Raskolnikov's Log

[Raskolnikov]

I've decided to start lifting again after about a year away from the gym. I lifted throughout college and I spent my time benching, pressing, deadlifting, squatting, etc., but I was always very inconsistent, and my work ethic sucked. I basically had workout ADD and would hop from one program to the next, usually depending on which internet guru I happened to be reading at the moment. I put on some size -- went from 185 to 230 lbs -- but was never very strong. When I quit lifting, I also quit eating, and in less than a year, I managed to lose roughly 40 lbs.

Anyways, I've decided to give Starting Strength a go. As of right now, I'm 6'2" 195lbs, up about 5 lbs over the last three weeks since returning to the gym. In that time, I've just been doing my own thing in the gym with no real rhyme or reason.

Today was day 1 of Starting Strength (I'm following the Practical Programming Novice Program):

Squat:
45 x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 165 x 3, 185 x 2, 205 x 1, 225 x 3 x 5

Press:
45 x 5, 60 x 3, 80 x 2, 100 x 1, 115 x 3 x 5

Chins:
BW x 12, x 10, x 6

Any advice or comments are welcome!

[Raskolnikov]

Squat:
45 x 2 x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 165 x 3, 190 x 2, 210 x 1, 230 x 3 x 5

Bench:
45 x 2 x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 3, 155 x 2, 175 x 1, 185 x 3 x 5

Deadlift:
135 x 5, 185 x 3, 225 x 2 x 2, 265 x 2 x 1, 305 x 5

Body weight this morning: 193


Notes:

Not really sure if I'm warming up correctly -- any recommendations on that front are welcome.

Everything felt pretty easy, but I wonder if I'm starting to heavy? Looking ahead a few weeks, I can see myself hitting a roadblock. I definitely need to straighten my diet out and make sure I'm eating enough if I'm going to avoid that.

Also, I was thinking about adding power cleans to my press day, which I suppose would make my template just like the Starting Strength template with the addition of chins/pull-ups. I'm assuming there's probably a good reason Rip didn't design the template that way, so would that be too much volume? Would I be better off just dropping the chins/pull-ups in favor of power cleans? Or should I leave things as they are now?

[JC400]

Hi Ras program and numbers look good.


Everything felt pretty easy, but I wonder if I'm starting to heavy? Looking ahead a few weeks, I can see myself hitting a roadblock. I definitely need to straighten my diet out and make sure I'm eating enough if I'm going to avoid that.

I think you have answered your own question there. Weights will be fine and you will get stronger just sort your eating out! If you stall this will be why you have already said it.

With regards cleans and chins. I would stick with SS how Rip originally intends it to be done. Drop chins and do PC's at least for first month, then if you really want to change it maybe rotate chins and PC's the same as you do with Bench/Press? Even though your workouts may be easyish now when the squats start getting heavy you will need all the recovery you can to maintain progress. No point messing it all up by trying to squeeze chins and PC's in.

If you look through Rip's Q&A you will see a familiar denominator with people that do not get much out of the SS program. They don't eat enough and they mess with the program! It really is that simple.

[misspelledgeoff]

do the PCs. I am a total PC convert. Great upper back work and makes your traps bug out. nothing like a big yoke.

[Raskolnikov]

Thanks for the feedback, guys! Power cleans and lots of food ... got it!

Unfortunately, after my thrid Thanksgiving dinner of the week last night, I got very, very ill. It was ugly. I haven't been able to keep anything down in almost 24 hours and I feel like roadkill. So it's not looking like my workout tomorrow is going to happen. And I'm assuming a deload will be in order when I do return...

[Raskolnikov]

I'll definitely be missing today's workout. after roughly 36 hours of not being able to keep anything down, water included, I've started eating again. I managed to get down half a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of milk -- hardly what I would call a meal, but a good start. I feel incredibly weak. Just standing up has me winded and light headed. I don't know what the hell I got hit with, but it's a bitch!

[JC400]

Does not sound good. At least you are starting to feel on the up.

