Slowjoe's SS Training Log

[ivankannan]

Finally you made a log.. subbed!

[slowjoe]

First, welcome Ivan

Not a brilliant workout today.

First, the run was cut short with leg problems. Planned to run 5-6k. Finished after 3.2k. Had to walk some of that. Calves were pumping up, and right shin was iffy. Ran clockwise, which may or may not be significant.

Warmup at gym:
Burgener warmup with PVC pipe.
10xSnatch with 20kg barbell
10s hollow rock hold + 10 rocks
10xback ext with 15kg plate on 45degree back ext machine
15 k-pullups
15 dips
5xsnatch, 5xOHS with 30kg barbell
10s hollow rock hold + 10 rocks
10xback ext with 15kg plate on 45degree back ext machine
14 k-chinups
15 dips

Squats:
A couple of guys were squatting ahead of me, one new, one experienced and strong. Initially, he was back squatting with 6 disks a side (585lbs) with his hands on the disks. Never seen that before. Front squatting crossing arms. But a nice guy. We had a laugh together. I cut in for one set of front squats to be sociable.

Front squats: 40 x 10

DE Back squats
20 x 5
40 x 5
80 x 2 x 10

I chose the weight because I was putting a 2 seconds pause at the bottom, and hadn't done that before. I've squatted 170 for 2 (failed on the third rep), so 80 is less than 50% of my 1RM.

I'm worried that I'm doing these with a high-bar back angle, simply because the weight isn't heavy enough. Progressively, I moved the bar lower down my back, but still didn't get the feeling of being under pressure. I guess it might be the weight. Or maybe Dynamic effort doesn't work for novices? Who knows.

Anyway, I'll give it +5kg a week for a month, see if I feel the love then.

Press:
20kg x 5
50kg x 5
61.25kg x 5 x 3 (PB)
Really glad I was micro-loading. Each rep in a set got harder. Last rep was taking multiple seconds to reach the top, and I didn't think I'd finish the first set let alone the last. REALLY didn't want to get stuck on week two, so guts-ed it out. Christ, I wish I'd started at 55kg or something. Now I think I'm going to be stuck next week either monday or friday on the press.

The problem is from my forehead up. I can get the bottom 6 inches no problems.

Deadlifts:
DOH
60 x 5
100 x 5
120 x 5
140 x 5
RHA
165 x 5

I'm concerned about my grip. The bar at this gym just seems slippery as hell, so I put in an extra set at 120 to work the grip, and lifted 140 DOH. I also want to work on my form on the negative. First two sets, I tried to "silent deadlift". This is to put the load down without a sound. That ended at rep 3 of the 120 set. I think 140 or 145 is my PB at DOH. I'm planning to push that up so that the work set doesn't get grip problems.

[ivankannan]

I too had grip problems today. My hands were sweaty and the bar started sliding down. You don't use chalk?

[slowjoe]

I too had grip problems today. My hands were sweaty and the bar started sliding down. You don't use chalk?

Hell, yeah, I use chalk. I sweat like a firehose. Seriously. Without chalk my 1RM would be around 370, I reckon. And that's without talking about reps. Heavy deadlifts get my heartrate to 150+ for about 2 minutes.

But having used bars at 3 different places for deadlifts, I know what I like and dislike. And I've just realised I've programmed myself to use the bars I hate for my one deadlift session each week.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[slowjoe]

I too had grip problems today. My hands were sweaty and the bar started sliding down. You don't use chalk?

Just to give you an idea, I pulled 200/440x1 last monday with the iffy bars with a load of chalk, and the bar slipped through my fingers before I completed lock-out.

Then I pulled 185/407x5, and had to regrip once for reps 3 and 4, and reverse grip once, trapping some of my palm in the grip to complete rep 5.

I hadn't had genuine grip problems prior to that, so my deadlift confidence has taken a bit of a hit.

[slowjoe]

I've decided to record in kg and lbs.

Have felt exhausted all day. On the way to the gym, grabbed a bottle of coke and a banana. Was genuinely thinking of cancelling due to fatigue, so I went no-bullshit straight for the workout, to get it done or die trying.

Warmup
Fuck warmups. That tired, the workout might not get done.

Squats:
20kg /44lbs x 5
60 /132 x 5
100 /220 x 5
142.5/313 x 5 x 3
Squats were solid. Fair amount of play left in there still. Think my left knee might have come in slightly. Good news/bad news: good is that my right knee used to be the problem one, bad is that I had a bit of pain from the inside of the knee later in the evening.

Bench
20kg/44lbs x 5
50 /110 x 5
70 /154 x 5
95 /209 x 5 x 3
As I mentioned last friday, they've refurbed the weights room at my friday gym with brand new racks, an extra gravitron and extra pullups/triceps cable machines. Tried out the bench tonight. DO NOT LIKE!!!

They've got a really thick cushion on the bench press, and I feel like I'm sinking and wobbling into it all the time. I suspect there is one firmer bench. Will hopefully use that in future.

