Thought I’d post a training log here to keep myself accountable and hopefully get some good feedback as well. I’ve already given my background in another thread but here it is again: 32 years old, 178 cm, 70 kg (up from 62,5 kg in mid-November). I currently can’t do full-range bench presses because of a shoulder problem (broken collarbone that was never set and is now considerably shorter than it used to be). I train at home.
Right now I’m doing three total-body sessions per week with a basic 5x5 rep scheme (except for bodyweight exercises) trying to add weight with each set. Usually Sun/Tues/Thurs, this week was moved by a day.
So, on with the log. Today:
pullup: 3x10 bodyweight
snatch-grip deadlift standing on a platform (a bag of cement, if you’re curious): 5x5 up to 82 kg
miltary press: 5x5 up to 42 kg - couldn’t squeeze out the last two reps on the last set so I did them as push presses
clean: 4x5 up 60 kg - I’m just learning this lift and so far have mainly used it to get the bar in position for shoulder presses. So I kept it very light for the first few sets, then tried 60 kilos. Turned out to be far easier than I expected.
plank, side planks, horses, prone cobra
Today:
conventional deadlifts: since I only have 90 kilos of weights I did the following: 5x70 kg, 15x90 kg with pronated grip, 60 seconds rest, 10x90 kg with mixed grip. I need more weights! Gonna try to buy some more plates this evening.
db floor press: 5x5, got up to 25,5 kg. This is good progress - last time I had to cheat to get four reps with that weight. Yeah, I really suck at pressing, but I’m working on it.
db bentover row: 5x5 up to 27,5 kg
snatch: 3x5 up to 44 kg - just learning this lift, at this weight I don’t yet have to drop down to catch it
double leg lowering, Russian twists
Sunday I bought 60 more kilos of plates so now I have a total of 150, yesterday I weighed 71 kilos, and today I did this:
pullups: 14, 8, 8
hack squat: 5/70, 5/90, 5/94, 4/100, 2/100 - my grip gave out before my quads did but it’s my first time doing over 90 kilos in any lift so it’s still big progress
military press: 5/30, 3x5/40, 6/42
clean: 5/50, 5/50 followed by 5/50 front squats, 5/60
two circuits of front and side planks, horses, prone cobra
I’ve never done front squats before. I figured as long as I got the weight up there doing cleans and didn’t get as many reps of hack squats as planned I might as well try front squats.
No workout today but I took some measurements. Feel free to laugh.
Neck: 42 cm
Forearms: 27,5 cm
Biceps: 29,5 cm, 29 cm
Shoulders: 109 cm
Chest: 89 cm
Waist: 81 cm
Hips: 92 cm
Thighs: 56 cm
Calves: 37 cm, 38 cm
I also measured my wrists (16,5 cm and 17 cm) and plugged the 17 cm into a forumula that’s supposed to give the ideal proportions of ancient Greek statues. Turns out I’m within 2-4% on neck, waist, hips and calves, at 94% on thighs, and woeful on arms and chest. But don’t worry, I won’t do a “beach muscle specialization cycle”. Right now the focus is on overall mass, strong shoulders and a strong back.
Today:
conventional deadlift: 5/70 kg, 5/90 kg, 5/102 kg, 5/104 kg, 4/104 kg. Grip didn’t feel secure at the end. Snatch-grip deadlifts were on the schedule today but having just bought more plates I wanted to try deadlifting over 90 kilos. Can you blame me?
pushups: 10 regular, 10 and 11 with feet raised ~20 cm
snatch: 5/30 kg, 5/40 kg, 2/44 kg. At this point I was really tired and form was getting crappy so I decided to try something else instead.
lying pullovers: 10/11,5 kg, 6/15,5 kg. Interesting what muscles this seems to work… might work it into a program sometime.
two circuits of: plank, side planks, horses, prone cobra. Why do the side planks make me more nauseous than any of the lifts?
Weight: 72 kilos. Another half a kilo and I will have gained ten kilos since I started in mid-November.
Did some chinups during lunch: 20 wide-grip, 10 shoulder-width, ate lunch, 21 wide-grip cheating on the last two reps to get the chin to the bar
Today:
deadlift: 5x50 kg, 5x70 kg, 5x94 kg, 5x110 kg, 5x98 kg, 3x114 kg
db floor press and db row (supersetted): 5x15,5 kg, 5x21,5 kg, 5x25,5 kg, 5x25,5 kg, 5x23,5 kg
plank, side planks, horses, prone cobra
scap pushups: 20
Today:
pullups: 18 at fast tempo, 8, 9
hack squats: 5x50 kg, 5x74 kg, 5x94 kg, 5x102 kg, 5x98 kg, 3x104 kg. I think I need to learn the hook grip…
shoulder press: 5x30 kg, 5x38 kg, 5x42 kg, 5x40 kg, 4x44 kg (plus fifth rep as push press)
clean: 5x50 kg, 3x62 kg, 2x64 kg, 5x50 kg. I should keep the weight on these low for a while so I can keep good form. Above 60 kilos I can only do 2-3 reps before I get tired and form gets crappy.
