nburge's training log

[nburge]

Tabata burpees. This time a personal trainer teaching someone how to use a leg extension machine was the one to be bemused by my gym regime...

[nburge]

OK - I really struggled this morning. I've been sleeping (a lot) this week, so it must be my diet. I have started to pare this back to lose fat (my gut still sticks out - it actually seems as though there's less fat to pinch, but my belly is still distended). I'm going to have to add more food into it, and am thinking about trying out the anabolic diet, or something similar for a couple of weeks too. Normally I eat quite a healthy balance of different foods, and I don't like the concept of diets as I'd rather catalyse change through physical activity, but I would quite like to lose some of this belly.

So, I got on the bike to work and already felt drained, just couldn't be bothered to pedal fast or overtake anyone (normally I can't stand riding behind people) but got to the gym and hit the weights anyway:

Squat 40kgs 1x5, 50kgs 1x5 65kgs 5x5 - these were tiring. I didn't feel too weak, more like there just wasn't any power in them. Concerning.
OHP 20kgs 1x5, 40kgs 5x5 - these were a killer. I **really** struggled on the 4th set, and only a determination not to stall got me through. maybe the 50kgs limit without stalling was too ambitious..... we'll see
Deadlift - 80kgs - 1x5 - killer. I barely had the energy to load the bar, the reps were OK but I felt like I'd been hit by a shovel afterwards.
Chin ups - 5x3x1 (plus 5 negs after each set) - this felt like a blessed relief!
Prones - 3x30s with swiss ball under my shins and leaning on a powerplate

All in all I was pleased to get through the workout, and the numbers look quite good. I'm hoping it's pure fatigue - tabatas and 60 miles of additional cycling this week with my workouts probably took their toll. Next week my training is going to be disrupted by travel, so hopefully I'll get a bit more rest (less cycling). Have a good weekend guys...

[nburge]

Back to it this monday, gym was busy for once. Squat rack stood lonely though, everyone else was doing beach weights.

Squat 30kgs 1x5, 50kgs 1x5 warm up, 67.5kgs 5x5 - these were hard. I REALLY had to squeeze my ass to get them up in the air. Not sure whether I'm near a stall or just feeling the increased weight. I shall keep progressing here but if I feel form is being compromised I may well deload for a bit
Bench 55kgs 5x5 - these felt comparatively easy. I adjusted some of my body positioning after watching Rippetoe on Youtube, they were a bit shaky but I can get more here - still going to add 5kgs per lift
Inverted row (feet on bench) 9x4x3 - much tougher to hit my chest now. Oddly I didn't feel as though it was as much of a workout though.
Dips (decided to ditch press ups after Guru's one-man Dip crusade on the site) machine in my gym for this is awful - it's a big counterweight contraption, and whilst you can remove the counterweights, they really get in the way of the dips. Didn't feel much on my chest here - it felt much more front deltoid and tricep work - managed 4x2x3 which again was odd, as I don't normally get more on the last set than the second. Not sure about these
Reverse crunch 3x15

All in all the workout was a bit disappointing. I didn't feel anywhere near as tired as Friday's workout, which is good, but the squats are still very tough and I was hoping to blast through 1xBW before having trouble with them.

[guru]

decided to ditch press ups after Guru's one-man Dip crusade on the site

The dips fever is spreading. Beware all.

Didn't feel much on my chest here - it felt much more front deltoid and tricep work

Same here.

[nburge]

I must say I quite like the dips guru - only problem is the godawful excuse for a dip station my gym supplies - it's supposed to be used for dips, chin/pull ups and all sorts of other things besides, and has a stack of counterweights. My problem is that this stack of counterweights gets in the way when I lean forward. Has anyone got a good suggestion for what else I can use instead???

[guru]

Do you have a playground nearby with parallel bars? They are way better than the gym dip bars.

[nburge]

Not that I'm aware of! Sadly in the UK I think someone would call the police if they saw a 29 year old man hanging around on paralell bars in a playground, too!

[DaveT]

Finally got round to reading your log, Neil. You seem to be progressing well, but you may be right that the cycling, tabatas and lifting is draining you... you do need some rest, however masochistically addictive the tabatas may be. Possibly cut them down to once a week on a Saturday morning (hangover cure ), as this will give you more time to recover before you lift on Monday.
The OHP is deceptively heavy. I thought I would have no probs lifting more than 40kg, and then when I got there it weighed a ton. I then started reading more logs and saw people who had been doing SL5x5 for six months and they were doing 55kg... didn't feel so bad then.
Have you had a chance to video your squat yet? Probably worth doing now before the weights start getting really heavy. If your form is off and you load on the weight, you're in danger of injuring yourself. Better to make sure the form is good first. There are some really knowledgeable people on here who will point you in the right direction.
As to the dip station - trying doing them facing the other way. Is that possible? Are the weights out of the way then? Dips will definitely work your upper body more than push ups, even if we can't catch up with Guru and his playground antics!

