Seadog's Deck Log

[seadog]

I have been doing Stronglift's since March but never felt like I wanted to have a public log. I was not sure I wanted the scrutiny. Yet I have read many logs for inspiration; so it was somewhat unfair of me not to participate. So I have decided to give it a go.

I am a 58 year old ex-Navy man who had always tried to stay in shape but was losing the battle in flexibility, strength, and endurance. I had redoubled my efforts about two years ago when I stumbled onto the Crossfit homepage. While I was intrigued, I thought it was a bit too cult-like; felt that I was no longer athletic enough not to embarass myself, and came to the conclusion that it seemed expensive if I could not do the WODs. Like here I read the forum inputs which led me to Simplefit.net. This is a bodyweight regimen that many Crossfitters have used to transition to the WODs. Simplefit was great and I did it for 6 months but Crossfit demands skill in Olympic lifts which I had no experience in performing. I simply wasn't flexible enough to do an overhead squat. I sought coaching; but at the time could not find any nearby. I also returned to the weight room where I discovered how much strength I had lost over the years and how little I remembered regarding technique and programming. So I was surfing the web on these subjects when I stumbled onto Stronglifts.

I decided to begin Stronglifts as if I had never lifted before. I started with the bar and progressed according to the template. I bought Starting Strength and have worked on form from the very beginning. Golf has interfered with hitting every scheduled workout but I have hit an average of 2.5 workouts for every week except for the two weeks which I took off on separate occasions for recovery. Just prior to beginning I completed a cut which resulted in my weight matching what I weighed when I left college 36 years ago at 180. I am 6 ft 1 inch tall.

I progressed reasonably well with all of the lifts except for the Bench Press. I have a slight rotator cuff impingement so I work this exercise with caution. In the first 18 weeks I worked hard on form and achieved Squats 5x5 @ 220, OHP 5x5 @110, & D/L 1x5 @ 275. I ate quite a bit more than before and gained about 30 pounds but only about an inch on my waist, 33 to 34ish. The appearance change is startling to me. I have had to adjust my lens regarding physique and I am not sure I have mastered this yet. I am much bigger than I have ever been. I mean much bigger. Each week I have to resolve to stay the course as I struggle with this new image. Fully clothed no one seems to notice so maybe its just in my head.

I did Dan John's 40 day D/L program to get a better feel for the lift. I simply needed more reps. It was really taxing on the joints. I did D/ls, OHP, pull ups, and push ups every day in a grease the groove effort. It was worthwhile and I amy do it again as a resolution to a future sticking point but it was very fatigueing.

Yesterday, 2 Nov, I returned to Stronglifts.

Squats:
Squat Stretch
5x5@ 45
2x5@ 95
2x5@ 135
5x5@ 165
*Note. This was easy but I thought Imight be sore as these were the first squats in 40 days.

B/P:
5x5@ 45
5x5@ 95
*Note. Shoulder hasn't been happy with me on these so I am regrouping a bit.

IR:
3X15
*Note. Surprisingly easy.

Push ups:
3x20

As I make this first entry today I am not as sore as I thought I might be yesterday.

[Kathy]

Hi Seadog,
Thanks for sharing your story-it's very inspiring! Your really progressed well on SL in a relatively short amount of time. I'm always amazed how the human body changes based on what gets "thrown" at it.

I read on Liz's log about the woman who works with you and is trying to lose fat. I have the same experience as pagangoddess. The only time I lost fat was when I included cardio (running) 3x per week for about 30-40minutes. The running began interfering with my recovery so I stopped. My goals were to squat and D/L 225lbs so fat loss became secondary. My shoulders and thighs are definitely bigger now. Not in a bad way, I am actually happy about it but for a woman getting married and doing dress fittings, this is probably not desireable. My new muscles get REALLY hungry too. I have woken up in the middle of the night hungry, something I never experienced before SL so I have found it difficult to restrict calories (I am also not super disciplined either). From my experience, I will lose fat when I eat below caloric maintenance and include cardio. I will sacrifice strength gains though. Just my $.02 fwiw.

I look forward to following your training. Dan John's 40 day D/L program sounds interesting...I'll have to check it out.
Kathy

[seadog]

Kathy,
Thanks for your encouragement. Today could be a difficult one as I went to the driving range last night. The combination of lifting and golf (think ballistic stretching) has a major DOMs impact. I have decided that I have done enough for my co-worker. I hope she meets her goals but I do not want to be seen as responsible for them.

[seadog]

Well I expected my 4 November work out to be something of a bust. I was working on my golf game the previous evening and had expended the last of my "reserves." Anyone who thinks golf ins't physically tough should combine it with a weight lifting program. So when I went to the car and discovered I had not put new workout clothes in the bag it took a bit of soul searching to force me to go and buy some enroute to the gym in lieu of simply skipping it a day. Having "won" this first mental battle, (I bought some clothes; you probably thought I had caved in), and went to the gym hitting it better than expected. The volume after the 40 day D/L effort is really tough but I had a good day.

Squats:
Squat Stretch; I had to wait for the cage anyway so I did it several times
Squat 5x5 @ 45
2x5 @ 95
2x5 @ 135
5x5 @ 170; have to watch depth but this weight is easy

OHP:
5x5 @45
5x5 @95; much easier than expected

D/L
1x5 @135
1x5 @ 205; the 40 day program paid off I am much more comfortable with these now

Pull ups
3x5

Plank

The work out was great but I was really sore and tossed about the bed a little trying to find a comfortable position to sleep.

