Cows, Squirrels and Starting Strength

discombobulate

Time to keep a record. Week 4 or 5 of starting strength.

Currently lifting:
Bench 55kg
Press 32kg
Squat 36kg
Deadlift 96kg
Standing row 46kg

5'10 or 11
156lbs

Looking to gain mass so have hit the milk and nuts this week.

New bench arriving tomorrow so can start hitting squats properly as have only been doing what I could safely press onto my back so far. Also hopefully buying new plates Sunday as have no more to add to the deadlift and have to jump from 46kg to 55kg because of makeup of current weights.

Must pick up a pull up bar during the week as well

Squat, bench and rows tomorrow. Went well last time out but failed on the bench 5/4/3/2/4 as I had to jump 10kg.The 2 happened after I was helped down with the bar. Will be delighted if I get the 5's out tomorrow. Have to make a 10kg jump on the rows tomorrow too so that'll be interesting.

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Should have said stronglifts in the title. Not following it for the additional exercises though just doing push ups, curls, dips and going to do pullups and a bit of ab work here and there as well

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New bench arrived today. Nice big solid Norditrack bench with squat rack on the back, preachers etc. Set up and ready to go then got a call that my lift down the country was leaving early. Only had time for the bench press.

Hit my 5/5/5/5/5 at 55kg so well happy with that. Up to 57.5 next round. Will have to get squats and rows done tomorrow night now. Have to buy a new bar too. My 5ft bar isn't wide enough for the rack. Picking up another 40kg in plates tomorrow too hopefully.

discombobulate

2 workouts so fa this week.

Monday

In gym back home which has no free bench or squat rack so had to use smith

Bench
5/5/4 - 60/65/70 kg

Squat - 5/5/4 80kg

Deadlift (free bar) - 105kg 1 x 5

Happy with that. Hardest session so far but felt good. Took just over an hour with warmup sets. Hard to guage bench and squats though using the smith machine.

Thursday

Squats
5/5/5 - 55kg - Felt ok although the squat rack on the new bench isn't the safest at chest height and hard to get back on. Not as hard as Monday but want to go up steadily on free bar and focus on form.

Standing row
5/5/5 - 55kg - Not sure my form was the greatest. Welts on hand starting to hurt. Will stick with same next time.

Press
5/5/5 - 32.5kg - Form suffered so back to the same weight next round - Shoulder was really sore after last set so didn't do any accessory work. Will do some bicep work tomorrow depending on shoulder.

Everything done in wrong order so far this week so going to get back with the right combinations over the weekend.

Time for some milk...................

discombobulate

Have also switched to a 3 x 5 for working sets with 2 - 3 warm up sets

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Sunday

Knees were feeling very off so no squats. Shoulder still dodgy so no press. Decided to do bench and row. In the gym back home again so had to use smith

Bench 3 x 60kg + Smith bar kg?
Bit too much on so did 50 kg + 6/6/6

Dumbell row
26kg x 6
28kg x 6
30kg x 6

Was surprised I could do the 30kg. Was buzzing after that. Its the heaviest dumbells they have though so may go with the barbell there next time. Much prefer dumbells for the rows though as not sure of my form with barbell. Finished off with lat pulldowns and some bicep work.

Arms were burnt out then. Hadn't done anything bicep specific in a while. Lactic acid overload on pyramid sets!

Wednesday

Been sick since Monday so my diet has gone to ****. I'd say i had a max of 1000 calories on the Tuesday. Couldn't stomach food. Today pint of milk for breakfast, cheese sandwich and some nuts.

Had to get the workout done though.

Back in my own garage / gym. Shoulder still at me so yet again bench day. very low on energy too.

Squats
57.5kg 5/5/5 (PR with free bar but still relatively low)

Bench
57.5kg 5/5/5 (again PR but very tough)

Standing rows
55kg 5/5/7

Feeling like **** so nothing extra. Hopefully going to go at the shoulders and deadlift tomorrow to make up for lost days and get everything back in the right order. Glad I got this in today though. Need to eat proper tomorrow to get the energy levels back.

discombobulate

After a couple of ****ty workouts in the last week back on track. Decided to get back to the gym today instead of the garage and delighted I did.

First time using Olympic bars.

