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Thread: SeanThornton gets back in fighting shape!

  1. #41
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    4/7/16 - BW: 196.5

    Dips (1st time): 10, 10, 10 (assisted with the heaviest of my three bands)

    HIIT (~airdyne): (30s fast + 90s slow) x 5

  2. #42
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    Wow, long time no see, and all that! Finally back in the groove with lifting, and thought I'd start posting on my log again.

    Quick update:
    Still 5'9"
    Now 55 y.o.
    weight running 176-178 these days (hit 175.2 a few weeks ago, the least I've weighed in more than a couple decades!)

    So, what happened? Well, workout area periodically got taken over in the basement..... lawnmower incident which prevented grabbing a barbell for about 6 weeks...... my wife broke her leg last summer, making for no free time for workouts...... and then, of course, the usual BS.

    Anyway, back in it now, since early February. Over the last three years, I've had periods of lifting where I'd restart LP, and make some progress. Here are some of the numbers:

    coming into Feb., '19:
    Max SQ - 240
    Max BP - 154
    Max DL - 275
    Max OHP - 100

    All weights are in pounds, and are for sets across, except DL which was one set of 5, and SQ, which was one set of 5, followed by 2 backoff sets of lower weight. I've never attempted a 1RM in any lift.

    Another point worth noting... sometime last year, I made two changes to my programming:
    1 - Moved to one lift a day. For two reasons. First, going through everything in one day left me too wiped out as the weights got heavier. Second, the time factor. I can pretty much always make time for the workout if it's for just one lift.
    2 - For deadlift, thought I wasn't making enough progress doing just one workset, now that it was the only lift I did that day. So, moved to doing 2 sets of 5.

    Here are the lifts for my first 5-day rotation:
    2/6/19 - OHP, 80 x 5 x 3
    2/7/19 - SQ, 170 x 5 x 3
    2/8/19 - BP, 135 x 5 x 3
    2/9/19 - DL, 225 x 5 x 3
    2/10/19 - chins, 10 x 3, assisted (~30# of assist at the top using bands, ~70# at the bottom)

    On upper body days (BP, OHP, chins), I do 4 minutes on an Airdyne, maintaining 60 RPM, and then moving up to 80 RPM for the last 7 seconds of each minute. My own homegrown HIIT.

    Latest 5-day rotation:
    4/12/19 - chins, 14,13,13, assisted (~27# at top, ~60# at bottom)
    4/13/19 - OHP, 101 x 3 x 5
    4/15/19 - SQ, 230 x 5 x 3
    4/16/19 - BP, 162 x 3 x 5 (missed last rep of last set)
    4/17/19 - DL, 285 x 4,3,3

    For BP and OHP, I simply ran out of steam staying with sets of 5. And sets of 4 lasted for maybe 2 workouts. I simply have to do sets of 3 once it gets heavier. And so far, I have been able to make some more jumps doing that. Yesterday's BP was fine, but I just had nothing left in the tank by the time rep 15 came around. For DL, sets of 4,3,3 are working great, but sets of 5 are just a bit much.

    My big research project now is finding out what I need to do as I get to the end of LP. I thought I remembered you reset everything some set percentage, and then repeat the LP process until you stall again, and then it's time for an intermediate program.

    I have continued with the Special Olympics coaching, and that's been a huge blessing. We're now up to 5 athletes, and they've all made great gains over time. We practice twice a week to prepare for the meets, and between that (everyone else practices once a week) and following good form instruction, learned from SS, we have no trouble getting our guys to the top of their divisions. This year's top lifters came in with an 855# total (105kg class) and 770# total (83kg class).

    Final point of humor: When I started all this, and up til very recently, I had no intention of ever entering a meet. I just do this for my health. However, one of the gyms where we practice for Special Olympics had several members entered in a local meet recently. For a lark, I looked up the state records for the federation (APF/AAPF). For my age group and weight class, just using the weights I do for sets across would be ~100# record total! I guess very few people my age and weight have competed, LOL!

  3. #43
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    Today, 4/18/19

    chins, 14,13,13, assisted (~27# at top, ~60# at bottom)
    conditioning, Airdyne for 4:00 @ 60 RPM, hitting 80 RPM for last 7 seconds of each minute

    Chins were the same as last time. I had read an article on chins here on the forums a few years back, and they recommended doing 15 x 3, moving to less assist/more extra weight once you hit 15 reps on the first set, and at least 13-14 on the other two sets. That's what I've been doing, but I'm curious what other people do for chins, and how they progress.

