This is my new log. My back/shoulder problems are finally getting better now that I found what’s wrong. Still very imbalanced but improving is better than nothing.
Goal for summer: get more awesome to join PL team at school, assuming my grad schedule allows.
First time starting to use CT’s methods, they are cool so far, I think the holds and ring/gymnastic type stuff will help with my back, at least with evening it out.
A1 Front Squat BWx15 45x6 65x5 85x5 95x4 105x4 115x4 115x3
A2 Level One Jump 1x1x10 (in between sets of A1)
A3 Band OH hold, 3 second hold, 1x1x10 (after the jumps)
Tried these out two days ago as well, still very sore but the weights were higher this time already. The jumps work. I will continue to use for sure.
B1 Pushdowns 60x8 70x8 80x6 90x6
B2 Hammer/Cross Body Hammer 15x10 20x10 25x8
C1 Face Pull lowest machine setting x3x12
C2 Chest Lever Roll on Pullup Bar 3sx3x3
C3 Pushups x8 x8 x8
New gym hours for summer
Practiced Front Squats and 10 level 1 jumps
These aren’t as good with straps but even though I have the wrist flexibility to do them it’s straining my left forearm
V Pulldown 60x10 70x10 80x10 90x10 100x10 70x10
Seated One Arm Row Machine 25x10 45x10 70x6 70x6
Cable One Arm Rows 80x6 70x6
EZ Curls Bar 20x8 30x6x6
Palms Up Curls 15x10 20x6x6
A1 Leg Curls 85x8x8x8 90x8x8partials
B1 10 Level 1 Jumps
B2 Front Squat Barx8 65x5 85x4 95x4 105x4 115x4 135x3x3x3x1
C1 RDL Barx20 95x12 135x6x8x6
D1 Leg Press 1ppsx20 2ppsx15x15x15
Warmed up elbows, then PT stuff (voyeur shrug, pushups, x pulldown)
Warm Up Voyeur Shrug Pushups
A1 Meadows Row (on CSR, first time) Barx15 1px8x8 1p 10x10
B1 Kayak Row 90x10 (too heavy) 80x10 70x10
C1 Seated Row (Straight Bar, Hands in) 40x15 70x8 80x470x4
Warm Up Triceps w/ Rope
A1 Ez Curls (bar unknown) 20x10 40x6 40x4
A2 Cross Body Hammer 25x6 20x6 20x6
swear I did another back exercise but was with my friend/sometimes training partner so don’t remember
Warm up, voyeur shrugs, pushups and OH bands
A1 Front Squat barx15x3 65x4 85x3 95x3 115x3 135x1 (awful, very off today, couldn’t even keep it on shoulders) 115x2. FACK.
A2 Jumps x7
Convinced someone way stronger than me to give me some pointers on Bench (first time trying in over a year). Just worked on learning technique. Felt good and fast, 115x3 for a bunch of sets at the end, actual benching this week with w/o partner.
Close Handle Seated Row 55x10 70x10 85x10
B1 Stretchers 40x10 55x10 70x8
B2 Pushdowns (straight bar) 70x10 80x8 90x8
Some pushdowns and pushups at the end, weak sauce, tomorrow will be better. Too much caffeine.
Week went to hell, including broken computer, one workout in 3 days, not written down. 5/3/1 starts next week.
Warm Up: band stretches, OH holds, voyeur shrugs and pushups
Leg Curl 55x8 70x8 85x8 100x8
Went to front squat, the pain in my left upper quad/hip flexor is unbearable doing these, I feel it all the time even walking now, foam rolled and stretched those areas before the workout though, try again tomorrow and see if I can do BW squats without it. Lame.
Leg Press Instead, close stance, 1ppsx20 2ppsx20x20x20x20x12x6x5x4
DB Rear Delts 4x35 5x35 10x30, 5x15 10x15, 5x20
DB Row 45x8 55x8
CSR Barx15 Barx15 10x15 10x12 Barx15x12
Arms Superset
EZ Bar Curls (bar is 20 I think, numbers=just the plates on it) 20x10 40x8 40x6 20x10
V Bar Pushdown 60x10x5 70x10x5 80x10x5 90x10x5 (first ten are controlled last 5 are continuous, very hard)
Writing up my 5/3/1 stuff tonight, so will be starting it by Monday at the latest.
along with my computer I lost my copy of 5/3/1 and haven’t gotten a replacement yet, maybe jim will email me back. Fed up with schedule always getting dicked with so I’m just going to start it today. (Edit=adding the workout)
5/3/1 Cycle One, Week One, Day One: Don’t know why I didn’t start this sooner, definitely better than going to the gym with the “work your back” mindset, having a somewhat set goal feels better. Started real light on the maxes, especially bench after no chest/shoulder work for about a year and a half. The PT and back work helped because my bench/lifts in general feel much better even without working on some of them. Already excited for the next workout (must fix hip in order to squat) and to break PR’s. Still can’t do OH work so I will Barbell Row instead of the press, don’t hate me.
