Resolution 2019 - Get Stronger

[Adam Levine]

Provided you're not cursed with injury, I think you can achieve all of those goals within 6 months.

I would be very happy with those goals, but it's not like I'll quit when I hit them. I know the SS method is supposed to provide more than that for folks in my demographic, but I figure that I'll underperform with it, as I have every athletic endeavor in my life.

Also...
Programming Changes.
Exiting early novice on deadlift
Deadlifts are now 50lb more than bodyweight, and I'm cutting back to 2x/week, generally Monday/Friday.

Advanced Novice on Chins
- Missed the last rep on chins two workouts in a row.
- Form is not likely an issue, since they are chins
- I was doing Chins for 6 weeks before starting LP, so I'm on week 8 of chins.
- Progress has slowed to about 1lb/workout.
So, I'm also only doing chins 2x/week, generally Monday and Friday.

Wednesday is "Technique Day"
So, that means on Wednesday, I only have Squat and either Bench or Press. That gives me 20 minutes or so in the gym to use solely for technique improvement.
- I have LOTS of technique issues. (list below)
- On the weekend, I'll pick one issue, study it, and practice it on Technique day at low weight. The weight should be light enough as not to cause a stress/recovery/adaptation response.
- Hopefully, this will help me fix some issues.

-->Adam

List of technique issues:
- I only straighten back on deadlift 1/3 of the time, and never on the way down, but at least the 1/3 gives me some hope.
- Lower back flexion at bottom of squat.
- Hips back/knees out on squat.
- Shoulders too inflexible for lockout on press (working on stretching that)
- Keep bending knees on press
- Can't descend from Deadlift right - not sure what the issue is there, but I'm not throwing down the weight fast like I see in videos - I'll take my kneecaps off!
- I can flex my back, but only when standing upright. I can't bend at hips and keep lower back in isometric contraction.
- Totally flummoxed by concept of leg drive on Bench. It makes no sense to me, but neither did the shelf on your back on squat until I got it right.

[positronbomb]

Don't worry so much with leg drive, it helps more with paused bench press in competition than when you're repping sets of 5.
Focus more on squeezing your shoulder blades together, correct bar path, arching your back. breathing technique, and using your legs to provide a stable base for all of that to happen.
When that is performed perfectly like a robot, then add leg drive.

[Adam Levine]

Workout 7 of 150

- I missed the last chin rep for a third time in a row, but at least this time I gave it a good five second grind. No video on Instagram this time - I'm packing up the tripod before the last set so I can get out of the gym faster, so the 2nd chin set is on Instagram instead of the 3rd.
- Deadlifts felt really hard today - I think I'm timing when to go to 2x/week right.
- Did math wrong on chins and was 2lb lighter than plan. Still missed the last rep. Not good.

Squat: 155x5x3 (5lb jumps)
Press: 80x5x3 (Dropping to 2.5lb jumps)
Deadlift: 230x5x1 (5lb jumps)
Chins: (178.0+2.5)=180.5x5,5,4 (doing Apx 1.5lb jumps)

Adam Levine on Instagram: “Workout 7 of 150 is brought to you by @smarties , the preferred source of energy for 5am workouts. Yep, I eat candy at the gym. Missed…”

[Sean McAnally]

Fellow novice here, so take my thoughts with that grain of salt:

Maybe alternate chins, deadlift, and power clean (or rows) Monday, Wednesday, Friday? Or instead of PC/row on Friday, do 80-90% of Friday's weight for multiple sets of 5?

I have started right out alternating deadlift and power clean, but know I will need to do this rotation eventually.

What is your bodyweight chin RM? I assume if you are doing weighted chins, you are at 10+? If not, I would maybe go back and do bodyweight chins for 3 sets, if you can get 3 x 10 then go back and add weight next time. But maybe don't add weight until you hit 3 sets of 5 at that weight, then bump up?

[Adam Levine]

I just couldn't let that math mistake go.

I went back to the gym and did another set of 5 chins:
(180.4+2.25)=182.65x5

[Adam Levine]

Fellow novice here, so take my thoughts with that grain of salt:

Maybe alternate chins, deadlift, and power clean (or rows) Monday, Wednesday, Friday? Or instead of PC/row on Friday, do 80-90% of Friday's weight for multiple sets of 5?

I have started right out alternating deadlift and power clean, but know I will need to do this rotation eventually.

