From Russia with .... strength?

[Bliss]

Hi all, I finally decided to register and be able to participate in the forum.
A workout journal seems a great idea, both for entertainment of others and personal motivation. I hope you will enjoy the read!

I live in Kazan, Russia, and therefore shall mean "kg" when a number is unitless.

25 years old, 178 cm (5ft 10'), male, full-time weekday job.

Let's see now....the very first SS entries in my journal are from March 2016 and starting weights were:

Squat - 45 (99 lbs)
Bench - 35 (77 lbs)
Deadlift - 45 (99 lbs)
Press - 25 (55 lbs)
Power clean - just learning

Some very low since I was recovering from a snowboarding fall and had form problems with the squat.
Over those 2 months I put on decent weight on the bar but was too agressive with the food (weight went about 80 to 88, or 176 lbs to 194 lbs) - probably due to still baby weights, a lot went into fat.

To cut the story short, cut back on weight a little, changed to the "gym program", kept going, but had other problems since, including a motorcycle mishap, work-related trips and just last week - food poisoning, during which I lost lots of weight; so this can be regarded as a back-to-basics.

I'll be starting lighter again to ensure good recovery and a proper run-up and hopefully will blow past previous PR's, at which point it will be highlighted here!

[Bliss]

Current routine is:

A.
Squat 3*5
Press 3*5
Deadlift 1*5
Chin-ups

B.
Squat 3*5
Bench 3*5
Power clean 5*3
Abs

Yesterday and tomorrow's starting weights are (were):

Squat - 80 (176 lbs) Was OK.
Bench - 70 (154 lbs) Unless shoulder complains.
Deadlift - 105 (232 lbs) Was OK.
Press - 50 (110 lbs) Was OK, slightly heavier than expected.
Power clean - 40 (88 lbs) We'll see how they are this time, my previous goes at them didn't yield any meaningfull progress. But they're super fun, damn it!!!

Chins - just about managed BW * 5,5,5
Goal is to get 3 * 10 first. (I wasn't far off previously AND at a higher BW).

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Supplements: Whey concentrate and milk protein concentrate (basically casein + a little whey). I buy these 2 in bulk powder in big bags.
Fish oil, multivitamin, joint stuff.

Current BW at 80.3 kg (177 lbs).

[MBasic]

. . .welcome, good luck with your training!

[Banned_Pavel]

Привет соотечественнику!

[waistline warrior]

Welcome to the board.

[Bliss]

Thanks!

Some more info and 2 more workouts' results.

Power cleans. Really, i tried my best and im gonna be a pussy about it, having remembered why the last 2 attacks at them did not go - they keep landing on my right clavicle or collarbone that has a protrusion enough that the meat of delts,shrugging and trying to cushion the catch don't help. So instead,i started learning power snatches, and will give them a fair run before even thinking of resorting to rows.

Chins - neutral grip with hands a bit wider than shoulder width. Will try standard chins if they don't aggravate my snowboarding-related elbow thing.



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[Bliss]

Forgot to mention, 1 kg = 2.2 lbs, numbers in metric.
A and B, 2 and 4 of September, latest numbers given inside brackets: -(nnn)-
Unsuccessful weight indicated by: -(!nnn!)

Squat: 80-85-87.5-(!90!) Form broke down hugely, review of videos indicated several problems, will deload.
Press: 50-52.5 Will halve weight jumps.
Deadlift: 105-110
Bench: 70-72.5 Last rep was a grind, but not too slow.
Power snatch: learning with 20-30

BW chins: 84 kg - 6,6,6

Morning BW = 80.7 kg

[Bliss]

6 of September

Squat: 80-85-87.5-(!90!)-80
Press: 50-52.5-53.5
Deadlift: 105-110-115

Chins: 85 for 6,7,5

Squats back to 80 kilos...unhappy,but my form was shite,so very necessary. Filmed warm up sets and progressively cut my depth, whilst trying to stay tight at the bottom, AND stay in the hips/hamstrings at the correct depth without collapsing knees forward.
On a positive note,visible butt-wink happens below required depth, so the plan is to keep working on form and stick to 2.5 kg jumps.

Press was funny! 1st set fine,glad i microloaded today. Then decided to try regular chins,so did a set of 6 whilst resting for set 2.

As a result, it was HARD, and after lowering the bar on last rep,i dropped it onto the safeties to the amusement of nearby Bro and bro-ette [emoji23] [emoji23] Redeemed myself by hang power cleaning it back up.[emoji23]
Took a well deserved 6 min before a smooth 3rd set.
Lesson learnt - respect the press,and give it time it requires!

Also filmed my deadlifts, glad to have found a few things to work on, and glad to have made the last slow rep with decent form.


PS. Microloading. Budget version:



A pair of 0.25 kg and 0.5 kg mean it's possible to divide the smallest gym plate, 1.25 kilos, into 2, 3 or 4 steps.

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[joseadan]

Welcome comrade!!! Luck on your lifts!!

[Bliss]

Awesome workout today!!
I find myself eager not only for the workouts themselves,but to post here: results,thoughts and plans.

It would be great to hear feedback,as well as suggestions and any criticism, the latter being more obvious sometimes from the outside.

9 of September.

Squat: 80-85-87.5-(!90!)-80-82.5
Bench: 70-72.5-75
Power snatch: 32.5
Weighted planks.

Squat.
Again, i was filming warm up sets and really focused on several key things for me. As a result, a few of the reps still had knee slide in the hole, poor hip drive as a result, and forward balance shift to top it off.
On the plus side, there was very little,if any, good morning action, depth was generally good, albeit inconsistent, but most of all, those reps that were really good, with proper hip drive and balance-they felt and looked soooo much more stable.
Will increase by another 2.5 kg and keep working on technique.

Bench.
Dunno why, found myself dreading/excited for the heavier weight, despite having done it before. Def a mental thing, since only the last of the last reps was slower than ideal.
Luckily, filmed that last set and will study it again.

Power snatch.
Well...i like it! A lot! I reason there's not much point trying to perfect form at tiny weight (20 bar + smallest bumpers of 5 kg each), so decided to add a tiny plate per side in order to at least have visible progress.
After some practice, went for 7 work sets of doubles, doing 2 reps at the beginning of each 2 minute mark. I found this approach to be really useful to dissipate what little fatigue there was consistently and plan to continue to do so.
When, hopefully, the weight is a little respectable, plan is to increase intervals to 3 min and/or drop number of sets to the recommended 5.

Just for the hell of it, did a single power clean at the end. Damn it felt light! Might just do a set or two at the end for practice, the weight being so light that workload should stay unaffected.

Planks i like!)))) Weirdly....
Hope to see carryover to the ab wheel when i eventually graduate into it.


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