l1n3n01z's training log

[l1n3n01z]

Stats:
Age - 31 Weight - 108kg Height - 177 cm

Goals:
Want to get strong, get rid of my big belly and man tits, and correct my posture. I want to be 85 kg but the plan for now is simply to get stronger and eating healthy food, and worry about weight later. I'm as weak as a kitten...

I started SL5x5 just under a year ago, and have been more off than on. First time I strained myself at 32.5 kg because I wasn't warming up and working on mobility, second and third time (at around week 5) was due to the normal excuses: Flu, workload, general lazyness. Haven't worked out since around April when my workload went through the roof. In retrospect it was pretty stupid to ditch the workouts as they would have helped dealing with the pressure.

I'm hoping this log will help me stick to my guns and reach my goals.

Started 21st of Sept.

Monday
Hip mobility, shoulder mobility, glute activation
Squat 20kg - 5x5
Bench 20kg - 5x5
Barbell rows 20kg - 5x5
Regular Push ups - 4,5,4
Reverse crunch 6 kg 12,8, skipped last set as I was hurting too much
Bent over laterals 2 kg 1x10 (from http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_arti ... re_part_iv)

Wednesday
Hip mobility, shoulder mobility, glute activation
Squat 22.5kg - 5x5
OHP 20kg - 5x5
DL 40kg - 1x5
Chin-up negatives 2n,2n,2n
Prone bridges 3x30 sec (damn that hurts!)
Bent over laterals 2 kg 1x10

Friday
Hip mobility, shoulder mobility, glute activation
Squat 25kg - 5x5
Bench 22.5kg - 5x5
Barbell rows 22.5kg - 5x5
Regular Push ups - 6,5,4
Reverse crunch 6 kg 12,12, 10
Bent over laterals 2 kg 1x10

Monday, 28th sept. today
Hip mobility, shoulder mobility, glute activation
Squat 27.5kg - 5x5
OHP 22.5kg - 5x5
DL 45kg - 1x5
Pull ups resting feet on bench 2,2,1 see how-i-progressed-up-to-my-first-chin-up-t19482.html
Prone bridges 3x38 sec
Bent over laterals 2 kg 1x10 + 10 sec isohold on last rep

I'm going to keep doing the barbell rows instead of inverted rows, as they are a lot less hassle to set up (no smith machine in my gym) and I can measure my progress better. I believe my form is quite good.

One thing that's been worrying me, is my knees. They get sore from the hip mobility work, I need the hip mobility, but sometimes it feels more like knee mobility, which I most certainly don't need :-S

This morning I was really careful with my form, making sure I was pushing knees out on lunges etc. It helps.

Anyways, great program, just need to have my eyes on the goal!

[l1n3n01z]

Wednesday
Felt like shit in the morning. After warm up I was feeling better.

Hip mobility, split squats are getting less knee destroying, but I am not sure about the lateral squats. An aside.. What is the difference between a splits squat and a lunge?
Glute activation (changed it a bit, did 2*glute bridges, lying abductions, birddogs all ending in 10 sec isohold. The isohold makes you really feel the glute)
3*Shoulder dislocations and some additional shoulder mobility exercises in between glute activations.

Squat 30kg - 5x5 I was a bit apprehensive, but when I got started it was easy. I was able to move my hands slightly closer on the bar. My wrists are still flexing a bit though.
Bench 25kg - 5x5 The bench is dull! Not easy peasy, but dull.
Barbell rows 25kg - 5x5 I like this exercise. It's giving me more mobility in my shoulders and definitely helping with my posture. I need to be very careful with my lower back though.
Regular Push ups - 9,5,5 Yay! I can do pushups!
Reverse crunch 6 kg 12,12,12 Yay! I finished the damn reverse crunches!

Bent over laterals 3 kg 1x10 + 10 sec iso
Prone Lower Trap Raise 2kg 1x10 + 9 sec iso
Dumbbell Cuban Press 3kg 1x10

Did some static stretching as well, in an attempt to fix my knee probs. Bulgarian squat stretch, quad stretch and calf stretches.

