Labrat's Training Log

[Labrat]

Day 68 - 27 October 2009

Squat - 5,5,3 - 245 lbs.
Bench - 3x5 - 170 lbs.
BB Row - 3x5 - 145 lbs.
Dips - 3x5 - 50 lbs.

Phew. Maybe could've gotten the 4th rep... paused a tad too long after the third. Haha. Maybes don't count. Everything else felt good. My arms were aching on the Bench and Dips. Glad to get a couple days of rest. Took so long warming up on the squats and bench that I ran out of time for some crunches. I'm probably ready to restart the intermediate program... or something different.

[Labrat]

Day 69 - 29 October 2009

Squat - 3x5 - 245 lbs.
OHP - 5,5,4 - 120 lbs.
Rack pulls - 1x5 - 335 lbs.
Pull-ups (neutral-grip) - 3x5 - 20 lbs.
Rev. Crunches - 3x30

Need to repeat 245 on squats. Got them all, but the bar speed was a little slow on the last rep of each set. Pretty happy with my lifts this morning as I felt exhausted the entire time. Wish I could go back to bed for a while. Gonna try and hit the sack early tonight.

[Labrat]

Day 70 - 31 October

Squat - 5,5,3 - 245 lbs.
Bench - 4,5,4 - 175 lbs.
BB Row - 5,5,4 - 155 lbs.
Dips - 3x5 - 50 lbs.

Guess I was due for a crappy day. I woke up late (missed my alarm) and took forever to get through everything. Warming up for each lift I felt slow and creaky. I suppose I'm getting toward the end of workout by workout PR's anyway. I was inspired seeing a dude not much bigger than me squatting 335. Pretty impressive. I'm looking forward to two days off.. eating a lot of protein and trying to get more sleep. Hopefully not too much candy.

[Labrat]

Day 71 - 3 November 2009

Squat - 3x5 - 245 lbs.
OHP - 5,5,4 - 125 lbs.
Rack pulls - 1x5 - 335 lbs.
Chin-ups - 3x5 - 25 lbs.
Rev. Crunches - 3x30

[Labrat]

Belated Tuesday notes.

1. Cautionary tale. I had an embarrassing incident occur yesterday while lifting. Not of the pants-splitting variety. A potentially dangerous incident that made me aware of my carelessness. On my last squat of the day, I staggered forward to hang the bar. I don't consider myself much more than a beginner, despite having been on SL 5x5 since the beginning of the year. For the first time, I somehow missed the hook... only on one side. As I relaxed, expecting the bar to be supported while I backed off, the right end of the bar tipped and two 45 lb plates and one 10 lb plate crashed to the floor. I had the safety bars in place at the bottom of my range of motion, but had lazily neglected to put the collars on either side of the bar. I'm sure folks have crashed during lifts and the plates hitting the floor is not the end of the world. The clincher for me is the fact that the side that the plates came off is right next to the drinking fountain. Yikes. I was a little embarrassed. No big deal. I am much more thankful that my mistake did not break anyone's ankle. In the past I had not really worried about collaring the plates doing squats. Lesson learned.

2. Program change. After reading some reviews from fellow forum members, I've decided to tackle the "Bill Starr/Madcow/? Intermediate 5x5" now hosted here at the SL site. During my summer of mayhem and poor lifting, I weakly began the SL Advanced program. I am not against that program by any means. I can't explain my reasoning... needed an intermediate program, trying this one now that I'm back to my stall weights.

[Labrat]

Day 70 - 5 November 2009

Squat - 4,2 - 255 lbs. - then 1x5 - 225 lbs.
Bench - 1x5 - 135 lbs., 1x5 - 155 lbs., 1x5 - 175 lbs.
Rev. Crunches - 3x30

My elbow started throbbing even while I did my last set of squats. I felt it warming up on the bench and decided to call it quits after the bench press. This has happened before and I haven't been able to pinpoint when or where I did it... my guess is dropping the bar too fast on BB Rows or hyperextending it on pull-ups. Not sure, but I think I'm going to go really easy on Saturday and plan to start the Starr Intermediate 5x5 next Tuesday. I never really do 1RMs, so I like that the spread sheet calculate estimates... I can vouch for my <5 failures at certain weights, that's for sure.

[Labrat]

Day 71 - 10 November 2009
----------------------------------- BEGIN Bill Star/Madcow 5x5 Intermediate -------------------------------------

Starting Template Entries:
Test Weight Reps Achieved (<12) 1RM 5RM
Squat 255 4 278 247
Bench 180 4 196 175
Row 155 5 174 155
Dead 345 5 388 345
Incline 155* 5 174 155

*estimated, did not test
________________________________________________________________________________________

Squat - 5x5 - 115, 145, 175, 200, 230
Bench 5x5 - 80, 100, 120, 145, 165
BB Row - 5x5 - 75, 90, 110, 125, 145
Hypers - 2x12 - 10 lbs.
Incline Sit-ups - 4x15 - 10 lbs.

[Labrat]

Day 72 - 12 November 2009

Squat - 4x5 - 115, 145, 175, 175 lbs.
Incline Bench - 4x5 - 90, 110, 125, 145 lbs.
Rack Pulls - 4x5 - 200, 240, 280, 320 lbs.
Rev. Crunches - 3x30

I think my body was ready to switch. I feel like I was able to recover from Tuesday before going in today. Not that this is a particularly tough day (the 4x5 Rack Pulls are tough), but it was nice to feel stronger and more rested going into the workout.

