Jimmie's Training Log

[Jimmie]

I am 31, live in the UK, and have been working out for about the last 3 years. I first started lifting weights at a local gym. They did me a workout routine which I followed for 5-6 months. Now at the time I wish I came across this website, because I spent my workouts doing 3 sets of 10-12 reps on mostly weight machines, at the time I thought they new what they was on about when I spoke to the instructors, as when they asked what my aims are, I said get stronger and bulk up. Anyway to cut the crap after a year I gave up and concentrated on my other hobbies mountain biking, kayaking and climbing.
After 5 months my brother got me back into lifting weights, at this point he had been training for about 2 years, so he was pretty strong compared to me, he told me to do compound excercises and keep the reps no higher than 8. I googled compound excercises and thats when I came across stronglift, I did the 5x5 for a good 5 months and was amazed how strong I became, brother and a couple of his mates decided we should do some competitions, lost squats and benchpress, but deadlifts, clean and jerk, shoulder press and power clean, I beat them, they had all been working hard for well over 2 years, thay asked what my workout involved, I told them to check the 5x5 at stronglift.com.
I haven't been doing the 5x5 for well over a year, at the time I was struggling to get stronger (this was due to me not eating more food and sorting my diet).
After reading Rere's training log, I now understand where I went wrong. So I am going to do 5x5 again but this time sort my diet and a training log. I have started the 5x5 already done A and B, this is how I stand at the moment -

Started 04/09/2008
Squats 60kg 5x5, feels really good, my technique feels better than ever.
Benchpress 60kg 5x5
Barbell Row 30kg 5x5, dont really like this one, always feels uncomfortable in the lower back, im sure this will go away in time
Weighted dips 20kg 3x5, love them, what more is there to say
Overhead press 40kg 5x5, No problems just a slight pain in right shoulder
Deadlift 125kg 5x1, love them
Pull ups 10kg 3x5, no problems

Next workout tomorrow, will keep you updated.

[Jimmie]

Started 04/09/2008

Ment 2009 not 2008.

[Shox]

great initial lifts, good luck with it, ill be watching ur log. Great to see another brit here

[Shox]

it wont let me edit my above post, but whereabouts in spalding do u live? My uncle lives in spalding :p

[Jimmie]

Thanks for the comment Shox.

Todays workout -

Squats (Warmup 2x5 bar, 2x5 40kg) 65kg 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Press (Warmup 2x6 10kg) 42kg 5/5/5/5/5
Deadlift (Warmup 3x1 80kg) 125kg 1/1/1/1/1
Pullups (Warmup 1x5) 11.5kg 5/5/5
Power Clean (Warmup 3x1 40kg) 60kg 1/1/1/1/1

Squats - Technique felt spot on, just not sure if I'm going low enough, definitely going past parallel. Bloody shorts kept pissing me off, kept forgetting to pull them up 4th and 5th set they felt like they were going to ripp. Will stick at this weight for the next session.

Overhead press - No problem, not even from the nagging shoulder.

Deadlift - Not sure what happened on the first set, went dizzy and sudden pins and needles after putting the bar on the floor, possible due to me breathing??, not sure the remaining sets went fine.

Pullups - First two sets were difficult, decided to give more of a exposive effort on the last set, what a difference.

Power Clean - Decided to add these, always loved doing them, 60kg felt really comfortable.

Summary - pretty pleased with todays effort considering I have eaten nothing but crap, mcdonalds for dinner, followed by a large packet of Harry bo's sweats and large coke at the cinema, me and misses are on holiday all week, so there might be a few more days like this.

[Jimmie]

Todays workout -

Added 1" bar at 7kg to overall weight as this was not in the above figures.

Squats (Warmup 2x5 bar, 2x5 40kg 1x5 50kg) 74.5kg 5/5/5/5/5
Benchpress (Warmup 2x6 40kg) 72kg 5/5/5/5/5
Barbell Row 47kg 5/5/5/5/5
Weighted Dips (Warmup 2x6) 25kg 5/5/5

Squats - This felt really tuff, slight shake of the knees on the last set and a few reps had me leaning forward over the toes. Will stick with this weight next time and see if I can keep better form, will try to do some videos and get my form checked, if not, may have to deload. Also knees click alot, anybody else have this issue?

Benchpress - No problems reckon I'm going to wack it up to 77kg, and see how it goes next time.

Barbell row - First set felt uncomfortable for the lower back again, changed my position a little, this made a difference. Will check some vids and articles later on form and technique.

Weighted dips - Brillant, no problems.

Summary - Good workout, the squat is becoming really tuff now and screwing up my form, but will see how next workout goes. Must check out some vids of the barbell row.

[Shox]

keep up the good work, i cant do dips for shit, can maybe do one i might replace pressups with dips for now, see if it helps my gains.

[Jimmie]

keep up the good work, i cant do dips for shit, can maybe do one i might replace pressups with dips for now, see if it helps my gains.

I used to do a lot of pressups, but the problem with pressups is your cant increase the force only increase reps unless you have a assistant. I coulden't do dips once, the way I trained for these, was to jump up into position then lower myself down as slow as possible, after a week do the same again but pause on the way down and try to push up, within a couple of weeks I could do 2 - 3 reps. Dont worry you will increase your upperbody strength within time, a year down the line you will be looking back on this and saying to somebody else, I coulden't do any when I first started.

