NAVY Joe's Lower Back Rehab and SS restart log

[Joe Leppo]

Ended up missing Wed's scheduled workout due to travel from San Diego to Philadelphia; pushed workout to Thursday and did heavy squats instead of light squats due to the extra recovery day. Planning on Light Squats Sat and a regular work set on Monday.

25 Oct:
SQUAT 45x5x2 / 95x5 / 135x5 / 185x3 / 225x2 / 255x1 Work Sets: 280x5x3 *
- Didn't miss any reps, but I have a tendency to lean to far forward as I come up on heavy reps; something I have to watch and concentrate on. Had a few close reps today. Have to keep the bar over mid-foot even when I'm working hard and/or tired--especially with a heavy (relative) work set. Felt very, very heavy today!
PRESS 45x5x2 / 75x5 / 105x3 / 125x2 Work Sets: 140x5x3 *
DEADLIFT 135x5x2 / 185x5 / 235x3 / 275x1 Work Set: 315x6 *
- Even using mixed grip, had trouble holding the bar on my work set. Had to switch grip and reset after the 3rd rep, so I did not do a back off set. Got all the reps though, even if there were a few singles included instead of continuous reps.

No Pull Up bar at the gym I'm using while staying at my parents house. They were cool with me bringing in and using my own chalk, they have a power rack for squats, and they didn't mind me doing deadlifts off the floor (no platform), but they drew the line when I tried to put a barbell on top of the power rack for chins. They let me work out for free since I'm active duty military, so no complaints on my end.

[Joe Leppo]

27 Oct:
Light SQUAT 45x5 / 95x5 / 135x5 / 185x3 / 205x2 Work Sets: 225x5x3
BENCH 45x5x2 / 95x5 / 135x3 / 175x2 / 205x1 Work Sets: 215x5x3 *
POWER CLEAN 45x5x2 / 75x5 / 95x3 / 115x2 / 135x1 Work Sets: 140x3x5 *

Heavy Squats planned for next Monday, with Wed the last workout prior to Rippetoe Invitational Meet on 11/3 (Sat) in Wichita Falls.

[Joe Leppo]

On leave in Southern NJ: Hurricane Sandy impacted my training plan. I had to push Monday's planned (heavy/hard) workout to Tuesday. Thursday will be a Light Squat day + non-meet lifts. Meet is on Saturday 11/3--my first time attending one.

30 Oct: Last heavy training day prior to Meet; all lifts today same as Meet lifts.
SQUAT 45x5x2 / 95x5 / 135x5 / 185x3 / 235x2 / 275x1 Work Sets: 285x5x3 *
PRESS 45x5x2 / 75x5 / 105x3 / 125x2 Work Sets: 142.5 x5x3 *
DEADLIFT 135x5x2 / 225x5 / 275x3 / 305x1 (1) Work Set: 320x5 (2) *

Note (1) Mixed Grip, Left hand overhanded grip
Note (2) Mixed Grip, Right hand overhanded grip

[Joe Leppo]

01 Nov: Last workout prior to the Meet on Sat.
LIGHT SQUAT 45x5x2 / 95x5 / 135x4 / 185x2 / 205x1 Work Sets: 230x5x3
BENCH 45x5x2 / 95x5 / 135x3 / 175x2 / 205x1 Work Sets: 217.5 x5x3 *
POWER CLEAN 45x5x2 / 75x5 / 95x3 / 115x2 / 135x1 Work Sets: 145x3x5 *

Maybe I should have gone lighter today, but the Meet is more than 48 hours away, with contest lifts being Squat, Press, & Deadlift. I know I'll be fine Squating; think I'll be OK on the Press & Deadlift. My goals are to make all my attempts (going with conservative weights here at my first ever Meet), set new 1RM PRs, and earn a cool new T-Shirt. If I can avoid finishing dead last in the rankings, that would be a bonus. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to it and I'll be spending the week afterwards training at WFAC and getting some coaching for myself prior to returning to Japan.

[Joe Leppo]

03 Nov: Meet Day!

My initially planned attempts were overly conservative: both Rip & Stef told me not to be a pussy, so Rip ended up helping me with revised 2nd & 3rd attempt weights for all three lifts. Still ended up going 9 for 9 and setting PRs on all my lifts. Meet ended up being a lot of fun -- if you're even thinking about doing one, my advice is to sign up and go. Hope Rip holds this event again in the future.

SQUAT:
1st - 290
2nd - 300
3rd - 315 *

PRESS:
1st - 66 Kg (145)
2nd - 69 Kg (152)
3rd - 72 Kg (158) *

DEADLIFT:
1st - 325
2nd - 350
3rd - 375 *

Total: 848.4 lbs

[synchronicity]

You rocked every lift, Joe. Hearing Rip accusing you of sandbagging was a highlight of the day.

[Joe Leppo]

You rocked every lift, Joe. Hearing Rip accusing you of sandbagging was a highlight of the day.

Thanks! Great meeting you--all the best.

[Joe Leppo]

Following a slightly different training plan this week, since I will be working out daily at WFAC with Rip or Bryan coaching me on my lifts.

05 Nov:
SQUAT 45x5 / 95x5 / 135x5 / 185x3 / 235x2 / 275x1 Work Sets: 290x5 / 280x5x2
BENCH 45x5x2 / 95x5 / 135x3 / 175x2 / 205x1 Work Sets: 220x5x3 *

- 290# Squat was planned for today; but proved to heavy following Saturday's meet. Deloaded to 280# for the remaining sets as recommended by Coach Bryan. I will stick with Light Squats on Wed and hit either 285 or 290 on Friday's Squat workout.

[Gillian Mounsey]

Wow Joe, nice job PRing all of your lifts at the meet. I'm jealous that you are spending the week training at WFAC.

[Joe Leppo]

06 Nov: Technique & Power Day at WFAC w/Bryan Fox coaching me

1st Session - POWER SNATCH: High Volume w/Low weights to try and learn the movement. This is a new exercise for me; today was my first attempt. Did not log the weights we used, but it wasn't much; just a few technique plates...

2nd Session - POWER CLEAN: 120x3x5 with emphasis on improving form/technique. Warm ups were all the snatch reps...

Today's workout has me completely wiped out; think today also doubled as conditioning work. I literally don't think I could've done another set of 3 at the same weight. Toasted, but made good progress on learning the Snatch and cleaning up my Power Clean. I can't wait to hit the rack tonight--I will have absolutely no trouble sleeping.