoy being out there, and losing body fat despite gorging, because of burning 4000 calories a day, it seemed catabolic and at odds with progressive strength training.

I don't power clean anymore, as much as I used to enjoy it, to be on the safe side regarding my knee. I squat, alternate bench and press, and alternate deadlift and chin.

My LP started at 3 days a week, then went to every 72 hours, then went to a 2 days a week, light/heavy. The heavy day is always a weekend, since I'm off work, so the light day during the week is Tuesday or Wednesday, subject to my travel schedule.

5/28/16
BW 188.8, BF 24.1% (FitBit)
Garage
Whey and oatmeal shake 1:30 before
BCAAs and creatine before and after
Iced coffee during
8 minutes timed rest before and between work sets
Heavy day:
SQ 230x5
BP 172x5, 155x5
DL 280x4 (hook grip)
I choose not to acknowledge that 2 plate (and above) mental barrier I seem to have for SQ.
I'm thinking I'm not bringing my elbows in enough for BP. My pinkies are just inside the 32" ring on the bar. Maybe I should cue myself to touch and go on my belly, not my sternum.
On DL, I tried giving each joint of my thumb its own piece of tape, but it was falling off after my last warmup so I had to reapply. I'll go for 280x5 next heavy day. Maybe I'm looking at that 3 rep, 4 rep, 5 rep progression in the "elderly" section of the current PPST.
I plan my yard work for right after I train, to avoid spoiling my rest days. Does that qualify as post-lifting conditioning?
I used to nap religiously on weekends. But I find I get a much better night's sleep if I tough it out during the afternoon...even if it does put me in bed by 10:00 on a Saturday night. That solid 8 hours makes all the difference to me, all week long.

Welcome. I have very similar goals at the moment. Good luck

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Agilic

Welcome. I have very similar goals at the moment. Good luck

---

Thank you. I'll look for your log, too, if you have one. Do you or did you play basketball? I vaguely remember that. I ask because that's how I tore the ACL lo, these many years ago. Effin' 40 and over rec league.

Yup, you got me right. Basketball season recently ended. Tore up my ankle real bad a couple times playing ball, but knock on wood I have healthy knees at the moment. My log is "still trying to lift more at the shore". I'm very sleep deprived with dual careers, late hours, and early rising child, but when my wife's school year ends in about 3 weeks and I'm able to sleep more, I'm going to run an LP again and would be very happy to hit the 1/2/3/4 plate numbers.

Since Saturday was my heavy day, ordinarily I would have next trained (light) on Tuesday. But tomorrow I have to head out of town (driving 1000 miles round trip) and won't be back home until Thursday night.
5/30/16
Garage
BW 191.7, BF 23.9%
BCAAs and creatine before; creatine after (ate immediately)
Iced coffee during
Light
SQ: 185x5
On light day, I usually do 90% of my heavy day. But since I was squatting a day earlier, I made it 80%. I worked up in 5 ascending sets of 5.
P: 103x2 (FML)
I was going for 3 but I probably lost tightness on the 3rd. I did two more descending sets: 93x3, 80x5. I have been doing the first rep as version 2.0 and the subsequent reps version 1.0, touch and go. During my LP, my 5RM was 95 before I missed a rep at 96. I think I'll reset to 96, go back to 5 rep sets, and consider doing the whole set as version 2.0.
CHINS: ladder: 1,2,3,4,1,2,1. I seem to do better at random sets of 5 post-workout with generous rest, to accumulate volume (mow the lawn, do a set, leaf blower, do a set, etc.).

I'm looking forward to my next workout. I scheduled a coaching session with an SSC at Atlanta Barbell for Saturday morning.

It will be interesting to see how I feel by then, when I get back home. I drove over 500 miles for work today. I have a full day meeting tomorrow and then will drive the 500 miles back on Thursday. As others have said, even if you don't take up the challenge of training on the road, normal habits of eating, hydrating, and sleeping still have to be considered. I guess I'm a creature of habit, because I always end up at Cracker Barrel.

I assume a coach wants to see a trainees lifts with their own 2 eyes. They probably don't want the trainees opinion of things that need adjustment. Trading alone in my garage, I haven't had eyes on me in almost 2 years.

But these are the things I wonder, even when I watch my own videos:
On SQ: are my knees forward enough? Do I have knee slide? Am I hitting depth consistently?
On BP: is my grip too wide (right shoulder tweak)? Do I keep my scaps retracted throughout the set? Do I set up my arch in an optimal way?
On DL: do I have enough knee extension to start?
Overall program: do I have enough volume? Should I start doing singles across 7 weeks out from the meet?

"So, is it Mister 'Clean'"?

Bless her heart. That's what the well-meaning cashier at the Cracker Barrel in Arkansas asked me. She saw my name on the credit card and was trying to pin down the correct pronunciation.

Also appropos of my road diet: unlike their commercials, there were no hotties eating Thickburgers when I stopped at Hardee's for lunch in Mississippi. Pro-tip: while you're eating it, keep your burger in that little wax paper envelope they serve them in.

When I got home and checked, the scale said my road diet and long drive had added 2 pounds since I left.

Let us know how your coaching session goes, should be awesome.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Agilic

Let us know how your coaching session goes, should be awesome.

---

Will do. There's 3 SSCs at Atlanta Barbell and they scheduled me with Niki Sims.

Speaking of awesome, they just moved to a new, bigger location. I won't see it until tomorrow, but based on the Facebook photo, "awesome" seems like an understatement.