Miha's training log

[Mihael]

I'm gonna make a bit longer introduction about my background, life, training, short and long term goals, pros and cons. My name is Mihovil and I come from Croatia but my friends call me Miha, so this is how I named my training log. I was always a chubby kid with bad eating habits which led me to around 86kg (~190lbs) bodyweight at the age of 15, at the height of 172cm. I've spent my weekends and holidays in hours and hours of playing basketball and always had this dream to dunk so I did everything I could think of at that moment to make this dream come true. Getting to 67kg at the age of 16 was a good way to start and then I started doing Air alert which eventually brought my vertical from around 40cms to 60cms. I had 2 concrete barbell weights at that moment, one of 20kgs and one of 40kgs so I did mostly front squats and bicep curls with those (yes, I had no idea of what strength training was about and only had some knowledge of plyometrics, mostly what air alert and several similar programs claimed was good to become a great jumper). Eventually I got caught up in a series of long plyometric workouts, lasting even up to 3 hours at a time. Yes, I had great motivation and attitude towards it but wasn't aware I was doing it all wrong, preforming tons of jumps which started working against me. Somehow I gained an additional 5kgs and my legs got very big, so big that even today I have problems with buying pants, cause my lower body and my waist are disproportionate. I still couldn't jump though, maxed out at 60cms standing jump and 70cms running. I was very frustrated but couldn't help myself, and then I got into some love issues and a nasty Internet gaming addiction which I thankfully got rid off by the time in was in my mid 19s. However, the former weight and bad living habits were my shadow again so I reached 80kgs at the very peak, fat of course. Through all that time while I was struggling with the addiction I forced myself to believe I could get myself in shape once again and maybe some day finish what I started. Once I started college I had to choose an activity to serve as my gym class so I've been doing Kempo for a year and a half now, but I wasn't happy with it. I want to train for strength and train right. It's kind of an addiction to me, cause I still remember the thrill I had while squating 40kgs for 8 reps as a kid and the burn in my legs afterwards. I still dream of the feeling when I saw I could jump higher and lift stronger, faster. Through all this time I've been reading books and searching the net for strength, diet, bodybuilding and vertical jump rules and advice from people who actually succeeded. Yes I found the vertical jump bible by Kelly Baggett and I must admit it's great reading material, and I agree with him when he stresses out squatting as the primary factor in jumping power. However, it was very hard to go against the fear of failure and actually start doing something so the more and more I researched and knew what to do, I was delaying to start a program and actually try and do something.

I've spent the last 3 months focusing on carefully reading stronglifts, vertical jump bible and a Croatian powerlifting forum, experimenting with my daily calorie intake, working on my form in various lifts and doing my best to form a home gym. Up until recently I had nothing to work with except 2 dumbbells. Now I have a steel bar with weights up to 120kg (I'm counting that the bar weighs 5kg, prolly around 7 though, but it's easy for me to calculate with 5, and doesn't make much difference, and yes, it's not a regular olympic bar, but still very safe and solid) (I got 4 pieces of plates 15,10,5,2.5,1.75,1.25,0.75kg, planning on making a 25-30kg one) and finally got a homemade power rack for squats yesterday afternoon. I'm expecting to install a pullup bar sometime this week. Being able to do squats with real heavy weights makes me feel confident I can make it. A home gym is being planned atm (lots of work to be done, but it's gonna look awesome and I'm gonna share pictures of it sometime in the future), but for now I'm working out in my room .

I could go on and on with some pathetic crap about how dunking that ball down is something I need to do to redeem the past, get my selfconfidence and manhood back, prove something to myself and the world, you know, the stuff you usually hear in the movies. The naked truth is that, yes, I want to feel the thrill of flying again, and this time true flying, but that's only a scratch of the surface. What I really do want is taking responsibility for my actions and sticking to decisions I make, building a strong will and solid foundations for a quality life. I don't want to wake up one day in my late 30s with a giant beer belly, watching kids playing football on TV and asking myself where did my youth go.

