David Glass' Training Journal

[David Glass]

I've been contemplating moving my journal here for a while. It's been an emotional process since I've been logging my progress on American Parkour for the last 2 years or so, but lately, it seems most people there have limited access to equipment and, in general, are in different stages of their training, have different objectives.

About me:
A/S/W/H: 38/M/198/5'11''... Hope I got that right. My objectives have been

- Achieve a 300 lb squat. I have reached a plateu of 5x5x225# and have been there for the past 3 months

- Achieve a 350lb Deadlift. I have seen some gains here, but they too have come slowly. Maybe about 20 lbs in my 5x5 sets going up from 255# to 275#, although I think I might be able to handle 285#

- Lose weight: Here too I've been stagnant at 90Kg (198 lbs) for months now. I have been hoping to get down to 85 kg, but due to my plateu, currently, that seems unrealistic. I should point out that when my training began 2 yrs ago, I weighed 240 lbs. For the first year and a half, I lost an average of 2 lbs per month, I'd say (rough estimate)

Daily Diet
During weekdays, my diet is very strict, and will look like this with little to no variation

Breakfast:
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 slice of cheese
- 10 slices of turkey

9:00 AM snack:
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of equal proportions of Macademia nuts and Almonds
- 7 berries (black, boison, rasberries, or on occasions, strawberries or some small peaches)

Lunch:
- Some form of meat, most of the time consisting of two chicken or turkey breasts, steak or two fish filets together with a cup and a half to two cups of mixed veggies

3:00 PM snack:
- Same as 9:00 AM snack

Dinner:
- Salad with raw baby spinach, a bit of gorgonzola cheese, about a breast to breast and a half of chicken, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a little vinagre

Post Workout: 1 scoop of whey protein in water

On weekends, it's pretty much up for grabs. I will deviate largely from my diet, and, although I try to keep it under control, there will be things like sharing a desert with the wife, some carbs here and there (we lunch at restaurants), etc


Training
For the most part, I've been doing CrossFit, although lately I've been training MEBB focussing on strength. I'll train 4-6 times a week, 3 days on, one off (for the most part), training one day SS type training, one day CrossFit.

My CrossFit records are as follows:
- Fran: 6:47, achieved about 6 months ago. Haven't attempted since
- Helen: 12:48
- Cindy: 16 rounds, also achieved 6 months ago
- Elizabeth: 12:x, but with standard dips (got my rings a couple of weeks ago)

Max Strength:
- Deadlift: 310 lbs
- Squat: 265# x 3. I am terrified of going heavier
- Bench: 245# x 5
- Press: 155# x 2

My original training journal can be found here:
http://www.americanparkour.com/compo.../topic,8753.0/

I'm hoping to get as much insight as possible on how to achieve my goals. Obviously, as far as strength training and dieting, the fact that I'm stagnant means I'm doing something wrong.

Thanks,

-David

[David Glass]

Did some bench work today as part of my strength training.

Warm-up
I don't know what these are called, but, jumping push-ups? Where both arms and legs leave the floor... I did 3 sets of 5

Then
1 x 10 @ 155#
1 x 5 @ 185#

Then
5 x 5 @ 235#

Then
7, 8, 8, 6, 6 Inclined bench @ 135#

Both bench and inclined were done with a GymBoss timing out every 2:00. Going to move up to 245# since this is the second week I completed all 5 sets at 235#

[David Glass]

I've been having stomach problems for the past couple of days, which I attribute to drinking too much coffee and eating all that valentines day stuff (ice-cream, chocolates, etc)

I'm trying to meet deadlines at work, so I've had to put in some overtime. This has caused me to drift a bit from my diet, which may even be a good thing, but has also interfered with my workout schedule.

After a 2 day rest, having stomach problems and sleeping poorly, today I did

Warm-up
- 5 minutes on rower
- 3 rounds of 54 lb KB goblet squats and push-ups, then...

Heavy Fran
21-15-9 reps of
-115# Thrusters
-Deadhang Pull-ups

My PR this WOD was under 14:00 a month or so ago, but today I was in the 17:00 range. I was feeling weak all over.

Then I decided to do 5 Km on the rower. I barely did one mile and had to run to the bathroom... alas, there are good days and bad days

[David Glass]

Warm-up
5 minutes on tower: 0.8 miles
Then...

