RG's training log

[raghavg]

Hey all,

Started way back in first week of August and have taken 1 or 2 weeks out in between due to charity projects and stuff.
Started as follows:
Squat 40kg
Bench 60kg
OHP 30kg
Deads 80kg
Inverted Rows 3x7
Pulls/Chins 3x5
Push ups 3x15

Now about 6 weeks in and have only stalled on the bench press (3 attempts to do 75kg) and OHP did 5,5,5,5,4 on 47.5kg

Went last saturday
5x5 Squat 85kg
5,5,5,5,4 OHP 47.5kg
1x5 Deads 115kg
Chins 3x7


(was away until yesterday)

Went to the gym on Thursday and did:
5x5 Squat 87.5kg
5x5 Bench 75kg
5x5 (Inverted Rows) swapped for Barbell rows 62.5kg
3x8 (Push ups swapped for dips since could do 3x15 on 10kg and 3x30 with no weight) BW Dips

Bench and OHP are getting tough; enjoying the squats but not getting as low as on light weights - still doing below parallel (havent got squat rack at gym so use bench press as squat rack: do a box squat up, walk forward, do my set, walk backward and place bar back on pins); enjoyings rows

The routine might be harder to stick to when I start rugby in a couple of weeks. Any recommendations for people who play sport 1-2x a week?

[raghavg]

Since weights are getting quite heavy now I'm doing longer warm ups and rests between sets and have scrapped any extra ab work

Today:
Squat 1x5 20kg; 1x3 60kg; 1x3 75kg; 5x5 90kg
OHP 1x5 20kg; 1x3 40kg; 5x5 47.5kg
Deads 1x5 60kg; 1x2 80kg; 1x2 100kg; 1x5 120kg
Pull ups 3x5

Sacrificing reps of pull ups to work on form

Really feeling the sessions taking a toll now. Mehdi was right about starting with an empty bar. Going to start doing mobility work / soft tissue work on off days

Feel free to give me any advice.

[vongSTAA]

Hey thanks, but my progress could be a whole lot better if I didn't skip so many workouts and had better eating & rest! Squat weight hasn't really raised in the last few weeks, ugh ><

And to answer your question about doing dips over push-ups, well after I discovered that dips were originally in the program before push-ups I chose to do them instead because they seemed so much more interesting and fun. I've been doing push-ups my entire life (I was doing them wrong though) and they seemed pretty boring so I wanted to try something new.

However I do a set or two of push-ups (shoulder-width grip, elbows at 40 or degrees, wrists behind shoulders) on off-days and/or later in the evening of workout days (I workout in the early afternoon generally) and I have found these to really help my bench (along with the dips?). Even though my last session I was benching 5x5 35kg, I was able to do 2 reps of 45kg (my mate was benching that and I was spotting him and I decided to try it after my sets). So I can't really say if push-ups or dips are better than bench as I do them both but generally focus on dips in my workout and push-ups are just an extra thing.

What days do you play/train for rugby?

[vongSTAA]

Btw, impressive lifts man! Good job, getting close to your target row and bench!

[raghavg]

Thanks man,

I agree with you on the dips being more interesting than the push ups, its the same reason I switched when I found out they were in the original programme.

At the moment I train tues, thurs and sat. But since in a couple of weeks I will have rugby matches on thursday I will have to have weds and thursday as off days so lift weights probably fri, sun, tues with match on thurs and fitness on sun (sundays will be killer!)

Have just been flicking through your log and wondered what are you eating to help towards your weight gain goal?

Also I see you've had some issues with form and back rounding. I was lucky enough that they taught us how to deadlift in rugyb sessions since your back has to have the same shape in scrummages. A good technique is to practice in front of the mirror (side on and front on) having your back flat and slightly, naturally curved so u can balance a ball on your lower back whilst facing forwards. If you maintain this spine shape during a deadlift you will definitely be increasing your deadlift big time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37wJ2GmkqOM

Check out how these guys try to keep their backs from rounding while looking forward. If you do that while lifting a bar you should have no issues with form. Just from personal experience though - might not work for you.

Rags

[vongSTAA]

That timetable sounds pretty decent, but like you said Sundays might be harder (what do you mean by "fitness"?) but when my basketball season was on I used to play Friday nights but it wasn't all that bad, I would work out in the early afternoon and then play basketball at around 8pm.