2x my usual pre-hab circuit
Today:
chinups: 20, 9, 19
snatch deadlifts from a 10 cm platform: 5x50 kg, 5x70 kg, 5x90 kg, 5x80 kg, 5x86 kg
pushups: 10 with feet elevated 20 cm, 10, 9 and 6 with feet elevated and 10 kg plate on back, 13 regular. These seem to hit the triceps less and the chest more than the floor press.
I was gonna do snatches today but warming up I discovered I don’t yet have the flexibility to drop down and catch the weight overhead (my arms come too far forward) so instead I did:
side deadlifts: 5x30 kg, 5x40 kg, 5x44 kg. Also good forearm training because the middle part of my bar is slippery smooth.
Zercher squat: 12x44 kg. I’m gonna have to get used to holding the weight in this position.
2x the usual prehab circuit
I’m gonna take next week off or at least deload a lot. Haven’t tried this yet, I wonder what effect it will have. I mostly need to take time off to get some other things done so I’ll have the money to eat all this food…
I’m back after taking a week off (didn’t do much, just some bodyweight squats, pushups and pullups).
Weight: 73 kilos
deadlift: 10/50, 5/90, 5/110, 5/120, 5/122, 4/130
db floor press: 5/15.5, 5/21.5, 5/25.5, 5/25.5, 5/23.5
bb bentover row: 5/50, 4x5/60
1x the usual prehab circuit but holding 10 seconds longer than previously
Guess that week off was worth it - my previous best deadlift was 114 kilos for just three reps. My right hamstring sure feels better, too.
Barbell hack squat: 10/60, 5/90, 5/100, 5/110, 1/120, 2/114
Shoulder press: 5/30, 5/40, 4/44, 5/42, 4/44. Crap! Still can’t get 44 kilos up there five times.
Clean: 5/50, 5/52, 5/54. Easy but exhausing.
1x prehab circuit
Pullups: 16, 9 plus one slow negative, 14 (after a longer rest).
Today:
snatch-grip deadlift with much wider grip than before: 5/54, 5/70, 5/74, 5/80, 5/80. At least I’m being honest instead of letting the grip get a little narrower each set like I was doing in previous weeks.
pushups w/feet elevated: 10/bw, 9/+10 kg, 7/+7 kg, 6/+5 kg, then 9 regular pushups. I REALLY fried myself trying to get that tenth rep on the set with 10 kilos with good form… got about halfway up. And then trying to get ten reps on the last set. But I’m sure feeling this in my chest and arms.
overhead squats: 2x10/10. It’s really hard work just keeping just a 10 kg bar from coming forward in the bottom position. Maybe I need to practice overhead squats a lot more… or maybe I’m just not flexible enough to do them. I’ll keep trying and see.
prehab circuit
First day of OLAD
Here’s the plan:
Fridays: bb hack squat
Saturday: shoulder press
Sunday: clean
Monday: off
Tuesday: db floor press
Wednesday: deadlift
Thursday: off
10 jumps after each set of squats, cleans and deadlifts
10 explosive pushups (if I can manage that many) after each set of presses
Week one: 7x5
Week two: 6x3
Week three: 5, 3, 2
Week four: off
So, in accordance with the plan, here’s today:
Weight: 73,5 kilos
Barbell hack squats: 5/90 kg, 5/100, 5/106, 5/110, 5/100, 5/106, 5/114
Jump ten times after each set. Which I actually managed to do though after the last few sets it was pretty sluggish. Stretched my legs a lot afterwards. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. Hopefully I’m not advanced or efficient enough to really fry my muscles and render myself unable to walk. But I’m pretty sure I’ll be a lot more sore than I’ve ever been.
Shoulder press day
5/40, 5/42, 5/42, 5/42, 5/38, 5/40, 5/44 (finally)
10 explosive pushups between sets
finished with plank, side planks, horses and prone cobra @60 seconds each
Yesterday was clean day. I’m still learning this lift so don’t laugh at the weights.
5/50, 5/54, 5/58, 5/62, 5/54, 5/58, 2/66 (and two failed attempts at a third rep), 5/50
10 jumps after each set. These were more painful than jumping after squats.
Floor presses on the schedule today but I thought it’d be better to keep the deadlifts as far from the hack squats as possible so I moved deadlifts to today.
5/100, 5/110, 5/120, 5/130, 5/114, 5/90, 8/92. Jump 10 times after each set. Then after each of the last three sets spend a few minutes laying on the floor trying to catch my breath and fight off nausea.
Should have gone lighter on the first four, apparently. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping on my back tonight - my glutes hurt too damn much.
Weight: 73 kilos. Fuck. I need to eat more.
At lunch I did 3x10 wide-grip pullups with bodyweight, concentrating on where the elbows are. Not sure if I felt it more in my lats than usual but I sure felt it less in the biceps.
Then the OLAD workout - db floor press: 4x5/21.5 per side, 5/15.5, 5/19.5, 2/25.5, 3/25.5
10 half-range explosive pushups after each set.
Then plank, side planks, horses and prone cobra for 60 seconds each.
OLAD week 2 (6x3), hack squat day
3/100, 3/110, 3/120, 3/110, 3/120, 2/124
Jump 10 times after each set