mjh's training log

[mjh]

I was going to title this "the resurrection of mjh's training log".

I've been away from the weights for a long time. Travel had a lot to do with it, but even once I got home to New Zealand I took a long time to establish a routine for getting to the gym and eating big. In Vietnam, and at home in NZ, I fell into old habits of eating like a bird, and lost a lot of weight and strength. But things have fallen into place and I'm ready for another crack at stronglifts 5x5.

To recap: my story is a lot like bluestreak's. Always tall, skinny, and weak... but getting a pot belly in my late 20s. I started sl5x5 while living in Korea last year, with good results. I gained a good 10 kilos of bodyweight (some of which has since been lost), and made good progress on all my lifts barring back squats (no squat rack at my gym). Best of all were the improvements I made to my knee, which I wrote about here.

Stats:

• Age: 28
• Height: 189cm
• Bodyweight 83 kg
• Best Front Squat: 55kg, 5x5 followed by 60kg x1
• Best Deadlift: 100kg 1x5
• Best Bench: 50kg 5x5 (got close to 5x5 with 55kg a few times, but never quite made it)
• Best OHP: 35kg 5x5
• Dips, Chins and Pull-ups were all in low single digits.

This week I have been in the gym, just messing around and checking out the equipment, checking out form etc. I'm damn sore after squatting just an empty bar! But I'm excited about giving sl5x5 a real run and seeing how far I can take it and it can take me. Watch this space.

[bluestreak]

Great to see that you started a training log - I look forward to your progress. Especially nice to see you squatting, despite the problems with your knee. I'm sure you'll regain all that strength and then some.

And if you're looking to gain weight, the silver-top Full Cream milk is my best friend

[Beppe]

Welcome back under the bar! Your lost weight and strength are waiting for you, enjoy your squats!

[Mouse]

Glad you're back to the gym Mike

One comment - starting pics - you know the correct attire

Looking forward to seeing your numbers shooting up.

[bigwhat62]

nice man. strength comes back faster until you get to a point where you hit your old PRs and then its hard like heck again. its all fun if you ask me. so where are you settled in right now?

[rere]

Waana see two plates on the squat by the summer mike

[mjh]

@ bigwhat: in my hometown of Hamilton, NZ, to start on a graduate degree in Public History. I'm in a house within 10 mins walking distance from uni, gym, green grocer, Asian food market, Indian food market, bulk foods store, butcher, and 4 pubs. Sweet.

@Rere: It is summer!

[bigwhat62]

seems like you strategically live in the perfect spot. nice man. pubs in walking distance would mean trouble for me

[rere]

@Rere: It is summer!

Winter?

[mjh]

16 Febuary, 2009.

Squat
20kg, 5x5

Bench Press
20kg, 2x5
30kg, 5x5

Bent Over Rows
40kg, 5x5

Dips
3, 2, 3

You can see I'll be doing the older version of sl5x5, though I think I'll alternate push-ups with dips. Sticking with the BBR just because I prefer it. I've started at 30kg on bench press, which was easy for 5x5 and puts me about 6 weeks away from my previous best weights.

Diet:
I'm giving myself a window of between 3000 to 4000 calories as a target each day. A big window, but for the last few days I've been landing around 3500. 200+ grams of protein. I don't count calories from veges. I'm not stressing too much about carbs, but will try and limit them to breakfast and post workout. I'm not doing GOMAD yet, but I am doing COLOMAD, or couple of litres of milk a day. Definately less beer, and a lot less sugar and candy and energy drinks etc.

On the recommendation of a few kiwis on these forums, I've got myself a few kilos of Reactiv Pure New Zealand Whey Powder. It is what it says it is, pure whey, no flavor, no sweeteners, no nothing. Made from happy New Zealand cows. It's pretty cheap ($160NZD for 4.4kg, or $80ish USD for 10lbs for you yanks) and mixes easily.

[mjh]

18 Febuary, 2009

Squat
22.5kg, 5x5
focusing on three things here: hips back, knees out, hip drive coming up. Feels good, soon enough I'll want to make a vid to check. I used a different rack today, which let me widen my grip, this helped a lot in the racking and unracking, because my shoulders are pretty inflexible. I do lots of shoulder disloacations and have already felt an improvement in this.

OHP
20kg, 5x5

Deadlift
60kg, 2x5
starting at 60 which is a pretty easy weight, did two sets to give lots of attention to form.

Chins
1/1/1/1/1
that's five single reps, with slow negatives. I've ordered the iron woody pull up/chin band set, and will use those when they arrive. I feel that doing a greater volume of good reps with some (decreasing) assistance will be better than few wild and wobbly reps.

after my workout I had a shake (whey, oats, milk) and within 20 minutes I was hungry again. So I had a big mac. I'll report back and tell you all tomorrow if I turn into a fat ass overnight.

[bluestreak]

I've ordered the iron woody pull up/chin band set, and will use those when they arrive. I feel that doing a greater volume of good reps with some (decreasing) assistance will be better than few wild and wobbly reps.

Did you order them from getstrength?

I agree with you on the wild and wobbly reps - those are the ones that flare up the pain in my elbow (i.e. with jump start).

Keep it up mate!

[mjh]

I ordered them from getstrength last week, but they haven't shown up yet. I just emailed them asking what's up. I also got the reactiv whey (it's an awesome product, and pretty cheap), and a foam roller. Thanks for those links!

[excylist]

Hey MJH!
Thanks for coming over to my log and relating that funny story about your friend on the cricket team. I got a nice laugh out of that one.

Sorry to hear that you lost a lot of strength and weight on your travels- hard to avoid when there isn't a routine to follow I suppose. The good news is that your muscle's memory will take over and you'll be lifting big in no time.

I also am doing the bent rows- I look forward to hearing your comments about form on that lift- not a lot of people are doing them.

Good luck on reaching your goals

[mjh]

20 Febuary, 2009

Squat
25kg, 5x5
a little rough on the shoulders... keeping on with the dislocations and other stretches

Bench
20kg, 2x5
35, 5x5

Barbell Row
42.5kg, 5x5

Push Ups
on toes: 3,2,1
on knees: 8, 7, 6

plenty to improve on! I may go workout tomorrow (making it 4 times this week), depending on how I feel.