Thats the same cert im studying for…
I’m also planning to go back to school next fall!
Deloading week:
Squat:
70x5
90x5
105x5
I had another trainer observe my form and give me some pointers about tightening up. That didn’t seem to make as much of a difference (he basically moved my stance around and had me tighten my abs harder throughout the squat). However, the breathing technique he taught me was much more useful. That made it feel a 100xs easier.
Here’s a question on form: this guy suggested that I push my elbows back and up, so the bar sits in the little crevace between my rear deltoid and arm. I’ve heard from various other sources that it’s better to push the elbows forward. What do you all think?
Speaking of this guy, the trainers at my gym crack me up. For instance, a lot of them are very concerned about their looks and tend to flex and fix hair in the mirror door near the back of the office. This door happens to belong to our manager. Halfway through last month, the gym chain switched managers on us, and the new one was kind of disturbed by all the random flexing and goggling. He was like “Um, can you guys stop doing that?”. Of course they still do it and he’s completely immune to it now.
Which brings me back to the trainer that was correcting my form. This guy is a stellar example of what the pressures of a huge, corporate, looks-conscious atmosphere can do to a person. When he came to the gym he was a nerdy 150lbs. Now, he’s over 200lbs of muscle, and the other day I caught him fixing his hair in our manager’s door mirror before going to do his bicep curls.
And that’s not all- he was drinking a quart of milk straight out of the carton and wearing a muscle shirt while he was at it. The guy who used to argue Star Wars came up from the weight room going “I can see my rear deltoid! Look you guys! I’ve never been able to do that before!” I of course teased him about it afterwards, and he’s since ceased doing his hair at work.
I dont’t know if Id be taking tips from a guy who is so concerned about his hair and doing bicep curls…does he squat at all?
the thing with the elbows is, is that if you drive them forward it helps to keep the arch in the back and also helps to lead with the chest out of the hole…the elbows are almost like a steering wheel!
Give it a try!
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
I dont’t know if Id be taking tips from a guy who is so concerned about his hair and doing bicep curls…does he squat at all?
the thing with the elbows is, is that if you drive them forward it helps to keep the arch in the back and also helps to lead with the chest out of the hole…the elbows are almost like a steering wheel!
Give it a try! [/quote]
The guy who does his hair and bicep curls is also really good at squatting. He trains all of the powerlifting and olympic lifting movements, and has applied all of his nerdy tendencies to learning about those. As I said, he started out at 150lbs and is now over 200 (and he’s freaking lean). That’s why I think it’s so funny that he’s buying into the looking like a Ken doll thing- it’s so NOT his personality. He’s like that kid who annoyed everyone in highschool with nerdy trivia facts, now gone hyooge.
Yeah I agree with the elbows comment Mom-in-Md made… I haven’t really seen anyone who squats big weight try and push their elbows BACK… obviously it happens sometimes when form breaks down… but I have NEVER heard it being coached that way by anyone who knows what they are doing. Also, what does he mean by “tightening your abs?”
You definitely SHOULD NOT be pulling them >IN< if that’s what he means… you are supposed to take a HUGE breath and fill your belly with air and push OUT against a belt if you are wearing one. This helps stabilize your spine and acts as a protective girdle around your core…
Sounds to me like he is just trying to flirt and act like he knows what you should be doing… =P
[quote]mmgalb727 wrote:
Yeah I agree with the elbows comment Mom-in-Md made… I haven’t really seen anyone who squats big weight try and push their elbows BACK… obviously it happens sometimes when form breaks down… but I have NEVER heard it being coached that way by anyone who knows what they are doing. Also, what does he mean by “tightening your abs?”
You definitely SHOULD NOT be pulling them >IN< if that’s what he means… you are supposed to take a HUGE breath and fill your belly with air and push OUT against a belt if you are wearing one. This helps stabilize your spine and acts as a protective girdle around your core…
Sounds to me like he is just trying to flirt and act like he knows what you should be doing… =P[/quote]
He squats 370 right now (still going up), and his methods for learning the movements were through crossfit and starting strength. I’ve watched him train, and he’s very solid in his movements (great depth, knees don’t move, perfect back, even with heavy weight). He definitely wasn’t flirting (I asked him to watch me, since it was my light day and he happened to be between clients).
