Squats forge Iron Gods...

[OnlyHuman]

I am looking to get a little bit bigger, stronger and leaner.....

W(3) D(1)

Military Press (3reps)

30

25

27.5

30

25

27.5

30

25

27.5

30

25

Close grip bench press (3r)

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

Bench press (3r)

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

Front squats (3r)

80

60

70

80

60

70

80

60

70

80

60

Core: leg raises

Today's session took ages. We were there for like an hour and a half at least.

I feel that I need to get a little bit more consistent technique wise on the above mentioned exercises. Reps are slow and feel "inconsistent" been told they look somewhat inconsistent as well. Something to work on I guess.

Body weight: 79.9

Sleep: Very good

Food: Good + a large pizza ( :oops: )

Stress: Not much

[OnlyHuman]

W(3) D(2)

BW was 79.6

Activation exercises: power snatch and clap push ups

Military (3r)

30

25

27.5

30

25

27.5

30

25

27.5

30

25

Close grip bench press (3r)

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

70

72.5

67.5

Bench (3r)

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

Deadlift (3r)

120

100

110

120

100

Core: planks

It was a long session, my energy started to fade away by the end of it thus called it quits on the deadlifts.

No upper-body DOMS from yesterday but I had some major DOMS in the lower-body.

I'm still learning the power snatch and I have no idea how the Olympic lifters make it look so powerful and explosive. My mate was giving me pointers but I just felt awkward doing them.

Tried to maintain consistency and uniformity on my main exercises, however speed was still lagging, perhaps more so than yesterday. Not surprisisng since it has barely been a day since I have done them. The gym was very humid tonight, no matter how much H2O I had I felt slightly dehydrated by the end of it.

Sleep: Got like 8 hours of sleep but woke up a few times. So "Average"

Food: Plenty small healthy meals plus a 55g chocolate bar

Stress: Little to Average

Neural charge workout + lats and biceps tomorrow.

[Phedder]

Good to see another journal up and running :clap:

One thing puzzles me though, why did you do almost the exact same workout 2 days in a row aside from fronts and deadlifts?

[OnlyHuman]

Good to see another journal up and running :clap:

One thing puzzles me though, why did you do almost the exact same workout 2 days in a row aside from fronts and deadlifts?

That is what the program calls for. I find it somewhat odd my self to be honest.

You pick 3 exercises for upper-body and two for the lower-body and basically you stick to those exercises for 6 weeks.

Mondays and Tuesdays are upper-body pressing days so I have to do the 3 main exercises for the upperbody and one lowerbody exercises.

Thursdays and Fridays are lower-body dominant days so the program calls for the two lower-body exercises and one upper-body exercise from your list.

Wednesdays and Sundays are "neural charge workouts" basically a fancy name for a quick workout where you work on speed. I so post to do back and lats on Saturday but I decided to put it onto Wednesdays as I can't be buggered doing weights on the weekend.

Also we have been thinking if we find that we don't recover properly we may start to alternate the lower-body days with the upper-body ones.

Thanks for stopping by

[OnlyHuman]

W(3) D(3)

Lats and biceps day.

BW: 79.1

Activation stuff:

Power snatch with broomstick (working on form)

Box jumps

Powercleans

Pullovers (machine) 5s x 8r 60kg

Incline chest supported dumbbell rows 4s x 8r 22.5

ss with

Straight arm cable pull downs 4s x 8r 48

Chest supported barbbell row 5s x 8-12r 50

Ez bar curl 4s x 8-10r 30

Reverse grip curls 4s x 10r 20

The whole thing took us less than an hour. Wasn't aiming to go heavy (even for me) on any of the exercises, just wanted to get some work done on the lats and biceps. I really enjoyed giving the usual suspects a rest.

About 3 weeks or so ago my BW was around 81-82. no idea why it is dropping this quickly. I figured it will eventually decrease some since my body composition is anything but stellar :pfft: but it is just a ted bit too fast I think.

On my way home I made a stop at Mr Mad Butcher and got my self 2kg beef.

Will turn it into a beef stew with veges and potatoes. A bit of extra protein to supplement my increased activity level.

