looking and thinking back, maybe i’m being a bit hard on myself with respect to my squat progress.
when i started out squatting it took a couple months for me to develop the joint mobility to do the movement. and i remember i needed to rest a couple minutes between unweighted attempts. i even used to try and practicing standing up from the floor without using my arms to assist me. for the longest while i simply couldn’t do it. needed to use something to help pull me up. took a long time for me to develop the strength to do that.
and then it took me a couple months to shorten the rest so i could do sets of 5 and eventually 10. without weight. then a fair while again to be able to squat the 10kg bar for a single. i remember getting from 15kg to 20kg took a fair while too, and i was super-motivated because that signified that i could actually do my squats in the proper grown up squat rack instead of needing to go next door for the pre-loaded barbells.
that is why it took me so long to find the courage to post here. because i really was trying my damndest to lift heavy - and that really was the very best that i could do.
i think my legs were and indeed are a lot weaker than i fully realize. and the percentage increase from 20kg to 25kg or indeed from 40kg to 45kg is significant. since those really are heavy weights for me.
i keep thinking that i’m doing something wrong. that i should be able to get a bodyweight squat in one year. that my progress is pathetic compared to that. that my squat is still really weak. and of course it is still really weak. but it is really heavy for me right now. there isn’t a major breakthrough awaiting. just a lot of hard work. and it will sneak up eventually - at least it has thus far.
RSR - i thought i bombed but i guess i didn’t. i was overly ambitious about plugging in my true 1RM (45kg) instead of my reliable training max (42.5kg). it meant that when i got to the 3x3 i was expected to do it with my reliable training max. i got 1 set of three with it - but could do no more. but… instead of my thinking about it as my bombing out i need to think that hey - i did my training max for a triple. actually… that is pretty good.
will reintroduce front squats once per week. either for volume if the movement feels weird or lower reps at greater intensity if things feel good. i HAVE been progressing on them in doing what i was doing. just not as fast as i would have liked.
I like your plan regarding volume vs intensity regarding your squatting. Thats a good way of looking at things. I find at the begining of my squat session its good just to squat the bar for a number of sets for 10 reps, just to get familiar with the movement again. And you make a good point about been realistic with progression of weight. Sometimes you just have to be happy with a 2kg increase.
And Im writing to let you Ive had some success with the strassburg sock. Im using it 3 times a week now, and after initially having problems with wearing it all night, now I can without waking up and pulling it off. I have noticed it has helped with dorsiflexion. Takes less warming up to get the dorsiflexion going.
Alexus: You are pretty hard on yourself. But I understand that striving, never satisfied mentality. I agree with Frenchie–keep your focus on the next step.
[quote]alexus wrote:
it is basically just the crud i’m coughing out from my lungs which gets sort of swallowed down with the water
[/quote]
Urmm, thanks for that. I’ve just finished my Sunday lunch and that made a little bit of sick come in to my mouth!
Great work in here. Progress is never as fast as we would like, but you “are” progressing, that’s the important thing. Looking at your increases in terms of percentages (not KG) makes them far more meaningful.
[quote]Nadia Comeandeat wrote:
Alexus: You are pretty hard on yourself. But I understand that striving, never satisfied mentality. I agree with Frenchie–keep your focus on the next step. [/quote]
Exactly, you’ve done a lot, give yourself credit for that.
bird - glad to hear your sock is working. maybe you can ship it on to me when you are done with it?? how is your rumble roller treating you?
nimain - thanks! i have new strength goals now, too. since i got the greens (35kg) the next goal is the yellows (45kg). and since i’m benching and deadlifting i have the bodyweight, 1.5x bodyweight, 2x bodyweight goal stuff, too. smoking is largely career related and i’m looking into changing that. been eating up my protein over the last few days and think i really noticed the difference in the gym today! i got stronger for sure!!
nadia - you are a good role model for me with your being into a bunch of stuff. strength on the powerlifts, olympic lifting, progress on interval style conditioning… i want it all!!
brett - sorry about that. yuk, i agree :-/ yes percentage increases do make me feel better… though i still think my front squat in particular should be progressing like a beginner since it is only around 2/3 bodyweight. having difficulty mentally coming to terms with the fact that my beginners gains with it were really incredibly slow - but not for my upper body lifts. why oh why? will be very interested to see whether the same thing happens with my low bar back squats.
patch - thanks you guys need to take a lot of credit for my progress. people here have been so inspiring and supportive for me. wonderful. means a great deal.
AWESOME session. really feel like i owned the weights today. good time of the month for my training and i’ve been eating up my protein over the last few days.
Low Bar Back Squat 3x5@32.5kg (0.5kg increase because that is the way the plates roll)
feeling pretty good. think i’m hitting a reliable bottom position at a respectable depth. don’t feel like i’m sitting my butt back particularly, though, having significant difficulty breaking from the hips first instead of hips and knees simultaneously. so oh wells. don’t want this to interfere with my front squat too much anyway.
