Sgsolberg Finishing Strong

[Sgsolberg]

I’ve been working on the program for a while, but want to finish strong. I am convinced that most people leave their novice progression far before they should. If I’m going to finish strong or bitch about my lifts, you should all be able to see my progress. I’ll include a bit about where I’ve been and where I’m going to be.

Age: 23
Height: 5 feet, 10.75 inches tall.

Start ------------>Current ---->Goals for End of Novice Progression
BW: 188 lbs ------- 217 lbs ----------- ~225-245lbs
~%BF: 25% ------- 20% ------------- ~15-20%
Squat: 135x5x3 --- 335x5x3 ---------- ~400 lbs
Bench: 95x5x3 ---- 205x5x3 ---------- >250 lbs
Deads: 135x5 ----- 365x5 ------------ ~500 lbs
Press: 70x5x3 ----- 140x5x3 ---------- >170 lbs

My current routine is based on the advanced novice program, but focusing on bench strength. I have not had a problem with deadlifting 1x per week, so I am keeping that for the time being. I also include a set of weighted crunches (ala Lon Kilgore’s article) once per week due to a history of back injuries.

A
Squat (heavy, 5 reps x 3 sets)
Bench (5 reps x 3 sets)
Pullups (failure x 3 sets)
Back Extensions (8-12 reps x 3 sets)

B
Squat (Light: 80% of heavy day, 5 reps x 3 sets)
Press (5 reps x 3 sets)
Deadlift (5 reps x 1 set)

C
Squat (heavy, 5 reps x 3 sets)
Bench (5 reps x 3 sets)
Chinups (failure x 3 sets)
Back Extensions (8-12 reps x 3 sets)
Weighted Incline Crunches (Plate at arm’s length held overhead, 8-12 reps x 3 sets)

[Mr.City]

Unless I'm missing something, I think you forgot cleans.

[bowdirk]

Those look like really solid gains so far, Congratulations!

When you state you have been working on the program 'for a while' can you spell that out a bit? How many months, how many resets, etc.

Thanks,
Bowdirk

[misspelledgeoff]

That's a nice squat.

[Sgsolberg]

Tonight's lifts:
Squat: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x3, 335x5x3. 6-8 mins between sets.
I was redoing this weight due to some concerns about my form from my last attempt. This time, it felt really good. Good-morninged my 4th rep in my second set, but focused on a further point for the 5th rep and it came up alright. Progress with a 5 lb jump next workout.

Bench: 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 175x3, 195x1, 207.5x5x3. 5-6 mins between sets.
I got a spot from a guy on my final set. Fucker kept reaching in for the bar when I was still struggling up. I kept telling him between reps to leave it be unless it goes down. I don't think he applied any effort to the bar, because it never felt lighter, but I'm considering redoing this weight due to his interference.

Chins: 8,7,5. ~2 mins between sets.
I was rushing these due to time constraints. I think I had another 1-2 reps in me for the second two sets if I had rested another min or two.
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Misc. Notes:
8 hours of sleep last night.
I'm upping my caloric intake by 1 mcdouble (~300 cals) each afternoon, hopefully this will help with the recovery a bit. I'll re-evaluate if I need more on Wed. next week.

[Sgsolberg]

Unless I'm missing something, I think you forgot cleans.

Mr.City, I have a wrist injury right now, so I'm dropping the cleans for a week or two in favor of keeping my pressing progressing. I'll hopefully be able to work through it by taping my wrist before the workout. It seems to be aggravated by sudden movement, so it seems plausible that this may take care of itself. Once this is healed I'll resume cleans.

When you state you have been working on the program 'for a while' can you spell that out a bit? How many months, how many resets, etc.

My "for a while" would be about 9 months now. I had a herniated disc due to non-lifting activities back in late Sept. This really wrecked my lifting for a while. I also had a pretty bad sickness back over Christmas, which derailed me for about 2 weeks. Otherwise, I reset squat once at 265, I really just needed to eat more though. As for Bench, I reset at about 175 but really needed to be less greedy with my jumps leading up to that.