Deadlift
1 x 10 @ 115#
1 x 5 @ 185#
1 x 5 @ 245#

295#: 5, 5, 5, 3, 1

Then Weighted Ring Dips with 40 lb vest
5, 5, 6, 7, 8

Starting to see gains in strength in every area except the back squat. I'm starting to think I am just terrified of it. I will continue working the squat at less than my 5 rep max until I overcome this.

[Chris Salvato]

Those DLs are in very high volume. Why so much?

[David Glass]

Originally Posted by Chris Salvato

Those DLs are in very high volume. Why so much?

Thanks, Chris, you're the second person to point this out to me

I was looking for a 5x5 on DeadLifts, Press, Squat and Bench Press.

I gather 5x5 is too much because of how hard it is on the lower back?

Also, given all the cleaning I'm doing, I think maybe I can go for a 3x5 on the DeadLift instead, once every 10 days or so?

I've actually done two workouts since my last visit:

Workout 1
- My buddies at work have decided they want to give CrossFit a shot, so I took them to the park for a second wod that consisted of the following

- Run 400m
- 30 air squats
- Run 400m
- 15 burpees
Repeat (2)
Those that finished did so in about 14:00 and change

Yesterday I did more of a SealFit WOD, which consisted of the following:

- Row 1 mile (6:50)
- 3 rounds for time of:
10 goblet squats, 10 push-ups, 5 deadhang pullups (3:50)
- Elizabeth, or 21-15-9 reps of Squat Clean, Ring dips (13:50)
- Run 2.25 miles (25:10)
- Max sit-ups in 2:00 (48)

It was my first Elizabeth Rx'd (with ring dips instead of standard), and I still broke under 14:00. My legs felt like a ton of bricks when going into the run after Elizabeth, but still I managed to keep close to a 10:00/mi rate

[David Glass]

Bench Press

Warm-up: 10 @ 135#, 5 @ 185#

245#
5, 5, 5, 4, 4

[David Glass]

No training last night... Wife's b-day

I'm loving this new phase in my training. Last night, I had b-day cake, then, much to my family's horror, seconds, then, I really threw them off when I had thirds... yeap... hold back no punches

That being said, I'm not planning on having cake everyday, just upping the calories to see what they do to my strength gains

[David Glass]

Aaaah, my nemesis...

Warmup: 5 minutes on rower, 10 air squats, 4 x 5 x KB goblet squats

1 x 10 @ 135#
1 x 3 @ 185#

220#
5, 5, 5, 5, 4

Chin-ups
10, 8, 5, 5, 5, 5

I think I might know why squats are such a problem for me. Compared to benching, pressing, deadlifting, the load seems so much more taxing. I think I'm gaging my limitations vs the effort made on those exercises when this is really a beast in it's own

Case in point: On my first set last night, I was about to quit after 3 reps. THen I thought: NO way! You've done more! And completed the 5 reps... same ocurred on sets 2, 3, 4 and 5... wanted to quit, pushed a bit more

I think my assessment of whether I have a rep left in me needs improvement.

[David Glass]

Training:

Warmup... 5:00 on rower, 2 sets of 10 push-ups

WOD
5 rounds for time of
- 10 x 155# Push-Press
- 10 x ring rows
- 30 Double-unders

My Time... 24:45

Diet:
Been sticking to may paleo-oriented diet, but I have been occasionally endulging in carbs like cake, bagels, granola bars, pancakes... this has been over the past 2 weeks.

I have gained about 5 lbs, but since the first 4 were pretty much overnight, I'm attributing most of it to the fact that I was simply dehydrated as a result of going overboard with calorie cuts

Although I have been enjoying the rushes carbs have given me over the few days, and feeling a lot more aggressive and strong as a result, I realized last night this is just perception. There are days where you feel stronger, but you aren't, and days where you just don't feel like you have it in you, and you end up breaking your own PRs

Last night I felt pretty strong, but all my energy faded in the third round of my WOD. I still pulled through, but I think that's a warning that the strategy of taking carbs might not be working.

I'm no longer going to endulge regularly on the breads, bagels, etc. Instead I will go back to taking milk, this time whole milk as opposed to 2%. I will start with a gallon a week and adjust calorie intake by adding more nuts and oils.