First Fitness Log

gavney1

friday 26th

back & biceps

Did a short 30mins intense session

Alternating between BO ROWS and chin-ups for the first while

Can now do 9 chin-ups, so bit of an improvement.

Also, was doing 20kg + bar on bicep curls - and was doing well, keeping good technique, so looks like an improvement there to

then did RDL

gavney1

gavney1 wrote: »

Weight (as of yesterday) is still 11st 10lbs.

Target weight at the back of my mid for the end of this workout period (next Friday) was 12st.

So, would need to gain 4lbs in 7 days. Don't know if that's possible, as have been eating loads already, but I'll just have to make sure that I don't slack on eating at the weekend, and stop relying on small tins of tuna - need to stick to the big ones, cause I sometimes still feel a little hungry after a small one. And no point having 2-egg scrambled egg - have to make it 5 eggs

Also, gonna drink as much milk as I can.

7:30am -small bowl of brown rice, half a chicken fillet, glass of FF milk, glass of Tropicana OJ, green tea

Protein = 8 +18

10am - big tin of tuna sandwich, creatine. green tea

Protein = 30g



12:15 pm - beans on toast, small bowl of brown rice, 100g of mixed nuts

Protein = 20g



2:15pm - cottage cheese sandwich, bowl of porridge

Protein = 12g

5:30pm - fillet of mackerel

Protein = 25g

8pm - bowl of tomato soup. chicken stir fry

Protein = 45g

10pm - 500ml FF milk; 1 slice ham

Protein= 20g

(Total protein intake = 178g)

4am - 500ml FF milk



been wondering for a while why alot of ppl are so obsessed with squats - so am putting this article here to remind me - seems like a good article

http://www.triedandtruefitness.com/squats-are-they-really-that-important/362/

JESUS - can't believe I've gained so much weight

I'm now 13st 4lbs. Gained 18-22lbs since January (at least half of it in the last 2 months!)

Haven't posted here for a long time

Basically, was following same program, very much on and off, still not 100% sure what I was doing.

Then about 8 weeks ago, went for a training session with my friend who seems to know what he's talking about. I hadn't seem him since about christmas, and he's gained massive amounts of muscle since i saw him last

He's a big mark rippetoe fan, and he's got me on the starting strength programme. I'm sticking to it like glue. Taking plenty rest. Only training Monday, Wednesday, Friday (and NOTHING else). I've also started squatting and I'm realising the benefits. I had heard them recommended over and over, but had always been afraid to do them without being properly instructed in case i ****d up my back.

Have to say I've made more progress in terms of size and strength in the past two months than I have in nearly two years of training on and off without knowing what i was doing

Am also enjoying weight training. It's now something I really look forward to.

This week was

Monday
Squats (100%)
Pull ups
Press

Wednesday
Squats (80%)
Dips
Bench
Dead lift


Friday

Squats (100%)
Press
Row
Chinups


Thanks to guys on this forum for their advice. I only wish I'd listened to their advice about squatting earlier

gavney1

more or less missed the december period in terms of training because gym was often closed cause of snow and over christmas and i had flu for a week. so only got 3 sessions in December. Was a bit disheartening.

but anyway, been training hard last two week.

weight is now 13st 12 lbs

on monday - did 110kg X3 on deadlift (best yet(

friday squatted 102.5 X 5 X 3, and 107.5 X 3 X1

bench - 65 X 4, X3 X 2

power cleans - just learning how to do them on friday. jesus, they're harder than they look. nearly fainted a couple of times

gavney1

Wednesday 18th Feb

Bench

WS
67.5 X2
67.5X 4 (over-spotting on 3 and 4)
67.5 X 4

Squats80%

90X 5
90X5
95X5


Leg raises
X35

KB crunches, 8kg X 12, 12X10, 16 X12

gavney1

Friday 18th Feb

Squat

115X 5X3

Press

42.5 X 3
42.5 X 4
45 X 2

Measured bench grip width. By putting my little finger just inside ring and having forarm perpendicular am 60cm between index fingers, which is well within guidelines, so probably was having too narrow a grip.

Dips

Asstd, 15X 5, 5X5, 0 X3

DL

110X3
117.5X 4 (mixed grip)
120X 4 (mixed grip)

gavney1

still struggling to get bench to 67.5X 3X 5. But am gonna try next time to get it to 65X3X5 (as I never actually got there). Then gonna start micro-loading. Bought some 0.5kg plates on ebay, which should arrive next week.

squat and DL still going up. Press stalling though also - so gonna try with the microloading.

My short term targets are as follows (if I don't get these by end of March then im a wimp)

DL

130 X 5 X 1

Squat

122.5 X 5 X 3

Press

45 X 5 X 3

Bench

70 X 5 X 3

Once I hit these goals, I'm happy to take a short break from SS, and mix things up with some other exercises/ routines, just to try them out. Maybe a couple days a week of weightlifting with crossfit stuff for met con

gavney1

belly is getting bigger. need to start doing a proper met con on the weekend and some running during the week.

So, sunday, gonna do following for time

Warmup with squats (bar)

Row X 500m

8 chin-ups for time

Row X 500m

70 sit-ups for time

Gonna guess that should take 7/8 mins. Then do 20 min jog

gavney1

gavney1 wrote: »

belly is getting bigger. need to start doing a proper met con on the weekend and some running during the week.

