Wooderson's Training Log: Fat to Fit

[Mouse]

• Barbell Row: 3x5 x 150 lbs (689kg)

BBellRow: Very tough. I broke form a few times and rounded my back

Not surprised Wooderson.

Typos are great

[PZilla]

woa man! you are making awesome progress. You and I are similar body comps I believe but you are like a bulldozer man!

heavy sessions and then 45 minutes of cardio? I just do tabata or the bear. dont think I have the mental power to flop around on a eliptical like you do!

You are a proper champion man.

[Wooderson]

Monthly Update

Vitals
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 259.2 lbs, up 2.1 lbs since start, up 2.2 lbs since last month
Body Fat%: 26.9%, down 6.1% since start, down .5% since last month
Lean Mass: 189.4 lbs

Since starting StrongLifts 5x5:
Fat lost: 15.1 lbs (0.7 lbs in since last month)
Muscle gain: 17.3 lbs (2.8 lbs since last month)

Measurements vs. Beginning
Fatty areas
Neck:18.00", down .5"
Chest: 44.75", down 3.5"
Waist: 45.50", down 4.5"
Hips: 46.00", down 2.25"
Muscle Areas
Bi/Tri: 15.50", up 1.75"
Forearm: 12.125", up .125"
Thigh: 27.87", up 1.62"
Calf: 17.50", up .25"

Since starting StrongLifts 5x5:
Inches lost in fatty areas: 10.75"
Inches gained in muscle areas: 3.75"

Current 5x5:
Squat 195lbs
Bench 165lbs
OHP 135lbs
Inv.Row Body Weight
Push Ups Body Weight
Deadlift 1x5 200 lbs
Barbell Rows3 x5 155 lbs

Monthly photo:

[Wooderson]

Not surprised Wooderson.

Typos are great

Ha! Yeah, 689kg would be quite a difficult lift.!

woa man! you are making awesome progress. You and I are similar body comps I believe but you are like a bulldozer man!

heavy sessions and then 45 minutes of cardio? I just do tabata or the bear. dont think I have the mental power to flop around on a eliptical like you do!

You are a proper champion man.

Thanks. This month was a really slowdown compared to last month body comp wise, but I have been pushing a lot more. I've mainly been doing the LSS cardio because I want to run marathons. I'm more interested in the mental training against boredom than the physical aspect of the cardio! I would like to get to where I do the elliptical for about 90 minutes on non-lift days.

Re: the bear - I would like to do that, I just am not sure I could physically. I should probably go back and review it. (just watched the video at http://tr.im/v4tb) When do you do the Bear? On non-lift days; on lift day after lifting? Does it result in over training since it's an all barbell routine? Definitely interested.

[PZilla]

I do it right after my workouts 8x8 super light weight. Off days I do mobility and soft tissue work if I have the time.

I also do a tabata version but its just power clean to front squat to ohp. 20 seconds as many reps as I can 10 seconds rest for 8 rounds.

The bear and tabata protocol style bear has made ALL my lifts pretty explosive out of habit. Plus its short and sweet. which for me working two jobs, the girlfriend at home, the cats, band, and a social life is KEY.

I really suggest trying it with just the bar for 8 sets of 8 reps. then if that seemed to easy next workout add some weight. I am telling you nothing else like that complex movement on the planet. you will be dripping sweat for two hours after you are done.

[Wooderson]

Thanks PZilla, I'll have to try it!

[tuffnutts]

Wooderson... good job!

Cardio can definitely be boring, but it is good for you. I usually find time goes by faster if I listen to music while doing cardio.

Welcome back to the iron!

[bsfishkiller]

Wooderson,

Congrats on the stats. Keep up the great progress!!

[Wooderson]

Workout #33 - B done 8/2/09,

• Squat: 5x5 x 200 lbs (91kg)
• Bench: 5x5 x 170 lbs (77kg)
• Inv. Row: 3xF - 15/5/10
• Push Up: 3xF - 15/7/8
• Rev. Crunch 3x12
• Cardio: Crossfit the Bear http://tr.im/v53u

Holy. Crap. And I need help from you guys on a few things.

Squats: Did 5 warmups at 130lbs then did my 5x5. I think I may stall prior to my earlier prediction of 225. We'll see.

Bench: Ouch. I have had some tennis elbow tendinitis in my left elbow for about six weeks now. I don't know if it is lifting related or not, but this bench really made it sore. It also caused my left shoulder to start hurting, so I'm googling rotator cuff info. Anyone have any ideas? I did the 5x5. It was hard. It was heavy. That doesn't bother me, but I am kinda worried about the shoulder issue. I'm seeing an orthopedist later this month, so hopefully he'll have ideas. I'm sure the elbow is what is forcing the shoulder to go off, but wondering if I should lay of the weight or what. Ideas?

