Annie's Training Log

[anniemichael]

I haven't kept an online log in awhile, but I think it's time again.

Training History:

Female / 5'6" / BW in the 81-83kg range

Zero athletic or even exercise background prior to my first run of SSLP at age 22. No sports as a kid, was very very weak and "unfit".

Ran SSLP in 2008-2009, failed to keep a log. My memory is that I ended up somewhere like SQ 135, B 65, PR 50, DL 175
Did not train seriously for the next 5 years or so.
Started training again in late 2014. Attended SS Seminar in 2015 and competed in my first meet (Strengthlifting). It fired me up.
Got online coaching from Reynolds 2016-2017, then continuing with SSOC 2017-2018. Made enormous progress initially, and continued intermittent process after that.
Had a significant shoulder injury/chronic pain situation in Spring 2016 which impacted my training for about 5 months. (AC join sprain/marrow edema, bone spur possibly the culprit.) It still flares up on occasion, but I am able to manage and treat it pretty well on my own.
Stopped online coaching last month and am going to proceed on my own, at least for a bit.

Best lifts are:

Squat: 125kg (in competition, March 2017)
Press: 39kg (in training, August 2018)
Bench: 53kg (in training, October 2018)
Deadlift: 138kg (in competition, March 2017)

I became interested in becoming a coach over the last year as well. I train out of my garage gym (as of May 2018), and since then have been training 3-5 people on a pretty regular basis. More soon on this front.

I teach high school/middle school theater, and do program coordination (Summer/Extracurriculars) at a small private school. I'm also a theater/performance artist. I like video games, cocktails, and general geekery.

I'm on IG @anniepaladino -- it's private, but I'll accept most non-robots.

[Wilhelm]

Welcome, @anniemichael.
Thank you for sharing your log.

I'm off to follow on IG ( @littlemuskox )
Also private, so thought i'd put my username here so you can tell.

There is an IG thread stickied in the general off topic section, if you feel like sharing your handle there.

[anniemichael]

My husband recently ran the 12 Week Strength Template and had great results (after several years in TM purgatory). So, I'm going to run it. It'll be my first time without coaching (other than said husband) in 2 years.

I'm coming off 6 weeks of very minimal lifting. I was acting in a performance that was extremely physically demanding (including a lot of running around in 6 inch drag heels), and I get too superstitious about training heavy during performances, so... I trained bench relatively heavily, but everything else was just sort of fucking around.

I am historically very very bad at RPE. I chronically overrate, which means I am likely to undershoot all my weight selections. I'm going to try to get better at this.

Anyway, started yesterday. Weight selections were conservative (especially for squats) because I'm coming off what is essentially a 6 week layoff.

All weights are kg unless otherwise noted. We based our home gym setup around a gorgeous set of Ivanko chrome plates we bought off a dude on craigslist, lol. So, metric it is!

W1D1

Comp squat
1x100 @7.5



5x80 @7
5x82.5 @7.5
5x82.5 @7
5x85 @7.5
5x85 @8

Comp bench (belt, 1ct pause)
1x47.5 @8



5x42 @8
5x42 @8.5
5x42 @9
5x42 @9
5x41 @8.5

RDL
note: rows are programmed for this slot, but rows consistently make my shoulder pain flare up pretty severely, so I'm going to swap in RDLs, and later in the week when RDLs are programmed, I'll do banded chin-ups.
10x66 @7
10x67 @8
10x67 @8

[Chebass88]

Welcome Annie! Hope your new training program worked great for you.

[anniemichael]

Thanks @Wilhelm and @Chebass88!

Days 1 and 2 of the program are ideally supposed to be sequential (i.e. no rest day in between), but I was exquisitely sore yesterday so I'll do Day 2 this evening.

I realize I should perhaps have included some goals in my initial post, so here's a few:

- Compete in a USAPL meet (I've only done USSF meets thus far)
- Pull 315+ in competition (I got it up at my last meet, but with a hilarious amount of hitching)
- Bench the big girl plates
- Squat 300
- Ideally I'd weigh 5kg less than I do now, but... eh.
- Improve work capacity and stamina
- DO A FUCKING CHIN-UP UNASSISTED

[chromoly]

Hi Annie! Good luck in your training goals. Glad to see you lifting more regularly again. . Looking forward to seeing you hit your strength goals!

