September 30, 2013

Workout log, Stronglifts-ish, week 3

Monday (9-23-2013)
squat 135x5, 185x3, 235x2, 280 3x5
press 65x5, 95x3, 115 3x5
power clean 145 5x3
chin-up +45 3x5
pull-up 5

Friday
squat 135x5, 185x3, 245x2, 285 3x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 175x2, 205 3x5
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 315x2, 355 2x3
pendlay row 135x5, 185 3x5
close-grip cable-row 130x10

Weight (Saturday):
177 lb

Notes: Had to skip Wednesday for a day-long meeting.  Feeling some lower-back soreness today, might squat lighter this week and try to concentrate on glute activation.

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September 24, 2013

Workout log, Stronglifts-ish, week 2

Monday (9-16-2013)
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 270 3x5
press 65x5, 95x3, 110 3x5
power clean 140 5x3
chin-up +45 3x5
pull-up 5
tricep pushdown 140 3x8

Wednesday

squat 135x5, 185x3, 235x2, 275 3x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 165x2, 200 3x5
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 315x2, 345 2x3
pendlay row 135x5, 180 3x5

Friday
Sick.

Weight (Saturday): 175 # (after 2 days of dehydrating stomach distress)

Notes:
  Everything was fine until the diarrhea started on Thursday.

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September 16, 2013

Workout log, Stronglifts-ish

Monday (9-9-2013)
squat 135x5, 185x5, 225x2, 255 5x5
bench 95x5, 135x5, 205x5, 195x5,4, 185x5, 175x5
pendlay row 135x5, 185 5x5, 135x5

Wednesday
squat 135x5, 183x3, 225x2, 260 5x5
press 65x5, 95x3, 115x5, 105 3x5,4
deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 335x5
chin-up +45 3x5, +0 2x3

Friday
squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 265 3x5
bench 95x5, 135x3, 165x2, 195 3x5
pendlay row 135x5, 175 3x5
power clean 135 5x3

Weight (Saturday): 176 lb

Notes: I was curious where I'd stand with a 5x5/3x5 squat-based workout.  Might do this again for awhile with some slow progression and see what it gets me.

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February 26, 2011

Workout Log, 5x5, week 6

Monday (2-21-2011)
AM:
bench 185 lb 5x5
barbell row 175 lb 5x5
hanging leg raise 3x15
PM:
squat 245 lb 5x5
hanging leg raise 2x15
cable pressdown 170 lb 5x5
EZ curl 70 lb 5, 8, 8

Wednesday
squat 250 lb 5, 5, 5, 4, 2
overhead press 110 lb 5, 5, 4, 2, 3
deadlift 305 1x5
chin-ups 9, 6, 5
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Friday
squat 250 lb 5, 5, 5
bench 190 lb 5, 5, 4
barbell row 180 lb 5x5
bench 205 lb 2, 2, 1
barbell row 180 lb 5x5
hanging leg raise 3x20

Weight (Friday): 186 lb

Notes: Monday's workout couldn't be completed as planned because all of the power racks were occupied when I arrived.  I did 5 min on a recumbent bike, but to no avail, so I jumped straight to bench press.  After all that, I tried a 250 lb squat and just had no gas in the tank, so I came back after work and did the "PM" list of exercises.  The rest of the week saw more failed reps, and I was pretty sure I'd exceeded my capacity to recover.  I'm taking the next week off.  Planning to start the following week with a 10% deload and a switch to 3x5 for all but deadlift (no reason to go lower than 1x5).

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February 20, 2011

Workout Log, 5x5, week 5

Monday (2-14-2011):
squat 235 lb 5x5
overhead press 110 lb 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
deadlift 300 lb 1x5

Wednesday:
squat 240 lb 5x5
bench 185 lb 5x5*
barbell row 175 lb 5x5*

Friday:
squat 245 lb 5x5*
overhead press 110 lb 5, 4, 4, 3, 0
deadlift 305 4, 2, 2

Weight (Sunday): 185 lb

Notes:  Bad week on diet.  Too much milk and gluten-free beer.  Very tough week in the gym, too.  I got no assistance exercises in at all, I just had no time.  Squats are requiring 3 minutes between sets, and my form was suffering on Friday (thus the * after sets that I otherwise finished).  One more try on 110 lb for OHP, and then I'll have to reset again, might be time to switch to 3x5 for those.  I'm not sure how much more headway I can make before I'll need to do the same thing for the other lifts.