[l1n3n01z]

Didn't sleep enough this night. I really had to drive myself through the program. When you've slept badly it's so easy just to say "this must be enough for today". But I did persevere!

Anyway, same warm up as last time. Lateral squats were easier, I went deeper and thought more "squat" and less "stretch". That change in thinking also really helped with the knees.

I've noticed during my shoulder dislocations that my right shoulder bunches up a bit on the way back, but the left one stays more flat. Odd. Watched it in a mirror, making sure to keep both shoulders back and down.

SQ 32.5kg - 5x5 Was difficult. Peh. Must sleep right!
OHP 25kg - 5x5 The last rep was always just within reach. I would defintely have failed on the 6th. This is only going to get tougher.
DL 50kg - 1x5 Easy peasy.
Chin up using bench - 1,1,1 That sucks. I thought chin-ups were supposed to be easier than pull-ups. I think I need some volume work here. Greasing the groove, as it were.
Prone bridges 3*45 secs. Almost but not quite pukey difficult.

Bent over laterals 4 kg 1x10 + 10 sec iso The 3kg to 4kg was really difficult.
Prone Lower Trap Raise 2kg 1x10 + 10 sec iso Was able to finish this.
Dumbbell Cuban Press 4kg 1x10 3kg was easy, but 4kg was not quite as easy. Could have used 5kg probably.

Did the same static stretching as last time. Phew! Not losing any weight yet, but I'm not going to worry about that for now.

[l1n3n01z]

Now my shoulders are burning up.

[l1n3n01z]

Hip mobility. The lateral squats were horrible. Think I will get an appointment with a doctor or something for my knees.
Glute activation.
Shoulder mobility.

Squat 35kg - 5x5 Was worried about left knee, but it went up easily, and I was able to push knees out. No problems.
Bench 27.5kg - 5x5 Walked around between sets, to make the bench less dull. I worked fine. Bench is starting to get slightly taxing.
Barbell rows 27.5kg - 5x5 This is fun. Was very careful with my form, making sure to reset on each rep.
Regular Push ups - 10,7,5 My form is pretty lousy. My butt hangs a bit during the start of the rep, meaning that at the hardest point of the pushup, I'm doing a lot less work. Will have to work on keeping a straight plank. Think it's an arm strength issue, rather than core issue, because I can very easily hold a plank.
Reverse crunch 6 kg 7,0,0 It wasn't that hard, but I felt a lot of stress in my back. It felt like a stretch in my lower back, and I didn't want to risk it. Will ask on forums.

Bent over laterals 4 kg 1x10 + 10 sec iso again
Prone Lower Trap Raise 3kg 1x10 + 6 sec iso Failed on the iso hold. Will retry same weight on Wednesday.
Dumbbell Cuban Press 6kg 1x10 This was damn tough. Dumbells only go up in 2kg increments after 4kg. Not sure whether to increase weight next time. We'll see.

Static stretches.

All in all, took about 2 hours. I have no idea how to shorten it...

[l1n3n01z]

Greased the groove on pull-ups. Did 4,2,1 pull-ups with bench holding up my legs.

[l1n3n01z]

Did some bench assisted pull-ups yesterday. Was able to do 4,3,2 on bench today. Fun!

Anyways:
Hip mobility. Getting easier, added strength helps.
Glute activation.
Shoulder mobility.

SQ 37.5kg - 5x5 Damn difficult. Wobbled once. Watched my knees and it became easier.
OHP 27.5kg - 5x5 Same as last time. Almost failing each set.
DL 55kg - 1x5 Easy peasy. Broke out in massive sweat after it though.
Pull up using bench - 4,3,2 Very pleased with that one.
Prone bridges 3*52 secs. Sounded like a woman in labor. Damn.

Started the scap training with more weight but gave up at bent over laterals 6kg 1*7 . Threw in the towel as I was beat. Maybe I'll have to do those posture exercises on my off days or something.

