lovestolift training log

[nburge]

Hey man - good to read your log, it's interesting to see how far you've come in 7 weeks - I finished my 3rd week today and I'm feeling really pumped about the whole thing. Sounds like I might need to get Starting Strength and read through it - I've been focusing on form this last week whilst my weights are still light, but only really using the informaiton Medhi has put here and reading other people's posts. I was quite pleased with the changes I'd made this week, but might need to post a vid to make sure.

All the best with the continued success!

[lovestolift]

So I missed a workout last week. It's the first one that I missed. I didn't have time on Friday due to work, so I planned on doing it Saturday. Once again work interfered. By Sunday I figured I may as well just wait until today, which was just as well since work would have gotten in the way again. Needless to say it was a very long weekend. So today I did the 'B' exercises that I should have done on Friday. I also switched to the 3 x 5 protocol. See this post to understand why. Today was also weigh-in day. Here are the results:

Weight:220 [+22 lbs]
Body fat: 25.4% [+2.1%]
Lean:164.12 [+12.254 lbs]
Fat:53.846 [+9.746 lbs]
Note: All increases are from starting weight of 198 lbs

I have only gained fat in the last two weeks. Not good. I believe this has to do with the lowered squat weight providing less reason to grow while still consuming ample calories. For this reason I have lowered my intake to maintenance level (using the Cunningham Equation), which is 4350 on workout days and 3750 non-workout days. I am using 1/3 GOMAD (1.33 L) to hit my intake. If my lifts begin stalling I will add more calories.

Here's today's session:


03/02/2009
Monday-Workout B
Squat-150/3/5
Press- 85/3/5
Deadlift- 245/1/5
Supermans- bw/3/10

Squat is still terrible. I need my copy of SS to get here. It'd be best if Rippetoe himself was the one who delivered it so I can harangue his ear about all things squat related. I need some serious help. I am trying different stances, valsalva-ing until I feel like bursting, sitting back, stretching daily, et cetera. Nothing works. The videos all look the same. My squat is just bad. If I break parallel my back rounds. There are no two ways about it. I de-loaded the press since I failed thrice. It went fine. The deadlift was tough. I may start adding only 5 lbs to ensure continued progress.

Well, I best address the 3 x 5 protocol. I like it. It is a bit early to comment on the effectiveness, but I feel like I allows me to give those three sets their due attention. it seems a good idea to focus on three good sets rather than five sub-par sets. I still feel like I got a good workout. I have the feeling that it will enable me to recover more quickly. So far, so good.

[lovestolift]

Forgot to mention that I am using this warmupnow. It works well. I like the percentage based system and the calculator makes it easy.

[lovestolift]

Alright, it's time for the story of the last year of my life. I was around 160 lbs in May of last year. I had roughly 15% body fat, which put my lean weight around 136. I looked skinny. I wanted more muscle. I didn't want much fat. I followed the program in Scrawny to Brawny. I ate around 3500-4000 clean calories. No milk whatsoever. I gained weight, but I didn't get noticeably stronger. I ended up around 180 lbs with around 17% body fat (about 150 lbs lean). Not bad. I gained 15 lbs of lean mass in 16 weeks ( less than 1 lb a week).

Then I fell off the wagon so to speak. In August I stopped eating clean and just ate. I also stopped exercising. I gained fat and ended around 198-200 lbs at 23% body fat in November (still around 150 lbs lean). I started sporadically exercising again at that time.

Then in January I found StrongLifts. I followed it for two weeks before starting GOMAD. I tried to forget about fat gain. In the first four weeks of GOMAD I gained over 12 lbs of muscle (4 lbs a week). I am noticeably stronger in my daily life. A woman at work that gives me back rubs (don't ask) mentioned that I am "gettin' bulky'' and ''all muscly." It`s nice when someone reinforces your gains. My shoulders are filling out. My spinal erectors are bulging. My arms are up to 15'' now (they were a measly 11.5'' only four years ago and 14'' last May). I no longer have a flat ass.

In 10 months I have put on over 27 lbs of muscle. I like it, but it's not enough. I want more. I am a sizeaholic. My minimum goal right now is 180 lbs lean mass. That is 16 more lbs of muscle, but 190-200 lbs lean mass would be even better. I think I can do it this year. I am committed to this goal and all the strength benefits that come with it. I will worry about fat later.

The point of this diatribe is this: I have been a pussy this week by dropping my milk intake. Therefore I am going to go buy my milk and get the calories up to 5450 non-w.o. and 6050 w.o. I do not want to shoot myself in the foot by worrying about a little fat. I will probably have to take my intake even higher once I fix my squat and start pushing up the weight again. So be it. It's time to man up.

[coreJack]

Alright, it's time for the story of the last year of my life. I was around 160 lbs in May of last year.

And you're 220 now?

Well done. Damn, I'm gonna go drink some milk.

[Dogfish]

...the story of the last year of my life.

Careful, man...

I think you meant the past year... not your last year.

[lovestolift]

@ coreJack - Yeah. Keep in mind I took a break from eating properly and training. I look at my love handles and wish I hadn't. I have too much fat, but my main priority is muscular weight, so fat be damned!

@Dogfish - Good catch. I was pretty worked up when I wrote that, I guess I didn't think about how that sounded.

