mrRed's Log

[mrRed]

Started off with starting strength in November, 2009.

Starting weight / current.

Body weight: 173lbs (21%bf) / 192lbs (24% bf) (an aside is that I think the scale is about 5% off from reality. even at my current weight, while flexing I can see muscle definition in the upper abs, but I'm not really too concerned about the bf% tbh).
Squat: 135lbs / 225lbs
DL: 150lbs / 235lbs
OP: 75lbs / 125lbs
BP: 95lbs / 165 lbs
PC: 85lbs / 140 lbs

August of last year I couldn't jog more than a quarter of a mile and 2 weeks ago I decided to see how my cardio-vascular system was doing as it wasn't getting any work and I job a slow mile no problem at all.

I've dealt with some nagging injuries since I started. It took me about 2 months to get over adductor and psoas pain that was present all day long. In December I took almost 2 weeks off, missing 5 sessions (1 week due to finals and 1 week due to vacation), and missed a few sessions here and there due to work obligations.

My left hip / glute has been bothering me recently, and I'll be getting it checked out next week, but I haven't missed any workouts yet due to it. 400-600mg ibuprofel 2-3 times a day and a tennis ball make it bearable to workout on.

I'm relatively happy with my progress soo far, and think I'm going to get some coaching next month to iron out any form problems I might be having. I train alone at a globo gym with stop-sign plates and don't have anyone helping me with form, so I think that a few weeks of someone yelling at me to keep my chest up will be a good thing, despite the cost.

Average daily food intake may be a little low, around 3500 cal's a day, as recovery is sometimes hard (could be due to high daily stress levels as well), but i am slowly gaining mass, which is good. I'm up about 50/50 fat/lean mass in 11 weeks. just under a pound of muscle a week, which is acceptable considering my less than perfect training session attendance.

[mrRed]

On Wednesday during my deadlifts I tweaked something in my shoulder. I think I was trying to hold the weight with my arms on the way down, which caused the issue.

Anyway.

Today:

Squats: 230x3x5.

Felt good but hard (no shit). I think I might have frightened some potential gym clients during my second set. I enthusiastically racked and looked back to a shocked looking woman.

I feel like I'm finally recruiting my abs and back properly to get the weight up. When I really focus on going up straight my uncomfortable hip felt good. So looks like it may be user error making that sore.

OP: 130x4x1.

My shoulder was hurting really badly so I decided to not push it.

PC: 140x3x1 (i'm an idiot and should've been 145), 145x3x2.

Shoulder started feeling worse after the 2nd set and after the third it was throbbing a bit so I called it a day.

Shitty workout other than the squats.

[mrRed]

Shoulder still tender today.

BS: 235x5, 3 sets across. Last rep was brutal, but made it up.
DL: 250x5 1 set. Went up pretty smooth. Felt like I did a huge better job at locking my lower-back into place than usual.
BP: 165x5, 3 sets across. Friday I'm hoping for my first time fractional loading, 167.5 to push past my sticking point, 170.

Pull ups: 8 reps, 2.5 lbs in pocket, 3 sets.

I need to work on dips as I think that triceps are my limiting factor in locking out the weight on my presses. My chest really doesn't feel like its ever worked really hard from benching, but my arms are just destroyed afterwards.

Also, maybe one of you guys can answer this, but I have a huge size disparity on my upper body. Most likely from years of inactivity following a couple of dislocations and surgery to repair my left shoulder. Physical therapy is a joke at doing anything other than getting one back to a sedentary lifestyle. For example, my right bicep is 1.25" bigger around than my left, and there's a noticeable visible difference. Aside from the aesthetic aspects, if there any reason to try to even this out, or is it really not a big deal from a strength standpoint?

[IWillLiveFreeOrDie]

Make sure the shoulder soreness is from the squats. It can be easy to carry the weight on the wrists instead of the back, and the soreness will pop up during other exercises. Good progress so far!

[mrRed]

Thanks. To be honest, I'm not really sure what's up with my shoulders, but my other is now a little tender too. They don't really bother me while lifting, but doing things like opening the trunk of my car there's a twinge of pain. Weird, but if it persists for a bit longer I'll look into what's causing it. For now its just a little discomfort to deal with.

[mrRed]

BS: Failed on the 5th rep of the 2nd set at 240 lbs.
OP: 130 lbs went up strong.
PC: 145 lbs, caught the 4th rep of the first set really low and tweaked my bicep.

Shitty workout overall, lacked intensity.

Possibly due to 1 to many 11 hour days in the past few weeks and too much stress today.

Hopefully everything feels better on Friday and I can get the squat turned back around.

[mrRed]

Feel like I'm falling apart here. Hip has been really bad. So much so that squatting / deadlifts, or even sitting or laying down aggravates it.

I dunno what it feels like, but I'm going to see someone about it, hopefully this week. Add to that my right shoulder hurting when i do anything that requires exertion and I'm feeling like a pile of shit. Staying away from the gym for a week. I know its not what's suggested, but I dunno what else to do. Trying to work through these things has only caused them to bother me more when not lifting ...

Been working 11-12 hours a day for the past few weeks, but sleeping and eating well and just not recovering properly, so I think once the immediate pain goes away, I'm gonna go hit up a different gym for a few weeks to try to see if my form is doing something to fuck me up (probably is).