JohnB's Journey

[johnblythe]

friday was delish.

mellow mushroom for lunch.


magic hat 9



hummus appetizer



magical mystery tour pizza — whole wheat crust, pesto sauce, chicken, bell peppers, mushrooms and jalepenos...yuuuum



starbucks doubleshot w/ caramel and cream


and then dinner at a cool spot called The Big Fish:


tempura crab claws


OMGAHHHH. awesome tuna steak (seared, rare) on a bed of edemmame (sp??) w/ potatoes and tempura green beans and a light wasabi drizzle


and this was the view we got to drink in on our drive home from the restaurant:

[johnblythe]

a redneck (two or three, actually) at a concert we dropped by to see:


insert Team America theme song here


kept it simple for lunch with some wal-mart rotisserie chicken (lemon peppered):



awesome dinner at one of our fav restaurants—Cobalt—nestled between the gulf and the bay:


newcastle x 2


crab/fish/awesome stuffed portobello mushrooms


8 oz. filet with asparagus and garlic potatoes


one word: amazing

[CHOOSE]

The food porn in this thread is epic.

[johnblythe]

The food porn in this thread is epic.

heck ya it is. i want to do a better job of it in the future with my day to day stuff, but made certain to do so on the vacation since i wasn't tracking my intake like normal

[johnblythe]

WORKOUT B
Squats:
45 - 2x5
55 - 1x5
85 - 1x3
115 - 1x2

150 - 3x5

Glad I decided to step back one increment from my last successful (semi-) workout of 155. My legs feel pretty sore afterwards so I'm thinking the time off may have gotten me so reset that I start feeling DOMs again. OR, on the other hand, maybe my form was decent enough again to have my legs working as they ought and thus feel sore.

I did have some trouble, but nothing that wasn't able to be overcome by simply working hard. Again, unsure if this is from eating less than usual over the weekend or if it's simply the nature of the beast, aka I've hit an area (~150-155) that is my current limit and now I just have to push through every time.

Whatever the case, glad to have gotten through it all after Wednesday's train wreck.

Press:

45 - 1x5
55 - 1x3
75 - 1x2

85 - 3x5

Wasn't bad at all. Final two reps of final set were a bit tough, but besides that it was pretty much cake. I'm thinking 90 may see a wall though, we'll see. Even if not, I'll probably begin microloading thereafter.

Cleans:
45 - 1x5
75 - 1x3
90 - 1x2

110 - 5x3

These bad boys weren't too tough. The first set was actually the most difficult. I was underestimating the weight so my explosiveness wasn't explosive enough. Almost didn't get the weight high enough on the second rep of the first set. Guess I'm still too much an n00b to be able to gauge the need of explosion between getting the weight off the ground and the jump.

After that, they were good. Thinking about getting gloves, about lost the callous under my ring finger because of the bar and my wedding ring pinching it. Holy crap that wasn't cool. Also it kinda sucks to do these barefoot because my jump scrapes the bottom of my feet all up on that concrete floor. Oh well, now I'm sounding like a little girl after bragging about the weight not being too bad. One step forward, two steps back

------------------

Great workout overall. Woke up late, a bit rushed as a result. Could use some extra time between squats in the future methinks. Other than that, not too bad. The cardio aspect of doing the cleans w/ just one minute break was nice.

Short story: glad to be back in the gym and bustin' it. Looking forward to 155 on squat, 125 on bench and 195 on DL on Wednesday. w00t!

[BrettT07]

Good to see that step back worked for you. Hopefully 155 and 160 will feel easier for you next time around.

Cleans are something I always had trouble with back in high school. I haven't done them since then. I never did get comfortable with the form at all.

I don't go to UA actually, just been a fan since I was a kid. Huge football fan. My area did get hit hard by tornadoes though, thankfully my immediate area was safe. Right down the street (not even 5 minutes walking) got hit really hard though.. a few roofs destroyed and trees uprooted everywhere.

[Jasonpan]

You workout at home, why don't you just take the ring off until you are done?

