paulxcook's Training Journal

[crt1530]

Originally posted by: paulxcook

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: paulxcook
Thanks for the thoughts. Bench has always frustrated me, my chest just doesn't grow like the rest of me, but it just makes me want to lift harder, so I'm definitely not giving up.

I haven't done measurements like that in a long time, maybe I should. My wife has some measuring tape she uses for sewing, I could do that. I don't know that I'd want to do it every week, maybe every 2 weeks or every month. What should I measure? I assume waist, upper and lower arms, calves, upper legs, chest, and shoulders?

Usually neck, shoulders, arms, chest, waist, quads, calves. I try to measure the largest part for most everything except the waist since the waist is a bit different.

Also, with chest, what's your biggest problem? Do you touch the barbell lightly to your shirt? Do you have the right grip? Is there anything else that could be a factor with your hindrance of progress?

I usually put my pinkies on the smooth rings on either side of the barbell, try to lower to my shirt and not bounce off my chest. I wonder if maybe I'm letting the weight come too far down my torso. I read recently that it helps to press upwards but slightly toward your head, and if anything I press slightly in the other direction.

Most people are comfortable touching somewhere between the xiphoid process (the bottom of your sternum) and right above their nipples. I would try to stay within that range. When you press the bar, press it straight up.

 

[paulxcook]

Is there any problem with me getting bench out of the way first so I'm not tired from squat and deadlift?

 

[crt1530]

In the SS novice program, deadlift is always supposed to be done last. I don't think it would hurt to change the order if your bench press is more important to you than your squat.

 

[paulxcook]

Originally posted by: crt1530
In the SS novice program, deadlift is always supposed to be done last. I don't think it would hurt to change the order if your bench press is more important to you than your squat.

I don't think I would say it's more important to me. I actually enjoy squats, and I don't like bench, I do it because I know I should and eventually I might like it. I will try squat, bench, and deads in that order tonight. As always, thanks for the help crt.

 

[paulxcook]

Day 7

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squats:

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
205 x 5 x 3

Same weight as last time, but it didn't feel so heavy tonight. I will try to increase by 5 or 10 lbs on Saturday.

Bench:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
125 x 5 x 3

That's a bit better. Up 10 lbs from last week, and all 3 sets felt solid. Doing this lift 2nd instead of last helped, I think.

Deadlift:

95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
205 x 5 x 1

I felt strong on this one. StrongER, anyway. That's up 20 lbs. from last time, and my squat and deadlift weights are now the same. I expect deads to start pulling away steadily.


Cardio:

15 min. of elliptical on high incline and resistance.

I still had a lot of energy after my lifts, but not a lot of time, so I pushed hard for 15 min and really had my heart rate up.

I dunno if it's the actual effects of creatine and protein supplements, or a placebo effect, or both, but I just felt better during and after this workout than I have thus far.


edit: I went ahead and measured stuff, thanks to wifey for the assist

waist: 40"
thighs: 26"
calves: 16"
chest: 43"
upper arm: 16"
forearm: 12"
shoulders: 19" across

 

[paulxcook]

Day 8

Squats:

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
210 x 5 x 1

These felt ok. Moderately heavy.

Military Press:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
75 x 5 x 1

Kind of an increase of 5 lbs. I may have been ok to do 80, but I wasn't sure.

Bent Over Row:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
140 x 5 x 3

Increase of 5 lbs. I felt kinda sluggish on these.

37 min. of cardio.

I look leaner but still weigh about 230, so I assume I've lost some fat and gained some muscle.

 

[crt1530]

There's no such thing as a "Pendlay Row." The exercise should be referred to as the barbell row or bent-over row. These should be done for three sets of five since they are being substituted for power cleans. I'd lower the weight to match your bench press (125lbs) and make sure to keep your form as strict as possible for all three sets.

 

[paulxcook]

140 x 1 x 3 was a typo, I did 3 sets of 5. It's fixed now.

I refer to it as a Pendlay row because the guy that wrote the Starting Strength online overview called it that.

from the BB.com forum

Question - Are there any videos of these, I don't quite get the idea

Okay, here are a few videos with some discussion of the "do's" and "don't's". I don't use these videos to mock or poke fun, so please don't take it as such.

What Stump is doing here is a conventional barbell row with a deweighting in between reps. This is NOT a bad thing, mind you, it simply isn't how you do a pendlay row. The video does provide a good list of common mistakes. Many people think that the Pendlay row is a conventional row done with a deweighting between reps.

