Chewy's Strength Log

[MaryStella]

hope your 100 percent soon!

[medman]

Bummer about the accident! I hope you're back to full health soon! I've got an incredibly annoying hip thing going on right now, so I feel your pain.

[chewybaws]

Deadlift day

Wed 30th June 2010

 

Deadlift - [email protected], 1x3@115kg, 1x6@130kg

Barbell rows - 3x5@55kg (strict)

Good mornings - [email protected] (slow)

finished with some bar holds for grip (went upto 140kg odd)

 

 

3rd rep at 130kg, when I started the lift I had a feeling my grip wasn't going to hold out for the rep (don't have the luxury of dropping the weight on 1st floor). So I dumped it and switched to mixed grip for the last 4 reps. But anyway, that's a new best.

 

Didn't add weight to the good mornings because of heavy deads, will pick up next week. No abs today, they're still tender from accident. Can hit them next week.

 

Oh and I took a day off yesterday. I wasn't sure about my leg holding up when deadlifting, lack of energy + awful mood. I'm glad I waited till today though. Also on Monday I only made it to 4000kcal.

[chewybaws]

Bench day

Fri 2nd July 2010

 

Bench Press - [email protected], 1x3@60kg, [email protected], 1x3@60kg, [email protected]

Weighted dips - 5/5/4 +30kg

 

Had to cut today short, when I got into position for flat DB bench on the negative of the first rep I could feel it in my elbow. Left side of abs (hurt in accident) were annoying me during bench when unracking the bar and getting myself on and off the bench. I fucked the balance on the 3rd rep on last set of dips, would've made it otherwise. A very frustrating day.

 

My plan is simply to repeat the squat weight I done this cycle next cycle. Some days my leg feels better than others but I'm gonna leave it another week.

 

Had a severe lack of energy the last few days, the new cheap diet isn't doing me any favours. The amount of cooked grain/beans is doing me in, so while I'm online the next few days I'm gonna look at ways to get a raw alternative.

[xCx]

Nice work on the deads Chewy! You're getting strong

[chewybaws]

Thanks man! I wish my progress was as quick on other exercises. Or I could stay injury free long enough to give myself a chance!

 

Since I had to stop workout yesterday I done some PM cardio

 

10km in 22:35 on stationary bike resistance 1/8.

[medman]

Great job on the deads! Your form looks totally different than mine as you're setting up, though. Obviously a consequence of the fact that I'm just a touch over 5'6" . You have such long limbs, I think I need to squat down further to reach it, hehe.

 

Could you post a video of your "strict" barbell rows? I'm doing my best to do Pendlays and would love to compare my form to yours.

[Jason X]

Great work, Chewy!!

[MaryStella]

nice! bike riding!!

[chewybaws]

@Medman. Haha sometimes I wish I had shorter arms so my bench didn't suck. But then again I do like only having to lift the bar a few inches for deadlifts I make a point of not having to squat down any further than I have to. See barbell rows below for rest of my message.

 

@Jason. Cheers! Haven't heard much from you recently, hope you don't have too many injuries at the moment lol.

 

@Mary. Yeah cardio was way overdue! I thought of you when I was doing my burpee workout

 

 

Week 4 (deload)

Bodyweight=165.4lbs

 

Press day

Mon 5th July 2010

 

Overhead Press - 1x5@20kg/25kg, 3x5@30kg (all from dead stop)

Seated DB Press - 8/8/14@14kg DBs

Side Lateral Raises - 8/8/[email protected] DBs

Weighted pullups - 3x5@5kg, 3x3 non weighted

DB Bicep curls (slow) - 10/10/20@10kg

Inverted Rows - 10/5/4 +7.5kg

 

Low weights all round because dodgy elbow.

 

 

Deadlift day

Tue 6th July 2010

 

Deadlift - 1x5@55kg/67.5kg/82.5kg

Barbell Rows - [email protected]

Good mornings - 3x8@55kg

 

My form sucked in the first set of barbell rows. There was a few reps throughout that didn't make it to my chest which I had to redo.