When I pulled the elbows back and together, it basically tightened me across the chest. I’ve been looking through Starting Strength again, and the pictures show the models holding their elbows in the same position that he was showing me to hold mine.
However, he did want me to suck in my abs, and I know that doesn’t work. What I found the most helpful was when he showed me how to suck in a quick breath at the top, and expell hard and fast half way up. I forget what the name of that maneuver is; I know I’ve read about it in books. It was pretty easy for me to pick up because I had to do the same thing in kendo quite a bit.
Everywhere you go in fitness, there’s argument about the correct way of doing things. I definitely don’t think this guy, or anyone that I talk to, is going to have even most of the full story, but I can probably learn something helpful from quite a few of them.
OHP:
I feel silly writing out my deloading numbers. But I guess everyone should have an opportunity to laugh…
30x5
40x5
50x5
oleena, maybe you can try wall squats to help with that forward lean.
[quote]Heracles_rocks wrote:
oleena, maybe you can try wall squats to help with that forward lean.
[/quote]
Thanks Heracles. Forward lean is another issue that I’ve heard a lot of conflicting advice about.
For instance, in Starting Strength it says that the position of the bar on the back will determine how verticle you are at the bottom of the squat. For instance, if you set the bar higher on your back, you’ll stay more verticle. Also, your stance effects how verticle your back will be (the wider the stance, the more verticle. The further you point your feet out, the more verticle).
The only thing that people seem to agree on is that your knees shouldn’t be tracking over the front of your feet too much, which the wall thing would help with. It would probably also help with learning to lead with your butt. I’m definitely going to add those in somewhere.
I’m interested in more opinions and rational behind the opinions.
Deloading deadlift:
75x5
95x5
115x5
Then I did a bunch of core work because I generally avoid it.
Today I was looking back at my original training log on here, and realizing how far I’ve come in 9 months. Original squat : 95lbs. Original deadlift: 115lbs. Original bench press: 95lbs.
Also, I used to love short rest periods and core work. Now I fucking hate them.
A while back everyone was commenting about how much they hate having tiny boobs, and this eventually lead to complaints about everything we dislike about our bodies.
Today when I look in the mirror I actually have curves due to bigger quads and lats. I love it. Regardless of how weird I look in clothes, I look much better naked compared to before I started lifting. Anyone else notice this? 
On the squat: it really depends on the lifter. If you are going for a powerlifting-type squat, then most definitely you need to have your elbows pushed forward to pop out your chest more. But if your squat is just a medium stance squat, experiment with it and do whatever feels right. I come from an Oly-lifting background so I just let my elbows go in their natural position in the back squat, which is generally back a little bit.
[quote]PB Andy wrote:
On the squat: it really depends on the lifter. If you are going for a powerlifting-type squat, then most definitely you need to have your elbows pushed forward to pop out your chest more. But if your squat is just a medium stance squat, experiment with it and do whatever feels right. I come from an Oly-lifting background so I just let my elbows go in their natural position in the back squat, which is generally back a little bit.[/quote]
There is so much variation, and since I’m not a powerlifter, or an olympic lifter, I was a little confused about which style would be best for overal strength.
Okay, so update:
I just returned from a little holiday vacation. I like to think of the menu on this trip as a carb-up… Let it suffice that I ate way too much of all the wrong things… although the plate-big blueberry pancakes slathered in maple syrup with cake for desert for breakfast followed by a huge polish sausage buried in sauerkraut for lunch etc was bliss. I also managed to sample all of the wines in town for $2.50! (fucking awesome deal)
Anyway, what I mean to say is that all of the above made me look a little “fluffy”. So I’m back to food journaling, and workout scheduling/planning.
I don’t think that I can do crossfit workouts often or long enough for a cardiovascular/calorie benefit without seriously interfering with 531. Thus, this month I’m going to do 2 crossfit workouts per week, 2 hours of yoga, and 531 with the first set of recommended assistance exercises 4 days per week.
