The Long Game - a Log

Training Training Logs
21

Well I’m not OP but the progression is pick a weight lift it AMRAP, when you get to 20+ reps up the weight by 20% that’s a pretty need double progression style.

I am a Wendler Fan boy myself so I would of course point anyone lifting in that direction. Especially if and when the 20 rep program is about to be turned into a bit of a lower rep program.
But I think the way OP is setting things up is very interesting.
(I do thing 20 rep DL is very challenging and one should be very careful if this is done too fatigued).

22

Hey jshaving and mortdk, thanks for your responses. I read the Wendler’s 5/3/1 program article a short while ago. I’m in for the lifting light at the start as he prescribes, and train 3 or 4 days a week. I might adopt a different program, but for now I’m getting such good results, with progress week to week, I have no reason to change anything.

The reason why I’m happy with my program is that it’s simple. It’s a day on, day-off. I get 48 hours rest which is enough to perform well with each movement and staves off overtraining. I know it’s one day deadlift, next day squat. I know the upper body part is clean & press one day, bench and rows the next, chins and dips the third. This sometimes causes interference, like when you try and do some chins after doing some heavy deadlifting and you’ve tired your back out, but I know that the next time you come to it, you won’t have exhausted the prime movers to that movement because of the squat/deadlift rotation.

I liked the advice about conditioning, and sprinting. I will try and include some sprinting into my routine somewhere. I do a lot of walking of the dog each day. I’m not working at the minute so I have a lot of time on my hands. That should change next year as I will hopefully slide in to some part-time work.

I might change to a slightly lower-rep program, but I like what I’m doing at the moment and the fact it challenges the cardiovascular system slightly. As I may have said before I have heart-disease in the family.

I expect I’ll next do some 1 rep maxes in the middle of January. Hoping for some big improvements in those. If I could get to a 450kg total I’d be amazed. I probably won’t, but it’s a high goal.

Too miserable today to walk the dog. So I’m going to do some footy kickups and maybe throw some darts instead. What an easy life I have at the minute. :slight_smile:

23

I would wait a little longer, as @jshaving said don’t test to often.
But It’s fun to test and I understand why you do it.

24

Thank you. Will see how the training is going. Probably will test myself again the middle of next month still; it’ll be good to know where I’m at on a regular basis. Still, I appreciate you guys’ input. It’s good to get advice. I feel as though I should be dipping more into other guys’ journals too.

Good day training today.

24th December -
Squat - 65kg * 21 (SB)
Chins - 14 reps total (SB)
Dips - 23 reps total (SB)

I did try a 22nd rep on the squat but failed.

So as I’ve got past the 20 rep figure I’ll be bumping up the weight on the squat next time out, probably to 80kg. It’s strange working with light weights, but it’s working. The benefit as far as I can see is when you’re working with weights that you can reasonably expect to do 15-20 reps with, it’s easier to make a small incremental gain, eg. taking a 15 repper to 16 reps. But there’s such a massive difference between taking 3 reps at something to 4 reps. Anyway, it seems as though one can get stronger no matter what the rep range.

Anyway, I’m lucky to have good equipment. Somewhere down the line I hope I’ll be able to max out my set of weights on the deadlift. That’d be 235kg. I think it might be possible some time next year, so long as I don’t burn out and give up lifting for a time. Hopefully I can stay in good health. Yes, that’s important. Very important. Healthy mind and healthy body. The long game.

Season’s greetings to all!

25

Monster workout today

26th December 2018 -

Deadlift - 110kg * 18 (SB)
Clean and press - 40kg * 17 (SB)

Form a touch tired on the last two reps on the deadlift but there you go.

I absolutely smashed my previous season’s best on the clean and press. I think owing largely down to technique. I concentrated on letting my lower body doing the greater part of the initial movement. This seemed to free up some energy for the deltoids to drive off from. So, going from 9 reps to 17 reps. Shocking. I don’t think I’ll ever manage that again.

My body is really growing. Well, I look better in the mirror than I did. I’m keeping track of my weight and waist circumference. My weight has stayed completely steady - I’m within 1 pound of where I was when I started. My waist circumference has gone down about 1/4 of an inch. So my conclusion is that my body is adding muscle while simultaneously losing a little bit of fat. I would be glad if my waist circumference was going down faster, but I’m doing enough. I’m working out every other day and going for long walks with the dog twice daily, and improving my eating habits though I’m having a little Christmas chocolate. My whole perspective is nothing too fast - if you try and lose a stone in a week you’re bound to be disappointed and to give up. I’m quite happy treading the middle ground as I am at the moment and making good progress, while keeping motivated to return to the gym room. As the log says, it is all about the long game. I appreciate also that my body weight is 196 lb and my body seems to be very happy at this weight. While I used to be not far off 74kg, it’s unlikely I’ll ever get down to that weight again. I might be able to lose a stone and get into the 83kg weight class. This is with one eye on the powerlifting weight classes.