[Shox]

I can probably do 35 pressups if im fresh but really suck at dips :S i guess i could do negatives, but i dont feel i get a decent workout with negatives. I think my main problem with benching and dipping is my triceps are comparitavely weak, im considering adding a tricep isolation in but am worried this will damage my progress with other lifts.

[Jimmie]

Todays workout -

Added 1" bar at 7kg to overall weight as this was not in the above figures.

Squats (Warmup 2x5 bar, 2x5 47kg 1x5 57kg) 74.5kg 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Press (Warmup 2x6 10kg) 51kg 5/5/5/5/5
Deadlift (Warmup 3x1 87kg 2x1 107kg 2x1 117kg) 137kg 1/1/1/1/1
Pullups (Warmup 1x5) 12.5kg 5/5/5
Power Clean Not done.

Squats - This felt really tuff again, going up text time.

Overhead press - Okay.

Deadlift - First set was really bad, form was terrible, should not of carried on with the lift really, will make sure I put the bloody thing down next time before I give myself a major injury, all other sets went fine.

Pullups - No problems.

Power Clean - Ran out of steam, just lacked energy today.

Summary - I felt like crap today, lacked enthusiasm and energy, possible due to the crap I've been eating all week and lack of food today. Will get my diet back on track next week, back at work.

[Jimmie]

Todays workout -

Well, what a complete disaster, the poor form I had on the deadlift in previous workout has caused me severe lower back pain, I have had this pain before (last time was from poor form when lifting them council slabs a few years back), anyway decided I have no choose but to avoid anything thats going to cause strain on the lower back for a few days or so. Will possible have to deload on the squats, and I will deffinetly get some vids posted of my form to be checked out.

Squats (Warmup 2x5 bar, 2x5 40kg 1x5 50kg) 74.5kg -/-/-/-/-
Benchpress (Warmup 2x6 40kg) 77kg 5/5/5/5/5
Barbell Row 47kg -/-/-/-/-
Weighted Dips (Warmup 2x6) 27.5kg 5/5/5
Wide Grip Pull Ups 5/5/5/5/5

Benchpress went really well, felt full of energy and strength.

Weighted dips, no problems, but this is starting to get really hard.

Wide grip pull ups - No problems.

Completed gutted with my back, really has set me back , thinking about having a specialist take a look at my back and also my clicking knees. Will try the squats again hopefully next workout.

[Shox]

u need to keep ur log more updated! :p
sorry 2 hear about ur back trouble

[Jimmie]

Well, no workout today, spent the last few hours reading up on stetches, ankle mobility, tips on stopping your knees from popping and cracking and about lordosis-

http://stronglifts.com/10-tips-to-stop-your-knees-from-popping-and-cracking/
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-do-a-proper-warm-up/
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-improve-your-ankle-mobility/
http://stronglifts.com/lordosis-why-it-causes-lower-back-pain-how-to-fix-it/

I should have read this info years ago, now I know why I'm constantly getting lower back pain during and after a workout. I have a pretty bad case of lordosis (inwards excessive curve of the spine), looked side ways in the mirror, could not believe how bad it was, I said to my misses about my stomach pointing forward, she said she has noticed it for years, but never thought about saying anything. I must have got this posture from sitting at a desk at work for the last 6-7 years.

So no workout today but have sorted myself strectching excerises before my workout as follows -

Bridges - 3 sets of 10 reps.
Birddogs - 3 sets of 10 reps.
Hip Flexor Stetcher - 3 sets of 10 reps.
Hamstring Stretches - 3 sets of 10 reps each side
Strengthen Abs. Turkish Get-ups are my favorite. 5×5, increasing the weight every session.
Leg Swings. 1 set 10 reps
Side-to-Side Leg Swings 1 set 10 reps
Split Squats 1 set 10 reps
Lateral Squats 1 set 10 reps
Rotational Squats 1 set 10 reps
Reverse Lunge with Twist 1 set 10 reps
Crossover Reverse Lunge 1 set 10 reps
Pike Calf Stretch 1-2 reps 10 sets
Ankle Mobility Drills 1-2 reps 10 sets


I will do these every day except the turkish get-up which will be done every other. I did the top 4 today, wow, what a difference, the back pain eased considerably, there is also excersies that cane be done at the desk which I intend on doing 4 times a day as well as get out of the seat every half an hour hopfully.

[Jimmie]

Todays workout -

Squats (Warmup 2x5 bar, 1x5 47kg 1x5 67kg) 77.5kg 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Press (Warmup 1x5 10kg 1x5 20kg) 52kg 5/5/5/5/5
Deadlift -------------
Pullups (Warmup 1x5) 13kg 5/5/5

What a difference the warmup's made, 15 mins of warmups, and wow no more clicking knees.

Squats - Was going to deload, but after doing 67kg on the warmup, decided to get on with it, and so pleased I did.

Overhead Press - No problems, sqeezing my glutes makes a hell of a difference.

Deadlift - Still a slight lower back pain, will do these next time. And no its not an excuse.

Pullups - No problems.

Summary - Good workout, especially with introducing warmups, never had my knees feeling so good after a workout. Really pleased with todays out come.

[Jimmie]

A side view of me, as you can see I clearly have a pretty bad case of lordosis -



Makes me luck like I have bear belly, but believe me, I do not have a bear belly. Hope to improve this over time.