[Raskolnikov]

I woke up today feeling all back to normal... now I just need to get some damn food in me! I'll be lifting tomorrow, but I'm definitely going to deload a bit. I figure I can just take bigger than normal jumps, asuming everything feels up to par, until I get back to where I should be. So with the substitution of power cleans for chins/pull-ups, tommorow should look like the following:

Squats: 205 x 3s x 5s
Press: 115 x 3s x 5s (I started this one pretty light, so no deload should be necessary)
Power Cleans: 135 x 5s x 3r

[Raskolnikov]

I'll be off to the gym in a few. I dusted off my old VS Athletics weightlifting shoes; I hate power cleaning in the chucks. However, they are the ones with the super tall heel (made before they reduced the heel height), so I'm not sure how they'll feel with low bar squats. Before my lay-off, I stuck pretty much exclusively to high bar and front squats. I've tried deadlifting in them and that's definitely a no go. But, assuming they work well for squats, I can always just take them off when I deadlift. Anybody have any experience with these shoes?

Anyways, bodyweight this morning is down to 188. I guess that's not too bad all things considered -- much of it is probably water weight anyways.

[Raskolnikov]

12/3

Squats:
45 x 2 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
160 x 2
185 x 1
205 x 3 x 5

Press
45 x 2 x 5
70 x 3
95 x 2
115 x 3 x 5

Power Clean
95 x 3
115 x 3
135 x 5 x 3

Notes:
Squats: Pretty easy, but 205# today felt about as difficult as 230# did on Sunday, so I think the deload was a good idea. I think I'll probably jump back up to 225# on Saturday, then, depending on how that feels, 235# next Tuesday. Oh... I'll defiitely be sticking with the weightlifting shoes -- night and day difference.

Press: I think the extra stability added by the shoes helped a lot here. Today actually felt lighter than my last press workout, despite losing 5 lbs in 3 days.

Power Cleans: Felt great to power clean again. Form wasn't rusty. As it turns out, I started quite a bit lighter than I really needed to. Should I make 10lb jumps until things get difficult, or should I stick with 5lb jumps?

[Raskolnikov]

12/5

Squats:
45 x 2s x 5r
95 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 3
185 x 2
205 x 1
225 x 3 x 5

Bench
45 x 2 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 2
175 x 1
185 x 3 x 5

Deads
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
265 x 1
305 x 5

Basically a repeat of 11/29's workout, but I'm still trying to take it kinda easy. I'll lift next on Tuesday so between now and then I'm going to eat my ass off and hopefully get things back on track.

[misspelledgeoff]

Power Cleans: Felt great to power clean again. Form wasn't rusty. As it turns out, I started quite a bit lighter than I really needed to. Should I make 10lb jumps until things get difficult, or should I stick with 5lb jumps?


I try to keep mine at about 50% of deadlifts and move them up as the deadlift moves up. by that standard, you could stand to increase by 10 a workout or so for a couple of workouts.

[Raskolnikov]

I try to keep mine at about 50% of deadlifts and move them up as the deadlift moves up. by that standard, you could stand to increase by 10 a workout or so for a couple of workouts.

Sounds good. Thanks for the advice!

[Raskolnikov]

12/8

Squats:
45 x 2s x 5r
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
210 x 1
235 x 3 x 5

Press:
45 x 2 x 5
70 x 3
95 x 2
120 x 3 x 5

Power Clean
95 x 3
115 x 3
145 x 5s x 3r

Notes:

Ever have one of those days when everything feels off? Well, that was today. It's like I forgot how to squat, press, and clean. My form was all over the place. Anyways, the workout wasn't particularly hard or anything, things just felt off.

[Raskolnikov]

Evidently, I'm not eating anywhere near enough. Body weight this morning is 191, a net 2lb loss since starting SS. Diet has always been an issue for me. Before I started lifting I was the type who couldn't eat breakfast and would usually skip lunch. It took considerable effort to train myself to eat large amounts of food regularly and once I quit lifting I reverted back to my old self pretty quickly. I'm back to eating again, and there haven't been any issues with recovery yet (although, with the sickness and deload, I don't have much to judge that on other than no lingering soreness), but obviously I need to eat more if I'm going to make continued progress.

I'm going to start trying to log my daily food intake for a while. Any suggestions are welcome.

