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Thread: Finally lifting heavy things again

  1. #41
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    Jun 2015
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    Friday happened:

    Squats: 2x5@45, 5@135, 5@225, 3x5@280
    Bench: 2x5@45, 4@135, 3@185, 2@205, 4@230, 3@230, 2@230. Can't remember if I got all 5 on the first work set, so since missed count goes to last known number, I'm putting 4 in the log.
    No powercleans.

    Today also happened:

    Squats: 2x5@45, 5@135, 5@225, 3@275, 3x5@285.
    OHP: 2x5@45, 4@95, 3@105, 1@125, 5@130, 2x4@130.
    Deadlift: 5@135, 3@225, 3@325. Bigger jump than I should have done from warmups to work set. Lower back is not happy with me, and my grip failed after 3rd rep. Lower back is unhappy enough that I'll ice it tonight, but not so much that it causes pain when I stand up or move around (like when I pulled it before). Just gonna have to get out of the house earlier so getting to the office stops cutting my gym time short. It just takes more time when I have to take the full rest time between sets. Harumph.

  2. #42
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    Wednesday did not happen. App told me to allow 72 hours for recovery after deadlifting on Monday, and after sleeping like crap on Tuesday night, I thought it best to hold off. Today did happen, though I'm still kinda wiped.

    Squats: 2x5@45, 5@135, 5@225, 5@275, 3x5@285. I couldn't remember if I did 280 or 285 on Monday, so I went with 285 for my work sets today. That'll learn me to leave my phone in my locker...
    Bench: 2x5@45, 4@135, 3@275, 2@205, 5@225, 4@225, 3@225. Not enough recovery between sets, and I was rushed again. At some point I'm going to get my lazy ass out of the house in time to get a full workout in.

    Linear progression is stalling pretty hard since I'm trying to cut some bodyfat before the PT test and weigh-in. Once I clear that hurdle, I'm getting back on the milk-wagon.

  3. #43
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    Damn. Firefox ate my post from this morning. Yay. Anywho, I took a week off. Partly broken, partly lazy bastard, partly family health issue. In any case, I got back on the horse this morning.

    Squats: 5@135, 5@225, 3x5@275. Concentrated on going to full-depth, to the un-delight of my hamstrings. Quityerbitchen legs, get stronger.
    Deadlift: 5@135, 3@225, 2@325. Too little time between sets, and another jump to the attempted work set weight that was too big. I skipped OHP and went to this so I could at least get these in before having to head to the office.

    PT test and weigh-in are coming. Down to 211, but weight isn't moving quickly enough. Not interested in pulling a dehydration diet to cut so I can make weight, so I'm having to rely on making tape. Ugh.

  4. #44
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    Wednesday was miserable. I'm right at the borderline for passing my tape test due to eating to support muscle growth. So I spent the workout on the elliptical for a couple of 'miles', followed by a walk on the treadmill for another mile, with the incline up to keep my heartrate right around 65% of max. While I would like to simply add this 'cardio' to my lifting, I don't currently have the time to do both, and the test cometh, so I have to get back in spec. Seriously looking forward to getting back on the deadlift wagon, as I'm finally seeing some progress with my grip and the pull. Last night I slept completely like crap, and woke up with a massive headache at 0400, so I took some tylenol and went back to sleep. Living at a 'larger than moderate' caloric deficit is a PITA.

  5. #45
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    The tape was kind this morning, so I'm good on my height/weight for another 6 months. That said, here's where my (max) lifts stack on the basic strength standards chart:

    Press: 135 - Novice. Notably my weakest lift.
    Squat: 305 - Intermediate.
    Bench: 235 - Intermediate.
    Deadlift: 325 - Novice. I'm pretty sure I could manage 335 or maybe 345, so this is knocking on the door of intermediate status.
    Powerclean: 165 - Untrained. I am clearly not lifting where I should be on these, but have not pushed them because the explosive nature of this lift has the most risk for my reconstructed knee.

    I will try some heavier powercleans this Friday and see where I'm really at, and also put 155 on the bar and see if I can get a single OHP. Based on that I may need to look into revising my programming, as I may have gotten through most of the beginner gains. Shit.

  6. #46
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    Jun 2015
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    Still here. PT test passed as well, though my sit-ups were abysmal. I more than maxed the pushups, but for some unknown reason had a complete discombobulation at sitting up. Have taken a number of weeks off. Some family issues which I am not comfortable disclosing have sidelined pretty much everything. Suffice it to say my sleep/recovery cycles have been significantly impacted. I did manage to get into the gym once last week and got under the bar for squats at 275. It felt good to get back in the gym.

  7. #47
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    Christmas season sucked, but I'm still here. Made it to the gym yesterday and had slipped back to 205 on bench. Squats were solid at 285. I have to check the design on the bumper plates when I get back to the gym next week, because I think I may have inadvertently loaded 330 instead of 320 for my DL work set. 3 reps were fine, grip failed on the 4th halfway up. Re-grabbed with a switch grip for #4, then alternated palm directions for #5, both of which came up. Looking back at the beginning of this thread, I was at 295 for a 1RM back in June, and yesterday I pulled at least 320 (maybe 330) for 5 reps. In June I couldn't even get 300 off the floor.

