Norman's Log

[thefinalsql]

I do keep a log at StrongLifts, which has now become private. Thusly, I am creating this log so I can have a public one.

How I came to be where I am right now:

Heart attack, June 3rd 2008. 346 pounds, 56" inch waist at the time.

For the next year I did Atkins diet and a lot of walking.

June 2009 I started lifting weights bw 295 - 305 pounds. I was getting stronger, but did not have a plan in place.

August 2009 discovered StrongLifts, 305ish pounds when I started. I bumped up the weight fairly quickly on squats and dead lifts initially, but then got into the groove of 5 more pounds every workout.

July 2010 made it to 1.5 BW squats, 470 pounds at 312bw.

August - October/November 2010 attempted a cut and failed. Body weight now in the 320 pound range.

November 2010 - present. Went back to what I know StrongLifts. Ate like a mad man to lift some heavy weight. Reduced squat to 3x5 and took it all the way to 500 pounds. Also got my dead lift to 1x5x500pounds. After this tested my one rep maxes on squat and dead lift did 545 and 585 pounds for both.

My first competition was 12.11.2010 1277 pound total.

My second competition was 2.19.2011 1515 pound total 600 for squat/dead 315 for bench.

I feel I am ready to attempt a cut again and will be doing so for the month of March. I will then return to StrongLifts. Still trying to exhaust my beginner gains.

I am planning for my next competition to be in June or July.

I am 45 years old. 6'4" 345 pounds 53 inch waist.

My next goals are 700 pound squat/dead or compete in a weight class other than SHW. Which ever comes first.

[hamburgerfan]

Good luck with your lifting.

[kittenSmash]

Glad you decided to start a log here Norman. Your last meet you rocked it. Stay strong, I look forward to following your log.

[thefinalsql]

Thx guys!

Double header softball game. I'm the DH, so I did not do much but get winded a few times running around the bases.

I can honestly say I am tired of eating. All this un-dieting I have been doing has taken a toll. One thing I just noticed though. Usually when I eat to much sugar and white carbs I cannot hold them down and end up vomiting a lot. But, in this last bulk while lifting heavy I have consumed every kind of junk food you can imagine and a lot of it, and have not even had so much as any heartburn at all let alone vomiting.

Tomorrow(later this morning it appears) I am kicking it off with a 10 fast. I want to get rid of all my cravings, lose a few pounds, and detox. I have no worries of losing strength, last year I fasted 13 days and was able to squat 5x5 @470 in less than 4 months. I am much stronger now and believe I will be able to recoup strength much quicker this time.

After the 10 day fast I plan on doing eat stop eat and fast 2 days a week, following what Mehdi(StrongLifts) wrote up on it. I tend to eat a lot of food coming off of a fast so I figure coming off a fast 2 days a week is better than coming off of a fast every day.

I also bought a proper yoga mat so I can do some yoga while on the fast. Yoga for Big Bastards

Leading up to my last meet I ate whatever I wanted and progressively lifted at a pretty good clip.

For the month of March I am going to try to eat as little as possible and lift whatever I can. Then in April back to the heavy weights.

[thefinalsql]

Day 2 of the fast. Going pretty good. Getting a lot of headaches, probably caffeine withdrawals.

Been doing my Yoga. Getting a Yoga mat made a huge difference. It is only 5mm thick, but does it job very well.

Almost had to by a girly pink one. Bent over to look in the shelf and found a green one. Took the last one. Odd that pink ones where fully stocked and there was just that last green one. Maybe a bunch of big bastards have started Yoga, lol.

The scale I weighed myself on I am ready to throw in the trash. It is broke/very inaccurate. The weight loss in the end does not really matter, because I know I will gain most of it back. Also did not take any body measurements. Where ever I am at when I am done is where I am at. I need to accept my bodycomp change is going to take a long time.

Have a checkup tomorrow at the Dr. I never did fill that prescription for cholesterol. So I am hoping for some good numbers so my Dr. won't be too upset. However, just coming off the biggest bulk of my entire life, I cannot be too hopeful.

[Les Hahn]

I was looking at your goals, do you think that the 308's will be the best place for you to compete? I have been thinking about it myself, and my first goal is 308, and then maybe 275's. What do you see as your final goal?

Either way, I hope the fast goes well for you. Take care.

[thefinalsql]

Fast is going very well. I would like to get down to 275 class.

[thefinalsql]

Squats 1x10, 1x7 @ 405 pounds [rep pr]
Bench Press 2x10 @ 225 pounds [rep pr]
Rows 2x9 @ 225 pounds [rep pr]

The cut is over. The cut has been cut. I just learned the APF Master Nationals are being held May 14th and 15th in Fort Worth Texas. I have been bitten by the competition bug. Even better, there are no national totals for Master II SHW raw. All I got to do is not bomb out and I am in the record books.

So happy to be back to lifting again. Thought I would take it easy. Go high reps this time just to get used to lifting again.

Squats: 405x20 is going to be very hard. Managed 1x10, 1x7. Not bad for not lifting for almost a month. I need to remember to practice with my belt on. Going to ramp up pretty quick to 495 over the next few workouts and then start grinding. Thinking of 3x3 over 1x5. Not sure which one lets you progress further.

Bench: 225 for 10 reps gave me a head rush. This is the lift I need the most practice on. There are some guys at the gym that bench on Sunday's and Thursday's I will probably join them.

Rows: Rows for reps are harder than bench. Once dizziness and sloppiness sets in time to stop. For me, I can tell when this happens as each side of the barbell does not hit the ground at the same time.

I am pumped for this competition. If I can work myself to 1600+ pounds I will be very pleased. That would be roughly 30 more pounds for each lift from the last competition. Pretty sure I can get that for squat and bench. Not as sure on dead lift. I will have a better idea in a month as for what I can shoot for.

[thefinalsql]

Last Friday

Squats 455 pounds 1x5, 1x3
OHP 5x5 @ 135 pounds
Dead lifts 315 pounds 1x5

Well, as excited as I was last workout I tried to do too much too fast this time. I also probably did not eat enough food.

Squats - first set of 5 made me extremely dizzy. Dropped to 3 reps for the second set. Forgot I wanted to practice wearing the belt, so I strapped it on and walked out for the third set, was still feeling dizzy and somewhat exhausted. I re-racked the weight without attempting. Not screwing around with 455 pounds. Safety first, lessoned learned.

OHP - Did a few warm up reps behind the neck.

Dead Lift - I was so exhausted just wanted to do some to say I did some.

I have noticed taking some time off really let my body heal and I am more limber. Yoga helped with that also. Very easy to get under the bar now for squats.

[thefinalsql]

Forgot to mention last workout was Friday. Workout below was yesterday

Squats 3x5 @ 425 pounds
Bench Press 3x5 @ 245 pounds
Rows 3x5 @ 245 pounds

Squats - These were tough, but I pushed through. No dizziness this time. I did feel these in my quads, which is unusual. I can tell I am still getting into the rhythm of things.

Bench Press - Felt solid. Also tough. I feel stronger. I was going slow down and up.

Rows - Still harder than Bench. Probably takes more to recover for Rows than Bench.

Someone brought in a new kettle bell. It is 70.5 pounds. I must swing it. So I did 1x5 and 2x10 kettle bell swings. I was breathless after the second set. The third was actually easier. First set I hit the ground on rep 5. Takes a couple of swings to get the full ROM at 70.5 pounds.