Johnny Ace - Training Log

[JohnnyAce]

Hi all,

I started SL's 5-6 weeks ago now, I had intended to start my log on here a couple of weeks back but I had a bout of Bronchitis (not nice) which has slowed my progress a little, I did go to the gym but I missed a couple of sessions & just stuck with the compounds

A bit of history, upto the age of 21 I was a fat knacker, weighing close on 20st (280lbs), being clueless at that point I used cardio, over the course of a year or so, to get myself down to 13st (182lb) .

Since then, I've tried to "bulk" unsuccessfully 2-3 times, by not training effectively & not keeping my diet in check so my bodyweight as yo-yoed plenty over the last few years.

When I did get myself lean, I was always the typical skinny-fat dude, I've long limbs which made me even more conscience of that fact. At the end of the day, I'm pretty weak (as you'll see from my lifts) so I've turned to SL 5x5 to get stuck into & sort it out.

I've logged the start of my SL's training on another website http://www.mansized.co.uk/talk/all-want-xmas-2009/johnny-ace-training-log/t30461/p1 which has a great community, but will unfortunately be closing around Christmas time. There's plenty more info on me in there & will bring you up to scratch with my progress. I've started my log on here because I feel it'll fit in more etc

So, stats:

Date 25/10/2009


Weight lbs 186lbs
Body Fat % 13.8

Neck 15.5
Chest 40.5
Upper Arm Flexed 13.5
Upper Arm Relaxed 12.25
Navel 35
Thigh 23.5
Calf 15

Ab mm 22
Thigh mm 11
Chest mm 8

Fat Mass 25.7lbs
Lean Mass 160.3 lbs

Other details in my sig

I do need to sort my diet & eat more - I am a little cautious with adding calories as I gain fat so easily. I am a calorie counting geek, I've done it for years now but I've been taking a less anal approach with it just lately as it's a chore

Long Term Goals:

Squat 1.5 x BW
SL 2 x BW
OH Press 0.80 x BW
Bench 0.50 x BW (all as per the SL spreadsheet)


Longer Term Goals:

To reach my non-skinny weight of 95kg at a reasonably lean BF (<15%)

Hopefully I'll stick with this long term, anything I've missed, give me a shout Looking forward to it

[MillerMan]

Hey JonnyAce. Nice to see your post here. I reviewed your posts and your progress is great! I too started out with an empty bar mainly because I hadn't worked my legs before. So I didn't know where to start. I even started out DL with the bar. I am finding out that I could have started a little higher there. Oh well.
You have some lofty goals - which is great! Why only 1/2 BW for BP? Is that a typo? You have already reached that by now. Maybe 1xBW or 1.5xBW because all of your other goals are much higher.
How's your OH press going? I'm at 85lbs right now and it is getting difficult. OHP and Squats are the main reason for me trying GOMAD. I hear from a lot of people that OHP is a B*tch. I will probably stall there first.
Good luck on your training and keep posting. I am on my 6th week and have similar progress. I see where you said you are being cautious of gaining too much weight. Is that why your calorie intake is so low??? Maintance for someone doing Stronglifts should be closer to 3,000 and higher to continually progress. I am "weight-challenged" so gaining weight has been a struggle. But I am willing to gain a little extra weight to meet my strength goals.
Cheers.

[JohnnyAce]

Hey Millerman

Thanks mate!!

Total typo on my behalf regarding the OH Press & Bench goals, it should be 0.80 x BW for Bench & 0.50 BW for OH Press, I'll see if I can edit my original post, thanks for pointing that out - d'oh

I'm a total noob at Squats, I avoided them for years in favour of the Leg Press, I was just kidding myself at the end of the day. I spent a few months stretching & practising to ensure my form is good. I'm taking the progress with them very steady to ensure I keep form tight

The OH Press is tough going, you'll see from my first 5 weeks I've already been struggling with it, which is great as it's a challenge

Yes bud, I'm perhaps being overly cautious with my caloire intake but I put on weight very easily so I'd rather take it easy & not pile on the calories. I am in the process in putting together a dietary template of 2500-2700 calories, so I'll see how I get on with regarding strength, weight gains & how it affects my BF% Monday - Friday (whilst at work) I'm usually pretty good on the diet front & keep things clean, on a weekend I'm out & about so tracking food is difficult & I tend to have a few leisurely beers

