Big and Heavy

Sraw

I have lifted before using the stronglifts programs. It was going reasonable well until I stopped a few months back mainly because I am now over in Australia. So now I have found a gym I am happy with and getting back into the swing of things. Though instead of just going back to what I was doing I am just doing what I am told to by the coach.
I have been meaning to start this log for a number of weeks now. But just been forgetful. So with that in mind I am going to just write out my recorded workouts so I have em all in one place.

21/04/11
Squat 5x5 @ 50kg
OHP 3x5 @ 35kg
DL 1x5 @120kg

27/04/11
Sq 3x5 @60kg
PP 5x3 @ 40kg
BP 3x5 @ 45kg
DL 1x4 @ 125

29/04/11
Squat 3x5 @ 65kg
OHP 3x5 @ 37.5kg
Pullups 3x8 with green band
Ring Dips 5x5

02/05/11
BP 3x5 @ 50kg
DL 1x5 @ 125kg
Back ext row 6x12 @ 26kg
Ring Dips 5x6

04/05/11
Squat 3x5 @ 70kg
OHP 3x5 @ 40kg
Pullups with green band 3x10

05/05/11
DL 7x3 @ 70kg set every 60 secs
BP 3x5 @ 55kg
Back ext row 5x10 @ 36kg

06/05/11
OHP 3x5 @ 45kg
Squat 3x5 @ 75kg
Invert row 5x10

09/05/11
BP 3x5 @ 60kg
DL 1x5 @ 130kg
Back ext row 5x8 @ 46kg

10/05/11
Squat 3x5 @ 80kg
OHP 3x5 @ 47.5kg
Pullups with purple band 9,8,6

12/05/11
BP 3x5 @ 65kg
DL 7x3 @ 70kg set every 60 secs
Ring dips 8,8,6,5,5

13/05/11
Squat 3x5 @ 82.5kg
PP 3x5 @52.5kg
Invert Row 5x10

16/05/11
BP 3x5 @ 70kg
DL 1x5 @ 135kg
Back ext row 5x8 @ 46kg

17/05/11
Squat 3x5 @ 85kg
OHP 5,4,4 @ 50kg

19/05/11
BP 3x5 @72.5kg
Squat 3x5 @ 87.5kg
Pullups with purple band 10,8,8

20/05/11
PP 3x5 @ 55kg
Dips 10,8,8,7
DL 7x3 @ 70kg set every 60 secs

Sraw

Will go into a little more detail from now on.

22/05/11
BP
Bar 1x6
30kg 1x5
40kg 1x5
55kg 1x5
65kg 1x3
75kg 4,3,3
The work sets were a real struggle. Didn't come close to the 3 sets of 5. Was hoping it was just a bad day.

Squat
Bar 1x10
40kg 1x6
60kg 1x5
70kg 1x4
80kg 1x3
90kg 3x5
While I put my crappy bench press down to a bad day. My squat was great, felt more comfortable then 87.5kg from last week. Maybe my bench was too heavy rather then it being a bad day.

Pullups with purple band 10,9,8
Not much to say, felt fine. 1 rep more in the second set so thats something.

Sraw

25/05/11

OHP
Bar 1x5
30kg 1x5
40kg 1x3
50 kg 3x5
Failed at 50kg last week so was more then happy I got it this time.

DL
50kg 1x5
80kg 1x5
110kg 1x3
140kg 1x5
Delighted with how these went.

Back Ext Row
46kg 5x10

Sraw

27/05/11
Bench
Bar 1x10
40kg 1x6
52.5kg 1x5
62.5kg 1x3

72.5kg 3x5
Had mistakenly jumped to 75kg the last day. So just did 72.5kg like I was meant to. First two sets were grand. Last 2 reps in the third set were a bit of a struggle. But got em done.

Squat
22.5kg 1x10
42.5kg 1x6
62.5kg 1x5
72.5kg 1x4
82.5kg 1x3

92.5kg 3x5
Really noticed the extra 2.5kg today. the last rep on each set took noticeable more effort. But was happy enough with them.

Ring Dips
10,6,5
Down on the last time. After the first set my strength just seemed to vanish after the 4 rep. Was a real struggle to get the extra reps out.

Chin-ups
2,2,2 (unassisted)
Not to sure why I decided to do these. But they were grand.

Over all just feel a little battered after today.

