Ryan's Journal

Wed 20/07/11

Squats
8x20kg
5x40kg
2x60kg
1x70kg
3x5x85kg -- My first time using a weightlifting belt. It helped with posture (particularly with preventing rotation while squatting), but being a new experience, it felt a bit strange, and I think that mentally blocked me from pushing further (I'd originally planned on doing 3x8).

Bench Press
10x20kg
5x35kg
3x50kg
2x62.5kg
5x75kg -- New 5rep PR
4x75kg
3x75kg

Deadlift
5x60kg
5x77.5kg
3x95kg
2x110kg
5x125kg -- new 5rep PR here, too :)

Hyperextensions
10xBW
10x10kg

Pull Ups
10xBW
6xBW
4xBW
 
Fri 22/07/11

I signed up for a membership today in the same gym I trained at on Wednesday. Noteworthy facts: the power rack is such that you can squat either facing the mirror or facing a blank wall; wall is good for powerlifting, so yay. There's only one power rack, but I've had no competition for it as of yet. And the gym's only a small part of the facility. There's 4 pools including an Olympic pool, which I can use at any time if I want to.

Squats
8x20kg
5x37.5kg
3x55kg
2x62.5kg -- right afterwards I realised this was 10kg less than I'd intended, so...
1x72.5kg
3x5x87.5kg

Press
10x20kg
5x27.5kg
3x35kg
2x40kg
2x5x45kg -- PR!!
4x45kg

Power Clean
3x3x50kg -- my shoulders were starting to hurt, so I decided to go back to a more gentle exercise.

Barbell Row
2x8x50kg -- easy lifting.

Pull Ups
2x8xBW
 
Mon 25/07/11

Squats
8x20kg
5x37.5kg
3x55kg
2x72.5kg
3x5x90kg

Bench Press
10x20kg
5x35kg
3x50kg
2x62.5kg
5x75kg
4x75kg -- Got stuck on the 5th rep, needed a spot.
5x75kg -- Got all 5. Wasn't expecting that after the 2nd set.

Deadlift
5x60kg
5x77.5kg
3x95kg
2x112.5kg
5x127.5kg -- Yet another deadlift PR :)

Bridge
2x10x40kg -- Doesn't work very well on the floor in this gym. Might stick with hyperextensions for the extra glute work from now on.

Smith Machine Standing Calf Raise
3x15x60kg -- That's the weight loaded onto the bar, since I don't know how much the bar weighs or how the smith machine affects the force required to move the weight, I just know that the last time I touched a smith machine it allowed me to add about 10kg more onto the bar. The power rack isn't well designed for calf raises, the leg press machines are kinda funky and there's no squat machine (which is what I was using back at the old gym), so I think this is where I'll go for calf raises from now on.

Pull Ups
2x8
 
Wed 27/07/11

Squats
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x57.5kg
2x75kg
3x5x92.5kg

Press
10x20kg
5x27.5kg
3x35kg
2x40kg
3x5x45kg -- Guess this means I have to go for more weight on Monday. I think I'll just put a couple more collars on the bar and micro-load, rather than adding another 1.25kg to each side.

Romanian Deadlift
8x45kg
3x8x60kg -- My shoulders were feeling pretty iffy whenever I cleaned the weight into position for the presses, so I decided not to do any more cleans once I did my last set of presses.

Lunges
2x8x7kg per side

Pull Ups
1x4 -- Hadn't chalked up and the bar was very slippery.
1x10 -- Got chalk
1x8

Standing Calf Raise
3x15x60kg

Cable Row
2x10x50kg -- My shoulders were still feeling a bit iffy, so I did these and some rotator cuff isolations...shoulders are happy now.
 
Fri 29/07/11

Well, those cable rows might have seemed like a good idea on Wednesday, and they did make my shoulders feel a lot better, but I was not properly recovered on time today. I considered doing no assistance exercises at all today, but my shoulders would not have been happy with that, so I still did some pull ups. I hope I get to rest and be as physically inactive as possible this weekend.

Squats
2x8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
2x77.5kg
3x5x95kg

Bench Press
10x20kg
5x35kg
3x50kg
2x62.5kg
5x75kg
3x75kg
1x75kg
DB Bench Press 8x12.5kg, 8x15kg -- I did these just to give my upper body some more movement, and they were far from fatiguing, but I'm now thinking I should have just left it, for the sake of recovery.

