If you’re only doing one set of something, the “1” for the number of sets is optional (remember multiplying by “1” in school?), so you can leave that part out if you like. In that case, it looks like this:
Your Training Log - Part 1: Just Do It
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(If you like, you can scroll down to the end of this article and watch a video on this topic. This article is a Blast from the Past article originally posted on 08/28/20.)
I was having a conversation with one of our members the other day (you know - not this day, but the other one), and this member - let’s call him Bill - had come upon a startling revelation. Bill had recently gone through several workouts without using his training log, and when he started using it again, he immediately realized that not using his training log had been a huge mistake. He realized that - without the log - his lifting had been unfocused, and the weights were often incorrect. Bill even asked me to never let him get away with that again. Bill is a wise man.
When we train with weights, we do exactly that – we train. Training has a purpose - a goal in mind. To achieve these purposes, to work toward these goals, we need data, and this is where the training log comes in. Without the log (or journal, notebook, etc.), we quickly find ourselves adrift in a sea of barbells and weights with no direction whatsoever. We find ourselves lost in the Sea of Exercise . . . and there be monsters.
Mind you, there is nothing wrong with Exercise, and it's certainly better than Doing Nothing, but let us not confuse Exercise with Training. Exercise is what you do when you want to get hot and sweaty and tired and feel like you’ve accomplished something. Training is how you actually accomplish something. The log separates Training from Exercise.
The log is our history - it tells us where we've been, what we've done - our lifts, warm-up sets, work sets. But it is a more complete history than this - it also includes PRs, how we felt on certain days, how proud we were of our accomplishments, how utterly disappointed we were with our failures. If you had a poopy day squatting 185 lbs for your work sets, write it down in your training log (seriously . . . “this was a poopy day”). Success is magnified by knowing how far we’ve come, and on the day when 185 lbs becomes your second-to-last warm-up set (and that day will come), the knowledge that this weight used to be terribly heavy will remind you of the progress you’ve made.
The log is also our compass - it tells us where we’re going. We write down the weights for our next workout, yes, but we also write down our plans and our goals. I want to bench press three plates. I’m gonna deadlift 250 lbs at the next meet. I WILL get my first pull-up this year. Write this stuff down. All of it. Write down the date on which you set that goal. Someday, you’ll reach that goal, cross it out . . . and set another one.
Don’t kid yourself. If you want to exercise, go right ahead - you’ve got plenty of options. But if you want to put in the hard work of actually training, keep a log. You’ll thank me later, and your coach won’t lose his or her mind when you can’t remember what you’re supposed to squat today.
Next time . . . how to keep a training log (hint: it’s not complicated).
At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?
I Forgot My Belt! (Simple Lifting Trick)
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(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/08/20)
Do you ever forget to put your belt on for your heavier sets? Perhaps you forget to wear your wrist wraps every once in a while?
Problem solved
These types of situations tend to occur more often when you’re a newer lifter, but even an experienced lifter can forget a belt or wrist wraps every now and then.
If you find yourself in one of the above situations from time to time, try this: hang your belt and wrist wraps on your barbell between sets.
By doing so, you’ll be forced to grab them before starting your next set, and the problem is solved. The next time you lift, give it a try. Hope this helps!
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The Hook Grip - Some Clarifications
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(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/18/19)
We discussed the rationale for using the hook grip quite a while ago, and in light of a few recent conversations, I thought a few clarifications might be in order.
When do I use the hook grip?
Use the hook grip when pulling a barbell from the floor. Specifically, use the hook grip for cleans, snatches, and heavy deadlifts. I suppose you could use the hook grip for rows as well, but I’d probably recommend that if your row requires a hook grip, simply use straps instead and save your thumbs for your other pulls from the floor.
Don’t hook your presses, i.e., don’t use the hook grip anytime you are pushing a barbell - this includes bench presses (regular, close grip, incline, etc.), presses, jerks, and push presses. This is just silly, and your friends will give you no end of grief for doing so. You only perform the hook grip when the wrist is in tension, and this means that you only hook pulling movements, movements where - if the weight is heavy enough - your grip might fail.
