[theNuge]

Funny note about the changes my body is going through: I think my wife is going to send Bill Starr a thank you note pretty soon . She loves the glutes, hip flexors, and chest .

[theNuge]

Stats on My BJJ Experience:
----------------------------------
Training Since: November, 2007
Rank: White Belt

BJJ Training Session
-----------------------
Monday, March 17th, 2008

General Notes: I thought I might as well put my experiences in this log because I haven't kept a different BJJ log. I took a two week break from rolling to nurse my sore knees. I think I pulled a muscle close to my right knee and I'm pretty sure I sprained my left knee. Tonight both of them felt pretty good. My right knee felt a little sore but overall I feel pretty good.

Free Rolling Before Class: 1 hour
- I had a hard time catching my breath a few times
- My grip strength seemed lacking
- I didn't spend any time in a dominant position
- It was nice to be back

Conditioning to Open Class: 15 minutes
- Pummelling
- Leap Frog
- Piggy Back
- Army Crawl
- Shrimping

Class: 45 minutes
- Stand-Up Drills Covering Arm Drags
- Ground Work Covering Cross Body --> Knee on Belly --> Spinning Armbar

[theNuge]

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

General Notes: my third week on the Bill Starr 5x5 is now in the books. Overall I felt really good after I finished today's workout. I almost felt too good as in I felt like I was doing something wrong because I wasn't hosed after my workout. My back was a little sore after my squats but that has more to do with me not really knowing how to stretch it out yet pre-workout. So, maybe I'm getting stronger, maybe I'm eating enough, and maybe the program is working. Today's top five on the squat gave me 500 pounds total on my Bench/Squat/Deadlift .

Bench Press
---------------
Notes: The ten pound bump from last week isn't feeling like it's making a dent. The last set was a little hard but I felt like I could have pushed out another three or four reps. I definitely think I'm going to bump up next week's Bench Press by ten pounds again.
95x3
115x3
140x5
140x5
140x5
140x5
140x5

Squat
-------
Notes: the first sets I was rounding my back a little because I was trying to go to low. The next sets I concentrated on taking a belly full of air and initiating with my HIPS. This seemed to work. I took some video and really concentrating on moving the hips first helped me keep my body back which helped me not have to work so hard on keeping my back straight. I did run into one hitch: when I got down to the bottom my body would come forward. I think this is going to take lots of practice. Overall I'm psyched about the form breakthrough and I'm excited to try it again next week.
Warmup: 45x3x3 OHS
80x5
95x5
110x5
130x5
155x5 (These weren't that hard at all)

Dynamic Rows
------------------
Notes: it was nice to actually be able to ramp up to a weight this week. As a result of this, my first set with 135 pounds felt really light and I was able to concentrate on form more. I feel like my form slips on these because I feel like I still don't have the best idea of how they're supposed to be done. I try to dip my upper body at the end but it doesn't feel too natural and I don't know if I should lock my legs before I rip the weight. Well, it's a process...
135x5
140x5
140x5
145x5
155x5

[theNuge]

I'm questioning my weight progressions after that last workout. Should I up my next squats by 15 pounds instead of the usual 10? I don't want to overtrain but at the same time I feel like I can do a lot more. I suppose it's better to increase gradually than push it and risk injury. I'm leaning towards just the 10 pound increase. What do you guys think?

[theNuge]

After talking with myself for the last twelve hours () I've decided to just stick with the ten pound increase. I don't need to get ahead of myself if things are going good.

[theNuge]

I forgot to mention that I tried those shoulder dislocations before I did the OHS's. Wow, those really felt good. I'm definitely going to make those a part of my pre-squat routine. So, the squatting routine now looks like this:

--> Shoulder Dislocations --> Overhead Squats --> Back Squats

[theNuge]

I just found out the YMCA is closed on Easter Sunday. God I hate organized religion... No offense to anyone here.

This leaves me in somewhat of a predicament regarding my 5x5. I could make this week a deload week. I don't know what this will do to my program since I'm only in the fourth week and I have a deload week scheduled in two weeks. I could do the following:

- Make this week deload
- Do another three weeks on the Phase 1 5x5
- Take another deload
- Start Phase 2 3x3 of the program

What do you guys think?

[theNuge]

After thinking about it a bit I think the above is what I'm going to do. So, to review the following is what my program looked like at the beginning and what it's changed to:

OLD:
- 5 weeks progression lifting Phase I (5x5)
- 1 week deload
- 4 weeks progression lifting Phase II (3x3)

NEW:
- 3 weeks progression lifting Phase I (5x5) --> COMPLETE
- 1 week deload
- 3 weeks progression lifting Phase I (5x5)
- 1 week deload
- 4 weeks progression lifting Phase II (3x3)

I'm thinking the extra deload week isn't a bad thing given I'm so new to lifting. I'm not so sure the extra week of the 5x5 is a good idea but I'll try it out see how it goes. I wouldn't mind some feedback on this. Depending on how I'm feeling I might add an extra week or two to Phase II as well but we'll see. I'm still thinking I'm going to try GVT after I'm done with the Bill Starr program.

[Zerocrew1984]

good to see you do the dislocates. you made the right decision on increasing 10lbs. your new plan doesnt look bad. you could just put sundays workout into another day couldnt you? like have squat and bench the same day.

[theNuge]

Sunday's workout isn't Squat and Bench. It's Squat, Deadlift, Pull-Ups, and SOHP. Sunday's workout kicks my ass and I don't feel comfortable folding it into another day's workout.