Bench:
Warmup: OH bands, pushups, voyeur shrugs
85x5
95x5
105x12 (again, I set my training max too low but I will leave it there for now, haven’t benched in so long that I’ll need the extra time)
Assistance:
Bench (BBB) 65x10 75x10x10x10x10
Bitch weights but I felt good under the bar, the weights flew up, felt explosive and all that jazz, could feel my chest working too, excited for this lift to improve. Despite pretty much never benching the movement feels pretty “natural” to me.
DB Row 45x10 50x10 55x10 55x10 60x10
just did these with a decently controlled eccentric, got a good stretch at the bottom and then yanked it up really fast, the sets were very quick but felt awesome.
V Bar Pushdowns, ran into my sometimes training partner, he asked me what to do for triceps since I have “horseshoes” I lol’d. He attempted a 315 bench today though, got stuck in the bottom, he wants to get to 3 biscuits by the end of the summer and I want to get my bench above 185 (ha) so I will try and convince him to 5/3/1 it up with me.
70x10 80x10 90x10 100x8,80x6x70x6 Not sure why but after doing the reps with a good controlled squeeze the “continuous motion” reps done immediately after are killer, did a few after some of the sets, I think this is a john meadows technique so that explains the awesomeness.
That’s it, I feel bad if anyone reads my log, boooooring.
ART yesterday so didn’t lift after the adjustment, early legs tonight-Diablo
5/3/1 Cycle One Week One Day Two
Leg Curls 5x10 55,70,85,85,100,85 Nice and Easy
Front Squat (5/3/1)
Long Warmup
95x5
110x5
125x5
Front Squat 4x10 75
Done very fast, maybe 30 secs rest, so gassed.
Curls
Barx10 DB Hammer 10 x8
20x8 DB Hammer 15 x8
30x6 DB Hammer 15x8
35x6
20x6 DB Hammer 20x6
Pushdowns, just keeping the elbow moving, used a different handle and it worked nice
50x20
60x10
70x10
Maybe the carb up worked extra well, every muscle I worked was so pumped they cramped. Time to fuck shit up in the kitchen.
Cycle One Week One Day Three
Row
85x5
95x5
135x8 (set max too low, readjusted)
65x10 75x10x10x10x10
Then Reverse Pulldowns/Stretchers Superset
40x10
55x8
70x8
DB Rear Delts
5x35
10x35
10x30 these sets take so long, during this one two people in a row bumped into my arms then someone knocked an entire gym seat over right onto me, jackals.
10x20 5x20
Cycle One Week One Day Four
RDL
135x5
155x5
175x8
Leg Extension 5x20
Abs 4 Supersets
cycle one week two day one
bench
85x3
95x3
110x8 or 9
65x10 70x10 75x10 85x6 65x10
DB Row 45x20 50x20 55x15 60x12
V Bar Pushdowns: 4 sets
DB Hammer Curls 3 sets of 10 with 20lbs
5/3/1 Cycle One Week Two Day Two
Leg Curls 5x12 55,70,85,85,100 (only 10),85
Front Squat (5/3/1)
100x3
115x3
130x9
Front Squat 4x10 75
Meadows Laterals, worked up to 2x20 with 25s, tough as hell, so good
Going to add pics/background info to make this a real log sometime soon, once stuff quiets down on the ranch
cycle one week two day three
Row
95x3
110x3
120x9
65x10 75x10 75x10 85x10 85x10
Alternated with Vbar Pushdowns for da lat pump
Dumbell Rear Delts, mountain pooch style: 3x35 with the 10’s, these already feel better, nominating John Meadows for beatification and eventual sainthood.
If I don’t keep my shitty left shoulder/upper back SUPER tight, down and locked in I feel my right lower back “drift” and I’ll strain it again, damn you deformed back!!
Numbers are on track, day 4 will be tomorrow or saturday morning depending on family stuff.
Going to be traveling tomorrow and the gym is closed for the next two days anyway. With that in mind I cut down on the assistance work (not really) and combined my last day of week two (RDL) with my first day of week three (Bench). My only goal was to hit the numbers for those lifts, not worry about assistance and rep records but I ended up feeling awesome and got through it all. Almost didn’t go because my lower back felt so bad and uneven but mega warmup and tight form did the trick.
Warmup: Band OH holdss, voyeur shrugs, pushups
RDL
145x3
165x3
185x8 (plenty more left in me but the bar was “drifting” on my crappy left side)
Bench
95x5
105x3
115x1 ( 7 more)
65x10 75x10 75x10 75x10-focused on pulling the bar apart, lots of stuff to remember
Leg extensions 5x20 (each set jumped ten pounds)
DB Row 45x20 50x20 55x20 60x12- on the last set I went as fast and explosive as possible
Vbar pushdowns and hammer curls superset, pretty light weight and 15-20 reps per set for 4 sets
Fin
If anyone actually reads my log feel free to drop any advice, I read/follow a few people’s logs on here and they’ve been helpful to me. I’m going to add some pics and food stuff soon as well.
