vongSTAA's Training Log

[Nilan666]

do it during warmups

[vongSTAA]

Workout A:
- Squat: 60kg
2x5 20kg
1x5 35kg
1x3 50kg
5x5 60kg
First set was pretty hard, second and third felt better but by the fourth and fifth I was pretty fatigued. Pretty unsure about form on some reps too, I have a feeling I will have to repeat the weight for another two workouts instead of just the one.
- Bench Press: 30kg
1x5 20kg
5x5 30kg
I still need some form work so I will probably repeat the weight again. I think I was lowering too far down (around the ab/lower ab section instead of lower chest/upper ab section) and that was screwing up my reps. I still need to work on breathing technique and I can't seem to keep my back and shoulders tight throughout the whole set.
- Barbell Row: 25kg
5x5 25kg
It felt pretty good so I will probably increase to 30kg next time, but I'll probably have to keep at 30kg for awhile and first time will definitely be hard.
- Dips: 9/6/6

[Nilan666]

Body weight squats bro

[vongSTAA]

Haha I know man, I feel so accomplished today. After 5-6 weeks of SL5x5, I've finally hit body weight squats! Next goal is 1.5xBW squats but it's just gonna get so much harder from here lol

I'll add that I took 3-4 minute rests for my squat sets, but it was pretty easy to pass the time because there was another guy doing decline benches in between my sets so changing the weights and spotting him took a few minutes lol.

[vongSTAA]

Okay I have to decided to restate my goals by the end of this year as these seem much more realistic than my previous ones after actually trying the program for over a month.

Goals by end of 2009
- Reach a body weight of over 60kg
- Strength increases of: 85kg squat, 95kg deadlift, 55kg bench press, 35kg overhead press
- Touch a 10 foot basketball ring (yeah I can't even do that at the moment lol)

[vongSTAA]

Workout B:
- Squat: 60kg
2x5 20kg
1x5 35kg
1x3 50kg
5x5 60kg
My mate pointed out that I was arching my back inwards too much (didn't realise this) and demonstrated what I was doing compared to a proper squat with back completely straight. I was like rolling my body up or something, but I know it wasn't good form. Pretty disappointed that my form was so bad, but oh well. I'll deload to 50kg or 55kg and concentrate on keeping my back completely straight and flat.
- Overhead Press: 20kg
5x5 20kg
Will increase weight next workout, form was good I think.
- Deadlift: 65kg
2x5 65kg
Asked another mate to watch (not as savvy when it comes to barbell exercises and weight lifting compared to the other one) if my back was straight and he said it was. It felt like it was straight but I couldn't be too sure considering my judgment was bad on my squats so I'll have to take his word for it lol.
- Pull-ups: 9/5/5

Extra exercises: dips 8/5/5

[vongSTAA]

Yeah I skipped two workouts again, ugh I feel so bad! This is messing with my progressing so much, I've definitely lost strength as well considering I haven't been eating all that well. I'll definitely try not to skip another workout for awhile and definitely not two in a row!

Workout A
- Squat: 55kg
2x5 20kg
1x5 35kg
1x3 45kg
5x5 55kg
I will repeat for another 1 or 2 times because I'm still unsure about form. I think the problem is that I bring my ass up way faster than the rest of my upper body and this is causing excessive arching of the lower back?
- Bench Press: 30kg
1x5 20kg
5x5 30kg
That one+ week of not benching screwed my form even more (and it was bad enough already I think!) so I really need to work on bench.
- Barbell Rows: 25kg
- Dips: 8/5/5

Consistency is probably the main problem I have and hence I have made little progress on bench and slowed my progress on squats and deadlifts.