Bench 3x5@32kg paused (1kg increase)
sweet. didn’t even ask for a hand-off and didn’t even come close to stalling on any of the reps.
Deadlift - was going to do 1x5@60kg for top set but felt so good I increased to 65kg (5kg increase)
40kg 1x5
50kg 1x5
60kg 1x5 felt easy.
65kg 1x5 felt easy (5kg increase from last time).
really taking my time with the sets to reset fully between each rep. dropping them from the top (yay bumpers). squatting myself down and trying to collect the bar on my way up (if that makes sense). tried to set my upper back like for Olympic Lifting pulls, but basically that wasn’t going to happen (I think because the bar is against my shins at the start instead of further forwards so it can swing back towards me with lat contraction).
[quote]alexus wrote:
bird - glad to hear your sock is working. maybe you can ship it on to me when you are done with it?? how is your rumble roller treating you?
[/quote]
Im sorry, but your going to have to get your own sock. I think this sock thing might be a lifelong habit.
And the rumble roller is ok. It offers something different when foam roling, although it doesnt really offer anything extra when compared to the PVC pipe and normal foam roller.
Resetting the DL has worked wonders for me, I use touch n go to get some reps in but when Im doing them heavy (for me) it always helped to reset…training looks awesome keep pluggin away!
bird - fair enough about the sock. thought that might be the case.
MOM - yes, hard to focus on just one thing at a time. need to remind myself my current priority is starting strength. it is good that way, actually, since i do better with oly lifting mobility in the summer since my joints are more mobile then.
dasher - thanks!
matty - yeah. i think i’ll be able to do reps eventually at lower weights. at the moment i’m finding it really very hard to keep my hips down, though, so need to honestly assess my start position for each rep before i let myself pull it. trying to remember - better for me to do it properly and have my legs fail than lift more weight but overtrain my lower back and still have weak legs!
TRAINING –
rolling.
some work on snatches. up to 35kg. needed to back off (to 20kg) to work positions and form. feeling a bit sad that my form isn’t very reliable these days. but still, guess i need to expect that to happen since i’m not training them (and not a lot else!!) anymore. when my form is good my poor squat (and strength generally) is limiting. i’ll get back to snatching everyday over the summer.
some work on power-jerks. not able to hit a tight position for them with an upright torso with a clean grip today. finally figured out my lower back was saying ‘let me recover from deadlifts damn you!!’ so backed off.
30 minutes AMT not pushing myself too hard.
2x15kg 60 second planks
1x20kg 60 second plank
could really feel that my body is just recovering from yesterday… and preparing for tomorrow heh.
edit – i’m not quite sure what i’m supposed to be doing with my shoulders when the bar is in the overhead position. i want to try and contract my lats because i think that pulls my wrists into a more stable position but i’m not quite sure because i’m having some trouble voluntarily contracting them. will work some wide-grip pulling type action. have been focused up on narrower grip pulling type action with a chin-up grip but really need to focus on lats more than biceps i think. know already that the weights are gonna be humbling!
Well done on achieving your strength goals. The squat will happen - Starting Strength is a pretty good programme to help you build on what you’ve already achieved thus far.
The rest will come in time.
[quote]alexus wrote:
patch - thanks you guys need to take a lot of credit for my progress. people here have been so inspiring and supportive for me. wonderful. means a great deal. [/quote]
Ok, I’ll take credit. I’ve done a good job in here
How are you feeling about SS as a whole? I’m really liking it.
Press has stalled already.
At my best I got:
1x5@15kg
1x5@20kg
1x5@27.5kg
1x5@30kg
1x5@27.5kg
1x5@20kg
so I know i have more in me.
maybe…
while i get that the whole point of SS is increasing the weights each time… I get that there are many different ways to progress. Keep trying… One day soon I’ll get 3x5@27kg. I’ve done it before so I can surely do it again. And one day, I’ll surely do more.
minimal - yup, i’ll definitely listen to nimain. she’s made some great progress on her leg goals and i hope to follow in her footsteps.
cal - thanks. my squat is starting to feel better. getting the hang of sitting back a bit, i think.
pch - do you mind if i still think of you as pch? i’m really liking SS. enjoying benching a lot. the squats are starting to feel much more natural and comfortable to me than oly lifting ones, that are more of a lifetime goal for me, i think. i’m really optimistic that i’ll make good gains on the back squats so that makes me real happy.
cal - hmm. i forgot that presses usually are the first to stall. i think that dropping the weight / working in a different rep range really is the thing to do. i find i can press to failure every time i train them, no problem. can make progress working with less than max - in fact i think i progress better that way as i have a bit of work to do on glute / ab activation and avoiding my face while getting the bar back over my traps.
accipiter - i’m almost enjoying my planks now that i’ve fixed the max time i want (60 seconds) and work on adding more weight to them. can’t wait 'till i need to ask people to give me a hand by adding some plates!
you guys need to take a lot of credit for my progress. people here have been so inspiring and supportive for me. wonderful. means a great deal.