Sraw

30/05/11
OHP
22.5kg 1x8
32.5kg 1x5
42.5kg 1x5

52.5kg 3x5

Squat
Bar 1x10
40kg 1x5
60kg 1x5
70kg 1x5
80kg 1x5
90kg 1x3

95kg 3x5
Felt really comfortable on these. A nice improvement on the last day.

Pull-ups(unassisted)
5,4,3,2

Sraw

01/06/11

Bench

25kg 1x10
45kg 1x5
55kg 1x5
65kg 1x3
75kg 4,3,3,3

Once I do the third rep on a set at 75kg all my strength just seems to disappear. This weight seems to be my breaking point at the moment.

Deadlift
70kg 1x5
100kg 1x5
125kg 1x3

150kg 1,F,F,1

140kg 1x2
100kg 1x3
70kg 1x5

The work set was unbelievably difficult. Couldn't get over how much effort it took compared to last weeks solid 140kg. It wasn't until after did I notice I made the moronic mistake of putting 5kg more on the bar then I meant too.

Back Ext Row
56kg 4x5

Chins
2,2,2,2

Just threw this in between different exercises.

Row
:30/:30 x8
138m,145m,147m,146m,146m,151m,139m,133m

Actually kind of enjoyed this. Might try for 10 rounds next time.

Overall mixed bag really. Poor bench and the mistaken 10kg jump in deadlift made for a disappointing day. But the row intervals made up for that to an extent.

Sraw

03/11/11

OHP
20kg 1x10
30kg 1x8
35kg 1x5
45kg 1x5

55kg 3x5
Felt good. Last rep on the final set was just sheer determination.

Squat
20kg 1x10
40kg 1x8
60kg 1x5
77.5kg 1x5
87.5kg 1x3

97.5kg 3x5
Again felt good. Very solid.

Dips
10,7,6,6

Overall a good workout. Very happy with it.

Sraw

06/06/11

Bench
20kg 1x10
40kg 1x5
50kg 1x5
60kg 1x5
70kg 1x3

75kg 3x5

Squat
40kg 1x8
60kg 1x6
70kg 1x5
80kg 1x5
90kg 1x3

100kg 3x5

Chins
3,3,3,3

All in all this was a good day. Very happy with both the lifts.

marathonic

Sraw wrote: »

03/11/11
Dips
10,7,6,6

Hi Sraw,

An interesting tip I got from Hanley in another thread that I’m using for Dips and Chins at the minute is to do the following instead of doing sets to failure:

Half your max reps for the exercise – in your case, you did 10 dips so your number would be 5
Do that number of reps for 6 sets in weeks 1
Do that number of reps for 8 sets in weeks 2
Do that number of reps for 10 sets in weeks 3
Test your max reps again and start back at week 1

The idea behind it is that doing sets to failure is supposed to be a bad way to train for these exercises – in particular, before you can bang out about 15 reps of them. The above method allows you to do more volume.

Before I adopted the above technique, I was doing 3 sets of chinups to failure and was doing 6, 4, 3. I’m now only in week 1 of the above so am doing 6 sets of 3. That means I’m now doing 18 per session instead of 13 – and will be doing 24 next week. I’m really finding the later sets are starting to get a lot easier so something seems to be working.

My plan is to do the above until my max reps hit 15, then add some weight and repeat the process.

Just thought I’d put the idea out there in case you’re interested.

Edit: I used to alternate Dips and Chinups between sessions, now I do both in every session using the above technique. Basically, I do the set of chinups followed immediately by the set of dips, rest and repeat.

Sraw

Cheers marathonic. With the chins and dips I just do as many as I feel able too. I'm more faffing about with them. What your recommending at the very least gives more of a purpose to what I'm doing and a goal to obtain. Which I like the thought of.

Sraw

08/06/11

Push Press
20kg 1x10
35kg 1x5
45kg 1x5
55kg 1x3

65kg 5x3

Deadlift
70kg 1x5
90kg 1x5
110kg 1x5
130kg 1x3
150kg 1x1 This was meant to be a rep at 140kg. But apparently I can't count.:o

145kg 1x5

Back ext row
56kg 2x5
Felt very heavy. Might have upped the weight from 46kg a little to soon.

Dips
6,6,6
Just threw these in because I gave up on the back extension rows.

