06 Aug 2011
Pretty decent workout. Squats were pretty difficult, but only missed 1 rep on the 4th and 5th sets. Presses were very difficult, lats and arms were already pretty tired from the squats. Deadlifts weren't bad.
Warm-ups:
3 x 10 Shoulder dislocations
3 x 15 sec. Doorway pec stretch
3 x 10 Leg swings
3 x 20 sec. static Squat stretch
Squats:
2 x 5 x Bar
5 x 145
5 x 165
3 x 185
2 x 205
5/5/5/4/4 x 225
Press:
2 x 5 x Bar
3 x 65
5/5/4/3/4 x 80
Deadlift:
5 x 165
5 x 190
3 x 210
2 x 230
5 x 250
Accessory:
3/2/1 x BW Pull-ups
3 x 10 x 20lb Reverse crunches
Warm-down:
Foam rollers
04 Aug 2011
Got off work pretty late. Made it to the gym with less than an hour to workout (including warm-up time). I had to cut out quite a bit of warm-up and I also had about 8 minutes wait time for a guy to finish on the squat rack. I also cut out some warm-up sets from squats and all I can say is dayyyyuuuuuuuumm. Managed to crank out all reps on every set and I only really had trouble on the last 2 reps of the last set. What worries me about my current Squat technique is if I'm reaching parallel or not. My lower back is definitely arching quite a bit and I can feel it arching. I've made the mistake of going too low before and hyper-extending my back into a hyperlordotic position which puts a lot of strain on my lower back. I'll definitely have to bring my camera to check my form out. I'm fairly excited for next workout- 225 Squat.
Bench is again, utter disappoint. The lift felt very unstable and inconsistent on my 4th and 5th sets. I can't tell if I'm shifting the bar to the right or not, but as with my previous bench workouts, my right arm ends up being very fatigued while my left arm feels like it's done no work. I definitely don't think I have a muscle imbalance and it's simply a matter of poor technique. One thing I noticed at home was that my right lat engages very easily when I tighten my right arm while my left lats don't react at all when I try to flex my left arm. I'm going to try the other bench next A workout, but this really needs to get fixed. I've never had this problem before, I'm not sure why it's happening now. One theory I had about the lack of left side engagement during bench was that my body was too fatigued after the squat session. Next week I plan on lowering the volume on my Squats to 3x5 to conserve some energy and see if that helps with my bench endurance.
Sadly, I, again, had no time to perform my rows. This is now the second time I've managed to skip out on doing them.
Warmups:
1 x 10 Shoulder dislocations
1 x 10 sec. Doorway pec stretch
1 x 10 Leg swings
1 x 30 sec. static Squat stretch
Squats:
2 x 5 x Bar
5 x 185
3 x 205
5 x 5 x 220
Bench:
2 x 5 x Bar
5 x 65
3 x 85
2 x 105
5/5/5/2/4.5 x 120
Dips:
5/3/1.5 x BW
02 Aug 2011
Just looked at my first post on the blog and cracked a smile. I set my Squat goal to be 230 and I'm almost there already (10 lbs more)! That number, unfortunately, was when I was a fairly skinny 150 pounder. My new 1.5xBW @ 176 lbs is now...264lbs flat. It's only been 2 months in and I've already skyrocketed my squat. I've never done this much volume at this weight...ever. My upper body on the other hand is definitely lagging more than I'd like. Currently my Bench is at an embarrassing 120 lbs and my Press is at 80 lbs. However, I do believe that I've finally made it over my Press wall. I think it would be useful to set a Squat rest week for me so I can build my upper body lifts. While many Stronglift-onites would probably think this is stupid considering I'm progressing so much on the Squat, I think my upper body lifts would get a significant boost if I had more energy to perform accessories post workout. Mainly, I want to indulge in more dips/pushups/pull-ups/chin-ups to get my chest and shoulders up to par. Looking at the lifts that I'm doing well on, it seems as though I'm quite a bit more capable of pulling rather than pushing. I'm fairly excited for my Deadlift. I haven't had too much difficulty yet with the lift and I'm still using alternating grip. I think I'll have to invest in a weight belt pretty soon for my Squat and Deadlift.
I think 185lbs isn't too far out of my reach within the year- definitely very heavy for my build I think. I'd like to get up to 185 before May 2012 and cut down and start doing boxing and/or some sort of MMA to lean out and actually apply my newly found strength gains. Boxing at a heavier weight is definitely not my slice of bread, I think I want to improve my agility and footwork once I hit my strength goals.
MAY 2012 GOALS:
Squat – 1 x 265
Bench – 1 x 185
Press – 1 x 135
Deadlift – 1 x 315
Row – 1 x 225
Bodyweight: 185 max
Bodyfat: < 20%
Dunk a basketball, hah.