From Veal to Steel

[SeaOfTeeth]

late 2012/06/25:

Gardening 1.25 hours

Gardening involved lots of squatting and bending over, which I think may have contributed -- along with the RDLs and clean drills a couple hours prior -- to the DOMS I had in my hamstrings the next two days. I hadn't had noticeable DOMS from RDLs since the first time I tried them (albeit, that DOMS was monumental).

even later 2012/06/25:

CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
PVC rolling
air squat to squat stretches (in shoes)

I finally made the not so brilliant breakthrough that my back position during squat stretches has been weird because when I descend I don't keep my back as tight as I would during regular squats and then I try to straighten it out while in the hole. At first it cut my depth, but I was back to some hams-on-calves pretty quickly.

2012/06/26:

PVC & baseball rolling
Air squat to squat stretches (in shoes)

So, so glad I got my baseball around my hips. I didn't realize how bad they were until I did it.

2012/06/27:

CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Air squat 3x5
Frankenstein front squat
50 x3
85 x3
115 x3
135 5x3
Pendlay clean drill 1 2x, 1+2 3x, 2 3x
Cleans
high hang 60 2x; +70 1x; 80 1x
(On the minute: ) high 85 2x1, 90 4x1; low singles 95, 105, 110 2x, 115, 120, 125, 130 3x, 115 2x
snatch grip push press
45 x5
55 x2
70 3x5
Pulldowns, shoulder-width
50 x5
90 x3
120 x2
140 x1
160 3x5
Dumbbell bench 45 2x7
SKIPPED Face pull 35 5x8

1 minute breaks for all work sets besides cleans.

I'd planned on taking it a little light today, but I failed. The first work set of front squats felt so solid that I did 5 sets as usual instead of the 3 planned. After the fourth set, the area just below my xiphoid process felt tight, and after the last set it hurt a little like it was on the verge of cramping up. It was hot, and after the squats were done I just kept sweating and my normal ~5 minute break didn't get me back to feeling fresh for the cleans.

All cleans, except the very last one, were done with a slightly wider grip. Up until the first 130 I had my ring finger on the ring, and then I moved to having my pinkies touch the outside of the rings. The position at the high hang or explosion felt much better with the wider grip but at heavier weights my racks were the absolute worst they've been. At 130 my right arm was wide like the clean grip (maybe wider) but my left arm came in, and I think I came close to damaging my right delt by forcing my right hand down against its will. Moving the grip in improved things, and I dropped a little on the last 130 to give myself a good looking clean PR before dropping down to 115. Most of my lifts like push presses, rows, or pull-ups tend to be done at shoulder width and I think that's made me both weaker and less flexible at wider grips. Also, on the cleans, I felt like I had no attention left to spare on moving my feet out to receive.

Snatch grip push presses were tough, and even though I was constantly trying to be towards my heels, I never really felt like I was on them. I'm not sure if that's just a perception issue, or a legitimate form problem. I think I'm going to have to move up slowly on these.

Both pulldowns and db benches felt fine and were in good form. No weight increase on pulldowns because the machine here only does 10 lbs. increments.

Still thinking about a light week or deload or something, but maybe I just need to eat more. I'll finally be home this weekend so I can check my weight.

[SeaOfTeeth]

late 2012/06/27 and 2012/06/28:

PVC + baseball rolling
Calf stretches

Major soreness between my right scapula and backbone, especially near the top of the scapula. Middle delts and lower back were more tense than usual.

2012/06/29:

CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Air squats 3x5
Squat
50 x5
85 x3
115 x3
145 x3 (should have been 2)
178.6 2x5, x6 (1.75 min. breaks)
Press
45 x5
65 x3
85 x2
103.6 4x3, x4 (1.5 min. breaks)
85 x8 (goal of 10)
SKIPPED Pendlay clean drill 1 2x, 1+2 6x, 2 3x
RDL
50 x5
95 x3
Deadlift
135 x2
185 x1
220 3x3 (1 min. breaks)

Squats were solid, although I never felt as upright as I did on the last set from the previous session. I focused on my right leg, and felt well-balanced left-to-right. I was a tiny bit forward on the second rep of the first work set.