What is your bodyweight chin RM? I assume if you are doing weighted chins, you are at 10+? If not, I would maybe go back and do bodyweight chins for 3 sets, if you can get 3 x 10 then go back and add weight next time. But maybe don't add weight until you hit 3 sets of 5 at that weight, then bump up?

I'm totally off-program on chins. I didn't wait to have 10 reps before adding weight and am just trying to LP them with 3 sets of 5. Seems to be working - although I usually miss the last rep, I'm still adding weight every workout and just missing the last rep at the next workout. No idea what my RM max is, my guess would be 6-8 depending on how "light" I am for that workout and if I've done a set of heavy deadlifts first.

Not going to do power cleans - I'm too uncoordinated and don't see a coach enough to pull that off. At my age, PCs are optional, and I'm opting out.

[Adam Levine]

Workout 8 of 150

- I missed the last chin rep on the last two sets this time. I think I'm going to freeze the weight for the next workout and see if I can get an honest 3x5.
- Failed a rep on Squat for the first time due to a form issue - was leaning too far forward, but I repeated the set successfully. Good to know I can reach the safeties when I have to. Video on Instagram.
- I really need to clean up my squat form - it's hurting my knees and progress will stall sooner rather than later unless I do.
- Low energy today - everything was a grind.

Squat: 160x5x3 (5lb jumps)
Bench: 187.5x5x3 (2.5lb jumps)
Deadlift: 235x5x1 (5lb jumps)
Chins: (179.8+4)=183.8x5,4,4

Adam Levine on Instagram: “Workout#8 is brought to you by Kroger, the supplier of my post workout meal. Not a great workout. Had low energy and everything was a…”

[Adam Levine]

Body and Diet Stats for Week 2
Notes:
- Really grinding hard in Sunday's workout - I was expecting a few more "easy" weeks.
- Feel like I'm going to stall on Squat unless I can clean up my form.
- First signs of LBM gain.
- Lost a piece to my glucometer - no blood sugar stats this week.

Body Stats:
Age: 47
Height: 5'9.7"
Weight: 174.5lb (Up 1.6lb)
Neck: 15.5" (Unchanged)
Waist: 33.75" (Unchanged)
Body Fat (by Navy Calculator): 16.1% (Unchanged)
LBM (by Navy Calculator): 146lb (Up 1lb)
Average morning/fasting blood sugar: N/A

Diet Stats:
Average calories/day: 2,635
Average protien/day: 284g
Average carbs/day: 280g
Average fat/day: 50g
Protien from dairy: 438g - 3.4 GOM equivalent (22%)
Supplementation and drugs:
- 5,000 IU of Vitamin D per day
- 1 Flintsones multivitamin/day
- 10mg Atorvastatin/day
- 1 OTC Esomeprazole/2 days
- 5g Creatine per day
- 15tsp benefiber per day
- 2g+ DHA and EPA per day, in the form of canned salmon

[Adam Levine]

Workout 9 of 150

- Took 15lb off the bar on squat to focus on form. Still not great, but very much improved. I think this form will enable me to progress until I see Coach Inman on the 26th.
- Did extra squat sets, and will do more on Friday, again to focus on form.
- Did unweighted chins to see how many I could do. I think I'm going to take a different strategy on chins. They seem to benefit from a lot of rest between sets. I don't have time for that, but if I spread them throughout the workout (say, one set before the press, one set before deadlift, and one set after deadlift), I might have better luck with them.

Chins: (179.4+0)x7,6,5
Squat: 145x5x4. Warmup sets were the same as I would have done for 165lb worksets.
Press: 82.5x5x3
Deadlift: 240x5x1

Adam Levine on Instagram: “Workout 9 of 150 I took 15lb off the bar on squat so I could focus on technique. looking better. Still far from great, but I think the…”

[Adam Gottstein]

I'm no expert, but I thought the lifts looked good overall. I saw a few things, but can't say I'm not guilty of the same.

I am curious, though - how do your wrists feel during and after pressing? Your hands seem cocked back really far, and I know when I didn't have, and the weight got to 100 or so, my wrists hates me. If you feel like that, see if you can hold the bar more directly over the wrist bones. I just got wrist wraps and find it helps to wrap them a bit higher into the palm. Sometimes I think my hand is going to fall off due to lack of blood, but it feels so stable it is worth it.

All in all, you're doing great, and if you are persistent, you will surpass your 2019 goals!