28/01/09BW 80.7kg / 178lbs (PM)WTF?! weighted in super heavy today. Don't feel that heavy but there it was. Might have been the 1.2kg salad I ate for lunch still sitting in my stomach.-Row 500m = 1:41.2@31-HB Back Squats: 104 x5x2 / 105 x5Solid. Form felt good, best of all my shoulder and elbows aren't making me cry blood.-Shoulder Press: 45.5 x5x3Solid. Go up.-Deadhang Pull-ups: 9/7/5-Windmills: 50lb x5x3-Stretch
25/01/09BW 78.6kg / 173lbs (PM)-HB Back Squats: 102.5 x5x3Pretty solid. Form felt a bit funny at first but I'm getting the hang of them and leading with the knees. Go up to 104-Bench Press: 70 x5x3Really Solid. Go 71.-Weighted Pull-ups: 12.5 x5x3Good, go 13.75-Evil Wheel work-StretchFeel like shit; sick and tired but all in the name of having fun so I consider it therapy. Regardless of how I felt I managed a pretty good session. Left shoulder still a bit tender but the biceps don't hurt or weren't aggravated by squatting.
23/01/0978.5kg / 173lbs (PM)-Row 500m = 1:39.1@31 (PR)-HB Back Squats: 100 x5x3-Shoulder Press: 45 x5x3Solid. Go 45.5-Deadlifts: 135 x5Solid. Go 137.5-3 Rounds of:12 Overhead Sit-ups, 20lb60 sec plankAlright, after a month plus of pain I've decided to switch over to the High-Bar Back Squat (HBBS). My left shoulder hasn't felt right for a while and I've got bicep tendonitis which makes my eyes bleed after a set of squats. I need to let things heal and rest for a while so I'm going to give HBBS a shot again and re-assess in couple weeks.
21/01/0978.5kg / 173lbs (PM)-Row 500m = 1:40.6@31-Back Squats: 105 x5 / 110 x5x2I was going to give 117.5 another try but I'm having problems with getting the whole low-bar squat thing down so I decided to make it a form session. I'm just not too sure where that bar is suppose to be. It's either too high moves when I go down or too low and it pushes on my shoulders and makes my elbows scream. I think I found the "spot" and did 105 with easy but 110 was heavier than it should have been.-Bench Press: 70 x5x2 / 70 x4Pinned on the 5th. Next time.-DeadhangPull-ups: 6/6/5Pathetic. My arms felt drained after all the squat form practice.-Wind Mills: 50lbs 5x318/01/0978.8kg / 174lbs (PM)-Row 500m = 1:40.1@29-Back Squats: 117.5 x5 / 117.5 x4 / 117.5 x3I should have went with a bit lower weight bit figured what was 1kg?-Shoulder Press: 45 x5x3Solid. Bit too much lean but something to work with. Stay put.-Weighted Pull-ups: 12.5 x5/5/4-Evil Wheel work
16/01/09BW 79kg / 174lbs (PM)-Row 500m = 1:39.6 (PR)-Back Squats: 116.5 x5 / 116.5 x3 / 116.5 x5 Blah. Just didn't have it on the 2nd set, my grip width wasn't right and the bar was sitting too high. The weight felt way too heavy so I bailed short and expected maybe 3 on the last set but managed 5 no problem. I have 117.5kg in me.-Bench Press: 69 x5x3Heavy. Go 69.5-Power Cleans: 62.5 x3x5Through a couple chains on the bar and finished off at 63.5kg. Go 64 x3x5 next time.