Deadlift
5x60kg
5x77.5kg
3x95kg
2x112.5kg
5x130kg -- PR. One of the other members, who's a PT but not at this gym, came over and told me I was doing it wrong because I was putting the bar down, and got angsty at me because of the noise when the bar landed (mind you, I don't drop the weights at all). I told him it's called a deadlift because you lift a dead weight off the ground. He went away and had a sulk. I guessed maybe I responded too harshly, went over and apologised 10min later, then got a 10min PT spiel that demonstrated his incompitence. Smile and nod, smile and nod. According to him, I also need to be eating 80% protein. DATZ GRAT.

Pull Ups
2x8xBW

Standing Calf Raise
3x15x60kg
 
Mon 01/08/11

Squats
2x8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
2x80kg
3x5x97.5kg -- I'm quite impressed with what seems to be the result of having a lifting belt on. Right where the sticking point is, it almost feels like the bar goes on helium. I have a good feeling that I'll be setting some new PR's on the squat very shortly. Also, between sets a guy came up to compliment me on the weight I was lifting. Feels good.

Press
10x20kg
5x27.5kg
3x35kg
2x40kg
5x46kg
2x4x46kg -- I put an extra 2 collars on each side of the bar to add ~800g extra onto the bar. I'll round it off to being 1kgish.

Power Clean
3x47.5kg
2x47.5kg -- I caught the 2nd rep with with throat. That was about as fun as it sounds. That was the end of the set, I decided.
3x3x47.5kg -- I don't get why this weight still feels so hard. Maybe there's something wrong with my technique that's holding me back. Maybe it's psychological. I dunno.

Standing Calf Raise
2x16x60kg
12x70kg

Hyperextension
2x12x10kg

Pull Ups
2x8xBW

I had my regular post-workout drink (powdered milk and milo) on the way home from the gym, and ate half a chicken before typing this up :)
 
Wed 03/08/11

Squats
2x8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
2x60kg
2x80kg
3x5x100kg -- Feels good to be putting up 2 plates again. Feels even better to know that I'm doing this with much greater ease than I used to be able to. I'm feeling fairly confident about my ability to reach a 3-plate 1RM by the end of the year.

Bench Press
10x20kg
5x35kg
3x50kg
2x62.5kg
2x5x75kg
4x75kg -- I'll be resetting next week, maybe even return to Texas Method progression for bench press and press.

Deadlifts
5x60kg
5x80kg
3x97.5kg
2x115kg
5x132.5kg

Cable Woodchops
10x23kg/side

Cable Rows
2x10x36kg
 
Fri 05/08/11

Squats
2x8xBW
8x20kg
5x35kg
3x60kg
2x75kg
1x90kg
3x5x102.5kg -- volume-wise, that's a PR. I'm looking forward to putting 110kg up for 3x5.

Press
10x20kg
5x27.5kg
3x35kg
2x40kg
3x5x46kg -- :D

Power Clean
5x3x47.5kg

Power Shrug
5x50kg
3x5x60kg

Pull Ups
9xBW
8xBW
4xBW
 
Mon 08/08/11

Returning to Texas Method style progressions for everything but squats. Squats are still going up smoothly, so I'll keep SS'ing them for the time being.

[/b]Squats[/b]
8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
2x75kg
1x90kg
3x5x105kg -- PR!! I got one of my friends in the gym to film the last set...but after looking at the video he deleted it, so there's nothing exciting visually to put up here. Oh well.

Bench Press
10x20kg
5x32.5kg
3x45kg
2x57.5kg
5x5x67.5kg

Power Clean
2x3x20kg
3x27.5kg
2x35kg
1x42.5kg
2x3x50kg
2x50kg
2x1x50kg

Lunges
2x8x8kg/side

Pull Ups
9xBW
8xBW
 
Wed 10/08/11

Squats
8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
2x77.5kg
1x92.5kg
3x5x107.5kg -- This is looking good. I'm starting to look forward to the day that I do a squat and a nearby lady suddenly falls pregnant. These things happen.

