Witty log title

It's time to start a log.

I'm starting training again after an 8-9 week break of doing absolutely nothing, which was the product of laziness, festivals, sickness and moving house. Any strength I had seems to have completely disappeared.

Kept it light today to ease back into it, and I'm going to keep it fairly light for the next few weeks to re-ingrain patterns and try to regain some mobility.

Lots of stretching with a band.

Squats
Bar x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
80 x 5 x 7

Flat Bench
Bar x 5 x 2
40 x 5
60 x 5 x 5

The bench was super-setted with 5 x 5 pull-ups.

I've been in glorious agony the past 3 days with DOMS in my quads, glutes and my entire back. I did a little today to help loosen up my legs.

Squats
Bar x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5 x 2
70 x 5 x 5

Pull-Ups
5 x 5

Chins
5 x 5

Band pull-aparts
x millions

I spent a good two hours this morning stretching my hips and shoulders with a band and then rolling around on a foam roller and sliotar. Everything feels great now.

Everything felt a little better today.

Squats
Bar x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
85 x 5 x 8

Flat Bench
Bar x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
70 x 5 x 5

BB Rows
30 x 10
40 x 5
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5 x 5

Dips
BW x 5 x 3 ... Pathetic

Pull-Ups
BW x 5 x 3

Face-Pulls
80 x millions of reps x thousands of sets

I use reps x sets when writing down what I've done. So 5 x 8 is 8 sets of 5. That's backwards, probably.

I have to say I'm absolutely loving RAW.

Squats
Bar x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
80 x 5
90 x 5 x 7/8 - I forget how many sets I did

Pull-Ups
BW x 5 x 5

Dips
BW x 5 x 3
BW x 4 x 2 - Pathetic

Face Pulls
80 x 12 x 5

Squats felt okay. I'll jump up in 5kg increments until I hit 100kg, then start moving up by 2.5kg each time. Hopefully I can keep progressing for a while. Dips were yet again pathetic. Need to start deadlifting again soon, but I'll leave that until I can get a bit of guidance on my form. I think I'll start lifting sumo style considering I'm quite tall. Not following a real plan at the moment; I think I'll mess about for the next few weeks until everything begins to feel okay again then I'll find some programme to follow.

Yesterday (Saturday the 12th):

Squats
Bar x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
80 x 5
95 x 5 x 5

Form was a little messy at times.

Chest Supported Row
40 x 10
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 5 x 5

I'm not fully sure what the correct name for this exercise is. It's the one where you lie prone on a high bench and row with a barbell.

Shrugs
20kg plate e/s x 20 x 3

Leg Press
Worked up to 80 x 10 x 3

First time using a leg press so I didn't bother using too much weight.

The above was done in a gym off of Fitzgibbon St (it's on Charles St I think) that I saw mentioned a few times in this forum. I really liked the place and I'll be going back there again the odd time.

Deadlifts
60 x 5 x 3
80 x 5 x 2
100 x 5 x 5

Bench
Bar x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
75 x 5 x 5

Pull-Ups super-setted with Dips
BW x 5 x 3

Face-Pulls
80 x 10 x 3

First time deadlifting in ages, must be almost 4 months. Form was probably terrible. I know what to do but sometimes it's hard to know if what you think you're doing and what you're actually doing match up. I'll need some advice from a friendly stranger in RAW. I think I'll try a sumo stance eventually if I can figure it out and become mobile enough to execute it correctly. Squatting tomorrow. Not sure if I'll go for 100kg 5x5 or 97.5kg 5x5. I'll see how the warm ups feel and go from there.

Squats
Bar x 5 x 3
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
80 x 5
100 x 5 x 5

Squats felt as good as they've ever felt. The first two sets were a bit challenging, but the latter three were smooth and not terribly difficult; I could have managed another couple of reps in each set I think. They were a hell of a lot better than the 95 x 5 x 5 from a few days ago. I think having a mirror in front of me makes a huge difference.

Bench
Bar x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
80 x 5 x 3

Tougher than it should have been. Should have been 5x5 but I didn't have another couple of sets of 5 in me. Next day.

