Devyn's Training Log

[Devyn Stewart]

12/03/2018

Squat: 45x5x3
Bench: 45x7ishx3
Deadlift: 305x5

Notes:

Squat and bench were relatively painless. I think I'll start very conservatively increasing them. Something like 95 for squat and 65 for bench. I'm still trying to minimize pain, though I'm less afraid of it, with it most likely just being a trigger point and all.

My deadlift feels amazing. I'm at that super happy time during LP when stuff just keeps getting heavier and easier. I'm sure that around my old PR of 335, even with the highly corrected form, it will start getting hard, but I bet I'll be able to push it much further this time.

[Devyn Stewart]

12/05/2018

Squat: 132x5x3
Press: 110x5x3
Deadlift: 315x5 (YouTube)

Notes:

Form on deadlift feels rock solid. Definitely harder than I'd hoped it would be. I was starving during my workout, so hopefully 325 will come up real nahce once I'm better fed. I'm planning on dropping to the deadlift/power clean schedule probably starting next Wednesday, as deadlifting every day is getting hard.

I was very happy with 110 press. It felt like the right weight because my form didn't particularly break down, but it was difficult. I could tell my neural efficiency was trash, which makes sense after not doing this exercise or really any close variants for over a month. Man, I wish I would have stuck with SS-type programming. I guess you live and you learn.

Squat was pretty painful. My girlfriend mentioned to me that along with the left side of the bar dipping a bit, my left wrist is extended while my right isn't. I tried overcorrecting that with the bar later, and there was no pain. Not sure if that will carry over at all to when there's actual weight on the bar, but I'm hopeful. 132 hurt bad enough that I would wager 275-300 would have been excruciating. Fingers crossed that my pain will be better by then.

On a happier note, 135 was the weight that made me writhe in pain for 24 hours straight during Thanksgiving break. I currently feel fine, only having pain during the movement, so clearly I have some sort of higher tolerance. I guess I'm moving in the right direction. Along with that, presses were almost completely painless, and deadlifts were entirely painless. I would wager I can go heavy on every lift except squat without too much caution. I'm hoping I can get squat there with some diligence and care. Overall a humbling but encouraging day.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Yeah the 315 is coming up smooth and fast. Good stuff, man.

Keep tinkering with that squat; you'll get it figured.

[Devyn Stewart]

Yeah the 315 is coming up smooth and fast. Good stuff, man.

Keep tinkering with that squat; you'll get it figured.

Thanks, Geoff. The outlook is better after today!

Squat: 225x5x3
Bench: 155x5x3
Deadlift: 325x5

Notes:

Squat was very encouraging. 135 hardly hurt at all during warmups. I then did the weight I thought would be my working weight for the day, 185, and there was still very little pain. I attribute the success mostly to my girlfriend who pointed out my uneven wrists and guided me through playing with my grip. In the end, I squatted 225 with 2 entirely painless sets and 1 nearly painless set that was much more technically sound. It's harder to focus on moving the weight well when you're focusing so hard on keeping the grip right and not slipping into bad habits and pain.

I'm taking bench conservative since it has been a while and it hurt a bit still, especially after being slightly aggravated after squats. 155 came up real easy, though. Could have done 20 reps. I'll be making 5 pound jumps on it for a little while, maybe even a 10 pound jump or two.

Deadlift was eeeasyyyy. Felt much better after being better-fed today, even though I was still a bit fatigued from Wednesday. I'll be switching to the every other day schedule next week, but I bet 10 pound jumps will take me to around 365, my previous max a little over a month ago.

I was reading about Abram today and his passage through Egypt. The story went that he allowed the pharaoh to take his wife in fear of his life, but in the end, God allowed him to leave Egypt alive with his wife and all the treasure and gold the pharaoh had given him. Basically, Abram made a mistake but through the grace of God, left with even more than he came with. I have faith that God has something similar in store for me with my shoulder.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Glad you found encouragement in Abram! That story is more about YHWH than Abram of course: God made a promise to give Abraham offspring, and therefore for the sake of his own divine honor he was ensuring the promise was kept and that Abraham's line would be unquestionably his.

Man I'm glad to see you benching and squatting with less pain! Keep after it, brother.

[Devyn Stewart]

Glad you found encouragement in Abram! That story is more about YHWH than Abram of course: God made a promise to give Abraham offspring, and therefore for the sake of his own divine honor he was ensuring the promise was kept and that Abraham's line would be unquestionably his.

Man I'm glad to see you benching and squatting with less pain! Keep after it, brother.

You and me both. I hope I don't sustain any major injuries in the near future because not squatting for this long has driven me crazy! Glad to be ostensibly back at it.

Squat: 245x5x3
Press: 115x5x3
Deadlift: 335x5 (Tied PR)

Notes:

Squats were way harder than I wanted them to be, but there was no pain! The video is of the last set, and man, it is moving slow for that kind of weight. It amazes me how quickly everything sours when you don't train. I'm hoping I can take some quick 15-20 pound jumps up to 280-ish and LP may way to my previous bests. Fortunately, though, my form appears to have held pretty well. My lower back is relaxing more than I'd like it to at the bottom, but I'm not sure how much depth I can cut off and still reach legal depth. This will work for now.

