My Starting Strength log

[Adam Gottstein]

I don't know about way more solid, but definitely have experienced this and sometimes in between sets (particularly with squats) I do some deep breathing and visualization and find that things get smoother from set to set....but then again sometimes it's just a grind. I think with the squat more than any of the lifts the mental/emotional component is a significant.

I think you're absolutely right - particularly with squat. I get in my head pretty hard sometimes with squats. When I did 240 lbs for 3 weeks in a row, I did every single rep no issue, and form just got better and better on them. Still, on week 3 I would go to squat and in my head was me telling myself it's heavy and I may fail. I learned to shut that inner voice out a bit, which was a good thing to learn (though still not perfect).

What happens to me sometimes, and I believe was the case with set 2 on Wednesday, is even though I may have done previous sets at the working weight, I get in my head that the weight is heavy and I'm never going to be able to make 5 reps at normal pace. As a result, I end up dive bombing a bit (or a lot?) with the mindset to get down and up as quickly as possible and maybe with as much bounce as possible. This never works, and when I realize what I'm doing - often times mid-set, I slow down and the reps improve. I have gotten a lot better at not doing this, but it creeps in from time to time.

I also find that set 1 is often the hardest of the three. I believe it is because even with warmups, it's the first set of 5 at a weight in that range (last warm-up being 5-20 lb lighter). Rep 1 is fine, by rep 3 my body & mind are thinking "what are you DOING?????" By set 2 my body is ready for 5 reps at that weight. The weight obviously isn't any lighter, and sets 2 and 3 are more likely to have grinded reps, but overall the body is more ready for them.

[Adam Gottstein]

Friday, January 25, 2019
Squat: 270x5x3 (set1, set3)
Bench: 180x5x2, 4 (set1, set2, set3)
Deadlift: 305x3 (working set, 225 warm-up, 275 warm-up, 295 warm-up)

Cardio: 3.03 miles @ 60 mins

Today was a mixed bag with a couple of misses, but it got me thinking, and I'll go into it at the end of the post (which will probably make this a long post). I recorded these working sets and have uploaded them to youtube. If you have trouble accessing them, please let me know. Right now they are unlisted, but I had issues w/ the URL earlier tonight. If they give others issues, I'll switch the videos to public. Let me know what I'm doing wrong - I'm sure it's plenty. Hopefully the camera angles are good. Bench doesn't show my legs, but rest assured they were pointing up, perpendicular to my body with a bosu on top of them and an additional 90lb in plates and small children balancing precariously on top, because, you know...it's more functional .

Squat was good. Video for 2nd set was accidentally deleted, so there is only sets 1 and 3. First rep of first set....I don't know why, but I just wasn't prepared. I got the bounce on the bottom, then dropped right back down. Luckily I still pushed it back up no problem. Overall, I felt squats were pretty solid.

Bench press actually felt pretty solid for the first set. Second set was noticeably harder, but after those two sets, I was expecting to finish the third set strong. That last rep just wasn't going up. There's a good chance I was getting greedy on my way to 185. That, or it is in a similar boat as deadlift (will discuss later), though at 1 failure I can't really say that is the case. I will be repeating 180 next Wednesday.

Deadlift...I'm beginning to hate 305. I seem to get to 3 reps and then I'm done. Sometimes the 3rd rep is rough like this one was, and other times it is decently solid but I just can't get another without even 10 seconds rest or so. I feel like this should be going up, especially with how relatively easy squats are coming up. I am thinking I may be hitting that point where my caloric deficit is impacting my lifts. In another post I read today, Coach Santana called it the point where what your body needs to recover is more than what it needs to lose weight. I knew I would hit that point sometime, and I'm really starting to think I am there now.

I spent some time thinking about this today, and starting with the 3 questions, I have the following:
1) Eating enough? No, but that's intentional.
2) Sleeping enough? I get 7-8 hours during the week (usually closer to 7) and 9-10 on the weekends. It's not ideal, but not horrible, either.
3) How's form? I'm sure it's not perfect, but doesn't seem like I am horribly off.

