Starting Strenght progression log

lastlaugh

Thank God the ice is gone, I can cycle to work again. I missed a few sessions recently which is a bit annoying, although I was sick last Wed and then had a work xmas do on the Friday so it's not through laziness.

30k return cycle to work, about 50mins each way (Please don't snow again)

1k run before weights @ 11kph, gonna keep this up and increase distance and speed

Full Squats
20k X 5
40k X 5
60k X 3
70k X 5 X 3 (set: Added 10k from the last time & felt good, will try 80k next time and see how I get on. Glad to be back on the bike in the mornings, I'm guessing this will help with my legs if they're as sore as last week, but I don't think they will be. Full squats full so much better than what I was doing.)


Bench Press
20k X 5
30k X 3
40k X 2
50k X 1
55k X 5 X 3 (Pleasantly surprised I got these considering it's been two weeks since I benched (and failed) 55k. )

Power Cleans
40k X 3
50k X 3
60k X 3 (Thought I was going to faint!)
57.5k X 3 (A bit dizzy)
55K X 3 (Heavy)
50K X 3 X 2 (too easy, pff)

Felt strong so tried heavy Cleans, try and complete 5x3 57.5 next time.
I think the break did me well, for the squats and bench anyway.
I really lack disipline regarding my diet, I need to get this in order, I'm eating junk and getting a belly!

lastlaugh

Day 23, 16th Dec

No cycle to work today...

Warm up run
.75km @ 12kph, .25 @ 11kph

Full Squats
20k X 5
40k X 5
60k X 3
70k X 1
75k X 5 X 3 (set: Had intended to try 80k but 75k will do grand for now)

OH Press
20k X 5
30k X 5
35k X 5 (Feck it, this felt heavier than I thought it would)
32.5k X 4 (Ugh)
30k X 5 (Was meant to be tryin 37.5k today, haven't done these since the 6th and I've regressed into a feeble(r) condition, damn it)

Deadlift
60k X 5
80k X 3
90k X 1
100k X 3
Failed 4th
Took a rest
100k X 2


Back to where I was with my Dead on Day 18, 27th Nov, before my back felt a bit dodgy. Feels OK, grip a lot better, but need to be mindful of my back.
Annoyed with the Press as usual. Happy with my Bench on Monday though.
Happy with the full squats also which feel like real progress.

lastlaugh

Day 24, 19th Dec

Warm up run
1km @ 12kph

Full Squats
20k X 5
40k X 5
60k X 3
70k X 1
80k X 5
80k x 4 Fail, left bar on rack
80k X 2 Pain, hobbled off after that

I think I managed to pull a muscle in my lower back up today. Looking back, I should have dropped the weight back a bit after I failed the last rep of the second set.

A bit of background.
When on holidays in July, I woke up one morning with a lot of pain in the lower right side of my back. As well as the pain in my back, it felt like I really needed to crack something in my groin. I was worried about my back because it felt like it was a spinal thing. The only relief I got was cracking my own back in the morning or sometimes if I turned on my heel, something would go pop in my groin, that felt like a bit of relief when it happened.

I went to the physio when I got back and told her. She had me lie down on each side and raise my leg up, then she would push it down. Turns out my right leg was a lot weaker than my left. This would make sense as I had been cycling the 34k everyday for over two years with a pretty heavy pannier on the left side only. I never thought about any strenght imbalances that might cause tbh...
She gave me a few exercises to do, the 'plank', some other exercise to try and flex or move the lower back and strenghten my abs and some one legged bw squats.

I moved the pannier over to the other side, did the exercises a few times and forget about it.

I only realy started feeling the same pain afet the deadlifts got a bit heavy, the full squats have let me know everything is not OK.

If you know of some good isolation exercises for each leg or have any advice I'd appreciate it.

Before I squat again or deadlift I'm gonna start doing those exercises the physio told me to do ages ago...

d'Oracle

I have had similar trouble, probably a few people have.
It could be a few things.
And not something that people can give you advice on boards.ie while keeping with the rules and that.

But its something that needs dealing with.
There is literally a tonne of things you can read about to get clued in about it.

But the bottom line is if its bad enough that you have to walk away from a workout, you should seek help. Go back to the physio or someone like that, they can pull you back together and then do the exercises from there.

lastlaugh

d'Oracle wrote: »

I have had similar trouble, probably a few people have.
It could be a few things.
And not something that people can give you advice on boards.ie while keeping with the rules and that.

But its something that needs dealing with.
There is literally a tonne of things you can read about to get clued in about it.

But the bottom line is if its bad enough that you have to walk away from a workout, you should seek help. Go back to the physio or someone like that, they can pull you back together and then do the exercises from there.

Point taken, will have to leave the physio till the new year though.

Think I'll just do some isolation work in the mean time, concentrating on biceps, chest and lats in conjuction with the core exercises I neglected a few month ago.

Out of interest, do you know a good way to measure the strenght of one leg compared to the other. I mean exercises I could use to gauge the strenght of my ham, quad and glute on one leg? Is there a single leg press exercise or maybe lunges? I'm still on the simple SS compound mindset!

Cheers

d'Oracle

lastlaugh wrote: »

Point taken, will have to leave the physio till the new year though.

Think I'll just do some isolation work in the mean time, concentrating on biceps, chest and lats in conjuction with the core exercises I neglected a few month ago.

Out of interest, do you know a good way to measure the strenght of one leg compared to the other. I mean exercises I could use to gauge the strenght of my ham, quad and glute on one leg? Is there a single leg press exercise or maybe lunges? I'm still on the simple SS compound mindset!

Cheers

I have no idea about unilateral stuff, it is obviously beneficial, but I have no clue why or how it should be done.

You should still be able to do upper body presses and pulls though.
Bench, row, chins and probably overhead press.

lastlaugh

I've taken a bit of, ehh, time off since December.

Well, I went back in Feb once but was so disheartened at my strenght loss that I kind of lost the will to keep going. But anyway, I'll give it another stab.

I'm 83K at the moment. I've cut out a lot of junk from my diet and have been cycling 34k, 4 times a week since Feb, so I'm kind of fit.
I havn't gone to a physio about my groin/back thing, but it hasn't been at me for a good while. Rather than sticking religiously to the SS format, I'm gonna run, Squat, Press, Bench, curl and do something for my lats (machine probably). (Might start some light Deads again soon, I'm not in a hurry)
Anyway, I'll call Monday
Day 1.
Warm up run
1k @ 12kph
1k @ 10kph

Full Squats
20k X 5
40k X 5
50k X 5 X 3 (serious DOMS the last two days)

Bench Press
20k X 5
30k X 5
40k X 5 X 3 (starting from scratch here)

Bicep Curl
10k X 10 X 1 (I was intending to try 10 X 3, no chance!)

Lat Machine
35k X 10 X 3

Heading back again tomorrow.

lastlaugh

Day 2.
Warm up run
2.5k @ 9kph

Full Squats
20k X 5
40k X 5
50k X 3
55k X 5 X 3

Bench Press
20k X 5
30k X 5
40k X 5
45k X 5 X 3

Lat Machine
40k X 10 X 3

lastlaugh

32k cycle to/from work.

Day 3.
Warm up run
1.75k @ 10kph
0.25k @ 14.5kph

Bench Press
20k X 5
30k X 5
40k X 3
47.5k X 5 X 3

Lat Machine
40k X 10
40k X 6
35k X 4
35k X 10

Full Squats
20k X 5
40k X 5
.....

Went to gym pretty late and ran out of time to finish Squatting.
(Was secretly happy about it too.)