Note a few things while watching this video:

1) Improper starting position - hips too low, shoulders too high. Your upper body should be nearly parallel.
2) Hip extension to get bar off floor, followed by hip extension to accelerate bar - note that he "stands up" while his arms are still straight, and doesn't begin rowing until his torso is at a 45 degree angle.
3) Knee flexion and extension - your quads shouldn't get a workout
4) Dipping and forward motion of the hips just as bar is about to contact body
5) Touching bar too low on the body - don't touch the navel area (this is easy), touch the upper abdomen

This video is a much better example. He uses proper starting position and no leg or hip drive to get the bar from the floor. However, this lifter's traps begin to overpower his lats at the top point, and he uses the "forward hip dip" as the bar is about to touch his midsection. By rolling your hips forward, you take stress off the lats and place it squarely onto the traps, which are always a lot stronger.

This is probably the best example yet. A very small issue with keeping his head down, which will not allow for maximum lat arch at the top. However, note the almost perfectly parallel upper body positioning throughout the motion. Do everything like Vike did it, except find a point a few feet in front of you to focus your eyes on, which forces you to keep your head looking slightly upward, relative to your positioning (i.e. look at the 2nd rung in the power rack or whatever). By doing this, you will keep your head up throughout, and you will be able to finish with a strong lat arch.

From what he says there a barbell or bent-over row isn't what I'm doing. Whatever it's called, I'm doing it the way it's described in the write-up.

 

[crt1530]

kethnaab made up the term.

Originally posted by: Mark Rippetoe
And since you mentioned it, Glenn did not actually invent the barbell row. I don't think he ever said that he did. The standard way to do barbell rows is to pull each rep off the ground. So the actual name of a barbell row should henceforth be "Barbell Row". Please try to remember this.

Link.

 

[paulxcook]

I wonder how that term got so popular. Weird. Ok, I guess what I do is a barbell row.

 

[paulxcook]

For whatever reason I thought to do clean and jerk you were supposed to just drop the weight once you got it overhead successfully. However, I just watched the videos here: http://www.wannabebigforums.com/showthread.php?t=105799

This makes me want to at least try them. I'm sure I'll get some weird looks at the gym, and hopefully the staff won't mind me doing them. I dunno, we'll see.

 

[crt1530]

The SS novice program (from the book) includes power cleans (sans jerk). It does not include barbell rows. That kethnaab guy made that thread with mostly correct information and many of the various bodybuilding and powerlifting forums starting pointing all of the 140lb 16 year olds to it when they came around asking people to "write me up a super special program to get super big and strong."

 

[paulxcook]

So, the clean includes the part where you raise the bar overhead? I thought that was the "jerk" part. I'm such a noob. After reading more of that thread it sounds like the guy is doing it way wrong, but it at least seems like something worth trying.

Ok, so I did some youtubing and it looks like a power clean is just bringing it up to the neck level, not the overhead portion.

 

[crt1530]

Right. A power clean is a clean without going into a full squat. The jerk is the movement where you take the bar from being racked on your shoulders to full extension overhead. If you're doing the SS novice program, you'll be doing some sort of pressing three times per week and don't need to add jerks on top of that.

The thread has some good information, but I would tell anyone who is getting into strength training with barbells to buy "Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training."

 

[paulxcook]

The jerk part of the movement was the part I didn't feel comfortable doing. Now that I've watched some examples of just the power clean, I understand why it is to be used and can't really be substituted with the row, it's a lot different. There's a deadlift motion, a squat motion, and a shrug all in the same movement. I'll give these a try, they look a lot more beneficial than the row.

I really do need to just buy Starting Strength.

 

[paulxcook]

Rrrrg, stupid life stuff has kept me out of the gym all week. I should be able to go late tonight though, I don't think my gym closes til midnight.

 

[paulxcook]

Day 9

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squats

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
215 x 5 x 1 (+5 lbs from last time)

Bench:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
130 x 5 x 3 (+5 lbs)

Deadlift:

95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1 (+20 lbs!)

No cardio.

I haven't lifted since Sunday. And, I forgot to put in contacts and didn't feel like wearing my glasses, so I was lifting blurry-eyed. I just felt kind of flat. Hence I didn't increase my squat much.

I will finally be able to put 45 lb. plates on the bar for bench next time. Heh. I feel like a pussy when I put my tiny little plates on for bench, but if I keep increasing by even just 5 lbs a week I should get to 200 lbs in a reasonable amount of time.

Deadlift felt really heavy, but it felt good to put 225 on there and get it up 5 times. I don't think I'll be doing any more 20 lb. jumps, though. This is the first time it's felt heavy.

 

[paulxcook]

Day 10

WEIGHT X REPS X SETS

Squat:

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
140 x 5 x 1
220 x 5 x 3 (+5 lbs. from last time)

Dear God this felt heavy.

Military Press:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
80 x 5 x 3 (+5 lbs.)

