Pursuit of Well Being

KABLOOEY

Hi all,

I said I'd start a log as I've big plans for the coming year so would like a place to keep track and monitor progress. Current stats are:

Height: 5'11''
Weight: 74kg
Age: 22
BF: ~14%

Lifts, as of yesterday (day 4 SS):
Squat: 100kg * 5 * 3
Bench: 75kg * 5 * 3
Deadlift: 100kg * 5 * 2
Pull ups: 8, 6, 5

I've been going to the gym for several years but it's only in the past 12 months I've started to become aware of the benefits of certain lifts and the pointlessness of others. The majority of time in gyms for me would have been spent on machine weights & cardio when I was younger. I only started the compound lifts ~9 months ago.

I started SS last week so I'm going to keep that up until I can bench 90, squat 135 & deadlift 140 over 3 sets (or something like those figures, there's no logic behind picking them). The SS programme advocates doing only 1 set of 5 reps of the DL a week but I'm going to do 1 once a week and 2 at the third session. I want to have one, maybe two, bodyweight workouts as well as one HIIT cardio session weekly too. I'll probably reduce the cardio to once a fortnight when I start to bulk.

I don't expect much progress in the coming 2 weeks as I'm on a cut. Trying to trim fat as much as I can in this time & then I'm going to start a clean bulk. I would be very happy to get to 70kg in 2 weeks and by the end of the year be 80-85kg with similiar BF and be capable of the above lifts. Is this all realistic?

KABLOOEY

Today's workout:

40 seconds of each exercise with 20 second break between & 1 min break between sets (total 6):

Ankle taps
Lunges
Mountain climbers
Plank
Renegade row

KABLOOEY

Yesterday's bodyweight workout:

50 seconds of each exercise with 10 second break between & 1 min break between sets (total 4):

Push ups
Planks
Mountain Climbers
Squats
Lunges

Today is day 2 of the SS, might do some isolation work on shoulders & biceps too.

KABLOOEY

Squat: 105kg - 5,4,5 (didn't get down too low for a lot of these so tomorrow I'm going to do something like 5*8*65kg)
Press: 40kg - 5, 5, 5
Deadlift: 105kg - 5
Did some isolation work - chin ups & dumbbell shoulder raises

Checking weight tomorrow.

KABLOOEY

Yesterday:
Squat: 102.5x1, 70x9x5
Bench: 77.5 x 4, 5, 5
Pull ups: 10, 7, 4
Small bit of bicep curls & dips too

Should really be doing cardio or bodyweight workout today but going gym with a friend so will have a spotter. Going to try squat 110x5x3 & bench 80x5x3. Don't know how much the lack of recovery will impact. Weighed in at 75kg yesterday so up slightly over 4 days because the diet hasn't been in check. Think I will start bulking next week anyway, hopefully at around 73kg.

KABLOOEY

Squat: 110x5x3 -
Bench: 80x 3, 2, 77.5x 3, 75x 4
Deadlift: 110x5x1
Did some pull ups & tricep work too.

KABLOOEY

Today:

40 seconds on, 20 rest x 5:
Burpees
Rotational Planks
Plank Jacks
Squat with Twist
Push Up with Renegade Row

KABLOOEY

Squat: 112.5kg x 5 x 3 (minimal help from spotter on last rep)
Press: 42.5kg x 4 x 1, 40kg x 5, x 4
Deadlift: 115kg x 5 x 1
Pull ups: 10, 6, 6

Squat & deadlift are progressing well, really enjoy doing both. Bench & press aren't moving anywhere near as quick but I imagine that's normal. Started bulking today, taking in around 3000kcals of, for the most part, healthy foods.

KABLOOEY

Today:

Warm up: 20 squat to lunges, 10 push ups, 20 mountain climbers, 10 spiderman climbs, 1 min rest x 2

Bodyweight: 25 plank jacks, 20 rotational planks, 15 push ups to renegade rows, 1 min rest x 4

Rowing:
150m row, 30 second rest x 10 (split never above 33 seconds)
3 min rest
150m row, 45 second rest x 10 (split never above 32 seconds)
5 min rest
150m row, 60 second rest x 10 (split never above 31 seconds)

A gruelling workout & Thursday will definitely be a lighter session, probably 20 mins bodyweight & some easy swimming. Diet today was 3 eggs, 3 chicken fillets, 3 burgers, pack of basmati rice, large portion brocolli, green beans & cauliflower, protein shake & 50g cashew nuts. Might have some milk before bed.

