Wow This Thing Is Still Here

Well it had clearly been a while since I've consistently paid attention to my strength training and physical health in general. My excuses are that I had a few major life changes and personal issues start at the end of 2012 and carry on through for a few months or years depending on what we are talking about.

Anyhow things are more stable now so I'm thinking it would be a good idea to track my thoughts on goals here.

One of my long term bad habits has been Dr. Pepper. I love it and starting in high school I have been a regular consumer. I know that soda is not a good thing on many levels but hose 23 flavors just taste so good, especially after or during a stressful day. For the last few weeks I have minimized Dr. Pepper intake with some success. Rather than having one or two a day I've been drinking 1-3 per week (only on the weekends). The theist for the Dr, has been strong at times but now it is pretty manageable.

I was hoping that this simple change would have profound, or at least significant impacts on my total body weight and physique so I tracked my weight for the last few weeks. The results were IMMEDIATE, and short lived (see chart below). In about two weeks I dropped 5 lbs, which was pretty exciting, and then it stayed there for the next 4 weeks it has pretty much stayed in the same place. Hmmmm. You'd think that taking 250 or so calories out of the input stream 5 days of the week would have more of a lasting impact, but the data says otherwise.

I also cut out breakfast (and I am not aware of a compelling reason to not do so) in order to limit caloric intake as well. It appears that I am compensating  for the lack of calories that normally would have been coming in through liquid caramel colored sugar water and daily doses of Egg McMuffins (I hate to admit it but that particular fast food breakfast option is pretty tasty to me).

I feel like I have been eating decent amount, meaning not gorging at lunch and dinner, but things aren't moving in the direction I'd like. So I guess I need to get more serious.

I'm easing back into things so I can better manage long term commitments to training and good nutrition. For the last three weeks I've been working on pushup's using this canned routine. It has been satisfying to see some performance increases in tracking my progress and just to feel my muscles doing some work. I'll plan on sticking with this program through March, by which time the garage will be warm enough so as to nullify any 'comfort excuses' for not getting in there and lifting three times a week. I'd like to be able to do 100 pushup's in a single set but I'd also be happy to just be able to bust out a couple sets of 50. So this bit is good and it is keeping me motivated.

I'll start tracking my intake this week just to see where I am and then make adjustments where needed. I also will be doing two tabata workouts on the airdyne to increase caloric expenditure as well.

I'll check back in about a week from now.

NASA Iowa State Meet Recap

Results

Body weight: 213.9 lbs

Squat: 155 162.5 (F) 162.5 (F)

Bench Press: 115 117.5 122.5

Deadlift: 182.5 190 195

*Weights are reported in kg unless noted otherwise.

Total: 472.5 kg (1041.67 lb)

Performance

I did a lot worse than I had originally planned but did about as well as I expected going into the meet. The reasons I signed up for the meet include: motivation to continue training when life gets busy, experience a PL meet, see what I can do under real judging. I fulfilled all of those goals and despite my poor total (and awful squatting) I really enjoyed the meet. I had hoped to set PRs or at least match gym PRs. That didn’t happen, I sabotaged that opportunity a long time ago.

How to Stop Progress and Sabotage Your First PL Meet

When I first started Callador’s 4x4 method I changed my diet up in order to lose some fat and hopefully maintain strength while I drop down to a solid 198 lbs (~220-225 just before I started). Cutting calories and drastically changing food types (regular decent junk to low-carb paleo) is not a good way to progress. I lost 10-15 pounds in about 2 weeks and got sick. It really screwed up what had been some really good progress. I don’t think the program was flawed at all, I just made changes that I knew weren’t smart but thought I'd somehow I’d beat the odds. 

Scheduling was a bit out of my control but it certainly played a role in my final weeks leading up to the meet being not very useful in preparing for a solid performance. I had to sell my house, write and defend my PhD thesis, get a job prepare for a PL meet and be a normal Dad/Husband over the last 2 months. If I could have entered a meet at a different time I would have but I didn’t know where I’d be in May (graduation date? job somewhere?) and this was really the only meet within reasonable driving distance that I could find. Smashing all these responsibilities into a small time frame made juggling life trickier than usual which caused training and proper nutrition to take a back seat for a while.

I don’t list this stuff as a bunch of excuses, my performance is what it is, but just put it all out there to put my PL performance in context. 

