knees sliding forward at the bottom of sq set 1, not completely sure, but don't think your bar path is straight

Thanks, good catch on the knees. Watching on pause-mo, it looks like it happens right at the bounce when I'm transitioning from descent to ascent. Any cues to avoid this? I think that might also be what's causing the bar to come slightly forward of center foot on the way up.

11/29/11 - GSLP (Day 13)

A bit of an odd training session today. My bench press has been lights out recently, and today I struggled. I didn't feel recovered from Sunday's squats coming in today, but had a strong squatting day. Just the nature of the beast I suppose. Anywho, here's the breakdown:

3 minutes rower + shoulder warm-up + dynamic stretches between bench press sets

Bench Press
160x5x2, 160x8
Like I said, it hurt to lose 2 reps off 157.5, especially because the 8th today was even a little harder than the 10th at 157.5. Technique felt very solid, so I guess it was a strength/variance issue today.

Squat
205x5x2, 205x8
Happy with these. Made a slight tweak on the stance by narrowing just a touch and pointing my toes out slightly less as well. First set felt hard as usual, but I may have had a slight epiphany on the 2nd set in terms of what your core is supposed to feel like when you start the squat. The 2nd set felt easy and smooth, possibly my best set of 5 ever. Tried to carry this feeling over to the AMRAP set, and while it felt solid, I must have lost some of it as it didn't feel quite as good as the 2nd set. Still happy to get 8 reps though, and it was slightly less of a fight than the 8 I got at 200 lbs. Had to sit down for about 10 minutes before I was able to move again to get ready for rows.

Pendlay rows
155x6x3
These are starting to feel pretty heavy. First time I wasn't sure that I'd get all my reps, but the 2nd and 3rd sets felt better than the 1st. Maybe I need to warm-up more.

~20 minutes static stretching because I was soooooooooooooore after the squats, but felt a bit better after this

12/1/11 - GSLP (Day 14)

Happy December everybody! Good day today. I'm going to fill in my workout and then enlist your guys help for something.

2 minutes rower + shoulder warm-up
Does anybody else's shins hurt when they do the rower?

Press
110x5x2, 110x7
I think the tweaks that Busto suggested helped me because this is the best my press has felt in a couple of weeks. Thank you sir . Added a rep off the previous weight, felt good.

Deadlift
320x5 WR!
Fk'in solid man. Haven't set a PR in any lift for a while now, so this felt great. I absolutely love this lift, fun to perform and makes my back and legs feel really great afterward, can't really explain it, just strong. There is no reason to be alive if you can't do deadlift.

~10 minutes static stretching

OK, here's where I need some help por favor. I received a letter from a job I applied for that they want me to come take a physical test on Dec. 16 (15 days from now). To pass, I need to perform 33 sit-ups and 22 push-ups, each with-in 60 seconds. I also need to complete a 1.5 mile run in under 13:53. What's the play here?

Do I stop lifting altogether and just do nothing but run, push-ups, and sit-ups for the next 2 weeks? If so, can anyone outline a decent 2-week plan for this?

Do I scale down the lifting to maybe 2x a week and add in a few runs and GTG sets of push-ups and sit-ups to get ready?

Something else I haven't thought of perhaps?

I'm not really too concerned about the push-ups, I'm sure I can do those no problem. The sit-ups, I haven't done any in probably a year, does the core work you get from squats, DL, press, etc. translate well to these or do I really need to start doing some volume to make sure I can get these? For the run, IDK what to expect given I'm 25 lbs heavier than I really ever have been and haven't done any cardio in about 9 months. I have some running history, but that was about 6 years ago in high school when I ran cross country and would complete 5k's in about 22 or 23 minutes, but that was mid-season after running a lot.

I'll stop rambling now and let you guys give me some advice and be available if you have any further questions. Thanks a bunch!

12/2/11

Push-ups: 22 in 40 seconds
Sit-ups: 25 in 60 seconds
Jog: 1 mile in 9:58


12/3/11
Jog:2.5 miles in 24:35
The bad
-This was brutal.
-Legs felt like they could fall through the cement at any moment the entire second half of the run.
-Definitely got close to respiratory failure.
-I was so very close to quitting at the 1.75 mile and again at the 2 mile mark.
-The bottom inside part of my feet were hurting a little bit for the 2nd half of the run. Iced them for a good 20 minutes each afterward and they feel fine now. Cha, any idea what this is or the best way to prevent it?
-Serious chafing on the inner thighs. I have some pairs of those under armour spandex underwear I used to wear under my shorts when I jogged, but obviously those are already at the house that I'm moving to in a few weeks. I'll have them for testing day so it won't be an issue then, but anybody have any temporary solutions?

