[quote]caveman101 wrote:
hey, why dont you throw up some videos of form so we could help?[/quote]
The help will be much appreciated. I’ll get all of my main lifts filmed next week and throw them up then.
Friday (20/4) - Arms
weighed in this morning am now 88kg that’s 3kg, about 6.5 pounds gained in a week. Little concerned that this might be too much, hopefully it’s just noob gains. May need to up my conditioning soon don’t won’t to be getting all pudgy.
Just a quick session today, have had exams all day so was pretty burnt out by the time I hit the gym.
Triceps:
E-z curl bar skullcrushers
warm up - 20 x 10
then 5 working sets at 30 x 10
Overhead tricep press with dumbbell
Warm up - 20 x 10
5 working sets at 22.5 x 10 - these felt easy
Biceps
E-z curls
Warm up - 20 x 10
5 working sets at 25 x 10 - great pump and solid form
Hammer curls - 3 working set at 12.5s x 10
Haven’t managed to eat all that well today so just a quick in and out session. Weekend off to recharge, I’ll try and do some sprints tomorrow and sunday.
Tuesday (24/4) - Chest
Extra day off yesterday was because life got in the way a little but I’ll still be lifting five days this week.
Managed one condition session over the weekend, a pretty intense game of touch rugby on sunday. I’ll be upping my conditioning hugely in about 6 weeks once my exams are finally done with.
Bench Press
Warm ups -20x5,40x5,50x5,60x3,65x2
Set 1 - 67.5 x 5 - PR
Set 2 - 67.5 x 5
Set 3 - 67.5 x 0 then x 1 - got a spotter for this one, at the time I thought I’d just wussed out. Looking back it’s because he didn’t take his hands of the fucking bar at all, made it come down really slow and I couldn’t get any momentum going (not that I’m bouncing but nor am I pause benching.) Still pleased to get a PR but need to front up and smash all three sets next week, also I need to not ask shitty spotters for spots.
Flat bench flye (would usually do incline, but no adjustable benches available at this point, made up for it later)
Warm up - 7.5sx10
5 working sets at 10sx10 - wanted to use 12.5s but couldn’t bloody find them. Still nailed all 5 sets easily so will be doing so next time.
Dumbbell flat bench
Warm up - 10sx10
Set 1 - 20s x 10
Set 2 - 20s x 10
Set 3 - 20s x 9 (and a bit couldn’t quite lock the 10th rep out)
Set 4 - 20s x 7
Set 5 - 20s x 7
More reps than last time but I still suck so much at dumbbell benching
Incline BB Bench
Warm up - 20x10
5 working sets at 30x10
Fairly tough but managed all reps without too much hassle. I’ll stick with these for a while, think some consistency will do me some good.
Wednesday (25/4) - Back
Really needed a good session after yesterday’s pretty average performance, and that is exactly what I got.
Hang cleans:
20 x 3
30 x 3
30 x 3
30 x 3
20 x 3
Form here still needs so much work. Back to an empty bar and focussing on getting the elements right.
Deadlifts
Warm ups at - 60x5, 85x5 (thought this one felt weird, before noticing I’d accidently loaded a 15 on one side and a 10 on the other), mixed grip - 100x5, 110x2
chalk for working sets
1 - 115 x 5 - PR
2 - 115 x 5
3 - 115 x 5
At last a deadlift pr! And It felt like I could add another 5kg next time. Boom.
DB Rows
Warm up - 15 each side x 10
5 working sets at 27.5 x 10
BB rows
Warm up - 40x10
5 working sets at 50x10
Lat Pull downs
8plates x 10
9plates x 10
Drop sets:
8x9,
7x9,
6x12,
5x15
Crazy lat pump and the end of an excellent session
Thursday (26/04) - Shoulders
Standing Overhead Press
Warm ups - 20x5,30x5,40x5,45x3
1 - 50 x 5
2 - 50 x 5
3 - 50 x 5 - volume PR
felt a lot stronger this week. Might invest in some .5kg plates so keep the progression going, not sure how much longer I can keep adding 2.5kg a week.
