Hi, after lurking on these forums for a while I decided to start my own training log
My stats
Height: 5ft 11
Weight: 182
BF: 16% at a guess
Max bench: 220
Max squat: 265
Max deadlift: 308
I’ve been training properly for about 6 months now, I started properly in January on starting strength but found there was too much volumes for my lower back. I’ve run with WS4SB3 since February but feel like it’s time for a change so I’m going to try Cressey’s Maximum Strength as I enjoyed the upper lower style of the WS4SB.
My goal is to reach 3/4/5 on the big lifts as soon as possible and put on as much lean mass as possible,
Any comments/questions are welcome.
First session today, it felt pretty tough as I’ve just had a week off to go to a music festival and only got back late last night.
Box squat (16" box) - (4 x 220) x 5 - lowest box in my gym, little worried I only go to parallel
Speed deadlift - (2 x 165) x 8
Walking lunge - (8 x 45) x 3
Reverse crunch - 3 x 12
Prone bridge - 3 x 30s
Photos from this evening
Thought I’d post my diet on here in case anyone wanted to chip in. I have been eating something similar to this for the last couple of months, my strength has been steadily going up although my weight has only been going up by 1/2 a pound per week at most.
In general my daytime meals are the same every day although sometimes i swap chicken and avocado for chilli. Evening meals are usually meat and veg. On Saturday
Pre WO: 10g dextrose, 10g maltodextrin, 20g whey
Post WO: 40g Whey, 20g dextrose, 20g maltodextrin
Breakfast: Porridge with berries, protein shake, fish oil
Lunch: Chilli with greens
Afternoon snacks: 50g mixed nuts, 4 boiled eggs
Dinner: Steak, cabbage and broccoli with cod liver oil and coconut oil
Pre-bed: Quark, Casein and peanut butter shake
3130 calories, 321g protein, 184g carbs, 125g fat
01/07/09
Bench press - 4 x (4 x 180) 190 x 5
Neutral grip low incline DB press - 3 x (10 x 45)
Medium grip prone cable row - 4 x (10 x 110)
Lying external DB rotation - 3 x (10 x 12)
Prone trap raise - 3 x (12 x 15)
Side bridge - 3 x 30s / side
No spotter today so I didn’t feel safe going any heavier on the bench press. Tried most of the other exercises for the first time and was really humbled by how little weight I could move
Front squat 4 x (6 x 155)
Deadlift 3 x (6 x 240), 6 x 265
DB split squat 3 x (8 x 40 DB)
Pull through 3 x (10 x 55)
Reverse crunch 3 x 12
05/07/09
One arm DB push press: 2 x (6 x 50), 2 x (6 x 55)
Close grip chin ups: 4 x (6x BW+10), 6 x BW+12
HS chest press: 3 x (10 x 80)
One arm DB row:: 3 x(8 x 70)
Kneeling cable external rotation: 3 x (12 x 45)
Side bridge: 3 x 30s / side
If theres no spotter around i just use the smith machine serves very well as a spotter 
Hi Smalltobig, thanks for your comment. Am I better off going heavier on the Smith machine rather than using the bench press which recruits more muscle groups?
[quote]trim_shady wrote:
Hi Smalltobig, thanks for your comment. Am I better off going heavier on the Smith machine rather than using the bench press which recruits more muscle groups? [/quote]
Lol don’t ask me but how does doing it free weight recruit more muscles ??
Other than having to steady the bar myself i don’t really see a difference… do you do normal flat bench with no arch or powerlifting style bench Dave Tate style ?
07/07/09
Box squat: 4 x (4 x 225)
Speed deadlift: 8 x (2 x 165)
Walking lunger: 3 x (8 x 45)
Prone bridge: 3 x 30s
Reverse crunch: 3 x 12
08/07/09
Bench press: 2 x (4 x 175) 2 x (4 x 185)
Neutral grip low incline DB chest press: 3 x (10 x 45)
Medium grip cable row: 3 x (10 x 110)
Prone trap raise: 3 x (12 x 12)
Side lying external rotation: 3 x (12 x 10)
Side bridge: 3 x 30s / side
10/07/09
Front squat 4 x (6 x 155)
Deadlift 3 x (6 x 220)
DB split squat 3 x (6 x 50 DBs)
Reverse crunch 3 x 12
I had a terrible session today, I’ve been struggling to sleep recently and it seems to be affecting me in the gym. These last two weeks I’ve been getting weaker, until now I’ve been adding weight to the bar on the main exercise each week. If it stays like this for another week I’m going to add another 200 calories into my diet.
11/07/09
A1 One arm DB push press: 3 x (6 x 60), 1 x (6 x 65)
A2 Chin up: 3 x (6 x BW+15)
B1 Hammer strength chest press: 3 x (10 x 185)
B2 One arm DB row: 3 x (8 x 75)
C1 Kneeling cable external rotation: 3 x (12 x 50)
C2 Side raises: 3 x 30s / side
Treadmill intervals 10 minutes
13/07/09
Box squat: (3 x 220), 5 x ( 3 x 230), 2 x (3 x 110)
Speed deadlift: 10 x (2 x 175)
Walking lunge: 4 x (8 x 45)
Prone bridge: 3 x 30s
Reverse crunch: 3 x 12
15/07/09
A Smith Bench press - 8 x (3 x 220)
B1 Neutral low incline DB bench press - 3 x (10 x 45)
B2 Seated cable row - 4 x (10 x 110)
Prone trap raise: 3 x (12 x 12)
Side lying external rotation: 3 x (12 x 10)
Side bridge: 3 x 30s / side
17/07/09
Front squat 2 x (6 x 155) 2 x (6 x 160) 2 x (6 x 165)
Deadlift 3 x (6 x 220)
DB split squat 3 x (6 x 50 DBs)
Reverse crunch 3 x 12
18/07/09
A1 One arm DB push press - 6 x (6 x 60)
A2 Close grip chin up - 4 x (6 x BW + 15)
B1 Hammer strength chest press - 4 x (10 x 220)
B2 One arm DB row - 4 x (8 x 75)
Kneeling cable external rotation - 4 x (12 x 50)
Side bridge - 3 x 30s / side
20/07/09
A Box squat - 3 x 250, 3 x 255, 3 x 265
B Speed deadlift - 3 x (2 x 190)
C Walking DB lunge - 2 x (8 x 40)
D1 Reverse crunch - 3 x 12
D2 Prone bridge - 3 x 30s / side
Edit - typo on weight for box squat
[quote]SmallToBig wrote:
trim_shady wrote:
Hi Smalltobig, thanks for your comment. Am I better off going heavier on the Smith machine rather than using the bench press which recruits more muscle groups?
Lol don’t ask me but how does doing it free weight recruit more muscles ??
Other than having to steady the bar myself i don’t really see a difference… do you do normal flat bench with no arch or powerlifting style bench Dave Tate style ?[/quote]
Bench everytime if you cant get a spot use the squat cage at least you can get off the bench and zircher it back to the top.
If your looking for size use the regular style bench if your looking to just shift more weight work on your technique like the ‘arch’.If you want to get stronger the regular bench is a must over the smith everytime,stabilizing the bar increases your over all strength anyway.