Sleep: Great 7 hours. Woke up before my alarm went off.

Food: Lots of quality calories and I see a Monteights Black beer making its way in there as well.

Sterss: Little

[OnlyHuman]

Week(3) Day(4)

BW 78.9

Activation

Power snatch (olympic bar)

Front squats (3 reps)

80

60

70

80

60

70

80

60

70

80

60

Bench (3r)

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

Core: bent press + planks

Nice session. The front squats felt real good especially the first two wave. Reps were fast and relatively consistent.

I wish the same was true for the bench as well, however it was not meant to be. I got some friendly feedback on my set up, and I will try to put it to good use in the future.

Sleep: Good, about 8 hours or so

Food: Good, I will up my calories a little. Possibly make my breakfast and pre workout meals a bit bigger. I have plenty of energy but the weight is dropping just a ted bit too fast.

Stress: little - medium

[groovy]

Nice volume and very nice weights on front squats. :clap: :clap: :clap:

[bar-belle]

Nice volume and very nice weights on front squats. :clap: :clap: :clap:

:ditto: what he said :nod:

[OnlyHuman]

Nice volume and very nice weights on front squats. :clap: :clap: :clap:

:ditto: what he said :nod:

Thank you guys. I feel that my front squat poundages are unworthy of such praise :oops: However, I will do my best to earn the kind words :nod:

[OnlyHuman]

Week(3) Day (5)

BW: 79

Activation exercises:

Powersnatch & Box jumps

Front squats (3r)

80

60

70

80

60

70

80

60

70

80

60

Deadlift (3r)

120

100

110

120

100

Bench

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

75

77.5

72.5

Core Leg raises

Front squats felt reasonably good but not as snappy as yesterday, not as much DOMS as I was expecting either.

I found my grip slipping on the dead-lifts. The gym was really humid and the bar didn't have the best knurling.

Tried to practice the bench set up, lots more work to do in the set-up and speed department.

Sleep: Very good about 8 hours worth.

Food: Reasonably good. Upping my breakfast and pre-workout meal. I also had a Paddle Pop with my post workout shake. :roll:

Stress: Little

Onto the next 3 weeks. Volume drops dramatically for the 1st week, as well as increasing weights on all work sets by 2.5 kg as per program.

[Phedder]

BW fronts are definitely worth praise :nod:

I'd go crazy changing the weights around as often as you have to on this program :crazy: Be interesting to see what kind of gains you get from it.

[OnlyHuman]

BW fronts are definitely worth praise :nod:

I'd go crazy changing the weights around as often as you have to on this program :crazy: Be interesting to see what kind of gains you get from it.

BW fronts :shifty: Nah, not really but thanks anyways :wink:

Changing weights helps me track where I am in my sets, in my experience it helps if you figure it out in advance what small plates to have handy.

I am very curious to see the results my self. I have to stick it out for an other 3 weeks. On the 4th week I will max out on a few of my main exercises to see what sort of gains did I ended up with (if any). On the upside I can already notice a positive shift in body composition.

One thing I found so far is that working out this frequently makes it somewhat easier to focus on the dietary side of things, as well as having the program and weights laid out gives you an "expectation" to live up to. Setting you a clear goal and expectation on what you need to achive in that particular training session (in order to progress).

For example: in the recent past I may have turned up to the gym and did what I felt like on the day with whatever weights felt "right" on the day for a few sets and reps. No clear plan or progression really.

"Failing to plan is planning to fail."

Thanks for stopping by!

[tomsammce]

i like ur quote of the day.

[OnlyHuman]

i like ur quote of the day.

Thanks :-D

[OnlyHuman]

Week (4) Day (1)

BW 80.1

Activation exercises

Med-ball slams

Powersnatch

Military (3 reps)

32.5

27.5

30

32.5

27.5

Close grip bench press

75

70

72.5

75

70

Bench

80

75

77.5

80

75

Front squats

82.5

62.5

72.5

82.5

62.5

Core front planks

I upped the weight 2.5kg as per the program only to find out that I calculated the wrong weights for the bench and close grip bench to begin with :doh:

I used my 1 RM instead of my 3 rm in the calculation. My mate found it hilarious and kindly pointed out that it is no point to change it since

"You workout with girlie weights already." and "You have done 3 weeks worth of the wrong weights and it seems to be going ok."