KABLOOEY

Today:

Squat: 115kg x 5, 4, 5 (serious groin strain after this, could feel it after first set - was stupid to continue)
Bench: 80kg x 5 x 3 - no problems here, I reckon 82.5 will be do-able next session too
Pull ups: 8 x 4 - good good!
Deadlift: had nearly forgotten the DL. Said I'd attempt the 120 x 5 even with the groin strain (again stupidity), only got 2 reps.

Tomorrow will be light swimming and stretching I think.

KABLOOEY

Diet: 3 eggs, 3 burgers, 3 chicken fillets, 250g basmati rice, 50g cashew nuts, large portion of green veg, protein shake, 2l milk, 2 chocolate bars

Raven_Melody

KABLOOEY wrote: »

Today:

Warm up: 20 squat to lunges, 10 push ups, 20 mountain climbers, 10 spiderman climbs, 1 min rest x 2

Bodyweight: 25 plank jacks, 20 rotational planks, 15 push ups to renegade rows, 1 min rest x 4

Rowing:
150m row, 30 second rest x 10 (split never above 33 seconds)
3 min rest
150m row, 45 second rest x 10 (split never above 32 seconds)
5 min rest
150m row, 60 second rest x 10 (split never above 31 seconds)

.

I dare ya to try break 30sec in the 150m row.. Bane.Of.My.Life!

KABLOOEY

Raven_Melody wrote: »

I dare ya to try break 30sec in the 150m row.. Bane.Of.My.Life!

My last 5 were all under 30 seconds - next time I do it I'll try the 30 sets under 30!

Groin feels fine today so going to have a decent core/bodyweight workout today & light swim after. Inspired by the Olympics, I'm going to try to master a muscle up later as well as practising the form for the clean & jerk.

Provisionally set the plan as:

Warm up: 15 mountain climbers, 10 squats, 12 lunges, 6 push ups to renegade row x 2

Workout: 20 ankle taps, 30 second side plank (both sides), 5 push up claps, 20 burpees, 1 min rest x 4

Front plank for as long as possible, 1 min rest x 3

25kg clean & jerk x 25 focusing on technique

Attempt a muscle up

Swim 500m at a slow pace

KABLOOEY

KABLOOEY wrote: »

Provisionally set the plan as:

Warm up: 15 mountain climbers, 10 squats, 12 lunges, 6 push ups to renegade row x 2

Workout: 20 ankle taps, 30 second side plank (both sides), 5 push up claps, 20 burpees, 1 min rest x 4 2

Front plank for as long as possible, 1 min rest x 3

25kg 20kg clean & jerk x 25 focusing on technique - this didn't feel right at all, need to watch videos on it

Attempt a muscle up Couldn't get one, will need to study this to, couldn't pull myself up or get my hands around, did 10 sets of varied pull ups

Swim 500m at a slow pace

Didn't go too hard today, didn't feel 100% and want to get some good lifts in tomorrow.

Diet: 3 eggs, 3 chicken fillets, 3 salmon fillets, 250g basmati rice, 50g cashew nuts, protein shake, 3 coffees, 1l milk

KABLOOEY

S: 117.5kg x 5, 5, 4
B: 82.5kg x 5 x 3
DL: 120kg x 5 x 1

KABLOOEY

Back to the gym today. Ran around 8km on Sat and did a small bit of swimming, then took Sun & Mon off. I'm going to try incorporate some isolation work into the 3 days of SS - not sure if it's needed but I'll see how it goes. So my 3 workouts a week will look like, broken up by cardio & bodyweight workouts:

Day 1:
Squat & Bench 3 sets, DL 1 set, 3 sets of pull ups to failure, 3 sets Cable Flys & Cable Reverse Flys

Day 2:
Squat & Press 3 sets, DL 1 set, 3 sets of pull ups to failure, 3 sets Incline bench press & preacher curls, 3 sets to failure weighted tricep dips

Day 3:
Squat & Bench 3 sets, DL 1 set, 3 sets of pull ups to failure, 3 sets Seated Leg Curls & Dumbbell front & side raises.

KABLOOEY

Yesterday, day 1:

S: 120 x 5, 5, 4
B: 85 x 5 x 3 (help from spotter on last 2 reps in last 2 sets)
DL: 125 x 4
Pull ups: 9, 6, 5

Diet: 250g cashew nuts, 1 chicken fillet, 1 bacon slice, protein shake, 2 scoops potato, 250g basmati rice, 500g mince, chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, brocolli, cauliflower, peppers.