I’m looking forward very much to my next 1RM test.

Time’s a funny thing. I’m looking forward, but I think one should occasionally look back. I should be glad I’ve manage 5 1/2 weeks of working out. So I’m going to give myself a pat on the back

pat pat

LOL

1 Like
26

Slightly unexpected workout today - was due to workout tomorrow but looks like I might be doing a bit of golfing :smile: So I thought I would grip the thing by the horns and get on with a workout today. And it wasn’t disappointing.

27th December 2018

Squat - 80kg * 15
Bench - 52.5kg * 18
BOR - 52.5kg * 16

Next workout may be me going for a 1 rep max in the 3 big lifts… Loving life at the moment, loving pumping the iron. Comon!!!

27

So it’s been about a couple of weeks and as I said I might, I decided to test my deadlift.

29th December 2018

Deadlift - 190kg * 1 (SB)
Chins - some
Dips - 24 total (SB)

I’m pleased with today’s effort. So the deadlift’s up by 10kg.

The form wasn’t perfect - my right shoulder was down a bit; I got the weight up, but in future I will make sure I get my shoulders tight and back.

I will test my squat and bench in the ensuing days in order to get a total.

Flatlining a bit with the weight-loss. There’s too much chocolate around in the house. Damn Christmas LOL.

Tom Platz

I’m loving the weightlifting. I’m not very good at much else. I’m going to give this all I’ve got and see where it takes me.

28

Great progress today, maxed out my squat and bench.

31st December

Squat - 142.5kg * 1 (SB) (+12.5kg)
Bench - 110kg * 1 (SB) (+10kg)
BOR - 52.5kg * 19 (SB)

So that’s the total up by 32.5kg in two weeks to 442.5kg. That tells me that I’m training in the right way. I wonder if and when it’ll be the right time to change my training system and go for a slightly different mesocycle (if that’s the right term for a period of 6 weeks). It’s been about 6 weeks since I started training again. The Dutch giant talked about switching up the routine every 6 weeks to keep the body adapting.

The Dutch Giant

Does anyone have any experience to offer about how frequently to change one’s approach to training? I’m tempted to go halfway between the working weights I’ve been using and my 1RM and do AMRAP from there.

With the progress I’ve been making it could be a very exciting 2019 indeed. I’m just hoping I’ll stick the course, and not give up. If I persevere with it I could do really well.

As for a goal for 2019, I know it’s preposterous, but I feel like attacking Owen Hubbard’s British Powerlifting Men’s Classic total of 777kg in the 83kg weight class. I might get there, get half way there or get nowhere near, but it’ll do me some good to have a goal in mind, even if it’s just a fantasy. I love dreaming, I’ve been my whole life a dreamer. But I love the fact that the Iron offers me a chance to convert dream into reality if I’m disciplined and go about it the right way.

Addendum: all things God willing.

29

Happy New year Mate

I’m a true Wendler fan boy, so I’ll always point people in that direction.
But I’ve been doing CT’s Simple Guaranteed Strength and Size program with great success, I’ve been doing Brian Alsruhes Darkhorse as well with great success as well.
Find a program you like, stick to it and being consistent is what truly matters.

30

Happy New Year Buddy!

Yeah I’ve never really been one for following programmes. I guess I learned the form in the various lifts and then did my own thing. This was probably to my detriment as I didn’t train in a very efficacious manner, but we get older, and slowly learn one or two things. I’m creaming it at the moment though - I think because everything is set up nicely in my life and I haven’t got much else on my plate.

Please keep inputting, I appreciate your advice, even if I don’t always heed it!

So today’s workout. I had some thought about how I want to design my next 6 week cycle of lifting. I eventually plumped to do AMRAP at 75% and then 70% of my latest 1RM. I wasn’t sure how many repetitions I would get. Anyway, the results are in. :smile:

2nd January 2019
Deadlift - 142.5kg * 5.75, 132.5kg * 5.1
OHP - 70kg * 1. 72.5kg * 0

That’s 5 reps in both of the deadlift sets, but I just wanted to include a decimal to show how far into the 6th rep I thought I went.

