BWare's Novice Training Log

[Bruce Ware]

11/24 Measurement Sunday

Weight - (spot) 196.6 (up 2.6); (week avg) 194.7 (down 0.1); (long-term avg) 194.1 (up 0.3) A decent week eating with lots of protein (turkey) and carbs.

LBM - (spot) 177.5 (up 3.3); (long-term avg) 174.4 (up 0.4) A *very big* jump on the SPC chart, but not quite above the 6-sigma (UPL) line. Will bear watching closely over the next couple of weeks to see if there is a signal of process shift here.

Fat - (spot) 19.1 (down 0.7); (long-term avg) 19.7 (down 0.1), yields a BF% of 10.1%. This trend-line looks flat while the LBM trend-line has a slight upward slope, again indicating that a signal of process shift may be a few measurements away.

Based on the Casey Butts measurement theories, this long-term avg LBM is just slightly higher than my "genetic potential", derived from using my skeletal size (ankle and wrist bone circumferences). I'm not so crazy to say that my caliper-pinch measurement techniques are "hard science", but they are consistent. If I measure the same things consistently, and the numbers tend to show trends in a consistent direction, then making an inference from those measures is reliable and defensible.

The extra mass measured today also translated into some increases in other body-part measures. I see a quarter-inch gain on my flexed bicep, a half-inch gain on my upper thigh, a quarter-inch on my girth at shoulder, a half-inch gain on girth at chest. These are not insignificant, given how many measurements have shown a very narrow range and that these numbers are right at the top-end of those ranges.

Since starting SS in early May, I have gained a bit over 11 pounds of muscle on a total body-weight gain of just under 11 pounds, meaning I've lost about a half-pound of fat during my NLP and early-intermediate training. This is pretty astounding, given that I am nowhere near being a "newbee" from a weight-lifting perspective, but clearly I had not been using my early lifting experience (the 3 years prior to SS) optimally.

[TravisRatzloff]

This is pretty astounding, given that I am nowhere near being a "newbee" from a weight-lifting perspective, but clearly I had not been using my early lifting experience (the 3 years prior to SS) optimally.

I am seeing a theme for a lot of us on this forum!

[Bruce Ware]

Travis, I concur. And I do want to be *very careful* not to blow this up and be non-scientific in my approach. I'm trying to let the numbers speak for themselves, and so far they are speaking volumes about the effectiveness of SS.

For example, at one point in early April, my previous "body-building" program had driven my body-weight down to a little over 180 at about 8% body-fat. But from a body-part measurement perspective and from a "how much 'x' can you squat/bench/lift/etc.?" perspective, I had stalled and even lost some. Letting the numbers speak for themselves, I have discovered that in gaining more weight and following the NLP as closely as feasible for someone in my demographic, I've experienced statistically significant increases in strength and in composition.

So now the experiment has reached a point where I am just super-curious about what I can accomplish. I think I've set reasonable goals for myself for 2019, knocked a couple of them out already, and am making decent progress toward the other two. And I'm wondering what the next set of metrics will tell me.

I'm enjoying reading on your progress, too! Keep posting.

[Bruce Ware]

11/24 Session 26-1 (3RM mesocycle week) -- Squat (intensity), deadlift (volume), pressing assist.

Squat --

Warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 2

Working set: 355 x 3; no problems at all (I felt I had enough in the tank to go for 5); going for 360 x 1 next week. Added volume 310 x 5 x 2.

Romanian Deadlift --

Warm-ups: 135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3

Working sets: 320 x 5 x 3

Dips -- 8 x 3 with 10# weighted vest on.

Duration -- 1h+15m

Concluded session with a Beefcake1: 3 supersets -- pushups (18), assisted pullups (6), and LTEs (50 x 13).

Duration -- 0h+20m

[Bruce Ware]

11/25 Session 26-2; bench press (intensity), press (volume), pulling assist

This is my 3RM week on the MED/5/3/1 variant.

Bench Press --

Warm-ups: 95 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 1

Working set: 182.5 x 3; great feeling form and a solid lift with a decent leg drive! I don't usually feel the leg drive too well, so this was a terrific sense session. Added volume 162.5 x 5 x 2. I will go for 185 on my 1RM week next time.

Press --

Warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
105 x 3

Working sets: 116 x 5 x 5; still feeling good with the strict form; 118 for volume next time.

BB Shrugs -- 365 x 5 x 3; along with rack pulls and halting deadlifts, I think these exercises will help me break through my current deadlift stalls. Shrugs have such a small range of motion that I felt I could work with such a heavy weight. Next time this routine comes up, it will be rack pulls, which focuses on the middle third of the deadlift movement pattern. Last sessions' halting deadlifts emphasized the necessary hip drive that is the bottom third of the movement, as I have observed that I have been trying to do the deadlift by driving the chest up first, rather than the hips. I can move a lot more weight in the upper two-thirds of the deadlift movement, but have been getting stuck at the bottom up to mid-shin. On Wednesday (my next scheduled session, which is a deadlift intensity day) I'll be trying to get these separate movements together.

