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Everything's Lighter at 8000ft: Pat's Training Log
Starting a training log on here to help organized thoughts and records from the different places I'm apt to jot them down. Feel free to comment or not, much of this will be boring stream-of-consciousness drivel interesting only to me, so beware.
35 YO, 6ft 4in, started 2.5 weeks ago at 199lb, now at 204lb. Tall and lanky and always skinny.
Starting lifts:
SQ: 150lb
BP: 125lb
DL: 155lb
PR: 75lbs
Current PR:
SQ: 210lb
BP: 140lb
DL: 250lb
PR: 95lb
I'm in my 3rd week of the Novice LP and gains have been coming along as expected. I first heard about SS probably a year ago in Mens Journal. They had an article on strength training and interviewed a guy named Rob Shaul who runs Mountain Athlete, a gym/training program I've been following for the last two years until 3 weeks ago when i started SS (similar to crossfit but more structured with 6 week cycles for strngth, endurance, conditioning, etc). The article also mentioned SS and Rip and it always stuck in the back of my head but didn't ever get the book until a month ago when I heard Rip on the Onnit podcast, and his AOM podcasts. I've been lurking on the forums for the last few weeks and it is such an awesome resource full of awesome people I figured I should participate.
I've played sports my whole life, but since HS not really competitively. I live in Aspen, CO so skiing is what we do in the winter and usually spend the summer mtn biking or fishing. In that regard most of my gym time has been spent in service of those sports and will continue to be that way. I love lifting and the gym and with two kids its the most efficient time-wise but I'd always rather be skiing or something outside.
5/12/15
Squats:
1x5@45
1X5@45
1x3@135
1x2@175
1x1@195
3x5@210(last 4 sets on smith machine, gym closed, no squat rack)
Press:
2x5@45
1x3@75
1x2@85
3x5@95
DL:
2x3@135
1x3@195
1x1@225
3x5@250
Showed up at the gym and the downstairs section for poor people was closed, no warning or announcement prior. But we were able to use the upstairs, which is basically exercise only for rich idiots and there PT's, I'm not even sure what the fuck half the machines are supposed to do. They had 1 OLY bar, very few plates and no squat rack, hence the smith machine. The downstairs is closed until Sat so I'll probably just skip squats on Tuesday or do some weighted lunges or pistols or something useful and start again at 210 (my PR from my last session last week) on Sat.
Press felt awesome and illustrated again the value of the BP. I had skipped a BP day last week because I felt like I tweaked my rotator cuff and it needed a break so I pressed 2 workouts in a row and the second was a real grind. After getting back to BP at the end of last week the press today felt great. I also skipped the second round of warmups today so that may have helped.
DL felt real heavy and it felt like there was back rounding going on, but it all went up. May have to start 10lb jumps on the DL instead of 15, even though i was hoping for 3 weeks of 15lb jumps.
Hopefully if I keep eating enough I can keep 10lb jumps on the squat and 15lb on the DL for the rest of this week. Nutrition has been tough since i always feel like I'm stuffing myself but still not gaining enough weight.
Last edited by HiCntry; 05-12-2015 at 03:21 PM.
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Welcome to the forum... I get by here at 6000 feet but I wonder what my lifts would be if I lived along a nice coast somewhere.
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If the rich people's section lacks anything of real value to strength training what does the poor people's section have? Does it have racks, platforms, bars, and plates? That's what you need. From your description it sounds like the section for the poor people is better than the rich people's section.
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Yeah the poor peoples section has a squat rack and benches and plenty of everything I need, but it's in the basement and I think they've been having flooding issues so that's why it's closed for this week. The only thing it doesn't have is a platform so I'm not sure what I'll do if I want to ever work on snatches or C&J.
The rich peoples section is for typical old, rich Aspenites who want feel like they're healthy and working out because everyone else in town seems that way. They want something shiny and fancy and a ton of useless machines that require a PT to learn.
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5/14/15
5/14/15
Downstairs gym still closed. Upstairs was packed for some reason today and already 4 guys rotating on the 1 OLY bar up there. How hard is it to drag up a few of the 6-7 bars from downstairs and a few extra plates?
Did some weighted lunges, chins and GHR and then said fuck it and went to lunch. Haven't done chins in a long time. As I guessed my gains in BP and PR haven't overcome my mechanically inefficient monkey arms (37in sleeves). I wish I had just skipped today from the start instead of expecting to workout. At least they'll be back open saturday.
Lunges:
3x5@70lbs
3x5@90lbs
Chins:
3,3,3 @BW
GHR:
3x10@BW
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5/16/15
SQ: 3x5@205
BP: 3x5@145
DL: 1x5@260
BW: 206.5lb
Went to the rec center closer to home today since the regular gym is still closed. After a week of no real squats I dropped 5 lbs since the last warmup felt heavier than it should, probably didn't need too. Their squat rack has fixed pins that just barely let me get full depth which always gets me thinking about that instead of the squat. If I can get 1 more week of 10lb jumps I'll get to squat 2 plates by Thursday. BP and DL went up as planned. DL is starting to feel real heavy so the 10lb jump was a good idea. I'm gonna try one more week of DL before adding the PC.
