Matt Neilsen's Log - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Montana

A place to track your progress, or lack thereof

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MattNeilsen
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Matt Neilsen's Log - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Montana

#1

Post by MattNeilsen » Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:14 pm

Background:

Male, 29 years old, 6'2", 213 lbs. No kids (yet) but getting married this year to an amazing woman. Currently live in Sunnyvale, CA.

I've always been active - soccer/baseball/basketball as a kid, running/lifting weights in high school, triathlon team in college + rock climbing/surfing. Discovered SS and started my LP Jan 2016. Gained 45 lbs on LP and ended LP in June after multiple resets (waaaay too much grinding) at 305 squat/217.5 bench/415 deadlift/165 press (all for 5RM) at 230 lbs bodyweight. I had pretty bad knee pain and then tweaked my back; combined with starting a new job, I ended up out of the gym until ~October. Started LP again, got back to previous numbers by December, then decided to add in cleans and screwed up my shoulder. I spent most of 2017 dealing with shoulder pain (supraspinatus tendinosis according to MRI). My "lifting" primarily consisted of occasional deadlifting mixed with gymnastic strength training.

I started following Jordan/Austin/Leah at BBM around September and it finally dawned on me that maybe lifting DOESN'T always mean grinding myself into the ground. I restarted LP January of this year (2018) and will be wrapping it up within the next two weeks. I've followed Hanley's writing for a couple years and I'm looking forward to working with him on programming for intermediate lifting. I decided to start this log to chronicle my foray into intermediate lifting, both for posterity's sake and hopefully to help others in the future.

I'll copy/paste my last several weeks of Novice lifting into my next post to give context to my program.
Last edited by MattNeilsen on Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.

MattNeilsen
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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#2

Post by MattNeilsen » Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:23 pm

I typically lift 3x a week on Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday. I also do martial arts (FMA) on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

The format in my log for notating work sets will always be: (weight), (sets) x (reps). For example: 295 lbs, 3 (sets) x 5 (reps).

I log my training in Evernote while I'm lifting, and I always start the most recent session at the top to minimize scrolling. As such, my workouts will be in reverse order below.

---------------------------------------

3/18/18 - Sunday
BW: 213 lbs
Squat - 295, 1 x 5 @9; 275, 3 x 5 @8, 8, 8.5
Bench - 212.5, 1 x 4 (missed 5th) @10; 200, 2 x 5 @9, 9
Chin-ups - 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5 = 34 reps
***I think the miss on bench was due to form - felt like I was bringing the bar too far back towards my face; definitely added fatigue to the rest of the session. However, I'm aware I might be stalling and will be managing fatigue closely

3/16/18 - Friday
BW: 214 lbs
Incline Bench - 135, 4 x 5 @6; 155, 4 x 4 @6
C2 Rower - 20 minutes @ LISS (3,910m)

3/15/18 - Thursday
BW: 213 lbs
Squat - 295, 1 x 5 @9.5; 275 x 1
Press - 157.5, 1 x 4 @10; 135, 5 x 3 @6-7
***My spinal erectors were still feeling toasty from Wednesday, and each warm up felt progressively worse. Top set was rather painful in the erectors. Also affected my press. All good, though - I’ll rest a couple days and hit it hard on Sunday

3/13/18
BW: 212 lbs
Bench - 210 x 5 @10; 200, 3 x 5 @8, 8.5, 9
Deadlift - 385, 1 x 5 @8-8.5; 325 x 5 @6-7
***I’m going to slowly build up more pulling volume to prepare for transition to intermediate programming
***I think my bench set was @10 due to bar path issues, not necessarily just strength

3/11/18 - Sunday
BW: 213 lbs
Squat - 290, 3 x 5 @8.5, 9, 9
Press - 155, 3 x 5 @9, 9, 9
Chin-ups - 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 = 42 reps

3/9/18 - Friday
Press - 125, 2 x 8 @8.5, 9.5; 115 x 8 @8
C2 Rower - 20 minutes @ LISS (3,650m, ~25 s/m)
***I’m adding a press session and conditioning as a quick Friday (4th day) workout to increase pressing volume and improve conditioning base

3/8/18 - Thursday
BW: 210 lbs
Squat - 285, 3 x 5 @8, 8.5, 8.5
Bench - 207.5, 3 x 5 @9.5, 9, 9
DB Curls - 40 each, 10, 8, 7 @9; 25 lbs x 10
***Don’t go too far down the chest on bench - creating an unnecessary moment arm

3/6/18 - Tuesday
BW: 211 lbs
Deadlift - 380, 1 x 5 @8.5-9
Press - 152.5, 3 x 5 @9, 9.5, 9.5
Chin-ups - 8, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 = 45 reps

3/4/18 - Sunday
BW: 211 lbs
Squat - 285, 3 x 5 @8, 8, 8
Bench - 205, 3 x 5 @8.5, 9, 9; 185 x 6 @8
Row - 207.5, 3 x 5 @8, 8, 8.5
Incline DB Press (60 deg)- 50 each, 3 x 8 @7.5, 8, 8
BB Curl - 70, 2 x 8 @8, 8.5
***I’m starting to use RPE to better learn how much stress I’m applying; also adding a little extra upper body volume via assistance work

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#3

Post by mgil » Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:41 pm

Good start! Hope you get all the gains!

