Goals & Gains Lug's Spear: Unleashed S&P

[Lug's Spear]

Here is some advice on the press. I have taken none of this advice, but I've seen it work for people to great effect.

I have employed the Doug Hepburn triples program to great effect for the press, and Bill Starr talks about using a similar rep scheme in his book.

You can still snag my bumpers any time you're interested. I'll sell you all of the iron in my garage, if you want it. Squat/press rack too. Let me know!

I'll have to read up on the stickies to refresh my programming. I like 3 X 3, I'm thinking of using that for my deadlifts again. It helped me progress a lot on deads last time I tried it.

Could you PM me the deets on the barbell/weights? It would be nice to be able to clean and jerk again.

 

[Lug's Spear]

Ok here is what I'm thinking of doing for a program, I need some help on this one I think.

Day A
Bench 5 X 5
Back Squat 5 X 5
BORs 5 X 5

Day B
Back Squats 5 X 5
SOHP 5 X 5
Deadlifts 3 X 3

Do I need to change anything?

 

[Lug's Spear]

BENCH
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
-Man these were fairly easy, going to have to up the weight soon.

SQUAT
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
-These weren't bad at all, finally making some gains here. I hope I can keep it up, it should go better now that I'm going to squat everytime I lift.

BORs
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
-Felt good to put some weight on this thing. That being said there were a few reps, maybe about 5 total, where the bar didn't get all the way to my chest. Gotta keep workin these.

Notes: Should not have eaten so much BBQ before lifting, I had to burp after every set. I am just glad I didn't feel sick. It made it hard to drink water the whole time. I guess I went too far on the pre-work out meal, at least it was all protein (w/ bbq sauce on top of course).

 

[Sobchak]

I completely forgot to paste the link with the advice I was referring to. Lol.

Bill Starr article on the press: http://startingstrength.com/articles/stronger_press_starr.pdf

I'll PM you the details on the plates.

Lifting scheme looks good. Simple and effective. You could add in supplemental core work if you wanted. I would make sure to plan a deload for the deads every few weeks. You could even alternate between singles and triples each week on the deads. But I'm sure triples would work fine on their own, too.

 

[Lug's Spear]

Notes: Last couple of days have not been great health wise. My knee was bothering me when I got back from work and had to pogo around on one leg. It's feeling better now, but I just got a cold. Damn... I was just starting to get consistent again. I hope I get over this cold soon.

 

[Lug's Spear]

Finally back to lifting. I still have a cold, but it's not nearly as bad.

BENCH
140 X 5
140 X 5
140 X 5
140 X 5
140 X 5
-Not too bad, triceps started getting tired near the end. Can go back to what I was doing prior to my 2 weeks off.

SQUAT
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
-These were easy, going to have to up the weight next week.

BORs
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5
-These always feel the hardest of all the lifts. I have to stay focused to keep proper form here. I need to refresh on SS.

Notes: All in all not a bad day of lifting. I am looking forward to putting some more weight on squats. I am contemplating icing my knee even though it doesn't hurt. That damn knee is wonky, I hope prehab icing isn't a bad idea. :redface:

 

[Sobchak]

Ice that fucker. You might try some banded TKEs in multiple directions, too.

 

[Lug's Spear]

Ice that fucker. You might try some banded TKEs in multiple directions, too.

I'm icing it right now, it feels a little tight after today's lifting. banded TKEs you say... I need to google that. How is your lifting going? Do you still log it? Gone on any wilderness adventures in CO?

 

[Lug's Spear]

SQUATS
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
185 X 5
-My legs were still pretty tired from the last time I squatted. I was still able to do every rep with good depth, but it wasn't as easy.

SOHP
85 X 5
85 X 5
85 X 5
85 X 5
85 X 3
85 X 5
-Well judging by my reps, the missed ones are technique related. I was able to hit the last set without missing a rep, but struggled on the set before. I think I am not getting enough energy off of my chest sometimes. I need to give it a little more elbow grease and get under fast.

DEADLIFTS
225 X 5
225 X 5
225 X 5
225 X 5
225 X 5
-I figured I would take this one a little easier since my legs were sore/tired. It wasn't bad and I am just happy to get away without tearing another callous. Going to shorten the reps/sets next time.

Notes: Still coughing between sets, but I am just happy to lift and release some stress that has built up at work. Really needed it today.

 

[Lug's Spear]

Forgot to log my last lifting session, but not this time :redface:

SQUATS
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
-Piece of cake, going to up the weight another 10 lbs next week I reckon.

SOHP
85 X 5
85 X 5
85 X 5
85 X 5
85 X 5
-No problems here, I got under the bar a lot faster. Going to add some more here next week as well.

DEADLIFTS
255 X 3
255 X 3
255 X 3
255 X 3
255 X 3
-For some reason I love triples on the deadlift, this was easy and fun. Looking forward to adding some weight here.

Notes: I was exhausted from work today, the kid I worked with was tired and it was hard to pull any kind of verbal responses out of him for the last hour.

 

[Lug's Spear]

Lifting from yesterday

SQUAT
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
-Not too difficult, I am considering adding 10 more lbs next time.

