brikis98's journal

[brikis98]

05/21: day off

05/22:

front squat: 155x5, 180x5, 205x5, 230x5, 255x3, 205x8
bench: 185x5, 215x5, 245x5, 275x5, 305x3, 245x8
weighted pull-ups: BWx5, 15x5, 30x5, 45x5, 60x3, 30x8

I felt pretty damn good today, so I bumped my squat weight 10lbs (instead of 5lbs) from last week. as i'm doing a cut, it's a tiny bit aggressive, but worked out just fine: the weight was flying up and i put up 255 without too much difficulty. bench was a repeat from last week (since i didn't get 5 reps last monday), so it went pretty easy. I'm still not sure i'll get 305 up 5 times this coming Monday, but i've done it before, so I'll keep working at it till I do it again. pull-ups felt great today and I was really able to power through the sets. Even the 60lbs dumbbell wasn't too bad, so I should be able to eek out 5 reps with it on Monday. The 8 rep set had me panting quite a bit, but felt terrific.

Overall, I'm happy with my weight loss and strength maintenance/gain so far. My hips and shoulder are just about all healed up, which is great. The one disappointment is my lower back. Every day it feels just a bit better than the day before, but it can be pretty random. Some days it feels completely healed and then the next it's quite sore again. I know lower back injuries take a while to heal, but this is getting pretty goddamn annoying. I wonder if taking an anti-inflammatory pill for a week would help? If the issue is some kind of swelling, maybe the pills would reduce it and allow faster healing...

 

[brikis98]

05/23: weighed in at 211 today. just 1 pound to go and I will hit my June 15 goal 🙂

got some HIIT to do later today, will edit it in tonight.



EDIT --->

decided to use the treadmill we have in the tiny gym at work. bad idea - the thing absolutely sucks. It has no numbers to enter a speed quickly, so you just have to push the up and down buttons repeatedly. The track is not taught enough, so at high speeds, it sometimes slides forward a bit when you take a step (very disconcerting). Annoying display that would often obscure the time, making it hard to time my intervals.

So, it wasn't a fun run, but I did the best I could with it. After a 10 minute warmup, I did 12 sets of 20 seconds @ 10mph and 40 seconds at 6mph.

 

[brikis98]

05/24: woot, weighed in at 210 today, 3 weeks before my june 15 goal. Can't wait to get down to 200, or even 195. Today's workout:

light front squats: 145x5, 170x5, 195x5, 195x5
military press: 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 155x5
hypers: 2xBWx12
deadlifts: 2x135x10
weighted dips: BWx8, 40x8, 60x8
dumbbell preacher curls: 50x5, 55x5

Front squats went by quite easily. I think my hips are just about back to 100%. I was not happy with my form on military press last week, so I kept the weight down a bit to work on it. The third and fourth sets felt excellent and I think I figured out the issue - I needed to narrow my grip a bit and move my elbows out to the sides a bit more. As my lower back is healing, I did 2 sets of hypers, which felt great and then 2 sets of very light deadlift. There was no pain whatsoever, and overall, my back felt great. I'll do 3 sets of deadlifts next week and 4 the week after that. If all goes well, I'll start actually putting some weight on it and see how it goes. Weighted dips and preacher curls were the assistance today and both went just fine.

 

[brikis98]

05/25: day off.

05/26: went on a 2.5 hour bike ride around the charles river today, beautiful ride and I was pretty damn exhausted by the end. I forgot to weigh myself in the morning, but after the ride (and the ridiculous amount of water i drank when i got home), I weighed in at 209.

 

[gramboh]

Originally posted by: brikis98
I was not happy with my form on military press last week, so I kept the weight down a bit to work on it. The third and fourth sets felt excellent and I think I figured out the issue - I needed to narrow my grip a bit and move my elbows out to the sides a bit more.

Glad to hear you are healing well! Reading this comment about your military press technique triggered a thought in my head. I barely got 5x5 at 120 yesterday, and I had to cheat the last rep on the last two sets. I was pissed off since I'm just coming back from a deload at 115. I think I've been letting my elbows fall inside a bit in the start position. Do you find you get a lot more power with elbows directly under forearms? I need to re-read the chapter in SS on OH press. Some reps I feel super strong at 120, some it feels super hard.

