Chest Rockwell

9/30/15 Hola amigos. Been a long time since I rapped at ya. Took a couple weeks off from lifting due to a busy schedule, then took a couple weeks off from posting on here. In any event, still plugging away. Squats -- 5x5 180 lbs Bench -- 5x5 155 lbs Rows -- 5x5 120 lbs

8/11/15 I was finally able to break through and finish 185 lbs in the squat. It felt significantly harder than 180 lbs, but I think I'd put a lot of mental emphasis on a plate and 25 lbs per side as a goal, so I was anxious about succeeding. After taking two weeks off for vacation and general laziness, I'm hopeful that I'm back on track and gaining again. Squat -- 5x5 185 lbs Bench -- 5x5 160 lbs Rows -- 5x5 130 lbs Tunes--I tried to listen to Baroness, one of my favorite bands, today but something about them makes them unsuitable for lifting for me. Too sludgy, I guess. I'm not really sure. But anyway--Pig Destroyer, PHANTOM LIMB; Black Flag, MY WAR; Cannibal Corpse, TOMB OF THE MUTILATED.

8/6/15 Squat--5x5 180 Press--5x5 95 Deadlift--1x5 175

Thankfully everyone at my gym is pretty friendly about working in if you don't mind returning the favor. There are only 3 squat racks so it can get crowded. I've heard of Madcow but I'm not very familiar. Do you like it so far?

8.3.15 Hola, Amigos. Good day today. My gym has been getting crowded with people doing big lifts--squats, deadlifts, cleans, etc. In the past, it was always the bench and the machines that got crowded. I worked in with 3 other guys who are in various stages of Stronglifts/Starting Strength and it was a lot of fun. Squat - 5x5 175 Bench - 5x5 155 Row - 5x5 125 Tunes--Black Flag Lunch--2 cans of albacore tuna with whole grain bread. I need to step up my lunch game. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks man. How's it going for you?

7/30/15 Hello, friends. I've continued to lift but forgotten to post over the last two weeks. Squat 5x5 170 lbs OHP 5x5 90 lbs Deadlift 3x5 165 lbs Music--shuffled today, but a funny story. I'm an Amazon Prime member so I utilize Prime Music to listen to new stuff while I'm working out. I downloaded Cattle Decapitation's MONOLITH OF INHUMANITY for today. The only thing I knew about Cattle Decapitation was that they're a death metal band whose lyrics focus on environmental/vegetarian themes. During my last squat set, their song [REDACTED BECAUSE IT IS DISGUSTING] came on. It was the first song by them I'd ever heard. Musically, not bad. However, during my fourth rep, it got to the breakdown and their vocalist started doing this really low, gurgling, version of the typical death metal Cookie Monster vocal and I laughed so hard I barely finished the set. I hit another one of their songs during deadlifts and he did the same thing. It's so distracting I don't think I can lift to this band any more.

7/15/15 Hola, amigos. I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but I was on vacation for awhile, then forgot to record a few workouts. I de-loaded after missing about a week and a half. Squat--5x5 155 lbs OHP--5x5 80 lbs Deadlift--2x5 145 lbs Tunes--Skeletonwitch

6/18/15 First day back in about a week. During that time, I did yoga twice. May try and keep that up if I can strike a good balance between that and lifting. Squats - 5x5 170lbs Bench - 5x5 140lbs Row - 5x5 125 lbs Dips - 3x8 Tunes--Girl Talk, ALL DAY

6/8/15 Squats - 5x5 160 Bench - 5x5 140 Rows - 5x5 120 Tunes--shuffle, including Amon Amarth, Dead Kennedys, Jay Reatard, and Black Flag

6/3/15 Squats -- 5x5 155 OHP -- 5x5 90 Deadlifts -- 5x5 155 (felt my form was really lacking so I backed off the weight a bit). Tunes--shuffle!

6/1/15 Squats -- 5x5 150 Bench -- 5x5 135 Row -- 5x5 115 Dips -- 3x6 Weight -- 211 Tunes -- shuffle! Included some Neil Young, My Morning Jacket, Mac Demarco, Molly Hatchett, and the Stooges

5/27/15 Yoga.

