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Thread: 35, and getting Stronger (almost) Every Day

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    21

    Default Weeks 9-11. 2019.11.09 - 2019.11.28.

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    • starting strength seminar august 2024
    Overdue update, which will condense three weeks' numbers into one post. Bodyweight increases from approx 192-195lbs during this time. Also during this time there is:
    + travel for work
    + some time being sick (but no missed workouts)
    + time when children (7, 4, 2) are sick and not sleeping, which is far worse than me being sick when it comes to sleep/recovery
    + the birth of our fourth child on Nov 22! That makes Boy(7), Girl(4), Girl(2), Girl(infant) in our house. This is wonderful. It's also another limiting factor on what was already very limited recovery resources to work with.

    Obviously, these are not ideal LP factors. But - they are, for me - ideal life factors. AND - here's kind of the point of my whole thread - I couldn't be happier with the way a slow-but-steady LP is fitting in with and enriching an otherwise full life. I'm happy to run a long and slow LP. I go up in fives when recovery allows for increases. I love interspersing some volume work with the 5x3 PRs because it both a) helps to manage recovery; and b) gives some much-needed practice on the lifts as well.

    Lots of numbers to enter, so let's get started.

    Saturday Nov 9
    Squat: 195x6x3 [Tapering out of last months' volume/form practice.]
    Bench: 163x5x3 [3rd PR in 2 weeks. Very happy with bench these days. Kind of slipping upwards on my too-smooth bench due to improving leg drive. Will be experimenting with stretching some bands down the length of the bench to improve traction.]
    Deadlift: 265x5 [Matched a previous PR, but with a better set low back this time.]
    Pullups: 6@3 / 7@4 / 5@4

    Monday
    Squat: 205x5x3 [now happy enough with form to finally settle back into 3x5 increases from here]
    Press: 108x5x3 [PR, but really pushing form to get that final rep up]
    Deadlift: 205x5, 240x6 [Not normally a deadlift day, but travelling for the rest of the week so some lighter volume included today]

    Wednesday]
    Full-body dumbbell workout in hotel 'fitness centre'. Revenge of the DOMS. Nice pump though lol


    Saturday Nov 16
    Squat: 210x5x3
    Bench: 168x5x3 [PR, but with form break-down in the third set]
    Deadlift: 270x5 [PR]
    Pullups: 6@3 / 6@3 / 7@4

    Monday
    Squat: 210x5x3 [Repeat. Difficult. Short workout time on minimal sleep.]
    Press: 110x3 / 105x5x2 [First time attempting 110 today]

    Wednesday
    Squat: 215x5x3 [Form improving every workout. Tied previous PR]
    Bench: 170x5 / 170x5 / 170x3 [First time attempting 170. Good session]
    Deadlift: 280x5. [Double-overhand. Definitely running into some grip limitations at this weight, bar rolling.]
    Pull-ups: 7@3 / 7@3 / 6@3


    Saturday Nov 23 (If you're paying close attention, this would be the morning after our 4th child was born. Celebratory PRs to follow.)
    Squat: 220x5x3 [PR. Felt...so...heavy. Also so good. Form stabilizing. Finally progressing.]
    Bench: 170x5x3 [PR.]
    Deadlift: none. Absolutely wiped after squats today.
    Chins: 7 / 5 / 4 unassisted.

    Monday
    Squat: 205x6 / 205x5 / 205x5 [Recovering from last workout, leaving some room for deads today.]
    Press: 105x5x3 [Progress slow here due to some missed Thursday pressing sessions. Won't miss this Thursday]
    Deadlift: 280x5.

    Wednesday weight this morning: 194lbs
    Squat: 225x5x3 [PR. Went up surprisingly easy. Nice.]
    Bench: 195x1 / 180x1 / 165x5 / 145x10 [Heavy single + volume day. Benched my current weight for the first time in my life. The single at 180 makes no sense because it was actually a mis-load, but for good or bad I'm recording all numbers with brutal honesty here.]
    RDL: 135x8x3 [First time doing RDLS with barbell. Accumulated substantial low-back + grip fatigue from these.]