Food log 12/10

Breakfast: 8 am
8oz steak
1/2 bag of spinach leaves
1/2 cup of oatmeal w/honey
16oz full fat milk

Pre-workout snack: 10 am
24oz whole milk
apple
orange

Post-workout meal: 12:30
Double double
Fries
16oz milk

Dinner: 5 pm (I had a final today at Uni, so I went a bit longer than I like between meals.)
8oz ground beef
2 cups frozen brocolli
Couple oz cheddar cheese
24 oz milk

Snack: 9 pm
cheese and summer sausage
16oz milk

[Strato]

I just looked through your log and saw we are at basically the same place in most our lifts. Interested to see if you hit 240x5x3 in your squats today (going for the same myself). Get after it!

As far as eating, some of us are just blessed with larger appetites. But if you're having trouble getting down large amounts of "clean" food, you may want to try "dirtying" up your diet a bit and adding in some more calorically dense foods (cheeseburgers, ice cream, shakes, etc.), if you're not already doing it. Maybe not the best option long term, but at this point meeting your caloric needs may be more important until you can stomach larger amounts of the cleaner stuff.

[Raskolnikov]

Thanks for the advice, Strato. After my workout today (which I'll get to in a second), I came to the same conclusion about "dirtying" things up, so I had a nice big hamburger for lunch :-)

12/10

Squat:
45 x 2s x 5r
95 x 5
135 x 3
185 x 2
215 x 1
240 x 3 x 5

Bench:
45 x 2 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 2
175 x 1
190 x 3 x 5

Deads
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
270 x 1
315 x 4

Notes:

Squats were pretty easy. Easier, in fact, than 235 last workout; my form was better, the reps were faster, and things just generally felt more solid. But, for some reason, I really struggled with bench and deads. My first work set on bench my set-up was off so I struggled more than I should have. But, feeling sort of shaky, I asked someone for a spot for set 2... big mistake. I told the guy I should be able to get it just fine, so only touch the bar if during the concentric phase the bar actually starts to go back down. Well, big shocker, he touched the bar unnecessarily on rep 4 and 5 -- I would have had both easily. Anyways, for the final set, I didn't ask for any spot and got all 5 reps with a little bit of struggle on rep 4 and 5. Still, it was much tougher than it should have been. Deads, as you can see from the number of reps, didn't go well. 305 last workout was easy; 315 this time was a grind. Reps 1 and 2 were pretty quick, 3 and 4 were slow as shit -- no way I could make 5.

I will spend the next two days doing nothing but eating and sleeping with the hopes of nailing Saturday's workout.

[kittenSmash]

Try adding some pork to your diet, bacon, sausage, etc...lots of calories, and delicious. I supplement with milkshakes. I didn't eat sweets until SS, but I like the way they increase my appetite.
Put some ranch on that spinach too, lots of fat there. Over 1000cal in a cup.
Like Strato said, "clean" only gets you so far, then it's got to take a temporary back-burner to junk. Just enjoy it while you can, that's what I'm trying to do, haha.

[Raskolnikov]

Thanks for the tips, kittenSmash.

Food Log: 12/11

Breakfast: 6:30am
4 large eggs
4 strips bacon
1 cup oatmeal + honey
16oz milk

Snack: 10am
Half bag of spinach
feta
walnuts
olive oil
16oz milk

Lunch: 1:30pm
10oz steak (fresh, grass fed, spicy dry rub, pan seared and baked... fucking delicious)
Mango (sprinkled with chili powder)
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (really fucking delicious)

Snack: 3:30pm
Apple
16oz milk

Dinner: 6pm
8oz ground sirloin
Broccoli
cheddar cheese
16oz milk

Snack: 9:30
Cheddar cheese
apple
16oz milk

[Raskolnikov]

12/12

Squats:
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
175 x 2
215 x 1
245 x 3s x 5r

Press:
45 x 5
65 x 3
85 x 2
105 x 1
125 x 3s x 5r

Power Cleans:
115 x 3
135 x 3
155 x 5s x 3r

Notes:

Squat: Moderately difficult. I'm actually starting to worry about depth. I've never done much low bar squatting, and with high bar squats I used to just go as low as possible, so depth was never really an issue. Now that I'm trying to stop just below parallel, I don't feel I have any reference. I need to figure out a way to video tape myself -- might be a good idea to do a form check anyways before it starts getting heavy.

Press: Very difficult. The second set was a grind; first and third sets were okay. I definitely have some form issues. On a few reps the bar got out in front of me and, generally, I'm not getting under the bar quick enough. Also, towards the end of a set, I tend to rest at the top, which can't be the most efficient way to press.

