Missed my lift

Monday, February 25, 2008 (Week 6, doing Week 4’s assigned lifts)

Deadlift 5x135, 5x185, 5x225, 3x240, 2x285
Deadlift Speed Set 12x240 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x145
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x55
Good Mornings 3x8x120
Lat Pulldown 3x8x120

Seated Single Calf Raise 3x10x65
Standing Calf Raise 3x10x140

I was a little concerned about the 285 deadlift, having missed a coupla 280 lb lifts a while back. So I ate a ¼ cup of raisins and had a bit of “choccy” on the way to the gym. The first 285 went up like buttah! The second lift took a bit more work, but it went up relatively easily, too. I think I may have done the right thing by re-evaluating my program and doing Weeks 3 and 4 over again.

Plus I played around on the Pec Dec and the ab machine. I’ll do squats instead of deads on Wednesday. I suspect I’ve been doing Ed Coan’s program incorrectly. I’ll bet he only schedules deads once a week, then squats and bench on the other days. I’ve been doing deads only, 3 times a week (oops!).

Anyhow, I felt good. I was able to increase the weight a bit on most of the lifts. I’ve been frankly concerned about getting the form right on the Good Mornings. I don’t want to bend over carelessly with a weighted barbell on my shoulders…!! Thus I’ve been going very slowly. Today I increased the tempo on my GMs and realized that they’re not all that hard after all. I plan to increase the weight a bit next time.
 
Great that the 285 went up relatively easily. That 'choccy' you're taking is working wonders.
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I'm switching to a spoonful of sugar (to reduce my pre-workout fat intake). I put it in my coffee for a double-whammy. If it's good enough for Mary Poppins, it's good enough for me.
 
Oddly, Steve Jones was using sugar for workouts too. I asked around about this, as compared to maltodextrin and dextrose usage, and was told the body processes it differently, and that's the reason so many use the malto/dex mix instead; but now reading coach Hale's book, I'm seeing that the insulin/obesity theory is not as impactive as previously thought, and also that with exersize there is not an insulin spike, as the insulin is used elsewhere - I think it was glycogen or ATP production or some such. I'd like to see more info on that.
TR - Congrats on the lift; 300 in sight!
 
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Back Squat wu: 65 lbs for one minute (about 30 reps), 5x155, 20x175 max-stim
Triceps Pushdown 2x10x110 (on the cable crossover deck…
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Brachialis Curl 2x10x20
Ab machine 2x10x110
Pec Dec 2x10x60
Dumbbell Skull Crushers 2x10x20
Serratus Press (shoulder raise) 2x10x20
Dumbbell Curls 2x10x20
Seated Single Calf Raise 3x10x65
Standing Calf Raise 3x10x140

No deads today – once the weight gets up past twice my bodyweight it’s hard to do deads three times a week (perhaps that’s part of the reason for my original missed lift at 280...). I’ve decided to do squats on Wednesdays instead.

My arm exercises are limited by what my shoulder is able to sustain. Although it seems to be getting a bit better with therapy, right now anything more than 20 lbs hurts to lift. I did the Pec Dec as one of the few viable exercises allowed for my chest, but only 60 lbs as I seek to find out how much the traffic will bear...

All told, I did enough isos to sink a moderate sized battleship. I’ll get back to my deads and some real exercises on Friday.
 
Friday, February 29, 2008

Deadlift 3x135, 3x185, 3x225, 3x240, 1x285, 1x300
Deadlift Speed Set 12x240 ms

Romanian Deadlift 3x8x145
Dumbbell prone Row 3x8x55
Good Mornings 3x8x125
Lat Pulldown 3x8x120

Brachialis Curl 2x10x20
Ab machine 2x10x110
Pec Dec 2x10x60
Dumbbell Skull Crushers 2x10x20
Serratus Press (shoulder raise) 2x10x20

The Ed Coan program has me scheduled to lift much lighter weights over the next three weeks – maxes of 255, 270, and 285. It’ll be nearly a month until I’m in the neighborhood of 300 lbs again. So I figured what the heck, I’ll take a shot at it today (thus I took it a little easy on my warm ups).

The 300 lb bar was heavy, but it went up. And it went up well enough that I have the confidence I am well able to lift more than that.

However, I’m the new guy. I have the full assurance that I don’t know what I am doing. So I try to do what I am told and what I see the bigger, stronger, and more successful guys doing (that’s why I read the HST and Max-Stim forums). If Ed Coan says to cycle back for three weeks with light weights, and only later come in for some heavy work, then that’s what I’m gonna do.
 
Good for you man. It's building a foundation for later. Muscle can grow, it can get stronger, but the joints and synergistic musculature take longer to catch up. In the long run, you're making yourself stronger by training properly.
Most of us with injuries can concur.
 
