Back again for the first time (30 y/o male)

[jdoolittle]

I've been strength training for a few years but since I've started a new LP after coming back from some weird injury that kept me from moving "heavy" weight, I thought it'd be a good idea to have a running log to track my progress and have some accountability.

A quick background on me: I’m formerly obese (perhaps even morbid?) and went through the long process of getting healthy via diet and exercise and ended up going from ~330lbs to 185lbs a few years ago (total ~145lbs lost). Since then I’ve put an emphasis on strength training and managed to work my way up to a 315x1 squat, 405x1 deadlift, 135x1 press, 205x8 bench, and a 185x1 power clean. I also got up to a bodyweight of 225lb in that time. (bench and press were and continue to be my worst lifts)

Shortly after hitting my 315 squat, an old nagging knee issue cropped up which resulted in some kind of a weird hamstring/glute issue which was then followed by being sick. This all happened over the course of about 5 months before I felt normal again. I lost most of my gains and decided to diet down as I wasn’t happy with how fluffy I’d become, so I started Keto in April of last year and went from 220 to 200 in about 8 months while continuing to try and get strong-ish again.

My stats are:

Age: 30
Height: 5’10”
Weight: ~200lbs
Body fat: Honestly I don’t know. I can’t see it being less than 25 but not as high as 30.

I started a new LP at the beginning of February with the following lifts:

Squat: 180x5
Deadlift: 250x5
Bench: 165x5
Press: 100x5
Power Clean: 135x3

Last week I failed my final rep on bench and press (185 and 120). I did them over again this week and hit the bench clean after adjusting my grip width (more narrow) and missed the 5th rep of the first set of press. I took the press down to 117.5 and finished my sets. I had also struggled HARD through squats at 230 and after my first rep of the final set I racked the bar. I ended up not even attempting my planned working set of DL’s because I was worried I’d hurt something since I was clearly having an off day.

Today:

I posted a form check of me squatting 220 to the Facebook page and an SSC gave me the tip to break at the hips and knees simultaneously, so I tried to focus on doing that today.

Squat: 230x3x5. These felt clean and right. They weren't easy but not terribly hard. I did notice that there was still some knee movement (to the outside) as I hit the bottom which made the reps harder (probably means I actually hit depth), but I also think it put me in a proper position.

Bench: 190x3x5. These were tougher than I'd like. I've narrowed my grip per the book and while it did seem to help give me more power through the sticking point, I can feel my arm give and kick out which puts extra stress on my shoulder and I feel some strain around shoulder and down into my bicep. I got through them though.

Back Ext: 3x10

Chin-Ups: 1x5, 1x4, 1x3. This time around I'm doing these with with strict form, making sure my arms are extended all the way at the bottom. Monday's Chins were 1x4, 1x3, 1x3. Soooo..progress!

So that's it so far. I added ~56g of carbs about an hour pre-workout today (vs. just a banana previously) and I honestly feel it helped.

[carson]

Welcome. Good restart. Carbs before lifts are helpful.

[jdoolittle]

Welcome. Good restart. Carbs before lifts are helpful.

Thanks. Yeah they really do make the difference.

Question for anyone: as I said above I just plain skipped my working set of deadlift on Wednesday. On Monday should I attempt them or should I power clean as planned?

[jdoolittle]

2/29/2016

Bodyweight: 199


Squat
235x3x5.

These felt strong, particularly on the last set.

I had someone record the last 5, hope this is a good angle.




Press
115x3x5.

After failing to complete 120 on two separate sessions I decided to bring it down to 115 and work back up 2.5lbs at a time (I have micro-plates). Pretty straight forward sets here.

Power Clean
157.5x5x3

Taking the same micro-plate progression with PC as these are beginning to feel heavy. This session was ok, I can't really say if there's a reason they didn't feel strong. I was probably just gassed from squats.

[carson]

Squats looked good to me. Question: You successfully avoided looking at the mirror but why not put the hooks on the rack away from the mirror. Then you are distracted at all.

[jdoolittle]

Squats looked good to me. Question: You successfully avoided looking at the mirror but why not put the hooks on the rack away from the mirror. Then you are distracted at all.

Thanks. I'm not sure what you mean? I have my back to the mirror here. The equipment you see in front of me is on the otherwise of a walkway.

[carson]

Thanks. I'm not sure what you mean? I have my back to the mirror here. The equipment you see in front of me is on the otherwise of a walkway.

I should have looked more closely. My mistake. These old eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be.

[jdoolittle]

I should have looked more closely. My mistake. These old eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be.

It's all good.


03/2/2016

Bodyweight: 200.2 ish

Sleep: Good. I went to bed earlier than usual so I got about 7 hours. Felt pretty refreshed.

Training

Squat: 240x3x5 - These were tough. I definitely didn't feel as in control of them as I did 235 on Monday. I think I may have been focusing too much on the cues I got in my form check video. Or maybe it was just heavy? Who knows. I got through all of the sets but none of them felt as good as the last set of 235 felt.

Bench: 192.5x3x5 - Last set was the best as I narrowed my grip slightly, I'm still feeling what I can only describe as an impingement in my left shoulders/bicep though. I'm sure it's just a technique thing. I need to film them so I can have someone critique.

And that's it for today. The girlfriend just moved in after driving 3 days from MN to Florida so I cut it short so I could be here when she arrived. Would have done back ext. and chins.

[jdoolittle]

03/4/2016

Bodyweight: 198.2

Sleep: Good. Probably got 8 hours last night.

Training

Kind of shit.

Squat: 245x2. I racked it after this. Something was off, though I'm not sure what. I dropped it down to 225, did a set of 5, then tried to do a third and racked it after 1 rep.

Press: 117.x3x5. The last one of each set was a grinder but I got through them. Still working on the Press 2.0 technique.

Deadlift: 285x1x5. Waaaay harder than I thought it'd be. I wish I knew what was up but I'm not really sure.

Overall a pretty crap session. Didn't think I'd be stalling this quickly on certain lifts but I'm probably not eating enough anyway.

I'll need to reassess things. Wish the closest coach wasn't 6 hours away, I'd love to have one take a look at everything and let me know what I can fix.

[jdoolittle]

03/7/2016

Bodyweight: 200

Sleep: Okay.

Training

Mixed bag.

Squat: 245x3x5. Hardest squats to date, but I got through them. I had the last set filmed, and it was definitely the hardest.



Bench Press: 195x3x5. This just keep getting better and better, which is funny considering it's been my worst lift up to now.

Back ext. 3x10

Chin Ups 1x5, 1x5ish, 1x4.



Feeling like I'm at a crossroads regarding squats. I feel like I shouldn't need to deload yet, but I don't feel confident I can get even 5 clean reps of 250 on Wednesday.