Inv. Row - first set was with my back flat on the ground, feet flat in front of me so that when I had my chect hitting the bar my knees were at 90 degrees. Ok, did 15 of those so I figured the next method harder was back flat, feet outstretched so that when my chest touched the bar my body was at about a 30 degree angle to the ground. That was really hard. So I then started with my body about 45 degrees to the ground with legs straight in front of me. I'll do it that way until I get to 15 on the first set, then go to back flat, legs straight out.

Push Ups - First set with my feet flat on a stability ball. Did 15. So then I did it with my feet on the swiss ball, but on my toes. That was much harder on the core since I really had to balance. I wonder though with that much core work if it takes away from the push-chest aspect of the pushup and if it wouldn;t be better to simply elevate my feet on a flat and stable surface. Ideas?

the Bear - F#ck. That's pretty much it. I did it with a naked bar (45 lbs). It's 5 sets of 7 reps of power clean/front squat/push press/back squat/push press. No resting on the ground, only with the bar in some position. I completed 4 sets and about 1.5 of the fifth set. My feet hurt, my elbow hurts. I think I'm going to have DOMS for the first time in months. Awesome workout though.

[Wooderson]

Workout #34 - 'B' completed August 4, 2009

• Squat: 5x5 x 205 lbs (93kg)
• OHP: 5x5 x 135 lbs (61.5kg)
• Deadlift: 1x5 x 200 lbs (91kg)
• Barbell Row: 3x5 x 155lbs (70.5kg)
• Prone Bridge: 3x30s
• Elliptical: 45m

Squats: Again, hard, but now I am second guessing the idea that I may stall around 225lbs. We'll see.

OHP: Ok, so after my workout on Sunday (workout 33) I was concerned how the OHP would be on my elbow and I was thinking about going light on everything but the squat. On top of that, I was very skeptical that I would be able to increase to 135lbs today successfully. Man, I repped the heck out of it! In the third set I pushpressed the last two reps. I did the same in the 4th set. The 5th set was all pushpress, but they all got done. After today's OHP I am no longer going to think about the possibility of stalling 'whenever' because this set shattered my expectations.

Thought: I should probably start doing warm up sets.

Still need help with the items from my last workout. Also, what is the soft-tissue work some of you are doing?

[tuffnutts]

By the way, regarding your most recent photo, I can see in your face that you have indeed been progressing towards leaner.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! It's worth it!

[zizzy80]

Hey, great stuff there. Keep on going!

And as for the soft-tissue work, I work heavily on my legs with the foam roller. But for your back and shoulder, tennis ball works much better because its hard to target the back/shoulder area with the foam roller. I hear some people even use golf balls for more targeted pressure, but I think golf balls might kill me after all. Foam roller alone hurts! But yeah, foam rolling your legs really work great. Once in awhile, I get lazy and not do them, only to come back regretting for not doing them. It'll be more important as you start to hit your max.

[tuffnutts]

Hey, great stuff there. Keep on going!

And as for the soft-tissue work, I work heavily on my legs with the foam roller. But for your back and shoulder, tennis ball works much better because its hard to target the back/shoulder area with the foam roller. I hear some people even use golf balls for more targeted pressure, but I think golf balls might kill me after all. Foam roller alone hurts! But yeah, foam rolling your legs really work great. Once in awhile, I get lazy and not do them, only to come back regretting for not doing them. It'll be more important as you start to hit your max.

Must concur with zizzy80 on all of this. But I use a tennis ball, not a golf ball.
I'm getting used to the foam roller being a "good hurt." Or so I tell myself.

[tuffnutts]

Wooderson, more about soft-tissue work and the foam roller: do a youtube search for "foam roller eric cressey" to see what I do. Hope that helps.

[bbeardnc]

Hello Wooderson,
Congrats on your progress. Adding warm up sets has really helped me in doing heavier lifting and I highly recommend it. I got my info here:
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-do-a-proper-warm-up/
At the start of my workout I do foam rolling before I do my dynamic stretching; I even use a medicine ball to roll out my upper body.
I spent the first 3 months of doing Stronglifts focused on getting stronger. This month I am going to concentrate on lowering my body fat while maintaining the strength gains I have made.
I love reading inspirational logs such as yours. Keep up the great work.
Bill