I'm trying a Bill Starr influenced press routine, only instead of hitting 6 sets of 3 before moving up 5 pounds and going for at least 3 sets of 3 next time, I'm aiming for 5 sets of 3 before I move up either 1.25 or 2.5 pounds (I'll decide before next Friday). There were several reps with either a slow down or very slight grinding in my sticking point, but only the bonus rep at the end was a true grind and my overall form felt better than usual. After letting my elbows go wide to get through a sticking point on the second set, a right rotator cuff muscle felt worked hard and I focused on keeping my elbows narrow/forward on tough reps. It seemed to help me push through. I did my usual static hold after the last work set, but I think that cuts down on my ability to do the drop set of 10 Bill Starr recommends. The static hold stays, though, as I think it's valuable.

Deadlifts were somewhat inefficient because I was too focused on keeping an arched lower back. Although I adjusted my back and breathed between reps, I didn't notice my grip changed when the bar hit the floor and twice I was pulling with just my fingertips on the bar. Psychologically, I strongly prefer RDLs because I can feel my back's arch much better.

[SeaOfTeeth]

2012/06/30:

CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
3x3 sweeps
Air squats 3x5
Pendlay drill 1 3x 1+2 6x 2 6x. Front squats on last of 1, all but the first of 1+2, and all of 2.
3x {high hang power clean -> front squat -> power jerk x3}
Stairs 7 min lvl 10
2x {rowing 400m, incline shoulder raise 25, air squats}
2x {pulldowns 60, oblique twists 12.5, air squats}
Ab pulldowns 85 x13, 2x15

Moved back home and did this at my regular gym. Something was wrong with the HVAC, and I was glistening with sweat just from a couple of empty bar high hang cleans. Ran out of time and missed several things I usually do on conditioning days.

A couple of my low hang clean drills had my front squat fluid with receiving the bar for the first time, so I'm making progress on receiving low. Felt needles in my legs at the bottom the first several times I did it, which means they weren't warmed up enough.

My arms and hands didn't get in the rack position nearly as well as they have been lately. Weird.

First time in three weeks that I've done ab pulldowns, and my right pec by my sternum and a right rotator cuff muscle hurt a bit while doing it.

2012/07/01:

PVC rolled my quads and hips
Baseball rolled my back and shoulders
Squat stretches in shoes

One bad thing about being home is PVC rolling is more painful on my hands and wrists when done on hardwoods, so I skipped the sides and posterior of my legs. Should have baseball rolled my lower legs, as they were super-tight the next day.

2012/07/02:

CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Light foam rolling
Air squats 3x5
Squat
50 x5
85 x3
120 x3
150 x2
180 3x5 (1.75 min. breaks)
Push press
45 x5
70 x3
95 x2
115 4x3 , x5 No static hold on the last rep. (1 min. breaks)
Pendlay clean drill 1 2x, 1+2 6x, 2 3x. Front squats on all.
RDL
50 x3 (hook)
105 x2 (hook)
155 3x5 (1 min. breaks)
Brief squat stretches

Forgot my fractional plates were packed away and not in my backpack. I rounded squats and push presses weights down, and rounded RDL up.

Squats were okay. Left-right balance was a little off on some reps, and though I was chest-up on my reps I only felt like I hit my ideal upright form on a rep in the last set. Felt like I did a great job keeping my upper back very tight.

After reading more and re-examining vids (e.g., Klokov, Ben Claridad), I decided I need much more push in my push presses. The first two work reps were spot-on, but then I fought to remember my form while not letting my thinking about form get in the way of actually doing it. It felt very different, and I was much better than usual about pushing my head through while also getting the bar back. Tagged my chin on the second-to-last rep and my abs weren't as tight on the very last rep as they should have been, so my usual long static hold was out.

