jshaw's Starting Strength log

[jshaw5]

What is your plan with bench? Reset or retry 210?

I'm going to try 210 again Friday. I got about 4 hours of sleep last night if I'm lucky. I think if I can get a good night's sleep, I should be able to get it. Considering I got 5 on the first set, I have the strength for 210, just need a little better recovery between sets. If I can't get 210 next time, I'm possibly thinking about resetting back like 20 lbs or so, and maybe adding some BBB sets at the end of the bench workouts. I know Rippetoe would say YNDTP, but I think I might need more bench work to boost my progress.

[jshaw5]

Monday's workout

Weight - 228.2... no 226.4. I normally have to take a dump before my workout, but I didn't this morning. However, it hit me mid workout. Decided to weigh myself again afterwards and dropped 1.8 lbs lol.

Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 5 reps (+31 pts)
110 lb x 5 reps (+48 pts)
175 lb x 3 reps (+60 pts)
240 lb x 2 reps (+79 pts)
305 lb x 5 reps (+181 pts)
305 lb x 5 reps (+181 pts)
305 lb x 5 reps (+181 pts)
Other than watching the first set on the little screen on the camera, I haven't watched my videos yet, but I suspect my form wasn't great on these. From what I could see on the first set, I think I still had a little forward knee movement on some reps, though I think I got back to full depth on all reps (had some borderline depth Friday). I let my knees cave in on one rep, think I just had a little brain fart, saw it in the mirror and corrected from there. These were pretty hard, had a little GM action on some of the later reps.

Barbell Bench Press:
45 lb x 5 reps (+36 pts)
85 lb x 5 reps (+47 pts)
125 lb x 3 reps (+49 pts)
165 lb x 2 reps (+54 pts)
210 lb x 5 reps (+109 pts)
210 lb x 4 reps (+100 pts)
210 lb x 3 reps (+87 pts)
I was going to repeat 205 and try to get all 15 reps, then go up to 210 on Friday. When I wrote down my weights before heading to the gym this morning, I forgot to take out the +5 on my calculator. I should've noticed, but that early in the morning I'm not thinking too clearly. First set I got all 5 reps, but the last rep or 2 were tough. On the second set, I should've stopped at the 4th rep considering how hard it was, but I let the ego get in the way of good judgement. I couldn't quite reach the lower hooks, so I had to pull the roll of shame That didn't feel great going over my big belly haha. On the 3rd set, I was hoping to get at least 4 again, but I went with judgement over ego and stopped at 3. I'm annoyed I didn't notice I wrote down the wrong weight, but at least I got 5 on the first set. I'll go for 210 again Friday and go from there.

Power Cleans / High Pulls
I decided to skip these today. I was running short on time, my elbow was flaring up a bit, and I just didn’t feel like doing them.

Parallel-Grip Pull-Up:
5 reps (+44 pts)
5 reps (+44 pts)
5 reps (+44 pts)
These were the only bright spot of my workout. I was surprised how easy the first few reps felt. I’m sure I could’ve got 6 and maybe even grinded out 7 on the first set, but I don’t think I would’ve hit 5 on the 2nd and 3rd sets. Considering sets of 4,4,3 was my previous best (since SS), I’m very happy with 5,5,5.

Song of the Day:

NPB. Videos added.

[The Shoeless Wonder]

nice squatting j. looks like you can sit back more. stay on those heels!

[jshaw5]

nice squatting j. looks like you can sit back more. stay on those heels!

Thanks. Yeah, it seems to be a recurring theme for me lately. I think I start off with a bar path that stays pretty vertical over mid-foot, but when the reps get harder towards the end of the sets, I'm letting the weight come out over my toes and do a fair amount of GM'ing to get the weight up. I'm thinking once I hit 3 plates (hopefully on Monday), I might do a mini deload on squats with some ramping sets, work on improving form with heavy weights, with a little better recovery.

I'm thinking something like this over the next couple weeks:
Monday 4/9 - 315x5x3
Friday 4/13 - 270x5, 295x5, 320x5
Monday 4/16 - 275x5, 300x5, 325x5
Friday 4/20 - 280x5, 305x5, 330x5
Monday 4/23 - 330x5x3
Friday 4/27 - 335x5x3

[pezking7p]

Sit back, looks like you're front squatting lol. Still looks pretty easy though.

[Ironlife]

In mate, subbing this bit,ch again. Thought it was in my subs but no

[jshaw5]

Welcome back I've had some weird things happen with my subs as well, sometimes I'll notice a thread that shows up in my subs that I haven't seen in a while, I'll think the guy hadn't posted in a while, then I'll check and there will be workouts logged on a daily basis ???

