Polynomial's "let's get strong for fun and profit" log

[Polynomial]

Excellent. Time to get back in the groove. A guy that's competed in Oly lifting should be joining us for fast-twitch Fridays this week. It should be a good learning experience.

That's good news - it's power clean day for me. Do you know who it is?

 

[jas123]

Yeah, I've seen him around the gym and talked to him yesterday.

 

[Polynomial]

Yeah, I've seen him around the gym and talked to him yesterday.

Is he a student or a postdoc or a prof? I wonder because JD said that he saw some guy that coached oly lifts before. By the way, I tried GHR's at IMPE today. Not bad...I probably could have played around with the settings a bit, but I wish that Kenny had that machine. Have you seen what they did to IMPE recently?

 

[jas123]

Only the East Wing. Didn't venture into the new parts.

I think the dude is a grad student, but I'm not sure. JD is probably talking about the same guy.

Yeah, their GHR station is pretty decent.

 

[Polynomial]

Wednesday 1-23-08

Body weight: 196.2 (I think it's the creatine)
Front Squats: (45x5x3 95x3 135x3) 185x3 205x3 185x3
Bench Press: (45x5x2 115x5 135x5) 165x5x3
Chin-ups: {bw}x9 {bw}x7 {bw}x6
Overhead Squats: 45x8 75x8

Not bad. I'm waiting to see what happens when Friday rolls around.

 

[Polynomial]

Friday 1-24-08

Body weight: 197.2
Squat: (45x5x3 135x5x2 185x5 205x3) 230x5x3
Press: (45x5 95x5 115x3) {122.5}x5x2
Power Clean: (45x5 90x3 140x2) 150x3x3 150x2x2

I was experimenting with grip width on the press, and some of them aggravated my shoulder so I stopped at two sets. The power cleans felt pretty heavy today, but I was also experimenting with form.

 

[Alexander]

Damn, you gained weight while being sick, that's awesome. I always lose at least 5 pounds when I get sick.

Did the olympic lifter dude teach you anything?

 

[Polynomial]

Damn, you gained weight while being sick, that's awesome. I always lose at least 5 pounds when I get sick.

Did the olympic lifter dude teach you anything?

I don't know if it's water weight or what, but yeah, it's strange. I guess I've been eating enough donuts :burg:

I didn't talk with the olympic guy much, but he didn't seem very approachable. His 301 c&j was damn impressive, though. jas also pulled 291 and later 301, I think, but I'm not sure.

 

[Alexander]

I don't know if it's water weight or what, but yeah, it's strange. I guess I've been eating enough donuts :burg:

I didn't talk with the olympic guy much, but he didn't seem very approachable. His 301 c&j was damn impressive, though. jas also pulled 291 and later 301, I think, but I'm not sure.

This isn't the first time you've used creatine, is it? Who gives a sh*t if you gained a little fat, weight gain is always good in my book.

What was so impressive about his 301 C n J? Is he small, or did he make it look like a feather?

 

[jas123]

301 is impressive from anyone, but the dude is like 205, maybe a smidge taller than me. I'm surprised that he can jrek that much as he's not a very good presser. I missed 301 and 296, Poly, but got 291.

 

[Alexander]

Get off his nuts, Jas. Their are plenty of 205ers that can C n J 350+. Quit excluding Poly, douche bag.

 

[jas123]

Excluding Poly? Are you taking Rogue-like painkillers? What's your best C n J, Alex?

Poly, you're probably retaining some water for sure, but by how much have you increased your daily caloric intake? I somewhat disagree with Alex. I'd try to keep it at least somewhat quality weight (a little fat gain is fine, of course), but I guess it depends on your goals. If it's pure strength, then eat everything in sight. :donut:

 

[Polynomial]

I'd try to keep it at least somewhat quality weight (a little fat gain is fine, of course), but I guess it depends on your goals. If it's pure strength, then eat everything in sight. :donut:

Yeah, I want to gain strength but not much fat, so that I don't have to buy new pants. Right now it's gotten a bit out of hand and I might have to do some 'cutting' or something. I'll try monitoring my calories really well, and if that doesn't work, I'll do some crossfit for a few weeks until I'm at a low enough bodyfat %, and then I'll fine-tune my diet.

