Soulman,
I have no idea which is better. My reasoning, which may be faulty, is that my DL wouldn't advance as much as if I was doing an A/B rotation. If I do A/B I get 15 lb/week on DL and 7.5 lb/week on Squat. If I do A/B/C I get 10 lb/week on DL and 10 lb/week on Squat. Thoughts?

Well, DLing every other time is pretty taxing. Not that squatting 2/3 week isn't taxing...I don't think it matters much, as again I don't think you'll have much progress left on an SS-esque plan. I don't think I've seen anyone except milesdyson get as high as you have. But of course, you might have 100 lbs left in you on the squat, who knows.

I'd focus on whatever lift you feel you have the most progress left on. With A/B/C it's more likely you won't hit the ceiling on DLs very soon and have to change your programming anyway.

I think I have the most left in my DL especially after last night, so I think the A/B program will work for maintaining this longer. I just feel my squat is about to stop the upward trend fairly soon.

Today's workout
Squat: 340 x 5 x 3
Press: 155 x 5 x 3
Row: 180 x 5 x 3
Dips: 5 x 3 (+30 lbs)

Weight: 227.25

Squat form was suspect on last 2 reps. I have a feeling a stall is coming in the near future on these. Press was tough today. My left elbow is still hurting which made it hard on the bottom the lift today. Made all the reps though. Row was ok and dips went great. I do the dips with my wrist wraps on becuase they hurt if I don't. Monday's workout will be at the local gym. I think I will go with reduced weight back squats until my elbow stops hurting. then I will go low weight front squat and try to build it up.

Observations: Saw a guy doing 5 plate "kipping" shrugs with a barbell today when I walked into the gym.

After I finished one of the working sets of squats I saw a WTF moment, not just in my eyes but to Guy A as well. Guy A had just set down 2 90 lb dumbbells after doing some type of chest work. All I know was he was laying on a bench and had 2 90 lb dumbbells, I didn't see what exercise he was doing. After dropping the weights (standard) Guy B went up to him and asked him if he needed a spot with those. Guy A gave him a WTF look, half chuckled and said no thanks. I'm still not sure how he planned to spot Guy A with dumbbells.

Got to talk with one of the leaders (correct term?) of the Crossfit group today. We were on similar strength levels while doing Crossfit. He had come in while I was warming up squat (235) and commented about that being an OK weight. I mentioned it was a warmup set and planned on getting 340 today. He commented that I'm leaving him in the dust with squats. He left and I didn't see him again until I was getting ready to do rows. I mention I got 365 on my DL last week. His eyes got that "I have you" look and said he did 375 on his crossfit total 2 weeks ago. I congratulated him and then said "yeah, but mine was for 1 set of 5 reps and got 340 today in my squats which are for 3 sets of 5 reps". Knowing his press isn't great either (neither is mine) I mentioned I got 155 today, which isn't great. He asked "push press?". Nope, regular overhead press. I think he mumbled 155 is my 1 rm in push press (may have been standard press though). I think I crushed his soul a little bit. I have 0 confidence that he will convert to a strength program since he asked if I was coming out anytime soon. I said I have no plans to ATT.

I saw you on TV the other day. He-Man was beating your ass.

Which is exactly why I'm trying to get stronger. I fear he will continue to humiliate me until I get my #'s into a respectable range. Then I will tear him up.

First small batch of limoncello is underway. Spent my morning finding and then grating way too many lemons. Wondering if it would be good with oranges instead of lemons (arancello?). Maybe next time.

Rest of the morning was spent re-seasoning my larger humidor.

I've had a cold the past few days and didn't workout on Monday. Monday was my anniversary and I spent it either sleeping due to being sick or Christmas shopping with the wife. That didn't win any points with the wife. Chose not to go to the gym because I felt like crap. Yes, I know I can lift while sick, but gave myself this break anyways. Plan is to workout tonight at the local gym since I am busy at work today.

This time off has given me some time to think over my upcoming plans. I have had an issue with good morning my last reps of work set squats. Here is what G4S said about that over on Miles' log:

I plan on doing back extensions, incline situps and planks to help out with this issue. I have had lower back issues in the past due to getting kicked/kneed playing soccer in college and don't want to make it a crippling injury. I will probably stick to a lower weight for my workset for the rest of the month. Thinking maybe 315-325 for non-DL days and 285-295 for DL days. I figure this will give myself time to strengthen areas before I screw something up. Thoughts? Are there better exercises than the ones I mentioned?