So on Monday I bought a new pair of work shoes. As I was putting them on today i noticed they had all the criteria of a good lifting shoe according to Rippetoe. They have a solid non-compressible sole, a slightly higher heel and they allow for no lateral movement. As I work out at home, I usually go barefoot. Today I tried the shoes. Let's put it this way: I need some new shoes for work now. I like the feel of them and I think they helped minimize my butt wink.

03/04/2009
Wednesday-Workout A
Squat- 150/5,5,5
Bench Press- 145/5,5,4
Barbell Row- 110/5,5,5
Reverse Hypers- bw/10,10,10

So squats were a little better today due to the shoes and shoving my knees out. I still have a tendency to try and good morning the weight out of the hole, so I think a further de-load is in order. I will use my warmups to decide how much weight is right, rather than an arbitrary weight. I am still waiting for SS to arrive. Sometimes I hate living in the Great White North. The bench was suddenly difficult. I workout alone so I didn't try for the last rep. I am not certain I could have gotten it with anything approaching decent form. All else went fine.

[Oxygen8]

Regarding your 3X5 change I made that decision from the start basically...started last Monday (mucked around with 5X5 in Jan/had Feb off due to injury). Because I have recovery issues I'm assuming the less volume in 3X5 will help.

May even help motivation-wise...easier to "face"...who knows...I'm interested to see if it aids you.

John

[lovestolift]

Okay, very good news to report. It's here. I have finally received my copy of Starting Strength. I came home from my morning job yesterday and saw a package sitting against my door. I have torn through the squat, the bench and I am working on the deadlift section. Man, it's awesome. Such a solidly produced compendium of anatomical excellence has never before graced my hands. I still have a long way to go with the squat, but this book is my guide.


03/06/2009
Friday-Workout B
Squat-100/5,5,5
Press- 90/5,5,5
Deadlift- 250/5
Supermans- bw/3/11

I settled on 100 lbs to start working from. I don't understand how my hams are still so tight, I stretch twice daily, sometimes more. I taped my sets, and the last wasn't fucking terrible. It was still bad, but not fucking terrible. I will keep plugging away. I will spend a lot of time with SS and really scrutinize my technique. The press is fine, just working my way up. The deadlift - I should mention that I am in PR territory now. Technically I was last time, since I have pulled 245 for two reps, so I broke it then, but this is a nice round number to pride myself on. Well done, me. Keep it up. I am toying with the idea of turning the Supermans into a timed exercise, since the purpose is to teach the proper extension, not to rep it out. I think 3 sets of timed holds would be good. Any input?

[MrWalk]

Haha! Finally!! I've been waiting for you get that book.

I know I got worse when I tried to overthink stuff on squat form. I swear I think my only problem was overtraining. It kinda came back on it's own after I rested up and quit worrying about it somehow.

Yeah, I think timed holds would be better too. I think that's what Rippetoe was suggesting, mostly to ingrain that position.

Great deadlift! Keep kicking!

[pagangoddess]

Such a solidly produced compendium of anatomical excellence has never before graced my hands.

Nice way to describe it.

I just read through your log. You've made some amazing progress.
Keep working at it you'll get there. Failure will only happen if you give up. Whenever I hit a roadblock I keep reminding myself of how I'm going to feel when I hurdle it. What keeps me going is remembering it will all be worth it in the end.

How far are you into your nursing program?

[lovestolift]

@ pagangoddess - Thanks for the encouraging words. As for the nursing, I am still working on my prerequisites right now. I have only just begun them so it will be a long time before I get into the program. I can only take two credits at a time right now because of work. C'est la vie.

BTW I like your Pink Unicorn tattoo, it's so hard to find a good atheist nowadays.

[pagangoddess]

@ pagangoddess - Thanks for the encouraging words. As for the nursing, I am still working on my prerequisites right now. I have only just begun them so it will be a long time before I get into the program. I can only take two credits at a time right now because of work. C'est la vie.

I understand. I attended 2 years of community college after graduating HS then dropped out. What I thought I wanted to do wasn't so great. Once I found that out I didn't know what to do with myself. It wasn't until a 2003 that I went back (well after getting married and having kids). I went through an accelerated program and finished 2 years worth of schooling in 15 months while working full time. It was a bitch. But I got through it.

BTW I like your Pink Unicorn tattoo, it's so hard to find a good atheist nowadays.

No shit. Especially in the USA. When people find out you're an atheist they look at you like you're possessed or something.

How open are you about it? Those closest to me know but for the most part I keep it to myself. My parents don't even know. They are evangelical christians. They think my tattoo is just an abstract drawing of a unicorn. I love the fantasy genre so that's why they think I have it.

[lovestolift]

I don't hide it, but I don't broadcast it either. I'm not sure if my Dad knows I am one, but he's probably one too (some of the things he's said leads me to believe he is). It's not something we would ever talk about. My Mom's side knows. People at work know.

I know what you mean about people finding out. They assume that atheism precludes moral reasoning. I brought "god Is Not Great" (by Christopher Hitchens) into work and one of the people there said they would pray for my soul. They act like I am making an uninformed decision about this. I just ask them if they have read the entire Bible. Then, when they inevitably say no, I let them know that I have. Which one of us is uninformed? I looked at the options, and only Evolution makes sense to me. The god theory leaves too many holes. I prefer logical conjecture based on observable physical evidence over an outdated, apocryphal book of rules.

[coreJack]

I will pray for you that your next squat doesn't come crashing down on you.