[ngolsen]

After that, they were good. Thinking about getting gloves, about lost the callous under my ring finger because of the bar and my wedding ring pinching it. Holy crap that wasn't cool. Also it kinda sucks to do these barefoot because my jump scrapes the bottom of my feet all up on that concrete floor. Oh well, now I'm sounding like a little girl after bragging about the weight not being too bad. One step forward, two steps back .

Chalk. Get some. Gloves are for pussies. They affect your grip strength and are generally homo. Chalk stops calouses. Gripping the bar correctly stops callouses. See the 2 blocks on the right of pic below.



Also, a video by Rip on callouses and correct grip.

http://vimeo.com/22631714

Great workout overall. Woke up late, a bit rushed as a result. Could use some extra time between squats in the future methinks. Other than that, not too bad. The cardio aspect of doing the cleans w/ just one minute break was nice.

Cleans certainly knock the wind out of you. I've made sure I take some time between reps to get breath back and focus on the next rep (about 10-15 seconds). But you will need longer than 60 seconds as the weight increases. Might want to take some vids for self-analysis (and peer review :P). They should feel a bit like interval training.

[johnblythe]

Good to see that step back worked for you. Hopefully 155 and 160 will feel easier for you next time around.

Cleans are something I always had trouble with back in high school. I haven't done them since then. I never did get comfortable with the form at all.

I don't go to UA actually, just been a fan since I was a kid. Huge football fan. My area did get hit hard by tornadoes though, thankfully my immediate area was safe. Right down the street (not even 5 minutes walking) got hit really hard though.. a few roofs destroyed and trees uprooted everywhere.

hoping so as well. i don't want to lean on this as a crutch or excuse, but it's something i battle in the back of my mind, namely that i have super long femurs. so the ROM is exaggerated naturally for me, making moving the weight that much harder (or so i think) because of the amount of movement required for a rep. planning on researching some of this on SS's forums tonight or tomorrow actually to see if there's some things to help form. also, got the squatting chapter from SS, so we'll see how he addresses it (if he does) in there.

glad to hear you and most of your area is relatively well, at least compared to the other parts that were torn to shreds. was a crazy week of weather!

You workout at home, why don't you just take the ring off until you are done?

that's what i did after the first or second set

Chalk. Get some. Gloves are for pussies. They affect your grip strength and are generally homo. Chalk stops calouses. Gripping the bar correctly stops callouses. See the 2 blocks on the right of pic below.



Also, a video by Rip on callouses and correct grip.

http://vimeo.com/22631714

Cleans certainly knock the wind out of you. I've made sure I take some time between reps to get breath back and focus on the next rep (about 10-15 seconds). But you will need longer than 60 seconds as the weight increases. Might want to take some vids for self-analysis (and peer review :P). They should feel a bit like interval training.

chalk it is. will check out the vid in a bit as well.

and ya, i'm certain i'll be taking longer as the weight increases, did the shorter rests because of running late to work if i didn't hurry up and get out of there and also intentionally going for the mini cardio session it can help bring. will expand rest, no doubt, but will also try to keep it on the edge there so i get the interval like training.

thanks guys!

[candyflip69]

Chalk. Get some. Gloves are for pussies. They affect your grip strength and are generally homo. Chalk stops calouses. Gripping the bar correctly stops callouses.

Chalk and gripping correctly are not going to help if he keeps his ring on (for whatever religious or other reason he might have). Gloves, or even foam grips of any kind, will. They are also far better at keeping sweat away from everything. The OP has his own gym setup, so perhaps doesn't mind the chalk residue everywhere, but many gyms won't take kindly to you spreading wetted chalk dust over their clean floors and equipment.

