Bluestreaks Training Log

[bluestreak]

Personal Stats
* Age: 29
* Gender: Male
* Body-weight: 99kg (218 lbs)
* Body-fat: 12.7%
* Height: 1.95cm/6'5"

Body tape (as of 16 Aug 08)
Neck: 40
Bicep: 36
Chest: 99
Thigh: 63
Stomach: 97

Goals
* Increase strength: 65kg Press, 100kg Bench, 150kg Squat, 200kg Deadlift, 15 pull-ups, 30 push-ups
* Be injury free. I've had pain in my joints (fish oil has helped) and have injured my left elbow, back and and right leg (knee, hip, groin). At the moment, I'm feeling pretty good.

Current strength stats
Squat: 102.5 kg
Overhead: 37.5 kg
Deadlift: 115 kg
Bench: 55 kg
Power Clean: 45 kg

When I started at the gym I couldn't bench the bar, squat a 10 kg bag on my back, etc. Working with Mehdi was fantastic - huge gains in a short period of time all round.

In terms of weight/body-fat, I've made the following gains so far (note: the picture is wide, might get cropped). I took two weeks off to recover from injury. That's when my BF ballooned up.

[bluestreak]

Sunday, 24 Aug 08
Box Squat - 60 kg @ 5x5
Squat - 102.5 kg @ 1x5
Power Clean - 42.5 kg @ 5x5
Push ups - 6/4/4

Push ups were easy, very explosive. Was surprised. Must be all the heavy deadlifts from Thursday.

Tuesday, 26 Aug 08

Box squat - 62.5 kg @ 5x5
* Easy stuff but focusing on proper form

Bench Press - 50 kg @ 5x5
* Easy weight, I just wanted to practice form. Was doing it with a friend that is a complete bench newbie.

Overhead Press - 35 kg @ 5x5
* This wasn't that hard. I look forward to smashing through that 37.5 kg plateau!

Power Clean
45 kg @ 5x5
* Hands slipping near the end and was getting tired.

[Beppe]

Hi, man! Nice to know you're getting over your injuries. Your gains are impressive, keep updating your progress!

[bluestreak]

Thursday, 28 Aug 08

Bench Press
1x5 @ bar
1x5 @ 40 kg
5x5 @ 57.5 kg <- new PR
* I did it!!! Woo hoo!!! I stalled here last time, couldn't even come close to doing it. I had good form as well, which made me doubly pleased.
* My bench-press partner was there (the newbie) so we did bench together. He took up a lot of my time but it's well worth it, being able to teach somebody the basics. He was greatly improved today and I told him so - I think he left feeling really good about himself.

Deadlift
1x5 @ 60 kg
1x4 @ 100 kg
1x5 @ 120 kg <- new PR
* One of the personal trainers pointed out my back was rounding, which was true. I adjusted and it went better. Need to bring in my camera to video of myself.
* I know I can do more. 100 kg felt easy, which is amazing... about 2-3 weeks ago, it was really tough.

Ran out of time at this point.

I am feeling really good. As of next week I'm going back to a normal 5x5 workout.

Hi, man! Nice to know you're getting over your injuries. Your gains are impressive, keep updating your progress!

Thanks bro. Being injured is depressing. I hate having an excuse, no matter how valid, for not going to the gym or working hard.

[Beppe]

Congratulations on the PRs! Great that you're spreading good knowledge!

[Bluegreyhound]

Good luck on recovering fully from your injuries.

[bluestreak]

Today was picture and stats day.

Weight: 98.1 kg
BF: 12.7%

Neck: 41 cm (up 1 cm)
Bicep: 35 cm (down 1 cm?)
Chest: 99 cm (no change)
Thigh: 65 cm (up 2 cm)
Stomach: 98 cm (up 1 cm)

No big changes there. I think I'll switch to doing measurements and photos monthly but keep measuring weight and bf each week.

I've noticed a lot of my t-shirts are tight. Sort cool but annoying at the same time. I also like how my bicep and tricep are slowly becoming more pronounced.


Warmup
Foam roller. Calfs were sore
Mobility exercises. Turns out I wasn't doing the ankle mobility exercises correctly.

Box Squat
2x5 @ bar
1x5 @ 40 kg
5x5 @ 65 kg
* These felt really good today. They really help reinforce form, especially on normal squats.

Squat
1x5 @ 85 kg
1x5 @ 105 kg <- new PR
* Squat felt good - no pain anywhere in my leg - but was hard. Also felt it slightly in groin.

Bench Press
2x5 @ bar
1x5 @ 35
1x5 @ 50
5x5 @ 60 kg
* Felt great having the two big 20 kg plates on it!!! Technically it was a PR but... I had someone at gym spot me. He touched the bar ever so slightly. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done it by myself. Will do it again on Thursday.
* Form was good!

Hanging Power Clean
5x5 @ 47.5 kg <- new PR
* Getting tougher. I figure I'm maybe 10 kg away from struggling with this.

