So it turns out some of you were actually enjoying our ramblings. Go figure. I’ll try to slice off some time to keep updating the site, but it may still be a bit sporatic so be patient.
A lot has happened since the last post! Sean, Karen, Phil, and I all went to the Starting Strength Seminar in Montclair, NJ. It was an awesome time and we learned a bunch. We’ve all sent in our tests and await Rips harsh grading, but I’m confident we all passed.
Prior to the seminar, I stalled on linear progression and switched over to Texas method, but only after a total to see where I was. My numbers were 385/180/455 (I also tried a 1RM bench, and got a measly 225), which represented +30/+10/+30 over my previous total. It’s also 1020, so feel free to welcome me to the 1k# club. Goal accomplished. I had some room in the squat, but the press and DL were true 1RMs. After the total, I eased into the new higher volume, and will now be doing serious worksets and will PR for 5 every Friday.
So what happened in between? Seem like I should be way farther than where I am now? Probably true, but this isn’t an exact science. First, I had a bar alignment issue. For some reason, when the bars on my back, I feel like my right arm is bent much more than it is, which results in my being quite a bit to the left of where I should be. See this phenomenon here. Clearly, when the weights get heavy, this was causing me to twist to the heavier side. Not good. We fixed the issue with hand placement, but that caused another isse to pop up. Basically, I was overusing my right leg previously, and all of a sudden the left leg was forced to deal with 315. This caused some worrisome pain in my medial hamstring tendons when I tried to bounce out of the bottom, and made me ease back for a while with some lighter sets to get that part of me up to speed. Also, I took a reset in the squat that didn’t get me much further, so I guess there was some wasted time there as well. Howver, this is just how this stuff goes. After the lightspeed of linear progression, there are gonna be setbacks, things are not always gonna go as planned. Yes, I was able to add those first 60 lbs to the squat like clockwork, but that’s because those were the easiest 60 lbs, and even though things did go wrong, I was so far away from my genetic potential that it didn’t really matter. Now that I’m stronger, those gains are harder to come by. However, I can now deal with a short layoff better. As long as progress is being made, stick with the plan and keep rollin’.
So where am I rolling? Like I said I’ll be doing Texas method, so volume/recovery/PR for those of you not in the know. As such, I’ll be gaining on a weekly basis instead of daily, but the point is I’m gaining. My plan for today is 315x5x5, and 340×5 on Friday. Anything else new? Well I’ll be competing in the East Coast Gold classic weightlifting meet this weekend (still gonna squat heavy on Fri). Also, I have my first powerlifting competition July 10th, which should be interesting. My goal for that meet is a 500kg (1100 lb) total. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m just gonna stick with my program and not worry about peaking for either of these meets. It’s too early to worry about peaking/weigh-in or anything like that. Just gonna go and get some competition experience (I will taper for the powerlifting, though).
In other non-lifting news, the Aussie Rules season has started, and I’ll be headed to a tournament on June 5th in Philly, so I’ll be able to better update you then on how the weight/strength gain applies to that sport. Favorably, I’d assume. Sean also just got back from his Affiliate Cup qualification in Ohio. I’m proud of him for seeing this goal through, even though it’s become apparent to him that he’d rather keep getting strong than do CF competitions. Phil is struggling with the fact that he knows he needs more basic strength, and that this conflicts directly with the tendency of Oly coaches to program everyone as an advanced athlete. Maybe they’ll feel inclined to tell you about these things themselves.
That’s all for now, feel free to ask questiosn. I’m keeping my workout log on paper now but will try to update the log section weekly. Maybe we’ll get you some new shirtless photos as well…