Squats 5/5/5/5/6 @ 60kg
Shoulder 5 @ 30kg, 5 @ 32.5kg (form all over the place) 5 @ 30kg
Deadlift
5 @60kg
5 @80kg
5 @90kg
4/4 @ 110kg
Lat pull down - 5/6/5

Walked out soaked in sweat felt great!

Deadlifts were tough. Thought my head was going to explode. Love them though. Lost grip on the 5th first round so did another 4. Happy to get that weight out after nearly 2 weeks not doing them due to lack of plates in the shed.

Not too happy with shoulder press but i'll get there

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Last 2 workouts

Thursday
Squat
5/5/5 @60kg - Legs were really burning from the Tuesday

Bench
Warmup and then:
55kg x 5
60kg 5/5/4
55kg 5/5

Standing underhand grip rows
5/5/5/5/6 52.5kg

Elevated dips with 25kg on lap
8/8/8

Barbell curls
Can't remember!
Think it was 30kg 5/5/5 but could have been 27.5kg

Tuesday
Squats
A lot of warmup and then
62.5kg x 5/5
65kg x 5

Press
30kg x 5
32.5kg 5/5/5

Deadlifts (Doing at home so went for higher reps due to lack of discs)
55kg x 8
65kg x 8
75kg x 8
95kg x 8/8

Elevated dips with 25kg on lap
12/10/8

Hammer curls
13.5kg 8/8/8


Must get a pull up bar...........

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Thursday

Squats
Warmup then:
65kg 5/5/8

Bench
Warmup then:
60kg 5/4/4

Failing halfway up on the last rep.
Decided to mix it up just for an extra set and did
35kg x 20

Rows
Alternated between over and under hand for 5 sets @ 55kg

Pushups
Attempted to do with a 25kg plate on my back - Failed
Did 3 sets to failure experimenting with different weights on my back. Chest was burnt out though.

Barbell curls
27.5kg x 8/6/7

Only 4 workouts in the last 2 weeks. Squats are going up easy enough but only as i'm at a relatively low weight. Have to get a bit more discipline and not go as mad at the weekends.

Weight up 6lbs in the last month. Have to get body fat measured.

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Monday

Squats
70kg x 5/5/8
75kg x 5

Overhead press
32.5kg x 5/5/7
35kg x 5
37.5kg x 1

Deadlift
9 x 95kg

Dips - Feet on bench 25kg on lap
17/15/12

Barbell curls
26kg - Something like 8/6/6

Went up 5kg in squats. Was handy enough so attempted another 5kg. Wasn't overly difficult but think I must have dropped my head as neck was sore after and sorer now the day after. Might have to miss out on squats on Wednesday if not better.

Have finally got through the wall on the press. 35kg next time

Deadlifts - Picked up[ more weight last night so can finally do proper weight at home now.

Dips are progressing nicely. Might try with more weight next time.

Curls are curls - My biceps are one of my weakest areas so going to throw in a little work on them for next few workouts

BossArky

discombobulate wrote: »

Curls are curls - My biceps are one of my weakest areas so going to throw in a little work on them for next few workouts

If you don't have a pull up bar you could try doing chins ups/pull ups on the squat rack bar. Just bend your knees to keep lower leg off the ground and set the bar as high as it will go.

Chins will help your biceps.

discombobulate

BossArky wrote: »

If you don't have a pull up bar you could try doing chins ups/pull ups on the squat rack bar. Just bend your knees to keep lower leg off the ground and set the bar as high as it will go.

Chins will help your biceps.

Thanks for the advice there. I'll give it a go. Not sure if there'll be enough room though as my rack is quite low as its on the back of my bench. About chest height. I've to half sqaut to get the bar off the rack.

I'm just being lazy really not picking one up.

Think i'm going to go for the chin and punchbag bracket in argos as its the only wall mountable one i've seen. Just need to convince someone to give me a lift.

Would prefer to be hitting the biceps that way rather than curls. Never tried them before either so should be challenging

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Wednesday

Neck still quite sore so stayed away from squats.

Did 4 sets @ 45kg of 8 reps on the leg curl to start off - Fairly handy

Bench

Flat
57.5kg x 5
60kg 5/5/5/5 - Delighted I hit that
65kg x 2 reps

Incline
42.5kg x 8
50kg x 4
47.5kg x 5

Hadn't done incline bench before so wanted to test it out.

