Progress, if you know where to look.

I finished a training log book today. This only happens about once a year (and has only happened to me once before), so it's pretty exciting. I like flipping back through the books to remind myself of the different programs I've been on through the past year, as well as to check out my progress through the course of the book.

The book on the top is my first training log and the first page is my first ever training session with Chris on November 23, 2011 (yes, the day before Thanksgiving!) That first day I was doing pretty much every exercise with just the bar, and I distinctly remember the agony of holding a 20 second side-plank (with breaks.) I do think it's appropriate though that the first exercise Chris has me do was a deadlift. Feels very full-circle.

By the end of the first book (September 21, 2012) I was box-squatting 220#x1, deadlifting 230#x1 and benching 115#x1 on a modified Westside program. I was also about 2 and half months out from my first powerlifting competition in December 2012. Significant, undeniable progress had been made :)

Comparing the end of the first book/beginning of the second with the end of the second book is where the looking for progress part gets a bit tricky. As of today, my most recent in-gym max lifts are a 236#x1 deadlift, 115#x4,2 bench and a 197#x1 squat back on July 23rd, the last time I squatted heavy at all. In some ways, my deadlift and squat numbers are discouraging, in that I have not added significant weight to my lifts, but looking past the numbers, I know that my deadlift form is cleaner and better for my back, and that my 1 rep max will creep back up with time. I also know that that 220# box squat in September 2012 wasn't even close to breaking parallel for competition, so though I have been struggling to get myself squatting below parallel consistently, I am making progress and I know this number will come back up as well. Somewhere in the middle of the second book I have in-gym lifts of 265#x1,1 deadlift, a 235#x1 competition-depth squat and a 135#x1 bench press. These max numbers exist in me somewhere, I just need to get better at accessing the power and strength that allows me to achieve them on a regular basis.

Looking back is also a really good reminder that this is a long process. I am definitively coming to the end of the two-year period where strength gains come easy, and though I may have been frustrated with the slowness of my progress in the past, it is likely only going to get slower. Patience and persistence are key, and practicing those two attitudes is probably as important as continuing to dial in my form and technique.

Training today:
Warmup: kettlebells (with some pain-free squats with a 12kg bell!)
Deadlift: 9 sets working up to 231#x1, supersetted with core stability work
Accessory work: Smith machine split squats (also pain-free as long as I kept myself focused on activating my glutes and keeping my hips engaged.)
Finisher: 6 burpees --> 6 med ball slams, EMOMx5. (Uphill treadmill sprints will be making a reappearance as soon as I feel like my knee is totally clear and happy again.)