Power Clean: Pretty easy. I still have a lot of room on these -- I feel like I could probably handle 185 for 5 x 3. Still, I might start 5lb jumps just to avoid over doing it considering how much I'm starting to struggle on my other lifts.

Food log:

Breakfast: 10am
5 eggs
3 strips bacon
1 slice of toast + butter
32oz milk
half grapefruit

Pre-workout snack: 12pm
16oz milk
apple

Lunch: 2:30pm
8oz ground sirloin
2 servings brown rice
24oz milk

Snack: 5:30pm
16oz milk
apple

Dinner: 9:00pm
Pizza and cupcakes

[Sami]

With a name like that, you should get really strong.

[Raskolnikov]

Haha... thanks! But, unfortunately, my real name doesn't suggest the same. :)

[Raskolnikov]

Food Log 12/13

Breakfast: 9:30am
Denver pancakes
eggs
bacon
milk

Snack: 11am - 1:30pm
beer and chips

Lunch: 2:00pm
2 hamburgers
1 hotdog
big pile of fruit
1 beer

Dinner: 7:30pm
Hibachi
-Fried rice
-Shrimp
-New York Steak
-Big pile of veggies
1 beer

[Raskolnikov]

12/15

Bodyweight this morning: 193lbs (not great, but moving in the right direction)

Squat:
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
185 x 2
225 x 1
255 x 3s x 5r

Bench:
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 2
175 x 1
195 x 3s x 5r

Deads:
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
275 x 1
315 x 4 (FUUUCCCKKKK!!!)

Weighted Chins
BW x 2s x 3r
BW+25lbs x 3s x 5r

Notes:
-Squats: I left my log book at home and accidentally made a 10lb jump. It wasn't much of a struggle, so no harm no foul I guess. I also moved my stance in about an inch or two (right at shoulder width) and I felt much more explosive coming out of the hole.

-Bench: The first set was pretty tough, so I called a spotter over for the second set. This guy actually looked like he knew what he was doing, and after I explained what I wanted him to do, he actually left me alone to complete both sets -- didn't even reach for the bar. It's amazing the psychological difference a good spotter makes. The 2nd and 3rd sets were supper easy and fast.

-Deads: Fuck. I'm starting to get irritated. I think I might be rushing things a bit. I don't rest at all between warm up sets (just long enough to add weight) and I only rested about 1.5 min between my last warm-up and work set (which is what I do for all my lifts), so maybe taking more time between sets next time will help. If I stall again, I definitely need to reconsider how I'm programming deads. Any suggestions are appreciated.

-Chins: I'm going to alternate between weighted chins and BW pull-ups. (Chins after deads, pull-ups after power cleans.) I have no idea how I'll respond, but I miss chins/pull-ups, so I'll give this a shot -- if I start stalling on squats or continue to stall on deads, these will definitely be the first thing to go.

Food Log:

12/15

Breakfast: 8am
1 cup oatmeal
8oz ground sirloin
couple oz of cheddar cheese
16oz oj

Lunch: 12pm
8oz ground sirloin
2 servings brown rice
homemade ginger bread cookies

Snack: 3pm
16oz milk
banana

Dinner: 5:30pm
8oz steak
broccoli
16oz milk
peach pie

Snack: 7:30pm
16oz milk
grapefruit
walnuts

Snack: 10:00pm
16oz milk
few slices of cheese

12/16

Breakfast: 7am
8oz steak
banana

Lunch: 12pm
8oz steak
spinach
cheddar cheese
olive oil
24oz milk

Snack: 3:30 pm
16oz milk
handful of walnuts

Dinner:7:00 pm
Pizza + Beer

[Raskolnikov]

12/17

Body weight this morning: 195

Squat:
45 x 2s x 5r
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 1
225 x 1
260 x 3 x 5

Press:
45 x 5
65 x 5
80 x 3
100 x 2
115 x 1
130 x 4, x 5, x 3

Power Clean:
95 x 3
115 x 2
135 x 1
160 x 5s x 3r

Pull ups:
BW x 3s x 8r

Notes:
Squats felt great. I'm loving the shoulder width stance. I definitely think I'm hitting a groove with these.

