Discordian in training (Log)

[discordian]

Hi all,

This is my attempt at training log. Perhaps a slight threat of public accountability
helps to motivate me in the future.

Why am I training? During -07 I suffered rather severe personal losses which
on turn caused a deep depression (You know, that mood that you can't snap out of)
lasting to this day. After quite a struggle I discovered that exercise is indeed an
efficient medication for this. Much better in my opinion that stuff medical people
tried to make me take.

Background? Thus far I've exercised for 1.5 years after having having a totally sedentary
life. I started by jogging steadily 3 times a week,
then mixing in some swimming and random gym going. Lifting was fun and seemed to be most
steady way of acquiring stable mood - to my delight even for several hours
after leaving gym!

Two things I learned was that a) I'm weaker than I thought! b) I'm doing something wrong
watching my friends shape up at an incredible pace and not seeing a change myself. Thus,
enter SL5x5.


Statistics? 28 years, ~80kg.
Currently I'm waiting for workout no. 10 tomorrow. I'm at 50kg squat, 40kg bench,
40kg rows, 27.5kg overhead press and 75kg deadlift. I'm quite worried about my wobbly form,
but it may yet fix itself. Also bought a kettlebell(=fun!) for times when I start feeling blue on
the off-days.

Biggest exercise related problems? Rows feel unnatural, I'm probably doing dips
wrong and I'm stuck at 6 chin-ups and 4 pull-ups. Feel free to laugh, I wish I
could myself!

Current goal is just to keep lifting 3 times a week for rest of the year. Then I
get a prize and can start keeping on doing it until midsummer or something.

Disc.

PS. I like overhead press. Hope 30kg doesn't kill me tomorrow.
PPS. Especially since 5kg plates at my gym have label "For women and juniors only!"

[1337lolzz]

Switch to the new SL 5x5. Rows are replaced with body rows. Dips are replaced with push ups. 4 pull ups is not laughable, there are hundreds of people around you who probably can't even do one pull up. Work long and hard and you will see results.

And the 5kg plates, that would make me LMFAO!!

[discordian]

There is now another week of stronglifts behind me. Weightwise improvements are:

50kg squat => 57.5kg
40kg bench => 42.5 kg,
40kg rows => 42.5 kg
27.5kg overhead press => 32.5kg
and 75kg deadlift => 85kg.

Thoughts about this week:

Getting dumped by the most awesome woman(*) I've met in my life prompted me to go and buy a chin-up bar. I promptly fixed it to my doorframe and mauled it out of shape. (It is still kinda usable). Currently I'm at maximum 7 chin-ups and 5 pull-ups. I wish that I could do more, but I think I'm already cheating by using hips to propel me up. I kept on doing rows and dips even though I'm bad at them.. Changing program would have felt like giving up. I will learn these properly!


Squat is turning into a problem. I can't rely on anyone to watch if I do it properly and it is getting Hard. So is overhead press. I did press 32.5kg and I think I might just manage 35kg, but.. People aren't supposed to fail with so tiny weights? Atleast in squats? Right?

Deadlifts are fun! And I managed to bring one of my old friends with me to the gym. He is out of shape and although I'm not much of a help he is making valiant efforts.


(*) Honestly.

Disc.

.. in back of my head there is a voice that is screaming at me. It says that I have achieved nothing and never will.

[mikedesc]

Hi discordian,

The OHPs are by nature tough. Read up on them and keep going - you can beat it. Don't worry about the weight, everyone is different. Work through it, deload if necessary and hit it again.

And you tell the little voice in the back of your head to "F off" you're going to win. Your weights have gone up in a short while. Follow the programme and they'll go up more.
There's plenty of guys here gone through the same doubts and pushed through it. You can too.

[discordian]

Exercise #13

Squat 60kg - I thought I couldn't, but forced myself.
Bench 45kg - Not heavy, but will be soon.
Rows 45kg - This must have looked real ugly. Yank!-Thunk!-Klonk!
Dips 9-3-5BW - A 60+ old guy showed me how.

Perhaps it was the few large dinners in the weekend or general lack of
sleep, but I had a really hard time. Especially squats where my body was
trying to cheat by shifting the weight (again) to my stronger side. I think
I learned few tricks though. My back is only slightly stiff and my
knees seem fine. Hope I'm going low enough.

Rows are awkward. They have never been really smooth, but now they feel
really like yanking the weight. I'd really like to learn power cleans
to replace these, but I can't find anyone to teach me how. Wonder how
bad idea it would be to just try to learn them on my own..

