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Thread: LP Reboot (starting in my basement)

  1. #1
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    Default LP Reboot (starting in my basement)

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    So, after spending months out of a gym messing around with high rep sets, I went ahead and tried some 5s and found my strength had dropped significantly. Since I've also been taking this time not being able to get stronger to trim some fat off, I decided I'd jump back into real strength training and amp up my diet out of a caloric deficit to support it. Being that I am working in my basement and cannot truly press without smashing a barbell up into the floor, I am instead doing a seated overhead press on the same bench I bench from, no back support utilized. I know this is an inferior exercise, but hauling a bar and plates upstairs through my house to either outside or my garage, then bringing them back when I'm done, will add intolerable length to my workouts. Not to mention, the risk exists of whacking out a chunk of drywall or something carrying a bar around. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to do this, as I have limited plates to put on my bars. I'm hoping by the time I hit up against that limitation I'll be able to make use of a gym again. Supposedly all the Gym owners gathering together to sue the state of New York has prompted the re-opening to get underway.

    Starting height/weight: 6'2"/247 pounds

    Old 5RM PRs from last year:
    Bench 200x5
    Deadlift 350x5
    Press 130x5
    Squat 285x5


    WEEK 1

    Monday, 8/10/2020

    Squat 195x5x3
    Seated Overhead Press 105x5x3
    Deadlift 245x5

    Wednesday 8/12/2020

    Squat 205x5x3
    Bench 170x5x3
    Deadlift 260x5

    Friday 8/14/2020

    Squat 215x5x3
    Seated Overhead Press 110x5x3
    Deadlift 275x5
    Last edited by CommanderFun; 08-17-2020 at 08:19 PM.

  2. #2
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    Welcome back, numbers are moving up fast!

  3. #3
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    Re-doing an LP myself. Looking forward to seeing what you end up putting up.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Schexnayder View Post
    Re-doing an LP myself. Looking forward to seeing what you end up putting up.
    Well, don't place too much faith in me just yet. I started very conservatively, basically taking preset jump increments from the empty bar weight with sets of 5 until the last rep or two started to slow down. So the weights I began with were not anywhere close to pushing against limits. The continued big jumps however, seem to have gotten me to that point this week.

  5. #5
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    WEEK 2

    Monday 8/17/2020

    Squat 225x5x3
    Bench 175x5x3
    Deadlift 290x5
    Pulldown 150x10x3

    Wednesday 8/19/2020

    Squat 235x5x3
    Seated Overhead Press 115x5x3
    Deadlift 300x5
    Pulldown 152.5x10x3

    Friday 8/21/2020

    Squat 245x5x3
    Bench 180x5x3
    Deadlift 310x5
    Pulldown 155x10x3

    So that's it for week 2. Given how this week went, I am probably gonna start slowing down for week 3. I might have more 5 pound jumps in my bench and my overhead presses, but I want to be careful not to overreach with the progress since I tend to run myself ragged without even realizing it.

    Definitely going to do 5 pound jumps for my squat next week. Left knee was real achey for the last workout of the week, and in general today I just felt really shitty. I overslept and felt exhausted throughout the workout.

    The 310 deadlift set also started to get a little grindy, so it's probably time to slow it up there too. The "gold standard" LP example in the grey book has power cleans rotated into the deadlift slot pretty early on while the deadlift is still going up by 10 every time it's worked. So I'm gonna start that rotation beginning monday next week. I don't think I'm gonna manage to jump it up by 10 three more times in one week. I might, but at that point I will definitely be grinding up against limit strength if I do.

    Given the overall fatigued feeling on Friday I'm gonna be turning up carbohydrates in the diet. Every meal will now have a piece of fruit added if it didn't already have one. This excludes breakfast, which is already pretty carb-heavy and kind of already has fruit in it courtesy of the orange juice.

    If anyone else has any ideas based on their own experiences, feel free to chime in.

  6. #6
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    Dead lift. I stuck to strict SS program for about 12 weeks, incorporating Power cleans at the appropriate time. We had slowed on Deads with single set up to 330 x 5. Then Covid. When we started up again we reset a little and then incorporated 2 back off sets. Since then we are at (355) 5, then (265) 5, 5. We have been putting up our working set up with relative ease and I am convinced it is due to our new back off sets. Power cleans just didn't do it for us.
    Just my experience.

  7. #7
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    I'll keep that in mind, I'm going to give cleaning a chance though.

  8. #8
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    WEEK 3

    Monday 8/24/2020

    Squat 250x5x3
    Seated Overhead Press 120x5x3
    Deadlift 320x5
    Pulldowns 157.5x10x3

    Wednesday 8/26/2020

    Squat 255x5x3
    Bench 185x5x3
    Deadlift 330x5
    Pulldowns 160x10x3

    Friday 8/28/2020

    Squat 260xx5x3
    Seated Overhead Press 125x5x2, 125x2, 125x4
    Deadlift 340x5
    Pulldowns 162.5x10x3

    I should have fucking listened to my first instinct last week and started to slow things down more this week. The 340 deadlift today was a barely accomplished lift. I switched to hook grip since the set of 330 wednesday saw the bar barely hanging from the fingers of my left hand. I feel like I am starting to lose form and my back rounding over or something, the deadlift just doesn't feel "tight" like it did when it was a bit lighter. I think it's because my grip keeps going. Even with the hook grip, it's just slipping. Yes, I am using chalk, chalking the fuck out of the thumbs and thumbnails too. But after rep 3 or so the tension holding the hook grip together starts giving out and slipping. I think it might be because my basement is so fucking hot. I have no climate control to speak of down there. Once the grip starts going, it's like the back just starts slackening and I have no say in the matter. I almost didn't even get a work set today. I fucked up because I was such an irritated, sweaty mess and I actually forgot to load up the bar after my last warm up. Thankfully I came to this realization later at dinner, and came home and did my 340. I am running low on plates though, Got my 2 50s and my 6 25s, and now I'm just stacking 10s on top of those because I have nothing larger to work with. Man, fuck Andrew Cuomo, fuck his dipshit brother Fredo (I'm part Italian, and that is NOT "like the n-word to us", it's an insult that even Italians will use for people who remind them of Fredo), and fuck their stupid father that Andy decided to sneak in changing the name of a bridge for on a critical budget bill.

