The Road to Glory

[jmsfrs]

Alright, brand new to these forums and brand new to GSLP, but not new to training so I figured I'd post here. I am starting GSLP on Monday but wanted to introduce myself and give a little background:

I've been lifting since around Fall of 2006. Didn't really know what I was doing. Followed friends, read stuff online, but basically just did 3 sets of 10 for everything- no clue on progression or programming. About fall of 2009 is when I started to get it together. I started learning about powetlifting and wanted to do a meet, so I did a basic block periodization and 5/3/1 to prepare. Since then I have done 5 meets total, however my most recent meet was a disaster as I totaled nearly 40 lbs less than my previous best total when I was planning on totaling 30-60 lbs more than my previous best. Part of this was because I was planning on doing the meet single ply and had spent the better part of this year training for that, but about 6 weeks out decided to go raw since I was having trouble with my bench shirt. I had lost a lot of low end strength during my geared training and just didn't plan for it at my meet. So, after the meet I randomly came across GSLP. I had seen it before but didn't know much about it. I started reading up on it and immediately bought the book (actually, the e-book/hard copy/shirt combo. The program seemed like everything I was looking for. I have done 5x5, the Texas Method, 5/3/1, 5/3/1 for powerlifting, Westside and other random routines. I always prefer simplicity and bang-for-my-buck, and I look for inclusion of the movements that I feel are important. GSLP had it all and has made me excited to train again. I still plan on competing in powerlifting, but I need something different as I didn't really like WSB and I didn't see a lot from 5/3/1. So, I know that was long-winded, just wanted to be thorough. I'll put my stats below and I'm using some conservative starting numbers seeing as how my raw strength is down (plus I suck at benching and only started overhead pressing a month ago).

Name: James
Age: 29
Height: 6'
Weight: 220-225
BF%: 15+
Best Squat: 435 w/knee wraps
Best Bench: 248 paused
Best Deadlift: 512

My starting numbers will be 305 on the squat, 205 on the bench, 375 on the deadlift, and 115 on the press. I will bump these up depending on how the first week goes.

Until Monday...

[jmsfrs]

6/4/12
Bench: 200x5,5,10
EZ Bar Curl: 70x12,10
Yates Row: 185x10,10
Squat: 295x5,5,10

First day of GSLP. Think I estimated my start numbers pretty good. Lowered the weight on my squat by 10lbs and think that was a smart move. Problem I'm having is keeping my elbows down. My left shoulder has no flexibility but my right one wants to go up almost parallel to the floor. Then when I point it down I seem to lose a lot of tightness on that side.

[jmsfrs]

Made hotel reservations and paid membership fees for some competitions for the rest of the year. Will be doing a strongman competition at the end of August and a push/pull meet at the end of October.

[jmsfrs]

6/6/12
Standing OH Press:
120x5,5,11

V-Bar Pulldowns:
190x9,8

Weighted Dips:
BW+25x12,12

Deadlifts:
375x10

Tied my old deadlift rep PR. Back on track.

[jmsfrs]

6/8/12
Bench:
205x5,5,10

EZ Bar Curl:
70x12,12

Yates Row:
195x10,10

Squat:
300x5,5,13

Fractional plates didn't come in yet so I went with 205 instead of 202.5 on bench. Squats felt awesome. Since I went over 10 I will do 310 on Monday instead of 305.

[jmsfrs]

6/9/12
Got 2 military duffle bags, put a 70 lb bag of sand in each. Did the following trips, roughly 40 yards each:

Farmers Walk x 3 trips
Shoulder Carry x 3 trips
Bearhug Carry x 3 trips

Attempted to push my car but once it got going it didn't feel like I was doing jack shit. Goal is add distance or increase number of trips each week. May get a baking sheet or something I can put a duffle bag on so I can drag it like a sled pull.

[jmsfrs]

6/11/12

Jerk:
155x5,5,10

V-Bar Pulldowns:
200x8,6

Dips:
BW+35x12,11

Squat:
310x12

Want to alternate between jerks and strict oh presses as I need the jerks for strongman. The barbell killed my wrists so I may do db jerks next time. Also they were more like push presses because I wasn't really dipping after the press

[jmsfrs]

6/13/11
Bench:
207.5x5,5,10

BB Curl:
75x12,10

Yates Row:
200x9,9

Deadlift:
380x10

Should've got 10 on bench. Forgot a couple cues that make or break my sets. Didn't really push it either.

[jmsfrs]

6/14/12
OH Press:
125x5,5,9

V-Bar Pulldowns:
190x12,10

Dips:
BW+45x10,8

Squat:
320x5,5,10

Lost my balance during the press and couldn't get that tenth rep. Also couldn't find the 10lb add on plate for the pulldowns so instead of going up to 210 I just dropped to 190

[jmsfrs]

6/17/12
Added some distance to the trips.

Farmers walk x 3 trips
Overhead carry x 3 trips
Breathing carry x 3 trips

50lb db jerks x 1 min round

Using a ghetto dumbbell handle and it tore my hand open by pinching the skin between my thumb and forefinger between the plate and the handle. Need to fix this somehow.