Ltbs Training Log (2nd time around)

[maroon]

squat 97.5k 5,5,3 - the tale-of-the-tape says it all, just not with it today, had intended 5x5 and should have nailed them, also set the vid up ready, but somehow just wasn't going to happen, lost focus, lost tightness, and shredded my shorts, they gotta go lol

Squats get damn hard around this mark. I'm struggling. My approach now is trying to fix my sleeping, eating and working on the depth at this weight. It will feel great to squat 100kg for working sets comfortably in the future with proper range of motion

[ltbs]

100k for 5+ is the big one for me to, set myself a goal of Nov 9th to be exact, will be my 40th B/day so my own little pressie, could probably force a few (bad) reps out on a good day, but like you would rather have the package, depth + form.

you are right to take into account the sleep and eating aspect. lately my sleep has been slightly erratic, waking in the night for a few minutes, having trouble getting up in morning, and generally not feeling myself, so no surprise my squats were shit. i tend to stick at a weight to nail form before increasing, but none the less, i will be squatting 100k for my b/day, with depth lol, no quarters

[ltbs]

self update

really feeling it today after yesterday's ohp i'm guessing as squats were poor and deads were run of the mill crap again. i have like a 24hr switch, as soon as 24hrs since lifting approaches DOMS kick in, but this is a beautiful feeling, rolling shoulders back and forth, squeezing shoulder blades together, shrugs, single shoulder rotations, even abs, pure bliss........

[ltbs]

Wed 21st oct 'A' 2.00pm 181.6lbs

squat 97.5k - 5,5,5,3 - just hard, hard, hard. terrible form, comments with vid below

bench 65k - 5x5 - at last managed to squeeze out all the reps, last rep on last set a struggle but wasn't gonna fail

row 60k - 5x5 - felt easier than earlier attempts at lower weights, maybe more focus this time

dips + 1.25k - 8,8,6 - 1 min rest, target was 3x8 and thought was gonna get it. after 1st set was advised to use a heavier weight (10k) but in my mind i knew how hard these suddenly become, i said next year for the heavier weight, which was actually a 10k plate. 3rd set coming back up on 7th rep could not force my upper arms to go much past parallel, held the position as long as possible with encouragement from other users to make it, pleased with the effort tho'

no crunches

squat vids, working upto 97.5k in the order of 70k, 80k, 90k, 97.5k shows 1st,3rd + 4th set



know when to quit, i'm an honest lifter, and quite honestly when i reached 90k the problems set in, knees move forward and bar path changes throwing me forwards, at 97.5k depth fails and bar movement worsens, started to overthink myself by placing something to reach back for on last clip when in reality the weight is too much

[ltbs]

criticism leaves the deepest cut....

[ltbs]

Fri 23rd oct 'B' 12pm

squat 97.5k - 5x5 - it was tough but got them all, unable to use camera as gym was too busy, so for sure their were some dodgy reps. noticed i tend to start the squat by throwing hips back first, must correct this as it may be causeing my knees to travel at the bottom.

gym was so busy that i left after i finished my squats. with only 1 bar available and four people wanting it i decided to leave them to their benching (again) session.

6.30 pm

ohp 41k - 5x5 - went for this weight again because of shoulder issues last time. still have the pain but wasn't as bad, form was much tighter today but still a damn hard lift. didn't feel the same doing it oiutside of my 5x5 session so am not including it as valid training session but just making notes for how it went.

summary :- well, a shit end to a shit week, low energy all week, poor form in some lifts but happy with others. considering changing gym times, but that means training alone which will be hard with the heavy weights and no safety rack/cage..................

[ltbs]

on reflection i should be damn happy with my progress and i am.

bench up to 65k (previous would struggle at 50k), squat up to 97.5k (previously stuck at 75k forever) ohp at 41k (remember struggling with just the bar) weighted dips for sets instead of only 5-6 at bodyweight.

so why the loss of focus, negativity, doom and gloom recently? maybe my goal of a 100k squat by my 40th (Nov 9th '09) is starting to put pressure on me, it's 2 weeks away and i want it badly, but it has to be with form and power, i am lacking on both lately so something must change, am re-evaluating diet, am now on GOMAD and increasing calories. gonna work harder on soft tissue work. looking back it has been highly neglected. around the time of my visit to my chiropractor i had no complaints with my squats (according to log)

by ltbs on Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:05 pm

Sat 10th oct - 9.00am CHIROPRACTOR........

long time coming, known for a while my back is tight, have been lazy with foam roller and now i pay the price (£37 lol), an elbow in the back seperating the fibres, oooh the sweetest pain, without a word from me she just can feel the tightness and works on it......

squat 92.5k 3x5 - was aiming for 5x5 but unusually for me, got chatting so ran out of time, gym got busy so stuck at 3, confident would've cleared 5...

so i am looking at the biggest picture, and that has to include home life. i don't want to blame/include home/personal issues on my performance, i should be able to concentrate fully on the job at hand, go gym, do lifts, go home. but these things do have an impact, they do take away my focus, but my desire is strong. On Monday will hit the gym with new focus, new music lol, maybe new vids, most of all tho' a vision to persevere, this is all to be expected, possibly even much worse to come. I am thankful that i am (mostly) injury free and put that down to learning impeccable technique as much as possible, which will continue, facing my fears head on.............

