February 2012
10 posts
4 tags
Graduation
Today, was graduation day in a sense as I finished my last scheduled session of Starting Strength. I really have enjoyed the experience and absolutely know I’ve gained strength. I look forward to my next planned strength program, but for now back to the metcons. I’ve missed working out with a group. I know my cardio has taken a hit while doing this program, but challenges are fun,...
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Day 23 - End in Sight
When I decided and planned for Starting Strength, my goal was to program it for 8 weeks (24 workouts). Yesterday was my 23rd workout. Yesterday was also my 5th day on the Whole30 program. So far my experience with Whole30 has been fine. Other than the second day full of nausea and a horrible headache, I’ve had no other issues outside of some fluctuations with energy and focus.
Back to SS,...
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Day 22
Today was a great day. After a very shaky day 2 of Whole30 yesterday, I felt so much better today. No nausea, no headache….great day. Even a great day at the gym. Hit every rep except the 5th reps of each of my presses, but on each attempt I put up a huge fight. Also happy about the press attempts considering I was doing sets of 5 at 90% of my previous 1 RM. I say previous because I know I...
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Day 21
Had an unexpected day off today, so I decided to get my work in early today. After an hour at my office, I got to CFD around 10:30. Today was my first day breaking in my new weight lifting belt, and if felt so much better on my back.
Back Squats: 3x5 @ 175#
Bench Press: 3x5 @ 130#
Deadlift: 1x5 @ 245#
Ring Dips: 3x5
Dead Hang Pull-Ups: 2x4 w/ 8#
Back squats felt really good, especially with...
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Day 20
I want to start by cursing presses: Damn you 95# press. That weight has become my nemesis. Twice now I haven’t been able to hit all 3 sets in completion. Although, I will say I’m close to beating it as I hit them 5, 4, 4 and in my previous failed attempt at 95 had to bail at 3 on one of the sets.
My back flared up again after the workout. Today, I’m going go buy a weight...
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Day Something Rather
So with my recent back issues, I decided to do a reset on my back squats. I can tell you right now that my back is feeling much better, but not quite 100%. I bumped my working weight down 15# from last successful workout prior to back issues. The lifts definitely felt strong and had good speed on my last set of 5. Keep in mind on Monday, I stopped attempting 165#.
Back Squat: 5x3 @ 165#
Bench...
Not Yet
So after taking a week off to rest my back, I came in today to get back track. Some plans work better when executed on paper. Warm-ups felt fine. I decided to try 185 again today. First 3 reps were fine, but that fourth one made my back feel horrible so I dumped the weight. I then dropped the weight back down to 165 and the first rep didn’t feel right so I racked it. Doesn’t seem like...
Live to Fight Another Day
When I was 20, I had an MRI on my back and the results revealed 2 degenerating disks in my lumbar. One of those disks had already deteriorated by about 50%. For the most part, I am pretty asymptomatic and don’t have any issues, but I’ve had to learn when to stop if my back is flaring up. Sunday was one such day. As I was progressing through my squat warm-ups, each lift was labored and...
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Day 16
Since I struggled at 175 on back squats on Wednesday, I debated over and over on whether I should stay at 175 today or do the scheduled bump to 180. What the hell, let’s give 180 a shot.
Pretty happy to say that of the 15 total reps, I missed only 1 and didn’t have to break up sets. They felt a heck of a lot stronger today than on Wednesday. Thanks to Jay and Jonathan for the spot on...
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Day 15
The good news is I hit a PR today. My previous 3 RM for squat was 175. Today, I made that weight my new 5 RM! Bad news is I failed to hit 5 reps on all 3 sets. My first set was a failure after the 4th rep. I was somewhat disappointed. Next set, I nailed all 5. Third set I didn’t have anything left and had to break it up into 3 and 2. Should have taken an extra minute or two to recover...
