Better and Better, Stronger and Stronger

[Eric Schexnayder]

Bodyweight on Saturday: 225 lbs. Disappointed by the lack of weight gain. Need to eat MOAR.

Today's Workout

Squat
45x5x2
95x5
140x3
190x2
225x1
240x5x3

Press
45x5x2
70x5
90x3
110x2
132x5x3

Deadlift
135x5, 2
165x3
230x2
275x5

Man it was a rough weekend. Friday night I worked out late and so didn't get to bed until late, plus had a little trouble sleeping. Then we spent Saturday evening in Galveston and didn't end up going to bed until probably after midnight. Both Saturday and Sunday, the kids still got up at their normal times (anyone following who is a parent probably empathizes deeply with this), so I ended up getting very little sleep. Plus, the awkward sleep schedule messed me up last night, and I went to bed late again; FitBit says I got about 4 hours. This was a bad weekend of sleep.

Still managed to do okay despite the sleep setbacks, but today I was definitely feeling weaker than I'd like. Form suffered quite a bit I think.

Squats were heavy. I had one rep where I got way too low on depth, and I got stuck in the hole. I managed to still get up though. Hooray for a 1-rep pause squat at 240 lbs! On quite a few reps I felt my back rounding on the ascent. I really need to work on this. Going to attribute this one to the poor sleep and move on for now, and hopefully get some practice in on the Light Squat day. But Friday I am definitely posting a Squat form check video. I don't want form creep to ruin this.

Today was a personal Squat milestone for me. Obviously pretty much every session as a novice is a PR session, but as I've mentioned before this is not my first attempt at the NLP. Today's weight - 240 lbs - was the weight at which I ended my last attempt. It was about two years ago, but I remember it like it just happened. I un-racked the bar, squatted down, and got stuck - couldn't get back up. Tried again, too worried about failing, too focused on failure, and too unprepared with my grip. Stood there too long with a shitty grip, and before I knew it, my elbows were in agony. I called it a day and tried again the next workout, with still no avail. Too demotivated, too much pain in the elbow, and too uncertain as to what I was doing wrong. I deloaded by 10% but got nowhere. Another 10% - still no progress. My elbows and biceps hurt like shit. I took a week off, but got nowhere because we had just had our third baby, and sleep was getting harder and harder to come by. My wife lost patience eventually (I don't blame her), because between a newborn and still having a 1.5 year old toddler who didn't sleep through the night, she had to do all the work while I was in the garage. It just wasn't the right time, but still, 240 lbs on The Squat still holds some harsh memories for me; feelings of failure and weakness that stuck with me until about 12 weeks ago when I finally decided to finish what I had started. Knowing that not only did I get 3x5 on 240 lbs today, but also that I got stuck at the bottom and was still strong enough to get out gives me great hope.

The Press was strong as always. Friday is 135 - the "one plate" milestone. I am looking forward to it. I'll say this about The Press - the cue to "go for the lockout" from the minute you start pressing is easily the best one that has worked for me. Thinking about squeezing the traps at the top and driving for that during the entire exercise just makes it feel so much lighter. If you struggle with The Press at all, try to avoid thinking of the lockout as something you have to end with, and start thinking of it as something you do the entire time. Drive for the lockout, maybe it'll help you. It has definitely served me. Also, aim for your nose.

More accelerated Deadlift progress today too, though I had to take about 10 seconds before the last rep, and I felt my back round slightly on it. No Halloween cats, just could feel a tiny bit of rounding. I think going back to 5 lb jumps is appropriate at this point since form is getting challenging for me to maintain. Didn't feel it as much in my lats this time.

I'm reintroducing the Power Clean to my routine this week. I had previously planned on going back to the DL-CU-PC-CU... pattern, but since my Deadlift numbers have come up and I'm more confident in my ability to break off the floor, I think I can also get my Clean numbers up as well. In other words, I want my Clean to catch up with my Deadlift now, though I won't be just Cleaning for a week. I'm just going to alternate DL and PC for a few more weeks, and then I will look at resuming chin ups.

[Eric Schexnayder]

Today's Workout

Light Squat
45x5x2
65x5
100x3
135x2
170x5x3

Bench Press
45x5x2
100x5
140x3
180x2
202x5x3

Power Clean
65x5x2
100x3
120x2
145x3x5

A little more tired than usual today. My crappy sleepless weekend is catching up to me.