Overall

The meet was a positive experience. It was way busy with 46 male lifters in the unequipped powerlifting group so probably ~60-70 lifters when the equipped men and all the women are added to that number. It was held at a gym that was built and is owned by an old school Olympic lifter and had plenty of racks squat stands and bars and weights for everyone to warm up with. It was dusty and dingy with the walls were covered with all sorts of strength athlete posters and pictures from magazine pages (BBers, Olympic Lifters, Powerlifters, etc). Most of the equipment was custom fabricated (which I find way cooled than commercially produced stuff because it has character). The people attending lifters and spectators made up a pretty diverse group of people (families with little kids, a bunch of college and high school wrestling teams, and more of the Jim Wendler looking dudes) and all of them were super cool and congenial (very different from other more mainstream sporting events). I had a great time and plan to do another meet in the future (probably next spring, don’t know which one).

Moving Forward

My future employment requires me to live in Milwaukee, WI for ~2 months, then in July I’ll move to Columbus, OH. I’ll get a temporary membership at a good gym in Milwaukee then in Columbus I’ll drive over to Rogue and pick up a rack (no shipping) to set-up a proper home gym (no more wooden squat stands Stroup). I’ll deload a bit and work up to handling decent volume over about 6 weeks, then ride the full body TM for 6 weeks or so then switch to a split routine (perhaps TM for a while or maybe I’ll go back to Calladors 4x4). By this fall my meet PRs should be sets of 3-5 and I’ll be ready to push PRs again.

Meet Video

My good camera died so the first two squats aren’t here. Also my phone lost the sound of the recording when I sent the files to my computer so I hope you don’t mind a little PJ.

It is 2013. Got Goals?

It is that time of year when everybody is going to lose weight, run a marathon, buy (and use) a new gym membership, or get generally fit. I think goals are good but they need to be s.m.a.r.t. to be effective. Goals have to be more than a want they have to be realistic measurable and planned out. My goal for a meet in April is to total 1215 lbs. If you are confused as to what this means, read on.

Training Update November 17, 2012

Decent Training with more PRs.

Joe's Garage

It is required that I reveal the secret to my continued success. I have abandoned my gym in a closet for Joes Garage. A friend of mine, named Joe, is also in the pursuit of strength. He has his own rack, bar, ~300 pounds of weight, and a two car garage with only one car in it. There was plenty of room for my equipment along with his. I made a make shift chalk box and Joe provided music (an ipod fitted with computer speakers playing mid-nineties grunge with some newer and older stuff mixed in). Schedules have been aligned and much labor has been carried out under the bar in Joes garage.

It is ideal to have a training partner and Joes garage has facilitated this. Training partners help you keep up on your training. There have been many days when I felt tired but we had a plan to train. I could have stayed home but that would have been really lame and my testosterone levels would have probably dropped due to such a spineless act. As stated in Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It:

"Neal, in Montana there's three things we're never late for: church, work and fishing."

Like Brad Pitt is deedicated to fishing, in Joes garage we are dedicated to training, we don't miss training sessions. 

Training Update November 2, 2012

Ate more food this week which made for much better performance.

Training Update October 27, 2012

Bad training on Friday and I know why.

Training Update October 20, 2012

Another week another Squat PR.

Training Update October 13, 2012

Been on the Texas Method for about a month and a half. I like it so far. It is teaching me how to grind through tough reps and how to keep on task during volume days so the sessions don't last forever.

Training Update October 5, 2012

More personal records.

Training Update September 28, 2012

Got that 375 hook grip deadlift.

Training Update September 21, 2012

Finally got that 365 hook grip deadlift. I ought to be able to motor on up to 405 in another month.

Training Update September 15, 2012

More progress and more PRs!

Training Update September 7, 2012

Another good week. Missed my deadlift again but everything else is moving along.

Monday

Squat 270 3x5 paused

Press 150 5x5

RDL 205 3x5

Wednesday

Squat 250 2x5

Bench Press 205 3x5 Very little rest on these. I was feeling really energetic on these.

Barbell Rows 165 3x5

Dips (BW) 14/10/14/14 I didn't rest long enough between the first and second set

Friday

Squat 285x5 Time to put all the pause squatting to work. I am gonna switch my squatting to Texas Method style programming. I figure I'll still be able to do paused squats on volume days (just 3x5 instead of 5x5).

Press 175x4 I planned to do a set of 3 but it went up real easy so I got four. At the end of four I questioned whether I had loaded the bar properly (It was 175 just as prescribed). None of the reps were even grinds. I could have done one more but didn't. I don't know why. Still a new PR.



Deadlift 365 2/1/1 The weight felt really heavy and I felt really weak. I think I wasn't there mentally. I'll give it another shot next week.

Training Update September 1, 2012

Solid week of training. Had a friend give me some ideas for improving my bench press. I may incorporate them next week.

