Journal - Mon., 5/30/11

Sleep:  6 hours.

BW:  223.8 lbs.  That's getting a tad sloppy.  I need to tighten things up.

Workout:

(morning)

box squat, 215, 3x5

press, 130, 3x5

power clean, 160, 5x3

pull-up, BW, 3x4

EZ curl, 75, 12, 12, 10

Journal - Wed., 5/25/11 and Fri., 5/27/11

Wed., 5/25/11

Workout:

(evening)
box squat, 195, 3x5
press, 125, 3x5
power clean, 155, 5x3

Fri., 5/27/11

Sleep:  6 hours

Workout:

(morning)
box squat, 205, 3x5
bench, 235, 3x5
deadlift, 395, 3
pull-up, BW, 3x4
EZ curl, 75, 12, 12, 8

Comments:

Remembering to shift to a wider stance really helped me stay on my heels on the box squats, and they felt great.  The sets of five are feeling long, though.  My first three reps often feel easy, but fatigue starts to set in thereafter.  Still, I'm very happy with how these are progressing.

Bench felt very difficult but good.  My form is really dialing in.

I got some coaching on the deadlift today which felt weird and hurt my lift a bit, but I was happy about it anyway.  I'll work on dropping my butt a bit at the start and work up from there.

Log - Mon., 5/23/11

Sleep:  6 hours.

BW:  221.8 lbs.

Workout:

(late afternoon)

box squat, 195, 5, 5, 4*

bench, 230, 3x5

deadlift, 385, 5**

pull-up, BW, 3x4

EZ curl, 75, 12, 10, 8

* I did six reps, but reps 5 and 6 weren't of the quality I was looking for.  I came too far forward.  So, I'll count only the good reps.

** Tried this mixed grip without straps.  Grip was not an issue at all.

Comments:

I felt fairly weak on all lifts.  I think with the way I'm eating - Warrior-ish - that a late afternoon/early evening workout catches me at the least-fed point, and it shows.  I wasn't lifting fasted, but I didn't feel the energy I had felt on Saturday morning.  Or maybe it was just a slightly off day.

Journal - Sat., 5/21/11

Sleep:  6 hours, a bit broken.

BW:  222.8 lbs.  You go out for beers and snacks with a favorite uncle, and that sort of thing happens.  But at least everyone at the gym thinks I've lost a ton of weight.

Workout:

(morning)

box squat, 185, 3x5

press, 120, 3x5

power clean, 145, 5x3

pull-up, BW, 3x3

EZ curl, 70, 3x12

Comments:

A good workout this morning.  My left elbow was better but not yet right, so I'm switching to pull-ups over chins, which should help.  I should have been mixing it up, anyway, since my chins are weaker.

Journal - Thurs., 5/19/11

Sleep:  4 hours.

BW:  222.0 lbs.

Workout:

(afternoon)
box squat, 185, 3x5
bench, 225, 3x5
deadlift, 375, 5
chin-up, BW, 3x5
EZ curl, 65, 3x12

Comments:

I've since learned I'm not doing the box squats right, so I'll stay at the same weight there and do them right.  Otherwise, the big lefts went find.  My left elbow feels a bit off, but it's only noticeable on chins.  I went narrower on later sets and it felt much better.  If it keeps up, I'll cut chins for awhile to give it a breather.

Journal - Mon., 5/16/11

Sleep:  8 hours, but very broken.

BW:  219.6 lbs.

Workout:

(evening)

squat, 185, 3x5

press, 115, 3x5

clean, 135, 5x3

chin-up, BW, 3x5

EZ curl, 70, 10, 10, 7

Comments:

I'm stepping away from the Texas Method, and am going to exhaust a linear progression first.  So, it's back to Starting Strength.  I dropped the squats quite a bit to work on form, and I think I found part of the problem.  I stay very tight, really placing the weight on my hams and glutes, until I'm a few inches from the bottom.  Then, my hips tuck, and everything releases.  The only way to get up from there is to shift forward first.  

So, box squats until I have 15 quality reps, then increase.  It'll be slow, but will hopefully lead to rapid gains once the form is down.

Journal - Sat., 5/14/11

Sleep:  4 hours, poor.

BW:  218.4 lbs.  (Yesterday was 217.8!)