  4. #44
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    Lots to post today (4/19/19):

    1) OHP, 102 x 4 x 4 (note, NOT x3x5), then my standard airdyne session
    - I was able to do sets of 4 today, and I'm pretty stoked! I was reading up on how to approach the end of LP (reading ahead so I know what to do) yesterday, and realized I hadn't cracked the books in a while. So I reread the OHP section, and realized I had let my grip get wide. So today, I brought each hand in ~1-1.5 inches, and it just felt a lot better. Got 4 reps on all four sets, though all four final reps were just a bit grindy. Don't think I could have done 5 reps.

    2) In reading about the end of LP, I reviewed the sections about eating, and concluded I may be a little shy of the required eating since my February return. So, I'll be eating a bit more, starting with breakfast today, which was my biggest breakfast in quite a while. So, that may also have helped get those sets of 4 done today.

    3) So, here's where I have questions for you guys. The end of LP, how is it done? I'm not saying I'm there, I'm certainly not, but I want to know what to do as I get there. But, in looking at SS and PPST, I didn't see a definitive "here's how the end of NLP should look". There are several guidelines and suggestions, but nothing concrete. And then, of course, taking age into account as well. So, if I understand it correctly, you keep making the same small jumps, keeping to the standard sets/reps, until you start missing reps. At that point, you reset 10%, and then repeat the process. Is that correct? Is my change to the upper body lifts, where I'm doing sets of 3 or 4, but still getting 15 reps in, still considered being on the NLP? Or, am I already into my own area of NDTFP? Should I already have reset, and repeated the NLP progression for those lifts? Then, once you do the (10%?) reset, and run the progression again, is that it for NLP? Or do you do another (2nd) 10% reset and run it a third time? Again, I'm just trying to be clear on what to do, so that I get as much as I can out of the NLP.

    4) Deadlift - In rereading the NLP sections, figured that I really should just do one set of 5 for DL. I've probably been led to doing 10 reps because I didn't make bigger jumps early on, and so they're really not been that hard. But, from my last DL day (285) and what I read, one set of 5 is good enough for NLP. So, next DL day, I'll just do one set of 5.

  5. #45
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    4/20/19

    Squat day: 235 x 5 x 3

    That's a sets-across PR for me. Did 1 set of 240 a while back, but the other 2 sets were lower (230, 225), so this is a bit higher.

    It's also nice that I think my form is better than it was then (about a year and a half ago), so I'm getting better depth, and I don't have any aches or DOMS like I did back then.

    All-in-all, a good day.

  6. #46
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    4/21/19

    Weight: 179.9 - the most I've weighed in the last couple of months, probably due to eating more the last couple of days

    Bench:
    156 x 4,4,3,3,2
    I was intending to do 156x4x4, resetting 6 pounds, back to the last time I did 4x4. I reread the book, and watched some of Rip's videos, and saw a couple things I definitely needed to address, so I did this mini-reset.
    The first two sets were fine, but the third set I had to let the pins grab it on the 4th rep. So, I did the 4th set as a 3, and then did 2 more reps later, to get to 15 reps.
    It's very frustrating, because the first reps don't feel bad at all, but by the time I get to the 4th rep, I just don't have it in me to finish the rep. I guess I'm just volume sensitive on the upper body lifts.

    Airdyne: 4:00, with high RPMs for last 7 seconds of each minute.

  7. #47
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    4/22/19

    Weight - 179.2

    deadlifts - 290 x 5 workset (PR!)

    Heavy set just gassed me. Had to take a break before the last rep. Whole set took ~1:20. So that's today's question... when is a set not a set?

    The first three reps took about 22 seconds, then ~25 seconds more for the 4th rep, and then about 35 seconds for the last rep. It was just a question of catching my breath. It's hard to take and keep a big breath (valsalva) when your body is screaming for air, LOL!

  8. #48
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    4/23/19

    Weight - 179.7

    Chins - 13, 13, 12 (band assisted, ~60# at bottom, ~27# at top)
    Airdyne - 4:00 @ 60RPM, with last 7 seconds of each minute @ ~85RPM

    Chins not really progressing much, kind of stagnating lately.

  9. #49
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    Sean, Did you say you have the books? Whether or not why don't you check in with one of the many SS coaches in the Chicago area and have them get you on the right track. That way you don't need to play around with guess work. I think i know all of the Chicago and Evanston coaches mostly because we get back there so often and we used to attend the same Church with one of them. I know Karl Schudt the best. I know David Abdemoulae. Both are great coaches. The third coach in the Chicago gym is a great fellow as well. The two guys at Kratos in Evanston are fine as well. Get thee to a coach and stop guessing. BTW I hope to see you in a near future Classic as well.

  10. #50
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    starting strength coach development program
    Perhaps in the future, but for now, that isn't gonna happen. I'm in the far west suburbs, and getting to their locations amounts to a road trip. We need an SSC gym in western DuPage/Fox Valley.

    Besides, most of my questions are more programming related. I thought that's why we posted in the logs forum, to see what other do for their training, and learn from each other.

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