I know that you've been lifting for a long ass time, jas, but when did you eventually hit 220, and was there much fat gain during the process?

 

[jas123]

I've been lifting for 15 years straight, never taken more than a week off. :head: I was at 205-210 for a long time. I think when I started strongman training I was 210 and hit 220 around September or Oct with a little fat gain, but not too much. I'd guess that I'm 12-13% right now.

I think you may have increase your calories too much. If you were maintaining your weight of 180-185 at 2000-2500 calories, then 3000 seems sufficient to gain mainly lean mass.

 

[Polynomial]

I think you may have increase your calories too much. If you were maintaining your weight of 180-185 at 2000-2500 calories, then 3000 seems sufficient to gain mainly lean mass.

I found a way to figure out a good caloric intake, assuming that I can go through with it: I'll eat the same thing every day for a week and see how it affects me... Yay science.

 

[Alexander]

Excluding Poly? Are you taking Rogue-like painkillers? What's your best C n J, Alex?

Poly, you're probably retaining some water for sure, but by how much have you increased your daily caloric intake? I somewhat disagree with Alex. I'd try to keep it at least somewhat quality weight (a little fat gain is fine, of course), but I guess it depends on your goals. If it's pure strength, then eat everything in sight. :donut:

Real men don't take painkillers, unless you consider Jim Beam a painkiller. I can Jerk the sh*t out of some weight, but I'm afraid of the catch on the clean:whiner: Right now, I can't do sh*t:rant::whiner:

 

[jas123]

That sounds like a good plan, Poly, it may be a little biased though if your retaining water from creatine...

Afraid of the clean....fvcking studio lifters make me sick :twisted: Alex, you are now :whiner:

 

[Alexander]

People are repping you, I'd love to know for what. Yeah, I'm a complete b*tch it really sucks. A friend was over here yesterday and told me he could probably kick my ass now that I'm handicapped, he was serious. I'm not good at being injured, too big a blast to my monsterous ego that got inflated by banging so many dimes!!!!!!

 

[jas123]

The last repping was for the telling Mullet he'd Benoit someone because of roid rage (with the proper setup, ingenious :twisted. I'm the King, get over it.

 

[Alexander]

I've noticed that if I tell my worst jokes, people like them. My good ones are too much for most dull mid-westerners to handle. I'm gonna go Benoit myself.

 

[Polynomial]

Real men don't take painkillers, unless you consider Jim Beam a painkiller. I can Jerk the sh*t out of some weight, but I'm afraid of the catch on the clean:whiner: Right now, I can't do sh*t:rant::whiner:

Even when I do catch power cleans (so not even squat cleans) I regularly tear some skin around my neck, and bruise the area pretty badly. But that just means I'm hardcore, I think.

 

[jas123]

Even when I do catch power cleans (so not even squat cleans) I regularly tear some skin around my neck, and bruise the area pretty badly. But that just means I'm hardcore, I think.

Skin of your neck? You don't catch them on your wrists? WTF :twisted:

I actually worry that I'll break my collar bone something on the catches.

 

[Polynomial]

Saturday 1-26-08

Run 400 meters, 12 pull-ups (kipping, some chin-ups, 2 sets of 6)
Run 400 meters, 2 sets of 10 push-ups
Run 400 meters, 3 sets of 5 knees-to-elbows
Run 200 meters, 3 sets of sit-ups
Run 200 meters, done.

Time: around 20 minutes, I think. Damn that kicked my ass at some points.

 

[jas123]

Is that the crossfit stuff?

 

[Alexander]

If you want to see an example of crossfit, check out BlackJack's log. He's doing crossfit, the guy military presses like 300+ lbs with little rest.

 

[jas123]

You seem to keep pretty close tabs on his log. 300+ on military! I couldn't make up numbers that high.

 

[Alexander]

Hard not to notice an animal like that and the unbelievable progress he makes.

 

[Polynomial]

Is that the crossfit stuff?

Some attempt at CrossFit, yeah. You can look at their workout of the day (WOD) on the website: CrossFit.com.

 

[Polynomial]

If you want to see an example of crossfit, check out BlackJack's log. He's doing crossfit, the guy military presses like 300+ lbs with little rest.

I checked out some of his log but I didn't see anything about crossfit. Was I not looking hard enough? He's putting up impressive numbers, though, and improving at a ridiculous rate.