Row
:30/:30 x8
146m,150m,149m,147m,146m,137m,140m,149m

A ever so slight improvement over last time. Will add an extra round or two next time.

Sraw

10/06/11

Was shown how to Clean and front squat today. So not 100% sure how many reps I did in total as I wasn't really keeping count. So here's some guess work.

Clean
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x15
These were all singles

F Squat
20kg 2x3
40kg 1x3
50kg 5x3
60kg 1x5

Chins
3,3,3,3
Just threw these in at the end.

It took a while before I really started to get to grips with the whole movement. Certainly a lot of work to do.

Sraw

16/06/11

Bench
27.5kg x5
47.5kg x5
57.5kg x5
67.5kg x5
72.5kg x3

77.5kg 4,3,2
The work sets were fairly rubbish today.

Clean
30kg 3x3
40kg 5x3
Just these as a warm up for the squats and to get the movement right. Just starting to get my head around it.

Squat
60kg x5
80kg x5
90kg x5
100kg x3

102.5kg 2x5
80kg 1x5

Could have done another set at 102.5kg. But was told my depth once I hit the 100kg mark was **** today. Might be close to a reset.

Dips
5,5,5,5,5,5

Sraw

OHP
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5
55kg x3

57.5kg 3,3,2

Clean
40kg 6x3

FSquat
40kg 2x3
50kg 2x5
60kg 3x5

Deadlift
60kg x5
80kg x5
100kg x5

80kg 7x3 (set every 60sec)

Chins
2,2,2,2,2,2

The over head press was terrible today. Everything else felt fine. Sticking with 40kg on the clean for the moment, to try and nail the technique. Going to reset the bench next week and try 57.5kg on the ohp again.

Sraw

20/06/11

Clean
40kg 3x3
45kg 5x1

Front Squat
40kg 3x3
50kg x3
60kg x3
62.5kg 3x3

Push Press
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x5
45kg x3
55kg x3
60kg x1
65kg 3x3

Deadlift
70kg x5
90kg x5
110kg x5
130kg x3
140kg x3
150kg x1,f,f

After the first rep at 150kg I just couldn't get the damn thing off the ground. It was strange as the that one rep felt really good. Ah well it was time for a reset on this anyway.

Everything else was good. Just happy that i'm getting the clean into better shape.

Sraw

21/06/11

Clean
40kg 6x3

Squat
20kg x10
40kg x5
60kg x5
70kg x5
80kg 3x5

Back ext Row
46kg 5x10

Sraw

22/06/11

Bench
20kg x10
30kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5
60kg x5
65kg 3x5

Chins
3,3,3,3,3,2

8 kettlebell swings @ 20kg
8 Ring front support tucks
Every min for 8mins

All good today. Nice to try something different with the swings and ring tucks.

Sraw

27/06/11

Clean
40kg 3x3
50kg 5x1

Front Squat
40kg 3x3
50kg x3
60kg x3
65kg 5x3

Push Press
20kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5
60kg 5x3

Deadlift
70kg x5
90kg x5
110kg x3
130kg x5

Had a bit of the flu the last few days, so missed Friday. It all went well today.

Sraw

28/06/11

Clean
40kg 5x3, 3x5

Squat
60kg x5
70kg x5
75kg x5
80kg x5
82.5kg 3x5

Inverted Row
8,8,8,8,8

Fairly straight forward today. Nothing too taxing. Starting to feel comfortable with the cleans which is nice to see.

Sraw

29/06/11

Bench
20kg x10
40kg x5
50kg x5
60kg x5
65kg x3
67.5kg 3x5

Chins
3,3,3,3,3,3

Ring Dips
6,6,6,6

For time
400m Run, 400m Row, 200m Run, 200m Row, 50 push-up, 200m Run, 200m Row.
13.38(a pretty poor time)

Everything was good up until the 50 push-ups towards the end. They took bloody ages. The rowing and the runs were grand if a little slow but I now know I ****ing hate push-ups.

Sraw

01/07/11

Clean
40kg 7x3

Squat
60kg x5
70kg x5
80kg x5
90kg x3
100kg 3x3(belt)

OHP
20kg x8
30kg x5
40kg x5
47.5kg 3x5

All went well. 100kg squat felt good. The belt does make some difference.