I'm curious on how large difference there is with something like one set
max or one rep max and 5x5 max? I experimented with presses after my workout..

Thanks for your comments! Support is appreciated.

Disc.

.. I wonder what weights median 5x5 visitor stalled with for the first time.

[discordian]

Exercise #14. (Did I really do this many already?)

Squats 62.5kg - I did 5 sets in sense of "bar goes down, bar goes up". Last few weren't squats though. More like goodmornings.
Overhead Press 35kg - Hard! But I did it!
Deadlift 90kg - Easy! There was a nice guy willing to check my form so:
Deadlift 95kg - Still easy. Perhaps raising it 10kg at one go will bite me in the arse in the future. But atleast I got a confirmation that I do it right.
Chin/pull-ups - 8(x)-3(p)-2(p). First set was easy because my arms didn't feel a thing after two sets of deadlifts. Anyway, since starting this log I've managed to increase these by 2 chins. I'm happy.

But what do with the squats.. I did lift the weight, so I'm not totally stalled, but my form is quite bad. Try twice more to see if I can get it right, or just deload now and try to fix it? hmm.. Or front squats in order to strengthen possible weak links?

Disc.

.. I noticed some odd thing on my arm when dressing today. According to anatomy book it is called biceps brachii. I'm pretty sure it wasn't there before.

[discordian]

Exercise #15

Squats 62.5 kg - Second attempt due failing form. I think I got it done properly after watching squatrx and reading starting strength. It was hard. I'll take a camera with me next time.
Bench 47.5 kg - Still easy, though I was banging the weights to the safety bars. Those can be adjusted either too low (resulting in flat discordian) or too high (resulting in occasional clanks).
Rows 47.5 kg - Heavy, but I think I got a smoother form than before. I noticed that my right and left elbow don't move with same trajectory.. Perhaps this is bad?
Dips 11-3-5(bw) - Getting there. I still struggle a bit in order not to put my shoulders inside my ears..

All in all a pleasant training, though I'm suspicious of my form. Hopefully people don't laugh too much if I bring a camera.

Disc.

.. I Crush my demons with heavy plates. I wonder what I use to fill the holes with..

[discordian]

Exercise #16

Squats 5x5x65kg - After spending entire weekend filming myself squatting with broomstick I thought I got my form enough good to continue. Might be stupid of me, but I think a deload is waiting around the corner soon enough. (Sorry, too shy to post the video)

Overhead Press 5x5x37.5kg - Oh My, this was Hard. First set was bad. Second set tried to kill me. Third set was almost impossible and I lost all recollection of fourth. Fifth was wobbly-shaky-painy-mess, but I locked it over my head! Don't Laugh! This was hardest thing I've done this week.

Deadlift 5x60, 3x80,3x90, 5x100kg - First deadlift that felt hard. Might have also been due to exhaustion from overhead pressing. But still I'm not stopping yet.

Chin/pull-ups 7(c),4(p),3(p)bw - Too tired to care.

Oh boy I'm starting to feel drained after the exercise. This took bit over an hour to complete and I'm feeling that I'm about to stall with everything at the same time. I need bigger breakfasts to handle these.

I never thought I actually could do press with this weight! I get to try 40kg! Thats about 50% of me!

Disc.

.. Yes, it's monday.

[rere]

Exercise #16

Squats 5x5x65kg - After spending entire weekend filming myself squatting with broomstick I thought I got my form enough good to continue. Might be stupid of me, but I think a deload is waiting around the corner soon enough. (Sorry, too shy to post the video)

Overhead Press 5x5x37.5kg - Oh My, this was Hard. First set was bad. Second set tried to kill me. Third set was almost impossible and I lost all recollection of fourth. Fifth was wobbly-shaky-painy-mess, but I locked it over my head! Don't Laugh! This was hardest thing I've done this week.

Deadlift 5x60, 3x80,3x90, 5x100kg - First deadlift that felt hard. Might have also been due to exhaustion from overhead pressing. But still I'm not stopping yet.

Chin/pull-ups 7(c),4(p),3(p)bw - Too tired to care.

Oh boy I'm starting to feel drained after the exercise. This took bit over an hour to complete and I'm feeling that I'm about to stall with everything at the same time. I need bigger breakfasts to handle these.

I never thought I actually could do press with this weight! I get to try 40kg! Thats about 50% of me!

Disc.

.. Yes, it's monday.

Good workout.....the Overhead press ahhhh yes the true test from the best to the rest In time you will rest that bit longer in order to feel the glory of lifting a heavy barbell over your head!!