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February 13, 2011

Workout Log, 5x5, week 4

Wednesday (2-9-2011):
squat 225 lb 5x5
overhead press 105 lb 5x5
deadlift 295 lb 1x5
chin-ups 10, 6, 6
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Friday:
squat 230 lb 5x5
bench 180 lb 5x5
barbell row 170 lb 5x5
hanging leg raise 3x20

Weight (Sunday): 184 lb

Notes: I ended up shoveling snow 2 more times after my last post and prior to Monday's scheduled workout, including digging under my neighbor's car by hand.  By Monday, my right shoulder was in serious pain, so I skipped the day and pushed the scheduled workout back to Wednesday.  Squats and deadlifts are getting hard, I'm not sure how much more progression I've got in either one before I stall.  Benches and rows seem okay.  Overhead press is iffy.  I might make 110 this week, I might not.

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February 04, 2011

Workout Log, 5x5, week 3

Monday (1-31-2011):
squat 210 lb 5x5
bench 170 lb 5x5
barbell row 160 lb 5x5
kettle-bell swings 35 lb 5x15

Wednesday:
squat 215 lb 5x5
overhead press 100 lb 5x5
deadlift 290 lb 1x5
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s
CG cable pulldown 180 lb 5x5

Friday:
squat 220 lb 5x5
bench 175 lb 5x5
barbell row 165 lb 5x5
kettle-bell swings 35 lb 2x15
kettle-bell swings 40 lb 3x15

Weight (Friday): 184 lb

Notes: Solid on barbell work this week.  Solid on diet.  I took a pass on chin-ups on Wednesday because I spent upwards of an hour shoveling my driveway, sidewalk, porches, and portions of my street to make sure I could get my car in and out.  Anyhow, after all that, my arms were just a bit ragged, so I went for close-grip cable pulldowns instead of chins, mostly for the easier, wrist-neutral grip.  I realized today that between shoveling and my normal gym workload, I'd also run my shoulder joints a little ragged, and I could feel some inflammation in my right socket bursa after I finished with the kettlebell swings.  I may skip assistance work outright next week to compensate, or at least move it to another part of my day to spread out the loading.  I'm taking a glucosamine supplement now, but my pill habits have never been great, so I'm not sure if I'm taking it often enough to help.  I try to remember to get them all in with dinner, but I think I'm making that happen maybe 4 days out of 7.

If it seems like I'm over-analyzing my joints or over-reacting, well, maybe I am, but I've heard and overheard too many "I used to do those/that/what-have-you, but my back/shoulder/wrist/knees just aren't what they used to be" stories to not be just a little paranoid about my joint health.  Soft tissue injuries take forever to heal, and I've got at least one close relative with bursitis in her knees from Stairmastering, so I'm not taking any chances.  Better to lift less often or be slightly less strong now, and still be just as strong and mobile in 10 or 20 years.  I do not want to end up a rickety old man.

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January 30, 2011

Workout Log, 5x5, week 2

Monday (1-24-2011):
squat 195 lb 5x5
overhead press 90 lb 5x5
deadlift 280 lb 1x5
chin-ups 9, 6, 5, 5, 4
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Wednesday:
squat 200 lb 5x5
bench 165 lb 5x5
barbell row 155 lb 5x5
kettlebell swings 40 lb 5x15

Friday:
squat 205 lb 5x5
overhead press 95 lb 5x5
deadlift 285 lb 1x5
pull-ups 9, 5, 8, 5, 4
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Weight (Sunday): 185 lb

Notes:  Deadlifts are getting slightly tough, but I'm otherwise keeping up well enough with the progression this time around.  My forearm seems to be almost healed, though I do notice a scant bit of pain after my workouts, and I try to be careful during.  I mostly notice it when moving plates onto and off of the bar, rather than during actual, loaded exercise.  I have a compression wrap I put on after workouts now, which seems to help a lot.