I wasn't really feeling the military presses today, did not feel heavy or anything it just did not feel snappy.

Contrary; close grip bench and the regular bench felt very good today. I even used a thick olympic-bar which usually makes it somewhat more difficult for me. I also practiced the new set up, I like it so far but will give it some time to thoroughly evaluate. Trying to pay attention to form and speed.

Front squats felt light (weight wise) but off (technique wise). Go figure?

Tried some medicine ball slams today for activation. They are ok (meaning I suck at them)

Sleep: Saturday night like a baby. Sunday night so-so. Woke up lots and had some weird dream.

Food: Saturday = Good , Sunday = Enough protein but somehow some corn chips and a liter of vanilla flavored ice cream find its way into my diet. Obviously the word "diet" is used in a dry, sarcastic manner in the above sentence :pfft:

[OnlyHuman]

Week (4) day (2)

BW 79.4

Activation

Powersnatch

Pylo push ups

Military (3 reps)

32.5

27.5

30

32.5

27.5

Close grip BP (3r)

75

70

72.5

75

70

Bench (3r)

80

75

77.5

80

75

Front squats (3r)

82.5

62.5

72.5

82.5

62.5

Core Leg raises

Good session. The upper body movements felt good and "speedy" not so much the front squats. I been having some difficulty on finding my groove on these the last two days. It is not so much about the quality of the reps as they feel reasonably light and fast. Not unhappy or anything , just noticing a difference in how upper body and lower body movements "feel".

I had a little DOMS in the upper body but nearly zero in the lower body today.

Sleep: Good

Food: Good

Stress: Moderate

[OnlyHuman]

Week (4) Day (3) Lats and biceps day.

BW 79.7

Activation: Speed pulls on the Pull over machine

Hammerstrenght pull overs 5 sets of 10 reps @ 65kg

Close grip pull downs superseted with Straight arm rope pull downs 4 sets of 8-10 reps

Chest supported BB rows 5 sets of 8-10 reps @ 50-55

BB curls 4 sets of 10 @ 25-30

Reverse curls 4 sets of 10 @ 20

Nice and quick session. I aimed to get a lot of reps and sets in (volume), as opposed to high intensity (weights) . I feel that the session went well and achieved a better training effect than last week.

Sleep: Quality would be below average, but total time spent sleeping was adequate.

Food: Lots of protein, probably too much carbs and a Monteight's black :oops:

Stress: Little - Medium

[OnlyHuman]

Week (4) Day (4)

BW 80.1

Activation exercise: Box jumps

Front squats (3reps)

82.5

62.5

72.5

82.5

62.5

Deadlift (3reps)

122.5

102.5

112.5

122.5

102.5

Bench

80

75

77.5

80

75

Good enough session. The only thing that pissed me off was when I turned up to the power rack, I found that some imbecile made a mess with some chalk. The place looked like a post - apocalyptic landscape. Intellectually impaired individuals like this idiot are the reason why gym managers don't allow chalk in commercial gyms. On the upside, I had plenty of chalk to use for my deadlifts.

Speed was quite good today on the above exercises, but consistency of technique still leaves much to desire for.

My gym wont be open for the next 10 days or so, very ANNOYING :evil:

I will have to work around this inconvenience and I fear that it will interfere with my training frequency. I guess, I will just have to do the best I can.

Sleep: Good

Food: My dietary habits started to reflect the Xmass period :oops: Not good. I am sure it interferes with my recovery as well :?

Stress: Little - moderate

[OnlyHuman]

Week (5) Day (1)

Activation exercise: bench throws

Military

32.5

27.5

27.5

30

30

32.5

32.5

27.5

Close grip bench press

75

70

70

72.5

72.5

75

75

70

Bench

80

75

75

77.5

77.5

80

80

75

Front squats

82.5

62.5

62.5

72.5

72.5

82.5

82.5

62.5

Core Leg raises

Trained at a new gym. I had no idea if they have a scale or not, won't be worrying about my weight for the next few session.

