archiving threads from another forum

[cwd]

I'm considering moving my log here from SS.com. I still like those guys, but the forum there is broken in various ways that irritate me. I.e. editing posts, broken links, etc.

Is there any easy way to download my old log into a text file? It's a 460+ post thread, so cut&paste from the web page would be a giant pain.

[mbasic]

Post by post would suck

Instead of reply to quote to copy.
You just copy the whole text on the whole screen for a whole page at a time.
You might be able to increase the post-viewed-per-page to 20 or 40.
You wind up getting all the bulletin board's jibberish between posts, but you'll can see what's going on if your date you log entrees well.

Unless there's an easier way, I'm all ears????

[mbasic]

you can click on <Show Printable Version>

@ the bottom, click on <show 40 posts at a time>

copy paste

cwd
cwd's log
I'm a man, 5'10".
As of 2012.07.18 I am 46 years old, 176 pounds.
My goals are to gain weight and get strong.

I'm starting a log here so that when I comment on other threads, folks can see exactly how unqualified I am to tell them what to do.

Also, maybe someday someone will aggregate all the weightlifting journals on the internet and do some useful research on what programs work best. I.e. what constitutes "normal progress" for skinny middle-aged men taking up barbells for the first time? This log will pull down the averages.

Of course, the guys with the worst progress won't log at all, so there's a serious sampling bias problem. I guess I'm contributing to bad science.
07-18-2012, 07:15 PMcwd
Pre-Starting-Strength exercise history:
- Recreational bicycling/swimming/tree climbing as a kid (no sports)
- Construction work as a teenager (roofing, drywall, etc).
- Nautilus for a few months at age 20 (bw 145->160 lbs).
- Then 25 years of sitting at computers with occasional bouts of walking, bicycling, pushups, chinups.

Pre-Starting-Strength injury history:
- Several back-pain episodes severe enough to require days off work.
- Crippling wrist tendonitis on a few occasions.
- No surgeries or cortisone injections.

In other words, I started close to blank slate here.

Diet all along has been permissive paleo:
- No liquid calories except 1 adult beverage per day.
- Very little processed food (90% of meals have no sugar, flour, HFCS, veg oil), but I do cheat and eat a burrito or pizza once in a while.
- 3 meals a day.
- Carbs mostly from potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, apples, onions, etc.
- Protein from meat, eggs or fish with every meal.
- Large servings of veg with every meal.
- Milk and yogurt when I'm trying to gain weight, skip a few meals per week when I'm trying to lose weight.
- Only supplements are fish oil, plus vitamin D3 in the wintertime.
07-18-2012, 07:17 PMcwd
First attempt at Starting Strength Novice
2011.04.06 to 2011.05.10
Body weight: 152 to 163
Squat: 0 to 145 (5x3)
Dead: 0 to 145 (5x)
Bench: 0 to 110 (5x3)
P.C.: 0 to 75 (3x5)
Press: 0 to 72.5 (5x3)

Wins:
- Read the book (2nd edition SS).
- Acquired YMCA membership.
- Gained more strength than I'd ever had to this point.
- Learned to do the lifts (badly), and gym etiquette, and started a workout journal (on paper).
- Learned to eat a lot.
Losses:
- Derailed by hip-flexor tendonitis at ASIS aka "interesting tendonitis" caused by bad squat technique.
07-18-2012, 07:19 PMcwd
First attempt at SS Advanced Novice (not justified)
Try to get around the hip tendonitis with less squat volume.

2011.05.12 to 2011.07.10
bw 163 to 167
Squat: still 145 (5x3)
Dead: 145 to 200 (5x)
Bench: 110 to 120 (5x3)
P.C.: 75 to 85 (3x5)
Press: 72.5 to 80 (5x3)
Goblet Squat: 0 to 90 (5x3)

Wins:
- Steady progress on deadlift, some progress on presses & cleans.
- Technique got better on all lifts.
- Acquired proper shoes (Roque Do-Wins).
- Acquired foam roller and began using it.
- Learned some stretches and started doing them.
Losses:
- Unable to squat without worsening tendonitis.
07-18-2012, 07:21 PMcwd
First attempt at Texas Method (very much not justified)
Again, chasing a hip tendonitis solution.


