cmoney's log

[cmoney]

Hi, I'm cmoney, and I'm fairly new here. I log on another non-fitness specific site, but that's pretty small and slowly dying so I figured I'd start logging somewhere more active with more potential feedback.

About me:
Age: 37
Height: 5'9"
BW: 209 as of this morning
Waist: 37.9" as of Sunday morning
Years training: 10

Training background:
I was a solid athlete growing up, with my best sports being basketball and soccer. Always active until shortly after college. I moved to the west coast to begin my engineering career and without paying attention ended up getting fat and useless. I was always sore and feeling like garbage. Tried some PT but that was useless. On another site, for gamblers of all things, there was a little health and fitness section. I started perusing and there were some fit dudes lifting and/or doing xfit, plus some kettlebell dudes. StSt was just starting to grow in popularity and was recommended to beginners asking about getting started. Eventually I did after overcoming some anxiety about joining a gym.

Spring 2009: joined the Y in downtown Sacramento, tiny weight room but it got the job done. Ran the standard SSLP, power cleans and all. Starting weights were pathetic but really enjoyed the process. Minor aches and pains subsided and daily life got a lot better. Eventually moved to a better gym, a Powerhouse Gym in Rancho Cordova that, to this day, is one of the best globos I've seen. Clean, well equipped and it had this backroom area for "serious lifters" and strongman stuff. Some of the old supertraining crew trained here, as did Eric Helms before he was a name. He was aesthetic af even back then, and a super nice guy.

Moved on to some "advanced novice" sorta programming in late 2009. Don't recall finishing weights, but the 1RMs were something 375/205(lol)/405. I had gained weight, probably from a muscleless 200lbs to a fat but not totally useless 220ish.

Jan 2010-Sept 2010: kinda just fucked around. Lot of life stress (moving back to the east coast in Sept, sick pets, etc). Doubt much progress was made.

Sept 2010: joined a now defunct gym called Boston Barbell. It was in a small industrial park in Attleboro, MA. The gym ran "westside". Despite low membership it was extremely well equipped. The environment was awesome but the programming was not. I left and came back a couple of times and convinced the owner to let me do my own thing. I mostly ran 5/3/1 while there from then on, along with some GSLP type stuff. I really enjoyed training here. Fun group of guys and great energy. We hosted some RPS meets over the years but it eventually went under. I think I stopped training there for good in 2012 or early 2013. While there, I got fairly fat (up to a high of close to 250), but also had my first 500lb squat (in competition). PR'd DL at 485. Bench was still super pathetic (had not yet benched 2 plates). Also, in mid 2011, I started getting sciatica issues intermittently. We'll come back to this.

By summer of 2013 I had dieted down to the mid 180s. From there I fucked around a lot and gained a good chunk back, but never all the way back to 250. The only good training stride I made in the short term here was running smolov jr for bench, finally hitting 2 plates, and realizing I needed much more bench volume.

Late 2014: got serious again. Had a friend who trained under Mike T. do some programming for me. 4x per week, RPE, variations, way more volume than anything I had done previous. Wouldn't you know it I got fairly strong. Weighed ~215 for most of this time. Sciatica issue was becoming a problem though manageable. My left calf would both bother me after every training session. I was seeing a sports med doc around this time but it was mostly useless. I listened to some bros who were convinced it was a disc issue but MRI came back pretty normal.

March 2015: did my first meet in a long time. USPA meet in the south shore of Boston, run by a guy who owns Bay State Athletic Club in Scituate MA. Extremely well run meet. Great people there, would encourage anyone in the area to check them out. Anyway, great meet for me. Competed in the 220lb weight class and set multiple PRs, going 9/9:
Total: 555kg (PR)
Squat: 215kg (not a PR but it flew and I weighed 30+ lbs less than my 500lb squat)
Bench: 110kg (PR)
DL: 230kg (PR)

Unfortunately, after this, things went south. The sciatica thing became a huge problem, interrupting not just training but daily life. 2015-early 2017 was a bad stretch for me, with me training less, getting depressed, and just not doing great. I did finally get more persistent in trying to get this solved medically. I had had a couple episodes where I just got dropped by 10/10 pain while walking and stepping the wrong way and my whole leg quivering. I had to miss some time at work, and when the pain episodes would start I couldn't think straight. It was fucking up my life.

To make a long story short, the sports med route was useless, until finally he referred me to an ortho, who ordered a contrast MRI on my left leg. He noticed a tiny little something on my left fibula and thought it might be something called an osteoid osteoma, which are benign little bone growths but often present as nerve pain issues. He referred me to an orthopedic oncologist at Mass General, who shared my case with their radiology department. Eventually, the growth was successfully ablated and I was walking pain free the same day. Yay modern medicine. The surgery was in April 2017.

From here, more messing around with starts/stops/restarts. Work was super busy and I was traveling some, so whatever. Not a big deal but was probably drinking a little too much.

