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  1. #51
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    Quote Originally Posted by tiny&mighty View Post
    Sooo... My bad wrist acted out for about a week and temporarily suspended my NLP. I could not do back squats or any movement involving a wrist flexion or a thumb-around grip. I resorted to some light front squats with my arms crossed, and to light deadlifts with the monkey grip. Pressing was completely out of the question.

    I resumed my NLP today. I kept my squat at the same weight than last time; it felt pretty good overall, especially the bar speed. The wrist protested quite a bit, so I stuck with high-bar squats.

    For the press, I added my usual 1 lb; I also added 2.5 lbs to the deadlift.

    Squat - 5 sets of 3 at 162.5 lbs; I expect my progress to stall pretty soon on this one.
    Press - 3 sets of 5 at 72 lbs; very though but I made it. I hope I can make it to 75 lbs before switching to triples.
    Deadlift - 4 sets of 3 at 187.5 lbs; I did an extra set to get a better video of my bar path and back extension (still working on that).

    I then practiced my power clean and my snatch, adding 5 lbs to my previous weight (now at a whopping 50 lbs). Form is improving and adding weight seems to be helping with the timing and the catch.
    Well, that's a mixed bag. But you're still progressing! Hopefully the wrist issue gets sorted out soon, especially since the arms-crossed front squat just isn't fun (I like front squats, just not that grip).

    For your squats, have you started adding a lighter day on Wednesday for those? A quick scan of your log here shows that you are still adding 2.5lbs+ every workout. There's a "Well-executed Novice Linear Program" example in PPST3 that has the individual starting to change the Wednesday squat to ~80-95% of the Monday lift (the example is 83%, but the range appears elsewhere) during Week 8 of their NLP. So then you'd only be adding on Monday and Friday. That might be enough to stave off any stall for awhile.

    Keep at it!

  2. #52
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    Are you using wrist wraps? If not they will make a big difference on wrist support, especially for heavy squats and bench.

  3. #53
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    Thank you for your advice and encouragement, Skid.

    I will give that light day a shot. The squat has been hit or miss lately, but it does seems to respond well to more rest between training days.

    Monsieur Rip has recommended that I gain 5 lbs of BW, but that is not a short-term solution for me. It took me 4 months to go from 112 to 117 lbs with some very deliberate overeating. I hit 118 lbs for a few days, but last week's lay off has brought me down to 116-117 lbs again (it killed both my appetite and my morale). Not complaining here; most women my age would kill to have my metabolism. This is the heaviest I have ever been, and though the weight has been going up, BF seems to be decreasing. Maybe the light day is a more realistic fix than a 5 lbs weight gain in the short term, especially with my move coming up this summer. From experience, I always lose weight when I move, and this will be my sixth move in 11 years.

    I had bought some wrist wraps but have yet to try them. I did put them on last Friday as I was in denial about the wrist pain and trying to squat anyway. That was not a good idea at all; it hurt like hell. I will give them a shot again when this flare-up has further healed.

  4. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by tiny&mighty View Post
    I had bought some wrist wraps but have yet to try them. I did put them on last Friday as I was in denial about the wrist pain and trying to squat anyway. That was not a good idea at all; it hurt like hell. I will give them a shot again when this flare-up has further healed.
    Phil Meggers from Testify Strength & Conditioning: Wrist Wraps: What, When, Why and How.

    I find Phil's videos helpful.

  5. #55
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    Thank you very much for this link, very helpful indeed. Instant subscribe from me!

  6. #56
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    Update on my last two workouts. No change in BW (117 lbs).

    Squat
    Today was a second attempt at 170 lbs. On Wednesday's workout, I managed 2, 3, and 1. I gave up at that point. It just wasn't going to happen. This afternoon I managed 4 sets of 3, but then I attempted a low-bar set and failed miserably. Will reattempt once more next time and reassess. Maybe I am just not meant to low-bar squat.

    Deadlift
    Today was my second workout since my last update, thanks to inclement weather. Successfully completed my 3 sets of 3 at 192.5 lbs. Bar path is improving a lot around the knees, but back was not super straight on the last set.