 

[brikis98]

05/27:

front squat: 155x5, 180x5, 205x5, 230x5, 255x5
bench: 185x5, 215x5, 245x5, 275x5, 305x3
weighted pull-ups: BWx5, 15x5, 30x5, 45x5, 60x5
abs

Front squats went well, although the last set was brutally hard. Bench felt really heavy today and I just didn't have it at all. Only got 3 reps up on the last set, 1 rep less than last week on the same weight. This is probably a sign that it's time to deload, but as I'm going on vacation next week (and won't be lifting for 2 weeks), I'll give it one more try and let the time off be a deloading period. Pull-ups felt very solid.



Gramboh - the best thing to do - aside from reading the book - is to check out some of the videos with rippetoe on the crossfit exercises page. Search the page for "Weighted Press, Part I - III, Mark Rippetoe" and "Press Instruction, Part I - III, Mark Rippetoe".

As I said one of my biggest issues was that I was holding the bar much too wide - you're supposed to grip it so your hands end up just outside your shoulders when the bar is racked. As for elbows, they start forward a bit (so your forearms are actually tilted back slightly) and you push upwards while moving your torso forward so that the bar ends up over the back of your head. On the way up, the elbows gradually end up more and more directly under the forearms until you have your hands straight out.

The nice thing about the press is that you'll really know it when you got it right. You'll feel like the weight is sliding up in a groove and you'll do each rep in a smooth, powerful motion. When you do it wrong - assuming you're not just doing way too much weight - you'll be wobbling, the bar speed will be slow and the motion will not be smooth. keep practicing with lighter weight and you'll get it.

 

[gramboh]

Thanks for the links, those videos are awesome. I think I have a decent starting position, but my elbows fall out of place sometimes (flexibility?). I know what you mean about feeling it slide up. It's frustrating for me, because some reps I have that right technique and it feels super light, then I mess something up (bar path probably) the next rep and can't do it. Going to watch these vids a few times before Friday! Thanks again

 

[brikis98]

05/28: day off

05/29: I was feeling pretty good today and decided to give back squats a try for the first time since mid april or so.

back squat: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5, 275x3, 225x8
bench: 185x5, 215x5, 245x5, 275x5, 305x3, 245x8
weighted pull-ups: BWx5, 20x5, 35x5, 50x5, 65x3, 35x8

The results with back squat were mixed. The first rep of every set felt crappy - my hips felt some pain and my lower back whined slightly. I think I'm not setting up my legs properly for the first rep as after that, I'd get in groove and every rep after that felt incredibly smooth. This was the first time I used the low bar position, as before that, I'd always squat high bar. However, low bar is supposed to reduce torque on the back and felt pretty solid. I was getting deep into the hole and flying out of it with great bar speed. The heavy set (275x3) was a bit shaky, but the problem was definitely balance/coordination, and not strength. The last set (225x8) felt fantastic and I had a great pump in my legs at the end. So the good news is that, after shaking off the rust a bit, the back squat went reasonably well. The bad news is that a few hours later, sitting at my desk, there's now a bit of nagging pain in my lower back. I can't tell if this is just soreness (as I haven't worked my lower back much recently) or still the injury. At any rate, Saturday will be a light squat day and I'll get to test out my back squat some more with nice, easy weights.

Bench went fine, although I'm even more sure now that I'm stalling. Cutting weight had to catch up with me somewhere. My squat and pull-ups were progressing well, but 305 on the bench has felt VERY heavy the last couple weeks. I got all 3 reps out, but I'm pretty sure I haven't improved any and still won't be able to get 5. However, as I said before, I'm on vacation next Weds, so I may as well give it one more shot. Pull-ups felt fantastic, as usual, and I'm really learning to put up good amounts of weight. I think 65x5 should be very doable next week. I like these a lot more than rows, and I do feel my back getting worked pretty well, so hopefully I'm not missing out on anything.

 

[brikis98]

05/30: weighed in at 209 today. back was definitely stiff this morning after back squats yesterday, so maybe i'll do light front squats tomorrow to give it a rest. don't want to push it too much too quickly. got HIIT later on today.

