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Thread: Just came here to brag

  1. #351
    Join Date
    Jan 2021
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    Gatineau, QC
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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    Late entry on yesterday's session. We had a guest for dinner last night so I didn't get to come here to brag until now.

    Volume squat
    202.5 X 6, 5, 5, 4 (PR)

    Press singles
    101 X 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (PR)

    Snatch-grip deadlift
    180 X 5, 5, 5 (PR)

    For starters, last week was not a good one. First, it took a while to recover from Sunday's sleepless night. Then I was in between jobs for most of the week. And then I was faced with my worst nightmare on Friday: the change of command ceremony. Given that I am a soft air force type and an uncoordinated person, ceremonial is not my forte. I dread those events. Thankfully this one is over and it went okay: my husband loves ceremonial stuff and has yet to file for divorce after witnessing my performance.

    All of this to say that I had very low expectations when I started training yesterday.

    The squat felt very good, despite the fact that I had to cut the last set short. I didn't space my feet enough and this started bothering my knee (in a new spot!), despite having the sleeves on. Those sets still meet the requirements for adding weight next time (I have been following Example 23-6 from BBRx p. 243).

    The press went well too, although I was not quite in the groove yesterday. The last rep was pretty grindy! Each rep made me light headed though, but it is probably is because I did not eat properly this week. Pro tip: I kept thinking about the loss aversion article as I was doing those!

    Given how well this session was going, I decided to add another 5lbs to my snatch-grip deadlift, and I think this was the right decision. I think I am hitting the sweet spot now, where those are likely to pay off. The last set was challenging, but without signs of form break down.

    This is 72% of my 250 X 2 deadlift and, according to this article, those need to be in the 70-80% range to be effective. So I think I will just keep adding 5lbs until it stops working, instead of using smaller jumps to prevent a stall.

    Of note, my "groove" was awesome on this lift yesterday, particularly the push from the floor. Being in such control of the lift felt great. I can only imagine what would happen to my regular deadlift if I could get in that zone when I do it.

    Tomorrow will be Boring Day again, and then I will be on the road for 2 days, so my next heavy squat and deadlift session is likely to occur on Thursday or Friday, depending on how the trip goes.
    Last edited by tiny&mighty; 07-10-2022 at 11:49 AM.

  2. #352
    Join Date
    Jun 2020
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    Georgia, USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by tiny&mighty View Post
    my husband loves ceremonial stuff and has yet to file for divorce after witnessing my performance.
    He knows he has a good one!

    Congrats on your lifts and your squats especially. I wish mine could go up like that but then again I am a wore out 68 year old with "issues" haha.

    Good wishes on your new job situation.

  3. #353
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    Jun 2019
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    Ha! I had the same relationship with ceremony. But just like a heavy bench session, I'd just grind through it and get it done.

    Great job on that press, especially the grindy one. That one is always the most rewarding to me, feeling the bar stall, yet slowly keep moving forward.

  4. #354
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    Thanks, gentlemen!

    Fred: I think I have a good build for the squat; my guess is that being short helps. Having thick legs doesn't hurt either!

    American Bill: 100%. I was in disbelief when that last rep started to move again. Those reps are the most satisfying.

  5. #355
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    Jan 2021
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    Quick report from... Boring Day.

    Intensity bench
    142 X 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (PR)

    Got another lb on this one, and it went fairly well. That said, I doubt this will keep working much longer. Fingers crossed!

    Volume press
    88 X 4
    85 X 6
    82 X 5
    79 X 5
    76 X 5

    I used the descending sets again. Though I didn't get my 5th rep at 88lbs, I made up for it during the second set. This seems like a decent approach to keep those progressing. Adding another lb next time.


    And of this note, I'll be back on Thursday or Friday with a more interesting update, after attempting my first 227.5 squat and 255 deadlift!

  6. #356
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    Jan 2021
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    My training has not responded well to my first week in the new job, including a 2-day trip out of town. I am a creature of habit and until I settle into a new routine, I am unlikely to have glorious days in the gym.

    Friday

    I knew I was tired, underfed and worn-out but didn't want to push this session further to the right as we had a day trip planned on Sunday.

    Intensity squat
    227.5 X 1, 1, 1 (PR)

    Deadlift
    225 X 0

    Normally I'd be devastated by those numbers, but in light of the totality of circumstances, I remain quite happy that I got those singles in.

    Today


    Intensity press
    98 X 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1 (PR)

    Volume bench
    130 X 5
    125 X 5
    120 X 5
    115 X 5, 5

    After going 5 days without pressing, I knew this would not be pretty.

    I am pleasantly surprised I got 3 doubles on the press, though I am disappointed that I didn't get my 15 reps despite doing 10 sets. This only means that I won't increase the weight next time so as to shoot for rep PR instead.

    On the bench, the warm-up sets felt easy so I got a bit greedy and did my first set heavier than planned, so as to compensate for my disappointment with the press. On the bright side, I managed to get it done, but every one of those 5 sets was a limit set again.

    Hopefully I will settle down in my new job shortly and things will get back to normal.


  7. #357
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    Nov 2014
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    I'll take being devastated by getting a new pr any day of the week! nicely done!

  8. #358
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    I had pretty much every excuse not to train today, but I figured I would try anyway. I had not had lunch, didn't get to start until almost 1800, and haven't been sleeping well for a week. But eh, it seemed better to get a marginal training session than to push it to tomorrow, where there's no guarantee that I'm going in better dispositions to train.

    Volume squat
    205 X 4, 4, 4, 4

    I decided to shoot for the bare minimum today, so as to play it safe, especially with my knee and hip acting out throughout the day. This was hard but at least I got it done.

    Press singles
    102 X 0

    I didn't have much faith in this one but attempted one single hoping for a miracle that didn't occur. Not a huge deal; this happened a month ago under similar circumstances.

    I skipped the snatch-grip deadlift as it was unlikely to assist with anything today, and I was feeling dizzy after my failed press attempt.


    Going from a delightfully boring job to what I am dealing with now is really affecting my training. Perhaps I should go in some sort of maintenance or damage control mode until I get settled into a new routine (which is unlikely to occur until September). I might fire an email to Andy Baker to find out whether his GGW1 would be a good fit for this situation. The program's description mentions it works well for lifters on a cut. Though not on a cut, I'm one of those people who loses appetite and sheds weight somewhat spectacularly when experiencing higher-than-usual levels of stress as is the case right now. Lucky me, I guess? It looks like I'm down 2lbs already.

    Anyhow, I'll wait and see how my next two training sessions go before I make a decision about this. In the meantime, if you have any advice, please do not hesitate to weigh in. Obviously this is very frustrating, but there's not much I can do about it. I won't even be able to take any leave this summer. Yay.

  9. #359
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    Nov 2014
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    New Jersey
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    Everyone deals with stress in a different way. I'm always a big proponent of taking your beloved to a nice dinner, drinking too much wine, and in your best Pepe le Pew voice saying "let me take you to zee Cazzbah" and just forget about things, everything, work, lifts, for an evening.

  10. #360
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    Jun 2019
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Bingley View Post
    Everyone deals with stress in a different way. I'm always a big proponent of taking your beloved to a nice dinner, drinking too much wine, and in your best Pepe le Pew voice saying "let me take you to zee Cazzbah" and just forget about things, everything, work, lifts, for an evening.
    This is always the way.

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