Mike's ride on the struggle bus

[MikeN]

Hoping to keep myself on the right track by finally keeping a log here, usually just lurking around soaking up the vast amount of info on here.

Stats:
Age - 26
Height - 6'1
Weight - 206 (up from 194 a few months ago)

Background:
Participated in Orienteering throughout high school and college, thus I ran. A lot. Discovered the weight room via my room mate late in college, and did his program (pretty sure it was Madcow's 5x5). Lost the gains I had in Ranger school, did SL 5x5 (I know...) once I was done settling in at North Carolina. THEN I stumbled across SS and gave LP a shot. Between constant field problems and a CO who insisted I needed to score a 300 on my APFT (not a bad thing, but he had zero F's to give about my goals), couldn't get very far. Now as an XO, I have some leeway on my programming so I'm running LP again, then will slowly add in some conditioning so I don't embarrass myself on the 2 miler. I know there will be some setbacks by doing all the training for 1-3 weeks at a time, but I'll work through it. Would love to try a competition at some point in the future. As much as I would like to put some more mass on, I need to be deliberate and careful as I'm technically "overweight" and require the lovely tape test.

Current run thus far (log will be in pounds because 'Murica):
Squat - 185 --> 340
Bench - 165 --> 250
Press - 120 --> 160 (Accidentally jumped from 150 to 160, bad log keeping)
Deadlift - 250 --> 395
Cleans - 135 --> 165 (skipped a few clean workouts, because meh)

Jumped into New Mexico about a month ago and missed two weeks there, made a small reset / come back and gonna keep trying to move this train along.

I'll log my past two workouts here, going Sun-Tue-Thur

Sunday, 18 OCT
Squat - 335x5x3
Bench - 250x5x3
Clean - 165x3x5

Tuesday, 20 OCT
Squat - 340x5x3 These went up better than I thought they would, easier than 315 after my mini reset coming back from El Paso.
Press - 160x5x3 Was supposed to do 155, oh well. Last LP I started struggling around 170 so I think micro loading is in the future.
Deadlift - 395x5x1 Also not as bad as I was expecting it to be. Made it up to 415 previously, can't wait to break into PR territory. Gym has the dodecagon plates, or however many sides there are, which sucks. But it's my own fault because I refuse to go to the XFit gym (excessively crowded during PT, people's Oly lifting there frightens me and makes me cringe).

[MikeN]

22 OCT

Mixed emotions for this workout.

Squats - 345x5x3 These went up okay. Last reps in each set are starting to slow down, but pretty consistent at least. I think I'm staying a little more upright that I should be on my way up. Video for my first set to follow once I learn how to use the interwebz and youtube.

Bench 255x5,1 Had some pain in my left arm after squats, been an issue off and on. I think this might've had something to do with my terrible showing here. First set was rough, second set didn't really happen. Didn't want to do anything dumb so I moved over to clean. I'll try icing and heating the next few days and (hopefully) crush it next workout.

Cleans 175x3x3 Wanted to get all 5 sets in today but it was 0800 at the end of set 3 and I had to get back, change, and go to a rehearsal for an event tomorrow by 0830. Distracted by my bench failure, I caught the bar a little wonky once or twice but overall these felt good.

[carson]

Welcome. Good progress.

[Mike Troxell]

Between constant field problems and a CO who insisted I needed to score a 300 on my APFT (not a bad thing, but he had zero F's to give about my goals), couldn't get very far.

You will continue to struggle with your weightlifting and the physical fitness expectations of superiors through your entire career. Officers, especially Infantry officers, see running and the AFTP as the holy grail of fitness. It is unfortunate, but understandable with the current NCO point system. They (NCO's) need to score well to get promoted, you as a leader should be fit to set a positive example. 20 years later, I understand the logic, just do not completely agree. If you score a 240, squat in the 300's and pull a DL in the 400's, you are more prepared for combat than most skinny 300-point guys.

I assume you recently completed the Infantry School Basic Course, Airborne, Ranger transition? I spent 7-years as an Infantry Officer prior to branch transferring Aviation. 20-years later, I have my back and knees, a great civilian career, and I spent a hell of a lot less time on staff than most of my infantry peers. Infantry is great, but it is a young mans game.

[Mr. Bingley]

welcome! great numbers and even better attitude!

[MikeN]

They (NCO's) need to score well to get promoted, you as a leader should be fit to set a positive example. 20 years later, I understand the logic, just do not completely agree. If you score a 240, squat in the 300's and pull a DL in the 400's, you are more prepared for combat than most skinny 300-point guys.