BB Row
30 x 10
60 x 5
75 x 5 x 5

Dumbbell Shrugs
24s x 10
36s x 10 x 3

Pull-Ups
BW x 5 x 5

Face-Pulls
80 x 10
90 x 10 x 3

Going around like a bit of a headless chicken at the moment. I need to start thinking about a plan to follow.

Squats
Bar x 5 x 3
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
80 x 5
102.5 x 5 x 5
90 x 5 x 5 w/ slow 3 second decent and a pause to the count of 3 at the bottom.

Bitter sweet day. Bitter insofar as I wanted to do more but couldn't because my right elbow is killing me. I have tendinitis, and have had it for a while. It's tennis elbow, I think: on the outside of the elbow. Squats felt great today. Easily the best they've ever felt. I felt a slight twinge during one rep about an inch or two up from my tailbone on the left hand side of my spine. I feel it deadlifting sometimes too. Must figure out what that is.

New goal is to squat 140 5x5 and bench 90 5x5 by Christmas. Probably a little ambitious with regard to the squats... but we'll see.

Squats
Bar x 5 x 3
40 x 5 x 2
60 x 5
80 x 5
100 x 5 x 5
90 x 5 x 5 w/ very slow decent and a 3 second pause at the bottom.

Felt very weak today. First time training in almost a week, and the past week has been pretty awful food and sleep wise, so I'm putting most of it down to that. Since giving platelets yesterday I've felt pretty drained so I'm guessing that's part of it too. I was yawning between sets so that's not good! Weighed myself for the first time in months yesterday. Now standing at about 88kg, down from about 93/94kg 3-4 months ago. I've lost a lot of muscle but a bit of fat too. That's what not exercising and eating feck all over 12-16 weeks does to a person, I guess. Hopefully I can work my way up to that kind of weight again over the next few months.

Bench
Worked up to 7 triples at 80kg followed by 3 sets of 5 at 70kg. Felt weak.

Pendlay Rows
Worked up to 5x5 at 80kg followed by 3 sets of 10 at 60kg. Felt good.

Face Pulls
Lots

Bench is awfully weak.

Squats
Slowly worked up to 5x5 at 105kg, followed by 3 sets of 10 at 90kg.

Pendlay Rows
82.5kg 5x5, then 3 sets of 10 at 60kg.

My lower back was quite fatigued from the squats so the heavier reps weren't always the cleanest.

Face Pulls
100 x 12 x 3

140kg 5x5 squats by Christmas might have been an unrealistic goal to set. I'll still aim for it, but I might not achieve it. I'd like 100kg x20 in the next couple of months, too; I have 20 reps at 90kg in me, I think, so 20 reps at 100kg should be achievable.

Deadlifts
Tried sumo-style for the first time ever today. Or at least my own idea of what sumo-style is... Conventional style feels awkward for me. Sumo style felt completely and absolutely natural. I'll pluck up the courage some day in RAW to ask someone for some pointers on my form. I'm also wondering if there's any drawback to sumo over conventional. I felt it in my hips far more than in my quads, but I suppose that's a good thing. I've some lovely bloody shins too so that's a plus. Anyway, it went something like this:

3 sets of 5 at 60kg and 80kg
1 set of 5 at 100kg
5 singles at 110kg, 115kg, 120kg, 125kg
12 singles at 120kg
5 sets of 5 at 100kg

Lots of volume and lots of reps, mainly to get used to the movement. Used chalk for the first time ever, too; what a difference! I'd no idea it'd be that effective.

Bench
5x5 at 75kg followed by 3 sets of 10 at 60kg. Still far too weak.

Pull Ups
BW x 5x5

Good day. I love deadlifting.

Squats
107.5kg 5x5
90kg x15

Was going for 20 reps with the 90kg but my form began to implode around rep 13/14, so I stopped at a nice round 15. I probably could have pushed out the 20 reps but I'm wary of injuring my already injury prone knees. The 107.5 felt okay: not as light as 105 felt but not particularly heavy either.

OHP
Bar x10
30 x5
40 x5
50 x3
60 x1
65 x1
70 x1
70 xF
65 x1 (push pressed)
60 x2 (push pressed)
50 x5x5

Couple of failed reps in there around 65-70 too. First time OHPing in about 4 months, and my 88.5kg press is long gone. There were no free squat/power racks so I got the bar into place with my own bastardised power-clean (TM). Makes me want to learn how to clean properly. 5x5 at 50kg was easy.

