Hello,
I was born in 1993, making me a sophomore in high school. I don't play any sports, but my goal is to get as big and strong as I can get. I'm pretty weak right now, but I am trying hard to get stronger. I probably have the lowest lifts on this site. I am currently following a west side template (WSFSBI).
So, here is the first official entry:
Nov. 17, 2008 - ME Upper
bench press: 5x45, 5x65, 5x95, 5x125, 2x155 (got 5x150 last week, should have gotten 3 reps)
incline dumbbell press: 6x45, 6x45, 7x45 (still getting the hang of these)
seated cable row: 10x90, 10x90, 10x90, 10x90
bent over rear delt raises: 14x10, 14x10 (i suck at these)
Nov. 20, 2008 - ME Lower
ATG Squat: 5x45, 5x95, 5x135, 3x165, 3x205 (+10 lb PR)
I just switched over from box squats to these…I was box squatting 4x215 so I’m expecting this to go up in the next few weeks
Walking Dumbell Lunges: 8x80, 9x80, 9x80
80 means two 40 pound dumbells (2*40 = 80). I hate these…
Hamstring Curl: 12x50, 12x50, 12x50
Weak hamstrings…
Bar holds: 25 seconds x155, 25 seconds x155, 25 seconds x155
These were with a 1 minute break in between…
To sum up it was an okay day, i am somewhat depressed. I look at how strong I was 6 months ago and how much progress I have made, and I am very disappointed.
I am going on vacation in December, so instead of switching from Westside to another program, I am going to grind it out till vacation time, then switch once I get back. I am probably going to ATG squat for 2-3 more weeks, then start deadlifting. I’ll be reporting in tomorrow after RE Upper day.
Nov. 21, 2008 - RE Upper
bench press (warm-up): 10x45, 2x65, 2x95, 2x115
bench press (working): 18x95, 10x95, 10x95 (38 total, -2)
These were with 1 minute rest in between. I have been hovering in between 38-41 reps for a few weeks now; I will try dumbell presses next week.
French Press: 8x42, 9x42, 9x42
Lat Pulldown : 9x70, 9x70, 9x70, 9x70
Seated Dumbell Shoulder Press: 10x30, 10x30, 10x30
barbell Curls: 9x55, 10x55, 10x55
Not much to say other than it was a regular day. We had a field trip today so my eating was a little bit off. I still got in my calories, but at different times than usual. It didn’t seem to affect my strength. I would have to say that I enjoyed the barbell curls a lot today. I feel like they have helped in adding forearm/bicep mass.
I’m going to relax over the weekend, then start floor pressing on Monday for ME Upper. My previous PR was 3x160, keeping my fingers crossed that I can break that.
EDIT: Decided to not floor press and just bench, because I really am at that stage where I just need to bench press more.
Nov. 24, 2008 - ME Upper
bench press: 5x45, 5x65, 5x95, 3x125, 3x155
+1 rep PR
incline dumbbell press: 6x45, 7x45, 7x45
+1 rep PR
seated cable row: 10x90, 10x90, 10x90, 11x90
+1 rep PR
bent over rear delt raises: 14x10, 15x10
+1 rep PR (…still suck at these)
Today was a decent day. I had a half day at school so instead of exercising at 4:30 I did it at 1:00. Had my PWO shake around 2:00. I have to go out for a doctor’s appointment and orthodontist appointment, so I’m going to have a big ass meal at 4:00 and then get some dinner at around 7:30.
Bench presses felt more smooth than last week. I think I can continue to add reps. In the next 5 weeks or so I’m hoping to from 155x3 to 160x4-5. Incline dumbell presses are pissing me off…I can’t hammer curl the weight so I have to do this awkward “fall into the bench and use momentum to get dumbells up” type of thing. Any advice on how to control heavy DB’s would be appreciated. Even though 45 lb dumbbells aren’t that heavy…
[quote]youngblood52 wrote:
Any advice on how to control heavy DB’s would be appreciated. Even though 45 lb dumbbells aren’t that heavy…they are for me :([/quote]
You can kind of kick 'em up with your knees. Check here: exrx.net/AnimatedEx/PectoralClavicular/DBInclineBenchMount.gif
Nov. 27, 2008 - ME Lower
Deadlift: 5x135, 5x155, 5x175, 3x195, 3x225, 3x255, 3x275, 0x315, 0x315
i was really close to getting 315. First time I tried, I pussied out and just gave up. Second time, I was 3/4 of the way there and then my grip gave out. Combination of lower back fatigue/tired grip = no lift. ill get it next time
Standing Barbell Lunges: 10x65, 10x65, 10x65
had to use light weight because I was tired from the deadlifts.