Press
10x20kg
5x25kg
3x30kg
3x3x35kg

Power Clean
3x3x35kg

Standing Calf Raise
8x60kg -- I was using a different rack than the one I'm used to and it felt too awkward.
17x60kg
12x70kg
8x80kg

Pull Ups
2x8xBW
6xBW
 
Fri 12/08/11

Squats
8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
2x77.5kg
1x95kg
3x5x110kg -- Not only is this another new PR, but the last time I squatted this much for full range of motion, I was doing a 1RM. Happy :)

Bench Press
10x20kg
5x35kg
3x50kg
2x65kg
3x77.5kg -- I'm not sure if I really couldn't have gotten 2 more reps, or if I just psyched myself out by not having a spotter.

Deadlift
5x60kg
5x80kg
3x100kg
2x117.5kg
5x135kg -- I really wasn't feeling like it today. Normally the first 2 warm up sets just fly up, but even they felt like a bit of effort, which was kinda discouraging, especially after failing on bench press. But, long rests, screaming at myself in my head, and a bit of prayer got me through to the end, for yet another deadlift PR. Happy times. After the set, one of the bystanders congratulated me on my strength, and said to look after my back (I then asked if my back was rounding or anything, she said no, but she always gets a little worried for people whenever she sees heavy pulls).

Lunges
2x10x8kg per side

Standing Calf Raise
18x60kg
12x70kg
10x80kg

Pull Ups
3x6xBW -- Like the deadlifts, I really wasn't feeling into it by this stage. Real bloody fatigued. So even though I normally only do a couple sets of 8 these days because I'm too lazy to push harder by the time I do pull ups, I genuinely didn't feel like I could do a 7th or 8th rep on any of these sets without pure spastic form (and my form on pull ups is already lacking in the strictness department).

I look forward to resting for the next 2 days.
 
Mon 15/08/11

Squats
8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
2x77.5kg
1x95kg
3x5x112.5kg -- I'm pretty happy now. I don't think I'm going to get to train on Wednesday due to a public holiday, so I'll have the extra time to recover by Friday, which I think I'll need if I'm going to get 3x5x115kg.

Press
10x20kg
5x25kg
3x30kg
2x35kg
5x5x37.5kg

Power Cleans
5x3x45kg

Power Shrugs
5x50kg
5x60kg
2x5x70kg

Pull Ups
2x8xBW
6xBW
 
Gym's open today, after all :D

Wed 17/08/11

Squats
8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
2x80kg
1x97.5kg
3x5x115kg -- Yet another PR. I honestly wasn't sure I'd be up to this. Pleasant surprise here :D

Bench Press
10x20kg
5x32.5kg
3x45kg
2x57.5kg
3x3x67.5kg

Power Snatch -- Since my power cleans have been sitting at the same place for about 100 years, I decided to give snatches a go again, and alternate between the 2, seeing if improving snatches will help get my power cleans to start moving again.
8x broom stick overhead squat
5x10kg broom stick overhead squat -- Not sure if this bar was actually 10kg, it looked slightly heavier, but it was definitely less than 15kg.
3x10kg power snatch
3x3x20kg power snatch

Standing Calf Raise
19x60kg
14x70kg
12x80kg

Pull Ups
3x8
 
Fri 19/08/11

Squats
8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
2x80kg
1x100kg
5x117.5kg -- And I got it on camera :) Will edit with video footage when it loads to youtube.

Press
10x20kg
5x27.5kg
3x35kg
2x40kg
7 or 8 x45kg -- When I did what I think was my 5th rep, I suddenly realised I wasn't sure if it was my 4th or 5th, so I did 1 more. I then realised I still had some strength to spare, so I did 2 more.

Deadlift
5x60kg
5x80kg
3x100kg
2x120kg
5x137.5kg -- It doesn't seem like that big a deal when you just write it on paper/in a list of sets on the internet. But the weight's getting pretty damn hard.

