KK's Beginner Training Log

Training Logs
1

Hi guys, I’m setting up this log so that i can keep track of my numbers. If you read this then bear in mind i only started lifting on the 1st of June 2009 so im still a complete novice.

Bit of Background
I have always been a big guy [read fat] even from a toddler and my sister and parents are both big as well. At my heaviest i was about 20-21stone (280-294lbs).
When i moved out i started to loose weight slowly but surely without doing anything special i got down to 18 stone (252lbs) and stayed about this weight for a few years.

Last yeah i decided to do a very low calorie diet which was about 5-600 cals per day and i lost 4.5 stone in 4 months. but unfortunately a lot of the weight i lost was muscle and hence my current numbers are so low.

Current Stats
Height - 5ft 8-9"
Age - 26
Weight - 210lbs
I unfortunately have no idea about BF% as i have never been tested but i think im still quite high, but i know i also have a little bit of loose/sagging skin from loosing that much weight so fast.

Training
I train at my rugby club gym because its free and local, however it doesnt have the best equipment but it has alot of weights and its quiet so at the moment its cool for me. the major downside is there is no way to do proper squats, so my squats are even lighter because i have to be able to lift the bar over my head and put it onto my shoulders. For my Bench i am having to use a bech machine because the free standing bench needs tightening up and i keep forgetting to bring my socket set to the gym lol.
I am doing the starting strength routine which i find to be excellent and im really enjoying it so far :slight_smile:

Currently i am lifting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday plus i have rugby training on Tuesday and Thursday which consists of mainly sprinting, jogging and some muscle work like tyre flipping and pushups etc.

Log: (weight x reps x sets) In this 1st post i will show 1 session per week for each workout)
1st June (Workout A)
Bench 90x5x3
Dead lift 90x5x3
Squat 50x5x3
Situps 3x5
Pull ups x1
Push ups x10

3rd June (Workout B)
Squat 56x5x3
Standing Military Press 56x5x3
Power Cleans 56x5x3
Situps 3x5
Dips x 10
Pull ups x2
Push ups 3x5

So thats where i started on my 1st two sessions. now here are the two sessions per week:

9th June (Workout B)
Squat 65x5x3
Standing Military Press 56x5x3
Power Cleans 65x5x3
Situps 3x5
Dips x 10
Pull ups x3
Push ups 3x5

11th June (Workout A)
Bench 100x5x3
Dead lift 140x5x3
Squat 65x5x3
Situps 3x5
Pull ups x3
Push ups x10

22nd June (Workout A)
Bench 100x5x3
Dead lift 182x5x3
Squat 80x5x3
Situps 3x5
Pull ups x3
Push ups x10

24th June (Workout B)
Squat 80x5x3
Standing Military Press 80x5x3
Power Cleans 80x5x3
Situps 3x5
Dips x 10
Pull ups x3
Push ups 3x5

1st July (Workout A)
Bench 100x5x3
Dead lift 200x5x3
Squat 80x5x3
Situps 4x5
Pull ups 3x3
Push ups x15

3rd July (Workout B)
Squat 90x5x3
Standing Military Press 80x5x3
Power Cleans 80x5x3
Situps 4x6
Dips x 10
Pull ups x3
Push ups 3x5

8th July (Workout A)
Bench 110x5x3
Dead lift 200x5x3
Squat 90x5x3
Situps 4x5
Pull ups 3x3
Push ups x15

10th July (Workout B)
Squat 92x5x3
Standing Military Press 80x5x3
Power Cleans 90x5x3
Situps 4x5 + 5lbs
Dips x 10
Pull ups 4,3,4
Push ups 15

Well that’s my current routine and i seem to have reached the heavy weights where i need to work at actually do some work before i will be able to raise the weights any further but we will see.
As ive said i know my weights are very low compared to everyone else on this site but im now trying to rebuild all the muscle ive lost so give me time…

Diet:
Currently i am trying to eat clean so that i can build muscle but i would not class it as a bulk. I am using BCAA tablets (x3 an hour before training and 3 straight after) i have a protein shake with rolled oats for breakfast and and shake after my workout. For my meals i am trying to stick to protein(chicken, beef, turkey etc) and veg.

