Baldander's log

[Baldanders]

I'm 40 (almost 41,) 6', and around 200 lbs. I started lifting around the middle of June, but I was pretty inconsistent about it for the first few weeks. I pulled an adductor the second time I went to the gym (and tweaked my lower back a bit at the same time.) I skipped the next session, and then backed off on the squats until it felt better. Some things came up that I had to deal with that made me miss all of the first week of July, and the second two session of the third week.

I started at 145 for the squat, and around the same for the deadlift. I failed to finish 3x5 at 95 lbs for bench the first time, and started over from 85 the next time I benched. Press started at 65 lbs. I've been doing bent rows rather than power cleans, though I think I should learn to do the cleans, as the rows seem less useful than everything else- I started them at 85 lbs, which was too low. I've broken both my wrists, the right one less than a year ago, and I am not flexible enough to get into a rack position, so I've been leery of the power clean. But the row seems to do less for me than the other movements, so I'd like to add the power clean in its place.

On Friday the 26th of July I did the following work sets:
Squat: 195 3x5
Bench Press: 115 3x5
Deadlift: 195 3x5

On Monday the 29th of July I did the following work sets:

Squat: 200 3x5
Press: 90 1x5, 1x4, 1x3, 1x1 (I accidentally went up to 85 instead of 80 last time I pressed, and did 3x5 OK, so I tried 90, but failed. I will do 90 again on Friday, and hopefully do 3x5.)
Row: 125 3x5

[Baldanders]

Wednesday, August 1 2012

Squat: 205 3x5

These felt pretty heavy. I had a hard time getting the last rep up, and though I went deep on all of them my form was not so great toward the end. I wound up using a lot of back to get them up, and the bar came up kind of unevenly on a couple of reps. On the last rep the bar actually stopped for a second, and I had to grind it out. So I am thinking about staying at this weight next time. I was tired and out of sorts this morning so I might try one more increment, and see how that goes.

Bench Press 120 3x5

These didn't feel that hard. Hopefully that means I'll be able to keep adding 5 lbs a session to them for a while.

Deadlift 205 3x5

I could probably do a good bit more on deadlift, but I am being careful with them. The only time I ever hurt myself significantly lifting weights it was deadlifting. I've had some sciatica in my right hip ever since.

[Baldanders]

Friday, August 3 2012

Squat: 205x4 195x5 195x3

Dunno what happened here as I did 3x5 at 205 on Wednesday. But I just could not come up out of the hole on the last rep of the first set this morning. Had to dump it on the pins. My form was better today than on Wednesday, and that might have tired me a bit more. Also, I've been having some pain in the hips while squatting lately, and that might have had something to do with it. Missing that rep took a lot out of me, so I backed of to 195 to try to finish my reps. Manages one good set of five, but realized I was just going to get stuck under the bar again if I tried to finish the last set. I guess I will give 205 another try on Monday, after having had two days to recover.)

Press:
90 3x5

But I guess this is the good news. I was a bit worried about these after Monday, but they went up reasonably easy- last rep was hard, but not too bad.

I was really pressed for time by this point. I've been doing barbell rows for the last exercise on Press day, but I'm not super happy with it. Problem is I haven't learned to do power cleans yet (and am cautious about them because of my wrists) and can't do 5 pullups/chins. So today I practiced the rack position for a few minutes and then did 2 sets of two pullups with bodyweight. I was out of time by that point, so I left. Not a very satisfying day in the gym.

[vanslix]

Welcome. I'm a shade younger but a shade fatter than your situation. You'll find a wealth of knowledge and support on this forum. I know I have.

[Baldanders]

Thanks for the welcome vanslix. I have been reading a lot in the forums, trying to pick up what I can.

Monday, August 6 2012

Squat 185 3x5

After Friday's fiasco I decided to back these up to 185 and work on form. These felt surprisingly heavy given that I did 205 last Wednesday, but I was going pretty deep, just to be sure. Also, I think I may have still been a bit tired from missing that squat on Friday. One thing I am noticing is that my knees are a bit wobbly on the way up sometimes. Need to work on that.

Bench Press 125 3x5

These are feeling a bit heavier, but no problem getting them up. I felt like I could have done 3x6. So hopefully I'll be able to keep adding five pounds to them.

Deadlift 215 1x5

This felt heavy when I broke the first rep off the floor, but it felt lighter after that. Actually these took a lot less out of me than the deads were taking out of me when I was at 185 and 195. I had to resist the urge to do another set. On Friday I'll try two plates, which will be nice. First lift to get there.

Bodyweight seems to be up a bit- hard to tell as it fluctuates, but I ate very few carbs yesterday (just a bit from some almonds,) and the scale said something like 203 today. Not sure how much is muscle and how much fat, but the waistline, which had been going down a bit, does seem to be expanding again.

[Baldanders]

Wednesday August 8, 2012

Didn't feel great this morning. Tired, and a twingy pain on the left right below the back.

Squat 190 3x5

Again, these felt heavy. I don't feel like I've really gotten any stronger at the squat in the last couple of weeks. Last rep of each of the last two sets was a bit high. But I managed to keep the knees from wobbling. Still getting significant pain in the hips. Hopefully I can get someone to video these soon for a form check.