Clean drills went well. My form for the front squats-->catches became better and better right up to the end. It seemed like my muscles were warming up for front squats the entire time.

RDLs were solid. Grip is still barely lasting through the work sets.

Felt sore in between my left shoulder and spine as soon as I got home and finished my shower. Normally when I'm sore in that small area, it's been on the right side.

[SeaOfTeeth]

Late 2012/7/02:

PVC rolled quads and hip flexors. Baseball rolled back, delts, chest, and rear part of my hips.

2012/7/03:

Stairs 12 min lvl 9
CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Arm dislocations
Pendlay drill 1+2 5x, 1 5x, 2 5x. Front squats on all.
OH squat 2x1 (stopped due to terrible form)
~5 front squats, w/hands and without
Squat stretching
Foam rolling (included front of lower legs)

Noticed my front squats on the clean drills were much wider than my usual front squats and hit my adductors. OH squats sucked. Then I tried to do my usual Frankenstein front squats and couldn't get it right.

Squat stretches were great. I got my thighs touching so far down my calves that my shorts touched my socks, and played around with foot angle and width while staying in a squat for maybe 5 minutes (maybe more). Unfortunately, it was also kind of disheartening to see that even with that much thigh-on-calf action my hips were centered well behind my feet. I could only get my torso upright by raising my hips a bit, which also lowered my knees.

Later: baseball rolled my delts, back, and rear part of my hips.

2012/7/04:

CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Air squat 3x5
Frankenstein front squat
50 2x3
95 x3
115 x2
140 4x3, x4
Pendlay clean drill 1+2 4x, 1 4x, 2 4x. Only front squatted on the very first one.
Cleans
high hang 60 2x; 70 1x; 80 1x
(On the Minute: ) high 85 2x1, 90 2x1; low 95, 100, 105 2X1; high 90 2x2; low 105 4x2
Snatch grip push press
45 x5
60 x2
72.5 3x5
SKIPPED Pulldowns, shoulder-width
Dumbbell bench 45 2x8
SKIPPED Face pull

1 minute breaks on all work sets (besides cleans)

A tough day. 102 degrees on my walk to the gym, and something around my rhomboids or lower traps cramped up on the way. I thought I might not be able to clean at all (or that I shouldn't), but it cleared up enough that I did. Left forearm and right bicep was bruised from SMR, lower back was tight from one side to the other.

Front squats were actually good. I tacked on an extra warm-up set after the form weirdness yesterday, and it worked. The fourth work set was troubled from the first rep, when I tilted a bit. Even though I recovered and angled the bar back into place, I was balanced around front-midfoot on the following two reps. Tacked on an extra rep on the last set as punishment. My form on these feels light years ahead of my form when I try to front squat after a clean, and I need to figure out how to transition these into my cleans.

Cleans were brutal. No energy or pop on the drills, and sweat buckets from right after front squats until after cleans. I finally willed some energy in the work sets, but my timing on low hangs got worse and more awkward. My hook grip hasn't re-adjusted to the larger bar, so my forearms were more tense than they have been on cleans.

Snatch grip push presses were probably the best form I've had. I kept my abs tight, had better pushes, and I also slowed the descent of the bar until around the top of my head. Could have used more glutes in the standing position, and my arm speed was lacking (I think the slower descents wore my delts out).

Skipped pulldowns to save my forearms. Skipped face pulls by accident, though with the rhomboid-area cramp they probably would have been a bad idea.

