M. Phelps, Awesome Log, Great Job!

[broseph]

I have to lift to control my eating.

If I don't have a physique or performance goal, I eat absolute garbage and zero protein.

[MPhelps]

I track everything with myfitlesspal, so I try to stay true to my macro goals. The problem lies in when I take a day off I get a bit depressed from no activity and tend to fill it with garbage eating. Like last night, I was good until about 8pm. I ate a big dinner like I always do, but I ended up eating milky ways, chocolate covered pretzels and Doritos for no reason. For the first time since I started losing weight last May. Probably my body telling me I'm not eating enough. So I guess I need to eat more. There's always getting this procedure

[broseph]

You don't even have to have your teeth removed for the procedure? Sign me up.

[MPhelps]

I would think that it would be a good idea to remove your teeth, just to be on the safe side. I had mine removed for my Bro'oche.

[MPhelps]

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Clean and jerk 80x1x3, 95, 105, 120, 95x1x5
Deadlift 140x5, 155x5, 175x5, 140x5x5
Press 67.5x5, 75x5, 85x5, 67.5x5x5
Neutral grip Chins 8x3
Reverse hypers 15x2
Pulldowns+facepulls 30+20x2

Solid workout. This was my 95% week, everything felt about right as far as intensity, not too hard but about 1-2 reps from failure on last set of press. I could probably deadlift way more and clean and jerk about 20 more pounds. Since I'm still on skis 4 days a week, I'm not too interested in pushing it too much. Hopefully I'll stick with 531 for a long time, it seems to be the program that I stick with the longest and have the most progress with over the years. Even though he's never programmed Olympic lifts, his progressions actually have worked well for me as long as I stick with singles. Probably because it keeps me from any type of max out days. That's when doubt and anxiety creep in and I don't really want that in my training at all. This is for my health, and leisure time.

[MPhelps]

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Snatch 65x1x3, 75, 85, 90, 70x1x5
Squat 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 115x5x5
Bench 75x5, 85x5, 100x5, 75x5x5
Chest supported rows 35x8x3
Reverse hypers, pulldowns and facepulls
Leg lifts

Solid workout for week 1 second cycle. I was debating if I should go with 100 or 105 for snatch training max. I went with 105. See how it goes. I really don't care about how much weight I put on the bar right now. I'm just doing them for "fun."

[MPhelps]

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Clean and jerk 85x1x3, 100, 110, 85x1x5
Deadlift 125x5, 145x5, 165x5, 125x5x5
Press 62.5x5, 72.5x5, 80x5, 62.5x5x5
Neutral grip chins 8x3
Back, abs pulldowns and facepulls

Postponed by a day since Tuesday was a long day at work, and there's still shitty snow at the cross country ski area. So I went skiing instead. Plus I just bought a new pair of way better skis and wanted a second day on them. Lifting went well enough. Deadlifts felt a bit heavy at first but it's likely fatigue from Monday's skiing. I went fast and hard and killed my best time by .4 miles per hour. 15km in 58 minutes. So I got that going for me.

[MPhelps]

Saturday, April 6, 2019

Snatch 65x1x3, 75, 85, 95, 75x1x5
Squat 125x5, 145x5, 160x5, 125x5x5
Bench 80x5, 90x5, 105x5, 80x5x5
Chest supported rows 35x8x3
Back, abs, pulldowns, facepulls

Still skiing. 5 days in a row. 3 of my top 4 best times this week. Probably another week and it'll be done. As long as they groom it, I'll ski it. Oh yeah, the lifting felt fine. Snatches were snappy. Squats were hard. Bench is easy but still some work.

[MPhelps]

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Clean and jerk 80x1x3, 90, 105, 115, 90x1x5
Deadlift 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 135x5x5
Press 65x5, 75x5, 85x5, 65x5x5
Chins 3x8
Back, abs, pulldowns and facepulls

Ski season is over.
I jogged yesterday for 3 miles, and rode my bike for 11 today. So boring compared to skiing. I'm seriously considering roller skis. Even though that's going full retard, and I'll probably get run over or fall and break something.

Lifting is going fine. Still putting weight on the bar 531 style. Press is getting harder. No grinding yet, I'm shutting it down and deloading if/when that happens. I'm convinced most lower back pain and anterior pelvic tilt is tied to too much back curve in pressing movements. Push press doesn't seem to cause that with me. It's also almost totally useless in building upper body strength or assisting the jerk.

