Alex_uk: 40 years in the making

Training Training Logs
3431

Thanks Sven, can’t let you have all the 20 rep squat “fun” I must say that my depth isn’t like yours, parallel and no further!

FM w1 D3

  • Conditioning: emom rounds (10 mins)

1)10 chin ups, 10 squats
2)10 kbs 24kg, 10 press ups
3) 10 sit ups

X 3 rounds
5 of each for the final minute

Was thinking of rowing for a restorative and lighter conditioning segment, but the rowing machine is buried behind the Christmas presents, so came up to the garage with nothing in mind and figured a load of (mostly) BW movements without overtaxing one area would fit the bill of getting heart rate up and blood pumping overall, and it did, this was fairly easy and just felt pretty good (apart from my slight dodgy knees and my angry hip).

531 - ohp: 40kg X 5, 47kg x 5, 55kg x 3, 60kg x 11

Gs1:
Seated db ohp: 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5kg x 12
Wgpu: 8 x 4 sets
Planks: BW x 4
DB btn Tri ext: 12.5kg x 8 x 4 sets

Gs2:
Btn press: 40kg x 8, 12, 12
Inc curls: 10kg x 12 x 3 sets
Oblique thing: 40kg x 3 sets
Tri pulldowns: 40kg x 15 x 3 sets

Finisher:
Mech drop set - RDR > Lat Raise > Front Raise >OHP - 7.5kg x 20>10>10>10 - agony.

Wasn’t really planning to train today, ideally want a day between sessions 2&3 due to the overlap on shoulder work, but a) shoulders can handle it and never get DOMs, so not majorly concerned there, and b) this is bar the easiest session of the program.

That’s 3 days of training in a row and actually it’s not too bad, but the weights are lighter, aiming for that long runway to get maximum progress out of the 5/3/1 rep scheme before I stall out. The rest is pumpage and conditioning so shouldn’t be too hard on recovery.

I had a Christmas meal yesterday - curry at the fire station, big meal and had a lasagne about 3 hours earlier, subsequently haven’t felt like eating today (slight deli belly, but think it’s mostly just a lot of eating recently), now just after 4pm and I’ve only eaten a protein shake (50g if protein) and nuts - probably not far off calorie needs but without the hassle of eating, which has been nice.

The takeaway I chose was a fairly decent option probably had a bit of sugar but not too much, went egg fried rice, and had a keema naan, not stressing a fairly sensible takeaway (deliberately chosen dishes) or two over the festive period, still avoiding all sugar outside of the unknown in the take away (and fruit, but mostly that berries and grapefruit, so pretty low sugar). Processed wise, outside of the takeaway, some of the nuts I eat are roasted and salted and the protein powder, again I’m ok with that, but almost everything else is single ingredients and mostly just 2-4 ingredient meals. Weight 211 this morning, will be lighter tomorrow after today’s low food volume and high excretion rates!

4 Likes
3432

High….excretion rates. Good work, I guess.

1 Like
3433

We have to fix this. I’ve had luck with double or triple rest/pause OHP. Started with a weight that I could hit about 17-20 reps and rested 20-30 seconds between rounds.

1 Like
3434

Thanks, I’ll give that a whirl sometime, reckon I could probably go 55kg/120lb on that, might do it as a standalone trial when I’m between sessions and don’t have time for a full session.

2 Likes
3435

I do it with 115 lbs so you’re spot on with the weight. If you feel like that’s not going to do the trick, just do lateral raises until you can’t raise your arms. I suggest using 20-30 lb DBs.

2 Likes
3436

If I may make a suggestion? Stop using little bitch weights. There, fixed. You’re welcome, enjoy the DOMS.

2 Likes
3437

Random training session brought to you by joint ache, muscle pain, man flu, sleep deprivation and a week of significant undereating - countered with ibuprofen and paracetamol and all of the snake oils for this sorta thing.

Just doing something to keep the body moving and doing “something”.

Deadlifts: 60, 100, 120kg X some, 140, 160, 180kg x 1 (pretty sure this is equal pr for conv dl), 200kg x f (back round so dropped), f - didn’t budge, probably not the right day to test 1rm…

Well if it’s not 1rm then…

140kg x 15

Mostly just because I was annoyed by 200 not moving.

Bench: 60, 80, 90kg X some, 100kg x 1 paused, 110, 120, 130kg

Also an equal PR.

100kg x 12.

Fin.

6 Likes
3438

Ok a couple of days off for Christmas, diet wise I didn’t go mental, ate my traditional breakfast of pan au chocolat and croissants for Christmas day and boxing day breakfast, had dessert both days but aside from the fairly decent eating (roast - so lot of meat and veg)… Ate whenever I wanted and didn’t use any shakes or supplements, result -7lb, my body despises muscle mass and weight in general. The loss was probably assisted by not having creatine for the last week or so, I’ll leave off that until post blood test in Jan (want to see if that added to elevated creatinine levels and poor eGFR results).

Been ill, nothing more than a heavy cold, but still feeling it. But keen to get back to it, think the mental break from work and some additional sleep, plus a break from thinking about training and food is a helpful reset.

