Sculelos Weight Log and Profile (with pics)

[Sculelos]

Well I thought it was time I got back into weight lifting, I did do weight lifting before but it was mostly fluff and I wasn't getting the results I liked so I stopped.

Anyways right now I just did my first rippletoe workout, anyways here is my workout program and below it should be my profile with pics in a little while.

Workout program - 3 Times a week, never two days in a row, 3 Sets - 5 Reps, alternating from A to B.

Workout A.
1.Squat, 75lbs Starting
2.Bench Press, 95lbs starting
3. Deadlift, 75lbs starting

Workout B.
1.Squat, 75lbs starting.
2.Military Press, Will find next time
3.Barbell Rows, Will find next time

Extra Stuff = 15 Incline Situps, 15 Hanging Knee Ups and 15 Wieghted rope crunches.

Well thats my Workout Program my profile...

Name: Samuel
Age: 18
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 182lbs

Anyways thats the plan right now, will update pics in a little. Also I will periodically update this thread with new results and probably new pics if I see any massive gains.

As for right now I feel a little sore but I should be able to do another workout on Tuesday.

 

[ZGzaZ]

Good luck, should be pretty easy to but on weight being 6'5, 180....

 

[Sculelos]

Good luck, should be pretty easy to but on weight being 6'5, 180....

Yea, I'm a lightweight... I hope to gain at least 20lbs by the end of the year, and I am eating quite alot right now.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

You are gonna make great progress, good job starting the weights at a nice easy level so you can ease into it and let the ligaments and tendons adapt. Def. a lot of potential with your build.

 

[Kabeetz]

You can put on 20 pounds NO PROBLEM if you choose to eat like u weigh 20-40 pounds more already. Man up time... EAT BIG, TRAIN BIG, REST UP Your goal *IS* very achievable.

 

[Sculelos]

Yea, I am tall and lanky, but my cardio is in great shape and I am reasonably fit.

Anyways I am incorperating alot more Milk, Bread and Peanut butter into my diet if that doesn't fatten me up then I will just have to add even more stuff to my already enlarged diet.

I'm optimistic considering I just stumbled accross this website and most of the info I never even heard about, never trained in ANY of these lifts before except for bench which explains why I can bench more then I can Squat or Deadlift.

Anyways I'm planning on doing this training plan until I hit a wall, then I'll wait like a week and do it again and if I can't gain after that then I will keep doing the core excersizes but I will expand my regime to include more muscle specific task, right now I just gotta build my muscle base, anyways I'm sure it will work better then my dads total gym.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Getting past a wall isnt always solved by more training. Food and sleep are the first culprits. I have had a few minor stalls that were merely diet related.

I would suggest replacing pulldowns with pullups or chinups. Even if you can only do one, just start with sets of one and build up. Also, if you do your pullups before squat on day 2 you can recover a bit before OHP (military press) and still have pressing power. It would be good for you to focus more on pulling right now instead of bench, since you have already benched a bit.

 

[Sculelos]

Getting past a wall isnt always solved by more training. Food and sleep are the first culprits. I have had a few minor stalls that were merely diet related.

I would suggest replacing pulldowns with pullups or chinups. Even if you can only do one, just start with sets of one and build up. Also, if you do your pullups before squat on day 2 you can recover a bit before OHP (military press) and still have pressing power. It would be good for you to focus more on pulling right now instead of bench, since you have already benched a bit.

Err, sorry I'm not doing lat pulldowns, I guess that was a poor choice to discribe what I'm doing.

In actuality when I said pulldown I really meant I'm holding a wieghted rope and pulling it with my abs down, I'm not sure what it's called though.

And I can do pullups, 10 in a row if I am determind.

I won't do any more arm specific excersizes then the ones I already have listed, at least until I start stalling badly, I think the Barbell Rows and Military Press should help with my traps/delts which need some work. If I feel like I've overtrained myself I will take a week off.

