VTSPE772 (aka "The Sheep") returns to the flock!

[VTSPE772]

Been so busy at work today didn't get a chance to post my shortened workout this a.m. I had a last minute meeting that popped up for this morning at 0900, but that meant I had to be here to set up and get all the classified materials ready by 0830.  Had to cut the workout a little short this morning so I could still assist the wife with the little ones.  Zero week is still a success so far, Weights 3 x this week, cardio 2x so far, but going to get some in tomorrow, and will do some more homework this evening after the kiddies go to bed. 

 

Strong Lifts 5x5 (working sets) looked like this:

• Squats: 5x5x205#
• Bench: 5x5x170#
• Barbell Row: 5x5x125

All pretty solid lifts today, no real struggle; but I am wondering when I should think about getting a weight belt??? Any thoughts from the crowd; as to when, what type of buckle, where to buy from, etc.?

 

Have a great weekend NF!

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

Way to knock out zero week!  Well done with the lifting while busy!

[VTSPE772]

My oldest getting used to the water before swim class...then I cardio...then we haircut!

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[VTSPE772]

My oldest getting used to the water before swim class...then I cardio...then we haircut!

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[BarbarianBassBro]

Following for following me, stronglifts 5x5 and paleo elephants!

[RedStone]

1 hour ago, VTSPE772 said:

My oldest getting used to the water before swim class...then I cardio...then we haircut!

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YAES! That's what I'm taking about. Makes me want Summer to get here even more!! Now, I mean, how hard would it really be to rig one of those up on the roof of my house... 

[VTSPE772]

Challenge starts!  Week zero was a success on all fronts described in the first post.  Made it to the gym 3x, cardio 3x, did homework 2 nights Wed-Fri, and packed up some of the boys' things that don't get used anymore.

 

Gym this morning was pretty good too:

 

Warmup of walking, stretching, high knees, jumping jacks, and heel kicks (trying to kick my own ass)

Squat: 1x5x95/135/155/185, and 5x5x210

OHP: 1x5x45/65, and 5x5x85

Deadlift: 1x5x135/155/185/225

 

Followed with 30 minutes on the pseudo elliptical/stair climber thing (made by Precor).  I did the interval training with 2 minute cycles between level 10 and level 20.

 

Weight is down 0.5 lbs from last week, which isn't bad considering it was my birthday on Saturday.  Had to indulge in a little triple fudge cupcake from Whole Foods for dessert with the family, after a monster dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse (Steak and Scallops, with fried rice, veggies, noodles, Miso soup and salad).

 

In other news, we recently had a deck installed and my wife and I finally chose a furniture set to purchase.  This stuff is expensive...there was one place we looked that was charging $250 per cushion for a seat (separate from the seat itself)...floored me.  Anywho, we finally decided on a Eucalyptus wood set from "World Market".  It's going to be a great spring/summer with this new addition to the house!

 

Spring Semester is wrapping up, so homework and projects are coming due in the next few weeks, along with Final Exams.  My goal of doing homework at home is going to become more and more crucial as the days go by.  December can't get here soon enough (2 Grad classes left), and I will only take one this summer and one in the fall, which will be a nice change to my previous schedules!

 

Have a great Monday Warriors!

[RedStone]

Happy deadlift day! Yay! We're totally on the same 5X5 schedule. I'm shooting for BW today  

 

And ~HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY~ Sounds like a fun and packed weekend!

 

[VTSPE772]

1 minute ago, ~RedStone~ said:

Happy deadlift day! Yay! We're totally on the same 5X5 schedule. I'm shooting for BW today  

 

And ~HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY~ Sounds like a fun and packed weekend!

 

Deadlift is one of my favorites! Back squats are cool, but I really like front squats better and will probably change over after this month.  Thanks for the B-day wishes.

[SpecialSundae]

13 minutes ago, VTSPE772 said:

Deadlift is one of my favorites! Back squats are cool, but I really like front squats better and will probably change over after this month.  Thanks for the B-day wishes.