Monday

Squat 260 3x5 paused

Bench Press 225 3x5, 205 2x5

RDL 200 3x5

Thursday

Squat 265 3x5 paused

Press 135 3x5

Barbell Rows 165 3x5

Dips (BW) 4x12 These are going well

Saturday

Deadlift 365x3 lost my grip after three then quickly got 2 more in (hook grip PR). I'll get it for a solid five next week. Did the deadlift first because last week 355 was a lot harder than it should have been, due to fatigue from squatting, I believe.

Bench Press 250x5 Hallelujah!!!! I have been chipping away at this weight forever it seems. I finally got it and it was quite the head game during those last two reps. The weight went up fine. The fifth rep wasn't even a grind.

Squat 225x5 regular then 250x5 paused. My left leg is hurting pretty bad (general soreness but a bit sharper and much more prolonged than any other body part). I have really been working on getting the weight onto my right side but old lefty seems to be getting a lot more stress.

Training Update August 25, 2012

Wedding, packing crap up, and driving across the most boring part of the country kept me out of the gym until Friday. I made it count. Having my own bar and chalk made all the difference in hitting my deadlift goal.

Friday (August 17th 2012)

Deadlift 245x5 nailed it! Probably could have done 10 - 20 pounds more. I did the deadlift first to make sure I wasn't fatigued. I really didn't want to miss this one. I didn't

Bench Press 245x4 (I keep missing the fifth rep!!!) 225x8 (last rep very hard)

Squat 240 3x5 (paused)

This one is for Phil

Proper terms must be used properly!!! It is technical I know but I am a scientist/engineer so it comes with the territory. Someone who runs is not necessarily a sprinter, marathoner, or steeple chaser but the converse is true. I have a friend (we'll call him Phil) that refers to my training sessions as "doing powerlifting." I must inform you Phil that this is incorrect. I may lift weights but that does not make me a weightlifter or a powerlifter. Phil, please read on.

A weightlifter finishing a Snatch (above) and a powerlifter finishing a Deadlift (below)

Training Update August 11, 2012

Overall I got the work done. I missed some planned reps and I am still figuring out the volume day weights for press and bench work.

Monday

Squat 215 5x5 paused

Press 150 3x5, 135 2x5

RDL 190 3x5

Wednesday

Squat 225 3x5 paused

Bench Press 205 3x5

Barbell Rows 160 3x5

Dips (BW) 4x8

Friday

Squat 235 3x5 paused

Press 165x4 I was going for 5 but I didn't make it. I almost got the last rep but I layed back way too much and just couldn't get it.

Deadlift 345x2  then one more single. I will explain this utter failure below.

I had to travel from Iowa to Utah to get to my brothers wedding. We made the drive in 19 hours through the night. I slept for abotu 45 minutes while Kellie drove a bit. So I missed out on some sleep. I hung out at my parents house for the afternoon and waited until the next morning to go work out. Excuse number one: poor sleep and nutrition the last few days.

I paid 10 bucks to workout at a golds gym. They had three squat racks so it wasn't that bad. They had some Ivanko bars that were very straight but the knurling was crap. The knurling was very coarse and the edge was knocked down so it was very smooth and of course I forgot my chalk like an idiot. Even with a mixed grip the bar was slipping. Excuse number two: bad grip.

I have plenty of excuses but I am still pretty pissed that I missed the press and deadlift I had planned. I am going to see if I can work out on Monday between the wedding and the reception. Wish me luck.

Training Update August 4, 2012

I had pretty bad squat form a while back. Due to my crappy ankle I tend to put a lot of weight on my left (good) side. I can keep things straight at lower weights so I backed the weight way down and started doing 5x5 paused at the bottom. It seems to be going well and gives me time to focus on keeping everything in the right place. Anyway this is what I did last week.

Monday

Squat 185 5x5 paused

Bench Press 205 5x5

Deadlift 325x5 (hook grip PR)

Wednesday

Squat 195 5x5 paused

Press 135 3x5

Barbell Rows 155 3x5

Dips (BW) 4x7

Friday

Squat 205 5x5 paused

Bench Press 250x4 was going for 5 but I didn't make it. 250 is my nemesis!!!

Deadlift 335x5 (hook grip PR)

I was deadlifting much more a few weeks ago. I think deloads in general are healthy and I don't like the alternate or mixed grip so I want to train my grip up so I can always use the hook grip even on heavy deadlifts. Should be able to hit 375x5 (previous PR) in a month or so. Then another month from there I hope to hit 405 with the hook grip. I figure is olympic lifters clean 400 with a hook grip like its no big deal I ought to be able to deadlift at least that much without having to resort to the alternate grip.

Training Update July 19, 2012

Last two weeks have been okay. We (the scout group I work with) had a practice hike last Wednesday and the uneven terrain really did a number on my ankle. That prevented me from training for a few days. We'll see how Wyoming treats it.