Uncharted Territory

Today’s workout was quite profound on many levels:

• squat 240
• Bench 180
• Power Clean 170

All time, unequivocal PR in the squat.  Every workout from now on will have an all time high for the squat by any and every metric possible.  And by the way, the sets weren’t half bad.  Some softness in the left knee which is becoming chronic, but otherwise it’s working out well.

I am beginning to think there is some mobility issue that does not allow the left knee to stay out during the lift.  Video does not show a shift in my hips out of the hole, but my knee is a bit wobbly.  Will work on this.

And the third set:

Depth?  Idk…feedback is welcome.

Also of note, my lumbar was pretty sore before I even got to the gym.  After my first work set, the soreness mysteriously went away.  Don’t know why.

Bench was heavy, left arm there was inhibited by soft tissue adhesions.  Annoying.  Had a small audience for my power cleans which were still halfway ugly but achievable.  Trainer gal tried to “coach” me but all she did was tell me what I was doing wrong, which I could tell myself, and I was asking her for cues (“tell me what I need to do”) but that yielded no success.

Old Bro made a few observations and said my form looked “real good” and I need to focus on keeping my arms straight during the first pull…”think ‘tight arms’” was his advice.  He then told me that oly lifters were the best athletes on the planet and mentioned something about a “greek weightlifter” that was the best in the world.  Dimas maybe?  He couldn’t recall off the top of his head.  He’s taking interest in my training as he comes to realize that there are all of 3 of us that train big lifts in the entire fucking place.  We have a nice little gym bro-thing going on.   He’s not big, but he is SOLID.  I don’t respect anyone else there…

I don’t know what the drill is called, but after the PC’s I stripped some weight off and did a clean pull to a jump-shrug thing…the jump without racking the bar.  Not a high-pull…bar stays at hip level.  That seemed to make me feel what its like to have that jump at the top.  Apparently I wasn’t jumping enough.

The progress here excites me greatly.  The biggest challenge is food since the dairy I consumed today is giving me hell.  I may simply cut the milk and go heavy on ice cream instead.

My Body Was Teh Destroyed

My sleep issues and ho-hum appetite ran me pretty ragged into Friday, and thus I felt teh destroyed.  Did the workout anyways…

• Squat 230
• Bench 175
• PC 165

(don’t have my written log with me at the moment, going from memory).

Bench was heavy but I think the bar speed was OK for the weight.

Squats were ok…relatively hard but I think a little more technically proficient than previous.  Knees are doing a better job of staying out, but oddly wobbly and soft in the hole, as evidenced by my camera.  I’ve found that putting my camera looking straight at my ass works very well to see a number of things; notably lumbar and knee position.  Depth can be judged in that plane also, since the knees are out enough to see how deep my hips actually get in relation.

I’m either squatting too deep, or slightly not deep enough.  For some reason I have this innate fear of squatting too shallow.

Power Cleans were tricky as my wrists initially objected, followed by my hips also objecting.  My warmup was extended in an attempt to get ready for the work sets.  Eventually got there.

Still a small issue with the second pull where there is not enough “jump” but more than necessary arm pull.  I am somewhat in the Wendler camp of “ugly, but accomplished” re: power cleans.  No, not technically proficient by any means, but the bar did get from the ground to the rack in short order without jacking me up.

Turns out that Trainer Gal took an interest in these and then came over to throw in her $0.02 about how to properly execute a power clean.  She didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know, but I don’t trust her ass to actually coach the movement and provide cues since…well…we all know why.  We talked for a few minutes about linear progressions and eating food and getting 70s Big, and I told her that ANY AND EVERY dude who is skinny and wants to get big SHOULD DO THE FUCKING PROGRAM AND EAT.  She apparently has a little Indian (dot, not feather) she is training who wants to do exactly that, and I told her to PUT HIM ON THE FUCKiNG PROGRAM AND TELL HIM TO EAT.

She agreed, but then said he’s “not strong enough to do the big lifts yet”.  I was too much of teh destroyed to really tell her that the bar only weights 45lbs, but whatever.  I sent her Rip’s article on the Novice Effect afterwards.