Great job on hitting 300. It sure is a great feeling. I always questioned the cycling back to lighter weights and building back up, but it seems that all the good powerlifting programs are based on that concept. Congrats again on the big lift.
 
Well, you hit the 300 lb milestone. That's pretty dang good. I bet you'd take three 45s a side rather easily.
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Feb. 29 2008,22:49)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Well, you hit the 300 lb milestone. That's pretty dang good. I bet you'd take three 45s a side rather easily.</div>
Well, that's 315 lbs, so he isn't too far behind!

I am taking a personal leave from constantly trying to raise my deadlift PR, but I can appreciate other peoples' milestones. Congrats bud!
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Feb. 29 2008,22:49)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Well, you hit the 300 lb milestone. That's pretty dang good. I bet you'd take three 45s a side rather easily.</div>
Yup, my goal is three 45s a side.

I'll post the picture when I get it!
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Many congrats TR. Great lift. I'm pretty certain that backing off again now and working back up to your top loads will see you hitting 315lb next time around.
 
Monday, March 03, 2008

Deadlift 5x135, 3x185, 3x205, 3x215, 9x260 ms
Deadlift Speed Set 9x215 ms

Power Shrugs 3x5x185
Romanian Deadlift 3x5x155
Dumbbell prone Row 3x5x60
Good Mornings 3x5x130
Lat Pulldown 3x5x120

Ab machine 2x10x120
Pec Dec 2x10x70

I can’t believe I thought I was going to be lifting “lighter” this week. I don’t think I’ll ever use Ed Coan’s name in a paragraph with the word “lighter” again. Okay, 260 lbs is lighter than the 300 I did last Friday, but it’s still twice my body weight – and I had to lift it 9 times! Funny, it was only a month ago that I thought twice my body weight was a big deal…

I was able to add a little weight to most of my assistance exercises, too. This is starting to get heavy enough to be fun.

This is Week 5 of the program so the assistance exercises are done differently, too. Before I was doing them in a circuit -- set of of 8 of each -- three times around. Now I'm supposed to do them straight through -- three sets of five each, then move on to the next one. Also Power Shrugs have been added (with the weight prescribed by the program).

[Edited to add Power Shrugs]
 
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(BAX67 @ Mar. 03 2008,21:07)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">How did the added weight on your good mornings feel?</div>
I've found that, so long as I don't try to go real slow on the eccentric portion of the lift, these aren't bad at all. I was doing them with my bodyweight today with no difficulty.

I bend my knees some when I do them, but still manage to get my upper body nearly horizontal. Then the concentric portion of the lift amounts to a sort of popping up quickly. I could probably add another twenty pounds and still do them, but I'm going to take it slowly.
 
<div>
(colby2152 @ Mar. 04 2008,09:26)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">TR, I am not sure if I asked this before, but did you happen to serve in Vietnam?</div>
Southeast Asia War Games, March 1961 -- March 1973, Second Place

1st Lieutenant, Rifle Platoon leader, First Cavalry Division (Airmobile) -- 23 August 1967 to 22 August 1968.

Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Combat Infantry Badge
Bronze Star
Purple Heart (Feb 26, 1968 -- seems like yesterday...)


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<div>
(TunnelRat @ Mar. 04 2008,13:35)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Southeast Asia War Games, March 1961 -- March 1973, Second Place

1st Lieutenant, Rifle Platoon leader, First Cavalry Division (Airmobile) -- 23 August 1967 to 22 August 1968.

Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Combat Infantry Badge
Bronze Star
Purple Heart (Feb 26, 1968 -- seems like yesterday...)


iwojimasmilies-1.gif
</div>
Are you kidding? So you joined the army long before I was born in 1967, right? I always thought your lifts were respectable, but now they're even more so. So, how old are you, exactly?
 
Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Back Squats 5x45, 5x135, 3x155, 3x185, 1x200, 1x205, 1x215
Tabata (?) squats 65lbs: 20 seconds on, 10 second break – 4 times

Plus a bunch of isos for arms, chest, and abs.

I find that I have far less confidence with my squats than I do with my deads. When I add weight to the bar, I am never sure that I am going to be able to lift it – even though it seems to come right up when I put my back into it. I suppose it is something mental, since both squats and deads use much the same musculature.

I’ve never really had a coach so I am not quite sure I am using proper form. When the weight starts to get heavy, I find myself tipping forward as I come up out of the hole -- sort of doing a really heavy Good Morning. I’ve read Rippetoe, but I am not able to get the bar into the low position on my back due to my tight shoulders. As a result, my squat numbers are way below what I can deadlift.
 
congratulations on your lifting and respect for your service TR
 
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