Matt's Log

[carson]

I really think that most gyms are not interested in helping people become strong but are just interested in making money. If you can find a gym that not only uses round plates but allows chalk you will be blessed indeed. If not you may eventually need to invest in a good rack, bars, and plates yourself, although those are quite expensive initially. Thankfully GreySteel is a proper strength building gym.

[Matt Jackson]

The only good thing about my gym is the close location. 3 minutes walk from my house. There's a great gym opening in the area (12 power racks, Buddy Capps & Rogue bars, and milled plates, etc.) but it won't open its doors for another month.

It must be sweet to train with Dr. Sullivan! I just bought The Barbell Prescription and hopefully my 66 year old mum (akylosing spondilitus in her neck) will see some improvement if she gets under a bar. Her own Dr. referred her to a physiotherapist who had her flapping around on the floor with some Therabands, then handed her some printed instructions to take home. She was also referred to a Pilates class. Both of these activities fucked her up even worse!

I actually emailed Dr. Sullivan about it a few weeks ago and he was kind enough to respond. Such a nice dude.

[carson]

PT has extremely limited value and I'd suspect that Pilates have even less value. I'm sorry to learn what happened to your young mum (my wife and I are 71).

Dr. Sullivan is indeed a fine guy. We consider it a blessing to working with him.

I hope you can get involved with the new gym so you can have proper equipment. I also hope you can connect either face to face or online with a certified SS coach.

[Matt Jackson]

That's awesome. What age did you start training? I'm also training with my other half, which is really helpful when it comes to keeping an eye on each other's form and so far I think we're doing OK. Saying that, I do hope to get some online coaching with an SSC down the line, but funds are tight at the moment. I'm up in Scotland, so Carl is out of reach, which is a shame.

31/7/18
SQUAT 3x5 90kg
PRESS 3x5 37.5kg
DL 1x5 110kg

DL: Committed a "YNDTP", but as a final grip experiment, I only did 2x5 40kg for my warm ups, then went straight into my 110kg work set. All double overhand grip, no chalk or straps. No grip fatigue problems. Everything was nice and easy.

Bodyweight: 94.7kg. Pulled back the fat intake but kept protein and carbs the same.

[carson]

I started at age 66 and my wife started a year later at age 67.

[Matt Jackson]

I started at age 66 and my wife started a year later at age 67.

Respect!

3/8/18
SQUAT 3x5 95kg
BENCH 3x5 60kg
DL 1x5 110kg

DL: Final grip experiment: got to the gym very early so I could use my chalk. Tried the alternate grip for the work set. Really hated it.

5/8/18
SQUAT 3x5 100kg
PRESS 3x5 40kg
DL 1x5 115kg

[Matt Jackson]

9/8/18
SQUAT 3x5 105kg
BENCH 1x5 65kg
DL 1x5 120kg

BENCH: Failed 2nd rep of 2nd work set. I will now need to increase by only 2.5KG per session. Dropping down to 62.5KG next sesh.

[Matt Jackson]

So I'm a month into the SSLP and have a few observations.

I have stalled on my DL's due to grip limitations, and wish I'd just bought and used lifting straps to begin with when the bar first got slippery. It would have been infinitely better to just have confidently completed my planned lifts.

I also definitely rushed my initial exploratory sessions in an attempt to lift "proper". This was a foolish mistake as I believe I sandbagged the first few weeks.

Eating too much has never been a problem for me, so I haven't struggled at all with the calorie intake. Being organised in the kitchen is more of a challenge and I'm glad I literally filled my freezer to bursting with precooked protein/fat meals BEFORE starting the program.

Bodyweight has increased by about 9KG/20lbs, which is too much I would say, but I have been eating too much delicious fat so I have no one to blame but myself. Belly is bigger. My muffin tops remain unchanged. Arms, esp. the triceps, seem to be developing. Thighs seem to be developing a lot. My arse seems larger. I no longer fit into my 32" trousers, which if I'm honest were borderline to begin with.

Finally, doing the LP with my missus has been extremely rewarding and enjoyable. As the gym has only one power rack and one bench, it often means our sessions take fucking ages to complete. When the place is full at peak times, it is excruciatingly slow and it once took us nearly 3 hours to finish! We're both looking forward to upgrading to a new gym at the end of the month.

[Matt Jackson]

11/8/18
SQUAT 3x5 110KG
PRESS 3x5 42.5KG
DL 1x5 130KG

13/8/18
SQUAT 3x5 115KG
BENCH 3x5 62.5KG FAIL
DL: 1x5 140KG FAIL

SQUAT: Form was very inconsistent. Shallow depth. Tried to get the depth and some reps felt good with my hips driving me upwards, but others felt like I was pushing with my legs and I robbed myself of the power right out of the hole. Really weird. Bad.

BENCH: Only managed 2 reps of 1st set. Backed down to 55KG and completed 3x5 with it.

DL: Failed 4th rep. Couldn't get it past my knees.

All in all, a shitty session but due to work I've not been eating properly for the past 48 hours. Planning my next move!

[Matt Jackson]

SSNLP attempt #2. About 24 hours after my last post, I was in ill health for quite a while. I failed to return to the gym for 12 months.

Re-started on 25/8/19
SQUAT 60kg
PRESS 35
DL 90

27/8/19
SQUAT 65
BENCH 45
DL 100 (using straps from this point onwards)

29/8/19
SQUAT 70
PRESS 37.5
DL 120 (accidentally loaded 120 instead of 110, struggled on last rep & didn't lock it out)

3/9/19
SQUAT 75
BENCH 47.5
DL 120

5/9/19
SQUAT 80
PRESS 40
DL 125

7/9/19
SQUAT 85
BENCH 50
DL 130 (started DLing without shoes. Much better)

10/9/19
SQUAT 87.5
PRESS 40 (failed on 3rd rep of last set)
DL 132.5 (failed last rep - was mortally afraid of ripping a fart & shitting my pants)

Vacation

19/9/19
SQUAT 82.5
PRESS 40
DL 120

22/9/19
SQUAT 85
BENCH 50
DL 122.5

25/9/19
SQUAT 87.5
PRESS 42.5 (failed last set)
DL 125

27/9/19
SQUAT 90
BENCH 52.5
DL 127.5

1/10/19
SQUAT 92.5
PRESS 42.5 (managed it, but had to rest after 3rd reps on 2nd and 3rd work sets)
DL 130

3/10/19
SQUAT 95
BENCH 55
DL 132.5

5/10/19
SQUAT 97.5
PRESS 43.5 (w/ fractional plates)
DL 135

SQUAT: Had to take a break due to a throbbing pain along my left forearm after squatting, which continued for about 20 minutes and affected my ability to close my grip, too. My left shoulder seems a lot less flexible than the right and I have started to hyper-extend my left wrist now the weight is going up. Need to experiment with grip width and make sure everything is tight enough.


Body weight on 25/8/19 was 89.9kg. On 6/10/19 I was 91.7kg. Feels great to be training again and I have no clue why I stopped for an entire year!