Regardless, more than one of the trainers down there has noticed that I have gotten “bigger”, which in turn lends well to my promulgation of SS:BBT and food as THE most effective and efficient means of getting strong and large.  Also, 70sBig.com.

I need to buy the t-shirt.

I get angry when I can’t sleep

I had quite a streak where I had no sleep issues at all that didn’t revolve around my chosen bedtime.  If I got into bed, I would sleep…just a matter of “how much”.

The last two nights hit me with a rather annoying insomnia and the phenomenon snowballs as my sleepless anxiety grows over not being able to sleep and thus not being able to recover properly for the next squatting day.  Hopefully this will change soon.

Wed

• Squat 225
• Press 120
• Deadlift 325

I’ll preface comments by saying that I felt like shit going into the training session due to aforementoined insomnia.  Fuck.  I also had to share the rack with the BBer that I work with…which was OK since 225 is a nice round number of plates on the bar, so easy on easy off for the both of us.  Downside was that I did feel a little rushed.

ALSO, one of the trainers wanted to interrogate me about a few articles from Westside Barbell I read one day (and subsequently handed to him since I was done reading).  Anything from WestSide is obviously well above my pay grade, but I coudn’t resist printing some down just for the hell of it.  Respect for the dude trying to interpret the work of Louie Simmons as a scrawny little trainer, but the concepts put forth by Louie were apparently well over his head.  Not to say that they weren’t over mine, but I had to explain all sorts of shit about bar position, types of squats (low bar, high bar, PL, olympic, box, etc) and their purpose in training, along with the difference between equipped and raw lifters, belt vs. no belt, programming, etc.  As we know, I am not the expert on ANYTHING having to do with squatting big weight but I’ve exposed myself to enough concepts from various places in the strength world to at least be able to hold a conversation and not sound like a total jackass.   And in reality, I do not  know that much.   It was sorta fun discussing these things in between sets of my 225 and the BBer’s 300+, but I can’t help but be put off by the fact that someone who has the title of “Trainer, CSCS” saying to me “Um…Yea…I don’t know who Louie Simmons is…”

Smart dude and all, but come on…

One of his big hangups was the use of a belt (which I and the BBer were both using to squat) and his argument was the usual “well…your abs are a belt”.  I ended up sending him the belt series from 70sBig.com for reference.  Also explained how the belt helped stabilize me during my squatting by providing traction, a 3rd party device for kinesthetic sense of the lumbar region, so on and so forth, but not liking the belt for deadlifts, etc.  I took great joy in this and it was motivating to have to explain my lifting knowledge to this dude, but there is an expectation that if you are a fucking $50-$75/hr trainer at a fairly exclusive corporate gym, YOU SHOULD KNOW THESE THINGS ALREADY.  I do think he got something out of this.  Just wait till he gets to the deadlift article…he will be indoctrinated immediately.

Anyways…

Squats were rushed, depth was pretty deep, could afford to cut depth an inch, need to keep my knees out, etc.  I have been halfassing my warmup technique and thus each warmup rep NEEDS to be textbook in order for muscle memory to come into play for the work sets.

Presses were a massive grind but all reps did go up.  Rep 5 of sets 2 and 3 was excruciatingly slow but the bar continued upward movement the entire lift all the way to lockout.  Since I have the weekend ahead before Monday’s press, I will keep the 5lb jump to 125, but it will be microloading after that.  GRIND. But it felt so good.

Deadlifts were also good.  Barspeed was OK, tempo was good, heavy but consistent.  No real sticking points, just a lot of effort.  Took extra care to set the lumbar and get my chest up each rep.

Intended to do 2.8 chins +20, ended up with 2×7 instead since none of the 8th reps were going to happen.  Will attempt 2×8 +25 on Monday or Friday of next week and be a little more mindful of not bitching out the last rep.

I forgot to mention the other day that after my 220 squats, the older dude that’s madd strong (we’ll call him “Old Bro”)came over to the rack and told me my technique looked good and “not many people squat to that depth”.  We bullshat briefly about squatting, deadlifting, etc and then went on our merry ways.  I mean, shit…the guy has to be at least in his 50s, can squat ATG, deadlift 400+,and easily press 135+.   He’s not really huge by any means, but he’s got a lot of muscle packed on his frame.  I watched him squat that day and I swear that his fibia/tibias are the most disproportionately short out of everyone I’ve ever seen.  His ass nearly touched the ground in the hole…incredible.  Madd respect to him.  That makes a count of 3 people I’m aware of that train the big lifts consistently…Me, Old Bro, and the BBer.

