Restarting Strength, this time I won't quit

[pavelv]

UPDATE:
I made a fool out of myself two months ago, quitting after two weeks when my main goal was not to quit. Well, I could blame it on being sick, having an awful schedule, bad weather or some silly shit like that. The truth is that I was just a giant pussy and did not want to put the work in.
Before christmas I decided to try again, but the flu got to me first and I had to wait till new years. Now I'm three weeks in and so far it's been great, I might even make it this time.

After 8 weeks of lifting, one squat deload and one minor injury later I managed to PR everything except the press:
Squat: 40 -> 105 kg
Deadlift: 60 -> 125 kg
Bench: 40 -> 65 kg
Press: 20 -> 45 kg
Clean: 45 -> 75 kg


Background:
Three years ago I squatted 105 kilos and quit. Since then I've tried a few times to get back in the game but always ended up skipping workouts and quitting again. Why did I stop in the first place? Because I was a young and stupid and hooked on Stronglifts and thought I knew it all. And of course I developed the infamous "weirdest hip tendonitis" from bad form and decided a layoff would be a good idea...and workouts without squatting were obviously no fun. Three years of doing nothing later and my hip still hurts.
Now I've discovered that this hip stretch routine produces exactly the same pain I got from squatting and actually works as a cure. And surprisingly squatting with a good form does not hurt.

My stats:
Age: 23 years
Height: 173 cm
Weight: 72 kg

Old lifts (@ 75 kg):
Squat: 3x5x102,5 kg
Deadlift: 1x5x115 kg
Bench Press: 3x5x62,5 kg
Power Clean 5x3x62,5 kg
Press 3x5x47,5 kg

Additional info:
I'm training outside in the cold on Mon/Wed/Fri, all the weights are in kilos.

So let's start some strength again!

[pavelv]

Last week I did some light excersised to get used to the initial awful DOMS and stuff and fooled around with the new Press. Today was the first real workout.

Weight: 72 kg

Warmup:
- soft tissue work with a tennis ball, MWOD hip stretch, some dynamic stretching, BW squats

Squat: 55kg 3x5
- easy as expected, little or no hip pain, knees not sliding forward

Bench Press: 40kg 3x5
- easy, some pain in lower back (most likely not enough tightness in abs/legs)

Deadlift: 60kg 1x5
- really easy
- started with a few supermans to get some feedback from my lower back
- back extension during DL felt good.
- did some hang cleans as a warmup, felt pretty good
- look down you moron, you're gonna strain your neck!

[pavelv]

Almost skipped a workout already. It was 3°C outside, windy and it was raining for a while. But I'm saving the weather excuse for when it is -20 outside.

Warmup:
- stretching, mobility work, BW squats, jump rope

Squat: 60kg 3x5
- last rep was slower, but still easy

Press: 25kg 3x5
- starting with light weights, getting used to new technique

Hang Clean: 40kg 5x3
- some reps sucked, but last set was great, moving up

[Charlie Davies]

I just moved my presses from the back porch into my garage for the winter.
The bar gets hard to hold onto in the cold rain & wind.

Do you not have a sheltered place to lift?

[pavelv]

Not at the moment, I will have to train outside this season. I don't really mind it though, winters are not that harsh here and I can always wear more clothes and sip hot coffee, Starr's article showed me it can be done. And I could probably visit a public gym if it gets extra cold.

[pavelv]

My quads were awfuly sore for some reason, but I decided to push through anyway. It was not very pleasant and setting up for bench and deadlift was quite awkward

Warmup:
- stretching (PNF quads and hamstrings), mobility work (leg swings, shoulder dislocations), BW squats, jump rope

Squat: 65kg 3x5
- first set was the worst, need more warmup

Bench Press: 45kg 3x5
- easy

Deadlift: 70kg 1x5
- easy
- still not looking down enough, my neck did not like it very much

[ChessGuy]

Keep up the god work! Where are you located?

I have to train outside, too. I do it on my porch. I don't look forward to this winter.

[pavelv]

Europe, Czech Republic. I found that temperatures around 0°C are fine with warm clothes, I just hope we don't get many -10 or worse days this winter.

The last workout must have triggered some bug, because an hour after it I got the chills and now I'm lying in my bed with fever. I'll most likely skip the next one and get healthy before going back to lifting.

[pavelv]

This was my progress for the past three weeks:

Started the squat light to fix my form and it worked. I think i finally learned to hold my knees in position, sit back and lean over. Deadlift I had to switch to semi-sumo (feet inside the rings, knees above ankles) because I almost broke my back and neck when I tried to pull 80kg conventional. The wider stance just feels natural and allows me to extend my back properly. Better this than an injury.

Weight: 71kg
It was -6°C outside, and frankly I enjoyed it more than when it was above zero.

Warmup:
- rolling on a PVC pipe, leg swings, shoulder dislocations, mwod for hips, agile8, 4x60 jump rope, 2x Burgener Warmup

Squat: 80kg 3x5
- pretty good. My right quad was a bit sore, but that should go away over the weekend.

Press: 40kg 3x5
- failed on the last rep, it would not go above my head. I got the rep a minute later though.
- it was probably stupid to go up 5 kilos again, but those tiny 5kg plates made me feel bad. On monday it worked nicely - I though I would not be able to lift 32,5, but I went up instead and smoked 35 kilos.
- if bench goes well on monday I will go up to 42,5.

Power Clean: 55kg 5x3
- hang and bellow the knee
- those were all over the place. On the 1st set I forgot to jump, on the 2nd I forgot to rack, on the 3rd I forgot to finish the pull. At least the 4th and 5th were spot on.

[pavelv]

Weather: temperature -5°C, light snow.

Warmup:
- rolling on a PVC pipe, leg swings, shoulder dislocations, mwod for hips, agile8, 5x50 jump rope, 2x Burgener Warmup, some overhead squats

Squat: 85kg 3x5
- felt easier than the 80kg on friday. No pain in hips.

Bench Press: 60kg 3x5
- pretty much the same story as with the 40kg Press last week, except this time I rested 7 minutes before the last set and easily got all five reps. I'm now benching the big plates and going up 2,5kg next time to match my old PR.

Deadlift: 105kg 1x5
- back rounding on last two reps, but I did not even set my back in a proper extension before the pull so I have to work on that.
- some reps were not locked out.