Mixed grip issues can be minimised by switching over/under hands between work sets or reps, and you should be taking the slack out of the bar/your arms prior to each rep so bicep avulsion risk is pretty low. Hook if you can, but don't be shamed into it if it makes deadlifting suck too much.

Had to look up hook grip - I will give it a shot on next deadlift day (next Wednesday) and also try out some liquid chalk.

I want to find a trainer/coach for a session or two to nail down the lifts (especially power cleans) - but I have this suspicion there is a lot of contradicting trainers out there. Tips for finding a competent trainer?

Also - what jumps are you guys doing in weight for warmup sets?

I'm old and have a bulging disk so I warm up a lot when I squat. 5 mins of hip mobility, then I do my leg swings to the front and side to side. Then I do 1 set of air squats - maybe 8 reps then two sets with squatting with just the bar and for you I would really recommend this to get technique right and feeling natural. Then I go to 5 reps 135 and then 3 at 175 and then if I was doing working sets from 225 I would do maybe 2 on 200 or something

So lots of reps with no load and then progressively add load but fewer reps

Deadlift I'm always doing half way through my training at least so I would do a set on 135 just to get happy with the movement and then go to 225 or whatever

Bench and Press, I start with empty bar for a couple of sets and then prob take 3 quick weighted sets of not many reps before getting to working set

I'm trying to groove in (relatively) new squat form, so I may be overdoing it, but this is what I'd do for 3x5x225:

2x5x45
5x75
5x95
5x115
5x135
3x175
2x205
3x5x225

For deadlift, pretty much just start at 135 and then move up by half plates.

I haven't flat benched in a while, but if I was doing 3x5x225 work sets, it would probably be something like this:

2x10x45
10x95
5x135
3x165
3x185
2x205 or 210
3x5x225

Re a coach, I'm old and experienced so maybe biased but I think you pick the older coaches as opposed to the 23yr olds with bulging muscles. But mainly look at how they are training their clients and what they're getting them to do

You don't need a rep counter or a motivator, you need an instructor

Re: coaching,

Looking into seeing if there's a Starting Strength coach near you might be worthwhile. They have an online coaching service now, if that's of interest, but I've heard in person coaching is well worth it.

gl nice start

I take a ladder approach to warm ups with the same number of reps as my working reps. My general rule is my GPP isn't good enough if a proper warm up detracts from training. Example:

Working bench with warmup:
1×10 @ bar
1×4 @95
1×4 @135
1×4 @155
7×4 @175

Working DL with warmup:
1×10 good mornings @bar
1×10 @bar
1×4 @135
1×4 @185
1×4 @225
1×4 @275
7×4 @315

Fwiw, I did some online coaching and found it very helpful but ymmv.

I did this and thought it was great. If you go on the SS website they have a referral site for gyms using their program


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Looked up starting strength coaches on their website. Great suggestion! But sadly none in the area.

Saturday is off day. I ran tonight - same 2 mile route as Thursday. Tonight was windy, cool, and a bit of drizzle. Rest day plus conditions made it a much easier run .







I have had some tenderness and puffiness in the mcl/pes anserine area of my right knee. (Mostly caused by going from endurance-ass-sitting to all-out-exercise). At the suggestion of some others I switched from running on the concrete sidewalk to the asphalt street. **** what a difference. I am never running on the sidewalk again.

To really get after this 5k goal - I need to plan the running/training. From what I understand I need:
- long slow aerobic run
- sprint workout
- interval training at desired pace

Out of those, I find the long slow the hardest to do (motivation/time/etc).

Still debating whether to increment squat on Monday or roll it back a bit. TBD.

My 2c, I would take a few weeks or more dialling back/at least staying where you are with your squat weights to get the technique right and to get it movement smooth and natural. You're not training for the NFL and any additional utility and response you get from lifting heavier weights right now will be more than offset by the damage of an injury layoff.

Re getting instruction - you might try looking at a crossfit gym. They used to have a thing called an F4, which was basically a 3 or 4 session training package that taught you all the basic lifts without you having to join..sometimes you needed to do it before you could join. While crossfit gets a lot of grief in forums, often justified, their protocol does cause for them to teach squat, deadlift, strict press and power cleans properly and if you can pick a good established CF gym with an experienced trainer you should get good instruction

Went down to 205 for squat today. Tinkering with the form and probably further away from golden than before but it is a work in progress.

Squat 3x5x205
Bench 3x5x155
Power Cleans 5x3x95

My groin actually felt pulled a bit after the squat - but fine now.

Power cleans are lol not even close.

Bench was a struggle on the last rep.

So a pretty off day. Running tomorrow.

Distance run for aerobic training today at lunch:

You misspelled "stop running"

Well i did suggest earlier that he sub rowing for running, but running can be great.

I used to love running til my knee reconstruction and it's hard to beat for the freedom and simplicity of it, particularly if you live in a nice area and can get away from roads.

Reasons running makes sense for me:
- accessibility
- company culture here (lots of opportunity to run at work with others)
- my gym (also at work) does not have a rowing machine

If things get bad on the knees, I can always bike - but I always see cyclists as inevitable car targets. I rowed for a year in college and really loved it. I would do that (real rowing on water) if that were anywhere near as accessible as running.

Dropped weight again on squat - just playing around with form. I even did one of the sets as a high-bar squat.

Squat 3x5x185
OHP 3x5x100
Deadlift 1x5x265

I used hook grip on the DL and that helped. Although by rep 5 the bar slid down and I was not "hooked" anymore.




I have lost a couple of lbs from 215 - not enough to claim 210 yet, but hopefully soon.

So tomorrow is interval running.

I plan on doing 400m laps at the track at ~1:50 (7:20 mile pace) or better pace each lap. I will either jog or walk in between depending on how tough it turns out to be. The goal is to do ~12 laps. The longer term progression is to cut the rest in between.

HIIT itt

I am interested in your insight here.

Does it work?
What is the theory/method?
Am I doing it right?
Etc

Running today:

~400 meter runs (0.25 miles) with a 200 meter walk in between each run

1:43
1:46
1:47
1:43
1:47
1:47
1:35
1:48

The workout was not that hard. The 3 minute walk in between each lap is a lot of rest. Next time(s) I do this workout - I will increase the reps, then decrease the rest, but keep pace the same.

I skipped leg day - err skipped everything today. I will try to lift Saturday as makeup.

I never really got into HIIT training, but I incorporated some of it into my half marathon training. Mainly my weekly runs consisted of 3 3m-5m efforts at an elevated pace with HIIT segments, and a long run of 8m-12m. The long runs got easier as the shorter runs got faster, but that isn't surprising to me.

It is also purported to have better fat burning effects than regular running.

Came up in the lc thread last month.