Change of Plans

Starting Strength + CrossFit = Tired, sore body for me, so I'm going to go back to the way I was doing it before (trying to get in a squat and dead lift once a week). 

If I really want to do Starting Strength the correct way (and not be super sore and tired) I'd have to give up CrossFit for a bit and I just don't want to do that.  Starting Strength has you lifting every other day with rest on your days off.  After doing my lifts I was going to CrossFit and on my days off from lifting I was doing CrossFit, so I was trying to do too much.

So, I'm going back to what I was doing originally.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at CrossFit we normally do 1 heavy lift (squats, dead lifts, bench press, push press, cleans, etc.) and then a short workout (about 10 minutes) with the movement we just did.  On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays we don't do heavy lifting.  Instead we do longer (25-35 minute) workouts with lighter weights.  Lately, with Maddie's basketball and softball schedule, I've been going M-Th and taking Fri- Sun off.  Depending on the lifts we do that week, I try to make up a heavy lift that I missed at Lifetime (especially if it's squats and deadlifts). 

I guess I'll just have to be happy with the slow steady gains I'm making and not get too discouraged when other people are lifting heavier weights than me. 

January 28, 2011

Workout:

At Lifetime

Back Squats
45- 5
55- 5
65- 5 X 3

Strict Press
45- 5
55- 5
45- 5 X 2

Deadlifts
95- 5
105- 5
115- 5

Today I was trying to find my starting weights for Starting Strength.  You start with the bar and do 5 reps, then add 10 pounds and do 5 reps.  If your form stays intact and you don't slow down, you add 10 pounds again.  Once your form breaks down or you slow down on your reps, that's your starting weight.  For squats and press, you do 2 more sets at that weight.  For dead lifts you stop once you find the point where your form breaks or you slow down.

So my starting weights are going to be Back Squat- 65, Strict Press- 45, and Dead Lift- 115
I went up on press to see how it felt, but I really slowed down and since 45 was already pretty tough I figured I'd just start there.  It's better to start low then high.

After that I did 10 push ups on my toes and then 3 rounds of 10 air squats, 10 sit ups, and 10 push ups on my toes.

Improving My Squat and Dead Lift

Today is the day I begin trying to improve my squat and dead lift.  I found a program called Starting Strength and I'm going to try it out for a few months to see if it helps me improve my lifts.  Basically, I'll be back squatting and dead lifting or power cleaning 3 times a week.  I'm starting with low weights so that I can hopefully add weight each week.  Along with squats, dead lifts, and power cleans, I'm also going to be including bench press and shoulder press (strict press). 

The reason why I'm doing this is because my bench press max is almost as high as my squat max.  And not because I can bench press a ton, but because my squat max is sooooooooo low! 

Hopefully squats and dead lifts will become my friends soon.