Pendlay Rows
85kg 5x5

Should get BW 5x5 Pendlay rows within a week or two (89kg).

Good day.

Squats
110kg 5x5

Felt tougher than I was expecting. I've been eating well and eating lots and getting good sleep so I was half expecting the bar to feel like a feather going by how the past few sessions have felt. My hips are in absolute bits. From the first warm-up set (with just the bar), my hips, around my medial glutes especially, felt tender and even delicate. I've found that I'm sitting into a far better squat position lately, so maybe it's just a consequence of that. I need a good stretching session, but I'm half tempted to deadlift tomorrow regardless.

Bench
77.5kg 5x5
60kg 3x10

Felt better. Still weak as water but better nonetheless.

Pendlay Rows
85kg 5x5

Felt heavier than the 85kg I lifted a few days ago and my form wasn't particularly great towards the end of each set.

Is RAW not open on Sundays? I showed up at 4pm yesterday and it was closed, but on its website it says it's open until 6pm. Bit disappointed when I saw the shutters down yesterday, but I went and eased my pain with some cocktails.

Alf Veedersane

gvn wrote: »

Is RAW not open on Sundays? I showed up at 4pm yesterday and it was closed, but on its website it says it's open until 6pm. Bit disappointed when I saw the shutters down yesterday, but I went and eased my pain with some cocktails.

They were treating and varnishing the floor through the entrance. If you'd gone down the lane, you'd have walked straight in.

Alf Veedersane

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

They were treating and varnishing the floor through the entrance. If you'd gone down the lane, you'd have walked straight in.

Ahhhh, I see. I noticed the new varnish today alright. Ah well!

Went to the gym today with the intention of deadlifting but my hips screamed no. I couldn't get into a comfortable sumo position: any time I tried my hips (around my medial glutes, I think) just screamed. I foam rolled my glutes (especially my medial glutes) for about 10 minutes and felt some horrible pain at a few points. Tried deadlifting again and it just wasn't happening so I gave up. I'll spend an age foam rolling my hips tonight. Anyone ever experience this? It was a bit disheartening.

Front Squats
First time front squatting so my form was probably terrible. I messed around with a few different positions (normal front rack, arms crossed over the bar, and holding the bar with just the thumbs) and settled on the last one. I was really focusing on maintaining and arch in my back and an upright position. Need to work on wrist flexibility.

Bar x 2x10
40 x 2x5
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 2x5
60 x 5x5

OHP
55 x 5x5

Pull-Ups and Dips superset
5 pull-ups followed by 5 dips. 8 sets.

DB Shrugs
40s 4x8

Face-Pulls
Pin 10 3x12

Alf Veedersane

I'd have expected your glutes to be feeling a bit of a strain on the front squats too if they're the problem. Maybe they need some lacrosse ball pain anyway. The foam roller won't get into the places you need to sort out

Bad day. Nothing worth writing about, really.

Against every ounce of better judgement I decided to back squat. I spent 20-30 minutes stretching and foam rolling my glutes/hips and everything felt reasonably okay. Warm up sets felt fairly okay and I decided to do 5x5 at 100kg. 1st set of 5 at 100 felt good, second set felt not so good, and by the third set I had to give up (2 reps in). The searing, sharp pain around my medial glutes returned and left me walking around for the rest of the session like John Wayne. I'm not going to squat until the pain has completely disappeared, and I'm hoping that'll be by next Wednesday or Friday. I'd go to a physio if I could afford it, but I am, alas, a broke student.

Bench
80kg 5x5
62.5kg 3x10

Felt useless.

BB Rows
80kg x5
70kg 4x8

On the plus side I must have been doing something half-right with the front squats, because I've had incredible DOMS in my whole core and my entire back for the past two days. Must start doing these far more often. I treated my post-workout depression with some Aussie BBQ. Mmm.

Hips are fixed and all is well. Whatever pain I experienced acted as a slap in my face and reminded me not to neglect stretching. I spent about 30 minutes stretching and rolling my hips, legs and glutes, then...

Squats
8 sets of 5 at 100kg. The first 4 sets felt heavy; the second 4, light. Could have stayed going indefinitely. I was planning on doing 10 sets, just for the hell of it, but someone wanted the squat rack so I decided to call it a day.

