X Couch Potato Training Log

[XCouchPotato]

Log for 5/28/09

Squats
45lb 5x1 (warmup)
55lb 5x1 (sneaking up on my weight)
65lb 5x5

Well I made it through all five sets without losing it last night. I tried sneaking up on my weight by doing a sort of 1/2 pyrimid. Worked pretty good but still had some problems holding form as I got tierd. Not sure yet wether I'll repeat this weight on Monday and work on keeping form or forge ahead.


BenchPress
75lbs 5x5
Wahoo! Made slightly more than 1/2 my BW! It was feeling heavy but I made it through and kept form.

Inverted rows 12,10, 8
These actually felt good last night. Maybe because I wasn't trying to push weight around.

Pushups
7, 5, 5
Starting to get better but my arms were sure tired.

Reverse Crunches
30, 21, 17

[XCouchPotato]

Log for 6/1/09

Squats
45lb 1x5 warmup
65lbs 5x5
Still losing form on last set. Had to step-out twice to keep from falling foward. Guess it's time to deload and start backup. Will do 55lbs tonight.


Overhead Press
50lbs 5x5
Broke the stall on this one. Got all five reps on all five sets though the last couple of reps were getting slow I made them.

Deadlift
80lbs 1x5 Felt really good after the OHPs.

Pullup
50lbs assist
8 (These felt way to easy then Barry noticed the extra 1/2 plate on the top of the weight stack. Dang! It was really 55lbs assist.)
3/1 (with actual 50lbs assist)

Prone Bridges (half-pushup) 30,30,30 secs

[Kathy]

Overhead Press
50lbs 5x5
Broke the stall on this one. Got all five reps on all five sets though the last couple of reps were getting slow I made them.

Hooray!!! Way to get that OHP X!!! I know what a bear it can be. But success makes up for all the former failures...keep it up!

[MysCat]

Nice deadlift and OHP. It is a nice feeling to conquer the OHP - it's a bitch of an exercise. Nice job!

[XCouchPotato]

Hi Kathy and MysCat. Thanks for the kind words. I watched some videos and read a bit on OHPs before going to the gym. The one trick I picked up on was "getting under the bar". Seems that once you get the weight above head level you should bring your chin down toward the chest which in effect moves the upper body foward under the bar. That was what I tried on Monday and it really does make a big difference. I didn't feel like I was using so much lower back as before.

[jmcquillan]

Hey XCouchPotatoe,
You've had some great workouts (even though sometimes they don't feel great)! Although having to deload isn't fun, it's so rewarding when you finally conquer the weight. I'm looking forward to seeing how your next workouts go.
-Jolene

[XCouchPotato]

Hi Jolene:

Thanks for the encouragement. As my husband reminded me I haven't done my log for a while so it's coming.

[XCouchPotato]

OK, here are my logs for the last few days.

6/2
Real loosy workout was battling a digestive problem.

Squats
55lbs 1x1
45lbs 5x5 (I was really feeling weak and my form was never steady.)

Bench Press
45lbs 1x5
65 1x5
80lbs 1x4
75lbs 3x5, 1x4
70lbs 1x4
Not really trying for pyrimid just couldn't seem to get a full set of 5 in no matter what the weight.

Inverted Rows
8, 7, 8

Pushups
3, 6, 7

Reverse Crunch
3x12


Friday 6/4 No Workout; still having digestive problems

[XCouchPotato]

6/8

Squats
45lb 1x5 (warmup)
55lbs 1x5 (broke form on almost every rep; decided to unload)
45lbs 5x5 (not bad form but not great either)

OHP
55lbs 5,5,5,0
Went to do the fourth set and my arms just dropped; put the bar down on safety rails.

Deadlift
85lbs 1x5
Didn't think I was going to get the bar off the stand but once I did these went very well.

Pullup/Chinup
3 neutral; 1 negative
3 chin; 1 negative
1negative

Pron Bridge (Half-push)
20, 16, 20



6/10

Squat
45lbs 3x10
Decided to try a different approach to these, at least for a while. Am having problems keeping form and it seems 5 reps just doesn't allow me to work out the problems. Doing the ten reps might produce better body memory.

Bench Press
De-loaded a bit since my last workout was so bad.
45lbs 1x10 - warmup
65lbs 1x10 - warmup
70lbs 5x5 (felt really good)

Inverted Rows (bridged)
12, 8, 9

Pushups 10, 5, 7

Reverse Crunch
20, 20, 18

[XCouchPotato]

6/12

Squat 45lbs
10,10,8,10
This is getting really frustrating. Got stuck in the hole again and Barry had to get the bar so I could get back up. If I'm not getting stuck, I'm going foward into a good morning coming up. I've tried putting a plate under my heels and even under my toes and nothing is working.


OHP
45lbs
5x5
Reset after catistrophic failer at 55lbs.

Deadlift
90lbs
1x5
This is the only exercise I have not had to deload on yet.

Chinup
50lbs assist
4 + 1 negative, 3, 3
Hurt something under my arm pit on the negative but kept going.

Prone Bridge (half-pushup)
3x30 seconds.

[bobu]

Maybe instead of going from 5x5 to 3x10, if the workweight is heavy enough for you to get stuck in the bottom, you should go to 3x5 until your strength catches up. It sounds like you're tiring yourself out on volume. The form will eventually come without so many reps. You really also shouldn't need warmup reps until you get to higher weights. You're starting to look like you're going to be a deadlift specialist

[XCouchPotato]

Thanks for the compliment on my Deadlifts Bobu. This is the one exercise I really enjoy. I think my next favorite is Bench Press.

As for the squats, I was working on them last night and I think my wonderful husband has helped me to figure out what I was doing wrong.

[XCouchPotato]

6/15

Squat
45lbs 1x10
50lbs 5x5
After the first set of five, my squats definitiely improved. My wonderful husband Barry was watching me do the first set and told me to release my hips first then showed me what I was doing. I almost laughed. I didn't realize I was arching my lower back and sticking my butt way out like that. No wonder my shoulders were always going forward! After that, I just released my hips more naturally which helped me keep my back strait. Though I do think I'll repeat this weight on Wednesday to be sure I can remember what I learned.

Bench Press
75lbs 1x5
These felt good.

Inverted Rows
10, 11, 7

Didn't get to our pushups or Reverse Crunches due to a time constraint.

[pagangoddess]

Nice job. I'm glad the squats are improving. I'm trying to teach hubby about hip drive. He's having a hard time with it.

[XCouchPotato]

Truth be told so am I. But I'll keep working at it. One of these days I'll be able to get through an entire set without thinking about my form.