Form can definitely be an area that can help, but I was thinking mostly about eating enough and recovery, and came to these few issues that I may be facing, and they are not mutually exclusive:
1) I'm just running out of gas by the time I'm getting to deadlifts.
2) I'm not eating enough to recover at the weights I'm now lifting.
3) I was sick last week and not fully recovered.

Starting with item 3, I felt great all week, so if recover from sickness is still a thing for me, then it's at a much more subtle level. I also can't make this go away as it just needs to work its way out. Since I can't really improve this (beyond eating/sleeping more), it is not something I can address.

Item 1 is also somewhat easy to address. I eat 120 or more carbs throughout the day before my workout, and about 50-55g carbs within 15 minutes of starting my workout. My thought is that by the time I'm 1-1.5 hours in (deadlift time), I'm decently depleted and can benefit from fast metabolizing carbs (probably at about the 1 hour mark). This would require some adjusting on my end, but is doable. It's also worth mentioning that Squat, bench, deadlift day is definitely harder of the two workouts.

Item 3 is the one I'm most concerned about. It only has one solution, and that is eating more. It means I've come to the point where I have to decide what is more important to me at this time, and I have to admit it will be weight loss for now. That will be the case until at least 250#, and probably closer to 220# (really, I'd like to get to a 38" waist, so where ever that lands me). If I am finding myself here, I am contemplating getting to some set weights on the bar, and then just keep pushing out workouts/reps at those weights. I don't like this idea, and there would probably be some weight increases, but they would come much more slowly. One reason I'm really concerned this is where I am is because I've been a bit sore still 2 days after workout, particularly in the hamstrings/glutes area, and sometimes in the back. It's somewhat subtle, but I can tell it's there when it wasn't before.

Anyway, more immediately, I am going to try some things and see where it leaves me. First thing to try will be next Wednesday I am going to do a light squat day. Monday is scheduled for 275, so Wed will be 225 for 2 sets of 5. The goal here is to see how my deadlifts are impacted. If I find that 305 goes up a lot more easily, then that is a good sign I don't have enough carbs for that workout. If they still don't go up, then it's time for a small reset and work my way back up. If the Wed light squat works, I may look into doing deadlifts every Wednesday to keep that driving up, power cleans on Mon or Fri, and rows (new lift to add) on Friday along with assisted chins once I get some bands.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my rambling. Hopefully it made some sense as it was mainly me putting down my thoughts on this 305# deadlift wall I feel I have hit.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Way to keep at it man! Keep working those recovery factors: Sleep quality is a bigger deal than one might think. I recognize there's only so much within one's control with sleep, though. Illness: Hard to tell. You may be experiencing residual fatigue from fighting it off. Food: I get that you're in weight loss mode; that will probably end up meaning an earlier transition to intermediate than otherwise. I don't think you're quite there yet, though. For bench: I think you probably have 180 next time with little trouble, but I also think your workout after that should be 182.5. Your days of 5lb jumps on bench are doneski.

On the deadlift: Work your recovery factors, but there's a major form issue that's part of what's ailing you. Namely: On every pull, the barbell is starting out in space, rather than dragging up your leg. Watch it in slowmo: The bar breaks from your shin (sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, on your last rep a LOT) before you pull it, which removes what should be your strongest leg-drive from the movement before you've even gotten started. Another issue, common to nearly everyone: Your back-setting isn't as hard as it could be.

I think you've got 305x5 like right now, if you fix that.

[Adam Gottstein]

Thanks, Geoff. I appreciate the feedback. I was planning exactly what you suggested on bench. It's my first fail, I was a bit greedy with +5#, and it failed. Should happen on Wednesday and then going to 2.5# increments after that.

For deads, you are absolutely right on me being away from the shins. I really noticed it on the working set, and need to stop whatever crap I'm doing dancing the bar back and forth at the bottom. I have actually been working on holding it against the leg better ever since I realized I wasn't doing it on power cleans, which was killing the jump. I thought I was doing good now, but obviously not well enough.

When I do deads again on Wednesday, I am still thinking this week I'll do 225-250 on squats for 2 sets. This may be all in my head, but want to make sure I have gas in the tank for deads. This won't be a regular thing unless I find it's the only way I have enough energy left for them. I will focus extra hard on setting my back harder and keeping the bar against the legs.

