TheAugustKid's Training Log

[TheAugustKid]

Okay so I'm completely new to these forums and I've finally decided to give this routine a try. I just recently got into true strength training about a month or so ago. Before that I had been working out for years doing the typical isolation exercises, not knowing what i was doing.

Okay so anyway I have been doing my own workout lately but decided to give an actual routine a try (never have done this before). And I just wanted to post it on here so people can help me out on my way to becoming much stronger and bigger. My stats are as following:

Age: 19
Height: 5'5''
weight: 126.4

Max:
Squat: Around 160lbs(my legs are pretty small)
Bench: around 165lbs- 170
Deadlift: 235lbs

Now my first workout will start tomorrow so I'll begin posting then. WISH ME LUCK!!! : )

[jak3dude]

Good Luck!

[TheAugustKid]

Thanks! Also I was wondering where I should start the weights at considering that I am a bit experienced. I think starting with an empty bar would be way too much of a downgrade and would really feel like i was losing all the progress i was making. I know my squat form needs a little work but everything else seems pretty good. Where do you think I should start with my weights to make sure I'm still getting a good work out, can work on my form, and wont start too high so there wont be a chance of stalling too soon.

[KIB]

Good for you for finding, reading and deciding to try this routine. You'll get a lot more out of it in a shorter time. And as for the starting weights, start low. Like, empty bar territory. Take a look through the forum and you'll see that people tend to start too high (because it is embarrassing to have just two little 5kg plates on the squat bar when there are others around ) then have to de-load to work on the form. But if you start too high, don't worry, just make sure you de-load when it's time. De-loads are part of the program. Best of luck!

[TheAugustKid]

Thank god i dont have that problem since I have a home gym. But it's just I would feel like for the first few weeks of barely doing any weight that I would lose the progress I have made already doing my own routine before this. You know? I just dont want to waste weeks away by barely challenging my body.

I was thinking starting my squat at 85, bench at 95, OHP and BR at 65 and deadlift at 135(since I dont want to worry about not having proper height). Does that sound pretty good?

[jak3dude]

well, I'm guessing you've done Bench Presses before, so start at maybe 75% of what you normally do on that...remember you can add more than 5lbs each session, I added 10lb to my squat almost every session since I've began.

I didn't do any weightlifting before this program and I started out at 100lbs on each exercise (plus 15lb bar weight) except for my Over Head Press, which I started at 75.

Really, it's up to you, we can only make suggestions, it's not like we can come to your house and beat you for not adhering to what advice we give you (except maybe for Mehdi who, with his awesome squatting abilities, can jump like the Hulk and reach you in no time )

[TheAugustKid]

Okay so today was my first day of 5x5. But considering I started on tuesday (my workout schedule is sunday, tuesday, and thursday) I started out in the middle of a week. So i just decided to do workout a today and b on thursday to try it out and let me know where my weights should be. And then start A,B,A next week.

So today was

Squats: 85lbs 5x5. This was pretty easy and really made me get my form down right. I was watching myself in the mirror and noticed that my form was pretty good. My knees barely came forward, I sat back real nice and far, and my lower back never rounded off toward the bottom. I was feeling great. The last rep of the last set was the only one that got kind of hard.
Also hopefully I got the bar placement right cause I was always doing high bar placement. Its on the bone right above the shoulder blade right?

Bench Press: 95lbs 5x5. Real easy. No problem

Barbell Row: 65lbs 5x5. Also real easy the whole way through. Though I forgot to place the bar back on the floor after every rep and was just holding it. I forgot until half way through the last set. Oh well. I'll get it right next week.

Dips: 11-7-5 35lbs weight. This got pretty tough but I pulled through.


So anyway even with all the light weight I really felt like I got a great work out. I was sweating like crazy and felt real exhausted. I love how long it takes too. My workout before was over an hour and it sucked. Now this barely takes me 30 minutes.

[danmarmu]

When you are checking your form, DO NOT look at yourself in the mirror. That automatically means your form is not right. Not to mention that when you start heavier weights, it will tweak muscles in your neck and back. Learn the proper habits now that the weights are low.

