lovestolift training log

[pagangoddess]

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?

One of my closest friends is a christian and it amazes me her ignorance of the very book she claims to believe and the history of her own religion. You'd think if something was that important to people they would take the time to educate themselves. Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

[lovestolift]

One week into 3 x 5 and I am very happy with it. I am well rested and I feel fully recovered each session. Here's today's workout:

03/09/2009
Monday-Workout A
Squat- 110/5,5,5
Bench Press- 145/5,5,5
Barbell Row- 120/5,5,5
Reverse Hypers- bw/11,11,11

I finally have something good to say about the squat. I've been working on it, applying the advice in SS and it finally resembles a squat. I even decided to give a ten pound increase a try and it went smoothly. I have a minuscule amount of butt wink left, but I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think the thing that really helped was shoving the bar lower down my back. It put the bar over mid-foot so that I didn't shift forward and turn it into a good morning. I will give it another 10 lbs next time. The bench press was tough, but I eked out the reps. The barbell row has become the dark horse of my training. It just keeps going up. I've been making ten pound jumps every time with ease. I will keep that up as long as it doesn't affect my progress. I think the reverse hypers are really helping strengthen my lower back. I feel that they are helping the squat issue. A very good day.

[pagangoddess]

Good job LTL. I'm glad the squat is going better for you.

[MrWalk]

Awesome! I know it feels good to get a handle on it again. I know what you mean about the barbell row too. I feel beastly banging those things out as the weight goes up.

Great job, man.

[lovestolift]

Here we go:

03/11/2009
Friday-Workout B
Squat-120/5,5,5
Press- 95/5,5,5
Deadlift- 255/5
Static Supermans- bw/3/30 seconds

The squat was good. I hit a nice consistent depth with minimal butt wink. I managed to engage hip drive as well, so I feel like the changes I've implemented have made a big difference. The press was the weight I failed on before. I got it, but I am doing less sets. The deadlift always makes me feel beastly. I like breaking PR's on that lift. I counted up my weights today and I can load up to 330 lbs including the bar. I am not sure what I'll do after I reach that, as frankly I'm not certain the cheap non-Olympic bar I have will hold that much. I may have to ante up and start going to a commercial gym, though I can't really afford this option. The Static Supermans were brutal after the deadlifts. I think the timed holds will really help ingrain the proper position in my mind though.

There's one last thing to mention, I've been thinking about setting some long term goals lately. The one that I've got in my mind is pretty ambitious:

I want to deadlift 500 pounds.

Obviously this is not going to happen anytime soon, but I've got it in my mind that pulling 500 pounds is a pretty admirable thing to do. Even as a 1 rep max I think it's a lofty goal. Any opinions on this?

[lovestolift]

03/13/2009
Friday-Workout A
Squat- 130/5,5,5
Bench Press- 150/5,5,5
Barbell Row- 130/5,5,5
Reverse Hypers- bw/12,12,12

The squat went okay today. There were a few sketchy reps, so I'll have to keep my guard up. I'll be doing 5 lb increments from now on. I have PR'd the bench now. I'm quite happy about that. Every rep but the last two on the last set were pretty easy. The rows were good, I still love those. I think that I will drop to 5 lb increments to ensure continuous improvement. All in all it was a very good workout. It's much better than the one I had last Friday the thirteenth.

[lovestolift]

To start off with the disappointing news, I have made no appreciable muscle gain in the last two weeks, but plenty of fat gains. It's time to switch my goal to fat loss for now. I've noticed that it is getting very uncomfortable to have this much fat. I've spent the last ten months ignoring my fat gains so that I could get some muscle on, which I did. I've put 28 lbs of muscle on in that time, so I can be happy with that. I've also put on 35 lbs of fat (yeeesh...). It's time to strip some of it off. I'm flip-flopping on how much though. I'm not sure if I want to pick an arbitrary amount of fat to lose, or to aim for a certain body fat percentage. Either way, here is the two week weigh-in (which I am almost ashamed to post):

Weight:226.5 [+28.5 lbs]
Body fat: 27.4% [+4.1%]
Lean:164.439 [+12.573 lbs]
Fat:62.061 [+15.927 lbs]
Note: All increases are from starting weight of 198 lbs

I think that I may try to get down to 10-15% body fat. In the future I will try to stay under twenty percent when trying to put more muscle on (which I inevitably will want to do). This year was all about getting as much as possible, and I feel that I did just that. As frustrating as all this fat is, the muscle makes it worthwhile.