    Press
    That was Wednesday, after failing on the squat. The good news is that I have reached a 75 lbs press, which was my ultimate goal when I started the program. I have obviously grown to be more ambitious ever since. The bad news is that, for the first time, I was not able to get sets of 5; I ended up doing 4 sets of 4. It is hard to tell whether it is time to move to triples just yet. Maybe I was just having a bad day, as my performance on the squat suggests.

    Bench
    I rarely talk about the bench, but something odd happened today. For the first time since reaching 87.5 lbs, I was able to gets 5 reps per set, with a weight of 106 lbs. This also appears to confirm my bad day hypothesis about Wednesday's workout.

    Sooo, what next? Well I am a bit disappointed with my squat, but maybe that is normal giving that it is my strongest lift - at least according to the Starting Strength standards. I am just below Cat IV on all my lifts, but about halfway between Cat IV and V on the squat.

    Something I have noticed is that my press responds well to two days off after the bench (for now anyway). Last Wednesday I had only taken one day off. That could explain the disappointing performance. Also, I have been extremely overworked lately, and have been getting very little sleep. Perhaps I should shoot to train every third day. I had to do that at some point in February because I just could not recover quickly enough from my workouts.

  7. #57
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    Some successes, some learning opportunities. But it sounds like you aren't recovering overall with your work and sleep schedule.

    Squats - It looks like you tried 170lbs two workouts in a row. Have you worked in the light day? It's hard to tell, if you were trying 170lbs on Wednesday then again on Saturday. With Wednesday's performance, today would have been a good day to take that light day to keep the groove, then try 170lbs again next workout. But since your BW is remaining stable (no need to go into that here, as you've already mentioned reasons), and your recovery issues, it will be tough to expect significant progression in this lift over time. So don't be disappointed in where you are right now. Try to get that recovery under control (which may be tough over these next few months), but there's no reason that the low-bar squat isn't for you.

    Deadlift - Brava!

    Press - 4 sets of 4 is awesome! Keep at that. DO NOT drop to 3s. Keep adding weight as usual, then press as many as you can each time, getting the 15 total however you can (e.g, next might be 77.5lbs at 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, but do not switch to 3s). Add weight the next time, and press what you can until you reach 15. Rinse, repeat until you're pressing 15 singles (or it takes way too long to complete). Then it's time to increase your frequency (moving from 3x/2 weeks to 4x/2 weeks). That's the gist of Nick Degadillo's video on Press and Bench Press Programming - Getting and Staying Unstuck. It's well worth an hour of your time. Take copious notes. BTW, I'm at the same sticking point with my press and ran across that video yesterday. I was about to switch to 3s and he explains exactly why we don't want to do that.

    Bench - once again, Brava! So many things go into these that it's easy to have a bad day—I had to crawl out from under #5 of each set of mine yesterday (I suspect fueling)—so when you recover like you did, it's a huge win!

    Scheduling - if you can't fix the work and sleep schedules, switching to every third day may do the trick.

    Keep at it!

  8. #58
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    Good to hear how things are going!

    Bill: thanks for that link! I'm struggling with the press myself but had missed that video in my searches. I'm adding that to my reference list. One thing I'll mention, though, is that Nick actually recommends switching females to triples at 13:30 in the video, and remarks that it's particularly effective for them in continuing progress. I assume he means 5 sets to maintain volume.

  9. #59
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    Thanks for your responses guys; much appreciated as always.

    To answer Bill's question about the light day, I did try it, and always extended my rest between sets. Last Monday's workout had light squats, then Wednesday was supposed to be a regular workout. I did not take the light day yesterday because, well, Wednesday inadvertently ended up being a light day with only 6 reps. Maybe that is where I went wrong? Still not the end of the world yet, because I nevertheless managed to double my reps from Wednesday to Saturday. I am just not sure whether I should reattempt my 170 lbs squat on my next workout, or take a light day and reattempt on the following workout.