[LizzyLifts]

Hey seadog...good workout! I'd love to get 3x5 on pull-ups.

Way to go on winning that mental battle...I may very well have caved before going to buy gym clothes enroute to the gym! I struggle with those kind of mental battles more than i'd like to admit.

[seadog]

Thanks Liz. When I did Simplefit we used to do as many as 20 sets of 5 pull ups a day. After lifting especially D/Ls I never seem to want to do many of them because my elbows sream the next day.

[seadog]

Saturady Dee and I went to Gold's gym. Dee has found the gravitron machine and wanted to do a workout based on it. Because I had had two days rest my work out went really well.

Squats:
Squat Stretch
5x5 @45
2x5 @ 95
2x5 @135
5x5 @175

Bench Press:
5x5 @45
5x5 @115; trying to push the bar together seemed to ease my shoulder and this went great

IR:
3x20, 15 10


Push ups
3x20


This was easy again. The break doing the 40 day program has really helped. I am freah.

[seadog]

Well yesterday's workout went as planned but today I am sore. Squats tend to hurt my left shoulder so I am always trying to find just the right spot for the bar. Yesterday I switched the grip for my left hand holding the bar between my ring and little finger on the left hand only-it was nearly pain free and I think I am almost as stabile core-wise as with the other grip. So why I am I so sore? Good question. Maybe because I did all of the sets much faster because I wasn't searching for a grip/bar placement that wasn't electric. Or maybe because I am not as tight? Hard to tell. Anywho the workout went well and pain free is great.

Squats:
Squat Stretch
5x5 @45
2x5 @95
2x5 @135
5x5 @185

OVHD Press:
5x5 @ 45
5x5 @ 100

D/L:
1x5 @ 135
1x5 @ 225

pull ups:
3x6

I would really like to get the squats to 250 by the end of November. This is a little faster than prescribed. We'll see.

[seadog]

Well I do not think I will be able to work out as planned today because the gym is closed for Veteran's Day. I might be able to go to Gold's on the way home depending on when I can get out of here or I can just hit it tomorrow.

[RobCosimo]

hmmm I'm intrigued by that deadlift program!

[seadog]

Basically Dan John had you do D/Ls every day. Google the program using key words Dan John 40 day. I used his format of 2x5 (after warm up)for D/Ls and also did OHP Press and Pull ups every day. 2x5 is used because volume is achieved by doing it daily. You progress by feel but it was easy to progress. I tried to hit it every day but I missed some for the usual reasons. I really liked going to the gym more often but by the time the 40 days were complete really understood why Lyle McDonald doesn't recommend full body work outs 6 or 7 days a week. My experience was that your joints took a bit of a beating because they didn't have a chance to recover but your ability and technique in the lifts quantumly improved. It just gave you a better feel for the exercises, a CNS calibration, and I think it would be a great method to bust through a plateau, if your jonts can take it.
In theory, I actually like your hybrid program even more as you handle heavier weights closer to your 1RM each week. I would like to move the weights I handle up more quickly but do not want to injure myself by doing more than I have prepared to do. I know I can go higher now on many of the lifts but resist doing so.

[seadog]

Well I continued down the 5x5 template today depite the fact that I think some of Rob Cosimo's ideas are really good. The work out was hard but good.

Squat:
Squat Stretch
5x5 @45
2x5 @95
5x5 @190

Bench:
5x5 @45
2x5 @95
2x5 @115
5x5 @135; cue to try to bend the bar really helps shoulder

Inverted Row:
3x30, 20, 15

Push ups:
25, 20, 15

[seadog]

I worked out Saturday at the Outer Banks Sports Club. The eworkout was great. We had gone down to see how much damage had occurred from the northeaster. We were lucky but many areas were badly flooded. The ocean was amazing. The workout was hard but good. I made too much noise reracking after the overhead press and received alot of scrutiny for the remainder of the workout.

Squats:
Squat Stretch
5x5 @45
2x5 @95
2x5 @135
5x5 @205

OVHD Press:
5x5 @45
5x5 @105

D/L:
1x5 @135
1X5 @205
1x5 @255

Pull ups:
3x7

THis was tough but I am on the right track.

[seadog]

Well today I was back in the gym. Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment and just ran out of time. So having put it off a day, it turned into something of a poor workout. I think having missed lunch was the culprit; but it didn't go very smoothly. I also had to work in on squats and couldn't do IRs because someone else was using the station.

Squats:
Squat Stretch
1x5 @45
1x5 @105
1x5 @135
5x5 @210

Bench Press:
1x5 @45
1x5 @135
5x5 @145

Push ups:
25, 15, 10

Started out slow and fizzled out all together

[seadog]

Well I have been sleeping much better lately. I hope this is a harbinger of good things to come. I am certainly recovering better than I was even three weeks ago. My current plan is to continue S/Ls hoping to reach 900 or more lbs in the big three by XMAS or early January. Then while holding the weight at that level for these exercises using the S/L template w/o progression doing a modest cut with increased emphasis on abdominal strength. Other than my waist line I like how I look. My waist at the belt line hasn't gotten much bigger but it definitely has more fat at the handles. I think that I can improve this while maintaining strength for a two or three month cycle. At 58 it is easy to lose weight but if you are not careful way too much is muscle. I hope to avoid muscle and strength loss this time around.