Some of you might notice this is a new log. For those that dont know, I tried some new workout program called Built For Show and I've made the choice of throwing it out the window and going back to SS. I decided to stop the program mainly because its not consistent with my long term goal, which is to do Olympic lifts. I also stopped the program because the author (Nate Green) was pissing me off. He has a blog, and if you sign up, a newsletter (which is just like his blog except quick and short entries). Recently he made a post/newsletter titled "The King of All Exercises? Nah..". Its about how he doesn't believe back squats aren't what they're cracked up to be, and how he doesn't do them. And I disagreed on every point. Not to mention all of his posts/emails recently are promoting this workout program by some dude. Promoting it, and promoting it shamelessly. Its really annoying. His blog posts used to be good and informative, but have been going downhill. So that's why I quit his program. But what do I know, I've only been lifting seriously since March.

The Background
25, male, 5'7, 190lbs. As a kid I played baseball and basketball. Played hockey in high school and continued to play in college for old man leagues (nothing serious). Currently play inline hockey. In college I was your typical moron just bouncing around the weight room using random machines and using dumbbells on occasion. My two friends in college were gym “veterans” (or what I thought were gym veterans at the time) and I would just follow what they would do. Curls, benching, flys, leg press on occasion, etc. (everyone here knows the type). They had large upper bodies so I figured they knew what they were talking about. Now looking at them, they suffer from chicken leg syndrome REAL bad. And if you mention squats, they look at you funny. So this past March HalfSlant got me to start SS. At first I did the Practical Programming version, which was okay, but I wasn't DL-ing enough, so I switched to the basic A (squat, bench, DL), B (squat, press, cleans). Of course because I'm a little girl, I swapped rows for cleans (big mistake). After a while I told myself to man up and start doing cleans. So I was doing SS up until a few weeks ago. My PR for the main WO's were 3x5x275 squat (never tried a 1 RM), 1x2x315 DL (this was supposed to be a 1 RM but the first one felt so good I went another time), and 3x5x145 bench (didnt try a 1 RM for bench either). Press and cleans were pretty bad. My upper body is lolweak. My lower body WO's seemed to go up at a good pace. Ive felt like my lower body has trumped my upper body since Ive played sports.

The Plan
I'm going to continue with SS for few months, until I reach my goals (or at least close to them). Current starting weights...
Squat: 225
Deadlift: 285
Bench: 125
Press: 95
Power Cleans: 85

The Goals
Short Term:
3x5x315 squat
1x5x355 deadlift
3x5x180 bench
3x5x135 press
3x5x155 power clean

Long Term:
After SS, start PPAN and then maybe TM.

Long Long Term:
Olympic lifts

The Motivation
"The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you're a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds." --Henry Rollins

But where are the wood chops?

First night back.

Squat:
1x10x45
1x5x95
1x3x135
1x2x185
3x5x225

Felt pretty good. I'm starting to remember my old tendencies, mainly when I go up, to lean forward a little.

1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT3UHj7iyOY
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c6Yqo7Sh5A
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVIShjnRhoM

Bench:
1x10x45
1x5x65
1x3x85
1x2x110
3x5x125

My bench sucks imo. Criticize my videos.

1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ehjPerHk1k
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz3yi-LR7a0
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIbwaG4ZHeA

Deadlift:
1x5x115
1x5x115
1x3x180
1x2x225
1x5x285

Felt good, really concentrated on keeping my back straight. No videos sadly, the platform is right next to where they have a boxing class, too many people around punching ****.

Funny story
Some background. My gym is a privately owned small place that focuses on personal training, sports training, and boxing/kick boxing/mma. The owner was a former power lifter (he has his deadlifting, benching, and squatting trophies in the gym), turned heavy weight boxer. Like always, there was a boxing class going on while I was there. At the end of each class, he makes them do these running drills, which is right in the middle of where the deadlift platform and bumpers are. So I finish up my DL's and I'm taking a second to collect myself before I strip the weights, and this guy who I've talked to before (who is about 5'4 125lbs) asks..