[Mihael]

To cut the crap, my long terms would be this:

Being able to form a training/diet routine which would guarantee constant progress (becoming an expert in strength training and helping others in achieving their goals)

Squatting 2,5-3 times my bodyweight
Benching 2 times my bodyweight
Having a standing vertical of 120cms
Standing at around 72-75kgs, whatever makes me maintain my wanted vertical.

I'm posting this here cause I feel it will help my motivation and I hope of hearing comments and tips which could be useful, and also hoping how sharing my logs with such a great community will help me persist in reaching my goals. I will try to help you guys and comment your logs as much as my knowledge permits me. The worst thing is to give bad advice to someone, so I'll try to use the knowledge I got when I'm sure off what I'm talking about.


I'm posting my plan for this day because it's really specific. I gotta leave home for college at 10:00 and I won't be home until 22:00. My classes end at 18:00 so I chose this day to do my 2nd Kempo practice (If I don't do all 16, I flunk the semester and lose my scolarship), because it starts at 19:00 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) so I don't have to travel home and then back to the city (which is 1h ride there and 1h back).

This is going to be a rough day, primarily considering my diet.

07:30 Waking up, drinking 30g of whey and starting with dynamic stretches for the workout

Workout:

Squats 70kg 5x5
Barbell Row 55kg 5x5
Bench press 52,5kg 5x5
Deadlift 1x5 80kg
Tricep dips (will try to do with 10kg weight, but don't know how that will work out) 3xF

~09:00-09:15, 30g whey, 50g glucose shake ~400 kcal

10:00 250g cottage cheese - 200kcal

11:00 Prolly coffee

12:00 Protein bar (175kcal, 17g P, 20g Carb, 10g fat - not good, but can't do better atm)

15:00 150g Turkey breast ham with half of integral bread bagel ~ 175 kcal

18:00 150g Turkey breast ham with half of integral bread bagel

19:00 Another protein bar (before training)

22:00 I come home, 250g cottage cheese, flax seed oil, fish oil, sleep.

~1900kcal for the day

[Mehdi]

Looking forward to your log Mihovil. Where are you from in Croatia? Got friends who went there twice last year.

[Mihael]

It's 1 A.M and I've been trying to go to sleep for the past 2 hours. I guess drinking 3 coffees yesterday afternoon (it was Sunday so lots of socializing) was a bad idea. I'll try again in half an hour but this means I have to scratch my workout for tommorow and transfer it to Tuesday because I doubt I'll be able to do anything right after a mere 5h sleep. Not a good way to start a week, but there's no helping it now.

I'm from a village located 30km south of Zagreb (the capital). Your friends probably visited the coast, which is around 300-500km distance to me, depending on which exact region.

[mackanno]

Welcome to the best place for strength, but more important, the best place to get confidence and support. Read some logs, you will find them really encouraging.

[KritiKal]

Life can get crazy trying to schedule everything else and a workout, but it seems like you have a great plan.
But only 1900 calories?  How much do you weight Mihael?

[Mihael]

@Kritikal 68-69kg, varies


I started doing dynamic stretches and warmup at 8:10:

20 good mornings, 20 fast squats, 10 lunges, 2 min running with knees high first, then kickbacks, 5 vertical jumps (60cm vertical)

Strength workout is coming as follows (I'm writing this as I'm doing it):

Squats: (Decided to do 65kg) 5/4/5/5/

Deadlift: 85kg 1X5

Barbell row 5x5 (had some form problems, not quite satisfied)
(simultaneously, one after another with the same weight) 52,5 kg

Bench press 5x5 (good form, surprisingly easy)

Dips - I have yet to figure out how I'm gonna be doing those





Questions and problems:

-Squats

1. I'm having problems with placing the bar on my back. Although I think I placed it right cause I tried many different variations, the question is
should it touch the back shoulders and should they (the bones) be sore from the load ?

2. I had problems keeping my wrists straight. If I put the bar almost to the neck they're straight, and if I go lower, no matter what I do with my elbows, they have a bend.

