Andi's journal - take 2

[AndiMorris]

Hi all,

I thought it was about time to start another journal. My last one on here was mainly Crossfit based, and whilst I still do the odd conditioning "WOD" I've been primarily following the Wendler 531 programme for the last 6 months with good gains.

 

As I'm 6 months in I need a bit of a switcharound, so I'm going for the Wendler "Beach body challenge" workout for the next 12 weeks. Don't be put off by the name, I'm pretty sure that's just the typical Jim Wendler wit coming through.

 

Here's a link to the programme:

https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/531-beach-body-challenge

 

Today's food:

 

Breakfast shake:

2 * bananas

30g peanut butter

30g protein

5g creatine

5g l glutamine

 

Breakfast:

Typically I forgot to bring my lunch box to work today, so I'm struggling to find vegan options in the shops we have on site. I had to settle for a Trek bar and a flapjack.

 

Post workout:

250ml orange juice

30g protein

5g creatine

5g l glutamine

 

Lunch:

Not sure yet, I'll see what I can find

 

Mid-afternoon:

Green smoothie:

1 banana

80g frozen fruit

30g protein

5g creatine

5g l glutamine

4g chlorella

4g spirulina

 

Dinner:

Vegan sausage casserole

 

Workout:

250m row

Agile 8

 

Squat:

42.5kg x 5

52.5kg x 5

65 x 3

75 x 5

85 x 5

95 x 5

 

Hang clean:

20 x 5

22.5 x 5

27.5 x 3

32.5 x 10

32.5 x 10

 

Press:

20 x 5

20 x 5

20 x 5

20 x 5

25 x 3

30 x 3

35 x 1

40 x 1

45 x 1

50 x FAILED

 

Curl:

50 reps at 15kg (5 sets of 10)

 

The hang clean and curl weights are guessed for this first week. I'm sure I can go heavier and still hit the required reps. Press I think my max has been set just too high, but I'll stick with it for the first cycle and see how I get on.

[mrbear666]

good to have you back pal, will follow along

[esqinchi]

Nice volume!

[AndiMorris]

Cheers guys. I had to miss yesterday as too many other jobs came up, so I went today instead.

 

Row 250m

Agile 8

 

Squat:

20kg x 5

22.5x5

32.5x3

42.5x5

52.5x3

65x3

75x1

85x1

95x1

105x1

 

Deadlift:

55x5

67.5x5

82.5x3

95x5

110x5

122.5x5

 

Press:

20x5

25x5

30x3

50 reps x 35 (broken up into 10x5, supersetted with the row)

 

Dumbbell row:

100 reps/arm

17.5kg x 10, 10, 10, 15, 15, 15, 15, 10

[HIT Rob]

Beach body challenge...sounds sexy;)

 

Good ta see ya back mate, will be following.

 

Best

Rob

[AndiMorris]

Friday 15/07/16

 

Row 250m

Agile 8

 

Hang Clean

20kg x 5

20kg x 5

20kg x 5

20kg x 5

22.5 x 3

27.5 x 3

32.5 x 1

37.5 x 1

42.5 x 1

45 x 5

40 x 5

40 x 5

40 x 5

 

Squat

42.5kg x 5

52.5kg x 5

65kg x 3

75kg x 14 (rep max)

 

Press:

20kg x 5

25 x 5

30 x 3

35 x 5

40 x 5

45 x 4 (aiming for 5, failed on last one)

 

Chin Up - 50 reps (split into sets of 4 with 2 at the end)

[AndiMorris]

Missed every opportunity to train last week, as I train during the lunch hour at work, and we just had an insane week here. Started where I left off today:

 

Row 250m

Agile 8

 

Squat:

42.5kg x 5

52.5kg x 5

65 x 3

70 x 5

80 x 5

90 x 5

 

Hang Clean:

20kg x 5

22.5 x 5

27.5 x 3

30kg x max reps without failure = 12 reps

30kg x max reps without failure = 12 reps

 

Pres:

20kg x 5

20kg x 5

20kg x 5

20kg x 5

25 x 3

30 x 3

35 x 1

40 x 1

45 x 1

50 x FAIL

 

Gutted about missing the 50kg press again! I've hit two of these before, but since then I've just not been able to budge it!

 

Barbell Curl:

50 reps @ 17.5kg (broken into sets of 10)

[AndiMorris]

Also, I had bloods taken last week as I requested with my GP to see whether my test levels are low. Part of me wants to see it come out low, so at least I know that my struggles for all these years is actually down to something. If it comes back normal, I know it's just me and I have no excuses. I do wonder how low it needs to be before they actually will do something to rectify it however.