 

[gramboh]

Congrats on the weightloss. You are really strong on bench and pull-ups, wow, how many reps did you do for BW on pull-ups before you changed to weighted? I'm finding my progress on pull-ups/chin-ups really slow (on SL 5x5), I just find I am beat down by the time I get to them. I should start doing them on non-lifting days maybe.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Congrats on the weightloss. You are really strong on bench and pull-ups, wow, how many reps did you do for BW on pull-ups before you changed to weighted? I'm finding my progress on pull-ups/chin-ups really slow (on SL 5x5), I just find I am beat down by the time I get to them. I should start doing them on non-lifting days maybe.

thanks 🙂

not really sure how many body weight pull-ups i could do since i always do sets of 5 (going for strength instead of endurance). as a totally wild guess, i'd estimate around 15, but that could be off in either direction.

i didn't do too much in the way of pull-ups during SS/5x5. Rows, squats, deadlifts (and power cleans, if you have a gym with bumper plates) are more than enough back work and it's not surprising that you feel beat down. remember, pull-ups, dips, arms, etc are all assistance work and you should only do them if you still feel like you have lots of energy left after all the heavy compound exercises.

however, after injuring my lower back, I had to stop doing deadlifts completely (although i'm starting to work them back in) and replaced the 5x5 of rows with a 5x5 of pull-ups. this has allowed me to make pretty good progress on the pull-up and as it's one of my favorite exercises (one of the few 100% directly applicable to life), i can't complain. even when my back totally heals, i'm not sure i'll switch back to rows.

in terms of technique, i like to do pull-ups with a somewhat explosive movement. i start every single rep in a full hang (arms full straight) and with a slight forward lean. Seen from the side, my hands are tilted slightly back, my head almost directly under the bar - note that this implies that the motion will not be straight up and down (or you'll crack your head) but a little bit back and around. this dead hang position extends my lats and upper back muscles fully, and i can use this small amount of stretch reflex to produce a quick, explosive movement, get my chin over the bar, and then lower (not drop!) back down into a full hang again.

i'm trying to focus on upper back strength during pull-ups, and i find that this approach lets you handle a lot of weight and really jacks your lats, traps, rhomboids, and arms/biceps. it's *not* a kipping pull-up - where you do a hard leg kick - as those are usually done for high reps and endurance. nothing wrong with them and if they work for you, by all means do them (they are even more practical, as that's how you'd do a pull-up if your life depended on it). of course, a leg kick gets mighty tough with a 65 dumbbell sitting on your calves 🙂

 

[brikis98]

05/30: was feeling a bit too sore and beat up to do anything high impact, so i did some HIIT on the elliptical:

15 sets of 24 seconds @ level 18, 36 seconds @ level 8.

putting it at level 18 forced my whole body into the workout, using my lower body (quads, hamstrings, calves, hips) and some upper body (arms, back, chest) to move those pedals around. i was breathing pretty hard by the end and i think i'll use this whenever i need a break from my usual running & biking.

 

[brikis98]

05/31: the day started off real crappy - my back was a bit stiff and i had some pinching pain in my hips when i'd lift my legs at certain angles. not good. but i went to the gym anyway:

(light) front squats: 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5
press: 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 160x5
hypers: BWx15
deadlift: 135x10, 185x5, 185x5
hang clean: 115x3, 135x3, 135x3 (incl. push press at the end)

with each set of squats, my back felt better and better and the hip pain totally relaxed and went away. this seems to be a trend: using my injured/sort back & hips actually makes them feel better (usually for the rest of the day). i guess they warm up and relax. the only worry is that they might be even more injured for the next day... but hopefully not. at any rate, my 2 week vacation should give them plenty of time to heal.

i'm definitely stalling on all my press-style exercises. bench has been stuck at 305 for several weeks and overhead press is jammed at ~160. I got all 5 reps up, but it wasn't pleasant, and I definitely would not have had 165. i'll need to deload the bench and the overhead press when i get back from vacation and work my way back up.

after that, i did 1 set of hypers to warm up my back and gave a shot at some deadlifts to see how my back could handle it. the reps i did with good form felt excellent, but occasionally i'd miss slightly (starting straightening my hips before the bar was above my knees) and i'd get a nice zing of pain. i suppose on the one hand it keeps my deadlifts honest, but on the other... i again have to wonder if my back is really ready for it. i suppose i could keep this low weight for a while longer...