2011.07.12 to 2011.09.14
bw 167 to 173
Squat: 145 (5x3) to 150 (5x5 with belt) and 185 (2x with belt)
Dead: 200 to 235 (5x)
Bench: 120 (5x3) to 120 (5x5) and 135 (3x)
P.C.: 80 to 95 (3x5)
Press: 80 (5x3) to 85 (5x5) and 95 (4x)

Wins:
- Steady progress on deadlift, some progress on presses & cleans.
- More form improvement, esp. squatting.
- Acquired awesome belt (Best Belts).
Losses:
- No real squat progress in weight.
- Hip tendonitis still quite bad.
07-18-2012, 07:22 PMcwd
Layoff weightlifting for back injury
My back "went out" from a bad hotel mattress and long drive (work-related travel).

Interestingly, this is the only back episode I've had since starting weightlifting. This is a much lower rate of back problems than is normal for me. Duh, weight training works for injury prevention.

2011.09.15 to 2011.09.23
07-18-2012, 07:25 PMcwd
Bastardized SS novice progression for back rehab
My 12yo son started weightlifting with me at this point.
I started him on goblet squats, and did them myself along with him.
Goblets/front squats are easier on the lower back, and easier to coach.

I started eating less during this period, as I was getting a little pot belly.
This along with the continuing tendonitis and back-related reset stalled my strength gains.

2011.09.24 to 2011.11.16
bw stable around 170
Goblet Squat: 70 to 100 (5x3) this was the largest dumbbell at the YMCA
Front Squat: 0 to 100 (5x3)
Squat: 0 to 155 (5x3)
Dead: 135 to 255 (5x)
Bench: 125 to 135 (5x3)
P.C.: 95 to 100 (3x5)
Press: stuck at 90 (5x3)

Wins:
- Got my son started on weightlifting.
- Back recovered quickly.
- Some deadlift progress, slight bench progress.
- Started daily 1.5 mile walks before breakfast (which I've done ever since).
Losses:
- Stalled on most lifts.
- Hip flexor tendonitis still quite bad.
07-18-2012, 07:27 PMcwd
5-3-1 cycles 1 and 2 (BBB)
Maybe squatting only once per week would help my tendonitis?
Try Wendler's 5-3-1 (yes I bought the e-book).

I did the Boring But Big template for 2 4-week cycles, lifting 4 days per week.
I took deload weeks and experimented with many assistance exercises.

2011.11.27 to 2012.01.31
bw 170 to 175
Squat: ?? to 160 (5x)
Dead: 255 to 250 (5x)
Bench: 135 (5x3) to 125 (8x) and 135 (4x)
Press: 90 (5x3) to 90 (4x)

Wins:
- Got better at chins and pullups.
- Discovered 1-hand and 2-hand weighted carries, which I love.
- Hip tendonitis got a little better.
- Conditioning got better (squat and deadlift for 10x5 is awesome).
Losses:
- Lost strength.
- Constant muscle soreness.
07-18-2012, 07:28 PMcwd
5-3-1 cycles 3,4,5 (BBB Challenge)
From the article "Boring But Big" 3 Month Challenge on T-Nation by Wendler.

2012.02.04 to 2012.04.29
bw stable around 176
Squat: 160 (5x) to 170 (5x) and 140 (8x5)
Dead: 255 (5x) to 275 (1x) and 205 (10x5)
Bench: 135 (4x) to 160 (1x) and 120(8x5)
Press: 90 (4x) to 105 (1x) and 75 (10x5)

Wins:
- Conditioning got better (deads for reps!)
- I think I got some upper-body hypertrophy (didn't measure, I'm not a bodybuilder).
Losses:
- Hip tendonitis got a little worse.
- Constant muscle soreness.
07-18-2012, 07:30 PMcwd
5-3-1 cycles 6,7 (2x week with conditioning)
Theory here is that lower volume will help tendonitis, and allow more conditioning.
Target weights were reset down again.

I was doing a lot of foam rolling and static stretching during this time, and doing sprint workouts 3 times/week. This turned out to aggravate the hip tendonitis.