Stalled pretty bad on the press. The first set I let the bar get too far out in front of me on the very first rep and the rest of the set was a grind, so I cut it on the 4th rep. I was pissed, only rested about a minute and a half, a completed all 5 reps on the 2nd set with not too much difficulty. But I apparently blew my wad because the third set was complete shit. I almost got the 4th rep up (about an inch above my head), but couldn't lock it out. I definitely have some form kinks to iron out with these.

Power cleans and pull ups felt great.


Food Log 12/17:

Breakfast: 10am
5 eggs + cheese
1 cup oatmeal
32oz milk
half grapefruit

Lunch: 2pm
8oz ground beef
1/2 cup rice
16oz milk
banana
apple

Dinner: 6:00pm
Steak
mashed potatoes
veggies
chips + salsa
beer

Snack: 9:00pm
16oz milk
homemade Christmas cookies

[Raskolnikov]

Found out my university gym will be closed starting Saturday through Jan. 3rd. That definitely throws a wrench into things. I have a few commercial gyms near my apartement, so I might try to get by on free trials for the next two weeks. I've been so spoiled with bumper plates, platforms, quality bars, no crowds, etc., etc. that I'm not looking forward to stepping back into a 24Hour or LAFitness...or Ballys (dear god)...right around the holidays when everyone usually decides to implement their New Year's Eve resolutions. :eek:

[Raskolnikov]

12/19

Today's workout blew. Big time. I had to lift at a friend's house because my gym is closed for the holidays. He only has squat stands, a couple hundred pounds of weights, and a pull up bar. None of this really matters though because I felt like shit anyway -- I've had a really busy last few days with very little sleep and a less the perfect diet. I cut things pretty short and I droped deads entirely.

Squats:
45 x 8
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 2
225 x 1
245 x 3 x 3

Press: (no bench available)
45 x 5
65 x 5
75 x 3
95 x 2
115 x 3 x 5

Pull ups:
BW x 3 x 5

Definitely need to eat and rest for the next couple days before getting back into things. I'll be picking up a free trail membership at a local gym next week, so I'll start with squat, bench, deads on Tuesday. If I feel 100% warming up on squats, I'll try to hit PRs on everything, if not, I'll do a slight deload.

[Raskolnikov]

12/21

I injured myself today. I'm not sure what I did, but it hurts like hell. Any external rotation of my left leg, especially if it involves hip extension, results in a sharp pain right where my ass meets my hamstring -- the pain also radiates towards my groin intermittently. The injury happened at the start of my second squat work set, just as I rebounded out of the hole. I racked the weight and my left hip got tight immediately. After some stretching, I did a couple high rep sets and some light good mornings. Things loosened up, but the pain was still there -- even walking hurts. And benching was very painful. Any leg drive at all hurt like hell. So I decided it probably wasn't a good idea to push for a PR, and I dropped deadlifts completely. I did do some extra bench and upper back volume though.

Squat:
45 x 2s x 5r
95 x 2 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 2
225 x 1
245 x 1
265 x 5, x 1 (this is where I hurt myself)
135 x 2 x 15 (pretty painful)

Good mornings:
95 x 3 x 15 (not painful)

Bench:
45 x 2 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 3
175 x 1
185 x 5 x 5

Chins:
3 x 8

Cable Rows:
4 x 8

The first squat work set felt great. I was actually pretty stoked because it went up easier than 260 a couple workouts ago despite my not having a belt (my university gym has tons of 4" leather belts, but the commercial gym I'm at over break doesn't have any). I have no idea what the hell I did to myself, but I'm open to any suggestions you guys might have. I'm going to look into the Starr rehab protocol; hopefully that takes care of things.

[Raskolnikov]

So I don't know what the hell I did to myself. The pain is weird. Certain movements cause a sharp pain that radiates all through my hip, but there doesn't seem to be any set movement pattern that sets it off. (The pain, by the way, is "deep," if that makes sense -- way down inside my left hip.) The only movement that consistently sets it off is when I lift my left knee and internally rotate my leg (as one might do when puting on shoes). Furthermore, during overhead presses today, my legs were super shaky, especially the left one -- it's as if I have no stability.