Why not do both? 

[VTSPE772]

Whaaaaat? You just blew my mind! Honestly I didn't think of it...

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[Broba Fett]

Happy birthday man! Looks like you're off to a good start. Keep it up!

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[quilaho]

Nice to see you back, man!

 

I'm up at 4:30 MWF for my lifting sessions. It's not so bad.

[VTSPE772]

1 hour ago, quilaho said:

Nice to see you back, man!

 

I'm up at 4:30 MWF for my lifting sessions. It's not so bad.

Yeah, I can call you when I get up to give you an even earlier wake up call...you're in central time zone, right?

[quilaho]

5 minutes ago, VTSPE772 said:

Yeah, I can call you when I get up to give you an even earlier wake up call...you're in central time zone, right?

Yes I am. Where are you now a-days?

 

The one thing I don't like about 4:30 is the Spring DST change. That one always screws me out of my workouts for a couple weeks.

[VTSPE772]

Still outside Washington DC...but may be headed to MN this symmer. Not sure where yet, but my dad is getting remarried. He lives in Becker,MN

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[VTSPE772]

Decent working session at the gym this a.m.  Although I woke up a little later than usual, so I wasn't able to get my cardio in today (But will be able to make this up by Saturday)!

 

Warmup: Jumping Jacks, high knees, heel kicks, and generally moving around more than most at the gym at 4:30 a.m.

Squats: 1x5x95, 135, 155, 185, 5x5x215---Starting to notice I need more time between working sets here

Bench: 1x5x95, 135, 155, 5x5x175---Been listening in on all the support and tips for Waldo's bench...I am starting to make weight faces around set 4...

BB Row: 1x10x45, 95, 5x5x135---My first two sets were 10 reps...trying to figure out if I like (or can feel more activation when I use) overhand, underhand grip on these now that they are becoming more of a challenge.

 

Like I said, missed Cardio this a.m. but will hit it on Friday and Saturday this week. 

 

So there's this guy at the gym who ALWAYS comes to the squat rack right next to me (keep in mind there are 7 total, and it's 4-4:30 a.m.).  Either we are on the same program or he's a competitive type of guy.  No matter what my weight is, he always goes up by 5 lbs.  No big deal to me, but it's weird when there are 6 other squat racks and he chooses the one right next to me.  Anyway, he got into a little trouble this a.m. with the staff, because he kept dropping his 225 lb barbell after each set of Deadlift and walking off rather quickly (like a Mic-drop and I'm out!)...he was dropping it right next to a trainer and her two trainees and it scared the $#!t out of them each time.  Reminds me of this...

[elvenengineer]

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 8:23 AM, VTSPE772 said:

Deadlift is one of my favorites! Back squats are cool, but I really like front squats better and will probably change over after this month.  Thanks for the B-day wishes.

 

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 8:37 AM, SpecialSundae said:

Why not do both? 

 

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 8:39 AM, VTSPE772 said:

Whaaaaat? You just blew my mind! Honestly I didn't think of it...

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I do 3x5 Back Squat and 3x5 Front Squat on Workout A day of StrongLifts (I didn't want to overdo squats on DL day) - it seems to go well!

(Or I did before, don't look at my current challenge for examples lol. I changed it last challenge, and it went REALLY well. I was honestly surprised)

[VTSPE772]

On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2016 at 11:54 AM, elvenengineer said:

I do 3x5 Back Squat and 3x5 Front Squat on Workout A day of StrongLifts (I didn't want to overdo squats on DL day) - it seems to go well!

(Or I did before, don't look at my current challenge for examples lol. I changed it last challenge, and it went REALLY well. I was honestly surprised)

So to get back in the groove, I did two of my four ramp-up sets using Front Squats today...like you said, it seems to go well.

