Mustache Method - Log

[TimK]

BACKGROUND

Age: 32
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 244 ish

I was a fat kid growing up, lost a bunch of weight (like 90 lbs) senior year of HS, and have gained and lost significant amounts of weight repeatedly during my adult life. I would lose the weight, then fall off the diet/exercise bandwagon, and slowly gain it back. Eventually I would become disgusted with myself and lose it again, etc. Dabbled in strength training for a semester in college, and then again for about six months when I was 25. A month or two at a time here and there after that but never stick with it consistently. Then in Nov. 2015 at age 30 I began doing the SSLP. Quickly surpassed my old PRs, and then once the LP slowed down I switched to an HLM program that I ran for two months, followed by a couple of months of 5/3/1, and then I got busy and fell off the wagon yet again in August 2016. Came back in January 2017 and did another LP to get back to my previous strength. Tested my 1RM's at the beginning of April, and found that I was the strongest I had ever been in my life... but still way too fat. So I started cutting, and have spent the last 5 months or so negotiating the difficult waters of intermediate programming during a caloric deficit. I continued to get stronger for a while but at this point I seem to have lost some strength overall.

CURRENT PROGRESS

April 2017 - September 2017

BW: 277 -> ~244 (-33lbs) - Goal is to get down to 240
Waist: 45.25" -> 39.75" (-5.5")

1RMs (lbs)
Squat: 475 -> 480 (but the 480 was much harder/slower)
Bench: 290 -> 305 ->300
Deadlift: 605 -> 645 w/straps - still haven't legitimately locked out over 605 without straps
Press: 225 -> 230 -> failed to get 225 last week

Here are videos of my lifetime PR's thus far:

Squat: 480


Bench: 305


Deadlift: 645 (w/ straps)


Press: 230


CURRENT TRAINING

I am going to be competing for the first time in the USSF Fall Classic in Chicago on 10/28/17. Given the recent events at the other forum which led to this new log being created, I definitely have mixed feelings about that to say the least. But, I paid my entry fee and a meet's a meet, so I'm still going to follow through with it and get some competition under my belt. My last program ended with 7 weeks left before the meet so I decided to try Andy Baker's KSC Strengthlifting program (7 weeks long). I started last week, and I'll copy those posts to this thread since that seems like a natural starting point.

GOALS

I don't have any specific goals for the meet other than to make a total and not bomb out. It's my first meet so it will be a learning experience.

General goals:

Be consistent with training/diet/fitness. No more getting lazy, gaining weight, and starting over again. So far I haven't missed/skipped a workout this year, and I want to make it all the way to the end of 2017 with that holding true.

Get down to 240 (or a bit lower) and maintain that weight for a month or two. Then do some slow, conservative bulking/cutting cycles, trying to add muscle mass without getting fat again.

Squat 500lbs
Get my grip strength up and set new deadlift PRs without straps. 700lbs is a long-term goal.
Bench 315lbs (thought I would be there by now honestly)
Press my BW... the two numbers will converge at some point hopefully

[TimK]

KSC Strengthlifting - Week 1 (9/10/17 - 9/16/17)

(copy/pasted from the old forum)

I'm going to give Andy's KSC Strengthlifting program a try over the next 7 weeks, leading up to the Fall Classic. Program starts with 1RM attempts for the four main lifts, on Monday and Tuesday of the first two weeks. Andy says to skip those if you're coming straight off a meet (or mock meet in my case) but given my poor showing last week, I decided to at least see if I could do any better on the press today. I could not.

Monday

Press:
205x1
225x0
185x4 - decided to drop down to 185 and get a little volume at least. Thought I would get 5 but 4 was a grinder. FML.
185x3
185x3

Seated DB Press:
50x7
45x7
40x9
40x7
35x8

LTE:
90x14
90x11
85x10
80x11
80x9

Assistance work is done with 3 minutes of rest, hence the weight drops to stay in the prescribed rep range.

Tuesday

Squat:
315x5x3 - did some light squatting instead of the 1RM

Rack Pull:
495x5
545x5
495x7

BB Row:
205x8x3
185x8x2

I've never done rack pulls before. Apparently I'm not really able to lift more on them than I am actual deadlifts, probably because I deadlift with a rounded thoracic spine and the rack pulls are done with my back flat. It felt really hard to break the bar off the pins but then it just flew up to the lockout, pretty much the opposite of my normal deadlift where if I fail it's always at the top. I'm not sure if that's good or bad as far as carryover to my competition deadlift, but I really felt it in my upper back and traps in a way that I don't when deadlifting. Felt kind of weird trying to find the right position of the bar in relation to my feet on the first rep, but then when setting it back down for rep 2 it sort of naturally went into the right spot.