12/23

Squats:
45 x 3 x 25 (25 reps blow, even with just the bar)

Press:
45 x 5
65 x 5
85 x 3
105 x 2
115 x 1
125 x 5 (messed up, should have been 130)
130 x 2 x 5
130 x 3 (poop)

Pull ups:
BW x 4s x 6r

Notes:

Squats actually felt pretty good. It took a lot of effort to keep my left knee out on the first set, but the next two sets were fine. No pain, surprisingly.

During the press I was shaking like crazy, even during the warm up sets. The weight didn't feel heavy, so I'm not sure what the deal was. The last set, the bar never once found the groove -- it was all over the place.

[Raskolnikov]

I screwed up my lower back doing light high rep squats back on the 23rd. Despite my effort to correct it, I was squatting crooked -- favoring my left hip, I would shift my hips to the right as I descended -- and I tweaked something on the right side of my lower back. I was visibly lop sided for a few days: my torso had a left handed curve to it no matter how hard I tried to stand up straight.
I took a break from squatting entirely for the remainder of the week. But, thank god, my hip and lower back felt well enough today to squat. I took it pretty light. My hip did get pretty tight after squats, so I decided to forgo power cleans, but things were relatively pain free.

In other news, I tried introducing my girlfriend to SS. She actually managed pretty decent form on squats and OHP. But she was miserable the whole time, so I'm not sure if I'll have any luck getting her back in the gym...

Body weight: 200lbs (shitloads of Christmas cookies and no squatting got me to the 200lb mark... not the best way to put on weight)

12/30

bar x 2 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
160 x 3
185 x 2
210 x 1
235 x 3 x 5

Press:
45 x 2 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5, x 4, x 5

Chins:
BW x 8, x 7, x 6

Close-grip bench:
135 x 8
155 x 2 x 8

I'll be getting back on program next Tuesday when my university gym opens up. I haven't really bench or pulled since the injury, so I'm looking forward to it...

[Mr.City]

Oh shit, man. I hope you feel better. Also, I've noticed you've run into a stall with your deadlifts. Perhaps it is time to deadlift every 5th workout.

[Raskolnikov]

Oh shit, man. I hope you feel better. Also, I've noticed you've run into a stall with your deadlifts. Perhaps it is time to deadlift every 5th workout.

Thanks, Mr. City. Yeah, I'm not sure what the fuck is up with my deadlift. My squat didn't seem to be slowing down at all -- in fact, the last couple workouts before the injury were actually getting progressively easier. But, for some reason, my deadlift hit a brick wall. Next Tuesday's workout will be pretty light, but I should be back up to 315 within a workout or two, so if I fail again, I'll definitely try your suggestion. I have drastically increased my calories though, so I'm hoping I start progressing again. In any case, how do you program that? Would I just power clean on the days I don't deadlift?

[Raskolnikov]

A recent article over at t-muscle details a crossfit-esque workout called "Valeria" in which the bench press, pull-up, deadlift, and curl are each done for 21 reps for time. I figured I'd give it a go, just for shits and giggles, on Friday before restarting SS on next Tuesday. (That'll give me a chance to do a quick workout with bench and deads plus three days of rest before getting back to the real work.) The "levels" are broken down into good, very good, and elite -- I'll be doing the "good" because I'm weak as hell and out of shape.

Bench: 21 reps w/ 185 or .8 x bw
Deads: 21 reps w/ 315 or 1.5 x bw
Pull-ups: 21 reps w/ BW
Curls: 21 reps w/ 85 or .4 x bw

The 21 reps can be broken down into as many sets as necessary, although, obviously, the fewer the better. The deadlifts will give me the most trouble, given my injury and recent stalls. I'll probably go with the % of bw measures, which will be 160lbs, 300lbs, and 80lbs for bench, deads, and curls, respectively. Bench will take 2 - 3 sets, deads probably closer to 6, pull-ups 2 - 3, and I have no idea on curls. I'm just shooting for under 20 min... which is a really shitty time :-)

[Strato]

Hey man, glad to see the back and leg are feeling better and you're back to squatting. And nice work on the press. Should have 135x5x3 no problem next workout. I've gotta give 130 another try (managed 5,5,4 last workout).

Oh, and grats on the 200 lb milestone. I've gained a ton of weight the past couple weeks myself, but have been unable to log it on here. Plan to do an update real soon.

