vongSTAA's Training Log

[raghavg]

If you can I would recommend you keep pushing the weight up on the squats. I felt uncomfortable near my bodyweight but kept going without squat rack at the expense of form on the last rep or so. But it means that you get stronger and so will have better form on the lower weight after stalling. Thats what I found. I got to about 95kg then did one session a week for form on a lower weight. I now ass to grass 105kg - I'm still shocked. I don't know what it is but I think the explosiveness required to lift weights heavier and heavier just builds strength and muscle like nothing else. If you're worried about no spotter do sets of 3 reps on heavier weight and then do a 5x5 on lower weight later in the week?

[vongSTAA]

Thanks for the advice, honestly I would prefer to increase the weight but at one of the gyms I go to - there's also no 1.25kg plates and as I said before, I was a little worried about having no side spotter bars (as I do with the squat rack in the other gym).

I reckon this was a pretty shit workout, I was so drained beforehand due to a lack of sufficient eating (and I had to travel for about 1hr including wait times because me and a mate thought we could get a free trial at this one gym elsewhere but we weren't because we didn't apply online, so I went back to this other gym). I took it easy on the weights, just repeated previous weights and I felt like shit most of the time.

Workout B:
- Squat: 145lbs
1x5 45lbs (empty bar)
1x5 95lbs
1x3 115lbs
5x5 145lbs
For most of the time, I felt like I easily had the strength to lift the weight but not the energy. I didn't really enjoy doing it and I think my form suffered half the time, but I did manage to get 5x5 so that's alright I guess, I need to make sure I eat a good hour or two beforehand though ><
- Overhead Press: 60lbs
1x5 45lbs (empty bar)
5x5 60lbs
- Deadlift: 160lbs
1x5 135lbs
1x5 160lbs
Wow this felt pretty hard than the last time I did it, I guess it's due to my energy levels. I did manage to do it though.
- Chin-ups: 7/5/5
- Ab Work: 2x 10lb Core Circuit (15 reps per exercise)

I just realised this is probably the end of the 3rd month, or start of the 4th month since I started SL5x5 and I haven't REALLY made as much progress as I could have if I never missing a workout (or only on the occassion like once or twice a month) and didn't get lazy on diet and recovery (always eating as much as I can and getting enough sleep). Realistically, I could be squatting 80kg+ and benching close to 60kg =/ Ugh this pisses me off, but I guess it motivates me more to stick to training 3 times a week and eating a lot.

[vongSTAA]

I decided not to go the gym today because I had too much school work to do (if I go gym then I'll waste time travelling plus it's easier at home since I can eat right away and then get into my school work), times like these I really wish I had a power rack, olympic bar and plates at home =/ I just did a workout consisting of bodyweight exercises and dumbbell exercises instead.

Workout:
- Pistols: 5/5/5
3x5 per leg, I am finding it a little hard to balance on my left leg (probably because it's weaker) and on the last set I was struggling a fair bit, but overall I probably could have gotten in a few more reps especially on my right leg. Hopefully once I get stronger (through squats) I'll be able to do more reps and eventually i'll work my way to doing the variation where you get up off the floor which I can already do maybe 1-2 per leg.
- Db Press: 34kg (total)
1x5 20kg
1x5 30kg
5x5 34kg
Fairly alright but there were times when it was a little hard to stabilize/balance the weight, I might try 40kg (max amount of plates I have anyway) the next time I ever have to do dumbell bench press, but I have a feeling it'll be too hard to stabilize/balance.
- Db Rows: 15kg
5x5 15kg (per arm)
- Push-ups: 15/15/10
15x wide
15x elevated
15x narrow
- Chin Ups: 7/5/5

[vongSTAA]