Hamstring Curl: 12x50, 12x50, 13x50
last couple reps on last set were ugly
i will post thoughts and comments tomorrow. happy Thanksgiving everyone
Nov. 28, 2008 - RE Upper
Stability Ball DB Bench Press: 23x30, 10x30, 13x30
These were taken with a 1 minute rest in between. I didn’t go to complete failure on the sets…i might switch to 45 lb DB’s next week
French Press: 9x42, 9x42, 9x42
+1 Rep PR
Lat Pulldown: 9x70, 9x70, 9x70, 10x70
+1 Rep PR
Seated Military Press: 10x30, 10x30, 11x30
+1 Rep PR
Barbell Bicep Curls: 10x55, 10x55, 10x55
+1 Rep PR
Dec. 1, 2008 - ME Upper
bench press: 5x45, 5x65, 5x95, 3x125, 4x155
+1 rep PR
incline dumbbell press: 7x45, 7x45, 7x45
+1 rep PR
pendlay row: 7x115, 7x115, 7x115, 7x115
I’m not quite sure my form is good on these…my forearms were getting fatigued more than anything and i didn’t feel my back working at all; last couple reps on last set were not good form
bent over rear delt raises: 15x10, 15x10
+1 rep PR
strict chin-up: bwx2
-6 PW (personal worst)
i decided to see how many proper chinups i could do - no momentum, chin above the bar…and i got 2. 6 less than 1.5 yrs ago. however when i had been able to do 8 chinups i only weighed 125 lbs and i was practicing them often; i will try and raise my total # of chinups. once i get to 8 chinups i will switch to pullups
Dec. 4, 2008 - ME Lower
ATG Squat: 5x45, 5x95, 3x135, 3x165, 4x205
+1 Rep PR
i feel like I can still progress on this
Reverse barbell lunges: 8x75, 8x75, 8x75
trying a new exercise…could have done more reps but this was challenging enough
Hamstring Curl: 12x50, 13x50, 8x50
my dam hamstrings kept cramping during the curls. on my second set, my left hamstring cramped up really badly but somehow i managed to finish the set. on the third set, my left cramped up at around rep 4 and then my right hamstring cramped up as well at around rep 6. i pushed myself as much as i could, but i had to call it quits…
Bar holds: 25 seconds x155, 30 seconds x155, 30 seconds x155
+10 sec PR
these were with a 1 minute break in between
Squats and deads look really good. Make sure your doing ab work tho, dont want to start falling forword when you get into heavier weights.
[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
Squats and deads look really good. Make sure your doing ab work tho, dont want to start falling forword when you get into heavier weights.
[/quote]
hey thanks for the comments
and yea i’m going to start doing some weighted ab stuff on ME Upper days
and to tell you the truth i’m definitely not as strong as i would like to be at, im actually disappointed with myself…thankfully though i’m getting stronger so maybe in a year or two i will have something to be more proud of
and, you are doing great too. if i remember correctly you had very good bench/squat strength but for some reason your dead was weak? is it a grip issue or is your back just really weak?
keep chugging man
[quote]youngblood52 wrote:
BlackLabel wrote:
Squats and deads look really good. Make sure your doing ab work tho, dont want to start falling forword when you get into heavier weights.
hey thanks for the comments
and yea i’m going to start doing some weighted ab stuff on ME Upper days
and to tell you the truth i’m definitely not as strong as i would like to be at, im actually disappointed with myself…thankfully though i’m getting stronger so maybe in a year or two i will have something to be more proud of
and, you are doing great too. if i remember correctly you had very good bench/squat strength but for some reason your dead was weak? is it a grip issue or is your back just really weak?
keep chugging man[/quote]
Everyone has to start somewhere, jest keep eating and train hard.
And compared to my bench and squat, my dead sucks. Ive never gone anything over 245 which is sad to say. I know I could do more, but more form is terrible and dont wanna risk injury.
Dec. 5, 2008 - RE Upper
Stability Ball DB Bench Press: 12x45, 7x45, 7x45
stability ball actually does make it harder
French Press: 9x42, 9x42, 10x42
+1 Rep PR
Lat Pulldown: 9x70, 9x70, 10x70, 10x70
+1 Rep PR
Seated Military Press: 10x30, 11x30, 11x30
+1 Rep PR
Barbell Bicep Curls: 8x65, 8x65, 8x65
-2 reps, +10 pounds
there was slight body english on last reps of last set
You should be doing alot more BB and DB rows, alot better than lat pulldowns.