All in all, happy.

[l1n3n01z]

Finished scap work.

Bent over laterals 6 kg 1x10 + 10 sec
Prone Lower Trap Raise 3kg 1x10 + 10 sec iso Success
Dumbbell Cuban Press 8kg 1x10 Happy to be able to do 8 kg on this. I am going to do two sets next time, and then up the weight if I can do that.

[bkklift]

Good job on sticking with your workouts l1n3n01z. 2 hours is a very long to be working out though, perhaps try to cut down on your rest times (this will have the effect of keeping your heart rate up and aiding with the fat loss) or, like you said, cut out the extra exercises you're doing at the end of your workout. I know you wanted to add them in for posture but I really think you're better off working hard, getting out of the gym and perhaps doing mobility drills on your off days.

Shortening your workout times will help you keep with the program in the long term.

[l1n3n01z]

Thanks! I was very conscious of the time today, and managed to keep it at 90 minutes, just by not resting so much during all the warm up (also skipped the extra work).

I'm really happy with the scap work I've been doing. It has really paid off, mainly in focusing my consciousness throughout the day on my posture. I've also been doing some of the suggestions from here
http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_arti ... r_23_hours

However it might need to go. Don't want it interfering with the main program. Also, if I manage to keep the consciousness, I might not even need the exercises anymore.

[bkklift]

I think mobility work is important but something that can be done throughout the day and on your off days. Save the gym time for busting your ass and getting stronger!

When in the office and I feel like I've been sat still for too long, I just get up and perform a few stretches. Might get a few odd looks but I don't complain about back pain like my colleagues and the underlings should know their place anyway

[l1n3n01z]

These are good points, but I'd be completely unable to do the squat without prior hip mobilization and at least shoulder dislocations. However, any work beyond that has been relegated to off times

Was able to keep it at 70 minutes today, by busting ass

[l1n3n01z]

hip mob, glute activiation, shoulder dislocations.
Squat 20kg 2x5, 40kg - 5x5 Getting to my last best weight is proving easier than I thought. A few difficult reps in there but easier as it went. Starting weighted warmups.
Bench 30kg - 5x5 Right hadn consistently weaker for lockout. Think it's the fault of all the muose use at work.
Barbell rows 30kg - 5x5 Still fun!
Regular Push ups - 4,1,1 Did with correct form. I still suck at pushups, but at least I suck at well done pushups.
Side planks 2x20sec each side. ARRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH. Thought I'd be able to do 30sec easy, but no. Am done with flexing ab exercises. My lower back is way too lousy for those at the moment so substituting stability core work for those. See problem-with-reverse-crunches-t19837.html

No scapular work (cept for rows, obviously), planning on going tomorrow or later today for that.

Static stretches.

[Caphel]

Good progress so far. I seem to remember that you are a programmer from another thread. I am also a programmer and have found so far that I am tending to sit much better all day at work since starting stronglifts. I also found it useful to make sure I did some mobility work every day when I got started.

I also do not think the mouse work is interfering with your bench press, unless you are using some giant lead mouse. I use a mouse all day as well, and quite a bit at home, and have never noticed an issue.

Keep up the good work, it is great seeing progress isn’t it.

[l1n3n01z]

It *is* great seeing progress! Just commented on your log, it's very inspiring. I find it incredible that maybe I too will be squatting around 100kg. Whew!

The mouse thing. What I meant by that is basically, my posture is really off balance. My hip joint is very flexible for external rotations, and I usually sit with one leg crossed over the other, which puts my whole body off balance, and it's usually the right leg because then I can lean right, towards the mouse Even with my feet on the floor, I have a tendency to push my right shoulder more forward than the left one. With both presses, I can feel tiredness in the front of the right shoulder, and I think it]s mainly caused by this imbalance, because for most things my right arm is stronger.

The good thing is though, like you, my posture is definitely improving! I can plant my feet on the floor and they stay for a few minutes, and as soon as I cross them, I notice it and can correct it