[AndiMorris]

Testosterone level results came back as "satisfactory". Satisfactory for who??

 

Anyway, at least I know it's not unhealthily low, even if I do still think it's low. I guess I need to figure out ways to up it naturally.

[mrbear666]

hi Andi, im pretty sure theres something you can do to raise testosterone your self there are a few supplements you can get such as d-aspartic acid which im pretty sure is vegan. There are others too which would be worth looking into. Diet plays a big role in hormone regulation too i dont know much about this but im pretty sure that eating healthy fats from nuts etc... plays a part in it. Also the big exercises such as squats, deads, millitary press and bench press apparently help to boost test levels also. Im pretty sure if you looked into these things and found a few more it would all make a difference.

 

 

mike

[AndiMorris]

Cheers Mike.

 

Yep I've read about the wonders of Brazil nuts for this kind of thing. I've also tried ZMA before but I didn't really try for long enough to notice anything.

[AndiMorris]

Wednesday 27/07/16

 

Row 250m

Agile 8

 

Squat:

20kg x 5

22.5kg x 5

32.5 x 5

42.5 x 5

52.5 x 3

65 x 3

75 x 1

85 x 1

95 x 1

105 x 1

 

Deadlift:

55kg x 5

67.5 x 5

82.5 x 3

90 x 5

102.5 x 5

115 x 5

 

Press:

20 x 5

25 x 5

30 x 3

32 x 50 (split into 10x5) supersetted with:

 

Dumbbell Row:

100 reps/arm

17.5kg x 10, 15, 15, 15, 15, 10, 10, 10

[AndiMorris]

I'm off work tomorrow to paint my kitchen, so Friday's workout was today

 

Thursday 28/07/16

 

Hang Clean:

20kg x 5

20kg x 5

20kg x 5

20kg x 5

22.5 x 3

27.5 x 3

32.5 x 1

37.5 x 1

42.5 x 1

45 x 6 (rep max)

40 x 5

40 x 5

40 x 5

 

Squat:

42.5kg x 5

52.5 x 5

65 x 3

70 x 15 (rep max)

 

Press:

20kg x 5

25 x 5

30 x 3

32.5 x 5

37.5 x 5

42.5 x 5

 

Chin Up - 50 reps (split into 12 sets of 4 and one set of 2) - these were all supersetted with previous exercises.

[HIT Rob]

Testosterone level results came back as "satisfactory". Satisfactory for who??

 

Anyway, at least I know it's not unhealthily low, even if I do still think it's low. I guess I need to figure out ways to up it naturally.

 

Bout 2 years ago when I got mine tested, my score was 6.9 / 15, satisfactory but not optimal, thats why I went on the anabolic diet, I of course didn't include meat, but eggs, full fat cheese, heavy cream, oily fish, unsalted butter etc, basically high proetin saturated fat and cholesterol Monday to Friday, then high carb, low fat, low protein weekends, the diet manipulates the hormones that govern muscle growth and fat loss, I,e., test, hgh, igf-1, insulin...

When I went back a few months later to get retested, I scored 11.6/15, above average. My Doc told me the only people that have higher levels than that was steriod users.

Not suggesting you should do the same, just letting you know what happened with me. I went back to a full plant based diet, however I now and then salt in some saturated fat and cholesterol from animal byproducts.

 

Best

Rob

[AndiMorris]

Nice cheers. I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow so I'll ask if I can get the numbers from the results.

 

I trained all 3 days I was scheduled to last week, but didn't log anything. Also trained on Tuesday this week, but again, no log.

 

here's today's log:

 

Squat:

20kg x 5

22.5 x 5

35 x 5

45 x 5

55 x 3

67.5 x 3

77.5 x 1

90 x 1

100 x 1

110 x 1 (I needed to get 3 reps for a PR here, but just wasn't feeling motivated enough to do this.

 

Deadlift:

60 x 5

70 x 5

85 x 3

100 x 5

112.5 x 5

127.5 x 1 (Supposed to hit 5 reps here, but again, no motivation)

 

Press:

22.5 x 5

27.5 x 5

32.5 x 3

37.5 x 50 (Split into 10 sets of 5)

 

Supersetted with:

DB Row:

100 reps/arm @ 20kg (Split into 10 sets of 10)

[mrbear666]

hey andi where have you gone?

[AndiMorris]

Still around, and still training. I've been on tour a lot recently and haven't had much chance to log workouts. I'll try to get back on it this week.