Take it easy mate - will be keeping an eye on your GOMAD progress, all the best

[JohnnyAce]

Stonglifts - B

Squat 62.50kg x 5 5 5 5 5 Not happy with form
Overhead Press 32.50kg x 5 5 5 5 3 Felt twice the weight 30kg did
DL 80kg x 5 Satisfying
Chin Up x 4 6 3 Set 2 - 30kg Assist Set 3 - 25kg Assist
Plank X X X Chucking out time at the gym

ETA: Hmm, that hasn't come out so well


Frustrating session - the Squats were really hard which sucks as I'm still on low weights, which then knocks onto the other lifts. I need to check over my form,

OH Press was hard work, felt a load heavier than 30kg

I was pleased with the DL, plenty left in this

Next thing I know, it's 15 minutes til gym closing time & I still have Chins Ups & ab work left so I sortof had to rush the Chins & scrap the ab work which seems to be turning into a bad habit

I can't fathom out why my Squat is poor - I'm thinking maybe one or two factors I need to sort out, mainly what I've mentioned before - my sleep (I was up at 6:30 am after not the best of nights sleep) - the lurgy, I'm still full of snot & my

[WhiteGorilla]

Hey, I just noticed that you are at about the same weights that I'm at currently.
If you're form is bad on squats, try taking a video of it and we can help you out. If it's really bad, then deload to practice form

[JohnnyAce]

Hey, I just noticed that you are at about the same weights that I'm at currently.
If you're form is bad on squats, try taking a video of it and we can help you out. If it's really bad, then deload to practice form

I'm currently thinking of ways to film my form, it's pretty impossible at my gym with how the rack is positioned & the sort of people who train there (mostly chavs who do nothing but bicep curl & bench bench - at least it keeps them off the Squat rack ) would think I was a weirdo filming myself

I've reread Rippletoe's Starting Strength 2nd edition, watched a few of his squat form vids on Youtube & reread over the conversations I've had with Anthony on PW (my online PT)

For now I'll stick to squatting with 60kg, at least the SL routine will give me lots of practice

Last night I did plenty of stretches & started shoulder dislocations, I also squatted with my broomstick, with arms outstretched in front & behind my head & to gauge depth, back rounding & hip drive & ensured I started the descent with my hips & not my knees.

I even measured the width of my shoulders, set the tape measure on the floor & set my heels to the width of my shoulders

The issues:

I still lean forward too much
I can squat down to just before hip level with knee before my back rounds
The bar is too high on my back
My wrists aren't inline with my arms

From what I understand, I need to ensure I:

Widen my stance
Work on shoulder flexibility
Make sure I drive the hips up
Make sure I lower with the hips first
Move hips & shoulders at the same rate
Keep my eyes fixed on a point 5-6 feet away on the floor
Keep my knees pointed out (not that I have a problem with them coming in)

I should be able to sort that pretty quickly, the thing that will take a bit of time (I'm hoping 2-3 weeks) is the shoulder flexibility. Rippletoe says to hold the bar as low as you can each time & eventually it will come

Since the only problem I can see with the wrists is it will cause wrist problems at heavier weights so I should be good for now so I'll lower it on my back with bent wrists & work from there

If the gym's quiet on Sunday I'll try some light Squats in the mirror to check a few things

Cheers for the comments mate - I'll take a look at your log (so many on here !!)

[JohnnyAce]

No gym last night, my car has faulty brakes so couldn't drive - hopefully will be sorted tomorrow

I had to bus it into work today :S

[JohnnyAce]

Stronglifts A Sunday 15/11/09

Exercise Weight 1 2 3 4 5 Comments

Squat X X X X X X Practised
Bench Press 47.5kg 5 5 5 5 5 This is next on my form check
Inverted Row 11 6 4 Back slightly knackered after squat practice
Press Up 8 5 4
Reverse Crunch X X X Squat practised some more

Lots of Squat practice today. First I played with bar placement & grip:

I tried a thumbless grip, bar low - didn't work, thought I was going to snap a wrist & dislocate my shoulder blades