I'm almost only logging here anymore so I can make up Tim and Eric quotes for post titles. I write shit in a notebook. I haven't looked back through this at all.

[broseph]

I'm almost only logging here anymore so I can make up Tim and Eric quotes for post titles.

It has not gone unnoticed.

[MPhelps]

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Snatch 45x3x2, 80, then nope
Clean 90x3, 105x3, 115x3, 90x3x5
Squat 135x5, 155x5, 170x5, 135x5x5
Bench 85x5, 100x5, 110x5, 85x5x5
Chest supported rows 35x8x3
Back, abs, pulldowns, facepulls

I was feeling lazy as fuck this morning, trying to mentally postpone lifting until tomorrow. I finally just did it at around 11. I pulled something in my right side on Thursday moving some office shit into the back of a pickup. Went and hiked 7 miles and about 1900' after work that same day. Skied yesterday, because I'm a dumbass and like to get my skis covered in spruce and fir needles and mud. So I'm tired, and my hip is bothering me a bit. So back to lifting, started doing snatches and I noticed that I caught the first one with a weird offset foot position. Psyched me out, so I switched to cleans instead. I can't snatch anything anywhere close to heavy anyway, so fuck it. Cleans were great. Squat was even better. Hip pain gone. Probably just tightness. Could even be pissed off from jerks the other day. Bench was fine.

Ski season is officially over. Ski center is closed, so no grooming, plus it's 65 today, and gonna rain for 2 days.

[MPhelps]

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Clean 95x3, 105x3, 120x3, 95x3x5
Deadlift 145x5, 165x5, 185x5, 145x5x5
Press 72.5x5, 80x5, 90x5, 72.5x5x5
Chins, neutral grip chins, pull ups 3x8
Back, abs, pulldowns, facepulls

Solid workout today. I actually felt like lifting today. This is week 6 of 531. I'm making steady progress. Bodyweight is now around 145, so I'm gaining very slowly, which is what I'm going for. 150-155 by next ski season. I like doing cleans without the jerks. I feel more comfortable without going "ballistically" overhead. No mind fuck having to worry about dropping it on me or the floor. Cleans I can do all day. Plus sets of 3 actually give me a workout instead of stress.

Started running for real yesterday. Ran intervals for about a half hour yesterday. Today I ran the same distance without stopping except for a brief 2 minutes, including about 150 foot hill. Hoping to get my 5k up for a couple of Special Olympics torch runs coming up at the end of May. Not insignificant is that I actually enjoyed it both days. I've always hated running, and only ever did as required PT. The key for me is allowing myself to stop and walk for a minute here and there. Kind of like skiing down hills, it's a break from going all out. Not nearly as fun though.

Oh and I bought roller skis. Should be here by the end of the week. I'll surely be hit by a car within a month.

And my hip pain disappeared after Saturday's lifting. Still not going to snatch.

[MPhelps]

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Clean 85x3, 100x3, 110x3, 85x3x5
Squat 125x5, 145x5, 160x5, 125x5x5
Bench 80x5, 90x5, 100x5, 80x5x5
Chest rows 35x8x3
Back, abs, pulldowns and facepulls

Really unmotivated, but once I got going everything went great. Got my roller skis on Thursday. I took them for a spin. Man, I'm not crazy about falling on pavement. Had a few close calls. It's pretty fun though. I've never been rollerblading before even, so the whole thing is new. If I didn't have poles, I would've ended up on my ass a few times.

[MPhelps]

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Snatch 65x3, 75x3, 85x3, 65x3x5
Deadlift 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 135x5x5
Press 65x5, 75x5, 85x5, 65x5x5
Pull ups 3x8
Back, abs, pulldowns and facepulls

So I'm snatching again, I had a thought the other night that maybe I should go lower in percentages for snatch, rather than 80% of my clean. So 75% is it. I tried to keep it at 80% because that is the ideal ratio. Well I suck at snatch and have ape hanger arms, so fuck it. Rather than hate it because I can't go as heavy, I'll just do it for fun.

Lifting felt heavy today. I roller skied about 8 miles Sunday, hiked a mountain after work last evening followed by a trail run for 45 minutes after a 1000 vertical over about half mile hike. Definitely tired me out. Plus I did another 7+ miles on roller skies after lifting. Went a bit too far tonight as I'm fucking exhausted.