September 2018: began BBM programming just to stick to something concrete. Went Bridge -> 4x per week Hypertrophy -> 12 week strength. Made great progress. I especially enjoyed the developmental blocks of 12wk strength, the peaking not so much. Felt my strongest of all time coming off the dev blocks but felt I lost a little momentum during the peaking phase. Did a little mock meet on April 6th, 2019 and set some PRs:
Squat: 460 (missed 485 but 460 flew)
Bench: 260 (all time PR)
DL: 515 (matched all time PR, thought I loaded 525 lol)
Total: 1235 (PR)

since then been under a little more work stress but managing to train enough and shed some weight, which is the main goal. Just got back from 2 weeks in France and weigh a crisp 209. Would like to be <200 by September.

Back on BBM 12wk strength, but I will probably just be running 4wk dev blocks with the occasional deload until I feel like changing things up.

[cmoney]

7/8/19: w1d1

HBBS w/belt :
295x5 @6.5
305x5 @7.5
315x5 @8.5

Press w/belt :
125x5 @7
130x5 @8
135x5 @9

Pendlay Rows:
155x10 @6.5
165x10 @8
170x10 @9

Time: 55m
SRPE : 6

First "real" workout post-france trip. Did a couple of simple sessions last week just to move a bit. This will be a low-stress week.

[Wilhelm]

Great training history.
Thanks for sharing all of that.
Really great you got your pain issue dealt with.

Welcome to the logs, @cmoney

[cmoney]

thank you thank you.

7/9/19: w1d2
DL w/belt:
365x5 @7
375x5 @8
385x5 @8.5

Felt a little weaker here than expected. First time lifting 2 days in a row in a few weeks, plus first time going mixed grip instead of straps in a couple months. Whatever. Not worried about it.

Bench:
175x5 @7
180x5 @7.5
185x5 @9

Fine.

2nd day back and skipping lifts already. Fuck 303 tempo squats. Plus running late as hell this morning. Might sneak them in tomorrow.

time: 47m
SRPE: 5

[ChrisMcCarthy1979]

Welcome!

[cmoney]

7/11/19: w1d3

HBBS (no belt):
295x4 @7
305x4 @8
315x4 @9

Lifts still a little behind what I expect. Just not very snappy. We'll see. For the record, I haven't been doing HBBS that long. I mainly like it because I don't have to think about it.

Slingshot Bench:
215x4 @6.5
225x4 @7.5
235x4 @9

CG Incline Bench:
115x10 @7
120x10 @8
125x9 @9

upper body muscular endurance always been an issue for me.

time: 61m
SRPE: 5

[cmoney]

7/12/19: w1d4

Mid-shin Rack Pull:
385x4 @7
395x4 @8
405x4 @9

meh. Probably under-shooting RPE a little but not much.

Wide Grip Bench Press:
175x4 @7
180x4 @7.5
190x4 @8.5

Middle finger on the rings. Maybe I'm stronger this way? My rationale is I do slingshot and CG Incline on Thursday, which leaves a bit of chest out, so why do another CG exercise. Plus never really trained wide. We'll see how it goes.

Leg Press:
405x10
455x10x2

Last set like an RPE 8. RPE kinda dumb for leg press.

time: 57m
SRPE: 5

muggy as ****ing balls tonight.

Made a stop at Tree House tonight for the first time in a few months. I'm on a cut but fuck it, it's beer o'clock.

[cmoney]

7/13/19: gpp day

Airdyne: 25mins @6ish. 7.2mi. RPM pretty steadily in 58-60 range which is pretty easy.

Abs: 7 mins of planks. 45-60s, 1 min rest. so 4 sets I guess.

Upper back: 7min of NG chins. Got 20 using sets of 2.

Banded tricep pushdowns: 3x15
Banded bicep curls: 3x15 per side

[cmoney]

7/15/19: w2d1

HBBS w/belt:
365x1 @6.5
385x1 @8
305x5x5 @ 6.5, 6.5, 7, 7, 7

Press w/belt:
125x5 @7
145x1 @6
155x1 @7
160x1 @8
125x5x4 @6, 6.5, 6.5, 6.5

These flew. Hopefully back to non-embarrassing press in short order.

Pendlay Rows:
160x10 @6.5
165x10 @7.5
170x10 @9
160x10 @8

time: 86m
SRPE: 6

[cmoney]

7/16/19: w2d2

DL w/ belt:
425x1 @7
440x1 @8
345x5x5 @6, 6, 6, 6, 6.5

ezpz

Bench:
175x5 @6
205x1 @6
225x1 @8
175x5x4 @6, 6, 6, 6.5

ezpz

303 Tempo HBBS:
175x10 @6.5
185x10 @8
195x10 @9

woat

circuit:
tricep PDs: 3x15 (stack #11, can't read the weights)
bicep cable curls: 2x15, 1x12 (stack #7)

time: 99m
SRPE: 7

[cmoney]

7/17/19: gpp

Ex Bike:
25 mins
mostly level 9, RPM ~90
distance: 10mi

Not the airdyne, this is at the gym

Leg Raises: 7 min AMRAP - 72

Lat Pull Downs: 7 min AMRAP w/ 100lb: 42

[cmoney]

7/18/19: w2d3

HBBS (no belt):
315x4 @7
325x4 @8
335x4 @9
315x4x2 @8, 8.5-9ish

Left hip flexor bothering me a bit and already feeling sore from getting back into real training volume, so figured call it at 2 sets and get 3 next week.