Bench
5x5 at 80kg. Paused. Finally starting to feel okay again.

Pull-Ups supersetted with Decline Bench
6 pull-ups then 8 reps at 70kg, times 2.
6 pull-ups then 8 reps at 60kg, times 1. This was supposed to be 70kg but I didn't notice that someone had stripped the two 5kg plates from my bar while I was doing my pull-ups until I'd finished the 8 reps. I knew it felt too light but I didn't cop it. I was too pissed off to do it again, so I just went and did another set of 6 pull-ups.

Face-Pulls
Pin 10 3x12

30 minutes stretching and foam-rolling, then...

Sumo Deadlifts
60 3x5
80 2x5
100 x3
110 x2
115 x1
120 x1
125 x1
130 x1
135 x1
140 x1
145 x1
150 x1
145 x1
140 x1
135 x1
130 2x3
125 3x3
120 3x5

I've no idea where there 140 came from, let alone the 150. I felt like I could have gone on and gotten 155 or 160. I've never lifted anything above 120 before; I've never tried lifting anything above 120 before. I've deadlifted <10 times in my life, I reckon. My form wasn't fantastic on the heavier lifts but I'll work on that. I think I'll start with 3x5 on 120 and try add 5kg each session to see where that gets me.

Front Squats
65 5x5, super-setted with 5x7 BW dips.

Lots of concentration given to contracting and stabilising my core. Dips felt good; I could probably have gotten close to 10 reps in each set but I plan on benching tomorrow so didn't want to tire my triceps.

Good day.

Bench
Today I used an extremely flimsy and wobbly York bench and one of those ~7kg, 5ft spinlock bars (the weight of which I rounded down to 5kg below). I wasn't planning on testing or anything, but...

25 2x10
45 2x5
65 x5
Everything from here on down had a 3 second eccentric and a pause at the bottom for a second or so.
75 x3
80 x1
85 x1
90 x1
95 x1
97.5 x1
100 x1 (well, really about 102kg if the bar's true weight is counted.)

I'm fairly happy with that considering I've only benched 7 or 8 times in the past 5 or 6 months — all of which has been in the last 5/6 weeks — and I had only been benching consistently for a few months previous to that. I've never tested my 1RM before, but at 93kg, 5 or 6 months ago, I managed 95kg 5x5 and 103.5kg 3x3 — both fairly comfortably. I'm now 89/90kg, so a little lighter, but also a good bit weaker. Further, I had no spotter or any kind of safety bars, so I'm sure I could have managed another ~5kg if I didn't have the worry of getting pinned and potentially dying an agonisingly embarrassing death constantly running through my mind. With a bit of work I'd love to hit 110 in the next 6-8 weeks.

80 5x5 paused ... easy.
65 3x8 paused ... easy.

Pull-Ups from dead-hang
BW x5
+5kg x5
+10kg x4 ... wasn't happening. My back is too fatigued from the deadlifts yesterday.
+5kg 2x5
BW 3x5

I had planned on doing a little bit more (band pull-aparts and planks, mainly), but food beckoned. Later, maybe. Or tomorrow. On the bright side, I think I could be only a couple of months away from a 400kg total, and after only a few months of training (and training inconsistently, at that). That'd be nice.

1.5 hours spent rolling around on a baseball this evening. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy...

I spent about 10 minutes on each foot and, while it was excruciating at times, my feet feel absolutely fantastic now. The rest of the time was spent on my achilles and calves, hips, glutes and upper back. I want to get into the habit of doing this for an hour or so a few times per week.

Alf Veedersane

That feeling of impending doom...knowing it's going to hurt like hell if it's going to work. Kudos on programming it in. You'll really feel the running and everything else feel all the better for it

Alf Veedersane

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

That feeling of impending doom...knowing it's going to hurt like hell if it's going to work. Kudos on programming it in. You'll really feel the running and everything else feel all the better for it

It's something else, alright. Almost like deriving a sick and twisted pleasure from walking on up-turned plugs or Lego blocks!

On a side note, the very act of rolling around on a (leather) baseball is a skill in and of itself. It's quite frustrating, especially when done on a wooden floor... I think I need a yoga mat or something. Squats tomorrow so I'll see if my hips feel any better for it.

