Van's Training Log

[Van]

Starting Date: 9th July 2009

Age:23
Height: 5'7"
Weight:145lbs

Goals: Get Stronger! Follow the program as best as I can and make as much gains as possible!

Jan 2008:210lbs >> Jan 2009: 134lbs
Basically did a lot of cardio and interval training, ate only grass and lost a ton of weight. Probably lost a bit of muscle as well because I didn't know better. somewhere in between I got interested in bodybuilding, bought a bench and some weights. Started doing weird bodybuilding routines, which probably helped with the weight loss, but didn't build much muscle because of the poor eating.
By Jan 09 i was a bit more knowledgeable but still scared of food. I increased my protein intake, starting some more real food and not just grass. Happened by Strong Lifts a couple times, but never took it seriously till last week. I've abandoned the bodybuilder dream and am now focused on simply getting strong. If I grow a bit while I'm doing it, I'll not complain!

Starting weights (all 5x5 except DL)
Squat: 95lbs
Bench press:75lbs
Overhead Press: 50lbs
Deadlifts: 200lbs (1x5)

Pullups: 3x 8/6/6 (on a good day.)
Dips: 3x8

Monday 13th July 2009
Workout #3:

Squat: 110lbs
Bench Press: 80lbs
Inverted Rows: 3x10/8/8
Pushups: 3x17/12/10
Reverse Crunches: 3x12

[Van]

Wednesday 15th July 2009

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 65lbs, 1x3 - 95lbs
5x5 - 115lbs

OHP:
warm up: 1x5 - bar
5x5 - 65lbs

Deadlift:
warm up: 1x5 - 135lbs, 1x5 - 185lbs, 1x3 - 225lbs
1x5 - 235lbs

Chin-ups:
7/6/5

Prone Bridges:
25secs/17secs/14secs
My whole body starts trembling and then I feel my midsection sagging. Then I feel all the weight shifting on my spine. that's when I drop and call it. Hopefully I'll see improvements on the times next workout.

Farmers walk: 3x 50feet - 65lb/ 75lb/ 80lb Dumbbells

Today was a good day! Everything felt light!
I don't think I rested enough after the Deadlifts, my Chinup numbers are not too good. But then again, DL's do drain you so those numbers aren't really that bad.
Added some Farmers Walks because I've never tried it before, and I need to improve my grip, those DL's are getting heavy! My back is feeling good, but my grip is giving out. I used to used lifting straps and gloves before i started SL5x5. This is my third workout without straps or gloves and my palms are taking a beating!

A bit of wrist pain on OHP. I'm new to this exercise so still working on the form. I think I'll get it by next workout.

[Van]

Friday 17th July 2009

Squat:
warm up: 2x5 - no weight, 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs
5x5 - 120lbs

Bench Press:
warm up: 2x5 - bar
5x5 - 85lbs

Barbell Row:
warm up: 2x5 - bar, 1x5 - 75lbs
5x5 - 95lbs

Pushups:
12/12/12

Reverse Crunches:
12/12/12

Barbell curls:
1x5 - 40lbs, 5x5 - 60lbs

Tried something different with pushups today. When i go to failure on the first two sets, I will get less than 10 pushups on the last set. Today I did 12 for the first 2 sets and failed at 12 on the last set.
A friend coaxed me into doing some curls with him. I caved, but tried to apply 5x5 philosophy to it. 5x5 is supposed to make me stronger right, so no harm in getting stronger biceps.
Bench Press felt light on last set. Tempted to jump up by 10lbs! Must Resist!!

[Van]

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - no weight, 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 95lbs
5x5 - 125lbs

OHP:
warm up: 1x5 - bar, Shoulder Dislocations: 2x10
5x5 - 70lbs

Deadlift:
warm up: 1x5 - 135lbs, 1x5 - 185lbs, 1x3 - 225lbs
1x5 - 245lbs

Pull-ups:
5/5/5

Prone Bridges:
25secs/22secs/20secs

Felt tired from the start today. Squats went well. Felt tight on OHP so did some dislocations which helped. Third set felt heavy, was worried that I wouldn't get 5x5. 4th set was ok and 5th set was easy! I need to figure out how much rest time I need. I think when I got enough rest after the 4th set the 5th set was better. Probably pushed too hard and didn't rest enough between first 3 sets.
Not 100% sure about my last rep on Deadlift. Might have rounded a slight bit. Repeating 245lbs next workout. Deadlifts really too everything out of me. Struggled on those pull-ups.
Prone Bridge times went up. Didn't feel any pressure on my back this time. I still start trembling after 15-20 seconds.
Week changing from Mon/Wed/Fri to Sun/Tue/Thur because I've got some classes starting on Mon/Wed and Sat.