finally, inspired by reading the power clean chapter in rippetoe's SS book, I decided to start with the milder hang cleans (I'll do full power cleans when I'm sure my back can handle the initial deadlift aspect). i hadn't done these since college and had been avoiding them as none of the gyms i've gone to since those days have had bumper plates. however, i was really missing power exercises in my workout, and decided to go for it anyway. my form was definitely rusty (not enough of a jump, not very clean job of racking), so i kept the weight pretty low, but these felt FANTASTIC. i forgot that incredible rush - that full body pump - you get with power exercises. i felt so good, i even finished each hang clean with a push press on the last set, which may be a good way to help my shoulders bust through the plateau.

i'm really tempted now to work in more power exercises into my workouts. do at least 1 movement that involves explosiveness every other workout. i'll start with the simpler ones and work my way up: push press -> hang clean -> hang clean & push press -> (squat) clean -> (squat) clean & push press. not sure i'll do the full clean & jerk, as i never cared much for the jerk motion itself - the odd split movement of the legs and the relative removal of the shoulders from the lifting just never appealed to me. hopefully, this will make my training more well rounded. only thing i'd need to add after that is some plyometric work on the off days, such box jumps, muscle ups, clap push ups and the like.


Edit: took a ~3 hour walk with the gf today and then helped her parents move furniture around. i was pretty damn beat by the end of the day.

 

[brikis98]

06/01: played basketball (mostly shooting around and 1 on 1)for ~2 hours. it was the first time i've played since last summer, so i was exhausted afterwards.

 

[brikis98]

06/02: hit the gym for my last weight lifting session until ~June 21 or so when I come back from vacation.

back squat: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5, 275x1, 225x8
bench: 185x5, 215x5, 245x5, 275x5, 305x4
pull-ups: BWx12, BWx12
chin-ups: BWx12
hang power clean & push press: 115x3, 135x3, 155x1, 145x3

I tested out the back squat once more today and as has been the case recently, there was good news and bad news. the good news was that my lower back felt very solid. no pain, no stiffness, no soreness, even in a very deep squat. the bad news was my hip decided to act up. The heavier the weight got, the more sharp the pain got, and at 275, even though the 1 rep went up with good bar speed, it hurt enough that I decided to not push it and did a higher rep set with lower weight instead. I hope that the 2+ weeks I have off will let my hips heal fully and I'll be able to get my back squat going strong again. I'll probably alternate front and back squats to let my lower back and hips rest a bit and to prepare my body for the various power exercises (ie, cleans) that use the front squat.

bench press has definitely stalled. i felt VERY strong the first 4 sets, blasting the bar up without any issues. but i wasn't even close on the 5th rep of 305 and struggled mightily on the first 4. on a total whim, i did 3 BW sets of pull-ups and chin-ups today, instead of my usual 5x5 with weight. there's no good reason for it, but it gave me a nice pump anyway.

finally, i continued to work on my power exercises. I'm starting with the simple ones - hang power clean followed by a push press - and will continue to do this for a while. once i feel that i've mastered it, i'll do a full power clean & push press, followed by a full clean & push press and eventually, the clean & jerk. i REALLY like these exercises and 3 reps is incredibly tough - you really have to have heart to do a push press after the clean itself. i can only imagine it'll get tougher once the deadlift (in the beginning) & squat (in the middle) are added. i also jumped up in weight a bit too quick - I got 155 up ok the first time, but the second rep was ugly, definitely lacking sufficient height. I dropped down to 145 and powered through the 3 reps at that weight instead.