 

[Alexander]

I checked out some of his log but I didn't see anything about crossfit. Was I not looking hard enough? He's putting up impressive numbers, though, and improving at a ridiculous rate.

Maybe it's not really crossfit that he's doing. Did you check the last page of his log, because I think he began crossfit somewhat recently. It's definitely a different form of crossfit than what you're doing, it it is at all. His numbers are improving at a 'ridiculous' rate:type:

 

[Polynomial]

Maybe it's not really crossfit that he's doing. Did you check the last page of his log, because I think he began crossfit somewhat recently. It's definitely a different form of crossfit than what you're doing, it it is at all. His numbers are improving at a 'ridiculous' rate:type:

The CrossFit that I have in mind is from www.crossfit.com, where they post a "workout of the day (WOD)." I'm thinking of adding 'metcon' (metabolic conditioning) workouts on Saturday, but mine only mimic the CrossFit stuff. The goal is to lose a bit of excess body fat that I've accumulated while drinking a metric fvckton of milk every day.

By the way, I was wondering if you could do light squats and light deadlifts in your situation, since those might help with getting some blood to the area, and let the bones heal better? Rippetoe has a nice protocol for healing muscle-belly injuries here, and it's an interesting read.

 

[Alexander]

I'll check that article out, but I can't do sh*t for awhile. I'm really supposed to be laying in bed all day. The bone is broken completely off, but it hasn't drifted away, which would've caused me to have a bolt put in. I go tomorrow to see if the bone has drifted off and that I need a bolt, or if it has calcified? back to the bone and that I'll just have to wear this cast for a few more weeks. Either way it is not a regular break and I have to be very careful for now, to limit the chances of the bone floating off.

So you got a little chunky on the milk diet? I drink tons of milk myself, but I'm an extreme ecto, and it really has no effect on me. Maybe you should drink 1 or 2% instead of whole and sub a little EVOO in there for some healthy fat. Personally I would do 100' or 200's instead of 400's. Sh*t I'm a fan of 50's really.

 

[Polynomial]

Monday 1-28-08

Squat: (45x5x3 135x5x2 185x5 205x3) 235x5x2 235x4
Bench Press: (45x5 135x5) 167.5x5x3
Overhead Squats: 90x5x2
Chin-ups: {bw}x9 {bw}x5 {bw}x3

Not bad. I might start going up slower on the squats, though.

 

[Polynomial]

Wednesday 1-30-08

Body weight: 197.6
Front Squat: (45x5x3 95x3 135x3) 185x3x3
Press: (45x5 95x5 115x3) {122.5}x5x3
Deadlift: (135x5 225x5 315x1) 345x4

Everything except for the front squats felt very easy today. I could've gotten one more rep on the deadlift, but I took my sweet time to set up for every rep so I was pretty exhausted by rep 4.

 

[jas123]

Poly, what do you think about doing DL first on Wed.'s? I know Rip doesn't recommend it, but DL is your biggest lift of the day and it makes sense to do it first IMO.

 

[Polynomial]

Poly, what do you think about doing DL first on Wed.'s? I know Rip doesn't recommend it, but DL is your biggest lift of the day and it makes sense to do it first IMO.

I think that with my current schedule I'll be doing power cleans and deadlifts on days that I do front squats, and since my purpose for doing front squats is recovery from squats, your suggestion makes perfect sense. I'm only worried about being warmed up enough, but that's just overthinking things. Thanks jas, I'll move my cleans and deadlifts to the beginning of the workout.

 

[Polynomial]

Friday 2-1-08

Body weight: 195.0 (-2.6 lbs in 2 days...****ty diet)
Squat: (45x5x3 135x5x2 185x5 205x3) {237.5}x5x2
Bench Press: (45x5 135x5) 170x5x2 170x3
Pull-ups: {bw}x6x2

Crappy diet and some stress in the last 2 days meant more fatigue. Not bad though, since I still went up on the lifts, but form and endurance suffered. I should progress more on Monday.

 

[Polynomial]

Tuesday 2-5-08

Squat: (45x5x3 135x5x2 185x5 205x3) 240x5x3
Press: (45x5 95x5 115x3) 125x4 115x5
Chin-ups: {bw}x9 {bw}x6 (close grip) {bw}x3

Something was off with my left shoulder and the press - the weight on the left felt heavier regardless of my grip. Strange, maybe the two 35 lbs plates weren't really 35lbs.

