Grip72's Training Log

[Grip72]

A friend from another forum (one about cars, nonetheless) pointed me onto this website when I was asking people if I am overtraining...

I started working out around a year ago and I love it but although I've made progress and my body looks WAY better, I have started to feel like I've plateau’d. So now I’m trying something new. For the year previous, my workout consisted of a chest/abs day, triceps/biceps day, shoulders/back day and random days of cardio and I’d work out my legs maybe once a month haha. The majority of my exercises were isolation and I would do 4 sets of 8 with probably 5-6 exercises per muscle group - Apparently too much!
I had never done a squat! I did a few deadlifts but mostly with dumbbells as my previous gym did not have a loose barbell, just the smith machine. Oh and I rarely do benchpress with a barbell as I prefer dumbbells and I feel that they work my pecs/arms a lot harder vs a barbell. Also, I may have a hard time with OHP as I dislocated my shoulder 2 years ago and still have strength/pain/mobility issues with it. I am pretty confident with my form as I have co-workers who are very fit that have complimented me on my form and control, but I’m always open to advice.

Few notes about ME:
1) I was pretty chubby before I started working out and now I am thick/toned. I used to weigh 165lbs, lost weight and was around 148lbs, then bulked up to a current 168lbs. Within the last 2 weeks, I had 4 friends that I hadn’t seen in over 2months compliment me on my physique on separate occasions and ask If I've been working out, it felt GREAT! I really hope this SL routine increases this!

2) I’m not going to lie, I am a bit skeptical about SL5x5. it says that with my current benchpress that I should be able to BP 229lbs in 12 weeks. I would be incredibly shocked and happy if I could BP that much for more than one rep! That would be awesome! I have no idea what my current 1RM is for any exercise.

3) Although I DO want to gain strength/mass, I am also concerned about looking good/toned. I constantly see guys at my gym who are strong as hell, but they are also very large/fat/chubby or whatever. I don’t get it! Why hide all that muscle and potential physique with slabs of fat!?

4) I workout by myself at the gym. I get too distracted if I workout with a partner. me + music = good to go!


ANYWAYS,
So I went to the gym last Thursday (Oct 1st) and decided to give Workout A a go as a test to my starting weights, here is the results…ugh

Personal STATS
25 yrs. old, male
height: 5’ 11’’
weight: 168 lbs.
bodyfat: absolutely no idea

Strength STATS
Squat- 115lbs for 5x5
Bench- 135 lbs for 5x5 (could’ve gone more with ease)
InvRow- 15/11/8
Pushups- 18/11/8 (i love pushups!)
Rev Crunches 12/12/12
And I'll test the following from Workout B on Wed Oct 7th if I’m not working out of town
OHP-
Deadlift-
Pullups-

Nutrition:
six meals/day
lots of water
i eat alot of chicken and i eat pretty damn healthy (easy to say compared to the slobs out there nowadays!)
whey isolate protein shake 3x/day
creatine w/ dextrose 2x/day (currently on a maintenance cycle)
and im cutting out my beer intake until february, i hate my little beer gut (aka fatty pack)

Schedule: I will be going M/W/F with Cardio on days off or after the workouts on days I have extra energy to spend…

Goals
* i’m going to Bali/Thailand in February 2010 for 2-4months and plan on spending A LOT of time on the beach surfing/swimming/relaxing so I want to look good!
* commit to Stronglifts 5x5 for 4months and see how I look and feel and this better damn well help and not hinder my current fitness progress/success
* build overall body strength and tone (trim my beer belly!)
* bench MORE, 200lbs would be great
* increase leg size so I don’t look like I’m riding a damn chicken
* strengthen upperbody, particularly left shoulder which was dislocated 2 years ago following a motorcycle accident
* double the compliments I have been receiving


Any comments on anything would be greatly appreciated!

[bkklift]

I think Stronglifts would be a good program for you. The compound exercises are best for packing on muscle and thickness. It's your nutrition that will add the chub not SL

I understand you are skeptical but keep in mind SL makes no promises of how much you will be lifting after a certain time. You are presuming you won't need to deload, I wouldn't be too sure about that! SL is not a 12 week transformation program but rather a steady journey. I know that sounds incredibly cheesy and doesn't make for a great sales blurb, but it's the truth and it works.

