I managed to get my 2nd workout in after restarting again on Sunday and it does feel good to be back and committed to this. Sometimes it’s really hard to fit the workout in the evening because of so many distractions, by the time you get round it’s late and you then lose the motivation.

Squat

67.5kg 5×3

Press

23kg 5×3

Squat was good but since starting again I really need to check my depth because on a couple of reps I went deeper than other ones which made me think that the rest must have been too high. Will try and get the video camera back out to check as well as looking for other form issues.

I really hate the press because I just find it so difficult to get right. I just cannt get into the habbit of keeping the bar close to my face and throwing forward when it gets just past my head. Then I really struggle to fully stretch out at the top, mainly because of flexibiliy issues.

Supposed to start adding chins/pull ups to this routine but there is a ladder rack right in front of the bars that I need to take down but can’t be bothered.

I know my last update was way back in October but I have not completely given up with the strength training. I know I didn’t have any regular readers but would like to change that and at least keep this updated mainly for my own benefit because since I stopped updating the blog, my motivation to work out really dropped which shows the importance of a training log.

So the winter hit the UK and getting the motivation to go in to a zero degree garage when you’ve started to stall on all your lifts is extremely tough and I was weak and took the easy road.I started skipping a few workouts and/or just putting a half hearted effort into the lifts.

My last workout of 2009 was on 16 December and I had hit 85KG on the squat but with a fail on the last set. Press was 27.5kg which I just could not break. I failed 45kg on the bench and hit the couldn’t get it off the ground for deadlift at 85kg. I had missed quite a few deadlifts basically because I was a pussy so I should have been much higher than that.

So then I went on holiday for 2 weeks over Christmas and the Uk suffered one of the worst winters in history with weeks below freezing. Obviously I was planning on getting straight back into training but the weather was crazy and from there 2 weeks break turned into 12 weeks.

I tried a workout on 14th February but yet again I turned into a pussy when I could not cope with the soreness and skipped many more workouts until today.

So i’m turning over a new leaf, getting serious again and have set myself a 10 week plan before I go to America for 4 weeks on 24th May.

Today’s workout

Squat

65kg 5×3

Bench

30kg 5×3

Deadlift

70kg 5×1

The workout was good and felt my form was overall decent. My joins sounded a bit cranky squatting but they soon went away after the warm up. Need to check my deadlift form on video as felt I might have cheated a bit and did not get a full chest raise.

So those are my lifts at the moment which were all doable but not super easy so it was a good workout. My goal is to get to 100kg squat and my body weight up to 75kg/165lbs maybe higher depending on my body fat %.

I’ve bought a body fat caliper so i’ll be tracking that from now on. My diet has always been the weakest part and since stopping from working out, my milk intake has dropped slightly. I’m cheating and not getting up for breakfast, instead eating a yoghurt at work instead of it being my evening snack. And of course with not working I havn’t been eating double cheeseburgers and not many tuna sandwiches.

I’ve been to Vegas for my 21st birthday so my workouts took a two week break which actually turned into a 4 week break because I lost motivation to get back into the weights. To be honest I had the fear that i’d lost a lot of strength and wouldn’t be able to lift the same weights.

I started again on 29 September but havn’t blogged because I just simple couldn’t get round to doing it so i’ll just keep a short sumamry for now.

I decided to drop my squat to 52.5kg (3 workouts) to be on the safe side so I didn’t stall too soon as I wanted to go well past BW squats.  I also dropped back to the bar weight on the press because i’ve always struggled with this. I think these were good choices as I found them both quite tough and noticed strength loss. I think I went back to the right weights since it was heavy enough for a good workout.

On the next workout I stalled on the bench after dropping back to 32.5kg so a bit of misjudgement.  I couldn’t even get 3 reps in the first set so just left that and plan on dropping the next workout.  I dropped to 72.5kg on deadlift but did not find this too hard just needed to practice form again.

I’m passed where I left off now on the squat and deadlift but still strugglin on the bench and press so have some catching up to do. Back to today’s workout (by the way i’ve moved my Saturday workouts to Sunday as I have less stuff to do on Sundays.)

Squat 3×5 65kg

Bench 3×5 32.5kg

Deadlift 1×5 80kg

I struggled so much with form on the squat here, not sure what it was but now i’m passed bw squats they are really tough.  Sorta forgot how to keep my form on here and my back really suffered, it felt like it was rounding a lot and I couldn’t feel my depth. Havn’t been recording since I returned as well so this is something i should do to get problems fixed.

Bench seemed alright but don;t feel stronger.

Deadlift is a brutal exercise and the feeling is so good. 1st rep was a bit sloppy and I think my back rounded.  Concentrated a bit better and got my hips and chest up and ripped through the rest of the set and extremely tired afterwards.

