Kevan67 Training Log

[Kevan67]

Hi all

Did my first Stronglift 5x5 session today.

Squat:
5 x 30 kg
5 x 30 kg
5 x 30 kg
5 x 30 kg
5 x 30 kg

Overhead Press
5 x 20
5 x 20
5 x 20
5 x 20
5 x 20

Deadlift:
5 x 50kg

Pull ups
3 x 3

Damn I need to do some work on these!

Prone Bridges
3 x 30sec

Am i supposed to have some weight on me when doing the Prone Bridges?

All in all I really enjoyed the session and used it to practice the technique, I am however feeling it in my legs a little this evening. Roll on Friday

Kev

[vernfritz]

No. No weight when doing the prone bridges.

Make sure you work on getting your form correct. It will really help when the weights get heavier. Have you done an "A" workout yet?

[Kevan67]

Hi Vernfritz

Not sure, I have just downloaded the beginners stronglift spreadsheer and I am just working through the exxercises listed for each week.

I had been going weight training in the morning before going to work for around 9 months, I am normally up at 6am and at the gym for 6:30. So far I have got my weight down from 84kg to around 76kg and my BF down to 18% probably from around 24%. I have recently started the stronglift 5 x 5 programme and am now into my 4th week.

Progress so far
Squat 5 x 5 60kg (Warm up with 5 x 20, 3 x 40)
Overhead press 5 x 5 37.5kg (Warm up with 5 x 20, 3 x 30)
Deadlift 1 x 5 100kg (Warm up with 5 x 60, 3 x 80)
Bench press – 50kg (Warm up with 5x 10, 3x 40)
Pull ups 6, 4, 3
Chin ups 8, 8, 6
Press ups 12, 10, 8
Prone bridge 30, 30, 30 (I also rotate these with the stir it up abs workout)
Reverse crunches 12, 10, 10
Dragon flags 4 – 5 (I try to do these after the reverse crunches)

I rotate the above as per the stronglift spreadsheet and the above are where I am with each of the exercises + adding in Dragon flags and rotating the prone bridges with what I found on the site called "stir it up" hope that makes sense

My eating habits

I am just starting to learn about diet and it’s not the best but getting there slowly

On Waking up (5:45)
Vit C tablet with 10g Glutamine, 10g BCAA, 5g Leucine in 500ml water

Stronglift 5 x 5 roughly 30 - 45 mins at the moment starting at 6:30am

PWO – Soon as I finish training
• 1 Scoop Whey protein, 1 scoop fine Scottish oats, 10g creapure, 200ml milk, 200ml water

Typical Breakfast would be one of the following around 8 – 8:30am
• Readybrek / Porridge
• Scambled egg & bacon
• Omlette with Veggies
Glass water with the above

Typical Mid morning snack – 10:30 -11am
• Apple, banana
• Cottage cheese / oatmeal biscuits
• Oat Bar
Glass water with the above

Lunch – 12:30 – 1pm
• Tuna salad
• Baked potato / beans / cheese
• Or I try to eat a protein source with salad or vegetables
Two glasses of water with the above

Mid afternoon snack – 3pm
• Apple, banana
• Cottage cheese with oatmeal biscuits
Glass water with the above

Protein shake normally around 5pm
• 1 x scoop whey protein shake with 200ml Skimmed milk

Dinner around 6-7pm
• Meat with veggies or salad
• Fish with veggies or salad
• White Pasta with tuna or meat and tomato sauce (Bolognaise or similar – home made)

Evening snack around 10pm
• Milk protein shake in 200ml skimmed milk
• Fish oil

Sleeping habit
I don’t sleep too well and only normally only get around 6 hours sleep on average and maybe 8 hours at a weekend if I am lucky.

Extra training
My better half has just started going to the gym, so i now go two or three times a week (Same days as I do stronglifts) to encourage her, normally around 6am in the evening so roughly 12 hours after doing my morning routine. I will normally do 20 – 30 minutes of jogging, broken up with a few sprints and a few minutes of walking followed by 10 mins of abs work.

My goal is to get down to around 12% BF and my weight to around 80kg hopefully deadlifting 200+ kg and squating around 120kg in the process.

Let me know what you think and any advice would be gratefully received.

Kev

[vernfritz]

If you're into week four of SL5x5 you obviously didn't start with an empty bar. Your weights are around where I was at week ten. I assume from your nine months of weight training prior to SL5x5 is why your weights are higher at this point??

