Dillon's Re-Starting Strength Log

[Dillon Spencer]

6/5/19
Light squats 255x5x2
Press 147.5x5x3
Deadlift 380x5x1

Light squats are the best. Press keeps going up smoothly. Had to talk myself out of another 10 lbs jump on the deadlift. Really want to catch up to my previous 5PR, and hopefully make it to 405x5 on this run at LP. Went with the 5 lbs jump, and it was a bit of a chore. Lockout might have been a bit soft on the last rep. Previously I was deadlifting heavy once per week, and now I'm at 1.5x per week at weights that are pretty close to PRs. Recovery might be becoming an issue. Probably going to have to switch things up a bit soon. The standard LP protocol would call for alternating deads/PC for workout A, and doing chins for workout B. I like the idea of chinning every other workout, but don't love the dramatic reduction in deadlift frequency. My other idea is to make my pulls the first lift to go HLM, and power clean on Monday, deadlift heavy Wednesday (cuz light squats), and do 80%x5x2 on Friday. I was making good progress with the volume/intensity deadlift set up before. Food for thought!

[Dillon Spencer]

6/7/19
Squats 330x5x3
Bench 217.5x5x3

Abbreviated workout today, because I've gotta get to the bar in time to secure a table to watch the Raptors (hopefully) curb stomp the Warriors again! My girlfriend plans to hit the gym tomorrow anyways, so I'll just go with her (she's kind enough to let me coach her) and do my actual power clean workout then instead of my usual Saturday practice session. Today was another sets across PR on squats, and tied my bench PR. Both were challenging, but manageable. Getting optimistic that I might bench 225x5 on this run of LP, which has thus far eluded me. Whenever I've gotten close I've hit some kind of set back. Think I'll make it my bitch in a couple of weeks! Fingers crossed!

[Dillon Spencer]

6/8/19
Power cleans 142.5x3x5 Video
Neutral chins 3x10

Just finishing off what should have been yesterday's workout. The NBA finals are wreaking with my workout schedule! Had to split up my Friday workout, and my plans to watch tomorrow's game will preclude hitting my Monday workout. Might end up being a two workout week next week, but I'll survive.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Looks like Canada's going to win the NBA for the first time ever, huh? Cool stuff.

I'm excited for your progress. Looks like this LP is doing you well.

[Dillon Spencer]

Looks like Canada's going to win the NBA for the first time ever, huh? Cool stuff.

I'm excited for your progress. Looks like this LP is doing you well.

Looking that way, even if Monday night wasn't the night! What's more, no major Toronto team has been in a finals since '93, so this is pretty cool indeed. Unless you care about CFL football or MLS soccer... Here's hoping they close it out tonight!

And yup this round of LP continues to serve me well. Getting back into PR country!

6/12/19
Light squats 260x5x3
Press 150x5x3 Video
Deadlift 385x5x1

So I missed Monday cuz basketball. Didn't technically need this to be a light day, but figured it was easier to keep the schedule intact. Was good because I ended up sharing a rack with my girlfriend, so I had to unrack from her hobbit height J hooks. Was really more like sets of 5.5. Would have been a much bigger problem for heavy squats. Presses were just 2.5 lbs off a PR, and moved just fine. Pretty confident I'll get at least a couple of PRs on all lifts during this run (yes, I'm counting my sets across PRs on squats.) Deads were 10 lbs off a PR. My missed workout kind of spared me from deciding what, if anything, to do with the deadlift programming. It's a next week problem.

[Dillon Spencer]

We the North! We the North! K this is the last workout to be fucked with by basketball. Was running on about four hours sleep, so I'm surprised it went so well.

6/14/19
Squats 335x5x3 (Sets across PR)
Bench 220x5x3 (5PR)
Power cleans 150x3x5

Squats moved really well, and I'm only 20 lbs away from my all time best fahve. Haven't even had to switch to top set and back offs yet. Really excited to see if I'll get there on this run. This was just a straight up bench PR. Definitely going to make it to two plates, and quite possibly beyond before I have to go back to intermediate programming. As per some suggestions after a form check, I took a bigger jump on my power cleans and focused on really jumping and stomping hard. These all racked easily, so I'll keep making some 5 lbs jumps. Think my form was passable. Jumped early a few times. Last two sets weren't awesome, but I was rushing my rest times because I was running out of time.

[Dillon Spencer]

6/15/19
Chins 30x5x5
Curls whatever x whatever x whatever

My girlfriend wanted to go to the gym yesterday, so I just did my weighted chins and fucked about with some curls while she finished her workout.

[Dillon Spencer]

6/17/19
Squats 340x5x3 (Sets across PR)
Press 152.5x5x3
Deadlift 390x5x1 Video

Another sets across PR for squats. Got a bit grindy but never in doubt. Looking forward to light day! Skimmed back through my log today, and unless I missed something this ties a press PR. Also a bit grindy, but feel like there's still a couple of PRs there to grab. Wasn't sure how deadlifting would go after a heavy squat day, seeing as how this is only 5 lbs off a PR. Last time I did it, it was the first lift of the workout, before my volume squats. Tough but never in doubt. Think I'll stick with the schedule this week, and reevaluate after Friday. Either way, almost at the four plates for fahve!

[Dillon Spencer]

6/19/19
Light squats 265x5x2
Bench 222.5x5x3 (5PR)
Power cleans 155x3x5

Another bench PR! Two plates shall fall next bench day. Or... not fall... Descend under control and then go back up five times I guess. Power cleans were interesting. First three sets went fine, and the last two felt like I've never power cleaned before in my life. I was doing everything wrong. Set four was the worst. Don't know if I was just getting tired, or lost focus, or what, but they felt like absolute trash. I'm going to repeat it, because this was not okay.

[Adam Gottstein]

Awesome job on the PRs, and looking forward to the 225 bench. Having never been there myself, I completely understand how exciting that is. As said before, it looks like this NLP rerun is being good to you.