Light Squats not bad. Still stiff from Monday. Need a form check on Friday for sure. Tried TUBOW on the work sets and knocked it over, but the TUBOW may have been too close to my foot. Will have to try this drill again tonight. It's been a while since my session with Andy so probably want to check on form creep anyway. I know squats are hard but they seem unusually hard lately.

Bench Press was mildly challenging. Started micro-loading it today. Put my belt on for the last set, seemed to help.

Power Cleans were tough but I got them. I realized I haven't Cleaned in a few weeks so I decided to stick with the last weight that I did. Will probably do 155 lbs next time. I think I can manage good form at that big of a jump. Had a few arm pulls at the beginning but by the end I was confident I wasn't doing any.

[Espen Lund]

Today was a personal Squat milestone for me. Obviously pretty much every session as a novice is a PR session, but as I've mentioned before this is not my first attempt at the NLP. Today's weight - 240 lbs - was the weight at which I ended my last attempt. It was about two years ago, but I remember it like it just happened. I un-racked the bar, squatted down, and got stuck - couldn't get back up. Tried again, too worried about failing, too focused on failure, and too unprepared with my grip. Stood there too long with a shitty grip, and before I knew it, my elbows were in agony. I called it a day and tried again the next workout, with still no avail. Too demotivated, too much pain in the elbow, and too uncertain as to what I was doing wrong. I deloaded by 10% but got nowhere. Another 10% - still no progress. My elbows and biceps hurt like shit. I took a week off, but got nowhere because we had just had our third baby, and sleep was getting harder and harder to come by. My wife lost patience eventually (I don't blame her), because between a newborn and still having a 1.5 year old toddler who didn't sleep through the night, she had to do all the work while I was in the garage. It just wasn't the right time, but still, 240 lbs on The Squat still holds some harsh memories for me; feelings of failure and weakness that stuck with me until about 12 weeks ago when I finally decided to finish what I had started. Knowing that not only did I get 3x5 on 240 lbs today, but also that I got stuck at the bottom and was still strong enough to get out gives me great hope.

Having a mental barrier can really be hard to defeat. You start to, as you say, doubting yourself, and if you begin to believe that, you have lost already. Mine was a measely 90 kg, and it took me 3 attempts to go past it. I even attempted Texas method at one point, thinking I was an intermediate. Later, I brought my squat to 3x5x157,5 kg on LP. It only goes to show how much technique and mentality has to say. And eating.

What did it for me was to film my sets. I would rack the bar and believe I just did an RPE 10. Then I watched it on my phone afterwards, and it looked easy. It was a real eye opener for me.

[Ryan Simpson]

Stick with it Eric!

I find myself, just before I un-rack, mentally telling the barbell that it is going to move in the way I want it too. It's such a mental game.

[Eric Schexnayder]

Having a mental barrier can really be hard to defeat. You start to, as you say, doubting yourself, and if you begin to believe that, you have lost already. Mine was a measely 90 kg, and it took me 3 attempts to go past it. I even attempted Texas method at one point, thinking I was an intermediate. Later, I brought my squat to 3x5x157,5 kg on LP. It only goes to show how much technique and mentality has to say. And eating.

What did it for me was to film my sets. I would rack the bar and believe I just did an RPE 10. Then I watched it on my phone afterwards, and it looked easy. It was a real eye opener for me.

Stick with it Eric!

I find myself, just before I un-rack, mentally telling the barbell that it is going to move in the way I want it too. It's such a mental game.

Thank you both for your support! I'm just now getting to the point where mental fortitude is really a big variable. We'll see how the barbell helps improve this as well.

[Eric Schexnayder]

Friday's Workout (6/22/18)

Shorthand since I don't have my log with me.

SQ - 245x5x3
PR - 135x5x3
DL - 280x5

Slept in a little bit and ended up lifting in the early afternoon. Crap it was hot! Was a 3 shirt workout.

Squats were a struggle but I managed through them. Missed the form check again, really need to do this. Something is missing, and I don't know what. I feel like I'm not bending over enough but also that I can't get my back flat (i.e., pelvis tilted forward / lumbar spine extended). This is probably killing my hip drive. Been working on driving my knees out hard, but this is starting to kill my adductors.

Press was easy. Joined the One-Plate-Club today at 135 lbs. Very pleased. The 45s actually make me look like I lift.

Deadlifts were rushed because my wife wanted to go get food. Back rounded slightly but was tight; I'm not too worried about this from a safety standpoint. From an efficiency standpoint though, I'm not using my hips as much as I could.