Duration: 1h+15m

[Bruce Ware]

11/26 (eve) Latin dancing. A nice lesson in a set of new moves, and a decent sweat doing it. I give myself 65 minutes of "cardio".

[Bruce Ware]

11/27 Session 26-3; deadlift (intensity), squat (volume), pressing assist

Deadlift --

Warm-ups: 135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 1

Working set: 335 x 3; this was my 3RM week for this - I had gotten 2 complete and 1 partial success at this weight a couple of sessions back, so this 3 rep is a PR. I added some volume with 295 x 5 x 2. Next week, a 1RM week, I will try 340. I don't necessarily think this is a breakthrough from the stall, but I did feel a whole lot more engagement in driving my hips first before finishing with my upper body. I'll continue to practice with assistance lifts to work on the full range techniques.

Squat --

Warm-ups: 135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3

Working sets: 300 x 5 x 5; 305 next time. I noticed from watching a video of myself that I have a slight counter-clockwise rotation in my torso as I descend - in my warm-ups this time, I practiced touching the safety stops and noticed a couple of times that the left side touched before the right, so I spent some time working on trying to even out the imbalance.

Ring dips -- 8 x 3

Duration: 1h+15m

Completed the training day with the Beefcake1 routine -- 3 supersets of pushups (20), assisted pullups (8), and LTEs (50# @ 14 reps).

Duration: 0h+15m

[Bruce Ware]

11/29 Session 26-4; Press (intensity), Bench Press (volume), pulling assist

Press --

Warm-ups: 45 x 5
95 x 5
105 x 3
115 x 1

Working set: 132.5 x 3; yes! I had tried this weight last week, and was able to get 2 and a half reps out of it (you know what I mean - 2 good ones and a rep that got to the top of my head but no further up). I was super-pumped to get this. It is the most weight I have ever lifted on the Standing Overhead Press, even counting the old days when I did leg-pulses ("push-press") and partial reps and counted them as true reps. I added two back-off sets for volume -- 115 x 5 x 2. Next week is a 1RM week, and I'll be trying 134 for the Press, with 117 for the back-off sets.

Bench Press --

Warm-ups: 95 x 5
135 x 3

Working sets: 167.5 x 5 x 5; great pump here too! I'll be going to 170 next time this session comes up. As you can see, for most of my exercises, I am gradually reducing the number of warm-up reps, since my form and movement patterns seem to be very solid, trying to save some extra "gas" for the main working sets.

BB Rows --

Working sets: 180 x 8 x 3; go to 185 next time.

Duration: 1h+05m

[Bruce Ware]

12/1 Measurement Sunday

Weight -- (spot) 195.4, down 1.2 from last; (week avg) 196.3, up 1.6 from last; (long-term avg) 194.2, up 0.1. Week's average reflects a lot of really big eating this week -- of course, being Thanksgiving and all. My wife made a "Friends-giving" party early in the week, so I had turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, veggies, gravy - the whole 9 yards on Monday night, left-overs of same on Tuesday, regular Thanksgiving dinner at a neighbor's house on Thursday, left-overs of same on Friday. Last night, she asks, "what do ya want for dinner?" and I said, "Anything **BUT** turkey!" So I was a bit surprised this morning to see my "official" weight down from last week.

Composition

Lean Mass -- (spot) 176.7, down 0.8 from last; (long-term avg) 174.6, up 0.2.

Fat Mass -- (spot) 18.7, down 0.4 from last; (long-term avg) 19.6, down 0.1. Yields a BF% of approx 10.1%. Total weight and Lean Mass weight trend-lines are heading upward, as the last 2 measurement days appear to be pointing towards possible process shifts. Fat Mass trend-line is down, and appears to be fairly steady in that direction.

From an SPC perspective, there are no signals *yet* of any process shifts, but if the current trend-lines hold, next Sunday could show a signal on the Lean Mass chart.

Body-part measurements are holding steady for the most part, although I did see my calf circumference drop that quarter-inch gain I had recorded last week. My waist-line went down a quarter-inch; chest girth up a half-inch.

All-in-all, I'm having fun with this science experiment, and looking forward to seeing what I can make happen next.

Today starts week 27 of my training with the Starting Strength approach, and it's the third mesocycle week of my MED-5/3/1 variant, meaning that my "intensity" lifts are all going to be for 1-rep "tests". I'm looking at a 360 squat, a 185 bench, a 134 press, and a 340 deadlift. Today is the squat day, and I'll post here later this evening my results.

[Bruce Ware]

12/1 Session 27-1; squat intensity, deadlift volume, pressing assist

Squat --

Warm-ups: 45 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 2

Working set: 360 x 1; success; added back-off sets for volume -- 315 x 5 x 2; next week is back to 5RM, and I'll be going for 355.

Romanian Deadlift --

Warm-ups: 135 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3

Working sets: 325 x 4, 5, 5; grip slip in set 1, but I fixed it for sets 2 and 3.

Dips -- 8 x 3

Duration: 1h+05m

Completed session with Beefcake1 -- 3 supersets of push-ups (20, with weight vest at 10#), assisted pull-ups (8 at 135#), and LTEs (50# x 15).

Duration: 0h+15m