Veens Training Log

Training Logs
1

Hi
Starting to track training progress for the first time without ever keeping any logs from previous 5 years of training.Started going to the gym with any regularity during my 2nd year in university. Mainly clueless about diet, progression, mainly upper body lots of emphasis on arms etc so not considered training. As mentioned only started training for about 5 years at the age of 26, made significant gains.

Note comparisons from bout 4 years ago after training for about a year
Weight possibly around 70 kgs now 105kgs
Barbell Bench 80kg x 6 reps as of yesterday 155kgs x 5 reps in a power rack no hand off no nothing.
BB Squat 100kgs x 8 reps as of last friday to 200kgs X 5 reps also tested for fun 220kg X 1 rep deep. Did do 180kgs x 16 reps as volume PR early part of the year 09
deadlift 140kg x 1 rep as of last tuesday 4 Aug 09 tested at 230kg x 1 rep (over hand w straps)
Standing Military Press bar below chin strict no leg drive
55kg x 6 reps last wednesday 100kg x 7 reps and 110kgs x 2 reps

Not in the habit of testing 1 rep maxes but with the fasting month approaching in just over a week, I just wanted to see what my numbers are and what the drop off would be after the conclusion of the fasting month though this year I plan to take affirmative action to conserve as much strenght and muscle and not lay off completely for the duration.

Currently on split as follows
Monday - Chest
Tuesday - Back
Wed - Shoulders
Thurs - Arms
Friday - Legs
Sat - Rest
Sun - Rest
workouts lasts 45 min or so
Not written in Stone and subject to change.
Anyway training logs and numbers as of this week

Mon 10 Aug 09 - off
Tue 11 Aug 09 - Chest
Flat BP
warm ups bar x 2 sets 10+reps
60 kgs x 2 sets 10+reps
100 kgs x 2 sets 10+ reps, 5 reps
140 kgs x 1 rep
155 kgs x 5 reps 1 rep more and felt better than last week

Incline BB bench(high incline)
bar x 1 set 10+ reps
60 kg x 1 set 10+ reps
120 kg x 10 reps 2 reps more than last week

Dumbell Incline bench (high incline)
2 sets AMRP 25 breaths between sets
40kg x 15 reps + 10 reps

machine flies 3-4 sets

Wed 12 Aug 2009 Back
Rack pulls No 3 Just below knees
Warmup
60kgs x 5 reps
100kgs x 5 reps
140kgs x 5 reps
180kgs x 5 reps from here on straps on complete deload on each rep
220kgs x 5 reps
260kgs x 3 reps
280kgs x 1 rep a bit tough failed this a week ago tried again this week.

pull down machine under hand narrow grip dont know what the plate weighs
10 plts x 10 reps
12 plts x 10 reps
14 plts x 10 reps
16 plts x 4 reps
18 plts x 11 reps + 5 reps (15 breaths)

Dumbell bend over rows
2sets as many reps as possible
40 kgs 20reps then 25 reps on second set

face pull machine rope dont know what the plates weigh
8 plts x 15 reps
10 plts x 12 reps
12 plts x 12 reps
14 plts x 12 reps
16 plts x 9 reps

Inverted rows 3 sets as may reps as I can each set.

2

Thu 13 Aug 2009
Feel run down, lots of work and having a stupid headache
Front Squats today coz my front squat sucks dont come close to the backsquat - could be because the front squat its all the way down til while backsquat its just below parallel most of the time anyway. Also I find he limitation for front squats for me is the pain when holding the loaded bar in place.

BB Front Squat(crosssed hands)
Bar x 2 sets x 10+ reps
60kgs x 2 sets x 10+ reps
100kgs x 2 sets x 5 reps
120kgs x 2 sets x 5 reps (shoulders starting to hurt)
140kgs x 2reps + 1 rep ( couldnot keep the bar on shoulders and had to reset after second rep to do the 3rd rep)

Good Mornings
Went light with these today low back still fried from rack pulls
bar x 2 sets x 15+ reps
60kgs x 2 sets x 15 reps
100kgs x 2 sets x 12 reps

supposed to do single leg stuff but lower back felt tired so did shoulders instead
Strict Standing Military Press
warm ups
bar x 2 sets x 20
60kgs x 2 sets - 1 x 15, 1 x 5
100kgs x 1 set x 6 reps one rep less than last Wednesday’s shoulder workout - not very productive to do military presses or any shoulder work after front squatting!