BENCH
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 4
-This felt pretty hard, my tricepts were burnt out. Close to getting all of the reps though. I hope my body gets back into this lifting deal so I can recover faster and lift more often.

BORs
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5
-Gaining confidence in my technique on this one. It's starting to come together.

Anecdotes from work: My kid today was not big into talking, just a quick bio he is 6 years old and has autism. It was like pulling teeth the way I had to pull verbal output from him today. He is fairly verbal when you can get him to be compliant so it was frustrating. After our 1pm to 5pm session was up I think we were both very drained. He was lighting me up though which was worth a laugh, not sure what he ate. I had someone cover for me for 5 minutes and when I came back she told me it wasn't her that farted... so I'm guessing he crop dusted her too. Nothing really funny today, but man do I have some stories thus far.

 

[Lug's Spear]

Lifting from Tuesday

SQUAT
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
195 X 5
-I felt really weak today, Odin wasn't with me on this one. I didn't sleep well the night before and worked all day. That being said, still finished my reps.

SOHP
90 X 5
90 X 4
90 X 3
90 X 2
90 X 3
-What a mess, it pissed me off. I hope I do better next time.

DEADLIFT
275 X 3
275 X 3
275 X 3
275 X 3
275 X 3
-Piece of cake here, it felt good to put some more weight on the barbell. I look forward to this lift every week.

Notes: My left shoulder is killing me today. I think it's from work, my new student is in a wheelchair and I'm fairly sure picking him and putting him down has agitated my shoulder. I took some good ol' pain medicine tonight for it. I hope it goes away, damn my joints are fragile.


Anecdotes from work: My kid today (the one who is six) came to school in a mood today. He really wanted to test me, once again didn't give me very much verbal output. I think I pushed for 5 minutes straight trying to prompt him to say "I want my straws please." After that I decided to take him into my realm where I can pretty much gaurantee things will get done, which is our mat work or gross motor work. Poor sucker doesn't stand a chance trying to grapple me to avoid doing his work. That being said I'm still a sucker and had some fun with him between our exercises w/ some BJJ sweeps, he enjoys it. All in all a good day, but I think I need to put my foot down some more so I can get him to talk more at the desk.

9/28/10

Ran 2 miles today, mostly to fight off the beer. I have been trying pumpkin ale lately and drinking 1 to 2 a night. It makes me feel lazy and made me want to hit some running.

 

[Sobchak]

Cool fucking job. I wish I got to help farting kids.

 

[Lug's Spear]

SQUAT
205 X 5
205 X 5
205 X 5
205 X 5
205 X 5
-Not too bad, but I'm noticing that I tend to keep my weight on the balls of my feet... which I don't think is a good thing.

BENCH
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
145 X 5
-Felt good here, working on my form on the lock out. It's starting to come together.

BORs
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5
135 X 5
-Keeping form in my mind at all times, but I think I can add 10 lbs to this.

 

[Lug's Spear]

Cool fucking job. I wish I got to help farting kids.

Haha thanks, it's kind of funny. A lot of the kids I work with fart. It just puts into perspective how many people are holding it in around you at all times. As long as it's a fart and not poop it's funny anyway... not looking forward to that happening, but my new student wears diapers...

 

[Sobchak]

Oh, boy. Well, I for one don't hold it in. I fart all the time. Every time.

Stay on your heels when you squat!

 

[Lug's Spear]

Oh, boy. Well, I for one don't hold it in. I fart all the time. Every time.

Stay on your heels when you squat!

I'm starting to have troubles focusing on my technique. I tend to want to look upwards, which I know is bad. I'm trying to correct for that and focus on the weight in my feet. My squat needs some work I tells yeh. How is your lifting going? Got any goals you are working on?

 

[Sobchak]

I dunno, I look up frequently. One thing that helps me is to just practice being comfortable on your heels. When you sit to the toilet, when you lean over the sink to wash dishes or shave, when you go up stairs, just try walking staying on your heels when you do various stuff throughout the day. It won't feel quite as unnatural when you squat.

My lifting is semi-ok. My squat is good, but my bench is way low. My deadlift is in the middle. I'm working on a 200 press and a 405 squat. I think I'm closer on the squat. I hit 370 a few weeks ago. I don't know what happened. I took a 3-month layoff, then 3 sessions later hit an all-time PR. I'll take it.

My press is making slow moves, but hit some setbacks this summer. I'm sure that if I keep making small jumps, I'll get there.

 

[WitchCraft]

Hey Lug'sSpear, I feel like it's been forever since I've seen you post.

Sorry if I've missed your explanation, but what kind of job are you doing where you work with children with autism? Funny about the kid smelling up the room lol I worked with a child with autism over the summer and the only thing that he would irritate me with was making a really obnoxious sound with his mouth ALL DAY LONG. He also wore diapers and that got pretty annoying and disgusting. It takes a lot of patience but it sounds like you're doing a great job.

 

[Lug's Spear]

I think it's time to resurrect the ol' log. I'm finally lifting consistently again and my back pain has gone away now that I'm working less and studying more.

Here is my lifting from yesterday.

Squat
185lbs 5x5

Bench
135lbs 5x5

Deadlift
185lbs 5x5

SOHP
80lbs 3x5

Pull Ups (BW)
1x8, 1x7, 1x6