I totally agree. Although I can't say I could put down a 300 right now, I've never gone below 285. Similar to what MAJ Long wrote about in his article about the APFT, I can usually spend a few weeks and get back in a decent level of conditioning, pending on how heavy I'm sitting.

I went through all the Infantry LT pipeline stuff in 2013. It was a sad, sad day the first time I moved some iron coming out of Ranger. Took a handful of months to truly "recover," I focused on getting army fit for the exact reason we discussed. Fortunately the NCOs in my platoon were along the same line of thinking as me (in terms of being strong while still being mindful of the APFT), and I'd like to say it made us a fairly cohesive team. I'll be pinning CPT in May, and since I'm branch detail I'll be moving to Arizona to join the Intel side of the house. I suppose my knees will thank me for the break from jumping out of airplanes for a while. I'm always secretly jealous of the Aviation guys when we're getting lifts from them.

welcome! great numbers and even better attitude!

Thanks, I appreciate the welcome guys!

[MikeN]

Monday - 26OCT15

Lunch lift today, gym was mostly empty which was great. This weekend we got recalled into work and locked down for some stuff missing. Got about 45 minutes of sleep Saturday night, and didn't get released until 2000 on Sunday. Decided I'd go ahead and do Mon-Wed-Fri this week so I could go into these workouts in a little better position than Sunday would've been.

Squat - 350x5x3
Press - 165x4,3,3
Deadlift - 405x5x1

Squat went well today, brought my arms in closer and made a better shelf today. Also wore some compression sleeves on my arms, no pain today like the last workout. Need to try and sustain this. I noticed that I have been focusing too much on hip drive and subsequently am not keeping my back angle as constant throughout coming out of the hole.

Press was bad, my accidental 10 pound jump a few workouts ago bit me in the ass. My upper body is lagging right now. I'll give 165 another shot and reassess after my Friday workout.

Deadlift felt great. Bar speed was surprisingly faster than I thought it would be. Focused on the "Squoze" this time and keeping the bar over the midfoot. Using good form works... gasp.

[MikeN]

28OCT2015

Another bad day, sadness.

Squat - 355x5x3
Bench - 255x2,4
Cleans - 185x3

Thought I did a decent job at emulating my Monday form which left my arm pain free, but the bastard was killing me for my bench press. Just MIGHT start benching prior to squats until I can keep playing around with my arm width and back to get this pain away. Not a permanent solution by all means, but might help my progress going in the meantime. Was really butthurt about it and let that with being out of time can my cleans. Also realized that my cleans call for smaller jumps now, which I will implement next clean workout.

30OCT2015

Realized on Wednesday it's time for a light day, which I should've done that day. So today I decided to work in front squats. I know the program calls for lighter back squats, but my wrist and shoulder flexibility is absurd so I'm hoping these front squats will help me stretch into a better rack position for the cleans.

Front Squat - 115x5x2, 4x1
Press - 145x5x3
Deadlift - 415x5x1

True to what I thought, being in a front rack position was literally a painful experience. Hand and forearms felt like they were gonna pop in half. If anyone reads this and has overcome this, I am very much open to some advice regarding this. I'll comb through the forums and interwebz as well for any insight. Kept the weight light because I knew my hand/arm/shoulder needs to work into this slowly. Last set hurt, stopped at 4 reps because I thought I was about to drop the bar. The struggle is real.

Deloaded press. Plan on doing 150 next workout and doing 2.5 lb jumps from here on out.

Deadlift went up nicely. Very happy about that.

[carson]

Ah, to be young and know about this program.

The compression sleeves looks like an excellent idea. I've been lifting for over 2 1/2 years and have never been able to do a squat with a straight bar. It's not only the pain in my elbows but I can barely get the bar past my head and front squats are impossible. I hope the sleeves help you. I'm going to get some and I'm determined to conquer the straight bar for squats.

[Mike Troxell]

I also struggled with shoulder issues; few things which worked to help my flexibility. If you must flex your wrists, wrap them first. I used Rogue wraps...not sure why, but it helped. Adam Skillin recommended the technique. Buy a shop broom handle, not PVC or anything thin....you will probably bend it when working on flexibility. Grip the handle and mark (or annotate) the position of your hands. Maintaining a tight grip, bring it over your head into the low bar position, hold it, and try to move your hands in (medial). I did this 3-4 times a week, huge improvement.

Hope it helps.