Press 100 3x3 1x1

I think I need some smaller plates in order to keep making progress on the Press and still get in all of the reps. Amazing how much of a difference five pounds makes. Hopefully I'll be able to get this on Monday.

Power Clean 65 3x3

So I decided to stop being a pussy and learn to do these. I was very low on time by this point so I just did these three sets very quickly. Atrocious form- I really don;t know how to do these yet. Unfortunately my time in the gym has pretty hard limits right now, as I would like to spend a fair bit of time just practicing these. Maybe I can make it in on a weekend just for that purpose sometime. I also wish I had enough time to do these and chins, as I don't feel like I'm getting a huge amount out of doing these at 65 lbs, and I think it will be a while before I can do them well enough to up the weight to something reasonable.

[Baldanders]

Friday August 10, 2012

Today was a bit of an odd morning, as a co-worker came to the gym with me on a guest pass. He's been going to a different gym and using mostly machines/cardio stuff for a while, but he wants to start doing free weights. I'm not really the best person to introduce someone to the fine points of lifting, as I'm very much a beginner myself. But he'd never used free weights at all before, and wanted to get an idea of what a session looks like, how to use the equipment, etc. So I made some arrangements to be able to be in the gym longer than usual. I waited until we'd been there a while and he'd squatted and benched to begin my lifting, so I could get it in between his sets without having to stop for a long time to show him things.

I was also really tired this morning. I had five beers last night and then got only about 4 and a half hours of sleep- damn cat woke me up at 5:30. So I wasn't feeling enormously strong today. I've also been having some twinginess in my hips/lower back. So I only did 185 on squat, as I am still trying to make sure my form is good- I think it is getting better, and hopefully I can start kicking the weight up consistently again soon. Planning on eating and sleeping a lot over the weekend.

Squat: 185 3x5

Bench: 130 3x5

I get to use the big plates next time. These were OK. Last rep took a bit of work, but this is coming along a bit. It seems like my bench is really weak relative to my other lifts- I couldn't do 3x5 with 95 pounds when I started, and I'm pretty sure I could have done 3x5 on squats at 165, or maybe 175.

Deadlift: 1x5 225

This felt pretty heavy, but nice to get two plates on some lift. The grip of my left hand is starting to fail at this weight. I hurt that thumb really badly a few years ago, and I'm just generally much weaker on the left side than the right. Wondering if it might be time to switch to a mixed grip. I think I'll be able to go up to 235 other than the grip, though this is starting to feel heavy, and I might have to switch to five pound jumps pretty soon.

[Baldanders]

Monday, August 13 2012

Squat 190 3x5

I'm having a bit of trouble keeping my knees out. The left knee in particular really wants to pull in at this weight. I feel like my form is OK at light weights, but it gets tough to hold it all together around this weight.

OHP 95 2x5 1x4

Last time I did the OHP I accidentally went up 10 lbs, to 100. So today I decided to go back to 95. Almost got it, but couldn't make the last rep- probably should have rested just a bit longer. I've gotten stronger at this, but I've also started using a lot more stretch reflex than I did at first, when I was generally pressing from from a dead stop each time. Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.

The adductor I pulled about two months ago started to really hurt during the second set.

Power Clean: practice with the bar

Had about 12 minutes left at this point. Spent it working on power clean with just the bar. Didn't count what I did, but I did some practice at various parts of the movement, some hang cleans, and some cleans from about the position the bar would be on with plates on it (no bumper plates at my gym.) This actually really wore me out a bit and winded me.

My form is not good, but I made some progress. This was the first time I actually felt like I was doing something resembling a power clean. I will try using a little bit more weight next time, but I want to be a bit careful with it for now, as I am coming down a bit off-balance sometimes, and getting into the rack is awkward.

[jkw]

Love your username, I'm a big gene wolfe fan.

One thing I noticed with power cleans (and I'm not necessarily very good at them, so take my advice with a grain of salt) is that practicing with the empty bar was pretty much useless for me. It's like using a broomstick, it's just not enough weight to get the movement right.

[Baldanders]

Yeah, I'm pretty fond of Wolfe too, particularly the New Sun books. Choosing Baldanders as a username was a bit of wishful thinking on my part- Dorcas might have been a bit more appropriate .

I definitely hear what you're saying about using more weight on the PC. I can feel how it would be easier to manage at the top with some weight- right now I'm having to hold back a bit to keep the bar from just flying up and hitting me in the face. But today was the first time I have ever tried to do a real PC, so I was mainly working on getting the timing and keeping my arms from trying to do the work, and for that the empty bar seemed to work to some degree. I'm definitely going to add weight next time, but until I get things a little smoother I don't want to add too much. It would be pretty embarrassing to go ass over teakettle coming down. People in the gym were already looking at me like I was a crazy man this morning. I get some pretty odd looks just squatting. I guess there are some powerlifters who lift there (and the gym even has chalk,) but at the times I lift it's usually people using machines, benching, and doing curls. Not a lot of people leaving the ground with weight in their hands. I did see a guy doing power cleans there once, but he was mainly using his arms to do them, and not getting into a rack at the top.

I do really want to learn to do these with reasonable weight though. Even with just the bar I could feel how useful these would be.