Chewy's Strength Log

[MoshxDeLaney]

Looking solid man. I love the hold at the end. Good luck with your meet up. Looking forward to hearing about it.

[chewybaws]

Week 4 (deload)

 

Mon 12th March 2012

Bodyweight = 84.2kg

 

Squat (groin rehab)

1x10x70kg

1x10x80kg

1x10x90kg

 

DB Bench

1x10x25kg DBs

2x10x27.5kg DBs

 

Kroc rows (standing)

1x10x30kg

1x10x35kg

2x10x40kg

 

Weighted Dips

3x10 +6.25kg

 

Weighted Plank

30s +40kg

30s +55kg

30s +70kg

 

 

Tue 13th March 2012

 

Squat (groin rehab)

1x10x75kg

1x10x85kg

1x10x95kg

 

Jog in the park for 10 mins

*Started bulking this day

 

 

Wed 14th March 2012

Bodyweight = 85.2kg

 

Squat (groin rehab)

1x10x80kg

1x10x90kg

1x10x100kg

 

Bench

1x3x52.5kg

1x3x60kg

1x3x70kg

 

Pullups

10 +1.25kg

10/7 bodyweight

 

OHP

3x10x35kg (+extra collar)

 

CoC Trainer 20 reps each hand for grip

 

 

So yeah, started the bulk on Tuesday. about 4400kcal workout days, 4000kcal off days. See how it goes. Figured there's no real point of cutting and getting abs when I only weigh about 84kg at 6ft, will just look skinny. The only logical option is to bulk.

 

Went to a vegan potluck on Tuesday, went well Will be going to the next meetup. Downside was I had a few pints and workouts have felt horrendous the last few days. That might also be down to eating too much too close to workout, still to sort out the frequency of the upped calories.

 

Squats 100kg x10 no belt was surprisingly easy, considering I felt like shit that day and the warmups had me sweating. I might actually just keep the belt off for squats now that I have an opportunity to start afresh with them on 5/3/1.

 

 

Been doing this assistance plan for 2 months but still like it. Just going to make a couple of tweaks - barbell rows in place of kroc rows. And possibly set/rep changes in certain exercises (already swapped 3x10 band deadlifts for 5x2 speed pulls on a friday). But for the most part I like the structure and will be keeping it the same for as long as I do.

[MoshxDeLaney]

Nice man, sounds like the groin rehab is going well. You know I'm a strong proponent of going beltless. You won't be able to lift quite as much at first, but I think the benefits are worth it in the long run.

[veggiesasquatch]

Great reading you're healing both  physically & mentally mate

 

Last night in Edinburgh, I'm fucking shattered my legs are in bits lol

[vegansludge]

Nice to see you opted for bumping your calories up - you're plenty lean enough and abs are aesthetically nice but they're not going to OHP 35kg. And it's fantastic to hear that you're healing up nicely, too. Once you get your meal timing down and you're back to your best, I bet your strength increases are killer.

[chewybaws]

Fri 16th March 2012

Bodyweight = 85.5kg

 

Squat (groin rehab)

1x10x70kg

1x10x90kg

1x10x105kg

 

Push press

1x5x25kg

1x5x32.5kg

1x5x40kg

 

Deadlift (no belt)

1x3x130kg

1x3x150kg

1x3x170kg

(this is the deloading without deloading from jim wendler's blog. you triple what you did for week 1's sets and don't rep out the final set)

 

Speed pulls

5x2x110kg + red super mini band

 

BB curls

3x10x20kg

 

Eating way too much too quickly. I have a certain amount roughly I want to add a week and gained way too much weight over the last few days so cut the calories down to 3500kcal (3900kcal workout days). I want to be a tank in 9 months, not a fat bastard in 3!

 

 

So that's my groin more or less back to normal! New cycle started beltless;

 

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 - Cycle 3

 

Week 1

 

Mon 19th March 2012

Bodyweight = 84.2kg <-- see how it goes this week, if it stays putt I'll add more calories

 

Squat

1x5x82.5kg

1x5x95kg

1x10x107.5kg (so easy)

 

DB Bench

3x10x27.5kg DBs

 

Bent over rows (strict/slow/narrowish overhand hook grip/not from floor)

1x10x40kg

2x10x42.5kg (way harder than I thought they'd be)

 

Weighted dips

8,8,7 +7.5kg (couldn't believe I didn't make this but was fucked from DB bench)

 

Weighted plank

3x30s +25kg

 

Had a stupid cough for 4 or 5 days and runny nose the last couple. Annoying. Eating has been consistent though, staying on the ball.

[vegansludge]

Great to see that your rehab is complete and squats are feeling solid.

