KUUCman's log

[KUUCman]

So I've been reading on here for a while, and finally decided to start a workout log on here.

I did random weightlifting, and found StrongLifts a while back. Started doing that, did that for a while. Got Starting Strength, read through that, found the website, switched over to (sorta) doing Starting Strength.

Stopped lifting for a while b/c I was training for a half-marathon. Started up again last week.

Miscellaneous #s
Age: 33
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 234-238, depending on how much I overeat

PRs
Squat - 300 lbs: 2x5, 1x4. I should've rested longer, only rested 90 seconds before set 2 and 2 min before set 3.
Bench - 220 lbs: 3x5
Deadlift - 310 lbs: 1x5
Press - 115 lbs: 3x5

Most of these were the weights I was up to when I stopped lifting. I think I still had a bit more to go in those lifts. I have dropped my weights a bit now, and will have to work back up.

Goals
short term (end of the year)
Squat - 340: 3x5
Bench - 255: 3x5
Deadlift - 355: 1x5
Press - 140: 3x5
Power Clean - 155: 5x3
Weight: 225-230

I'll re-evaluate once I get to the end of the year.

My plan is to do the following:


Monday
Squat: 3x5
Press: 3x5
Deadlift: 3x5

Wednesday
Squat: 3x5
Bench Press: 3x5
Power Clean: 5x3

Friday
Squat: 3x5
Press: 3x5
Barbell Row: 3x5

I play in a basketball league on Sundays, and this Monday I was too sore to lift. This week, I will be going Tue and Fri. Hopefully I'll get used to the game on Sunday, and be able to lift hard on Monday.

I only have the option of lifting during the week b/c I go to a gym by work, not by home. I go during my lunch hour.

Anyways, my most recent workout:

Tuesday Sept 22, 2010: Squat/Press/Deadlift
Squat: 45x10 (45s) 135x8 (50s) 185x4 (55s) 215x2 (90s) 235 lbs: 3x5, rest 30 sec between sets
Press: 45x8 (45s) 75x4 (60s) 85 lbs: 3x5, rest 30 sec between sets
Deadlift: 45x8 (60s) 135x6 (60s) 205x4 (90s) 235 lbs: 1x5, double overhand grip

All the lifts felt ok. I was a bit winded going into my work set for deadlifts, and my grip felt a bit weak on deadlifts, but that should come back.

[KUUCman]

I was supposed to lift on Friday. I missed work being sick on Thursday, and had to catch up and still wasn't fully recovered, so I skipped my workout.

I played basketball on Sunday, and this time around, I felt ok enough to lift on Monday. Work again got in the way though, so I missed that workout.

Oh, and I apparently can't count, b/c I got the date of last Tuesday's workout wrong.

Anyways...

Tuesday Sept 28, 2010: Squat/Bench Press/Deadlift
Squat: 45x8 (40s) 45x8 (45s) 135x8 (45s) 185x4 (60s) 225x2 (90s) 245 lbs: 3x5, rest 30 sec between sets
Bench Press: 45x10 (60s) 135x8 (45s) 185x4 (90s) 205 lbs: 3x5, rest 30 sec between sets
Deadlift: 45x8 (60s) 135x6 (60s) 205x2 (60s) 255 lbs: 1x5, 3 reps overhand, 2 reps switch, left over.

Lifts felt ok. Squat wasn't too bad. Bench was starting to get tiring. I will go with a 5 lb jump, try to keep the rest time the same, and see how it goes. Deadlift didn't feel too bad, except that my grip gave out. Hopefully it will just keep up with my warmup sets, so that I can do warmups with an overhand grip, and as many work reps as possible. I didn't feel too tired going into the deadlifts, so that was good.

I will lift again on Friday, and then try to resume 3x a week next week.

[KUUCman]

So, Friday didn't happen. Neither did Monday. Work is killing me. I did play some basketball on Sunday.