MattNeilsen
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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#4

Post by MattNeilsen » Mon Mar 19, 2018 3:06 pm

mgil wrote: Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:41 pm Good start! Hope you get all the gains!
With @Hanley guiding the ship I expect the gainzZz to flow over me like so many grains of fine Egyptian sand.

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#5

Post by MattNeilsen » Wed Mar 21, 2018 12:58 pm

3/20/18 - Tuesday
BW: 212 lbs
Deadlift - 390, 1 x 5 @8.5; 315, 2 x 3 @7, 7
Press - 157.5, 3 x 5 @8.5, 8.5, 9
DB Row (1-arm) - 80 lbs, 3 x 8 (each side)
***Started every Press from a dead stop like usual, but incorporated a small rebound to help “throw” the bar up. Need to think about throwing “behind” me so the bar doesn’t get way out in front
***I broke up the deadlift back-off this week into triples to see if it helps with lumbar fatigue

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#6

Post by MattNeilsen » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:09 pm

3/22/18 - Thursday
BW: 212 lbs
Squat - 295, 6, 5, 5 @8.5, 8.5, 9
Bench - 210, 3, 4, 4@8.5, 9, 9.5; 185 (paused) x 5
Chin-ups - 10, 9, 8, 6 = 35 reps
***Accidentally did 6 reps on squats - that’s never happened. I was so focused on thoracic extension that I lost count. However, it helped me realize that I’ve probably been overshooting my RPEs by .5-1
***Bench was a mess today - bar path felt off and sets were grindy. This is the third session with missed lifts, so it’s probably time to change programming. However, I also need to keep an eye on form - it’s not as dialed in as it could be

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#7

Post by MattNeilsen » Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:14 pm

3/23/18 - Friday
BW: 214 lbs
Press - 135, 7 x 4
C2 Rower - 2 minute warm up, :30s work:1:30 rest intervals x 4


ETA: Lumbar fatigue was fine this week. Either the triples on Wednesday (re: deadlift) was a good idea or I acclimated a bit from last week (or maybe some of both). Either way, I’ll continue to manage and titrate up.

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#8

Post by MattNeilsen » Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:10 pm

3/25/18 - Sunday
Squat - 300, 3 x 5 @8.5, 9, 9
Bench - 215 x 1 @7.5; 195, 5 x 5 @7, 7.5, 7.5, 8, 8.5
Row - 225 x 1 @8; 185, 5 x 5 @7ish across

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#9

Post by MattNeilsen » Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:39 pm

3/27/18 - Tuesday
BW: 214 lbs
Deadlift - 395, 1 x 5 @8.5; 325, 3 x 3
Press - 160, 3 x 5 @9, 9.5, 9.5
DB Bench - 120 x 8; 140, 2 x 8
Chin-ups - 4 x 5
***Press was a helluva grind, but I’m stubborn and wanted all three sets. Felt good to push hard.
***Ran short in time, threw some chins in at the end

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#10

Post by MattNeilsen » Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:36 pm

3/29/18 - Thursday
BW: 215 lbs
Squat - 315 x 1 @7.5-8; 275, 4 x 5 @7.5, 8, 8.5, 9
Bench - 225 x 1 @9; 195, 5 x 5 @7, 7, 7.25, 7.5, 7.5
Row - 175, 3 x 8 @~6-7
***Decided to bro out and hit three wheels on the squat and two on the bench since I’ve never done that before #PRs. Looking forward to getting my Montana gainzZz on starting Sunday

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#11

Post by MattNeilsen » Sun Apr 01, 2018 4:44 pm

1st day of The Montana Method. I will be listing the prescribed workout for each movement, and then how I performed.

4/1/18 - Sunday (Hypertrophy)
BW: 214 lbs
Squat - 6 x 6 @65%, terminate at 6th set or when RPE = 9, whichever first, 2-3 min rests
(e1RM - 350) 225, 6 x 6 @6, 6.5, 6.5, 7, 7, 7

Bench - 6 x 7 @65%, same as squat
(e1RM - 240) 155, 3 x 7 @<6, <6, <6; bumped to 160, 3 x 7 @<6 across

RDL - 3 x 8 @6-7
225, 3 x 8 @<6

***I sense my Bench 1RM might be higher than I think since the volume work was so easy - my lack of bench experience, inconsistent form, and lack of heavy singles is probably artificially lowering it
***Started conservatively with RDLs since it was my first time doing them - definitely could have gone up more


I also took some body measurements (@PatrickDB) to set a baseline. For science, right?

