Larry's Novice SS Log

[KreuzhebenFTW]

Mo 2017-10-02
BW: 80.9 (-0.4)
BF%: 19 (-0.4)
Squat: 133 kg 5, 4, 3
Press: 50 kg 3x5 (Yay!)
Deadlift: 135 kg 1x5

So, I visited today Elbgym and signup as new member after doing the free test training. It is substantially more expensive than fitnessland, but they have 5 Hammer Strength Power Racks, with Eleiko Bars and Olympic plates. They are also going to add three more racks in the near future, what should guarantee that I don't have to wait ever again for a power rack. Doing deadlifts with round plates is so much better. I also think I got it with my back extension during the DL setup. They have side mirrors, where I can control the Back position and extension before starting to pull. I know I should no rely exclusively on the mirror, but it's a help for now, until I develop more my propioception capabilities.

Why did I jump to 133kg instead of 132.5 on the squat? Silly me, I didn't find the 1.25 kg plates on the power rack. Later I found them on a plate tree 5 meters awy from where I was! Duh! New gym and all. So maybe that was a factor in failing the squat today. Or the new environment, or I didn't eat enough yesterday. Hopefully it's just an outlier. Will try on Wednesday 132.5.

[KreuzhebenFTW]

Wed 2017-10-04
BW: 80.8 (-0.1)
BF%: 19 (=)
Squat: 132.5 kg 3x5
Bench Press: 71 kg 2, 1, 0
Power Clean: 60 kg 5x3

I was lighter today, although I have been definitely eating over maintenance. At least according to my Garmin Forerunner 235. Also interesting, I measured today out of curiosity my BF% with the caliper and got 15.5%. Which is 3.5% lower than the BIA scale. Now, When I was at 76 kg and 16% BF, both caliper and BIA scale were agreeing to within 1%. That said, if the caliper is correct, it would explain why some people have complimented me for keeping losing weight, and another one even warned me that if I keep losing, some day I will collapse under the barbel. Which is all BS, since I stopped cutting in mid August! :-)

Anyway, Squats today were not as deep. Felt not so deep. Reviewing the videos, I think I hit parallel most of the time, but I don't think i went below not once.

My Bench Press was again a complete disaster. I don't know If the Eleiko bars at the new Gym I'm visiting now have the markings at different positions than the ones at Fitnessland, and therefore I was too wide, or I left myself be bothered by benching on these power racks I'm not used to. Anyway, I have the feeling my upper body strength is very deficient in comparisson to my lower body. I have hardly had problems increasing my Squat and DL, but the Bench and the Press have been a torture the whole time.

Maybe I just need to eat more.

MFP says I have already over 4800 kcal, but Garmin says I have burned over 5100 kcal today. Need to find some 600 kcal more in the fridge. Got milk?

[KreuzhebenFTW]

Fri 2017-10-06
BW: 83.4 (+1.5)
BF%: 20.3 (+1.3)
Squat: 135 kg 3x5
Overhead Press: 52.5 kg 5, 4, 5, 5
Deadlift: 140 kg 1x5

Well, that's almost 2kg of body mass gained since Wednesday. All muscle of course! :-) I have been increasing the caloric intake these last few days, over 5000 kcal per day. I don't want to stall on my Presses and Benches, and after much reading, the consensus is that eating more should prevent premature sticking points.

I am happy that I am still able to jump 2.5kg on the overhead press. How long will this dream continue is anybody's guess. But I'll continue to milk those 2.5 kg jumps as long as I can (you see what I did there?). I believe my technique has improved considerably and that and the eating are responsible for the Press progress. If only my bench would also come along. Will see on monday about that. I'm still bending a little bit the knees, which would make my presses a little bite more like push presses. Have to concentrate on keeping the lower body stiff as a log.

Squat depth is very nice up to my last warmup set. With the Working set I feel I cannot go as deep. Maybe this is psychological, I'm thinking "if I go this deep the bar will bury me". I have to overcome that fear.

The deadlift, oh the deadlift. I felt the bar was just flying like a feather. In comparison to two weeks ago, it was much much easier to lift the bar, but reviewing the video, I can see still back rounding. Should I keep increasing or should I fix my back rounding issues? Oh, the dilema...

[KreuzhebenFTW]

Mon 2017-10-9

Well, well, well, today was a whole mess, really. Didn't sleep well last night. Could only close my eyes at 2:30 or something like that. Alarm set off at 6:00, I turned it off and slept one more hour until 7:00. That's only 4:30 hours at best. I did drink a little bit of Whiskey last night (70ml, which I thought was OK, but maybe that was too much). No wonder I failed all my lifts today.

BW: 82.6 (-0.8)
BF%: 20 (-0.3)
Squat: 137.5 x 5, 5, 1
Bench Press: 71 x 3, 4, 1
Power Clean: 62.5 x 3, 2, 1, 2, 2
Chinups: BW x 4 x 3

I actually was feeling confident on my third squat set, but after the first rep, I could not come up. Maybe I could have, I was like 50% on my way up. Lack of will perhaps.

The Bench, After hitting onyl 3 reps on the first set, I narrowed my grip by abut 2.5cm. That gave one more rep on the next set. My left shoulder is hurting on the area of the front delts. I don't know if it is due to my squat form or my bench form or something else. When I got the power cleans, I think my confidence was in the dumps.