"you deadlift that?"
"yeah"
"thats a good deadlift man"
"thanks" -thinking, not it isnt
"mind if try that?"
"sure" -thinking, something bad is about to happen
-before he even grabbed the weight the owner interjects...
"..dont hurt yourself"
-he grabs the weight, still with his boxing straps on, and I see him start to pull, with the roundest back I have ever seen. The bar didnt even budge. Not even an inch off the ground. Right as I'm about to dial 911, he lets go and says...
"No cant do that, still got my boxing straps on"
-as if that was the issue...

One thing I already noticed, when I bench the bar seems to be above the middle/bottom of my ribs. Not good

Squats: Yeah you kind of let your chest drop on the way up, but you already knew that. Everything else looks good. Try keeping a more upright angle. It will feel different when you get the new shoes though.

Bench: Couple things. Looks like you could get a bigger arch. Are you driving with your feet? The bar appears to be forward of your elbows (more towards you feet) as opposed to right over top of them. Dave Tate explains it as if you were doing a "front raise". Also you could tuck your elbows in towards your sides a little more as you lower the bar. With regard to where the bar is hitting your chest, it looks fine.

Funny Story: I lol'd.

good luck, the power cleans are 5 sets of 3, not sure if it was just a typo in your OP

Bench- your bar path is all over the place. Looks like your grip may be a bit wide. Try a slightly closer one and see if you like it. As mentioned earlier, you want the bar directly over your wrist/elbow. You also want to be consistent and always hit the same spot on your chest. Check my log if you want, I just posted a bench press vid.

Thanks for the bench advice.

Tonights workout...

Squat:
1x10x45
1x5x95
1x3x135
1x2x185
3x5x230

Felt so much better with my new Do-Win's. I was focusing on keeping my chest up and could feel the difference.

Press:
1x10x45
1x5x50
1x3x65
1x2x80
3x5x95

I should have reviewed the section in SS about press before going. Felt like I was doing something wrong with my forearms/wrists. Let me know what I'm doing wrong here.

1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV6yhDR0KqQ
2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yieP4MFPIds
3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yFcHO7yMgw

Power Cleans:
1x5x45
1x5x45
1x5x50
1x3x65
1x2x80
5x3x95

I did hang cleans for my warm ups instead. My power cleans felt pretty good, some awkward moments, but that will get better as I get the form down. In the videos below, I tried to get a straight side shot so you can see the bar path better, but there is a bunch of crap in the way. Can still see them pretty good. Give me your thoughts...

1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzlFngxbIbs
2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKS9Tl0tftw
3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDoUvtIBkYY
4:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1zx0w5QFIM
5:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWibfyI4iQc

Press: Wrists are too bent, and it looks like you are exaggerating the "head forward" movement.

Clean: you are doing the "2-step rack" that I used to do. You catch it with your elbows down, on the front of your shoulders. Then you move your elbows up and roll the bar back to where it is supposed to be. You need to focus on swinging your elbows all the way up during the catch. Think about the bar as a hinge, and you just swing around it. Don't think about pulling the bar to you. I lol'd hard at dropping the bar to the hang all controlled, then you just let it go like "get this **** outta here".

I love the "looking badass" body language you use after dropping the cleans. I need to work on that to get it as good as yours.

Hah thanks. But I'd trade that "looking badass" body language for your lifts (plus the boobs in your log).

bar is way in front of your face on the press. you shouldn't take it out of the rack like you're going to front squat it as it's pretty much impossible to get a good grip on the bar like that (plus you won't press from that position anyway so why bother starting with your elbows pointing forward). forearms vertical, get the bar up high on your chest/low neck. and don't be so scurred of hitting your head with the bar. the reason your head movement looks exaggerated is because you start with your head far back, not because you move it too far forward once the bar passes it.

your power clean is mostly quick knee extension. the bar passes your knees and your hips don't extend forcefully, so they never "meet" the bar as the second pull starts. the bar should be really close to you throughout the movement. you should learn this position by doing them from the hang position, which is basically the top part of an RDL (hips back, little knee bend, shoulders in front of the bar, hamstrings stretched tight).