@medman I did take a video of the last set today, I'll upload it soon because I think I could use help on my form.

 

 

Cardio

Wed 7th July 2010

 

Burpees w/Push-up + Chin-up, 10 rounds of as many as I could manage in a minute, then a minutes rest

 

1. 10 reps

2. 11 reps

3. 9 reps

4. 8 reps

5. 8 reps

6. 7 reps

7. 7 reps

8. 7 reps

9. 8 reps

10. 7 reps

 

I have to be fair and say there was no jump whatsoever in the burpee as I can reach my bar from a standing position. By the 4th round I already thought the whole thing was a real bad idea. Got a good workout though.

 

Bench day

Thu 8th July 2010

 

Bench Press - 1x5@30kg/35kg/42.5kg

Weighted dips - 10/6/4 +15kg

Flat DB Bench - 10/10/11@19kg DBs

Dumbbell flys - 10/10/10/[email protected]

Half pushups - 18/17/13

 

Elbow was bugging me again today. It helped when I narrowed my grip a bit for the last set of bench. Dips were irritating it. DB bench was fine after the first rep, and flys didn't seem to aggravate it. Done half pushups because didn't want to risk anything on my elbow, felt it a bit during these. I done some super wide grip half pushups after this which hit my chest well, will half to incorporate these next time.

 

 

Squat day

Fri 9th July 2010

 

Squats - 1x5@100kg, 1@110kg, 1@120kg (PB), 1x5@105kg, 1x10@90kg, 1x10@65kg

Calf raises - 15/9/8 (right leg), 12/10/8 (left leg) holding 41.5kg DB

 

 

Leg felt back to 100% today so I just went for it and had some fun. Since I started Jim Wendler's been working on going deeper. It's not much but certainly an improvement. The 120kg squat was real deep for me.

 

Elbow was bugging me when I was bending it at some points this morning (before workout). It's been fine since my workout but I really need to watch.

[lobsteriffic]

Glad your leg was back to 100%! Way to go on getting more depth on your squat!

[Jason X]

265lb squat! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

[coroho]

Yeah that squat looked great, good job

[MaryStella]

ha! thinking of me when suffering through burpees I like it!! ALso really nice work on the squats.

[Adena]

Nice squats!

[chewybaws]

Thanks everyone!

 

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 (Cycle 4)

Assumed 1RMs - Press=52.5kg, Deadlift=140kg, Bench=72.5kg, Squat=130kg

 

Week 1

Bodyweight=166.6lbs

 

Press day

Mon 12th July 2010

 

Overhead Press - 1x5@35kg/40kg, 1x6@45kg

Seated DB Press - 8/8/[email protected] DBs

Side lateral raises - 8/8/10@9kg DBs

Weighted pullups - [email protected], 5/4/4 unweighted

DB curls - 8(right)/7(left)@14kg, 8/[email protected]

Inverted rows - 15/10/8

 

Felt like crap before workout, so actually went really well. Stupidly jumped a few weights in curls, will be taking it way back down for next week.

 

 

Deadlift day

Tue 14th July 2010

 

Deadlift - 1x5@90kg/105kg, 1x9@120kg (switched to mixed grip for last 4 reps)

Barbell rows - 10/10/10/8@45kg

Good Mornings - [email protected]

Hanging knee raises - 10/3/4

 

I've done better on deadlift, but went alright. Was quite happy to make the first 5 with double overhand. I'm beginning to hate barbell rows. It's weird I can do high or low reps, light or heavy, get way out of breath...but it feels like an exercise you just can't push it on. Everytime I try feels like I'm lifting my hips too much. Spend the whole time constantly worrying. Good mornings were fine but I'm going to repeat the weight make sure I've got it down.

 

Was going to start doing abs again but my grip kept giving during the leg raises, it was already way past the hour mark so I just called it a day.