Wednesday's workout:

Front Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 5 reps (+36 pts)
45 lb x 5 reps (+36 pts)
70 lb x 5 reps (+42 pts)
100 lb x 3 reps (+41 pts)
125 lb x 2 reps (+41 pts)
155 lb x 5 reps (+75 pts)
155 lb x 5 reps (+75 pts)
155 lb x 5 reps (+75 pts)

These felt really good, the clean grip is getting more and more comfortable. I will admit though, they're starting to feel heavier than I expected, though I'd at least get close to 2 plates before they started to get heavy. Gym was crazy busy, so I only got the last two sets on camera, and the angle isn't great.

Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press:
20 lb x 5 reps (+26 pts)
30 lb x 5 reps (+30 pts)
Standing Barbell Shoulder Press:
85 lb x 3 reps (+52 pts)
110 lb x 2 reps (+52 pts)
132.5 lb x 5 reps (+89 pts)
132.5 lb x 5 reps (+89 pts)
132.5 lb x 5 reps (+89 pts)
Squat rack was occupied, so I did my first two warmups with dumbbells, I really didn't care for it, definitely prefer barbell version. I finally broke out my microloading chains. I almost skipped to 135 due to the gym being so busy, I almost couldn't find the right combination of plates to get to 130 (plus my chains). Someone finished up with a pair of 35's so I was able to get to 132.5. I'm glad I didn't attempt 135, 132.5 was heavy enough. Last rep or two, especially on the last set were real tough. Felt real close to missing the last set/rep, it was a real grinder. I wouldn't doubt that a reset is right around the corner, but I'm really hoping to hit 1 plate before that happens.

Barbell Deadlift:
135 lb x 5 reps (+57 pts)
190 lb x 5 reps (+83 pts)
245 lb x 3 reps (+97 pts)
300 lb x 2 reps (+119 pts)
355 lb x 5 reps (+254 pts) hook grip
315 lb x 1 reps (+106 pts) 25ish second hold

Spent about 2 minutes screwing with my belt, trying to get it positioned just right so that it didn't pinch my love handles. Used hook grip on 355. I not sure what felt more abused after that set, my back or my thumbs. Hopefully my thumbs get more used to it, by the last rep my thumbs feel like they were run over by a steam roller. No worry about dropping the bar though Set was hard and heavy, but I didn't struggle to lock out the last rep as much as I have lately. feelsphuckinggreatman.jpg After my work set, I dropped to 315 and did a long hold. I forgot to set up my camera, but I think it was around 25 seconds.

Dips - Chest Version:
8 reps (+43 pts)
6 reps || weighted || 10 lb (+34 pts)
6 reps || weighted || 15 lb (+37 pts)
These have been feeling real good lately, so I decided to start adding some weight. Elbow did start to act up just a tad, little bit of pain, but only on the decent of the first rep.

Power Clean:
95 lb x 3 reps (+30 pts)
135 lb x 3 reps (+39 pts)
135 lb x 3 reps (+39 pts)
135 lb x 3 reps (+39 pts)

Since I skipped these Monday and I still had some time, I decided to throw these on at the end. Still catch the bar with my hands some times, but I think my form is actually starting to improve and sometimes I'm actually catching the bar properly. I lost my workout sheet at some point, so I wasn't sure what I had written down for high pulls. I attempted 155 and failed 2 reps, I think I was just too exhausted.

Song of the day:

[jshaw5]

Friday's Workout

Bodyweight - 224.6 - I've overcome the little binge I had last weekend and the weight is still coming off. This is the first time the scale has shown under 225 for me in quite a while

Sleep/Mood - Awful. I considering pushing this workout off until tomorrow since I slept like crap last night and my back was still sore from Wednesday's deadlift session. I peeled myself out of bed and dragged my ass out of bed, but even 2 scoops of jack3d couldn't get me in a better lifting mood.

Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 5 reps (+31 pts)
45 lb x 5 reps (+31 pts)
110 lb x 5 reps (+48 pts)
175 lb x 3 reps (+60 pts)
240 lb x 2 reps (+79 pts)
310 lb x 5 reps (+187 pts)
310 lb x 5 reps (+187 pts)
310 lb x 5 reps (+187 pts)

I honestly didn't feel like I had it in me, especially after how heavy 240x2 felt. Form on the first set was terrible, weight over my toes just about the entire set, felt like lots of GM action. The other sets were a little better, sat back a little more, but still needs improvement. Monday is 3 plates, but I am going ramp up to 315 instead of sets across. That way I can work on the form a little better, but still keep the linear progression going.

