Paal' s training log

[paalpot]

Saturday:

Squat 77.5 kg 5/5/5
Push Press 25 kg 5/5/5
Hang Clean 20 kg 5/5/5
Inverted Rows 5 kg 5/5/5
Windmills 18 kg 5/5/5


The hang clean is the exercise (together with the bench press) which hurts me the most. Reduced the weight, and instead focusing on technique. Using inverted rows instead, hoping that they will improve my slouching shoulders.

Moved the chinups to workout A, and I'll probably replace them by pull-ups.

[paalpot]

Updates:

Tuesday:

Squat 80 kg 5/5/5
Bench Press 30 kg 5/5/5
Deadlift 120 kg 5
Pull-ups 3/2/3/2/3
Turkish get ups 10 kg 5/5/5

Reduced the weight on TGU, to make sure I get the technique correctly.


Thursday:

Squat 82.5 kg 5/5/5
Push Press 30 kg 5/5/5
Hang clean 20 kg 5/5/5
Inverted Rows 6.25 kg 5/5/5
Windmills 20 kg 5/5/5


Saturday:

Squat 85 kg 5/5/5
Bench Press 30 kg 5/5/5
Deadlift 125 kg 5
TGU 10 kg 5/5/5

Really happy with the deadlift. Finally managed 125 kg.

My shoulders and bicpes are still not good, but I'm working on mobility, both in my shoulders and my hips / glutes. I'll hopefully be fully recovered very soon.. Looking forward to breaking records in push-press and bench press

[paalpot]

Yesterday:

Box Squat 87.5 kg 5/5/5
Push Press 30 kg 5/5/5
Inverted Rows 7.5 kg 5/5/4
Windmills 22 kg 5/5/5

Happy with my squat form. Hopefully I'll beat my PR soon.

Still doing low weight on the push press, to make sure my shoulder and bicpes doesn't hurt. Seems like the mobility work is paying off, my shoulders feels better, but my chest still feels tight though.

Stalled on the inverted rows because I did feet elevated inverted rows this time, I've done them with my feet flat on the floor earlier.

[paalpot]

Yesterday :

Box Squat 90 kg 5/5/5
Bench Press 30 kg 5/5/5
Deadlift 130 kg 5
Pull-ups 3/2/3/2/3
TGU 12 kg 5/5/5


Really happy with my deadlift, felt easier than 125 kg! I've reread the deadlift how-to, and focused on technique on all sets. Seems to be the way to go!

No pain during bench press, I'll soon start to slowly increase the weight again on this exercise. And hopefully also on the push press.

[paalpot]

Saturday:

Box Squat 92.5 kg 5/5/5
Push Press 32.5 kg 5/5/5
Hang Clean 20 kg 5/5/5
Feet elevated Inverted rows 7.5 kg 5/4/4
Windmills 24 kg 5/5/5

Still have problems with the inverted rows, struggling to touch the bar with my chest.
The push press still hurts a bit in my left bicpes, especially when I lower the weight. I'm doing a lot of streches and dynamic exercies both on off days and pre / post workout. The pain in my rotator cuff is gone, and I try to focus on my posture, chest up and shoulders back and down. So, the pain will hopefully go away soon.

Yesterday:

Box Squat 95 kg 5/5/5
Bench Press 30 kg 5/5/5
Deadlift 135 kg 5
TGU 14 kg 5/5/5
Pull-ups 3/3/3/3/4

Really happy with the deadlift, it's my new favorite exercise. Feels like I have more weight in on this one.

[paalpot]

Sorry for not updating my traning log lately.

Latest workouts:

Box Squat 97.5 kg 5/5/5
Push Press 32.5 kg 5/5/5
Inverted Rows 7.5 kg 5/5/5
Windmills 28 kg 5/5/5


Box squat 100 kg 5/5/5
Bench Press 32.5 kg 5/5/5
Deadlift 140 kg 5
Chin ups 3/3/3/3/3
TGU 16 kg 5/5/5

PR on both the squats and the deadlift. My form was horrible on the deadlift though...

After one week holyday, I decided to lower the weights to work on my form

Yesterday:
Box Squat 85 kg 5/5/5
Push Press 35 kg 5/5/5
Hang Clean 30 kg 5/5/5
Windmills 30 kg 5/5/5

My biceps and shoulder has improved latelty, so I tried to implement the hang clean in my routine again. Worked fine yesterday.

I have some problems with holding my arm straight on the windmills because the weight on the dumbell. It'll hopefully improve when I start increasing the weights on TGU's again. And both exercises are great for shoulder stability, which I really need.

[paalpot]

Yesterday

Box Squat 87.5 kg 5/5/5
Bench Press 35 kg 5/5/5
Deadlift 130kg 5
Pullups 2/1/1/2/3
TGU 16 kg 5/5/5

Restartet the twentypullupschallenge. I have big problems increasing the number of reps ont this. It will hopefully improve soon....

Have some problems with the TGU as well. I get tired in my arm / shoulder (due to lack of blood circulations), much before my abs...
I tried doing one rep with my left arm, then one my right, but I still have problems finishing the sets. Any suggestions? I guess I have to work on speed, and mobility in my arm / shoulder etc, but it seems like a long way to go....

[paalpot]

Friday:

Box Squat 90 kg 5/5/5
Push Press 35 kg 5/5/5
Hang Clean 32.5 kg 5/5/5
Windmills 32 kg 4/3/2

Didn't manage to stabilize the weight overhead on the windmills.

Still some minor pain in my left biceps on the hang clean. Need to review my technique on this one.

