Matt's SS log

[mattciupak]

edit (as of June 2011): i'm now running Greyskull LP.

Hey,

my name is Matthew, but everyone just calls me Matt. I've been doing SS for the past 2, almost 3 months now. I got sick somewhere in the middle and reset practically all my lifts by a bit just recently because I realized I was using bad form. I'm 14 years old, 5'8ish and 178ish pounds. At the beginning of this school year (September) I was like 130 pounds, and couldn't bench the bar once in the school gym. Went on vacation last week for a few days and didn't eat anything but junk food and slept pretty horribly so that screwed me over.

my previous PR's before vacation were:
squat 195x5, bench 135x5, deadlift 225x5, press 105x3 I think, row 135x5 (moved my hips a lot though. needs another reset).
my numbers are really bad regardless though because I don't have 2.5 or 1.25 pound plates in my gym. I've been having to make 10 pound jumps, and it usually takes me 3 sessions or so to get up to 5 reps. I ordered 2.5 and 1.25 pound plates though.

i've been sleeping probably 7 hours a day at this point and maybe a little bit more on weekends. I have to start getting a lot more. as for my diet, I used to count calories but I no longer do as I eat practically the same thing every single day, except for weekends. this is what my diet usually looks like:

breakfast (meal 1): 3 fried eggs, 2oz italian bread or hero roll, 1 cup of milk. I take 3 opti-men multi's with breakfast.

lunch (meal 2): wrap with a few slices of ham and turkey, 1 cup of fat free chocolate milk (note: this is school food, would definitely have something better if I had the option).

meal 3 (after I come home, around 4:00pm): 2oz italian bread or hero roll, few slices of ham, turkey, chicken breast, and/or salami, 2 cups of milk, usually some fruits.

meal 4 (dinner): 1 pound of meat before cooking (steak, chicken breast, etc..), 1 large sweet potato, some veggies, 1 cup of milk

preworkout (only on workout days): 1 cup of juice, 1 banana, 1 scoop of whey with milk.

postworkout shake (only on workout days): 2 cups of milk, 1 banana, 2 scoops of whey, 40g of dextrose.

meal 5 (on non-workout days): 2oz of italian bread/hero roll with a can of fish (sardines, tuna, etc.).

on weekdays I also have a scoop of casein with milk before bed.

as for todays workout:

workout A.

Squat:

• 45x5
• 75x5
• 115x3
• 155x1
• 195x4/4/3

bench press:

• 45x5
• 65x5
• 95x3
• 115x1
• 135x4/3/4

deadlift:

• 95x5
• 135x3
• 195x1
• 225x5

dip machine (parallel bars were all taken):

• 185x8
• 185x6
• 185x6

NS situps (5 count holds @ parallel on a decline bench):

• 25x8
• 25x8
• 25x8

terrible workout overall. my regular workout partner couldn't go with me so I went with this other kid that recently signed up, just so he could spot me. was shaking a lot more than usual when benching. did not get all my reps throughout all my sets for bench or squats. got them last week, not sure why I couldn't today. I took 3 minutes in between sets plus the time it takes me to get set up, which is like 30 seconds. My grip was really bad today, maybe I was really sweaty. I was able to do a double overhand last week with the same pull weight, had to switch to mixed grip for the first time today though. I'm gonna blame it on bad diet over this past weekend and not enough sleep this previous night.

wow, what a long first log post.

[mattciupak]

3/2/11

Workout B

Squats:

• 45x5
• 75x5
• 115x3
• 155x2
• WORK SETS: 195x5/5/5

Press:

• 45x5
• 45x5
• 55x5
• 75x3
• 85x1
• WORK SETS: 105x4/4/3

My friends wanted me to teach them how to squat, so I did and that took up quite a bit of time so I didn't do anything else. Still have some homework to do so decided not to stay any longer.
Squats were okay, but I stopped right before ATG. I've just been reading these past few nights about low-bar squatting and a lot of sources said that it's better not to go ATG because the pelvis rounds underneath the spine and that's not too good. can anyone shed some light on this?
I was really impressed with my press. rep PR for me. I was only expecting to get like 2 or 3 out of it, after not training for so long.

[mattciupak]

3/4/11

Workout A:

Squats:

• 45x5
• 80x5
• 125x3
• 165x2
• WORK SETS: 200x5/5/4

Bench press:

• 45x5
• 75x5
• 95x3
• 125x1
• Work sets: 145x3x3x2

Deadlift:

• 95x5
• 145x3
• 195x2
• Work set: 235x5

Dips:

• 12xBW
• 7xBW
• 5xBW

NS situps:

• 35x5
• 35x5
• 35x5

Hammer curls (dumbbells):

• 25x10
• 25x7
• 25x6

Overhead tricep extension (dumbbell):

• 50x7
• 50x5
• 50x4

195x5 squats were pretty tough last workout, so I'm not surprised I didn't get my fifth rep in my last set although I could have at least tried. first time benching 145, felt pretty good. hopefully I will be able to get the full 5 reps on Wednesday. Tried double overhand grip again today, couldn't get it. I think I need to get myself some chalk and possibly start doing some additional grip work. I supersetted dips with sit ups as well as curls with tricep extensions, just to save some time.