I think situps and weighted situps on a glute-ham developer are better than incline situps. Incline situps are still good though

Yeah, I figured I would do weighted situps, not sure why I didn't say weighted in there. Guess I could do the situps on the GHD too (planning on using it for the back extensions). Probably start unweighted first time just to get used to it, then start adding some weight to it. Not sure if my local gym has this (haven't really left the squat rack/bench area there) so I may have to wait until Friday to try them out.

Core progressions (bottom of article).

Dunno if you're using a belt, I'd consider one if you aren't.

Thursday's workout
Bench: 210 x 5 x 3
DL: 375 x 3 x 1
Squat: 295 x 5 x 3
Incline Situps: BW x 10 x 3

Didn't workout on Wednesday, so I figured I would go yesterday and move today's workout to tomorrow. Ended up working out at the local gym around 1630. I didn't want to go, I think the combination of having a tiring day and still feeling a little sick made the workout suck. After warming up I went over to the weight area and someone was actually squatting. Instead of waiting/working in I figured I would just bench first since I was decreasing the squat weight anyways. Bench went great. Struggled a little the last rep, but think it was due to not waiting long enoung between sets.

DL sucked. Got 3 up and just couldn't get the 4th one to go and lost my grip/started seeing spots. The bars there have about 0 knurling left and I didn't think of changing grip to over/under until I was squatting (still using double overhand w/chalk). Will repeat 375 next time and possibly drop to 5 lb increases. Squats were pretty tough as well. I think the DL drained what little energy I had making the 295 feel heavier. I didn't see a GHD setup there so I did incline situps. Figure I will work my way up to 20 x 3 and then start adding weights.

I was planning on squating after bench, but yet another person was in the squat rack (looked like a high schooler who was doing decent form box squats). Talked with him and he said this is the first time he saw others squatting there. Still feel tired/sick today so we'll see how tomorrow's session goes.

Soulman: Thank you for the link. I will read it over when I get home. And yes, I am using a belt. I just started to use one, but it is a cheapo velcro/nylon thing that I could get at a local store. I asked the wife for a good one for Christmas, so hopefully she got that ordered for me. I have a feeling a lot of it has to do with concentration (in addition to core issues). I noticed when I wasn't concentrating on my 3rd rep of 2nd set yesterday I started to move my hips back instead of up. Concentrated/focused better on the 3rd set and all 5 went a lot better (best set IMO).

Forgot to mention the skeleton lady I saw there yesterday. Saw her when I was walking to the incline situp bench. She was walking on one of the treadmills. Looked like she didn't have any muscles, it was scary. I think my 8 year old daughter had bigger arms and legs than she did (she was probably in her late 20s). Kept on waiting to hear someone scream that she broke in 2.

Today's workout
Squat: 315 x 5 x 3
Press: 160 x 5 x 3
Row: 185 x 5 x 3
Dips: 5 x 3 (+30 lbs)
Back Extensions: 10 x 3 @ BW

Weight: 230.4

Today's workout went well. I didn't have any issues with good morning my squats, so I plan to add 5 lb next press/row day. I did them without a belt and it felt good. First 2 sets of press went really well. Last 2 reps on last set were tough, but got them up. Row went fairly well today too. Dips were fine, going to add 5 lb next time. Back Extensions suck. Started to get light headed at the end of each set. Back was a little sore when finishing. Might stay at BW for next workout.

Talked with a bunch of the Crossfitters, since they were doing 2 x 15 DLs for their WOD. Gave a few tips and form critiques to a couple people who were struggling. One of the leaders (?) thanked me and said she always likes talking form with me. Hopefully she keeps on them when they do their speed lifts so they don't get hurt.

I've changed up my off day workouts again. I have been battling a cold lately and don't want it to continue for my Christmas Leave, so ultimate is on hold until I get back. Planning on doing some exercises from cha's log to help my APT issues and walking on the treadmill for my T/TH days.

Getting my BF% measured again tomorrow. Guessing (hoping?) it will be close to last time (~23-24%). I will use this as a starting point to start my cut to make sure I am good to go for my last weigh in sometime during April. I plan on starting to cut (slightly) in January and maintain strength during that time. I will try to make gains in bench and press as long as I can while maintaining squat/DL #s. Probably will need to decrease volume at some time too. I will see how it goes.