Standing Dumbell Lateral Raise controlled form
12kgs x 12 reps
14kgs x 12 reps
16kgs x 12 reps
18kgs x 12 reps last 2 reps not very strict form but not ridiculous either

Standing Dumbell Front Raise Old School where the dumbell is raised overhead
12kgs x 8 reps
14kgs x 8 reps
16kgs x 6 reps

reverse seated machine flyes
couple of sets of 10 reps

called it a day total time 60 or so minutes
sucks having to compress training into 3 days

3

The plan is to continue training through Ramadhan fasting but drastically cut the volume to maintain strenght - Interesting to see what happens. For the past 5 years almost no training in Ramadhan - too weak after going without food and drink for 13hrs so every year without fail, I would be losing 5 kgs or more of lean muscle mass. As the lean mass increases, the more of it is lost during the period.

Last year I weighed 98kgs just before and after was barely 88kgs and was really weak - at the time BP was 140kgs for 3 reps and just after struggled to get 6 reps with 100kgs - but within 2 months or so, was back to the pre Ramadhan numbers and size. Just feel like its two steps forward one step back!

4

Pics taken on Wed 12 Aug 09
4 hours after back workout - weight 105kg at 1.76m - chubby haha

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pic 2 - I donno how to pose haha looks bloody silly

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Pic 3

damn I do look chubby must be the missus’s suspect photographic ability …
In Singapore people generally dont get to over 100kgs at 1.76m (approx 5 feet 9 inches) without having a size 40 plus waist - which reminds me, time to go shopping for bigger pants

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50+ views and no comments haha
To all those who viewed my fat ass - I apologise.

Stuck in the office gonna be a long long day. No training today. Friday is usually legs day with a crazy training partner who at a bodyweight of 68kg and a little under 2 years of training now squats 160kgs x 5 reps to parallel or below (difficult to judge coz his quads are ridiculous!), granted that he’s about 1.6 metres tall bottom heavy, with thighs as large as his waist but still impressive - All training and numbers are raw no belt no wraps no nothing apart from deadlifts and rack pulls where the cheater gear (wrist straps) gets pulled out for heavier weights - 4 wheels per side and above.

8

Just noticed that I joined this site at the end of 2002 when I just graduated from university. Thinking bout it, its unfortunate that I only started training rather recently at 26 as compared to many on this site. I have never gone on a cutting diet (apart from an enforced one in Ramadhan).

I think it is a waste for a chap who just started lifting to keep cutting on a regular basis - I think its a simple matter of making small adjustments. If you get too fat then reduce calories or up the energy expenditure and if you are not gaining strength and size assuming that training is spot on then up the calories a bit. Only go on a cutting diet if a) you are competing b) you have gained so much quality mass that normal people stop and drop their jaws at the sight of you. Here in Singapore we have lots of 6 pack lads with eleventeen inch arms in tank tops.

9

Not training today made me feel really uncomfortable. Next week I’ll only get to train from Mon - Thu. On a side note shoulders hurt from front squatting. Measured arms today 18.5 inches for the right and 18.3 inches for the left not too bad but no real bicep peak at all which is strange in the sense that I can curl 1 plate per side on a standard ez curl bar accomodates standard lympic plates for 20 reps or so without swaying.

Thighs are 27 inches at their thickest point but calves ae a pathetic 17 inches - damn Indian genetics and also I dont really train them all that much - need to address this. Another interesting point after last Fridays crazy front squat session with my squat machine training buddy - over a hundred reps of front squats over the course of an hour, the funny clicking sound in the left knee which I’ve had for over a year is completely gone.

