North Mississippi Rat Eaters

[snyderman3000]

I've decided to move my log over here from strengthvillain.com. The moderation of personal logs has gotten irritating. Plus, accessing these forums from my phone (which is how I mostly access them) is much easier. I've also decided to go ahead and copy all the workouts from the old log, just to have everything in one place.

From old log:

Background: Hello everyone. I've been lurking here for awhile and have finally decided to start a log. A little about me... I'm 28 years old and live in Southaven, MS, which is just outside of Memphis, TN. I was in the USMC Reserves and was deployed in late 2007. At the time, I was a weak, fat 230 lbs. I got into crossfit on the deployment and got down to about 195 pounds. I will still pretty weak though. I bought Starting Strength and tried to do it on the deployment, but I was still doing WOD's, so I never got much out of it. After I got back home, I got a job as a cop. I continued half-assedly doing crossfit at my house for the next year or so. Last summer, I decided I wanted to run the St. Jude Marathon. I ran a lot and lost what little muscle I had acquired through crossfit. After a disappointing finish at the marathon (I was 10 minutes shy of reaching my goal of 4 hours), I decided that I wanted to just shelve any type of cardio for awhile and just get strong. I started SS back in December of 2010. When I first started, my knees were so shot that I could barely even do a squat with an empty bar. My starting weights were as follows:

Squat: 115
Bench: 115
Press: 85
Deadlift: 185

Current Plan: After about a month of SS, I ran into this website and saw the Greyskull LP. I decided that squatting only twice per week and finishing each movement with an AMRAP set sounded like a better long term approach. I started Greyskull LP on January 10. So far, I have been extremely happy with the program. I haven't had to reset any lifts yet, and squatting only twice per week makes a world of difference on how my body feels. I also started frequency method chin-ups at 5 reps. I started doing straight barbell curls, but I've been experiencing some tendinitis in my right elbow. I don't know if it is from frequency pull-ups, straight bar curls, or Rip-style-narrow-grip-elbows-up squats (as JP suggested in another post). I'm experimenting with all 3 trying to determine the culprit.

Equipment: Right now, I'm working out in my backyard. I have a bench, an olympic bar, a Stud Bar pull-up bar, 1 & 1.5 pood KB's, rings, and some squat racks that I made out of 2x4's, 5 gallon buckets, and some quick-crete. I recently purchased an Elite FTS economy belt, and that has made a huge improvement in my squats. I purchased the neck harness from Elite as well, but it is backordered, so I haven't been doing those yet. For shoes, I'm just using Chuck's for now, but hoping to get some lifting shoes soon.

Nutrition: As of right now, it is complete fucking garbage. I started my lifting in December weighing 199 lbs. I have a naturally large frame, so that weight wasn't particularly muscular or fat for me. I started drinking about a half gallon of whole milk per day and just eating whatever. As a cop, I get free Sonic, McDonald's, Taco Bell, and half price at a lot of other fast food places. I work 12 hour shifts from 7pm-7am, and if I get hungry past midnight, it usually means McDonalds or Krystal. Luckily, my body has been pretty forgiving. I'm currently 220-225 lbs and haven't gained too much fat while getting a lot stronger. As far as supplements go, I've been drinking 1-2 protein shakes/day along with 5 mg creatine/day. That's about it besides fish oil, glucosamine, multi-vitamin, and melatonin at bed time. I'm wanting to try to get up to 300g of protein/day, which is surprisingly hard to do.

Where am I now?: I have been going for 2 months now without any resets. My most recent lifts have been:
Squat: 245 x 5,5,7
Bench: 200 x 5,5,9
Press: 130 x 5,5,9
Deadlift: 280 x 5
Curls: 70x 12,12
FM chins: 8

Goals: My long term goal is to hit 500/400/300/200. I also plan on starting work towards VC1 this week and will probably start gradually adding conditioning back to my training as well. My wife is due to give birth to our daughter on April 6, and I sort of set that in December as my arbitrary date to get back into conditioning. That was when I had the conditioning-destroys-LP mindset. Basically, my main goal is to make sure that I can beat the shit out of any bad guys that decide to be non-compliant.

2/28/11:

Press: 135 x 5,5,8
Squat: 225 x 5,5,10

I showed a set from my last workout (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llcAjO63BrE) to a friend of mine whose been doing this longer than me. He recommended I deload and work on keeping my knees out, which I think was some solid advice. I also switched from Chuck's to work boots, which helped me narrow my stance. Here's the first set from today's 225: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSP95w7UCKM

I think they look better.