I haven't updated in a while, sorry! The good news is, I've been keeping up with lifting, just been really busy so I haven't updated the log. Instead of giving every single workout, I'll update where my workouts are and such. I will also update with tonight's WO and as penance for my lack of updating, I recorded all my WO's tonight.

Press: 105
Clean: 105
Bench: 140
DL: 300
Squat: 255

Thanks on the bench advice Busto, felt way better when I did it again. Still not perfect, but I think its way better. Also thanks Miles for the press and clean advice, press feels great, cleans feel better but not great. Will post vids Thursday. Last week was kind of rough. I had to skip Wednesday cause I had to work late. So I did Thursday/Friday. Mistake. Thursday was fine. But Friday was weird. Squat was fine, but right after I had a sharp pain in my left elbow. No idea why. I went on to do press, and after it still hurt pretty bad. Next was Cleans, and I skipped them. I didnt want to tempt fate and make it worse. It went on to hurt for about an hour before the pain went away. My WO tonight went fine, no elbow pain. No idea what happened.

Tonights WO:

Squat:
1x10x45
1x5x100
1x3x150
1x2x200
3x5x255

1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12OD0bLLGKU
2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqtsoSWawBs
3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuUSYjtKBp0

Bench:
1x10x45
1x5x70
1x3x95
1x2x125
3x5x140

1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVWJIqBVr8U
2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=124E410PJbQ
3:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PEV_z2wuoI

Deadlift:
2x5x125
1x3x185
1x2x245
1x5x300

1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5VVApVgXCs

Only got two workouts in this week which I was disappointed about, but guess its not a huge deal.

Yesterday's workout...

Squat
1x10x45
1x5x105
1x3x155
1x2x200
3x5x260

Felt okay. Starting to getting heavier for me. Still working on not leaning forward so much.

Press
1x10x45
1x5x65
1x3x80
1x2x95
3x5x110

Was pumped about this. First time I got 110 up on press and it felt great. Granted the last rep on the last set was going up about 1 inch every hour, but I got it done. Ever since I took that advice from miles, they've fe;t way better too.

Hang Cleans
1x5x45
1x5x45
1x5x65
1x3x85
1x2x95
Power Cleans
5x3x115

These are a still a work in progress. I was going to get vids, but I was kind of rushed cause the gym was closing (at 6:30 wtf). I was happy with about half of them I'd say. Next workout I'll get videos for sure, these need the most work imo.

[Cheese but good quote] "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're probably right" [/Cheese but good quote]

Well, I'm the worst log updater in the world. But like always, Ive just been lazy with updating this, not my lifts. I've been going consistently, and haven't missed many workouts (if at all). For some reason when I get home from lifting all I want to do is eat and sleep, so updating my log never gets done. As part of the new year, I want to start updating after my workouts.

A lot has happened since my last entry. My lifts were progressing at a very decent pace (except power cleans ldo). Until I was getting a nasty pain in my elbow after my working set of squats. Enough that I would skip other workouts cause it was hurting so bad. At one point I was benching the bar and my arm was shaking like a leaf. So HalfSlant and I were talking about it, and researched the Starting Strength forums. One consistent thing was my grip needed to be closer. I tried that and it kind of worked. I was getting frustrated and for someone with a similar problem, they used a cambered bar and there was no pain. And upon further reading turns out Rip uses one for squats. So I was using that until my elbow got healed. And my squats climbed up to 315. I tried 3 different workouts, and couldn't get it. Best I could do was getting it for 1 set, not 3. Around this time I was stalling consistently with my other lifts. I talked to HalfSlant and he suggested I move on to Texas Method. I've been on SS since March (with some breaks in between there). So he and I believed it was time to move on. I was going to try PPAN first, but I just went on to TM.

tl;dr:
-I always forget to update my log but I haven't missed any workouts.
-I stalled on almost all my lifts, HalfSlant suggested I move on to TM.
-3 weeks in on TM.