[johnblythe]

Chalk and gripping correctly are not going to help if he keeps his ring on (for whatever religious or other reason he might have). Gloves, or even foam grips of any kind, will. They are also far better at keeping sweat away from everything. The OP has his own gym setup, so perhaps doesn't mind the chalk residue everywhere, but many gyms won't take kindly to you spreading wetted chalk dust over their clean floors and equipment.

i don't mind taking the ring off for the short while that it may be necessary or helpful. did it today so that the callous right under my ring finger wasn't ripped off on my second through fifth sets of cleans.

will try the chalk, may resort to the gloves, we'll see what happens. only reason i say so is because the shed gets dusty enough as is, aka hard to keep it decently clean. the dustiness it gets is pretty chalky already. may grab the chalk and then just start doing a bi-monthly cleaning gig before it gets out of hand. will see.

did see the rippetoe vid (and another one on grip) which i think will be extremely helpful. currently 15 of 57 pages into the squatting chapter from SS trying to figure out some of my form issues to better help me excel in the exercise.

thanks everyone-

[CHOOSE]

Chalk and gripping correctly are not going to help if he keeps his ring on (for whatever religious or other reason he might have). Gloves, or even foam grips of any kind, will. They are also far better at keeping sweat away from everything. The OP has his own gym setup, so perhaps doesn't mind the chalk residue everywhere, but many gyms won't take kindly to you spreading wetted chalk dust over their clean floors and equipment.

I have never tried it, but bb.com also sells liquid chalk.

No mess, no grip problems?




quick edit- http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/xf/chalk.html

that's the stuff I am talking about.

[johnblythe]

I have never tried it, but bb.com also sells liquid chalk.

No mess, no grip problems?

mindblown

thanks for the tip, will check into it!

[MatTheCur]

Just to chime in ... Chalk won't help you if your hand suddenly rips open for some freak reason.

Straps are cheatin', I'd agree... I'm akin to wearing gloves (though I've not been lifting but for 3 months-ish)...

Just something that an old pro told me once... Gloves protect and grip, chalk just grips.

[johnblythe]

man, been reading through the squat chapter in SS. makes me think my form sucks more than i had even thought.

what did you guys who've done SS before do when it came to progression and/vs. form? stick to a weight that is tough but manageable so you can get form perfected? try to perfect it while moving forward with the weight?

thanks for any input-

[Kirra]

man, been reading through the squat chapter in SS. makes me think my form sucks more than i had even thought.

what did you guys who've done SS before do when it came to progression and/vs. form? stick to a weight that is tough but manageable so you can get form perfected? try to perfect it while moving forward with the weight?

thanks for any input-

Unless something is VERY wrong with your form, add weight.

[johnblythe]

Unless something is VERY wrong with your form, add weight.

Awesome. Gonna tear the weights up tomorrow!

[johnblythe]

woke up at 5:30 and wasn't in it at all. didn't want to show up today in a manner that was more forced or whatever, doing it just because i had to or anything, so i jumped back in and grabbed another hour of sleep.

that means afternoon workout with food in me. haven't done that in a while. looking forward to seeing how it goes. hopefully it will help me break through this mental and physical plateau i hit last week. ever since getting creamed last wednesday i've been mentally battling squats big time. fighting it. want to smash it.

updates this evening

[MatTheCur]

woke up at 5:30 and wasn't in it at all. didn't want to show up today in a manner that was more forced or whatever, doing it just because i had to or anything, so i jumped back in and grabbed another hour of sleep.

that means afternoon workout with food in me. haven't done that in a while. looking forward to seeing how it goes. hopefully it will help me break through this mental and physical plateau i hit last week. ever since getting creamed last wednesday i've been mentally battling squats big time. fighting it. want to smash it.

updates this evening

Do you know what it is to destroy something?

You will, as you shall destroy squats today. DONE DO IT!

[johnblythe]

Do you know what it is to destroy something?

You will, as you shall destroy squats today. DONE DO IT!

GONNA

I've actually already started getting a bit wary in my mind about what's coming up in about an hour or hour and a half. trying to psych myself up now. i've never been on who liked squats, but i was beginning to on this program seeing their progress, feeling the work, etc. then last wednesdays' train wreck really threw me off mentally. all part of the fight though, so here's to fighting it and coming out a champ on the other side

[johnblythe]

Been off on the dietary log portion of things. Sorry about that. Posting them all now followed by today's workout.