Rows were done from the pins.

Decided with all the tricep work on this program I should at least do some curls along with it. Just did these at home.

EZ Bar Curl:

80x14,12,11,8,10

Thursday

Press: (5 min rests)
170x5x5

CGBP: (5 min rests)
225x6 - @9
225x5 - @9.5
205x6 - @10
185x6 - @9.5

Pressdown: (3 min rests)
63x20
72x15,14,12,12

I have some of the worst DOMS I've ever experienced in my triceps. Apparently those LTE's on Monday really fucked me up. It was terrible yesterday but today seems like it might even be worse. My CGBP fell apart really fast even with what should have been enough rest time. That last set was supposed to be in the 10-12 rep range but I barely got 6. I guess this is what happens when you come back hard after three weeks of pretty low volume.

Friday

5 min rests on everything

Squat:
360x5x5

RDL:
275x6
315x6
335x6

BW Chins:
6,5,5,5

Wasn't sure what I could do for RDL's so I worked up to a top set, seemed like a good point to build from in the following weeks. I took them as low as I could, probably an inch from the floor. These were supposed to be SLDL's but I don't have a chance of getting my back properly set for an SLDL from the floor so Andy said to sub RDL's instead. I'm hoping that after doing these for a while I will loosen up a bit and be able to do SLDL's and maybe get into a better starting position on my regular deadlift as well.

Not sure if it's just because I'm doing them after a pulling movement or because my triceps are still destroyed (probably a combination) but my chinning ability totally went to shit today.

Would have lifted on Weds/Thurs but I was so sore that I took Weds off. So this was an early workout, and now I'm off to shoot a wedding, and another one tomorrow. Is it November yet?

[omaniphil]

I had similar thoughts about the Fall Classic. I figured though that no matter how insular the leadership of the organization has gotten, I still generally like their product, would recommend it to others, and will still probably go see SSCs from time to time to get form issues worked out. That, and the Spring Challenge was a lot of fun, so in the end, it wasn't that hard of a decision. Anyways, look forward to meeting you there!

[Allentown]

Dave Abmenndoobbiblobi is still running it, right? It is a great meet, at least historically, even if last year the guy that won in Chi was kind of a dbag. If John Laurel is there, he is a super cool guy who just gets really really pumped up for his lifts. Most of the people that were at the last two Fall Classic didn't even really know what Starting Strength(tm) was, if that helps.

[Manveer]

It's a good meet. Dave's cool and runs the meets well. Pretty fun. I was on the fence about doing it just because I wanted to decompress a little plus I have some travel that would really interfere with training leading up to the meet. Recent events over there make me glad I didn't already sign up.

[TimK]

KSC Strengthlifting - Week 2 (9/17/17 - 9/23/17)

Monday

Bench:
295x1 - @10, uneven lockout, awful, fml, etc
225x8,8,6 - six min rests
180x12

BW Dips:
10,8,8,7,6 - 5 min rests, all sets to failure

Decided to try for a bench PR again, which was dumb, just like it was dumb to try for a press PR last week. Oh well. At least I've learned my lesson and will not be attempting a deadlift PR tomorrow.

[TimK]

I had similar thoughts about the Fall Classic. I figured though that no matter how insular the leadership of the organization has gotten, I still generally like their product, would recommend it to others, and will still probably go see SSCs from time to time to get form issues worked out. That, and the Spring Challenge was a lot of fun, so in the end, it wasn't that hard of a decision. Anyways, look forward to meeting you there!

Yeah, I'm pretty much with you on all that. Looking forward to meeting you too!

[TimK]

KSC Strengthlifting - Week 2 (9/17/17 - 9/23/17)

Tuesday

Squat:
315x5x3

Deadlift:
475x7

DB Row:
90x10,10,10,8,8 - progressively more heave-ier on the latter sets


So, I tweaked my back again, while... wait for it... adjusting my foot position after walking out my 275lb warmup squat. WTF. Got through the rest of the workout but now that I'm at home sitting at my desk it feels really fucked up every time I get up from my chair. Hopefully it gets back to normal relatively quickly.

Deadlifts were an AMRAP set. With disappointing results. Was going to do some curls at home but with the back issues I'll probably skip them. Falling behind in the 20" race already.