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5/19/15
5/19/15
BW: 208lb
Press:
3x5 @100
Deadlift:
1x5 @270
Fucking gym is still closed. The renovation is taking longer than expected. Working out upstairs so no squats. I'll rearrange work Thursday morning so I can go to the rec center closer to home and squat again.
Press felt heavier than 95 for sure but every rep was a sure thing and I didn't have to grind a single one out. I've been using press 2.0 and these last two press workouts it feels like my timing is really clicking with the hip thrust and catching the bar on the bounce off my shoulders. Thinking about driving all the way through the ceiling really helps too. I'm pretty psyched about how my PR and BP are coming along. With really long, skinny arms and a chronic bird chest for many years I was worried I'd be micro-loading them already but they both feel like I can push on with 5lb jumps for a bit longer.
DL is starting to feel really heavy and I'm pretty sure my back wasn't staying tight on the last few reps, but it also kinda felt like some of it was in my upper back. Before SS I had never really done any serious deadlifting so I don't really have a good feel for the difference between rounding in my lower back vs upper back yet, especially on heavy work sets. I ordered some chalk finally since my hands are starting to slip bad on DL's.
Been trying to hit 4500 calories a day and I'm starting to get in a groove. Some days hitting 4000 makes me feel sick but other days I can hit 5000 without too much fuss. At least one meal a day is a chore though and having to eat so much at work kinda makes me feel gross. I work in a small open office with mostly women so when I'm constantly snacking all day right next to them you start to feel like a pig. I'm up 9lbs in 3.5 weeks but I don't look any fatter yet, my wife just says my arms look a lot bigger but I can barely tell.
According to Jordans article I should be eating 3400 calories IIRC and the GOMAD would put me at 5600 I think, but that just seems like I'd be eating all day nonstop. I guess that means I'm not doing the program. Either way 4500 seems like a sweet spot so far but we'll see if the gains keep coming.
Last edited by HiCntry; 05-19-2015 at 02:22 PM.
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5/21/15
5/21/15
BW: 208.5
Squat:
3x5 @215
BP:
3x5 @150
DL:
1x5 @280
Worked out at the rec center by home with the high pins. They make me overthink depth and when you hit one it fucks up your whole bounce and timing out of the hole. 1st set sucked, 2nd felt way better, 3rd was mix. Pretty sure I'm good for another 10lb jump for 2 wheels on Sat.
BP felt good, easier than 145lb, but still tough.
DL felt easier than 270. But I had chalk with me today and I took a 10 minute call before my last warmup and work sets that kinda distracted me so that might have helped. I also realized I've had my head too far up and kept it it down better today. Back felt tighter but I need to post a form check.
A 280 DL for a guy my size is obviously not much on here but I at the gyms I work out at I can count on 1 hand the number of guys I've seen DL in 4 years of working out regularly. So having them all stare as I keep loading plates on the bar and pull out the chalk is kinda fun, and I'm not even that strong yet.
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5/24/15
5/24/15
BW: 209.5
Squat:
225x5x3
PR:
105x5x3
DL:
290x5x1
Squats felt all fucked form-wise. The weight wasn't brutally heavy, my form just felt all over the place. Bar speed on the last set was pretty slow and the last rep took all I had to grind it out. I'll be glad when the regular gym is done with it's reno and I can use a normal squat rack again. But still, 2 WHEELS!! Not super impressive but I was excited to hit it.
Press was tough. Some real grindy reps and almost missed one in the second set but refocused and punched them up in the 3rd set. It may be time to start microloading these. If my timing isn't on with the hip drive and bounce off the shoulders the bar doesn't want to go anywhere.
Deads are getting real heavy. Even with chalk and a hook grip the double-overhand is getting tough. But recovery from these is still feeling good so I'm kinda undecided on whether to add in power cleans yet. I kinda want to just because they're fun and feel good and I miss them. The program I was on before SS used a lot of full cleans, power cleans and hang cleans so while my form is still not great, I'm pretty familiar with the movement and always think they're fun. We'll see how DL feels on Tuesday.
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5/26/15
5/26/15
BW: 209.5
BP:
155x4x1
155x1x1
140x5x2
DL
300x5x1
What a cluster fuck. Gym still has the downstairs closed (over 2 weeks) so no squats
Bench was DOA. Barely got the first 4 reps and had to rack and take a second. Got the 5th but I was fully bridged and pushing so hard with my legs that I got a cramp in my left hamstring. Maybe I should have taken a longer rest and tried the next two sets but I had no spotter today and knew I was gonna be dumping the plates off my chest at some point. Even the back-off sets at 140 felt way heavy. I knew I was getting greedy and should've starting microloading. I also ate bad this weekend. I've been trying for minimum 4500 calories a day but some days I barely hit 4000. I think I'm gonna try for minimum 5000, but that sounds almost as hard as the lifts.
DL was exponentially heavier than 290. I rushed the last two reps and I'm pretty sure my back came out of extension on one or both. Last rep felt better because I took a second to really make sure my back was set, but I'm not sure it stayed that way. I thought I may have tweaked something but it's settled down quite a bit already so we'll see. I think I may start trying an alternating grip for last warmup and work sets. I'm also gonna start alternating with the PC. I've had my share of back tweaks before and my back has never felt better since starting SS so I don't want to fuck that up.
Last edited by HiCntry; 05-26-2015 at 02:00 PM.
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