Dec. 8, 2008 - ME Upper
bench press: 5x45, 5x65, 5x95, 3x125, 3x155
-1 rep
Not too upset/surprised about this. Previous week, I wasn’t touching the bar to my chest, I was stopping about 2 inches short. So this week, I made sure to touch it to my chest. Also, I was so close to getting the 4th rep. I was so close, I thought that I had it, then the weight came back down. I basically couldn’t lockout.
incline dumbbell press: 7x45, 7x45, 7x45
pendlay row: 5x115, 5x115, 5x115, 11x115
Dropped the reps and tightened up my form big time. Then, I decided to go for more reps on the last set, without form breaking down.
bent over rear delt raises: 15x12.5, 15x12.5
+2.5 lbs PR
Dec. 11, 2008 - ME Lower
Deadlift: 135x7-8, 170x4, 205x3, 240x2, 275x4, 315x0, 315x0, 315x0
+1 Rep PR [on the 275 set]
i was planning on getting 5-6 reps with 275, but my damn grip gave out. So, since my lower back/legs weren’t even fatigued, I decided fuck it lets try 315 again. guess what happened? stupid grip refused to hold on to 315 for more than a few inches off the ground. The performance with 315 was worse than last dead lift session.
Hamstring Curl: 12-13x50, 13x50, 13x50
+5 reps PR??
pissed off and so I got an extra 5(?) reps and these were with much better form than before. now you might think 50 pounds what a joke. but for some reason, my leg curl machine at home is much harder than standard ones.
last year, when i was a freshman, i could ham curl the entire stack for reps at my high school…anyway, my form was quite excellent so im satisfied
Bar holds: 30 seconds x155, 30 seconds x155, 30 seconds x155
+5 sec PR
had a little revelation about these. if my grip is failing on deadlifts, i need to work my grip harder. so why am i holding onto a bar for 30 seconds? the max amt of time i might deadlift in a set is probably like 10 seconds. Also, why am i training with a load less than 50% of what I’m trying to lift. I think I will be using 225 next week for less time. maybe even more weight we’ll see how it goes
Dec. 12, 2008 - RE Upper
Stability Ball DB Bench Press: 12x45, 8x45, 7x45
+1 Rep PR
French Press: 9x42, 10x42, 10x42
+1 Rep PR
Lat Pulldown: 9x70, 10x70, 10x70, 10x70
+1 Rep PR
Seated Military Press: 11x30, 11x30, 8x30
-2 Reps
i was too fatigued by this set to get a PR. the high volume makes this day is very challenging
Barbell Bicep Curls: 8x65, 8x65, 9x65
+1 Rep PR
Dec. 15, 2008 - ME Upper
bench press: 5x45, 5x65, 5x95, 3x125, 4.5x155
+1 complete rep PR
went for 5 reps and failed…but the 4 preceding reps were clean, smooth, touched my chest and went to full extension
incline dumbbell press: 7x45, 7x45, 8x45
+1 Rep PR
pendlay row: 6x115, 6x115, 6x115, 9-10x115
Started increasing the reps and keep form tight. Then, I decided to go for more reps on the last set, without form breaking down. I will do 7 reps for the sets next week.
bent over rear delt raises: 8x25, 8x25
- 12.5 lbs PR, - 7 reps (not really a PR, explained below)
well the next heaviest dumbell I had above 12.5 was 25. The 12.5 dumbell is a small handle and collars with 5 lb plates on each side. The 25 lb dumbell is a larger handle/collars with 10 lb plates on each side. So, basically, most of these reps were cheat reps. But I focused on still getting a nice contraction to stimulate the muscles. I am going to play around with some washers and try to microload.
chins: 2.5xBW
+0.5 rep PR (not exactly a pr?)
I forgot to do chins at the end of my session last week. I got a “.5 rep PR”. Next week hopefully I’ll get 3. I think I could get 3, maybe 4, if I did these when I was fresh and not fatigued. nevertheless even though these chins are pathetic, im making progress.
Dec. 17, 2008 - ME Lower
ATG Squat: 5x45, 5x95, 3x135, 3x165, 5x205
+1 Rep PR
Reverse barbell lunges: 8x75, 8x75, 8x75
forgot to try for more reps
Hamstring Curl: 13x50, 13x50, 13x50
tightened up form
Bar holds: 10 seconds x225, 10 seconds x225, 15 seconds x225
these were with a 1 minute break in between. i was trying out some heavy weight. i didn’t go to failure or anythnig, just trying to increase the weight. prs will be easy in the coming weeks
Dec. 19, 2008 - RE Upper
Stability Ball DB Bench Press: 13x45, 11x45, 7x45
+4 Rep PR
accidentally took 20 seconds extra rest in between sets 1 and 2. that probably accounted for 1-2 of the 4 reps that I got as a PR
French Press: 10x42, 10x42, 10x42
+1 Rep PR
Lat Pulldown: 10x70, 10x70, 10x70, 10x70
+1 Rep PR
Seated Military Press: 11x30, 11x30, 11x30
+1 Rep PR
i’m getting sick of this light weight dumbell shit. im too fatigued to be lifting these dumbells for high reps because of all my previous exercises. next week im doing some heavy standing military presses
Barbell Bicep Curls: 8x65, 9x65, 9x65
+1 Rep PR
