Starting this more for myself than anyone else. I thought it would be a good way to track my progress because I can’t seem to keep one physical journal up to date.
I’m just over a month into Stronglifts, which I started after coming out of rehab. I also cycle a lot since I don’t drive, so I’m going to track mileage in here as well. It might show me why I’m always knackered/how much more I can eat. I weigh just over 70kg now, but, to put that in perspective, before rehab and at my worst I was below 60kg, which at 5’10 is pretty dangerous.
Anyway,
3.12.19
1 Squats
1x5x20
1x5x40
1x5x55
5x5x67.5 The first rep of each set always seems the hardest, but overall these still don’t seem too bad.
2 Press
1x5x20
1x5x27.5
5x5x32.5 Starting to struggle on the last two sets already, must remember to engage my core better.
3 Deadlift
1x5x30
1x5x40
1x5x50
1x5x60
1x5x70 As with squats, still pretty easy, working on form.
4a Chins
3x6
4b Dips
3x11
I also cycled roughly 20 miles to the gym in the morning, then to a creative writing group, and back out to a recovery meeting in the evening, which wasn’t even on. Great fun in 2 degree cold.
You may want to consider tracking what you eat here. Eating isn’t the be-all, end-all of things, but I’m telling you, you’re going to hit a wall weighing that little and trying to progress. If you’re already saying you’re tired all the time, you may have already.
Hope you’ll stick around, and try to lose contact with people who still drink and use, and make connections with people who don’t. Being an avid biker is an awesome way to meet sober people.
Thanks for the welcome. I will start tracking my calories, etc. using one of the online trackers.
Yesterday I did 5 3 minute hill climbs at 8RPE then cycled for another 30 mins easy. I could definitely feel it in my legs when I cycled to the gym this morning.
5/12/19
1 Squat
1x5x20
1x5x40
1x5x55
5x5x70
2 Bench
1x5x20
1x5x30
1x5x40
5x5x52.5
3 Row
1x5x20
1x5x30
1x5x40
5x5x52.5
4a Dips
3x12
4b Chins
2x7, 1x6
I watched some videos on squat form and realised I haven’t had the bar placed correctly for a low-bar squat. It was somewhere between a high and low. Getting it in the groove beneath the ridge of the shoulder blades and on top of the rear delts made a huge difference. Hip drive felt so much more natural, although at first it seemed strange that the bar didn’t roll down my back.
Bench and rows are still progressing nicely. I am starting to be able to properly engage my lats on both exercises, and combining that with a good leg drive on the bench made 52.5 way easier than 50 last week. Hopefully I’m a little stronger as well. Getting to a plate on each side will be a quiet milestone.
Squat and deadlift are still pretty easy, cycling seems to have given me some leg strength. I’m still working out the form for the press and the last rep of the 5th set was a real grinder. So, I’m going to keep the weight at 35 for one more workout to consolidate it.
I’ve also been thinking about long-term goals and struggling to work out what is unreasonable/too easy for a year from now.
1RM of 60kg press, 100kg bench, 140kg squat, and 180kg deadlift are nice round numbers (1 plate, 2 plates, etc.), but I’ll see how I progress.
Will also be cycling about 25km easy today, not going above 6 RPE.
I was away all of last week, so I couldn’t lift. Monday through Friday I swam 1.5 km at 6 am and ran 5km at 2pm.
Got to lift again yesterday. I started a little lighter to get used to the weight again, but half-way through this didn’t seem necessary.
16/12/19
1 Squat
2x10x20
1x5x40
1x5x50
1x5x60
5x5x70
The first set was the hardest, more from just putting the weight on my back. I’ll still only bump it up 2.5kg next workout, as the squat progresses fastest and it’s still a good working weight.
2 Bench
1x10x20
1x5x30
1x5x40
1x5x50
4x5x55
Felt really smooth, will move up to 5x5 @ 57.5kg.
3 Row
1x10x20
1x5x30
1x5x40
5x5x55
I must remember to keep my core braced and push my feet through the floor, like a deadlift.
4a Dips
3x14
4b Chins
2x7, 1x6
I weighed in at 72kg this morning, so I’ve gained nearly 2kg in a fortnight or so.