Barbell Bench Press:
45 lb x 5 reps (+36 pts)
85 lb x 5 reps (+47 pts)
125 lb x 3 reps (+49 pts)
165 lb x 2 reps (+54 pts)
210 lb x 3 reps (+87 pts)
I honestly shouldn't have even tried this. My elbow was really starting to act up. It really hurts when I'm unracking the bar with my elbows locked. It doesn't bother me too much once I actually start repping, but the pain of unracking takes a lot out of me. Today was the worst it's been. I ordered a pair of small TK knee sleeves to use as elbow sleeves, hopefully they will help. Otherwise, I might have to take a break from benching, which I really don't want to do since I already feel like my progress on bench is way behind all the other lifts. I'm also really starting to hate the bench at my gym. First of all, the pins are a bit too high for me. When I reach up to grab the bar, my elbows are already straight, so in order to unrack the bar, I'm pushing my shoulders up, which makes it really hard for me to maintain the shoulder blade pinch. The other issue I'm starting to have is the surface of the bench is a real smooth leather and my shirt just slides right across the bench, make it harder for me to plant my shoulder blades into the bench.

Pendlay Row:
45 lb x 5 reps (+27 pts)
70 lb x 5 reps (+32 pts)
100 lb x 3 reps (+31 pts)
125 lb x 2 reps (+31 pts)
155 lb x 5 reps (+56 pts)
155 lb x 5 reps (+56 pts)
155 lb x 5 reps (+56 pts)
Nothing to say about these, other than they're getting heavy. I'll probably drop to 5 lb increments from now on.

Weighted Hyperextension:
35 lb x 8 reps (+9 pts)
35 lb x 8 reps (+9 pts)
35 lb x 8 reps (+9 pts)

Song of the day - I don't think I would've hit my third squat set without this haha

[IfNotNow]

Reps on this alone...

Song of the day - I don't think I would've hit my third squat set without this haha

Which will now be in my head for the rest of the weekend.

Well, reps, once I refresh... whenever that will be.

[jshaw5]

So I've spent a bit of time researching my elbow pain. With my palm facing up, the pain is on the outside of my elbow/forearm, which I believe is the Brachioradialis. The pain bothers me more when I'm doing bench/press movements, but thinking back through my workouts after my research, I realized it's towards the end of my squats when it starts acting up. I found a good thread on the iron addicts forum with some suggestions that may help. Here's my plan, would like some feedback...

1) Aleve - 2-3 per day... or would I be better off using voltaren gel so I can apply it directly to the affected area?
2) Ice - once or twice per night
3) Widen squat grip. Also, I'm going to try not to grip the bar so hard, just rest my hands on it.
4) TK elbow bands for squats and pressing movements
5) Rehab exercises - I was thinking hammer curls and/or reverse curls 3x10 at a weight heavy enough to work the muscle but not heavy enough to get close to failure.

[The Shoeless Wonder]

squats claim another forearm. good squatting though!

[ddog171]

Depth looks great on on squats. Like you said the first set of stats you have forward bar travel on the way up making you go up n your toes. The last two sets were fine, pretty straight bar path.

What is up with all the elbow pain? Never would have thought squats would cause it. Although my grip on the bar for suits is horrible., but I fel it more in my wrists.

[jshaw5]

squats claim another forearm. good squatting though!

Yeah fortunately I've seen enough of it in my subs (not fortunate for the subs) that I think I identified the problem before it has become a huge issue requiring an extended vacation from the gym.

Depth looks great on on squats. Like you said the first set of stats you have forward bar travel on the way up making you go up n your toes. The last two sets were fine, pretty straight bar path.

What is up with all the elbow pain? Never would have thought squats would cause it. Although my grip on the bar for suits is horrible., but I fel it more in my wrists.

I never would've thought it either. For me I think it's a combination of a lack of flexibility and gripping the bar too hard putting a lot of stress on my elbow. Hopefully a wider grip will allow me hold the bar a little looser putting less stress on the elbow.

[Ironlife]

Squatting some nice weight in here bro! And them deadlifts flew up at 355. Get that elbow right man!

[jshaw5]

Weighed in at 226.5 this morning on the home scale. That's 16 lbs plus 3" off my gut since I started SS 11 weeks ago. I'd like to eventually get to 205 but for now I'm shooting for 215, see how I feel, then I'll decide if I want to keep trying to lose or switch to more of a recomp diet.

