40 Days of Starting Strength

[JStrong]

6/7

So I wasn't sore from bicep curls. It was that I missed when re-racking a squat, and once again caught the bar with my left arm. I didn't think of it at the time, but upon rereading the book for the umpteenth time there's a line about how squatting can make you think you hurt your elbow doing bicep curls.

Beltshumeltz-I was running due to injury, and use dumbells due to strength imbalance.

5 min warmup bike, level 6

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1
275 x 5 x 3 <--hard!

Bench
45 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
157.5 x 5 x 3 <--got to use the new micro-plates I had fabricated locally. 4, 5/8 lb. plates, 2 is 1.25 lbs., all 4 are 2.5. Sweet.

Chinups
40 lbs. assistance (20% BW)
7x6x5

[JStrong]

6/10

5 minute Warmup, Elliptical level 6

I've been stretching my hammies--they are so damn inflexible. I have to be very careful of back rounding or I'm sore for days. I can just barely get below parallel with good form, but only with 200+ lbs. on my back.

1 more workout to go before I reflect, review, and revise.

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5 x 1
225 x 3 x 1
245 x 2 x 1
280 x 5 x 3

Press
45 x 5 x 2
75 x 5 x 1
95 x 3 x 1
115 x 2 x 1
122.5 x 5 x 2
122.5 x 3 x 1 <---$#@!&* apparently I'm unable to press more than 120 for sets. I WILL get this.

Pullups-40 lbs. assistance (80% BW)
6x6x4

I have switched to assisted pulls & chins because I wasn't progressing and I believe it's because I got so few reps in each workout. Not saying you should do this, we'll see if it works out long term. My goal is 3 sets of 5 minimum, lowering the assistance as I surpass that.

[Rezart Erindi]

Been following your log, buddy. Just wondering, did you go from 285 to 300 deadlift after the injury?

[JStrong]

Hi Leo,

Yes, I made the deadlift jump after my injury was -mostly- healed. While pulling was the worst after the tendinitis, since you don;t actually bend your arms on deads it seemed to be less onerous than curls or pullups would have been.

I may have been overly cautious all along in upping my deadlift--I've yet to REALLY struggle with the weight. Not that 300 was easy, mind you.

I will try for 160 bench/285 squat /315 deadlift tomorrow in my last SS workout, I'll be starting a Chad Waterbury 'Huge in a Hurry' routine mixed with cardio/sprinting, and will cut weight until I'm down to at least 190. I expect that to take about 3-4 weeks. After that, I'll probably restart linear progression until I stall a few times.

I'll be posting a review and recap of my SS experience in the very near future.

[JStrong]

6/13

5 min warmup weird elliptical thing.

Squat
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5 x 1
225 x 3 x 1
245 x 2 x 1
285 x 5 x 3 <--PR

Bench
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 4 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
160 x 5 x 3 <--PR

Deadlift
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 3 x 1
225 x 2 x 1
275 x 1 x 1
315 x 5 x 1 <--PR, switched to mixed grip for the 1st time ever after rep 2.

Today was my final workout on SS (actually PP Novice). I've been on the program for just over 4 months, and have been fairly faithful to the routine. I gained 17 lbs., had two injury breaks, and added the following to my lifts:

Squat
115 --> 285, 170 lb.
Bench
125 --> 160, 35 lb.
Press
85 --> 120, 35 lb.
Deadlift
185 --> 315, 130 lb.


I plan to lose some weight, try a different routine incorporating other lifts ('Get Started' from "Huge in a Hurry," by Chad Waterbury) and also do some cardio work. I don't plan to retest my 5 x 3's until I finish this month of cutting weight and mixing up the programming, I'm interested to see what happens to my maxes.

I'm happy with my results so far and may run another cycle of SS in a month or two, this time incorporating the power cleans.

Look for my new log soon in General Training, "12 Days of Huge in a Hurry."