BigRed

Because my work schedule is changing I'm shifting from a Monday Wednesday Friday training split to a Tuesday Thursday Saturday split. Hope this works out.

Just a very abbreviated workout. Wasn't able to get to the gym in the morning and had to deal with the afternoon crowd. Racks were heavily occupied and I didn't feel like waiting around all day waiting. Just did bench, pullups and dips and got out of there.

Bodyweight = 172.0 lb

Bench

95 lb x 10

155 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Pullups

BW x 7(wide)/7(hammer)/4(close)

Dips

BW x 13/10/8

MF -

I always enjoy seeing your training logs! Out of curiosity, are you completely vegan now? I remember in the past seeing seafood and whey protein in your diet, but it seems like lately most of your meals have been full veggie. Keep up the good work!

I'm going to stop numbering the workouts. Just doesn't feel necessary. Would be more meaningful if I had never missed a day since I started back in July, but at this point it just feels confusing.

Wed 2/20/2013

bodyweight = 172.2. lb

Squat

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

135 lb x 5

205 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP

45 lb x 10

65 lb x 5

110 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Deadlift

135 lb x 5

185 lb x 5

225 lb x 3

250 lb x 5

Squats - range of motion is definitely shrinking. Some of the last reps in the last sets may not be getting below parallel. Curious how people set up video recording to check this. Is there something people use to prop their phones up to get a good angle?

OHP - I was so happy to get all the reps this time! This was my 3rd attempt at 110 and I had no problem getting it done this time.

Deadlift - Was able to do all 5 reps at 250 with double overhand grip, but I was a little panicked about the possibility of the bar slipping out of my hands on the last two reps. Upward and onward!

thanks cap'n! was traveling out of town for the long weekend. just got back this evening. missed a lifting day monday because of it, but I will be at it tomorrow!

StrongLifts Workout #65a/33c

Bodyweight = 172.0 lb

Squat

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

135 lb x 5

205 lb x 5/5/5/4/3

Bench

95 lb x 10

155 lb x 5/5/5/5/4

Row

145 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

In general, my energy felt low today. Still recovering from weekend sickness. Still coughing like crazy, especially night and morning. Not sleeping so great. Hopefully next week I will feel better and will able to re-evaluate my eating plan so I can figure out a reasonable way to move the scale number up.

Squats - last two sets might have been able to push through, but I was concerned about my form falling apart too much. My hip and IT band type muscles were tightening like crazy. With an exercise like squats I guess this early in my lifting experience I'd rather be conservative than go for broke and risk harm, at least at this point.

Bench - was surprised I wasn't able to make that last rep!

StrongLifts Workout #64a/32c

Bodyweight = 172.2 lb

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

135 lb x 5

200 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:

45 lb x 10

65 lb x 5

110 lb x 5/4/4/4/4

Deadlift:

135 lb x 5

185 lb x 5

245 lb x 5

Squats were hard, but I made it.

OHP big improvement from last time (4/4/2/3/2 -> 5/4/4/4/4) - maybe I'll make 5x5 next week!

Deadlift - Maintained double overhand grip for 3 reps, then had to switch to alternate grip for last 2 reps. I think I will start increasing the weight by 5 lb each workout rather than 10 lb as I have been doing up to this point.

I cannot even begin to put into words how incredible you look! wow!

StrongLifts Workout #63a/31c

Bodyweight = 171.2 lb

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

135 lb x 5

195 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Bench:

95 lb x 10

150 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Row:

140 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Got a bad flu Saturday. Feeling a lot better today, but not 100% and lots of coughing up gunk. Decided to workout anyway. Glad I did. Still moving up, though weights are really starting to challenge me. On rows the last rep or two of each set has a much smaller range of motion than the first couple. Workout #31 is as far as a got last fall before I took 6 weeks off and lost a lot of strength and muscle. When I was on workout 31 last fall I was 9 lbs heavier than I am now. I'd like to be adding a little more bulk, but the past week my weight has kept dropping (I'm sure flu this weekend didn't help). Need to re-group and plan better to get enough calories to move the scale up a little bit. I think one way would be to add oats to my smoothies. I used to always do this, but stopped buying oats a long time ago. No reason not to, oats are pretty good bang for your buck. Hopefully I'll continue to recover from this bug next couple days. Not sure if I've ever attempted 200 lb squats before. If I have, it was back around '05 or so when I tried 5x5 for a couple months and I guarantee I wasn't squatting nearly as deep as I am now. Wednesday should be interesting.

BTW, thanks Asparagus for your encouragement as usual.

