Weak Former CrossFitter Attempts Strength Restitution

[Andkristopher]

9/28/17

First real hard day of the LP. My 2yo woke up at 3:30 a.m. last night, and I couldn’t fall back asleep. Threw everything off today, and I’m positive I wasn’t recovered from the last workout as a result. Gonna make catching up on zzz’s a priority the next couple days.

Also, that effing golfer’s elbow flared up today real good. Squat was hurting it, so I widened the grip some and that helped. But I could not bench a single pain free rep.

Squat: 205x5x3. Threw the belt on today just as a precaution with how exhausted I was. Reps were ok. Good for a 10lb jump here.

Bench: 180: 5, 5. 3. Stopped at 3 cuz my elbow was on fire, and with no sleep last night I didn’t have any fight left. Will try a 2.5lb jump next week, and if I’ve satisfied Rip’s 1st Three Questions then I’ll keep adding in 5lb jumps. If not, may be time for a reset.

Deadlift: 255x5. This was borderline. Last two reps were awful form. I may have waited a few seconds after the last rep too. Will try 265 Saturday, abd hopefully the better rest and recovery will help push me over the hump.

[Andkristopher]

10/01/17

~3000cals

Squat: 210x5x3. Felt just ok. Had to grind a few reps. Used a belt. My golfer’s elbow wasn’t as bad today because I widened my grip and went thumb on top of the bar. I’m wondering if I’m setting the bar a bit too low on my back. My elbow hurting is one indication, and I feel too vertical, which may mean I’m not having the appropriate amount of forward torso lean. Will look to do a technique video next workout.

Press: 132.5x5x3. Had to use the hips forward start and the rebound to get through this. Rest was between 5:00-6:00 between work sets. Came really close to missing a couple reps. Hopefully I can recover fast enough to hit 135 (my previous 1RM from crossfit days).

Deadlift: 260x5. This very nearly was only 4 reps. I failed my 4th rep using a switch grip. Went to my book grip because I can ratchet my back tighter and had an abhorrent 5th rep. At this weight I lose all tightness after 3 reps. I’ll be adding power cleans to my B workouts from now on.

Golfer’s elbow felt a little better overall, but I need to be mindful of the back squat grip width. I think it cost me benching last time, and hopefully I get the bar position and grip cleaned up before next session

[Andkristopher]

10/3/17

Weight: 226 | BF 31.8% | calories unknown today. One of those days at work that led to skipped meals and a case of the “fuck its.” Based on how I’ve been eating I’d guess I was around 2900cals.

Weight back in a positive trend after flirting with 230! a few days ago. I don’t know if I should believe the BF calculation from the Aria scale. May just start measuring my waist instead.

Squat: 215x5x3. Felt hard. Past few sessions have been hard, so I guess this means I’m officially in the grind? Last set felt the best, I think because I wasn’t coming forward on my tows coming out of the hole. I think I’m forgetting to cue my chest to come up as the same time as my hip drive begins, which may be slanting me forward. I’ve also not realized how I used my shoulder flexibility when I used to high bar to ratchet my hands in super close to achieve back tightness. That habit on low bar has made my golfer’s elbow scream. I could also be carrying the bar too low. I really need to film it for technique check.

Bench: 182.5x5x3. Reps felt easier than Sunday, but it was painful because of my elbow. I took my grip about a 1/2” wider, and that helped. Makes me wonder if I was too narrow to begin with. Need to reread chapter on bench from the Blue Book.

Power Clean: 145x3x5. First time bringing into the LP, and first time since I was crossfitting a year ago or so. I was really looking forward to these. I thought I’d wind up around 155/165, but this is a great place to start. I’m confident I can use 5lb jumps here for a couple weeks.

[Andkristopher]

10/05/17

Weight: 227 | 254g carbs | 249g protein | 94g fat | 2900cals

Squat: 220x5x3. Felt better than on Tuesday which is encouraging. Today’s cue was to stay in my heels and keep my chest “proud” - not let it slump in the hole. Those thoughts helped keep my bar path more in a straight line - at least by feel. Really need to start taking more videos for form check.

Press: 135x5x3. Biggest win of LP so far. This was my previous 1RM when I was crossfitting. I was really nervous I’d miss this, and I almost did on the first rep of the first set. I was thinking way too hard and the bar came forward off the chest and i almost got stuck. I need to do another few videos of my press too. I’m wondering if I’m “laying back” too far. Feels more than I’m used to.

Deadlift: 265x5. This felt much easier than 260 two sessions ago. Alternating deads and power cleans paid off this first time. Hoping the trend continues.

Supine grip Barbell row: 95x10x3. Golfer’s elbow wasn’t killin me as bad today, so I added some light weight rows in. Elbow held up fine. I think I’ll hit these again Saturday before my vacation/deload week. I’ll go for a 10lb jump on that. When I come back from vacation I’ll do rows on bench days and banded chin ups on press days.

