Mapping Jockey's Log

This is my first online log. I have been wanting to do this for a while, but frankly I was somewhat embarrassed of my numbers. Now, I figure why not, no one knows me anyway.

Bio:
I am fat, not sloppy fat, but solid fat. I have significant weight to lose. I would like to get down to about 235-245. However, a personal trainer friend of mine said I would look good at 275 because of my build. Mainly, I want to be healthy, so I don’t care to much about weight.

I started lifting about a year and a half ago. I was in bad physical health and the doctor said I had a deformity in both shoulders and needed surgery. He said I would never again be able to lift my hands over my head and I would have to sleep with my arms tucked into a shirt at night. I did not have enough time off to get it done and I was not tucking my arms in to sleep. I decided to either listen to him or to disregard him, and start working out. I went with the latter. I figured I would either make him right or I would make him a fool, but I would not let a deformity make my choice for me. I did not want to let anyone or anything have control over my life. A year and half later I am pain free in my shoulders. Looks like my gamble was successful.

When I began lifting, I had no clue what I was doing. So, I read T-Nation, starting strength, and 5/3/1 and this got me started. I actually started with just the bar and incrementally worked out for six months until I felt I had form down and then tested my 1RM. I felt like a fool at the gym squatting 55 lbs, but I wanted to make sure my form was right. People actually would look at me and smirk. This just fueled me to get stronger. I am appreciative of those who smirked and mocked the fat guy, because I am still here and still lifting. I knew I had a lot more potential. I just needed to be humble about it. I have had progression, but my worst attribute is I like to eat and I eat a lot. I need to fix this, and I will, but I wanted to build my strength up first, but I should have been eating cleaner.

Stats:
36 years old.
6’
320 lbs
Squat 405
Deadlift 425
OHP 165
Bench 225 - I am a terrible bencher, my shoulders do limit me, but I don’t want to use that excuse. This will get better!

Today’s workout:

Squat:
135 x 5, 225 x 3, 315 x 3, 345 x 3, 345 x 3, 345 x 3, 345 x 3, 345 x 3, 345 x 3, 345 x 3, 345 x 5, ( AMAP)

Push Press:
Bar x 5, 115 X 3, 135 x 3, 175 x 3, 175 x 3, 175 x 3 – my shoulders were screaming by this point

Super Set:
DB Bench Press:
55 x 10, 55 x 10, 55 x 10
DB Rows:
55 x 10, 55 x 10, 55 x 10

I will probably do some conditioning on my lunch break (Hopefully!).

Today was rough. I had horrible sleep last night. I don’t know if it affected me in the gym, but I definitely didn’t have the same energy.

Deadlift:
135 x 5, 225 x 3, 315 x 3, 345 x 3, 345 x 3, 345 x3, 345 x3, 345 x3, 345 x3 – was aiming for 8 sets of 345. Was completely wore out after 6.

Bench Press:
Bar x 5, 115 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 175 x 5, 175 x 5, 175 x 5, 175 x 5, 175 x 6 - I had good bar speed on this.

53lb Kettle Bell Swings: – hips were tight from deadlifting and made this a real joy!
3 x 20

Overall, not as much volume as I would like. Hopefully, better next time.

It is amazing how much harder one can be than another. Some days I can do 90% with relative ease, it feels light. On other days it feels like the bar is heavy. I don’t get it. Today was a day where 135 felt heavy on squat.

Squat:
Bar x 5, 135 x 5, 225 x 3, 315 x 1, 345 x 1, 385 x 1, 385 x 1, 385 x 1, 385 x 1, 385 x 1, 365 x 1, 365 x 1, 365 x 1

DB Bench Press:
55 x 8, 55 x 5, 55 x 5, 55 x 5, 55 x 5

Looking forward to this evening. Starting back up a jiu jitsu after a 3 year hiatus. I’ve been waiting for this day for quite a while!

Really out of bjj shape. I can see more bjj conditioning in my evenings!

Yesterday:

Super set(kind of) OHP/Front Squat

OHP:
Bar x 5, 65 x 5, 115 x 3, 135 x 1, 155 x 1, 155 x 1, 155 x 1, 135 x 1, 135 x 1, 135 x 1, 135 x 1, 135 x 1

Front Squat 135 x 5, 135 x 5, 135 x 5, 135 x 5, 135 x 5

Lateral Raise 15 x 8, 15 x 8, 15 x 8

Bear Complex @ 115lbs. - 3 sets

Thursday 6-20-2014

Sled Drags - 135 pounds 20 x 40 yards

Friday 6-20-2014

Deadlift - 135 x 5, 225 x 5, 315 x 3, 345 x 1, 365 x 1, 365 x 1, 365 x 1, 365 x 1, 365 x 1, 315 x 1, 315 x 1, 315 x 1

DB bench - 55lbs x 10, 55 x 10, 55 x 10, 55 x 10, 55 x 10,
DB Row - 55lbs x 10, 55 x 10, 55 x 10, 55 x 10, 55 x 10,

I felt really beat up after my last cycle. I am going to back off for a while and try to recover and see how i respond to doing both bjj and lifting. The following was all done as super sets.

