Turning Lanky Limbs To Lifter's Levers

[George Christiansen]

Moving my log from here:

http://startingstrength.com/resource...ad.php?t=43080

6'7"
240lbs
20% ish BF

Using the layout of the Texas Method, but with some adjustments for my recovery abilities (I'm 41 and have two young kids that too often mess with my sleep) and the fact that I cannot bench or back squat right now because of an old shoulder injury.

I may get something like this in the future: http://www.davedraper.com/top-squat.html , but right now I think the RDL's fill in the gap in hamstring work that would come from back squats.

Last week's sessions:

Volume Day:

Front Squat - 5 sets of 3 @ 210

Alternating sets of:
Press - 3 sets of 5 @ 130
Neutral Chin - 5/4+1/4+1 (15 second break before last rep on the last 2 sets)

Romanian Deadlift - 3 sets of 5 @ 210

Alternating sets of:
Pushdown 2 sets of 10 @ 70
Barbbell Curl 2 sets of 10 @ 70

Recovery Day:

Circuit of 12/10/8/6/4/2:

BW Squats
TRX Push Ups
BW Squats
TRX Rows

Intensity Day:

Front Squat - 2 sets of 3 @ 230

Alternating sets of:
Press - 2 sets of 3 @ 140
Neutral Chin - 2 sets of 3 @ +10

Deadlift - 1 set of 5 @ 345

Alternating sets of:
Pushdown 2 sets of 10 @ 70
Barbbell Curl 2 sets of 10 @ 70


I also went for a hike yesterday which was somewhere around 10 miles, but pretty flat. I didn't mean to go so long, but got kind of caught up in the "moment" of being kid free. I usually do a much shorter one with my 4 year-old on Saturday mornings.

I was a bit tired last night, but actually fell asleep really early and ate anything that wasn't moving before that. Feel pretty good today.

[George Christiansen]

This week:

Volume Day:

Front Squat - 5 sets of 3 @ 215

Alternating sets of:
Press - 3 sets of 5 @ 132.5
Neutral Chin - 5/4+1/4+1 (15 second break before last rep on the last 2 sets)

Romanian Deadlift - 3 sets of 5 @ 215

Alternating sets of:
Pushdown 2 sets of 12 @ 70
Barbbell Curl 2 sets of 12 @ 70

Recovery Day:

Circuit of 12/10/8/6/4/2:

BW Squats
TRX Push Ups
BW Squats
TRX Rows

Intensity Day:

Front Squat - 2 sets of 3 @ 235

Alternating sets of:
Press - 2 sets of 3 @ 142.5
Neutral Chin - 2 sets of 3 @ +10

Deadlift - 1 set of 4 @ 345

Alternating sets of:
Pushdown 2 sets of 15 @ 70
Barbbell Curl 1 sets of 12 @ 75 +1 sets of 12 @ 75 (Bad Math.Meant to do 2x70)

Felt like I had a hard time getting tight during squats and deadlifts today. I'll just redo the weight next week for 5.

[George Christiansen]

That should be Deadlift - 1 set of 4 @ 355 above.

[George Christiansen]

This week:

Volume Day:

Front Squat - 5 sets of 3 @ 220

Alternating sets of:
Press - 3 sets of 5 @ 135
Neutral Chin - 3 sets of 5 (15 second break before last rep on the last 2 sets)

Romanian Deadlift - 3 sets of 5 @ 220

Alternating sets of:
Pushdown 2 sets of 10 @ 75
Leg Extension 2 sets of 10 @ 90
Barbbell Curl 2 sets of 10 @ 75
Leg Curl 2 sets of 8 @ 90

Recovery Day:

Circuit of 12/10/8/6/4/2:

BW Squats
TRX Push Ups
BW Squats
TRX Rows

Intensity Day:

Front Squat - 1 sets of 5 @ 205

Alternating sets of:
Press - 1 sets of 5 @ 130
Neutral Chin - 1 set of 5

Deadlift - 1 set of 5 @ 320


My right knee was feeling off before Monday's session and I was feeling burnt out in general so I decided to make today's session light and to ramp up again from today's weight starting on Monday.

I bought a pair of Hook Grip's knee sleeves the other day and lent my 2nd edition to a guy at my gym that I have had some good discussions about programming and such.

[George Christiansen]

Decided last weekend that I wanted to try and replace Front Squats with LBBS. My shoulder has been feeling better and I think that if I progress a bit slower it can handle the stress better. I am also doing pull-aparts and dislocates with a band between every warm up and set for squats. I hope this works.

