Lofton's Log - SS in north Puget Sound

[Tim Lofton]

12/30/09

Squat: 215# x 5 x 3

Bench: 125 x 5 x 3

Deadlift: 190 x 5

Squat went reasonably well. As usual, the first set was kind of rough. Maybe I need to consider a bit longer warm-up. Found the bounce really well over the next two sets though.
Bench progressing nicely. No notable issues.
Deadlift went up surprisingly well today. I seemed to find and hold good form and pulled very comfortably for all five reps.
Two days off now, then session B, with press. Will try to microload with washers or an ankle weight on the bar and go to 102 or so.

tim

[Tim Lofton]

1/3/10

Session 18

Weekly weigh-in: 175#

Squat: 220# x 5 x 3

Press: 105 x 5, 105 x 4, 105 x 3

Pwr Clean: 90 x 3 x 5

Body weight hasn't moved, so I guess that means I need to up the calories quite a bit. I thought I was eating like a pig over the holidays, but I'm actually starting to find myself hungry at times now. This wasn't happening over the past few weeks as I found myself having to stuff myself.

Squats were squats. Back is just slightly sore, maybe not sore, but really tight as I was really trying hard to keep tight and in extension. Mentally, right now, every time I come in to squat, I get a bit shakey on the first set as it is a new weight. The subsequent sets seem to go much better though. I'm not sure how you all do it when things start getting really heavy on the bar.

Press is still laboring at 105#. I did get a full set of five the first set, and thought I was going to get it on the second, but the bar just froze just about forehead level. Though I'm not increasing the weight, this is still one rep more on each of the first two sets over the last time I did press, so the volume increased at least. I'm not ready to microload yet and hopefully on Thursday I'll get full reps at 105.

Power clean is getting harder. Today I had a bit more problem with the arms bending right before the jump. Most went well, but some not so.
I'm going to go through 24 sessions (six more to go) then I will add in chin/pull-ups to provide some help with the press.

tim

[Tim Lofton]

1/5/10

Session 19

Squat: 225# x 5 x 3

Bench: 130 x 5 x 3

Deadlift: 195 x 5

Squat was a bit shakey today. The last couple of reps of each set were slow to ascend for sure. The last two reps were really hard to drive up and I'm not fully certain I achieved proper depth. I will probably repeat this weight again on Thursday.
Bench went well overall, but felt noticeably heavier, and I'm not even close to BW yet. Nonetheless, it went for 3 x 5, so move on.
Deadlift went very well. Anxious to get into 200 territory next DL.

Going to try to pick up some 2" washers today or tomorrow for microloading my press on Thursday.

tim

[Tim Lofton]

1/7/10

Session 20

Squat: 230# x 5 x 3

Press: 102 x 5 x 3

Pwr Cln: 95 x 3 x 5

Three cheers for microloading! I had struggled with 105# on the press for the last three press sessions, the last going 5-4-3 reps. So I decided to microload by adding a 1# ankle weight to each side of the bar with 100 already on it. I also focused on tightening the glutes properly as well as the upper spinal erectors to help keep the chest up. What a difference! From the first rep, there was no doubt that I would get all reps. The last set was a tad sloppy as I tried a different breathing pattern in order to cycle through the five reps more quickly. I haven't decided if I will go straight for 105 next press session.
Squat went better today than 225 a couple of days ago. I had someone monitor my last work set to ensure that I was dropping the hip below parallel and he said I was going plenty deep on all five, so that was encouraging. Again, I focused on staying tight and lumbar extension. Things felt really good. A happy squat day!
Power cleans went well as I focused on an explosive jump and snapping the hips through. I'll finally be into triple digits for the next pwr clean session. I'm also cleaning the weight for my presses too, so I'm getting a little help there.
All-in-all, a good training day that saw me focused on doing the work that needed to be done, staying positive, and moving on.

tim

[Tim Lofton]

1/11/10

Session 21

Squat: 235# x 5 x 3

Bench: 135 x 5 x 3

Dead: 200 x 5

Wasn't real psyched for today's workout for some reason, maybe being off since Thursday had something to do with that. I was looking forward to reaching 200# for the DL, but not much beyond that.

Squat was really tough form-wise and I know the last set was marginal as I can feel it in my back. I felt locked and super at 230, but 5# more felt like a ton. A lot of slow reps today. Hopin' for some good recovery by Wednesday before going to 240 with presses to follow. Starting to consider a belt.

Bench was strange as I re-read that chapter in SS last night and was really focusing on trying to pinch the shoulder blades and raise the chest and head. I almost felt impeded when pushing the bar up. I do think the bar descent speed was a bit more controlled, but there were some slow ascents too.

Deadlift went really well. I actually used chalk for the first time today, though grip-wise I didn't feel the necessity to, but the bar felt like it was cemented to my hand, like it wasn't going anywhere, and all five reps were pulled nicely. I had someone observe my work set and what criteria I wanted them to watch for with my back. They provided a good report and I could tell as I felt really locked in. It was good to end the session with this lift as it seems to be going up very well - for now.