Well thats me, i welcome all comments and criticisms and if you have any advice for me then i would appreciate it.

Thanks
Ken

2

you are strong, i would like to follow your log, check mine out i just started it today as well! where abouts in england u from then mate? good luck with your training

3

[quote]adam_medic wrote:
you are strong, i would like to follow your log, check mine out i just started it today as well! where abouts in england u from then mate? good luck with your training

Thanks chap but dont forget all my weights above are in lbs to try and keep in track with the others on the site.

Im based in banbury, oxfordshire. you?

Your thread looks cool, i will check it out also :slight_smile:

4

oh lol i thought they were kg! i was thinking damn, a beginner deadlifting more than me!

5

Friday 17th July

Workout B
Squat 104x5x3 - up 12lbs
Standing Military Press 82x5x3 - up 2lbs
Power Cleans 104x5x3 - up 14lbs
Situps 4x6 + 5lbs - extra set
Dips x 3x5 - extra set
Pull ups 3x4 - extra rep in each set
Push ups 18 - 3 more

Had a good workout on Friday as i raised pretty much everything i did.

6

20th July

Workout A
Bench 120x5x3 ramped this up today and it wasn’t as tough as i thought it would be
Dead lift 215x5x3 - raised 15lbs
Squat 104x5x3
Situps 4x6 + 5lbs
Pull ups 3x4
Push ups x20 (15,5)

Felt like a good session tonight although i went to the girlfriends for dinner and she made some ridiculously high in carbs meal, which included potatoes, veg, bread, and more veg. i think she got it backwards when i told her im trying to eat more protein not less… Doh!

I ate it as i didn’t want to disappoint her (plus i was famished) but she knows for next time (I hope)

I’m just cooking tomorrows meals now which will be peppered beef with Cauliflower, broccoli and spinach. Mmmm can’t wait :slight_smile:

7

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NEW START
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I decided that i wasn’t happy using the rugby club gym as there was just not enough equipment for me to really get going, its freezing cold and there is no-one else there so if i do accidentally injure myself, i would be screwed.

I joined the local leisure centre because its brand new (less than 3 months), they have lots of equipment plus the steam room comes in handy on Sunday after rugby on Saturday.

So with the new gym i thought i would kick-start the log.
Last night was my first session at the new gym and here is what i did (i started with very low weights because i didn’t want to be the new guy who over estimated what he could do and dropped everything on the floor):
(All weights in pounds)
Warm up
Still sore from rugby on Saturday i decide to double my normal stretching time
10 minutes of stretching
7 minutes treadmill (2 walking, 5 jogging)

Squats
They have a nice smith machine so i tried that to see what it was like and tbh i really liked it, it allowed me to go lower than i normally do, or that could just be because i have never seen how low i go before.
80 x 5
100 x 5
145 x 5
145 x 5

Bench (my first time with an Olympic bar - i liked it!)
90 x 5
110 x 5
110 x 5

DB Shrugs
10 x 5
20 x 5
20 x 5
Could have gone much heavier on these i think but this part of the gym was pretty packed being a Monday and everyone kept looking at me being the new guy.

Cable Shoulder Press
20 x 5
25 x 5
30 x 5
30 x 5

Press ups
10 x 3

Cardio at the end
10 minutes on treadmill doing 8.5

Conclusion - it was a weird selection of things to do because before Christmas i was working through 5x5 starting strength but stopped due to injury and lost my momentum.
I think it was a very timid start and i am going to have to get used to the whole public gym environment because its very different to what i’m used to. I am treating this week as an introductory week to get used to all the new equipment. the only thing I haven’t seen is a designated deadlift area, i assume i just use the Olympic bar from the bench press. I also need to find a way of recording what i’m doing better - I reckon I will go old school and buy a little pad and pencil because previously i was on my own so just took my laptop in and used excel lol.

Next update will be after wednesday nights workout, lets hope its not so busy/intimidating.

Ken

8

Last night was a great session at the gym - i still haven’t settled into a routine yet which is quite annoying as the free weight section is quite small.

