Work in Progess

[Mr.City]

Hello one and all. This is my training log.

Stats
Weight: 235 lbs
Height: 6'3
Experience: "toyed around" with weight lifting for a while, i.e: Men's Health routines and the like. I finally picked up SS and got serious. Have been on it since late June/early July.

Dilemma: I hit a sticking point in early August. It was started with squat failure at 285 lbs and deadlift failure around 290 lbs. The squat stall was more pronounced, failing after 1-2 reps on the very first set. The deadlift stall was more subtle; I failed my fifth and final rep at 290 lb. This was on a Monday. The next time I deadlifted, Friday, I was only able to complete one rep.

I took this as a sign to move into the more advanced stages of SS: deadlifting/ cleaning once a week with front squats on Wednesday.

Deload: This sounds odd, but I had to deload within a deload. I dropped the weight on my squat and deadlift by 20%. At 260 lbs, my squat felt fine. However, my deadlift was still a bastard, only allowing me one rep at the deloaded weight. I actually started to stall on the squat again around 275 lbs. I took this as a sign to move towards a more intensive deload; sets of single, doubles, and triples with the deloaded weight as prescribed in Practical Programming.

The intensive deload is over, and I return back to my regular routine Monday. I believe I may have deconditioned myself somewhat during the deload. I lost the "sweet spot" technique-wise with my squats.


Contents: I plan on posting my diet, routine, successes and failures, and progress as a means of keeping track of my results that will ensure dedication and allow me to pinpoint any trouble spots.

Monday's routine:
SQ 260 5x3
BP 190 5x3
Chin-ups complete til failure

[Mr.City]

Today's diet
1: 1/2 cup of oatmeal mixed with 2% milk and 3 scrambled eggs

2. 1/2 cup of almonds

3: 1 can of Campelle's Chunky Chilli

4: Porkchops with mashed potatoes and vegetables (only thing to eat before I head back on the train)

[Mr.City]

Welp, today was horrible. I could barely squat a few reps of 260 lbs. I went down to 245 lbs and still had difficultly getting 5 reps. I unfortunately had to skip the bench press today simply because there were far too many people at my gym. I had at least six guys in line ahead of me.

My chins also seem to be shaky. I used to be able to do three, however one was a struggle-managed to do it- and preceded to jumping chins for the rest of the three sets.

It's apparent that I'm either still fatigued or have been getting weaker.

Diet:
1) Eggs, fruit, 2 sausage patties, glass of 1/2 skim milk/chocolate milk
2) grilled vegetables, 3 chicken breasts, glass of skim milk, 1/2 cup of mac n' cheese
3) grilled salmon, pork, 1/2 glass of chocolate milk, grilled vegetables, 1/2 cup of mac n' cheese

[misspelledgeoff]

seems like you're eating kind of slim for a big guy. are you trying to cut weight/fat on SS? I'm probably eating 3X what you are and have stabilized around 225 but at a much shorter 5'11".

[Mr.City]

I forgot to mention half a can of almonds that I ate later on. I see what you're saying though. I should mention that I eat at my campus dining, pretty much an all you can eat buffet. I stuff myself three times a day with almost nothing but protein, meat, eggs, milk, etc. I don't list amounts since I don't have a way of really measuring them.

[misspelledgeoff]

Gotcha. I remember those days! Nothing like all-you-can-eat meal plan.

[Mr.City]

Hamstrings and abductors are might sore today. Going to take it easy on the squat tomorrow since I'm going to be deadlifting. It feels somewhat pointless to try to DL 260 when 245 is giving my squats trouble. Time will tell. I'm considering resetting my squat and deadlift back to 205 and just working my way back up from there. It seems excessive, but it's the only thing I have left besides taking a break from the gym entirely.

Tomorrow's routine
SQ 205 3x5
BP 175 3x5
DL 260 1x5

[Mr.City]

Yesterday's diet
1: Omelet, scrambled eggs, skim milk, grapefruit, sausage, bacon
2: BBQ beef, pork, fried veggies
3: Chicken, pork, steamed green beans, milk

[Mr.City]

Results

SQ 205 3x5
BP 175 3x5
DL 260 0x5

I'm fairly convinced I have mono. I've been on a deload for over a month and now I only seem to be getting weaker. This is the only thing I can think of. The squats were managable, the bench felt heavy and difficult to control, and the deadlift, to quote Gary Gibson, "felt welded to the floor." The fatigue isn't going away and only seems to growing. Time for a doctor.

[Mr.City]

Went to the campus doctor today, and he told me that I don't have mono since, in addition to fatigue, I should very sore throat and enlarged lymph notes. I don't know what this is then. I'm taking a week off from the gym and will probably start back up with light weight.