Lat Raises 75 reps total
7.5 x 25,11,10,12,10,7 time: 4mins53 secs
Felt really strong on these this week. Will be switching to a more conventional 5 sets of 10 next week
Inverted Flye 100 reps total
5 x 21,20,20,20,19 time: 5mins45 secs
agonising close, but will be doing 5 sets of 10 of these next week too.
Seated dumbbell overhead press
warm up - 10sx10
1 - 17.5s x 10
2 - 17.5s x 10
3 - 17.5s x 10
4 - 17.5s x 9
5 - 17.5s x 10
Agonisingly close to hitting all the reps here, but I will stick with this weight until I do nail 5 sets of 10, should definitely be next week.
Solid session, very pleased with it
Life got in the way a little this weekend, went to a wedding so didn’t get chance to do my arms day on saturday, I’ll try and fit in some extra tricep and bicep sets at some point if I have the energy.
Friday - 27/4 - Legs
Squats (still getting use to having the bar lower on my back)
Warm ups - 20x5,60x5,70x5,75x3,20x5
1 - 80 x 5 (this is the set I filmed, noticed my right knee going all kinds of wrong on the last two sets)
2 - 80 x 5
3 - 80 x 5
Hopefully uploading the video and getting some advice will help sort my squats out, starting to get a little frustrated with them but I’m determined to get them right so that I can look towards putting up some respectable numbers.
Some clean practice:
Frankenstein squats 5 sets of 5 with empty bar
Scarecrows 5 sets of 3 with empty bar
Tried some barbell calf raises, were not working for me today.
Did some on the leg press instead:
11 plates of cable stack x 10
12 x 10
13 x 10
14 x 10
15 x 10
16 x 10
16 x 15
16 x 20
Tried out some GHR’s
BW x 1 - holy shit my hamstrings felt like they were going to snap
BW x 5
BW x 3 - form’s not great, working up to full range of motion as I’m a pussy and feel like I’m going to face plant when I lean forward.
I think I have way too much workout ADHD with my leg days I need a settled routine that I can just stick to. Think the problem is with me having to keep workouts short at the moment is that I take ages to do legs for some reason. Once finals are gone hopefully this won’t be too much of a problem.
Planning to try do something along these lines for the next few weeks:
Squat 3 x 5
Clean practice - either 5x3 cleans or scarecrows and Frankenstein squats
Hamstring exercise (rdls/good mornings/GHRS) 5 x 10
Front Squat 5 x 10
Calf exercise 5 x 20-25
Any tips on my squat form would be really appreciated. Noticed my right knee is going horribly wrong. Any ways I can fix that/anything else I need to work on?
Monday (30/4) - Chest
Bench
Warm ups - 20x5,40x5,50x5,60x3,65x2
1 - 67.5 x 5
2 - 67.5 x 5
3 - 67.5 x 5 - volume PR last set was tough but got it without any assistance
Incline flye
warm up - 5sx10-
5 working sets at 12.5s x 10 - PR but I’m gonna stick with this weight at least one more session to focus on ROM and form
DB Bench
Warm up - 10sx10
4 working sets at 20s x 10
1 at 20s x 8
So close to finally nailing all 5 for 10reps, improving very slowly on these but I am still improving.
Incline bench
Warm up -20x10
5 working sets at 32.5x10 - good pump by the end of these
You can definitely fix your squat.
The biggest problem is your knees coming too far in in. Your right knee is worse, but it’s happening on both from the start. If you were to bring your stance in some, you could keep your knees directly over top of your feet even at depth. (good job on your depth, btw) Think “knees out,” and it should slot into place. Also point your toes more forward. When they splay out like yours are, your arches tend to collapse and your knees want to follow suit and come inward.
Your pelvis/low back is tucking under a bit at the bottom, but I think if you clear up the knees caving in issue and really torque your knees out, it should take care of itself.
Work on that, and post another video when you feel like you’ve got it.
Here is your bible:
http://train.elitefts.com/instructional/so-you-think-you-can-squat-parts-1-5/
[quote]hastalles wrote:
You can definitely fix your squat.
The biggest problem is your knees coming too far in in. Your right knee is worse, but it’s happening on both from the start. If you were to bring your stance in some, you could keep your knees directly over top of your feet even at depth. (good job on your depth, btw) Think “knees out,” and it should slot into place. Also point your toes more forward. When they splay out like yours are, your arches tend to collapse and your knees want to follow suit and come inward.
