My log got deleted (!) so i've started it from scratch again. I'm halfway through this program - which btw i'm only doing because ive got a few weeks break off from dieting, where i'm trying to recover lost strength and improve work capacity (having reduced training a lot during dieting). So far so good.

LBBS left me some form comments on my backsquat video - which i've been working on since. I'll post a new video shortly from my last squat session.

My hope for this log is to keep bodyweight down (i want to be under 190#) and improve form and recover strength.

Bench
7x5 72.5

Squat
7x5 97.5

BP in the AM was ok - nice and easy, at least I haven't started struggling with any reps yet which is good.

Set #1: of SQ: http://youtu.be/Q09nHKRiwG8
Set #7: of SQ: http://youtu.be/d1r0BGhgJWQ

A lot of things happened in this workout I should probably write down. Although the way this place goes, it may be the same as writing on the sand at the beach. Basically I noticed on video my left side knee travel was minimal, and yet on the right side, my knee routinely shoots out at the bottom. So what was going on? To diagnose i started filming from the FRONT. Which is completely new (i only ever take videos from one angle - from the side closest to the right leg). What I noticed was the bar was slanted quite significantly to the right. Why? i experimented with bar grip, going all the way across to the right, then even going closer to the left. None of this made a jot of difference.

On a whim I decided to take the barbell out backwards (so i'd have to walk it backwards on completion). In addition to this, I taped a straight line down the middle of the floor. Then I carefully made sure my feet were evenly oriented with respect to the line. What I had noticed earlier is one foot was turned in more than the other. So the line helped with that. Now I walked the bar out, did a set, and inspected the video. The bar path was now even. Good.

Took another video from the side, this time facing the RIGHT side, expecting knee travel. Well you can see for yourself on video for set #7 - it's improved things a fair bit. So i'm pleased.

Take away lesson? Forget the conventional wisdom (Never back the weight onto the rack), and do what you need to do, to correct form.

So i must say a word about smolov. So far i've done some 200 weighted reps. This has given a lot of room for analysis and technique adjustment. And working with submax weights has also helped immensely. I'm slowly chipping away at my form defects and i'm quite confident that i'll be able to emerge out of this program with an acceptable squat in terms of technique, and hopefully also, in tonnage.

I think you should remove the carpet and stand on hardwood while doing squats.
Maybe you just don't want to dirty the hardwood, but if you get a pair of shoes you never wear outdoors it should be okay.

Conditioning (AM)
10 mins easy fasted cardio, treadmill, 2 incline, 2.5 speed.

A few days ago I started working on conditioning. Have started very conservatively, just adding a coupla minutes here and there, done in short brief bouts. I'll slowly ramp it up, so as to not affects weights sessions. My goal is to start working towards a decent base for cardio. Next year I want to play basketball too and would like to run up and down the court without any problems. The first stage of that process was dropping from an obese 100kg down to a skinnyfat ~85kg - which has made a big difference already. Whenever I have played pickup ball since, I hardly ever lose my breath, just because i'm so lighter and its easy work for the body. But i have been pretty much sedentary for months now (dieting etc) so i've got to add conditioning work back ever so slowly.

Conditioning (PM)
long brisk walk on the beach ✔ (~30-45mins)

But I had company, and for one reason or another we later wound up at the cinema watching the new Inbetweeners movie. Ate a lot of useless junk there. Regret.

BW: 191.4

there's nothing wrong with your knees coming forward. your biggest thing is still the degree to which your torso folds down. on your warm up sets especially, focus on keeping a tight upper back and upright chest.

Food
PreWAM: 1 banana, 300mL lowfat milk, 1 scoop whey, 1 cup pasta (w/ some grated cheese)
PostWAM: 1 large allu parontha, 2 scoop whey, 300mL lowfat milk, banana, 2 tiny slices of cake

PreWPM: fish and chips, ginger beer
PostWPM: 2 homemade hamburgers - leanish (15g fat per piece), 2 scoop whey in 500mL lowfat milk, banana

Bench (AM)
10x3 80

Well what can I say about AM - shit was stupidly hard. The first set felt like close to max, i marked it as a RPE 9 and the next set was marked as as a legit RPE 10. There were a lot of 10s and 9s to come. Rest periods were 5 mins for the first 5 sets, and the last 2 took like 7 mins a piece. I know I suck at benching - but this is ridiculous. Anyway whatevers i got it, even with some ugly, uneven, 3rd reps. I can't help thinking if I had done better recovery-wise (things in my control) this week - this would have been an easier session.

After postworkout meal, took a long nap  lol .. just woke up feeling refreshed to write this log entry. I think i slept for 3 or 4 hours? totally worth it.

Squat (PM)
7x3 112.5, 2x3 110, 1x1 110

Set #9: http://youtu.be/esjw_IHqP6c

So i did 7 sets and thought, there is no way i'm gonna get the next 3 without GM the shit out of every rep (i'd rather done that for the 7th set). So good sense dictated I should reduce the weight and finish the session with good form. 110 was better and I did 2 sets ok, came back for the final 10th set - and - on the 2nd rep - emerged from the bottom ok, but tipped way forward - losing my balance, i couldn't complete the lift having lost the bar in front (it was still on my back of course). The weight didn't over-power me, I almost felt I could have bounced out of the bottom after failing it - but - losing position meant it was impossible to complete the lift.

Moving on - it's clear 7.5kg weekly jumps are not gonna happen unless I eat big every day but I can't afford to gain weight because im already fat and cant gain any more bodyfat. I would definitely have got 10x3 110 with good form today but the 7x3 112.5 overly fatigued me. So that's out. Instead i'll take smaller jumps, 5kg for sq and 2.5kg for bp - and run the program for 5 weeks. The end result should be the same, except instead of being a fat fuck at the end, i'll have cut to around 85kg-ish with hopefully a 10x3 of 120kg on the squat and 10x3 of ~85kg on bench. These are PR weights for me - unbelted - i've done a lot more belted (137.5x5 belted @ 88kg) but that shit doesn't count.

Actually if you run the numbers I should be around 10x3 125kg on SQ - but somehow i'm anticipating even 2.5kg/week jumps eventually - either way 10x3 120 @ 85kg by NYE will be super nice. Won't say no to 125 either but good form is essential. If i'm GM these up - then i'm only cheating myself. I want strong legs, which will also be useful for basketball - and if just use my ass strength to get the weight up - it counts for nothing in the end.

In regards to cutting - I think I should be in a caloric deficit from Sunday-Thursday and in a surplus for the harder days Friday-Saturday. That makes sense doesn't it? I might even build some muscle that way - but weight loss and strength gain is the main goal. 5 days of caloric restriction followed by 2 days of surplus will keep me sane as well.

So armed with a plan of attack - smaller jumps and 5/2 calorie cycling  - bring on week 3!

Hey. Nice log. You seem to be doing pretty well. Did you lift prior to dieting? And you wrote, regain strength. Does that mean you have some old PRs you are aiming for?

Nice beard btw