Slingshot Bench:
225x4 @7.5
235x4 @8.5
240x4 @9.5
225x4x3 @8, 8, 8

Everything a little heavier than intended until the backoff sets, which flew.

Incline CGBP:
115x10 @7
120x10 @8
125x9 @10 (failed 10th)
115x8 @9

wtf. Just no endurance. 7th rep feels like the first. 8th rep flies til like a 2" from lockout and it's a struggle.

time: 90m
SRPE: 6

[cmoney]

7/19/19: w2d4

Mid-shin Rack Pull:
395x4 @7
405x4 @8
415x4 @9
395x4x2 @8, 9

WGBP:
180x4 @7
185x4 @8
190x4 @8.5
185x4x3 @8, 8, 8.5

Leg Press:
455x10 @7
495x10 @8
545x10 @9
455x10 @7

time: 87m
SRPE: 6.5

[cmoney]

7/22/19: w3d1

HBBS w/belt:
315x5 @6.5
365x1
395x1 @8
315x5x4 @6, 6.5, 6.5, 6.5

Press w/belt:
135x5 @6.5
155x1 @7
165x1 @8.5
135x5x4 @6.5, 7, 7, 7.5

Technically a bit heavier than prescribed but didn't feel like stripping the plates.

Pendlay Rows:
165x10x3 @6, 7, 9
155x8 @whatever, form was getting sloppy

Kept rests to like 60-90s for the pendlay rows cuz it's a dumb lift and I wanted to leave.

time: 84m
SRPE: 6

[cmoney]

7/23/19: w3d2

DL w/belt:
405x1 @ez
445x1 @8
355x5x5 @6, 6, 6, 7, 7

Bench:
180x5 @6
215x1 @6.5
230x1 @8.5
180x5x5 @6, 6.5, 6, 7, 6.5

k.

303 Tempo HBBS:
185x10 @7
190x10 @8
195x10 @9
185x10 @9

circuit:
tricep PDs: 100x15x2, x12
DB Curls: 20s x15x3

time: 114m
SRPE: 6.5

Annoying that it took this long, as the actual work sets were pretty fast, but it was like 15mins between final DL set and first bench working set cuz of moving around, getting the right bar, blah blah.

[cmoney]

7/24/19: GPP

Ex. Bike: 25mins

Leg Raises: 7min AMRAP - 75

Cable V-handle Rows: 7 min AMRAP - 110x62

Starting this tracking with this training cycle: 13 sessions kept, 0 skipped

[cmoney]

7/25/19: w3d3

HBBS (no belt):
315x4 @6.5
330x4 @8
340x4 @9
320x4x3 @8, 8, 8.5

Solid af.

SS Bench:
225x4 @7
235x4 @8.5
240x3 @9
225x4x3 @8, 8.5, 9

meh af.

CG Incline:
115x10 @6.5
120x10 @8
125x10 @9
115x10 @9.5

time: 99m
SRPE: 6.5

time a little extended cuz saw a gym bro I hadn't seen in a few weeks so we shot the shit for 5-10 minutes.

14 sessions kept, 0 skipped

[cmoney]

7/26/19: w3d4

Mid-Shin Rack Pull:
395x4 @7
405x4 @8ish
420x4 @9
395x4x3 @8, 8.5, 9

WGBP:
185x4 @6.5
195x4 @8
200x4 @9
190x4x3 @7.5, 8, 8.5

Felt great.

Leg Press:
455x10
495x10
545x10 @9
455x10

circuit:
rope tricep PD: 100x15x2, x12, 90x3
rope bicep curl: 85x15x3

time: 96m
SRPE: 7

15 sessions kept, 0 skipped

[cmoney]

7/27/19: GPP

Was hungover as fuck so decided to walk to the gym, which is about 25 minutes.

Ex. Bike: 27 minutes

7 min AMRAP ab work: Leg Raises - 80

7 min AMRAP back work: Chins - 23 (4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3)

Couple sets of calf raises.

Working out probably the only real hangover cure.

16 sessions kept, 0 skipped

[cmoney]

7/29/19: w4d1

HBBS w/belt:
325x4 @6
375x1 @6
405x1 @8 (PR for HBBS probably)
335x4x4 @6.5, 6.5, 7, 7.5

Press w/belt:
140x4 @7
155x1 @6.5
165x1 @8
135x4x4 @5, 6, 7, 6.5

singles feel heavy and 135 feels too light. Was taking very short rest hence the quick ramp in fatigue.

Pendlay Rows:
165x10 @7
170x10 @8
175x10 @9
165x10 @8

t: 88m
SRPE: 6.5

Solid overall but got a late start on the day cuz I keep dumbly staying up to watch Euphoria from 10-11.