[pezking7p]

I've been struggling with brachioradialis pain for a long time. Mine flares up now only when doing pullups. Fixing my squat grip took care of 80% of the issues.

Squatting still looks pretty easy.

For the slippery bench, splash a little water on your upper back before doing your sets. The wet shirt will stick better to the bench. Also make sure you don't wear a high-tech fabric shirt that is too slippery.

[NaturalAthlete5]

Nice work bro , keep at it.

Looks like you've made some nice gains on SS , I'm still milking SS myself , it's just about time for me to move on though.

[jshaw5]

I've been struggling with brachioradialis pain for a long time. Mine flares up now only when doing pullups. Fixing my squat grip took care of 80% of the issues.

Squatting still looks pretty easy.

For the slippery bench, splash a little water on your upper back before doing your sets. The wet shirt will stick better to the bench. Also make sure you don't wear a high-tech fabric shirt that is too slippery.

What changes did you make to your squat grip? That's a good point, I have been wearing a Nike dry fit shirt lately, I'll have to go back to just wearing cotton shirts.

Nice work bro , keep at it.

Looks like you've made some nice gains on SS , I'm still milking SS myself , it's just about time for me to move on though.

Thanks. You got a log on here? How long have you been on SS? What do you plan on moving on to? I started in January, plan on sticking with it at least until May or June, then switch to 5/3/1 or possibly TM.

[jshaw5]

Monday's Workout

Barbell Squat:
45 lb x 5 reps (+31 pts)
100 lb x 5 reps (+45 pts)
155 lb x 3 reps (+53 pts)
210 lb x 2 reps (+64 pts)
265 lb x 5 reps (+138 pts)
290 lb x 5 reps (+164 pts)
315 lb x 5 reps (+194 pts)
3 plates for 5 reps

Wore my elbow sleeves for the first time. These were a bitch to get on. I also widened my grip a bit. Didn't have any forearm pain at all during these, which is a good sign. I also switched to ramping sets, which I am planning to do for this week and next week as sort of a deload. This should allow me to work on correcting my knee travel issues and recover a little better, while still maintaining linear progression. I'll add 5 lbs to each ramping set each workout, then once I'm ready to go back to sets across, I'll do 3 sets of 5 on the last weight I ramped up to, then go back to adding 5 lbs per workout. I also picked up one of those "waist trimming" belts. I'm not sure I really buy the concept that they supposedly metabolize fat around your waist, but it would be great if it helps at all haha. The main reason I got it is because my current belt pinches the fuk out of my love handles, especially on deadlifts, so I plan on wearing this thing under my belt to keep all my fat tucked in nice and tight. I also like how it traps in the body heat and keeps my lower back nice and warm, similar to how the knee/elbow sleeves work, so I decided to just wear it for the entire workout. I know the reduced workload of ramped sets vs. sets across is a factor, but my back hasn't felt this good after squats in a long time, so I'm going to keep wearing it, even though I feel like I'm going scuba diving with all this neoprene on lol.

Standing Barbell Shoulder Press:
45 lb x 5 reps (+49 pts)
65 lb x 5 reps (+56 pts)
90 lb x 3 reps (+53 pts)
110 lb x 2 reps (+52 pts)
135 lb x 5 reps (+90 pts)
135 lb x 5 reps (+90 pts)
135 lb x 4 reps (+83 pts)
1 plate for 5 reps

Accomplished 2 of my April goals with 3 weeks left to go This was heavy as hell, and I couldn't get that last rep on the last set, but I'm still plenty happy about getting the first two sets. I had planned on keeping my elbow sleeves on for these, but my elbows were hot as hell, so I took them off. Definitely going to keep them on for bench though, since that aggravates my forearm much worse than ohp. Still no forearm pain after I was done with these. I'll give 3 sets of 5 on 135 another shot before I jump in weight again. As heavy as these are, I have a feeling a reset is coming shortly.

Parallel-Grip Pull-Up:
6 reps (+56 pts)
6 reps (+56 pts)
5 reps (+44 pts)
Two more reps than last time, strength on these is coming back pretty nicely. Not sure if I should keep doing these, switch to a grip that places less stress on the forearm, or drop pullups altogether until my forearm feels closer to 100%.

Alternate Hammer Dumbbell Curl:
20 lb x 8 reps (+17 pts)
15 lb x 10 reps (+17 pts)
Forearm did feel pretty good, but my shoulders were pretty exhausted, so I went pretty light. By the end of the workout, my forearm was a little sore, but it was more of a dull pain compared to the sharp pain on Friday.