I tried the same with my thumb on the bar & still no joy

I think I'll settle with a high bar placement, thumb on bar grip & work on shoulder dislocations - this way I can keep my wrists straight & shoulders pulled back without being uncomfortable

I was trying to find the "shelf" you're supposed to create by pulling your shoulder blades together but think I'm too skinny to have one, the bar just rests on bone

Then, with a wider stance (measuring my shoulder width made me realise I was squatting too narrow), bar in place with10kg I squatted - first few sets I wasn't too happy, prob wasn't deep enough & I need to remember to keep my head looking down & chest up (think tennis ball)

After a few sets I was fine & worked upto 40kg in weight, I needed to check in the mirror to make sure though, the gym was busy so I carried on with the rest of the workout

All good - need to check on Bench form but I want Squats sorted first

Then I checked my squat in the mirror - all looked fine - hip crease below knee, bar over feet, head not too far forward so should be good to carry on.

I watched Rippletoe's DVD on Friday a couple of times (the squat part) & he has all shapes & sizes squatting so no reason why I can't

I spoke to Brutus (I actually think his name's Darren) about trying to sort my squat form & he basically said I was a skinny fooker & needed some mass on my legs & should super set in some leg presses, I agreed but I won't, I think he thinks he's a bit of a know it all

I had a chinese takeaway Saturday night I didn't enjoy it one bit, same as last week when I had a pizza & didn't enjoy it - I never thought I'd see the day I didn't like junk

[MillerMan]

Glad to see you back in the gym. Working form is a great idea - just too bad you decreased the weight to do so. I have found that the heavier the weight - the deeper I can go. That doesn't fix any form issues, but for me heavy squat weight is 60kg.
Don't you just love weightroom advice. IMO it's kind of cool for someone to give you pointers - but if you have a specific objective (which you do) and know what you have to do to get there, then a comment like that is pointless.
I had pizza this weekend as well, but I am not to the point where I don't enjoy it. I am not sure I can ever discount my pizza. I even had 2 slices of cherry pie. Yeah I know. But I see it as added fruit.

[JohnnyAce]

Cheers for the post MillerMan!

Thing is the guy is a big strong looking bloke, I've seen him DL & his form is terrible though so I won't be taking advice from him anytime soon

I've slackening off logging, I'm still working out at the gym & fine tuning my squat form - it seems the only issue I have now is my back rounds as I hit parallel so I'm working on that & my shoulder flexibility. I'm currently chatting to an online PT to solve it

Benched 52.50kg 5x5 last night & stalled on 85kg for the DL on Sunday morning

I weighed myself at the weekend & over the past 4 weeks I've lost a pound & my BF% has remained the same. I suppose my main aim is to get stronger & to feed my strength gains & not my weight so it's not such a bad thing. I have added a pint of whole milk in the afternoon as I am starting to stall on the OH Press & just hit my first stall on the DL so an extra 350 calories should be welcomed

[burleywhite]

Keep up the good work Johnny.shame that the mansized site is shutting down.slowly but surely seems to be the way for this program .take care

[JohnnyAce]

Cheers bud

Slow & steady wins the race, this is all long term & I'm in no rush especially with Squats

Totted up my daily calorie intake to be 2700 non workout days & 3000 on workout days (I add a PWO shake) 30% P 35% C 35% F split

Gymming it tonight & feeling confident with the Squat so will start at 50kg & work up

[JohnnyAce]

Sunday 29/11/09 SL A

Squats 50kg 5x3 then 60kg 5x3 - form detirited a little of the last set so I'll stick to 55kg for 5x5 next session & work from there

Bench 55kg 5,4,4,3,3 - really struggled today, hopefully nail next time

I Row 11, 7, 5

Press Up 7,5,4 - Bench took it out of me on these

Sunday dinner's in the oven, half a chicken, roast potatoes, peas, sweetcorn, cauliflour & a couple of yorkshires, can't wait

[JohnnyAce]

Ordered me a Stronglifts hoody to train in this morning

[MillerMan]

All you need now is "Rocky" blaring from everywhere as you train!
The added milk will hopefully help get you through your plateau. I have noticed a nice continual increase in strength so far and a "fullness" in my chest and shoulders since I started drinking whole milk. I know you have reservations about your weight - so as you mentioned earlier, slow and steady.
Slow and steady and see what works for you.