    Press - I think Bill is right. I might very well manage to get 5 reps on my next workout - I sure hope so anyway. Just looking at what happened with the bench, Wednesday's workout could just be an outlier. Given that I only add 1 lb at a time on both pressing movements, my programming is a bit more forgiving of bad days. I know I will have to switch to triples at some point, though I don't think I am quite there yet. I would also like to increase the frequency of my press workouts, but now is not a good time for that kind of change. Time management should become much easier when July comes. New job, new house, new gym. I won't depend on the weather to deadlift anymore (I now have half a tiny gym in my car so I don't have to carry all that weight outside from my gym on the second floor...). And amazingly, though I am getting a pretty substantial pay raise, I expect the work tempo to be much slower in my next job, where I am just going to be another staff officer. The last four years have been pretty insane. Looking forward to catching a bit of a break in a headquarters' cubicle.

    Today I practiced my clean and my snatch. I did sets of 5 on the clean, but I really need to stick with triples. Form goes way south beyond the third rep. Here's a video from today, at 65 lbs. I then did 15 singles on the snatch; one lift every minute, as stef has recommended. She is a genius.

  10. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hooper View Post
    Bill: thanks for that link! I'm struggling with the press myself but had missed that video in my searches. I'm adding that to my reference list. One thing I'll mention, though, is that Nick actually recommends switching females to triples at 13:30 in the video, and remarks that it's particularly effective for them in continuing progress. I assume he means 5 sets to maintain volume.
    Thanks for that, Hooper! I was wondering that myself today as I was out and about, considering the guidance on females switching to 3s on the other lifts. It just didn't stick in my mind when I watched the video, as I was really focused on looking for some help for me. But I'll keep it filed away for my wife.

    Quote Originally Posted by tiny&mighty View Post
    Thanks for your responses guys; much appreciated as always.

    To answer Bill's question about the light day, I did try it, and always extended my rest between sets. Last Monday's workout had light squats, then Wednesday was supposed to be a regular workout. I did not take the light day yesterday because, well, Wednesday inadvertently ended up being a light day with only 6 reps. Maybe that is where I went wrong? Still not the end of the world yet, because I nevertheless managed to double my reps from Wednesday to Saturday. I am just not sure whether I should reattempt my 170 lbs squat on my next workout, or take a light day and reattempt on the following workout.

    Press - I think Bill is right. I might very well manage to get 5 reps on my next workout - I sure hope so anyway. Just looking at what happened with the bench, Wednesday's workout could just be an outlier. Given that I only add 1 lb at a time on both pressing movements, my programming is a bit more forgiving of bad days. I know I will have to switch to triples at some point, though I don't think I am quite there yet. I would also like to increase the frequency of my press workouts, but now is not a good time for that kind of change. Time management should become much easier when July comes. New job, new house, new gym. I won't depend on the weather to deadlift anymore (I now have half a tiny gym in my car so I don't have to carry all that weight outside from my gym on the second floor...). And amazingly, though I am getting a pretty substantial pay raise, I expect the work tempo to be much slower in my next job, where I am just going to be another staff officer. The last four years have been pretty insane. Looking forward to catching a bit of a break in a headquarters' cubicle.

    Today I practiced my clean and my snatch. I did sets of 5 on the clean, but I really need to stick with triples. Form goes way south beyond the third rep. Here's a video from today, at 65 lbs. I then did 15 singles on the snatch; one lift every minute, as stef has recommended. She is a genius.
    re: your squats. Recovery is key, as you know. If you still aren't recovering, repeated attempts at 170lbs may overly frustrate you as each attempt slips just a bit further. If you're recovered, go for it. But if you still aren't, don't be worried about taking a bit of a reset to keep your volume up, then work back to 170. It's within your grasp, but the life timing may delay it a bit.

    Good luck with the move and the new job. I know that my move to a staff office really helped with consistency for so many things, on-duty PT and off-duty physical training included. It was a great way to tie up my military career, for many reasons. Those fellow cubicle denizens were, and continue to be, our framily.

    Great cleans, BTW. You found the secret to not going beyond 3! I've miscounted a few times early on and was quickly reminded why 3 (not 4, not 5) is a good thing. You might have seen stef mention singles on the minute for the snatch, which makes sense since there are a few more moving parts. I have not tried them yet. Perhaps this summer.

    Keep at it!

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