Today:
OHP:
50x5
60x5
70x5
50x5setsof10
chin-ups 5 sets of 10
plus 1hr yoga (break inbetween lifting yoga. Lifting is first, since yoga tends to involve a lot of shoulder work).
Nice chinups.
On naked vs. clothed: I’ve seen this. Some people look better in clothes than naked; some people look better naked than in clothes. I tend to think skinnyfat types look great in clothes and are disappointing in swimsuits/skimpy costumes; it’s vice versa for more muscular people.
[quote]AlisaV wrote:
Nice chinups.
On naked vs. clothed: I’ve seen this. Some people look better in clothes than naked; some people look better naked than in clothes. I tend to think skinnyfat types look great in clothes and are disappointing in swimsuits/skimpy costumes; it’s vice versa for more muscular people. [/quote]
Thanks! Unfortunately I didn’t make it through all ten with each set. I was taking about a minute break and it looked like this:
OHP:
50x10, 10, 8, 7, 6
Chinup:
10, 8, 5, 5, 4<< not so hot. Although a guy came up to me and told me that if he had arms like mine he’d stop working out. Ha. I think he was more serious than hitting on me because he actually looked a little scared and was about twice my age.
I only got 6 OHP at 70lbs. I think that when I’m finished with 531, I’m going to do a wave loading program for the OHP, since that worked so well for my bench. As I’ve said, my upper body doesn’t progress very quickly with more than 3 reps.
The yoga was too easy. I barely heated up much less broke a sweat. Need to find a harder class.
And I agree with you, Alisa, most skinny people are kind of disappointing naked, whereas the thicker women are just hot. However, I don’t think this applies equally to men.
Edit:
also, I consumed 2,137 calories today, with a ratio breakdown of 43%, 39%, 18% protein, carbs, fat. All of the carbs were produce or whole grains. I had more energy today than I’ve had in a long time.
Today went swimmingly:
Deadlift:
130x5
150x5
170x15 (new PR of 254! via rep calculator)
then:
DL 135x10 w/1min break inbetween sets (that was brutal and all of the scrawny guys on the leg machines behind me were staring like I was crazy)
Roman chair straight-leg lifts:
10repsx5sets w/1min between
Calories:
2,467 w/32/44/24 protein, carb, fat.
I took pictures two days ago, and hopefully I’ll see enough of an improvement by the end of the month to be able to post them.
Ps. If anyone noticed, I’m in a fantastic mood tonight. I had me some great lifting and some great man 
There is nothing better than the two of those combined.
170x15 (new PR of 254! via rep calculator)
Damn, nice job.
Bench press-
80x5
90x5
105x9
then
75x10
75x10
75x9
75x7
75x4
with a minute inbetween each. I’m not gonna lie- that hurt more than anything I’ve ever done to my chest. I followed it up with 5 sets of ten pushups done on a slightly elevated bar with a minute inbetween each set. It’s going to hurt so bad tomorrow.
Oleena, have you thought about doing the metcons instead of the main page WOD? I’m currently doing the same thing you’re doing-5/3/1 and Crossfit. I use the metcons usually for days I’m doing the 5/3/1 work and the main page WOD (modified depending on the movements) on days I’m not doing 5/3/1.
[quote]celibrate2047 wrote:
Oleena, have you thought about doing the metcons instead of the main page WOD? I’m currently doing the same thing you’re doing-5/3/1 and Crossfit. I use the metcons usually for days I’m doing the 5/3/1 work and the main page WOD (modified depending on the movements) on days I’m not doing 5/3/1.[/quote]
Okay, I have to confess that I’m not really doing crossfit this month . The truth is that I got bored, was running into problems with soreness interfering with lifting, and wanted to try doing the first assistance exercise workout Wendler has listed German Volume Training style (ten total sets, 1 minute inbetween each). I will try using the metcons once I get bored of this assistance work. Right now I’m just happy that I’m going into my second month of a program without feeling to urge to drop it.