In other news, I’m contemplating a deload week eventually just to rest up and focus on preventative maintenance.  Not sure when this will be, but I’ll use my squatting as a barometer for when I’ll do this.  Can’t hurt…will give me a chance to focus on accessory torso work as well as soft tissue quality.
More tomorrow.

I need bigger shirts

1/22  Friday

• Squat 215
• Press 115
• Deadlift 315

Apparently the squats went well; the presses were a heavy grind but did it all. Deadlifts were OK.  This was the first time I felt the press as “ab exercise”.  The contraction was intense.  Also gratifying.

1/25 Monday

• Squat 220
• Bench 170
• Power Clean 160

Deliberately aggressive squatting works well.  Amping myself up and then attacking the bar with a good tempo makes my lifts go well.  Bench was heavy and I am actively managing the weaker left side.

Power Cleans were OK but slightly inconsistent.  Still working on a more aggressive second pull with less arm involvement.  Good news is that 160# is well within my capabilities.

And a product of my new squatting skillz:

Need to wear XL shirts now. I’m getting too big.  Eating a lot of food is hard.

I shut ‘em down like Onyx

1/18

• Squat 205
• Press 110
• Deadlift 305
• Chins BW 10, 5

Squats are slowly improving. Still cueing “open crotch” and that works much better than “knees out”.  To me, it’s a different movement whereas the former originates at the crotch and the latter more on the knee.  Active engagement of the adductors is key.

I was pretty pumped with the presses. Feels real good when I can rep them all out.  My delts are swole.

Deadlift got to 3 reps double OH, next two mixed.  Wore the belt and it got all loose in the setup.  Perhaps it was not tight enough to begin with, but it seemed to get in the way.

1/20

• Squat 210 (5lb jumps from now on)
• Bench 165
• Power Clean 155

Had to wait for a BB trainer to get out of the rack with his quarter squats that never really went low and never really locked out at the top.  He’s bigger and stronger than me so I let it slide.  Goal is to become bigger and stronger than him…and damn near everyone else.

Brought the camera to the office but not to the gym.  I think my depth was OK but still need to work on open crotch.  I want to say that I have a phobia of “not deep enough” and overcompensate…in other words, I would have no idea how to do a quarter squat and my “high” squat is lower than most.  Need to focus on a strong drive out of the hole.

I think…I think my belt gets loose when I lose lumbar tightness, thus an active indicator of where I’m at in real time.

Bench was heavy.  Chest starting to get swole also.

Power cleans were oddly good.  I am starting to get the kinesthetic awareness of when the movement is “right” or otherwise wrong.  4th set was fantastic.  the last rep of the 5th set felt oddly strange, but I have a suspicion that the “odd” rep was actually the most textbook of all 15.

Weighted chins 2×8 +15. Kicked the last rep of each set…mental block.

I know some folks (trainers there included) are of the “hey bruh, the belt does the work of ur abs man…” but I think it’s done wonders for my squat, if nothing more than something to add incremental stability.  Also, the abs are sore after a belted workout, so you tell me if the “abs get weaker dude”.

My father and I are going halvsies into a squat rack for his house.  This will be useful when I need saturday workouts if I end up getting a massage on Wed. afternoons.  He’s now a kool-aid drinking @fitter.  I’m pretty proud of him.

I’m not sure the last time I’ve been THIS focused on a singular athletic goal.  Perhaps back when I was swimming a few years ago, but this is different.

I drank a half gallon of milk yesterday afternoon and I was a walking methane factory a few hours later.  I’m not very thrilled with the milk, but I’m much more willing and able to eat a block of cheese a day.  I estimate this to be between 800-900 calories in a single block.  Much easier than the milk, although I will have some milk on the side.  The food intake is going to become a challenge.  I had to explain this to a co-worker today.

Big workout tomorrow.