3. Almost fell back on the 2nd set (went way too deep on the 4th rep) and had some reps where I didn't push quite of the heels (using fingers), but that's something I can work on avoid it in the future.

4. Shoes: Did workout with AND1 high basketball shoes, and it didn't feel so good. I should prolly switch to lower shoes next time. (Yes, I read the shoes article and now I know what you mean ))

Overall: Still far from pleased with the form

-Deadlift:

1. I have to wait for my 30kg weights, cause the maximum I can load on the barbell is 85kg now so it'll have to be my working weight this week


Diet:

07:00 150g cottage cheese, 20g turkey breast, 150g apples (~200kcal)

09:45 30g whey, 50g glucose shake ~400 kcal
11:45 200g boiled chicken with veggies and 2 boiled eggs + 1 eggwhite ( 400 kcal)
12:30 Coffee ( ~100 kcal ?)
15:00 150g Chicken breast salami with half of integral bread bagel ~ 175 kcal
18:00 150g Chicken breast salami with half of integral bread bagel ~ 175 kcal
19:30 200g cottage cheese and 2 eggs ~ 300kcal

21:30 150g cottage cheese, flax seed and fish oil, 2 eggwhites ~ 150 kcal

Total for the day: 1900 kcal

Problem: I'm not sure if I'm counting something wrong here, but this number of 1900 kcal seems very small to me, and I know from experience that if I'd add let's say 600 kcal to this, it wouldn't be a very fitness wise decision, if you know what I mean.

I'm willing to believe that the chicken breast salami should have more then 80kcal per 100g as I found on the net so if these 2 meals of 15:00 and 18:00 would make 250kcal each, the number of 2100-2200 calories would be closer to the truth.

[Mouse]

Chest up, shoulder blades squeezed back together and down.
Use either high bar or low bar position for placement of bar - either way it should not make you sore - but that may be of course you getting used to having a barbell across your shoulders - as long as it's not painfull.
Have a look at http://stronglifts.com/how-to-squat-wit ... -problems/ gives some great tips on squatting technique including bar placement.
 
Include shoulder dislocations in your warm ups / stretches this will help with getting your wrists straight with increasing flexibility.

[Mihael]

I read it, but not sure if the barbell should press against the back shoulders. It's not painful just sometimes uncomfortable.

"but that may be of course you getting used to having a barbell across your shoulders"

Judging by this sentence, the barbell should press across the shoulders ? I guess you're right about the getting used to part, and I hope my shoulders will get accustomed to the bar in due time. The discomfort is more like when someone hits you in the bone, but with a lot less intensity ofc.

[Mouse]

Across the shoulders - well not quite that simple - tops of shoulders or blades
 
High bar - above the posterior deltoids at the base of the neck, hands just outside shoulder width.
Low bar - across the posterior deltoids at the middle of the trapezius and hands slightly wider than above.

[Mihael]

Thanks for the pictures, explains a lot. The high bar poisiton is what I'm doing, so I guess the shoulder soreness is something my shoulders will get used to in time.

[Mouse]

I try to get my back like this when setting up - shoulder blades together and down - creates a good shelf to rest the bar on the muscle and not the bone of the shoulders.

[phillipsjosh2415]

I try to get my back like this when setting up - shoulder blades together and down - creates a good shelf to rest the bar on the muscle and not the bone of the shoulders.

Good point, mouse.  That is the exact picture I think of before each squat set as I'm getting set to place the bar on my back.  Feels like there is a place just made for the bar to fit when I do that.  Part of that might be due to having done squats quite a bit over my life so I'm used to it.  Might not be quite that simple for someone just starting out.  Stay with it though and it will eventually feel that way.