Weird. I don't see my workout from Wednesday here. Maybe I hit preview but forgot to hit send...

StrongLifts Workout #61a/29c Wednesday 2/6/13

Bodyweight= 171.6 lb

Squat:

95 lb x 5

135 lb x 5

185 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Bench:

45 lb x 20

95 lb x 10

145 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Row:

135 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

I decided on Wednesday that with the workouts getting longer due to increased rest needed between sets that I would do both pullups and dips on Friday workouts when I have a little more time, rather than dips every A workout and pullups every B workout.

StrongLifts Workout #62a/30c Friday 2/8/13

Bodyweight = 172.2 lb

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

135 lb x 5

190 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:

45 lb x 10

65 lb x 5

110 lb x 4/4/2/3/2

Deadlift:

135 lb x 5

155 lb x 5

185 lb x 5

205 lb x 3

235 lb x 5

Dips:

+25 lb x 10/8/8

Pullups:

+25 lb x 2 (wide)/3 (hammer)/2 (close)

Squats are starting to really require some energy.

OHP was clearly more than I could handle. First attempt at this weight. Try again Wednesday.

Deadlift I was happy that 235 was not too hard, and I maintained double overhand grip still. Grip is getting stronger I guess.

Dips was first time I've done these with the added weight since last fall.

Pullups - I had the weight belt on for dips and just thought I'd try and see what it felt like with the added weight for pullups. Maybe next Friday I'll try them with a 10lb plate rather than a 25 and see how that goes.

StrongLifts Workout #60a/28c weight = 173.0 lb

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

135 lb x 5

180 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:

45 lb x 10

105 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

DL:

135 lb x 10

155 lb x 5

185 lb x 5

205 lb x 5

225 lb x 5

Chinups:

8/5/5

Was very pleased at how well I did on OHP! I was never able to get 5x5 with 105 lb last Fall even after 3 attempts. This is a good progress!

Also very pleased that I was able to maintain double overhand grip on Deadlifts.

A pleasing day.

StrongLifts Workout #59a/27c

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

135 lb x 5

175 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Bench:

95 lb x 10

140 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Row:

130 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Was short on time this morning, so skipped over dips and went home. Squat going fine, getting challenging. Bench is easy. Row, trying not jerk the weight up with my body too much.

Starting Monday I will start monitoring my weight regularly to make sure my weight doesn't go down anymore. Been hovering just under 170 the past week.

StrongLifts Workout # 57a/25c (1/28/13)

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

165 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Bench:

95 lb x 10

135 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Row:

125 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Dips: BW x 12/12/15

StrongLifts Worktout # 58a/26c (1/30/13)

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

135 lb x 5

170 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:

45 lb x 10

100 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Deadlift:

135 lb x 10

185 lb x 5

215 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Pullups:

8 wide/6 close/6 hammer

Knees have been fine while I'm squatting, but occasionally at random points in the day I'll feel that little wonkiness on the inside of my left knee still. I think I just need to be better a better a stretching/foam rolling routine. I've basically just been neglecting that component completely and I think things are just starting to tighten up on me. Yesterday's squats were at bodyweight (170 lb).

Just as I predicted, I was able to breeze through all 5 sets of 5 reps on Overhead Press. I even felt like I plenty left in the tank. Funny how that works.

On deadlifts I feel like I'm not doing enough work or something. Maybe I'll throw in more warmup sets. I was able to maintain the double overhand grip for the last set but I definitely felt like it was severely slipping. I guess time to get serious about grip work. I did try to hold the bar extra long after the last rep - made it about 10 seconds.

Bench I feel is still easy.

I'm going to start adding weight back to dips again next time.

I think last Fall the furthest I got was workout 31 which I will reach again a week from next Monday (2/11) - so looking forward to passing that milestone when I get there.

Yeah, a number of people have. Check out chewybaws's training log and asparagus's training log as well. They both have become very strong after starting with StrongLifts.

StrongLifts Workout #56a/24c

Squat:

95 lb x 10

160 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:

45 lb x 10

100 lb x 5/5/4/4/3

Deadlift:

135 lb x 10

175 lb x 5

205 lb x 5

Chinups:

BW x 8/7/5

Squats: started to feel a slight bit of wonkiness on the inside of my left knee in between sets of squats. Not sure what's going on there, but I will look into it.

OHP: First failure on this most recent reset of StrongLifts. Same weight that I had my first failure on my original start of StrongLifts last summer. Interestingly, I looked at my journal for that day and it was the exact same reps as last time too: 5/5/4/4/3. If history repeats itself I will get all 5 sets of 5 next Wednesday Thinking optimistically. I also need to start eating more. I'm down about 5 pounds since the new year. I don't think I can get away with that anymore if I want to keep progressing. Whatever fat may come, my goal this year is to get strong. Maybe leanness can be for 2014...we'll see.

