Kerpal's Training Log

[Kerpal]

Kerpal, overhead press is a hard one to progress. The best routine I've heard of for this is the Hepburn press routine (look the guy up, fellow strongman from Paul Anderson's time).

Give it a try. I know people who have stalled on their presses have progressed nicely from doing it.

This looks interesting, might give it a try.

The only good news is I have nothing to lose with my presses, so I'm willing to try anything. Don't really want to cut back on my squatting/deadlifting though

 

[Kerpal]

As far as the linear progression goes: I think that previously it had done all it could for you. Then the month of gave your cns time to recuperate, and when you came back you started eating more and your weight went up. This is cheating linear progression off sorts. I'm around 175 right now, if I did gomad and started Rippetoe tommorow, sure I could up my dead and squat for a good while, but I'd end up 200+ like you have done.

All you're really doing with the weight gain is setting your potential higher. Once your weight gain stops the program is going to level off like it did before

True, but I've only gained 9 lbs since my surgery, and my squat has gone up 40 lbs. I believe I simply wasn't eating enough to recover very well before the surgery. I also think a lot of this weight is just liquid from drinking so much milk, and fat because it hasn't exactly been clean. So hopefully I'll be able to clean up the diet and cut some fat later on. Don't care too much about it right now though, as long as my lifts keep going up.

 

[Kerpal]

04/07/10

Squat:

2 x 5 x 365 lbs
2 x 365 lbs (failed 3 rd rep)

1 arm DB overhead press:

8 x 55 lbs (per side)
7 x 55 lbs (left side), 8 x 55 lbs (right side)
4 x 55 lbs (left side)

I ate something last night that made me sick today. I was crapping my brains out all day and my stomach was bothering me so it ****** up my workout, cut it short. Still a squat PR, and I think I could have gotten all 3 sets if not for that.

 

[Jitterbug]

You don't have to cut back on your squatting or DLing to get your presses up. That's nonsense.

Btw do your overhead presses before your squat or DL. It won't affect your SQ or DL performance that way, but vice versa, it does.

 

[Fuglydude]

Great squat, especially considering that were sick!

 

[Kerpal]

...

 

[Kerpal]

04/10/10

Squat:

3 x 5 x 365 lbs

Bench press:

12 x 155 lbs
8 x 155 lbs

Deadlift:

3 x 430 lbs
1 x 430 lbs

I walked out to my car to drive to the gym today, and noticed I had a screw sticking out of my tire. So I stopped at the tire place on my way there to get it patched. I ended up waiting so long for that that by the time I got to the gym I only had an hour before they closed, so I had to rush thru everything. Probably would have gotten the bench if not for that.

Deadlifts are feeling very heavy lately. May be time to deload them. I did 4 with 430, but I rested about 30 seconds between reps 3 and 4 so it wasn’t technically a strict set.

The squats are also wearing me out. Since I have been taking 2-3 workouts to hit a 5lb squat increase these days, I think I am going to switch to the “Advanced novice” program next week. It’ll look like this:

Monday: Squat, pressing movement, chin/pull
Wednesday: Light squat, pressing movement, deadlift
Friday: Squat, pressing movement, pull/chin

This way I won’t be fatigued from heavy squats before pressing and deadlifting on Wednesday. Also have been neglecting pull/chin ups, maybe those will help my bench.

 

[CaptainJ]

All I can say is congrats for really milking starting strength to get those numbers! Good luck on your new routine. Are you going to incorporate power cleans?

 

[Kerpal]

04/12/10

Squat:

2 x 5 x 370 lbs
4 x 370 lbs

Failed 4th rep. I don’t know why, it felt like I should have gotten it.

1 x 405 lbs
1 x 405 lbs

Finally hit 4 plates each side. After I failed with 370, I put the bar back on the pins and was going to just do 1 rep with 370. But I put 405 on on a whim. Unracked it and it felt a lot lighter than I expected, no heavier than 370 felt. Did a single and it felt so smooth and easy I thought to myself “No way, I must have cut it high”. I got my camera out of my bag and recorded myself doing another single, this one wasn’t quite as smooth, bit of a grinder, but it was deep and clean

1 arm DB overhead press:

5 x 5 x 55 lbs (each arm)

I wasn’t doing this before, but today I braced myself with my non working arm against the side of a rack like Poliquin says in this article: http://www.tmuscle.com/readArticle.do?id=922014 I was expecting this to make it harder, but it actually made it feel a lot easier. It prevented me from leaning to the non-working side like I always do, so I didn't get that burning feeling in the side of my lower back/hip area.

Chin up:

10 x bodyweight
8 x bodyweight
6 x bodyweight

Haven’t done chin/pull ups in a while. I’ve gotten a lot weaker on these, will have to start doing them more often and improve.

 

[Kerpal]

All I can say is congrats for really milking starting strength to get those numbers! Good luck on your new routine. Are you going to incorporate power cleans?

Thanks. I haven't done power cleans in a while. I don't really like doing them that much, but they seem to increase even if I don't train them as long as my squat/deadlift increase. I think I did 5 x 3 x 225 last time I did them.

 

[Fuglydude]

Congrats on the squat numbers! The 4 plate mark is a definite milestone. You're probably very close to doing a single w/ 5 plates on deads!