Readying the Icy Hot for the back this evening...

tim

[metermanja]

My number on the squat is exactly the same. I know what you mean by saying the additional 5 pounds feel real heavy.

Good luck. I am doing SS here in Everett, south of Marysville.

[Tim Lofton]

Hey meter,

Yeah, I'm using the Icy Hot on the back tonight. A little stiff, but the soreness is dissipating. I'm really looking forward to (hopefully) hitting the 250 mark next Monday, but don't want to get too optimistic yet.
I work in Seattle and am fortunate that the facility I work at has a fitness center with a rack, barbell, and a modicum of free weights. That is my primary gym. My secondary, here in Marysville, is Power Alley Fitness (Smokey Point area actually). Where are you training?

tim

My number on the squat is exactly the same. I know what you mean by saying the additional 5 pounds feel real heavy.

Good luck. I am doing SS here in Everett, south of Marysville.

[Tim Lofton]

1/13/10

Session 22

Squat: 240# x 5 x 2, 240 x 4 x 1 (missed last effing rep!)

Press: 104 x 5 x 3

Pwr clean: 100 x 3 x 5

This would have been a very nice workout overall had I not missed the very last rep of my squats. It actually started before that though. The third rep in set two saw me get just very slightly off balance and had to do a slight good morning to get square again and get back up. This brought about a slight pull in the lower back which was with me for the remainder of the squats. The last rep just felt weak and I just dumped it not wanting to further eff up the back, especially with presses to follow. I'll repeat 240# on Friday. I don't think it's a stall, just lack of focus in that middle set that flustered the remaining reps. Lesson learned hopefully.
Press went up great today. Focused hard on clenching the glutes to help keep the lower back safe and locked. The weight went up really well as a result. Hope my 2" washers arrive soon. Microloading is my friend.
Power cleans feel really weird with the warm-up weights now, not that I'm really heavy or anything, but the bar or a bit more is kind of awkward feeling. Nothing special today; things seemed to move pretty smoothly. Next power clean will catch up with my press.

tim

[Tim Lofton]

1/15/10

Session 23

Weekly weigh-in: 180#

Squat: 240# x 5 x 3

Bench: 140# x 5 x 2, 140 x 3 x 1

Dead: 205# x 5

After a back tweak on Wednesday and missing the very last rep at 240, I was a bit tentative going into today and prepared to bail during the warm-up sets if I felt anything going on back there. Well, the squats went about as well as I could have expected. No adverse signals from the lower back and mission accomplished. Maybe the 14 reps that I did get in on Wednesday provided enough impetus for the redo today.
Now the bench. It has been getting progressively more difficult the last two bench sessions. Today it caught up to me. I'm probably not eating enough and thusly, not putting on enough muscle. I missed on rep #4 of the last set as I couldn't get it but about two inches from my chest and had to let it drop to the spotter bars. I'm not even at BW yet! One thing I'm questioning is my breathing pattern at the top in that I'm doing a quick exhale/inhale, but this does keep the weight in the up position for probably a second or so. This adds up over the course of five reps. Does this extra time holding the weight up really sap enough to prevent pushing up in the final reps? I need to re-read more and watch some good video. I really don't want to start microloading the bench yet; seems too soon.l
Deadlift was not a problem and is moving up well. Chalking making a difference and still using double OH grip, which you would expect at this relatively low weight. Back not an issue here either and it felt good to pull this up with moderate ease. It's now the weekend! Time to eat and recover.

tim

[Tim Lofton]

1/18/10

Session 24

Squat: 250# x 5 x 3

Press: 105# x 5 x 3

PC: 105# x 3 x 5

Well, I guess I'm getting to the point where the scheduled weight is just not going to feel real good anymore, so I'm going to stop saying that this was hard today.

Squats were shakey at times, but really focused today on "knees out." This helped to reinforce the feeling of having a solid base under me. I was in my secondary gym, as I had the day off of work, so it felt just a little weird and took a set or two to get comfortable.

Press was not overly difficult as I only increased by one pound over last press session in order to get 105# on the nose. My washers are supposed to arrive tomorrow, so I will look to make 2.5# increases from session-to-session. Focus next time on complete lockout/active shoulder at the top too.

Power cleans went reasonably well, with a few lacking the requisite hip explosion but progressed nonetheless.

I have completed 24 sessions of the original SS novice program, so this puts me about ten weeks in (a couple of weeks with only two sessions due to travel and illness) and I feel committed to strength/weight gains at this point.
I plan to add chin/pull-ups on the squat/bench press/deadlift day or I may look to utilize one of the schedules (probably the PP novice schedule) on the Excel sheet found on the SS wiki site. I don't think I want to add GHRs, back extensions, or Roman chair sit-ups just yet, as I want to see how the chins/pulls work in and/or affect recovery. I really hope to see a little help with the press by adding these. Small steps...

tim