[Tiburon]

you gotta eat more man. shouldn't be stuck after just 2 months on the program. pull back your bench and press about 10% and eat eat eat

post some form checks if you can

[mattciupak]

you gotta eat more man. shouldn't be stuck after just 2 months on the program. pull back your bench and press about 10% and eat eat eat

post some form checks if you can

Well, I eat close to 4000 calories every day except for weekends (that's going to change this weekend hopefully). Usually this is around 250g of protein, 400g+ of carbs and the rest is fat. I think it's mainly sleep that's holding me back. 7 hours can't be nearly enough. I really need to start going to bed earlier.
Will try to get form checks up next week.

[mattciupak]

Worst day ever, in terms of training.

3/7/11

Workout B:

Squats:

• 45x5
• 85x5
• 125x3
• 165x1
• Work sets: 205x3/2/2

Press:

• 45x5
• 65x3
• 70x2
• 85x1
• Work Sets: 105x4/4/3

Chest supported row:

• 90 (2 plates)x5/5/5

Lat pulldown:

• 140x8
• 140x8

gym was completely full today. good thing I wasn't benching today, there were like 20 people crowded around each bench (only 2 flats, 1 incline, 1 decline in my gym).
awful, awful, awful. woke up in the middle of the night last night, couldn't fall back asleep, was tired the whole day. might as well have just not gone today. was aiming for 5 reps across all sets of squats and presses, but that just wasn't happening. I tried for a fourth rep in my first set as well as third reps in my second and third sets, but failed and had to drop the bar. there were 5 people waiting for the squat rack to do knee bends and bicep curls, so I couldn't get anything else done. I did some chest supported rows (http://www.weightliftingdiscussion.c...stsupport1.jpg) and lat pulldowns just because that's all that was open. both felt weird and I wasn't sure how much weight I could do on either. shouldn't have even wasted my time.

[mattciupak]

Missed my workout on Wednesday because of a stupid teacher.

Did Wednesday's workout (A) today.

(work sets in bold)

Bench:

• 45x5
• 75x5
• 105x3
• 125x2
  
• 145x3
• 145x3
• 145x3

Squat:

• 45x5
• 85x5
• 125x3
• 165x2
  
• 205x3
• 205x4
• 205x3

Deadlift:

• 105x5
• 155x3
• 215x2
  
• 255x4
  

2 sets of both bicep curls and over head tricep extensions.

just weighed myself after getting out of the shower and I was 185. I'm just guessing, but in the morning I was probably like 180. 7 hours of sleep pretty much every day this whole week and have been extremely tired. need more sleep. probably going to stick in a meal with peanut butter just to up my calories a little bit as well, maybe a sandwich or something. wasn't expecting to get 5 on bench or squats. I'm an idiot for not trying to get the 4th and 5th reps on squats and deadlifts.
forgot to record bench, but I had my friend record my second set of squats and my deadlift set. uploading them now.

[mattciupak]

form check videos:

squat:

deadlift:


these felt a hell of a lot better than they look.
tips appreciated.

[mattciupak]

goddammit I'm just getting worse at this...
and the earlier I go to bed, the less I end up sleeping. I just don't get it.

3/14/11-Workout B

(work sets in bold)

Squats:

• 45x5
• 85x5
• 125x3
• 165x2
  
• 205x4
• 205x4
• 205x3

Press:

• 45x5
• 55x5
• 70x3
• 85x2
  
• 105x5
• 105x5
• 105x4

Empty bar cleans:
trying to learn from the 'Clean and Jerk' videos here:
http://www.californiastrength.com/olwete.html

waited half an hour for the squat rack. didn't do ATG squats like I normally do. Went down slow and controlled, had my friend tell me when I hit parallel, then I squat back up. extremely hard to say the least, harder than anything i've ever done before. locking out was definitely the hardest for me. as I was pushing up I got stuck at the quarter squat position, couldn't push it up, and had to drop it down. I was definitely bouncing out of the hole when doing ATG. if I don't hit 5 reps of 205 on Wednesday i'll probably reset by 20 or 30 pounds...this is getting ridiculous and it's no weight at all compared to where I should me.
presses impressed me (no pun intended...). was not expecting to get 5 reps but they were actually pretty easy. only took a 1 minute break after the 2nd work set, probably explains why I didn't hit all my reps.
I really want to learn how to power clean now. no more stupid excuses that I don't have a coach. might as well try and teach myself. didn't really get anywhere today in terms of cleans because there were lots people waiting for the rack. think i'll just drop the rows and focus on learning how to power clean. that's what the original program includes, anyway.

[mattciupak]

3/16/11

workout A

Squats:

• 45x5
• 85x5
• 125x3
• 165x2
  
• 205x5
• 205x4
• 205x4

Bench:

• 45x5
• 75x5
• 100x3
• 130x2
  
• 145x4
• 145x3
• 145x3

deadlift:

• 95x5
• 150x3
• 215x2
  
• 255x5

dips:

• BW: 8, 6

was disappointed about bench press. squats felt really hard. dead lift my ass rose before my chest. most likely going to pull back my bench to 135 and deadlift to 225 next week.

3/18/11

Workout B

Squats:

• 45x5
• 85x5
• 125x3
• 165x2
  
• 210x5
• 210x5
• 210x5

Press:

• 45x5
• 55x5
• 70x3
• 85x5
  
• 105x5
• 105x5
• 105x5

power cleans:
still practicing...

Squats and presses felt a lot easier than last time.