tfarny starts starting strength

[tfarny]

Ooops I did miss a workout didn't I? Damned life, always getting in the way of important stuff.
Squat 175 3x5. Thought this would be a problem, haven't been sleeping well, drinking too much, etc. But I squeezed my butt cheeks real hard and just brought that bar right up. Cool stuff.
OHP - working back up, tonight I did 65 3x5 with a false grip, then did 3x5 with 40lb dumbbells seated for good measure. No impingement thus far.
Dead 255 - I vowed to do this with less back rounding but it didn't happen, then on rep 3 I felt a genuine tug in my left bicep so I just stretch it out and walked away from the set. Not intersted in a bicep injury. Will do again.
Lsit on rings - got a good 10 seconds on the tuck, another 10 seconds with one leg extended and 5 seconds in the full position. This is a brilliant iso exercise for me. Love it. Goodbye yoga moves, hello gymnastics moves.

[tfarny]

Squat 180 5,5,4 (positively failed rep 5 but overall a new PR!).
Bench - warmed up but not happy about the feeling in my left bicep / elbow joint. Did OHP 75 3x5 instead.
Power Cleans 130 3,3,3,3,3 - a new PR! Some were good, some were sucky but good enough to move on.
Chinups - bwx6, +10lb x3,3

Left bicep pain / sensitivity + some strangeness around the left elbow joint which definitely happened on the last workout's deadlift attempt. Felt fine until I got under the bar today. Will watch and see. May do a "volume" deadlift next time just to be on the safe side.

[tfarny]

Squat 185 1 (failed 2nd), 4,4,2 (failed third). A do-over but I'm finally back into virgin territory for my squat #s. 185 was also my BW when I started, now I'm more like 200 I think so not a BW squat yet. It's also a nice feeling to have that second plate be at least a 25er and not a piddly one.
Press 85 3x5. Nothing to report, almost back up to my previous #s.
Skipped DL due to bicep pain from the last deadlift not feeling much better plus lack of time today.
L-sits and chinups - did some, should have skipped. Elbow joint feeling sore, took IBU and about to ice.

[tfarny]

Great day today!
Squat 185 5,5,4 - good enough to move on to a BW squat next time - 190 (I might be 195 by now, though). It felt so good to get this one. Failed (dumped) the last rep, but whatevs.
Bench 165 5,5,4 - Wrist felt fine, elbow seemed stable enough, bicep seemed recovered enough. Though I've decided that I've got to start 2.5 lb jumps on bench - I've been stuck around 170 for far too long.
PC 135 3x5. I nailed these like I've never nailed cleans. Elbows rotated right up over, crisp little jump, nice erect back at the end. Surprised myself - maybe I've been using weights too LIGHT to hit correct PC form with? Also on warmups I did a set w/ squat jerks (not split, idk right term) @ 105 and those felt super crisp and nice - I'm going to start moving up in my jerk now for sure.
Accessory: Chins + 10 lb 4,4,2

[tfarny]

Yesterday - sucky one.
Squats 190 3,2,1 ending in failure each time. I think I was descending too slowly, missed the bounce, didn't get a proper valsalva going, etc. - also very tired out in general.
Press 95 5,5,5 - well I'm back up to my previous PR, and so far no shoulder impingement. These felt not-that-hard actually. Microloading here I come. I might try 100 next time though before I do the microloading.
DL - Today was the day to tinker with my dead - I've been using over/under grip and letting my back round too much, up to 255. Felt a giant "eeek" in my pronated left bicep a couple weeks ago and stood down from DLing for a bit. I ended up @245 with double overhand grip and decent back position for 1 rep, which I was happy with considering I'm not even squatting 200. I seriously doubt I could do 255 with double overhand grip though, so I need to decide whether to try and progess with over/under grip and possible joint strain, or deal with my grip issue and maybe make slower progress.
Accessory: L-sit and tuck on rings. Nothing to write home about, but as an overall core / uppper body exercise I do like this one. It does put a lot of stress on my crap elbows though.

