Just came here to brag

[tiny&mighty]

Thanks for not judging me for looking forward to that cubicle job haha. I really enjoy my current unit (a training establishment), but with COVID, I am fed up with the ever-spinning circus of finding temporary solutions to temporary problems. And the drama, the constant drama... Moving to a strategic HQ will be a welcome change of scenery. In the meantime though, I have many loose ends to tie to set up my replacement for success.

[Bill Anders]

No judgment. I do know that the change of pace and faces is often very welcome.

But forgive me if I laugh a bit that you think that those issues in your training environment won't exist in the HQ. Here is one of our favorite signs to have posted in a cubicle:

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Regardless, definitely lay that foundation for your replacement, look forward to the change of pace, and get in the lifts when you can.

[tiny&mighty]

Love it, haha!

This weekend, another OC asked me whether we should do something about a trainee who set up an inflatable pool by the shacks. I just couldn't help but wonder how he managed to fill the damn thing. That's the kind of "problems" I am looking forward to not have anymore ;-)

[Bill Anders]

Haha, those are the things that I actually miss. When they're sitting in front of you and you prod them with "So, please describe to me that exact moment when it flashed in your mind that this was a good idea."

Although it is really hard to schedule a day around those moments.

[tiny&mighty]

BW hovering between 116 and 117 lbs. I know that it sounds silly to care about a pound or two, but at my height, it is quite noticeable.


Wednesday 19 May
- Reattempted 170 lbs on Wednesday, but I am starting to think that Wednesday is just a bad day to train. Missed one rep on set 5. All sets with the high-bar position.
- Press: 4, 4, 4, 3, 4 at 76 lbs.
- Clean: 5 sets of 3 at 70 lbs.

Saturday 22 May

- I took a light day, squatting 150 lbs for 2 sets of 5, all low bar.
- Bench pressed 107 lbs for 5 sets of 3.
- Deadlift - goal was 3 triples at 195 lbs. Failed the last rep of set 3. Reattempted with another set, wearing straps to figure out whether this was a strength thing, or a grip thing. Straps didn't help. Got 2 reps before the bar felt welded to the ground again. Here is how set 1 looked like Deadlift 195 lbs - YouTube. I think the first 2 reps look good, but my bar path and back angle went south on the last rep. Will reattempt with the same weight on my next deadlift workout. I think I should have taken an extra day of rest before doing that workout. I was ridiculously tired on Thursday and Friday, and have been frequently dizzy. My iron is probably too low again, so I will resume supplementation (I hate taking supplements).
- Snatch: 15 singles at 52.5 lbs.

Today

- Squat. Finally managed to squat 170 lbs for 5 sets of 3, in the LOW-BAR position. Here is my last set (sharing the joy): Low-bar squat, 170 lbs, set 5 - YouTube. I know my grip is not ideal but that was the best I could achieve today. This is a considerable improvement; I guess the light squats have loosened me up a bit. I think it is the very first time that I manage to do all my work sets in the low-bar position. Very happy about that! Thanks for encouraging me not to give up!
- Press: 3, 3, 4, 4, 4 at 77 lbs. Groove was off today. I could not seem to get the timing right, but the bar went up anyway, so I am just gonna be grateful that I got away with it. Here is my last set: Press, 77 lbs, set 5 - YouTube.
- Clean: 5 sets of 3 at 72.5 lbs. Going well besides the fact that I kept smashing the sternal end of my left clavicle. Somebody even asked me "if everything was okay at home"... Here is my last set: Clean, 72.5 lbs, set 5 - YouTube

And that is it. So, bottom line, my new PRs are:

Squat - 5 sets of 3 at 170 lbs
Press - 3, 3, 4, 4, 4 at 77 lbs
Bench - 5 sets of 3 at 107 lbs
Deadlift - 3, 3, 2 at 195 lbs

[David Hooper]

Good stuff! Glad to hear the low-bar worked for you. :-)

Does the slope of your driveway mess with your cleans? My first thought was that it could be the culprit behind your left clavicle bruising, but I have no earthly way of knowing.

[tiny&mighty]

Good stuff! Glad to hear the low-bar worked for you. :-)

Does the slope of your driveway mess with your cleans? My first thought was that it could be the culprit behind your left clavicle bruising, but I have no earthly way of knowing.

Excellent point, and entirely possible! I will try to set up the other way next time!

