Monday (1-24-2011):
squat 195 lb 5x5
overhead press 90 lb 5x5
deadlift 280 lb 1x5
chin-ups 9, 6, 5, 5, 4
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Wednesday:
squat 200 lb 5x5
bench 165 lb 5x5
barbell row 155 lb 5x5
kettlebell swings 40 lb 5x15

Friday:
squat 205 lb 5x5
overhead press 95 lb 5x5
deadlift 285 lb 1x5
pull-ups 9, 5, 8, 5, 4
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Weight (Sunday): 185 lb

Notes:  Deadlifts are getting slightly tough, but I'm otherwise keeping up well enough with the progression this time around.  My forearm seems to be almost healed, though I do notice a scant bit of pain after my workouts, and I try to be careful during.  I mostly notice it when moving plates onto and off of the bar, rather than during actual, loaded exercise.  I have a compression wrap I put on after workouts now, which seems to help a lot.

Had a massive appetite this week, and took a small nutritional adventure for rice and potatoes at lunch on Thursday, and massive adventure for some Chicago-style stuffed pizza for Thursday's dinner.  Overall, it didn't turn out to be too huge of a setback, but I still feel puffy around the midsection.  I felt a lot harder the week before I started lifting again, which is sort of disappointing.  On the other hand, I've found a very strong correlation between how hard I'm lifting and how hungry I feel, so it's not terribly surprising.  I'd been trying to feed the extra hunger by burning through my protein powder (which I really ought not be using, I ought to be eating my calories, not drinking them, but I already have it in the cabinet...).  I'm going to have to make a sincere effort to get my extra protein with meat instead.  I might need to just roast a turkey breast or some chicken thighs or something and use it/them as pseudo-supplement.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 05:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (1-17-2011):
squat 185 lb 5x5
bench 155 lb 5x5
barbell row 145 lb 5x5
kettle-bell swings 35 lb 5x15

Wednesday:
squat 185 lb 5x5
overhead press 85 lb 5x5
deadlift 275 lb 1x5
chin-ups 11, 7, 5, 4, 4
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Saturday:
squat 190 lb 5x5
bench 160 lb 5x5
barbell row 150 lb 5x5
kettle-bell swings 40 lb 5x15

Weight (Friday): 183 lb

Notes: Starting again, a little lighter and slower this time.  My elbow is almost 100%, and my new working theory is that -- in addition to the Boring But Big protocol being too much acute stress on the joint -- I may simply have gone too heavy, too soon.  The muscles kept up, but the support tissue didn't.  So, I go slower this time. Also traded out a lot of the assistance exercises for kettle-bell swings on Monday and Saturday.  Just trying it out, since they're supposed to be something akin to cardio with some plyometrics thrown in, sort of like a sprint for your posterior chain.  If you're a worker that sits most of the time --like me -- your posterior chain likely needs the exercise.  Mine also gets plenty on deadlift days, so I probably won't combine those lifts.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:12 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Took another week off to continue healing.  This is the longest I've gone without hitting the gym since last February, and I'm not happy about it.  Needed, though.  Even with this much rest, I'm still getting the occasional twinge of pain/discomfort, so I might give it a few more days just to be sure.

Weight (Friday): 181 lb

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 01:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Took last week off from the gym for a few reasons:

1. My forearm needs some real time off to fully heal.
2. The first two weeks of January are as crowded as any gym ever gets.
3. I worked 11 hour days in the early part of the week.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Monday (12-27-2010):
squat 200 lb 5x5
overhead press 90 lb 5x5
deadlift 270 lb 1x5
pull-ups 10, 7, 6
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s
kettlebell swings 35 lb 3x15

Wednesday:
squat 205 lb 5x5
bench 175 lb 5x5
barbell row 145 lb 5x5
push-ups 35, 20, 20
hanging leg raise 3x20
kettlebell swings 35 lb 3x15

Friday:
squat 210 lb 5x5
overhead press 95 lb 5x5
deadlift 275 lb 1x5
pull-ups 10, 7, 6
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Weight (Friday): 187 lb

Notes: Good week, hit all my numbers.  My left forearm is still sporadically giving me issues.  It might be time to take a serious break from heavy lifting and really let it heal.  It might also be time for some serious cutting, to which heavy lifting is never conducive anyhow.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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