Fats - 89.60g
Carbs - 242.15g
Protein - 184.97g
TOTAL - 2447cals (87%)

NOTE: this does not include my dinner. we took my brother-in-law out for his birthday to a local seafood place. I had everything broiled, so it was on the healthier side (compared to their fried specialties). Had grouper, a few oysters, two shrimp kabobs, a potato, salad w/ ranch and a tall Yuengling. My guess is that it all added up to a bit over 100% my goal intake.

[johnblythe]

Fats - 90.73g
Carbs - 134.24g
Protein - 202.38g
TOTAL - 2137cals (76%)

Just a note about my diet this week. Beginning to do higher than my goal of 2800 on workout days. Somewhere between 3000-3200. And, on off days, lower than the 2800 goal, around 2200-2500.

I'll be gauging levels of energy, sleepiness, alertness, workouts etc. and try to find the sweet spot on both accounts.

[johnblythe]

WORKOUT B
Squats:
45 - 2x5
60 - 1x5
90 - 1x3
120 - 1x2

155 - 3x5

FELTGOODMAN. Tore it up. I've gotta say, these went much better than I had thought. Like I've mentioned, last week's disaster on Wednesday really screwed with my head. I semi-/nearly injured myself, didn't get half the reps (on squats only), and felt terrible afterwards both physically and mentally (and emotionally even as a result of the other two).

Reading through Rippetoe's squatting chapter and focusing on all those little details proved to be extremely helpful whereas I was afraid it may end up hindering my progress by making things too complex to do well. Ended up not being the case at all. I was much more in tune with what was going on (can't remember the word Mark uses, but being able to feel your body in its spatial context, etc.).

Bench:
45 - 2x5
60 - 1x5
85 - 1x3
110 - 1x2

125 - 3x5

Struggled on the last rep of each set. Not terribly, but had to fight it up. Was definitely my left side—tricep methinks—that was giving out. Ended up getting'em all though, so I'm stoked about that.

Deadlift:
80 - 2x5
120 - 1x3
170 - 1x2

200 - 1x5

Not bad as I though they may have been. Decided to jump up 20lbs instead of just moving on to 15 beginning this week. Glad I did so. 200 wasn't easy, but it wasn't a real struggle of any sort either.

------------------

What can I say? Feel ah-mazing after today's workout. It was work, but it was awesome. I had really been struggling mentally ever since last week (I know I keep harping on it, but it really did mess with my mind bad), dreading every workout because of the dreaded squats. Going to bed worried about the next morning's workout, wanting to avoid it, etc. Really didn't enjoy that. One of the reasons why I decided to not do this morning was because I knew my mental game was off and due to the rush of working out and then getting ready for work, no time to really wake up and what not I decided to skip out til this afternoon. I knew it'd be a recipe for disaster to run out there at 5:30.

Suffice to say, I was super glad I waited. Didn't have any real issues with anything. The squats were tough at times, but I made sure to psych up between each set. Did so on the drive home too. I was literally getting anxiety and butterflies thinking about having to workout an hour later. Started thinking through my capabilities and talked myself out of it. It worked

One other thing that helped was that I took ramped breaks. Short breaks between warm ups (just adding the weight really), minute and a half between last warm up and first working set, 2 minutes after that first working set, 3 minutes after the second working set. I think that helped so that my endurance didn't wear too thin and cause failure.

Lastly, considering doing the 20lbs again on DL cause it felt like I could do that much more. May back off to the 15lbs now though. We'll see. Thoughts on that?

Anywho, I've rambled now so I'll shut up for now

[Kirra]

Awesome job man.

[johnblythe]

This song got me through the squats. Hit repeat on it twice, actually . Can't get much more intense than this!



This one helped through the bench:


particularly around 2:45, did my last set of bench at that point ftw

best band to train to for me so far. love'em

[johnblythe]

Awesome job man.

thanks mayne

[Jasonpan]

Outstanding effort man! Nice to see you break through that 155 spot. Now...next up 165? or you going with +5?

