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Thread: Mike's second log after a 6 month 'sabbatical

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Gaithersburg, MD
    Posts
    471

    Default Mike's second log after a 6 month 'sabbatical

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    Basics:
    M
    6'4"
    25 years old
    Starting body weight 200


    I had an old log here: http://startingstrength.com/resource...ad.php?t=36195 it was pretty fun.

    I spent a few months away from the iron game. I was injured repeatedly and frustrated and I sorta took the summer off to hang out with a girl. But after I started missing that slight strength I developed last year as well as missing rugby meant I wouldn't be gone for long.

    I never graduated from novice but I don't think I would have the way I was training. I wasn't seriously focusing my power cleans, presses, chins, etc. and diligently eating and recovering properly. It takes a lot of focus to maintain success, as all aspects of growth must be in sync, proper stress and proper recovery.

    I've been doing well and I'm on a roll so far. I've been trying to make sure I'm giving my body the appropriate amount of stress (i.e. not skipping power cleans). While it was harder at first to complete the full workouts, focusing through the first few weeks meant that my metabolism caught up quickly. Consume much more fat and carb, have more energy for my full schedule of lifts. Profit.

    Power cleans are truth, for real. I started light (65 lbs.) using the empty bar, two tens, and like three 2"x4" planks stacked on top of each other to get the right height. Up 10 pounds a workout since. I'm finally getting to the point where they're heavy enough to look like power cleans, and my shoulders, lats and traps and low back are thanking me. Deadlifts are so much easier to train with a power clean day, and so are squats. My squat warm-ups are more explosive and I think that's translating into increased bar speed and strength.

    Eating a lot of simple food. Potatoes, rice and beans, maybe some pasta en masse to fuel. Lots of almonds, milk, peanut butter, chicken, beef, yogurt, mayo, etc. in order to load up on protein and fat. I eat when I'm hungry, and then a bit more. My appetite's been fueling and I've gained 10 lbs. in the last couple weeks.

    Short term goals are a 405 lb. squat, start on the summer rugby 7's team, coach and train my friends in lifting. Still hashing out long term goals, but honestly I'm starting to see what this starting strength certificate's all about. I've already helped some of my friends get a bit stronger, and we're energetic. Maybe bone up on the anatomy side of the game, read a lot more, and keep lifting. We'll see what happens. I've already studied most of the material around this web site over the last year or so. Just gotta lift now.

    Here are my numbers since 1/2014
    I lift when I can, I eat as much as I want to fuel recovery, I go in the next day and set out to lift more than I used to. If it's not there, I don't panic, I just keep eating and trying to do more. If everything's really nasty, I either take a day off and put my schedule back by a bit or drop volume for a workout or two. Starting this week though I've been trying to adhere more rigorously to M/W/F,

    Squat 135/185/195/190/205/215/225/235/245/250/205/255/255/260/265/270x/275x/245/2xx/

    Bench 115/135/155/145/175/xxx/180/xxx/185x/xxx/185/xxx/185/xxx/190/xxx/195x/xxx/195
    Press xxx/xxx/xxx/xxx/xxx / 85/xxx/ 95/xxx /105/xxx/110/xxx/115/xxx/120 /xxx/125/xxx

    Deadlift 185/225/245/225/295/255/275/285/295/xxx/295x/xxx/295/xxx/285/xxx/295/xxx/305
    PC xxx/xxx/xxx /xxx/xxx /xxx /xxx/xxx /xxx /105/xxx /115/xxx/125/xxx/135 /xxx/145/xxx
    Chins xxx/xxx/ 14 / 17 / 20 /xxx/xxx/25 /15lb / 30/ 15/20lb/ 20/22.5lb/40/25lb/47/30lb/40

    If lb is present, that indicates a dumbbell of that weight was hanging between my knees for 3 sets of 5. Any integers indicate total volume of bodyweight chins. Mostly divided into sets of 5, but I recently did five sets of 8.

    Hopefully that looks tolerable. Next post is tonight's lift.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Gaithersburg, MD
    Posts
    471

    Default

    Squat 275x5/5/5
    Press 130x5/5/5
    PC 155x3/3/3/3/3
    Chins 35x5/5/5
    Bodyweight: 218

    First great session in awhile, my squats needed a bit of a break the last few weeks in order to get my bar speed back. Tonight was tough, but my strength is back. Presses were no sweat. Power cleans are truth, tonight I would say was the first night my power cleans looked like an actual lift. Chins were tough. Hit all my reps, feeling good.

    Last edited by Squeakyguy; 02-26-2014 at 10:30 PM.

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