  8. #48
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    Originally set this to post over in the "testimonials" forum... probably better served here. If a coach sees that pending post over on the testimonials forum, please kill it. I should write an actual testimonial at some point, since I've definitely become a supporter of the method.

    Been a while since I've been here. Currently deployed to Poland, got here by way of Germany in March, just as the COVID-19 nonsense kicked off. The gym here was closed for 1/2 a day while I was in quarantine (had to Q when we arrived from Germany at the beginning of April), at which point the collective WTF!?! had them figuring out how to keep the otherwise confined to post Soldiers from revolting. Many bottles of bleach-water and wipe-rags later, we're still lifting. I started back onto another attempt to max out my NLP, and managed to pop something at the rib/costal cartilage joint at the last non-floater on my left side. Went and saw the doc, who put me on a "breathe-at-own-pace-and-distance" profile for 3 weeks. I had planned to add as much to my total as I could while here, and while the 3-week layoff set me back a bit, I've stayed after it. This is about the 3rd time I've worked NLP, and every time life takes over, vice hitting a wall with my lifts. Kids, military PCS, etc, etc... But I keep coming back to the program, because it flat works.

    Interesting wrinkle with programming: All the weights here are in KG, and the smallest increment I have been able to jump is therefore ~11lbs. Which is fine until you're trying to get OHP up. Adapted program I've been using: Lift the same weight until I can get all 3 sets of 5x reps across (especially for OHP), then jumping 5kg/11lbs and dropping back to muscle failure (usually 4/3/2, 5/4/3, 5/5/4, or some similar progression) until I can get that next weight for 3x5 and going up again. For Squat and DL, I've been able to manage full 5-rep sets right at the jump, then do a 2nd day at that weight without jumping, then going up. It meets the same 'LP' slope of ~5lbs/session on average. It's working, so I'm not going to try and fix it. Recovery has been the hardest thing, because I'm typically working Army Planner hours (9-3... which is not 0900-1500, but 0900-0300 the next morning) so getting good sleep has been problematic at best. At least nobody's shooting rockets at this place like they were in Iraq.

    Ran a 1000-lb Club event yesterday morning, and got waylaid by some 'viral pushup challenge' that most everybody else got pulled away for. A couple of guys went later (after dinner) and put up some impressive numbers (one 1025lb, one 1200+lb total!). I managed a 485KG / 1069.2lbs total, and got it on film. Squat was right at parallel (good rep, but barely), and was a bit more weight than I expected, which is always good. I might have had 175kg or maybe even 180kg in the tank. Between that and the 115kg bench, I knew I was going to pass 455kg / 1003lbs with my DL opener, so I was able to get after the 'stretch goal' of 200kg for my 3rd attempt at DL, which was kinda ugly, but came up. Not the 500lb DL I wanted to be at by the time I leave here, but after my busted rib, I'll take it.

    Get some:
    Poznan 1000lb Club - Squat - 170KG - YouTube

    Poznan 1000lb Club - Bench - 115kg - YouTube

    Poznan 1000lb Club - Deadlift - 200kg - YouTube

  9. #49
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
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    Northern Virginia
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    Back again. Got back from Poland last year, and ran into the typical Hooah-Army BS regarding random PT stuff screwing with my program. Gave up for a while because recovery was just impossible. Maintenance days on occasion, but zero progress. Have subsequently retired from the Army (as of 1NOV) and am now working as a government civilian here on West Fort Hood. Re-joined the local YMCA since the 'federal building mask mandate' and COVID-related BS hours for the on-post gym make for terrible workouts. Since I have 'normal' hours instead of the insane planner hours I was working while still active duty, I have jumped back onto the NLP. Seeing as how I'm 43 now, I'm running a split program (DL/Bench and Squat/OHP), but since I can get more consistent rest am gunning for 3 sessions a week. Dropped my lifts back a bunch to start, mostly because I need to crack the rust off before pushing back into the actual LP. Since I don't have to pass tape anymore, I'm free to eat enough to actually grow muscle. Should manage ~7.5lbs up per lift per week on average, so we'll see how it goes.

    Well that's enough for now, I hope to check in regularly. Time to DTFP!

  10. #50
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    Jun 2019
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    starting strength coach development program
    First off, congratulations on the retirement! It's been 9 years next month for me and I've enjoyed every moment of it. I just wish that I had learned of SS back then instead of pushing 50, but really no regrets.

    Restarting NLP is a great idea, although it will be at higher weights than the rank novice. And you'll be in intermediate programming much quicker than that rank novice.

    If you can work it, consider building your own home gym. Things are actually available again (2020 was almost impossible for that). Personally, I can't plug SSC Grant's Strength Co plates and racks enough, especially as he's a veteran, but you're also close enough to Texas Strength Systems to make a trip worthwhile.

    Good luck getting restarted!

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