Workout:

(morning)
squat, 235, 5x5
bench, 215, 5x5
Pendlay row, 155, 3x8
EZ curl, 95, 3x5

Comments:

I'm getting worried that this program might not be right for me and my life, at least right now.  I love this day.  A long day in the gym doing my favorite lifts, sweating hard, good music - it's great.  But it takes so damn long.  Today was over two hours in the gym with warm-ups and the necessary rests.  The result is getting me ready to begin my Saturday (today and often in the office, but otherwise with the kids) at 10:30.  That's not acceptable.

I either need to get much more efficient, or I need to do something else.  I can lift as many days as I want, but need something with less time each session, maybe.  I did see my best results on 5/3/1 - that may be a way to go.  I'll have to think about this.

Journal - Wed., 5/11/11

Sleep:  7 hours, broken.

BW:  218.6 lbs.

Workout:

(evening)

squat, 260x5

bench, 230x5

deadlift, 365x5

EZ curl, 65x3x12

Comments:

I feel so weak!  Six months ago, I squatted 325, benched 300, and deadlifted 480.  Given that, I feel as if my numbers here should be so much higher.  I just need to be patient and trust the program, but even at these "light" weights, I feel as if my squat and bench form were quite poor.  (In contrast, my 5x5 day feels fine on both lifts.)  I'm just frustrated.

Journal - Tues., 5/10/11

Sleep:  7 hours, poor.

Workout:

(evening)

recumbent bike, 45:00

Journal - Mon., 5/9/11

Sleep:  7 hours.

Workout:

(evening)
power snatch, 95, 3x3, 2:00
power clean, 135, 3x3, 2:00
front squat, 155, 3x3, 2:00
push press, 155, 3, 3, 2, 2:00
chin-up, BW, 3x5, 2:00

Comments:

I was fried today, and the push presses stunk.  I'm actually contemplating backing off the weight there and doing a strict press.  It probably doesn't matter too much.

Journal - Sat., 5/7/11

Sleep:  5 hours, but solid.

BW:  218.2 lbs.

Workout:

(morning)
squat, 230, 5x5
bench, 210, 5x5
Pendlay row, 145, 3x8
BB curl, 80, 3x5

Comments:

I was tired, and it showed, but I'll add 5 lbs. to everything next week.

Journal - Wed., 5/4/11

Sleep:  6 hours.

Workout:

(evening)

squat, 255x5
bench, 205x5
deadlift, 405x1

Comments:

What a weird day back in the gym.  I'm still recovering from being sick, so I expected that.  I'm back to training for real on Saturday.  But I decided to do my regularly-scheduled Day 3 just to feel out some weights.

My squats got ugly.  They actually got ugly as soon as I put a belt on.  It's as if the belt's width prevents me from dropping my hips between my thighs correctly.  So, screw it - I'm not lifting enough weight to worry about, so I'll lift without a belt for awhile and see what happens. 

This was my first time deadlifting in about two months, and my first time in Do-Wins.  My warm-ups were damn near explosive and felt great.  Then I pulled 365x1 as a last warm-up, double-overhand.  That's by far a PR for that grip.  It's good to know my grip has actually improved!  But I expected 405 to be a piece of cake for 3-5, and I got it once.  I have no idea what happened.  Oh, well, now I know to use 365 or something next week, and just accept that this may move up faster.  It'll be a process.

Journal - Sun., 5/1/11 through Mon., 5/2/11

Comments:

Wednesday morning, I got the nastiest stomach bug I remember.  Over four days, I lost more than 10 pounds, hitting a low of 212.6 lbs. measured (and knowing I went lower) while staying fairly hydrated.  It was scary.  I'm easing back into things, hoping to hit a hard Day 1 Texas Method workout on Saturday.

Sun., 5/1/11

Workout:

(evening)
2 mile run, very slow and easy, to get the blood flowing.

Mon., 5/2/11

Workout:

(evening)

power snatch, 95, 3x3
power clean, 135, 3x3
front squat, 155, 3x3
push press, 155, 3x3
chin-up, BW, 3x5

Comments:

Holy weaksauce.  I lifted poorly, to say the least.  First, I was definitely weak.  Second, I chose to lift in front of a mirror.  I'm not doing that again if I can help it.