Again sorry for my poor choice of words, I don't know all the gym lingo. I didn't even know what the deadlift or Barbell rows where until a few days ago.

 

[MichaelScott]

stay positive and the gains will come

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Those would be called cable crunches or something similar. Those are good.

 

[beerdrinker]

First of all us super white folks need to wear some sunscreen, ok?

I'm looking forward to reading this log. You are heading down the right path with the 3x5 for sure. You're going to make great progress.

 

[Sculelos]

First of all us super white folks need to wear some sunscreen, ok?

I'm looking forward to reading this log. You are heading down the right path with the 3x5 for sure. You're going to make great progress.

Yea, I wear sunscreen but I love being outdoors.

Anyways I'm eating about 1000-2500 calories a day more then I normally do, so I should gain reasonably fast.

My upper legs and butt are reasonably sore today, and my arms are mildly sore. So even though I did only 3 excersizes with 5reps they seemed to have done the trick.

Doesn't help the fact that I'm dying to go back to the gym but have to wait 'till tuesday due to memorial day...and an extra day recovering from my first rippletoe workout couldn't hurt either.

One thing I noticed though is I physically feel a lot better after I workout, not sure if thats normal but whatever.

Anyways I plan to proceed smart and carefully, and I hope for the best.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #2 (B) 5-29-07

All excercises 3 sets, 5 reps.

1)Squat, 85lbs, +10lb increase.
2)Military Press, 65lbs
3)Barbell rows, 85lbs

Impressions

Well my glutes are still a little sore from Saturday, but decided to squat anyways and managed to do a little more wieght then last time.

Military press was okay, last set was pretty hard though.

Barbell rows where decent as well once I figured out the proper positioning, went light to get good form down.

Anyways right now I feel fine, and if I'm not to sore I will workout again thursday.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Keep working out, even if you are sore. Do 10 minutes of light cardio before the squats to get the muscles looser before you start. It also helps take the soreness away. Once you are done with the squats on the third day, you probably wont get sore legs again till you have a really hard day or bad recovery. The two day weekend is nice.

 

[firefighter337]

Keep it up bro. Its good to see someone starting from scratch.

Good luck.

 

[Sculelos]

Keep working out, even if you are sore. Do 10 minutes of light cardio before the squats to get the muscles looser before you start. It also helps take the soreness away. Once you are done with the squats on the third day, you probably wont get sore legs again till you have a really hard day or bad recovery. The two day weekend is nice.

Yea, today I'm barley sore. So tomorrow even if I am sore I will still workout.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Already getting used to it!

 

[Sculelos]

Already getting used to it!

Yea, it's nice not to have to walk funny the day after the workout.

For my second time squatting I would say not bad, since my legs are untrained I think they should advance fairly quickly, hopefully my arms will gain some as well, my deltoids/lats are slightly sore from either barbell rows or military press, I would guess the rows though.

Although right now I feel pretty good, feel like I could workout right now if I wanted to, although I'm not going to work out 2 days in a row and it looks like my lifting schedule pretty much going to be Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Might change it if I need to though.

Anyways it's really to early in training to tell how well I will do, but I'm hoping for the best!

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #3 5-31-07

Total I felt a little more energized, a little stronger perhaps...but I got kinda overzelous with adding wieght and had to drop it on some later sets due to fatigue, anyways here are my results.

My format will be Sets/Reps/Weight

1.Squats, 2x5x105lbs, 1x5x95lbs. +20/10 increase from last time, 30/20+ from start.

2.Bench, 3x5x105lbs, +10 increase from last time, kinda slow on last set but still held proper form down.

3.Deadlift, 1x5x105lbs, 1x5x95lbs, 1x5x85lbs, I admit I was all over the place on deadlifts and next time will start a little lower and try to stay the same weight each set (probably at 95lbs), my legs where kinda sore from Squating but still I had an increase of 30/20/10lbs over last time so who am I to complain?

Extra Stuff: 15 Incline Sit-Ups, 10 Cable Crunches, 15 Leg ups.