 

[brikis98]

i've been thinking about changing my routine when i come back from vacation. i like to make changes and tweaks to my workout routine fairly often - every 8-12 weeks - as it keeps things interesting, allows me to shock my body and makes my strength training more well rounded. This time around, the focus is incorporating olympic (power) lifts into my routine.

i will be away from the gym for almost 3 weeks for a vacation. when i come back, i will deload all of my exercises ~10-15% so I can readjust after a long time off from lifting and to make it easier to keep proper form so i don't reinjure my back, hips and shoulder. I'm going to do a combination of the Starting Strength A/B setup with the linear progression and ramped sets of the Bill Starr 5x5 program as follows:

Workout A:
Back squat: 5x5
Bench: 5x5
Hang power clean & Push Press: 3x3

Workout B:
Front squat: 5x5
Overhead Press: 5x5
Deadlift: 3x5 or Power clean: 3x3

Assistance
Assistance 1: abs 3x5, obliques 3x5
Assistance 2: dips 3x5
Assistance 3: pull-ups 3x5
Assistance 4: chin-ups 3x5

Example 2 weeks
Mon: workout A, Assistance 1
Thu: workout B, Assistance 2
Sat: workout A, Assistance 3

Mon: workout B, Assistance 1
Thu: workout A, Assistance 2
Sat: workout B, Assistance 4

Comments
* I alternate back and front squat as the front squat will reduce stress on my lower back and hips (both due to the different motion and the lighter weights used).
* I limit deadlifts to every other B workout to reduce the stress on my lower back. The B workouts that don't have a deadlift will instead have power cleans which involve a deadlift at the start of the motion, but with much lighter weight.
* Hang power cleans are in the A workout to have a power exercise that doesn't add additional back stress. They are finished with a push press to involve the upper body in an explosive movement.
* Power exercises are done for 3 reps as keeping proper form is essential and form breaks down with higher reps.
* Sets ramp up in weight - that is, each set is heavier than the previous.
* If I master the power cleans, I may change them to full cleans (ie, including a front squat).

 

[gramboh]

I like your plan, looks good and has a solid foundation. Cool that you are getting into the cleans, I am hoping to start learning that soon as well (progressing from hang cleans etc. as described in SS), I love watching people do the oly lifts at the gym, looks like a lot of fun. I did a set of OH squats with just the bar today and man I am not as flexible as I thought, I can't even imagine doing a proper snatch with weight right now.

Have fun on the vacation.

 

[brikis98]

Well, I got back from vacation yesterday after more than 2 weeks without any weight lifting. Instead, as we traveled through Munich & Prague, I got TONS of slow cardio (walking 5-10 miles a day), and ate pretty unhealthy - sausages, pork, potatoes, sauerkraut and an INSANE quantity of (incredibly delicious) beer.

today's weigh in was therefore a bit of a surprise: 203lbs.

that's 20lbs lost since I started the cut in mid april, and pretty damn close to my goal. given the lack of weight lifting and the large amount of slow cardio, i suspect that, unfortunately, the weight lost while on vacation included a fair bit of muscle. i definitely don't look any more defined than i was at 223lbs and still have a good amount of unnecessary flab around my stomach/hips, which means i still have some ways to go.

given all this, here are my new goals:

1. Drop to 195lbs body weight.
2. Start with significantly lower weights and get back into lifting slowly. This will help me adjust after a long time off and hopefully make sure that my previous injuries (lower back + hips) are healed and won't get reinjured.
3. Slowly fight back up to my previous numbers.

tomorrow will be my first day back at lifting, so I will keep the workout real light and see how my body reacts.

 

[brikis98]

06/21:

had an AWFUL workout today. i know it was my first one in about 3 weeks and I think I was a bit dehydrated, but it was still very unpleasant.

back squat: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, (cramp!) 225x5, 185x5
bench: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 245x5, 265x5
hang power clean: 95x5, 115x5, 135x3 (cramp!)
pull-ups: BWx12, BWx9, BWx6

the first set of back squat felt very rusty and a bit awkward and I got a twinge of pain in my hip. it went away pretty quick and I did set two, which felt *much* better and was a bit smoother. the third set, with 225, was a bit uncomfortable again, and i had to strain a bit to keep proper form. after getting a drink, i went to hang from a pull-up bar just to stretch out a bit. when i dropped down to the floor, as soon as my feet hit the ground, both of my thighs cramped up. it was pretty damn unpleasant and i had to stretch and flex them for a while to get them to relax. this was probably from a combination of dehydration and being out of practice, but it worried me (what if they cramped mid-squat?), so i didn't go up in weight. i did 225 again for the 4th set, which went ok, although my thighs were tight. i dropped down in weight for the last set, during which my legs were even tighter, so it was definitely a good time to spot. bench press was rusty, but i didn't struggle a whole lot. shoulder felt fine. power cleans were going more or less ok, until the third set, where after doing the jump, my calves suddenly cramped! the calf cramps was definitely worse than the thigh cramps, so i stopped the exercise all together and stretched a lot. i finished the workout with body-weight pull-ups which went ok, although i was clearly fatiguing towards the end from being out of practice.