Also, rest periods of up to 5 minutes are going to be needed as the weight gets heavier....this program wasn't meant to be a cardio workout I mean I couldnt imagine NOT taking atleast 3 minutes between the top sets of my squat and deads.

[johnblythe]

Outstanding effort man! Nice to see you break through that 155 spot. Now...next up 165? or you going with +5?

Also, rest periods of up to 5 minutes are going to be needed as the weight gets heavier....this program wasn't meant to be a cardio workout I mean I couldnt imagine NOT taking atleast 3 minutes between the top sets of my squat and deads.

Thank you, sir.

i think i'll go with the 5 pound increments from here on. honestly already fighting the mental war in prep for friday since that was the doomsday weight, lol. i'll make sure to take some extra long breaks that day to bust through it. will also be working out in the afternoon again. perhaps being fed is more helpful for me at this point in this routine despite some of the advantages of fasted training.

was nice to get to 200 on something, looking forward to reaching it on squats in the coming months.

btw, do you take xtend on your off days to help w/ recovery any?

[ngolsen]

Thank you, sir.

i think i'll go with the 5 pound increments from here on. honestly already fighting the mental war in prep for friday since that was the doomsday weight, lol. i'll make sure to take some extra long breaks that day to bust through it. will also be working out in the afternoon again. perhaps being fed is more helpful for me at this point in this routine despite some of the advantages of fasted training.

was nice to get to 200 on something, looking forward to reaching it on squats in the coming months.

btw, do you take xtend on your off days to help w/ recovery any?

I take creatine in my shake post workout and the following morning.

Awesome work mate. Feels good to break through the fear and get through it! I'm at that stage now where I fear the squats but it's all mental. Thinking back I used to fear 220, then 250 then 300, now 315. It's all in your head. Your body adjusts and copes and grows. It's what the program is designed to do. If it gets too hard, microload. If that gets to hard, reset and work back up again. Pretty simple really

Technique will really help you lift more and make sure stress is applied in the appropriate places. If you cant buy the DVD, download it and donate later. It's really helpful with the technical aspect of the lifts. Rip is an awesome coach and he verbal cues are second to none when you are lifting and listening that little voice inside your head

[johnblythe]

I take creatine in my shake post workout and the following morning.

Awesome work mate. Feels good to break through the fear and get through it! I'm at that stage now where I fear the squats but it's all mental. Thinking back I used to fear 220, then 250 then 300, now 315. It's all in your head. Your body adjusts and copes and grows. It's what the program is designed to do. If it gets too hard, microload. If that gets to hard, reset and work back up again. Pretty simple really

Technique will really help you lift more and make sure stress is applied in the appropriate places. If you cant buy the DVD, download it and donate later. It's really helpful with the technical aspect of the lifts. Rip is an awesome coach and he verbal cues are second to none when you are lifting and listening that little voice inside your head

gotcha. i have a homemade pre-/intra- shake i make. it uses citruline malate, arginine, taurine, beta alinine, bcaa and creatine. post i use xtend since i usually train fasted and stay fasted for several more hours (on leangains protocol).

all mental indeed! i don't fear failure necessarily, just the squat in general now, ha. after i failed one rep last monday i didn't have a complex. after getting 5 on first set w/ tons of trouble and then only 2 on the second set, i was effed up in the brain. not sure what it is exactly. i've never been afraid of failing reps since it's still work and work gets the body to adapt, not reps per se. in fact, my last routine was one that was programmed around rep'ing to failure within a given rep range and TUT goal. squats were part of the program.

all that to say: something new happened last week when i failed like i did, though i'm not sure exactly what it was. whatever it was, it messed me up. now the fight is primarily to get out of that so i can continue moving forward with the weight. my short term goal is 200. that's the mark i'm aiming for. wanting to hit it at some point this summer.

i definitely want to get the dvd, been meaning to but just haven't remembered to do so when i've had the chance. may torrent it for now so i have it sooner than later and then purchase next week.

thanks broseph (and everyone else) for all the words of wisdom and encouragement. feel like i'm back in the game!