[tiny&mighty]

So it has been a while... Long story short, I moved this summer. From packing at the old place to getting settled in the new place, it should have been a month-long ordeal. But once my stuff ended up on the moving truck, it took six weeks until it showed up at the new place (instead of the expected 2-3 days stated in the "contract"). Anyhow, I had a layoff of about two months, from the end of June until the end au August. The good news is that I now have a pretty awesome home gym, and a much better work-life balance (paid more to work less).

I restarted with a significant reset of about 30%. I worked through some issues with my squat and deadlift. Here are my current numbers as of Thursday:

Squat: 5 sets of 3 at 190 lbs
Bench: 5 sets of 5 at 115 lbs
Press: 3 sets of 5 at 76 lbs (strict)
Deadlift: 2 sets of 3 at 200 lbs
Clean: 5 sets of 3 at 70 lbs

And I did manage to gain 5 lbs as recommended by Rip in May. It took a while, but I now weigh just over 122 lbs.

My squat has seen an almost miraculous progression since my resuming training, perhaps thanks to improvements in my form. But it is getting extremely heavy and quite taxing. So far I have been doing the standard NLP, training every other day and taking an extra day off when I feel I need it or when life gets in the way. This works better for me than training on a set three-days-a-week basis. I think I have reached the point of using a light-squat day on deadlift days. My deadlift has not been progressing as well as my squat; perhaps lighter squats on deadlift days will help with that. I also have some form issues to work on (I recently had a light-bulb moment thanks to Pete Troupos), and it is really hard to properly focus on them with over 180 lbs on my back. Also, using sets of triples dramatically increases the duration of my training sessions. By the time I get to the deadlift, I have been training for over an hour and I am already quite tired. So light squat day it is, starting this afternoon.

I have been quite aggressive with my bench press, sticking to 2.5 lbs increment since resuming training at about 85 lbs. I was hoping that this may help get past the point where I last stalled on the overhead press in June (78 lbs). During my last three bench press workouts, every rep felt like a leap of faith, so it is probably time to use smaller increments to keep progressing. What also helped with the bench press is that I now have an actual power rack, and my husband built a little step so that my feet are well grounded when bench pressing.

I have been very conservative with the press to avoid the hard stall I experienced last spring. While sticking to strict form, I am still able to do sets of 5 at 76 lbs. My PR was a double at 78 lbs. Then I experienced regression until my move happened. I am waiting to switch to the press 2.0, hoping that it will give me an edge once progress on the strict press starts to slow down.

The biggest surprise comes from the deadlift. Unlike the squat, I just got back to where I was a week ago. I am not sure was is the deal here, hence my decision to implement a light-squat day.

I just got back to cleans and snatches. I had to stop for a little while to avoid aggravating something that was going on with my ankle. Looking back, it was probably just another lovely manifestation of my RA, which normally prefers my smaller joints (right now my thumbs and pinky fingers are under siege). Having done my PT test a few weeks ago, I have reintegrated the Olympic lifts, but I struggle with their programming. My workouts are taking a long time and strength on the main lifts remains my priority. By the time I get to the snatch, I have no energy or focus left.

I am therefore contemplating a four-day split in the foreseeable future. This would enable my to decrease squat frequency (there are draining the life out of me), and to press more often, which I think I need to achieve next-level progress. My workouts would be shorter and I assume it would be easier to add snatches and perhaps chin-ups to the mix. Moreover, this would enable me to train twice during the weekend, when I typically perform better than after work during the week. If and when that time comes, I will probably hire a SS coach to help with that shift in programming. In the meantime, I will just stick with the NLP and see what happens with a light-squat day.

[David Hooper]

Welcome back!

Gotta love military moves. It sometimes seems like the one place in the military where 'punctual' just isn't a thing.

FWIW, I really appreciate light squats on deadlift days, for basically all the reasons you're considering them. Also, for both the bench and the press, I learned the hard way that it's okay to move them to intermediate programming once they begin to stall. Both Bill Anders and I switched recently, albeit with slightly different routines. I wish I had made that move a couple months earlier.

[tiny&mighty]

Well this was my 5th moved since 2011, and I have never seen anything like this. The moving companies were dealing with a shortage of drivers... and of course DND still decided to relocate everybody at the same time. Many people had it way worse than I did, especially those with young children.

For your programming, did you and Bill just changed your routines yourselves or did you get some help from a SS coach? I don't want to screw this up and set myself back.