KABLOOEY

Today:
Hanging Leg Raises: 10 x 3
Chin ups: 10, 10, 9, 7
Squat: 100 x 5, 120 x 3, 110 x 1, 100 x 8 x 2 (I'm pretty confident my recent squats haven't been going down anywhere near enough so scaled it back a bit & worked on form, I'm prob capable of 110x5x3 with proper technique and not 120)
Press: 42.5 x 5, 5, 4 (a bit disappointed that I've not even increased this by 2.5 since I started, something's up I think)
Pull ups: 6
Pylo push ups: 10x4
Burpees: 10x2

As you can see I'm now leaning toward mixing BW in with SS rather than isolation work as I alluded to earlier. I change my mind too much!

KABLOOEY

Took the 9th off as I was sick.

Yesterday:

Very good session, had time to spare so spent around 2 hours in the gym.

Bench: 85x5x3
Chin ups: 10, 10, 9, 7
Hanging Leg Raises: 10x3
Deadlift: 130xfail,
90x8, 100x5 x 4 or 5, some lighter work too
Squats: 100x9x2, 90x9x2, 80x9x2, 70x9x2, 60x9x2
50 pull ups & 50 dips as fast as possible: around 7 mins, going to try this with 100 dips as I was left with loads of pull ups to do
Did a couple sets of plyo push ups & diamond push ups too.

Gained a lot of insight from Ferike's log and am already introducing some of the BW exercises in. Feeling strong lately but have put on the gut again from not bulking clean so have to address that. Today I cycled 10km (~24 mins), ran 5km (24 mins) & swam 300m. Will probably just do some light swimming again tomorrow.

KABLOOEY

Today:

Cycled 25km (60 mins) - tough terrain for long stretches
Ran 2km - 9m5secs
Short swim

In bits now.

Diet: 4 eggs, 3 bacon, 2 gluten free bread, 2 steak, 2 bread, protein shake, 2 coffees, probably have an omelette later or something.

KABLOOEY

Today:

Pylo push ups 10 x 3
Chin ups 8 x 4
Bench Press: 85kg x 5 x 2
Leg Curls: 55kg x 12 x 3
Diamond push ups: 10 x 3
Pull ups: 8 x 2
750m swim in 27 mins

KABLOOEY

5km run - 24:05
750m swim - 22 mins

KABLOOEY

Chin ups: 8 x 4
Plank jacks: 25 x 4
Some work on muscle ups, still can't do one...
Plyo push ups: 15 x 4
Diamond push ups: 9, 10 x 3
Pull ups: 10, 7
About 40 pull ups assisted (10-20kg) changing grip after each pull up
750m swim @ 22mins

KABLOOEY

Checked up on strength today, down a bit but wasn't fully up for the session so it's ok:

Squat: 105kg x 5 x 3
Press: 45kg x4, 4, 5
Bench: 80 x 5 x 3
50 pull ups & 50 dips in 10 mins
750m swim @ 24mins

KABLOOEY

25km cycle in 1 hour

KABLOOEY

26km cycle

KABLOOEY

15km cycle & 5km run in just under an hour.

KABLOOEY

Warm up: 25 rotational planks, 20 renegade rows, 10 burpees x 2
Press: 47.5 x 3, 45 x 5 x 2, 47.5 x 5 x 1
DL: 110 x 7 x 3
Diamond push ups: 10 x 3
Pylo push ups: 15 x 3, 11
Pull ups: 8, 8, 5
Dips: BW + 10kg x 10 x 3
750m swim @ 26mins

KABLOOEY

**** day, been sick all week and not getting any good performances in.

Warm up: 12 lunges 10 squat 10 clap push ups 8 burpees x 2
S: 100 x 9 x 3
Bench: 85 x 3, 3, 82.5 x 4, 4
Lat Pulldown: 55 x 9, 70 x 9, 65 x 9 x 2
Curls: 15kg x 7 (both arms) x 3

KABLOOEY

I'm going to switch things up slightly. I've come across the Wendler program and it looks ideal for me for the next 3 weeks - short gym sessions increasing strength with the four major compound lifts. I'm doing a mix of the Boring but Big & BW versions. This program should take less than 1 hr in gym 4x a week so will leave me time to get a 30 min endurance cardio session in every day in training for a sprint tri in 2 weeks. Am going to also add some core BW workouts too. Will kick it off on Monday after a good weekend of cardio!