The good
-Surprisingly had basically 0 DOMS when I woke up, which I attribute to the rolling, because I used to always get DOMS after my first couple runs
-Came in a bit faster than I expected given the pace I thought I was running.
-I went out at a very leisurely pace with the plan to pick it up the 2nd half if I had it in me. Kinda just held that pace the entire time which was a struggle enough.
-Super amounts of WIM just to finish the jog.
-This run was done with some hills, so maybe I can do a little faster on flat which I presume the test will be

The ugly
I think this equates down to about a 14:50 pace or so for 1.5 miles. That would be about 1 minute slower than I need to pass.
However, if I didn't have another mile in front of me, I obviously could have picked up the pace a little to finish it out and likely shaved 30 seconds or so off that. It's a good thing I got the letter 2 weeks in advance because once again, I think it would have been very very close if I took the test today.

Stretched and then hit the PVC pipe for a good 25 minutes and hit the crap out of all my lower body. Gonna get in another PVC session later today. Going to do a sit-up pyramid or 2 up to 15 as well.

12/4/2011 - GSLP/Recovery Squat

2 minutes rower + shoulder warm-up

Bench Press
162.5x5x2, 162.5x8

Squat
185x5x2
Easy. Does this look like a good weight to squat for the next 2 weeks while I'm primarily training my jogging? It's about 90% of the weight I most recently squatted for 8 on GSLP, and probably about 80% of my current true 5rm.

Chin-ups (neutral grip)
6, 6, 5.75

12/5/11

Jog: 2.5 miles in 25:12
I live in the northeast and I just went for a December jog in shorts and a tee short and was drenched a half mile in.....who said global warming was a bad thing?

Anyway, I'm actually pretty bummed because this run felt a bit better than the last one and I expected to shave some time, but I actually came in 42 seconds slower I guess that's why it didn't feel as bad. I'm really going to have to pick it up.

The inside bottom part of my feet were killing for the last mile or so....more on my right foot, almost like a tingling/burning sensation every time I stepped on that foot. Icing them now, but anybody have any ideas?

12/6/11

2 minutes rower + shoulder warm-up

Press
112.5x5x3
Felt significantly heavier than 110. Definitely would have liked to get at least 6 but it wouldn't even budge off my shoulders. All of the 5th reps were grinders. Slight pec strain on the first set. Rolled it aggressively between sets the rest of the work-out. Hope it doesn't linger.

Squat
185x5x2
Good form, easy weight. Trying to resist temptation to squat any heavier while I'm forced to focus on running for these 2 weeks.

Pendlay Rows
160x5x3
Getting pretty heavy. Feel the chest raising a bit on the 5th rep's so I'll video these next time to make sure form is passable. What's the protocol for programming these assistance lifts when you begin to stall? Same as primaries, reset and micro load?

Rested a couple hours and then:

Jog: a light and easy mile, gonna run a hard 2.5-3 miles tomorrow and see if I can shave some time

Iced bottom of feet which still hurt when I run, shins, behind the knee, etc. for about an hour

Sit-ups: Pyramid up to 20 (80 total)

12/7/11

Jog: 2.5 miles in 24:32.
Well this was f-ing frustrating. Another positive/negative run. I'm definitely not panicking yet, but this was just mind-boggling. I mean, I felt great compared to my first 2 "distance" runs.

Definitely pushed the pace, breathing was easier and had much more legs under me. Even had a little in the tank to pick it up slightly for the last 1/2 mile and nearly sprint the last 100 yards or so.

I ran cross country for 2 years in high school and have done some jogging since then, so I have somewhat of a sense of pacing, and I figured to come in somewhere between 23 and 24 minutes. Under 23 wouldn't have shocked me though. I mean, over 24 though!?! I ran 24:30 my very first run out when I felt awful and didn't even try to push the pace at all. Now I felt like I ran a faster pace throughout PLUS picked it up at the end. I just don't get it.

Anyway, plan now is to hit the gym tomorrow, do upper body and deadlift light, followed by a light and easy mile jog. Then on Friday, either do 1.5 miles on the track for time or do like a 3 mile run with hills.

Sit-ups Pyramid up to 20 (80 total)

12/8/11

Another light gym day (lower body anyway) and light run.

Bench Press
165x5x2, 165x7
Strange. I mentioned a very slight pec strain from overhead pressing two days ago. It didn't get any worse the rest of that night, and there was no hint of it at all yesterday. Woke up this morning and it randomly was hurting pretty bad.

