A Blessing in Disguise - Starting Over the Right Way with NLP

[ajlindahl]

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[Nikola Blagojevic]

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Thanks brother! Roaring into middle age...

[Nikola Blagojevic]

Monday 8/17
S - 355x5x3
P - 140x5x3
C - 170x3x5

Wednesday 8/19
S - 285x5x2
B - 210x5x3
U - 8,6,4,4,2

Friday
S - 360x5x3
P - 142x5x3
D - 395x5 <--- damn near passed out

Good week! I was traveling for work this week, so I was training in a big gym. It's true! All of it! Curls everywhere, dudes with no legs lined up to use the preacher curl thing, one guy doing half squats with 95. I'm looking forward to going back to my basement. Only thing I will miss is having enough overhead space to press - at home I have to be very careful to line up so the plates go between the floor joists.

[Nikola Blagojevic]

Monday 8/24
S - 365x5x3 <---resting 9 min
B - 212.5x5x3
C - 175x3x5

Wednesday 8/26
S - 295x5x2
P - 144x5x3
U - +25x5x3

Friday 8/28
S - 370x5, 345x5x2
B - 215x5x3
D - 405x5 <---4 plates!!

I feel like hammered fuck. Last week I started feeling like I was carrying Friday's fatigue into Monday and Monday's fatigue into Friday. 365x5x3 on Monday was tough - on video, reps 3-5 of every set slow to a near halt halfway up. I've started doing backoff sets at ~90% to let the fatigue dissipate a little and not get stuck. Presses are really hard right now too - I think NLP is coming to an end here soon.

[Nikola Blagojevic]

Monday 8/31
S - 375x5, 350x5x2
P - 146x5x3
C - 175x3x5 <--- I was planning to do 180, but I misloaded.

Wednesday 9/2
S - 300x5x2
B - 217.5x5x3
U - +27.5x5x3

Friday 9/4
S - 380x5, 355x5x2
P - 148x5x2, 148x3,1,1
D - 410x1x5

Fuuuuuuuuuuck. Not surprised that I had to break up the last set of presses; that's been happening. But 410 was brutal. The first rep was horrible, and the second just didn't go. I managed to pull singles, but holy shit that was hard.

Contributing factors - I haven't been sleeping that well this week, and today was my first day with my new plate set. I wonder if my new plates are a little heavy or if my old ones are a little light. Anyway, I'll give 410 another shot next week. I'm also going to ponder whether a programming change for pulls might be in order - I've been pulling on a straight Texas Method pattern for over a month now, and my power cleans are well short of 50% of my deadlift.

[Archon3D]

Hey man, this has been a great read! Thanks for chiming in on my log and I’m reminded here to review a couple sections of the blue book and PP

Also happy 33! I chuckled aloud at “middle age”... life is long, brother, you’re not at the middle yet

[Nikola Blagojevic]

Monday 9/7
S - 385x5, 360x5x2
B - 220x5x3
D - 365x5x2 <--- Adding some heavier pulling volume to drive my deadlift.

Wednesday 9/9
S - 310x5x2
P - 148x5x3
C - 180x3x5 <--- Using power cleans as a light day pull. Dropped chins.

Friday 9/11
S - 390x5
B - 225x5x3
D - 410x5 <--- Got it! Moving nicely.

I'm calling it. This is the end of my NLP. On video, my squats and deadlifts are slowing and grinding to a halt on reps 3-5. Bench is slowing significantly, and the press has been a fight for a little while now. It's probably just a little premature, but I'm not going to wait to start failing reps - I am starting to feel very beat up, and I think moving to intermediate programming is best.

So, in 16 weeks:
Squat - 185 to 390. 385 was my old, shaky, above parallel 1RM. On Monday I did it for a set of five.
Bench - 135 to 225. 225 was my old 1RM, and today I did it for fives across.
Press - 85 to 148. I had never had more than 130 on the bar.
Deadlift - 205 to 410. Most weight I had ever had in my hands before was 390 for an ugly 1RM.
Power clean - from nothing to 180.
Chins - not a ton of progress.

Going forward:
I am going to start the three day Texas Method next week. I think it will build strength and build character. I want to run it out to singles once, and then I will likely use those 1RMs to try one of Andy Baker's percentage based HLM templates. As Andy suggests, I will start conservatively and aim for 5 rep PRs in week 4. I will also be training the bench and the press for volume and intensity in the same week according to Nick Delgadillo's advice.

[Nikola Blagojevic]

See you guys on the other side! My intermediate log is here:
Harder to Kill - 5 Pounds at a Time

[Nikola Blagojevic]

I'm dusting off my NLP log to document my return to training.

How did I get here?
I had a run of intermediate programming that ended when I got the deadly, deadly virus the first week of January. Shortly after getting over it, I ended up in the hospital for a few days with blood clots in both lungs. My doctor strongly recommended a period of rest with a gradual ramp-up to normal activity. After a total of nine weeks out, I'm getting back under the bar.

The plan.
Between rest and illness, I'm seriously de-trained. I'm going to re-start NLP as if for the first time and take it as far as possible before returning to intermediate programming. I'm not planning a ramp-up to my previous weights because, given the circumstances, I assume my previous weights are irrelevant.

---

Monday 3/15
Squat.........225x5
Press..........115x5
Deadlift.......275x5

Warmed up to one conservative set on all three lifts. Even these weights were surprisingly challenging.

[David Hooper]

Great to see you're back in action!