In many ways, you remind me of how I started out. I began with a bodybuilder style program as well and was hesitant to change. I was convinced a program needed a "secret" for it to work, some sort of magical exercise or rep scheme. Something like SL just seemed too pedestrian. I plateaued incredibly fast and eventually succumbed to SL (whilst keeping an eye out for the next hot program). You can check out my log, if you want to see my progress and judge if SL works.

I'm beginning to sound like a shill for Mehdi! Whilst I don't think SL is the be-all-and-end-all, I do believe that it's a great beginning and definitely something that can help you reach all of your goals.

PS. I spend a lot of time in Thailand, so feel free to ask any questions

[Grip72]

yeah i am hestiant to change my workout regime as well, I'm so used to being at the gym for 1.5hrs, 4 days/week.

i have done the SL Workout A twice now, first as a test for weight and then another time as an actual workout day.
both days only took around 40minutes each. it seemed quite fast and i was not tired after them at all, except my soreass thighs/legs!

i'm sick still (since the weekend) so hopefully i can start this soon!

I'm super anxious and really hope it works haha. I want a better body yet!
i like when i have to buy new clothes due to new muscles haha

[shree]

Grip72, congrats & welcome. You have taken a steps in right direction.

I really like you have clear definition of goals which would make easier to achieve them.

One comment about cardio part, many time on this forum this has been discussed and common advice is to do cardio on SAME day , which will give you good results and enough time for muscles to relax on off days.

I hope this helps.

Good luck in achieving your goals

[Grip72]

Shree, thanks for the advice about the cardio on the same day.

I skipped the gym yesterday in favor of going home and slamming some night-time medicine and sitting on the couch. I cannot breath very well and my nose won't stop running lol. Smartly, I was in bed by 830 and slept like a baby.
I'm feeling a bit better today so we'll see if I can make the gym tonight.
Not a good start to this program, haha

[Grip72]

jesus hell i've been having a hard time going consistently!
I haven't slept well lately so I'm either too tired after work (crappy excuse, i know), injured, or out of town working
boo urns

[Grip72]

UGH

feeling very discouraged lately.
i was working out of town for just over two weeks and i wasn't able to do go to a gym or eat properly.
i returned to the gym on saturday and holy shit was i ever weak! i had to take 30lbs off my squat and 20lbs off my bench press haha.
i only worked out for 40minutes and i was BAGGED after.
argh, i feel like all the work i've done since i started working out has been a waste.
not sure if i'll continue with this program or go back to my own workout routines (which are less strict)

i SUCK at squatting and don't feel i've progressed much at it. hell, some girls are squatting more than me!!

i dunno i'm just venting/ranting. maybe i'm MAN-strauting haha

i'll try workout B tonight and see how it goes but i have a bad feeling i may cut it short as my squat feels like i'm starting from scratch! my arms feel tiny and my gut feels big
ra ra ra.... i sound like a chick

[WhiteGorilla]

Stop feeling bad for yourself! It'll only make your workouts worse. Just start squatting with a positive midset and in just a month, you could be squatting 60 more pounds than you are now. Get at itt!

[Grip72]

Currently working at
OHP - 100lbs
DL - 200lbs
BP - 165
Squat - 165

[Grip72]

I took a mental/physical break from SL5x5 from approximately DEC 12TH until JAN 4 2010, then fired back up again...

Now I'm back and keeping the spreadsheet updated and kicking!

As of Jan 15th, 2010
Weight: 170lbs
Squat: completed 180lbs for 5x5
OHP: deloading from 100lbs to 90lbs for next B workout
DL: completed 225lbs for 1x5
BP: deloading from 165lbs, wow. i'm a pussy haha, i keep getting like 5,5,5,4,3. i'm deloading to 150lbs for tonight and i'll go from there
IR: body weight 12,9,8,
RC: 3x25
Pullups: 8,5,4
Chinups: 8,6,6
Pushups: 10,10,10 (narrow stance with hands on wobble board)

I feel pretty good, a bit disappointed with my BP though so hopefully this deloading will help. But my shoulders/upper arms feel and look bigger, woot woot. I think I'll add some decline bench press and decline flyes to work on my lower pecs. They feel a bit soft haha

[WhiteGorilla]

Way to get back at it!
Awesome lifts too