I definitly am not a dietician so any advice from me about diet should be taken with a grain of salt. After looking at your meal sample it really isn't that far off from mine. I think mine has less carbs than yours does. I stay away from the pasta and potatoes. I do eat apples and bananas (1 of each/day) but not after noon. Have you checked out Medhi's pages on nutrition? Lots of good info in there.

[Kevan67]

Hi Vernfrtiz

You are correct, I did the first couple of weeks with next to no weight to get used to the exercise's and then I have steadily increased at a higher rate due to having done some weights for past 9 months, I have had a little DOMs since upping the weights but now not sore just I know I have been to the gym.

I have done an evening session today for a change and managed to do the following;

Squat 5 x 20, 5 x 40 and 5 x 5 @ 62.5

Bench press 5 x 30, 5 x 40 and 5 x 5 @ 50

Inverted rows 12, 12, 8

Press ups 12, 12, 10

Reverse crunches 12, 12, 12 - not holding any weight or support

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my posts, I have read Medhi's nutritional advice and most things on the site to be honest and it is all good but there is a lot for me to take in at the moment. So I was just asking for a bit of general advice to keep me on the right track.

Kev

[vernfritz]

As your weights get higher you may want to lower the number of reps you do on warm-ups. I don't think it's a big deal now. My squat warm-ups look like this. 5x2xempty bar; 3x43kg; 3x61kg; 2x84; then work set of 5x100kg (I converted from lbs to kg so not exact).

You have good numbers on inverted rows. Are your legs straight with your feet on a bench? I can only muster up 8 or 9 on my first set.

[Kevan67]

Todays SL 5x5

Squat 5 x 20, 3 x 40, 3 x 50 and work set of 5 x 70

OHP 5 x 20, 3 x 30 and workset of 5 x 40 - I just about managed the final rep on the 5th set

Deadlift 3 x 70, 3 x 90 and workset of 5 x 110 - I managed 3 and then had to have a quick break before finishing the last 2. (I went for a single at 130 but my body was having none of it)

Chin ups from dead hang 8, 4, 5

Prone bridges 3 x 30 sec

I took some of your advice vernfritz and didn't do so many warm up reps each session is getting to get a lot harder now. I can really feel it in my legs and shoulders and I have felt a lot more tired since starting the SL 5x5 than I did going to the gym previously. I am a little worried with my technique as I don't want any injuries as the weight goes up. I am aching a little after the session but it is not pain so assuming this is normal.

I have been doing the inverted row with my legs straight glutes pulled in firm and abs tight, not with my feet on a bench though at the moment will give that a go next time. I have been doing some extra running and abs work a couple of times a week when I go to the gym with my GF.

Kev

[vernfritz]

How much time are you taking between sets? I have to take all five minutes between my squat sets. Maybe you needed a little more time on your OHP.

I know what you mean about aching after a session. After my squats last night, my glutes felt like they were on fire. It was hard to walk. By the time my workout was done they were back to normal, but holy shit they were definitely stressed.

Isn't it fun??!!

[Kevan67]

Hi Vernfritz

Think I just had a bad day on Friday, I had been doing inverted rows without elevating my feet soI have started them now with my feet rasied.

I have did my SL 5 x 5 tonight at around 7pm instead of 6:30 in the morning. The gym was packed but I manged to get straight onto the squat rack and then bench press without waiting and I have just had my best session to date, I felt really strong in my squats and bench press and really happy with my progress as I squated my own BW tonight.

Squat
5 x 40kg, 3 x 60kg and my workset at 5 x 75kg

Bench press
5 x 40kg, 3 x 50kg and my workset at 5 x 60kg - I found a link on the forum to a video by Andy Tate on bench pressing. I have not been using all my body in the bench press. Think I know where I was going wrong now improved my form a little, I felt much stronger in the press and I managed all 5 sets comfortably for a change.

Inverted Rows
3 x 10, 3 x 10, 3 x 7 - All with feet rasied on a box

Push ups
3 x 10, 3 x 10, 3 x 10

Reverse crunches
3 x 12, 3 x 12, 3 x 12

I have one shoulder with good mobility and one without, looking through the forum I found a link to an article by Eric Cressey on "Cracking the Rotator Cuff Conundrum". I did this after my 5 x 5 and damn that was hard work but it did feel good and I could really feel the tension in my shoulder. So I am hoping this will help give me some mobility back and I intend to do this after each bench press session.