3/2/11:

Bench- 205 x 5,5,9
Power Clean- 95x5, 135x3, 155x1, 165x1, 175x1
Deadlift- 285x5

3/4/11:

Press: 135x5,5,8
Squats: 230x5,5,10

Squats were brutal. Felt like I was going to puke for about 20 minutes afterward. I'm a long way from BWx50 on the squats. I don't even know if I would ever put myself through that.

On a different note, got the Yohimbine in the mail yesterday (only 2 days after ordering it from Amazon). That shit is potent! I took one in the morning and one after lunch, and I don't see myself upping the dosage any time soon. Also, I received an email from Elite that my neck harness I ordered a month ago has finally shipped. Good news.

3/7/11:

Bench: 210x5,5,8
Squat: 235x5,5,10

Video of last squat set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3k7WKexJ-o


3/9/11:

Press: 140x5,5,7
Power cleans: 95x5, 135x3, 155x1, 165x1
Sumo deadlift: 285x5

Sumo deadlifts felt strong. Lower back is definitely feeling better afterwards.

3/12/11:

Bench: 210x5,5,9
Squat: 240x5,5,8
FM Chins: 7 reps

Decided to start increasing my bench every other workout, since I don't have the plates to micro-load it and I'm pretty sure a stall is in my near future.

3/14/11:

Press: 143x5,5,6
Squat: 245x5,5,10
FM Chins: 7 reps

Squats felt really strong. Much easier than last time I did 245.

3/16/11:

Bench: 215x5,5,8
Power Clean: 95x5, 135x5, 155x1, 170x1, 180x1
Sumo Deadlift: 290x5
FM Chins: 7 reps

I think 180 might be a power clean PR for me. I could probably get 200 or so if I had some bumper plates. If I drop 200, I'm sure it would crack my patio. This is my third week doing sumo deadlifts and the lower back tightness is nearly gone. Now, if I could just get rid of this nagging elbow pain.

3/22/11:

Neck Harness: 25x25x4
Press: 145x5,5,6
Weighted Chins: BW+5x8x2
Squat: 250x5,5,7

3/24/11:

Bench: 215x5,5,9
Power Clean: 95x5, 135x3
Sumo Deadlift: 295x7
Neck Harness: 25x50,35,25
1.5 Pood Kettlebell Snatch, AMRAP in 5 mins: 70 reps
FM Pull-ups: 5 reps

3/26/11:

Press: 147.5x5,5,6
Neck Harness: 25x40x3
Squats: 255x5,5,DNF
FM Pull-Ups: 4

3/28/11:

Bench: 220x5,5,7
Neck Harness: 25x45x3
1.5 Pood KB snatches: 100 reps in 10 minutes
FM Pull-Ups: 5 reps

3/30/11:

Press: 150x5x3
Neck Harness: 25x50x3
Weighted Chins: BW+10x8,6
FM Pull-Ups: 5 reps
Burpees: 11x3- 30,31,31

4/1/11:

Bench: 225.5x5,5,7 (Last Set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOPtyrViHZo)
Neck Harness: 35x25x4
FM Pull-Ups: 5

4/5/11:

Press: 152.5x5x3
Neck Harness: 35x30x4
Weighted Chins: BW+15x5x2
100 KB swings (1.5 pood): 4:50

4/7/11:

Bench: 225x5,5,7
Neck Harness: 35x35x4
Burpees: 14x3- 41s, 42s, 43s

4/9/11:

Press: 155x5x3
Neck Harness: 35x40x4
Weighted Chins: 15x7,6
Squats: 215x5,5,10

Started squats back up today. Felt really good.