So I've been on TM for the past few weeks and I'm liking it so far. I hate volume day with a burning passion tho. The main lifts I'm dong are Squats, Bench, Press, Power Cleans, Deadlifts, and Pendlay Rows. When I have energy after my lifts I'll do dips, pulls, chins, and kroc rows (not all in one day, I alternate depending on what day it is). Tonight is recovery day, I'll post how it goes later tonight.

Also, the elbow pain has gone away. My old gym gave me a free month so naturally I used it, and they dont have a cambered bar. I'm pretty sure it was because I was unloading the bar unevenly and it was positioned a little too low. After I made these adjustments, its been smooth sailing.

Last successful lifts:
Squat: 310
Press: 120
Bench Press: 155 (hate this)
Power Clean: 115 (hate this more)
Deadlift: 335

Recovery Day

Squat:
2x5x45
1x5x95
1x3x145
1x2x185
2x5x235 (~75% of 315)

Press
2x5x45
1x5x45
1x3x65
1x2x75
2x5x90 (~75% of 120)

Pendlay Row
2x5x45
1x5x65 (was supposed to do 75 I think, forgot)
1x3x95
1x2x115
3x5x140

Kroc Row:
1x10x35 (each arm)
1x15x70 (each arm)

Pull ups, 3x5

As you can see I had some energy at the end, and took advantage of it. Recovery days feel like easy days, and down the road I'll probably need these to do just that (recover), but right now since I have energy left, might as well use it.

1. From what I can see with the bad lighting in your deadlift video you start raising your butt to early and the way it comes up looks akward I can't tell exactly but, it looks too far away from your shins.

If you look at her in the 3rd image that's how you look but more hunched over and the bar lower.


2. Your squat looked good. Why do you use that grip? It seems like it lacks support.

3. Bench looks fine. Any reason you don't arch at all? This is a must read on bench press imo. http://www.criticalbench.com/benchpressarticles8.htm

Yeah that vid is pretty horrible cause the lighting is so bad. I need to get some recent videos up, I've stalled on 335 and the problems I had in that video are probably still apparent now.

I've made some serious improvements on my squat grip. I actually didnt have a choice. The elbow pain I was getting was telling me something wasnt right. My grip now is a lot closer together and tight, along with the bar sitting a tad higher.

I feel like my bench is the worst of all my lifts. Still a work in progress, I'll read that article, much appreciated.

Intensity Day

Squat:
1x10x45
2x5x45 (didnt do air squats like normal so I did these to further warm up)
1x5x125
1x3x185
1x2x250
1x5x315

Felt very good. My friend got a video of this, will post later.

Bench:
1x10x45
1x5x85
1x3x110
1x2x140
1x3x160

Really disappointed with this. Getting frustrated with how often I'm failing. One thing I did notice is when I was benching, I was trying to keep my shoulder blades tight, but as I bench, they continue to get loose. Maybe not the main problem, but probably doesn't help.

Deadlift:
1x7x135
1x3x185
1x2x250
1x5x305

I had to reset my deadlift. Last week I failed 335 for the 3rd time. I did a ~10% reset. It felt pretty good. Last rep was a little tough. Vids for my bench and deadlift are crucial at this point. Will get them next week.

Dips:
3x5xBW

It is so very exceedingly standard for guys coming from SS to have weak bench press numbers. I think the only guys I've seen with decent numbers were BP monkeys previously.

I'd consider doing something BP specific, like Smolov Jr, if you want more progress there. This will naturally mean your progress on the other lifts will suffer, so ymtc.

