Geesedude's Training Log

[kuucman]

You don't need to do those other things!

But I guess if you want to... I mean, you do have that extra day of recovery anyways... As long as I don't see you adding in 12 sets of curls!

I'm considering changing around my plan a bit and doing an alternative workout for my third workout, but I haven't decided yet. I'm going to take off in a bit for the gym, and I'll just be doing my normal 5x5 today.

So yesterday's workout went ok? And you feel ok today? I'd still say to take it really slow in your increases for squats and deadlifts, for at least a little while longer, just to make sure that your back is ok.

[geesedude]

Yeah, my back feels fine. I think if anything i need to get a less firm mattress, or maybe an upper layer that conforms with the back of my arch. I dunno if it's b/c i've put on more mass in the rump (hence adding an extra curvature) or whether it's the exercise, but definitely, when i get up in the morning, regardless if it was a workout day or not, my back feels like it's been in the wrong position all night long. And i can't sleep on my side, so that's not an option.

I'll only do the Super days on the weekends; i don't plan on adding anything new to the 5x5, except for how i warm up or do a preparation rep before each exercise. I may opt to do a bit more cardio and abs, but that's about it.

[geesedude]

Okay, i was being stupid again and did rows instead of deadlifts. Oh well.

Squats: 1x5 @ 185 lbs, 4x5 @ 225 lbs
Press: 5x5 @ 95 lbs (last set i only did 3 reps)
Rows: 1x5 @ 95 lbs, 4x5 @ 115 lbs
Pull downs: 2x5 @ 100 lbs, 2x5 @ 145 lbs, 2x5 @ 160 lbs

Notes:
Man, i feel like i can go close to 250 lbs on squats soon... but presses, i'm having trouble making ground. I gotta go 5%-10% heavier next rotation.

I also look like i'm getting WIDER. At first i thought i was getting a bit fat (always hungry and eating) but my torso is definitely wider than before.

Current Weight: 171.5 lbs

[kuucman]

haha... you should write out what exercises and what weights you're going to use before you get to the gym. That way, there's no confusion. I used to bring a notebook, but now I just bring a little slip of paper that has that info on it, and then I just check off my sets as I do them.

That's great about the squats. But like you told me, keep it slow. That 250 will come around soon enough, so just work your way up there.

For presses, make sure that you do a staggered step. I am actually going to do presses tonight, and I'm going to try doing that. I think that should help with balance. You didn't mention balance as an issue, but whatev. Are you getting enough rest? If you're not finishing, maybe take a longer rest period? I have had to gradually increase my rest between sets, so now I am up to about a minute and a half for most exercises.

I don't remember (and I'm too lazy to look right now). What was your weight goal again?

[geesedude]

My weight goal is 173 - 175 lbs, so i'm getting there.

I'm prolly gonna write it on the top of my hand or something; i feel stupid that i can't remember 4 little things, but usually by the time i get to lifting, i'm not thinking all that straight. I think it's true that your brain power decreases as you route more blood to your muscles. Duh.

I'm sure presses will come... i just need to increase gradually. It's not like squats where i can jump 10-20 lbs at a time. My goal for press is 125 lbs, so if i can get to around 100 lbs in the near term, i should be cool. I should prolly reiterate my goals based on freeweights at this time:

Revised Goals:

Squats: 275 lbs
Bench: 205 lbs
Rows: 155 lbs
Dips: Max 30
Press: 125 lbs
Deadlift: 185 lbs (increased to my last snap point)
Pull downs: 180 lbs

Notes:

I may have to watch what i eat a little bit and do a bit less cardio, so i have more strength for lifting. I think i may try stretching, doing just a 10 min warmup, do 1 set of abs to engage the core, lift, then do the normal abs routine. And if i have strength at the end, another 15-20 min cardio. My workout is getting a bit routine, so a changeup is needed anyway.

[geesedude]

I'm gonna try putting in a couple of days of yoga or plyometrics in to my workout, and abandon (for now) my extended 5x5 program (5 times a week). As i was looking at my form last night, especially the overhead press, i don't have enough flexibility to perform some of these properly.

Besides, it may help out on my joint problems, and i need to be cautious about my flexibility (which i don't have much to begin with) as i gain more mass anyway; it'll prevent injuries and probably help me to recover quicker from lifting workouts too.

I was once on the p90x program (last winter) which did help me kickstart getting in to shape, but that program is just crazy... you need a lot of time and commitment to the program in order to be successful. But it has a couple of things like Power Yoga and Plyo which is good and definitely doable, so i'll revisit those again.

[geesedude]

Switching it up and lifting first went okay today, but i think i'm gonna keep abs before lifting. Strangely, i feel like i have more core power after firing up the abs, and doing abs after lifting was difficult. So essentially i'll just put the cardio at the end, which actually felt better (loosened up my legs after doing squats).

Today's Workout

Squats : 1x5 @ 135 lbs, 1x5 @ 225 lbs, 3x5 @ 245 lbs (increase)
Bench : 1x5 @ 135 lbs, 4x5 @ 155 lbs
Deadlift: 1x7 @ 135 lbs, 1x7 @ 145 lbs (increase)
Dips: 3 sets to max (27, 20, 15 )

Cardio: Incline walk - 5 min @ 8 incline/3 speed, 5 min @ 12/3, 5 min @ 15/3, 5 min @ 15/3.5, 2 min cool down. Total distance: 1 mile

Notes
Arg, my left elbow was really hurting me today. Had hard time doing bench and dips. Icing it at home as i am typing. Also, i need to reduce squat weight and go down deeper. I'm gonna strip down to around 200 lbs and go deeper than i normally do, next time. Probably go lower on presses too, to get the form right. Man, that incline walk at 15/3.5 setting burns 850 cal/hr; keeps my hr at around 165-168 too. Good stuff.