I was going to do my 75% and 70% scheme with the OHP but I realised I didn’t have a 1RM for this lift, so I decided to test it. It’s amazing, 60kg was a grind, but I laddered all the way up to 70kg. To my detriment, I don’t know what my best OHP ever was. I’m think I’ve done 80kg.
Oh well, I’ll just have to take it up a notch and go for that two-plate OHP - 100kg. I know that’s a goal a lot of broskis go for, and not that many make.

Relatively speaking, the deadlift has always been my best lift. My PR for that is 220kg. Some cool goals for lifting to hit some point this year would be

100kg OHP (2 plates)
140kg Bench (3 plates)
180kg Squat (4 plates)
260kg Deadlift (6 plates)

All raw, I don’t do knee straps or anything. Out of those, I think the first one to drop would be the 180kg squat, then the 140kg bench, then maybe the 6 plate deadlift, then the 2 plate OHP. I don’t know what other people’s opinions are, but maybe these lifts are the hallmarks of an intermediate natural lifter? It’s all relative of course to what God gave you (your height, your natural build, your genes etc.).

Still, the next major goal is breaking my theoretical PB total of 485kg. I really think I have a shot of doing it by the end of January, which will mean my doing it in less than 3 months, when I originally predicted 6 months. We will see. Need to hope I don’t pick up any winter bugs, though.

Had a really good feeling in the gym while stacking the weights. A sort of ‘this is where I want to be’, a sort of homely feeling. God, I love lifting weights. I think I’m going to do big things in 2019 with the iron.

God willing, of course.

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31

Banging workout today :stuck_out_tongue:

4th January 2019

Squat - 75% of 1RM - 107.5kg * 6, 70% of 1RM - 100kg * 7
Chins - 16 total (SB) (slightly generous)
Dips - 26 total (SB)

That 7th rep on the squat was so slow. I love a good grind.

I’m still 14st0lbs which I have been for 6 weeks, and not very impressive to look at in the mirror to be quite honest. It seems as though my body is having a hard time gaining strength while losing weight. I should be glad that I am gaining strength - to do both is a tall order. It’s a slow process.

Am I a powerlifter or a bodybuilder? Or a powerbuilder? Maybe the latter. Or just a rank amateur :smiley: My emphasis is on performance and I want to look good as a by-product of my strength.

How can I hope to lose some bodyfat? Well adding muscle might help. And making small changes. I’m tempted to start having my coffee black as we have whole milk here which must be very calorie dense. And green tea as my staple drink - I know that’s linked with aiding weight loss. And I’ve found some cod liver oil capsules. I know fish oil helped me lose weight before. I believe it’s down to the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 in one’s diet or something. And taking a multivitamin. Not really food only bodybuilding, but these things are fair game really. Thinking ahead, at some stage I might add in a milk protein or calcium caseinate. I know this was the first protein supplement I took. I took it at night and it helped me gain 1/2 a stone of solid muscle.

Does anyone else have any experience with chucking supplements for a while, and just concentrating on the basics? And maybe slowly adding things back in, as and when it seemed opportune?

One thing I learned today is that one of my old favs, the ginger nut biscuit, has 47 calories in it! That’s nearly 50 calories in a single biscuit! I need to cut biscuits out of my life. We’ve still got some chocolates and biscuits left over from Christmas, but I don’t want to have any.

32

What’s up, guys?

Ok, good day in the home gymnasium today. I’m trying to level up the reps at the same weight. I’m probably going to leave the 1RM effort till the end of the month. Before the workout, I was wondering if I wanted to do it, but once I got into it, it was good. I struggle with depression from time to time; more on this in a bit.

6th January 2019

Deadlift - 142.5kg * 6, 132.5kg * 5
Pressups - 26
OHP - 75% of 1RM - 52.5kg * 3.6, 47.5kg * 5

In the back of my head I half expected that to do the reps on the OHP might be tough. I think the thing is that one’s shoulders are under constant tension throughout the movement. I put the .6 because I got the 4th rep about halfway up.