When I was done, I had one of the personal trainers tell me he was watching my squat and was quite impressed by the weight.

I wanted to do some reverse crunches and pull ups but I was out of time and tired. Carrying the groceries upstairs felt somewhat challenging - like a farmer walk.

Congratulations on the PRs! Great that you're spreading good knowledge!

Thanks mate. The person I was helping, I think I'll get him squatting with me soon. He's just at that really early at the stage where he's building up confidence.

Good luck on recovering fully from your injuries.

Cheers mate! Feeling much better. Read about the injury on your log. I can begin to understand what they may have been like. I'm a former basketball player and always had problems with my ankles. Damn, sounds like scary stuff.

[bluestreak]

Box Squats
2x5 @ 20 kg
1x5 @ 40 kg
1x5 @ 55 kg
5x5 @ 67.5 kg
* Still working my way up on these, not that hard but good time to work on form. Felt form improved again today. Was studying Box Squat post last night.

Overhead Press
1x5 @ 20 kg
1x5 @ 27.5 kg
5x5 @ 37.5 kg <- new PR!!!
* This felt great, being finally able to conquer that amount. Felt relatively easy as well. I know I can do 40 kg next time!

Deadlift
1x5 @ 40 kg
1x4 @ 60 kg
1x3 @ 80 kg
1x1 @ 100 kg
1x5 @ 125 kg <- new PR!!!
* Form was much improved - really felt it in my legs and upper back. Was bloody tough but I did it!
* Was almost disappointed when I was done - I wanted to do more but had to go.

In all a good day. I felt great when I left.

In the morning, there are usually these two guys that workout together. They've got great upper body and shoulder strength - that's all I ever see them working on. Today there was only one of them and I noticed he has scrawny little chicken legs. He is badly out of proportion. Maybe I should ask him if he wants to join me on some squats.

[bluestreak]

Off day workout
I came in to do some running and The Bear. Noticed the local rugby team as in, couldn't help but want to do squats at the same time. Also noticed one of my favourite workout shirts is quite a bit smaller - it's snug. Dammit. I hope it's me growing, not my clothes shrinking in the wash.

Squat
2x5 @ 20 kg
1x5 @ 40 kg
1x4 @ 80 kg
1x5 @ 107.5 kg <- new PR, for 1x5
* Need to watch my knees, keep them out

Running
3 minute sprint. Will try adding a minute next time, work my way up to 15 minutes.

The Bear
5x5 @ 20 kg. Didn't time it.

[bluestreak]

Bench
2x5 @ 20 kg
1x5 @ 40 kg
5/5/2/4/1 @ 60 kg
* Did this first because the guy I occasional train with was there.
* I'm annoyed I couldn't do 60 kg today. I could tell I just didn't have the strength. I was very tired from yesterday and in the third set I didn't have a good grip. I'll try again on Sunday - I have two days to recover.

Box Squats
2x5 @ 20 kg
1x5 @ 40 kg
1x5 @ 60 kg
5x5 @ 70 kg

Power Cleans
5x5 @ 47.5 kg <- new PR. Keeps going up

[Young Athlete]

Your a strong keep up the good work

[bluestreak]

Box Squat
2x5 @ 20 kg
1x5 @ 40 kg
1x5 @ 60 kg
5x5 @ 72.5 kg
* Weight is fine but working on keeping my wrists straight. Feels damn near impossible.

Squat
1x5 @ 80 kg
1x2 @ 100 kg
1x5 @ 110 kg <- new PR
* I was in the zone on this one. Felt great.

Bench Press
2x5 @ 20 kg
1x5 @ 40 kg
5x5 @ 60 kg <- new PR!!!!!!!
* Fantastic - I finally did the two big 20 kg plates! I've been dreaming about this day! Next goal: 80 kg!!!

Hanging Power Clean
5x5 @ 50 kg
* My normal rack was busy so the first out of each rep was a proper clean. Fun stuff. This is starting to get heavy but feel I can still do 5-10 kg more before it gets really tough.


On the last set of the bench, I asked someone to spot me. The guy just sort of mumbled "go ask one of the personal trainers". What a dick - can't spot me for 30 seconds.

Your a strong keep up the good work

Cheers bro - appreciate it.

[mjh]

I know what you mean about 60kg. It's such a great feeling using the big boy's plates. Keep going strong, bluey.

[Young Athlete]

60kg=135lbs O.O

15lbs off from that myself and the uhh big boy plates?

[Bluegreyhound]

Hanging Power Clean
5x5 @ 50 kg
* My normal rack was busy so the first out of each rep was a proper clean. Fun stuff. This is starting to get heavy but feel I can still do 5-10 kg more before it gets really tough.

Good job. Personally, I find it difficult to predict my max in the power clean. Early this year I was cleaning 70kg with some effort, and thought that I could do 80kg no problem for a few singles. However, I wasn't ready for that weight and I had to catch much lower than normal and I failed to get into a good position (i.e. I wasn't fast enough). Sometimes 10% or more weight can make surprisingly quite a bit of difference.