[nburge]

Hey thanks DaveT - I chucked the tabatas in on tuesdays and thursdays because I happen to be going through the gym anyway, but I may well back off them if the tiredness continues - I felt much more powerful this morning which tells me I may well have over-done things last week.

I really want to video my squat - I might try and take a video at home with just a bar as a reference for your guys - I can get a housemate to video me that way. I've seen the vid that Vlad posted up and he's getting some awesome feedback, so I definitely want to give that a go too.

I tried dipping facing the flared end of the dip station, and my feet then hit the weight stack. I'm sure my form here was dreadful. If the flared end didn't flare out so much I could happily dip away on it....

Thanks for the pointers too! I'm hoping that 42,5kgs on OHP is easier than 40.... I **WANT** 50kgs before I stall.

[nburge]

More tabata burpees. Plus a cycle ride that seemed never ending, thanks to a gale blowing through London at me this morning. I don't want to run out of energy for my weights, but I'm starting to notice loss of lard, so want to keep pushing this for a little bit.

[guru]

Hi Neil,

I think you need to prioritise. If you are keen on getting rid of the lard, so be it. Don't worry too much about the weights then. On the other hand, getting stronger is the first priority, lard has to stay for some more time.

Unfortunately, keeping fit is very much a part of life & the rules of life are applicable here too. (It would have been very nice if we could get ripped & strong as ox at the same time, Oh well...)

[nburge]

That's a fair point Guru - I did initially aim to stack on weight and not worry about the lard, but then my trousers started to get tight at the front so I thought I'd switch focus for a while to trim down but maintain muscle. That's happened for the last 3 weeks probably, and I wanted to continue that path... although you are quite right that I have got strength gains as a primary goal, so perhaps I should think about which comes first. Whilst the weights were light I don't think it mattered, but certainly the squats are getting tough now, so I may refrain from tabatas.

I'll see how the weights feel tomorrow morning, if they aren't going up easily I will lay off the tabatas for the time being

[dlewis7444]

You know, I don't think it hurts to switch your focus as needed. If you've made some good progress on shedding fat for a while, switch back to strength until the fat becomes a problem again. If you feel it's important to lose more fat, keep going with that. Either one, you're helping yourself and doing the right thing.

You can't go wrong!
.

[nburge]

Thanks dlewis - I was kinda coming to the same opinion too, but when you start getting visible progress with the lard it's only natural to want to finish the job off! I should stop being greedy, get on with getting stronger and wait for the fat to fall....

I do have a masochistic love of tabatas though. Can't get enough of 'em.....

[nburge]

OK - so I cycled home yesterday and felt tired. I thought about what Guru wrote, and realised today was my 42.5kg OHP day, and there was NO WAY I was stalling yet. So I ate. And ate. And ate. Then I slept.... so when I woke this morning I felt pretty chipper. The sun was shining in London, my massive plate of eggs tasted fantastic and the world was indeed a wonderful place.

Squat warm up - 30kgs 1x5, 50kgs 1x5, 60kgs 1x5
70kgs 5x5 - Hard. I don't think it's fatigue, I just think 70kgs is heavy, and I'm not used to it. Fatigue obviously doesn't help, but I don't think I'll be stalling here. I just need to stop being such a fucking pansy and push the damn weight. After all, 50kgs felt quite heavy a few weeks ago, now it's something I do to warm up.....
OHP - 42.5 kgs..... warmed up with 1x5 30kgs.....then.......5x5! BLAM! The last rep of the last set took fucking ages to get hoisted, but I didn't use my knees at all, and now my shoulders are on fire. All my focus is going to be on raising 45kgs on Monday now. IT WILL HAPPEN.
Deadlift - 85kgs - 1x5 - I now feel the strain. Nearly at BW on this... still relatively easy for me, although I can tell these will be really good fun when the weight goes higher!
Pull ups - 4x3x1 - crap effort here. I did 5 negatives after the 2nd and 3rd set failures. I didn't really give a shit though, I nailed my OHP's, and I was happy.
Prone bridges, with feet on swiss ball and arms resting on powerplate - 3x30s

All in all, happy as a sandboy! I'll do the occasional tabata for fun, but weights is what I'm on this site for, and that's what I intend to focus on for now.

Cheers all!