William's Log

[William McAlpine]

Hello, I'm moving my journal over here from bodybuilding.com. Interests in this forum are much more in line with my own, and I feel like I could benefit from the community here.

Brief History

I started lifting two years ago in an effort to gain mass for soccer. I went to bodybuilding.com and tried to learn about weightlifting/mass gain, etc. There was a sticky describing Rippetoe's Starting Strength forum, and I "followed" it for about 6 months until I injured my hamstring. During this period, I went from 120 lbs to 150 lbs. Soccer season and an eventual injury came, so ended up taking about 4-5 months off.

I then came across the olympic weightlifting subforum at bodybuilding.com and began to teach myself the olympic lifts in January 09. Fastforward to July 09 and I started to look like an "actual" weightlifter. My weight had reached 174 lbs. I then strained (probably tore) my hamstring in August. I finally got better last December after months of inconsistency. Here I am now in late March:

Stats

Age: 18 (19 in four days)
Height: 5'11
Weight: 162 lbs (morning weight)
Snatch: 170 lbs
Clean and Jerk: 205 lbs

My long term goal is to achieve a 300 Sinclair. I hope to achieve this in the 94 kg weight class.

[William McAlpine]

Current Plan

I am currently running the Texas method with 5 singles of snatches and 5 singles of Clean and Jerks before doing my strength work. I still consider myself a novice, but I will not be able to gain weight from a novice standpoint for the next 6 weeks. Therefore, I'm running strength work in an intermediate fashion. However, I may switch to a novice progression when I go back home from school.

Short Term Goals

In six weeks, I hope to achieve these numbers:

Snatch: 176 lbs
Clean and Jerk: 220 lbs
Back Squat: 275 lbs 5x5, 300 lbs 1x5
Front Squat 225 lbs 6x2
Overhead Press: 120 5x5, 140 1x5

[William McAlpine]

Training

Snatches

1x3 95 lbs
1x3 115 lbs
1x2 135 lbs
1x1 145 lbs
6x1 152.5 lbs (5/6)

89.7% max

Clean and Jerk

1x2 115 lbs
1x2 155 lbs
5x1 181.25 lbs (5/5)

88.4% max

Back Squat

1x5 45 lbs
1x3 135 lbs
1x2 185 lbs
1x1 225 lbs
5x5 255 lbs

Press

1x5 45 lbs
1x1 95 lbs
5x5 102.5 lbs

Training Video

[William McAlpine]

Training

Snatches

1x3 95 lbs
1x3 115 lbs
1x2 135 lbs
1x1 145 lbs
5x1 155 lbs (3/5)

91.2% max

Clean and Jerk

1x2 115 lbs
1x2 155 lbs
5x1 182.5 lbs (5/5)

89.0% max

Front Squat

1x5 45 lbs
1x3 135 lbs
1x1 175 lbs
6x2 195 lbs

Dips

1x6 BW
1x10 BW + Small Chain
1x9 BW + Small Chain

Notes

Forgot my camera today. Missed snatch number 2 and 3 out in front because I did not finish my second pull. C&J's went pretty well. I did not finish my pull on 2 and 3, so I caught them out slightly in front.

[William McAlpine]

Training

Snatches

1x3 95 lbs
1x3 115 lbs
1x2 135 lbs
1x1 145 lbs
5x1 156.25 lbs (4/5)

91.9% max

Clean and Jerk

1x2 115 lbs
1x2 135 lbs
1x1 165 lbs
5x1 185 lbs (5/5)

90.2% max

Back Squat

1x5 45 lbs
1x3 135 lbs
1x2 205 lbs
1x1 245 lbs
1x4 280 lbs failed fifth

Press

1x5 45 lbs
1x1 95 lbs
1x1 115 lbs
1x5 130 lbs (bounced a little on the fifth)

Training Video


Notes

Snatches: Went really well. I missed the last one because I didn't finish my pull.
Clean and Jerks: Much more solid cleans than Wednesday. Jerks were ok.
Squats: I did 275x5 a month ago easily. I'll get 285x5 next week. My technique was not good on these.

[William McAlpine]

Training

Snatches

1x3 95 lbs
1x3 115 lbs
1x2 135 lbs
1x1 145 lbs
5x1 157.5 lbs (4/5)

92.6% max

Clean and Jerk

1x2 115 lbs
1x2 155 lbs
5x1 186.25 lbs (2/2)

90.9% max

Back Squat

1x5 45 lbs
1x3 135 lbs
1x2 185 lbs
1x1 225 lbs
5x5 260 lbs

Press

1x5 45 lbs
1x1 95 lbs
5x5 105 lbs

Training Video

Notes

Snatches felt pretty good. C&J's felt sloppy so I just cut it short after two reps. Squats were easy today.

[William McAlpine]

Training

Snatches

1x3 95 lbs
1x3 115 lbs
1x2 135 lbs
1x1 150 lbs
5x1 160 lbs (4/5)

94.1% max

Clean and Jerk

1x2 115 lbs
1x2 155 lbs
1x1 175 lbs
5x1 187.5 lbs (5/5)

91.5% max

Front Squat

1x5 45 lbs
1x3 135 lbs
1x1 175 lbs
6x2 200 lbs

Bench Press

1x5 45 lbs
1x3 115 lbs
1x3 135 lbs
2x3 155 lbs

Notes

Snatches went ok. First; out in front, second; little too far back, third; miss, fourth; out in front, and the fifth one had the best positions.
C&Js: better than Monday
Front Squats: easy
Bench Press: Today was the first time I have benched pressed in a while. These were done close grip and paused. I hope they will complement my overhead press. Next week, I am going to do 5x2 with 145 lbs.

Training Video

[William McAlpine]

Training

Snatches

1x3 95 lbs
1x3 115 lbs
1x2 135 lbs
1x1 145 lbs
5x1 161.25 lbs (3/5)

94.9% max

Clean and Jerk

1x2 115 lbs
1x2 155 lbs
1x1 175 lbs
5x1 190 lbs (5/5)

92.7% max

Back Squat

1x5 45 lbs
1x3 135 lbs
1x2 205 lbs
1x1 245 lbs
1x5 285 lbs

Press

1x5 45 lbs
1x1 95 lbs
1x1 115 lbs
1x4 131.25 lbs (wasn't going to get 5)

Training Video


Notes

Snatches: Probably the worst day in a while. Missed two. One was too far behind, the other one out in front.
Clean and Jerks: Felt explosive on the clean with these. Jerks were okay.
Squats: Woohoo! Big pr. The last one wasn't so good technique wise, and I should have gone about a half and inch deeper.
Press: No way I was getting five. I'll just stick with sets of four for the next few weeks.

[William McAlpine]

Training

Snatches

1x3 95 lbs
1x3 115 lbs
1x2 135 lbs
1x1 150 lbs
5x1 162.5 lbs (4/5)

Clean and Jerk

1x2 115 lbs
1x1 155 lbs
1x1 175 lbs
1x1 191.25 lbs (5/5)

Back Squat

1x5 45 lbs
1x3 135 lbs
1x2 190 lbs
1x1 225 lbs
5x5 265 lbs

Press

1x5 45 lbs
1x1 95 lbs
5x5 107.5 lbs

[William McAlpine]

Training

Snatches

1x3 95 lbs
1x3 115 lbs
1x2 135 lbs
1x1 150 lbs
5x1 165 lbs (1/5)

97.1% max

Front Squat

1x5 45 lbs
1x3 135 lbs
1x1 185 lbs

Notes

Must of been due a bad day. Explosion was good, but I couldn't keep the bar in. Had a lot of stuff to do so I just went home.

Training Video