Back on the broken horse

[Little Tex]

I’m starting week 8 of my modified SS program tomorrow. I’m 43, 6’2, and 201 pounds of weakness. In the last 8 weeks my progress has been:
Week 1 -> Week 8
Squat 45 -> 175
Bench 95 –> 160
Deadlift 95 –> 195
Press 65 -> 100
Powerclean 45 -> 105

I’m currently doing two workouts a week alternating A and B. I started my squats at 95 thinking that it would be super easy based on my younger-self experience. I ended up doing 3 sets of 5 half squats that smoked the devil out of me. I hurt so bad I could barely walk to my car. I felt like one of those lipizzan stailions, flicking my legs out, trying to walk without using any muscles. I was sore for a week and decided to drop my next workout to 45.

It’s really sad how an unused body can turn into such a pile of shit. I used to be in reasonably good shape a few years back. I was never really strong but I had good cardio and pushed weights around from time to time. Mostly just the normal fuck-around-itis. About five years ago a neck injury that started in an Army training accident flared up. I was lifting a suitcase overhead and had severe pain followed by and immediate 80% loss of strength in my left tricep, forearm, and hand. Three weeks later I had a two level fusion C5-C7 as both levels were pretty messed up. The surgery went great and I woke up completely pain free.

My Dr. didn’t recommend heavy weight lifting so I starting doing more running after the rehab. With the extra running I started to get lower back pain. I went back to the Doc only to be diagnosed with Bertolotti’s Syndrome, which is where one of the spiny wings on the vertebrae grows larger from injury, calcium deposits, or other unknown causes. They confirmed with MRI, and localized pain blockers. So now I have issues on both ends of my spine.

Anyway…after a few years of being depressed about my fitness I’ve just had enough. My neck is totally fused and there’s not much that can be done with Bertolotti’s other than sucking up the pain. I don’t know how far I’ll go in SS or how far is safe for me but I’m really enjoying the progress. My neck and back feel better than ever. In the meantime I’m going to keep pushing on.

[Little Tex]

I weighed in at 202.5 today and squatted 180x5x3, pressed 102.5x5x3 and managed five chin-ups. I have been doing power cleans off and on. I only do PC's once a week which doesn't give me much practice. My form is not that great. I can catch the bar pretty solid on my delts with my arms high but I tend to tweak my wrist trying to get my hands under the bar as I roll it off my shoulders. The wrist pain is a couple of weeks old so I'm going to keep practicing with lighter weights until it feels right.

[Little Tex]

Today I squatted 185x5x3, benched 165x5x3, and deadlifted 205x1x5. I had a little knee cave on the squat today. I'm going to have to keep working on that. It seems to pop up sometimes in the 2nd or 3rd set. I also sorted out my deadlift. The first rep always seemed super hard. This time I tried to think about pushing my feet through the floor as I lifted. The weight popped up without a hitch. I guess I was not engaging my legs very well on the first rep. The hex plates are also starting to be a problem with the deadlift. The freaking things keep shifting all over when I set them down. The workout felt great. I was jamming to CCR Born on the Bayou on the way home from the gym.

[Little Tex]

190 squat FAIL!!! I failed 190 not one set but two. I managed 190x5,190x3,190x4. My form was all over the place I noticed myself sitting on my heals and on the third rep and I tried to overcorrect on the fourth rep and got stuck in the hole. I'm also still having issues keeping my knees out. They go out fine but the shift in as I'm coming up.I had a shitty weekend as far as sleep, diet, and stress goes so I'm not suprised it was hard today, form aside. On the positive side I just cranked out the press for 105x5x3. I had two reps out of the 15 that I had to move my feet around trying to maintain balance during the lift. I need to work on that. On the other hand, I think I sorted out my press grip. My wrist has been bothering me and I think I had too much bend in my wrist. It seems much better after paying attention to the grip. I got five chin-ups.

I'll try 190 one more time to see if I can get the form down. If not, I'll probably deload. I've had the same issues in the squat for a while. I just keep adding weight and keep working on form. my final warmup of 170 felt solid.

[Little Tex]

170 bench FAIL!!!. I deloaded my squat to 170 to try and fix some form issues. Overall it felt pretty good today. So far my knee is feeling OK. It's a little sore but better than usual. It might be because of the reduced weight, better form, or some other mystery. The bench felt heavy today. I managed 170x5,170x4, 17x3. I'll try again next week. I did hit 215 on the DL. It felt heavy but doable. I had a bitch of a time with the damn hex plates. I had to reset the DL twice. If the plates don't come down flat side down then the roll around and I have to reset. I might try five singles until I can find a better place to workout.

[Kazzin]

Hex plates suck, but you do get used to them eventually.

[Little Tex]

I had a good day at the gym today. I worked on my squat form some more on my way back to 190. I did 175x5x3. I moved my stance back to shoulder width(previously at an inch or two inside the shoulder), and I pointed my feet out more. I was able to keep my knees shoved out the entire movement. I had a couple of reps where I really felt the hip drive. I tried to focus on that but I also had a few reps that felt like all quads. I noticed that when I tried hard to stand straight up and keep the weight over midfoot that the rep felt easy. Some of the reps I was a little too far back in my stance. My right knee was a little sore before the workout but feels great now.

I did 107.5x5x3 in the press. I smashed the bar into my nose on one of my warmup sets. No blood, no foul. I also got a little wobbly on set two and had to take a step forward. I also had to rest for 7 minutes on the last set as I was smoked.

I worked on cleans with the bar. My wrist is still not fully healed so I didn't push it. I should be able to start back with the cleans in a few weeks.

Did chins for reps of, 5,3,1. I've been stuck on 5 for a couple of weeks. I guess I'll keep trying.

[Little Tex]

Crushed the deadlift today at 225x5x1. Funny that 215 last week felt hard but 225 this week felt super easy. It's fun going to two plates even if I'm still weak.

I did squats at 180x5x3. My form felt good today. I'm getting better at feeling what my body is doing during the squat. I've got my knees pushed out pretty good and I'm currently working on standing straight up rather than pushing back a bit.

My bench was 170x5,5,4. This was my second fail at 170. I had a spotter and technically I did five on the last set but I had some help even though I keep saying loudly "It's all me". That's been my problem since 160. A random spotter will always touch the bar no matter how much you ask them not to. I can't complaing as these dudes are helping me out. I had help at 160, and at 165. My gut tells me I should start microloading the bench 2.5lbs each week. If I would have started at 160 then I would be at 170 now right where I am. I'll hit 170x5x5 next time and start microloading from there.

I was jamming to queens of the stone age on the way back to work.

[Little Tex]

185x5x3 squats was pretty easy. I should hit 190 no problem next time. I crushed the first set of presses at 110. 107.5 was very tough last time so I was expecting 110 to feel more heavy but it honestly felt light. Unfortunately I let the 3rd rep of the 2nd set get a little behind me and I tweaked my left shoulder trying to bring it back around. I saved the rep but I did not attempt any more reps for the day. Sadly, I did 110x5,3,0 for the day. My shoulder was still bothering me a bit on the chinups. I only got 4,0,0. I don't think the shoulder is too bad and I should be good to go next workout.