There was no pain there but it just did not feel right. After a week there is still no relapse, pretty good. Expecting to push my limits next week given that its the last week of training before Ramadhan.

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Mon 17 Aug 09 - Chest
Flat BP
warm ups bar x 2 sets 10+reps
60 kgs x 2 sets 10+reps
100 kgs x 2 sets 10+ reps, 5 reps
140 kgs x 1 rep
155 kgs x 6 reps 1 rep more and had more in me. All reps smooth touch and lockout- no bouncing. Should have tried repping with 160kg. Did a 180kg (4 plates per side) 1 RM attempt Failed controlled descent touched the chest pause and managed only 1-2 inches damn. So best Flat BP is 170kg from 2 weeks ago.

Incline BB bench(high incline)
bar x 1 set 10+ reps
120 kg x 9 reps 1 rep less than last week

Dumbell Incline bench (high incline)
2 sets AMRP 25 breaths between sets
40kg x 17 reps + 11 reps 3 reps more than last week

machine flies 3-4 sets

Notes: Not enough food today, long,long meeting. Felt cold in the gym and bloated from cramming almost 1 litre of chocolate milk 10 minutes prior to training. All things considered not a bad session. Trained with SY (training partner) today. He did 8 sets x 4-5 reps his bodyweight+ 10kg BPs after a rather long layoff. Another thing 1 plate is 20.4kg = 45lbs. I just rounded it down to 20kg for simplicity.

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Tuesday 18 Aug 2009
Back
Rack pulls No 3 Just below knees
Warmup
60kgs x 8 reps
100kgs x 5 reps
140kgs x 5 reps
180kgs x 5 reps from here on straps on complete deload on each rep
220kgs x 5 reps
240kgs x 6 reps (Rep PR I think) could have gotten a few more but felt funny on the 6th rep and called it and saw stars…

pull down machine under hand narrow grip
10 plts x 12 reps
12 plts x 12 reps
14 plts x 10 reps
16 plts x 8 reps
18 plts x 11 reps + 3 reps (10 breaths) this was crap too short rest did not recover enough. Did not anchor myself properly.

Dumbell bend over rows
2sets as many reps as possible
40 kgs 25reps then 25 reps on second set. Improvement of 5 reps

face pull machine rope - running late so truncated
12 plts x 12 reps
14 plts x 12 reps
16 plts x 12 reps

Inverted rows 3 sets as may reps as I can each set.

Notes: Had a lousy day at the office…Lower back felt bad basically due to the very bad posture and the sitting on my ass the whole time from 8am till 6+pm. Decent enough workout. The pulldowns seem to alleviate some of the back discomfort though. Food intake again sucks, I did down 3 friggin liters of chocolate milk throughout the day. Thankfully i don’t have lactose intolerance. SY basically did the same workout pulled 120kg for rackpulls not too bad.

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Some pics just taken. Honestly it is hard work man. New respect for the chaps who go on stage hit the poses and still manage to smile throughout the routine. its really tough. Shots taken with camera timer. Posing is horrendous, I really suck at this. Anyways front shots taken today and it was taken almost 5 hours after training back only today - so no pump hence comparisons in future would be standardised and accurate.

Pic 1 Chest

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Pic 2 Chest. Don’t really know what this is but it hides the love handles so yup using this

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Last chest pic. To be completely honest by the time this shot was taken my back was cramping up. Weight on the scale today is 106kg @ 1.76m. I donno my bodyfat percentage but I’ll admit I’m abit chubby -too much chocolate milk. What sucks is my biceps dont have any peak and my arms look small from the front though they’re 18+ inches. Need to hit the curls for the girls.

Pic 3

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Wed 19 Aug 2009

Shoulder Training
warm up
bar x 2 sets x 20
60kgs x 2 sets - 1 x 15, 1 x 7
100kgs x 1 set x 7 reps (matching PR) but failed on the 8th rep attempt.