Song of the day:

[mjp202]

Damn fine work. Congrats!

[ddog171]

Three plates on squats and the big wheels on press. Gotta feel good! Congrats!

[pezking7p]

1 plate OHP is a huge milestone. Congrats and enjoy it! I only ever it it for a single set of 5, but I still watch it because it was so pretty :P

You watch Blue Mountain State? If unaware, that rev theory song is the theme song for the shows opening credits, and the show is friggin hilarious, so please watch it.

[jshaw5]

Damn fine work. Congrats!

Three plates on squats and the big wheels on press. Gotta feel good! Congrats!

Thanks, felt real good hit both of those.

1 plate OHP is a huge milestone. Congrats and enjoy it! I only ever it it for a single set of 5, but I still watch it because it was so pretty :P

You watch Blue Mountain State? If unaware, that rev theory song is the theme song for the shows opening credits, and the show is friggin hilarious, so please watch it.

Thanks. BMS is one of those shows I haven't watched, but I have every intention to watch them all on netflix eventually.

Videos

[Bumpus]

Solid lifts right there. Congrats on the 3 plates. I'm wondering if taking a slightly narrower stance might help with the knee caving? Hard to argue with the results though.

[Ironlife]

Solid squatting! Cant wait till i can hit them 3 plates again bro!

[ngolsen]

Watch those knees on that press... They were aiding a touch. Keep em locked.

Squats look solid for a bit over 12 weeks in.

[jshaw5]

Solid lifts right there. Congrats on the 3 plates. I'm wondering if taking a slightly narrower stance might help with the knee caving? Hard to argue with the results though.

I think the problem is I'm just thinking about pushing my knees out a little too late. I don't think the start pushing them out until I start to come out of the hole, so I'm letting them cave for that brief moment. I'll try to start pushing them out as soon as I get to the bottom.

Solid squatting! Cant wait till i can hit them 3 plates again bro!

Well I can't wait until you're hitting 4 plates!!!

Watch those knees on that press... They were aiding a touch. Keep em locked.

Squats look solid for a bit over 12 weeks in.

Thanks, I'll just add that to the list, I never thought there would be so many things to think about while lifting weights haha. After I read your comment, I was going through the press motions with no weights, and I noticed that when I lean back to let the bar pass my face, my knees were bending even without using a bar.

[ngolsen]

I think the problem is I'm just thinking about pushing my knees out a little too late. I don't think the start pushing them out until I start to come out of the hole, so I'm letting them cave for that brief moment. I'll try to start pushing them out as soon as I get to the bottom.


Well I can't wait until you're hitting 4 plates!!!


Thanks, I'll just add that to the list, I never thought there would be so many things to think about while lifting weights haha. After I read your comment, I was going through the press motions with no weights, and I noticed that when I lean back to let the bar pass my face, my knees were bending even without using a bar.

They knead to bend somewhat to get a little lean (you don't have much lean ATM), however at the bottom of the lift with your rebound your knees are bending and it's turning the rebound from your shoulder flexibility into a push press.

Also, start pushing your knees out from the start of the descent for squats... Allows for better depth and drive out of the hole.

[NaturalAthlete5]

What changes did you make to your squat grip? That's a good point, I have been wearing a Nike dry fit shirt lately, I'll have to go back to just wearing cotton shirts.

Thanks. You got a log on here? How long have you been on SS? What do you plan on moving on to? I started in January, plan on sticking with it at least until May or June, then switch to 5/3/1 or possibly TM.

No log yet , I've been thinking about it though . I've been doing SS for about 3-4 months , I think my bench and ohp have hit a wall , my squat and dl are still going up though. I think texas method is what I'm going to do next , doesnt seem like a huge change from what I'm doing now.

[jshaw5]

No log yet , I've been thinking about it though . I've been doing SS for about 3-4 months , I think my bench and ohp have hit a wall , my squat and dl are still going up though. I think texas method is what I'm going to do next , doesnt seem like a huge change from what I'm doing now.

The thing that worries me about TM is you're always deadlifting after squats. When squats got real heavy, I felt exhausted by the time I did deadlifts, and I left the gym with my back feeling crippled. Replacing squats with front squats on deadlift days definitely has me feeling much fresher for deadlifts, and my back doesn't feel quite as destroyed. I'm leaning towards 5/3/1, but I might switch things up for benching. I know my forearm/elbow issues have a lot to do with it, but my progress on bench is seriously lacking compared to every other lift, and I think I need to increase the frequency/volume.