Nick Strand's SS Log

[Nick Strand]

A little background info - I spent about 8 months in the gym 4 years ago. I had a buddy that was in good shape, worked at a gym as a 'trainer,' and helped me put together a 'program' for myself. Long story short - it was a 4 day/week split full of isolation and machine stuff, forearm work, tricep extensions and dumbell curls....lots of them, squatting in the smith machine, etc. Basically I spent 2 hours, 4 days a week fucking around in the gym. I made some decent gains, but eventually got back into a job where I was working 90+ hours a week so the gym time fell by the wayside.

Fast forward to now - I'm in a management role at work, read desk jockey. Haven't done any lifting in a few years, but I picked up Rip's book SS:BBT3 about 6 months ago and read it cover to cover, absorbing as much info as I could, flagging pages for later reference (TONS of great information in that book). Currently on week 9 with starting strength, been logging my work sets since week 5. I just started learning the Power Clean this past week.

I spend as much time as I can riding snowmobile in the mountains in the winter, and was pretty disgusted at how out of shape I was this past season. For anyone that has never done it, big mountain snowmobiling can be a lot of work. I live 7 hours from the nearest good riding, and it's a waste of time to drive all that way when you can't enjoy your ride for more than 3-4 hours a day because you're so out of shape, the other 3-4 hours of riding becomes a workout just keeping up with everyone else.

Starting lifts:
Squat - 115 x 3 x 5
Bench - 95 x 3 x 5
OHP - 80 x 3 x 5
DL - 135 x 1 x 5

Current lifts:
Squat - 230 x 3 x 5 (I was at 240, but dropped down a bit to build back up with better form. I had some forward drift going on)
Bench - 155 x 3 x 5
OHP - 105 x 3 x 5
DL - 260 x 1 x 5
Clean - working with 95 lbs to figure out the lift, but feeling like there's a bit more in the tank here

For what it's worth, my stats:
Height - 5'9"
Age - 25
Weight - 209 lbs (was 220+ 6 months ago, spent a couple months in the gym losing a few lbs and doing a split routine before beginning SS)

I will go round up my logbook, notes to follow.

[Nick Strand]

Starting at Week 5
Monday 6-10-13
Squat - Warmup, 205x3x5
Bench - Warmup, 140x3x5
DB Rows, supported chins

Wednesday 6-12-13
Squat - Warmup, 210x3x5
OHP - 95 lbs
DL - 245x1x5 w/ belt

Friday 6-14-13 - off sick

Monday 6-17-13 still sick, but felt good enough to train
Squat - 205x3x5
Bench 145x3x5
T-bar rows & Lat pull downs

Wednesday 6-19-13
Squat - 225x3x5
OHP - 95x3x5
DL -245x1x4

Friday 6-21-13
Squat - 225x3x5
Bench - 150x3x5
DL - 225x1x5

Tuesday 6-25-13
Squat - 230x3x5
OHP - 95x3x5
T-bar rows

Thursday 6-27-13
Squat - 235x3x5
Bench - 155x3x5
DL - 255x1x5

Saturday 6-29-13
Squat - 235x3x5
OHP - 100x1x3, 95x3x5
T-bar rows

Monday 7-1-13
Squat - 240x3x5
Bench - 155x3x5
DL - 260x1x5

Wednesday 7-3-13
Squat - single leg DB squats (no rack)
OHP - 95x3x5
Seated Cable Rows & DB Rows

Friday 7-5-13
Squat - single leg DB squats (no rack)
Bench - DB Bench (no rack)
DL - 265x1x3, 255x1x5

Monday 7-8-13
Squat - 240x3x5 (forward drift & too shallow)
OHP - 100x3x5
Seated Cable Rows, Lat pulldowns

Wednesday 7-10-13 - sick again, wtf
Squat - 225x3x5
Bench - 160x2, 155x3, 145x3x5 - I should have kept the weight lower from the get go, but I had to try.
Deadlift - 225x1x5

Friday 7-12-13 - still sick, but better
Squat - 230x3x5 (hack up about an ounce of gray/green phlegm between sets)
OHP - 105x3x5
Cleans - started working with bar, went up to 95 lbs. Did multiple sets of 3 and then a ton of singles, review video, repeat.

Now I'm all caught up. My weights have gone up and down a bit, but I've still been making progress. I was doing some travelling for work, lifting at different rec centers, as well as had 2 bouts of the flu/cold. I've started ramping up my calorie intake the past 2 weeks and my OHP finally started gaining again. It's surprising how tough it is to eat 3000+ calories/day without eating fast food or drinking milk. I can't handle the dairy...I'm not completely lactose intolerant, but pretty close and it's been getting worse the older I get. I don't mind any comments or critiques. I hope to have a couple form check videos up soon.

[Nick Strand]

Monday 7-15-13 A
Squat - 235x3x5 - felt good, tried a slightly wider grip today and it felt better. It was hot in the garage today, hands got sweaty and the bar didn't feel very solid in my hands. Chalk will be here wednesday.
Bench - 160x2x4, 155x5
DL - 265x4 - sweaty hands got me on this one too. I was going to reset and try another set of 5, but didn't. Should I have? I will go for the same weight, all reps on Friday.
Up rows - 65x12, 70x2x12

[Nick Strand]

Squats - went light, warmed up to 185x10, 185x8, 185x8
OHP - 105x3x5
no PC's, did assisted chins for 3 sets of 10

I had a long day, didn't find time to train until 11 PM and wanted to be in bed by midnight. Instead of skipping squats, I just went light with higher reps and shorter breaks. This was tougher than I expected it to be. I concentrated on form, bar path, and exploding out of the hole...I'm sore today. OHP felt good, but fatigue was kicking in at this point and I felt myself almost coming off balance at the top. Overall, I'm glad I didn't skip the day completely.

[Nick Strand]

Squats - warmup, 240x3x5
Bench - warmup, 155x5, 155x4, 155x5
DL - warmup, 265x1, 225x5
UpRows - 45x10, 65x10, 75x2x10

Squats felt good on Friday, although my left side of my back was sore. This didn't affect my squats, but really mindf*cked me on deadlifts. Deadlift warmups felt OK, but the left side was sore (woke up that way). After missing hard at 265 I backed it off to 225x5 and called it.