Torchin' the Rhomboids, Blastin' the Core: A Log

[Bronan the Barbarian]

Herein lies my training log. I am a 25-year-old male. Not particularly gifted genetically; I've always been pretty slow-twitch. Played lacrosse in high school but never really lifted. Joined the Marine Reserve after college, discovered Crossfit, got stronger, plateaued.

Ran the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October, 2009. Got weak and sick of running. Found Rip's stuff. Been doing Starting Strength since then. A few backoffs along the way because of periodically insufficient sleep, calories, and protein, minor technique issues, drill weekends, law school exams--basically the typical setbacks that everyone aside from Zach Evetts experiences. All told, I've gained roughly 85 pounds on the squat, 75 on the deadlift, 30 on the press, 25 on the bench, 30 on the power clean, and 25 on the body (don't have my log in front of me). These numbers don't mean all that much though because I've profoundly screwed up the recovery piece a number of times. I'll get my height, weight, and current lifts at the gym later today.

My current program: For at least the next month, I am going from straight SS to Justin Lascek's hybrid program, posted on December 24th at 70sbig.com:

Monday — Squat, Press, Power Clean
Tuesday — Chin-ups, Conditioning
Wednesday — OFF
Thursday — Squat, Bench, Deadlift
Friday — Conditioning

This is in preparation for a PFT next month. My pullups are in the toilet, and I'm sure my run time is too. I think it'll come back pretty quickly though. Also, it's starting to get nice outside, and I miss running around the track, swinging my kettlebells, pushups, etc.

Where I lift: I have the good fortune of lifting in the varsity weight room at my university. This is because my school has no football team and thus no separate gym building. The varsity weight room is a small room attached to the larger, shittier rec center. It's well equipped, with Sorinex platforms and cages, bumpers, nice bars, rowers, pictures of Pisarenko on the wall (seriously), foam rollers, etc. Chalk is no problem. The only problem is that it's off limits when a varsity team is training. The strength coach is an Olympic lifter who is willing to give a pointer here and there if he can tell you're working hard--although the bottom line is that he dislikes being forced by the school to share his facility with non-varsity schmos like me. Can't blame him for that, really. Actually, now that I think about it, it's inexcusable that I haven't had better results in this environment. In any event, soon I will be moving to a house with a garage, getting my gym equipment back from fellow forumite and Marine buddy Kopp, and re-entering the dark side--garage gym training at home. In truth, I miss the grittiness a little bit.

Diet: I have no desire to record everything I eat. My approach is to minimize flour and sugar while eating a metric ton of meat, milk, nuts, oils, vegetables, fruit and protein powder everyday. Trader Joe's $1.99/lb 80/20 ground beef is my lifeline. I am springing for a CSA membership this summer which should increase the quality of my diet as well as being delicious (Community-supported agriculture. Wiki it. A little crunchy, but pretty cool I think). Yes, I have done GOMAD for several months. Yes, I understand the importance of maintaining a caloric excess. Ask Kopp if you doubt my willingness to become a fatty for the sake of strength. He will tell you tales of my hilariously ill-fitting utilities.

Miscellaneous: I am getting married in late May to a great girl, a third-year med student who is much smarter and better looking than I am. Life is good. Alas, the struggle to get her under the bar or at least over the kettlebell continues.

I lift in Rogue Do-Wins, an EFTS Retro 10mm belt, and a nasty scowl. I also really want a Prowler. Please convince me to not spend that much money on the thing. Also, I'm starting to get into golf this summer, so I'll probably be mentioning that occasionally. Any club recommendations? I've learned a lot from these forums, and I look forward to having some fresh eyes on my training and numbers. If you've read this far, thanks. My apologies for the novella.

-Tim

[Bronan the Barbarian]

Vitals:
Height: 6'1'' (73 inches)
Weight: 240 (I have gained a good bit of fat on SS)

Goals: I forgot to mention my goals in my first post. I do have some. My lift-specific goals are to deadlift 495, squat 405, bench 315, press 200, and powerclean whatever results from those numbers. I'd like to do this within the next two years. These are lofty numbers considering my genetics, but they're my goals, so eat it.

Very short term, I'd like to not embarrass myself on my May 15th PFT. Short term, I'd like to keep putting on weight and getting stronger in pursuit of the above numbers. Weight gain as needed is welcome. No real goal for bodyweight. Long term, I'd like not to look like I work in an office all day, and I'd like to be a physically imposing presence in front of a courtroom. While this sounds a bit ridiculous, I think it's a worthy goal. Longer term, I'd like to be a badass old man, for nothing is more badass than an old badass. I'd also like to have good bloodwork, for longevity but also to validate my approach to diet and exercise to my friends and family.

Today's workout:
Squat: 315x5x3. Felt good. Deep, tight throughout, knees out.
Bench: 225x5x3. Felt pretty good.
Deadlift: 355x5x1. New 5rm. Lower back good throughout. Thoracic spine started to round at 4.

Back ext. on the GHD: 20x10x3.
Dips: BWx4x1. First time in ages. Easing back in after two years of costochondritis. Hopefully they'll help with my bench plateau.

Took about a 10% backoff on squats and bench today for a couple of reasons:
1) Dealing with a nasty head cold from sleeping outside in Quantico last weekend. Feeling pretty fatigued. Popping Sudafed like a fiend.
2) All-over DOMS from first HIIT session on Wednesday. First conditioning in months.
Nice to get that deadlift PR though. Not too thrilled with the status quo: Kopp weighs about 65 pounds less than I do, but deadlifts about 65 pounds more than I do. True, the man has good genes; nevertheless, this gap must close.

[Paul Sousa]

You should buy the prowler.

[kittenSmash]

Welcome to the board man. Buy a prowler. Or an econo model Prowler.

[ZKP]

Yeah, buy me one too while you're at it.....

Good lifts my friend, solid goals.......

[Bronan the Barbarian]

Thanks for taking a look, fellas. I'll keep you posted on the Prowler decision. It may happen in a couple of months.

[kopp]

hey man, good to see you got on. Quit blaming genetics...

[Bronan the Barbarian]

Pullups and conditioning today.

Pullups: BWx8x1
Chins: BWx8x1
BWx7x1

Conditioning: 200m repeats with 1 minute rest intervals x 6.
Did these on the treadmill with the incline at 2.0, whatever that means. Set the speed at 10.0 for the first 4, 11.0 for the last 2. I had more in the tank, but I'm trying to go with the less is more philosophy on the HIIT training. Also trying to avoid interfering with strength gains. Pullups need to get better fast. Really surprised that I was able to run at that speed with good form and without the treadmill sounding like a wildebeest was running on it. In a couple of weeks, I'm going to repeat this workout at a faster speed with shorter rest intervals. Felt good to run again.

[Mr.City]

I want a prowler as well

[Bronan the Barbarian]

Strength workout last night, Tuesday:

Squat: 320x5x3
Press: 155x3x5
PC: 185x3x5

Situps: 40x5x3 (dumbbell on chest)

Squats felt good. Press felt weak, but I also hadn't pressed in almost two weeks so I'm not worried about it. Something is wrong with the power clean though. I'm getting the bar up high enough just fine, and could do so with probably 10 or 20 more pounds. The catch is the problem, though. I've had some nagging pain in my left hand, and it's preventing me from rolling the bar back in my fingers and catching it on the shoulders. Just can't make myself do it because of the left hand pain. Last night, elbows were pointing basically straight down on the catch, which was all hands and almost no shoulders. Need to reduce the weight and figure this thing out. I'm unsure as to what came first, the shitty catch or the left hand pain. Overall, good workout though.