Starting Strength Update.

Not much to report, all is quiet on the home front.  I’m still doing starting strength, and so far I’m still seeing gains, except for the press.  It’s been eight  weeks, and here were my first work set numbers:

Squat: 135

Press: 70
Bench: 115

Deadlift: 185

And here are they now:

Squat: 235

Press: 110 (kind of, can only get three reps of this)

Bench: 160

Deadlift: 235 (as of tomorrow, I’m pretty damn sure I’ve got this one)

So in two months my Squat has gone up 100#s, Press is 40#, and Bench has gone up 45#.  I’ve stalled twice with the press, so I think it’s time to switch it up to 5/3/1 for the press while I continue to see linear gains with everything else.  I was originally only upping my deadlift weight by 5#s, but as soon as I realized that’s only 5#s a week I went to 10#s.  Still, I’m going to start squatting more than I’m deadlifting, and that just doesn’t feel right.

...Honestly, from this experience, I think it would be wise for one to do Starting strength and then do crossfit, get the strength first, then do the conditioning.

I’m thinking of abandoning the intermittent fasting for now.  I’ve only gained 6 pounds since the beginning of all of this, and I think most of that was from this past weekend when I was in dallas and just pigged out all the time.  However, I just got some protein powder in the mail and will add that to the mix.  If I don’t gain weight while on IF and the shakes, I’ll just drop IF all together and then when I’ve put on some pounds (not sure what my goal is right now) I’ll get back onto IF and lose the fat.  Most of the IF testimonials show guys getting ripped, but none of them really look bigger (although they are stronger).

My hip is doing ok with all of this.  When I was testing out the front squat over two months ago I felt something… disagree with the movement.  Now I’m feeling tightness/pain in my psoas and adductors.  Although this is a bit of a step back, the discomfort/pain has not continued to get worse so I don’t think I should back off of squatting.  After all, I was back squatting back in Barrington and everything was fine.  I am also really, really looking forward to seeing Dr. Hauser with the intention of checking out my hip with regards to internal rotation.  I really believe that will be fixed, and I will eventually have a completely healed labrum.  It will be awesome.

However, I know that for probably about two weeks after I see Dr. Hauser I shouldn’t really push the hip to let it heal.  So during the Christmas holidays I will be doing leg curls/extensions and bench and pull ups, maaaaybe deadlifts.  We’ll see how I respond.