Pulls.

I tried out some different approaches to my pulls today.  Everything felt really good and I was keeping the bar super close to me going up and down. I had read an article I can't seem to find again regarding moving the feet out 1.2 inches from a traditional stance and that effectively offers a better leverage over the knee. So, not quite sumo, not quite in the middle of the bar. It was probably bro-science, but it had a shit ton of engineers math included. I didn't actually measure the 1.2 inches, but I slid my feet out what I perceived to be an inch or so. I was also working on taking the slack out of the bar before getting into my pull. Placebo, bullshit, or not I felt like I was getting some better drive out of the gate and the dead lifts just felt better all around. Decent session, the weight keeps increasing, and I haven't even injured myself in a few weeks. I want a fucking medal.

11/30 - Deadlift Day
Program Sets - 135x5,135x5,135x5,165x5,195x3,245x3,260x3,295x4*,
Accessory Sets - 170x8,170x8,170x8,170x8,170x8 
 Hanging Leg Raises - 0x12,0x12,0x12,0x10,0x12

*I should have went for at least one more. I would have gotten it.

I also want to add that I'm pretty sure I need to start adding some conditioning in. I feel kinda fat, but I really refuse to turn down the calories right now. I've feel pretty good around 2,800-3,000/day and when I go lower, I drag ass and the work suffers. This will be my first mention of the fact that I absolutely hate cardio.

Prepare to see it more frequently.

The new way is the old way is the new way.

So like the rest of the morbidly obese in this country I have been gorging myself on plate after plate of Turkey and fixins since last Thursday. I thought about throwing together a post, but I was on a bit of a mini vacation so I elected to not do much of anything. I say this very generally, because aside from my lifts, it was that kind of week. I bottled some beer, made some cheese and I started programming on Jim Wendler's 5/3/1. It might seem contrary to everything I posted in my last offering, but none the less, it's a direction and from what I can tell it seems like a damn good one. If you /r/fitness or /r/weightroom, this is where I would be labeled a charlitain. I can hear it now..."it's too early to switch from a linear program", "you still have noob gains, you're going to waste". My answer to that is a very apathetic "whatever". I don't know if it was a matter of effort or satisfaction with the last routine, but it did it's thing for me and then it stopped doing it.  We will see if this is the same way. I have only had 5 full workouts in, but I am walking around here like a cripple for the first time in 4 months without being injured. I'm hurting now for the right reasons. Here are a couple my logs from Cycle 1, Week 1 as well as today's. I am utilizing the Boring but Big platform. On my plus sets, I am following the suggestion that Wendler makes of leaving 1 or 2 in the tank.

11/19 - Squat day
Program Sets - 45x5, 45x5,85x5,100x5,125x5,150x3, 165x5,195x5,215x6
Accessory Sets - 125x10,125x10,125x10,125x10,125x10
Leg Press -  380x10,380x10,380x10,380x10,380x10

11/21 - Bench day
Program Sets - 45x5,45x5,75x5,95x5,110x3,125x5,140x5,160x8
Accessory Sets - 95x5,95x5,95x5,95x5,95x5
One Arm Dumbbell Rows - 60x10,60x10,60x10,60x10,60x10

11/23 - Dead Lift day
Program Sets - 135x5,165x5,195x5,215x5,245x5,275x7
Accessory Sets -  165x8,165x8,165x8,165x8,165x8
Hanging Leg Raises- 0x12,0x12,0x12,0x12,0x12

11/24 -  OHP day
Program Sets - 45x5,45x5,65x5,65x5,75x5,85x5,95x5,110x7
Accessory Sets - 65x10,65x10,65x10,65x10,65x10
Chin Ups - 0x10,0x10,0x10,0x10,0x10*

*I think I was supposed to do 15's on the chins, but I'm much fatter than I care to admit, and these are going to take some practice before I get good at them. 

Then there is today's offering - Week 2 Cycle 1
11/26 - Squat day - I slept like shit last night.
Program Sets - 45x5,45x5,100x5,125x5,150x3,175x3,200x3,225x6
Accessory Sets - 130x10,130x10,130x10,130x10,130x10**
Leg Press - 390x10,390x10,390x10,390x10,390x10


** I messed up the weight on this one, I need to learn to count, because I did it last week on my Deads too. Should have been 140.