Snatch Grip RDL - 135 x 10, 135 x 10, 135 x 10
Hang Cleans - 135 x 10, 135 x 10, 135 x 10

Renegade Rows (with dumbbells) - 30lbs x 5, 30lbs x 5, 30lbs x 5,
Dumbbell lunges - 30lbs x 8, 30lbs x 8, 30lbs x 8

Squats - 135 x 15, 135 x 15, 135 x 15
Burpees - 5, 5, 5

Nice job. The bjj seems like a good idea. Should get you fitter which won’t hurt your lifting numbers at all.

Welcome!

You and I have quite a bit in common. I will be following along. Keep working, keep posting and never quit.

Thanks for the encouragement and kind words DBasler and twojarslave.

I’ve been reading on T-Nation for a couple of years now, even before I started lifting, and never really delved into the logs. I just started to look at them maybe a month ago and I was amazed on how much more info there was on them then the articles themselves. It’s like you’re in the middle of the laboratory, if you will, instead of reading the final white paper. I think I will take a definite liking to these forums.

Tim, I’m new around here as well. Just wanted to say keep up the great work. It’s great you can get back into BJJ and enjoy being active again.

Thanks for the encouragement LS, I really appreciate it. So far this logging stuff has been pretty fun.

Welcome!

I have long been interested in BJJ. Never tried it.

Good luck on your journey. Work hard and stay the course.

Good job Tim. How do your shoulders like OHP? Are you doing anything specific to rehab/pre-hab the shoulders?

Thanks for the encouragement devildog, I try my best to warm my muscles up really good and I try to listen to my body and call it good when I need to. Problem is, I always try to do that one more rep, and that is when it seems all hell breaks loose. I don’t do a lot more other than that. My shoulders seem to hold up fine on OHP, but bench seems to murder them. Once the tendinitis flares up, it really affects all my pressing.

I took a two week hiatus, for recovery and the birth of my third child. So today was my first day back with a barbell and doing bench, of course, and my shoulder/tricep area popped and the tendinitis feeling came back again. I had been feeling really good before that. The pain doesn’t bother me so much, but it seems to make me a lot weaker when it happens which really hurts the progression.

Anyways, I figure I need to post again. Since my last post, I haven’t done much. Mostly I’ve been at the hospital with my newborn and getting in some conditioning when time was available. I was doing sled drags and some sort of carry for the most part. But for today…

Jumped back to doing 5/3/1 since my body seems to not get worn out as much on that program.

Morning Conditioning(25 minutes):
Sled drags - 16 x 160 feet @ 135 pounds, 1 x 160 @ 215
Farmer Carries - 45 pound plates 160 feet 4 reps
Suit Case Carries 1 rep 160 feet
Car pushes (Need to buy a prowler, lol) - 2 reps @ 160 feet

Bench - Bar x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 160 x 5, 180 x 10 - felt the pop on the last set.
DB Press - 3 Sets 55 x 8 - This really was aggravating the shoulder.
Lat Pulldowns - 3 sets 120 x 10 - This motion seemed to flare up the tendinitis even more.
Tabata Push ups Only did four sets - my shoulder/tricep was really bothering me at this point.

Called it a day, left frustrated, but will return to conditioning tomorrow and dead lifts on Friday. Today the barbell won, but Friday I will do my best to kick its ass.

Congratulations on your reproductive success!

How do you plan on being consistent in the gym with a new baby in the mix?

Thanks! Fortunately, I have an hour long lunch break and my gym is right around the corner. So I work out then and the wife cannot get onto me for not helping! lol. It also lets me release my work related aggression which is a benefit for everyone.

My wife is pretty supportive of everything and she ultimately wants me to get healthier so the baby isn’t too much of an issue for her. The biggest problem I foresee will be the “want to” during those restless nights. So far though, this little one has slept 3 - 4 hours a night in between feedings! I can definitely handle that!

Great job, especially given your shoulder issues.

Given your shoulder issues, and the fact that flat barbell bench pressing seems to cause you grief, I assume you have researched form? Are you doing the basics to spare your shoulders, such as tucking the elbows, arching the back, staying tight, and using perhaps a narrower grip than you may be used to seeing?

I remember also an article on here (by Thibadeau, I believe) where, by slightly elevating the bottom of the bench (to create a very slight decline), shoulder strain can be reduced.

Just throwing this out there in case you may have missed anything. I marvel at the guys who can bench heavy with wide grip, flared elbows, and a flat back without issue. My shoulders ache just watching them.

Anyways - keep it up!

Thanks for the encouragement and advice! I definitely could use it.

I have definitely looked at form over and over again. I have fixed some things early, and would like to think I have good form, but I am constantly finding my elbows flaring out or losing the arch in my back, and whatever other little thing I find I’m doing wrong. I do try to be diligent about it though. I have a rather close grip I use. It feels the best to me. I also prefer to use a suicide grip. It seems to feel better when I press. I don’t know if that could be causing anything. I have never tried the slight decline and I may have to look into that.

I am pretty sure I will never be a good bencher. I will be happy with 300 to be honest. Anything more is icing for me. I have often thought about getting away from benching and just focusing on OHP and Push presses, but I really do enjoy the bench even though it smokes me.

Deadlift:
135 x 5, 185 x 5, 225 x 5, 250 x 5, 285 x 5, 325 x 5

Hang Clean:
3 x 8 @ 135

Snatch grip dl:
3 x 8 @ 135 - I need to increase this. It winded me, but felt light.

I definitely need to increase the weight on my assistant work. I think I am lacking in that department.

still had problems with my shoulder/tricep, even on deadlifts. Worked through it and I hope it gets better before OHP on Monday.