Dave K's Training Log

[Davek]

Yeah, sounds like your body is self-correcting itself toward proportional strength.

Exactly right & physique looks right too.

BFL is a great program & his cardio part seems to be a variation of HIIT. I found it trying as hell being 6 days + expensive if you bought all of his EAS products.

I'm real pleased right here!

[Davek]

Lifts as of 3/30/09. Goal 15% BF by mid April. 16.2 last measurement 3/14/09

Squat 195/88.63 & 4th set was 205 as trainer worked in w/ me & we forgot to take 10 off
OH 105/47.72
Dead 175/79.54
Bench 160/72.72 a little surprised that I'm still adding
Dips 3X5 +5 no prob!
Inverted 15,8,8-2nd & 3rd set feet on 65cm ball
pulls 9,7,6
chins 9,6,6 starting to feel lower back muscles at work
leg raises/prones/reverse

& we continue on...tnt

[coreJack]

Why dips AND bench?

[Davek]

Dips replaced Push-ups. Dips were in the original SL versions but people complained of shoulder problems. I'm finding they work well; pecs are looking pretty good.

Hey, will mobility help? I'm pushing pretty good weight now on squats & am seeing "some" results but wonder if I could get more if I started mobility. (it's a vain thing) or, should I just give this more time (like I always say?) & Take my own advice!

[coreJack]

Dips replaced Push-ups. Dips were in the original SL versions but people complained of shoulder problems. I'm finding they work well; pecs are looking pretty good.

Hey, will mobility help? I'm pushing pretty good weight now on squats & am seeing "some" results but wonder if I could get more if I started mobility. (it's a vain thing) or, should I just give this more time (like I always say?) & Take my own advice!

Careful with the dips, especially if you've had an AC joint injury in the past.

Mobility as in hip mobility exercises? Yeah, I think those are good, particularly if you're a desk jockey.

[Davek]

Fortunately I'm one of the few remaining field workers in this dept, so I'm in & out most days & I'm somewhat "hyper' anyways & really don't sit for too long.

My thinking is more along stretching the muscles which could add to size w/ squating heavier weight. but i dunno??

[Labrat]

Dave,

I noticed you got 205 up with good form after three wo's and still dropped back to 185... was 205 feeling slower than you wanted?

I am hitting a wall (stalling, whatever) at 185 on my squats... actually it feels like a mental hurdle as well. I am benching 165 and am much more confident. I get ready to go and really get into "attack mode." I suppose it's a comfort level thing as well... I simply have not done squats consistently before the SL program. Any advice?

Thanks,
Steve

[Davek]

Steve, Really appreciate the Q..Thx. In fact, all my squat work was Not very good until SL. I was uncomfortable w/ form once I got to 200. I started thinking about pushing more weight instead of pushing more weight Correctly. Thankfully I realized this before an injury.

Now, I deloaded 10% to 185, started to warm up a little more: foam rolling 1st then, bar 2X5/ bar + 90 1X5/ Lift 185 5X5. Really concentrated on pushing w/ my heals, below parallel, squeezing glutes & so on. Piece of Cake! I'm up to 200 again & not scared at all (to put it simply).

Lastly, Mental, yep! Me at 160lbs squat. What I realized was I never squated so low - Ever, & I got a little nervous at the weight & my lower back needed to get used to heavier weight (started feeling tweaked a bit) & that's when my form started to go down.

It's a plateau of some sort. Push Through & make sure your form is good. Look at the bar & say " this is lite weight" I know that sounds a little screwey but it really works. Feeling uncomfortable is a good thing. I believe it's our instincts telling us something's wrong. Once I listened to that & corrected the problem - problem's gone...for now anyway! Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes..Dave

[Davek]

BF is now 15.3% so I would say goal achieved. New goal 14.5% end of April.

Lifts as of 4/6/09. A little "ticked" as I didn't have enough time today to do 5X5 on squat & bench.

Squat 200/90.90 - 5X3 No prob! excellent form now, not afraid to add but will redo for 5X5
Bench 160/72.72 - Ditto all of the Above
Inverted 15, then 1X5+5 & 1X4+5 got 15 1st set so good there but will redo for 3X5 +5
Dips 3X5+12.5 No Prob!
Deads 180/81.81- still pretty easy, very easy really!
Overhead 110 a little slow on very last rep but "Fuck it" I'm adding & will nail down 115!!!
Pulls 9,5,4
Chins 8,5,5

Pleased w/ progress & gotta' say the ripped look is coming back! Down to 3 lifts per week & will now start looking at getting bigger. yeah I know I'm vain but sure is hell looks good. TNT...davek
not too bad for 49...!

[DaveT]

Great progress Dave on the weights, and even better with the BF loss. Have you also changed your diet or added cardio to help this since you started SL5x5?
You're squatting more than me (I'm at about 180lbs) and I deadlift 250lbs, so I'm not surprised that you find them easy. You could increase by 10lbs every time until they feel heavy and then drop back to 5lb increases. I did this up to 220lbs. If your form is good, then you might as well reach the point where the exercise is working your muscles harder.

[Davek]

Great suggestion on the Deads..will do! & thx for your response. I really just eat clean & drink lots a' water so, yes the nutrition is a big reason & I never really paid attention to calories; just eat until I'm full or close to it. I always believed that as my strength & muscle increased, my BF would go down. No cardio or HIIT anymore. I added cardio for a couple of weeks right after lifts & it really worked. just 5 minutes, then 6 & so on until I got to 15. Then it was pretty much over. If anything, I lifted "every other" day for the first two months so I think that had something to do w/ it.

Hey I appreciate checking in on my log..Thx Dave

[guru]

Hey Dave(k),

Great job on the fat loss. I should also congratulate you on the lifts, but you make them seem so easy. ANyway, I'll reserve my congratulations till you put 4 plates on the DL. Go for it Dave, only 4 workouts at the most.

[Davek]

Thanks Guru, Ya' know, I didn't even realize how close to 4 plates I'm getting...That's pretty cool!!

[Labrat]

You are hilarious... I haven't gotten 5x5 120 OHPs yet... I actually longed for the sweet relief of dropping the bar on my head while trying to get through the few I did. :0 Ya know, you get it locked out, and you really dread bringing it down for 2 or 3 more.

Looking forward to hearing your updates. Thanks for the encouragement on the squats. I deloaded and am going to do 5 lb adds... hopefully this will help me with any mental and physical hurdles.

Right now I'm doing no cardio (I know, my doc would say shame, shame)... are you doing any? Wondering if it might help.

[Davek]

Find a new Doctor! just kiddin' I did a little cardio/HIIT when I was @ 20% BF until I got to 18.5 or less, usually after a lift & only for 5 minutes, then 6, then 7 & so on. I got to 15 minutes then stopped because my BF went down pretty fast too. So, it did work & does work but the book states that once down below 20%, we really don't need cardio as the strength/muscle gain will burn BF. Also, what I did was to lift every other day until about 2 weeks ago. Works out to one additional lift in a two week period.

Buy a fat caliper if you already don't have one..they work & will give a reasonably good measurement for fat lose & lean mass (muscle). But by the looks of your numbers, doesn't really look like you need to worry about BF anyway. I didn't start thinking about BF until my mid 40's but everyone is different. As I got older & more sedintary(sp), my BF started accumulating around my mid section, typical for a slightly older man, & it really started bothering me. I always knew from my BFL routines years ago that a good, solid WO program would take care of the problem & then stumbled upon SL5X5. & yes, it's been working great! Hope I answered your cardio Q, thanks for asking. I always ck in on your TL as well as a few others. Phillips wrote that helping others & giving positive feedback helps us. & it does!