[simonrest]

Annie! Good to see you here. Inhope the t plate works for you; it did wonders for me coming off years of tm nothing, just like your husband.

[heidikay]

Re: doing an unassisted chin-up -- have you tried doing negatives? You get on a chair and lower yourself down from the top of the movement. This is what helped me learn to do them, and now i'm pretty proficient at them (and pull-ups).

This guy looks like a goober but he gives good advice about this:

[anniemichael]

Thanks all!

@heidikay, I've definitely done negatives (and hate them, lol). This will be a looong journey for me, since I'm relatively weaker in upper body strength and I'm also pretty heavy.

Jumping right into this program gave me all sorts of squat flu this weekend, so I've basically done what I could, and may end up stretching the first "week" into more like 8-9 days. We'll see.

--
Week 1 Day 2:
11/30/18

Comp Deadlift:
1x125 @8
5x5 100 (@7.5, 7.5, 8, 8, 8)

These felt pretty great. Most deadlift volume I've ever done in a single session.

Comp Press:
1x35 @8
5x5 27.5 (all @7)

Went conservative with press and kept work sets at RPE 7 instead of the prescribed 8. I have a history of upper trap/neck pain from going too agro on press (it happens once every couple months or so).

12/1/18
Finished up the Day 2 workout with tempo squats the following day, plus some GPP.

3-0-3 Tempo Squats:
10x40 @6
10x45 @7
10x50 @8.5

I don't think I've ever done sets of 10 squats, of any type. These were torture.

7 min AMRAP EMOM upper back work:
banded chins 4, 4, 3, 3
negatives 2, 2, 2

7 min AMRAP EMOM ab work:
alternating sets ab rollouts and situps

[acelticmonk]

I haven't kept an online log in awhile, but I think it's time again.

It's about f'ing time.

You going to see Patterson Hood on Thurs? I can't make it But since he lives in Portland-ish now, he's here relatively more often than he used to be.

[anniemichael]

*Begins log, promptly ignores it for a month*

Epic log catch-up commencing...now.

[anniemichael]

Training has been less than ideal, but trying to get my slots in even if the days are off or I have to adjust due to stress, fatigue, etc. So far, that strategy is working well, I think.

--
12/1/18:

Slingshot Bench:
50x4 @7
52.5x4 @7.5
55x4 @8
57.5x4 @8.5

--
12/3/18:

Beltless/sleeveless squat:
75x4 @7
77.5x4 @7.5
82.5x4 @9
82.5x4 @9

I am TERRIBLE at these. Seems clear that I do actually get significant assistance from my knee sleeves, and psychological assistance from my belt.

Press lockouts (from top of head):
40x3x3 @9

--
12/5/18:

CGBP:
40x4 @7
42.5x4 @8
45x4 @9
45x4 @9

Rack Pulls:
90x4 @7
100x4 @8
100x4 @8

Chins -- banded + negatives, 5 min

[anniemichael]

12/16/18:

"Week 3" Day 1 (My weeks have been more like 10 days to this point, but whatever.)

Comp Squat:
115x1 @8
95 4x5 @8,8,8.5,9 (template says to stop if climbs over RPE 9, so I did not do the programmed 5th set.)

Comp Bench (1ct pause):
50x1 @8
43.5x5 @9
42.5 4x5 @8,8,8,8

--
12/17/18:

RDLs:
60x10 @6.5
70x10 @8
72.5x10 @9
72.5x10 @9

--
12/18/18:

Comp Deadlift:
131x1 @8.5
110 2x5 @8,9
107.5 2x5 @8,8

--
12/21/18:

Weights in lbs; was home in Orange County, lifting in dad's garage gym.

Comp Press:
85#x1 @9
70# 4x5 @8

3-0-3 Tempo Squats:
90#x10 @7
105#x10 @8
115#x10 @9

I hate this exercise. It has given me serious low back pain/cramps every time I've done it. May replace with pause squats for future weeks.

CGBP:
85#x4 @6.5
95#x4 @8
100#x4 @9
100#x4 @9

--
12/23/18:

Slingshot Bench:
This was with new red slingshot (previously with blue "reactive" slingshot). So I was able to do a bit more weight, which was fun.