Current Weight: 170.5 lbs

[kuucman]

Yeah, doing something like yoga on off days might be good. Good stretching for your body. Considering full-body workouts 5 days a week would've been crazy.

You're making some big jumps on squat! You're already close to 1.5xBW... has it not been that difficult for you? That's pretty cool. How is the depth on these? You said that you want to go deeper; so just going back and focusing on form and depth, making sure thats ok?

btw, I might steal that incline treadmill idea... that might be a good way to adjust intensity w/o putting a crazy pounding on my knees.

[geesedude]

Squats- yeah pretty much. I need to check myself once in a while that i'm not too ambitious on increasing weight, thereby compromising proper form and technique. Like the Presses, when i added more weight, i was beginning to use my legs a bit, and that's the only way i can push that weight. So i don't want to cheat on these and need to get back on form, which will invariably mean lowering my current weight numbers.

I don't know if it's the biking, but i just can't seem to get myself running these days. But incline walking definitely seems to be a good compromise. When i come home i get that "good" soreness in my quads, which usually goes away after a night of sleep.

Burn wise (calories), the incline walk is about the same as if you would do a 9.5 min mile. When i used to run 30 min, it would burn about 350-400 cals. The incline walk burned about 220 cal in 20 minutes. As i stated before, the incline walk at 15/3.5 setting burns 850 cal/hr, but it's pretty hard to sustain at this setting for long.

[kuucman]

Yeah, I'll prolly try the incline walk on Sunday. I have a bball game tonight, so I will prolly run to the gym tomorrow at lunch and do squats. Then on Sunday I will do my next workout. I'll let you know how that incline walk goes.

Well, you're biking anyways. You probably don't need to incorporate too much cardio into your workout, since your primary goal is strength gains and a bit of weight gain. I, on the other hand, should be sure to incorporate at least a bit of cardio w/ each workout.

I'm going to try to get a measured weight under 250 before you get up to 175...

[geesedude]

I got back in to doing yoga Saturday; man... i've become fairly stiff. I need to keep it up. So as promised, i'm doing deeper squats and proper formed presses. Sunday workout:

Squats: 1x5 @ 135 lbs, 1x5 @ 185 lbs, 3x5 @ 215 lbs
Press: 5x5 @ 85 lbs
Deadlifts: 1x7 @ 135 lbs, 1x7 @ 155 lbs
Pull downs: 1x5 @ 80 lbs, 2x5 @ 145 lbs

Notes:
I didn't do my Super Sunday today. Wasn't feeling all that energetic this weekend.

Current Weight: 172 lbs

[geesedude]

Today's Workout

Squats : 1x5 @ 185 lbs, 4x5 @ 225 lbs (Goal: 275 lbs)
Bench : 2x5 @ 135 lbs, 3x5 @ 155 lbs (Goal: 205 lbs)
Rows: 1x5 @ 115 lbs, 2x5 @ 135 lbs, 2x5 @ 115 lbs (Goal: 155 lbs)
Dips: 3 sets to max (30, 20, 13 ) (Goal: 30 max)

Notes
Started to take NO2 today. The verdict - eh, i didn't see anything noticeable during the workout. Maybe i need to take it for a while. I did feel stronger today, but then again, i got in an extra day of rest, so i attribute it mostly to that. I did notice my gut got bigger when i took off my shirt at the gym - not sure what the deal with that was. Maybe since it's a hemodilator, it promotes more blood to blood rich regions, like the gut. I'll finish the jar (44 more servings to go, which equates to about 15 weeks. We'll just have to wait and see.

I'm also going to be more conscious about getting protein in the morning. Feels like i'm wasting hard work the next day after a workout when i hardly get any protein in for breakfast.

Current Weight: 171 lbs

[geesedude]

Ugh. I thought it was a minor thing yesterday but i hurt my right wrist doing rows yesterday. Not sure what happened, but it happened in the heavier set. Almost feels like when i broke my wrist a few years ago; i hope it's just a bad sprain and i didn't stress fracture a wrist bone somehow. There are so many little bones in there, you never know when it comes to wrist injuries. I iced it down yesterday and it felt better, but this morning, i can't do much with it (even typing is hard). I cannot put pressure on it, and rotational movement is pretty much out of the question. I have a wrist brace on it, and it helps, but this really sucks. Biking this morning, every bump felt like someone was hitting my wrist with a hammer. Arg.

[kuucman]

Dude, that really sucks. If it doesn't really get any better after a few days, maybe you should see an orthopedic surgeon. There are hand specialists you could see. You might know all this already from dealing w/ your wrist before, but thought I'd mention it in case it helps. I'm going to see one today, so I can let you know how he is.

[geesedude]

Today's Workout

Squats: 1x5 @ 185 lbs, 2x5 @ 225 lbs, 2x5 @ 245 lbs (Goal: 275 lbs)
Press: 5x5 @ 85 lbs (Goal: 125 lbs)
Deadlifts: 1x7 @ 135 lbs, 1x7 @ 155 lbs (Goal: 185 lbs)
Pull downs: 1x5 @ 85 lbs, 2x5 @ 145 lbs (Goal: 180 lbs)

Notes:
Happy Halloween...! Wrist felt okay... had a wrist brace for support.

Current Weight: 171 lbs