[Mihael]

I'll post a quick workout schematic for the rest of this week and my diet plan for tommorow  because it's easier to stick to what I got scheduled this way. Makes a "written" plan, and a feeling of guilt if I miss it out. This will be only a rough sketch, starting strength + Kelly Baggett's pliometrics. I will post my log after every workout describing how it went.
Feel free to comment and give constructive advice on what could be done better.
Thursday:
Warmup: 20 good mornings, 10 x ( leg swings, side to side leg swings, lunge jumps, running knees high), 20 fast squats
High object ( a plank of the roof in my case) jumps: 3x5
Depth jumps and shock jumps: 3x5
Chin ups 3 x F (while waiting between depth and shock jumps)
Note: I can do chin ups (but not pull ups due to the thickness and short length of the bar where my mom does the laundry) outside of my house atm, where I also got a box and a chair for the jumps. I won't be able to do pullups until I install a pullup bar in a room that will soon be my gym, once it's decorated and isolated, so I'll focus more on barbell rows.
Squats 67,5kg 5x5
Abs  while I "wait" for another set
Barbell rows 52,5kg (will try to do with perfect form before I move on) 5x5
Deadlift 80kg (I can't go any more in weight atm until I make myself a new bar and a set of 2 30kg weights so I'll be incorporating 5 deadlifts in my every training session focusing on good form)  1x5
Overhead press: 42,5kg 5x5
Jumps over the power rack while I wait
Upright row 42,5kg   5x5 - it's not listed in starting strength but I developed great technique on it and whenever my row went up, press went up too and vise versa.
Abs while I wait
Saturday: Same as Thursday in plios, deadlift, barbell rows, but added 2,5kg on squats, and bench press instead of overhead and upright row. I'll also try to think something up regarding dips. I'll prolly have to do them holding myself to my bed with my feet on a bench, but it's gonna be hard putting and balancing 10kg of weights on that. Maybe replacing it with something else that targets the triceps?
 
Diet for tommorow:
07:00 150g cottage cheese, half of tuna can ~ 250kcal 
09:30 150g cottage cheese, half of tun can   ~250kcal
11:45 200g boiled chicken with veggies and 2 boiled eggs + 1 eggwhite ( 400 kcal)
12:30 Coffee ( ~100 kcal ?)
15:00 150g Chicken breast salami with half of integral bread bagel ~ 175 kcal
18:00 150g Chicken breast salami with half of integral bread bagel ~ 175 kcal
19:30 200g cottage cheese and 2 eggs ~ 300kcal

21:30 150g cottage cheese, flax seed and fish oil, 2 eggwhites ~ 150 kcal

Again the numbers seem weak, but I got a feeling I'm counting something wrong, cause this kind of diet gets me very good throughout the day and if I keep adding stuff, experience has shown it bulks me up.

[Mihael]

After stretching I tested my 2 feet standing vertical jump reach. It has gone from 283 to 285cm. (My hands go to 223cm so it's a 62cm jump).
Plyometrics went good and fast
Squat: 67,5 kg 3 x 5 / 4 / deloaded to 65kg and did 5 
I found a comfortable position for the bar on my back. Regarding form, I still can't perfect pushing of the heels right so my toes still touch the ground on most reps. I can't quite make an estimate if I'm going deep enough. The first 3 sets seemed harder then I expected and on the 4th set I did 4 reps and on the 5th rep went deep and couldn't go up anymore so I had troubles crawling back to the power rack on my knees and putting the bar back up. Then I deloaded to 65kg and tried to focus on form. My legs were worn out so I still didn't get the form quite as I expected and the depth I wanted but did 5. I'll get a spotter for Saturday so he monitor how I'm working
Barbell row: 5x5 but I really doubt it was with proper form. The more reps I do, somehow when I pull the bar up, my back goes up with the elbows. Very frustrating.
Overhead press: 5/ 4 / 4 / 4 / 3 
Upright row: 4 / 4 / 3 / 3 / 3
Deadlift- didn't do it, was way too fatigued
Overall: I wasn't too happy with the training. Came home late last night after training which knock me out more mentally then physically and woke up feeling weak. The workout this morning took too long, around 1h 45min. counting from when I started warming up and stretching. Now I'm gonna have a day rest and try to perform better on Saturday.