Take video and review it. Post it on the forum if you like.

Enough of the chastising though. Good luck to you. Suggestions are to start low and work up. Jump 10 lbs if you need to. That is what I am doing.

Again, good luck.

[TheAugustKid]

Yeah I know its bad and all but it was low enough weight and I was just looking at small details. I would only turn my head and look for a second. I didn't just watch myself the whole time in the mirror lol

[TheAugustKid]

Okay so today was workout b and it went pretty good.


Squats: 95 5x5
OHP: 65 5x5
DL: 135 1x5
Chin ups: 7, 3, 3 with 25 lbs

also I added a few reps of turkish get ups and reverse crunches at the very end.


Today went pretty well. The whole workout felt great and i can tell my squat form has improved greatly. The OHP felt real great too and I feel like I can move up nicely since 65 felt easy and I never felt like stalling on any reps.

Okay so i got both workouts out of the way. Now next week the routine can really start. A,b,a.

[TheAugustKid]

Okay so I missed my workout yesterday so I was forced into doing Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Which might work out better. We'll see..


Anyway so this week is the first full week so i started with a,b,a.


Workout A
Squat: 100lbs 5x5(Just gonna keep moving up 5 lbs since it'll be 15 lbs every week)
Bench Press: 105lbs 5x5
Barbell Row: 75lbs 5x5 (This time I set the bar down to the ground for every rep)
Dip: 11-5-4 with 35lbs

And then I did a few reps of turkish get ups, reverse crunches, and dragon flags since the workout only lasted like 30 minutes.

[TheAugustKid]

So today was B day

Squat: 105lbs 5x5
OHP: 70lbs 5x5
DL:145lbs 1x5
Pull ups: 7-3-3 with 25 lbs

Good work out. The squats are starting to feel heavy toward the last two sets. Same with the overhead press. I don't know how much more I can load on the OHP, I might be deloading soon.

[TheAugustKid]

Friday the 22nd
SQ = 110 5x5
BP= 110 5x5
BOR = 80 5x5
Dips = 7-5-3 with 35 lbs

and today was the start of my second week b,a,b

workout b

SQ= 115 5x5
OHP= 75 5x5
DL= 150 1x5
Pull ups = 6-5-4 with 25 lbs

Today felt great, the squats today seemed even easier than last time. I can tell I'm getting much stronger.

Which also I haven't been able to mention any of my other gains since I started working out seriously. This is also with the added few weeks of working out I did before i started 5x5 (still full body squat, deadlift, bench)

Well I'm about 130lbs now. I've gained about 7 or so since I really started.
I've gained a half inch on my bicep (which hadn't moved in forever when doing bicep curls and crap)
gained half an inch on my forearm
gained 2 inches on my chest, and 2 inches on my thighs. And even my calves have gained a good half inch or so.

So I'm looking much more full and thick than I used to and I'm filling really great and strong right now. Can't wait to see further improvement. Considering I haven't even been working long at all.

[TheAugustKid]

A workout today

SQ= 120 5x5
BP= 115 5x5
BOR= 85 5x5
Dips = 7-5-5 with 35lbs.

I'm coming up strong now. Also today I realized I can OHP 120 pounds with no warm up or anything. I'm actually only 10 pounds from my body weight. I didn't realize how strong I was at OHP. (And I'm not using any leg drive or anything)

Lately everytime I move up my squat, once i'm done with my squat 5x5 i try and OHP it. I wonder if i can get to 130

[TheAugustKid]

today was B day

SQ= 125lbs 5x5
OHP= 80lbs 5x5
DL= 155lbs 1x5
Pull ups= 6-5-4 with 25lbs.

Pretty good day. This is the conclusion of my second week of the actual 5x5 routine, but actually its been 3 weeks now. The Squats are starting to get pretty heavy but I feel like I might start stalling around 135-140. But I think thats really good considering my max is only about 160. Everything else besides that feels great.