As tendonitis got worse, I dropped squatting entirely in cycle 7, doing power cleans and weighted lunges instead. The lunges turned out to aggravate hip tendonitis also.

I reduced eating volume during this time as well.

2012.05.06 to 2012.06.27
bw 176 to 172
Squat: 170 (5x) to 0
Dead: 275 (1x) to 265 (6x)
Bench: 160 (1x) to 145 (3x)
Press: 105 (1x) to 100 (4x)
P.C.: 100 to 120 (3x5)

Wins:
- Conditioning got way better (sprinting is great).
- Lost some fat.
- Power Clean form improved, all those volume deads greatly improved my strength with this also.
Losses:
- Tendonitis got worse.
- Injured my shoulders doing dips to excessive depth on a dip-assistance machine. This injury doesn't bother me when benching, but I now have some pain with presses and rows.
- Strength stalled.
07-18-2012, 07:40 PMcwd
Second attempt at Starting Strength Novice
Feeling optimistic with my tendonitis much better from my leg-swinging gimmick https://startingstrength.com/resources/ ... hp?t=32464, I'm retrying the program that has worked the best for me.

I have dropped all conditioning and assistance exercises except for:
- daily 1.5m walk before breakfast
- 1 set of pullups and 1 of chins after each workout, to failure

Also I have resumed eating a lot.

2012.07.11 to 2012.09.14
Body weight: 172 to 181
Squat: 135 to 215 (5x3)
Dead: 225 to 280 (5x)
Bench: 125 to 140 (5x3)
P.C.: 95 to 105 (3x5)
Press: 80 to 100 (5x3)

Wins:
- Squatting 3x week again, tendonitis seems to be improving.
- Aquired home gym (Rogue S1 stand with safeties, B&R bar, plates from craigslist).
- SS does not cause the horrible soreness I had with 5-3-1.
Losses:
- I'll miss suitcase carries and sprinting. They can wait for intermediate programming though.
- Home gym is in basement with low ceiling, I have to press outdoors.
07-20-2012, 08:03 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 5
Recorded video with TUBOW for first 170x5 squat set.
I'm letting my knees slide forward at the bottom again, no wonder I have had so much trouble with the hip tendonitis. Grr, I thought I'd fixed that.

Did two more sets of 135x5, the last set was better.
I need to work on squat form with light weights for a while it seems.

body weight 176.5

1.6m walk this morning
leg swings as workout warmup

Squat
45 x5 paused for stretching
95 x5
135 x5
170 x5 bad form, knees forward
45 x5 OK
135 x5 bad form
135 x5 better

press seated on flat bench
45 x5
82.5 x5x3

deadlift
135 x5
185 x2
225 x1
250 x5 easy, double overhand no belt

pullups, body weight x6
chinups, body weight x7

another walk for fun after the workout
07-24-2012, 06:23 AMcwd
2ndSS, workout 6
More video-recording of squat sets, trying to fix my knees-sliding-forwards problem.
My third set at 135 was pretty good (focused on sitting back at the bottom).
I did a set at 145 also, but it wasn't as good. More practice is required.

Got my 12yo son to try hang cleans today with the empty bar. Not pretty, but it's a start. His squats are improving, depth and back extension are good now (at 105 for 5x3 today).

Body weight 178.8 (+2 pounds, I seem to be eating enough)

1.6m walk in the morning.
leg swings during the day and as warmup.

Squats:
45 x5 paused for stretching
95x5
135x5 x3 sets (bad, better, decent)
145x5 (not as good as last set at 135)

Bench
45x5
95x5
132.5x5x3
I'm pausing 1 or 2 seconds at the bottom for the first rep of each set, which makes it harder. Might have to give that up next time at 135, this weight was a grind.

Power Cleans (with chalk, yay home gym)
45x3
65x2
95x2
105x3x5
These were hard, and my shoulders hurt. Not sure why, or which exercise caused it. Something to watch in the future.

Pullups, body weight: 6
Chins, bw: 6
07-25-2012, 06:54 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 7
Press personal record!

Still recording all my squat sets, struggling with keeping knees back at the bottom.
A little better today.

