A Fresh Start

[MazdaMatt]

So 2010 has been a bad year so far (it is May 20th). It started out great with new PR's in everything, then I blew out my knee, shoulder and rib in a 6-week span and threw off my entire training regimine.

This week I start fresh. My injuries still worry me, but I'm going to try to train around them.

First two workouts will be SS "first workout" protocol. Start with the empty bar for a set of 5 and go up at reasonably large incriments doing 5's until the bar slows down, then do 2 additional sets of 5 to complete that day's 3x5.

Monday
Squat - knee pain. Major failure. Aweful way to start out. I worked up to 165 and I could not complete 5 because my knee was fucked.
Press - Worked up to 85lbs and the bar slowed, so I did 3x5 at 85.
PC - Fail... my hand was ripped apart before coming to the gym and pc's were not hand-frieendly. I will have to work this weight up to starting point on Friday.
Review: This was a fucking horrible workout. I hate my life.

Wednesday
Squat - did squats first, knee was fucked. Came back to squats after DL and Bench and was able to work up to 185 before the bar slowed, completed 3x5 at 185.
Deadlift - worked out of order because of my initial squat failure. Progressed up to 245lb before the bar slowed, so did 1x5@245. I suspect the bar would not be slow here if i didn't just do 5's at about 6-7 weights leading up to this. Oh well, it is a good starting point.
Bench - small incriments because my shoulder is kinda fucked. Managed to get up to 95lbs before shoulder pain slowed the bar, but I worked through it for 3x5. Again, i think i could have gone higher with fewer sets leading up, but conservative is a good way to be with injuries.

Eating is going well. I'm not going to be a calorie-nazi. I know how to gain weight. I'd rather have a glass of milk than a chocolate bar, any day, so milk is no biggie for me.

This log is a "Fresh Start" because I was doing some pretty effective training from last September up to late January of this year before hurting myself. Previous work weights:
Squat 225
Press 105
PC 145
Bench 155
Deadlift 275

I should be able to reach most of these weights in a few weeks. Bench won't go that high very fast because 155 was with "powerlifting" style (high arch, elbows in) and I'm now doing things how Rip explains. I SUCK at bench. Always have. Even when I did a LOT of benching in highschool I sucked at it.

I'm turning 27 in June. I am 5'11" and I weigh approx 185 at approx 12-14%bf.
Last year at this time I weighed 148 at approx 6%bf, this is my natural condition with no training or dieting.

Nothing to discuss so far, just letting you all know that I'm back on the wagon. I think that I may make the final dash to 200lbs over the course of the next couple months. I'm not trying to do The Program (maximum weight and strength gain in minimum time), I'm just trying to keep with the prescribed exercises and frequency and gain weight over time.

My goals are:
200lb bench single
300lb squat single
400lb dead single
Completed before Jan1,2011

Edit - hell, i might as well add 150lb press single as a goal. I've done 125 on my knees before... should work

[MazdaMatt]

Last Friday (May 21) was supposed to be a workout day, but beer ruined that, so I went on Saturday instead.

Started with some warmups and then tried to squat. Knee hurt a lot, but not as sharp as usual. I canned the squats anyway and moved on to OHP.

Press 90lbs 3x5 (solid, not easy).

I was weary of my knee but decided to try PC's anyway. I had the same weird sensation that my knee hurt in the start position, but as soon as i started to load it the pain went away and I was okay to lift. This was a "first attempt" workout for PC's so I ramped up 15-20lbs at a time using hang cleans because my gym doesn't have bumpers. When i got to 135, that felt good for the day's workout.

PC 135lb 5x3 (these WIPE ME OUT... I'm ready to pass out after 5 triples)

Went back to the squat rack and things felt better. Did warmup sets and then

Squat 190lb 3x5

Squat form needs to be solidified. I had a spotter that told me that my knees go back at the start of the ascent. A combination of "sit back" cue and knees out harder seems to sort this out and give me the hamstring bounce. When fatiguing I missed it a couple times and sure enough the knees slide back at the beginning of the ascent again. There was also definitely less pain in my knee when breaking parallel when I did this.

This is Tuesday and I'm going back to the gym tonight. Yesterday was a holiday and I was hung over and the gym closed early. This is again a 2-day break instead of sticking to a 1,1,2 break schedule. I'm fine with that. I fully intend to go to the gym on M,W,F, but I am happy to accept my consistency as long as I never have a 3-day break.

Things are going well so far.

[MazdaMatt]

Good day at the gym yesterday
Squat 195
Bench 100
Dead 250

No knee pain at all during the whole squat session. I guess knees out is fixing it. Oddly, though, i feel like I'm tracking my knees wider than they should be, like my shins are not vertical from the front, but tilted out. Maybe loose inner hip muscles allow this, or require it to get the stretch? Maybe it is in my head.

Bench is causing me some shoulder pain, but more of a hard ache than a sharp stab, so I'm just going to keep training it. Doctor told me not to allow stabbing pains, but some hurt is okay. I feel lame benching 100 and wincing and struggling to get it up.

Deadlifts... I warmed up too much, but the 250x5 went up with reasonable speed. I'm getting really wiped out by the end of my workouts even though i'm eating before I go. Must be the heat. I may take a gatorade or something next time. I had to breath 3-4 breaths between my last few reps.

I switched from treadmill warmup to C2 Rower warmup and I like it. I'm just watching calories on the display as a guage for my warmup. The first time i did it to 30 cals, yesterday to 40. I like 40.