Only did extra stuff to waste some time.

Overall I think I am making nice progress, hopefully it will continue for some time.

 

[H_T_]

good luck. gatdam.

 

[xblitz44x]

Great job so far. You're on the right track.

Do you have your weight progress planned out and written down, or are you just winging it from week to week? I've found it's best to write down every weight, for every set, for every workout for the next 8 weeks. Put it in an Excel spreadsheet and stick to it. This way you won't fall victim to overconfidence and have to reramp your weights.

Also, you seem to put a lot of emphasis on "sore". Ignore it. Don't talk about it, don't let it effect your training. Sometimes you'll be sore, sometimes you won't. If you're sore, and you're supposed to work out, work through it. If you're not sore and you're not supposed to workout that day, don't work out.

Pay attention to your weight gain, as far as body composition goes. You can afford to put on some fat but you don't want to throw on a whole lot of fat and have to take it all off when you're done bulking.

 

[Sculelos]

Great job so far. You're on the right track.

Do you have your weight progress planned out and written down, or are you just winging it from week to week? I've found it's best to write down every weight, for every set, for every workout for the next 8 weeks. Put it in an Excel spreadsheet and stick to it. This way you won't fall victim to overconfidence and have to reramp your weights.

Also, you seem to put a lot of emphasis on "sore". Ignore it. Don't talk about it, don't let it effect your training. Sometimes you'll be sore, sometimes you won't. If you're sore, and you're supposed to work out, work through it. If you're not sore and you're not supposed to workout that day, don't work out.

Pay attention to your weight gain, as far as body composition goes. You can afford to put on some fat but you don't want to throw on a whole lot of fat and have to take it all off when you're done bulking.

Eh yeah, I have weight increments planned but not sure if I will be able to do them, will stick more to a linear progression now.

As for fat I don't think I will have a problem it is pretty difficult for me to gain much weight anyways, although if I start gaining too fast I will cut down on the calories.

And I guess soreness doesn't really matter to much, just don't want to overtrain.

 

[xblitz44x]

And I guess soreness doesn't really matter to much, just don't want to overtrain.

If you've been planning your workouts then you could schedule a deload every 6-8 weeks.... where you simply back off the volume to let your body recover (workout just twice that week). When people feel "over-trained" after just 4 weeks of moderate work, it's because a) they aren't conditioned, b) they aren't eating enough c) they aren't getting enough rest.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

As long as you get proper food and sleep, you shouldnt need a deload for months and months since you are a new lifter. Im going strong now at four months without a deload, and the gains have not tapered off yet. I will add an extra day for recovery when my lower back says so, but I wouldn't call it a deload.

 

[Sculelos]

Ah okay, I guess I won't worry about it then unless I stop improving for awhile then I may try a deload.

It's just that the training I'm doing now is radically different then anything I've ever done in the past, first time that I've got a set routine and I am going to try my best to follow it.

As well I am eating more although if I start getting fat I will reduce accordingly, right now though I could easily handle another 10lbs or so pretty effortlessly though even if it's just pure fat, so untill I hit 190lbs I won't necessarily monitor my calories much.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Dont sweat it. Just go one day at a time, and you will know if you need a day or a week after a few months of training. Days after drinking, no sleep, little food, and other daily things will be the first hurdles you come to. Once the weight gets heavier and you train for a while, you will need to start planning your deloads and reloads.

 

[Sculelos]

Well I think tomorrow I'm only going to only increase the weight very minimally if at all... yesterday I got overzealous and had to decrease weight before all the sets were done, so I'm going to start planing exact routines and see if I can follow them, anyways this is what I'm going to try.

Squat, 3x5x95 dropping the weight slightly in order to do 3 sets cleanly

Military Press ,75lbs, last time 65lbs wasn't to hard so I think an increase is in order

Barbell Rows,85lbs again, had to really focus on maintaining my form last time so I think it might be wise to let my core get a little stronger before increasing this one.