[Sgsolberg]

Just to complete the log, I'll include my rest/off days.

Sat, 2/6/2010.
Taught ski lessons from 8am - 3:30pm. Cleaned up the lodge from 3:30-5pm.
I didn't get enough food yesterday, but it was the last full day of teaching I'll have for the year. I should be able to get a better hold of my weekends now.
Misc:
~7.5 hrs of sleep last night.
~2500 calories.

[Sgsolberg]

Yesterday, I began feeling pretty sick. I had a weezing cough, and pretty bad fatigue.

Today:
Went to the gym and warmed up (it took much longer than usual). Then I started my warmup sets and couldn't get past my last warmup set for either lift I was supposed to train today.

I'll re-evaluate where I am tomorrow, possibly lifting Tues-Thurs-Sat this week. If not, I'll plan to resume my normal programming schedule on Wed.

Update: I stayed home sick Tues, Wed, returning to work on Thurs. I plan to use Friday for a light day and return to training on Monday with a slight drop in weights.

Any time I return from some time off I prefer to resume linear progression from a slightly lower point. I'll squat 315, Bench 202.5, and resume powercleans since my wrist is no longer bothering me. I'll clean 155 on Monday, increasing 10 lbs every Monday until I hit 175, then progressing at 5 lbs every week.

[Sgsolberg]

Wow, that was rough. Due to the sickness, I decided to wait until today (Sat) to get back into the gym.

Squat: 135x5x2, 185x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x5x3. ~7 mins between sets
I really felt rough getting going today. I definitely was not as strong coming back out of the hole, and even this weight may have been a little too aggressive.

Bench: 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 180x3, 200x5x2 +3. ~5-7 mins between sets
I thought this was going alright until my last set. I just ran out of steam. I think my body is still trying to recover.

Cleans: 115x3, 135x3, 155x3x5. Minimal rest between sets.
I haven't cleaned in a while due to a wrist injury I was working through. Today felt fine and I'll jump by 10 lbs for next week. I plan to work back up by 10 lb jumps over the next few weeks.


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Misc. Notes:
8 hours of sleep last night.
I've been trying to eat everything in sight. I'm down about 3 lbs, probably from not eating enough when I was sick. I plan to return to my normal M,W,F lifts this week.

[Sgsolberg]

Still under the weather, but I'm more or less back up to speed and should be able to resume PR's within a week or two. Pretty good case of DOMS from Saturday.

Squat: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x3, 320x5x3. ~7 mins between sets
This was pretty easy, but I don't want to over do it coming back from being sick. First set was rock solid. Second set, I GM'ed the 4th rep. Third set felt fine, but I could tell I was tired.

Bench: 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 180x3, 200x3x5. ~5-7 mins between sets
I thought I would try triples for a change. I really enjoyed this for pressing. I'll see if this will help keep my progress going as I have had trouble with the pressing motions recently. All reps went up easily for every set.

Cleans: 115x3, 135x3, 165x3x5. About 1 min rest between sets.
This was pretty easy. I plan to hit 175 next Monday, and I should be able to progress by 5's for a while after that. I think that I'll probably start having trouble around 185.

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Misc. Notes:
9 hours of sleep last night.
I'm eating about 4k calories/day right now, and plan to keep around the same total until I start failing reps, then I'll up the calories again. I'm back up to normal weight, and I'm starting to feel better from this sickness.
I felt a bit light headed mid-afternoon, so I made sure to have a second lunch.
I'm starting to set some short term goals for when I plan to hit my benchmarks. If I can continue on the pace that I've set (that'll be tough), I should be able to have a 400lb squat and 500 lb deadlift by late April to early May. I know that the next 2-3 months will be tough recovery wise, but I'm stoked to see how far I can push this.