[Andkristopher]

10/07/17

Weight: 232 | 32% BF | 299c | 267p | 104f | 3150cals

Really, really displeased with my weight. It seems to jump between 226 and 232 without much effort, and given my BF percentage it’s easy to get discouraged. I may ask my wife to hide the scale until I’m done with LP. I say this because this past week’s training has been great. I hit a personal goal on press, bench, and squat. I was able to donsupine rows despite Golfer’s Elbow, and I haven’t needed any resets after about 6 weeks of LP. All good signs. Now, for training summary...

Squat: 225x5x3 these are definitely getting hard. I see other guys’ logs who are smaller than I am consistently making 5lb jumps on squat every session until they’re well into the 300s. Barring any unforeseen scheduling issues, and including this upcoming weeks vacation, that means I should be at 315x5x3 in 7 weeks, just before Thanksgiving. Honestly, that seems completely outlandish. But then again, the bar still is moving.

Bench: 185x5x3. Still working on tightening up my setup, and it paid off on this session. Used a small back arch, and really focused in digging my shoulders into the bench. 185 moves more easily than 182.5 did on Tuesday.

Power clean: 155x3x5. These felt good as well. Need to keep butt down in set up and think chest up/bar back during first pull. I cut a few short of extension and a few had the bar bouncing forward just after hip extension. But, the speed was just fine. 5lb jumps and technique focus is the plan here.

No rows or chins, pressed for time. Next week is a vacation with a hotel gym. Will deload and do hypertrophy stuff for fun.

[Andkristopher]

10/17/17

First day back from 7-day vacation. Didn’t have access to a Barbell but did some leg press and and lat pulldowns and some other things to “attempt” to deload. It wasn’t optimal, but I’m so early I’m my LP that I don’t think it’ll be an issue.

Repeat of my last SSLP training session -

Squat: 225x5x3. These felt on. Posted some form check videos into the FB group, and I’ll hit up the technique forum later too. I may be too vertical, and I’m most certainly forward of he mid line when I’m coming out of the hole. Gotta fix that.

Bench: 185x5x3. These felt better than last workout. Took 5:30 rest between final two set, and I think that helped quite a bit.

Power clean: 155x3x5. These felt better too. I need to really, really hone in on chest up, but down in my set up. More than feels comfortable.

Chins: orange band x 2 x 15. Rest 1:00 between sets. Will be doing chins on Workout B and rows and curls on Workout A going forward.

Great day overall. I’m destroyed.

[Andkristopher]

10/19/17

Squat: 230x5x3. I’m way too forward in the hole still. Felt better than last session in terms of balance. I was really cueing to sit my butt back more than I’m used to and push my chest to the floor. When I got it right, the weight moved much easier and faster than any of my reps at 225 last session.

Press: 137.5x5x3. Felt good. Remember to stay tight and use the tip of my nose as the target on the concentric and eccentric.

Deadlift: 265x5. First two reps easy. Last 3 reps harder and form started to breakdown. Last rep was really tough. Need to clean up my technique. I think I’m making it harder than it should be.

Supine grip rows: 105x8x3. Doing these on Workout A, Chins Workout B. Will LP the rows.

[Andkristopher]

Pasting link for posterity: Identifying and Correcting Thoracic Spinal Flexion in the Squat | Bill Hannon

This is almost certainly my issue causing loss of balance during ascent.

[Andkristopher]

Quick update as I forgot to post yesterday...

10/21/17

Squat: 235x5x3. Upper back tightness helped, but these were very hard.

Bench: 187.5x5x3. Very difficult. Rested about 7:00 after first set, and coincidentally, my second set felt best.

Power clean: 160x3x5. Had the bar over my toes at start (as opposed to midfoot), which made pulling back off the floor much easier.

Chins: orange band x 2 x 15

[Andkristopher]

10/24/17

Everything is hard now. Kinda bummed about it because I’m jealous of people that get above 315 without ever resetting their squat. Hopefully it’s not time to go back to the First 3 Questions yet...

Squat: 240x5x3. Rewatched the grip videos and brought my pinkie to the 32” mark on the bar and gripped with thumb wrapped under the bar and wrist extended. Instantly upper back way tighter and squat felt more balanced. Last two reps of last two sets were grindy.

Press: 140x5x2, 140x4. Failed last rep of the last set. Lost focus, bar came forward. I rested 6 minutes but felt I should have rested a little more. Focused on the start of the press with the horizontal hip movement, and that seemed to help quite a bit. Keep working on that.

Deadlift: 270x5. This was awful. My deadlift is broken I think. Changes today were using the Alan Thrall set up video tips, and that helped a lot. Also used a hook grip which felt more comfortable from crossfit. Bar path felt better today as a result of the better setup, but I’m really bothered that my squat keeps going up faster than my deadlift. Jordan recommended going to 10lb jumps and Deadlifting once a week. If my Saturday session sucks, I’ll switch to that programming tactic.

Supine grip barbell rows: 110x8x3