HOLY SHIT I AM TERRIBLE AT THIS.

It's very easy to be down on yourself when you aren't living up to your own expectations.  As a starting point it helps if you have expectations. I assume we all do. If you don't then stop reading, this isn't for you. If your still with me,  then you might already know that when you fail to meet those expectations you essentially have two choices, and those are get better at whatever it is and closer to where you need to be, or stop.


I guess that is only one choice.  The other isn't a choice at all, it's a failure.  For those who don't know, failure isn't a choice, it's a settlement for the weak.  You should never be satisfied, you should never stop being hungry or wanting more.  

I believe that failure or weakness should be a catalyst for a fight, not a hall pass to rest and remain mediocre.

Let me share an almost on the spot example (tonight) and some other thoughts that have been brewing here in scarytown. Some might feel that my example isn't particularly substantial but the relevance to choices dawned on me almost immediately when it happened.

Due to my overactive ego and miserable form, I went against my previous revelations and did some shitty squats at a weight I am too week to handle correctly. So, as a result I cracked the shit out of my spine today. It hurt instantly as if a lightning bolt had shot up my ass and into my back.  Fortunately I caught the exact moment on video and was able to have the pleasure of watching myself writhe. It's pretty gross to watch, but I have now reviewed the video about 10 times, and isolated the exact moment of incident.  I punctuated my subsequent failure with a very disappointed exclamation of "FUCK".  But, I knew that both my frustration and disappointment was well deserved because I wasn't listening. This was a choice I made. I chose not to listen. Effectively by not listening to myself and by also not listening to a series of very successful people who know much more on the subject than I do, I set myself up in a position where failure was an option. Smart enough to stop, assess the situation and make a good decision, I came home to lick my wounds and regroup.

It is understandable that you want your program to show results. But please understand
this, if you miss everything else in this entire book: stronger does not necessarily mean more
weight on the bar. Resist the temptation to add weight at the expense of correct technique - you are doing no one any favors when you sacrifice form for weight on the bar. Progress stops, bad habits get formed, injuries accumulate, and no one benefits in the long run. 

~Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength 2nd Edition p. 299

Had I read this about 2 months ago, I literally might be stronger today. We can Insert the White Men Can't Jump Jimmy Hendrix conversation here as I read it, I just didn't REALLY read it.
Moving on, it was a great rebound this morning as I was up an at it early and into some much needed shoulder work. For some reason I thought I was neglecting them lately.  I did some "newish" programming and added some volume to account for the fact that I want my form to be spot on.

Shoulder & Upper Back Work.

Shoulder Press - 5x10,45x10,60x8,70x6,70x7,85x5,95x7,95x7,95x3
Barbell Shrugs - 135x20,135x20,225x10,225x10,315x7
Pendlay Rows - 65x10,85x10,85x10 (Was being super strict on my form here)
Behind the Neck Press - 45x10,55x10,65x10 (First attempt at this)
Power Cleans - 65x5,65x5,85x5,105x3,120x2,140x3,140x3,140x3, 140x3, 140x3

Aside from spotting the woman that was benching 225x12's (that will make your dick shrivel), this was a much needed confidence booster after last night's incident. I felt like a fucking viking after this one.

Form matters and falling foward is bad

Much better session today. I'm still sticking with the Starting Strength thing, even though there is something about it that I hate. I'm pretty sure it mostly has to do with reddit's and specifically /r/fitness ridiculous love affair with it.  Regardless, the numbers are still going up.  But while I am still a pathetic weakling nancy boy, I am taking the time to make sure I can get a grip on things like form..  Here's an example of why..

Notice the guy falling forward.  That's this asshole. There's a couple things going on there that's causing this to happen. 

A. My weak, fat abs not being able to stabilize my upper body out of the hole 
B. I'm inside my own head.  As you can tell it begins at the rack when I can't get the bar comfortable on my shoulders.  I lose all my tightness in my core and lats arching it off the hooks when I do it two or three times.  Plus it just seems like those hooks are a foot deep and stupid.
C. There's a possibility that I am letting my elbows flare out somewhere in this mess.