[Labrat]

Day 73 - 14 November 2009

Squat - 4x5 - 115, 145, 175, 200 lbs.
1x3 - 235 lbs.
1x8 - 175 lbs.
Bench - 4x5 - 80, 100, 120, 140 lbs.
1x3 - 165 lbs.
1x8 - 120 lbs.
BB Row - 4x5 - 75, 90, 110, 125 lbs.
1x3 - 150 lbs.
1x8 - 110 lbs.
Dips - 3x5 - 45 lbs.
BB Curls - 3x8 - 45, 55, 65 lbs.
Triceps Pushdowns - 3x8 - no idea... the numbers are worn off... I made sure they hurt and did them w/ good form.

Phew. Hope I get a nap today. I felt good this morning, but pretty pooped now. I can feel the added volume. Happy to have no nagging pain. I'm going to follow this program through, but I actually find myself missing the OHP.

[Labrat]

Day 74 - 17 November 2009

Squat - 5x5 - 120, 150, 175, 205, 235
Bench 5x5 - 85, 105, 125, 145, 165
BB Row - 5x5 - 70, 90, 110, 130, 150
Hypers - 2x12 - 10 lbs.
Ab Machine - 4x25 - Setting 6,7,8,10.

Good energy level... got some much-needed sleep. Only mildly annoyed that someone was hogging the incline bench so I had to use a machine to do some crunches with resistance.

[Labrat]

Day 75 - 19 November 2009

Squat - 4x5 - 120, 150, 180, 180 lbs.
Incline Bench - 4x5 - 95, 110, 130, 150 lbs.
Straightleg Deadlifts (dumbbells) - 45, 60, 75, 85 lbs.
Rev. Crunches - 3x30

Not happy about missing the rack pulls. Someone was using the 1 power rack. Now I know how others probably felt when I was in there for SL 5x5 doing squats, OHPs and rack pulls. Oh well. I tried to get comparable exertion, but it's just not the same. The SL deads definitely hit the hamstrings harder.

[Labrat]

Day 76 - 21 November 2009

Squat - 4x5 - 120, 150, 180, 205 lbs.
1x3 - 240 lbs.
1x8 - 180 lbs.
Bench - 4x5 - 85, 105, 125, 145 lbs.
1x3 - 170 lbs.
1x8 - 125 lbs.
BB Row - 4x5 - 75, 95, 110, 130 lbs.
1x3 - 150 lbs.
1x8 - 110 lbs.
Dips - 3x6 - 45 lbs.
BB Curls - 3x8 - 65, 75, 75 lbs.
Triceps Pushdowns - 3x8 - 75, 90, 105 lbs.

[Labrat]

Day 77 - 23 November 2009

Squat - 5x5 - 120, 150, 180, 210, 240 lbs.
Bench - 5x5 - 85, 105, 130, 150, 170 lbs.
BB Row - 5x5 - 75, 95, 115, 130, 150 lbs.
Hypers - 2x20 - 10 lbs.
Incline Sit-ups - 4x15 - 10 lbs.

Made this workout a little tougher by really pushing through it quickly. Did Bench first actually since someone was in the squat rack. Got my heart rate up. Had to slow down a bit to make sure not to miss the heaviest squat and row sets. I'm enjoying this program. Hopefully I'll be able to look back and see the volume lead to some new PRs.

[Labrat]

Day 78 - 25 November 2009

Squat - 4x5 - 120, 150, 180, 180 lbs.
Incline Bench - 4x5 - 95, 115, 130, 150 lbs.
Rack Pulls - 4x5 - 210, 250, 295, 335 lbs.
Rev. Crunches - 3x30

Love the "light" day. Going to miss the Fri/Sat workout due to Thanksgiving. I'm going to load up on turkey and try to avoid too many sweets.

[Labrat]

Day 79 - 1 December 2009

Squat - 4x5 - 120, 150, 180, 210 lbs.
1x3 - 250 lbs.
1x8 - 180 lbs.
Bench - 4x5 - 85, 105, 130, 150 lbs.
1x3 - 175 lbs.
1x8 - 130 lbs.
BB Row - 4x5 - 75, 95, 115, 130 lbs.
1x3 - 155 lbs.
1x8 - 115 lbs.
Dips - 3x6 - 45 lbs.
BB Curls - 3x8 - 75, 75, 75 lbs.
Triceps Pushdowns - 3x8 - 105 lbs.

I felt good during the workout... pretty sore and tired this afternoon. Good Thanksgiving... I tried to take advantage of the extra protein from turkey and not overeat in the potato and pumpkin pie arena. At my size, it probably doesn't matter too much as I'm trying to put on weight and tend to not overeat. I just need to eat better foods. I ate a lot of turkey and tried to ude that to fill me up. Pumpkin pie with whipped cream is just too good to pass up, though.

Bench press felt tough this morning... I am trusting in the program and will be excited if I can break through my plateaus. Since I'm such a beginner I could've probably just redone SL 5x5 beginner program to get volume, but I think a bit of a change in routine has helped me too.