Butch's Middle Age SS Log

[Butch_White]

I've been lurking for a while and decided to start a SS log since I've been on the program since early August (2010). I found Rip through CF so please don't ridicule me too harshly. The best part of my CF experience was getting away from the Men's Health and muscle mag routines and learning the basic lifts/oly lifts through the CF access to DJ, Rip and Everett.

I'm 48, 5' 10" and weigh-in at 198. I don't have a clue regards to my BF% and don't really care. (Actually, I don't want a gut but I don't give a shit if I ever have a two, four or six pack unless it is some high gravity beer.) I just want to see how far I can go on the novice SS program and I'll re-evaluate after resetting a few times. Here are my current goals with a target date of 12/31/10.

Squat: 300 x 5 x 3 sets
DL: 345 x 5 x 1 set
Press: 135 x 5 x 3 sets
BP: 225 x 5 x 3 sets
Pwr Clean: 170 x 3 x 5 sets

[Butch_White]

Here are the lifts from my last two workouts.

10/6/10
Squat 260x5x3
Press 115x5x3
Pwr Clean 150x3x5
Pull-ups - 5 x 10

10/8/10
Squat 265x5x3
BP 197.5x5x3
DL: 310x5x1

I try to get only 48 hours rest between work-outs but work and family responsibilities sometimes push the rest time to 72 hours. This upcoming week is expected to be one with 72 hours between WO's.

[misspelledgeoff]

Lookin' good. I'd say your goals are very achievable and then some.

What part of the southeast are you in?

[slowjoe]

Looks like you could just possibly hit some of those goals in October. There are a few Crossfit haters here, but more ex-Crossfitters, so you won't catch much flak for it. It'll be interesting to see how far up the mountain you can go.

Welcome and good luck.

[Butch_White]

Thanks slowjoe. I am damn close to being among the CF-haters.

I set those goals in August not knowing how much weight I could continue to add each workout at 48. I bought some fractional plates and only started using them on the BP and Press. I'll set some new targets when I hit any of those original goals.

misspelledgeof: I'm in Alabama and work-out primarily in my garage.

[Butch_White]

10/11/10

Squat 270x5x3
Press 117.5x5x3
Pwr Clean 155x3x5

I gave some blood two days ago and I wasn't sure how I would feel during this work-out. I didn't really notice it other than some light-headedness during the power cleans.

[Butch_White]

10/14/10

Squat 275x5x3
BP 200x5x3
DL: 315x5

I am at or getting close to previous PR's on the squat and DL so it will be interesting to see how much further I can go before needing a reset. I may decrease the squat weight increase to 2.5lbs per workout. If any of the more experienced SS guru's on the board want to chime in, then all by means do so.

[Butch_White]

10/17/10

Squat 280x5x4 - I felt my technique and depth break down on the 3rd set so I re-focused on good technique and knocked out a better final set. Note: My previous PR for a BS single was 280 so SS has definitely allowed me to become the strongest I've been since college. I will definitely move to 2.5lb increases since my form is starting to suffer on the squats; I want to see how far I can go before a reset is needed.

Press 120x5x3

Power Clean 160x3x5

Shooting video and reviewing it between sets definitely helps keep my form in check.

My work schedule for the upcoming week is going to force one more 72 hour rest between workouts. Hopefully I can get back to 48 hours of rest towards the end of the week.

[Butch_White]

10/21/10

A business trip got unexpectedly extended for a day so I got an extra day off.

Squat 282.5x5x3 - Maybe 3 or 4 reps out of each set had good technique. I unfortunately had a HS football coach beat into brains that "correct way to squat is too look up at the ceiling." As Ripp says in SS, looking up is a hard habit to break once it is ingrained. I'm focusing on looking at a spot on the floor 5 -6 ft in front of me but I sometimes want to look up when grinding out a rep.

BP 205x5x3 - felt good and solid.

DL 320x5 - also felt good and solid.

[slowjoe]

I am at or getting close to previous PR's on the squat and DL so it will be interesting to see how much further I can go before needing a reset. I may decrease the squat weight increase to 2.5lbs per workout. If any of the more experienced SS guru's on the board want to chime in, then all by means do so.

I'm not a guru, but mostly people stick to 5lb on the squat and 5 or 10lbs on the DL. One trick with the squat is to switch the second to a lighter workout. This is often referred to as the Advanced Novice program. What it does is switch to 10lb increase a week, whereas 2.5 3 times a week would give 7.5lb increase a week.

It's often the case that DL go to once a week, and in that case, it makes sense to program it for day two also.