I'm not going to let it get me down though. I was even a little encouraged on my downward motion and the way my hips were heading backwards. These ques are harder to pick up then you would think. All this said, I still put up the best numbers I have had since starting this program.

Squat - 45x5,45x5,90x5,135x3,185x2,225x5,225x5,225x5
Bench- 45x5,45x5,80x5,110x3,145x2,175x5,175x3,175x5 - I lost the second set on this one due to an asshole coughing all over the place right next to my bench. Some People.
Deads- 135x5,210x3,250x2,285x4

I'll be taking the boy to the Y back home over the weekend and figure I can work out some of these form issues using some of the advice from here. (Lift-Run-Bang) Great read for people who got here because they are bad at squatting. I personally appreciate the passage in the third part of the series that points out if you are squatting 185, you're to be considered a "real weak guy".

I can only appreciate it because it's true.

It all starts with a direction, or sometimes a lack thereof

I’m a fairly new entry into the world of weightlifting. Let me put that statement on hold as I am going for full disclosure. I’m actually not even an entry yet, I think I fall somewhere around a bystander. I’ll tell the story, but I am literally the definition of a novice to the sport.   I’ve done some of it before, but that was what might as well been a million years ago, and seriously at least 20.  At that time none of it was worth a shit either. That time between high school and the time just after high school where your testosterone and strength levels should be peak, but the attitude and work ethic don’t match up. Needless to say, I was a dumb kid going through the motions, just to say I was doing something. I would go to the school weight room, and just go from station to station half-assing and really never lifting anything.

 

Fuck, if I remember correctly, I couldn’t bench much more than 135 pounds ever.  If it was too hard, I just didn’t try. I didn’t even go for glamor muscles at the time. It was a classic case of fuckarounditis, and weakness wrapped up into one package.

So fast forward to about 1 year ago. I had just done the quitting smoking bit and it was about then that I started thinking about the physical condition I was in.  Even from the bullshit yourself self-assessment view, I knew it was pretty poor and I knew it wasn’t going to get any better if I continued to sit around and think about it.   I remember the feeling at the time that I didn’t know what to do, or where to start.  I had a membership for several years (again to say I did) to a shitbox $10.00 a month “Judgment” free gym which was laced with treadmills and purple faggotish exercise machines. That was it. I was in…

Lets get pumps with 20's.

I took step one, and at 5:00AM the next day I got my ass up left the house and went. I went with some conviction as I had found a workout from the internets which was supposed to get me in A1 #1 USA #1 Best Condition. (Say that in Asian voice, it’s funnier). I was going to tweak the diet and go low carb, high protein, low calorie and this is what I believed was everything I needed to do to get “super jacked” and in awesome shape.  This is what I get for reading, reading on the internet.  Needless to say, I did a few weeks of some BS circuit, got bored and decided I didn’t like getting up at 5:00 and going out in the cold.  This moved me to step two, which was essentially denial. Denial in this case came in the form of P90X. I’m not going to illustrate what P90X is, so if you don’t know, go to www.google.com and type it in.  However, be warned that you may fall into the state of disillusion that I did, and believe that there is anything credible or useful about this program.  Let me take that back, it’s somewhat better than complete inaction.

I actually stuck this out for 90 days and almost to the letter. I didn’t drink and beers, I ate the terrible meals they gave recipes for, and did the “muscle confusion” workout day after day. The only part that was really confusing was why it cost me so much fucking money. Program, Equipment & Stupid menu, probably ran somewhere around 300 bucks with a food investment of over $150 a week for two people.  I will say that I did see some weight loss and a little BF% loss. Not enough to warrant continuing though. So, it happened again. What you say? Nothing. Well, Thanksgiving and Christmas, New Years and a bunch of drinking and eating. I dare say went right back to where I started, and I mean literally. I got that itch again and right back to the last thing that failed. Gym, P90X, nothing. In that exact sequence. 