[paalpot]

Monday:

Box Squat 92.5 kg 5/5/5
Bench Press 37.5 kg 5/5/5
Deadlift 135 kg 5
TGU 18 kg 5/5/5
Pull-ups 2/2/1/2/3

I have big problems with the TGU. My shoulder gets exhausted way before the set is completed (even though I do alternating reps, meaning one rep with my left hand, then one with my right and so on).

Wednesday :

Box Squat 95 kg 5/5/5
Push press 40 kg 5/5/5
Hang clean 35 kg 5/5/5
Windmills 32 kg 5/3/1


My shoulder / biceps is definitely not healed. Felt some pain on the squat and the hang clean. But most on the push press, when I lower the weight. I'll change the push press to military press, so I don't have to work with so much weight (even though 40 kg is not much...)
I have to continue the foam rolling and the flexibility work, and keep the focus on my posture I guess.

I managed to finish all reps on the windmills with my right hand, but not with my left.....

[paalpot]

I haven't updated my training log lately, because I've haven't been able to train as I wanted to for some period now (because of injuries (knee pain) and other things)

Decided to go back to stronglifts 5x5, and lower the weight on squat, to really focus on form.

In late summer I also did some GOMAD for a couple of months, which made me gain some fat. According to my Tanita - body fat monitor, it's around 20 %,
which I think is quite correct.

I also decided to change my schedule, and reduce the cardio I'm doing. My schedule now looks like:

Monday: Yoga 90 minutes. - I really need to work on my flexibility, especially in my hamstring / hip area and shoulders, so I decided to join a yoga class.
Tuesday: Stronglifts 5x5 followed by 45 minutes of Cageball (indoor high intensity football)
Wednesday : Rest day
Thursday : Stronglifts 5x5
Friday : Rest day or yoga
Saturday : Stronglifts 5x5 + 45 min swimming
Sunday : Rest day

Decided to try out fasting, so I fast from Saturday around 8 p.m to 8 p.m on Sunday.

About flexibility: I've bought both the inside / out and the magnificent mobility dvd's from Mike Robertson, and I do these exercises as warm up, and on rest days for better recovery.
I really recommend both these products, I've noticed increased flexibility lately, especially in my hips !


So, this weeks workouts:

Tuesday :
Box squat 5x5 50 kg
Press 5x5 50 kg
Deadlift 1x5 155 kg
Chin ups 10x3
Prone bridges 3x30 sec

Thursday :
Box Squat 5x5 52.5 kg
Bench Press 5x5 70 kg
Hang Power Clean 5x5 60 kg
Push ups 3x5 11.25 kg
Reverse crunches 3x12


Saturday:
Box Squat 5x5 55 kg
Press 3/3/3/3/4 52.5 kg
Deadlift 1x5 142.5kg
Chin ups 3x4 + 4x3 + 3x2
Prone bridges 3x30 sec

Happy with the press exercise on Tuesday, finally managing 50 kg!
In the inside / out e-book, Mike gives a lot of tips of how to improve your bench press technique. I've tried these
lately, and 70 kg went up really easy! I've stalled on this weight many times, so now I'm looking forward to
further progress on the bench press !

Decided to lower the weight on the deadlift due to horrible form on Tuesday.

[paalpot]

Yesterday:

Squat 5x5 60 kg
Bench Press 5x5 72.5 kg
Hang Power Clean 3/3/3/3/3 62.5 kg
Push ups 3x5 12.5 kg
Reverse Crunches 3x12


Felt okay on the bench press, even though it felt a lot heavier than 70 kg...
No chance of managing all the reps on the hang clean. I cannot relax my forearms,
they get exhausted before I've finished the set.

I had to do my squats in between another guy yesterday. He told me that squatting below parallel is bad for my knees, before he had
to finish his squat session due to knee pain !

[paalpot]

Yesterday:

Box Squat 62.5 kg 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Press 52.5 kg 4/4/3/3/2
Deadlift 145 kg 5
Chin ups 4x4 3x3 3x2
Prone Bridges 3x30 sec

Happy with my deadlift form, felt really easy!
Still struggling with the Overhead press, this was the second try on 52.5 kg....
Not to mention the chin ups. I try to do the 10 sets with low reps approach, but I'm really
struggling with the progress here, it's really annoying!

[paalpot]

Saturday:

Box Squat 65 kg 5/5/5/5/5
Bench Press 75 kg 5/5/5/5/5
Hang Power Clean 62.5 kg 4/4/4/4/4
Push ups 13.75 kg 5/5/5
Reverse Crunches 3x12

Tuesday:
Box Squat 67.5 kg 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Press 52.5 kg 5/5/5/5/5
Deadlift 147.5 kg 5
Chin ups 4/4/4/4/3/3/3/2/2/2
Prone Bridges 3x30 sec

Thursday:
Box Squat 70 kg 5/5/5/5/5
Bench Press 77.5 kg 5/5/5/5/5
Hang Power Clean 62.5 kg 5/5/5/4/4
Push ups 15 kg 5/5/5
Reverse Crunches 3x12

The bench press is getting really hard, but I managed all the reps yesterday, despite I was very tired (lack of sleep). So I still have a hope to handle 80 kg next week!
Stalled three times on both the HPC and the OP, so I'll deload next time.

The abs-exercises are fairly easy, so I'll change these, but I'm not sure which one. Any suggestions ? I've tried Turkish Get ups, but I really struggled with the technique on that one. It becomes more of an shoulder exercise than abs exercise.