I need to change my routine some, because the day-on, day-off hasn’t been working emotionally. I get bored on the day-off days, sometimes depressed. But the cobwebs have cleared today due to the working out, it’s that important to me. So here’s what I’ve put together in terms of an exercise regime:

Day 1 - Deadlift
Day 2 - Bench & BOR
Day 3 - Squat
Day 4 - Chins & Dips
Day 5 - Deadlift
Day 6 - OHP & Chins
Day 7 - Squat
Day 8 - Bench & BOR
Day 9 - Deadlift
Day 10 - Chins & Dips
Day 11 - Squat
Day 12 - OHP & Chins

It’s the almagamation of two cycles, one 4 days long for deadlifts and squats (DL, rest, SQ, rest), and the other 6 days long (rest, Bench & BOR, rest, Chins & Dips, rest, OHP & Chins). The lowest common multiple of 4 and 6 is 12, hence a 12 day cycle.

I’m looking forward to doing the split because it’ll mean something to look forward to every day. And it’ll mean doing some more chins. I have been wondering about what exercise to pair with the overhead press. I used to pair it with the upright row, but that targets the deltoids and the anterior deltoid in particular, possibly limiting how much the biceps are targeted. I thought that the chins might be a more natural bedfellow for it exercises the opposite muscles without crossover. I know that some people might do the power clean here.

Jen Thompson on Jujimufu

I’m feeling very positive about myself and the future again. I was depressed, now I’ve swung the other way to happiness a bit. I guess you can’t be happy every day. I said a prayer in the church on my walk with the dog today. Got to connect with the spiritual, dude. So yeah, guess the plan is just to keep trying to add reps, and I’ll test my 1RMs out if not in the middle of the month, then at the end of the month. Hoping for new season’s bests, and maybe even some PRs. Wooop.

33

Checking in to see what’s up. We ain’t too far apart except for Skwat lol.

What I’ve found has helped me has been videoing my lifting and improving technique. This will translate to more reps, more safety and a bigger 1RM.

Even after my technique improved I keep filming to keep my technique to a high standard and maybe to keep improving if only by a little bit

34

Cheers, dude. Yes, your sqwat crushes mine, haha. However, that’s the movement that I’m closest to making a new PR on which is quite exciting. I tend to have quite a narrow stance, perhaps I should widen that a bit and have my toes pointing outwards more.

:+1:

1 Like
35

I like narrow ties forward for myself tbh lol but each to their own. Dunno until you’ve tried I guess

36

Yeah, this is what I feel more comfortable with to be honest.

37

7th January 2019
So split today’s workout into two halves due to having an appointment at lunch time. Did bench and the bent over row (BOR).

Bench - 82.5kg * 5.5, 77.5kg * 7
BOR - 100kg * 0, 70kg * 5 (12 with partials), 60kg * 8 (15 with partials).

Pretty tired now. Think it was those partials. Had a lump of cheese and a good old mince pie, made by the mother. Classic post workout food, haha.

My BOR used to match my bench. I used to make a point of keeping them the same. But they’re obviously not the same now, and I think this is down to not crushing the pull on the OHP days. So as I said before I’m going to do some chins on those days. Looking forward to getting better development, hopefully in the bicep area.

Was quietly impressed with my bench, given that I’d only done the OHP yesterday. Next time I do it I’ll be rested.

So knackered. Going to go and try and catch up with a bit of the FA Cup from the weekend. I’ll catch an early night tonight. Squats tomorrow.

38

So a really good workout today

8th January 2019
Squats - 107.5kg * 8 (SB), 100kg * 7.

Making all sorts of noises on the last few repetitions. Good thing there was no one nearby. Really love it when you give it your all, and there’s nothing left in the tank.

Chins and dips tomorrow.

39

Bit of a grind today

9th January
Chins - 16 total
Dips - 27 total (SB)

Feeling a bit flat. Had a bit of a stomach upset recently so that’s no doubt to account for it.

I’m visiting at the weekend. Will pack the gym gear, but it might be that I don’t get a chance to keep to the routine. In which case I’ll pick it up after the weekend.

Had some liquid chalk delivered. Should help as I’ve lost grip a couple of times on the deadlifts.

I’m itching to test my 1 Rep Maxes again. I love the purity of testing a 1RM. There’s no hiding, there’s no bullshit. But I might hold off until the end of the month.

40

Again still feeling a bit flat. Damn runny tummy!

Did an improv workout at the commercial gym. Place was quite busy.

11th January 2019
Chin-ups - About 15 in total
Dumbbell presses - 3 * 7 @ 20kgs
2 1km rows.

I’ve also got a bursar appear in my knee. So going to have to give lower body workouts a miss for a few days. Had some treatment and it’s not as swollen as it was.