The Government knows what's up

 Fast forward a few months, to roughly July of this year (2012). I was a very flaccid 197 pounds of love handles and disproportionate BF% at the time, and everything was about to start over again. That same awakening I had over three previous occasions took place again, which started that same old cycle of routines. Enter the “Judgment Free” zone again, that same circuit again, and my having no real goals to achieve or direction to head in, again. Again being my key point here and the main theme of this section of the tale. Fortunately, I was literally two weeks in when I realized that I needed to do something different. Radically different. I wasn’t happy, which should always be enough of a catalyst for change, and this time I was partially determined to not fuck it up. I was surprised of how quickly I found some reprieve as the answer was in the mantra for that purple infested cesspool of a gym.  “Judgment Free”. That’s it, that’s what I needed.  I needed judgment, at least some judgment, and I needed it from myself. Here’s how I rationalize. If I wasn’t judging myself, then how could I get any results? I needed to not only be the Judge, but the jury and the fucking executioner.

Here came an ass load of questions. What results did I want?  What was I looking to achieve. Was I ready to push some of my own limits to find out? This was also about the same time that I was doing a lot of lurking on /r/fitness, where everything Rippetoe is praised as gospel. Starting Strength you say? Sounds interesting, but I wasn’t sold, and I hadn’t read the book. I liked the idea of changing some programming, to “some programming” but the shit hole that I was paying to go to wasn’t even equipped with proper equipment to even do something so “weightlifting” like. So I quit. I broke free of the repetitive nature that I had become so lost in. It cost me some coin, but I found a new place to work, that was going to let me work and I mean work*. I could drop weights (within reason) It even had a fucking squat rack! 

My new favorite place

*The deeper I get into this, I question these statements.

The scary as shit part of this is that, I wasn’t sure what to do at the time. I went to the hypertrophy based circuit I had been on a few times, just until I figured some stuff out, another two weeks wouldn’t kill me, and then I gave into the herd. I gave into Rippetoe. Starting Strength was read on work related trip and it seemed simple enough. Too simple. Eat a fucking ton and lift a fucking ton. The great part is that simple was just what I needed.

Here’s where I started on or around August 27, 2012. These were my max sets of 5 for the first day I worked them.

Squat - 110

Bench - 125

Deadlift - 215

Power Clean – 95

Overhead Press – 85

A “Big Three” of 450 at nearly 200 pounds? The Shame, Oh the Shame, the god damned SHAME!

I get that these are pretty unimpressive, they are to me as well, and honestly the afters aren’t much better but have had a tremendous improvement over where I began.  This is encouraging for me. Hell, even the fact that I have been at it since July is amazing to me. I’m happy to report that I feel like I am growing into this whole thing, and not only has it become a pretty big part of my day, I see so many new things within it that I want to try and accomplish. For some reason, without any provocation I have begun to challenge myself with targets and goals. These are wins.

Current Stats after today’s shit workout. (I have those) Most if not all of these are times five reps.

Squat - 220

Bench - 175

Deadlift – 275 – Keep in mind I herniated a disc doing this weight and had to reset at 235.

Power Clean – 135

Overhead Press –120 – I feel a reset coming on here.

Rippetoe would have said YNDTP or something but with a new “Big Three” of 670 or an increase of 220 pounds in two months with some pretty major injuries, I’m fairly content at this point. Happy? No. But considering a broken rib and a herniated disc in the old back were the injuries, I’ll take it.  Please don't think I am using these as excuses either. That said, it’s time to man the fuck up, I don’t think anyone should get a man card until you are over 1K pounds.

This guy really fought the fuck out of some dude for 75 rounds and won.

Some takeaways - Since beginning this thing I am doing,  I have learned a few things about this. The first lesson is that you can eat too much. I started getting a little fat kinda quick.  It’s a fine line between being a fatty and keeping your strength gains going forward. The second is relative to a lot of things in life.  You can get distracted by all the roads that you have to choose from as there is what I consider way too many options in which programming you can choose from. The best advice I have seen is to keep it simple, and make sure you are doing as much as you can. Think of it like this, it’s been working for me.

The iron doesn’t talk back. Honestly, the iron doesn’t say it doesn’t want to be picked up because it can’t. That weight doesn’t do shit but sit there and taunt you. It’s a piece of fucking iron. All that noise, all those excuses. That’s your bullshit. When you put that down, you will be able to carry much more.

Write that shit down somewhere and read it.