[Raskolnikov]

Hey man, glad to see the back and leg are feeling better and you're back to squatting. And nice work on the press. Should have 135x5x3 no problem next workout. I've gotta give 130 another try (managed 5,5,4 last workout).

Oh, and grats on the 200 lb milestone. I've gained a ton of weight the past couple weeks myself, but have been unable to log it on here. Plan to do an update real soon.


Thanks Strato. I was wondering what happened to you. Look forward to seeing the update and good luck with 130!

I struggled pretty hard to get passed 130, but 135 actually felt pretty easy -- I only missed the last rep on the second set because the bar got out in front of me (a common form problem for me). I'm guessing the severely reduced squat volume is probably why though. It's easy to press right after squatting when you aren't working with near limit weight.

[Raskolnikov]

Still can't squat with any real effort, so there's no real point in updating my log regularly. I'm only good for one set of anything "heavy" before things get really tight and painful. It's frustrating because, at this point, there no pain walking, running, deadlifting, power cleaning, etc. Just with squats. I'm getting to the point where I'm going to see a doctor just so I know where exactly the pain is coming from.

I'm still making progress on all my upper body lifts, and I'm going to start pushing power cleans and deads again. I guess I'll just stick to some high rep light squats for another week and see where things are.

[Mr.City]

Hmmm...maybe it's time for a form check to see why it's aggravating your knee.

[Raskolnikov]

That's probably a good idea... but just to clarify, it's not my knee, it's something in my hip (left side). It's actually difficult to describe where exactly the pain is coming from. If I sit in a chair and cross my left leg over my right (so that the left ankle rests on my right knee) I get a very sharp pain on the inside of my leg (groin region) that radiates back towards my hamstrings. While squatting, things only get painful when I break parallel, and the deeper I go, the more it hurts. (For that reason I assume, front and high bar squats are actually much more painful than low bar.) With light weight, the pain is tolerable enough that I can squat symmetrically. But after one heavy set things tighten up big time and get much more painful (to the point where my left leg starts shaking), and I find it impossible to squat without shifting the weight to my right leg.

[Raskolnikov]

I'm doing a very bastardized version of 5-3-1 for the time being. Squatting heavy three times a week was just impossible with my injury. My hip is still a mess, but seems to be getting better. I do plan on returning to SS as soon as I can.

1/10

Squat
205 x 5
215 x 5
225 x 8

GM
95 x 5 x 10

Pull ups
BW x 3 x 8

Close Grip Bench
155 x 3 x 8

1/12
Press
110 x 5
120 x 5
130 x 8

PC
165 x 5 x 3

High Bar Squats
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
185 x 5

Chins (neutral grip)
BW x 3 x 8

1/14
Deads
255 x 5
275 x 5
295 x 8

Squats
135 x 5
160 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5

Chins
BW x 3 x 8

Dips
BW x 3 x 10

[Raskolnikov]

An injury, followed by months of inconsistency, followed by just over a month with no training at all, and now that my life is settling into a comfortable pace, I've decided to restart SS. There's a local RAW meet this time next year, so I'm going to focus my training towards that (it will be my first).

Current body weight: 205lbs
Current "short term" goals:
Squat: 315 x 5
Bench: 255 x 5
Dead: 405 x 5

June 6th: (weight x reps x sets)

Squat: 245 x 5 x 3
Press: 135 x 5 x 3
PC: 175 x 3 x 5
Chins: BW x 8 x 3

June 8th:

Squat: 255 x 5 x 3
Bench: 215 x 5 x 3
Deads: 315 x 5 x 1
Chins: BW x 10 x 1

[Raskolnikov]

June 10th:

Squat: 265 x 5 x 3
Press: 140 x 5 x 3 (waaayyy harder than it should have been)
Power Clean: 180 x 3 x 5
Chins: BW x 8 x 3

Decent workout today. Press felt hard; everything else felt okay. Tonight is senior grad night, so in about an hour I get to drive back to the high school I teach at, board a bus full of bat-shit crazy teenagers, and drive to Disneyland, where I will spend the entire night (until 6am) as a chaperone. By the time I actually get some sleep, I will have been awake for over 26 hours. Making matters worse, I have a second, part-time job on the weekends performing manual labor. I'm sure the combination will do wonders for my recovery. My next workout should be fun...