[SeaOfTeeth]

2012/07/05:

~2-2.5 mile walk
Knee hugs, quad walks
PVC rolled left upper leg and front of left lower leg
Baseball rolled left leg quads, back, delts, rear hips, and left leg quads again
Massaged left leg quads and hamstrings

With the 104 degree heat, I was locked in all day, but I noticed my left leg was stiff and I took a walk in the hopes of getting it to clear up. When I got home and tried to do quad walks, there was a lot of pain trying to bend my left knee closed and also just below the back of my left knee there was sort of a crunching pain that I recognized as a hamstring. I figured out that the first part was from muscle tension, and I beat the crap out of the area around my vastus lateralis and IT band. It helped. Eventually I did a child's pose and it took a while before I could get my left leg to go ham-on-calf, and I felt a lot of tension below and on the inside of my knee joint. Then I iced most of the circumference of the knee joint.

2012/07/06:

CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Air squats 3x5
Squat
50 x5
85 x3
120 x3
150 x2
183.6 3x5 (1.75 min. breaks)
Press
45 x5
65 x3
85 x2
105 4x3, x4 (1.25 min. breaks)
85 x8 (pause at bottom before last two reps)
RDL
50 x5 (hook)
95 x3 (hook)
130 x2 (hook)
Deadlift
135 x2
185 x1
225 3x3 (1 min. breaks)

I was surprised I made it through. My left leg wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday -- e.g., quad walks didn't hurt at all -- but it wasn't normal either, and at least a couple of other parts felt like they were waiting for any excuse to complain.

I took a slightly wider angle with my feet on squats because I'd read that vastus lateralis tightness came from straight/narrow work, and I focused on pushing my knees out as I went down. My left leg felt a little weak towards the end, but my left-right balance was good and there wasn't any pain beyond a couple tiny complaints from that hamstring. My hips weren't coming forward aggressively in the hole, but they weren't going back.

Presses surprised me with how easy they felt. Elbows in at the bottom seems to be the key, but even the static hold at the end of the 105s was so easy that I was starting to get bored holding it until I squeezed everything as hard as I could. Then of course I couldn't finish the back-off set, which I guess will always be the case for this scheme.

Deadlifts were good, even though it wasn't until after the extra RDL warm-up that I decided not to wuss out and RDL instead of deadlift. The extra RDLs made me panic for a split second on my first deadlift warm-up because it felt so light I literally thought maybe the weight had fallen off. On the first work set, my right upper trap+neck got tweaked hard (later at home, it hurt to swallow until I massaged my neck), and after that I kept my head in line with my torso rather than look ~15 feet forward that I read in SS. Things were good after that, although my grip was straining when I did a static hold at the end. Not sure how much longer I can manage 1 minute breaks on these.

My left leg is already starting to tighten back up, and there are various other complaints I want to make but won't. I think it's time for some sort of de-load or light week, but I'm not certain what to do. Given a light week, I'll use that time to consider any changes to the program. The two I'm currently thinking about are dropping my back squat weight down to become a real hard-ass about getting upright and hips forward in the hole, and switching to two days of front squats and one day of back squats. The latter is both because I need to get my frankenstein front squat form to carry over to my regular front squats and cleans, and because then maybe I'd have less chance of becoming under-recovered. The program seems to be working pretty well so far, so I don't want to mess around too much with it.

[SeaOfTeeth]

2012/07/07: Flexibility, form, and recovery

CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans (longer holds than usual on spidermans)
Light foam rolling
3x5 RDLs
3x3 sweeps
Pendlay drill 1+2 5x
3x {high hang power clean -> Frankenstein front squat -> front squat x2}
Pendlay drill 2 5x
3x {high hang power clean -> front squat -> power jerk x3}
Squat stretching
6x {high clean -> push press to behind neck -> slow squat w/very long static hold at bottom x2 -> push press to front & rack}
Stretching: { Child pose; wide child pose (w/minor internal rotation); prone calf/hip/quad stretch;
piriformis stretch; Reclined Bound Angle Pose [got that name from a website]; child pose; prone calf/hip/quad stretch }
Foam roll thighs and side-fronts of lower legs

Changed things up after I started doing clean drills. Normally this is a conditioning day but since I was already a little tight and banged up, I threw that out the window.