so, i guess there is good news and bad news. the good news was that bench went more or less ok and my injuries seem to be doing pretty well - i'd say back is 95%, hip 90%, and shoulder 95%. the bad news is that i was noticeably rusty, weaker, and my legs were cramping all over. it's kind of frustrating that the main muscles i used during my vacation, my legs, for walking 5-10 miles per day, seem to have lost the most strength. i will probably be massively sore tomorrow (especially my legs), but i'll try to hit the gym again on monday and see how front squats, deadlift and overhead press treat me. hopefully, after a week or two, my body will be used to lifting again, and i'll be back to normal.

 

[brikis98]

06/22:

weighed in at 202 today. i am massively sore from yesterdays workout, especially (as expected) my quads. i know it's ok to exercise when moderately sore, but i think i need to let this level of soreness heal for a day or 2 before using my legs too much again. at most, i might do some kind of active recovery thing (ie, walking or very light biking) just to get some blood flowing through my legs.

 

[brikis98]

06/23:

weighed in at 203 today. i am still way too sore to do much of anything - my quads are sore enough that it's actually difficult to sit down on the toilet 🙂

so, today will be another rest day, and i'll hit the gym again tomorrow to continue re-adapting my body.

 

[gramboh]

Ahh the potty flop 🙂. I wouldn't be too worried, I think you'll get back to your previous working sets within a week or two tops, looking at your log it looks like you used a reasonable amount of weight from your previous lifts, maybe it was just a bit too long of a time lapse. No biggie, you'll be back in no time.

 

[paulxcook]

coming back to the gym sucks. I was away for a month and a half and it seemed like I'd lost so much strength. Taking a week off doesn't seem to do much, but maybe 2-3 weeks is the threshold for soreness to come screaming back at you.

 

[brikis98]

06/24:

uhhhh. another horrible gym day. after 3 weeks off, my body was just NOT prepared for lifting. incredible how you can lift very consistently for several years, but take off less than a month and so many of the adaptations go away.

back squat: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 245x2 (tweaked back and stopped)
overhead press: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 145x4, 135x5
deadlift: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x3
abs

Back squat was going along much nicer today and my form felt solid up to 185. At 225, the bar speed was significantly lower, but I got up the 5 reps reasonably well. I then bumped up to 245, which felt heavy on the first rep and then on the second rep, I felt a twinge of pain in my lower back. With the lower back injuries I had earlier, this worried me a lot, so I stopped squats and took a break. Next up was overhead press. My form was very rusty - I got the weights up, but at 145 my form fell apart and I missed the 5th rep. I dropped back to 135 on the last set, but I'm still not happy with the form. Finally, my back was feeling more or less ok, so I chanced some deadlifts, which actually felt pretty damn good. I only planned to go up to 225, but it felt pretty damn light, so I went with 275 for a few reps. I finished up with some ab work.

Sitting at home now, my lower back is definitely sore. I can't tell if it's an injured kind of sore or normal muscle soreness, but I unfortunately suspect the former. I'll know tomorrow morning when I wake up with either a sore back (good) or a very stiff back (bad). It may be time for me to see a doctor and get an x-ray: this back injury may be more than muscular as it has been awfully persistent.

 

[brikis98]

06/25:

good news: weighed in at 201lbs today. I have a decent chance of hitting my goal of 200lbs before July, 1.5 months earlier than expected. sweet.

bad news: yup, definitely hurt my back yesterday. it's very stiff today and the odd motion will occasionally send a shot of pain through the area, especially the left side. the only reason i'm still hesitant to see a doctor is because of the experience of many friends and family members who also had lower back issues. the doctors and chiropractors very rarely can identify the issue and other than prescribing simple PT exercises (which I do now anyway), can never do anything about it. sigh.