Body weight 177.8, down 1 pound since Monday. Hopefully this is just noise, I hate the thought of eating even more.

Walking and warmups as normal.

Squats:
45 x5 paused for stretching
95x5
135x5 x2 sets (better, decent)
145x5 x2 sets (decent for me)

Press
45x5x2
95x5x3 PR
Did these in the back yard.
I like this setup a lot better than seated presses in the basement, even though it's a pain to drag the plates up and down the stairs. I have a spare bar that can live by the back door fortunately.

Deads
95x4
135x2
185x1
225x1
260x5 double overhand, B&R bar is easier to hold onto than the YMCA bars

Pullups, body weight: 6
Chins, bw: 7
07-27-2012, 07:43 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 8
Squats are getting better!

Body weight 178.4.

Slightly short on sleep, and guts upset.
It turns out I shouldn't eat an entire 10oz can of mackerel at one sitting.

Walking, leg swings, etc.

Squat
45x5 paused
95x5
135x5 Form looked good.
155x5x3 Form broke down a bit on the last set, but I'll still try 165 next time.

Bench
45x5
85x5
135x4,5,4 Not quite strong enough, will repeat this weight next time.

Power Cleans
45x3
65x3
95x1
107.5x3x5
Many of these were caught with low elbows, my elbows and shoulders hurt. I had this problem on Monday at 105 also, will lower weight for next time.

Pullups, body weight: 6
Chinups, body weight: 7

Much food, milk, some beer afterwards. And another walk, what the heck.
07-30-2012, 06:49 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 9
Deadlift PR!

I have a mild cold today, and a little short of sleep.
Heavy yard work yesterday, arms a little sore.
Bw: 178.6 stable

Walk, warmup as usual.

Squat
45 x5 x2 sets
95 x5
135 x5
165 x5 x3 sets
Form was pretty good, knees came forward in the hole on only one rep.

Press
45 x5 x2
97.5 x4,5,4
Not quite strong enough, will repeat this weight.

Deadlift
135 x5
185 x1
225 x1
270 x5 PR
First four reps double overhand, then alternating. No belt, but maybe I ought to wear it.
Pecs quite sore after this set, which is new to me.

Pullups, bw: 7
Chins, bw: 6
08-01-2012, 07:35 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 10
Squat PR!

bw 179.6 +1 pound vs Monday

Squat
45 x5 2 sets
95 x5
135 x5
170 x5 3 sets PR
Form was pretty good I think. Try 175 next time.

Bench
45 x5
85 x5
135 x5,5,4
Just screwed up the last set, I'll increase weight next time.

Power Clean
55 x3 2 sets
97.5 x3 5 sets
Form was better than last time, and less elbow/shoulder pain.
More weight!

Pullups bw x7
Chins bw x8

As a trial run for my form-check, here's a video of my crappy knees-forward squats at 170 from 10 days ago:
http://youtu.be/67wMUnCVGEo?t=20s

And of today's much better 3rd set also at 170:
http://youtu.be/zQB7H1XTHzc?t=6s
08-03-2012, 05:45 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 11
Squat, press, and deadlift PRs! It's good to be novice.

BW 178.6.

Squat
45x5, 95x5, 135x5 (x2 sets to practice a form change)
175 x5 x3 sets PR
These went up fast and relatively easy, because I followed Rip's advice to not lift my chest too soon. I think I've got a bunch more 5 pound jumps in me.

Press
45x5
97.5 x5 x3 sets PR
Will try 100 pounds next time.

Deadlift
135x5, 185x1, 225x1
280x5 PR
These were really hard.
I used my belt, and had to switch to alternating grip for the last rep.
Video shows my back didn't round though, so I'll keep with the 10 pound jumps.

Pullups 7x bw, chins 7x bw.
08-13-2012, 07:47 AMcwd
Vacation
Missed 3 workouts.
Some mild cardio (swimming, biking), moderate eating, more alcohol than usual.
08-13-2012, 07:52 AMcwd
2nd SS, workout 12
Repeated workout 11 to recover from 1 week vacation.
Body weight 177.6, down 1 pound.

Squat 175 x5 3 sets
Form felt a bit off compared to workout 11.