Any suggestions welcome, will probably go to the gym tomorrow morning.

 

[beerdrinker]

I wouldn't go up 10lbs on the military press if I were you. It will be your first lift to stall out, so don't push it too quickly. 5lbs is the max I would go up.

 

[Sculelos]

I wouldn't go up 10lbs on the military press if I were you. It will be your first lift to stall out, so don't push it too quickly. 5lbs is the max I would go up.

Ah, okay, I'll just do 5lb heavier then.

But still planing on sticking to the workout in my above post besides that change, need to get my form down nice and smooth in a few lifts that I thought were a little clunky last time from being new to them.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Thats pretty much the weight I started with, and It certainly helped me learn the motions without hurting the joints much. Your connective tissues will take longer than your muscles to catch up, so take these first six weeks moderate if you have never trained before. The tendon and ligament strains are no fun at all, because of the low blood flow and long recovery times.

I X2 the advice on OHP. It was the first motion to stall on me. 5lbs is a big jump every time.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #4, Week 2

(format is in WeightxRepsxSets)

1.Squats, 95x5, 85x5x2. First of all I want to say I examined how I was doing the squats and thought I should go deeper so today I went deep and although I had to drop some weight I think the form was greatly improved, I did 95lbs first but on the fifth rep I my form suffered so I lowered the weight. Form>Weight.

2.Military Press, 65x5x3, Form was good and last 2 reps on set 3 were difficult but I managed to do them fine, I switched from using the curl bar to the bench bar, and I thought the curl bar was 15lbs, but found out that it's only 10. So I actually increased 5lb from last time.

3.Barbell Rows, 85x5x3, Greatly improved form over last time, as such it was much less strain on my back, so even though no weight improvement I'll say it again, Form>Weight.

So overall I'm pleased, I didn't gain anything today in terms of Weight but I Squated Deep, Military Pressed better and held down proper form for all the Barbell Rows.

I think I've came quite a ways in a week, learned 4 new lifts this week, nailed down a nice good form on all the lifts and increased Weight and Recovery time, so all in all it's been a good week.

Oh and now I'm using the Bench/Squat bar for every single lift.

As for my gains.

Bench 95>105
Squat 75>85 (Also deeper though)
Deadlift 45-85 (was experementing) > 85
Military Press 60>65
Barbell Rows>40-85 (Same as deadlift)>85

Hopefully I do as good or better in the upcoming week.

 

[Sculelos]

Well I feel pretty damn good today, last week during this time I got hit with major soreness but right now I barley feel anything.

Also I'm not completely untrained as I was doing the whole TotalGym workout 1-2 times a week on the highest level (which was only like 46lbs lol).

As well I walk 15-30 miles a day due to my job, half the time pushing stuff so my legs are pretty decent as well.

I weighed myself on the scale today and I'm pretty sure I gained about half a pound, so if I keep going at this rate at end this year I will be about 196lbs.

Anyways I will keep doing this until I cannot make reasonable progress then probably switch to the intermediate program (5x5).

Well those are just various thoughts racing through my head

 

[s8nlilhlpr]

weight training is a whole new level for yuo compared to using the chuck norris total gym .

Soreness subsides VERY quickly for me. First week or so I was crippled, now I barely even remember I worked out the night before. You will be fine until you decide to add in a new exercise. First time I did heavy powershrugs my traps killed me, same with weighted ab work.

I would stick to weighing yourself once a month. Your weight can fluctuate up to 10lbs or so due to water weight. If you don't eat enough/drink enough water the day before, make sure you get in the proper cals the next day. I don't really bother with a scale, just base it off the mirror, and if my gf says I look a little bigger I'll step on.

If it were me, I'd weigh and take pics the first of every month. That way you have a clear cut progression chart. You WILL stop gaining weight eventually, at that point you will have to increase your cals. The same cals that get you from 185-200 will not take you from 200-225.

Good work, keep it up!