[hondotbt]

ABG, Give BB-logic episodes 65 and 67 a listen, they do great job of reinforcing 5 step set up and proper dead lift. I think cleaning up the form will make a significant difference.

[Adam Gottstein]

Thanks, bt. I'll take a look/listen to those today if I get the chance (definitely will before Wed's deadlift session). I do go through the steps, but know my back setting - particularly upper back - is weak and needs work. I guess it's been weaker than I thought. It's good to know, but unfortunate to be the case.

[Adam Gottstein]

Listening to episode 65 now, and I'm thinking I may want to try a slightly wider grip. I am going to try narrower stands, knees out more first, but I'm thinking I may have gut-in-the-way issues. Opening up the available space at the bottom may help some. I'm going to play with it during power cleans today and may pull a few lighter deadlifts after.

[Adam Gottstein]

Monday, January 28, 2019
Squat: 275x5x3 (set 1, set 2, set 3)
Press: 112.5x5x3 (set 1, set 2, set 3)
Power Clean: 127.5x5x3 (set 1, set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5)

BW: 305.3# (up .7#)
Waist: 51.5" (no change)

Overall a good session. Hit all the target weights, and managed to record them all. Fair warning - I tried using Youtube's studio app to trim them. I don't know if it worked, nor do I know when the updated videos will be there if it did work. So, you may get the longer videos with me starting the camera, walking out, maybe adjusting myself, walking back at the end, etc... If so, sorry. Think I'll trim locally next time and then upload.

Squat - feeling wise I'd say the first set felt the worst. Sets 2 and 3 I focused on proud chest and overall they felt better with a few reps that I think weren't awesome. Press felt good all around. Hopefully my attempt at press 2.0 isn't embarrassing, and hopefully it's not really a push press. I will be ok if it's not press 2.0, but just a press with a lay back. Power clean, I focused on some things I'm going to carry over to my deads. Specifically, I but my heels closer together, toes pointed out more, worked on a harder back (some sets more than others, unfortunately), and keeping the bar against my shins (again, some sets more/better than others). I'm overall pleased with how they turned out and it was definitely a different feel on the pull. Video on the first 2 sets doesn't have feet in it. Sorry, I adjusted as soon as I realized.

For body weight - It's up about 3/4 a pound, but I actually continued to rebound from sick weight up to upper 306, so this is down from my peak from last week. I'm good with it and hoping/expecting it to be down next week.

I will be traveling 2/10 and not back until late that Friday night. I am going to attempt to get a session in Saturday that will repeat the previous Friday's workout. I'm also going to have to be careful on what to eat. Chicken is an easy answer, but everything in restaraunts tends to be cooked in butter, which adds calories that are hard to see on the plate. I may come back a bit heavier, but it shouldn't stay too long, and I'll be disappointed if it's more than a 5# short lived swing (hoping it's even less than that). If this trip is similar to last year, there won't really be time to find a gym and lift, but there will be plenty of walking, so that should help some things.

[positronbomb]

If you can't hit the gym combine walking with pushups. Every 5 minutes of walking do 20 push ups or whatever is appropriate for you.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Press: On set 1, I enjoyed hearing "Rain King" playing in the background. Brings me back to high school days. As for the form: Rep 1 set 1, your wrists are reasonably straight, not bending overmuch until about rep 4. From then on, you've got some major wrist bend going on, which is going to cause you a) pain, and b) missed lifts due to energy leak, at some point in the future. Fight fight fight the tendency to limp-wrist. It's my constant fight, too. As for your shrug lockout at top: You do better at it than I do! Keep exaggerating it until it's part of your psyche.

Squats: You're getting a bit of thoracic rounding on the later reps (rep 4 or 5) of each set as you begin to fatigue. It's a deficiency, but I don't think it's a fatal deficiency. Your efforts to fight it with proud-chest are helping; keep at it!

Traveling is so so so tough when you're aiming at weight control. I wish you the best of luck; do your very best to monitor portion size, and to err on the small side (since as you say so many things are cooked with hidden calories).