Last night i finally saw another person deadlift in the gym :slight_smile: meaning i know longer feel like i am doing something wrong when i do it as well.

Last nights routine was
7 minute warm up jog on treadmill

DB Shrugs
cant remember figures but much heavier than monday on a 5x5 set

Squats
166 x 5
166 x 5
178 x 5
178 x 5
178 x 5
(still not seen anyone else squatting at this gym yet.)

Deadlift
187 x 5
187 x 5

overhead cable shoulder press
25 x 5
30 x 5
35 x 5
35 x 5
35 x 5

Assisted Dips
120 x 5
110 x 5

Single Arm DB rows
Cant remember weight x 5 x 5

I felt like i had the best workout of the new gym last night - lets hope it gets even better. i am impressed with my new heaviest squat and i am 100% sure i have not reached my limit yet, i wonder what it is… i think i will try for 200 on Friday night and see where that gets me?

9

Friday 5th March

It felt like another good session at the gym, although i may start thinking twice about heavy squating on Fridays because my legs were sore on Saturday and when in the front row of a scrum that’s probably not the best idea…

Warm up
2 min walk
5 min jog @ 9.5

Squat
178 x 5
189 x 5
189 x 5
189 x 5

Single arm DB Row
18 x 5
18 x 5
18 x 5
18 x 5
18 x 5

Shrugs
22 x 10
22 x 10

Preacher curls
60 x 5
60 x 5
60 x 5

overhead cable shoulder press (each arm)
30 x 5
35 x 5
35 x 5
35 x 5

I think i am happy to complete all exercises at the new gym now so i am going to go back to the proper stronglifts 5x5 routine instead of just doing something thats free at the time.

Still impressed with my beginner squats @ 189lb i will be trying for over 200lb tonight and will be very happy if i get it. i shouldn’t say if because i KNOW i will get it as i am not that close to failure right now.

I was thinking this weekend - after being seriously sore Saturday night and all day Sunday from playing rugby Saturday afternoon.

I was wondering how it will be benefiting my workouts? because surely being in the front row of the scrum and pushing with all my strength against a seemingly immovable object (20-40 times) is just like lifting weights isn’t it? so it should be helping me gain strength the more i do it… lets hope so :slight_smile:

10

Just been looking for some decent short term goals and come up with the following from here: exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.html

Standing Military Press - 122
Bench Press - 183
Squat - 244
Deadlift - 305

These are the numbers that a novice should be able to lift according to the above link. and novice is defined as:
A person training regularly for a period of 3-9 months.

As you can see i am quite a way from these numbers at the moment but these are 1rm numbers and i always perform for multiple sets and reps but a goal is a goal.

I have been training on and off for 6 months now due to injury and change of gyms so i will call that 3 months training. meaning i have 6 months to hit the numbers above… Is that possible??? only one way to find out i guess.

11

Tiny update as I’ve been working pretty hard on my squat recently
Im still performing squats on a 5x5 basis and working up to my heavy set and on Friday i did my first 266lb squat set of 5 which i was happy with.

So here is an uptodate list of where i am against my goals i stated above:

Standing Military press
Current = 100
Goal = 122

Bench press
Current = 123
Goal = 183

Squat
Current = 266
Goal = 244

Deadlift
Current = 286
Goal = 305

As you can see ive got a long way to go with the bench press but i think i can hit the deadlift in the next couple of weeks as its my grip letting me down in my left hand currently and the military press should follow along shortly after i think.

Thanks
Ken

12

Yey, thats another goal knocked off the list

Deadlift - The other night i managed a 140kg (308lb) lift. i am trying to vary my grip now by stopping the use of gloves and trying to improve my grip strength.

I have noticed recently that i have gained too much fat so yesterday i started with the green faces diet that was a article on here. Its only for 4 weeks so we will see how i get on. hopefully it wont affect my lifts or progress too much but it has to be done.

13

It was a leg day yesterday and while squating i was feeling good (even though i’m on a low carb diet) so i went for a new PR and smashed it :slight_smile: 130kg x 6 (286lb)

I was really pleased with that :slight_smile:

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Just thought i would add a couple of photos of what my diet now consits of:

Breakfast

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Lunch