GCND's Quest for Dad Strength

[GCND]

[Introductory post -- further details below]

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. The primary purposes of this training log are external accountability (albeit anonymous) and encouragement/support from like-minded lifters.

I became a father in mid September, 2011. Among the countless changes fatherhood brought to my life, one in particular relates to my motivations for lifting. I can financially support my family, but I realized I still had a long way to go to become that granite, load-bearing pillar of strength that many men associate with their fathers and grandfathers. Put simply, I needed dad strength.

My training history is inconsistent, similar to many others who wander far and wide before stumbling upon the simple beauty of the barbell. I lifted off and on in high school, and fairly regularly in college. However, my sleep and diet precluded any meaningful progress. After graduate school, I found myself fat and slovenly, but with a newfound intolerance of excuses. In particular, the excuse that genetics predetermined me to be fat and unfit (which had served me as, as far as excuses go, for years) was suddenly anathema.

My wife is a runner. In the late winter of 2010, when I was at my heaviest ever (189 lbs. at 5’8.5”) and sick of my own excuses, she encouraged me to pick it up. She was incredibly supportive throughout my initial running + diet phase. At the time, I had no concept of maintaining lean body mass, and was not doing any meaningful resistance training aside from occasional bodyweight exercises at home. I lost 35 lbs., and discovered a love for exercise.

I put emphasis on cycling and generalized weight training (read: circuit training and machines – all I had known before) for most of the second phase. I had discovered Rippetoe’s books during that time, and tried to incorporate his program into my existing approach during spring of 2011. A mistake I did not realize until later. Nevertheless, I did make some improvements, and was pleased with how my overall strength and health had improved. I gained back up to almost 170 during that period. Over the summer of 2011, I dieted back down to 152 (this time, maintaining strength and muscle mass).

I resolved that, once my son was born, I would focus on gaining strength as quickly as possible, rather than staying lean. I have been doing the Practical Programming novice program for two reasons. One, I enjoy chin-ups and pull-ups, and have goals related to both. Two, my gym does not allow Olympic lifting, and I will not change gyms (gym membership tied to another membership, cannot justify a supplemental membership, not to mention there is a dearth of quality black iron gyms in the area).

[GCND]

My programming is as follows:

Monday:
Squat 3x5
Bench / Press (alternating) 3x5
Chin-ups 3 sets

Wednesday:
Squat 3x5
Bench / Press (alternating) 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

Friday:
Squat 3x5
Bench / Press (alternating) 3x5
Pull-ups 3 sets.

For this phase, I have temporarily suspended cardio/conditioning, though I hope to reincorporate it as soon as my son’s sleep schedule allows me better and more consistent recovery. For diet, I am eating well, and supplement with protein shakes and whole milk. I should also note that due to my schedule and circumstances, I lift at 5:30am fasted (though I try to get a little whey protein in beforehand).

Age: 28
Height: 5’8.5”
Starting Weight: 152

Starting Numbers:
Squat 5RM: 175
Bench 5RM: 155
Press 5RM: 100
Deadlift 5RM: 205
Chin-up one set max: 14-16 reps @ BW.
Pull-up one set max: 12-14 reps @ BW.

Current Numbers (after 12 weeks)
Current Weight: ~182
Squat 5RM: 275
Bench 5RM: 185
Press 5RM: 125
Deadlift 5RM: 295
Chin-ups and Pull-ups remain the same, @ +30 BW.

[GCND]

---
Workout 1 --- 9/26/2011

Squat: 5/5/3 @ 175.
Bench: 5 @ 155, 5 @ 160, 5 @ 155.
Chins: 14 @ BW, 8 @ BW, 4 @ BW+25.

Notes: On squat warmup, overcommitted with a 155x5 set that interfered with my work sets. On bench, I bumped to 160 as a trial, but was uncomfortable with it even though I completed the set, and dropped back to 155 for the third work set.