[TimK]

Oh yeah, one positive thing that happened in this session was that I decided to see if I could move my squat grip in any narrower, and turns out I can. I had been squatting for a while with the web of my thumb touching the outside edge of the rings, but today I tried to put my index finger on the rings, which was fine, so then I put my middle finger on the rings, and that was ok too. So that's about 1.5" narrower on each side. Keep in mind this is high bar. Hopefully getting the hands in tighter will help me do a better job of maintaining thoracic extension when the weight gets heavy.

I also tried getting into the low bar position and I was able to do that without having my hands all the way out to the rack, so that's good too. Of course my wrists are still bent back at an extreme angle, and I can't get them straight, but hey that works ok for Austin and Jordan. I lifted 315 off the hooks with the low bar position and it felt really weird on my back, like it wasn't very stable. Probably just need to start light and get used to it though. Maybe I'll try to (finally) convert to low bar squatting after the meet.

[TimK]

Was going to do some curls at home but with the back issues I'll probably skip them. Falling behind in the 20" race already.

What was I thinking. Can't neglect my #1 priority just because of some silly back tweak!

EZ Bar Curls:
80x15,13,13,10,10

Also did 10x10 (100 reps) with the CoC #1. Going to give idlehands' program a try.

Also, my back is fucked. Hardest part of doing the curls was picking the bar up off the floor for each set.

[TimK]

Despite my recent weakness, this is encouraging. 4/28/17 vs 9/19/17.

[chromoly]

Down so many belt holes! Congrats on the weight loss. Also, damn, look at that 'stache!

[TimK]

Down so many belt holes! Congrats on the weight loss. Also, damn, look at that 'stache!

Thanks! Just a few pounds left before I can switch into maintenance mode for a while. Looking forward to it.

[TimK]

Grip program day 2:

CoC #1:
10x10

[TimK]

Well, here's an unexpected twist...

Last night around 9:00pm I was sitting at my computer editing photos when I noticed something felt strange around my elbow. Upon further inspection, my triceps/elbow region was swollen fairly dramatically on both arms. No pain but felt hot to the touch. Occasional mild tingling/numbness in my right hand. Right arm seems to be swollen more than left.

Did some googling and everything I found points to the possibility of rhabdo (!). I thought that just happened to crossfitters who beat themselves into a pulp while dehydrated, but judging by some of the stories I found it doesn't always need to be some crazy high volume workout and apparently the onset can be delayed as well.

I took some ibuprofen, tried icing it, but no noticeable change. Waited until morning, still swollen, but now it's down into the forearm on my right side. Made a doctor's appointment, got blood drawn and left a urine sample, and I'm waiting for the results. Hopefully it's just an inflammatory healing response and it will subside in a day or two... worst case scenario it's rhabdomyolysis and I'll have to go to the hospital and sit there on an IV drip for who knows how long to avoid kidney failure. Urine is still clear and plentiful so hopefully that points to not being rhabdo, but apparently the brown urine doesn't happen with every case.

These photos show the swelling:





Trying to think of what could have caused it, and there are a few possible culprits:

LTE's that I did last Monday after a few low-volume weeks, which caused extreme tricep DOMS for nearly a week
Dips that I did this Monday
100 reps with the CoC #1, done on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm wondering if this was the one because my triceps seemed to be recovered already and I felt a lot of tendon stress in my elbow when doing my reps with the #1 yesterday.

Hopefully it's not big deal and I can get back to lifting soon. I would like to at least squat tomorrow.

[Allentown]

When you press in on the swollen area, does it stay pitted? (Wife has had rhabdo in her arms twice, from Xfit. Apparently once you have it, you are predisposed to getting it again?)
Good luck!

[TimK]

I just tried, and it looks like it's bouncing back quickly but then stops and stays slightly pitted for a while. What does that mean?

Also, that sucks about your wife. Did she end up with a hospital stay? I'm really hoping I can avoid that because I have a wedding on Saturday. I'm second shooting for another photographer rather than my own wedding but still I don't want to bail on her at the last minute.

[Allentown]

I don't know what it means, but that's what my wife's arms did. The first time she was in the hospital for two days, I think. The second time just overnight.

[omaniphil]

Oh no - thats not cool. Hopefully you get better without the hospital stay!

Also, I'm treating this as a CoC gripper cautionary tale.

[TimK]

Oh no - thats not cool. Hopefully you get better without the hospital stay!

Also, I'm treating this as a CoC gripper cautionary tale.

Maybe, but my actual hands and gripping muscles don't seem to be sore or beat up. I've overdone it on grip work before and ended up straining something in the back of my left hand which made my grip feel weak and I had to stop doing it for like a month to let it heal. Nothing like that happening here though, it's weird.