KABLOOEY

Yesterday: 22km cycle

Going for a 20km cycle and 5km run now fasted

KABLOOEY

Ugh got my distances a bit mixed up but covered a 15km cycle & 5km run in ~75 mins. Was against the wind & a hilly terrain for most of the cycle so it was a tough session but wish I had calculated the 20km better. Tomorrow will probably be a recovery day with some light swimming and then 4 good gym sessions Mon-Thurs. Started intermittent training a few days ago but have been on a calorie surplus binging on junk last 2 nights... time to get serious again.

KABLOOEY

Day 1 of Wendler:

45kg Press - 8
Chin ups - 10, 10, 9, 8, 6
Dips - +10kg 13, 13, 11, 10, 10
3km cycle, 2km run, 750m swim

KABLOOEY

DL day of Wendler: 115kg * 6
Hanging leg raises: 7*2, 10
Dips: 10*3
3km run & 750m swim

KABLOOEY

Had a bit of a strange day. Went home from lunch and forgot keys to house so just decided to fast for the day. Only have food on now after the gym making it a ~22 hour fast. Feel fine though and workout was ok. Didn't feel up to cardio/swim at end however.

Pull ups: 10, 10, 6
Bench: Windler leading up to 75kg x 11
Plyo push ups: 10 x 5
Small bit of diamond, normal & pike push ups
Wanted to do 3 sets of pull ups again but shoulder was pretty sore after first set of 9. It's a recurring pain in my right shoulder, comes around from any hanging exercises. Will have to try some stretches or something.

Looking forward to dinner now!

KABLOOEY

Just spend a few minutes jotting down goals for myself. There's no reason to wait until the turn of the year to pen my goals or resolutions. I'm starting my final year in college in October and will be finished in June so there's a good 9 months to accomplish them. I'll keep the personal stuff out so here's my exercise goals, albeit possibly quite optimistic:

o Weightlifting:
 Squat 150kg*5*3
 Bench 100kg*5*3
 Deadlift 175kg*5*1
 Press 70kg*5*3
 Record over 500kg for 1RM of Squat, Bench & Deadlift
 Master the form for Clean & Jerk and Snatch

Now I reckon I'm capable of maybe 112*5*3 squat, 83kg*5*3 bench, 125kg*5*1 DL and 50kg*5*3 press at the minute so they're decent and hopefully attainable goals. I'll probably try out a few programs over the 9 months but Wendler & SS will be mainstays. I've never done any 1 rep workouts but I was reading a lot of the other guys' threads yesterday and felt like it's a good way to monitor progress and another good goal that would feel great to hit. I'll post all 1RM lifts in a month or so, have holidays to take care of first!

o Bodyweight:
 Pull ups: do 20 straight, max out at 3 sets over 12
 Do 10 muscle ups
 100 push ups in a row made up of 25*normal, diamond, plyo & pike

All attainable for sure, it's hard to set BW exercise goals I think. Will be happy so long as I'm using them regularly for assistance work & seeing gradual improvements.

o Cardio:
 Compete in 1 or more adventure style runs such as Gaelforce or smaller event.

Just to keep the competitive drive going and to make sure I don't neglect cardio completely. Also they look like good fun! Might try two out over the 9 months.

Looking forward to my post on June 1st already putting a big tick beside each goal

RyanTubs

Quite a lot of goals there, good luck with it!

KABLOOEY

Yup may as well aim high. Today was an average session:

Warm up: lunges, squats, attempts at sissy squats
Wendler Day :
S: 50x5, 60x5, 70x3, 77.5x5, 87.5x5, 100x5, 55x10x5 ... went to failure with the 100kg, or close to it, so v disappointed with that.Was doing 100*9*4 only a week or 2 ago. Hopefully just an off day.
Leg Curl: 60x10x4
750m swim

KABLOOEY

Friday: 15km cycle, 40 mins

Today: 15km cycle, 46 mins

Will run 5km & swim 750m later today

KABLOOEY

Just did a ~5km warm up cycle & 3km run. Not the best. 6 days until the tri.

KABLOOEY

21km cycle - 50 mins
5km run - 23 mins
Short swim to cool down

Good session and happy with the 5km time (22:55). Think I've ran sub 23:00 before but not positive so have to be very happy with that. Today was always going to be the day that decided whether or not I do the tri. Unfortunately I didn't get to see how my outdoor swimming was, I left it until the end & was too tired. However I'm happy enough with my times on bike & foot to give the sprint tri a go. If I can get in and out of the water in 25-30 mins I'll be happy. I'll set a goal of sub 1:45 which is definitely achievable.

