Barry101's Training Log

[Barry101]

Hi All

I am finally starting a Training log. I've been reading the forum for quite some time and really appreciate how helpful everyone is! Glad to see the no nonsense approach and lack of flame wars. I am currently on week 11 of my SL workout. BTW, I have never done any strength training prior to SL 5X5. Here's where I am:

Squat 165lbs
Overhead press 115lbs (Very SLOW)
Bench Press 125lbs
Deadlift 225lbs (1x3)
Inverted Row 12,10,9 Feet on floor legs straight
Push Ups 30,21,15
Chin-ups 7,5,5
Reverse Crunch 3X12 15lbs
Prone Bridges 3x60sec


My Bench is coming along well. The only excersize I've yet to stall on. This will start to get tougher in the next two weeks though.

I stalled on OHP first at 105lbs. No surprise there! Currently on third try at 115. Weight moving very slow on all reps. Sometimes I get 5 reps on one set but most of the time only 3. I'm thinking of deloading 10-15% and working on form/bar speed. Even if I were to hit 5X5 on all my reps, I don't know if I could get a single at 120lbs. What do you think?

My biggest struggle has been with my Squat and DL. I deloaded about a week ago on squat at 180lbs down to 155lbs. On DL, I did not have problems until I got over 200lbs. What I have noticed as the weight increased, was trouble with my lower back rounding and lower back pain. It's probably no surprise to any of you I have bad hip mobility and poor glute activation. I've been working alot on these prior to my lifts and on my non lifting days, but as the weight has gone up, so has the back pain. I also experience a lot of pain on the outside of my hips early in my warm ups on squats (very TIGHT). I do not have back pain immediately after working out. It usually feels best at that time. It comes on about two hours later (at the office...SITTING). If anyone who has worked through this could offer suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!

So for now I'll keep up my foam roller work, tennis ball work, and stretching and hope it gets better soon. The mobility isssues are really beginning to affect my lifts. I'll post my results after tomorrows workout.

Barry

[holvoetn]

Hi Barry, good to see you here.

Don't give up on OHP, it is the toughest exercise for most of us (I also had to deload already, going for 121lbs tonight).

Re: squats and DL, it might help if you shoot a video and post it here. We might give you some indications where you need to pay more attention to your form.
What's your bodyweight like ? How old are you ?

More important: what are your goals short- and long-term ?

[Barry101]

Hi Barry, good to see you here.

Don't give up on OHP, it is the toughest exercise for most of us (I also had to deload already, going for 121lbs tonight).

Re: squats and DL, it might help if you shoot a video and post it here. We might give you some indications where you need to pay more attention to your form.
What's your bodyweight like ? How old are you ?

More important: what are your goals short- and long-term ?

Oh yeah, added my weight, height and age to my sig. (accidentally deleted it when I added my log).

As for goals, I'd like to solve this mobility issue ASAP. For short term, DL 2x my bodyweight by the end of August. In the same time frame I'd want to be able to Squat 1.5x my body weight. Benching? Haven’t thought about that one much, but BW seems to be a fair goal by end of August. OHP? 150lbs sound realistic?

For the assistance exercises I'd like to be able to do 3X10 Chins by end of June. Then I would switch to pull ups and go from there. These are really hard for me. Push ups...100 consecutive by end of August. Inverted row...3X10 with feet on bench by end of Aug.

I need to work on LT goals!

See what you've done now H? Made me commit myself in public. Got a lot of work to do!

Barry

[Barry101]

Updated;

B Workout 5/23/09
Sq 170 5X5
OHP 115 5X5 Third attempt at this weight. Slow bar but got 'em all..on to 120!
DL 225 1X3 Back wants to round coming down, not a problem coming up

A Workout 5/27/09
Sq 175 5X5
Bench 130 5X5
Inv Row 9,10,9

Both workouts ran short on time so I did not complete the assistance exercises. I did ab work and pull ups on Monday's workout (cardio, glute activation and hip mobility too). I'll complete push ups and Rev Crunch tonight. Should be able to complete B workout Sat morning. This will put me at 180 on squat...where I previously stalled/injured back/deloaded. I felt I could have done that today. All of the hip and form work is starting to pay off. I've been able to push through the pain of the injury without missing workouts though I have added two rest days between for now. I'll try for 1X5 at 225 on Dl this Sat too. If I can't complete this weight I'll deload as it's my third attempt.

[holvoetn]

DL 225 1X3 Back wants to round coming down, not a problem coming up

I'll try for 1X5 at 225 on Dl this Sat too. If I can't complete this weight I'll deload as it's my third attempt.

You'll make it this time
If you can do 1x3 already, the step to 1x5 is not that big after some days rest.

[Barry101]

Last Night 5/27

Playing catch up!
Push ups 35,27,26
Reverse Crunch 3X12

Today 5/28 (no weight training today)

Stairmaster 10 min warmup
Glute Activation and Hip Mobilty Work
Chin ups 6,5,4
15 Min. Static Stretching

[Barry101]

5/30
Warm up on Elip 10 Min, Hip Mobility and Glute Work 15 min
Sq 180lbs 5X5 Finally
OHP 120 1X1 w/ Slooooww bar. 2nd rep...NO WAY! Too much back arching on rep 1. I'll deload to 105-110lbs and take a running start!
DL 225 1X5

6/1
Warm up on Elip 5 Min, Hip Mobility and Glute Work 15 min
Sq 185lbs 5X5
Bench 135 5X5 Beginning to get harder

No time for assistance exercises on either workout.