Getting somewhere

Ok…

I have resigned to myself a few facts of life I must live with:

• My anthropometry prohibits me from squatting safely below parallel.
• My squat technique will not be anything spectacular unless I have a knowledgeable coach walk me through the movement in real time.
• I can get by knowing the above two, but barely.

I need to accept these things to clear my brain and function properly.

Now, moving on:

Monday:

• Squat 185 (reset), belted
• Press 105
• Deadlift 295

Took vids of the squat, my lumbar did not like me much afterwards.  My particular setting of pins on the power rack are conveniently right at what “parallel” is with respect to my knee/hip once i’m in the hole.  I surpass “parallel” by a safe margin, and thus invite a relaxation of my lumbar spine.  Regardless, I kept jacking up my lumbar and it felt funny going into the deads.

I need to cut depth.  Coming soon, to a hood near you.

Presses were nice overall…sets 1 and 3 with a belt, 2 without.  No real difference in strength or “effort” with or without the belt.  The last rep of the 3rd set was a little funny but that was just mental.

Video’d the deadlifts since I am now banning myself from asking ANYONE to spot my technique that has a title of “Trainer” or “Health and Fitness Specialist”.  Grip was weak, started to go on the 3rd and I went mixed grip on 4 and 5.  Bar speed and lumbar position were fine, lifts were smooth.  Quite pleased with the deadlifts.

Tuesday was foam roll.

Wed. was going to be another workout but I needed a deep massage pretty badly.  Shotgunned one for Wed and had my entire backside worked on.  Lumbar needed to be released (and was), as well as hamstrings.  Apparently, tightness was symmetrical in the hamstrings and I decided that was a good thing.  Lumbar was fantastic afterwards.  Although this shit costs quite a bit of $$, I think I will become cheap in other respects and try to get a massage every week.  I am VERY jacked up and thus need a person to get in and loosen my knotted muscles.

Today:

• Squat 195
• Bench 160
• Power Clean 150

Actively cut depth and took vids.  Knees were a little soft but better than before, and lumbar was fine.  Vid still shows me going slighty below a Rippetoe-defined parallel, but this time not as deep and thus not as fucked for my back.  The cue of “knees out” doesn’t work as well as the cue of “crotch open”.  I read that somewhere and I used it today to achieve a much more stable knee position and also a better bounce off the adductors.  I was pleased with squatting today.  Form is still inconsistent, but it was less of teh ghey than it was.

Bench was heavy.  Made a successful effort to push left and right fairly evenly.

Power cleans were mixed…starting to feel different pieces of the movement during the pull, etc, and how singular components of the movement effect the pull.  Today’s issue was arms pulling the bar up before/during the second pull.  Had to work hard not to do it.  On the other hand, the concept of “pulling yourself under the bar” sort of makes sense now that the weight is somewhat substantial.

I think I’m on my way to sustainable progress in this program if–and only if– I keep my squat AT parallel and not anywhere below.  This is the key unless I find someone that can coach me to squat lower safely.

Also getting fat.  I’m OK with that…for now.

A Week in Review

And I seem to be right back to where I was the last two times I tried this.

1/4 Monday

• Squat 185
• Bench 145 (planned), Did 155 decline bench
• Power Clean 135

Knees were soft in the squats.  Being International Bench Day, every “new years resolution” shithead showed up at the gym to bench.  This irritated me and the only bench I could get my hands on was the decline.  I suppose anyone reading this would understand.

Power Cleans were ok.

1/6 Wed

• Squat 195
• Press 100
• DL 285
• Chins 2×8 +10lbs

Felt heavy due to shitty sleep.  Knees still soft, lumbar also soft.  For a load not even my bodyweight, this is pretty pathetic.  Presses were ok but slow…also due to shitty sleep.  Grip started to go on reps 4-5 of the deadlift but ok overall.  Lumbar slightly–slightly– soft on 4-5 also but this isn’t anything that can’t be fixed by a more deliberate setup after each rep. Grip on weighted chins tough also.

And then I bought an Altus velcro belt for $20…

1/8

• Squat 215
• Bench 155 (normal)
• Power Clean 145

I video’d these squats from a few different angles…these were very revealing.  Knees were not out at all, and the lumbar was totally shit, although less shit than before due to the belt.