Sraw

04/07/11

Clean
40kg x3
45kg x3
50kg x3
55kg 5x1

Front Squat
40kg x3
45kg x3
50kg x3
55kg 5x3
60kg x5
65kg x5
70kg 3x5

Push Press
20kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5
60kg 5x3

Deadlift
80kg x5
100kg x5
120kg x5
135kg x5

Sraw

05/07/11

Clean
40kg x3
45kg 7x3

Squat
40kg x5
60kg x5
80kg x5
85kg 3x5

Bent Over Row
26kg x12
36kg x12
46kg 3x12

The squats were really strange today. They just felt really heavy. Left the gym feeling absolutely drained. Hopefully a good nights sleep will sort that out.

Sraw

06/07/11

Bench
20kg x10
30kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5
60kg x5
70kg 3x5

Pullups
4,4,3,3,4,4

8 rounds 30sec/30sec
alternate between
2 Burpee pullups and 25m sprint

All was grand today. Pull-ups could have been better. Something to work on.

Sraw

07/07/11

Clean
40kg x3
45kg 6x3

Squat
60kg x5
80kg x3
90kg x1(belt)

OHP
20kg x10
30kg x5
40kg x5
45kg x3
50kg 3x5

Ring Dips
6,6,6,6

Felt a twinge top of the thigh on the third rep at 80kg. Gave it a little time and went for 90kg with the belt and it just got worse. So decided not to push my luck with it and left the squats at that. Everything else was good.

Sraw

11/07/11

Push Press
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5
57.5kg 2x5, 1x9

Cleans
40kg x3
50kg x3
55kg x3
60kg 5x1

Deadlift
90kg x5
110kg x5
130kg x5
135kg x7

Still felt some of the effects of that twinge I felt on Friday. So didn't bother with the front squats. Also decided to not up the weight on the deadlifts as well just to have a light day. Kinda felt like I wasted my time on leaving the gym. Ah well onwards and upwards.

Sraw

12/07/11
Clean
40kg x3
45kg x3
50kg 5x3

Squat
60kg x5
70kg x5
80kg x1

Bent Over Rows
30kg x10
40kg 2x10
50kg 2x10

Squats were fine but once I tried 80kg my inner thigh was at me again. Just as things were going well. I just can't squat at the moment, which makes for a pissy day.

Sraw

13/07/11

Bench
20kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5
60kg x5
67.5kg x5
72.5kg 2x5, 1x7

Pull-ups
2,3,3,1,2,3

5 rounds 15sec/45sec
Max reps
24kg SDHP(Sumo Deadlift High Pull)
Tyre Jumps
Burpees

The pull-ups were fairly tough this morning. Tried doing a ladder with shorter breaks in between. It didn't go all that well. Other then that the bench was good and steady. The conditioning block was fairly straight forward. A decent day.

Sraw

15/07/11

OHP
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x3
52.5kg 2x5, 1x7

Clean
40kg x3
45kg x3
50kg 5x3

Squat
60kg x5
70kg x4
80kg x3

Front Squat
50kg x3
60kg x3
65kg 2x3
70kg x3
72.5kg x1
75kg x1
77.5kg x1
80kg 3x1
70kg x3

Everything besides the back squats were grand today. Once I get up to 80kg on them I just get a sharp pain on the inside of my thigh at the bottom of the squat. No such problem with the front squats so I think I will stick with them for a while.

Sraw

18/07/11

Push Press
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5
55kg x3
60kg 2x5, 1x8

Clean
30kg x3
40kg x3
50kg x3
55kg x2
60kg x1
62.5kg 5x1

F Squat
30kg x3
40kg x3
50kg x3
60kg x3
70kg x3
75kg x3
80kg 3x3

Back ext Row
46kg 5x10

Sraw

20/07/11

Bench
25kg x5
35kg x5
45kg x5
55kg x5
60kg x4
65kg x3
70kg x2
75kg 2x5, 1x7

Deadlift
70kg x5
90kg x5
110kg x5
120kg x4
130kg x3
140kg x6(belt)

1000m row
25 Push-ups
25 Pull-ups(Green band)
25 Kettle bell swings(20kg)
25 Knees to Elbows
1000m row
17.08

Was more then happy with both the bench and deadlift this morning. The conditioning block on the other hand was tough. Even with the green band I wasn't exactly flying through the pullups. As for the knees to elbows. Let's just say they sounded easy:eek:.