High pulls
60kgs x 10
70kgs x 6
80kgs x 6
90kgs x 3

Standing dumbell overhead press palms neutral one arm at a time
32 kg x 1 set x 15 reps
40 kg x 1 set x 6 reps (Rep and weight PR)

Standing Lateral Raise
12kgs x 12 reps
14kgs x 12 reps
17.5kgs x 15 reps (18kgs were in use)

seted machine overhead
3 or so sets maxing out with all but 2 plates x 8 reps

Notes : Another Lousy day at work. Back rather sore from yesterday. military press max rep was good very smoothh and controlled could have gotten the 8 rep if I stayed tight but back was fried. One arm presses were a surprise PRs for those in terms of reps and max weight. Felt rather wasted after the workout not enough food today coz of a long long meeting after lunch…

16

Diet
Don’t really bother to calculate calories etc too much time and effort. Reading through some of the training logs simply amazes as diet is dialed in right up to the kcal. Personally I rely on the scale and whether I am getting bigger and stronger. If I’m not growing or am feeling run down I’ll up the food intake a little.

If I get too chubby, I’ll reduce the food intake a little but since I started lifting well into my twenties, I have to pack on as much mass as I can so I have never cut on purpose - not enough size to look decent yet.

Typical day
730am Breakfast 3scoops protein powder, bread with spread - nutella, peanut butter etc , a glass of milk, 3 whole eggs
1030am or so Rice, 2 whole eggs, meat.
from 11am plus to 1+ pm 1 litre chocolate milk
lunch - depends could be anything - bread,cheese, burgers, even junkfood - pizza, fast food etc
3pm - 6+pm 0.5 litre of chocolate milk or full cream milk - I dont like skim milk
6+ pm training
7+ pm after training consume the balance 0.5 litre of milk
8+ - 9+ whatever is cooking
If still hungry eat somemore usually cheddar cheese, cereal with milk etc and/or 2 scoops of protein

Supplements - basic protein powder, creatine monohydrate, omega 3, vitamin C thats all.
Note: May need to clean up diet and start tracking food intake …

17

Right arm pic 18.5 inches cold but predominantly triceps. Minimal bicep peak if any, gonna hit the curls tomorrow after legs damn it. Forearms are smallish 14.5 at their thickest. My 2 training partners, SY & Squat Machine have crazy peaks, especially SY who looks like he shoved a tennis ball in his shirt sleeve whenever he flexes his guns.

The flurry of pics is due to the fact that this is the last week of training prior to Ramadhan which should see me shrink considerably - comparison shots would be taken which is going to be depressing.

18

Thu 20 Aug 2009
Legs & Arms - Pressed for time damn it
BB Front Squat(crosssed hands)
Bar x 2 sets x 10+ reps
60kgs x 2 sets x 10+ reps
100kgs x 2 sets x 5 reps
120kgs x 1 sets x 5 reps
150kgs x 1 rep fast and smooth (shoulders hurting)
155kgs x 1 rep
160 kg x FAIL one way ticket down
100kgs x 3 sets x 3 reps all reps pause at bottom and then explode up

Arms
Ez bar curl don’t know the weight of the bar
warm up bar x 15 bar
bar + 20kgs x 12 reps
Bar + 40 kgs x 10 reps
Bar + 50 kgs x 6 reps
Bar + 55 kgs x 5 reps

Alternate Standing Dumbell Hammer Curls
20kgs x 15 reps
32 kgs x 10 reps (Rep Pr)

Tricep push downs
8 plates x 10 reps
12 plates x 10 reps
16 plates x 10 reps
16 plates + 20 kg x 20 reps followed by 16 plates x 8 reps

Called it a day

Notes - Not too bad a workday today coz I took the morning off to take care of my son. Front squats sucked and so 155 kgs is my front squat all time personal best vs back squat 220kgs for a definitely way below parellel rep. Front squat is however performed ATG or at least until the hams rests on the calves vs backsquat slightly below parellel. Legs are definitely a point to bring up and got to start training the calves. I did not train hams today, actually forgot about them!!! coz someone wanted to use the one and only power rack.

Thats it last training session before Ramadhan

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I need to train legs more

pic 1

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Pic 2