Regardless, I managed to fuck up my back AGAIN squatting…in the same manner I did the last two times.  Not sure if it was a manifestation of wearing the belt, or if it was the same old shitty technique that fucked me last time.  No idea.  Needless to say I’m pretty irritated by the experience.

My squats are teh ghey.

@#$%^&*()(*&^%$#@#$%^&*(*&^%$#$%^%$#$%^&

Ugh.

Resetting tomorrow back to 185-195 so I can shove my fucking knees out and go from there.  Press/Deadlift will go on normally.

Not going to bother posting the vids.

Angry, but I’ll work through it.

Progressing

12/30

• Squat 175
• Bench 135
• Deadlift 265 double OH

Squats felt very good for the most part, and one of the more knowledgeable lifter gals watched my second set and declared reps 3 and 4 of set 2 had some lumbar rounding.  VIDEO IS NECESSARY.

Left arm is still off on the bench but not terrible.  Working on the pec minor to fix this.

I had the trainer gal watch my deads for purposes of looking at my lumbar position.  I finished the set and asked “well..?”  to which she replied, “Oh the lumbar was fine but you need to get your hips lower.”  Having heard this nonsense before, I simply asked “why?”

She went on some bullshit about training my glutes more and having more leg in the lift and shit, and some other nonsense that i didn’t pay attention to.  I tried to demonstrate that in SSBBT “ya know, the book i gave you…” it shows different back angles and whatnot depending on anthropometry, bla bla bla.  She got pretty quiet and then left.  THEN I sent her a very verbose email going into this concept of deadlift back angles and a link to the following article:

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/strong_deadlifts.htm

Haven’t heard back from her, nor do I expect to.   She can’t win this debate on the merits of “more glute, bro” or some other isolation/recruitment BS.

Sorry, not gonna change my setup and back angle for the sake of “more glute”, producing an inefficient lift.

1/2/10

• Front squat 135
• Press 95
• Deadlift 275

At dad’s house thus no squat rack.  FS’s are hard and painful and I don’t like them.

Presses were pretty strong, left arm still slightly off per normal reasons.

Deadlifts were nice also, heavy but got done.  Nobody to bitch about my back angle.

Must remember to video tomorrow’s squats.

The last few days

I started keeping a pencil and paper log of my workouts in real-time, thus I’m scribbling shit down in my notebook after each set of whatever.  Word.  It’s on a somewhat fancy, spiral bound notebook with a big ass company logo on the front.  A nice log, it is.

12/23

• Squat 145
• Press 85
• Power Clean 115, last two from the hang.

According to my notes, squats were ok but inconsistent and I don’t know what my lumbar is doing.  Presses were ok with my left side a little off, and the power cleans just felt strange.  Inconsistent…ugh.

Also did 2×8 bodyweight pullups from a dead hang. The first set was with a pronounced stop at the bottom, the second using a stretch-reflex but no swinging or kip.

12/25

Went to church and then insisted that I do a workout before I go somewhere I didn’t want to be and eat.

• Squat 155
• Bench – 125
• Deadlift 245

Had to powerclean the weight and get it up and over my head before I could squat it.  That was difficult and painful.  Everything felt heavy due to a religious fast that morning.  Did eat after church and before the workout, but not nearly enough, early enough, to fuel the workout. Got it done, however.

12/28

• Squat 165
• Press 90
• Power Clean 125

My right knee was soft on the squats and for some reason the last rep of each set was the shittiest good-morning type squat of all.  Not sure why that is.  I’m making a very conscious effort to keep the chest up the entire time and the knees out.  Using those two cues and staying aware, that’s half the battle.

Left arm not contributing on the press for its fair share and also pooled/ached with lactic acid after the last rep.  This is a function of soft tissue adhesions and those will be addressed.

Power cleans were done from the hang and overall sucked.  Not in a good groove for the movement at all.

2×8 dead hang chins with 5lbs.  We can all see what I’m trying to do here…………..

Soft tissue work on the off days and then onward ho on the MWF.  Need to bring the camera for vids…will do this soon.  I don’t think I’ll have an improved lumbar, but I’ll shit myself if I do manage to graduate to a butt-wink.

Tears Are Running Down My Eyes

An entire backlog of workout details tomorrow…