[Caphel]

Some weeks are worse than others, I guess it is a test of your mental strength when you still go and hit the iron when you are not in the mood.

You are still progressing really well and should be proud of what you have achieved so far.

That 100kg squat has your name on it.

[ltbs]

Caphel, thanks for the words. I guess because i was progressing so well it felt like i would never stall lol. It is all part of the process and from now i will take it in my stride, the only way is up.

[ltbs]

Week commencing Mon 26th oct, notes taken from written log

Mon 26th oct 'A' 12pm)

squat 100k 3x5 - not the tidiest but happy, only a depth issue to work on

bench 67.5k 3,4,4 - 2 things stand out here, i was lifting the wrong weight, it should have been 66k but miscalculated, and damn spotters got in the way AGAIN. 1st set 3rd rep 2 pairs of hands appear blocking the bar and ceiling, i wasn't stuck, the bar was still moving up but hey ho, in they jump. 2nd set 4th rep spotter jumps in again when not needed, another lifter pinted out I would have made the 5 if not for the spotter BLEH. 3rd set pleaede with spotter to only step in if bar goes downwards, again stepped in slightly too early, finished on 4, didn't attempt 5th rep, knew it wouldn't be there, however i had no idea i had too much weight on the bar so all in all a good effort

row 61k 3x5 - completed fairly comfortably

dips + 1.25k 8,8,7 - an improvement of 1 rep, cool

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Wed 28th oct 'B' 12pm

squat 100k 3,4,3,3 - what a catastrophe, ha,all my own fault. did my warm up, went well, then got chatting with Les, such a nice fella, without me realising, he has been paying a lot of attention to what i do and notices when things aren't going well. But due to the chatting, i felt like i had cooled down too much so went through my warm up again which may have been the reason for the lack of numbers on my squat sets.

ohp 42.5k 5,5 - not as hard as i thought they were going to be, my warm-ups went excellent, extremely tight and focused, but when it came to the lift 1st set fine, 2nd set extreme pinching in right shoulder on last rep, decided to call it the last one for the day, am definately gonna have to get this looked at, my left side is becoming so much more stronger

deads 105k 1x5 - considering how many squats i had been through this went surprisingly well. Cut my warm-up in half to 5@70k, 3@100k then work set. Everything extremely tight and smooth, could hear the comments in the background from the 'curlers' about the strength needed. Made me want to do more reps but was happy with the effort, ready to move up in weight

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Fri 30th oct ' A' 2pm 3x5

warm up with squat 'jumps' then - squat 100k 3x5 - much nicer, last set felt best, am now more comfortable with this weight that i will stick with it and work on issues that crop up, this is so much different than 97.5k felt, unreal

bench 67.5k 4, 66k 5,5 - ok so again i loaded the wrong weight, however this time i coped. Couldn't figure out why it felt so heavy after 1st set. Got calculator out and added the plates to get 67.5k. Unloaded the excess 1.5k and cleared the 66k with little problem. Will stick at this to make it 5x5 before moving up to 6.5k, that 1.5k feels like so much more

row 61k 3x5 - stuck at this 'til 5x5 next week, increase a week later hopefully

dips + 1.25k 8,8,6 - dropped a rep, not too bothered, was absolutely exhausted, a proper workout for once, not had that in a long time

So, a big update, been a busy week, out the house at 9.00am and not home 'til 10.oopm, make my food then sleep. Made a real concious effort to bust the Friday session apart regards focus and mood, suffer for it now with tiredness but it is a welcome feeling, coupled with a sense of fulfilment

............That 100kg squat has your name on it.

..........and i have the pen ready haha

[ltbs]

Mon 2nd nov 'B' 9.30 am forgot weigh-in

squat warm up - 3+5@50k, 3+5@70k, 3+5@80k, 3+5@90k then workset 100k 5,2 - not sure what or how it happened but have an extremely sore left quad, so much so that i quit after 2reps on 2nd set of 100k for fear of doing more damage, maybe even not being able to get back up at worst case. fairly happy with what i did do, maybe over-cooked the warm-up sets, main thing is to get my quad sorted, iced as soon as i got home (that was a painful 2 mile cycle), waiting for next ice session, vid below of 100k. 1st set scrappy and high, 2nd set looked to be a little better but decided to rack the weight for fear of damage, still working on depth....

