Goals
For 2019 my goals are to:
1. Make all the progress I can with the Starting Strength Novice Programme;
2. Learn all I can about strength and physiology;
3. Learn to box; and possibly
4. Take part in a powerlifting meet.
I have deliberately chosen ‘take part’ rather than ‘compete’ for the powerlifting meet, because I think it’s unlikely that I would be in a position to be truly competitive; at this point I would just like to experience a ‘proper’ competition.
The goals are in priority order. Lifting comes first. Learning to box is an old goal that I neglected; I tried after I left the Army full-time, but commuting an hour to a class with an average age of 13 was hard to keep to. My battalion has just started a boxing team, so I’m open to trying something new.
Current plans
I am going to start with the Novice programme as set out in Starting Strength. I have to make allowances for my military career –I have a two-week promotion cadre in March that is likely to hurt my progression. There are also days where I will have to do further scheduled PT or loaded marches, but I will endeavour to accommodate these where possible through some sensible adjustments to the loads used on the preceding/following workouts. Fortunately the new PT test the Army has adopted features deadlifts and pull-ups.
My first workout of 2019 will be:
• Squat: 105kg for 3x5;
• Bench: 57.5kg for 3x5;
• Power clean: I will open with 40kg and work up to something that feels appropriate for the 5x3; and
• Chin-ups: 3 sets to failure.
I am open to the idea of investing in a good-quality belt in the near future, but I aim to avoid belts for as long as I can.
Known issues:
Squat:
- Grip positioning. I have slightly longer forearms than most people, I’m told, and as such attempting to adopt the grip width advised in Starting Strength without cocked wrists is beyond my ability. I’ve mitigated this by rotating my hands outwards so that the bar presses into the flesh of the palm where the thumb is, but it is causing my shoulders to sit at different levels. I intend to try a grip that is just wide enough to set my hands as Starting Strength advises, but not wide enough to unlock the shoulder tightness necessary to support the bar.
- Anterior shoulder tightness. Linked closely with my grip issue. Getting under the bar for the first few sets is causing me tight pains in the front of the shoulder; moreso in the left than the right. I can work into it, but it is pain enough to make me think that I am not doing it right. I think that this should correct in line with the grip correction.
Press:
- Elbows forwards. I need to make sure that this happens in every rep, every set.
- Getting under the bar. Linked with the elbows forwards error. I think that sometimes I am failing to get under the bar as it ascends, and this is impeding progress.
Bench Press:
- Shrugging forwards into the lockout position. There are two causes of this –poor equipment, and user error. It’s mainly user error. I haven’t trained the bench press for a very long time, nor have I had any formal training in its proper execution. I know now not to shrug forward into the lockout position and unlock the shoulders. I’m going to follow the advice in Starting Strength and do sets of five before seeing if I can re-tighten the shoulders. The equipment problem is the dedicated bench in the gym has fixed racks for the bar. The top one is too high and necessitates unlocked shoulders to clear the pins, or a spotter (and I don’t have a spotter –so no collars for safety). The next set of pins down is too low to effectively move the weight out and into the lockout position without a spotter. I’m going to try and address this by either getting a spotter, or trying to find a different set of equipment to use.
- Inconsistent elbow position (tucked versus wide). I’ve done press-ups for a long time due to my career, and the military favours elbows-in press-ups that mainly work the triceps. This movement pattern is difficult to break, but I am making the effort to push them out -and keep them out.
Deadlift:
- Grip strength. This has come a long way. I use the double overhand grip for all sets save the final warm-up set and the work set. I find that the chin-ups are providing useful assistance work on my grip.
- Back position. I am wary of not setting the back correctly, and of excessive pulling with the back by having the hips either i) too high at the outset, or ii) move up too quickly in relation to the back. I'm going to address this by ensuring I set the back before performing each repetition, and checking after each set with video review.
Power clean:
- Shrugging the weight. I need to be wary of doing this going forward. I haven’t done power cleans a lot, or indeed at all, beyond my ‘learner sets’ with the Olympic lifter a week or so ago.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading. All comments and criticism are welcome; I am here to learn and develop.
Thanks,
Jacket
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