Hitting regular front squats was better. At first I twisted my forearms to lessen the tension on my hands against the bar, and then I got my palms under the bar and my hands stopped distracting me. My Frankensteins are still better, but I think it's just a matter of matching the mentality I have when I do them -- that I need that hard arch to hold or I'll lose the bar. Not sure if I can get my palms under the bar when receiving cleans.

I've never tried squats after doing squat stretches because I stay in the hole for a very, very long time and usually have a tough time even standing up out of them. Anyway, I worked on bar placement and my front-back balance and I have to say it was a lot of effort and yet I don't know what I got out of it. There's so little feedback with such a light weight that getting the bar over the middle of my feet was cerebral and not by feel. Then I noticed I was towards the front of my feet, and found I could completely shift the front-back weight balance simply by flexing my lower back (without any significant movement). Even though I don't know what to make of it all, it seems like I should try this again unless I come up with a better idea for improving my form on off days.

My abs were starting to complain near the end. I think the deadlifts made my usual Saturday ab work unnecessary.

Still not sure what to do for a light week this coming week.

[SeaOfTeeth]

2012/07/08: Off week: Flexibility and recovery
Desk stretches -- esp. worked on internal rotation of legs
CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks
Child pose, wide child pose w/internal rotation, prone calf/hips/quad stretch
Squat stretches (wider stances than usual)
PVC rolled quads and rear of hips

Focused on internal rotation of my legs. Squat stretches felt like a big step up, especially in trying to sit between my legs rather than on top of them.

2012/07/09: Off week: Deloaded squats, flexibility, and form.
CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Light foam rolling
Prone calf/quad/hip stretch
RDLs 45 4x5
Rack position stretch
Frankstein front squat, front squat: {(x3, nil), (x1, x2), (x2, x1), (nil, x3)}
Squat
45 2x5
75 x3
95 x2
110 3x5 (~5 sec. in the hole on the last rep)
Pendlay drill 1+2 5x 1 5x 2 5x.
Squat stretching
Reverse crunches x3 (hip flexor-hip area pain), 2x10, x5 (ab pain)
Dislocations 3x5
2x { Child pose, wide child pose (w/minor internal rotation), prone calf/hips/quad stretch }
Foam rolling (missed adductors, hit back as well as shins)

Very disappointed in my squats as it felt like yesterday's form didn't carry over at all. On front squats, I finally noticed that I always end up with my feet at a very wide angle to each other in order to hit depth. I couldn't fix it, since the torque on my leg would just spin them outward if I tried to keep the angle smaller. Back squats didn't seem any better than normal. I felt crappy by the last set, but I thought about how my normal form for back squats isn't really that terrible and did it that way.

I noticed a little ability to handle internal rotation, including having a tiny bit on the regular child pose when I wasn't even thinking about it. My guesses for improving squats and eventually being able to squat snatch are ankle improvement and being able to deal with internal rotation on my legs since it seems like most good squatters have some in the hole. Tried some internal rotation during part of my squat stretching, and it looked better (ignoring that I used my arms to hold my torso up).

This was a lot of work for a day off. Left leg, glutes, and midsection are still full of tension.

[SeaOfTeeth]

2012/07/10: Off week: Light recovery
Walked fast for a few miles
PVC rolled upper legs and glutes
Baseball rolled back, delts, and calves

2012/07/11: Off week: Conditioning, form, flexibility
CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Stairs 8 min lvl 10
2x {rowing 400m, press x7, air squats}
2x {pulldowns 60, incline shoulder raise 30, air squats}
Plank 2x 15-count
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Light foam rolling
Prone calf/quad/hip stretch
RDLs 45 3x5
Rack position stretch
Air squats 3x5
Frankstein front squat, front squat: 3x3
Pendlay drill 1+2 5x 1 5x 2 5x.
Squat stretching
Dislocations 3x5
2x { Child pose, Wide child pose (w/minor internal rotation), Prone calf stretch }
Foam rolling

My left leg is still touchy in the same three different ways, all in or around the knee area. There were a couple of moments of pain doing front squats, even though they otherwise seemed solid (given the wide angle between my feet). There was some discomfort during child pose, and the upper, outer part of my calf just below the back of my knee had a little pain walking home.