    Thursday
    Press: 95x8x3 [I think this is a tonnage PR. Good to finally give some love to this challenging lift. I'll be giving 110 another run next week.]


    NOTES
    Big breakthroughs in Squat technique during these weeks. Felt out sitting my hips back more to keep the bar bath much more vertical. The heavy-feeling set at 220 was the first time I thought I might die lifting weights. I had burst blood vessels all over my face & neck from the effort. To fight through that and then have the bench-markish number of 225 go up like butter 5 days later was eye-opening. N.B., I will always remember the day I first squatted 225 because I literally squatted out of my pants in order to do it. I normally lift in shorts, but was wearing what I thought was a comfortably loose pair of pajama pants that day. My ever-improving form must've done such a good job of maintaining tension throughout my posterior chain that the weakest link in said chain (e.g., the ass of my pants) was forced to rapidly adapt. It did so by ripping out progressively on each of five reps, so that by the end of the set I was exposed all the way down to my calves. Home gyms, everybody - I'm honestly not sure if I would've stopped the set short if there were other people around. But I'm thankful I didn't have to find out.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Posts
    168

    Default

    Great progress!

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    21

    Default Weeks 12-13. 2019-11-30 thru 2019-12-12

    starting strength coach development program
    Saturday Nov 30
    Squat: 195x8x3 [no belt. I find that if I try to PR squats on days where a deadlift PR is coming later, there isn't enough in the tank for the deads. So - for the next little while - Squats get volume sets (w/o belt) on Saturday, and Saturdays are Deadlift PR days.]
    Bench: 173x5 / 173x5 / 165x5 [Form was a mess at the end of the second set. Backed off for the third]
    Deadlift: 290x5 [Hook grip, no belt]
    Pullups: 4@1 / 5@3 [Only 2 sets - was wiped by this point, called it quits]

    Monday
    Squat: 230x5x3 [PR. With belt]
    Press: 110x4 / 110x5 / 110x4
    Bench: 150x10 / 150x8 / 150x7

    Wednesday
    Squat: 235x5x3 [PR. Belt]
    Bench: 173x5x3 [PR. Form breaking on final rep]
    Deadlift: 270x5x2 [No belt, working on overhand grip, held lockout on final rep for 10s]

    Thursday
    Press: 110x4 / 105x5 / 105x5
    Chins: 6 / 8 / 6 unassisted


    Saturday Dec 7
    Squat: 200x8x3 [no belt]
    Bench: 175x5 / 175x5 / 175x4
    Deadlift: 295x5 [PR. Belt, hook grip]

    Monday
    Squat: 240x1 / 230x5x3 [Belt. Warmups were off, was distracted, etc. Failed the 2nd rep at 240. First time failing a squat rep! Not great]
    Press: 110x5x3 [PR, first one on press for a long time. Unsurprisingly, it comes after a week where I got my Thursday presses in]
    Pullups: 4 / 5@1 / 4@1

    Wednesday
    Squat: 235x5x3 [Belt.]
    Bench: 175x4 / 175x5 / 175x5 [Argh. Didn't have my game face on for the first set. Still stuck at 175. Glad I didn't back off on weight though.]
    Deadlift: 270x6 / 270x5 [Overhand grip, no belt]


    NOTES
    - The 295 deadlift was the first time that the bar just didn't want to move for me. I had to set up tighter, pull more slack out of the bar than ever before, set my back harder, and then commit to pulling for a second before the bar broke off the floor. I'm pretty sure doing this today taught me more about setting up to pull a deadlift than every rep combined up until this point. Bloody thumbs? Who cares!? I was euphoric after this set.
    - I had long been dreading the day when I would stuck under a squat. Didn't expect it to be on the second rep, though. The good news is, I'm still living. Both the fail at 240 and the missed first set of Bench on Wednesday tell the story that I'm not always getting in the right headspace before worksets. Need to work on that. Gripping the bar like I'm holding a grudge against it usually does the trick for bench.
    - Permanently moving my pull-ups and chins to the end of Monday/Thursday workouts, which are my lighter days w/o deadlifts. Seems like a no-brainer now that I think about it.
    - Thanks to Travis for the encouragement.

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