[holvoetn]

okay, you're still here, I see
(catching up ... unbelievable what happens when one takes a long weekend off ...)

[Barry101]

6/4

Warm ups as usual

Squat 190 lbs 2X5 1X3 Failed on 3rd rep. This was more about low energy level than strength though.
OHP 100 lbs 5X5 Deloaded to work on my form. Concentrated on body tightness and really popping the weight up at my forehead.
DL 225 lbs 1X5 one more time to make sure my form is tight before moving up...went well
Pull ups 7,5,5 Almost 6 on the second & third sets, more like 5 1/2
Prone Bridge 3X60

Right now I have too many non lifting days in between with several home projects that are keeping me working til 10PM. I think it's slowing my progress a little. I wake up a little tired. Next week I should be back on schedule. We'll see if more rest makes a difference...I feel it will.

[holvoetn]

...I feel it will.

It does

[Barry101]

6/5
Decided to go ahead and do all of the A workout except the squats since I won't get to the gym again until Monday. So;

Warm ups
Bench 140 5X5 Geting harder, but I still feel like I am progressing well. Higher weights are begining to uncover small problems in my form. Easy corrections.
Inv Row 10,12,7
Push ups 35,24,13
Rev Crunch 3X12
Stertching and Roller

[Barry101]

6/8
Warm up

Squat 195 5X5
I just realized I skipped my second attempt at 190lb 5X5 . I was able to complete all sets even at 195. Form a little wobbly on the first set. Second set was better. Third through 5th were not bad. I really need to concentrate on sitting back and pushing through my heels. When I do that AND squeeze my glutes the reps are alot easier. Minor corrections in form make a huge difference on these heavier squats.

OHP 105 5X5
Keeping my core rigid throughout this lift is difficult.

DL 235 1X3
I think the 1X3 instead of 1X5 is more about fear of injury than lack of strength. I am a little disappointed I did not squeeze out those other two reps. I worry too much about hurting my back...again. I just need to tough it out and do the reps!

Chin ups/Pull ups
Set 1 Chin ups 7
Set 2 Pull ups 5
Set 3 Chins. Another set of 5. Attemped a 6th. I stalled 3/4 the way up and just held it there as long as I could.

Will be doing Core work at home tonight.

[Barry101]

6/10
Warmups

Squat 200lbs Form not 100% at this weight so I'll try again next Workout. Tiny bit of good morning on a couple reps, not quite below parallel on a few too. Glutes and hams feeling better. I can feel them being more active at the higher weights. Hams are getting sore with my workouts again. That hasn't happened since the very beginning.

Bench 140lbs Enough weight now to start challenging my form. Caught myself pushing my head into the bench instead of just my shoulders. Otherwise felt pretty good. Good to be off my legs after squats!

Inv Row 10,10,10 I'll try from a bench instead of feet on the floor/legs straight next time.

Push ups and Rev Crunch tonight...ran out of time. Had to go to work.

[Barry101]

I realized I had not defined what my pre lifting warmups are here. Additionally, I use a modified version for non-lifting days. Here are both versions;

Lifting days
5-10 min. on elliptical trainer. I usually go 140 RPM's at medium resistance. It varies how much time I spend. I stop as soon as I feel myself begin to sweat.
10 Glute Bridges
10 Cook Hip Lifts (each leg)
10 Clams (each leg)
10 Dog kicks (each leg)
10 Fire Hydrant kicks (each leg)
In the Squat rack:
Squat Stretches (3-4)
Leg swings (front and side) 10 of each
Overhead Squats with a broomstick 5-10 reps
Shoulder dislocations (10) or until i loosen up

Many days I am still a little tight through my squat warmups. On those days I add a few squat stretches and leg swings in between warmup sets. I make sure I am loose before I hit 185lbs.

Non Lifting Days
Very similar to above except 30 Minutes on eliptical (still on a med resistance) and instead of 10 reps on all the other excercises I do 15. I also add the following;
X band walks: 20 steps right left forward an backward
Bird dogs 60 seconds each leg/arm
10 Back extensions (no weight added...yet)
50 Crunches in ab machine w/70lbs
If I missed any assistance excrcises during the week, I'll add them too. i.e. I only did my squats, bench and inv row on Monday for my A workout. I'll add push ups on this day. If the next day is a day off (usually Friday) I'll sometimes add some pull ups/push ups. It really depends on how tired I am (or not).

After both workouts, I do upper and lower body stretches and foam roller.

Time
My non-lifting day workout takes a little over an hour. Workout A takes about 1.5 hours and workout B takes almost 2. If I have residual tightmess and pain later in the day, I use a tennis ball to loosen things up before hitting the Advil. I am hoping to one day get rid of this hip and back tightness. If I feel overly tired on a non-lifting day, I skip it all and rest.

[Barry101]

6/15

Squat- 200lbs 5X5 Felt good, prolly could have gone 205 w/no problem.
OHP- still 105lbs 5X5 Def need frac weights or chains before next workout, 110 would be too much right now
DL- 235 1X5 I need chalk, my grip is beginning to be challenged. May try a mixed grip too. Haven't tried that yet.
Chin ups- (3) Been fighting soreness in one of my tendons on the underside of my forearm near my elbow. Did 3 pull ups and felt enough pain that I stopped. This has been sore for awhile but I never felt like I was going to injure it by pressing on until today.
Prone Bridge 3X60sec.