 

 

Starting to get back into a routine with eating again which is good, makes everything quicker. But I'm not particularly happy with WHAT I'm eating.

 

Basically my day goes like this

 

Thrive cereal + soy milk

Thrive smoothie

Either kale or broccoli + 50g pumpkin seeds, 50g ground flax

2x (100g(dry) either brown rice or couscous + 2 tins of beans + veg)

Soy milk + brown rice protein

 

And recovery drink on workout days. Porage or pumpkin seeds to make up calories. Those 2 big cooked meals can really suck the life out of me sometimes. For the most part I'm still hitting 4500kcal/day. I maybe miss it once a week, but even on those days I hit at least 4000. I could do with a nice high calorie raw meal to replace one of the cooked ones.

[chewybaws]

Bench day

Thu 15th July 2010

 

Bench Press - [email protected]/55kg, [email protected]

Weighted dips - 10/10/9/6 +10kg

Flat DB Bench - 10/8/6/[email protected] DBs

Flys - [email protected] DBs

Wide pushups - 7

 

I was shitting myself before this workout incase I didn't make weight on bench, but got an extra 2 reps, which I'm stoked about. Moved my grip a fingerwidth narrower. Weighted dips was going for 4x10, I'll try 7.5kg next time, same with DB bench - i'll deload. I know that's a puny weight for flys but I took a video of me doing them last week and my elbows were so bent. So almost straight arms from now on. I need to stop doing pushups for the rest of this cycle till my elbow gets better. The idea is to go back to 4x10 on all assistance so I can use lighter weights.

 

 

Squat day

Fri 16th July 2010

 

Squats - 1x5@85kg/97.5kg/110kg

Box Squats - 4x10@45kg

Single Legged Calf raises - 10(right)/9(left)@44kg DB, 8/5(right)/9/7(left)@41.5kg

 

Again was absolutely dreading work weight today. The warmup sets felt heavy, but somehow I managed to psyche myself up for it. Got a video, might upload later! Prob the hardest squat set I've had in a while where I didn't give up.

Box squats are a bit weird, although good I get a bit of a sore lower back after them. I dunno if I have the surface to low (doesn't feel very deep), or I'm doing something wrong. Calf raises I need to go lighter and get a routine dialed in (prob 4x10).

 

Decent week! Also worth noting I've nearly put on a stone since I started wendler's less than 3 months ago.

[MaryStella]

sometimes on box squats when you sit down the tendency is to relax with the weight which is bad for the lower back. Maybe your doing that a slight bit?

[chewybaws]

I think you're right Mary! I'll concentrate on not relaxing this week.

 

Week 2

Bodyweight=167.8lbs

 

Press day

Mon 19th July 2010

 

Overhead Press - [email protected]/42.5kg, [email protected]

Seated DB Press - 10/10/8/6@14kg DBs

Side lateral raises - [email protected] DBs

Weighted pullups - 5/2/2 (+7.5kg), 5/3/3 (unweighted)

DB curls - [email protected]

Inverted rows - 12/7/6

 

I already wrote up on this day yesterday, must've forgot to hit submit or something. Should've made a 5th rep in OHP. My left shoulder blade has almost felt loose at times for quite a while, DB press seemed to aggravate it yesterday, but didnt feel anything from it after workout or today. I need to get weight for DB press and raises that I can do 4x10 with. Today was the first week, when taking the belt off when doing pullups I noticed a huge difference. I thought I was going through the ceiling in my first unweighted rep. Not going to lie, struggled with the curls but saw it till the end.

 

I think I'm gonna ditch an exercise in this workout. I think the DB press has to go, and switch it for light OHP 4x10. Maybe ditch inverted rows or the raises as well. Just don't know how much good they're doing.