Presses were difficult but manageable. I think I can manage another 2 5 pound jumps before I'll need to switch to 2.5. Really working shrugging, keeping the elbows forward, and keeping the wrists 'straight'.

Deadlift went up pretty well. No video, but the last rep definitely was not a maximal, limit rep. I think I've got a few more 10 pound jumps left, but I think they'll have to come in an every other day format. I'm happy to be switching to the deadlift/power clean alternating schedule. I just reread that portion of SS (now with the 3rd edition instead of the 2nd. Hooray!), and I'm hoping I can clean up my form on this run through. I definitely didn't go all-in last time, and I had some serious form errors that I didn't even bother to attempt to correct, the most egregious being arm-pulling like no other. I'll be more diligent this time around.

[Devyn Stewart]

12/12/2018

Squat: 265x5x3
Bench: 170x5x3
Power Clean: 135x3x5

Notes:

Thought that since I'm one of the younger guys on the forum, I ought to teach myself to clean today. I had been doing it the first time around, but I gave no attention to the form at all. This time, 135 was flying up. The form felt much better after reading the 3rd edition's PC chapter. I couldn't even jump as hard as I could because if I tried to jump any harder, the bar would go flying above my chin and then slam into my collar bones. I went very light today but will be taking some very large jumps here soon to get to the point where they're challenging.

Squat felt pretty good. Minimal shoulder pain. Decided to slap the belt on today. I don't think the 20 pound jump was unwarranted, as they weren't even close to maximal sets. I'll probably jump up to somewhere between 275-285 next time. I think I'll be back up and running at big boy weights before too long.

I started too light on bench press. I took a huge 15 pound jump, and it was still way too easy. I'll expect another 10-15 pound jump for the next session on Monday. No pain!

[Devyn Stewart]

12/14/2018

Squat: 275x5x3
Press: 120x5x3
Deadlift: 345x5 (PR!)

Notes:

Decided to go conservative on squats. I'll be lifting on Sunday because I want to switch to the Tues/Thurs/Sat schedule over break so I can get some more volunteer time in. 275 was not too bad. Still feels way too heavy for 275, but I guess that's why I'm on LP. Will probably stick with 10 pound jumps until 305ish or until they get really tough.

Press was also pretty easy. I thought this might be my last 5 pound jump, but it looks like 125 will be the name of the game next Tuesday.

Deadlift was real tough. Wish I would have gotten a video, but I was in a hurry to get out of the gym. Pretty sure this is my last 10 pound jump, as I barely got it. Hopefully 5 pounds every other can last a good few more weeks. 365x5 would be cool.

On a side note, my girlfriend hit 215x5x3 on squat and 270x3x2 on deadlift today, which were both PRs for her in both those rep schemes and overall weight lifted ever. She's a better athlete than I'll ever be, so it's cool to see her getting so strong.

[Caitlin Lyon]

12/14/2018

Squat: 275x5x3
Press: 120x5x3
Deadlift: 345x5 (PR!)

Notes:

Decided to go conservative on squats. I'll be lifting on Sunday because I want to switch to the Tues/Thurs/Sat schedule over break so I can get some more volunteer time in. 275 was not too bad. Still feels way too heavy for 275, but I guess that's why I'm on LP. Will probably stick with 10 pound jumps until 305ish or until they get really tough.

Press was also pretty easy. I thought this might be my last 5 pound jump, but it looks like 125 will be the name of the game next Tuesday.

Deadlift was real tough. Wish I would have gotten a video, but I was in a hurry to get out of the gym. Pretty sure this is my last 10 pound jump, as I barely got it. Hopefully 5 pounds every other can last a good few more weeks. 365x5 would be cool.

On a side note, my girlfriend hit 215x5x3 on squat and 270x3x2 on deadlift today, which were both PRs for her in both those rep schemes and overall weight lifted ever. She's a better athlete than I'll ever be, so it's cool to see her getting so strong.

Hey hey hey. Thanks babe!

[Devyn Stewart]

12/16/2018

Squat: 285x5x3
Bench: 180x5x3
Power Clean: 165x3x5

Notes:

Squat felt excellent. My girlfriend mentioned to me when I asked her to help me spot form errors in my squat that I had a habit of hyperextending my back in an attempt to brace. While doing that, I really fail to activate my abs, so I tried to brace really well without hyperextending today, and it felt much more solid. It also felt like more of a fluid movement because my lower back didn't need to flex back into neutral position at the bottom since it was already there. 285 felt good, and I expect a good 2-4 more 10 pound jumps before I switch to 5s.

Bench once again felt pretty light. Still working on getting some good form back. I've got some bad tendencies to twist the bar on the way up both in the frontal plane and the transverse plane on occasion. I'll work on it, and I'll probably go for 1 more 10 pound jump up to 190 and then run 5s for a a little while longer before switching to 2.5s.

Power clean felt pretty crappy. Not too heavy, just the form isn't great yet. Too much felt wrong to articulate here, but I'll get at it next time. I think 5 pound jumps will suffice until I can really nail down the form, and by then, 5s will probably be appropriate anyway.