 

Doing dips after bench is always a bitch - I expect this statement will only intensify once I actually can do them weighted like you.

[MoshxDeLaney]

Glad to read you're all healed up man. I wish I could say the same for myself. Do you have any meets you're looking at in the near future?

[chewybaws]

Thanks guys! I'm not looking at any meets this year. I just generally want to get bigger and stronger and get more time under the bar. Keep my eating consistent because before this week been real lazy with it for 7 months. Consistency is the key, I need it back!

[Fallen_Horse]

I'm liking that weight, but keep that back straight during the pull. No rounding!

 

 

Also, are you following a well-known plan right now, or are you doing a custom routine? I haven't heard of many plans that go up to 15 rep sets for squats. That sounds interesting!

[chewybaws]

No rounding!

 

 

Also, are you following a well-known plan right now, or are you doing a custom routine? I haven't heard of many plans that go up to 15 rep sets for squats. That sounds interesting!

I'm doing 5/3/1 with custom assistance (so not following a template for assistance). The last month I was rehabbing my groin that's why the reps were so high/low weight. I went back started with the bar for sets of 25 to flush as much blood through the area as possible and actively stretch it. Then just added 5kg a day about 5 times a week gradually reducing the reps till I was ready to start again.

[veggiesasquatch]

As chewy shows, if your upper back is hugely strong you can pull with a rounded back but it's not common.

 

Gald your groins healed chewy, been interesting seeing the progess in the rehab

[chewybaws]

Wed 21st March 2012

Bodyweight = 83.1kg

 

Front Squat

3x10x40kg (gradually build this back up)

 

Bench

1x5x52.5kg

1x5x60kg

1x12x70kg

 

Pullups

1x10 +2.5kg

1x10

1x9 assisted with purple mini band

 

OHP

3x10x35kg (+2 extra collars, microloading)

 

 

Fri 23rd March 2012

Bodyweight = 83.4kg

 

Squat (pause all reps at bottom)

1x5x50kg

1x5x62.5kg

1x5x75kg

 

Push Press

1x5x45kg

1x5x50kg

1x5x57.5kg

 

Sumo Deadlifts (no belt)

1x5x70kg

1x5x80kg

1x5x90kg

1x5x100kg

1x5x110kg

1x5x120kg

1x5x130kg

1x5x140kg

1x5x150kg

 

BB Curls

2x10x20kg

 

 

This weekend on the Saturday I got absolutely fucked, went to someone's flat and went to work Sunday morning with no sleep.

 

 

Week 2

 

Mon 26th March 2012

Bodyweight = 83kg

 

Squat (no belt)

1x3x87.5kg

1x3x100kg

1x10x112.5kg

 

Close grip bench (DBs were being used)

1x10x50kg

1x10x52.5kg

1x10x55kg

 

Bent over rows (medium overhand hook grip, hanging)

2x10x42.5kg

1x10x45kg

 

Dips

15, 11, 8 (first set wasn't max, rest were)

 

 

Wed 28th March 2012

 

Front squat

3x10x50kg

 

Bench press

1x3x57.5kg

1x3x65kg

1x9x72.5kg

 

Pullups

1x10 +3.75kg

1x10

1x10 assisted with red mini band

 

OHP

2x10x37.5kg

1x9x37.5kg

 

Friday 30th March 2012

Bodyweight = 83.4kg

 

Squat (all paused at bottom)

1x5x50kg

1x5x62.5kg

1x5x75kg

 

DB Bench

2x8x27.5kg DBs

1x8x30kg DBs

 

Sumo deadlifts (no belt)

1x5x70kg

1x5x90kg

1x5x110kg

1x5x130kg

1x5x150kg

1x5x160kg

 

 

BB curls

2x10x22.5kg

 

 

Went on a date on Saturday with the vegan girl I met the weekend before, went well.

 

Progress pic sunday morning, skinny at 83kg;

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j287/chewybaws/IMAG0013.jpg

 

 

Week 3

 

Mon 2nd April 2012

Bodyweight = 82.9kg

 

Squat (no belt)

1x5x95kg

1x3x107.5kg

1x9x120kg (easily my best no belt set ever. Even when I was 6kg heavier on madcow I wasn't hitting numbers like that. Credit it fully to squatting shitloads since starting groin rehab)

 

Best my form's looked as well, getting really deep with minimal tailbone tucking. Back stays at a great angle throughout. Only criticism I have is my knees scoop in a bit reversing out the bottom.