---
Workout 2 --- 9/28/2011

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 175.
Press: 5/6/5 @ 100.
DL: 5 @ 205.

Notes: I lost count due to gym idiocy on the press and grinded out a sixth rep on the second set as a result. Left squat weight at 175 and completed sets.

---
Workout 3 --- 9/30/11

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 185 (+10)
Bench: 5/5/5 @ 165 (+10)
Pull-ups: 12 @ BW, 5 @ BW+25, 4 @ BW+25.

Notes: Made a large jump on bench, felt controlled throughout. On squat, I am still using highbar due to low-bar bar positioning woes.

[GCND]

---
Workout 4 --- 10/3/11

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 195 (+10).
Press: 5/5/5 @ 105 (+5)
Chins: 14 @ BW, 8 @ BW, ran out of time.

Notes: Still high-bar, and having form/depth issues. Going to work on low-bar form and stance width next workout.

---
Workout 5 --- 10/5/11

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 205 (+10).
Bench: 5/5/3 @ 170 (+5).
DL: 5 @ 225 (+20).

Notes: Low bar, wider stance, just about to parallel. Still need to improve depth and form. Perhaps increasing weight while ironing out form is a bad idea, but hard to forsake novice LP gains.

---
Workout 6 --- 10/7/11

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 215 (+10).
Press: 5/5/5 @ 110 (+5).
Pull-ups: 15 @ BW, 6 @ BW+25, 5 @ BW+25.

Notes: Squats were messy today. Still working on form. Press and pull-ups went great today, though. Confidence-inspiring.

[GCND]

---
Workout 7 --- 10/10/11

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 225 (+10)
Bench: 5/5/5 @ 170 (---)
Chins: 14 @ BW, 8 @ BW, 4 w/ towel @ BW.

Notes: Squats were really messy today, and not nearly deep enough. Increased weight plus novelty of low-bar and wider stance equals mental barrier to proper depth. Did a set of 10 @ 135 after to focus on depth.

---
Workout 8 --- 10/12/11
Squat: 2 @ 230, 5/5 @ 205.
Press: 5/5/5 @ 115 (+5).
DL: 5 @ 245 (+20).

Notes: Squats did not go well today. Having wrist and bar placement issues that led to wrist pain, and continuing depth issues. Given form difficulties, decided to drop weight back to 205 to hammer out form. Added a set of 8 @ 135 for form work as well. The last rep on my third set of Press was a grind.

---
Workout 9 --- 10/14/11.
Bodyweight check: 165-66 (+12-13).

Squat: 5 @ 205, 5/5 @ 185 (-20). See notes.
Bench: 5/5/5 @ 175 (+5)
Pullups: 14 @ BW, 4 @ BW+25, 4 @ BW+25, 3 w/ towel @ BW.

Notes: Squats fell apart on first set. Focusing on low-bar positioning, I somehow got the bar too low and didn’t have the upper back tightness to keep it up there. My wrists got under it and the bar slid down, painful on my wrists and back, so low I could not re-rack the bar and had to bail it to the safeties. Second set, continued security and wrist issues, wrists broke position during the set, and were painful after. Third set, resorted to high-bar. Very discouraging overall. Will begin work on shoulder flexibility and low-bar positioning, to try and overcome the setback.

[GCND]

---
Workout 10 --- 10/17/11

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 205.
Press: 5/4/4 @ 120 (+5).
Chins: 12 @ BW, 8 @ BW, no time.

Notes: Squats were good today. I think the shoulder flexibility work and positioning focus has helped tremendously already. Disappointed by Press, but with the positioning and tightness from squats, my shoulders feel a bit weaker/fried after the squats. Hopefully this will improve with time.

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Workout 11 --- 10/19/11

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 215 (+10).
Bench: 5/3 @ 180, 5 @ 175.
DL: 5 @ 265.