Press 97.5 x5 3 sets
Surprisingly hard, but got all the reps. Many were slow grinders.

Deadlift 280 x5
Hard. First 4 reps double overhand grip, last rep hook grip.

This was my first try at hooking deadlifts, I like it.
It hurts the skin on my thumbs, but alternating grip gives me pectoral muscle cramps for some reason, which hurts much more.

Pullups: 7
Chins: 5,2
08-15-2012, 07:26 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 13
Coaching PR -- finally got my 12yo son's squat looking decent (to depth, with tight back and bounce in the hole). Everything cleared up when I had him move his feet 4 inches further apart and toes out at 30 degrees. He was too narrow and splayed out before.

He has to work up again from 45 pounds while he learns to hold the new technique, but he's doing it correctly at last!

I really need to attend a seminar, I've got 2 more sons after him to train up in years to come.

BW 177.6, unchanged. Must eat more.
Have started taking zinc and magnesium supplements at bedtime, no obvious effect so far. Give it a week.

Warmups, walking, stretching as normal.

Squat
45 x5 2 sets
95 x5
135 x5 2 sets
180 x4(f),5,5
Lost tightness and got stuck in the hole in set 1 rep 5.
My youngest son was in the basement and was making a ruckus that distracted me.
Hooray for safety bars on the squat stand!
I'll go up to 185 next time, form was decent otherwise.

Bench
45 x5
85 x5
115 x3
137.5 x5,5,4
Not quite strong enough, will repeat this weight.

Power Clean
45 x3 x2 sets
65 x3
100 x3 x5 sets
These were pretty good, I'll go to 102.5 next time.

Pullups, bw x7
chins, bw x7
08-17-2012, 06:27 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 14
Body weight 178.0 pounds. Must eat more.

Squat
45 x5 2 sets
95 x5
135 x5
155 x3
185 x5 3 sets PR
These were very hard and form was not perfect on all reps.
But still, 190 next time.

Press
45 x5
60 x5
100 x4,4,5
Not quite strong enough, will repeat this weight.

Deadlift
135 x5
185 x3
225 x1
290 x2
3rd rep got just off the floor, but my legs were just too tired.
Will repeat this weight.
Back sore after, might have rounded a bit.

Pullups x7
Chins x7
08-20-2012, 07:34 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 15
Body weight 180, +2 pounds.
Friday's workout almost broke me, I've been eating to excess all weekend to grow enough to survive Monday. It worked!

Squat
45 x5 2 sets
95 x5
135 x5
165 x3
190 x5 3 sets PR
These were hard, but not as hard as 185 was on Friday.

Bench Press
45 x5
85 x5
137.5 x5 3 sets PR

Power Clean
45 x3
60 x3
102.5 x3 5 sets
These felt good, when I finished the 5th set I was disappointed.

Pullups, BW x7
Chinups, BW x6
What happened here? I'm heavier I guess.
08-20-2012, 07:42 PMMr_Rogers
Yeah, hook grip on deadlifts takes a bit of getting used to. I've never been a fan of mixed grip even though it defintely has some benefits. Hopefully you enjoyed your vacation

Also that's great news on your son's form. I definitely think if you're only interested in coaching your sons the seminar will pay huge dividends. I went to the Toronto one with the intent of just getting help on the lifts, but I got so much more. Not only was I competent lifting, I didn't do that bad of a job coaching. The pointers you'll get from the SS coaches will go a long way on your lifts, but also help you develop a coaching style.
08-20-2012, 07:58 PMcwd
Thanks Mr_Rogers.

Yeah, hook grip for deadlifts hurts but less than the pec cramps I get with mixed grip.
I like it.

My son got his "new squats" up to 65 pounds today, I'm having him increase in 10lb jumps to give him plenty of time to solidify the new form.
And his power-cleans are coming along as well.
About 50% of them were approximately right at 60 pounds today.

I'm signed up for the Atlanta seminar in November. Can't wait!
08-22-2012, 06:40 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 16
bw 180.8, +0.8 pounds

Walking, warmups, etc as normal.

Squat 195 x5 3 sets PR
Form was shaky on 3rd set. I'm thinking of repeating this weight on Friday.
We'll see how the warmups feel then.