    Bench went alright, granted it was only one workout this week. Still managed to bump it up by 5 and do all my sets without things getting ugly.

    Squats I stopped going up by 10s and switched to 5s. Good call. I was even debating the light day in the middle but decided against it for now. Left knee is still bothering me a bit but it's getting better. Went smooth even on today's 260 sets. I was pondering foregoing adding the belt until I got past bodyweight (which is currently something like 265), but my back was starting to teeter a bit so I played it safe.

    Seated overhead press I think I shouldn't slowed to 2.5 jumps. Friday was odd, I hit the first two sets, though the last rep of both was more of a slow grind (probably 3 seconds or so). I tried an experiment and added the belt on the third set. I only managed 2 reps. Took it off, waited a minute and a half, and did 3 more reps plus 1 more for good measure. I'm not sure what to make of those results. The belt was definitely an improvement when I used it for the true standing version of the press, but seated it borked me up. I wonder if I've been doing something weird with my back alignment to cheat the lift, like going into overextension. The last rep of one of the first two sets it felt like I had almost locked the bar out like a snatch with a narrower grip.

    General issues are my knee still is bothering me, and also my left elbow has been pissing me off after squats now. It seems almost like every session it's alternating between tennis and golfer's elbow.

  9. #9
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    WEEK 4

    Monday 8/31/2020

    Squat 265x5x3
    Bench 190x5x3
    Power Clean 145x3x5
    Pulldowns 165x10x3

    Wednesday 9/2/2020

    Squat 270x5x3
    Seated Overhead Press 125x5x3
    Deadlift 340x5
    Pulldowns 167.5x10x3

    Friday 9/4/2020

    Squat 275x5x3
    Bench 195x5x3
    Power Clean 125x3x5
    Pulldowns 170x10x3

    So, I repeated some weights this week. 340 was slipping last week, so the deadlift session this week I repeated it, used my liquid chalk instead of my cheapo dick's sporting goods chalk and everything held up. It was heavy but there were no kinks I noticed. 350 to come on monday.

    Rotated in Power Cleans this week. I managed to get the start weight up to 145, but it was sloppy as hell and I missed a rep in one of the last sets. It was pretty clearly a limit weight or close to it partway through, so on friday I went with the weight before I jumped up to that, 125. I'll bump it up by 10 in the next 2 sessions back up to 145, and I'll see where to go from there when I get it. I do feel a weird strain in the joints from my shoulders all the way down the arms. For now, I'm ignoring it and pushing through. Maybe it'll fuck off once I get more accustomed to the lift.

    Squats I was really pushing it this week. Had some real head popper reps, especially Friday. No elbow issues, which is awesome. Little bit of shoulder pain, but nothing debilitating. Left knee is still having a hell of a time. Seems to be getting worse. I am tending to avoid putting weight on it in normal everyday movement. Walking is still fine, but getting up from seated positions and such I naturally only push off with my right leg. Don't know what's going on here, I'm beginning to suspect a leg length discrepancy. I think my right might actually be shorter. It's hard to measure on my own. I need the light day regardless. Pace is too fast at this point. Maybe the light day will help alleviate the knee problem.

    Bench went great! I'm on track to do my old 5RM PR of 200 for 3 sets of 5 on next wednesday! Good stuff.

    Repeated my last overhead press weight since I got a rep fail last time. Went alright. Need to remember to path it uncomfortably close to my face and get under that bar as soon as it passes the head.Not sure if 130 is gonna work out on monday, but I'll give it a go nonetheless.

    Pulldowns got real grindy by Friday, probably time for some kind of programming change. I'll probably start only doing them on the deadlift days for a change of pace. I might also bring the reps down to 8 and maybe bump the set count to 4.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    WEEK 5

    Monday 9/7/2020

    Squat 280x5,280x1
    Seated Overhead Press 130x5x3

    Wednesday 9/9/2020

    Squat 250x5
    Bench 180x5
    Deadlift 310x5
    Pulldowns 155x10

    Friday 9/11/2020

    Squat 260x5
    Seated Overhead Press 120x5
    Power Clean 115x3
    Pulldown 160x10

    Came down with some kind of illness this week. Monday I woke up with a sore throat, assumed I had been snoring or something. Workout was a bit of a disaster. Hit my first squat set and the fatigue had built up a ton and wasn't close to dissipated after even a 5 minute rest, which is more than I've been doing leading up to this. I tried a second set, and came out of the hole very wobbly and off balance. Made the executive decision to terminate squats after that. If I can't stay balanced under my squats I know what comes next is gonna be a back tweak or worse. I DID manage to do a PR for my overhead press. Thankfully they drain so little energy that they weren't an issue. But my mood was so down and I was feeling shaky and worn out, so I stopped after that. The day after, I woke up with nasty congestion, and it became pretty obvious I'm combatting some kind of illness. So the following two workouts of the week I decided to slash the volume a bunch and the intensity by a little. I don't like laying off unless I absolutely have to, and firing up the machinery a little bit felt good regardless. Going to play it by ear come Monday. The bug's losing steam as of Friday, so hopefully I'll be able to do a more full workout then.

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