Lifting Heavy Stuff Because I Can

Hey guys right now I’m doing Stronglifts 5x5.

Right now my stats for 5x5 on each one is:

Squat: 230 5x5
Bench: 175 5x5
OHP: 115 5x5
Deadlift: 315 5x5 (been doing these for a while)
Barbell Rows: 160 5x5
Pullups: 2
Chinups: 5
Neutral Grip Pullups: 4

I’m 6" 0" and 195 lbs.

Diet:

Kind of the “stronglifts diet”- I make sure to have protein with every meal, eat tons of vegetables and fruit, and only eat grains post workout. I started out on a bit of s caloric deficit, but after losing a far amount of weight I’ve switched to maintenance for the most part.

Goals: I would like to be able to do a 315 squat, 405 deadlift, 225 bench, 145 lb military press, and ten pullups by the of the year. I would also like to maintain approximately the same weight at 195-200 but have gained muscle.

I’ve been doing this for four months now and just decided to start actually recording my log here.

I’ll start with Monday’s session:

I started out with a pretty big omelette with three eggs, ham, spinach, garlic.

Then preworkout I had some milk with whey mixed in it.

workout was:

Squat 220 5x5 (took a deload earlier due to knee pain)
OHP 110 5x5 (also deload)
Deadlift 315 1x5
Pullups: As many as possible

Squat was fairly difficult but kept form for most of it- only noticed knees tracking inwards a couple of times. I did fall forward/ good morning a couple of times though- this could be a problem.

OHP: Not difficult, blasted out all sets. Shouldnt be hard to move up to at least 112.5 (I use fractional plates)

Deadlift: got all 5 reps, but had to take some rest in between and form seemed to suffer. However, grip strength was fine with mixed grip. Considering a deload for form at least.

Edit: lower back fried next day- but not painful just muscle soreness.

Pullups: got plenty of chins- nearly six, but pullups were more difficult (only got two), as were the neutral grips ones.

Wednesday April 6th, 2011

I was busy as hell working on my thesis today, couldn’t even get to the gym.

So I just did a ton of bodyweight exercises instead.

Started with shoulder dislocates, scapular pinches. squat to stand, leg swings, and glute bridges to loosen up.

Then did 3 sets of 20 pushups, 3 sets of 12 inverted rows, 4 door pullups (way harder then using a bar I think), and two sets of 15 dips on chairs.

Then 30 reps of the straight bridge- which is harder than it looks. Finished with stretching the whole body.

Got my Strength Training Anatomy book in, which was really interesting and explained a lot of my joint pains I’ve been struggling with (especially knees). Also told me a way to stretch the front shoulders specifically, which was kind of cool.

Any advice on avoiding knee pain from squats? I think its because I have a tendency to fall forward with heavier weights and use my quads too much- I know I dont have much of a problem with the knees caving in.

Any ways to avoid this?