Does the hook grip always hurt?
Yes. And no.
Yes, because of course there is quite a bit of pressure on your thumb, and at first, you will find this to be quite . . . uncomfortable. If you feel like screaming like a 3-year-old at the end of your deadlift work set, congratulations, you’re among friends.
No, because eventually you won’t notice the discomfort nearly as much as you do at first, and more importantly, you will stop caring. You are a lifter, and you’ll have more important things to complain about, such as having to unload all the plates from your massively heavy deadlift that you just pulled . . . because you used the hook grip. Everyone who uses it adapts to it, and you are not a special snowflake. Yes, you.
Why does the hook grip work so well?
When taking a normal, double-overhand grip (i.e., without the hook) on the bar, you’ll notice that you have four fingers on one side of the bar and only one finger (your thumb) on the other side of the bar. It is the thumb that fails you when the load gets heavy - it leads a lonely existence on that side of the bar, and it doesn’t have any friends to help.
The hook grip remedies this situation by allowing the other fingers (primarily the middle finger) to help the thumb maintain its purchase on the bar. I suspect that the thumb also starts to fail in the non-hooked grip due to the angle of attack it has on the bar - note its somewhat “from-the-side” approach to gripping the bar compared to the other fingers’ perpendicular approach to the bar - but I haven’t given this enough thought just yet. Nonetheless, suspicions abound.
Now you know, and in time, I think you’ll be hooked on this grip.
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Get the Most Out of Your Warm-up
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(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 03/27/19)
You know - sage lifter that you are - that the purpose of your warm-up is to prepare you for the work ahead of you that day. You know it’s important, and you know that whether you’re going to squat 145 lbs or 345 lbs for your work sets, it is neither prudent nor productive to simply load the work weight on the barbell and have at it without the appropriate warm-up.
But . . . there is an additional purpose to the warm-up. Perhaps it’s not even an additional purpose, but rather a purpose that is merely hidden in the concept of preparing for the work ahead. Put simply, you can (and should) use your warm-up to become a better lifter.
The weights are (relatively) light when warming up, so this is a great time to work on refining your technique. Because you haven’t yet reached the soul-crushing, mind-altering load that is your work weight for the day, the warm-up is when you can spare some mental bandwidth and put into practice any changes or cues that you and your coach have recently discussed.
Maybe you’re trying to fix some pesky knee slide in the squat. Break out the TUBOWs and get to squatting. Perhaps you’re attempting to improve the bar path in the press or the bench press. The warm-up is a great time to do exactly that. Are you inconsistent when it comes to hitting depth in the squat? Grab a coach (or a fellow well-informed lifter) and ask him or her to check your depth as you warm-up.
The warm-up is a precious time. A magical time. Don’t just plow through it - get the most out of it. You can finish your warm-up a better lifter than when you started. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.
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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?
Get Thee to a . . . Gym?!
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In Shakespeare’s day, “nunnery” was simply another word for “gym.”
When it comes to getting stronger, you know that technique is important. You know programming is important. Nutrition is important (that’s right, if you’re eating 75 grams of protein per day, you might be a very strong 8-year-old . . . someday). The equipment you lift with and on is important. So many important things!
But, do you know what is most important?
Consistency. It ain’t sexy, but it’s the truth. And you know it’s the truth. You know that you’ve seen people doing silly, ridiculous stuff in the gym for years, and some of them have even gotten pretty darn strong. Know why?
They. Do. Not. Miss.
In other words, they don’t miss a training session. You might have the greatest technique ever seen and the greatest program ever written, but if you only show up to train once a week, or if you train for two weeks and then skip the gym for three weeks, it doesn’t matter. It’s like having a billion dollars on the moon - it doesn’t do you any good.
If you’ve been inconsistent, then here’s your new mantra: Just show up. That’s it. Don’t miss a training session. Starting back up again after a lay off? Start light - do whatever you need to do to get your butt back in the gym, even if it’s just for one lift that first day. But get your butt there (the rest of you will accompany your butt, of course - that’s how this works).
Start with one day, and Just. Show. Up.
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