Wednesday Oct 6, 2010: Squat/Press/Power Clean
Squat: 45x8 (35s) 45x8 (50s) 135x6 (45s) 185x4 (80s) 235x2 (90s) 255 lbs: 3x5, rest 30 sec between sets
Press: 45x8 (50s) 85x4 (60s) 95 lbs: 3x5, rest 30 sec between sets

For Power Clean, I didn't actually do any weight. After reviewing Starting Strength (which I should've done before I tried doing them earlier) I decided to restart everything. I worked on the rack position, and finding where my grip should be. I practiced doing some jumps and just maintaining straight arms, and shrugging. I practiced doing some cleans from the jump position into rack position. Next time around, I will do all of this again, but I will add a little bit of weight.

Squats felt ok. I think I can still go w/ at least 1 more 10 lb jump. We'll see. If I can actually get my ass into the gym more often, 10 lb jumps won't last. The last set of press was starting to get difficult. I'll go with a 5 lb jump on that next time also, and slightly increase the rest time.

[KUUCman]

Finally was able to get into the gym twice in a week.

Friday Oct 8, 2010: squat, bench press, deadlift

squat: 45x8 (30s) 45x8 (45s) 135x6 (60s) 205x4 (60s) 255x2 (90s) 265 lbs: 3x5, rest 40 sec between sets
bench press: 45x8 (45s) 135x8 (45s) 185x4 (90s) 210 lbs: 3x5, rest 30 sec between sets
deadlift: 45x6 (60s) 135x6 (60s) 205x2 (75s) 255x2 (90s) 275 lbs: 1x5, switch: left over

I felt good for this workout. I decided before my work sets of squats that I'd extend my rest time a little bit, but I felt great after the first set. I considered keeping it at 30 seconds, but I resisted b/c I didn't want to be burned out for deadlifts. Bench press was ok. Got slightly difficult at the end, but not too bad. For deadlift, I was planning on only going 265, but I felt good after the 255, so I jumped to 275. That wasn't too bad either. I also decided to go double overhand for warm up sets, and switch grip for my work set.

[KUUCman]

I played basketball this past Sunday. I was a bit sore on Monday, so I was going to wait until Tuesday. I got swamped with work on Tuesday, so I ended up not able to go, and went on Wednesday.

On a completely separate note, I need to realize that I am not going to make it in to the gym 3 times a week. Fact is, its difficult for me to even make it in twice a week. Eh, I guess that's how things shake out. I know I'm not showing the dedication lots of other people on here have. I guess its good I'm under General, b/c my program is the "1.5 times a week" program.

Wednesday Oct 13, 2010: squat, press, deadlift
squat: 45x8 (30s) 45x8 (45s) 135x6 (60s) 225x4 (60s) 265x2 (120s) 275 lbs: 3x5, rest 50 sec between sets
press: 45x8 (45s) 85x4 (90s) 100 lbs: 3x5, rest 40 sec between sets
deadlift: 45x6 (60s) 135x6 (60s) 205x4 (75s) 265x2 (120s) 290 lbs: 1x5

Squats were more difficult, but still no threat of not finishing them. At this point, I might need to go with 5 lb increases instead of 10, though.

The press also wasn't too bad. After reading a discussion on it elsewhere on this board, I tried the presses with a bounce on the bottom, and with a pause at the bottom. I felt like I actually got it back up with more control with the pause, so I will do it that way from now on (if I remember).

I was too aggressive on deadlifts. I tried jumping to 290, but I felt like my form wasn't that great on the way back down to the floor. I will do this weight again, hopefully with better form, and not try 15 lb jumps anymore.

[KUUCman]

I skipped basketball this Sunday. I was able to get in the gym today, and my legs weren't sore, so I went.

Monday Oct 18, 2010: squat, bench press, power clean

Squat: 45x8 (30s) 45x8 (50s) 135x8 (60s) 205x4 (60s) 245x2 (120s) 270x2 (120s) 280 lbs: 3x5, rest 45 sec between sets
Bench Press: 45x12 (45s) 135x8 (45s) 185x4 (120s) 215 lbs: 2x5, 1x7, rest 45 sec after first set, 105 sec after 2nd
Power Clean: work on rack position, jump with shrug, jump into rack position, clean: 45x3, 65 lbs: 2x3

Squat didn't feel too bad. Knees felt a bit odd during warm ups, so I did more stretching between sets. They felt fine for the heavy warm up and for my work sets. I am getting close to the heaviest I did before, so I slowed down my workout-to-workout jumps. I will keep it at 5 for a while now.