Supinated rows
4 sets to failure switching grips - Didn't keep count for some stupid reason. Think the sets were between 10-18ish with form going to **** near the end of each set swinging hips. Probably do with a bit of weight in a backpack next time.

Got a doorway chin up bar too!!! Put it up quickly after that just to test out. Did a quick set and then the Ireland match which was a completely torturous mental workout...........

Overall happy with today as I got the 60 kg on the bench down.

Want to give the chins a proper test and still get a proper bar for the garage so I don't have to go up to my room to ge them done

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Friday

Only had 20 minutes for a workout so decided presses and deadlift

Presses
35kg 5/5/5

Deadlift
105kg 5/5

Monday

Neck still at me so decided on extra benching instead of squats. Did some high rep sets of squats with 10kg plate in hand.

Flat bench
62.5kg 5/5/4

Incline bench
50kg 5/5/5

Inverted rows
10kg in bag x 10 (was a mess. Rucksack wasn't suitable)
15
12

Pushups feet on chair
20
15
12

Felt dizzy after pushups. Happy with that overall. Disappointed to miss last rep on flat bench.

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Wednesday

Squat
70kg 5/5/5

Press
37.5kg
5/5/4/5

Deadlift
95 x 5
105 x 5/5

Bench dips (25kg)
17
17
13

Preacher curls
Random

Decline situps
10kg x 15
25kg x 15
10kg x 25

Overall good workout. Wasn't feeling great and in bad form so happy to get that in. First squats in a week and a half. Were tough but shouldn't be too much trouble progressing

Press got 4 on the 3rd set and then a ridiculously bad form 5th that that ended with me trying to head the bar up! Went back at it and got the 5.

Deadlifts were handy enough.

Dips to failure so burnt the arms out. Preachers were fairly horrible after it.

Decided to throw in some ab work by declining bench and holding weight. 25kg set was fairly tough and groin hurt on both sides so went for 10kg again on last set as i've never done it before.

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Had a bad week after workout above so only got in one quick session of squat, bench and rows.

Got back into the swing of it on Saturday

Saturday

Squat
72.5kg x 5/5/5

Press
37.5kg x 4/3
35kg x 4
32.5kg x 5

Deadlift
100kg x 5
110kg x 5
105kg x 5

Chin ups
5/4/3

Tricep pulldowns

Good workout other than press which was awful. Really took a hammering over the week of not muchness

Tuesday

Squat
75kg x 5/5/5

Bench
60kg x 6/6/7
62.5kg x 5/5

Dumbell rows
27.5kg x 5
35kg x 5/5
32.5kg x 5

Push ups

Tricep pulldowns

Bench went really well. First time benching with an olympic bar. Had went back down to 60kg but found easy so went for extra reps then upped weight for a couple of sets. First easy session in a while.

Squat form suffered from dropping my right shoulder. Shoulder is very sore today so may have tweaked it on Saturday and hurt a bit more last night.

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Monday

Squats
75kg x 5
77.5kg x 4/3/3

Bench
55kg x 5
62.5kg x 5/5/5
55kg x 8

Row
35kg dumbell x 5/5/5

Chins 1 x fail (not very much)

Dips 3 x fail Think it was 6/5/3 or something similar

Wednesday

Squat

75kg x 5
80kg x 5/5/5
Had loaded one side with a 20 instead of a 15 by mistake so though I had done 70 and then 75 until I unloaded plates.

Press
35kg x 5
37.5kg x 5/4/3

Deadlift
105kg x 5
115kg x 4
Grip more than anything I think letting me down

Chins x 6/5/4 (some assistance for last 2 reps of each)

Tricep pulldowns - 3 sets unsure of weight - 6 - 8 reps

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First day back in the gym since Christmas. Can't do any upper body work due to fall on shoulder and muscle damage so cardio and calorie cutting instead of going for the bulk.

Treadmill 20 mins of 8k x 40 sec 13k x 40 sec. First attempt at HIT and first cardio in 3 months so took it easy.

Crosstrainer x 20mins

Ab work

Weigh in this morning 152.5lbs

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HIT on treadmill
20 mins of 40 second intervals
6.5km/h and 14km/h

5 minute jog

Leg press - 5 sets of 8 - Unsure of weight as machine weights due to incline leg press being in use

Decline sit ups

Eating about 1600cals a dax maximum so far this week.

Physio this afternoon to check on my shoulder. Reckon at least a month away from upper body work unless they can sort it out