Had my wife tape me tonight. Results are pretty much what I expected:

Date.	Weight:	Neck:	Bicep:	Forearm:	Chest:	Waist:	Hips:	Thigh:	Calf:
Sep 20	~220.5	18"	15"	12.5"	45.75"	41"	42.25"	27"	17"
Dec 13	230.4	18"	15.25"	12.5"	47"	41.5"	44"	27.5"	17"
Change	+10	0	+.25"	0	+1.25"	+.5"	+1.75"	+.5"	0

BF% estimates are anywhere between 23-26% on this. Looks like I need to start cutting in January, but will see what the lady gets tomorrow with the calipers. Still guessing it will be in the above range. I am happy with the way my lifts are increasing, but not happy with my waist. I know I can't spot reduce fat, but that is where most of it is. Not sure if I am going to take pics yet or not for comparison to the older ones.

Welcome to being a man. All the fat accumulates in your gut. If you were a woman, you could complain about having a large ass.

Such is life. And genetics.

didn't see your height posted in the thread. are you 5'8"?

Yes, 5'8" is correct

Felt like a tard in the gym today, bouncing around from cardio machine to cardio machine. Wanted to just go in and walk on the treadmill for a while, but the wx is too cold here so all the runners were using them. Only thing open was a rowing machine. I don't use them too much, but figured I'd give it a go. Did a 500 m warmup then some light stretching (felt slightly sore from yesterday). Then figured I would do a few 500 m sprints, but that didn't go so well. I did 2, but stopped both at the 250 m mark due to falling off of the seat. Right about the 250 mark both times my butt went behind the seat (it ended up somewhere on my hammies) and my shorts got kind of tangled in the seat. Said F that and went over to a newly opened up stationary bike. Did that for 15 mintues when an eliptical opened up. Did that for 20 minutes and moved over to the aerobics room.

Tried out some planks. 1st one for 30 to see how it went, 2nd for 45 and then did 2 at 60. I think I will do 3 x 60 (or a little bit more) on thursday. I then did some foam rolling and stretching stuff to help out the APT. During that time I helped out some of the crossfitters with their attempt at a power snatch. I don't do them, but know enough that I caught some things they were doing wrong. Don't think it helped too much since they were doing 65 lbs for multiple reps. Seems like it always ended up an arm workout. Oh well, I didn't get involved except to point out what I saw to the leader.

Didn't get to check BF% today. Got to the gym slightly late and she was already working out. Stopped by the office when I finished and she wasn't there. Plan to try to get down there earlier tomorrow to get it done (she said tomorrow should work out fine, we'll see).

Tomorrow will be squat, bench and DL. I look forward to this workout.

Thursday's workout
Squat: 295 x 5 x 3
Bench: 215 x 5 x 3
DL: 375 x 2 x 2/ 1 x 1

Weight: 230.7
BF%: 24.6

So much for looking forward to today's workout. I was tired getting up this morning. Got to work, where everything pretty much went down hill. Unpacked my bag and found out I forgot my Ipod at home, but I did have my headphones! I also forgot my chalk at home. Packing up the bag to go to the gym and found that I am missing one of my wrist wraps. I have a feeling it is at home with my dirty clothes from Monday.

Get to the gym and warmed up. Squats were ok, but could tell my mental game was off not having my music to insulate me from the TVs. Bench went pretty well, seeing as I only had my right wrist wrapped (the one that hurts). Left elbow did bother me on all of my first reps, not sure why though. Looked around the gym for some chalk, but there wasn't any. Figured I would DL anyways, trying out an alternate grip instead of double overhand. Felt really weird. I did all 5 reps, but consider them 2x2 and a 1x1. I found that my grip was going after the 2nd rep due to sweat. I took about 10 or so seconds to wipe my hands dry and did the next 2 where the same thing happened. I took another 10 seconds to wipe my hands off and did the last one. I don't consider this a 5 x 1, which is why I posted it as such.

Got my BF% measured, last time I had it done was 21 July. Then I was 23.1%. Looks like I will be cutting starting in January. I think I will be able to maintain DLs and squats where they are. Possibly making gains for a little bit on bench and press. We'll see how it goes. Only 3 more planned lifting workouts this year.

Question: I will be DL again on Monday. I brought my chalk in today to make sure I have it here for Monday. Should I increase the weight or re-do 375? I got 375 for 5 reps, but it wasn't really 1 set due to stopping and drying my hands. Not a big deal to me either way, just wanted to see whay you guys recommend.

UPUPUP

That's what I thought, but wanted to double check with you guys. Thanks.

I would like to preface all of my posting tonight in H&F (after about 1900) with the fact that Scotch tastes good. That is all.

Bully beatdown is funny, but not as funny as: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lGRqlJFocw