Because of the deload for squats and some schedule conflicts I am also switching to doing a upper/lower split on M & T and a full body session on Friday.

Monday:

Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 225

Alternating sets of:
Press - 3 sets of 5 @ 135
Neutral Chin - 3 sets of 5

Deadlift - 1 sets of 5 @ 315

Alternating sets of:
Pushdown 2 sets of 10 @ 80
Barbbell Curl 2 sets of 10 @ 75

Thursday:

Alternating sets of:
Press - 3 sets of 5 @ 135
Neutral Chin - 3 sets of 5

Alternating sets of:
Lying Tricep Extension 2 sets of 10 @ 75
Barbbell Curl 2 sets of 10 @ 75

Friday:

Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 225
RDL - 3 sets of 8 @ 185

Alternating sets of:
Leg Extension 2 sets of 10 @ 70
Leg Curl 2 sets of 10 @ 75

[George Christiansen]

Monday:

Alternating sets of:
Press - 3 sets of 5 @ 136.25
Neutral Chin - 3 sets of 5

Alternating sets of:
Lying Tricep Extension 2 sets of 10 @ 76.25
Barbbell Curl 2 sets of 10 @ 76.25

Tuesday:

Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 227.5

Alternating sets of:
Incline Sit Ups 1 set of 10 + 1 set of 8
45 Glute/Ham 1 set of 10 + 1 set of 8

Friday:

Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 230
Alternating sets of:
Press - 1 set of 4 + 2 sets of 5 @ 137.5 (left shoulder tweaked on 4th rep of 1st set so I stopped)
Neutral Chin - 3 sets of 5
Deadlift 1 set of 5 @ 320

[George Christiansen]

I was suffering from bronchitis all last week. Couldn't sleep or eat at all for a few days there and was still pretty useless the rest of the week. Haven't weighed myself yet, but am pretty sure I lost some weight.

Going to try and go to the gym this week if I can manage to not cough every five minutes.

[George Christiansen]

Tuesday:

Squat - 1 set of 5 @ 225
Press - 1 set of 5 @ 135
Neutral Chin - 1 set of 5 @ BW

Friday:

Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 225
Alternating sets of:
Press - 2 sets of 5 + 1 set of 4 @ 135
Neutral Chin - 2 sets of 5 + 1 set of 4 @ BW
Deadlift 1 set of 5 @ 315

Bronchitis apparently has no real effect on strength, but the lack of sleep and spending the better part of two weeks on the coach will effect one's endurance a tad.

[George Christiansen]

Stuck with last weeks weight because I felt fatigued all week. Not sick, but energy was definitely low.

Monday:

Alternating sets of:
Press - 3 sets of 5 @ 135
Neutral Chin - 3 sets of 5

Alternating sets of:
Lying Tricep Extension 2 sets of 10 @ 75
Barbbell Curl 2 sets of 10 @ 75

Tuesday

Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 225

Alternating sets of:
Incline Sit Ups 2 sets of 8
45 Glute/Ham 2 sets of 8

Friday:

Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 225
Alternating sets of:
Press - 3 sets of 5 @ 135
Neutral Chin - 3 sets of 5 @ BW
Deadlift 1 set of 5 @ 315

[George Christiansen]

Had a ridiculously stressful week. Got 3-4 hours sleep on Tuesday night and never really caught up.

Monday:

Alternating sets of:
Press - 2 sets of 5 + 1 sets of 4 @ 137.5
Neutral Chin - 2 sets of 5 + 1 sets of 4

Alternating sets of:
Lying Tricep Extension 2 sets of 8 @ 80
Barbbell Curl 2 sets of 8 @ 80

Tuesday

Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 230

Alternating sets of:
Incline Sit Ups 2 sets of 9
45 Glute/Ham 2 sets of 9

Friday:

Squat - 3 sets of 5 @ 235
Alternating sets of:
Press - 4/4/3/4 @ 140
Neutral Chin - 3 sets of 5 @ BW
Deadlift 1 set of 5 @ 325
Alternating sets of:
Lying Tricep Extension 1 set of 10 + 1 set of @ 80
Barbbell Curl 1 set of 10 + 1 set of @ 80

Decided to make some small changes in my programming:

I am going to break Fridays session into two shorter sessions, replace Tuesdays, situps and glute/hams with deadlifts (yes deadlifting twice a week), and start making up for missed reps (under 5 per set) with extra sets. I also may start implementing a deload week where I just keep the last weights the same, but just work up to one top set with it.