[tfarny]

Looking at this, I have been thinking if 5 lb jumps on the squat are anything close to realistic for me - I never seem to hit two prs in a row. If the problem is diet, sleep, stress - I'm doing about as well as I'm able to do with it at this time, given my personal life and career demands. If the problem is genes, not much I can do there. I may have to start really making some intermediate mods and get realistic about my squat and general progress abilities.

[tfarny]

Squat 190 5,5,4
Bench 155 5,5 - again, not feeling the bench. Went to pushups + 40 lb 10, 6
Clean & Jerk 115 3,3 Fun! Felt great. Got a good-feeling split jerk. Will video next time.
Clean 140 3,3,3
No time for accessory work. Elbow joint is really feeling sore and a bit swollen too.

[tfarny]

Squat 195 3,3,3,1 - I didn't go for fives, I think there is a bit of psychological stuff going on with me and my squat progress - lack of confidence perhaps - and just going for threes this time made it all seem more doable. These were grinders, though - I'll try for 200 3,3,3,3 next time then if I hit it, 200 for 5,5,5.
Press 100 5,5,4. PR! I haven't PRed in press in quite some time. getting the tris under the bar for the initial push seemed to help a lot. Microloading from here, for sure. Doing lots of shoulder dislocation exercises before and after workouts, I think they are helping.
Deadlift - I got 255 up twice w/ double overhand, third time it started to slip out. Went to R. hand pronated and got three more reps. I know I'll get reamed on here for it, but I'm going to start using straps for my work sets and do double overhand for warmups from here on. I want to get a decent deadlift and don't feel like waiting for my grip to catch up with my lower back.
L-sit - yadda yadda yadda.
A good day.

[tfarny]

Long story, lots of personal life stress including a move to a temporary location and change of gym - not sure how that's affecting / ed my progress this week. Two new gym locations this week - the second one (today) was a hoot. Absolute blast from about 1972, windowless basement with minimal machines and ancient weights, PERFECT place to do some SS. So glad I found it. $5 cash per visit, place looks like a movie set for Rocky I. Some guys lifting some good poundages in there - and I was there, too. Not lifting any serious poundage.
Didn't log Monday's workout. Today:
Squat long story - 205 3, 195 5,5. I couldn't find their 2.5 lb plates so I just went for a huge PR and hit the first three. After that it wasn't so hot. Ah well. I did an over-BW squat for the first time, though not 3x5.
OHP - 105 5, then 100 5,5 - it was a weird day. 105 felt nice though and somehow my shoulder impingement seems to have subsided.
Dead 260 x5 - a pr. Used straps for the first time instead of over/under. I know it's way too light to use straps according to some guys, but I won't get the benefit of DL if I can't grip the damn bar. I do overhand for all my warmup sets, including 1x235 today and I'm saying that's good enough for now.
No accessory today. Bought a bicycle and rode it 20 minutes home from the gym.

[tfarny]

Well I missed out on logging some stuff,gym hopping, short term moves, blah blah blah. Last few weeks I haven't been able to eat huge either - limited kitchen access, no time, frankly not too much appetite.

No question this is affecting my progress but I'm to the point where I wonder if SS is efficient for me - I am simply not able to gain 5 lb on the squat twice in a row. Hasn't happened for a while. Today I did 205 (again), dumped rep 2, set up again, dumped rep 3. Went down to 185 and did 3x4 and felt fucking like the newb I am. So frustrating. Hit 105 3x5 on the OHP though and got a 265 1x4 deadlift in, no straps and my elbow seems pretty cured. I could have got #5 but I was rounding a bit much and actually getting dizzy. I am going on a business trip tomorrow, I'll try and get a run in Chicago's Millenium park and do some chins and stuff. Coming back I may try TM just for squats for a month. I am just determined to hit 225 on my squats before I take a break from barbells. Looking at some of your logs it sounds like a cakewalk. Hasn't been for me, that's for sure.