 

[jas123]

Alright, good work. Now let's see some big DL numbers next workout since you're prioritizing it.

That hot asses scoped PR is weak. That's just an average hour of TAing for me :twisted:

 

[Polynomial]

Wednesday 2-6-08

Since I worked out last night at 11pm, I decided to "take it easy" today and do some clean and snatch work. Of course I did enough of those to the point that I can't hold the bar with my hands, but I did improve my form. I think I'm getting blisters under my callouses...

Alright, good work. Now let's see some big DL numbers next workout since you're prioritizing it.

That hot asses scoped PR is weak. That's just an average hour of TAing for me :twisted:

:twisted: to the asses comment. Otherwise, I alternate DLs with power cleans on Wednesdays.

Also, I'm gonna burn you a really good snatch video from Buergner and leave it in your mailbox tomorrow. If I remember...

 

[kabuki]

I like your current stack:twisted:

 

[Polynomial]

Friday 2-8-08

Body weight: 197.0
Squat: (45x5x3 135x5x2 185x5 225x2) 245x5x3
Press: (45x10 95x5 115x3) 125x5x2 115x5
Pull-ups: {bw}x6x2 {bw}x5

Definitely did some dancing on the press. I was surprised that I wasn't more beat up from Wednesday. Overall a solid workout.

kabuki: Thanks, it is an awesome stack.

 

[bLacKjAck.]

Read this whole thing today. You have made some pretty incredible progress man. Nice work.

You workout with Jas? I am pretty sure I read that back there somewhere.

 

[Polynomial]

Read this whole thing today. You have made some pretty incredible progress man. Nice work.

You workout with Jas? I am pretty sure I read that back there somewhere.

Thanks. There's this other guy that started working out and doing the gallon of milk a day...and damn, he's about to pass me on squats and he weighs way less than I do.

Sometimes jas and I happen to be in the same gym, but we have different schedules. Plus he doesn't lift much so it's always a pain having to take off plates so he can do his sets :twisted:

By the way, good job on those DB military 100's... that's some serious strength there.

 

[Polynomial]

Wednesday 2-13-08

Body weight: 197.7
Squat: (45x5x4 135x5x2 185x5 225x3) 250x4x2
Press: (45x5 95x5 115x3) 125x5x2 125x3
Deadlift: (135x5 225x5 315x1) 365x3
plus some snatches and overhead squats.

Not bad. I hurt my ankle playing basketball on Sunday, so that's recovering, but I didn't feel too horrible about today.

 

[Polynomial]

Friday 2-15-08

Squat: (45x5x3 135x5 185x5 225x3) 250x5 225x5
Bench: (45x5 115x5 155x3) 170x5 170x4
Chin-ups: {bw}x7 {bw + straps}x9
Plus a few lightweight snatches.

Didn't get much sleep last night, since things have been a bit hectic.

 

[Polynomial]

Monday 2-18-08

Body weight: 195.8
Squat: (45x5x3 135x5 185x5 225x3) 250x5x3
Press: (45x5 95x5 115x3) 127.5x4 125x4 125x3
Pull-ups: {bw}x7 {bw}x6 {bw}x5

I think...I forgot my log book but that looks right. The squats felt good today, but the press not so much. Oh well.

 

[jas123]

Nice squatting. So now that you've had the squat shoes for a while, whatis your final evaluation?

I think that I may get some Olympic lifting shoes eventually.

 

[Polynomial]

Nice squatting. So now that you've had the squat shoes for a while, whatis your final evaluation?

I think that I may get some Olympic lifting shoes eventually.

Evaluation: they're excellent; definitely worth the investment. Another guy that squats in all stars tried my shoes and said that he needs to buy some.

My regular shoes feel like air when I put them on after a workout, and these shoes definitely help me get better angles and better push from the heels. To quote Rippetoe, "Just get some god damn squat shoes."

Depending on how much money you wanna spend, you can get fancy looking Adidas, or these VS athletics 'retard' shoes as Chelcie calls them.

 

[jas123]

Interesting. JD said that he didn't think that they'd help much for raw squats with my stance, but recommended some Oly shoes for catching in those lifts.