ohp warmup 5@25k, 5@30k, 5@35, 3@40k then workset 42.5k 4,5,5 - 1st set was thumbless grip, have read on these forums about trying it. Used thumbless grip during all warm-up sets and felt nice, different, but 1st set thumbless didn't go well, bar was stuck directly overhead, arms at 90 degrees. 2nd + 3rd set back to standard grip, previously had excruciating shoulder pinching pain, this time was minimal and was able to make the reps with comfort, still a struggle on odd reps. Last set best set, good breathing + tempo

deads 107.5k 1x5 - maybe due to the lack of squats, not sure, but these flew up, quad pain didn't seem to be an issue even tho their was good leg drive and good grip. An interesting note to be had, i have focused on bringing my hands closer to my legs, as close as possible without them touching my legs. Felt like i could do more reps so moving up again, 110k next

pull ups 5, chins 5, hammer chins ??? - video below, seems i do a good hanging leg raise as well as the pull-up haha, must work at my technique. last set (hammer chins) for fun, not sure how to count these reps, but thought why not, was in good mood

barbell curls 3x8 - just the empty barbell, it's a start lol

as ever the audio is disabled by youtube



summary :- this may become my new gym time, it is much quieter, i can do what i like, so all in all i am pleased how it went, had no-one there to feed off or prove anything to except me, hope to make the squats on wednesday with vid

[ltbs]

Wed 4th nov 'B' 10:30am



good sesssion, fairly happy with squats, need more consistence on depth and keep chest up, but working on them. Video shows 1st set (and plenty of noise for last 2 reps lol), always the worst set, so if the other reps looked any better (certainly felt it) i'm happy, quad a little sore but nowhere near mondays problem, still more ice can't be bad, still slightly tender

bench numbers show 4,5,5,5,5 - after 1st set i turned the bench around, had some cramp in hip and felt unstable. Having the narrow end under my hips was not at all stable but as soon as i turned it round i was able to drive into the bench, my head rests nicely in the gap between seat and bench

row was ok but messed around with positioning as shown in video, last set at 60k 'cos lent my kilo wraps to someone. Gym got busy so only 1 set of dips + 1.25k x 10, wanted the vid but gym got busy.

have focused more on using foam roller and tennis ball, generally as much soft tissue work i can and make sure i get my food

[ltbs]

late update for Fri 6th Nov 'B' 10.30 am gym time 2hrs

squat 100k 4,5,4 - 1st set horrible and rushed, always fighting to keep the weight vertically controlled, last rep on 5th set high, see vid below, Heart rate 151, 153, 154 for respective sets, 2nd + 3rd sets 10 BPM less than equivalent sets on wednseday training. noticed some soreness on lower right quad (picture below) that maybe was caused by right knee moving forward at bottom of squat on 4th rep 1st set, maybe time to deload for safety, side note, it takes me 15 minutes to complete 3x5 on squats, no idea how this fares time wise to others, average 3+ min rest between sets

ohp 42.4k 5x5 - 1st set as always horrible, vid below shows last 2 warm-ups and 1st working set. 5th set fuelled by my anger at another lifter who always manages to get in the way at just the wrong time to do his standing bicep cable curls grrr, but it did help me get the weight up, damn it i wish i had the vid, felt near perfect, tho still some shoulder pain just before lockout

deadlift 110k 1x5 - was super confident i would make this, vid below, since changing foot and grip position this lift is now on it's way up (with plenty of noise to help it lol). On 3rd rep for some reason stood at lockout for too long. Last rep would like to see more back extension and overall more chest up, so will stick with this weight next time

grip - 25k each hand 2x1min - immediately i deload the bar from deads, i use the 25k plates for grip strength purposes, stand approx a min just holding the plates x2

pull ups 3xbw - time was running on so only did the 3

squat, ohp, deads

quad pic, area of soreness circled

[ltbs]

Mon 9th nov 'A' 10.30am

squat 5@80k, 5@85k, 5@90k, 5@95k, 5@100k - i am doing a partial deload and just cutting back on the total amount of reps, a few steps back = more steps forward. I found all of theses sets hard, should have filmed them, maybe next time. Still suffering sore lower quad.

bench 67.5k 5,5,4 - these were tough but should have made the last rep. Would have if it wasn't for lack of focus, rythmn, breathing, the whole lot out of sync, went back a few hours later to prove to myself i could do it, just wanted 1 extra set of 5@67.5k and got it

row 62.5k 3+2,4,4 - first set thought it was still warm up, remembered it was work set so pulled 2 more reps. Last 2 sets both a fail, no problem, will work on it

dips + 1.25k 3x8 - so,reached 3x8 at last and felt ok, next session will be attempting 3x9, gonna be tough but has to be done

summary :- a pretty poor training session, the niggly soreness in various places take away the full focus, in 3 weeks i have a week's break from work and gym, looking back i haven't missed training since may/june apart from 2 week summer holiday in august so a weeks rest maybe due

[ltbs]

Wed 11th nov 10.30

squat - 5@82.5k, 5@87.5k, 5@92.5k, 5@97.5k, 5@102.5k - made a fatal flaw squatting 102.5k - forgot to use a clip on the bar, vids below, side view and back view - it won't happen again, depth lacking somewhat still



ohp 42.5k - 5,5,5,3,4 - shoulder pain again on last 2 sets, dropping weight and increasing reps, worked last time so try again

deadlift 110k 1x5 - felt tighter, more chest up, increasing weight next time

summary :-squat accident could have been fatal, no knowing what would have happened had the weights actually left the bar, ohp pain present again so drooping weight, deadlift excelling at the moment, need more vids to clarify i can actually increase the weight safely