My bodyweight is now up to 132lbs which is good progress so i’ve been putting on about a 1lb since I first started.  Now is really the time to pump up the calories while the weights are heavy.  I havn’t taken photos yet but I do notice some slight changes to body. I simply can’t wear my original pair of skinny jeans so there’s only 1 pair I fit into now.  And my shirts seem to fit tighter.

I’m still lazy and lack discipline which is what I thought this programme would teach me in other aspects of life. Dunno if it’s just because I havn’t reached goals yet or I have a much deeper problem. I’ve still been pretty disciplined to this task and havn’t missed a workout except for that long break I had which has set me back about 6 weeks.

I aim to hit my original goals by the end of the year whichy means i’m gonna have to start gaining about 2lbs per week to reach that.

Workout #17

warm up

2×5 20kg

1×5 25kg

1×3 35kg

1×2 45kg

Work set

Squat 3×5 57.5kg

Bench 3×5 37.5kg

Deadlift 1×5 77.5kg

Squats were good again and i’m at a level where I have to really concentrate to get through the set and that my full body is working. In my warm up sets my knee felt a bit sore but work sets everything was fine. Next workout i’ll hit that bodyweight goal.

Bench was better than last time just a few dodgy reps but felt tough, probs a couple more workouts before I stall.

I got my self a chalk ball from snow + rock and that really helped with the deadlift, I had a good grip on the bar and could concetrate on lifting rather than on my grip. 1st rep had a bit of back rounded but sorted itself out for the rest.  I went barefoot on the deadlift this time so not sure or not if this helped with the lift.

Workout #16

2×5 20kg

1×5 30kg

1×3 37.5kg

1×2 45kg

Work set

Squat 3×5 55kg

Press 3×5 25kg stall 5-5-3

Feels good to reach close to bodyweight which is now at 58.5kg and It looks like I’ll be reaching that goal before I go to Vegas next week. Feeling sore now, a different kind of soreness but it goes away on the day of my next workout so I see how important rest is.  Become lazy on the stretches and really hate shoulder dislocations as they hurt my wrist more than anything.  Really need more hamstring flexibility as everything just feels really tight and ‘not loose’ so to speak.

All my presses are a mess and I think it’s just purely down to the fact that my weights are too high and have not gained much strength from starting with the bar so I can’t get passed 25kg with ok form.  So having 2 more attempts at 25kg then i’ll defo have to microload.

Could really do with a paper based log book as by the time I get round to updating blog it’s hard to remember exactly what happened. Plus will give me a more clear view of what I want to achieve in that workout as i’m wasting a bit of time working stuff out.

Workout #15

2×5 20kg

1×5 25kg

1×5 35kg

1×2 45kg

Work set

Squat 3×5 52.5kg

Bench 3×5 35kg

Deadlift 1×5 72.5kg

All seemed good but I think I would really start to see the benefit of chalk since my hands are sore a bit and have to grip very hard on deadlift.  Seemed very heavy and form wasn’t as good as previously but I do think that is alot to do with diet and sleep plus i’ve been slipping on my workouts and doing them at 10pm when I start to get tired.

I always feel tired now and have not learned any discipline by doing this which is what I was expecting.

Well it’s the first slip up in my routine since starting and missed my regular Saturday workout but moved it to Sunday instead.  I have not noticed any improvements in my lifestyle and still lazy as ever.  On Saturday I just didn’t get the workout done early in the day and then late on I just felt really tired and had a headache.  Really weak I know but hey we can all slip up sometime.

Workout #14

warm up squats

2×5 20kg

1×5 25kg

1×4 30kg

1×3 35kg

1×2 40kg

Work sets

Squat 3×5 50kg

Press 3×5 22.5kg

First time with the 15kg plates and it feels really good to be moving some decent weight now.

Workout #13

warm up squats

2×5 20kg

1×5 25kg

1×4 30kg

1×3 35kg

1×2 40kg

Work sets

Squat 3×5 47.5kg

Bench 3×5 32.5kg

Deadlift 67.5kg

Everything getting heavy now as I get quite close to my 1xbw.  Probably going to switch 2.5kg increases on the deadlift now since I really had to grip the bar as tight as I could to get it off the ground.

Workout #12

warm up squats

2×5 20kg

1×5 25kg

1×4 30kg

1×3 35kg

Work sets

Squat 3×5 45kg

Press 3×5 27.5kg

Pretty much fucked up my press and didn’t really get anything done since I was trying to fix form.  Did some warm up sets with better form and couldn’t lift 25kg since I was exhausted.

Workout #11

Warm up squats

2×5 20kg

1×5 25kg

1×5 30kg

1×3 35kg

Work sets

Squat 3×5 42.5kg

Bench 3×5 30kg

Deadlift 1×5 62.5kg

I think these might have been the best squats i’ve done to date, except the 2nd set I slacked a bit.  Maybe this was down to the increased warm up sets.

Bench was better but not 100%.

Camera lost bloody battery again so only filmed 1 rep before cutting out.  Form seemed ok, my grip was much better and felt lighter than the last time.