Had a massive appetite this week, and took a small nutritional adventure for rice and potatoes at lunch on Thursday, and massive adventure for some Chicago-style stuffed pizza for Thursday's dinner.  Overall, it didn't turn out to be too huge of a setback, but I still feel puffy around the midsection.  I felt a lot harder the week before I started lifting again, which is sort of disappointing.  On the other hand, I've found a very strong correlation between how hard I'm lifting and how hungry I feel, so it's not terribly surprising.  I'd been trying to feed the extra hunger by burning through my protein powder (which I really ought not be using, I ought to be eating my calories, not drinking them, but I already have it in the cabinet...).  I'm going to have to make a sincere effort to get my extra protein with meat instead.  I might need to just roast a turkey breast or some chicken thighs or something and use it/them as pseudo-supplement.

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January 24, 2011

Workout Log, 5x5, week 1

Monday (1-17-2011):
squat 185 lb 5x5
bench 155 lb 5x5
barbell row 145 lb 5x5
kettle-bell swings 35 lb 5x15

Wednesday:
squat 185 lb 5x5
overhead press 85 lb 5x5
deadlift 275 lb 1x5
chin-ups 11, 7, 5, 4, 4
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Saturday:
squat 190 lb 5x5
bench 160 lb 5x5
barbell row 150 lb 5x5
kettle-bell swings 40 lb 5x15

Weight (Friday): 183 lb

Notes: Starting again, a little lighter and slower this time.  My elbow is almost 100%, and my new working theory is that -- in addition to the Boring But Big protocol being too much acute stress on the joint -- I may simply have gone too heavy, too soon.  The muscles kept up, but the support tissue didn't.  So, I go slower this time. Also traded out a lot of the assistance exercises for kettle-bell swings on Monday and Saturday.  Just trying it out, since they're supposed to be something akin to cardio with some plyometrics thrown in, sort of like a sprint for your posterior chain.  If you're a worker that sits most of the time --like me -- your posterior chain likely needs the exercise.  Mine also gets plenty on deadlift days, so I probably won't combine those lifts.

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January 16, 2011

Rest Week 2

Took another week off to continue healing.  This is the longest I've gone without hitting the gym since last February, and I'm not happy about it.  Needed, though.  Even with this much rest, I'm still getting the occasional twinge of pain/discomfort, so I might give it a few more days just to be sure.

Weight (Friday): 181 lb

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January 10, 2011

Rest week

Took last week off from the gym for a few reasons:

  1. My forearm needs some real time off to fully heal.
  2. The first two weeks of January are as crowded as any gym ever gets.
  3. I worked 11 hour days in the early part of the week.
That said, I did still weigh myself.  Eating less is much easier without the heavy lifting driving my appetite.

Weight (Friday): 184 lb

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January 01, 2011

Workout Log, 5x5, week 2

Monday (12-27-2010):
squat 200 lb 5x5
overhead press 90 lb 5x5
deadlift 270 lb 1x5
pull-ups 10, 7, 6
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s
kettlebell swings 35 lb 3x15

Wednesday:
squat 205 lb 5x5
bench 175 lb 5x5
barbell row 145 lb 5x5
push-ups 35, 20, 20
hanging leg raise 3x20
kettlebell swings 35 lb 3x15

Friday:
squat 210 lb 5x5
overhead press 95 lb 5x5
deadlift 275 lb 1x5
pull-ups 10, 7, 6
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Weight (Friday): 187 lb

Notes: Good week, hit all my numbers.  My left forearm is still sporadically giving me issues.  It might be time to take a serious break from heavy lifting and really let it heal.  It might also be time for some serious cutting, to which heavy lifting is never conducive anyhow.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:26 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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December 27, 2010

