CMG's Log

[cgeorg]

5/13/16

Squat 45x10 95x5 135x4 185x2 230x5x3
Knees seem to be tracking a bit better with the narrower stance. Still not perfect.

Press 45x10 65x4 85x2 110x5x3
Cleaned up to these so getting the right grip wasn't super easy, but they went up very nicely. I think my press form has come along.

Power Cleans 105x5 130x3
I can't do these with appropriate form. Since they don't seem to be critical to the program, I'm going to cancel them and just do assistance stuff opposite deadlift - weighted back extensions and either chins or barbell rows (or both)? Thoughts on that?

[cgeorg]

Week 16

5/16/16

Didn't sleep well last night but felt pretty good and grabbed a gatorade when I got the gym.

Squat 45x10 95x5 135x4 190x2 235x5x3
Form felt good. Was getting my hips back on the way down, good hip drive, knees didn't really end up caving significantly until my very last rep.

Bench Press 45x5 95x4 120x2 157x5x3
All 4 bench rack things were in use and no one was waiting for the cage so I did these in the cage for the first time. It was nice but hard to get straight - no matter where I moved the bench it seemed the left side was farther back than the right when re-racking. Last rep of sets 1 and 3 was a little tough but everything went up pretty smoothly. I'm really surprised my bench LP has come this well without a reset, bench has traditionally been my weakness. Once I hit 135 though, pretty much every workout has felt great and I should be able to ride these up quite a ways.

Deadlift 135x5 185x4 230x2 275x5
Pretty sure I kept good lumbar extension for 4 out of 5 reps. Back to a new PR (285) next time.

Overall this workout felt great and I was not nearly as dead as I usually feel afterwards. Most times when I get a gatorade there it is gone by the end of squats. I finished it on the way out today. Must have timed my workout relative to oatmeal consumption perfectly.

[cgeorg]

5/17/16

Age 33x1
Finally a PR here. I'm thinking about taking a slight reset though.

5/18/16

Got to the gym to find the sign that I had read and promptly forgotten a few times about how it would be closed between Monday night and Thursday.

5/19/16

Still feeling the after effects of deadlift on Monday - back, ass, hamstrings complaining quite a bit trying to stand up or move or whatever. Went to a different LA Fitness.

Squat 45x10 95x5 140x5 190x2 240x5x3
Back to the old PR, and they were easy. I think I may stick with 5lb increments for a bit, now that I'm actually eating enough I can probably bust out a couple weeks of gainzZz. Set 2 was best as usual.

Press 45x10 70x5 90x2 113x5x3
Got cocky and went with the 3lb increase instead of 2 because they went up so well last time and squats went so well. The last rep was harrrrrrrd. Fingers crossed I get 115 up.

Back Extensions BW+25x10x2
Trying to get rid of the back+butt sore

This one doesn't have anything that I could find that allows a supine grip shoulder-width chin so I didn't do them. Probably best, I could hardly move my arms from press. After squats I realized that the floor at this place is very solid, and the one at my usual gym is slightly squishy. Doesn't seem to affect the power lifter I occasionally see who put up 425x3 last time I saw him though. Incidentally he is the only person I've seen move the hooks to the other side of the cage to squat away from the mirror, and do bench in the cage for the safeties.

Oh and yeah, no power cleans.

[cgeorg]

Week 17

5/23/16

0 motivation

Squat 45x10 95x5 145x5 195x3 245x5x3
These felt pretty good... I mean incredibly hard, but good. Last rep was as close as I've come to a legitimate failure on squats, but it went up. I think I made some noise, not really sure. Definitely closed my eyes at one point.

Bench Press 45x5 95x5 125x3 145x5 whoops 155x5x3
Loaded up the bar for my first "work set", found a dude to pull it off my chest if I failed, and then put up 5 very easy reps. Afterwards I realized that 2 plates is 135 not 145 and therefore the 5lb I had added to each side were insufficient. Fixed that problem, a coworker found me and I did 3 correct work sets. I did not think that rep 5 of sets 2 and 3 was going to go up - from about 2 inches off my chest until about 3 inches from lockout I expected them to stop at any moment. They did not. Yay

Deadlift 135x5 185x4 235x2 285x5
Had to re-adjust my belt after rep 3 but I didn't really take a real break so I'm counting it as a set of 5? My back rounded on reps 3 and 4, and incidentally those reps went up easiest. Weird?

Back to PRs on squat and deadlift. Squat form is definitely better than pre-reset. Deadlift... maybe for a few reps.

