RobCosimo's training log

[RobCosimo]

Hi everyone,

This is the first strength training forum that I have joined - I chose this one because it is intelligent without being patronising and isn't overrun with boastful meatheads like most forums I've read. Also, I am friends with MJH, who is a moderator on this site. (Good guy, btw!). I don't care if you lift 20kg or 200kg, it's all about improvement, right?

Anyways, about me:
My name is Rob, I live in Wellington, New Zealand. I am 29 years old, about 5'11", 87kgs. I started going to a gym about 2 years ago. at first, I just went around the machines, but then after doing some research (I think I first read Alwyn Cosgrove, whom I still really admire as a trainer), I started moving into full-body free weight lifts. My program changed from month to month, depending on what strength guru I read. I have to admit, I loved tweaking my program. It wasn't until recently that I started with the stronglifts 5x5 program, although I do deviate from it slightly. I also do boxing training 2x a week, which I love. No sparring or anything, just heavybag, speedbag and jumprope. If I had to choose between giving up the boxing and giving up the strength training, I would find it really difficult.

The main reason I do this, apart from the fact that I love the buzz I get from lifting and the feeling afterwards, is I want to get stronger as I get older. I know that most guys start to get weaker after 30, but I've also read about amazingly strong older guys. I want to be stronger when I'm 40 or even 50 than I am now. Second, I want to get bigger, but strength is definitely more important to me than size. Two years ago, before I went to the gym, I weighed 67kgs - so I'm very happy with the 20-odd kg increase in weight. (Mainly muscle, i'm a bit chubbier or course!). I used to have next to no appetite, but now I eat quite a lot. But no shakes or calorie counting or anything - I'm not that into the bulking up thing.
My best lifts at the moment:

deadlift 1 rep max: 165kg
squats: 5 x 95kg (much lower than my deadlift, I know - but i'm starting to improve on the squat)
pullups: about 15

I also do clap pressups, (3 x F) and I've just started doing windmills and turkish get ups. I will probably start doing barbell rows and overhead press. Basically, I've always had better upper body strength than lower, so I've focused more on posterior/core exercises. However, It's been brought to my attention that overhead press will complement my pullups. I have really bad endurance, and after 5x5 squats it's usual time for bed. But I realise that my lifting endurance will improve if I add more exercises.

So this was my lifting for the day:

deadlift: 3 x 150
1 x 160
1 x 165 (pb)
5 x 140

This was cool - the first time I tried 165, not long ago, I literally fell on my ass after my grip failed. Then, I could hardly get the bar off the ground. But today I did 160 and it felt really good, so I did 165, and it was fine! I'm really happy about this one. I'm really trying to concentrate on squeezing my glutes and abs when I deadlift, and it seems to be working. My goal is to lift 180 by the end of the year.


squats: 2 x 100 (had to lower the weight - my form was crap)
3 x 5 x 95
pullups: 10/8/6 - the bars at my new (admittedly very cheap - I'm on a budget hehe) gym are really slippery, and my grip strength is bad).
clap pressups: 2 x 30

So that's me. Cheers all and happy lifting!

[bluestreak]

Welcome Rob.

Good to see another Wellingtonian here (I'm out in Porirua)

[mjh]

welcome Rob, great to have you here. I reckon keeping a public log works wonders. I'll be watching with interest.

[mjh]

yo Rob, the boxing... do you DIY or do you have a trainer putting you through the paces? Any plans to spar, or even fight?

[RobCosimo]

Nah, sparring is a whole other kettle of fish. I'm always amazed at how boxers can relax in a fight - i sparred once, and I was exhausted after a few minutes because i was always braced to get hit. It's hard to break instinct and relax.

I go to a boxing gym, but I don't do the classes, because I'm not a big fan of the training style. It's basically different combos on the bag for an hour, so it's mainly about endurance. I train boxing like I do strength training - short and intense. That way I'm hitting much faster and harder than i used to. I like to sprint rather than run long distance in punching terms. This is another reason why I wouldn't fight - I can't be bothered with the crazy endurance side of it. I don't even do it for self-defense, I just think being able to hit hard is such a nice combination of strength, speed and technique, it's just a nice feeling. Probably like being able to power clean well.

Anyways, my workout for today: I was actually really happy, because I only got about 2 hours sleep last night, and i was actually drowsy walking into the gym. A few squats soon woke me up though!

(i won't bother recording the warm-ups)

squat - 5x5 at 95. Still getting used to this weight, my technique's getting better with it, although I always have a few dud reps technique-wise. Almost good enough to move up the weight.
pull-ups - 3 x10
barbell row - 5x5 at 60. This exercise is tough for me - it's so damn easy to cheat on! also, the last 2 inches before I hit my lower chest are much harder than the rest of the movement. 60kgs is a weight I can easily move, but any higher and the last 2 inches are a struggle.
windmills - 3 x5 at 40 pounds (the dumbbells are only in pounds). I'm getting better at the flexibility side of this exercise, it feels good.