 

[Sculelos]

Yea good advice, I think I will take new pics in July and compare to the first ones and if I notice a difference I will post them.

And I have been eating quite a bit more then normal so if I don't gain any weight there is something wrong with me.

And I think I've said it before, but I'm excited about the prospects of this program, never before have I had the burning desire to workout and get stronger then I do now. I just want to get close to my genetic potential, thats all I really can ask for, be the best I can naturally be.

 

[s8nlilhlpr]

don't worry about posting pics every time, they are more for yourself than anything else. I know I worked out for a year and didn't think anything looked different 'till I saw my old friends.

As with eating more than normal, you are also burning more cals than normal. You can use fitday.com to track your calories, just make sure you are getting plenty a day. Gallon of whole milk a day does wonders for weight gain .

 

[Sculelos]

Well, no workout today. My left calf started cramping up yesterday evening so I figure I must be overworking myself, anyways I slept 11 hours last night and called in sick to work, today it feels okay but I'm going to workout tomorrow, skip Thursday and resume my regular workout routine of Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday if everything goes to plan.

 

[lightemup82]

Yes its a good thing your starting light. I just started working out again and was doing the most weight I could to keep up with my friends and I messed up something in my arm doing curls. hurts like a bitch and that was over a month ago

 

[Sculelos]

Yes its a good thing your starting light. I just started working out again and was doing the most weight I could to keep up with my friends and I messed up something in my arm doing curls. hurts like a bitch and that was over a month ago

Yea, I think my lack of sleep the past few days was what caused it, usually I only cramp up if I'm extremely tired. Although it could of been the heavy lifting at work as well or a combination of the things, all I know for sure is I need to rest today.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Could also be diet. Make sure you get enough potassium and salt and water.

 

[Sculelos]

Could also be diet. Make sure you get enough potassium and salt and water.

Yea, I am getting plenty of potassium and water, but thinking about it my salt intake has been kinda low so I'm eating Saltier foods.

I feel pretty good right now besides the calf soreness, hoping it will be mostly recovered tomorrow.

 

[perp69]

Can't wait to see your progress. Glad to see you concentrating on the big lifts. Not sure how much cardio you are doing would keep it to a min or just enough to keep your cardio health up. Keep increasing those weights every workout and keep eating you will be very happy.

Perp

 

[Sculelos]

Well it's me again

Anyways I'm pleased to announce that I made a full recovery from yesterday and did a workout, turns out all I needed was some more salt as I looked at my diet and was suprised that I was lacking in it, no matter now I'm drinking a glass of tomato juice a day and adding sodium through other ways as well. Now to the workout part!

Workout #5, 6-6-07

Lifts in Wieght/Reps/Sets format. *(Means that its a personal record)

1.Squat 95x5x3*
2.Bench 115x5x3*
3.Deadlift 95x5x3*

Comments: Was very pleased with how today turned out, I made a full recovery, increased all the weight over past workouts and had very good form. I just consider myself lucky that I didn't listen to a person in the gym that said I shouldn't squat deep cause it's bad for my knees cause tell you what I'm squatting deep! (Also said to use smith machine 'till I become balanced, screw that my balance is fine and even if it wasn't using heavier weights to learn balance is a bad idea!)

Anyways I'm very thankful that I found this website and that people gave me so much info to start me on the right track, probably would still be doing rubbish if I hadn't.

Also I weighed myself and I was at 187lbs, an increase of 5lbs over last time, so thats pretty cool, I just hope I can keep increasing it!

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #6 6-9-07

Weight: 185lbs, well I'm steadily weighing about 3-5lbs heavier then I was two weeks ago so I think I am gaining weight, still 15lbs heavier is my goal which might adjust it when I reach it If I feel like bulking more.

Warmed up by biking/brisk walking for about 10 minutes.

1.Squats, 45x5, 105x5x3, Did a warmup squat set just to make sure my legs where in good shape, the squats themselves felt good, went deep without any problems and had decent power.