KABLOOEY

Just did some messing around with BW stuff:

5 x diamond push ups
5 x clap " "
5 x pike " "
5 x lunges

X 4

Also attempted some semi-planche push up work with legs about 3 feet off ground on table. Got 1 rep in after a few fails but hurt my upper back doing it. Going for a 5km run now too.

KABLOOEY

First day back lifting in over a month I think and I can finally look forward to getting back in a routine. Damaged my ankle pretty bad around a month ago and then went on holidays. Ankle still a bother to run on but fine for everything else. Used today to check how much I've regressed strength-wise:

S: 90kg*5*3 - pretty tough probably couldn't have done anymore
DL: 120kg*4 - maxed out on 4
B: 75kg*5*3 - probably could have done 77.5kg
Pull ups: 10, 7, 3 - poor third set
Weight: 78.3kg

Surprisingly I haven't lost much on the DL but a significant amount on the other two. Should come back quick enough with regular training. Just quoting goals below so I have them on this page. Not sure how they'll change over the coming weeks but for now I'm just going to work on getting a bit of strength back.

KABLOOEY wrote: »

o Weightlifting:
 Squat 150kg*5*3
 Bench 100kg*5*3
 Deadlift 175kg*5*1
 Press 70kg*5*3
 Record over 500kg for 1RM of Squat, Bench & Deadlift
 Master the form for Clean & Jerk and Snatch

o Bodyweight:
 Pull ups: do 20 straight, max out at 3 sets over 12
 Do 10 muscle ups
 100 push ups in a row made up of 25*normal, diamond, plyo & pike

o Cardio:
 Compete in 1 or more adventure style runs such as Gaelforce or smaller event.

KABLOOEY

Light enough session today:

Chin ups: 10, 10, 9
Press: 45kg*5*3
DL: 110kg*5*2
Plyo push ups: 10*3
Dips: 20

Oregano_State

Interesting log, I'm a similar weight, age and height to you so I'll definitely be keeping track of your progress.

At my best, I was about as strong as you are, though I'm only getting back into gym work now after a few months absence so it'll be a few weeks (4-6 prolly) before I'm back in that shape.

My log is the Athletics/Running forum, if you're interested. My goals are a bit different, I'm mainly interested in the benefits to my running, but PBs in the gym are always fun to get.

Best of luck with the training anyway!

KABLOOEY

Cool thanks, will give your log a look alright. Plan to do a couple adventure runs through the year but main focus will be on strength I think.

Started a bulk since last update which I will probably keep up for a good while. I'll try get up to ~90kg+ by January and then cut from there. Will be DLing and squatting a lot on the bulk and doing just BW exercises as well.

KABLOOEY

S: 100*5*3
DL: 125*3
Bench: 62.5*9*3
Some two-handed kettlebell snatches

Will be weighing in on Wed, decided to only weigh in every 2 weeks of the bulk as when I was cutting I was constantly checking in and it definitely doesn't help. Something like .750g a week gains would be great!

KABLOOEY

Pulled a muscle in my ass so only doing upper body atm. Really need to weigh in soon too, think I'm overdoing it on the bulk. Would estimate I'm 83-85kg now.

KABLOOEY

Still doing upper body, pain has subsided in ass but not fully gone so will give it another week or so. Joined the DCU gym and have been told the barbells there are 15kg by 2 staff and 20kg by another. Doesn’t feel like 20kg to be honest but if it is my bench is showing good progress. Did bar + 60kg x 9, 8, 6. Rest of my workouts have just been press, various push ups, pull ups, chin ups & dips. Still no weigh in…

KABLOOEY

Long time since an update and that's due to me rarely exercising over the past couple of months. That niggling injury has been seen by 3 physios and it was deduced that it was a sprain in some large muscle in the ass region. Recovery hasn't gone 100% and it's still sensitive to any leg workouts so am looking at getting acupuncture for it now. Having to stay out of gym for 3 weeks and then having the injury not fully recover just deflated my enthusiasm for exercise really. I did the odd run and cycle but am sure I've lost a lot of strength. Anyway, going to get back to updating this as my plan is cut and get injury sorted in Jan, bulk Feb-Apr and cut May again. I'm following the Paleo diet this month and will do some bodyweight and cardio workouts but main hope is to be able to perform compound lifts again on Feb 1st!

KABLOOEY

5 days of Paleo down and it is fantastic! Improved mood, way more energy, more focus and concentration and losing fat; delighted with it. First couple days were tough but have the hang of it now. Have only been doing small runs but will be back in the gym this week for some light sessions.