Leon's (Wellhairedbeast's) Log

[Wellhairedbeast]

Age: 25
Current Weight: 84kg ( Sorry i work in KG i know most people like lbs because the numbers are higher my brain just works in kg!)

Started stronglifts on the 21/06/09 with these starting weights:
Bodyweight: 85.5kg
Squats (high bar): 37.3kg
Overhead Press: 32.3kg
Deadlift: 37.3kg
Bench Press: 27.3kg
Barbell Rows: 27.3kg

(the 0.3? thats because its a standard bar, my olympic weights arrive in a couple of weeks)

The squats are high bar because that is what i had always done before, and thats what ill do while i work on flexibility. And i started higher than BP with OHP as i haven't really been able to bench before, but the OHP is my favourite lift and i have done that before.

Goals:
3 Mth Goal 6 Mth Goal
Squat 75kg 100kg
Deadlift 100kg 135kg
OHP 50kg 60kg
Bench Press 60kg 80kg
Barbell Row 60kg 70kg

My lifetime goal is to OHP 1.5xbw ... yes i know achieving a bw ohp is hard, but i love the lift and im only 25 so i have 75 years to achieve this, and i promise you this, even if it takes me that long i will keep trying until i succeed.

Ill post last fridays and todays workouts to bring things up to speed:

Friday 31/07/09
Bodyweight: 84kg

Squats: 5x bar, 5x27.3kg, 3x47.3kg, 3x67.3kg
// 5, 4, 4, 5, 5, @ 82.3kg - first stall (this was a technical stall i was sloppy on last reps of 2nd and 3rd set)

OHP: 5xbar, 5x27.3kg
// 5, 4, 4, 2, 4 @ 47.3kg - first stall

Deadlifts: 5x27.3kg, 5x47.3kg, 5x67.kg,
// 5x84.8kg

Chins: 6, 3, 3

Prone Bridges 3x30sec

Monday 03/08/09
Squats: 5x bar, 5x27.3kg, 3x47.3kg, 3x67.3kg
// 5x @ 82.3kg - got it this time

Bench Press: 5x bar, 5x27.3kg, 5x47.3kg
// 5x @ 52.3kg

Barbell Rows: 5x27.3kg, 5x47.3kg
// 5x @ 49.8kg

Weighted Press Ups: 7.5kg @ 3x10

Reverse Crunches: 3x12 with 2kg anchor

[Wellhairedbeast]

Rest day today but when i got home from work i did the following:
Leg Swings
Shoulder Dislocations
Squat Stretch
Sun Salutations (a series of yoga stretches, i do each one with a breath in between so they flow into each other more like a dynamic stretch if that makes sense)
Birddogs
Bridges
Supermans
Broomstick twists


One other thing i should probably point out in my log is that i walk to work and back each day, my neighbour said its a couple of miles in to town, used to take 30min each way but now its more like 25min if i walk quickly. When its hot this is quite tiring after a day of work but hopefully it wont interfere with my workouts.

[Transformer]

interesting log, stretching on off days...

congratz to get as far as 2 first time stalls! I've been failing often so I'll probably stall soon too.

I guess you have a brick wall to go through now !!

[Transformer]

Oops I see I made an error here. I read somewhere on the forum that there is a difference between a stall and a fail, meaning that a stall = 3 x failing and thus deloading. I've checked this in the faq but the terms stall and fail are not used in this context so I guess it is a matter of what you are used to.

Anyway it's a bit weird to see it as an accomplishment but I think it is in a way Nice numbers on OHP and you are almost @BW for the squat. Quick progress!!

[guru]

Great progress there Leon. I see that you've crossed your squat & OHP goal way ahead of schedule. Are you going to reset these goals? From the look of things you'll probably achieve your DL goal soon too.

As for working in kg, many of us work in kg. The population is larger that you think.

Good luck with your goals. Happy lifting.

[Wellhairedbeast]

Thanks for the comments guys...

> transformer :
Sorry perhaps i should have said failed sets as it was the first try. Yeah i think i have seen other people here do mobility stuff on the rest days and i thought it would be a good idea as it isn't intense enough to interfere with recovery. With regards to the squat and ohp progress i have done those in the past, but never been able to get into a serious routine.

> guru :
Cheers, well i should hit my OHP ahead of schedule but that depends on todays progress ( i know i could do a 1rm at 50 but 5x5 is another story). I think ill keep the 3 month goals all the same as ill take them as a whole when the time passes, if i can break 47.3 either today or on my last try and avoid the deload then i may alter the 6month target however.

[FiveByFive]

I do a version of the sun salutation whenever I can as well, I do it like you moving dynamically from one pose to the next and it gets my heart rate up. I've been slacking on it the last few months but you've inspired me to get back to doing it a couple times a week. It really improved my mobility.

