It’s log! It’s log! It’s big, it’s heavy, it’s wood...

[InherentlyBetter]

Will attempt to keep log here for accountability and stuff. Long time lurker on these forums and the SS forums.

Listed as Weight x Sets x Reps unless otherwise noted
Weight in pounds

38y.o. male coming up on one year of consistent training. I attempted to run a SSLP in the fall of 2015 and got about 6-8 weeks of inconsistent progress. Tried again in the spring of 2016 and got up to about a 235x5 squat, 275x5 deadlift, 135x5 press, and 180x5 bench at a body weight of 215 and a 42.5” waist. Got online coaching from Santana (prior to SSOC), maintained strength and had a few small PRs while dropping 15lbs and 2.5”. Then I graduated grad school and took a hiatus from all things physical.

Tried lifting again in spring ‘17, tweaked my back, couldn’t un-tweak it, and took more time off. Then spent 10months working with a local SSC at his gym. Made some good progress but stalled out after a while, especially once I started trying to lose fat again as there was little change to my programming. So, now I’m on my own with goals to get down to a 37” or less waistline, maintain as much strength as I can in the process, and then do some strength programming that doesn’t involve me grinding myself into the ground. I’m about four weeks into my current programming of a 4-day set-up which is based off what I was doing with Santana (since I’m back to trying to lose fat). I’ve added heavy singles to try and keep a gauge on strength. We’ll see how it goes.

PRs
S: 315x1 (Feb 9th), 285x5 (March 19)
B: 225x4 (March 23) - done as close grip
P: 175x1 (March 14)
D: 365x3 (March 8)

Most recent session:
Deficit deadlifts: 265x2x5
Strict press: 127.5x3x8
Curlzzz

Only been on track with macros for 4 of the last seven days and still down 1.5lbs. So that’s a win.

[Wilhelm]

Welcome, @InherentlyBetter!

Thanks for adding your log.

[InherentlyBetter]

5/21/18
Youngest had her birthday party over the weekend, lots of family in town, lots of piss poor nutrition since about Thursday.
Squats: 280x1, 300xFAIL (tipped forward and couldn’t get out of it), 225x5x5
Bench: 205x1, 165x5x5 - felt it in my elbow after the single, it was better by the last set
Max rep Chins x 3 sets: 9,7,6

The squat fail pissed me off and gassed me too. Bastard chicken legs making squats suck.

[InherentlyBetter]

5/22/18
Deadlift: 325x1, 265x3x5 - everything felt heavy today...that top single was supposed to be my last warmup for a planned 345-355, but it moves way too slow, and it shouldn’t have been hard. Dropped intensity on volume accordingly.
Press: 170x1, 140x5x5 - this at least went well, although i overshot that single a bit.
Rows: 155x3x8 - easy
Pull Ups: 5, 5, 5

[InherentlyBetter]

5/24/18
3-0-3 Tempo Squats: 200x3x5 - getting better, but still working on keeping my knees from sliding forward at the bottom
CGBP: 155x3x8 - easy and no pain on the elbow today
LTE: 65x3x8

[InherentlyBetter]

5/26/18
Yesterday I didn’t feel like training, so I asked myself, “Well, what are you gonna do? Not train?”
To which I replied to myself, “yup. I’m not training.”
So I did it today instead.
Deficit deadlift: 270x2x5
Strict press: 130x3x8
Weighted chins: 10#x3x5
Curlzzz: seated dumbbell for 3 sets of 10 followed by barbell drop-sets for three sets of 10

[InherentlyBetter]

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[InherentlyBetter]

Fell off the wagon and crawled into a hole. Went through some life event stuff (job changes) and then jacked up my finger so bad that it had to get a rod drilled into it for a while. The rod comes out next week (thankfully).
7/22 - started back after two months off. Starting light and low volume; will increase both over the next few weeks to get back on track.
Squats: 150x5 - did fives up to this weight and stopped here
Press: 110x5 - same as squats. The pin in my finger and the splint I’m wearing make the grip awkward.
Deadlift: 185x5 - called it since the splint started to slip and it felt awful on my hand, even with straps (trying to be cautious). Will hold on deadlifts until the pin comes out

7/25
Squat: 170x2x5
Bench: 120x2x5 - this sucked on my hand. Grip felt awful. But, better than sitting around doing nothing.