The mental drain of PRing squats every day is starting to get to me. I might make Wednesday a light squat day. I'd really like opinions (especially ones with any sort of backing) on which option would be better:
Monday: Squat/Bench/Deadlift for PRs
Wednesday: 80% Squat + Accessory (LTE, Chins, Back Extension... something I should add? Deadlift and press are my weakest lifts I think)
Friday: Squat/Press/Deadlift for PRs

OR

M/W/F: PR Squat, Light Squat, PR Squat
A: PR Press + Accessory
B: PR Bench + Deadlift

The first option gives twice a week deadlift and once a week press/bench/accessory. The second gives me 1.5x a week deadlift/press/bench/accessory. In either case I will transition squat back to 5lb increments since I will only be doing it heavy 2x weekly, at least until I start failing.

I feel like the second option is better from a programming perspective, but the first gives me a full day of mental break - no PRs on the big lifts on Wednesday. Also if I need to miss a day one week and only do 2 workouts, I could skip the light day.

[PNT]

5/17/16

Age 33x1
Finally a PR here. I'm thinking about taking a slight reset though.

Nice! Yeah, a reset on that one can only help. LOL

[Toasterleavings]

Week 17
Squat 45x10 95x5 145x5 195x3 245x5x3
These felt pretty good... I mean incredibly hard, but good. Last rep was as close as I've come to a legitimate failure on squats, but it went up. I think I made some noise, not really sure. Definitely closed my eyes at one point.
...
The mental drain of PRing squats every day is starting to get to me. I might make Wednesday a light squat day. I'd really like opinions (especially ones with any sort of backing) on which option would be better:
Monday: Squat/Bench/Deadlift for PRs
Wednesday: 80% Squat + Accessory (LTE, Chins, Back Extension... something I should add? Deadlift and press are my weakest lifts I think)
Friday: Squat/Press/Deadlift for PRs

OR

M/W/F: PR Squat, Light Squat, PR Squat
A: PR Press + Accessory
B: PR Bench + Deadlift

The first option gives twice a week deadlift and once a week press/bench/accessory. The second gives me 1.5x a week deadlift/press/bench/accessory. In either case I will transition squat back to 5lb increments since I will only be doing it heavy 2x weekly, at least until I start failing.

I feel like the second option is better from a programming perspective, but the first gives me a full day of mental break - no PRs on the big lifts on Wednesday. Also if I need to miss a day one week and only do 2 workouts, I could skip the light day.

Great progress mate. Closing in on that 3 plate deadlift which is a great milestone to celebrate. As far as a light day goes - if you're feeling super beat up and have already gone the small deload route - why the hell not. 2 x weekly increments is still speedy. Seen enough trainwrecks on the journey to 'must milk strict LP till the cow is 2D' to know the switch to advanced novice can be problematic. But if it's just a mental thing - then I'd be more careful. This stuff does not at any point get any easier in terms of effort required, and you do need to train your capacity to just fucking get under the bar and do it.

Nutritional aside: As a fellow vegetarian - if you're not supplementing with creatine - do.

[cgeorg]

Once I get under the bar, I do love the "fuck well I guess I gotta do this" feeling. But I'm also at RPE9+ every work set every day, and that doesn't seem like the way any programming that concerns itself with RPE goes.

I think my birthday treat to myself will be a lesson with a local guy Ryan Celli, and I'll discuss programming with him then.

Creatine ordered, and as a fellow vegetarian your log has been very motivational to me.

[cgeorg]

5/25/16

Still sore from Monday

Squat 45x10 95x5 135x5 200x2 250x5x3
Nothing to report really. They all went up.

Press 45x5 75x4 95x2 115x5x3
Last rep very nearly did not go.

[cgeorg]

5/28/2016

Played 2 hours of racquetball Thursday night, first time in probably 3 years? Did not want to go to the gym whatsoever today. Those days always seem to turn out pretty strong once I get there.

Squat 45x10x2 95x5 145x5 205x2 255x5x3
Stuff was real tight so I did an extra set with the bar.

Bench Press 45x10ish 95x5 135x2 157x5x3
Still haven't failed. Form on the last rep is pretty poo because I'm just doing whatever I can to keep it from ending up my chest. Is it better to keep form and fail, or break down but get it up? I guess this question is valid for squats also with my knees collapsing a bit

Deadlift 135x5 185x3 235x2 290x3
The first one went up with good form. The 2nd one had some rounding. The 3rd one had a lot of rounding and barely got up. Stopped so as not to get injured.

I think I'm going to do the programming switch. Just need to figure out if I want to put DL on Wednesday with light other stuff, or Friday so I get the weekend for an extra day of rest between DL and heavy squatting.

[cgeorg]

Creatine came today. Do I need to do the 5 day 5g 4 times a day loading thing that's on the container?