[Wellhairedbeast]

Im really pleased i've inspired you to start them up again.

When i was self-employed and working from home a couple of years ago, i would take a break every 1 hour from my laptop to do one sun salutation - that really helped keep me going at the time. I probably should do them more, such as every morning but working shifts makes it difficult with morning tiredness as it messes with my circadian rhythm.

Wednesday 05/08/09

Squats: 2x5 bar, 5x27.3kg, 3x47.3kg, 3x67.3kg
84.8kg

OHP: 5xbar, 5x27.3kg
// 5x47.3kg - wooo!!! much better than last time i was so surprised i thought i would need my third attempt, the last rep of the last set nearly killed me though!

Deadlifts: 5x27.3kg, 5x47.3kg, 5x67.kg,
// 5x89.8kg - These were really tough for me today

Pull-ups: 4, 2, 2

Prone Bridges 3x30sec with 1kg plate switches ( i did 10secs then switched them back and forth twice, then did 10secs)

I am definitely due to stall soon on the OHP i think, but im not actually worried, im looking forward to it in a way as the sooner i deload the sooner i can continue to progress if you see what i mean, im quite happy to focus on the long term rather than the short. Of course id rather i never had to, but that wouldn't be possible!

Im also debating whether to switch to 3x5 for the squats, the last set dragged badly and the rest between sets is adding length to the workout. If i do i would do all the warmup sets at x5 rather than the heavier ones at x3.

[jnjh]

Hey there. Good effort on that overhead press! (It's not my favourite exercise of the bunch). You seem to be progressing really well with it.

Noticed your Stilgar quote there, are you a fan of Dune? I like the book. A big Gurney Halleck fan.

[Wellhairedbeast]

jnjh : thanks. Yeah i have all six books fo the original sequence, i havent read any of those "new" books written by other authors though, i have heard they are good but im a Frank Herbert fan so i just cant bear to read them!

[Wellhairedbeast]

Rest day so just some mobility etc:

Leg Swings (and SxS swings)
Lateral Squats
Reverse Lunges with twists
Shoulder Dislocations
Squat Stretches
Sun Salutations
Birddogs
Bridges
Supermans
Broomstick twists

[Wellhairedbeast]

Friday 07/08/09

Squats: 2x5 bar, 5x27.3kg, 3x47.3kg, 3x67.3kg
// 5, 5, 5, 3, 5 @ 87.3 - i totally lost form on the fourth set, it was terrible and cringe worthy - i kind of went limp and rounded my back because i wasn't concentrating, a very stupid mistake

Bench Press: 5x bar, 5x27.3kg, 5x47.3kg
// 5x @ 54.8kg

Barbell Rows: 5x27.3kg, 5x47.3kg
// 5x @ 52.3kg

Weighted Press Ups: 10kg, 10, 7, 6 - these were tough today

Negative Dragon Flags: 3, 3, 2 - tried something new today and damn these were hard. I did these by bracing myself to lower myself slowly for the negative which was tough, but it felt like a great exercise so im going to work on these i think.


Ok minor blip with the squats today, i am finding it hard to keep form for 5x5 and its starting to make the workout quite long. When i pass 87.3 ill be using that weight as another warmup (im using 20g intervals) so i might start doing this: 2x5 bar, 5x27.3, 3x47.3, 3x67.3, 3x87.3 then 3x5 working weight. I think that makes sense due to the amount of warmup sets id be doing, and id rather do 3 good form sets rather than 5 sloppy ones. But if anyone really disagrees with this and can provides a good argument, i might try and keep with the 5x5 for squats ( i know quite a few people do 3x5 anyway, and the ebook recommends this after stalling but thats a different scenario)

[Wellhairedbeast]

The Bear
5x5 @ 20.3kg 30sec rest between sets
Completed in: 6:25

I felt wrecked by the 3rd set, this is only the second time i have done it. The first time was with 12.3kg and it took me 7.32 so at least i improved!

[pagangoddess]

If it were me I'd switch to 3x5. You are already squatting slightly above BW. When I switched to 3x5 I hadn't even reached BW. I found I had more energy for the rest of the workout and I could still progress.

Nice job on the Bear. It seems to be catching on around here.

[Wellhairedbeast]

Thanks im definitely leaning towards the idea.

Thanks, im not surprised its more fun than a treadmill and its quick to do, if i had space at home id get a heavy bag and do tabatas on that, i have never really been interested in traditional cardio. Well with the exception of cross country running (never did it that much) and that was only because i liked being outdoors and not because i liked running lol.

Also if i do 3x5 on the squats then if i did the bear once a week it will be less likely to interfere with my recovery due to the reduced volume i expect, and that would be good.