Bench wasn't too difficult. I did a couple more reps because I had a longer rest period and felt good to do those. A guy over at the next bench asked for a spot, and I wasn't so fixated on keeping rest periods that I would've said no. I should be able to do a few more workouts increasing by 5 lbs before I have to make adjustments.

Power clean felt ok. Spent more time working on form. I have been thinking about my programming, and if Power clean will fit in if I need to make adjustments. We'll see how things go.

[KUUCman]

Wednesday Oct 20, 2010: squat, press, deadlift

squat: 45x8 (30s) 45x8 (45s) 135x8 (55s) 205x4 (55s) 255x2 (55s) 275x1 (90s) 285 lbs: 3x5, rest 45 sec between sets
press: 45x8 (45s) 75x6 (45s) 95x4 (90s) 105 lbs: 2x5, 1x6, rest 40 sec between sets
deadlift: 45x8 (50s) 135x5 (50s) 205x4 (60s) 255x2 (75s) 275x2 (90s) 295 lbs: 1x5, left over grip


Good workout today. Squats felt good, and I felt strong going through them. Press also went ok. I still did a pause at the bottom, which made it feel more controlled on the way up. I feel like I get more tired that way, which might also mean that I just need to increase my rest time.

I waffled on deadlifts, and whether I should go 290 again or increase to 295. I was able to convince myself that I still finished the set in the last workout, and that I could still add weight. As a compromise, I only added 5 lbs. The deadlifts felt ok too. I felt like I had much more control bringing the weight back down to the ground. I also made sure that at the start of each rep, that there was no slack in my arms. I pulled up a bit until I felt the tension, and then started my rep. I feel like that made a difference also.

I think I will need to change up my programming a bit. I have been able to get away w/ short rest periods b/c I'm not breaking any new ground here, but once I get past 300 for squats and deadlifts, it'll be the most I've lifted in probably over a decade. And to be quite honest, the stuff I did before probably wasn't full ROM. Anyways, based on that, I will probably move to the following

Workout A
Squat
Press
whatev

Workout B
Bench Press
Deadlift
whatev

These would be done ABA, and just do ABA each week, so that I reguarly do more squat and press than bench and deadlift. If I miss a workout, then I just go AB, which isn't a big deal either.

[KUUCman]

I played basketball on Sunday. It wasn't too bad. I subbed out a lot b/c I was feeling a little bit off from the bachelor party on Saturday.

Mon Oct 25, 2010: squat, press
squat: 45x12 (45) 45x8 (45) 135x8 (60) 205x4 (60) 260x2 (60) 280x1 (120) 290 lbs: 2x5, 1x6, rest 60 sec after first set, 90 sec after second.
press: 45x8 (75) 75x6 (75) 100x4 (90) 110 lbs: 2x5, 1x6, rest 55 sec between sets

First modified workout. Only doing two exercises per workout to allow more rest time. Both exercises felt pretty ok.

Tue Oct 26, 2010: bench press, deadlift
bench: 45x8 (30) 45x8 (50) 135x8 (50) 185x4 (90) 220 lbs: 2x5, 1x6, rest 50 sec between sets
deadlift: 45x8 (50) 135x6 (50) 135x6 (60) 205x4 (75) 255x2 (90) 290x1 right over (120) 305 lbs: 1x5, left over

Second modified workout. Felt a bit odd not doing squats. I felt kinda cold for both the bench and the deadlifts. I did extra warm up sets, but that didn't help all that much. Maybe I will do a warmup and a single semi-high rep set of squats to start the workout. Who knows.

My weight has also been creeping up. I'm regularly around 239/240. I'll have to be a little more careful about what I eat. I do feel like my legs and arms are bigger, but I'd rather be working off some of this fat.