[VTSPE772]

Been a productive couple days for me.  I have classes on Monday/Tuesday evenings, so getting to the gym at 4 a.m. can be a struggle!  But I made it happen this week (even though I was slightly tardy on Wed., which seem to be the toughest day to get there at 0400).  Also got my homework done for each of my classes by last night, and DON'T HAVE ANY TO DO OVER THE WEEKEND, for once!  LUYL hasn't happened this week, but we are going to be getting some new deck furniture this weekend and having to get rid of those boxes will probably prompt some other cleaning/purging of items.

 

Workout 4/8:

Warm-up: some general moving around.  Ankle, knee and hip mobility to get the joints moving

Squats: Front Squats - 1x5x95, 1x5x135.  Back Squats 1x5x155, 1x5x185, 5x5x220

OHP: 1x5x45, 1x5x65, 5x5x90

DEADLIFT (I love DL day): 1x5x135, 1x5x185, 1x5x235

 

Cardio: 30 minutes on Precor (elliptical/stair stepper type) machine at level 10/20 on 2 minute intervals.

 

Have a great day Warriors!

[RedStone]

HAPPY DEADLIFT DAY!!!

 

I was telling Adam your story about the dude that sidles up at the squat rack, and before I got to the punchline (the cartoon) he was like - Oh, like at a row of empty urinals! HA! I guess it's universal lol

[VTSPE772]

Just now, ~RedStone~ said:

...he was like - Oh, like at a row of empty urinals! HA! I guess it's universal lol

It's definitely a struggle!  He was there (right next to me) again today, but didn't mirror my workout today.  He was doing some "Squat Cleans" (I think that's the name), where he did a power clean into a front squat.  At first he was getting form right while using the bar only, and when he was done, he just 'Mic-dropped' the empty bar and walked away, AGAIN!  This seems to be his M.O. and maybe a way to get some attention by making loud noises in the early a.m. hours.

 

And Happy DL day to you TOO!

[RedStone]

So weird! It came up because we were talking about healthy vs unhealthy motivation... like, why would he mirror your numbers unless he was trying to motivate himself to do more?? In a workout partner situation I could totally see that as being a friendly push, but when it's one sided seems unnecessarily aggressive, plus a mic drop? On an empty bar??? AT 4am??? Sounds like he needs a new way to work out some issues..

[VTSPE772]

Too busy to post workout yesterday (4/11)  Not much time today either, going to shove it up here and get to work.

 

SL 5x5 Week 7

Warm-up - Motion, Hip/knee/ankle mobility

Front Squats: 1x5x95/135/155

Back Squats: 1x5x185/205, 5x5x225

Bench Press: 1x5x135/155, 5x5x180

BB Row: 1x5x95/115, 5x5x140

 

Cardio: 30 minute intervals (level 10/20 every 2 minutes)

 

Was not feeling the workout as I was a little out of it.  My fitness wearable (Atlas) was fritzing out on me a little.  I joined the Beta testing group and got an update to the firmware and app to beta test, and it was getting all funky on me...The above workout was what I was supposed to do, although I think I did a few more sets of Back Squats than intended due to the mishaps with the wearable.  Luckily I still keep my workout notebook with me so I know that I at least did the above, but definitely more on a few of the exercises.

 

On separate note, this semester is almost over and I can't wait.  Only two more classes to go, and I will not be taking two at a time any more.  I have one this summer and then my project/thesis course in the fall.  I know my wife/kids will be happy to have me home a little more!  And I might be able to get a little more sleep!

 

Have a great day Warriors!

[VTSPE772]

Missed the workout yesterday due to being human.  Over-tired after my late class, falling asleep around 1130, and waking up at 0400 was not in the cards...but I got a little more sleep last night so the workout was on this morning!

 

Squats: 1x5x135/155/185/205, 5x5x230

OHP: 1x5x45/65, 5x5x95

DL: 1x5x135/185/225/245

 

Still making progress on these, and forms feels pretty good.  Hopefully after this semester ends, I can spend a little more time in the gym (longer sessions), as I would love to get into a pull-up progression and other bodyweight work (want to start using my parallettes), cause Warriors lift heavy shit, and I consider myself to be "heavy shit".

 

Have a great day Warriors!