110#x4 @6
120#x4 @7
130#x4 @8
135#x4 @9
135#x4 @9

First time doing any sort of benching with the big wheels on. Fun.

Pause Deadlifts:
LOL these are torture. Weight was pretty low but I was seriously wimping out on them.

185#x4 @7
190#x4 @8
195#x4 @9
195#x4 @9

[anniemichael]

"Week 4" (whatever that means anymore)

12/26/18:

Comp Squat:

245#x1 @8 (10# lower than I was planning -- holiday gluttony to blame?)
205# 4x5 @8

Comp Bench:

115#x1 @8 (on the other hand...this is definitely an absolute PR!)
95# 4x5 @8

--
12/27/18:

Comp Press:

90#x1 @8.5 (Completely unexpect 4lb PR here. What! Vid on IG)
72.5# 4x5 @8,8.5,8.5,8.5

Comp Deadlift:

285#x1 @8
235# 4x5 @8,8,8,8.5

[anniemichael]

Back home again, back to kilos.

12/29/18:

3-0-3 Temp Squat:

45x10 @7
50x10 @8
52.5x10 @9

and then back spasm again. Which I still have not fully recovered from. Bummer.

Green band assisted chin-ups, 5 min EMOM: 5,5,4,3,3

--
12/30/18:

RDLs:
80x10 @8
82.5x10 @9
82.5x10 @9

I have no explanation for the 10kg jump here compared to last time I did these. Willpower?

Slingshot Bench:

50x4 @6
55x4@7
58x4 @8
61x4 @9
61x4 @9

Beltless/sleeveless squat:
80x4 @7
81x4 @8.5
82.5x4 @8.5

Back cramped up again so called it there.

[Sirimiti]

Ooh so strong! Nice

[anniemichael]

Catching up again.

1/2/19:

CGBP:
40x4 @6.5
44x4 @7.5
46 3x4 @8.5,8.5,8.5

Rack Pulls:
105x4 @7.5
107.5x4 @8
110 3x4 @9,9,9

Assisted chins (green band):
7, 6, 6

--

1/3/19:

Rowing: 2.5km, ~13min

I was literally trying to go super slow here to see if LISS on the rower is possible. It is still kind of miserable.

Assisted chins (green band):
5, 5, 5

Abs ~8 min density

[anniemichael]

1/4/19:

Some low back stuff going on here. Mostly ignored it or cut sessions short. Aggravated by squats almost exclusively.

Comp Squat:
117.5x1 @8
95 4x5 @8,7.5,8,8



Comp Bench:
53x1 @8.5
44 4x5 @8,8,8,8

RDLs:
77.5x10 @8
80x10 @9
80x10 @9


--

Comp Deadlift:
132x1 @8
112x4 @8
112x4 @8



Comp Press:
41x1 @9 (PR)
34x4 @8
34x4 @8

3 Count Bench:
30x8 @6
32.5x8 @7.5
33.5x8 @8

--
R knee pain from...maybe squats? Who knows. Unusual area to have pain for me.

1/8/19:

5-3-0 Tempo Squats:
40x4 @6
60x4 @7
70x4 @8
70x4 @8
70x4 @8

--

1/10/19:

Pin Bench:
I was very bad at these. Also, straps instead of pins make this a little weirder.
55x1 @9
52.5x3 @10 whoops

Strict Press:
I tend toward layback, so I may try adding these in as a press accessory movement.
25x8 @7.5
25x8 @8
27.5x8 @9

Pause Deadlifts:
100x1 @8
90x4 @8.5

[anniemichael]

Starting "Week" 6...

...and contemplating a USPA meet on Feb 23.

1/13/19:

Comp Squat:
120x1 @8.5
100 4x4 @8

Comp Bench:
54x1 @8.5
46 4x4 @8.5,8,8,8.5

RDLs:
75x6 @6
77.5x8 @7
80 3x8 @8

--

1/15/19:

Comp DL:
133.5x1 @8.5
113.5 4x4 @8





Comp Press:
42x1 @8.5 (RIDIN THE PRESS GAINZ TRAIN WTF)
35 4x4 @8

[chromoly]

USPA meet on Feb 23!!! DO IT. My meet on the same day is in Oregon obviously, but we can "compete" together, and send each other videos of our lifts after they happen, haha.