[mae]

.. I Crush my demons with heavy plates.

That's awesome, as (I'm sure) are the newly discovered biceps brachii.

How did the squats feel at 65kg? Keep in mind that working on squat form with no weight at all (i.e., a broomstick) is much different from using an empty barbell because you wont have anything on your back to balance you out. Unweighted squats are great for developing flexibility, but for form practice I'd go with the empty barbell. Just my two cents.

Keep up the great work!

[discordian]

I Wonder why I slept 14 hours straight...

How did the squats feel at 65kg? Keep in mind that working on squat form with no weight at all (i.e., a broomstick) is much different from using an empty barbell because you wont have anything on your back to balance you out. Unweighted squats are great for developing flexibility, but for form practice I'd go with the empty barbell. Just my two cents.

Atleast my legs hurt in different place now and I don't have pains in either my knee or my back. For some odd reason the idea of bringing a camera to gym is somehow difficult for me. I lie to myself that it is because the old guys (my gym is populated by retired folk in the mornings) make too much fun of me already. They'd have a field day if I started filming myself

I do have smaller weight for doing goblet squats, which I found helpful as well. For the future, either I invest in a heavier broomstick, or bring the camera to the gym.

Disc.

.. Feeling thankful of comments.

[javanek]

Unweighted squats are great for developing flexibility, but for form practice I'd go with the empty barbell. Just my two cents.

Keep up the great work!

I second that. Trying to work form without weight is at best, difficult. Pretty much for me anything below 1/2 working weight I have trouble with as I don't get a good feel on the weights. So I don't recommend the broomstick or bw for form work. But they are extremely helpful as stretches before work sets.

Numbers are getting up there, bud. Way to go!

[discordian]

Exercise #17 - The broomstick lies!

Squats 67.5kg - Hard, but felt good. More below.
Bench 50kg - Well, I'm starting too feel this, but I can do more.
Rows 50kg - I'm getting hang of these clearly. I might use too much hips, but that is probably result if rising weights.
Dips 11-6-5(bw) - Bit tired when getting this far, but these are improving in form.

So I did bring a camera to to the gym. For some reason it felt really ackward but then I thought "bloody hell, I've fallen from an airplane. Bringing a camera with me can't be more scary than that". My guess about the folk in the gym was partially correct, but they were more interested in the camera than making fun of me

The result from looking at myself from angles naturally impossible for humans is that I came to conclusion that my form is somewhat decent. It is certainly not pretty like some people, but I'm curving my back lot less now (The arch flattens a bit, that's all.). Certainly lot less than with a broomstick. The weight on my back seems to provide enough cues for keeping some kind of posture. Main problem is depth and lack of patience. Sometimes I'm slightly over parallel and in the last few sets when I do the final rep I end up standing on my toes in anticipation of racking the weight..

Anyway. I'm feeling happy of this. There is plenty of room to improve, but I think I'm not actively murdering myself or in dire need of starting from scratch.

Disc

.. I had friend with me this time. I tried to teach him how to squat, and noticed that he can't squat low enough to touch the floor with his hand. It was kinda scary.

[discordian]

Exercise #18 - Injuries?

Squats 70kg - I hope I counted right, because this felt much easier than 67.5kg
Overhead Press 40kg - Allow me to make a transcription of my last set: "Shake-Almostfallover-Wobble-Imgonnadie-Yee... eek... goupyoudamnbar.. wobble.. Haa!
Deadlift 105kg - It is using psychological weapons against me! Thus it's weak and I can lift it. Right?
Chin/pull-ups bw 8(c)-4(p)-3(p)-2(p) - As if I care after 40kg overhead press.

Injuries? My thumb got caught between crenellation of the bar and 20kg plate when removing them after deadlifts. Ow. And then I slipped in shower. This is a dangerous sport!

Also, I think I took something like hour and twenty minutes to complete this.. Part was waiting for my turn and part was waging the mindgame against the deadlifts, but mostly it was recovering from overhead press.

Disc.

.. Did I already mention that I did 40kg overhead press? Five complete sets of it?

[mae]

.. Did I already mention that I did 40kg overhead press? Five complete sets of it?

Well done! One of the many reasons the OHP is great is that it's always a pleasant surprise when you finish the 5x5: you think you won't be able to do it, but then after a bit of shaking and grunting you realize you've succeeded! Way to go, discordian.

And you must be doing something right if unloading the bar and showering are the most dangerous parts of your routine...