2.Military Press, 75x5, 70x5, 65x5, Progressively lowered the weight as I was getting a little shaky at the end of each set.

3.Barbell Rows, 95x5x3, No problems there, felt it working on my abs though.

Extra stuff: 10 Needlesize Situps, 10 Hanging Leg-ups.

I think I am making good progress, I have trained for 2 weeks now and I have made a few mistakes but have since corrected them I wonder how far I can go on this program before I stall and have to move to the intermediate 5x5 program.

Anyways I have made more progress in week 2 then I did in week 1 so it's a good sign, I Just hope I don't stall in any of the leg lifts for awhile, arm lifts are expected to stall until I have a strong back/legs.

 

[Sculelos]

Can't wait to see your progress. Glad to see you concentrating on the big lifts. Not sure how much cardio you are doing would keep it to a min or just enough to keep your cardio health up. Keep increasing those weights every workout and keep eating you will be very happy.

Perp

Ah, and as to this... I'm kind of stuck walking 15+ miles a day for my job, and although it's taken me about 5 months to get used to it I now have quite a bit of energy left over after work, so thats why I turned to weight lifting to bulk up some and increase my weight to about 200lbs which is only about 15lbs heavier then I am now, don't want to get to heavy though as I to much weight will slow me down to much.

 

[Sculelos]

I think I'm going to start doing lighter Squats on Deadlift days, doing both really thrashes my legs good and I think I might be able to make better progress if I do so, anyways won't be much lighter just like 10-20lbs lighter then squat days.

 

[skullcrushin22]

Ah, and as to this... I'm kind of stuck walking 15+ miles a day for my job, and although it's taken me about 5 months to get used to it I now have quite a bit of energy left over after work, so thats why I turned to weight lifting to bulk up some and increase my weight to about 200lbs which is only about 15lbs heavier then I am now, don't want to get to heavy though as I to much weight will slow me down to much.

15 miles a day....where do you work?

 

[Sculelos]

15 miles a day....where do you work?

I'm a cartpusher at Walmart currently, I'm Walking around constantly for 7 1/2 - 8 hours a day, I usually average 2-3 miles an hour although I have walked up to 5 in a very busy hour before.

So basically my minimums, 7.5x2=15 miles, some days I do quite a bit more though.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #7 6-11-07

Nothing impressive today, just am doing a slightly lighter load because I'm hoping I will recover faster, last time I did deads it took me two days to recover so thats why, did have abit of extra energy so I targeted the abs as well though.

Squat, 95x5x3, nice and deep... almost coudn't pull myself out of the hole on the very last rep and set.

Bench, 95x5x3, Did a fairly light bench, no point in killing my arms if my legs arn't strong, not going to Bench more until I can squat more.

Deadlift, 95x5x3, Felt good, felt my leg abductors being worked.

Also for abs I did

10x2 Dip leg raised (hold myself up on dip bar and do leg raises since I'm to tall for the normal one)
10x2 Cable Crunches
10x2 Needsize Sit-Ups
10 Reverse Sit-ups

Right now I feel pretty good, hoping I don't feel to thrashed on Wednesday.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #8 6-13-07

By far the sweatiest workout I've had in a while, the weights I used were fairly difficult but I managed and I am continuing to work on form, perfecting it is pretty hard.

Warmup: Walked 2/10ths of a mile and rode a gym bike for 3 miles or about 9 minutes.

Squat, 45x5, 100x5x3: Now I am happy with my squatting form managing to go deep every rep.

Military Press, 45x5, 70x5x3: Was pretty shakey on some of the last reps, need to get more stabilized, no more ab work for me for awhile.

Barbell Rows, 105x5, 95x5x2: Due to my legs having extreme difficulty holding the position for barbell rows after the first set I used a small platform today. My form however was exactly the same just my legs were in a more upright position. It did however let me focus on the lift more.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #9 6-15-07

Well today didn't go so smooth, did my squats as normal and actually had less difficulty then last time, and then went to bench and did them fine, but it was deads that got me, I started out on them and managed to get 3 up decently but on my 4th one I completely stalled out, so I decided to lower the weight and managed to get 5 more up but I was still having difficulty so I decided to end the workout early, I guess I need a few days of rest now. Will return to the gym Tuesday hopefully stronger then ever.