I am starting to get back into my planned diet again, I just need to work on eating bigger portions and sometimes I get lazy during school but I am starting to bring more food from home that I have prepared beforehand like tuna sandwiches, containers of mixed nuts, etc. On a workout day, I will usually eat:

7:30am - oatmeal with raisins, peanut butter & sliced banana (sometimes 1 scoop of whey)
11am - usually a can of tuna/chicken sandwich, 100g mixed nuts & fruit
pre-workout (1-2 hrs) - banana & honey sandwich
post-workout - footlong subway & 600ml milk (usually chicken teriyaki or chicken & bacon ranch)
6:30pm - can of tuna with rice or cottage cheese, milk & fruit
8:30-9pm - dinner (whatever mum cooks)
10:30-11pm - 200g yoghurt or cottage cheese, milk

On the occasion I'll have a protein shake (whey, oats, milk) after a workout when I am unable to get some food straight after. I could probably eat more during recess since there's kind of a big break until I eat again (except for the banana & honey sandwich) and I get lazy (or just eat crap) on off-days and weekends.

Thanks for the advice, I deadlifted again today and managed to maintain a straight back (with a slight arch in my lower back). I am getting used to how the lift should "feel" (basically chest up, drive through heels with hips) so I'll probably start getting back to regularly increasing the weight again.

[raghavg]

Went to the gym today - the workout started well but got worse
(Not going to bother including warm up sets - they were sufficient)

5x5 Squat 92.5kg
5,3,3,4,4, Bench 77.5kg
5x5 Barbell Row 65kg
3x9 dips BW

- Really enjoyed the sqauts, a real mind battle psyching myself up for them. Tough tho.

- My bench was tough especially since some guy decided to spot me when i didnt ask or need him to. I think my upper body has gotten weaker since starting SL5x5. I used to have a much bigger chest, i used to bench and arm curl more often too tho. Maybe in time my naturally bigger chest will come back - maybe they were just moobs on top of muscle. Anyway i have faith since im beginning to lose fat a little more discernibly. Its weird u feel fatter after starting sl5x5 and 8 nutrition rules but after 5-6 weeks the difference is more positive.

- Rows are getting tough, maybe i shouldnt have gone from 3x10 inverted rows to 5x5 barbell rows 60kg

- Dips - good, solid.

Anyone with similar experience on chest size reduction / reduced bench strength?

[raghavg]

Jus went back to university and found a new gym - a power lifting one. But its very small and so i assume will get extremely busy soon. I might join the powerlifting club to ensure i get time to train. The 20minute walk there and back is annoying but will do me good. Might get a bike. Anyway, enough about that: (today)

5x5 Squat 95kg
4,5,3,5,3 OHP 50kg
1x5 Deads 125kg
Chins 3x5

- Used a squat rack for the first time, very convenient and safe.

- OHP is getting seriously hard, starting to bend my back a lot so will probably work on form after deloading (if i stall)

- Deads were tough but the endorphin rush was crazy afterwards. Definitely the king of exercises

- Got the bar touching my chest for chins

[raghavg]

Just a quick post - getting annoyed by the slow progress on the bench press!!!

5x5 Squat 97.5kg
5,4,4,3,3 Bench 77.5kg
5x5 Barbell Row 67.5kg
3x10 dips BW

I also checked my bodyweight after a long time today and to my surprise, despite eating more and training more, my weight has fallen from 73kg to 68kg! Lost a bit of stomach fat but some chest muscle too maybe with less upper body work in SL5x5

[raghavg]

Did a big pre-emptive deload on the OHP since I was struggling with form and weight in last couple of sessions.

5x5 Squat 100kg
5x5 OHP 40kg
1x5 Deads 130kg
Pull-ups 6,5,4 (really looking for full range of motion)

[raghavg]

Didnt do the 5x5 for the first time on the squat on tuesday. Form has improved though - someone told me i need to make sure i activate the posterior chain better by driving the hips forward.

5,5,3,5,5 Squats 102.5kg
4,4,3,3,3 Bench 77.5kg
5,5,5,4,5 Barbell Row 70kg
3x11 Dips

[raghavg]

Havent gone for a week so had a lighter one today. have less time due to lectures etc so do fewer sets. Might move to 3x5. Same principle i think

4x5 100kg squats
3x5 42.5 kg OHP
Warm up sets on deadlift

[raghavg]

Managing to get a session in twice a week now: here are last three weeks (tuesday and saturday)

Wed (WEEK 1)
Squats 3x5 100kg
Bench 3x5 70kg
Barbell row 3x5 70kg

Sun (WEEK 2)
Squats 3x5 90kg (no squat rack)
OHP 3x5 42.5kg
Deadlift 1x5 120kg

Tues (WEEK 3)
Squats 3x5 100kg
Bench 3x5 72.5kg
Barbell row 3x5 70kg

Sat (WEEK 3)
Squats 3x5 90kg (no squat rack)
OHP 3x5 45kg
Deadlift 1x5 125kg

[raghavg]

Tuesday:

Squats 3x5 105kg
Bench 3x5 75kg
Barbell Row 3x5 75kg

[raghavg]

Today (saturday)

Squats 3x5 100kg
OHP 3x5 45kg
Deadlifts 1x3 130kg