 

DB Bench

1x8x27.5kg DBs

1x8x30kg DBs

1x9x30kg DBs

 

Dips/pushup superset

6 / 12

6 / 11

6 / 3

(endurance fail, first set on target. 2nd set not so easy, 3rd set pathetic)

 

 

Wed 4th April 2012

Bodyyweight = 83kg

 

Front squat

3x10x60kg (still building these back up, taking my time. Was easy, paused first/last rep of each set)

 

Bench press

1x5x60kg

1x3x70kg

1x6x77.5kg

(I took a video of the last set and watched it back. my heels are an inch off the floor. I'm prob going to have to sacrifice a bit of my arch but it needs to be done. Frustrating because bench has been going pretty decent, this is probably why.)

 

Pullups

1x10 +5kg

1x10

1x5

 

OHP

3x8x37.5kg (+ extra collar for microloading)

 

 

I should mention I've been doing HIT cardio Tue/Thu for 2 or 3 weeks now on the bike. I'm on it for 15 mins at a steady pace, on mins 5/7/9/11/13 I'll do a full out 20s burst. Also last Friday done a slower steady cardio session on it for 60 mins. Bulking went down the drain but the good news is my eating has been very steady (apart from that drunken weekend). The plan just now is to cut a bit of fat back. I'd be lying if I said it had nothing to do with dating again but at least I'm honest. After this I plan to do exactly the same as last time I done 5/3/1, a very slow bulk keeping the bodyfat reasonably low.

 

Also pretty much since last time I updated my log I've had a fucking annoying cough. Don't feel ill whatsoever but it pisses me off. Wish it would fuck off.

 

 

Not sure if anyone will notice in this post but my 5/3/1 is all fucked up. The only exercise that has been on track is bench. Squat got fucked up when my groin went, I started again this cycle with no belt so lower numbers. Push press was just aggravating my back. Either overtight front delts or lats stop me getting the bar where it should be and my back hyperextends to compensate. Disastrous on push press because when the momentum runs out from my legs my back takes full strain. It happens during OHP as well, but today with the sets of 8 I tried pressing a bit slower and concentrating on keeping a better position and there was no stiffness. Deadlifts I'm just sick of lifting with a rounded back. I haven't had a serious injury and I'm fairly strong lifting conventional, I've tried taking the weight down and building up multiple times but I can't do it with a straight back. I can keep a very good back position in sumo so I'm going to give it a go and learn to use my legs. I prob won't do 5/3/1 for sumo pulls, probably just do them with feel. I'm fairly new to it and need more volume.

[vegan_rossco]

shit hot mate! good luck with the dating, and there's nothing wrong with cutting fat back for the ladies ahha hope it all works out bro!

[chewybaws]

shit hot mate! good luck with the dating, and there's nothing wrong with cutting fat back for the ladies ahha hope it all works out bro!

Haha, we're an item now so life is good Pretty impressed with the body as well which is always good for motivation.

 

Thu 5th April 2012

 

Sumo Deadlifts (no belt)

1x5x150kg

1x5x165kg

1x5x170kg

 

 

The gym was closed friday so done my deadlifts Thursday, and Friday I was lifting all day at work so didn't bother with the light work. Back position looks solid from side, and this is very close to my 5RM beltless conventional.

 

 

Week 4 (deload)

 

Sun 8th April 2012

Bodyweight = 83.2kg

Again, gym closed monday so had to make do in the house sunday night

 

Squats (all paused at bottom)

1x5x50kg

1x5x62.5kg

1x5x75kg

 

DB Bench

1x8x24kg DBs

1x8x26.5kg DBs

1x6x26.5kg DBs

1x5x26.5kg DBs

These were murder to self spot with the loadable handles in my house because I couldn't sit them on my thighs properly.

 

Bent over rows (narrow overhand hook grip, hanging)

1x10x45kg

1x10x47.5kg

1x14x47.5kg

 

Pushups

12, 12, 12, 12, 8

 

Kept the pace up this day, had been working all day and just wanted to get it over with. Got better towards the end.

 

Went to the doctor about my cough today (been nearly 3 weeks now), he reckons it's a virus that's going about just now which will typically takes 4 or 5 weeks to go away and not really anything they can give me for it. He said to avoid heavy exertion so might just take the rest of the week off since it's a deload anyway and just do stretches.

 

Diet's been pretty damn consistent, had a bit of a cheat saturday night. 2 or 3 bottles of cider with the girl and packet of crisps. But overall everything's solid;

Breakfast - orange juice + supplements, banana, muesli + soy milk

Lunch - Hummus sandwiches, 3 pieces of fruit, bag steamed kale, protein shake + omega oils

Dinner - Pasta (or rice/quinoa) + kidney beans + frozen mixed veg + coconut oil (extra tin of beans on workout days)

Before bed - Protein shake + almonds

 

Very very simple but also easy to stick to. There's also my recovery drink on workout days. 3600kcal on off days, 4300kcal on workout days. Looking a lot more lean these days.