Keep it up!

 

[Kerpal]

Thanks

My abs are pretty sore today. I'm not sure if it's from squatting with the belt, or bracing my upper body while overhead pressing.

BTW, I will be wearing the belt for all heavy squat and probably deadlift work sets from now on. I'm also going to start wearing a pair of knee sleeves (not wraps) soon for squats. I was always iffy on the use of a belt and knee sleeves before I read this article: http://startingstrength.com/articles/baby_bathwater_gear_gibson.pdf

I still think squat suits and bench shirts are ****ing retarded though

 

[Kerpal]

04/14/10

Squat:

2 x 5 x 295 lbs

Dumbbell bench press:

2 x 15 x 60 lbs (each hand)

The bench press bros were out in full force today and I didn’t feel like waiting half an hour for a bench so I just used dumbbells. I prefer dumbbells to the straight bar, I don't have to go thru the hassle of waiting for a bench to open and getting someone to spot me.

Sumo deadlift:

10-12* x 405 lbs

This wasn’t a straight set. It was composed of triples, doubles and singles. My lower back is feeling extremely fatigued lately so I dropped the weight and did sumos today, playing around with different stance widths and getting used to it since I don’t sumo very much.

Dips:

2 x 10 x bodyweight

I’m going to skip heavy back work on Friday and just work on my pecs & guns give my lower back a chance to recover.

 

[Kerpal]

04/16/10

Quick workout today:

1 arm DB overhead press:

2 x 5 x 60 lbs (per arm)
4 x 60 lbs

Failed on 5th rep with left arm, did 4 with right.

Push press:

5 x 135 lbs
1 x 165 lbs
7 x 135 lbs (tried for 8, failed 8th rep)
5 x 135 lbs

First time dong push presses. These require a lot more technique than I thought. You have to time it just right.

Triceps machine

2 x 15 x 70 lbs

Yes, I actually used a machine! Lol. Can’t remember the last time I used a machine other than the reverse hyper.

 

[Kerpal]

I've still been training, just haven't recorded last few workouts here.

My squat is completely stuck now, in 4 workouts I have not been able to progress past 370 with the 3x5 rep scheme. In fact I have regressed slightly, I got 4/3/3 on my last workout, so it's obviously time for a change. I could try deloading 20 lbs and working back up to 370, but I think I've pushed simple linear progression to my limit. I'm open to suggestions on what kind of program to follow now. Criteria:

1. Focus on strength training and improving my numbers in the big lifts, not aesthetics. I want to look good, but it's not my primary concern.

2. I want to perform the full lifts with heavy weight and low reps as often as possible, my strength plummets if I don't. Programs like 5/3/1 simply don't work for me because I experience extreme soreness after coming back from the regularly scheduled deloads, and then I have a hard time completing the workouts and recovering from the soreness.

I was thinking about some kind of Westside type program without box squats/bands and other stuff designed for geared lifters, that would be fun since there's a lot of variation involved, and it might work well for me since you work up to max lifts frequently. I enjoyed doing the Dave Tate bench program because you're always doing different stuff so you don't get bored easily.

Any ideas?

 

[Jitterbug]

Regarding a program, check your PM, Kerpal.

 

[Kerpal]

04/29/10

Squat:

1 x 405 lbs
4 x 9 x 315 lbs

Decided to up the reps and get out of my comfort zone. First 2 sets felt great, 3rd was a bit tough, and the last set was a grinder. I got to rep 7 and almost every muscle in my body was burning. I was dizzy afterwards and had to sit down for about 15 minutes but I felt fine after that.

Before the 4 x 9, I warmed up to a single with 405. It felt relatively easy. I would guess my max to be around 415-425 at the moment based on how it felt.

1 arm DB OHP:

4 x 65 lbs (each arm)
4 x 65 lbs (each arm)
3 x 65 lbs (each arm)

Deficit Deadlift:

5 x 405 lbs, 1 weight plate under each foot

Close grip floor press:

7 x 185 lbs

Just did this for fun. I was pretty wiped out after this and went home.

 

[Kerpal]

05/11/10

Had to take almost 2 weeks off because of finals and moving into a new apartment.

Squat:

1 x 405 lbs
5 x 5 x 335 lbs
3 x 335 lbs (failed 4th rep)

Dumbbell bench press:

12 x 65 lbs
10 x 65 lbs

Deadlift:

4 x 405 lbs
4 x 405 lbs

Had to use straps here because I was at the gym that doesn't let me use chalk. Took me a while to figure out how to strap them to the bar correctly.

 

[Fuglydude]

Ya, straps suck ass. Your squat has really taken off, and I expect deads to follow.

Keep it up! 315 x 9 is a tough tough set... I've never gotten more than 6 reps w/ that weight.

 

[Kerpal]

Yeah, unfortunately I got yelled at last time I used chalk at that gym so I got a pair of straps. They're a pain in the ass to use but I can't hold onto max weights without chalk or straps.

I really need to stop squatting and deadlifting on the same day... the weights are getting heavy enough now that that isn't going to fly anymore.

I'm thinking about attempting 315 x 20 soon after seeing this video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbFGdpQD_O0

****ing insane.