[vongSTAA]

Workout B
- Squat: 55kg
2x5 20kg
1x5 35kg
1x3 45kg
5x5 55kg
I am trying to bend with my knees and hips are same time rather than hips first and also focusing on coming back up.
- Overhead Press: 20kg
5x5 20kg
Felt harder since that was the first I've done it with just the Olympic bar instead of the smaller fixed barbells I usually use.
- Deadlift: 65kg
1x5 65kg
- Chin-ups: 7/5/5

Extra exercises: dips 6/4/4

[Nilan666]

vongSTAA get a squat video up ASAP. If you dont have a camera cell phone, ask your mates to record you.

[vongSTAA]

Yeah I think I really need to at this point so I can really see what I'm doing wrong because the only mate of mine who squats (and has been giving me advice when he does come with me to the gym) does high bar squats but even then he doesn't usually do normal squats because he finds them boring and hence does Bulgarian split squats. But a video would be much more ideal than someone telling me what I'm doing wrong because than I can see the problem for myself. I think I'll bring my camera on Monday.

[vongSTAA]

Ah, I forgot about recording my lifts today. I only remembered when I was doing my barbell rows lol oh well I'll try to next session on Wednesday

Workout A
- Squat: 55kg
2x5 20kg
1x5 35kg
1x3 45kg
5x5 50kg
It's starting to feel pretty light at this point but I'm still not confident about my form so I guess I should stick with this weight until I am 100% sure my form is decent. I have been initiating the lift at the bottom by raising upper back/neck/head into the bar (as I read in a thread somewhere) instead of my hips and also I have realised I've been doing a high-bar squat instead of a low-bar squat, does it really matter which one I do in terms of my goals (getting stronger & gaining weight basically)? After reading some more about the two differences I have decided to go for the high-bar for now.
- Bench Press: 30kg
1x5 20kg
5x5 30kg
The bench press I usually use was taken and I didn't really feel like waiting (and my mate also wanted to do incline benches which isn't possible with that bench as it doesn't have an adjustable incline/decline) so I decided to drag one of the benches from in front of the dumbbell racks & mirrors to the squat rack and bench that way. I have to say, it feels so much better benching with the Olympic bar and I can pretty much just bring the the bar backwards and not worry about missing the uprights (I had a spotter though, but still).

Also, this weight felt so much easier than last Monday but I stuck with it for 5x5. However my mate was benching 40kg and he was saying I should try it as it didn't feel too hard for him. So I tried it (after my sets) for a few reps and whilst it was pretty challenging it didn't seem impossible. I doubt I could go for 5x5 at this point but at least 40kg seems close. I have a feeling it has something to do with the daily push-ups I have been doing throughout the day since last Wednesday. I don't usually do them until failure, just an occasional set of 10 or so reps, sometimes elevated or just normal. I have been trying to keep good form with them as well based off a few articles and threads I've read (basically, shoulder-width hand distance, shoulders over wrists and elbows tucked in at around 45 degrees)

My form is much much better have watching the Dave Tate videos/articles many times and other thread & articles as well. I still have form issues but at this point I think my form is ok, my upper back and shoulders generally feel tight most of the time and I am engaging my lats by pulling the bar apart and back is arched whilst my hips are still flat on the bench. Chest is raised up and my legs are helping to keep the weight more stable but I could probably use my work on that.

I don't count the bar + collar weight with the bench press I usually use because I am not sure what it is but I'm guessing it's over 5kg in total, so I have been benching 35kg previously and I guess that might explain why 30kg felt easy but knowing that I can do 40kg feels good lol.
- Barbell Row: 25kg
5x5 25kg
- Dips: 10/6/6

Extra exercises: 2 pullups/2 chin ups/2 narrow pull ups/2 wide grip pull ups/2 commando pull ups (I am trying this program I have read off a Pavel article about increasing your pull-up max but you're supposed to increase the reps by 2 each set but I couldn't do anymore after that lol my back is fatigued from the rows and bench I'm guessing, but I'll stick to normal 3xF pull-ups/chin-ups on Workout B days though)

[vongSTAA]