Increased the volume as per the training program. I'm wondering if the fatigue will accumulate to the same amount as it did during the first 3 week, crossing fingers for better work capacity.

Speed was good on all exercises.

Food: Friday and Saturday were terrible. Today was good.

Sleep: Plenty

Stress: Medium

[Old Bull]

Weights are progressing well O.H.

[OnlyHuman]

Weights are progressing well O.H.

Thank you :oops:

[OnlyHuman]

Week (5) Day (2)

Activation exercise: Light push presses (technique work more than anything)

Military (3reps)

32.5

27.5

27.5

30

30

32.5

32.5

27.5

Close grip bench press (3r)

75

70

70

72.5

72.5

75

75

70

Bench(3r)

80

75

75

77.5

77.5

80

80

75

Front squats (3r)

82.5

62.5

62.5

72.5

72.5

82.5

82.5

62.5

Core: Side bridges

Good session (not at my usual gym). Close grip bench felt excellent. Speed was reasonably good on all exercises.

The first few sets of bench was on the slow side, than I remembered to squeeze the bar = things got snappier.

Working on front squat and bench form. I feel that there is some room for improovment on these. Not complaining, just acknowledging .

Sleep: Good

Food: Enough protein, too much carbs.

Stress: Medium

[OnlyHuman]

Week (5) Day (3)

Front squats(3reps)

82.5

62.5

62.5

72.5

72.5

82.5

82.5

62.5

Deadlift(3r)

122.5

102.5

102.5

112.5

112.5

122.5

122.5

102.5

Activation exercise : speed bench

Bench(3r)

80

75

75

77.5

77.5

80

80

75

Core Straight leg raise

I have mixed feelings about the session.

Front squats and dead lifts felt reasonably good and I can't wait to max out on the front squats, but bench has been a bit slower not quite as snappy as I would expect it. I am hoping it is due to the "new equipment" since i have not been able to train in my usual gym and not my little mishap with the bench percentages.

The bench does not allow me to un-rack from my usual position and I feel it really effects my set up. The Olympic bar is also much thicker than the one I'm used to. I know for a fact that this has always effected my bench numbers in the past.

Overall, I'm feeling good and the weights feel on the light side. Not very concerned but noticing it, thus put it in the journal. Should help in looking back and evaluating how things went.

On the upside. Leg raises were easy today. I have stayed away from the vertical leg raises for the last few weeks and moved onto doing them on a incline bench with weights.

New gym = no incline bench, back to vertical one had to add weight as BW was not enough. Nice feeling when you realize you making progress even if it is just baby steps.

Sleep: Bad, not enough.

Food: Enough protein too much carbs.

Stress: A bit on the high side today.

[bar-belle]

Looking at your journal you're training is coming along nicely :nod: . I hear what you're saying about your mixed feelings with your sesh. We all have days like that aye. So a few more weeks of this programme? Then what carry on with the same or have you some other training goals in mind? I like the way you add sleep, food and stress in your journalling...it all plays such an important role in training.

[OnlyHuman]

Looking at your journal you're training is coming along nicely :nod: . I hear what you're saying about your mixed feelings with your sesh. We all have days like that aye. So a few more weeks of this programme? Then what carry on with the same or have you some other training goals in mind? I like the way you add sleep, food and stress in your journalling...it all plays such an important role in training.

Thank you bar-belle :oops:

One more week, than on week seven I do a few test lifts and adjust the training weights and may change exercises depending on the outcome. I quite like the simplicity of the program and I'm crossing my fingers for reasonable results by the end of it.

So far I like what it done for my conditioning and body composition, and I'm tempted to repeat it again. Only next time around with the correct percentages prescribed :doh: (I'm such a blond.)

Short term training goals are very simple I guess. Get a bit bigger, a little leaner, and regain some of my former strength.

I agree :nod: adequate sleep, food and successfully managing stress levels are very important ingredients of a positive outcome.

Thank you for stopping by