Went to the gym with the intention of playing it by ear in regards to bench press but I ended up working through it. Rolled it aggressively between every warm-up and work set. It hurts when I twist my body or try to look behind me one way or the other, but didn't hurt when I was actually benching. Only hurt to unrack the bar.

Deadlift
275x5
Ridiculously easy. These were basically speed DLs. Pulled 3 double overhand, might have had a 4th but just went to alt for the last 2..... I figured it's better to go too light on these than too heavy while I'm trying to get my body to adapt to the jogging.

Rested a couple of hours and then.....

Jog:
A light and easy mile.

Sit-ups:
Pyramid up to 20 (80 total)


Plan for tomorrow is to either do a 3 mile jog with hills or 1.5 miles on the track for time. Anybody who has been following this please feel free to make a suggestion one way or the other.

12/9/11

Jog: 2.5 miles in 24:23
Left my front door planning to do 3 miles, but I felt so awful I had to cut it short.

Did my normal 2.5 mile route and that took every ounce of WIM I had in me. Legs were dead and breathing was difficult about a half mile in. I literally have no idea how I finished the run, and I even came in my shortest time yet, 24:23. Strange thing this running is.

I think I felt crappy because I haven't given my body a day off for the past 7 days since getting the letter. Going to take a total rest day tomorrow to recover, maybe just do so sit-ups or push-ups depending how the pec strain feels.

Update:

Running around all weekend so I didn't get a chance to do anything fitness related......fine because I wanted to let my pec strain heal anyway.

Decided to test my 1.5 mile time today:
12:31

Boom! Time allowed: 13:53

Killed it! Was aiming for around 13:30 to give myself a 20 second or so kicker for variance/bad day/whatever and I have no idea where this came from.....nearly had a heart attack, but I guess all the strength training has a better carry over for shorter distance when I don't have to worry about breathing for a half hour and I can let my leg strength carry me a little.

Another nice thing about running it that quick is I don't have to bust my a$$ on the roads all week. Prob just gonna go out for a few light/moderate jogs tomorrow and Wednesday to stay sharp.

Only thing I have to worry about now is the sit-ups, which shouldn't be a big issue.

Test day today! Did some stuff during the week that I didn't update......light runs, light gym days, push-ups, sit-ups, etc.

Physical testing went like this:

Push-ups (22 required)
35
Not sure if there's actually a benefit to going over, but everybody else was, so why not. Actually got these with about 15 seconds still left, but I just stopped there to save myself for sit-ups and running.

Sit-ups (33 required)
35
Big benefit was that I practiced these hands interlocked behind the head, and we did them arms crossed over the chest which was quite a bit easier. These still got quite hard at the end, but again I stopped with about 15 seconds left to save myself for the run. There was very little rest time between events. Sit-ups actually eliminated about 15-20% of the applicants.

Jog (13:53 or under)
12:45
Nice. Was actually pretty brutal because it was crazy windy outside so every time we made the curve on the far end of the track you literally get hit my a wall of headwind and have to drive through it the whole way up that side. Of course, going down the other way you pretty much just glide, but I'd still much prefer no wind. Probably had a little more in the tank, but I was really struggling to breathe and I didn't feel like killing myself if I was going to make time easily anyway.

Step 1 complete. Next step is to wait for the letter for the written test.

I almost forgot I wanted to ask......I'm going to operate under the assumption that I am accepted to the March academy date. I am told it is very physically rigorous, lots of running, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, obstacle courses, etc. From now until then I would like to run a cut and try to maintain the strength that I have acquired. I understand it is not a long period of time, but right now I weigh 210 lbs and I figure if I can lose 10-15 of that it would definitely be to my benefit.

Ok, so what's the way to approach this? Assume I have never run a cut while trying to maintain strength before and have little idea what works. What I do know is to keep protein high and training intensity high/volume low.

So should I basically stick to an SS-type routine, maybe squatting twice a week 2x5?
Deadlifting once a week ok?
Should I just always aim for the same weight every time I go in the gym? For example, my current 5rm numbers as of about a week ago are approx.: squat=215, deadlift=320, bench=170, press=115. While I run the cut (assume about a 500-750 calorie deficit), should I just try to perform 2x5 (except 1x5 DL) at those numbers every workout?

I'd like to add in some conditioning as well, maybe some HIIT or running, but I'd definitely appreciate any input on that.

Thanks very much for the help, any and all input is much appreciated!

12/17/11

Bench
165x5x3

Squat
195x5x3

Pendlay Rows
155x5x3

Also, any comments on the above inquiry? I'm not counting my calories atm but I'm pretty much just eating slightly less portions in general and cutting out most of my milk consumption. Definitely want to lose weight at a decent rate atm.