Your pelvis/low back is tucking under a bit at the bottom, but I think if you clear up the knees caving in issue and really torque your knees out, it should take care of itself.
Work on that, and post another video when you feel like you’ve got it.
Here is your bible:
http://train.elitefts.com/instructional/so-you-think-you-can-squat-parts-1-5/[/quote]
thanks for the feedback. I’ll work on all that on Thursday. Should I cut back on the weight for now or stick at max effort stuff, as that’s when my form issues get exaggerated?
Tuesday (1/5) - Back
Power cleans
20x3
20x3
30x3
30x3
30x3
Think I’m going to start working on progression with these, keeping them on back day and doing form work for them on leg day for now
Deadlifts
Warm ups - 60x5,80x5, mixed grip 100x5,110x3
chalk and mixed grip:
1 - 120 x 5
2 - 120 x 5 - PR
3 - 120 x 0 - no idea what happened here, could not get the weight off the floor. Don’t know if I pysched myself out or what but it would not move.
Ran out of time, had a revision class to get to, can’t wait for finals to be over so I can spend more than an hour a day in the gym. Less than pleased with this session for many reasons, missing that last set, lack of volume etc. I’ll work in 5x10 dumbbell/barbell rows either tomorrow or thursday
Finals suck, man… I’m in the midst of it too.
Use the most weight you can WITH good form. So spend as long as you need with light weight working on form, but bring it up to a good form max effort. I would think you could get to good enough form in one session.
Another thing that might help you see what “knees out” feels like would be goblet squats. Look them up and try a few next squat day just to get that feel.
[quote]hastalles wrote:
Finals suck, man… I’m in the midst of it too.
Use the most weight you can WITH good form. So spend as long as you need with light weight working on form, but bring it up to a good form max effort. I would think you could get to good enough form in one session.
Another thing that might help you see what “knees out” feels like would be goblet squats. Look them up and try a few next squat day just to get that feel.[/quote]
I’ll set tomorrow aside for working on squat form and try and spend most of the session on it working in a few heavy sets at some point. Maybe throw in some quick hamstring stuff at the end but I’m determined to get my squats nailed down and then start worrying about actually moving some weights around.
Wednesday (2/5) - Shoulders
Overhead Press
Warm ups - 20x5,30x5,40x4,50x3
1 - 52.5 x 3
2 - 52.5 x 4
3 - 52.5 x 0
Think I’ve hit a ceiling for my overhead press with regards linear progression. Not 100% what my next move is going to be but I’m thinking about switching to 5/3/1 for this and then switching my other lifts as and when they stall.
Lateral raise
warm up - 5sx10
5 working sets at 10s x 10
BB Shrugs
Warm up - 60x10
5 working set at 70 x 10 - grip gave out before my traps did, my grip strength sucks
Inverted flye
warm up - 5sx10
5 working sets at 7.5s x 10
Seated DB Overhead Press
warm up - 7.5sx10
1 - 15s x 10 (17.5s in use)
2 - 15s x 10
3 - 17.5s x 10
4 - 17.5s x 10
5 - 17.5s x 10
Will be using 17.5s again next time, want to be sure I can nail 5 sets of 10 before I move up.
After my miss with the main lift this turned into a pretty good session, I do think moving to 5/3/1 for the press might be my best move. Though I have found that going from 3x5 to 5x8 when I stall has helped me before, also using the lighter loads really helped my form when I came back to 3x5 I found I was much stronger so I’ll have a think about it over the next week.
Sounds good.
How long are your rest periods? It’s a little odd to go from 4 reps in one set to 0 in the next. It could be you should rest longer.
[quote]hastalles wrote:
Sounds good.
How long are your rest periods? It’s a little odd to go from 4 reps in one set to 0 in the next. It could be you should rest longer.[/quote]
I don’t time them, I just wait until I feel ‘ready’ I appreciate this is ridiculously vague. Perhaps I’ll try doing so and see if that helps. How long should I be aiming for?