Relatively new to lifting, but am on StrongLifts program. I think my 2013 goals are challenging but achievable:

Bench: 200 lbs

Squat: 275 lbs

Deadlift: 350 lbs

StrongLifts Workout #53a/21c Fri 1/18

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

145 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Bench:

45 lb x 20

65 lb x 20

125 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Row:

115 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Dips:

BW x 15/13/10

StrongLifts Workout # 54a/22c Mon 1/21

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5

150 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Deadlift:

135 lb x 10

155 lb x 10

175 lb x 5

195 lb x 5

Pullups:

5 wide/6 close/5 hammer

Bi curl:

40 lb x 12/12/12

StrongLifts Workout # 55a/23c Today

Squat:

95 lb x 5

155 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Bench:

95 lb x 10

130 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Row:

120 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Dips:

BW x 15/12/10

LTE:

40 lb x 12/12/12

Decided to cut out the PLP workouts so I can recover more now that I'm going to be getting back to weights that are challenging for me.

captfit - have you tried adding in dips?

Thanks, Asparagus. I will. Third time's the charm.

At New Year's I set some goals for 2013. I think they are a good balance of achievable and challenging:

Bench - 200 lb

Squat - 275 lb

Deadlift - 350 lb

Upward and onward.

PLP #13:

22 pullups/22 lunges/22 pushups

StrongLifts Workout #52a/20c

Squat:

45 lb x 10

95 lb x 10

140 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

OHP:

45 lb x 10

90 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Deadlift:

135 lb x 5

155 lb x 5

185 lb x 5

Dips:

BW x 15/12/10

Bi curl:

40 lb x 12/12/12

PLP # 12:

21 pullups/21 lunges/21 pushups

Thanks capt! I'm annoyed with myself at having to reset my weights for taking breaks from weightlifting, but it is what it is. Looking forward to next month when things get challenging again. About the PLP workouts...when they're on the same day as a stronglifts workout I make sure to do them at least 6 hours afterwards so I'm fresh. I don't manage the pullups all in one set. For instance, last night I did 10, took about 45 seconds, did 8, took about 30 seconds, and did 2 for a total of 20. For lunges, 20 means 20 with each leg, so it's really like 40 total reps. It's a little extra stimulation for me while I wait for StrongLifts to get challenging again. I cut my caloric intake at new year, hoping to shed some fat. I haven't measured with calipers and such yet since then (will do that at the end of the month) but I have dropped a couple pounds, which I'm hoping is mostly fat. When the weights get tough I will start increase calories and go back to bulking mode and just try to deal with whatever fat adds on I guess.

PLP #11:

20 pullups/20 lunges/20 pushups

Thanks for posting this. Having been an adolescent male in the '90s I am all too familiar with Dorian's physique. It was really interesting to hear him tell his story, especially about him being a kind of outsider in the bodybuilding scene and using different training techniques than was conventional at the time. Educational to hear the mindset of a champion and what it took for him to achieve his goals. Although I don't agree with all his ideas on spirituality and conspiracy theories, I did appreciate that he didn't seem to be a typical "muscle-head" and was concerned with the bigger questions of life. I also appreciated that he is completely honest about steroids. I'm sure there is much more knowledge available to the public now, but at least when I was a kid, there was a definite lie in the Weider magazines that if you eat right and train right and buy supplements, you can look like these bodybuilders. Although I am not in favor of steroid usage, it was a very interesting point to make that after 12 years of steroid use, his health was good, and yet in SuperSize me, after 2 weeks of eating MacDonald's, Morgan Spurlock's health had declined significantly. The American public has very confused ideas about health. Reminds me of when severely overweight people criticize me for being a vegetarian, which is according to them, an unhealthy diet (while they are eating a hamburger!).

StrongLifts Workout #51a/19c

Squat:

135 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Bench:

120 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Row:

110 lb x 5/5/5/5/5

Pullups:

7 wide/5 close/4 hammer

LTE:

35 lb x 12/12/12

PLP #10:

19 pullups/19 lunges/19 pushups

Was short on time, didn't do any warmup sets. Don't think it mattered too much since weights are not heavy right now.

I typically do dips on "A" days (ie Squat/Bench/Row day) and pullups on "B" days (ie Squat/OHP/Deadlift day), but I got confused and accidentally did pullups instead and didn't realize it until after the fact. No biggie, I'll just do dips Wednesday.