I signed up for SSOC on Friday. I was hoping to get a first contact before today's workout, but it was not meant to be. Let's see how that goes.

Note: I noticed I have been recording my workload here in the wrong form. I was writing "3x5" for squats when I meant "3 sets of 5" reps and "5x3" for cleans when I meant "5 sets of 3". This seems more natural to me, because I read from left to right. But I checked both books and there the convention is the other way around, "5x3" for squats is 5 reps for 3 sets and "3x5" for cleans is "3 reps for 5 sets". I will not correct all the previous entries in this log, but will try to remember the next time.

[KreuzhebenFTW]

I started working with Coach Alex Beasly, from SSOC. Yesterday we talked very thoroughly about everything and she had me deload 10%. I was very excited about online coaching and I might have talked a little bit too much about peripheral issues (e.g., that being a Venezuelan living in Germany everybody recognizes inmediately that I'm a foreigner although I speak very good german. Now, in retrospective, who cares about that?). Anyway. Slept well last night, although I still need to fool around less before going to bed. Damned Netflix!

Wed, 2017-10-11
BW: 83.9 (+1.3)
BF%: 20.6 (+0.6)
Squat: 122.5 x 5 x 3
Press: 47.5 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 127.5 x 5
Chin-Ups: BW x 4 x 3 (4 reps is all I've got)

Will probably go to Kung Fu again today, since today's workout was easy peasy and my Sihing "invited" me very emphatically to today's training. I said I would try.

[KreuzhebenFTW]

Fri, 2017-10-13
BW: 83 (-0.9)
BF%: 20.1 (-0.5)
Squat: 125 x 5 x 3
Bench: 62.5 x 5 x 3
Power Clean: 57.5 3, 2, 1, 1, 1.

Again pain on my left shoulder/arm during benching. Video Analysis shows I was doing close(r) grip bench. Why? Who knows. I'm getting used to the new bars, I guess. Will try wider grip next time.

Pain was bothering me enough to make my Power Cleans a whole mess at a lower weight than I had previously managed without issues.

Note: Coach Alex uses the "Weight x Sets x Reps" notation. I will keep using here "Weight x Reps x Sets" as in the book and hope not to make a mess of it

[KreuzhebenFTW]

Mon, 2017-10-16
BW: 82.3 (-0.7)
BF%: 19.8 (-0.3)
Warmup: 3 minutes Rowing machine.
Squat: 127.5 x 5 x 3
Press: 50 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 130 x 5 x 1

I started with 3 minutes on the rowing machine. I think I will stick to this, since it's getting pretty cold mornings when I go to the gym.

Pain on my left shoulder at the start of the press on every rep. After about 1/5 of the way up, the pain subsides. Was not enough to prevent me from completing my sets.

Pretty much everything on target this time. I think I'm improving my back extension during deadlifts, which felt easy enough. Let's see what Alex says.

[KreuzhebenFTW]

Wed, 2017-10-18
BW: 83.4 (+1.1)
BF%: 20.3 (+0.5)
Warmup: 3 min rowing machine
Squat: 130 x 5 x 3
Bench Press: 65 x 5 x 3
Power Clean: 57.5 x 3 x 5

Success! I think coach Alex got this nailed! She instructed me to narrow my grip for the squat and to tighten more the shoulder blades. For the Bench she instructed me to widen my grip by about an inch: a Thumb's length from the knurling and also to squeeze more my shoulder blades. I also made an effort to have more back extension to reduce a tiny bit ROM.

I did feel a little discomfort on the left shoulder at the bottom of the press and when starting to push up. But this was nothing in comparison to the pain I experienced last Friday with less weight on the Bar. I think we are on the right path here.

As a consequence, I could also complete all my power cleans, which are still ugly, but not having pain on my shoulders was obviously a big plus here.

[KreuzhebenFTW]

Fri, 2017-10-20
BW: 84.5 (+1.2)
BF%: 20.9 (+0.6)
Warmup: 3 min. rowing machine
Squat: 132.5 x 5 x 3
Press: 52.5 x 5 x 3 (Hit old PR from 2 Weeks ago, before deload)
Deadlift: 132.5 x 5 x 1
Chin-Ups: BW x 4 x 3 (Last set was more like 3.9 reps, but what the hell)

I would say this workout was uneventful, except for the fact that my left shoulder didn't bother me. Also the last squat rep was a real grinder.

[KreuzhebenFTW]

Mon, 2017-10-23
BW: 81.8 (-2.7)
BF%: 19.8 (-1.1)
Warmup: 3 min. rowing machine
Squat: 135 x 5, 2, 2
Bench Press: 67.5 x 5 x 3
Power Clean: 60 x 3 x 5

Trying to improve torso angle (to more horizontal), the barbell drifted forward on the way up of third rep, both on sets 2 and 3. I believe the probleam was my T-shirt didn't provide enough friction (will make a point of not using tank tops when squatting, i.e. never again).

Bench was OK, but I'm still feeling some pain on the left shoulder. Not enough to make me fail though.

Power cleans: OK, but I cannot get myself to not stop for a fraction of a second when I hit mid thigh. Also, having trouble letting the bar go in order to catch it with my shoulders.