4/11/11:

Bench: 227.5x5,5,7
Neck Harness: 35x45x3
Squat: 225x5,5,10

4/14/11:

Press: 157.5x5x3
Neck Harness: 35x50x4
Weighted Chins: +20x6,5
Power Cleans: 95x5, 135x3, 155x1, 175x1, 185x1
Sumo Deadlift: 300x5

[snyderman3000]

4/15/11
Fasted Cardio: 40 min walk
FM Chins: 5x2

4/16/11
Fasted Cardio: 40 min walk
Bench: 230x5,5,6
Neck Harness: 50x25x3
Squat: 230x5,5,12
FM Chins: 5x2

4/17/11
Fasted Cardio: 45 min walk
FM Chins: 5x2

4/18/11
Fasted Cardio: 30 min walk
Press: 160x4,5,5 (knew I was getting close to a reset, will give 160 another shot)
Weighted Chins: +20x6x2
Neck Harness: 50x25x4
Squats: 235x5,5,10

4/19/11
Fasted Cardio: 30 minute walk
FM Chins: 5x3

4/20/11
Fasted Cardio: 45 minute walk
Bench Press: 232.5x5,5,6
Neck Harness: 50x30x4
Sumo Deadlift: 302.5x6 (need to get more weight, this is all my plates!)
FM Chins: 5x3

4/21/11
FM Chins: 5x3

4/22/11
Press: 160x5x3
Weighted Chins: 20x7,6
Squat: 240x5,5,10

4/25/11
Fasted Cardio: 45 min walk
FM Chins: 5x3 (might start adding sets soon, just don't want to get the elbows flared up again)
Bench: 235x5,5,6
Neck Harness: 50x45x4
Squats: 245x5,5,10

4/26/11
Fasted Cardio: 30 min walk
FM Chins: 5x3

4/27/11
Fasted Cardio: 30 min walk
Press: 162.5x3x5 (Could only get 3 reps per set, so I did 5 sets. Definitely reset time.)
Weighted Chins: +25x5x2
Power Cleans: 95x5, 135x3, 155x2
Sumo Deadlift: 305x7

4/29/11
Bench: 235x5,5,6
Neck Harness: 50x50x4
Squat: 250x5,5,6

4/30/11
Fasted Cardio: 45 min walk
FM Chins: 5x3

5/2/11
Fasted Cardio: 50 min walk
FM Chins: 5x3

5/3/11
Fasted Cardio: 1 hour of vacuuming and mopping (fuck yeah that counts)
Press (reset): 145x5,5,9 (could of gotten 10, but I smacked the shit out of my chin with the bar)
Neck Harness: 50x55x4
Weighted Chins: +25x6x2
Squat: 255x5,5,8

5/4/11
Fasted Cardio: 40 min walk
FM Chins: 5x4

5/5/11
Fasted Cardio: 40 min walk
FM Chins: 5x4

5/6/11
Fasted Cardio: 40 min walk
FM Chins: 5x4
Bench: 237.5x5x3
Neck Harness: 50x55x4
Power Clean: 155,175,190(PR)
Deadlift: 310x6

5/7/11
Fasted Cardio: 40 min walk
FM Chins: 5x4
Conditioning: 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1, Burpees & KB Swings: 8:55, holy shit, that was terrible

5/9/11
Bench: 240x5x3
Neck Harness: 50x60x4
Squat: 260x5,5,6

5/11/11
Press: 147.5x5,5,8
Weighted Chins: 25x7x2
Neck Harness: 50x60x4
Power Clean: 95x5, 135x3, 155, 175
Deadlift: 315x5
Conditioning: 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1, Burpees & Kettlebell Swings, used stopwatch on phone and it overheated and lost time. Probably around 10 minutes, as it was pretty fucking hot.

5/13/11
Bench: 240x5x3
EZ Curls: 70x12,15
Neck Harness: 50x60x4
Squats: 265x5,5,7

5/14/11
Sprints: Around lake by library, .275 miles per lap. 1:37, 1:38, 1:44, 1:49

5/16/11
Press: 150x5,5,7
Weighted Chins: 25x8x2
Neck Harness: 50x65x4
Squats: 270x5,5,7

5/19/11
Bench: 242.5x5,5,4 (will probably try this weight one more time before resetting)
Deadlifts: 320x6

5/20/11
Press: 152.5x5,5,7
Weighted Chins: 35x6,5
Neck Harness: 50x65x4
Squats: 275x5x3 (really not fucking around anymore, these are brutal)

5/21/11
Conditioning: 2.3 mile run in 22:23. Followed by 3 sprints up a 1/10 mile steep ass hill. Did this at my buddy's house. Was really disappointed by what a 10 min/mile pace feels like to me now. The hill sprints were awesome. I think next time I go over there, I might just shit can the LSD and just do like 10 hill sprints or something.

