I've been lurking here for a while now, and since I've gotten so much out of reading the logs of others, I decided I would give my own a shot. I've been training S&P style for about a year now. I started with Stronglifts 5x5, moved onto Madcow 5x5 (intermediate), tried a cycle of Starting Strength (Novice), and am currently working a cycle of Starting Strength Texas Method. Here is my info:
Age - 27
Training Age - 1 year, 8 months.
Height - 5' 10"
Weight - 175lbs
BF% - ~14%
I'm working the first wave of the cycle right now, and plan to reset the weights by 10% if I get stuck on 3 consecutive workouts. As noted above, my current goal is to turn my current 1RM's into 5RM's.
I work in racing, hence the name of the log, so I'm typically training at a gym in my area on Mondays and Thursdays, then somewhere else in the country on Saturdays.
I'm 3 weeks into a bulk after cutting for 8 weeks. I dropped from ~195lbs down to 169lbs. I'm currently back up to 175lbs. When I cut, I watch total caloric intake, macros, etc. very carefully. When I bulk, however, I generally just eat everything in sight, while trying to keep protein high.
Yesterday kinda sucked. We were running well all day and blew up with about 100 laps to go. Fucken racing. I had a great workout on Friday, but my back was sore as hell all weekend because of it. Nothing really compares to deadlifting.
My best friend was in town and I had him come workout with me. Usually not a great idea, but it was recovery day, so I wasn't too concerned. Got him to take a few vids of my SOHP and PC to help me work on my form.
Went to Dean & Deluca and ate a chicken breast with quinoa and spinach salad. Washed it down with a Brooklyn Lager, and topped it off with a red velvet cupcake. Almost died of a massive sugar overdose. My body feels great after all the recovery work. Looking forward to Friday's workout.
Today was the first time I have ever taken video of my lifts. If anybody can help critique my form, it would be greatly appreciated. Here is my first set of power cleans from today:
I think I should possibly have my hips a little lower, and my shoulders further in front of the bar. I could also try to keep a tighter arch in my lower back. I'm jumping backwards a bit, most notably on the first rep, and I probably shouldn't be.
Here is my final set of SOHP. It looks like I might be pushing the bar back a bit too far, especially on the last rep. Although for some reason I always feel good when I get it back like that; my arms almost feel like they would at the completion of a snatch. I've seen Rip tell people not to go so far back in his vids. I'm wearing wrist wraps and a belt in the video because I've just recently started using them, and I'm trying to get used to working with them.
I've been eargerly awaiting this training session all week. Hit PR's in both my squat and bench, and spent some time working on my power cleans, which, unfortunately, still suck. I took a bunch of videos, so hopefully some of you guys can lend me some tips on form.
9/24/09 Thursday Gym: Fitness Factory Location: Charlotte, NC Weight: 175.1lbs Soundtrack: Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
I'm not too upset with how my squats look. Any tips guys?
I think I'm not using any leg drive when I bench, which sucks, and I think I was forgetting to flare my elbows at the top.
My powercleans still need work; I'm continuing to jump too late. Need to work on driving my hips forward and jumping as the bar clears my knees.
New Alice in Chains record is pretty badass. I'm a huge Layne Staley fan, so I was sceptical at first, but it's not bad. Private Hell has such a vintage AiC feel.
We're flying out to Dover this afternoon. Finished 13th there the first race, and we were way better than that. There's a Gold's right by the racetrack, and I know it has a platform. Nice!
I really was not planning on training tonight; however, the track shedule for this weekend was not going to allow me to make it to a gym tomorrow or Sunday. That being said, I decided to go ahead and tough it out. My last workout was about 36 hours ago, so I wasn't expecting to be great tonight, but we qualified 9th, so I was in a pretty good mood.
- Squats were pretty fucken tough. My form on the last couple work sets was definitely braking down. I'll give it a few more sessions, but I feel the need for a deload coming on there.
- My lower back has been kinda sore, so I decided to put off deadlifting for this week. Hopefully that goes away. I'm positive I've been using my lower back to pull the weight up rather than pushing my hips through and engaging my glutes. I'm excited to start working on my form, but I'll give it a bit of time to heal up.
- SOHP was really strong tonight. I'm liking the wrist wraps a lot. Wanted to get 8 reps at the end there, but only managed 7. Weak.
- I normally just take each set of chins to failure, but I decided to try going 5x5. Impressed myself a bit on this one. Going to keep doing it this way, I think. Normally I get about 12 reps worth of volume (3 sets to failure); today I got 21 reps, which has to be worth something.
I woke up last Sunday with a sore throat and cough, which ended up staying with me until Tuesday. I'm starting to feel better, my throat is no longer sore, but I still have the standard cold symptoms. I decided to skip the recovery workout on Monday, and continue on with my intensity session today.
10/01/09 Thursday Gym: Fitness Factory Location: Charlotte, NC Weight: 176.8lbs Soundtrack: Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill
- Squats felt pretty good. Trying not to let my knees move forward at the bottom, and trying to push my hips forward/engage my glutes explosively at lockout. Felt stronger than last friday. Long pause to catch my breath on the last rep, but my nose is still plugged and lungs are congested from the cold.
- SOHP was dissappointing. Based on last Friday, I thought I would have 115x5 no problem. I actually thought I might get an extra rep -- didn't even get 4. Need to work on my form. Did not have my elbows in from of the bar on every rep. Went for three heavy singles on the push press to finish off because I was upset about the work set. I'm pushing the weight too far back, I think. Need to remember to contract everything.
- Really trying to work on keeping my elbows straight during the triple extension. Working from the hang position definitely helped. I think my form has definitely improved, but it's still not great. I think rotating my elbows forward at the bottom helped with the shrug, for whatever reason. My back is still a bit sore in the lumbar region.
- Almost hit 3 sets of 10 at BW+25; just couldn't get the last rep of the 3rd set. Pretty happy with this. Weighted dips are fucken diesel.
Some vids from today:
SQT 215x5RM
SOHP 115x3RM
HPC 95x3
PC 95x3
Headed out to Kansas for the 3rd chase race this weekend. Hopefully we have a good car. Looking forward to it.
Stock Cars and Steel Bars