Pull Ups
8xBW
6xBW
2x4xBW
 
Mon 22/08/11

Squats
8xBW
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
2x80kg
5x5x100kg

Bench Press
10x20kg
5x32.5kg
3x45kg
2x57.5kg
5x5x70kg

Power Snatch
3x10kg
3x20kg
5x3x22.5kg

Standing Calf Raise
20x60kg
15x70kg
12x80kg

Pull Ups
2x8xBW
6xBW
 
I've been out of the gym for almost 2 weeks due to illness, but I'll be back again as of tomorrow. And I've decided that I don't want my stretch marks to keep on growing, so it's time to start cutting (or at least recomping). As such, I'll be switching to Wendler's 5/3/1, so that I only have to worry about adding 5kg to squats and deadlifts monthly, and 2.5kg to bench and press monthly, rather than trying to add weight weekly/fortnightly. I'll now be training 4 days per week - Mon, Tue, Thur and Fri, and here's the new schedule I intend on going with:

Mon: Heavy squats (5/3/1), light deadlifts, calves.
Tue: Heavy bench (5/3/1), light press, rows, pull ups.
Thur: Heavy deadlifts (5/3/1), light squats, calves.
Fri: Heavy press (5/3/1), light bench press, rows, lat pull down.
 
Mon 05/09/11

Today was my first day of 5/3/1. And it didn't go anywhere near as well as I'd hoped. Basically, I started warming up, and it all went downhill from there. I think the fact that when I did my weigh-in this morning I was 2kg lighter than I was 3 days ago might have had something to do with it. I can't have become this deconditioned in 2 weeks, right? :(

So, today was heavy squat day. Here's how it went.

SQUATS

WARM UP
8xBW
8x20kg -- Already feeling it quite intensely in my quads. Remember that 2-3 weeks ago I did 5x117.5kg without any trouble, so this was genuinely surprising.
5x40kg
5x60kg

WORK SETS
5x77.5kg
5x90kg
5x102.5kg -- I had hoped to do at least 6 reps with this weight, preferably 6-8, but even just doing this was HARD.

ASSISTANCE EXERCISES
Squats 3x8x60kg -- I'd hoped to do 3x8x80kg, but after the heavy set above, I wasn't too confident that would be happening. Fortunately, these sets went a lot smoother. Actually, this was probably the highlight of the day as far as things feeling the way they should.

Deadlifts 3x10x60kg -- The weight came up easy, but I still felt very fatigued from the work sets of squats. I don't think I lowered the weight very smoothly past about the 3rd rep of each set.

I was going to do calf raises, but I quit after deadlifts, which I think was a good idea. I was so worn out already, and my quads were especially so fatigued, that when I left the gym I was staggering like a drunkard. I normally walk home, but instead I decided to go to the nearest bus stop and just catch the next bus, because frankly, I felt like it would have been easier to belly flop onto the footpath and army crawl home than walk any further.
 
Tue 06/09/11

Second day of 5/3/1. Today went much more smoothly than yesterday. Evidently my ability to bench had not taken a nose-dive like my squats have.

BENCH PRESS

WARM UP
10x20kg
5x30kg
5x40kg

WORK SETS
5x50kg
5x57.5kg
10x65kg -- Ohhhh YEAH! That's much better than the top set yesterday :)

ASSISTANCE EXERCISES
Pull Ups 8xBW

Bench Press 2x8x60kg

Pull Ups 6xBW

Press 3x10x20kg

Pull Ups 6xBW

Cable Row 10x36kg, 10x43kg, 10x50kg

CONDITIONING
Elliptical 21min, moderate intensity
Walk home another 20-30min, slightly less unco than my walking yesterday, but not by a long shot.
 
My quads are still sore and my legs are still wobbly, so I haven't done my deadlift session yet. I'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow - hopefully tomorrow I'll be doing deads and light squats as planned.

I don't think the cardio (which I did in the hopes of it aiding recovery) did anything good for my legs on Tuesday. On Wednesday I was still about as mobile as my cousin with Cerebral Palsy. I had a hot bath and massaged my quads, which may have been of some help, but I didn't notice any immediate benefits from it. Wednesday night I did some hip flexor stretches, and THEN I felt a rather immediate improvement. I think the nerves feeding my quads must have gone into overdrive and been stuck in spasm until I did those hip flexor stretches. It's the only explanation that makes sense to me (within the framework of what I currently know). My legs are about half as sore today, and I was able to go up and down stairs without swearing under my breath today.

ETA: In other news, I finally got my driver's licence today. I know most people got theirs about 5 years before me, but still....
 
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