BW: 214 lbs
Height: 6'2"

Chest
-41.5"

Quads
R - 25.5"
L - 25"

Umbilicus
Breath out, no flex - 35.5"
Breath out, flexed - 34"

Neck
-15"

Upper arm (bicep/tricep)
-14" unflexed (both)
R - 16" (flexed)
L - 15.5" (flexed)

Wrists
R - 7.25"
L - 7"

Calves
R - 16.5"
L - 16.25"

Hands
Height - 7.5" (top of middle finger to base of palm)
Spread - 9.5" (fingers spread; thumb to pinkie)
Middle finger - 3.5"
Last edited by MattNeilsen on Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#12

Post by BenM » Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:25 pm

Good luck! We lift on a similar schedule and I’m also starting with Hanley this week (although my programming will be a bit different due to hamstring AIDS) - it’ll be interesting to compare notes nonetheless :)

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#13

Post by MattNeilsen » Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:55 pm

BenM wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:25 pm Good luck! We lift on a similar schedule and I’m also starting with Hanley this week (although my programming will be a bit different due to hamstring AIDS) - it’ll be interesting to compare notes nonetheless :)
Thanks, Ben! Sorry to hear about the hamstring, though - that's not fun. My hamstrings are already reminding me that they did RDLs today - tomorrow should be interesting :)

I'll follow along in your log as well. I'm definitely interested to collaborate with as many Hanley guinea pigs as possible. Should be a fun journey!

#gainzZzforscience

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log

#14

Post by MattNeilsen » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:10 pm

4/2/18 - Monday; Week 1, Day 2 (Aux./Cardio)
BW: 213 lbs
Press - top single @9, density block for 7 mins at 80% of single
165 x 1 @8.5; 175 x fail; 170 x 1 @9.5
135, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1 = 20 reps
Cardio - Bike, 20 mins LISS (avg. level 12, 4.08 miles)
***I have a tendency to throw the bar in front of me on Press; I was also surprised to see a little knee extension in my right leg on one of the reps

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Montana

#15

Post by heidikay » Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:23 pm

My top single today wound up feeling more like @9.5 also because I was so sore from the RDLs I did for the first time yesterday. Not only my hams but my shoulders were sore. Guess I overdid it. . lesson learned.

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Montana

#16

Post by BenM » Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:26 pm

Yeah, RDLs will do that. IME, probably only surpassed by kettlebell swings for hamstring DOMS from hell.

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Montana

#17

Post by MattNeilsen » Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:51 pm

@heidikay @BenM Haha, I feel your pain! This my first time doing RDLs as well, and the DOMS has been...fun :) Not as bad as I expected, but also far more soreness than I’ve experienced in a while.

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Montana

#18

Post by BenM » Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:55 pm

It’s also (mostly) down to being unaccustomed to the movement, but the eccentric component is what does it. That’s why KB swings are so killer.

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Montana

#19

Post by MattNeilsen » Wed Apr 04, 2018 9:53 am

4/3/18 - Tuesday; W1, D3 (Power)
BW: 212 lbs

Squat - 1x3 @60%, 1x2 @70%, two singles at 80%, 1 @85%
205 x 3, 240 x 2, 275 x 1, 275 x 1, 290 x 1

Bench - 1x3 @60%, 1x2 @70%, two singles @80%, 1 @85%, 2x2 @80%
145 x 3, 170 x 2, 192.5 x 1, 192.5 x 1, 205 x 1, 192.5 x 2, 192.5 x 2

Deadlift - 5 x 4 @70%
315, 5 x 4

***Reps felt clean and smooth today. Some residual DOMS from RDLs on Sunday, but nothing that seemed to affect the workout. I already seem to be adjusting to shorter rest periods and increased work capacity (my incorporation of extra volume at the end of LP might have helped).

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Re: Matt Neilsen's Log - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Montana

#20

Post by MattNeilsen » Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:16 pm

4/5/18 - Thursday; W1, D4 (Strength)
BW: 212 lbs

Squat - 2x5 @70%, then 5x3 @70%
240, 2 x 5 @6.5, 6.5; 5 x 3 @<6

Bench - Top single @85%, then 3x5 @70%, 5x3 @70%
205 x 1 @<6; 170, 3 x 5 @<6; 5 x 3 @<6

Chin-ups - 7 minute density block
12, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 6 = 33 reps

***Reps all felt snappy. Doing 2-3 minute rest periods had me sweating quite a bit, but I'm feeling my work capacity increasing already.

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