itsbruce's log

[itsbruce]

4 weeks in, I hit my first plateau: Overhead Press at 30kg. For the third session running, failed on the fifth rep of the fifth round. Time to drop back and concentrate on technique.

All the other weights still going strong.
Squat: 52.5
Bench: 37.5
Deadlift: 65

(People with spare time on their hands and good arithmetic will work out that I must have started Squats and Bench at 25. So shoot me )

5'8" (173cm). 158lb (72kg). 20%bf.

Aiming for strength rather than bulk.

[itsbruce]

Whoops, too confident. Now I failed on Bench at 40kg. But I think I was too tired (brought forward Sunday's set to today because I'm away Sunday). Next routine on Tuesday, see how it goes.

Squat:55
Bench: 37.5 (failed at 40)
OHP: 27.5 (failed at 30)
Deadlift: 65

I do need more strength in my upper body, though. All my strength is in legs and core (can do prone bridges on one leg for two minutes, no problem) but my shoulders are not strong.

[itsbruce]

OHP at 27.5kg went fine this time, so I'm feeling good about getting back to 30kg on Sunday.

Squats at 57.5kg: was finding it an effort in the final set and a half to stand up without leaning forward. Managed the last couple with some energy, though.

Deadlift at 70kg still not troubling me.

I'm definitely cutting out the cardio. I'm not fat at all; I'm just scared of getting fat again. But the amount of energy that 5x5 now takes out of me means nothing to spare for cardio. I think adding cardio to 5x5 probably caused me to stall earlier than I otherwise would have, and has held back muscle growth (although I have still gained strength).

It's going to feel very odd to be doing no cardio after nearly 2 years of disciplined exercise, though.

[itsbruce]

Whoo! No energy wasted on cardio + change of attitude = powering through.

Squat: 60kg is making me squeeze the bar and use my glutes, which I haven't had to do with squats till this point. But doing that meant no problems. I mean, it's tough but I'm not near stalling. Also, major psychological milestone to be squatting with those big 20kg weights on either side of my shoulders.

1xbw is 12.5kg away...

Bench: 40kg with no strain till the final set and no faltering then.

Real test will be OHP on Sunday, though.

[itsbruce]

Woot! My copy of Starting Strenth (2nd Edition) arrived, and only 2 days after I ordered it (it's not so easy to source it here in the UK).

[rere]

Woot! My copy of Starting Strenth (2nd Edition) arrived, and only 2 days after I ordered it (it's not so easy to source it here in the UK).

It's a good read bruce

[itsbruce]

Squat: 62.5kg and still going. Since I hit 60, I get to a point around the 3rd set where I'm beginning to worry. Then I just set my mind to it and power on - 4th set is better, 5th set is best of the 5.

Press: Damn. Back up to 30kg and failed again on the fifth of the fifth. But this time I've read Starting Strength and I can see where my technique is failing. Going to concentrate on that technique in my head for the next four days. Will not fail on Thursday.

Deadlift: 75kg and no problems. Wonder when this one is going to start requiring the same level of concentration and effort that Squats now demand from me.

Very happy despite the stall on presses.

[itsbruce]

Squat: 65kg went even better than the last session. I need to improve my bounce - in fact, this is probably the first time I had anything like a proper bounce, having just powered up with my legs before now. Getting quieter too: unlike the last few sessions, this time it was only on the fifth rep of the fifth set that I sounded as if I was trying to give birth to the bar.

Bench: 42.5kg and only on the fifth of five do I worry. Technique improving and I think it'll be a while before I stall again.

1xBW is only a week away...

[itsbruce]

Squat: 67.5kg and still finding the energy. Worried in the middle sets, powered through the 5th. Wonder if I can make two more sessions without stalling? That'll take me to 1xBW.

Press: 30kg and just scraped home the fifth of five. I'll move up to 32.5kg next time and continue to concentrate on improving technique.

Deadlift: 80kg and near the point where I need to switch grip. I also need to start concentrating on technique for this, now, before it becomes a problem.

Still happy.

[itsbruce]

Squat: 70kg and still making it, but my right knee is moving in on each upward drive, which is really sucking the power out of it. Need to fix that.

Bench: 45kg and stalled 5/5/5/4/3. Right at the very edge of my arm strength, there. Need to improve both technique and strength.

Pushups are 15/5/5 - that goes with the bench results as indicating more strength needed. Have to target that.

[itsbruce]

Squat: 72.kg - 1xBW!! Better control of knees. Real test of strength, though.