 

Thinking about changing up my schedule since my 5/3/1's a bit fucked up, and the assistance has been a bit stale as well. Might try a more intense routine since my motivation has skyrocketed next week (if the cough's away).

[chewybaws]

Wed 11th April 2012

 

Front squats (pause first and last rep)

3x10x70kg

 

Bench

1x5x52.5kg

1x3x60kg

1x3x70kg

Got my feet planted on the floor this time, felt fine - just set up as normal and set my feet forward a bit at the end.

 

Pullups

1x10 +6.25kg

1x10

1x9 (chins)

 

OHP

3x8x37.5kg (+2 collars for microloading, took a wider grip this week felt much easier on my shoulder at the top)

 

Tricep rope pushdowns

1x10x15kg

2x10x17.5kg

 

Went to doctor's yesterday, reckon it's a virus that's going about just now so couldn't give me anything for it. Said it typically takes 4 or 5 weeks to fuck off.

[jungleinthefrunk]

a virus for four weeks? looking good lucky girl u got

[vegan_rossco]

shit hot mate! good luck with the dating, and there's nothing wrong with cutting fat back for the ladies ahha hope it all works out bro!

Haha, we're an item now so life is good Pretty impressed with the body as well which is always good for motivation.

 

siiiiick stoked for you man, and nice pull ups I have a real problem with them that way, always end up doing close grip chin ups :/

[chewybaws]

Fri 13th April 2012

Bodyweight = 82.9kg

 

Squat (all reps paused at bottom)

1x5x50kg

1x5x62.5kg

1x5x75kg

 

OHP

1x5x40kg

1x5x45kg

1x5x50kg

 

Sumo deadlifts (no belt)

1x5x150kg

1x3x170kg

1x3x175kg

 

BB curls

2x10x22.5kg

 

 

Mon 16th April 2012

Bodyweight = 82.4kg

 

Bench (dropset)

1x11x70kg

1x7x60kg

1x9x50kg

 

OHP

1x10x25kg

1x10x30kg

1x10x32.5kg

 

Diamond pushups

4x10, 1x12

 

 

Tue 18th April 2012

 

Squats (no belt)

1x5x110kg

1x5x130kg

 

Bent over rows

2x10x45kg

1x14x50kg

 

BB curls

1x10x20kg

1x10x25kg

 

 

Wed 19th April 2012

Bodyweight = 83.8kg

 

Sumo deadlifts (no belt)

1x5x150kg

1x4x160kg

1x3x165kg

1x6x170kg

 

Bench

1x5x60kg

1x3x70kg

1x8x75kg

 

DB Bench

1x15x27.5kg DBs

 

Pullups (wide grip)

10, 9, 4

 

Some rear delt flies on a machine

 

One armed rows

3x8x30kg DB

 

 

Fri 20th April 2012

 

Front squat (no belt)

1x5x70kg

1x5x85kg

1x3x100kg

1x2x110kg

1x2x120kg

1x1x130kg (ugly as fuck, started rolling off the shoulders)

1x5x100kg

 

 

Chinups

14, 9, 8

 

 

My training was just bits and pieces when I could this week but end up getting in a lot of work. I had the worlds shittest week - grandpa died monday, one of my best mates moved down south, and me and the girl we were seeing broke up (glad it was sooner rather than later. we were just moving way too quickly and realised we didn't really know each other that well or have much in common). It's probably why workouts towards the end of the week were good, getting out some frustration on the bar.

 

Wednesday I was back in with the powerlifters for the first time in 12 or 13 weeks and immensely enjoyed it. Can see myself starting it up again on Mon/Weds. My sumo deads need work, keep scraping my shins to fuck (mostly on the way down which is the problem) and I could do with pointing my toes out a bit after watching some vids online. Front squats felt really damn strong. I was hungover, dehydrated and on an empty stomach. The single at 130kg was sloppy as fuck upper back just collapsed but the double at 120kg was fucking solid.

 

So at least when everything else goes to shit I've still got training, and it seems to be going well just now.

[chewybaws]

Right so I said last Wednesday I was back in with the powerlifting club, I plan on taking my training seriously again for the first time since last summer. Plan is to bulk up slowly while improving my powerlifts. I plan on starting to take progress pics as well, the lighting isn't flattering but since it's artificial it'll be consistent. So straight out of bed on a Monday morning -

 

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j287/chewybaws/2012-04-23.jpg

Can you tell I'm a much better deadlifter than bencher? Lol

 

84.4kg (dunno where the fuck that came from).