[Bluegreyhound]

Good luck! We are virtually the same height and weight!

[Van]

Tuesday 21st July 2008

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - no weight, 2x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs
5x5 - 130lbs

Bench Press:
warm up: 2x5 - bar
5x5 - 90lbs

Barbell Row:
warm up: 2x5 - bar
5x5 - 100lbs

Dips:
1x5

Pushups:
3x5 - 10lbs

Reverse Crunches:
12/12/12

Tried Dips. They're not hard. Felt like I was just hitting my triceps and not chest. Bit of shoulder pain on my right shoulder which is weird because my left shoulder is the troublesome one. Will do some more stretches, dislocations and try dips again in a couple workouts.
Switched and started adding weights to push ups. Balancing the plate on my back was fun. Guessing it won't be so much fun in a couple weeks when I've got 45's up there.... speaking of 45's next workout I'm putting them up on the bar for squats! can't wait to use the big boy plates!

[Van]

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - no weight, 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs, 1x3 - 125lbs
5x5 - 135lbs

OHP:
warm up: 1x5 - bar, Shoulder Dislocations: 2x10
5x5 - 75lbs

Deadlift:
warm up: 1x5 - 135lbs, 1x5 - 185lbs, 1x3 - 225lbs
1x5 - 245lbs

Neutral grip Pull-ups:
8/7/5

Prone Bridges:
30secs/24secs/30secs

So I've been using 10/5/2.5lb plates to make my increments on squats. Today I was supposed to do 135lbs, this translates into bar+ 2x45lb plates! I finish warming up and instead of just adding a couple more 5lb plates to make the 135lbs, I unrack everything and throw on two 45lb plates. It felt different and were more intimidating! I finished my 5x5 without any problems, but the big plates are scary!
Pulled the 245lb deadlift again. My back was fine this time. I've figured out that my grip is an issue. Doing some grip work on my off days. Also bought some chalk today, that's supposed to help. Again, I felt really tired after the Deadlifts.
I didn't even want to try doing pull ups because I knew I would get about 3. Did some neutral grip since I know these are the easiest for me.
Prone bridges got better. I think i can feel and actively contract the muscles now. When I can't hold the contraction anymore I drop. Don't wait for my back to start hurting like when I first started doing them.

[Van]

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - no weight, 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs, 1x3 - 125lbs
5x5 - 140lbs

Bench Press:
warm up: 2x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs
5x5 - 95lbs

Barbell Row:
warm up: 2x5 - bar, 1x5 - 95lbs
5x5 - 105lbs

Dips:
7/7/8

Reverse Crunches:
12/12/10

On the suggestion of many, I'm switching to Dips instead of weighted push ups. They're harder for me, so I guess that's a good enough reason to make the switch.

[Van]

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - no weight, 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs, 1x3 - 125lbs
5x5 - 145lbs

Shoulder Dislocations: 2x10

OHP:
warm up: 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 65lbs
5x5 - 80lbs

Deadlift:
warm up: 1x5 - 135lbs, 1x4 - 185lbs, 1x3 - 225lbs
1x3 - 255lbs( rounding back!? fingers slipping!! )
swearing - disappointment - anger - yelling in the locker room >>

some water. some chalk. some determination - a lot of concentration <There is no failure except in no longer trying>
1x5 - 255lbs


Pull-ups:
7/6/6

Prone Bridges:
30secs/30secs/30secs

Yes I'm counting the second attempt! and Yes I'm going up next workout!! Would you accept weakness?

[Van]

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - no weight, 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs, 1x3 - 125lbs
5x5 - 150lbs

Shoulder Dislocations: 2x10

Bench Press:
warm up: 2x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs
5x5 - 100lbs

Barbell Row:
warm up: 2x5 - bar, 1x4 - 95lbs
5x5 - 110lbs

Dips:
12/10/8

Reverse Crunches:
12/12/12

Farmers Walk 3x30 meters - 70lb dumbells

Highlights:
1 x Bodyweight Squat today!