This was fine.

Cleans:

bar x 8 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 3

Oh crap. My quads already felt tight as a drum from squats. I tried my best to keep the bar close to my body, push with my legs and pull with my traps, leave my arms out of it other than "racking" the bar after the initial pull. On some I know I used my arms on accident, on all my quads felt awful, and I don't feel like I worked my traps or back at all. I have no idea if I did any of them right, and on my last rep I missed it completely. I came back and finished, but I feel like I should be doing this with more weight. I don't see how I can effectively do these after squatting heavy (heavy for me). But there's no good reason for them to be in the program if they can't be done effectively, so I must be doing something wrong.

10 minutes of cardio.

 

[crt1530]

The power cleans are supposed to be done for five sets of three. Lower the weight and work on your form if 85 is too much for you to do them with good form. You shouldn't be doing full squat cleans. There should only be a slight bend in your knees when you receive the bar on your shoulders. Take a video if you want feedback.

 

[paulxcook]

After reviewing a few videos and thinking back to my own attempts I think I wasn't driving my hips forward properly. The weight didn't feel like too much, necessarily. Even when I was just cleaning the bar my quads were screaming, and I wasn't sure I was doing it right.

I'm still undecided as to whether I will continue with cleans, as I didn't enjoy them. But if I do them right I might enjoy them. I'm on the fence. I DO like deadlift a lot, and Rippetoe says deadlift is improved by doing cleans. And I don't want to wuss out on this just because I can't figure it out. But, on the other hand, I don't want to force this if I just can't get the timing and movement down since that won't benefit me at all.

I don't have a video camera, but if I can borrow one I will take a video and post it.

 

[paulxcook]

I ordered Starting Strength, finally. I hope it arrives this week. I will stay with power cleans, but I plan to work on them with low or no weight on off days to work on my timing and technique, as these are for me 10x more complex than any other movement in this program. Once my form is correct (I'll try to get some video to confirm) I will incorporate them into my normal routine.

edit: 2000 posts!

 

[KoolDrew]

I ordered Starting Strength, finally.

You definitely will not regret it. I believe everybody interested in weightlifting should own a copy of Starting Strength.

 

[paulxcook]

I'm excited about it. I read that the updated 2nd edition is supposed to have a ton more content on top of the great stuff that was already there.

 

[gramboh]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I ordered Starting Strength, finally. I hope it arrives this week. I will stay with power cleans, but I plan to work on them with low or no weight on off days to work on my timing and technique, as these are for me 10x more complex than any other movement in this program. Once my form is correct (I'll try to get some video to confirm) I will incorporate them into my normal routine.

edit: 2000 posts!

I'm new to lifting, but workout with a friend who is relatively experienced. He was trying to teach me power cleans and clean+jerk and I found them to be by far the hardest exercise to do compared to other lifts in terms of having a half decent technique (squat, DL etc). I also hear you on it being hard to clean with little weight (it feels like the bar is going to fly up out of your hands) but then on the other hand, you don't want to try it with too much weight when you are still learning. For me, I think it is going to take a while to learn those lifts, in the meantime I will continue with the basic stuff I've been doing and hopefully improve on those later.

 

[paulxcook]

Day 11

I'm wearing my Chucks today instead of crosstrainers, for the flatter soles.

Squat:

bar x 8 x 1
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
225 x 5 x 1 (+5 lbs over last session)
230 x 5 x 2 (+10 lbs)

These felt great. I had a lot of energy tonight. I was excited when I went down with 225 and felt I could do more. I thought I could've even added more weight, but I don't want to get stupid and throw out my back.

Bench:

bar x 10 x 1
65 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 2 (+5 lbs)
140 x 5 x 1 (+10 lbs)

These felt good too. I had to push hard to get the last rep up, but at the same time I think I might have been able to add another 5. Hard to know. I think I did the right thing not adding any more. Slow and steady wins the race.

Deads:

95 x 5 x 1
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1
235 x 5 x 1 (+10 lbs)

These felt bad, then good. On my third warmup set I got mad because even though the weight wasn't bad, my upper palm has a callus right up under where my wedding ring is. I don't wear my ring while lifting, but the callus kept getting pinched between my palm and the bar, and it really hurt. I went for 235 anyway and somehow gripped better, because the whole set was explosive.

10 minutes cardio, it was late and I had to get to the grocery store.


Overall tonight felt awesome. Mentally I felt like less of a wimp because I was able to put 45s on the bar for bench, which might be stupid, but that's how I feel and it is what it is. My bench still sucks, but at least I"m making progress. My form is a lot better than it was, too. I didn't expect to get 10 extra lbs on each lift tonight.