I have run the Cunningham Equation and I am back to eating 3750(non workout)/4350(workout) calories. I've dropped all milk and I'm back on Precision Nutrition. I will stick with maintenance level calories for two weeks and reassess after that.

On to today's workout:

03/16/2009
Monday-Workout B
Squat-135/5,5,5
Press- 100/5,4,3
Deadlift- 260/5
Static Supermans- bw/3/31 seconds

Squat keeps on getting better. A small victory is still a victory. I no longer feel like throwing the bar through the wall in frustration. The press just wasn't happening today. The fifth rep of the second set just stalled above my head. Same with the last set. I gave it all I had and it wasn't enough. The deadlift was also tough, but I managed all the reps. I feel wiped out right now. Might be due to having less calories, or having to get up earlier for work today. I need some food and a nap.

[pagangoddess]

To start off with the disappointing news, I have made no appreciable muscle gain in the last two weeks, but plenty of fat gains. It's time to switch my goal to fat loss for now. I've noticed that it is getting very uncomfortable to have this much fat. I've spent the last ten months ignoring my fat gains so that I could get some muscle on, which I did. I've put 28 lbs of muscle on in that time, so I can be happy with that. I've also put on 35 lbs of fat (yeeesh...). It's time to strip some of it off. I'm flip-flopping on how much though. I'm not sure if I want to pick an arbitrary amount of fat to lose, or to aim for a certain body fat percentage. Either way, here is the two week weigh-in (which I am almost ashamed to post):

Weight:226.5 [+28.5 lbs]
Body fat: 27.4% [+4.1%]
Lean:164.439 [+12.573 lbs]
Fat:62.061 [+15.927 lbs]
Note: All increases are from starting weight of 198 lbs

There's nothing to be ashamed of. Like you said the muscle makes it worth it.

If I were you I'd set my goal for a specific bodyfat level as opposed to number of pounds you want to loose. I think it's a more accurate picture of fat loss.

On to today's workout:

03/16/2009
Monday-Workout B
Squat-135/5,5,5
Press- 100/5,4,3
Deadlift- 260/5
Static Supermans- bw/3/31 seconds

Squat keeps on getting better. A small victory is still a victory. I no longer feel like throwing the bar through the wall in frustration.

That's a huge victory some days.

[lovestolift]

@pagangoddess- I think you're right, I will aim for a specific body fat percentage, or at least a range. I'll just keep it flexible in case I stagnate on my lifts, as they are my main priority.

Well, it took a couple of days but I finally adjusted to the lower calorie/carb intake. I felt pretty shitty for the first two days, but I feel good today. I just hope that the lower calorie consumption doesn't mess with my strength gains too much, as I want to keep getting stronger. We'll see. My intake isn't exactly low (around 4000 avg) and my protein intake is around 1.5 g/lb of body weight so I think I'll be all right. I may post an outline of what I eat when I have more time.

03/18/2009
Wednesday-Workout A
Squat- 140/5,5,5
Bench Press- 155/5,5,3
Barbell Row- 135/5,5,5
Reverse Hypers- bw/13,13,13
Pushups- bw/10,10,7

I watched the playback of my squats before posting, and I have to say that I am very happy with my form now. It's not perfect, but I don't see any butt wink and my depth is consistent. I seems that the worst is over, I just have to be diligent about my form and not let it slip as I progress. The bench press on the other hand was tough. Really tough. I actually got four reps in the last set, but it was atrocious so I called it three. The row was good. The reverse hypers were good. You'll notice that I threw in some pushups today. I did so for two reasons:
1. I feel that I am struggling with the bench press and OHP more now, so a little extra work may help (I like the idea of adding assistance exercises only when they can help the main lifts).
2. I was feeling good and energetic. May as well take advantage of it.

[pagangoddess]

Well, it took a couple of days but I finally adjusted to the lower calorie/carb intake. I felt pretty shitty for the first two days, but I feel good today. I just hope that the lower calorie consumption doesn't mess with my strength gains too much, as I want to keep getting stronger. We'll see. My intake isn't exactly low (around 4000 avg) and my protein intake is around 1.5 g/lb of body weight so I think I'll be all right. I may post an outline of what I eat when I have more time.

