Sahuarita, just south of Tucson, and I turn 41 on the 23rd!
Sahuarita, just south of Tucson, and I turn 41 on the 23rd!
Cardio for 11/6:
3 miles @ 3.05 mph
I started a month ago doing 1 to 2 miles at 2.7-2.8 mph. This is my first 3 miles since then, so I'm excited about the pace. I am interested to see how it impacts lifts tomorrow. Hopefully not too negative.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Squat: 165x5x3
Bench: 105x5x3
Deadlift: 185x5x3
Squat was solid, though I am going to record my squats next session and see if I am too far back or not. If I am, it may be in part a function of my weight/stomach getting in the way and/or throwing off the balance a bit as it adds more weight forward of mid-foot, but I will focus on getting the right angle on my back and the bar over my mid-foot.
Bench is starting to feel like solid weight, which is good. I suspect I'll be good increasing by 10 until 135lb, at which point I will drop to 5lb increases.
Deadlift was tough today. I realized right before my last warm-up set that my stance is probably too wide, and my grip definitely is. I narrowed both up, and while it made the warm-up set (2 reps @165) feel smoother and easier, the working sets were harder. This may be any combination of the increased weight (maybe time to +10lbs instead of +20), stance change (made it more difficult given my stomach getting in the way), lower calories (eating ~2500 now instead of 3k to get rid of the aforementioned gut), and the increased cardio (went 3 miles yesterday, which is getting up there for me). First set wasn't too bad. Second set I wanted to quit after 4 reps, and even let go of the bar, walked away a couple steps, then went back and did the last rep. Last set I got all 5, though the 5th rep was definitely tough.
Cardio: Time got the better of me today, so no cardio. I will be doing cardio tomorrow, which is normally my off-cardio day, so that should help make up for it.
All in all a good lifting/training session.
Location: I'm in Chandler. You keep at this long enough we may end up at the same Fall Classic or something.
Good moves on all fronts, man. I'm glad you're taking this journey.
Previous posters are right, though: Starting Strength 3rd edition only programs ONE SET of 5 deadlifts in the LP. You're already starting to see why, but you'll see even moreso as the load on the bar goes up. Your three sets of squat plus one of deadlift is plenty of volume for a novice. When the deadlift gets "stale," then you start doing it only on press days, and putting something else like powerclean in on the alternate day, which you're already doing. Frankly I'm astounded that you're powercleaning at 325 lbs bodyweight; that's hardcore, mate. If your PC stays at <50% of your deadlift after both lifts are somewhat trained, you may want to sub out PC for something else, but right now it looks like it's flying up by 10lbs at a time.
Thanks, Geoff. I will never admit to great power clean form, but there is something about the lift that just feels great, so I do it. I do hit my gut on the way up (found out after recording it), which I'm sure is effecting bar path (or at least upward momentum), but I keep at it.
When I had done SS before, I had got up to mid-300s on deadlift doing 3 sets of 5. I'm heavier (bad kind), older, and eating at a deficit, so I do think I'll be dropping to 1 set soon enough. While I can do 3, I might as well.
I may have to pick up 3rd edition as it sounds like there are enough changes and revisions to make it worth the investment.
Cardio for 11/8/2018: 3 mile walk, 58:35, so 3.08 mph.
I went a different route today. This one toonk me down a community pathed walking path. Plus side is that after crossing 2 roads to get there, o had nothing to slow me up or stop me. The down side is it's the back side of very similar houses on one side and dessert and saguaros on the other. This left little in the way of feature items to push towards or gauge my distance, and those do help me. Still, I'm going to continue using this route.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Squat: 175x5x3
Press: 85x5x3
Power Clean: 95x3x5
Post-workout cardio: 2 mile walk, 39 minutes, 3.08 mph.
I recorded most of my lifts this session and so below comments will include info from that.
Squat weight wasn't too bad. I'm still working on a better recording angle, but it seems like I might be a bit too vertical. Along with this, I think I have a bit of lower back rounding at the bottom. I also expect to be face-to-the-wall next session for a better recording angle to verify or rule out what I'm thinking. I think the rounding is due to losing hamstring tension at the bottom (too low). I am going to work on and keep an eye on these. I am still planning on 185 for next session, but I will be going to +5 after that.
Press felt good, and video seemed pretty solid on them as well. I did have a few reps that missed the shrug on top. It wasn't because the weight was too much, but because I just didn't focus on the lockout, instead thinking of the next rep already. I knew the miss as soon as it happened. I am thinking of going to 95 next session, but expect to be only increasing by 5 after that. Best I've done on press was 125 or 130, so going to slow my pace at this point.
Power cleans were actually pretty solid. I watched a video Rip did teaching someone to do power cleans. After watching that and watching me do mine, I think I am doing pretty well. One thing I need to work on is "the spot" on my mid-thigh where I jump, as I sometimes jump a bit too soon (somewhat forward landing).
Post-workout cardio was good. I bumped it up to a 2 mile walk. As shown, this takes me a bit under 40 minutes. I will be doing just walking for another week, after which I plan/hope to put a but if jogging in there. Nothing crazy hard, but something that exerts more effort (and hopefully more calories burned towards the fat loss), and I wouldn't mind if I eventually push myself to a 15 minute mile with that.
Diet has been pretty solid as well, albeit a little heavier on fat than I'd like, but even then it's still < 100g/day, and usually < 80g/day. Calories have been right at the 2500 mark, so that is good. Protein is less than the 200g I'm aiming for, but barely (e.g. 191g), and I should have some whey sitting in the mailbox right now, or delivered to the house tonight, so that will help with that.
Please don't jog or run yet.
Consider instead what I think of as the CQB glide: Move as fast in a forward direction as you can while never creating a situation where both of your feet are off the ground.
Running/jogging while carrying excess weight broke my foot once, and ruined most of 2015 for me, training-wise. In my case, the excess weight was armor, pack, and rifle. If you can learn something like a CQB glide and use that instead of a run until you've gotten lighter, you're more likely to be able to sustain your barbell training, and all types of training really.
Edited to add: Watch from :03 to :11 as these three 3rd-Group dudes cross the courtyard. Watch in slowmo if you have to. That's textbook CQB glide. Not a real run, because one foot is always in contact with the ground. That's how you move fast when carrying heavy weight, without hurting yourself: YouTube
Last edited by Geoff Bischoff; 11-09-2018 at 06:03 PM.