Decided I’m in for the 2024 transformation, will be as transparent as I can be whilst being public with my name and face - I’ll probably end up “optimising” my trt in 2024 to fit my goals (as long as my blood results are all good and in range) - I still harbour dreams of being bigger and leaner and feel like where I am diet, training and consistency wise, I’ll actually benefit, but we’ll see in January.

I’ll throw some starting pics up for the challenge in a day or two.

3 Likes
3439

I have a similar problem but counter it with constant training and eating. LOL

1 Like
3440

A random session to match/balance the last one:

Squat: 60, 80, 100, 120, 140kg X some, 160kg x 1, 130kg x 10.

Sure I’ve got more on both the top and the reps on a good day, but breathing isn’t great felt pretty dizzy going through those reps - this cold is still causing quite a bit of grief.

Ohp: 40, 50, 60, 70kg X some, 75kg x 1, 80kg X f & Push press. 50kg x 17

Well that concludes my spontaneous 1rm testing, nice to get done before the end of the year and shows me that actually despite only getting back to it seriously part way through the year and being sick and underfed and currently about 15lbs off my all time heaviest, every big lift is actually equal life time PR right now, with the exception of squat, no I’m not at 190kg as per lifetime pr, but I think without the nagging injuries and illness I’d have the confidence and ability to hit 175/180kg.

See Simo no moaning about age just getting stuck in!

Back on Frankenstein’s monster from here.

And this is 100% my problem, just disheartening when you lose quite so much weight in such a short time frame, it’ll come back no problem and it won’t be muscle but annoying nonetheless.

2 Likes
3441

Salute and respect mate.

1 Like
3443

Regular service resumes:

Frankenstein’s Monster (FM from now on)

Conditioning: 10 mins sandbag and Burpees emom, alternating 3 SBOS & 3 Burpees with 6 SBOS. 45 SBOS x 50kg & 15 Burpees total.

Poundstones: axle 20kg X 100 curls - first 80 unbroken, hideous pr, arms on fire.

Bench: 5s
60, 70, 80kg x 5, 90kg X 17 reps
S/s Face pulls: red band x 20 x 4 sets

Gs1:
Db Inc: 30kg x 10 x 4 sets (controlled muscle focused reps)
Lat pulldown: 80kg x 12 X 4 sets
Ab rollout: 6 x 4 sets
Pinwheels: 10kg x 10 x 4 sets

Gs2:
Db flyes: 10kg x 15 x 3 sets
BB row: 100kg x 6 X 3 sets
Oblique cable thing: 40kg x 8 x 3 sets
Inc curl: 10kg x 12 x 3 sets

Rows were strapped up an cheaty, not my normal style but I’ve not ever really gone heavy on rows, time to push them a little harder (I’ll work into not being cheaty on 100kg then push weight again)

Finisher:
Strict WGPU Burpees: 9, 6, 6 - rest pause 8 breath breaks.

5 Likes
3444

Happy freaking New Year Tnation! 5 hours until 2024 here, hope y’all have a good evening and get time to celebrate with family and loved ones.

Last session of 2023, had family down, trained with brother in law, he’s just getting in to the gym, so was first time training with someone for a long time, throttled it back slightly for him, but he did well, he wasn’t getting much depth on the squats but he wasn’t asking for tips and I wasn’t playing coach, just blasting a session together.

Conditioning:

Burpee wgpu emom x 10 mins: 6/5 alternative minutes 55 reps total. (BiL did just Burpees).

Squats 3s: 60, 80kg x 5, 100, 110kg x 3,
120kg x 20

Dizzy and felt near black out the last 2 reps, shook it off and got it done, this session was also far too close to lunch and that was massive, felt :nauseated_face:.

Gs1:
Bulgarians: 15kg x 8 x 4 sets
Ghr: 8 x 4 sets
Cable crunch: 80kg x 10 x 4 sets
DB ohp: 15kg x 10 x 4 sets

Gs2:
Belt squat: 60kg x 20, 40
Lying Ham curls: 40kg x 30, 30
Oblique cable thing: 40kg x 8
DB Front raise: 10kg x 20, 30

Was running short on time so just amrap the last GS, went a little conservative then went ham on the last one! BiL kept up pretty well here.

Good blast will probably be feeling those squats for a day or two!

6 Likes
3445

First session of 2024. Weight about 208.

FM w1 D3 - OHP 5/3/1

Poundstones: 20kg X 100

Conditioning: emom odd/even - 75kg sandbag over bar x 3 / 50kg sandbag over shoulder x 5

Aiming to really build up on sandbag stuff this year, got an adjustable bag that goes to 125kg, would be nice getting this over the bar this year. Yes riding a million different horses here, but screw it I’m doing it anyway - Jack of all trades master of none, though often times better than master of one the full quote seems appropriate here.

Ohp: 20, 40, 50kg X 5, 60kg x 10

Got some nasty pulling in my left delt, around the point where the shoulder rotates to take the load off the tris, was painful but didn’t feel like I’d do damage pushing through, so that’s what I did, did put me off significantly though so a subpar amrap 1 rep off last performance - c’est la vie.