 

 

Deadlift day

Tue 20th July 2010

 

Deadlifts - [email protected]/112.5kg, 1x10@125kg

Barbell rows - 3x5@55kg *lot of hip engagement, not strict

Good mornings - [email protected]

Hanging knee raises - 4x10

Weighted situps - 3x8@30kg

 

Last set of deadlifts fucking ruled. 6 reps double overhand, then reset done 4 more with mixed grip. I was surprised to say the least, warmups felt heavy. To be honest I could've prob squeezed out an extra rep or 2, but grip was starting to go and couldn't risk it (plus saves my back too).

Barbell rows I tried to jump back into where I was at with low reps but ended up all over the place to get the reps up. Knee raises were actually quite solid. Towards the end of the sets I was losing a bit of range of motion. I'm going to stick with 4x10 till they're all good reps. For situps, it's real hard trying to get 2x15kg plates on top of my chest when I'm lying down. I'll figure something out for next week.

 

 

I got a proper foam roller will have to try it out tonight! No more using my make-shift roller from parts that came with my bench (which was only 3" and feels nothing like the new roller). Also I kinda got my bodyfat tested yesterday when doing work experience on a set of decent scales. I was only jumping on to get shown how it worked so I didn't empty my pockets. It gives a 1kg allowance for clothes. But anyway it read 13%, not bad since I've put on a stone over the last 13 weeks.

[Jason X]

Fuck yes! Champ!

[chewybaws]

Bench day

Thu 22nd July 2010

 

Bench Press - 1x3@50kg/57.5kg, 1x5@65kg

Weighted dips - 4x10 +5kg

Flat DB bench - 10/10/10/[email protected] DBs

Flys - [email protected] DBs

 

Think that's a new 5RM. Dips were actually challenging. Again light weight on flys to work on form.

 

 

Squat day

Fri 23rd July 2010

 

Squats - 1x3@90kg/105kg/117.5kg, 4x10@65kg

Single legged Calf raises - 3x10 (each leg), then 14(right leg)/15(left leg) for last set @34kg DB

 

Stoked about hitting [email protected], got it on video. First rep looked so easy, didn't give me many problems. The 2nd rep was like I hit a brick wall. I was actually dizzy after this rep. Took a few seconds then got the last one. Hoping to hit 2 reps when I go for 122.5kg next week! Didn't want to risk any injuries a week before new 1RM so just stuck with light squats for assistance.

Edited July 30, 2010 by chewybaws

[Jason X]

Yeah buddy! Great work, and way to recover after that second squat!

[chewybaws]

Week 3

Bodyweight=168.4lbs (didn't weigh till Thursday)

 

Press day

Mon 26th July 2010

 

Overhead press - 1x5@40kg, 1x3@45kg, 1x4@50kg, 4x10@20kg

Side lateral raises - 3x8@9kg

Pull ups - 3x5 (+7.5kg), 4/5/3 (unweighted)

DB curls - 10/10/7/[email protected] DBs

 

 

Deadlift day

Tue 27th July 2010

 

Deadlift - 1x5@105kg, 1x3@120kg, [email protected]

Barbell rows - 3x5@55kg (not very strict...)

Good mornings - 3x8@60kg

Hanging knee raises - 4x10

Weighted situps - [email protected]

 

 

 

Bench day

Thu 29th July 2010

 

Bench Press - 1x5@55kg, [email protected], 1x3@70kg, 4x10@35kg

Weighted dips - 10/10/8/[email protected]

DB incline bench - 4x10@10kg DBs

Flys - 4x10@9kg DBs

 

 

Squat day

Fri 30th July 2010

 

Squats - [email protected], 1x3@110kg, [email protected]

Front squats - 1x10@20kg/25kg/30kg/35kg

Single legged calf raises - [email protected]

 

 

 

I'm actually happy with all the main lifts this week. Despite the weight being heavier than last cycle I actually managed more reps in squats/bench/dead (and the same reps for press). I took yerba mate before press/dead workout, forgot before bench and just decided not to for squats. Pullups were great this week. Barbell row form is awful, but it was good using a higher weight again. Ditched seated DB press for more volume on OHP - I was burning towards the end of the 4x10@20kg. Hanging leg raises I'm starting to get the hang of, but every single time I've done them I get this pull in my right shoulder when I'm starting reps. It's always been there but has never got worse.