Press 100 x5 3 sets PR

Deadlift 290 x2
I actually dropped the bar while setting down the 2nd rep DOH and wasn't able to break the 3rd rep from the floor (tried twice, once with hook grip and once with alternating).

Pullups bw x6
Chinups bw x7

This is the second time I've failed at deadlifting 290.
Probably the heavier squats are tiring me, my deadlift may be stalled for a while until my squats catch up.

Overall a good workout, squats and presses are moving along nicely.
08-23-2012, 07:54 AMcwd
Video of 3rd set of 5 at 195:
http://youtu.be/bS7WLAY9y6g

Some forward knee movement on some reps, and they all look a little high to me.
I will definitely repeat this weight Friday, these aren't good enough to advance on.
08-24-2012, 07:35 AMMr_Rogers
Would knees out (to the side) help? I find when I have depth issues it's because I didn't actively force them out to the sides.
08-24-2012, 08:04 AMcwd
My current theory is that I was just cutting off my depth unconsciously because I was afraid of the weight.
But I'll try thinking harder about knees out tonight too, when I repeat this weight tonight.
08-24-2012, 08:06 AMMr_Rogers
I've been there. The weight does get intimidating, or at least it did for me, when I got to about 205lbs. I don't know why it did, but it just did. Now I know I can put just about anything on the bar and know I can squat it.

Good luck tonight!
08-24-2012, 08:58 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 17
This was not a wonderful workout -- no PRs, and some arm/shoulder pain after squatting and more after cleans. Ah well, they can't all be great.

Still taking zinc and magnesium at bedtime, I've noticed an increase in sex drive.
I'll try not taking them for a week next to see if the increase is really due to the pills.

bw 180.4 -0.4 pounds

Squat
warmups as usual
195 x5 3 sets
http://youtu.be/yuq7qUS3wpE
http://youtu.be/t31tyJ3VnVY
http://youtu.be/TkofKLqCmqM
Not perfect, but depth was good on most reps. Knees out helps with depth, for sure.
Tried turning toes out more on last set, I don't think it helped. Third set was a grind.
What the heck, on to 200!

Bench
warmups
140 x5,5,3
Not quite strong enough.
Took a video of this one to check grip width. I need to widen my bench grip a bit to get my forearms vertical.

Power Cleans
warmups
105 x3 5 sets
Most of these were good, but a couple reps were caught with low elbows, which hurts. On to 105.7.

Pullups, bw x7
Chinups, bw x8
Rested a long time before each of these sets, which helped.
08-25-2012, 08:10 AMMr_Rogers
What do your warm-up sets look like? I have the tendency to have them too heavy because I like to "feel" heavier weights. When I was at the seminar I was surprised how low they started me on my warm-up sets which I've tried to keep that in mind at home. Maybe you're using too heavy a weight during warm-ups and it's having an impact on your later sets? Just a thought.

I watched your squat videos and it doesn't look like you're getting a lot of hip drive out of the hole, almost like you're lifting with your chest which would kill the hip drive. I'd be interested to see different angles if possible, I'm pretty sure you mentioned in a technique thread that you have very limited space where you lift. Good job getting the reps. It's not easy to grind out reps when the weight is heavy.
08-25-2012, 08:37 AMcwd
For squat last night, I warmed up with leg and arm swings, then:
45 x5 paused at the bottom to stretch
95 x5
135 x5
165 x3
and 3 work sets at 195.

The set of 5 at 135 feels really good, I'd hate give that one up.
But I could see replacing the 3 at 165 with singles at 155 and 175.
I like to feel the heavier weight a bit before the work set too!

Last night's squats felt like I was using good hip drive, hitting depth (mostly), and keeping knees in place at the bottom (mostly).
They just felt really heavy and bar speed sucked.

Plan: eat like crazy all weekend and see how 200 goes on Monday.
08-28-2012, 06:43 AMcwd
2nd SS, workout 18
bw 180.4 pounds, stable.