Power cleans
60kg/132lbs x 5

My one regret about the program I've chosen is that I don't see space for power cleans, especially with the tiredness issues I had today. I love the move. One of the trainers in the gym (my weight and height) was doing a few sets so I cut in for one. I've still got it. The bar just flies up for me, and I don't need to work the hip extension too hard to have it just gently appear in the rack. So frustrating that it turns into an ugly reverse curl/wrestling maneuvre at 90kg/200lbs

Where would be the best place to put power cleans? I just miss them SO much. Can you imagine having at 500lb squat and a 155lb clean? That's just unbalanced.

Strict chinups
BW x 7 x 3

Bodyweight was 227 tonight.

[slowjoe]

Time was tight today, and I had a heavy weekend, so I just got shit done.

Squats:
20kg /44lbs x 5
60 /132 x 5
100 /220 x 5
120 /262 x 5
145 /319 x 5 x 3

Press:
20kg/44lbs x 5
40 /88 x 5
62.5/137.5 x 5 x 3

Power Cleans:
62.5/137.5 x 3
70 / 155 x 3 x 5

Squats were fairly easy. Working on the hand position and bar position. Left bicep is sore.

Power cleans weren't in the original program. I'm going to add them on a Monday for today + 2 more weeks, see if I can hack it. The pullups I'm going to do at home. My pullups are behind my chinups, I'm going to see if volume at home makes a difference.

I actually missed the second PC rep in set 4. Something to watch. I'm going to be using 2.5kg steps with this.

Presses were as close to a miss as is humanly possible. I took probably 15 seconds on the last rep of the last set, bending way backwards. I'm counting it as a complete rep, but wow...

I need advice on where to go from here, because I struggled with the weight from the start on the press, just started too heavy. Should I go back down to 55kg and work with 2.5kg increases for a while? Or should I guts it out until I actually miss?

[slowjoe]

Presses were as close to a miss as is humanly possible. I took probably 15 seconds on the last rep of the last set, bending way backwards. I'm counting it as a complete rep, but wow...

I need advice on where to go from here, because I struggled with the weight from the start on the press, just started too heavy. Should I go back down to 55kg and work with 2.5kg increases for a while? Or should I guts it out until I actually miss?

Hmm, rereading. I'm going to scratch that. I'll take it to a reset if necessary, give or take a dynamic effort day (planned for friday).

I should be treating resets as part of the program instead of bitching.

[slowjoe]

I did a set of 4 pullups last night before bed, and again early this morning.

By around 11am, my left arm had that "dead/bruised/aching" feeling, an ache along the bone between bicep and tricep. I've had it before after multiple days of successive pullups, although rarely for as few as 8. I'm guessing it was a combination of adding the power-cleans/pressing/pullups that did it.

Anyway, it was bad enough that I took two 200mg ibuprofen around noon. The arm is better, but not 100%. This sort of thing has hung around for as long as a week in the poast.

We'll see how it is in the morning

[slowjoe]

As mentioned in previous post, left arm still aching due to probably overtraining. Raining like hell over here, so running out of the question. Cut the warmup out.

Squats:
20/44 x 5
40/88 x 2 DE
85/187x2x10 DE

Bench press:
20/44 x 5
50/110 x 5
70/154 x 5
97.5/214 x 5 x 3

Deadlift:
60/132 x 5
100/220 x 5
120/264 x 5 (DOH, no chalk yet)
145/319 x 5 (DOH, chalked)
170/374 x 5 (left hand reversed)

Notes:
Squats I am working on getting the bar lower on the back. I've widened the hand positions on the bar to allow this. But I'm feeling the stretch in the left bicep area. I know a couple of logs mention this sort of problem. I'll have a hunt to see what people did.

DE squatting was good. Changed my cue to "DOWN, 1, 2, UP" holding at the bottom. Nice to be able to sit in a deep squat with 85kg on my back and essentially not notice it. Feeling confident that Monday I'll be setting my first squat PR on SS (I have 150kg for 5. Monday should be 150 x 5 x 3).

Bench, my left arm ached, and was putting out ~5lb less force. Got a lift off for the first time from a spotter. Guy helped with the last rep of the first set. After the look, he kept his paws away from the bar after that. Wouldn't mind, but I'd told him: "Lift off, then don't touch the bar until I scream for help."

Deadlifts, I'm specifically working for grip strength on the warmup sets. 145 is a DOH PR, and up to there, I was still trying to do "quiet deadlifts", which meant the gripping time was longer than if I just lifted the bar, then put it down again. 170 still felt heavy. Interesting how much tougher deadlfts get at the end of a workout. Usually before, deadlifts were the main event of the day, and got fresh legs, and a fresh mind.

Debating about whether to take ibuprofen again for the left arm. Right now, I'm thinking I'll leave it and see how it is in the morning. Definitely going DE for press on Friday if I get as far as handling iron.