Press: 32.5kg stalled badly 5/5/4/3/2. With this, the bench stall, my chin-ups at 4/2/2 and my pull-ups at 3/1/1, I really need to work on shoulder strength.

Deadlift: 85kg and still not needing to switch grip. Still going strong.

1xBW is a great milestone to hit on the way to 1.5, but my shoulders really need work.

[itsbruce]

Squat: 75kg and first ever stall for 5/5/5/2/5. I'm confident I can succeed next time, though; I think the final 5 shows that. Lost my way in the 4th set but refused to let that be the end of it.

Bench: 45kg and succeeded this time. Maybe psyched by the stall/recovery in squats. Technique can improve, here.

Need to concentrate on volume with push-ups (10/10/4) and inverted rows (6/6/5). Reverse crunches fine (done with no anchor weight) but tiring.

[itsbruce]

Squat: 75kg and succeeded 5x5. Puffing and blowing on the fifth of five but I'm there. I wonder, though, if I can keep raising this in 2.5kg stages. See how 77.5kg goes.

Press: 32.5kg and succeeded 5x5. I do begin to run out of energy in that fifth set. Still, I'm beyond the plateau and moving up.

Deadlift: 90kg and succeeded 5x5. Had to switch grip, though.

Chin-ups only 2/2/2 - so much taken out of me by what went before. Bridges sweet - one legged no problem, going to start doing one leg/one arm next time. Had a trainer check my form there again, because some people here suggested core strength might be my problem with OHP. I think my problem is focusing core strength. So there

Did 10 minutes on the treadmill as well. Would have done more but a) did 25 yesterday and b) stopped to yak to a trainer and then had to go.

[itsbruce]

Squat: 77.5kg and stall for 5/5/5/2/4. There is definitely room for improvement on technique and flexibility and I think I can do more to increase muscle growth (haven't been paying enough attention to carbs in pre/post workout food). Even then, I can see future progression being stall one session, force through it the next, for at least the next while. Hope I can put off a deload for a bit yet, though. Note: Better bar positioning this time. The last few times I've been rubbing patches between my shoulder blades nearly raw but have corrected this.

Bench: 47.5kg and stall for 5/5/5/5/2. I can do better than that. More focus, more energy (i.e. better sleep and nutrition). This isn't like Squats, where I feel I'm straining for every energy reserve - here I'm sure I can focus to release more energy. It's actually the tougher weights that are helping me find that focus. Now I know what it means to try to tear the bar apart.

I have not been giving bodyweight exercises enough prominence on my log. This was stupid - it shows I wasn't giving them enough thought in the programme. If I had done the right work to improve rows and push-ups earlier on, I'd be further ahead with press and bench. So that stops and I put better thought into my weaker BW exercises.

Inverted Rows: 10/8/6 with bent knees. This is the first time I've tried it with bent knees - before I was straight-legged or even legs raised on bench. Stupid, because I simply wasn't getting enough volume to improve. Confident this will improve quickly, now, and so help other exercises.

Push-ups: 8/8/4 - I've been greasing the groove on this and it's already helping. I will be disappointed if I'm not doing at least 8/8/8 next time and will be aiming for better.

Reverse Crunches: 12/12/12 with no anchor weight. Final half of final set is tiring and form begins to slip. When I can do these at this level with no slippage of form, time to go on to dragon flags or similar.

Did 10 minutes uphill run on the treadmill afterwards. No time for any more.

[itsbruce]

OK, I'm going to post this here rather than in one of the other forums, because I suddenly don't feel the need to broadcast my stupidity, but it might be enlightening to anybody who actually reads my log.

But boy do I feel stupid.

Somehow, I came away from reading the e-book with the impression that it should be 30 seconds between sets and a minute between the different lifts (i.e. a minute between finishing squats and moving to bench or press). That when things get tough, you can increase the gap between the different lifts by up to 5 minutes. So all this time, tough as it became, I've been limiting myself to that and wondering if I was just a wuss compared to everybody else, in terms of stamina; that or just old. Man, have I been punishing myself. When I did 5/5/5/2/5 for squats at 75kg on a Thursday, the 5/5/5/5/5 I blasted myself through on the Sunday was with the regulation (or so I thought) 30 seconds between sets.

I had thought that I was reaching my absolute limits and would have to switch to intermediate much sooner than should be the case. But if I take a couple of minutes between sets, I will not be stalling on my next squat, not my next bench and not my next press. This will make me feel like a champion. But a stupid one.

Now I must go read the e-book again with my eyes open.