Thursday 3/5 - Legs
Not much to report today, spend the whole session working on my squat form. Mix of regular squats and goblets squats. Didn’t go higher than 60kg but think I got the hang of most of my form. Will be returning to regular leg day next week so I’ll film a max effort squat then
[quote]Welsh_Lifter_91 wrote:
[quote]hastalles wrote:
Sounds good.
How long are your rest periods? It’s a little odd to go from 4 reps in one set to 0 in the next. It could be you should rest longer.[/quote]
I don’t time them, I just wait until I feel ‘ready’ I appreciate this is ridiculously vague. Perhaps I’ll try doing so and see if that helps. How long should I be aiming for?
Thursday 3/5 - Legs
Not much to report today, spend the whole session working on my squat form. Mix of regular squats and goblets squats. Didn’t go higher than 60kg but think I got the hang of most of my form. Will be returning to regular leg day next week so I’ll film a max effort squat then[/quote]
Good on the squats.
Actually, I usually just wait til I’m ready too… hmm. Anyone else reading this want to chime in?
Friday (4/5) - back(making up for lack of volume on tuesday) and some arms
DB rows
15s x 10 to warm up
5 working sets at 30s x 10 - right arm feel stronger here. Need to stick with this weight a little to work on form.
BB Rows
few sets, nothing worth noting, these weren’t working today, I need to learn proper form here.
Close grip bench
Warm up 20x5,40x5,
5 sets at 52.5x5
drop set at 40x12 - probably could’ve kept going
BB curls
20x10
27.5x10
27.5x10(with 2 cheats)
25x9
20x8
20x10
Not great
Nothing to report today other than that I weighed myself this morning for the first time in two weeks and am up 1kg to 89kg.
Monday (7/5) - Chest
Bench
Warm ups - 20x5,40x5,50x5,60x5,65x5
1 - 70 x 3 - technically a PR but not what I was aiming for
2 - 70 x 0 - set up was all wrong here
3 - 55 x 8
4 - 55 x 8
5 - 55 x 8
I’ll switch to 5x8 for a few weeks and see if that helps, it did last time I stalled.
Incline Flye
warm up 5sx10
5 working sets at 12.5s x 10 - easy more weight next week
DB Bench
warm up - 12.5sx10
1 - 20s x 10
2 - 20s x 10
3 - 20s x 10
4 - 20s x 9
5 - 20s x 9
going backwards here fuck
No racks free for incline benching after this so called it
Tuesday (8/5) Back
Power cleans
Warm up - 20x3
5 working sets at 30x3 - getting the hang of these
Deadlift
Warm ups - 60x5,80x5,mixed grip 100x5,110x3
Chalk:
1 - 120 x 5
2 - 120 x 5
3 - 120 x 5 - volume PR,more weight
DB Rows
warm up - 15s x 10
5 working sets at 30s x 10 felt easier than last time.
Ran out of time after that. Due to impending finals death I’m only going to be working out 3 days/week until after my exams (i.e. about a month). I gave it very little consideration and therefore decided I will be running starting strength for the next month. Wish me luck.
In light of my decision to run SS for the next month (at least) I sat down last night and set myself some goals.
They are
Squat - 100kg
Deadlift - 140kg
Bench - 75kg
Press - 55 kg
All x 5
Clean - 45kg x 3
Based on consistent jumps of 2.5kg each time I do an exercise (5kg for deadlifts) I came up with the weights I need to start on
Squat - 70kg
Deadlift 110kg
Bench - 60kg
Press 45kg
Clean - 30kg
Obscenely light!
I will be running this template:
Workout A
Squat 3 x 5
Bench 3 x 5
Deadlift 1 x 5
Assistance exercise - Dumbbell rows 3 x 10
2nd Assistance exercise (if I find my recovery sufficient) Barbell curls 3 x 10
Workout B
Squat 3 x 5
Press 3 x 5
Power Clean 5 x 3
Assistance exercise
Rear Delt Flye - 3 x 10
2nd assistance (if I find my recovery sufficient) E-Z Curl Tricep extensions 3 x 10
Is my assistance work acceptable? If I stick with it post finals I’ll be adding in conditioning on off days so I don’t become another 'Did starting strength, now I’m fat and weak instead of thin and weak) guy.