[augeleven]

That sucks. Hang in there man.

[InherentlyBetter]

7/28
185x3x5 for squats (kinda ugly...struggling with maintaining low back tightness).
115x3x5 for presses.
Not bad overall and I got my three sessions in for the week...even if they didn’t follow the planned schedule. So that’s a win for trying to rebuild the habits and consistency.

[Cinic]

I've got nothing to say other than...

It's log! It's log! it's better than bad, it's good!

[InherentlyBetter]

It's log! It's log! it's better than bad, it's good!

Long live Ren and Stimpy!

7/30: Conditioning
20sec on/120sec off x five rounds on the antique Airdyne bike. I’ll be working myself up to 10 rounds over the next few weeks.

[Stenson]

I've got nothing to say other than...

It's log! It's log! it's better than bad, it's good!

From Blamo!

I was very tempted to use the same title for my log, but didn't think many would get it. Good to see there are some Ren & Stimpy fans out there

[InherentlyBetter]

7/31: Rod removed from finger. No training today. Obviously not manly enough and not focused on voluntary hardship.

8/2: Squats 190x3x5, Bench 135x3x5 - still wore the splint on my finger as I was warned to not do anything crazy with my hand. Benching still sucks with that thing.

8/4: Squats 195x3x5, Press 125x3x5 - trained without the splint and didn’t die. Still holding off on deadlifts for two weeks to be safe.

8/5: Cardio on the Airdyne. Five rounds of 20s:120s

[JohnHelton]

@InherentlyBetter I see you are rerunning your LP, progressing steadily. I did the same thing in 2017. I realized later that I hadn't lost as much strength as I thought and could have gone up faster. You might give RPE a go, as it will tell you to add more weight on the bar if you are capable. When people bad mouth RPE, they aren't acknowledging that sometimes it pushes you much harder than you would go otherwise.

[InherentlyBetter]

@InherentlyBetter I see you are rerunning your LP, progressing steadily. I did the same thing in 2017. I realized later that I hadn't lost as much strength as I thought and could have gone up faster. You might give RPE a go, as it will tell you to add more weight on the bar if you are capable. When people bad mouth RPE, they aren't acknowledging that sometimes it pushes you much harder than you would go otherwise.

No problems with RPE at all! At this point I’m just wanting to get consistent again with training while trying to manage a new job/work hours. That, and I’m looking to get my waist down to sub 38” land. I’ll be moving away from the LP style sooner rather than later.

[InherentlyBetter]

Back to lifting after vacation. Slight volume reduction since it’s been two weeks.
8/21
Squats 225x1, 185x2x5
Press 135x1, 115x2x5
Deadlift 255x3 - it felt light, but I stopped here because I could feel it in my gimpy finger. In the end, I’m happy to pull anything right now after such a long layoff and injury.

[InherentlyBetter]

Squats: 235x1, 190x2x5
Bench: 185x1, 160x2x5 - doing these as paused/comp-style instead of touch and go. These all moved well, and it was much nicer to bench without a rod in my finger.
RDLs: 125x2x5 - went super light but still struggled with grip. Damn finger.

[InherentlyBetter]

On a whim, I decided to download the Bridge (free version) and use that program while I continue my cut. I liked the advice from @johnhelton and figured learning how to use RPE will be beneficial. So, Day 1/Week 1 on 8/26
Squats: 190x5@7ish, 195x5@7.5, 205x5@8 —these were supposed to go @6,@7,@8
CGBP: 155x4@6, 160x4@6.5ish, 175@8 — undershot all of these, supposed to be @7,@8,@9
Rack pulls: 185x7@6, 205x7@7 — stopped here since my conditioning is shit, I was tired from the past two sessions this week, I’d like to be able to move tomorrow, and I had yard duty. I’ll add the 3rd set next week.

Finished with 1.5hrs of suburban LISS with the push mower and weed eater.

[JohnHelton]

Looks like a good plan to me.