5/26/15 Overhead press went by with no problems today. When I was setting up and calculating the weight I needed, I realized that two weeks ago I added 5 lbs extra and was really doing 90 instead of 85 when I missed my last rep. Squatting 175 must have wiped out my brain along with my quads. I'm considering de-loading on deadlifts, too. Like with squats, I'm afraid my form is getting spotty. Can't have that as the weight continues to increase. Squats - 5x5 145 lbs OHP - 5x5 85 lbs Deadlift - 5x5 185 lbs Pullups - 3x3 Tunes -- Girl Talk, ALL DAY Weight -- 212 lbs

You and I are in relatively similar places--young families, formerly fit but now struggling. I started StrongLifts in March and I've really enjoyed it. I think you will, too! The best thing I did when starting was be extremely conservative and realistic with my starting weight. I'd lifted in the past and had benched and squatted 225 before, but I realized my pride would have to let those old numbers go given the way this workout works (plus, that was 10 years ago and probably with terrible form). So I was very realistic in my starting weight and erred on the side of going too low. Good luck and have fun! Keep us posted.

5/20/15 I decided to de-load on squats. Three reasons. First, I want to focus more on form. I felt like my form had become, or was in danger of becoming, really crappy with 175. Second, I decided to add dips and pull-ups. Dips on bench press days, pull-ups on deadlift days. Third, I decided to start paying attention to what is going into my body. I've been doing this for about 10 weeks and have it pretty well integrated into my routine by now, so there's no excuse at this point, really. Squats 5x5 135 Bench 5x5 130 Row 5x5 110 Tunes--Jay Reatard, BLOOD VISIONS; Black Flag, DAMAGED

5/18/15 Tough day today. I managed to finish all the squats, which I didn't think was going to happen, but I missed the last rep of the last set of overhead press. I've been considering de-loading across the board and adding pull-ups and dips and re-integrating some running. This may be a good time to do it. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. Squats - 5x5 175 OHP - 4x5 and 1x4 85 Deadlift - 3x5 175 Tunes--Pig Destroyer; King Tuff, KING TUFF

5/13/15 Squat - 5x5 170 lbs Bench - 5x5 125 lbs Row - 5x5 105 lbs Tunes - Amon Amarth, DECEIVER OF THE GODS; Deafheaven, SUNBATHER

5/11/15 As recently as last week, there were lifts that were still easy--only the squat was a real killer. Not anymore. Now, everything is tough (squat's still the worst, though) so there aren't any lifts off. Should be fun! Squat - 5x5 165 lbs OHP - 5x5 80 lbs Deadlift - 1x5 165 lbs Tunes - Torche, HARMONICRAFT

5/8/15 Squat - 5x5 160 lbs Bench - 5x5 120 lbs Row - 5x5 100 lbs Tunes - Deafheaven, SUNBATHER

Thanks! I appreciate it. If you've got any music suggestions, I'm all ears! I just picked up Deafheaven's SUNBATHER and and Torche's HARMONICRAFT, but I'm really looking for more Slayer-style thrash. There's just so much bad stuff out there it can be hard to find the good.

I agree after having done it. I felt much better on my squats than I had in awhile. I don't get much time to kayak, either. I bought a boat right before our first daughter was born and unfortunately haven't gotten my money's worth. She loves watching kayak videos on YouTube, so there's hope she'll get into it with me as she gets older!

May 6 I took about a week off due to a busy work schedule, family commitments, and a kayaking trip on Tennessee's beautiful Hiwassee River. I was worried that I'd lose some strength and/or muscle memory with that much time off, but I did fine. Squat - 5x5 155lbs OHP - 5x5 75lbs Deadlift - 5x5 155 lbs Weight - not measured Tunes - Pig Destroyer, PHANTOM LIMB (squats); Japandroids, POST-NOTHING (everything else) Post-lunch - 6 oz chicken breast; green pepper; 1 slice of whole grain bread with peanut butter; water

April 29 Squat - 5x5 150 lbs Bench - 5x5 115 lbs Row - 5x5 95 lbs Weight - not measured Tunes - Mastodon, BLOOD MOUNTAIN; Black Flag, MY WAR

April 27 Squat - 5x5 145lbs OHP - 5x5 70lbs Deadlift - 1x5 145 lbs Weight - not measured Tunes - Kylesa, SPIRAL SHADOW, Noisem again for the last two sets of squats (I find that straightforward, fast thrash metal is great squat music. I'm not a super big fan of the vocalist, but Noisem gets the job done). Post workout lunch - turkey sammich and a red bell pepper