lovestolift training log

[lovestolift]

Glad to know the balls are still there. But if you ever find them missing I have a spare pair you could borrow.

I don't want to know how you came into possession of those.

If you love some of those exercises then why not do SL instead?

I really want to do Power Cleans, and I couldn't include those in SL without taking out the rows, which is the main exercise I would want to do SL for. Paradoxical, no?

[pagangoddess]

Some questions don't need to be asked.

Paradoxical . . . yes. True to form . . . . yes.

Either way I hope you are well on your way to accomplishing that which you truly want. I'll be here the whole way to help as needed.

[lovestolift]

08/03/2009
Monday- Workout A
Squat- 140/5,5,5
Bench Press- 155/3,3,3
Deadlift- 235/4

This wasn't the greatest workout to start off on. I woke up late today and didn't have time to eat, and barely ate anything at work. I worked out with a friend today, helping him with his workout before doing my own. He used to go to the gym with a few guys from his college, but it was clear today that they were the bench and curl types. I had to show him everything, basically doing this workout twice, once with his weights and then again with my own. I consider him to be an investment, if he gets better, he will in turn help me to get better. Hopefully he sticks to it.

Anyway, about the workout itself, the squat felt good. I think my form is coming along. I asked him to check my depth and it was consistently below parallel. I'm showing him what to look for so he can give me feedback. The bench was just ridiculous. I had no problem with 150 lbs last time, but now I struggled with 155 lbs. I assume it is the under-eating and double up on the workout. I will eat, and eat big before my next workout. I did the deadlifts with a double overhand grip, I may have to switch it to mixed next time. I'll see how I feel, I'd like to push it as far as I can before switching.

One last thing, I have finally signed up at a gym. It's about 2 minutes from work, and ten minutes from home, on my usual route. I have been putting it off for financial reasons, but my home equipment just isn't good enough. It's a commercial gym, but they allow deadlifts. They also allow Power Cleans, but they don't have bumper plates, so I can't drop the bar. I'm planning on working with just the bar for a while, so it's not a concern right now. I'm going to surreptitiously find out what their policy on chalk is. If they don't allow it, I might have to sneak some in. I've been wanting to try some for a while.

[atypical1]

Good for you on joining a gym. I find that it helps me out to see others lifting and it allows me to separate my home life from my weights.

james

[lovestolift]

I've been needing to for a while, but I didn't want to get into a contract. I got a decent deal, so it won't be too bad. I know that having a proper squat rack with safety bars is going to be a big benefit. It will at least allow me to try weights that I couldn't without. I don't have to fear failure now. I also won't have to pause the bar before setting it down on deadlifts, since I won't have to worry about my neighbors. I'm glad I joined.

[pagangoddess]

If the gym does not allow chalk you could probably get away with the liquid form. That was my plan if I ever got caught with it at my old gym.

I hope the training partner works out for you. It's nice to have the people around you support your efforts.

Congrats on moderator status.

[lovestolift]

Thanks PG.

08/05/2009
Wednesday- Workout B
Squat- 150/5,5,5
Press- 100/5,5,5
Power Clean- 45/3,3,3,3,3

This workout felt great. I bumped the squats up by ten pounds, and my training partner said I was hitting depth and keeping a good back position. The only surprising thing is how red I get when I Valsalva. I look like this: Kind of annoying, but much less annoying than a serious back injury. I think I can move it up by ten pounds a couple more times. I have spotter bars so I don't have to worry about dropping it through my floor.

I finally got all my reps at 100 pounds on the press. A PR for me. It's amazing what a little technique work and food can do. I noticed that my forearms weren't perpendicular to the bar, so I brought them closer to my shoulders. What a difference that made. The power clean felt so natural, probably because I have done hang cleans before. The bar felt too light, I may progress on this lift faster than I planned.

I have my work cut out for me with my partner though, he's basically learning from scratch. As Robert Heinlein says, "When one teaches, two learn." I picked up a lot of little cues that I need to work on by watching him. If he sticks to it, I think this will benefit us both.

[nburge]

Hey LTL - I've seen a lot of your posts and never taken the time to read your log. Interesting that you started about the same time as me with some similar goals (gain muscle, lose fat) and how you've progressed along the journey. I think the one thing your log has done is to push me over the edge to buy starting strength but it's also pleased me that I've found another interesting log to keep an eye on. I was thinking earlier on how much I love deadlifts which is the reason I stopped by - good luck with the routine and the new gym - I just use chalk in my gym and wait for someone to tell me off. So far it hasn't happened

[lovestolift]

Hey LTL - I've seen a lot of your posts and never taken the time to read your log.

I see how this works, I get the Green Status, and suddenly I'm Mr. Popular.

I think the one thing your log has done is to push me over the edge to buy starting strength...

Glad I could push someone in the right direction. I wish I had found the book earlier. So much wasted time...

[nburge]

I see how this works, I get the Green Status, and suddenly I'm Mr. Popular

I never knew how transparent I had become....

I think I'd benefit from a wider reading of the logs on this site... it's making the time to read everything that I find difficult...

[lovestolift]

I think I'd benefit from a wider reading of the logs on this site... it's making the time to read everything that I find difficult...

That's the biggest problem, finding the time. There is a lot to be learned from what others have done. I try to read as many as possible, but it can be daunting when there are 10+ pages to read through.

[nburge]

You're right - the hurdle is catching up with where everyone started, what they want to achieve and anything that has impeded them en-route. Once you know that it's easy to drop by from time to time and see the progress. I've done that with a few of the logs and am always amazed by the increase in weight if I forget to check them for a few weeks. It gives me a good old kick up the arse!

[lovestolift]

08/07/2009
Monday- Workout A
Squat- 155/5,5,5
Bench Press- 155/5,5,4
Deadlift- 235/5

This was a pretty good workout. I decided not to bump the weight up by ten pounds because I had a weird pain in my right leg (near the hip flexors as well as at the knee). I wasn't even sure if I could squat today, but an extended warm up did the trick. I felt the pain during the work sets, but now it feels fine. I almost got the reps across on the bench, but I just didn't have it in me. It was nice to have a spotter though, otherwise I wouldn't have tried for the fourth rep in the last set.The deadlift went up easily, although I had to use the mixed grip. After my partner's work set on the deadlift I decided to try power cleaning his work weight (115 lbs). It went up very smoothly. I think I have decent form on that lift. I need to work on it, and I'm not going to jump up to 115 next time, but I can afford to add some weight. I wonder if adding 20 lbs would be alright?

[lovestolift]

08/10/2009
Monday- Workout B
Squat- Warm up only
Press- 105/5,4,3
Power Clean- 65/3,3,3,3,3

I had pain again during my squat warm up, but this time I couldn't get more than a quarter of the way down without severe shooting pain. This wasn't a matter of choosing not to do them for safety reasons, not doing them was the only option. I sincerely hope this goes the fuck away. I want to squat.

The press was tough. The fourth rep of the middle set paused at the halfway point for what felt like an eternity. I finally found the strength to finish, but that was all I had. I expected this result since I had so much trouble getting past 100 lbs for so long. I got more reps than expected though. I decided to add 20 lbs to the PC, and it went really well. I racked it pretty easily, some better than others, but I'm pleased with how it looks. I love that lift. I knew it was a good idea to switch to SS.

[pagangoddess]

Glad you are happy with your decision to switch to SS.

Sorry about the pain when squatting. Do you think it's serious or something that will go away with some rest and rehab? How did this come about? I looked back but there didn't seem to be an obvious reason for the pain. It just showed up all of a sudden.