Even though I went in too long after eating and had nothing left in the tank by the end, I was still thinking "Damn, I want to lift", while I was finishing up the foam rolling. Hip flexors needed a ton of rolling.

[SeaOfTeeth]

2012/07/12: Off Week: Lazy

PVC rolled quads and back of hips. Later, baseball rolled back of hips.

Ha! A day off that was almost actually a day off.

2012/07/13: Off week: Deload or New Friday Program?
CAthletics twists
knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Ankle-spiderman holds
Air squats 3x5
Squat
50 x5
95 x3
120 x3
150 x2
185 2x5 (3.25 min. break)
Press
45 x5
70 x3
90 x2
107.5 4x3, x4 (1.25 min. breaks)
85 x7
RDL
50 x5 (hook)
95 x3 (hook)
135 x2 (hook)
Deadlift
150 x2
190 x1
230 2x3 (3.25 min. break)
Child pose, wide child pose, Ankle-spiderman holds.

I still have some aches and tightness, but in general I feel about how I normally feel while training and so I figured I may as well lift. After how raggedy I felt last week, I'm going to work on ways to prevent that from happening again but I also want to avoid getting too complicated since I'm still a beginner. Maybe I'll do the same thing but plan on taking a couple of lifting days off every few weeks, or I might try light days or something.

Squats were good, but I don't know if I would have made it through my regular three sets. Finally got to move up to a 25 lbs. plate outside the 45, which is a nice little beginner milestone.

Presses didn't feel quite as tight as last week, but they were still good. The rest periods need to get longer, as I was feeling it by the last set. The fourth rep was a modest grind, but didn't hurt the long static hold. My delts and traps were crying during the drop set.

Deads felt good. I feel more confident that I hold my arch throughout, and was a little quicker lowering the bar (though still too slow). Grip wasn't an issue at all. A rep PR and tied for weight PR, so it's PRs on up from here.

The extra time between sets didn't seem to do anything. Added a couple of stretches at the end, but my ankle was super tight on dorsiflexion, which made child pose very difficult at first. The Ankle-spiderman is a made-up name for something I saw in a MWOD video that should help from ankle to hip in squatting.

[SeaOfTeeth]

2012/07/14: Stretching and Recovery

CAthletics twists
Knee hugs, quad walks, spidermans
Prone calf/quad/hip stretch
Ankle-spiderman holds
RDLs 3x5
Air squats 3x5
Rack position stretch
Frankstein front squat -> front squat: (3, 0), (1, 2), (0, 3)
Pendlay drill 1+2 4x 1 4x 2 4x.
Squat stretching
Reverse crunches 3x10
Dislocations 3x5
2x { Child pose, Wide child pose (w/minor internal rotation), Prone calf/quad/hip stretch }
Ankle-spiderman holds
Foam rolling

During squat stretches I briefly hit what I think should be my goal squat form. My stance was slightly wider than usual for me, my feet were near forward, I was pushing down on the outside of my feet, and my legs were slightly internally rotated compared with normal. This all brought my hips a bit forward and feeling more in-between my legs, and I finally felt a stretch in my adductors when I pushed out my knees with my elbows. That stretch never made much sense to me before now. Other things I'd heard about squats make more sense, too, and just from sitting in the hole briefly I could tell it was a more powerful position. I think it's worth the time and effort it'll take to switch.

My lower legs were dying after the squat stretches. It's the first time where I had trouble hitting child pose because my calves hurt. I expect once I'm able to switch form, I'll probably have to start over from an empty bar and build back up so my legs can adjust.