 

Assistance for bench day was a bit all over the place. Decided to add more volume to bench the same as I did with press. Which may have caused me not to make 4x10 in dips (triceps were BURNING at the end). I done some incline DB bench, intentionally started light but to be honest my triceps were too fucked for it to even be hitting my upper pecs, if the weight was heavier. (i'm kinda flat chested at the top).

 

Deads were great, my gains have been immense. Squats were good as well compared to last cycle, I'm shitting the weight increase for next cycle. The video ain't to great, it was bright outside behind me, so I done the best I could with brightness/contrast, get the idea though.

 

I think I'm gonna make quite a few changes to the assistance exercises for next cycle, prob be a lot simpler. I also want to learn to power clean (i tried once and injured my shoulder, this was way back), hence the front squatting today. I video'd this, I'm hopeless at keeping my torso upright, and in turn this is stopping my elbows from staying up. They need work, I'm gonna do them quite a lot during deload week just to get used to the rack position, wrist/shoulder/tricep flexibility etc. And once I'm more comfortable I'll get some hang cleans into my routine.

 

Overall with assistance I'm gonna be getting more back into strength, keeping more volume (4x10 light) on press/bench after work sets, remove the likes of the DB press, side raises and shit. I will prob keep curls and calf raises (my calves are pathetic) for the meantime. My bench workout needs moved about a bit as well so I don't get tired too quick. I might move the 4x10 light bench towards the end of the workout before flys, so I give myself a good chance at dips and incline bench.

 

Also lol at my face during deadlifts. To be honest, especially towards the end, I just kinda zone out. I'd rather make funny faces/noises because I believe they help my grind out extra reps haha.

 

Be doing some cardio during this coming deload week too, hold me to it!!

 

Anyway next week I'll try not cramming everything into one post, blethered too much today!

[xCx]

Damn Chewy! You've become such a strong fucker, haha. I tip my hat to thee!

 

Also, If you're nothing making ridiculous faces and strange noises, you're just not training hard enough

[chewybaws]

Damn Chewy! You've become such a strong fucker, haha. I tip my hat to thee!

 

Also, If you're nothing making ridiculous faces and strange noises, you're just not training hard enough

Haha I'm not sure about that, but I'm on the right path!

 

Sun 1st August 2010

Cardio

10km stationary bike in 23:39 (horrible time for me, but haven't done cardio in a while)

 

Week 4 (deload)

Bodyweight=166.8lbs

 

Press day

Mon 2nd August 2010

 

Overhead Press - 1x5@20kg/27.5kg/32.5kg, [email protected] (from a dead stop)

Hang cleans - 4x10@30kg

Pullups - 5/4/2 (+8.75kg), 8/4/4 (unweighted)

DB curls - [email protected] DBs

 

Ditched side raises and gave hang cleans a go. I started off with 20kg and on the 2nd rep I emphasised the jump in my head and smacked myself on the chin!! At which point I decided to practice my form with 30kg instead. I video'd each set to watch my form inbetween. At first wasn't getting my elbows up nearly quick enough. There was a definitive catch (still on my shoulders, wasn't smacking my chest or anything) with my elbows down a bit before adjusting them. And had to keep reminding myself to JUMP. Anyway, my form could still use a lot of help, this is my last set of 10...

 

 

Actually watching that video back, is my back too upright? I forgot my shoulders are supposed to be over the bar...

 

I was actually getting tired towards the end and my hands were killing me!

 

If I'm feeling okay tomorrow I'll practice some more after deadlifts, perhaps in place of barbell rows. When I'm power cleaning I think they'll be replacing barbell rows anyway (i don't really like them). I'll try out hook grip tomorrow too.