Squat 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 175x3
200 x5, 3 sets PR
These felt easier than 195 on Friday.
I'm still worried about depth though -- it feels like I'm going as deep as I can and stay tight, but on video it looks like I'm just barely reaching parallel. Probably time to post a form check again.
set 1: http://youtu.be/ZnuHy1jKb8E
set 2: http://youtu.be/xrOijMrnRrQ
set 3: http://youtu.be/Y77lbWkIppQ

Press 45x5, 62.5x5
102.5 x5,5,4
Not quite strong enough, will repeat.

Deadlift 135x5, 185x1, 225x1, 265x1
290 x2
Third try at this weight, time to reset 10%.
When I was squatting light because of form problems, I had energy to spare for deadlifting, but no more. Maybe my deadlift will unstick when I get my squat up closer to it.

Pullups x7
Chinups x7
08-30-2012, 07:20 AMcwd
2nd SS, workout 19
bw 181.6, + 1 pound
I'm getting a pot belly, need to dial back the calories a bit.
Will try cutting milk to 1 cup a day, dropping oatmeal.

Walk, dynamic stretching 3x day, warmups as usual.

Squat:
45 x5 2 sets, 95 x5, 135 x5, 175 x3
205 x5, 3 sets PR
Felt very heavy, many reps were slow grinds.
set 1: http://youtu.be/_naSUd27wDI
set 2: http://youtu.be/zu31gN7Qb_A
set 3: http://youtu.be/gxSzfPvs6p4

Bench
45 x5 2 sets, 85 x5, 115 x2
140 x5 3 sets PR
Wider grip (vertical forearms), didn't seem to hurt my shoulders and is better leverage.

Power Clean
45 x3, 65 x3
104.5 x3 5 sets
These were hard as I was very tired from squatting.
But form was mostly good and it didn't hurt my shoulders or elbows much.

Pullups bw x7, chins bw x7.

I'm tempted to switch to "advanced novice" because my Monday squats are so much better than Wednesday or Friday. But I have a history of switching programs too often. Perhaps I should stick to basic novice until I actually stall?
08-30-2012, 09:49 AMMr_Rogers
I added the light day in early because my recovery is shit (for the lack of a better term). I did make it front squats though because I was getting into olympic lifting. That aside I loved the easier squat day midweek and I felt fresh squatting on Friday.
09-01-2012, 08:56 AMcwd
I like front squats, but I really need to practice my back squat form and depth.
So I'll try reducing Wednesday's squats to 80% for 3 sets of 5 and leave the rest of my program alone.
We'll see how that goes for a few weeks.
09-01-2012, 01:27 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 20
Eaten only as much as I was hungry for since Wednesday.
Missed Friday night's workout, skipped dinner and went kayaking instead.
Make-up workout today (Saturday afternoon) did not go well.

bw 181.2, -.4 pounds

Squat
45 x5 2 sets, 95 x5, 135 x5, 175 x3
205 x5 3 sets
This is a repeat of Wednesday's weight, trying for better form & depth.
3rd set: http://youtu.be/h9ZURgudJ6o

Press
45 x5, 50 x5
102.5 x4,4,4
Second try at this weight, got 5,5,4 last time.
Very disappointing.

Deadlift
135 x5, 185 x1, 225 x1
275 x4
First deadlift after resetting from 3 failures at 290.
Very disappointing.
http://youtu.be/Al8DIepI7uo

Pulllups x7
Chinups x8

My guess is that I reduced my eating too much.
09-03-2012, 12:21 PMcwd
2nd SS, workout 21
2nd disappointing workout in a row.
Sleep and diet are poor this week.

bw 184.4 +3 pounds

Squat
45 x5 2 sets, 95 x5, 135 x5 175 x3
210 x5 3 sets PR but not really
These were barely parallel on some reps, above parallel on others.
Knees were pretty good.
I did something wrong with my arms though -- probably unconsciously pulling down hard on the bar while straining -- and made my elbows and shoulder hurt like crazy.
All in all, shitty.

Bench Press
45 x5 2 sets, 85 x5, 115 x2
142.5 x5,3F,4F
Not strong enough, and my arms hurt the whole time from squatting.
On the plus side, did these without a spotter and the safeties on my Rogue S1 work great. Squirming out from under after getting pinned is undignified though.