BTW it's my leg abductors, guess their not used to all this lifting.

Anyways workout stats.

Warmup: 5 minutes on bike, 5 minutes on incline treadmill.
Squats: 45x8 (warmup), 100x5x2, 95x5x1
Bench: 105x5x3
Deadlift: 105x3, 85x5

I edited because I actually remember lowering the weight on squats by 5lbs because the low end was giving me trouble and I thought that would help, it did but points to me needing rest I think, so I'll stick to my plan and not workout until tuesday.

 

[Sculelos]

After reading around I've came to the decision that I'm going to clean bulk and if I'm tired or sore I won't workout, although I'm feeling much much better then yesterday and still am on track for a tuesday workout, I just think I might need a little more rest then the official rippletoe workout suggest so maby some weeks I will only workout 2 times if I get hit really hard although I'll still try to stay on the 3 days/week schedual although if I need rest I wont hesitate to take it.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #10 6-19-07

I must admit I've become a fracken form extremist. I had to lower the weight some but am extremely satisfied on my form now. As well I am taking warmups and stretching far more seriously now, no need for me to get injured before I improve my methods! My form was as good as I can possibly get it and I added a little spice today in the form of push ups, pull ups and dips. Compete log is below.

Weight: 185.8lbs, my weight is still gaining, not really fast but progress is progress and I'm pretty sure it's mostly muscle.

Warmup: Rode my bike to the gym (.25mile), walked 3 laps (.3mile), and did warmups with a wooden stick, between sets I would sometimes do a lap to stretch my legs and arms out.

Squat, BWx15, 45x10, 85x5x2, 90x5x2
Military Press, 45x10, 65x5x2, 70x5x2
Barbell Row, 70x5x4
Pushups, 12
Pullups, 20
Dips, 15

Overall Impression: I feel very good about today, nothing hurts and I did do a bit higher intensity with near perfect form with reasonably heavy weights for me. I think I will go far doing this and definitely am thinking of form, warm ups and stretching as important or even greater importance then doing the weight themselves. Left the gym still with plenty of energy to burn but my workout was over, now I can finally just focus on increasing weight since I've ironed out my routine.

Update: Well damn it, I guess I did to many pullups as my forearms are kinda sore now, not really bad though... hoping I will feel better in the morning.

 

[Sculelos]

Well today I have alot of soreness from the extra stuff I did, so I'm not going to do extra stuff anymore.

For me it will just be warmups, followed by my 3 core exercises. At least for a few months anyways.

Edit: Forgot to mention I finally got the copy I ordered of Starting Strength, read everything on the lifts I had questions on and think I can clear up a few form issues now.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #11 6-21-07

YES! Today's workout was great for me, thought I might have trouble from the previous workouts soreness but it didn't plaque me at all, although I havn't been recovering as nicely as I would like to on the squat so I'm doing only 2 sets in the middle of the week now and will try my best to stay on my routine and won't variate. I thought my form was spot on last time but learned of a few form fixes in starting strength since then so hopefully my workouts will go better now.

Weight: 188lbs (yay 6lb's of mass in 3 1/2 weeks!)

Warmup: Bike Ride, Squatting with wooden bar.

Squats: 45x5, 95x5x2

Bench: 95x5, 115x9 (just seeing how many could do at that weight safely w/o a spotter.)

Deadlift: 95x5x3 (was pretty easy today, surprisingly easy in fact)

Warmdown: Biked home.

Other comments: Glad I'm doing this journal has helped me stay motivated and reading it is were I can easily spot past errors, so not to repeat them in the future.

I also think that I should gain at a much more steady rate now that my form is ironed out and I'm not being greedy anymore, will just increase all my weights from 3-5lbs a workout now till I stall out.

