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Thread: Chicago VI, Track 10

  1. #1
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    Default Chicago VI, Track 10

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    Basic stats:
    58 years old, 5'10", 218 lbs (varies)

    Been at this for going on five years. Had some setbacks such as torn adductors, a relatively mild shoulder tweak, and a painful back tweak two years ago that is still affecting me a bit. Due to injury, work, vacations, family and lack of motivation, I've not been able to string together an extended period of consistent workouts until recently. At the end of June I started an LP and worked that through the middle of August to:

    (wgt x reps x sets)

    Squat: 340 x 5 x 3
    Bench: 195 x 5 x 3
    Press: 145 x 5 x 3
    Deadlift: 405 x 5

    I was having recovery issues and feeling beat up in general so I switched to an old favorite of mine, the HLM Basic Cycling Routine, Example 24-16 in BBRx. I've modified it by replacing the power snatch and power clean with chins and LTEs and switching the deadlift to the medium day. I also am moving into the heavy squats slowly by doing one set of 5 the first week, two sets the second week and then the prescribed three the third week. I take two days off between workouts and try to get a Prowler workout in at least once a week. Had a coaching session with Robert Santana in July to clean up form a bit as well.

    First week:

    Heavy day, 8/15
    BW: 218 lbs
    Squats: 345 x 5
    Bench: 200 x 5 x 3
    Chins, 10, 8, 6

    Light day, 8/18
    Squats: 310 x 5 (90% of heavy)
    Press: 150 x 5 x 3
    Deadlift: 425 x 5

    Medium day, 8/21
    Squats: 325 x 5 x 2
    Bench: 180 x 5 x 2 (90% 0f heavy)
    LTE: 85 x 8 x 2

    Second week:

    Heavy day, 8/25
    Squats: 345 x 5 x 2
    Bench: 210 x 3 x 3
    Chins: 10, 8, 5

    Just getting started, but feels pretty good, much better than trying to wring more gains out of LP. If my schedule allows and I don't hurt myself between now and then, I'm going to enter the Fall Classic here in Phoenix next month and try and better my results from 2016.
    Last edited by Jr_Geezer; 08-25-2019 at 09:33 PM. Reason: Corrected date for last Fall Classic from 2014 to 2016

  2. #2
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    Prowler day

    6 cycles in 30 minutes. Basically do laps until heart rate gets somewhere in the 140 range, then rest until it gets below 110. My Fitbit tells me I had a 123 average heart rate with a peak of 151.

  3. #3
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    8/28, Week 2 Light day

    I look forward to light days, realizing I just have to do one set of squats.

    My employer partially subsidizes a membership at a gym a three-minute drive from the office, so I take advantage of that when I can fit a lunch-time workout in. I knew I wouldn't have time for the whole workout, so I just did squats and presses, saving the deadlift for my "home" gym.

    Squat: 310 x 5
    Press: 155 x 3 x 3
    DL: 435 x 3


    I wasn't really confident about the press, as the weight is approaching my all time PR of 160, but they went up surprisingly well. I did them before the squats as I wanted to be as fresh as possible for them, just spent a few minutes on the C2 to loosen and warm up a bit. My right lateral quad has felt tight ever since my back tweak two years ago. I must have kept the legs very tight during the reps as I literally could not bend my right leg for 5-6 seconds after racking the bar. Weird feeling, but no lasting effect.

    Squats felt solid with good bar speed, as they should on a light day.

    Deadlifts in the evening felt rock solid, best they have in a while. The gym apparently has an issue with some people dropping their deadlifts. I'm not sure how big a problem that really is as I hardly ever see anyone else deadlifting and when they do, they are almost always touch-and-go's (which may be what the complaints are actually about). The previous time I did deadlifts there, I was requested to use some pads under the weights. I agreed under protest, trying to be a good gym member. Never again. Raised the bar an inch or so and when setting it back down, the bar always seemed to drift away from where it should be. It's not good to be uncomfortable with the bar position when pulling more than four plates. No staff members were around to bother me last night but I plan to talk to the floor manager about the policy the next time I see her.

  4. #4
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    8/31, Saturday, Week 2 Medium day

    Squats: 325x5x2
    Bench: 185x5x2
    LTE: Bar+70x3 Standard EZ Curl bar, not sure of its actual weight.

    9/2, Tuesday, Week 3 Heavy day

    Squats: 345x5x3
    Bench: 220x1x3
    Chins: 11, 9, 6

    I was pleased with the heavy day workout. I had told myself if the squats went well and I didn't tear an adductor, I would sign up for the Fall Classic happening here in Phoenix on the 21st, so I'll be doing that soon.
    Bench went surprisingly well, probably could have done 225 for those singles but I want to stay a bit more conservative with weight jumps. Chins improved by one rep for each set, which is also a good sign. Next big test is Friday's planned 445 DL for a single.

  5. #5
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    9/6, Friday, Week 3 Light day

    Squats: 310x5x1
    Press: 152.5x5,5,4
    DL: 445x1

    Last reps of each of the press sets were grinders, 5th rep of last set barely got to my forehead, didn't have a chance to grind, it just came down. Not sure if that was due to poor sleep, not enough food that morning or if I should have just gone to 151 instead of 152.5.
    DL still feeling solid.

  6. #6
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    Little catching up to do.

    9/9, Monday, Week 3 Medium day

    Squats: 325x5x2
    Bench: 185x5x2
    LTE: Bar+75x8x3

    9/12, Thursday, Heavy day
    Because I eased the squats into this HLM program, they got offset from the 3-week schedule of the other lifts. I decided to consider the last squat heavy day as Week 1, while for the other lifts it was week 3, so this is Week 2 Heavy Day for the squats and Week 1 Heavy day for the bench. Press is aligned with the squat because it just goes between 5 and 3 reps while other lifts go through 1, 3 and 5 reps. I figured the upcoming Fall Classic will mess up my schedule anyway and I'll synchronize everything after.

    Squats: 335x3x3
    Bench: 196.5x5 (because I can't add), 202.5x5x2
    Chins: 11, 9, 7

    9/15, Sunday, Light day

    Week 2 light Squats: 310x5
    Week 2 Press: 157.5x3x3
    Week 1 DL: 435x5

    Everything's feeling pretty good. Press is near my all time PR of 160x3x3. I hope to do 165 at the meet.

  7. #7
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    9/18, Wednesday, last workout before meet

    Worked up to what I'm thinking will be my openers on Saturday (on a tip from Jeff Brophy in another one of my threads).

    Squat: 335 x 1
    Press: 150 x 1
    DL: 415 x 1

    Just noticed I put in the wrong weights for my last heavy day (9/12). Should be 355x3x3, not 335x3x3.

    Hopefully my next entry will be good news about the meet, not about a torn adductor or tweaked back! :-)

  8. #8
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    Looking strong! Hope you have a great meet. Keep up the solid work.

  9. #9
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    So, pretty successful meet, 9 for 9, no injuries. :-)

    Squat: 370 (post-injury PR)
    Press: 176 (16 lb all time PR)
    Deadlift: (Drumroll, please) 500.4 lbs/227kg (15 lb all time PR)

    Definitely could have gone heavier with squat and probably press, played it too conservatively, but went for broke for the DL. Came in first in Open Masters out of three competitors using McCulloch age coefficients (and actually second overall using that coefficient).

    Thanks to Coach Santana for pushing me to go for the 500-lb deadlift. Fun meet, very supportive crowd.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    Nice job! How many meets have you participated in?

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