What can I say, I like cardio and as long as the weights feel heavy enough for me, I don't care what the number on the bar is. That's where Rip goes wrong saying you should get as strong as possible by adding weight at all costs. Who cares if I can deadlift 365 if I'm 80 lbs overweight and get winded walking up stairs? If I'm deadlifting 185 at 145 bodyweight and able to hike, run and ski with no pain I'm more than happy. Before I started lifting I would get serious SI joint pain because I was weak. Now I don't get pain or lactic acid buildup doing cardio. I attribute that to lifting. For my health.

[BigE]

What can I say, I like cardio and as long as the weights feel heavy enough for me, I don't care what the number on the bar is. That's where Rip goes wrong saying you should get as strong as possible by adding weight at all costs. Who cares if I can deadlift 365 if I'm 80 lbs overweight and get winded walking up stairs? If I'm deadlifting 185 at 145 bodyweight and able to hike, run and ski with no pain I'm more than happy. Before I started lifting I would get serious SI joint pain because I was weak. Now I don't get pain or lactic acid buildup doing cardio. I attribute that to lifting. For my health.

Chances are you will have a more years with a good quality of life vs the Rip “physique.”

BTW. Awesome Log, Great Job!

[MPhelps]

What can I say, I like cardio and as long as the weights feel heavy enough for me, I don't care what the number on the bar is. That's where Rip goes wrong saying you should get as strong as possible by adding weight at all costs. Who cares if I can deadlift 365 if I'm 80 lbs overweight and get winded walking up stairs? If I'm deadlifting 185 at 145 bodyweight and able to hike, run and ski with no pain I'm more than happy. Before I started lifting I would get serious SI joint pain because I was weak. Now I don't get pain or lactic acid buildup doing cardio. I attribute that to lifting. For my health.

Chances are you will have a more years with a good quality of life vs the Rip “physique.”

BTW. Awesome Log, Great Job!

Thanks for stopping by.

[MPhelps]

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Squat 135x5, 150x5, 170x5, 135x5x5
Bench 85x5, 95x5, 110x5, 85x5x5
Chest supported rows 35x8x3
Reverse hyper+jackknife 15+15×2
Pulldowns front and rear 40+40×2

I went for a 45 minute trail run and hike up a steep hill before lifting. "I quit snatching Part 100" came up today. I didn't feel like fucking around with 75 lb snatches today, especially after running. Kind of a complete waste of time really. I can't lift any appreciable weight with the snatch, so I don't see any use spending time and energy on it. I guess I'll just do it if I feel like wasting time on it. It's not like they're cutting into my recovery much.

[MPhelps]

Tuesday April 30, 2019

Deadlift 145x5, 165x5, 185x5, 145x5x5
Press 70x5, 80x5, 90x5, 70x5x5
Pull ups 3x8
Back, abs, pulldowns

Press is kind of getting hard, which is pathetic. I've been climbing small mountains and trail running daily for a few days. Hopefully that has something to do with it, and not just me being weak. Maybe I'll have to look up Hanley programming. It's fucking dense though, and so am I. 531 is easy.
Took my son on a short hike the other day, which is awesome and way better than going alone. Other than that, been eating a shit ton of food compared to before and haven't put on a lot of weight, so that's going well. Trying to get up to 150-155 by next ski season.

[MPhelps]

Saturday, May, 4, 2019.

Squat 145x5, 160x5, 180x5, 145x5x5
Bench 90x5, 100x5, 115x5, 90x5x5
Chest rows 35x10x3
Reverse hyper, jackknife, pulldowns front and back

Good stuff. I'm still kind of wishing I was doing Olympic lifts. I think my mind and body likes not doing them. It's like drugs.

Been hiking and running all week. Shitty weather, but as long as I'm not going for long hikes with a pack, rain doesn't bother me much.

[MPhelps]

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Deadlift 155x5, 175x5, 195x5, 155x5x5
Press 75x5, 85x5, 95x5, 75x5
Pullupsx8, neutral grip pull ups x2x8
Back, abs and pulldowns

Good times. Shitty day at work and then the cat shit on the floor 5 inches from the edge of the litter box before my heaviest set of presses. Didn't effect my lifting though. I warmed up with some split snatches from the hang with a wide grip like I used to do. Luckily I shut that down before it became a max out session or some shit. Don't want to fall off the "stop Olympic lifting, you're too old to do anything productive with it" wagon. I'm best with the split and my all time PR was a split. 173.5 lbs! Good enough for a youth female in the lightest classes.

Ran 3+ miles with a hike up a hill after lifting today. Rode 12 miles on the bike yesterday and roller skied 8 miles on sunday.