Alf Veedersane

gvn wrote: »

It's something else, alright. Almost like deriving a sick and twisted pleasure from walking on up-turned plugs or Lego blocks!

On a side note, the very act of rolling around on a (leather) baseball is a skill in and of itself. It's quite frustrating, especially when done on a wooden floor... I think I need a yoga mat or something. Squats tomorrow so I'll see if my hips feel any better for it.

Takes a bit more skill than the foam roller alright. Which is hard when it's so much more painful! The lacrosse ball seems to get enough grip on the wooden floor from my brief experience.

Alf Veedersane

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Takes a bit more skill than the foam roller alright. Which is hard when it's so much more painful! The lacrosse ball seems to get enough grip on the wooden floor from my brief experience.

I meant to pick one up in D8 Fitness today but it slipped my mind. Either that or I might try a sliotar. Anyway...

I'd intended on squatting today but my right glute felt a little tender so wisdom prevailed over hubris and I decided to leave it until tomorrow. After about 15 minutes of foam rolling:

OHP
57.5 5x5

BB Rows
85 x3 ... wasn't happening: my back is still a bit tired.
80 5x5
70 3x8 super-setted with 3x8 BW dips.

Dips feel a lot stronger now; 3x8 was too easy, and I could probably have done 3x10/12. I'll stay working up until I can easily manage 3x15 at BW, then I'll start adding weight.

BB Shrugs
100 3x8

Okay day. Squats and bench tomorrow, hopefully. I plan on spending a good 30-60 minutes rolling around on a baseball again tonight, but this time I'll try it on carpet!

30 minutes of foam rolling my legs, glutes and hip flexors, then...

Squats
I'd planned on squatting 105 5x5 but my hips and ankles felt great so...

Bar x10
40 3x5
60 2x5
80 x5
100 x3
110 x1
115 x1
120 x1
122.5 x1
125 x1
127.5 x1
130 x1
132.5 x1
135 x1

When I decided I was going to "test" I set 135 as my goal since it's 1.5x my BW (90kg). I think I had 140 in me but I decided to quit while I was ahead. It was my first time ever to test, too, so I had 8 or so token PRs today. Depth was good on all squats — 2-3 inches below parallel — and everything felt very solid, especially the bar placement. Lots of back work is helping with that.

110 5x5

Face Pulls
Pin 100 3x12

A few things:
- My hips and especially my ankles feel great. I've been rolling my plantar fascia (with a baseball) and my achilles (using a barbell) nearly every day and I can really feel the difference.
- I've narrowed my stance and now I can squat with my feet almost parallel, as opposed to a 30-45 degree angle from straight.
- The 110 5x5 felt incredibly light. If I had gone in and just done 110 5x5 I'd have struggled, but the 110 felt so much easier for having tested. I wish I could replicate that every day.
- I'm going to spend some time every evening stretching and rolling/baseballing because I can see how beneficial it is.

Anyway... No benching today. Thursday, maybe. Good day.

45 minutes of stretching and foam rolling, then...

Sumo Deadlifts
60 3x5
80 2x5
100 x5
120 x3
140 3x3
130 3x5

Felt surprisingly easy.

Front Squats
70 5x5

BB Shrugs
70 3x15

30 minutes of baseballing and stretching my shoulders and chest, band dislocates, etc., then...

Bench
This was done using the flimsy York bench and bar I detailed several posts ago. The bar is really 7kg but is rounded down to 5kg below.

25 2x10
45 2x5
65 x5
80 x2
90 5x2 ... paused.
82.5 1x5 ... paused.
75 3x6 ... paused for an age.

Incline DB Bench
31.5s 3x5
21.5s 3x12

DB Flyes
11.5s 3x12

Push Ups
3x15

Band Pull-Aparts
10x10

I'm loving front squats. My entire core has been in glorious agony since yesterday evening.

Pull-Ups
BW x5
+10kg 2x5
+5kg 3x5
BW 5x5

OHP
25 x10
35 x5
50 x5
60 3x3
50 3x7

I shouldn't have bothered OHPing; my shoulders were still too tired from yesterday's benching.

Rear-delt flyes
11.5s 3x12