Workout Log, 5x5, week 1

Monday (12-20-2010):
squat 185 lb 5x5
bench 165 lb 5x5
barbell row 125 lb 5x5
push-ups 30, 20, 20
hanging leg raise 20, 20, 15

Wednesday:
squat 190 lb 5x5
overhead press 85 lb 5x5
deadlift 265 lb 1x5
pull-ups 10, 8, 7
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s

Friday:
squat 195 lb 5x5
bench 170 lb 5x5
barbell row 135 lb 5x5
dips 30, 15, 10
hanging leg raise 20, 20, 20
kettle-bell swings 20 lb x15, 35 lb x15

Weight (Friday): 186 lb

Notes: I went a little light this first week back on 5x5, first to make sure I could handle the volume, and second to see what sort of progression I could get through before a stall.  The light weights made the workouts fairly short; I was able to get into and out of the gym in less than an hour on Monday and Wednesday.  I had some time to kill on Friday before a lunch, so I threw in two sets of kettle-bell swings, which are - so far - the only exercise I've seen/done for which it's worth having a kettle-bell.  I liked the exercise, and it definitely got my heart rate up in a hurry.  I may choose to replace some of my assistance work with them, or just add them as a permanent fixture rather than a short cardio session after weightlifting.  I'm not doing the cardio now -- even though I really should -- and I'll actually do the swings, so there's that.

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September 20, 2010

No workout log

Rest week.  I think I've taken StrongLifts as far as I can without modification, which makes sense, since it's a "starting strength" routine.  I start Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 routine later on this morning.  Based on Wendler's e-book, my starting values follow.


Estimated one-rep maximum lift
Training one-rep maximum lift
Deadlift
315
285
Squat
250
225
Overhead Press
125
115
Bench Press
220
200

Weight this morning: 187 lb
New category to follow, with continuing lifting logs.

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September 13, 2010

Training Log, week 15

Tuesday: (9-7-2010):
squat 205 lb 5x5
bench 170 lb 5x5
barbell row 160 5x5
dips 23, 15, 12
hanging leg raise 20, 18, 15
EZ curls 80 lb 3x5

Wednesday:
incline treadmill (before dinner) 40m

Friday:
squat 205 lb 5x5
overhead press 110 lb 4
overhead press 100 lb 4x5
deadlift 255 lb 2x5
pull-ups 8, 6, 5, 7, 4, 3
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s
tricep press-down 180 lb 3x5

Saturday:
elliptical 45m

Weight (Friday, 9-10-2010): 188

Notes: Screwed up a couple of things this week.  Should have done push-ups this week rather than dips, and I somehow managed to overload the bar for overhead presses, and corrected it for the last 4 sets.  I struggled with the 110 lb, but I managed those reps, which was nice.  Cutting's not going too fast, I'll likely need to cut a few more calories or do a bit more cardio than I've been doing to really make a caloric deficit.

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September 07, 2010

Training log, week 14

Tuesday: (8-31-2010):
squat 200 lb 5x5
bench 165 lb 5x5
barbell row 155 5x5
dips 25, 17, 12
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 15
EZ curls 80 lb 3x5

Wednesday:
Incline treadmill (before dinner) 20m

Thursday:
Elliptical (before dinner) 30m

Friday:
squat 200 lb 5x5
overhead press 95 lb 5x5
deadlift 250 lb 2x5
chin-ups 9, 5, 5, 7, 5, 5
prone bridges 60s, 60s, 60s
tricep press-down 180 lb 3x5
dumbbell shrug 140 lb 3x10

Weight (Tuesay, 9-7-2010): 188

Notes: Slight movement on weight despite a holiday cheat for mom-made brownies.  The next few weeks should have fewer tempting gatherings, so I'm hopeful for more movement.  I'm feeling a little weaker in the squat, but I'm not sure if I've made my form stricter and that's costing me "strength", or if I'm having trouble maintaining strength with a caloric deficit.  Deadlifts still feel fine, so I'm hoping it's just better form.