Workout B
- Squat: 55kg
2x5 20kg
1x5 35kg
1x3 45kg
5x5 55kg
I recorded myself today and watched the video after each set (only recorded last 3 sets though), I could definitely see some lower back rounding at the very bottom ("butt wink" as it is called?) but other than that I couldn't see anything majorly wrong with my form but I have a feeling I might be wrong. It just seems off, but I don't know what exactly lol. I will try to upload the videos soon, once I can find my memory card adapter lol. Weight-wise it isn't too challenging anymore, but 5x5 is still quite a workout.
- Overhead Press: 25kg
5x5 25kg
This was hard being my first time trying this weight, I was struggling from the 2nd set onwards and decided to take longer rests in between sets. I had some technical failure on the last two or three sets and on the last rep of the 4th set I used my legs to help me bring the weight up lol. I will repeat for another 1-2 times (maybe even 3?).
- Deadlift: 65kg
2x5 65kg
I could feel myself rounding my back on some reps and other times I couldn't, when I checked the video (too embarrassed to upload it to be honest, I had some really bad rounding at times) I was pretty much right to what I felt. Most of my reps were pretty bad but I had a few good ones I think (I noticed that basically, I drove up with my hips to initiate the lift, instead of my back which was what I was doing most of the time. And on a few of my bad reps I even had a bad starting position). I definitely aim to correct this next session I deadlift, I will also record again to make sure.
- Chin-ups: 7/5/5
- Ab Work: Hanging Knee Lifts 2xF (didnt really count the reps), Ab Rollouts (using a barbell) 2x5 - lying on knees and currently going down to about 20 degrees?

[vongSTAA]

Workout A
- Squat: 60kg
2x5 20kg
1x5 30kg
1x3 40kg
1x2 50kg
5x5 60kg
Again, I recorded myself and the technique mistakes from the last session were much more noticable and my form looked much worse. I am considering a hard deload to about 45kg, maybe 50kg so it's not too light, so I can seriously work on my form. I'm gonna try and do my reps much slower and more controlled so I can concentrate on keeping that straight back and not going too low (due to that "butt wink" causing my lower back rounding at the bottom).
- Bench Press: 35kg
2x5 20kg
5x5 35kg
Pretty happy about my bench progress so far, form was pretty good I think and the weight was fairly alright. The only thing I'm unsure about are my wrists - I don't know if they're straight or not and also, I could probably use a somewhat wider grip.
- Barbell Rows: 25kg
5x5 25kg
Was pretty easy and form was fine, back was definitely straight with a slight arch (I could feel it, plus I recorded myself lol), I will increase to 30kg next session.
- Dips: 9/7/7

Extra exercises: chin-ups 5/5/5

[vongSTAA]

Ok I have decided I'm going to deload to 40kg on Monday and switch to low bar squats as I have been doing high bar squats for most of this time and the butt wink at the bottom is probably because I'm going too low (I have pretty much been trying to ATG and probably don't have the hamstring flexibility for it and it'll been ever harder with low bar squats right?) but I'm going to work on my hamstring tightness anyway.

[vongSTAA]

Workout B
- Squat: 50kg
2x5 20kg
1x5 30kg
1x3 40kg
5x5 50kg
Ok I changed my mind and deloaded to 50kg instead of 40kg because it just seemed too light. 50kg was able to provide me with a relatively easy but still challenging weight where I could still focus on my form mostly. I'm having trouble finding the correct positioning for low bar squats, I have read "on top of the back of the shoulder blades" or something similar but on my first set it felt the bar was definitely too low so I raised it a little higher and it was kind of resting on top of (what I think are) my traps.
- Overhead Press: 25kg
5x5 25kg
These were hard again, but resting at the top of the lift (lockout) and then breathing at the bottom and bouncing (not "literally") the bar definitely helps.
- Deadlift: 60kg
2x5 60kg
Form was so much better than last time, I could definitely feel when I used proper form and when I didn't (only two reps all up). I will start increasing the weight again and sticking to 1 set.
- Chin-ups: 7/5/5

Extra exercises: dips 8/5/5