helm's log

[helm]

yay, finally back to solid food. missed 2 training sessions this week, will miss 2 more next week due to travel, so I will get back to the gym not until friday. that sucks a little. tomorrow, maybe even tonight a little no excuses workout, but nothing more.
didn't dare to go to the gym yesterday or today, since I was barely eating right for the last days and wouldn't have been able to take in sufficient pwo nutrition. didn't weigh myself yet, but I feel I lost some weight, maybe even some of that love-handle-stored energy

actually the next session was planned to include 2 PRs, 46kg OHP and 135kg deadlift. let's see if that'll still work. hope so.

thanks for the kind words.

[jester87]

have fun on your travel! but seriously dude, you need to get things straight again! eat right and train right! no compromise!!!
also, good luck on your next session!

[helm]

back from the dead!

Squat
1x5x30kg
1x3x50
1x3x70
5x5x90

OHP
1x5x30kg
3x5x40
1x4x42
1x4x45

Deadlift
1x3x60kg
1x3x100
1x3x120
1x4x125
1x3x130

after more than a week with the nice food poisoning and no workout I had another week of travel, without workouts, but including another stomach upset. so now I'm back exactly 2 weeks after the last session. I was shocked to find out that I almost lost 4kg when weighing before hitting the weights. guess that's what happens if you can't eat, but $#!7 a lot. will have to get me some more good food.

squats were ok, but quite hard.
lost some strength on the OHP again - 45 was too heavy, so was 42, so I had to go back to 40kg. embarassing.
deadlifts were quite ok. last time I was ready to go for 140kg, but that'll have to wait. actually wanted to do 5reps of 125kg, but stopped after the 4th. could've hit myself for that, there was no real reason to stop. so I tried 130 for 3 reps, and it still worked, which made me quite happy. and there was a photographers taking pics of the gym, including me deadlifting the last set. facial expression must be great, haha...

[Buffalo150]

Helm-

Sorry to read of your "issues"...

I empathize with your plight regarding losing ground...it just sucks!

-Bflo

[KIB]

Great deads, Helm. See if you post those photos here.
Glad to have you back. Now go eat something to get your weight back up.

[helm]

Squat
1x5x40kg
1x5x60
1x5x75
1x3x85
5x5x90

Bench Press
1x10x20kg
1x5x40
5x5x60

Barbell Row
5x5x60

Dips
10/5/4

Deadlifts
5x5x60

just when I was about to finish my warmup stretches, some guy takes my (the only) squat rack and starts squatting. fortunately with quite good form, almost breaking parallel. so I joined him and after squats we benched together. he told me he never deadlifted before, so I showed him how to, during my barbell rows. thus I also did some deadlifts. really light ones though.

squats were ok, felt pretty heavy still.
bench 60kg was good, not exhausting. same for rows.
dips started well and began to suck during 2nd set.

thanks kib and bflo, I'm always happy to read your comments!
dunno if I'll ever get to see those photos, probably not...

[helm]

Squat
1x5x30kg
1x3x50
1x3x70
1x2x90
5x5x92

OHP
1x5x30kg
1x3x40
5/5/4/5/4x44

Deadlift
1x5x60kg
1x3x100
1x2x120
1x5x135 PR

Chin-ups
8/5/6/7

20min moderate cardio on elliptical trainer

pretty nice one today!
squats were hard, will do 92kg again to improve form.
OHP's a bitch, as usual. but I'm sure next time I'll do 5x5x45kg again.
deadlifts. ooh, I like 'em. 1x5x135kg was nice, only issue was the grip. the last set almost slipped out of my hands. I guess I will really have to change to the hook grip soon, although I don't really like it. maybe some grip training will also help

oh, I finally managed to look like a dork last time! after squatting I took off three 10kg plates from one side of the bar at once, which led the bar to sloooowly fall down on the other side, making quite some noise, since those plates are plain metal, not coated or anything. fortunately there were only about 10 people at the gym, about 3 of them laughed...

[Buffalo150]

Helm-

Nice work on the Deadlift.

Are you using an over/under grip or straight overhand? If you haven't tried the over/under, give it a go...

I've had all sorts of issues with the hook grip and can't make it work.

-Bflo

[helm]

thanks. I'm still using a straight overhand grip, tried a mixed grip only a few times and it always felt weird. will have to try it again though.
I think the overhand grip will be my choice as long as possible, until a mixed grip is inevitable. working on grip strength might help to postpone that change a little..

[jester87]

hey helm, doing nice! i seem to have the same problem as you on the overhead press, i just cant do them last reps! it sure is a bitch!
about the squats, dont do 92kg again!! raise it! its hard yes, but raise it please!! you can work on your form during your warmup man! come on dont do 92kg again unless you didnt do a 5x5... but you did!! hope you choose to raise it...

about the deadlift, yeh the mixed grip is kinda weird, i started out overhand grip as well, but because the article "how to deadlift" recommended doing what the guy ine picture/video was doing (which was mixed grip) i tried it out. it was weird, and i immedietaly changed back to overhand... but then at the next deadlift i figured "dude, im a newb, it feels weird, big deal, i wanna do it right like the pros"! and since then i've been doing mixed grip (since then has been 2deadlifts ago only!) and im getting used to it! do it like the pros man!

[KIB]

You'll nail that OHP next session, Helm. And I've got to go with Bflo about the mixed grip. It helped me increase my dead way beyond what I could do with just overhand grip. There are some good exercises for strengthening the grip, too, of course. You'll see lots of squeezing springy things on YouTube, but there are simpler things like plate pinches and wrist rolls.
Good to see you back after that food poisoning. Glad that's done with. Nasty.

[helm]

Squat
1x5x30kg
1x5x50
1x3x70
1x2x90
1x1x100
5x5x92

Bench Press
1x10x20kg
1x5x40
1x5x60
5x5x62

Barbell Row
3x5x60
alternated with 3x6 Inverted Rows

Dips
8/5/5

squats were better this time. bench too.
had to find out that inverted rows are not as easy as I thought. did them with elevated feet.

as this currently is my last week at university, I had to revive the student feeling and had quite some beer etc. at a few parties. 1day party, 1 day rest. almost like weightlifting
could get used to that again, if I didn't know that exactly that was the reason for my belly in the first place

[Buffalo150]

Helm-

as this currently is my last week at university, I had to revive the student feeling and had quite some beer etc. at a few parties. 1day party, 1 day rest. almost like weightlifting
could get used to that again, if I didn't know that exactly that was the reason for my belly in the first place

Ah...the life of a "student"...

-Bflo

[KIB]

Yeah, those inverted rows aren't as easy as they look, huh?
I like the way you did one squat at 100 before doing 5x5 at 92. Did they feel lighter after the 100?

[helm]

oh yeah, those inverted rows are pretty hard. the 100kg squat was indeed intended to make the next set feel lighter, it even worked. may have to take 110 next time, then the 95 should be a lot lighter