Anyone else had problem with shoulder mobility, I am not in pain and dont feel week in the shoulder bench pressing it just seems to be tensed and I lack the looseness I have in my other shoulder. I used to do a lot of Karate and Wrestlign when I was younger so may have damaged it back in my 20s somehow.

Kev

[vernfritz]

Could you send me the link about the shoulder problem? I have a shoulder issue too. As long as you're sending links, I wouldn't mind taking a look at the BP video you found. I just stalled on my BP. Maybe I'm having a form issue. I do BP's again tomorrow night.

Good job on squating your BW! A milestone you can check off the list.

[Kevan67]

Cheers Vernfritz,

I was glad to hit my BW target for squat and I also managed 120kg this morning on Dead lift so hit 1.5BW on that one as well which I was pleased with. I am really starting to struggle on the OHP, I managed 42.5kg this morning but missed 1 rep on my 4th set.

I did the shoulder exercises on Monday and they certainly get the muscles working especially as I was using very little weight. I intend to do these after every session that includes bench pressing.

Here are the links to the shoulder exercise and bench press,

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_arti ... _conundrum

It was Dave Tate and not Andy Tate oops!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh3t6T-nqP0

Todays sessions (6:30am)

Squat 75kg - 5 x 40kg, 3 x 60kg and workset 5 x 5 at 75kg
OHP 42.5kg - 5 x 30kg, 3 x 40kg and workset 5 x 5 at 42.5kg (Damn these were hard this morning)
Deadlift - 3 x 80kg, 2 x 100kg and workset 1 x 3 and 1 x 2 had to take a 30secs breather between the two using 120kg
Pull ups - 6, 5, 4 - Getting better
Prone bridges - 3 x 30sec
Dragon flags - 4

Feeling much stronger than when I first started SL 5 x 5 and I have increaed my size a fair bit as well as follows
Kneck has grown by 1"
Thighs have grown by 1.5"
Forearms by 1/2"
Biceps 1/2"
Chest around 1.5"

My body weight is up by around 8lbs in the 6 weeks, I have not measured by BF% since having it measured at the gym on a FITEC machine which was around 4 weeks ago at 18.5%. I visually look leaner with more definition than I did 6 weeks ago and thicker set if that makes sense. So really pleased with results so far. Have been working hard on my diet as well but got plenty work to do on this yet! I have grasped the basic principle it is getting my meals prepared for each day thats the problem.

Kev

[vernfritz]

Do you prefer a morning session or an evening session better? I don't think I would have the energy at 6:30am.

I've been having the same issue with my deadlifts. I need to pause 10sec or so between reps. Mostly to re-grip but it sure is nice to catch a couple breaths in between. I don't think I'd be able to do 5 reps one after another at this point. I hope that isn't considered a failed rep/set by taking a moment in between.

It sure is nice to see some visual progress and be able to verify it by taking measurements. I look forward to remeasuring every other Friday to watch my progress.

Thanks for the links. I checked them out briefly. I'll have to give them a second look when I have more time.

[Kevan67]

Vernfritz

If I could get out of work at a regular time in the afternoon / evening I would prefer to do an evening training session but I have got used to going in the morning now and I do have more energy during the ay after going to the gym its just the slight lack of energy that early in the morning.

It is good to see progress thats for sure, Oh and I would still count your reps.

Kev

[Kevan67]

Todays session (6:30am)

I had another good session this morning and I felt strong again in the squat which is strange as I was struggling at 67.5kg and I have now gone straight through to 80kg. It is my hamstrings that feel tight as my quads seem to be doing fine at the moment. I still had a good hip drive and was driving up hard even on my last rep. Maybe I need to warm up a little more as I am doing less warm up reps.

Squat
3 x 40kg, 2 x 60kg and my workset at 5 x 80g

Bench press
5 x 40kg, 3 x 50kg and my workset at 5 x 62.5kg

Inverted Rows
3 x 10, 3 x 8, 3 x 6 - All with feet rasied on a box

Push ups
3 x 10, 3 x 10, 3 x 10 - All with feet raised on bench and

Reverse crunches
3 x 12, 3 x 12, 3 x 12

Extra's
I did the ratator cuff workout from the link in my earlier post, this little workout is a killer on the shoulders thats for sure. My session's didn't used to last much more than 30ish minutes a few weeks ago. Now they are pretty much a good hour, what difference a couple of weeks makes as I no need more of a rest between each set.

Kev

[vernfritz]

I know what you mean about the sessions taking longer. Mine are lasting close to two hours. I used to be able to fly through them in less than 45 min. I feel I really need the five minutes rest between sets now.