Huge increase in number of dips from last workout! 7/7/8=22 to 12/10/8=30!

[Van]

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - no weight, 1x5 - bar, 1x4 - 85lbs, 1x3 - 125lbs
5x5 - 155lbs

Shoulder Dislocations: 2x10

OHP:
warm up: 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 65lbs
5/5/5/4/4 - 85lbs

Deadlift:
warm up: 1x5 - 135lbs, 1x4 - 185lbs, 1x3 - 225lbs
1x4 - 265
Grip problems again. Switched to alternate grip and got the full set.
1x5 - 265lbs

Chin-ups:
8/6/6

Prone Bridges:
40secs/35secs/30secs

Stall on the OHP. Repeating same weight next workout.

[Van]

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - no weight, 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs, 1x3 - 125lbs
5x5 - 160lbs

Bench Press:
warm up: 2x5 - bar, 1x5 - 85lbs
5x5 - 105lbs

Barbell Row:
warm up: 2x5 - bar, 1x4 - 95lbs
5x5 - 115lbs

Dips:
15/8/8

Reverse Crunches:
12/12/12

Grip work:
Plate loaded Gripper machine: 3x30secs - 100lbs(you can pull for reps, but I did static holds today)
Plate pinch holds(middle,ring and little finger only) 3x30secs - 40lbs (2x10lb plates each hand)
Plate pinch holds(ring and little finger only) 3x30secs - 20lbs(2x5lb plates each hand)

15 reps on my first set of dips!

Last week on my farmers walk I noticed that my ring and index fingers gave out first.Did some work on those fingers only today. My gym has these really fat plates with holes in them from everything higher than 10. I can't pinch hold two 25lb plates, so I used two 10lb plates in each hand. I like the pinch hold exercise, but when the 10's get easy I'll have to find something else. No worries, lots of grip exercises, I can just keep loading up the gripper machine!

[Van]

Shoulder Dislocations: 2x10

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - no weight, 1x5 - bar, 1x4 - 85lbs, 1x3 - 125lbs
5x5 - 165lbs

OHP:
warm up: 1x5 - bar, 1x5 - 65lbs
5x5 - 85lbs

Deadlift:
warm up: 1x5 - 135lbs, 1x4 - 185lbs, 1x3 - 225lbs
1x5 - 275lbs

Pull-ups:
8/6/6

Prone Bridges:
40secs/35secs/30secs

Nailed the OHP this time! going up next workout!
I swear people at my gym have never seen a Press before. Either I'm doing it way wrong and the gurus that they are, their eyeballs are burning to see me do it poorly or, well I really don't know, but they all look like I've offended them by pressing a bar over my head! But then again, I've only ever seen one other guy doing OHP and that was months ago. I've never seen him since.
It gets worse when I Deadlift because that makes noise when the barbell hits the floor! The eyeballs I get for just trying to get stronger....
I'm starting to dislike my gym. They just bought a ton of new abs/arms/chest machines. that's not the bad news, they moved out a squat rack and brought in a cursed Smith machine !! At least there's still one rack. If they move that one, I'll have to find somewhere else to train. I wish there were more people interested in strength.
Sucky gym, weirdo people-screw them -what did they get? new toys to do yet more biceptz curlzzz on!?
I got stronger today. Compared to what I got - they got nothing !

[Van]

Squat:
warm up: 1x5 - bw, 1x5 - bar, 1x4 - 85lbs, 1x3 - 125lbs
5x5 - 170lbs

Bench Press:
warm up: 2x5 - bar, 1x4 - 85lbs
5x5 - 110lbs

Barbell Row:
warm up: 1x5 - bar, 1x4 - 85lbs
5x5 - 120lbs

Dips:
warm up: 1x5 - bw
3x5 - 5lbs

Reverse Crunches:
12/12/12

[jnjh]

I'm seeing some good steady progress going here! Solid deadlifting. Well done. The gym you attend sounds like it's a weird place to work out. I guess you can use those bad vibes to get angry and lift more!