[RobCosimo]

11 March - boxing, + 60 pushups and 30 clap pressups

12 March - squat 5 x 5 at 95kg

deadlift 1 x 5 at 145kg - this was pretty tough, seemed to take forever! it's 88% of my 1RM, so not surprising. Actually, this indicates I should try my 1RM again...

pullups 10/10/6 - got tired at the end

dips - 3 x 15 don't usually do these, so just for fun

[mjh]

dips - 3 x 15 don't usually do these, so just for fun

add some weight to these puppies... you know you want to.

[guru]

dips - 3 x 15 don't usually do these, so just for fun

add some weight to these puppies... you know you want to.

Yup, and you will have to do that for pullups too pretty soon.

the last 2 inches before I hit my lower chest are much harder than the rest of the movement.

That's when you work your back the most. Before that, it's more of arm work.

Good numbers all around Rob.

[RobCosimo]

Cheers Guru.

Adding weight - yes, I used to hold a barbell in my legs when doing pullups (in the squat rack), but I can't at my new gym because the squat rack is very rudimentary and I can't do pullups on them. I have to use either the stupid slippery plastic pullup handles (I hate these - what's wrong with just a metal bar with etched grip?) or a tiny awkward dip station. I can't even use the Smith machine because it's under a really low part of the ceiling. Also, there are no belts. But I'll try holding a dumbbell between my legs.

That's good to hear about the rows - it'll make me really try to pull up tight against my chest.

[RobCosimo]

15 March

wow best session ever!

squat 5 x 5 at 100kg PR

OH press (first time doing these) 1 x 5 at 20kg
1 x 5 at 40kg
1 x 4 at 50kg (couldn't make the last one)
3 x 5 at 40kg
pullups 1 x 5 w/ 20 pound dumbbell
1 x 5 w/ 25 pound DB
1 x 5 w/ 30 pound DB

turkish getups (first time doing these - wow, wasn't prepared for how hard these suckers are...)
1 x 8 (4 each arm continuous) at 25 pounds
1 x 4 (2 each arm continuous) at 30 pounds

The reason for the awesomeness was this: there was a middle-aged in the gym, he was toned but quite big, and doing light benchpress, situps, cable work etc. He came over and said "so you like doing squats?" I thought he was going to lecture me on going past parallel, but instead he said he used to be a powerlifter, and his PR was around 600 pounds! so then I thought uh oh, now he's going to tell me how crap my form is, but instead he said my squats are quite good, and reminded me of his old powerlifting days! the only advice he gave me was to really brace my abs to keep my back strong. he also said he only really injured himself twice, once was when he was doing 25 reps at 140kg, and another time when he hurt his neck. So that was cool!

[loneagle]

Rob, Nice job on the squat PR. Looking good!

Nice that fellow complimented you on your squat form! As far as the critics, I hear it all the time about going too deep on my squats. It's bad for the knees they tell me. Well, since I've been squatting my knees are feeling better than ever!

[guru]

The reason for the awesomeness was this: there was a middle-aged in the gym, he was toned but quite big, and doing light benchpress, situps, cable work etc. He came over and said "so you like doing squats?" I thought he was going to lecture me on going past parallel, but instead he said he used to be a powerlifter, and his PR was around 600 pounds! so then I thought uh oh, now he's going to tell me how crap my form is, but instead he said my squats are quite good, and reminded me of his old powerlifting days! the only advice he gave me was to really brace my abs to keep my back strong. he also said he only really injured himself twice, once was when he was doing 25 reps at 140kg, and another time when he hurt his neck. So that was cool!

It's really cool that you have somebody like that at your gym & he has taken an interest in you. Make good use of this, Rob.

Congratulations on the PR.

[mjh]

congrats on the PR and for the strong OHP debut.

I saw your question in bluestreaks log about the powerlifting meet. thinking of taking part one day?

[bluestreak]

What gym do you train out of? You'll find the powerlifters in the PowerHouse on Taranaki st. They have an 'open' competition (last one was in December) where anyone can rock up and lift. That's what I plan on doing.

Powerlifting meets consist of the three big lifts: squat, bench and deadlift (in that order, I believe).

Some 'powerlifters' might refer to doing only bench. Took me a while to get my head around that once when I was talking to someone that said he was a powerlifter but didn't squat or deadlift.

[RobCosimo]

cheers Bluestreak, that gym looks awesome - I'm at SportsWide, not ideal but it's about 100 metres from my house.

I've thought of some concrete goals for the end of this year (I'll use pounds because they make for nice round numbers):

I want to weigh 200 pounds

squat 300 pounds for 5 reps

deadlift 400 pounds.