Yeah, the first time I benched pressed on a regular basis was when I started SS.

Not sure if I care enough about bench to let my other lifts suffer. Truth be told, I care about OHP way more. As long as I progress my BP with good form, I'm happy. But I've been stuck on 160, and I know my form could be a lot better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eyCWfyfr4E

1. I do some weird tap dancing routine with my feet before I squat, nervous tick I guess.
2. My depth is questionable on rep 1 and 4. The camera angle is ******, I know. 1 and 4 seem questionable cause of the camera angle, not sure if its actually a problem, felt like I went deep enough.
3. My stance is a little too wide.

Criticism is welcome

Been way too long since I worked out. Almost 2 weeks. I was in between gyms and its a long story, but the YMCA by my house are a bunch of money hungry whores (ldo). So I went back to my previous gym which is the best idea in the long run anyway.

Because of my time off, I was considering scaling back some of my lifts. Said screw it and just got right back into it.

Volume day aka please-let-me-die day

Squat
1x10x45
1x5x105
1x3x160
1x2x235 (this was too much, should have been ~215)
5x5x270

Things I focused on: stance and depth. It was apparent that my stance was too wide in my 1x5x315 video. So I made sure my stance was more narrow. I think making sure my stance was more narrow fixed my depth as well. The 4th set was pretty bad, some lateral movement and leaning forward. 5th set 5th rep was rough. Too much forward lean on the way up. I guess the one good thing is, I can recognize when I''m doing it so I adjust right away. Its also not excessive, its not like I'm bending over and pushing up. Need a permanent solution though, on sets I struggle with, I notice it a little. I hate volume squat.

Press
1x10x45
1x5x55
1x3x70
1x2x90
5x5x105

Didnt rest in between sets long enough. While I was resting after the 4th set, I had a serious vurp. Was so bad I was looking for a garbage can in case the worst would happen. 5th set 5th rep was god awful. It might not even "count" because I got it 3/4 of the way up and it wasnt moving so I gave a little push with my legs to complete the rep.

Power Clean
2x5x45 (hang clean)
1x5x60 (hang clean)
1x3x80 (hang clean)
1x2x95
5x3x115

Wow, these felt a million times better. I think it was a mental issue before. The gym I was going to for the month of December didnt have bumpers. When I was doing a set (with bumpers) learned a valuable lesson in jumping, because I didnt jump enough and the weight got halfway up and just dropped. Guess I was worried about this happening without bumpers. Overall I was pleased with these.

It was no mystery to my body that I didnt WO for almost 2 weeks and then jumped into volume day. Was feeling the DOMS for sure.

Recovery Day

Squat
1x10x45
1x5x95
1x3x135
1x2x185
2x5x240

Felt just fine. Being sore didnt help. Towards the end I had some lower back muscle soreness.

Bench
1x10x45
1x5x65
1x3x95
1x2x115
2x5x135

Still need to work on this. It felt fine, but I can just tell it needs work. But at the same time I feel whatev about bench.

Pendlay Row
1x10x45
1x5x75
1x3x95
1x2x135
3x5x145

As part of my 2011 goals, I plan on cutting my weight down to 165. Mainly for aesthetics but also I want to continue to progress my lifts, and my numbers would be better. I wanted to add barbell complexes on recovery days for some cardio (lol) to help that process and because I've started to play hockey again and I figured this would help from an endurance stand point. Ive been getting pretty tired while I'm out there. So today after my lifts I did 1 set of the following:

95lbs
5xPendlay Rows
5xPower Cleans
5xPress
5xFront Squat

From what I read you're supposed to do 4-5 sets, resting 1 minute or less in between sets. After doing just 1 set, I can see the merit in these for a cardio workout. I think it works perfect for hockey too. Like a hockey shift, 1 minute on, 1 minute off, etc. Speaking of, got a game tonight, someone save me...