I'm glad you're adjusting well. I'll be implementing the new eating plan on Sunday. I think I found a decent menu that I can use on a daily basis. I was going to put together a 3 day menu but I think one day is enough. That will get me through M-F. I don't mind counting calories and cooking so much on the weekend.

I finally plugged the numbers in the Cunningham formula. My amounts have been way off.

[lovestolift]

So there I am on my second set of squats. I am feeling great. My first set looked good on the playback. I am just raring to go, and suddenly I get this sharp pain in my back. This happened on the second or third rep. I finish out the set, and shut off the camera. The pain isn't severe, it's just a twinge. I sit down on the floor to check the playback and I realize that if I don't lay down I'll probably fall down. The pain is now severe. It feels like a knife jammed in my spine - and it's being twisted. I realize at that point that there was no way I could do another set of squats, let alone 3 sets of OHP and a set of Deadlifts.

Here's the odd part - Watching video of that set, my form looks very good. My back is flat, there is no twisting, and I don't shoot forward coming up. I've essentially fixed all the problems I was having with the squat, and this happens. I was only at 145 lbs, which felt pretty easy. Watching the video, I can't even see on which rep it occurred, they all look fine. I really don't understand what the problem was. I was warmed up just as usual, I can't figure out why this happened.

I called in sick to work (while lying on the floor), as there was no conceivable way I could even get in my car and drive there. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow so I get back to work. And I really hope I can get Monday's workout in, if I can I'll just do today's workout (B). The problem now is the fear. I can't let the fear get to me. I don't want to be afraid to get under the bar.

Here's the worst part: I thought about moving today's workout to tomorrow since I was supposed to go to work earlier than usual today. I didn't move it because I wanted to try Tabatas tomorrow. Now what would have happened if I had done it tomorrow?

[pagangoddess]

That sucks LTL. Hopefully you will recover soon. Have you called the doc? Or is that not necessary at this point.

The last time I was injured I pulled a muscle in my left shoulder, up the back of my neck and head. How did I do that you ask? I rolled over in my sleep. The pain woke me up out of a dead sleep. Couldn't move my head. I had to roll myself out of bed. It hurt sooo bad.

[lovestolift]

........I rolled over in my sleep.

Wow, that one sounds like an overuse injury to me.

I haven't called a doc yet, but I may get around to the walk-in clinic. I guess it's time I take advantage of my Canadian right to free health care. I am feeling a bit better now, I was able to stand up long enough to shower (with a couple extra strength Advil).

I think the injury was just a fluke. Or at least I hope it was. Although I think it may be time to drop the extra back work. I may be overdoing it with the reverse hypers and the supermans (they certainly helped fix the squat though). I essentially use my back on all the exercises. Maybe it is time to do some ab work?

[rbtrout]

There's one last thing to mention, I've been thinking about setting some long term goals lately. The one that I've got in my mind is pretty ambitious:

I want to deadlift 500 pounds.

Obviously this is not going to happen anytime soon, but I've got it in my mind that pulling 500 pounds is a pretty admirable thing to do. Even as a 1 rep max I think it's a lofty goal. Any opinions on this?

Go for it. Something that helped me out on deads was having Wednesday as dead day and not squat day. I'd do 4-5 sets of squats, pyramiding up to a medium weight and then did deads - 5X5. My entire workout was a version of Bill Starr's 5X5. I did 16 weeks, switched up my routine for 8 weeks (if I recall correctly) and then did another 5X5. My deads went through the roof, grip strength, as well.

Keep that goal in mind, always, you'll get it.

Feel better!

[pagangoddess]

........I rolled over in my sleep.

Wow, that one sounds like an overuse injury to me.

I haven't called a doc yet, but I may get around to the walk-in clinic. I guess it's time I take advantage of my Canadian right to free health care. I am feeling a bit better now, I was able to stand up long enough to shower (with a couple extra strength Advil).

So you're Canadian. I was wondering where you were from. How do you stand the cold? I'm in Michigan and cannot wait to move south.

Maybe it is time to do some ab work?

You may need to balance the core work. I dont' know if it would help but I can't imagine it being a bad thing.