Woody's Starting Strength log

[Woody]

Monday 15th November 2010 – workout B
Very enjoyable all in all…

Squat (light day)
Work sets 102.5kg x5 x2

Felt great as they should.

Bench
Work sets 67.5kg x5 x3

Once again I forgot my 0.5kg plates so just went for 67.5kg instead of 66kg. Happy with this bench workout, I’ve been tinkering with form and think I’m getting somewhere.

Powerclean
Work sets 57.5kg x3 x5

Much better than last time. These were largely fine, with the exception of the very last set - that tiredness kicking in again that seems to come from powercleans, different to the feeling from squats or deadlifts.

Chins
Bw x3 x5

Notes
Should have completed this workout on Saturday or Sunday, but didn’t get any free time at all over the weekend so not able to lift. Extremely busy with work for the next couple of weeks, will try my damndest to hit the gym three times per week.

[Woody]

Thursday 19th November 2010 – workout A
Started off great and went quickly downhill…

Squat
Work sets
127.5kg x5 x3 PR

Felt good. Infact, I felt great! I was very aggressive with the squats, moreso than normal. It’s been a stressful week, I’m sure I was letting out all my frustrations on these sets. Shame I crashed pretty much straightafter!...

Press
Work sets
48.5kg x4 + 1 push press, 48.5kg x3 + 2 push press, and 48.5kg x1. Back off set 40kg x5

Dead
Work set
135kg x0!!! Couldn’t pull for s&*t! Just felt weak. My warm ups felt heavy. I did 110kg x2 for my last warm up set and the bar was slipping from my hands, whereas on my last deadlift workout I blasted through 130kg x5. Backed off with 110kg x2, and was done! Finished by struggling through a set at 60kg x5 and found it taxing. Can't remember a deadlift workout this bad.

Chins
bw x3 x2
bw x2.

Notes
It’s been a while since I’ve had a read through PPST, will check it out over the weekend. My diet’s not been completely up to scratch recently, will address this also. I'm not overly worried about the poor finish, it happens. I'm sure I can keep going forward.

[Woody]

Wednesday 24th November 2010 – workout B
OK, there’s no structure to my workout calendar at the moment, I’m just getting to the gym when I can! It’s going to be like this for the next 10 or so days. Was feeling tired going into my workout…

Squat
Work sets
130kgPR x3, 130kg x5, 130kg x4.

I had a bit of a mental battle with myself going through my warm ups. Every rep was a real grind. I actually made my mind up to go light and just do 100kg for work sets. On the 3rd rep at 100kg something clicked and I got a bit of fire going. I racked the bar and immediately loaded up to 120kg. Did one rep and it felt fine so decided to go for 130kg work sets.

Problem with bar placement form on first set (elbows dropping) and I had to rack early due to -severe- pain in right wrist. Very happy with second set, and final set I should have made the last rep but lost tightness at the bottom and couldn’t recover. I’ll do a light squat next session and will either repeat 130kg on next proper squat day or push for 132.5kg if I’m feeling good.

Bench
Work sets
70kg x2, 65kg x5 x3.

It was a late workout and there was nobody around to spot me. There’s no power rack in our gym, so I went a bit lighter than I should have in order to not get pinned by the bar… My bench still needs a LOT of work, will keep persevering.

Powerclean
Work sets
60kg x3 x5 PR.

GREAT, GREAT, GREAT!

Chins
Bw x5, bw x4, bw x2.

NOTES
Good to get a workout in! Fair bit of life S*%t going on just now, was feeling a lot better after that! Energised!

[Woody]

Sunday 28th November 2010 - workout A

Problems with the deadlift...

Squat (light)
Work sets
105kg x5 x3

Press
Work sets
48.5kg x5 x3 PR
Pleased with these

Deadlift
Work set
110kg x5

I tried 132.5kg x5, but again, it wasn't happening. It can't simply be a mental thing. I'll give 130kg a try next workout. If I don't make it I've got real problems. We'll have to wait and see.

Chins
Bw x3 x4
bw x2

Notes
Not great. Next workout will not be until Thursday. From then on, it will be back to 3x per week, and hopefully I can get my deadlift numbers up!

[Woody]

Friday 3rd December 2010 - Workout B

Pretty pleased considering how sparse my workouts have been recently!...

Bodyweight
91.2kg PR

Have spent the last 4 days out of the city at a work conference making the most of the abundance of food and drink on offer each evening!

Squat
Work sets
130kg x5 x3 PR

Well, I managed every rep this time, but a few were pretty ugly. Bar slipping down my back on the last set. I'm going to repeat this weight next workout. May need a small reset soon?

Bench
Work sets
70kg x3, 67.5kg x5 x3

I'm OK with this, couldn't realistically expect 70kg x5 x3 after such time off from bench. Least I gave 70kg a go and managed 3 reps.

Deadlift
Work sets
130kg x1, 120kg x5

Technically I should have been doing powercleans this workout, but I really want to work on my deadlift. As I hadn't lifted in a while, I don't have a problem substituting here. Happy I managed to get 130kg for a rep. 120kg felt pretty good. Will keep adding weight and hopefully i'll move along.

Chins
bw x3 x4

Notes
Very very happy with this workout, great to be lifting! Life commitments have calmed down a lot, and I'm determined to lift 3xper week as called for by the program for the forseeable future. 140kg squat and deadlift are major goals before the year is out!

[Woody]

Sunday 5th December 2010 - Workout A

Wasn't really a workout, that was absolutely pathetic...

Squat
Work sets

105kg x5 x2

There was something seriously off today. My arms were in absolute agony, not sure if it's some tendonitis or I just pushed myself a too much last workout. I could barely unrack 105kg due to pain, cold only manage two sets then had to stop.

Press
Work sets
45kg x1, 40 kg x4.

I could barely lift my arms above my head, let alone the bar loaded with weight! Just felt so, so WEAK!

Workout aborted!

No idea, not too pleased just now. Will need to let that disaster sink in over the next day and take it from there.

[Woody]

Wednesday 8th December 2010 – workout A (repeat of last [non] workout)

Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that it was certainly a recovery issue that led to Sundays disaster. Even now, my diet is still not up to scratch, only myself to blame.

Squat
Work sets
130kg x5 x3 =PR

Still tough but made all my reps, 132.5kg next.

Press
Work sets
50kg x3 + 2push press, 50kg x2 + 3push, 50kg x1 + 4 push

Two more tries at this weight.

Deadlift
Work sets
130kg x5 =PR

Definitely something mental that has played a big part in deadlift problems over the last couple of weeks.

Chins
Bw x3, x2, x2

Pretty beat by this stage, perhaps could have managed a few more reps but absolutely had to leave due to time!

Notes

Good workout! There’s nowhere to do glute/ham raise at my gym. Am going to start incorporating stiff legged deadlifts as a substitute starting soon. Not sure about rep/set scheme just yet, will need to do a bit of experimenting.

[Rezart Erindi]

Hey Woody, I see you've found your groove again. Are you using a mixed grip for the deads?

[Woody]

Hi man, yeah hopefully I can find some consistency. As for the deads, I used mixed grip on my worksets only and warm up with double overhand, alas, that's not the problem!

[Rezart Erindi]

Hi man, yeah hopefully I can find some consistency. As for the deads, I used mixed grip on my worksets only and warm up with double overhand, alas, that's not the problem!

OK, than add 2.5 KG next workout and rip that weight man. You know I had the same problem once, and that was b/c I added 5 KG. This was too much of an increase for me at the time, so I couldn't move the bar at all. Than I tried again adding 2.5 KG, and it went like easy peasy. So try this and see how it goes.