Power Clean
45 x3, 65 x3, 95 x1
110 x3 5 sets
Towards the end as I got tired, I cought a few reps with low elbows and hurt my elbows and shoulders even more. Ow. They still hurt now 30m later.

Pullups 6
Chinups 7

Bah. I will make no programming decisions right now, I'm too grumpy to be rational.
09-04-2012, 12:24 PMMr_Rogers
Just so I'm not taking that other thread any more off topic.

The way I see it, and I could be wrong, is that if you're artificially cutting the distance your knees travel you're reducing the amount of tension in the hamstring. If my understanding of the mechanics are correct you'd also be greatly reducing the hamstrings' ability to produce a 'bounce' out of the hole because they'd be slack. I really suspect this is what's happening because you barely get any sort of bounce.

My knees go out quite far, but I get them there quick which I believe is the important factor.

[fishwife]

You can go to this URL: http://startingstrength.com/resources/f ... XXXXX.html where XXXXXX is your thread id (found in the url when you first click on your log). This will bring up your entire log on 1 page. You can save this however you like.

However, the big disadvantage is that quoted text just appears as normal text, which gets confusing.

[cwd]

You can go to this URL: http://startingstrength.com/resources/f ... XXXXX.html where XXXXXX is your thread id (found in the url when you first click on your log). This will bring up your entire log on 1 page.

Sweet! It's actually 2 pages for my log, maybe there's a max of 300 posts or something.

I lose the dates and post titles though. Some experimentation may be required.

[fishwife]

I lose the dates and post titles though. Some experimentation may be required.

The dates are there. Unless you mean something else?

[mbasic]

also this :

Your message contains 186524 characters. The maximum number of allowed characters is 60000.

[cwd]

The dates are there. Unless you mean something else?

Nope, was looking at the wrong thing. Dates are present. Post titles are not, but they carry little info.

I've been reading through my logs to summarize them. So much wasted time, silly bullshit, injuries and illnesses. So few periods of actually gaining strength...

[chrisd]

Yeah, the archive version gets the whole log in one HTML page.

I'm looking at sticking it into an editor and trying some macro edits on it to get the dates and stuff back in some kind of order.

I'm hoping to put the old logs on here, just to show how futile lifting is for me.

Most of mine just shows me struggling against programmes.

[Chebass88]

Perhaps a summary might be a good way to present the info instead of the wall-o-text of copy & pasting.

[cwd]

Perhaps a summary might be a good way to present the info instead of the wall-o-text of copy & pasting.

That's what I'm up to now. It looks like this:

start-date - end-date: 4th SS run, this time for sure!
- bw range
- best squat, bench, deadlift, press in this run (or maybe starting->ending numbers if I actually made steady progress)
- injuries acquired, lessons learned
- why I quit this program

start-date - end-date: next futile program
...

[bugbomb]

That's what I'm up to now. It looks like this:

start-date - end-date: 4th SS run, this time for sure!
- bw range
- best squat, bench, deadlift, press in this run (or maybe starting->ending numbers if I actually made steady progress)
- injuries acquired, lessons learned
- why I quit this program

start-date - end-date: next futile program
...

I'm reporting this *post* because it triggered me.

[CoconutChris]

cwd, aren't you a programmer? Forum scraping is not too bad.

[cwd]

cwd, aren't you a programmer? Forum scraping is not too bad.

I've gotten lazy in my old age, and web programming is not my thing.

I know all programmers these days start with web stuff, but I started with C. I can write you a servo control loop, or a flow-control routine for a device driver off the top of my head though...

[TimK]

Here's what I did:

1. Change posts displayed per thread page to 40 (max allowed)
2. "Print" each page to a pdf file... using the "print" command in Google Chrome, not the "show printable version" thing (ended up being 13 separate PDFs)
3. Combine them into one .pdf with this free utility: https://www.pdfmerge.com/

Now I have my entire log in one searchable PDF that looks pretty much the same as viewing the actual forum thread. Of course, all half of it doesn't make sense since all of allent's posts are missing...

Granted, this becomes more cumbersome the more pages your log has. But it's easier than having to reformat stuff.

[BenM]

Yep, this is exactly what I did as well - printed to a pdf and then merged the pages.