Never mind about what I posted yesterday. While searching for posts on cutting, I got side tracked by a couple threads by 0311 on whole body routines. (If I'm not mistaken, 0311 endorses the whole body workout :)) I want to keep doing what I'm doing and eventually a 5x5 routine. Those threads are what helped insipre me in the first place. I may tweak my diet a little, maybe cut some carb calories on non-lifting days. But at least for now, I plan to keep focusing on making my next workout a good workout.

Saturday 5/5/07

Squat A2G --------------- 3x5 175 lbs
Military Press ------------- 3x5 122 lbs
JS Row ------------------- 3x5 145 lbs

Chins --------------------- 2x8

Dumbbell Curl -------------- 2x8 30 lb
Dumbbell Tricep Kickback --- 2x8 20 lb


Notes:
I changed my tricep accessory to Dumbell Kickback for a change.

Tuesday 5/8/07

Squat A2G -------------- 3x5 180 lbs
Bench Press ------------- 3x5 192 lbs
Deadlift ----------------- 1x5 210 lbs

Skull Crushers ----------- 2x8 55 lbs

Notes:
Back update: I hope I don't jinx myself, but my back has been feeling great lately. I've been doing some simple lower back movements twice a day to keep my lower vertebrae and hips loose. I take a Glucosamine and Chondroitin supplement. I changed my Squat technique to A2G and lowered the weight which means less lower back compression. I changed my Deadlift technique to using mostly lower body. I hardly feel the Deadlifts in my back anymore. And after lifting, I started doing some Ab/Back exercises using an exercise ball.

I'm lucky I didn't do major damage to my lower back. It's a very delicate area especially for beginners like me.

I changed to 5 pound increments, from 10, for Deadlift starting today. I also decided to microload Bench and Military Presses since I reset them. And I'm having really good workouts lately as a result.

Thursday 5/10/07

Squat A2G ------------ 3x5 185 lbs
Military Press ---------- 3x5 124 lbs
JS Row ---------------- 3x5 145 lbs

Chins ------------------ 1x8 1x6

Notes:
I was considering staying at 180 for Squats this workout because 180 was real hard on Tuesday, but in the name of progression I went for it and raised by 5. Reps 4 and 5 in sets 2 and 3 were killer.

Funny thing...someone saw me Squatting during this workout. He noticed I was struggling and told me I'm going too low. He said I'll ruin my knees and they'd be easier if I didn't go so low. I started telling him I disagree and why, but it was turning into a debate that I didn't care to have especially in the middle of my workout. I don't even know this guy, so I just ended it and said thanks for the advise, I'll look into it.

Yeah...that's bs. You know it.

Saturday 5/12/07

Squat A2G ------------- 3x5 187 lbs
Bench Press ------------ 3x5 194 lbs
Deadlift ---------------- 3x5 215 lbs

Dumbbell Curl ----------- 2x8 40 lb
Shull Chrusher ---------- 2x8 60 lb
(Superset Curls and Crushers)


Notes:
I have a confession to make...I've been using a pussy pad for my Squats. When I first started doing Squats, I was getting a bruise where the bar rests on my back, so I bought a pad. But I recently read that the pad can be dangerous because the bar can slip or roll easier, (and they're referred to as pussy pads) so no more pussy pad. It's not like I'm using a lot of weight anyway.

Speaking of Squats, they've been real hard lately. I know I haven't missed any reps, but I've been doing all I can do to get the reps in, maybe at the expense of keeping good form. I'm going to reset down to 160 and increase by 2 lbs every workout. This is working out good for my Military and Bench Presses, so I'll try it with Squats too.

I think my body has a lot better chance of keeping up with my workouts if I increase everything (except Deadlifts for now) by 2 lbs each workout. At 50 years old, I'm just not growing the muscle as fast as guys half my age do. 5 lb increases just are too drastic. Also, my diet is not hardcore, but I do eat pretty clean and try to get at least 200g of protein a day with servings every three hours or so.

Tuesday 5/15/07

Squat A2G ------------ 3x5 160 lbs
Military Press ---------- 3x5 126 lbs
JS Row ---------------- 3x5 147 lbs

Chins ------------------ 1x8 1x7

Notes:
I reset Squats but they were still challenging...I took less time between sets.

Thursday 5/17/07

Squat A2G -------------- 3x5 162 lbs
Bench Press ------------- 3x5 196 lbs
Deadlift ----------------- 1x5 220 lbs

Skull Crushers ----------- 2x8 65 lbs

Notes:
No notes.

I'm glad I read this, Phil. The way you are handling the squat reset, if I'm getting this right, is actually counterproductive.

First thing is you actually set it back a little too far but you can work with 160. 170 would have been better. But regardless of that microsetting back up is is no-no. You wan't you're body to recover and "catch up", yes, but due to the frequency it is easy to go too far and turn that in to detraining. In other words it is possible to drop the intensity low enough and for a long enough period that you are actually losing strength rather than just doing a back-off.

Basically, the back off should constitute building back up to the weight your plateaued at in around 3 workouts with the 4th workout being the new higher weight over and above that. If after a backoff like that you can't contiunue to progress by any means then you've probably done all you could with backing off.

The way your doing it now is overkill and your going to be spinning your wheels and playing catchup rather than just recovering from a plateau. I'd suggest that you add enough weight on your next few squats to where you'll hit the 187 again within 3 workouts. Then see if you can go to 189 or 190 (if not more).

I hope this makes sense :)

I'm glad you read it too Eric.

Your explaination does makes sense, but I never would have thought that microloading my way back up would be counterproductive. I figured the reset and microloading would make it easier to progress again, but I think your point is that by the time I'm back up to my plateau point the way I was going to, I could have been there and past doing it your suggested way. At this point in my training, I just can't imagine getting "5 pounds stronger" every workout.

I'm approaching an unknown phase in my training and I'm likely to make other blunders along the way. Thanks for keeping me on track.