[Eric Schexnayder]

Warmed up the squat and got under the bar to do 250x5x3, but only did 250x1 and got pinned on the safeties. Took 10 minutes and attempted to do some back-offs at 225 and to record technique for review but couldn't even get down on the first rep. Decided it was best to just end the workout there rather than also be disappointed on The Bench Press and The Power Clean as well.

I was just exhausted this morning. Chalking this one up to poor diet and poor technique. I haven't been tracking my food very well over the past few weeks but I have been shoveling it down like crazy (aiming for protein and carbs, not adding in fats). Didn't eat that much this weekend though. I have not really gained weight lately. Still at 225 lbs. Not tracking my waist or body fat levels so not even sure if this is muscle coming at the expense of body fat.

Going to get back into the habit of tracking my food to the best of my ability. Just got burned out on it a while ago, but to be serious about my training I know I need to do this.

Will probably adjust Friday's workout for today's intended numbers but stick with Wednesday's workout as planned. Not going to reset just yet. Like I said, chalking this up to some poor diet and technique. Will definitely record Wednesday's squats, even though they may not be the same as at the higher weights.

Definitely some mental parts to today's workout. I felt like I was going to fail before even starting. Need to work on that, too. I know I can do it.

I also started taking creatine monohydrate on Friday. Did the "Loading" procedure over the weekend, whatever that means. Hopefully it's worth it.

[Eric Schexnayder]

Today's Workout

Light Squat
45x5x2
70x5
105x3
140x2
175x5x3

Press
45x5x5
70x5
90x3
110x2
137x5x3

Deadlift
135x5x2
170x3
240x2
285x5

Somewhat of a good workout today. Was pretty tired and not looking forward to it when I went to bed last night.

Light Squats were relatively easy but I just feel creaky as can be. I took some videos but still need to post them to the SSC Q&A thread for a form check. I'm a little concerned that these were at parallel rather than beneath. It certainly feels like I am going deep. I've been trying to work on keep my lumbar and thoracic spine(s?) in extension, so that may have affected my "depth perception". Ha. On a high note, my back looked pretty good during these squats.

Lately I've been so obsessed with my knees and hips and all sorts of things while squatting. Last night I watched an Austin Baraki video about the 3 Common Squat mistakes, and one of the mistakes had to do with knee / hip timing. Basically Austin's advice was for the trainee to focus on keeping the bar over the midfoot. This essentially ensures the hips don't shoot too far back and the knees don't shoot too far forward. I recognized this as the "Master Cue" from SSBBT3 and gave it a shot. It helped a lot. But so did moving 80 lbs less weight too, I guess.

The first set of Presses was freaking hard. Not sure what happened here. I think my master cue of aiming for lockout slipped my mind. And maybe I wasn't thinking about aiming at my nose. Tell the truth I just wasn't focused during the first set. I ground through it though and got my head in the game for the next two sets and they flew up no problem.

Deadlifts were okay. I was dreading them from the first warm up. The 240 lb warm up felt like I wasn't going to get it, and today the hook grip gave me some great discomfort. After my final warm up set, I wasn't sure I was going to get the 5 reps of the work set. I was seriously tired, thinking about maybe being late to work. But I dug deep, thought of my kids and how they needed a strong dad, and I managed to pull all 5 no problem. Got a video of that too to continue posting in the deadlift form check thread I started a while ago.

All in all, not a bad workout. These past few workouts have taught me just how big of a factor one's mental state and self-confidence or self-doubt will play into the ability to complete the work-sets. I'm in entirely new territory here as far as weight I can move on the bar. It's nerve-wrecking. But I'm going to keep at it.

[Ken_L]

As LP advances it gets hard. In the beginning it is pretty easy but later on the battle is only half physical. The other half is mental. It is just as likely to have a mental failure as it is to have a physical one. For example there have been times when I couldn't even break the bar off the floor when deadlifting only to take a few minutes, regather mentally and come back to complete the set. Mental and physical strength are built together as part of the process.

[VikingCellist]

Sounds a lot like you're starting to grind. What kind of goals do you have? If your health is a priority, you should probably start tracking your waist. Gaining a lot of adipose tissue will neither make you stronger nor healthier. Missing sets, needing long rest between sets and rounding your back on deadlifts are objective signs that strength gains are slowing and your programming is lacking.