14/01/09BW 78.3kg / 173lbs (PM)-Row 500m = 1:40.1@32 (PR)DROM-Back Squats: 115 x5x3Fucking eh. This used to be my 1RM a year ago. Just have to keep my arms up and tight and the rest of me follows.-Shoulder Press: 45 x4 / 40 x5 / 42.5 x5 / 43.5 x5Arrg. Keep at 43.5. HAve to keep tight.-Deadhang Pull-ups: 9/7/5Really wide grip on these-Windmills: 50 x5x2-Stretch
11/01/09BW 78.3kg / 173lbs-Row 500m = 1:40.2@31 (PR)DROM-Back Squats: 113.5 x5x3Solid. Keeping those arms up tightens my upper body making a huge difference. My biceps were still a bit sore but not as bad. 115kg is there.-Bench Press: 68 x5x3Solid. Used a bit closer grip and that relieved a lot of stress off my shoulder plus the weight felt easy. 69 is there.-Deadhang Pull-ups: 9/7/6-Ab Roller: Kneeling 15x3-Stretch
09/01/09BW 77.8kg / 171.5lbs (PM)-Row 500m = 1:41.7@31DROM-Back Squats: 113 x5x3Solid. The last rep was easier than the second. I NEED to keep my arms up! I'm having some major bicipit pain, which I'm sure is Tendonitis. The last set I kept my arms up it didn't hurt plus by keeping my arms up it cued the rest of me to tighted up and I felt a lot more solid and stable. Subsequently I could really feel the hip drive and had no problems keep my knees out and back arched. The last set felt so good I'm going to go for 114 next session.-Shoulder Press: 45 x5x2 / 45x4Not too bad. Watch the form and "head-drive". -Weighted Pull-ups: 12.5 x5x2 / 12.5 x4-StretchAn awesome last couple of sessions. Working out at the end of the day lends it's self really well for heavy lifting. I'm much more mobile, flexible, focused and determined. The squats felt really good today. I'm a bit on the lesser side of sleep the last couple days but have still been feeling really good and fresh. Caffeine consumption is down a bit too.Now all of this said, I've received the odd news that I might be anemic. I had some blood work done and my hemoglobin count 13 so I need to get some further testing to see what the deal is. This has come as an extreme surprise and made me re-evaluate my diet. Vitamin B12 shouldn't be the problem, lots of eggs. Folic acid? I'm eating tonnes of veggies. Iron? Maybe. I haven't eaten much red meat the last could of months, in fact barely any. I have been eating my usual obscene amounts of green leafy veggies though. I've been lifting pretty heavy too, could this be depleting also? A large amount of cell division? This is all very concerning and I'm eager to find out more what I can do and what might be the cause of it. And of course I read the symptoms and manage to match a majority of them to me. The one that concerns me the most is shortness of breath and palpitations. By no means is my cardiovascular capacity very high as of now but heavy squatting and hard rowing is by far more demanding than what 95% of the population is doing. I'm not gasping for air but I wonder if I should be puffing like I am after power-walking up 5 flights of stairs and the fact I can feel and notice my heartbeating makes me wonder. Regardless, I've upped the red meat intake and am trying to get into for more blood work asap.
07/01/09BW 77kg / 170lbs (PM)-Row 500m = 1:41.5@30 Matched my PR-Back Squats: 112.5 x5x3Fuck yeah, finaly hit it.-Bench Press: 68 x5x2 / 68 x4Arrg, this should be easy. My shoulder isn't feeling good. I might have to drop the bench for a while.-Deadlifts: 135 x4Again, should of had this in the bag.-2 Rounds of:10 GHS + Russian Twist, 10kg10 Back ext, 10kg-StretchMixed day. Bench and deadlifts were a bit lacking but the squats were solid. Bodyweight was at a good number too. Plenty of gains to still be made.
05/01/09BW 78kg / 172lbs (PM)-Row 500m = 1:41.7@29damn, just about a PRDROM-Back Squats: 110 x5x3That's more like it. Heavy but manageable, just need to keep those knees out, chest up and watch the grip width. Going to try 112.5 x5x3 next.-Shoulder Press: 44 x5 / 44.5 x5 / 45 x5These were solid, first set fly up. Going for 45 x5x3.-Deadhang Pull-ups: 10/8/5-Ab Roller: Kneeling x15x3-StretchAhh, awesome session. Flew out of the gate with the 500m row nearly hitting a PR, squatted what I felt I should be squatting with little trouble, presses were easy, pull-ups were where they should be, finished with some good ab work and a solid stretch. Great way to start the New Year and on the first day of school.
02/01/09BW 78.1kg / 172lbs-Row 500m = 1:44.7@30DROM-Back Squats: 107.5 x5x3These are heavy, they shouldn't be. Fuck. I'll try 110 next and see what happens.-Bench Press: 69 x5 / 69 x3 / 67.5 x5Double fuck. My shoulder has been giving me problems. Start with 68kg next time and go from there.-Weighted Pull-ups: 12.5 x4 / 10 x5 / 10 x4Fuck, shitty workout. Weighting in heavier than I should be and my strength is lagging from what it was before X-mas. Alright, the "New Year" starts Monday with school begining and a set schedual for the next year straight. Consistency. Monday's a new day and new begining.
The Year of StrengthOr so I hope. As of right now I want to dedicate this upcoming year, 2009 entirely to strength. I've been after the goal of getting bigger and stronger for the last year and a half now with less than stellar success. I've made progress yes, but not as much as I wanted and know I could have. My attempts in the past have been thwarted by going at it the wrong way, changing goals and changing programs. What's worked in the past is good old fashioned lifting and eating ala Starting Strength. My past previous bout with SS, I was walking into it a bit flabbier than I'd like and I put on a bit more fat than I wanted to but the results were there. I started another round in November '08, much leaner but much weaker. The first following weeks I got my squat back up to where it was but the presses are a bit lagging, all without too much extra lard. I'm hoping to keep a steady weight and strength gain over the next year, shooting for 14kg over the next 12 months. A reasonable gain and hopefully a leaner one.I post this goal as a ways to remind myself and to avoid changing up my program and goals.