Gs1:
Seated db ohp: 30kg x 10, 10, 8, 9
Wgpu: 8 - chin ups: 8 x 3 sets
Planks: BW x 4
DB btn Tri ext: 12.5kg x 10, 10kg x 12 x 3 sets

Keep defaulting to pull ups, but bis are the target here, switched to chins when I remembered. Tri ext were just feeling a bit iffy, turns out when you drop the weight you can focus on the movement!

Gs2:
Btn press: 40kg x 14, 12
Spider squeeze curls: 10kg x 21, 17
Oblique thing: 40kg x 12 x 2 sets
Tri pulldowns: 40kg x 19, 16

Running low on time, went for 2 rounds of amrap - might change the format of FM and go for 3 sets on GS1 and 2 x amrap GS2, keep it a bit shorter.

Finisher:
Mech drop set - RDR > Lat Raise > Front Raise >OHP - 7.5kg x 25>10>10>15 :nauseated_face:

3 Likes
3446

@ChongLordUno

A sumptuous pump for you (not to clog up the transformation log):

1000022041
10000220411441×1234 287 KB

5 Likes
3447

sandbags really are magic, I will be using my various sizes to full effect this year too.

1 Like
3448

:heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart_eyes:

1 Like
3449

FM w1 d4 deads 5s

Conditioning - emom for 10 mins:
1)10 chin ups & 10 squats
2)10 kbs 24kg & 10 press ups
3) 10 sit ups

X 3 rounds + 5 of each for the final minute

Deads: 60, 100, 110, 120kg x 5, 130kg x 15

On the first rep of 120, something went, I think an intercostal, in the rear of my ribcage, made breathing painful and threw off my form, carried on knowing that it wasn’t going to screw up my lower back. Pushed on to 130 and did the amrap but didn’t absolutely max this, partly because breathing was hard, partly so I didn’t create any new injuries or exacerbate the intercostal issue.

Gs1:
Lat pulldown (wide grip): 80kg x 15 x 3 sets
DB Squeeze press (lowest Inc): 25kg x 12 x 3 sets
Ab rollout: 10 X 3 sets
Seated Tri ext: 10kg x 10 x 3 sets

SS1:
Cable row: 80kg x 26, 26
Dips: 20, 22

Dropped the rx BB row here, no way that would have worked well with my back right now, dropped the db flyes figured dips cover chest and tris and in a rush (daughters birthday got family round).

Finisher: strict WGPU Burpees amrap RP with 2 pauses: 8, 5, 4

Cut as soon as form went, could throw more reps in but want them to be clean, slow descent pause reps.

Mentally hard session today, just dragging myself into the gym was a challenge, was falling asleep mid conversation to my son just before coming out. Daughter had 5 friends sleep over, I think the last time I told them to go to sleep was well past 3am…baby doesn’t do lie -ins either. Tired and busy before even getting to training, but pushed past - wanted to get this session done so I didnt have to do it tomorrow, give a full day rest before blood test see if I can keep the creatinine down, might even go low protein tomorrow, only 1 day, not going to lose gains!

Weight 207 - going to introduce conditioning/cardio as a scheduled regular separate session and keep food as is for time being, general idea im my head, lean out a bit more, before pushing up again.

2 Likes
3450

Some idiot made conditioning sound like a good idea in Dani’s log…

Cooked dinner and before dishing it up:

16kg KB floor to over > goblet squat > down to floor, repeat from otherside: 10 reps 10 breath break, 9 reps 9 breath break, 8 reps 8 breath break… Etc. until 1. Captured a video part way through:

55 reps immediately followed by;

Burpees with the same rep and rest 10 down to 1…

Another part way through video (probably should have muted it so you could hear me dying and the dog squeaking):

Very sweaty man by the end of this, quick low drag session.

3 Likes
3451

FM w2 d1 bench 3s

Conditioning emom do 10 aomethings:
Sandbag to shoulder 50kg X 5 & 5 bw squats x 2 sets
KB swings 24kg x 10 x 2 sets
Sandbag to shoulder 50kg X 5 & 5 bw squats x 2 sets
KB swings 24kg x 10 x 2 sets
Sandbag to shoulder 50kg X 5 & 5 bw squats
KB swings 24kg x 10

Got me slightly warmer (it’s been snowing here, pretty rare for this part of the UK) and blowing a bit.

Bench: 60, 70kg x some, 75, 85kg x 3, 95kg x 13

Mrs disturbed me at rep 6/7 (wanted to say goodbye…timing, shouted goodbye and held the bar at lockout, messed my rhythm up, not sure how many more I’d have without that excuse).

Gs1:
DB Inc (middle): 30kg x 15 x 3
Lat pulldown: 90kg X 15, 15, 10
Ab rollout: 10 X 3
Pinwheels: 12.5kg x 10 x 3

Gs2:
DB flyes: 12.5kg x 10, 15
BB row: 80kg x 6, 8
Oblique cable thing: 80kg x 10 x 2
Inc DB curl (medium): 12.5kg x 10, 12

Fin.

Not terrible but my head wasn’t in the right place, but got it done. Today’s session brought to you by this, repeated a few to many times:

1 Like