Edit: My wife reminded me that I spent yesterday in a squatting/sitting/kneeling/bent-over position prepping a room and then putting in a vinyl floor in my basement.  It's possible that I was just a little sore from that.  Also, this is the blog entry for last week's workouts, when the squats felt okay.  I was remembering how today's felt, which concerned me enough to mess with my perception of space-time.

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August 30, 2010

Training Log, week 13

Tuesday: (8-24-2010):
squat 195 lb 5x5
bench 165 lb 5x5
barbell row 155 5x5
push-ups 36, 18, 16
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 15

Wednesday:
Incline treadmill (before dinner) 60m

Thursday:
Elliptical (before lunch) 30m, (before dinner) 30m

Friday:
squat 195 lb 5x5
overhead press 95 lb 5x5
deadlift 245 lb 2x5
pull-ups 8, 5, 5, 5, 6, 3
prone bridges 50s, 50s, 50s
tricep press-down 150x5, 160x5, 170x5

Weight (Saturday): 190

Notes:  No movement on weight yet, but I've recovered from a pretty bad cheat day last Sunday.

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August 23, 2010

Training Log, week 12, (rest week)

Tuesday (8-17-2010):
squat 220 lb 5x5
overhead press 110 lb 5, 5, 5, 3(f), 1(f)
overhead press 95 lb 6, 6
deadlift 240 lb 1x5
chin-ups 10, 6, 5, 7
prone bridges 50s, 50s, 50s

Weight (Friday): 190 lb
Notes: This ended up being my rest week after meetings and an emergency vet visit curtailed trips to the gym. I feel like the last few months have done me pretty well for increasing my strength, and I've got a great deal more muscle - and denser muscle, at that - so now is probably a good time to try and get lean.

My plan for that is to pare back my strength training to 2 days/week, and add 2-4 cardio sessions (ugh) each week, along with some dietary restriction on non-strength days. I'll also be deloading squat, bench press, and overhead press by ~10% so I can work more on my form now that I've seen the Starting Strength DVD.  I'll also be adding weight more slowly, 5 lb every other time I hit the exercise.  The point right now is to maintain muscle while cutting fat, not to add muscle, so aggressively increasing my loads wouldn't make a lot of sense (and would only make me hungrier).  I'm hoping to drop about 10-15 pounds before I start bulking/building again.

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August 16, 2010

Training Log, week 11

Monday (8-9-2010):
squat 205 lb 5x5
bench 175 lb 5x5
barbell row 165 5x5
dips 26, 16, 12
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 15

Wednesday:
squat 210 lb 5x5
overhead press 105 lb 5x5
deadlift 235 lb 1x5
pull-ups 10, 7, 5, 7
prone bridges 50s, 50s, 50s

Friday:
squat 215 lb 5x5
bench 180 lb 5x5
barbell row 170 lb 5x5
push-ups 30, 20, 20
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 15

Weight (Friday): 191 lb

Notes: Another good week, though rests are going very long (2+ minutes) so I can handle the weight.  I was a little surprised that I didn't stall on Friday's squats.  I'm planning to go one more week, then take a week off to rest.  I need to change things up a bit after that, but I've not yet decided in which direction to take my training.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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August 07, 2010

Training log, week 10

Monday:
squat 190 lb 5x5
overhead press 95 lb 5x5
deadlift 225 lb 1x5
pull-ups 10, 5, 5, 7
prone bridges 45s, 45s, 45s

Wednesday:
squat 195 lb 5x5
bench 170lb 5x5
barbell row 160lb 5x5
push-ups 32, 20, 18
hanging leg raise 15, 15, 15

Friday:
squat 200lb 5x5
overhead press 100 lb 5x5
deadlift 230 lb 1x5
chin-ups 11, 6, 5, 7
prone bridges 45s, 45s, 45s

Weight (Friday): 190 lb

Notes: Pretty good week.  Hit all my targets, minimal soreness and joint pain.  I feel like I'm eating a lot more lately, but my weight's staying pretty steady.  I'm definitely adding muscle mass, and gaining some abdominal definition.  I should probably do a waist measurement soon.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 03:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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