braddles's training log

[braddles]

Hi Team.

Thought I might start one of these to get my motivation up. I've been doing this for a few years now. I've spent a lot of time doing the 5x5 program, followed by the intermediate program. I'm now doing my own thing which is somewhere between strength and overload training.

My weights routine is governed by time, but goes something like this: (notation is sets x reps).

Day 1: (Thurs)
Squats 3x5
Overhead press: 3x5
Stiff-legged deadlift: 2x5
One-arm barbell press: 3x5
Dumbell lunges: 2x5

Day 2: (Sun)
Deadlift: 3x5
Weighted Pull-ups: 3x5
Dumbell one-point row: 3x5
Barbell Row: 1x5

Day 3: (Tues)
Bench Press: 3x5
Incline Press: 3x5
Weighted dips: 3x5

Current lifts are:
Squat: 125kg
Deadlift: 145kg
Bench: 95kg
Overhead Press: 47.5kg (seems low?)
Pull-ups: BW + 33.75kg
Dips: BW + 32.5kg
Barbell Row: 115kg

Current weight:
80-82kg.

Long-Term Goal:
Healthy, sustainable lifestyle. I'm not a fan of getting big, I just like being lean and strong.

Mid-Term Goal:
Want to achieve the following by the end of the year:
Squat: 160kg (~5kg/month)
Deadlift: 180kg (~5kg/month)
Bench: 120kg (~3.5kg/month)
Overhead Press: 70kg (~2.8kg/month)

Short-Term Goal:
Want to achieve by end of July:
Squat: 135kg
Deadlift: 155kg
Bench: 102.5kg
Overhead Press: 55kg

How I'm going to do this:
Follow the weights routine above
Minimum 7 hours sleep per night
3300-4000 cals/day, meals every ~hours.
Minimim 3 litres water/day.
Multivitiman + additional Vitiman C
Unflavoured Whey from Reactiv

[braddles]

Day 1:

Didn't eat enough today, had a really hard day at work and had to skip a meal and have only 1/2 another. Really showed in my lifts.

Squat: 127.5kg: 2,3,2.
Overhead Press: 50kg: 3,4,2
Stiff deadlift: 142.5kg: 3,1.
One-arm press: 20kg, 5,5.
Dumbell lunge: 2x32.5kg: 5,5.

[braddles]

Update! Just took some time off due to other life commitments. Came back stronger than I expected.

BW = 82kg (180.4lb)

Squat: 125: 5,5,5
Bench: 82.5: 5,5,5,5,5
B.bell row: 100: 5,5,5 <- need to check form, I think I'm using too much hip extension here. However, my back is VERY sore the day after.
Deadlift: trying for 1RM (see below)

Tried and obtained the following 1RM's:

Squat: 135kg (286lb)
Bench: 90kg (198lb)
Deadlift: 160kg (352lb)

[Bluegreyhound]

Some good stats right there man. What's a one arm barbell press? Sounds like what those circus strongmen do.

[braddles]

Wow cheers dude it's something crazy I decided to throw in to mix it up a bit - and to work on shoulders - probably my weakest point in relative terms. Back into 5x5 now

Problem is, I keep re-starting my training. I.e. train for a bit, then get bogged down by work/life/etc. Come back to lifting a few weeks later and my lifts have gone down by quite a bit.

Overall trend is either lowering or constant amount of weight. I was squatting 160kg, deadlifting 165 this time last year (at approx same B.W.) when i was at university. Although in saying that, my form is much better now

last workout (couple of days ago)

Squat: 127.5kg 5,3,3
Ohead press: 47.5kg: 5,4,5,5,4
Deadlift: 140kg: 5
Pull-ups: BW + 20kg

p.s. stoked someone commented on my log! Cheers!

[braddles]

Ok today's workout:

Squat: 127.5kg 3,3,3
Bench: 87.5kg: 5,5,5,5,5
BBell Row: 100kg: 5,5,5

awesome!

[jnjh]

Hey there. Awesome is right, you're lifting some impressive weights! You have a healthy 1RM for your deadlift. (I'm a big deadlift fan). I guess you've got some previous experience?

[braddles]

Thanks I just want to get my OHP up because it's lagging at the moment.

I guess lifts are a bit bigger than usual because I have trained a bit in the past and I'm only getting back into it now.

I used to be much stronger used to squat/dead 160kg at the same B.W.

[braddles]

Today's workout:

Squat 130kg: 3,3,3
Press 50kg: 5,5,4,4,4
Deadlift 145kg: 5 - could have gone higher but was running out of time
Pullups BW+22.5kg: 5,3,3 - dam i used to do bodyweight + ~30kg :<

overall:

[Bluegreyhound]

Problem is, I keep re-starting my training. I.e. train for a bit, then get bogged down by work/life/etc. Come back to lifting a few weeks later and my lifts have gone down by quite a bit.

I have that issue too. Re-training a lift is not as hard though - plus you know that you can do it which helps. Good lifting.

[braddles]

^thanks

Today's workout:

Squat: 132.5kg: 3,3,3
Bench: 90kg: 5,5,4, <- cut it to 3 sets because I was running short on time
Bbell row: 102.5kg: 5,5,5

Overall: pretty good

[jnjh]

I'll say, pretty good. Man, that's some heavy lifting, all round! Solid.

[braddles]

Alright, today's workout:

Squat: 135kg: 3,3,3
Press: 50kg: 5,5,5,5,5
Deadlift: 150kg: 5
Pull-ups: BW+22.5kg: 5,5,5 <- not too sure if my form was the best, I think I'll try 22.5kg again next time. Chin not quite getting high enough on last couple of reps.
+reverse crunches etc

Overall:
Awesome.
If things go to plan then in two more workouts I'll be squatting 140kg
Deadlifts didn't seem too hard either, might try 155kg next time
Finally got 5x5 Press at 50kg !

[braddles]

Today:

Squat: 137.5kg: 3,3,3
Bench: 90kg: 5,5,5 <- short on time again :/ at least I managed to get all the reps out (had 5,5,4 last time)...
Bbell Row: 105kg: 5, <- ran out of time but I think I was using too much hip extension anyway.

Overall:
Really happy that the squats are getting heavy again - 140kg next workout!
Bench is steadily (but slowly?) improving
Barbell row needs a bit of work on form. Think I might go back to 102.5 until I can get 3x5 without hip extension

[braddles]

Today's workout:

Squat: 140kg: 3,3,3
Ohead: 52.5kg: 5,4,4
Deadlift: 155kg: 5
Pull-ups: BW+22.5kg: 5

Really happy I made 140kg for 3x3

However I REALLY noticed the effects of not doing my usual hip mobility work before hand. I usually do a couple sets of let swings, squat stretch and some glute activation work before heading to the gym. Not doing this tonight meant a couple of my reps were practically good-mornings! Still managed to get out the heavy deadlift though.. yay!

Did better than I thought with the ohead press

Managed to get a full 5-rep set of proper height (chin to bar) pull-ups.. but then I ran out of time D:!

Running out of time seems to be a common trend these days. It sucks, but I'm quite happy with my results so far, so maybe I'll continue only doing the core 5x5 lifts for now. I usually get the whole workout done on my weekend (sunday) workout - it's just really hard during the week with work etc.