Workout A:
- Squat: 67.5kg
1x5 20kg
1x5 40kg
1x3 50kg
1x2 60kg
5x5 67.5kg
I'll probably cut down my warm up sets to 3 (so 20kg increments) and overall these were okay I guess except on a few occasions I had little balance issues when coming back up. Also, I think I should work on my hip mobility more, or maybe this is just how low bar squats are supposed to feel when I'm below parallel.
- Bench Press: 47.5kg
1x5 20kg
1x5 30kg
1x3 40kg
5x5 47.5kg
- Barbell Rows: 30kg
1x5 20kg
5x5 30kg
I was constantly readjusting my grip width every set, just wondering, how wide should my grip be? Also I was still cheating and bouncing on a few reps like last time =/
- Dips: 9/6/6
Triceps were so dead before this, ugh.
- Chin-ups: 6/4/4

[vongSTAA]

Won't be able to get to the gym tomorrow because I have a school excursion and won't get home until pretty late so I'll do my own routine at home today and then go the gym on Tuesday.

Workout:
- Pistols: 5/5/5/5/4
Did a set for both legs for the same reps (obviously lol). There were times when I lost my balance a fair bit and had to cheat (lightly touching the ground with hand or other foot) in order to get back up, but for the most part it was alright but I still need to work on being more controlled on my way up (and down too I guess).
- Db Press: 34kg (total)
1x5 20kg
1x3 30kg
5x5 34kg
- Db Rows: 15kg (one arm)
5x5 15kg
- Dips: 7/5/5
- Chin-ups: 8/6/6
A little harder than usual because I was using the arm rests of two chairs to do these, stability and grip was a bit of an issue.
- Ab Work: 2x 5kg Core Circuit (15-20reps each)

[vongSTAA]

Workout B:
- Squat: 70kg
1x5 20kg
1x4 40kg
1x3 60kg
5x5 70kg
- Overhead Press: 30kg
1x5 20kg
5x5 30kg
- Deadlift: 80kg
1x5 60kg
1x5 70kg
1x4 80kg
I might have been able to get that last rep if I pushed it and if I had more energy beforehand, but I guess I bitched it and decided not to go for it. My form needs work, even though everything feels fine (nothing to do with my lower back rounding or anything) - my movement just doesn't seem natural.
- Chin-ups: 9/7/7
- Dips: 12/9/9

[Nilan666]

You can do pistols?

[vongSTAA]

Yeah, but I'm still not too good at them and my form is probably off?

Ugh so much for trying to really stick to the program this school term, I'm averaging only 1-2 sessions a week =/ I'll try to get 2, maybe 3 next week but I do have a test on Thursday and the week after I have 2 tests to do.

[vongSTAA]

- Workout A:
- Squat: 70kg
1x5 20kg
1x4 40kg
1x3 60kg
5x5 70kg
- Bench Press: 50kg
1x5 20kg
1x3 35kg
5x5 50kg
- Barbell Rows: 30kg
1x5 20kg
5x5 30kg
- Dips: 11/5/5
Numbers are heaps weird, might be because I didn't take enough time to rest in between sets? Or maybe my triceps were just dead from bench press =/

[vongSTAA]

Workout B:
- Squat: 72.5kg
1x5 20kg
1x4 40kg
1x3 60kg
5x5 72.5kg
- Overhead Press: 30kg
1x5 20kg
5x5 30kg
It feels like I haven't improved even though I've been doing the same weight a few times, like it's always just as hard as the last time. Despite this I will increase weight next time, form wasn't too great on the last set though.
- Deadlift: 75kg
1x5 60kg
1x5 70kg
1x5 75kg
Yeah I knew I didn't have it in my to do 80kg, 70kg was already hard enough and I definitely need to review my form, will go over Deadlift articles and videos to get my cues and whatnot right.
- Chin-ups: 8/5/5
Doing chin-ups with my chest touching the bar now and pretty much from a dead hang.
- Dips: 8/6/6
- Ab Work: 7.5kg DB Turkish Get-up 1x5 (each side), Planks 2x30sec (5kg plate)
I gave up after one set, I still need to work on technique and form as I only started practicing the "steps" yesterday, probably won't be doing it every workout but it is a good exercise that I do hope to learn to do properly.