Lifting Background:
Age: 22
Height: 5’9"
Weight: currently unknown, 165ish? and gaining
Training Goals: Bodybuilding, no interest in competing I just like it. Currently just trying to get bigger now that my body is aligning itself. I’ve made a few jumps in weight before and always need to cruise at that new weight for a while before gaining more. I’m hoping to get into the 180’s by the end of the summer. We’ll see how it goes as I continue to add more food but so far I feel bigger, things are crazy in my personal life right now so staying on track with the eating is the hardest thing right now.
i avoided and hated almost all physical activity until partway through high school. I remember doing the pull-up test in gym class in middle school and not being able to do half of one. Signed up for Nordic Skiing against my will but since I had friends on the team it became fun, I had an awesome coach who taught me a lot (not just about skiing) and I got decent the last two years of high school. I started at 120-125, ended HS at 140ish.
Went to college in Boston, started lifting partway through sophomore year, had a friend who was decently built and into working out. I got up to 160ish and basically hit a wall. I was doing DB Incline benching with 60s or 70’s and my left arm just collapsed partway through the 7th or 8th rep, it just sort of folded backwards. Ended up seeing a PT who, now in retrospect, wasn’t very good. I did PT for a summer and since starting that PT was not allowed to bench press or do any overhead work.
After the PT and doing far too much reading I knew I needed to work on my back a lot, that it was way too weak even at my level. Since I wasn’t allowed to bench or do overhead work I did 2-3 hard back workouts a week for 4 months or so. It worked but not really, I got bad upper back/neck pain. The doctor told me not to lift anymore and had me start with a chiro. I ended up following the advice to not lift for a semester which was a mistake. I tried lifting once that semester and couldn’t turn my head the next day.
Cancelled with that chiro after a few months, looked for an ART guy, found one that does ART/graston/chiro. He is the first and only person to figure out what was wrong and give me some damn stretches/advice for home. Apparently part of my neck was so screwed up it affected part of my upper back (mostly on my left side). All the back work in the world wasn’t helping because the muscles back there literally could not fire.
As it stands now I do PT/stretches every day, finally making an improvement, less pain and I can lift. I have scoliosis from my neck/back issues but it’s not the permanent kind (structural instead of foundational I think) . I started 5/3/1 a few weeks ago now, I started real light (I did 275 for sets of 6-8 on RDL but my training max now is 205) I really, really don’t want to screw up my body further. It’s such a pain in the ass to not only focus on lifting and eating but this PT every day, it’s finally working now so I can’t really complain. There, this log feels official now. I need it to organize my training brain diarrhea and keep me on track.
TLDR: lowly endurance athlete->lots of PT->Weak but finally improving
That’s it, the gym is closed the next two days, did a double workout today and tomorrow there is a big steak and martini dinner to look forward to.
Sample day of eating, I’m adding food gradually each week, usually more potatoes at lunch and always making sure to have a 2 scoop MD shake before bed now.
Note: I cook pretty much all my meals, the potatoes are prepped ahead of time usually on a sunday, a couple of times (like today) my PWO meal or lunch at work will be a giant burrito with extra meat and sometimes a smoothie from boloco. When I eat something that I don’t cook its for a special occasion (like tomorrow) or it’s the aforementioned burrito, sushi or sometimes pizza. I’ve always naturally eaten pretty clean because I just don’t like most shitty food, sorry. I do love me some regular fritos, pop tarts sometimes etc.
Wake up, down some EAA’s and shower
Breakfast is either
Lunch at work
-Always have a greek yogurt
-Last few weeks it’s been another serving of some sort of protein (chicken breast, pork/beef/turkey burger, steak tips) with potatoes. Going to switch to rice when I get sick of potatoes, been adding more each week.
After work if I’m going to the gym that night I’ll have a FINiBAR, maybe some more carbs (WMS) and EAA’s then to the gym, scoop of MAG-10 during the workout.
I’ll usually wait a bit after and then have some sort of shake, lately it’s been EAA’s, used to be another scoop of MAG-10, then have my PWO meal
If I’m not lifting I’ll eat something like 4-5 hard-boiled eggs or an omlette, and some type of carb
Then dinner is almost always
-Protein: Big serving of meat (any type of burgers, steak, marinated chicken) or 4-5 eggs either hard boiled or omlette
-Bowl of steamed vegetables, usually mixed sometimes just broccoli or cauliflower, I put VCO and/or EVOO all over this
-More carbs, again lately potatoes
2 scoop MD shake or EAA’s with peanut butter before bed
Cycle One Week Three Day Two
Lying Leg Curls 5x12 55, 70, 85, 85, 100-70x4
Front Squat
110x5
125x3
135x1 ( 4)
Front Squat 4x10 85
Meadows Laterals 3x20 with 25s and a set with 10s at the end
Went straight from a sushi dinner to the gym, late night
Cycle 1 Week 3 Day 3
Row
100x5
115x3
130x1 ( 4)
75x10 75x10 85x10 85x10 (very fast)
DB Rear Delts 3x35 w/ 10’s way harder than last time, took forever.
Some light arms
Must…eat…more
Notes: lower back strain on right side is definitely from not keeping my abs tight on stuff, too much to remember for my dumb head. Kept them real tight on rows and my back felt ok.