Notes: Squats were hard, a bit grindy, and slow. But good. The second set bench fail was disappointing, so I dropped the weight to 175. On the deadlift, I experienced grip issues for the first time on the last couple reps. Also ripped a callus (I have damnably small hands, calluses are going to be a problem). Ordered a belt and chalk.

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Workout 12 --- 10/21/11

Squat: 3 @ 230, 5/5 @ 220 (+5).
Press: 5/5/4 @ 120
Pull-ups: 14/9/8 @ BW.

Notes: Oops, poor night’s sleep led to groggy first set, put too much weight on the bar. Discovered it on my fourth rep when I couldn’t get out of the hole. Both the Squat and Press sets made me really want a belt. Hope it comes soon.

[GCND]

---
Workout 13 --- 10/24/11
Bodyweight check: 170 (+18 overall)

Squat: 5 @ 225, 2-3 @ 225, 5 @ 220.
Bench: 5/4/3 @ 180.
Chins: 12/8 @ BW.

Notes: Horrible workout. Poor sleep all weekend (5 week old son was not feeling well), I felt ill on Sunday and this morning, had no energy. I lost ab and back tightness in the hole on my second set of squats, and failed. Bench failed as well. Need to get some ankle weights for microloading. Really a disappointing and discouraging workout, especially considering what I see on the scale and in the mirror. I have definitely put on fat, but my wife is loving the changes overall, so I can’t complain. Still, the sheer quantity of fail I experienced this morning served as the impetus for taking my personal spreadsheet log and putting it on the internet, offering it to the scrutiny of legions of mouthbreathers and trolls. My hope in doing so is that someone will see the log and tell me I’m not full of fail, that I should persevere, and that I’m doing the program (sans powerclean, obviously).

Note #2: My belt and chalk arrived from Inzer today. I ordered a Medium, so naturally they sent me a Large. Of course, their office is inexplicably closed today as well.

Note #3: Got in touch with Inzer today. Their evasive explanation for yesterday's unavailability. "We had some problems yesterday. They're all fixed now." Shipping the large belt back to them, hopefully I won't have to wait another two weeks for its replacement.

[GCND]

---
Workout 14 --- 10/26/11

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 225
Press: 5/5/5 @ 120
DL: 1 @ 275, 2 @ 255.

Notes: This morning I focused on tightness in my squats, through the upper back and especially in the abs and lower back. Lower back tightness during squats has been an issue for me lately, so I wanted to really hammer it today. The squats went very well, which was pleasing. I’m looking forward to the belt arriving, too. On the press, I took a slightly wider grip than normal (~1”), and it went well. On the DL I was already pretty fried at this point, used chalk for the first time, but couldn’t get 280 past my shins. Quads and posterior chain felt very taxed, possibly from the emphasis on tightness during my squats. Got one rep up at 275, dropped weight to 255 and got two more before throwing in the towel. Love chalk, made me forget that I had a callus rip last week. Disappointing deadlifts, but squat success makes up for it.

[Gaucho]

Hey man, good luck with your goals. I'm a relatively new dad too (have a 1 and 3 year old) and it wasn't so long ago that the little one was keeping me up half the night. Not easy to train after nights like that, but two cups of black coffee usually did the trick!

[GCND]

Thanks for the encouragement, Gaucho! Sleep is variable, and it makes recovery a bit challenging in terms of consistency, but I haven't missed a workout yet, which is pretty good considering I'm getting up at 5am three times a week to go to the gym. Without coffee, too.

---
Workout 15 --- 10/28/11

Squat: 5/5/5 @ 230
Bench: 5/5/5 @ 180
Pull ups: 14 @ BW, 4 @ BW+25 with no rest, 3 w/ towel with no rest.

Notes: Running behind this morning, so time was short. I tried not to compromise rest time between sets, but was more mindful of it today than usual. Squats were okay, though the depth was a little suspect. I am not confident I hit 100% depth on all fifteen reps. Bench went well, but I was out of time after. Did three rapid-fire sets of pull-ups, with 30 seconds rest. Will do more pull-ups this weekend.