5/23/11
Bench: 242.5x5x3
EZ Curls: 75x15x2
Neck Harness: 50x70x4
Squats: 280x5,5,6

5/25/11
Press: 155x5,5,7
Neck Harness: 50x70x4
Max BW Chins: 14,10 (about 5 mins. rest)
Deadlift: 325x5
Conditioning: I've got a truck bed full of mulch that has to make its way into the flower beds today. Ooorah.

5/28/11
Bench: 245x5,5,4
Neck Harness: 50x70x4
Curls: 75x15x2
Squat: 285x5x3 (last set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqGKdNHh0GA )

5/30/11
FM Chins: BWx6x5

5/31/11
Press: 157.5x5,5,7
Neck Harness: 50x75x4
Weighted Chins: +35x6x2
Squat: 290x5x3 (last set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peG5Y2ZVfXs )

6/1/11
Bench: 245x5,5,4
EZ Curls: 80x12x2
Neck Harness: 50x75x4
Deadlift: 330x8

6/3/11
Press: 160x5,5,7
Weighted Chins: 35x6x2
Neck Harness: 50x75x4
Squat: 295x5x3

6/4/11
Conditioning: 2 mile walk with 4x1/4 mile sprints mixed in, 1:36, 1:41, 1:44, 1:54 (fucking weak, my conditioning has gone to shit)

6/6/11
Bench: 225x10x5,5,10 (finally decided to reset this, glad I did, these felt good)
EZ Curls: 80x15,12
Neck Harness: 50x80x4
Squat: 300x5x3 (feels good to be over 300, but these fuckers are getting HEAVY)

6/8/11
Press: 162.5x5,5,6
Weighted Chins: 35x6, 25x8
Neck Harness: 50x80x4
Power Clean: worked up to 185x1x2
Deadlift: 335x7
Conditioning: 1 mile run, 7:22

6/10/11
Bench: 227.5x5,5,9
Curls: 80x15, 90x10
Neck Harness: 50x80x4
Squat: 305x5,2,3 (First time to fail in 6 months! Lost my focus and got loose on 2nd rep of 2nd set, and it took everything to get back up. Never really recovered after that.)

6/12/11
Conditioning: 4 laps around .275 mile track w/ about 1:45 rest. 1:44, 1:37, 1:45, 1:58

6/13/11
Press: 165x5x3
Weighted Chins: 35x7x2
Neck Harness: 50x85x4
Squats: 305x5x3 (Nailed it this time! Really going to try to make it to 3 plates before resetting.)

6/15/11
Bench: 230x5,5,8
Neck Harness: 50x85x4
DB Curls: 35x15x2
Deadlift: 340x5

6/17/11
Press: 167.5x5,5,6 (Hell yeah!)
Neck Harness: 50x85x4
Weighted Chins: 35x7x2
Squats: 310x5,4,3 (Dammit, no excuses, just weak)

6/18/11
Conditioning: "Ran" 5k- 30:20 (wow, awful)

6/20/11
I recently found out that the NHL Combine involves a 150# max rep bench event. Curious, I decided to see what the top NHL prospects could do. I was shocked to find out that the top competitor only got 13 reps! What the fuck!? Hockey players are weak!

Bench: 150x28,17
Neck Harness: 50x90x4
Hack Squat: 225x20

6/23/11
Went noodling all day the day before on the Tennessee River. First time. It was fun, but left me pretty much worthless for today's workout.
Press: 170x3, 150x5x2
Neck Harness: 50x90x4

6/24/11
Bench: 232.5x5,5,8
Neck Harness: 50x90x4
EZ Curls: 80x12, 90x10, 100x6
Hack Squat: 235x20

6/27/11
Bench: 235x5,5,6
Neck Harness: 50x90x4
Squat: 185x20

6/28/11
Conditioning: 1 hour (can't remember what all we did, it was a lot of crossfit type stuff without kipping pull-ups)

7/1/11
Press: 170x5,4,3
Neck Harness: 50x90x4
Power Cleans: worked up to 190x1

7/2/11
Conditioning: 1.5 hours (crossfit type stuff)

7/6/11
Bench 237.5x5,5,6
Neck Harness: 50x95x4
Squat: 195x20

7/7/11
Press: 150x5x3
Deadlift: 295x5
Conditioning: 4 rounds: 400m run, 20 KB swings, 15 push press (95#), 10 burpees, 5 strict chins- somewhere around 24 minutes