So, sunday, gonna do following for time

Warmup with squats (bar)

Row X 500m

8 chin-ups for time

Row X 500m

70 sit-ups for time

Gonna guess that should take 7/8 mins. Then do 20 min jog

copped out on this a bit, but was still a good workout. The first half decent met-con i've done in months

Did as follows

500m row
6 chin-ups BW; 2 chinups asstd
35 situps
500m row

Time: 11:50.

Next Sunday will try

50 KB swings (will decide on day what is a decent weight)
50 free standing squats
20 dips on bench
40 pushups

gavney1

Monday 28th Feb

Squats
120 X 5 X 3

Press (reset)
40 X 5 X 3

Pendelay Rows
50 X 5 X 3

gavney1

pretty pissed off with todays session


started with 80% squats. But after warming up with the bar, my elbow started at me again. It had been fine for a couple weeks.

I got through all my squats. But at the end, my arms were absolutely killing me.

So, went on to bench (which I was supposed to be resetting at 60 due to plateau)

Tried three warmup sets, during which my arm felt fine throughout the exercise, but was killing me in between sets. I then tried one set at 60, but it was so painful, I had to give up.

Deadlifts had to be abandoned also.

From reading some starting strength forums and various other things on the subject, I think my problem could be due to one of the following

1. Squat. Perhaps I am letting the bar move too much, causing strain on my elbows.http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=14589&page=2.
It seems logical, seeing as anytime I've had the problem, it's started straight after squats. HOWEVER, that could just be cause squats are always the exercise I do first, and once I put any sort of pressure on my arms, they're going to react badly

2. I haven't fully recovered from Pressing on Monday. My arms were a little sore today BEFORE working out, but only a little.

3. A couple of people have noted that I've very flexible shoulders when I'm pressing, so that I'm able to keep my elbows quite high when I'm pressing. Perhaps this, while good for my press & shoulders, puts too much strain on my elbows, as they're too tightly squeezed when pressing?

4. I need to do some stretches??

dave80

Try some curls for elbow health, works wonders for mine

gavney1

dave80 wrote: »

Try some curls for elbow health, works wonders for mine

thanks, I'm gonna see if it's the squats first though. Just so I'm not doing extra exercises needlessly.

I do curls from time to time, but they're not part of my routine currently

Were your elbows at you after doing squats also? Or from different exercises?

dave80

gavney1 wrote: »

thanks, I'm gonna see if it's the squats first though. Just so I'm not doing extra exercises needlessly.

I do curls from time to time, but they're not part of my routine currently

Were your elbows at you after doing squats also? Or from different exercises?

ye it was from the squats, try 3 sets of 10 before you squat yo should notice the difference right away, I do them before bench too

gavney1

dave80 wrote: »

ye it was from the squats, try 3 sets of 10 before you squat yo should notice the difference right away, I do them before bench too

so you just do them to warm up your elbows for squats?

I'd be surprised if it's a warming up problem. Cause my elbows are sore even after just warming up with the bar.

I'll see tomorrow if squats are the problem anyway. If they are, I'll look at my form, and do some curls as you said

gavney1

Sunday - Met con

50Kb swings X12 Kg
DL 60kg X 20
Bench dips X 20
Pushups X 30

13mins 10 sec

Started with KB swings, then did everything else in a mix i.e. was switching between pushups and DLs

Pretty knackered after, but not exactly dead

Played 5-a-side in the evening. Really showed that I've not been doing any running for the past few months

gavney1

received my 0.5kg plates in the post yesterday and got good use out of them today, encouraging.

Completely avoided squats today again, just in case. And sure enough, no elbow problems....


DL

WS - 120 X 5
125 X 3

seemed a bit easier than expected...


Press

WS 41 X 5 X 3 - happy with that, was unable to do 42.5 X 5 previously

Pendelay row

WS 60 X 5 X 3 - need to look at form. Not sure if i've got it right.


KB swings 12 X 55

gavney1

had a session with SMASH yesterday (sunday) in UCD.

All in all a good session, but disappointed with Press, failed to complete 5 reps at 42.5kg on any set.

Also, squat - got squashed like a bug on the 4th rep of 1st set @ 120kg. Had made that weight easily enough 2 weeks ago, so disappointed, but may have had something to do with widening the grip.

Anyway, good news was that my elbows weren't a problem at any stage of the workout

Did power cleans/ clean pulls. Need to sort out breathing, as am feeling dizzy too easily. Really really hate power cleans, I hope they die. They made me hate SMASH also, which is wrong, cause SMASH is nice

Finished off with 4X 3 sets of chins and 20 pressups

gavney1

Sunday Met-Con

KB swings 50 X 16KG
Press 25kg X 35
situps X 45
16kg KB crunches
Goblet squat 12kg X 20

13min 39 sec

gavney1

Jeez, been a long time since I posted here

am trying to mix things up, as am getting bored with same aul SS routine

This week will do following

Monday - Morning Swim - 10 lengths

Evening.
Squats - 112.5 X 5 X 3

Bench - 55 X 8 X 3

Chins - X 5 X 3

Torso Twists X 3 sets

Wendesday

Squats - 100 X 5 X 3

DL - 120X5X1

Press

Dips

KB Swings 50 X 16kg

50 situps

Friday

Bench
Squats
Chins
Curls

going to try get back on a cleaner diet again this week

Monday -
1. half chicken fillet; bowl of porridge; berocca
2. 2 small tuna tins
3. Sandwich
4. Ham + Milk
5. Steak Sandwich