[santisua]

Hey man, just keep working out and you'll progress! I think I am on my 6th? week of SL and I love this routine. Also, from reading your log, it seems like you question your form alot(which is what I do too!) I decided to buy Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe as per the recommendation of most of the people on this forum and others because it stresses form and form and form. So if you haven't heard of the book I'd suggest looking into it....I should be getting my copy today from Amazon...I'm excited

Keep up the good work man

[vongSTAA]

Hey thanks for the comment, yeah I need to try to stay consistent with my workouts and eating, which has been pretty on and off during my training.

Hopefully I can stick to 3 days a week when school break starts, but I'll only have about 5-6 weeks because on the first week I'll be hiking and I'll be overseas for another 2 weeks which will definitely disrupt my training a fair. Even though I'm not happy with my progress since I first started since I could be lifting a lot more and weighing a lot more too, I have made progress at least and definitely noticed the changes, as have other people.

Yeah I might look into buying Starting Strength, heard of it recommended quite a lot on this forum and other sites as well. I'm always reviewing my form, but half the time when I say my form is off it's usually towards the later sets/reps when fatigue kicks in. I definitely am sure that my deadlift and overhead press form needs work though, everything else is alright at the moment.

Thanks again.

[grubinski]

For sure buy the "Starting Strength" book. He has like 50 pages on the squat alone. I'd done a lot of squatting, and I still learned about 12 things I was doing wrong in those 50 pages. Very enlightening, worth every penny.

[vongSTAA]

Workout A:
- Squat: 70kg
1x5 20kg
1x4 40kg
1x3 60kg
1x5 75kg
4x5 70kg
Yeah I don't know what was wrong today, I just wasn't feeling it and doing 75kg was pretty damn hard and my form was definitely off towards the end - I could even feel it in my lower back. I would have continued with the weight but the squat rack I was using didn't have side spotters so I dropped to 70kg but even that was a bit of a struggle.
- Bench Press: 52.5kg
1x5 20kg
1x3 35kg
4/4/3/3/3 52.5kg
I was pretty pissed off about this, I don't know what it was, but one thing that was definitely different was that I was benching using the crappy bench press bench instead of a bench + rack and it just felt different and I couldn't get my setup right. Not only that but it has a standard bar instead of olympic - not sure if that makes a difference or not though. I guess you could say my recovery was also pretty shit, I didn't eat that much and it was crap food during the weekend. I am thinking I will drop to 50kg and see what my form is like.
- Barbell Row: 30kg
1x5 20kg
5x5 30kg
- Dips: 2.5kg
3x5 2.5kg dumbbell
- Chin-ups: 7/5/5
- Ab Work: 3x30sec 5kg planks

[vongSTAA]

Thursday & Saturday's Workout
- Db One Arm Snatch: 15kg
5x5
- Db Bench Press: 34kg
1x5 24kg
5x5 34kg
- Db One Arm Row: 17kg
5x5 17kg
- Chin-ups: 8/6/6
- Ab work: Decline leg raises with 2.5lb ankle weights

Workout A:
- Squat: 70kg
1x5 20kg
1x4 40kg
1x3 60kg
5x5 70kg
I think I can now say I can do 5 good sets of 70kg squats
- Bench Press: 50kg
1x5 20kg
1x4 35kg
5x5 50kg
- Barbell Row: 30kg
5x5 30kg
- Dips: 5kg
3x5 5kg
- Ab work: 2x30 sec one arm/one leg planks

I was too busy from Thurs-Saturday to work out at gym so I just had another workout at home. As for today, everything was good I think, except my bench press could perhaps use a little work but I was mostly happy with it. However on the second set I struggled with last few reps so the next set I narrowed my grip and found it a little easier - I'm guessing because I am utilizing my triceps more? I also found that using a wider grip on barbell row (but not too wide) helped and I was bouncing less.

I'll be hiking from Thursday to Wednesday so no workout for almost a week, but 10-15km walks (not too hard, most of it is flat walking) a day should be a good enough haha