7/11/11
Bench: 240x5,5,4 (could have gotten 5, but the bar hit the rack)
Neck Harness: 50x95x4
Weighted Pull-ups: 25x7,6 BWx10
Squat: 205x19 (my workout buddies mis-counted, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf_1IcqEsuk )

7/12/11
Conditioning: 3 rounds: 400m run, 25 alternating hand KB swings, 20 wall push-ups, 15 burpee pull-ups, 10 hanging power cleans (95#), 5 ring dips

7/15/11
Press: 152.5x5,5,6
Neck Harness: 50x95x4
DB Curls: 40x10x3
Deadlift: 305x6

[snyderman3000]

7/20/11
Bench: 240x4,4,3
Neck Harness: 50x100x4
Weighted Pull-ups: +35x6x2, BWx10
HB Squat: 210x20

7/21/11
Press: 155x5x3
Deadlift: 310x5
Conditioning: 3 rounds- 400m run, 15 burpees, 15 wall push-ups, 15 95# HPC, 15 toes to bar- 23ish minutes


7/25/11
Bench: 240x5x3
Neck Harness: 50x100x4
Conditioning: 3 rounds- 400m run, 21x35# KB swings, 12 strict pull-ups- 11:30

7/26/11
Press: 157.5x5,5,4
Neither of my workout buddies showed up, and I wasn't feeling the squats today.

7/29/11
C&J: 2+1 (2 cleans and 1 jerk) 135, 145, 155, 165, 175 (175 was easy but I pulled something in my upper back, otherwise probably could have gotten 195)
Conditioning: 3 rounds- 20 walking lunges (40#DB in right hand), 20 walking lunges (40#DB in left hand), max reps pull-ups (12,10,6)

[snyderman3000]

So that's what I've been doing the past few months. Looking over those workouts, it's becoming clear to me that I haven't really gotten much stronger in the past few months. I've been dealing with a lot of lower back soreness, which I tend to get when I squat frequently. As of today, I weight 230. Judging from what I've learned about my body's ability to recover this year, I really don't think I could get much stronger unless I continued eating quite heavily. I really feel like I would probably need to push my body weight up towards 250 in order to get my work sets well into the 300's, which is something I'm really not willing to do.

I've been focusing a lot more on conditioning lately. I've gotten much stronger this year, but I miss being able to just go out and run a 5k in the low 20's whenever I want. I would also like to cut some body fat and maybe get down to about 215 without losing too much strength. The most difficult part of this equation for me has been getting the diet piece in order. Eating enough to recover without gaining too much fat has been a learning process for me. It probably doesn't help that I also don't have the time or inclination to get super geeked out over counting calories and prepping tons of chicken breasts to graze on all day.

I'm going to play around with the programming from CFFB for a few weeks and see how it goes.

[Mark E. Hurling]

My God what a name for a log. Funny though. Good luck on your lifting.

[jgh]

Moderation of personal logs? Really?

Welcome to the general log section.

[snyderman3000]

My God what a name for a log. Funny though. Good luck on your lifting.

Oh yeah, I guess I should have explained that. While in Iraq, a few of my lifting buddies and I referred to ourselves as the COP Ellis Rat Eaters, referring to the preferred cuisine of our massive pythons (the ones in our sleeves, not in our pants).

[Mark E. Hurling]

You shouldn't make this so easy for the son of one of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children.

"This is my rifle, this my gun! This is for fighting, this is for fun!"

Thanks for your service.

[snyderman3000]

7/30/11

2 mile run: 17:40
Bench: 225x1, 245x1, 265x1, 285x1(f*), 225x9
* spotter grabbed the bar earlier than I would have liked, I think I had 285 in me
Conditioning: AMRAP 15 mins- 10 supinated ring pull-ups, 10 plyo push-ups- 6 rounds
ROM on the pull-ups wasn't too impressive, but I figure it's better than kipping

EDIT: After looking at the comments on crossfitfootball.com and seeing how abysmally my results compared with everyone else's, I realized that a supinated ring pull-up is not a pull-up with a supinated (e.g. palms facing you) grip. Your feet are supposed to be on a bench and your body horizontal. That would have been much better. Oh well.

[snyderman3000]

7/31/11

Conditioning: 1 min on/ 1 min off for 12 minutes, 30x50# KB swings on the min.