Starting Strength: East Bay, CA

[jgh]

Bench was great, so went up 10lb instead of the planned 5lb. Almost zero shoulder pain with the current form.... loving it.

Which form are you using now? I'm glad you found a way to bench without pain!

Did you end up signing up for TomC's pulling camp? My gf and I will be there.

[pjthiel]

Which form are you using now? I'm glad you found a way to bench without pain!

To be honest, I am working to the form "described" by Rip in Practical Programming (and Strong Enough). His descriptions of good form, plus the anatomical reasoning behind the movements, makes for a very vivid picture. Basically, I line up the bench, line up the bar, feet planted, ass down, decent arch in the lumbar. As for the shoulder girdle, I am doing two things. Rip describes squeezing the shoulder blades back and together, this has been the key for me. By the time I am ready to take the weight, my arms are almost straight, making the first movement just a locked-arm shift of the bar to the top visual reference point. I have long stopped flaring my elbows (which I used to think "worked my chest better"), and keep them somewhere between neutral and slightly tucked. So far, this has allowed me to bench (albeit with very modest weights) with minimal discomfort.

Did you end up signing up for TomC's pulling camp? My gf and I will be there.

I didn't unfortunately... I am away that weekend! I made contact with TomC though, and will look to get some coaching/form checks complete once I am through the month of August.

[jgh]

Awesome! I'd like to eventually be able to do that style myself but so far a fairly close grip has been the only way I can seem to avoid pain.

Looks like you're making some nice progress so far. I don't know if you're doing it on purpose or not, but in SS proper, deadlift is only one set of five, not three. Changing that could make things a lot easier for a little while.

[pjthiel]

Looks like you're making some nice progress so far. I don't know if you're doing it on purpose or not, but in SS proper, deadlift is only one set of five, not three. Changing that could make things a lot easier for a little while.

Oh, for sure... I am only doing one set of five for the DL... did I typo that on my log? I definitely could not be making the weight or progress I am on more than one work set right now!

For my opening month, I am basically following the SS beginner routine , but doing additional DL on the "B" workout instead of PC. That means deadlifting and squatting every session, which is going to get hard... and soon.

[pjthiel]

Tired as hell today... we'll see how that affects the workout. First day lifting in the new Do-Wins today too...

[pjthiel]

Bodyweight: 170.5
Squats: 185 x 5 x 3
Press: 95 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 245 x 5 x 3

Notes:
Good workout.

Squats were steady, slowing slightly over last week, but moving steadily.

The press was hard. It doesn't feel like a very explosive movement, but strength is definitely improving as I squeezed all three sets of five out without any stalling; sure, the last few were slower, but the bar never stopped moving.

Deadlift is fine, and somehow still managing to move up. There was a noticeable pause before rep five, mainly to adjust my failing grip. But once it's moving, the back and butt strength is there to make the lift, and plenty of upper back and shoulder to finish out the movement.

I strongly suspect I won't be able to keep DLing and Squatting every workout -- at least not with keeping them moving forward. Choices are to either 1) keep doing both but reduce the increments, or 2) alternate the DL and throw chins into the gap to improve grip strength. I haven't decided what I'll do yet... I'll see how I feel over the weekend.

Oh, and the new Rogue Do-Wins worked out well... they create a nice solid base to lift from.

In a word: Gritty

[pjthiel]

Bodyweight: 168
Squats: 195 x 5 x 3
Bench press: 125 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 255 x 5 x 3

Notes:
Ok ... something has to change.

Squats were hard ... made the 10lb increment this session and literally inched out the five reps in the final set of three. Hard is the only way to describe it. I am also wondering if I am going too deep – yes, too deep – on the squat. Will need a form check by someone at some point soon I think.

Bench was a delight. Form is still affording me an almost pain free pressing workout, and the 3 x 5 work sets at 125lb were comfortable and smooth.

Deadlift was messy. As I said in my previous journal entry, I am not convinced I can maintain forward momentum squatting and deadlifting on every session (M/W/F). Friday was hard in itself, and the opening squat today showed me I am not fully recovered. None the less, I put the 10lb on and set about it.

The strength is mostly there to move the weight, but grip is definitely a weak area. On rep one, my hands were literally open by the top of the rep -- not safe. For rep two, I switched to an under/over grip and that definitely helped with the grip somewhat. Still, the reps were slow, scrappy and hard fought for, with quite a few seconds between each rep to attempt at improving the grip. I also got some discomfort in my left knee on the last pull... although I was too invested in the lift to have any sense of whether form was suffering (causal) or whether it was just damn heavy.

All lifts were belt, strap and chalk free, although I am certain that a belt and chalk will definitely allow me at least one more increment. I am trying to avoid straps to improve grip strength... even if it means slower progress.

And so... I am still at a decision point; drop the increments, or drop DL to every other session. I am now certain that I can not continue bumping all lifts at this level every workout. Considering the lack of grip strength, I am pretty sure that some chins on the alternate session will help with the DL grip.

My rationale with the S/DL every session was just to accelerate early progress, but at 41 years old, my body is clearly not up to what my mind can throw at it. This has been a definite trend over the last three to five years.

Decision made. On Wednesday, I am going to increment on Squat, and alternate the DL for some chins, hitting the DL again on Friday. And on Friday, I'll pull the 255lb again as I was not happy with my overall performance this time around.

In a word: Grueling

[jgh]

Have you considered mixing in RDLs as part of your break from heavy pulling? One possibility that might be more than you want to cut back now would be to alternate between chins and an alternation of RDL/DL. So it would be like: Chins, RDL, Chins, DL, Chins, RDL, Chins, DL, etc., so you'd do a full deadlift every 4th session.

Also, a 10lb increment on the squat gets big fast. It's impressive that you haven't had to switch to five yet!

[pjthiel]

Have you considered mixing in RDLs as part of your break from heavy pulling? One possibility that might be more than you want to cut back now would be to alternate between chins and an alternation of RDL/DL. So it would be like: Chins, RDL, Chins, DL, Chins, RDL, Chins, DL, etc., so you'd do a full deadlift every 4th session.

I haven't considered it. To be honest, I want to stick to the most basic of programs right now until I have them fully programmed. I was always going to chin and alternate the DL, but got over-excited and decided to go S/DL every session. It's allowed me to advance the weight quite quickly, but it's taken it's toll on knees and my hip-flexor tendons (of which the latter have always strangely been aggravated by heavy squatting for me).

None the less, I'll read-up on the RDL and see if it would be a good/better fit than the chins. Thanks for the suggestion.

Also, a 10lb increment on the squat gets big fast. It's impressive that you haven't had to switch to five yet!

Thanks! But yeah -- I've been pushing my luck here really. I think I've got at least another couple of 10s in me for the Bench, but a 10 on the press this week seems unlikely; may just have to round the latter out to 100lb. Squat is at 195 and it was HEAVY... so not sure I'll make a 10 there either. For DL, I am re-pulling the 255 anyway.

As always, I want everything yesterday and want to be able to see big numbers in weeks, not months or years – even though I know damn well you can't rush this process and just end up getting overtrained and/or injured. I've never been lacking in motivation or determination... as my tired, worn-out body will attest to.

C'est la vie.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Trying for 10 lb. jumps in the OHP may not be in your best long term interests. Give yourself some room to keep going for some time yet with 5 lb. jumps. A few years ago I was at 1/2 lb. increments and that was even hard. There's no need to rush.