Journey to the Pussectomy

[BrewinBombers]

All Data will be recorded here, this log will be for anecdotal data.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spre...=2&output=html

[BrewinBombers]

Couldn't pull one damn rep on my dead lift last night (3 Aug 11) during the work sets. Everything felt just fine, but I couldn't get 250lb to budge. Sad. 240 was work last week, but 250 shouldn't have been a complete blank. I also could only do about half of the chins that I was expecting. This seriously pissed me off, and I'm not entirely sure what to do about it.

[JCavin]

I can't access the link at work.

First thoughts are:

1. How's your sleep? Are you getting 8 hours uninterrupted?
2. What are you eating? How much are you eating? What are you eating pre-workout, and are you timing it correctly?
3. Have you tried caffeine prior to your workouts?
4. Were unfocused? Most of your lifting is mental. Make sure you're thinking about abusing the weight between your sets and nothing else.

Seems strange that you could do 240 last week with no problems and then completely fail at 250. Has to be either recovery or diet, I would think.

[CJ12345]

I would check your protein intake. I had the same problem last week of missing reps on my shoulder press and a whole set on my squats that I knew that I could make. This was proceeded by a really rough workout the previous work day. I made sure that my protein intake was 1 gram per pound of lean body mass over the weekend and this week's work days have been really great.

[BrewinBombers]

I appreciate the notes.

This was training session #17. (#1 on Jun 22, #17 on Aug 03)

Quick Numbers Summary: (all units in lbs)
Squat: 75 -> 150 (injured and didn't squat for #6 and #7 in the middle)
BP: 105 -> 125 (Reset after missed reps at 140 in #12)
DL: 95 -> 240 (failed at 250 in #17)
Press: 45 -> 85
PC: 70-105 (Started at #10)

BW: 158 -> 176

Initial Goals:
Sq: 320
Dl: 405
Bp: 225
Pr: 175
PC: 265
BW: 205

Sleep has been a big problem (in my notes in the sheet which you can't access). The quality of my sleep has been poor. I keep waking up in the middle of the night and having difficulty falling asleep. These are two new phenomena since beginning SS. Sq and BP went fine earlier in the workout, but focus may have been an issue.

I'm pretty good on my food I think. I'm Whole Milk GOMAD since #11 (skim and 2% before that) and finish my meals about an hour before I actually start lifting.

My DL started at 90 at training 1 and pulled 240 x 5 in session #15 with considerable effort, but as you say, 250 should not have been a blank. I've been doing Power Cleans on my "B" days from workouts 10,12,14,16 going from 70-105. I also wonder a bit if I need to switch to the 3rd Novice program where I'm not pulling every workout as Rip suggests. I'm also still using Double Overhand, but I didn't feel like it was my grip that was problem.

I also did BW dips during sessions #14 and #16, but I'm not sure why that would interfere with DL. However, I've been reading that dips have been interfering with BP for others, so I'm going to ax them from my program again.

[JCavin]

I'm waiting on someone with more experience to chime in, but...

Sleep could be the issue for sure. In the absence of sleep(from having small children at home), eating even more than usual seemed to help me. Aside from GOMAD, how much protein are you getting? At 176 you're still going to need another 50+ grams of protein to equal your bodyweight since there are only 128g in a gallon. You could try a fruit smoothie about an hour before your workout. It helps me. With that, on top of about 200mg of caffeine beforehand, it goes a long way.

Are you lifting before you go to bed? I used to do this, but the workouts would keep me up for hours afterward.

Since I can't see your log, how much weight have you been jumping on your DL since you started? Are you doing 10, 15, 20?

[BrewinBombers]

I haven't been tracking my outside food intake well once I decided to start GOMAD. I just try and eat a lot of meat throughout the day. I may not be at 50+ g, but anecdotal evidence suggests that I should be close. I'll try and eat more. SS has taken a joy out of food. I'm not happy about that bit.

I typically train from about 830p to 945p, family responsibilities make it unfeasible to train too much earlier. I FEEL tired, but can't get the sandman to enter. I do have occasional issues with my adductors and hamstrings feeling 'restless' after workouts. I might have to try some Benadryl or something as a short term solution and see how it goes.

I was upping my DL in 15s until I hit 230. Then I went to 10s for 240 and then 250.

[BrewinBombers]

After a week of vacation, my first two training sessions were a mixed bag.

Monday: (B) Squats were harder than they should be. I simply cannot seem to keep my back angle correct on my work sets. Same on Wednesday. The press was very difficult and I missed one rep in my third work set. Power Cleans were fun as always. It's starting to feel heavy, but only one missed rep because of some moron.

Wednesday: (A) Same deal with squats and my back. Finally took a video from 3/4 back which only confirms my problem. I wish I could smash the mirror in front of the rack. BP was tough, but I hit the reps. I think I'll start microloading now. DL sucked again at 250. I got one rep but nothing after that. I'm going to deload and switch to mixed grip and get it back. I may need to stop pulling so often.

Overall, I still feel like a giant puss, but I have to keep trudging through the linear progression. It's sad how difficult 3x5 across of 160 squats are, and my sad 130 bench where I have to start microloading. At least there's progress I guess.

Just signed up for the SSS in Springfield in November, but I wonder how things will be when I arrive.

[BrewinBombers]

Hoping to get BW up to 180 by Wednesday. I have never been that high.