 

 

I penned up a routine to fit in with the club's schedule (squat/bench monday, deadlift/bench variation wednesday) so I'm lifting at the same time as everyone else. Typically I'll shuffle things about the first couple of weeks to get comfortable. Also going to use a couple of weeks to get used to the extra volume before starting a program. Will just be going on feel till then.

 

Mon - Squat, Bench, Pullups, OHP (behind neck)

Wed - Sumo Deadlift, Close grip + DB bench, DB Rows, Front Squat

Fri - Squat, OHP, BB Rows, Dips, Curls

[chewybaws]

Powerlifting Club

 

Mon 23rd April 2012

Bodyweight = 84.4kg

 

Squat (no belt)

1x5x100kg

2x5x110kg

1x5x112.5kg

1x9x115kg

 

Bench

1x5x70kg

2x5x77.5kg

1x6x77.5kg

 

Wide grip pullups

10, 10, 8

 

OHP (behind neck, almost max grip width)

1x10x25kg

1x5x30kg

5x5x35kg

 

Glad to be back, guys seem happy I'm back. Good numbers, lots of volume.

[chewybaws]

Wed 25th April 2012

Bodyweight = 83.8kg

 

Sumo Deadlifts (no belt)

Sets of 5 from 70kg to 140kg (in 10kg increments)

 

Close grip bench

1x14x65kg

 

DB Bench

1x12x30kg DBs

 

One arm row

3x8x30kg DB

 

Towards end of last week legs were getting tight. Monday especially after squatting legs were tight. Tuesday went to see The Used. Legs were sore all day, neck/calves fucked after that gig. So this workout my groin on the left felt really fucking sore, got worse with every set of sumos so had to stop premature (which was a shame, was pulling them rapid and was dumping the bar better so I wasn't scraping my shins). Benching was strong.

 

 

Thursday done a bit of foam rolling/mobility work, but mostly was sitting on my ass or lying down so ended up really tight come Friday morning.

 

Fri 27th April 2012

Bodyweight = 84.6kg (heaviest this month)

 

Squat (no belt)

1x5x40kg

1x5x60kg

1x5x80kg

1x5x100kg

 

OHP

1x5x40kg

1x5x45kg

1x5x47.5kg

1x5x50kg

 

Pendlay Rows

5x5x60kg

 

Weighted dips

1x5x10kg

1x5x15kg

3x5x20kg

 

 

BB Curls

3x8x25kg

 

Pushups

30, 11, 13

 

So my plan was to forget anything that might reinjure my groin. Do narrow stance leg press to get my legs some work. But I warmed up as normal and there was nothing tight or suspect about it. So went ahead and squatted. Paused 1st/last rep in every set except the last. No pain.

OHP felt strong. First time doing rows off the floor in a while. My hamstrings were so ridiculously tight that I was struggling to hold position (hence the video). To be honest it doesn't look that bad. Upper back is supposed to be rounded at the start position but I could do with just flattening out that mid-back a bit. When my hamstrings are fixed this should be easy. Weight felt like nothing.

 

Hadn't went heavy on dips in a while so had at it. To be honest didn't feel hard whatsoever, but I'm going to do more volume lower weight and build these back up for the sake of my joints. Elbow felt a bit suspect. I have no idea how I pulled off 30 pushups (chest to floor, full extension at top) in one set. I barely ever do them and most I'd done before must've only been about 22 when I was way lighter. My bench has been improving a bit recently so that's probably it.

[robert]

Great stuff in here!

 

I love all the videos. I admit I still don't even know how to imbed a video into the forum! haha!

 

Awesome lifting numbers. I'm starting to do a lot of power movements these days and I'm really enjoying it.

 

I think you also have one of the longest running training journals on here!

 

Thanks for all your contributions to the community!

[Mini Forklift]

Sorry I haven't found your way to log sooner buddy, looks great and you sure are putting in some hard work.

 

I'll be keeping an eye on things in here and will watch some of the videos tomorrow when I have a little more time. Keep up the good work MF.

[chewybaws]

Thanks a lot guys

 

Mon 30th April 2012

Bodyweight = 83.4kg

 

Squat (no belt)

2x5x120kg

1x5x122.5kg

2x5x125kg

 

Bench

2x4x80kg

1x4x82.5kg

1x11x70kg

 

Pullups

10, 10, 8

 

Wide grip behind the neck press

3x5x40kg

 

Assisted GHR's

2x5

 

Great session. Saturday night went out and got smashed beyond belief. Barely ate anything Sunday so surprised I pulled this off. Also explains pathetic bodyweight.