Workout 4 - Squat 75kgx5 @71

Workout B - 28/03/12

Workout 4

SQUAT

40kgx10

60kgx5

3x75kgx5

PRESS

Barx15

30kgx8

2x42.5x5

42.5kgx8

BB ROW

40kgx10

3x55kgx10

DIPS

BW+10kgx5

2xBW+10kgx8

Workout time was almost an hour, did some stretching in the show afterwards because I was so spent from the workout. Dips were surprisingly tough considering I've hit BW+27.5kgx6 before, but they will get up again. Squats were really good today, I felt like I found a groove for them which really pleases me after having atrocious form for so long. Did an extra 3 touch-and-go reps on last set of press because I felt like it, though apart from that I always pause when I press. Rows were easy but still highly intense, going to a physio on Saturday to get out my lower body tightness, so excited. Nutrition has been solid, getting over 3000kcals a day but I want more, I need to put on weight if I want to squat 3 plates before July.

Workout A - 27/03/12

Workout 3

SQUAT

40kgx10

60kgx5

3x70kgx5

BENCH

Barx15

40kgx5

3x55kgx5 Paused

DEADLIFT

40kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

80kgx5

POWER CLEANS

20x40kgx1

Really intense workout, short rest times makes me sweat buckets. Squats felt easy, fell forward a bit on the second rep of the last set which annoyed me, made sure I was keeping my chest up for the last three. Deadlifts were fine, and I threw power cleans in to get the form down, decided I was starting the second pull too low so tried it about a couple of centimetres higher and hey presto my form is much more explosive and my extension is better timed.

Nutrition:

Decided to drink 500mL of milk (300 cals, 16g protein, 24g carbs,18g fat) before I leave the house for work at 7:00am everyday, also made bacon and egg pie for lunches and it is damn tasty, I'll put the recipe up for it soon. I'm also going to buy a mass gain protein powder too, because I don't want to be getting anything less than 160g of protein a day from now on to make sure I keep up with the intense progression of Starting Strength.

Workout B - 25/03/12

Workout 2

SQUAT

40kgx5

50kgx5

4x65kgx5

PRESS

Barx10

30kgx10

3x40kgx5

BB ROW

40kgx10

4x50kgx10

DIPS

3xBWx10

Really quick workout, just got straight into it and kept the rest times down to a minute or so. Squats are feeling better every workout, press went better than expected and rows and dips are always fun. Decided I'll do sets of 10 for rows until the weight gets heavier.

As for nutrition, after the workout I had a big bowl of chicken tikka masala with rice and greek yoghurt (800 cals, 40g protein, 120g carbs, 50g fat) and a 600mL glass of strawberry milk (400 cals, 20g protein, 55g carbs, 25g fat), time to put some weight on!

Workout A - 21/03/12

WORKOUT 1

SQUAT

Barx10

40kgx5

50kgx5

3x60kgx5

This felt great with my new and improved ATG Olympic style form, last set was almost hard, but that happens when you take almost two months off. Will be adding 5kg next workout so I should be hitting PRs for all my lifts by week 4 and 5.

BENCH

Barx10

40kgx10

3x50kgx5

Got some great mind-muscle connection going, very easy so I really worked on my arch and keeping my lats as a shelf for the duration of the lift. It was great practice and my hand felt fine.

DEADLIFT

40kgx5

50kgx5

60kgx5

70kgx5

These felt awesome, will have to keep working on engaging my glutes and hamstrings by sitting back more. Easy as hell thank God.


A great first workout back, adding 5kg to bench and squat and 10kg to deadlift next Workout A. Did 10mins of stretching then went upstairs and had a well deserved shower. Within 5 mins of the workout it flooded back to me why I love lifting so much; I never forgot but it was a great affirmation to have after 7 weeks without the Iron.

Introduction - My Training

I have been lifting properly since January 2011, before that I was using machines too much and gained almost no strength. Since then I've made quite poor gains in relation to my training time, but this log is here to keep me honest in what I'm doing right and wrong, and to motivate me further to push into that next level of training and ultimately results. I broke my hand 7 weeks ago, and today was my first training session back. I broke my hand at the start of week 4 of Madcows 5x5 Intermediate, just as I was beginning to hit PRs.

Current 5RMs (at a BW of 75kg)

Squat - 100kgx5
Deadlift - N/A
Power Cleans - 80kgx1
Front Squat - 75kgx5
Bench - 80kgx5
OHP - 57.5kgx5
BB Row - 80kgx5
Pull Ups - BWx21/ BW+25kgx5
Dips - BWx23/ BW+30kgx5

Injury-wise the problems I've had in the past have been in muscle tightness across the board, mainly on the left side right up my posterior chain. I have decided to stretch for 15 minutes at the end of every training session while the used muscles are still warm and pliable. This along with foam rolling will hopefully do the trick, and help out my squat form which has been notoriously bad. This point I am hoping will be fixed by practicing Olympic ATG form with lightweight, and so far it looks much better; sitting back more, spreading the knees better and driving explosively from the bottom.

Current training:

I'll be doing a version of Starting Strength: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Starting_Strength_Novice/Beginner_Programs

I'll be doing 3 workouts a week, or possibly more if I feel up to it.

Workout A

SQUAT 3x5

BENCH 3x5

DEADLIFT 1x5

PULL UP 3x5

Workout B

SQUAT 3x5

OHP 3x5

BB ROW 3x5

DIP 3x5

Nutrition:

I'll be aiming to hit 4000kcals a day (16,000kj) with:

• 150-170g of protein
• 400g and above of carbohydrates
• 150g-200g of fats

To hit these targets I'm going to be eating more protein rich snacks ( eg my trail mix that includes sunflower seeds, sultanas, cashews, walnuts, almonds), drinking at least 1L of milk a day on top of my usual intake, and simply eating more food that has good nutrients (breads, meats, pasta, sandwiches etcetera). This means eating every two hours or so, and realistically making my big 3 meals count by getting in 600kcals+ at breakfast, 1200kcals+ at lunch and at dinner, and having lots of 200kcals+ snacks along with my extra litre of milk (600kcals - 35g protein, 50g carbohydrates and 40g fats). I'll be posting it all up here, and if I come across an awesome meal that is filled with the good stuff then I will post the recipe too. If I get my nutrition right, everything else will follow.

Recovery:

My fantastic fiancee Ash and myself have a little girl Heidi (born 20/12/2011) and sometimes it will be hard to devote as much time to training and recovery as I find optimal, but that's part and parcel with being a father and that's fine by me. I will be aiming to get 8 hours of sleep a night still, but obviously that may not be possible all the time. However I'll do my best and I'm sure I can find a balance that works.