Worst part of my training is my sleep and eating for the past few days. I got 5.5 hours of sleep last night and I'm out of milk since yesterday morning. I had a decent take-out breakfast today, but it was 2 hours after i woke up and the pint of milk was only 1% (but chocolate!). Last night's dinner was steak with egg, cheese, bread, beer and a 48g protein shake. That was definitely good, but the rest of the day sucked.

Today i left my fucking lunch at home, so I will eat nothing between 7:45 breakfast and noon lunch. I suck.

[MazdaMatt]

Oh yeah, I weighed in yesterday at 188lbs. That is exactly 40lbs above my weight when I started training last July 1st. And all these years I thought I was a "hardgainer".

[gamedog]

Oh yeah, I weighed in yesterday at 188lbs. That is exactly 40lbs above my weight when I started training last July 1st. And all these years I thought I was a "hardgainer".

LOL I used to think I was, too. So did everybody. Turns out, I just never ate enough.

I'm not joking when I tell you that in 2003, I weighed in at a staggering 140 pounds. LOL And I'm 6 feet tall. Before that, in college, for the span of a few short months I was doing a program that could best be described as a "body building split" ... never got bigger. I just figured "I'm skinny" LOL

This morning I weighed in at 238 pounds. 238 pounds man! And I'm not fat. Doughey perhaps but that comes with the territory, but not by any means fat. And folks around here have asked me, recently, if I have been using steroids LOL

It's cool when you can make a positive change for yourself. You can build a healthy, strong body and it's an amazing accomplishment. Probably even more amazing than a lot of other things. And nobody can take it away from you, the fact that you did this incredible thing.

Keep it up, keep getting stronger!

[MazdaMatt]

Thanks, and congrats on damn near 100 pounds!

I'm 5'11" right now. I was no less than 5'10" when I joined highschool wrestling at 115lbs. Highschool and University thickened me up to 140 via excessive use of my deepfrier (though i was always low bodyfat) and a love for huge steaks. Now I've got it figured out and I can gain at whatever pace I want to. I think I'll be comfortable at 200lbs, but I said that about 175 when I weighed 150!

On that note, I said above that i forgot my lunch and I have been out of milk. So i went out and got a double bacon delux and a liter of milk. 1540 cals and 91 grams of protein for lunch. Booyah.

[MazdaMatt]

Yesterday

Squat 200 - easy, no knee pain. I think I have solved my problem
Press 95 - easy. 5th rep was slightly slow on set 2 and 3, but nothing compared to how slow a press CAN get.
PC 140 - Easy, but I'm getting gassed bad doing these.

So I was thinking about how fucking tired I am when I get to PC's and Deads at the end of my workout and I KNOW that being this tired will affect my ability to drive the weight up, especially as the exercises leading up to them get heavier.

I worked out starting at 5:45 yesterday. At 3:00 I had a pint of milk with 45 or so grams of added protein. At 5:30 I had a thick peanut butter sammich and a pint of milk. 2 pints is 640cals and the added protein, hearty serving of peanut butter and two slices of bread must have been a couple hundred more. Is this HONESTLY not enough cals available to my system to keep going?

I ask that question because I thought about creatine. I don't know much about it, but I seem to understand that it can help keep you going if you drink it during a workout.

The alternative is more food, but I am not sure if my guts could handle that and still work out properly. I farted doing a few squats as it is and I had to stop between reps to swallow after an acidic burp... I'm full!

Thoughts anybody?

[gamedog]

I had a chicken thigh, leg, and half a breast, along with two pints of milk, and a cup of almonds for my first lunch. Along with a HUGE spinach salad. Finished up about an hour before I went to the gym. I did fine on that. I'm eating the other half of the chicken, and drinking more milk, now.

Here's a tip ... Avoid fish and/or cesar salad dressing AT ALL COSTS if the meal is < 2 hours before working out. THOSE burps are awful.

Regarding caloric intake, I find that good ol' dark meat chicken, with a nice spinach salad works great. There's plenty of good fat in the skin, it satiates nicely and the veggies help my stomach feel settled. Add some nuts in there for slow-burning complex carbs and youre good to go.

[MazdaMatt]

Oh yeah, tuna burps in the bottom of a squat are just awesome.

That was just what I supplimented within the couple hours before the gym. I had a HUGE chunk of (incidentally) tuna at lunch with some other shit.

I guess I'll just try to have some greasy meat on my last break at work (2:30) on workout days and still try to get a peanut butter sammich down, too. I have always had a high metabolism and have always been pretty easy to get wiped right out, light headed and weak. Especially in heat. I tried to keep drinking water, too, but I found that I was always keeping my stomach topped up to where more water would make me sick... no success.

[gamedog]

You just said something that stood out... "light headed and weak." Now, I'm not a nutritionist, and you might want to run this by Johnny Pain, but, I find that, along with the water, salt helps me, too. For the electrolytes. Without them I get weak, nautious and lightheaded. LOL when I was on the 5x5 program, I was up to 130 lbs. on the squat, and I puked in the middle of my last set LOL I didn't blow chunks all over the place, I kept my mouth shut on the way back up, once I was out of the hole, I swallowed HARD, then finished the set. I noticed I don't get woozy in the gym if I have the salted almonds or pistachios an hour or so before I hit the gym. Make sure you get the kind with the good sea salt on there, not that iodized table salt crap ;-) And stay hydrated. This might help you ;-)