I also plan on posting update pics when I hit 200x5 on the squat, could take awhile though.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #12 6-23-07

Another workout, another log. Also I'm still a little worn out from work plus the 2 other workouts so I only maintained the weight didn't increase it.

Warmup: Biking, walking and shooting hoops plus bodyweight squats.

Squats: 95x5x3, still building up the supporting muscles but I am getting stronger in them.

Military Press: 70x5, 65x5x2, arms stength still not fully there from tuesdays extra silly stuff, not going to do pullups again till I can use correct form as it makes me to weak.

Pendley Rows: 65x5x3, figured out they are easier to do if I keep my legs closer together although I followed suit with the other lifts and only maintained weight.

Edit: Also I am gaining weight but slowly, I weighed myself today and I was at 185lbs, I usually lose around 2lbs after I take my morning crap so I'll have to keep that in mind when weighing myself.

Also this is the end of the forth week of my weight training, hoping the next four weeks progress better, in 1 month time I...

*Learned how to do Squats, Deadlifts, Barbell Rows and Military Press.

*Learned about steady weight progression

*Learned that adding weight and not doing correct form is a waste of time.

*Learned that doing to much is bad, and about over training

*Learned how to diet better

*Read Starting Strength, greatly improved my form on everything.

*Added 3lbs of lean body mass

*Still increased my weight in lifts despite making some pretty major mistakes

So overall while this month has been pretty rough on me, I have learned more about weight training in it then I have before in my entire life... so hopefully with that knowledge I will be able to keep getting stronger.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #13 6-26-07

Todays workout was good, did everything right except for when I was coming out of the deadlift and scraped my knee, ouch! Well there wasn't any blood and my knee doesn't hurt so I figure lesson learned.

Weight: 189lbs, this really suprised me, I am heavier then last time by 5lbs last time I think my bodys holding more water now since it's summer and it's really hot.

Warmup: Biking, Bodyweight Squats, walking.

Squats: 45x10, 95x5, 100x5x2, nice I managed to do 5lbs heavier then last really was more like 10lbs since my body weight went up 5lbs though.

Bench: 5x95, 5x105x2, I admit benching was kinda easy... but I'm not going to do more weight on it then I'm doing on deads.

Deadlift: 105x5x3, my deads are finally getting better then my squats.

The More I workout the happier I get with it, my supporting muscles are pretty much cought up with the rest of me and I don't feel nearly as beat down as I did for the first few weeks.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #14 6-28-07

It's official I'm now a gym member, so that 347$ for a year I paid should motivate me even further to get to the gym at all the right times.

Anyways my Weight was at 188lbs today so I'm thinking it's pretty much official that I'm gaining weight although If I start notice myself getting fatter I think I might drop the calories I am intaking by a small amount.

The workout went pretty good, warm-up was on biking and walking and a few bodyweight squats until I was nice and limber.

Workout Stats.

Squats: 45x9, 95x4, 105x3x3, 105x2: I got all my reps in with good form, but had to rest in between as they were getting me tired so I will need to work on this current weight for a little while before I increase.

Military Press: 70x5, 70x3, 65x2, 65x5: same as above.

Barbell Rows: 85x5, 75x5x2, wasn't to bad. held good form.

Overall I'm progressing kinda slow, but I've never been a fast gainer so thats somewhat expected, what my stats don't show is how my recovery times and form have improved between workouts and that in itself is pretty awesome.

I'll just keep at it, even if I only gain 5lbs to my squat a week that still will add up to a lot over time until I hit my genetic wall, which is all I'm trying to achieve.

 

[beerdrinker]

Overall I'm progressing kinda slow, but I've never been a fast gainer so thats somewhat expected, what my stats don't show is how my recovery times and form have improved between workouts and that in itself is pretty awesome.

I'll just keep at it, even if I only gain 5lbs to my squat a week that still will add up to a lot over time until I hit my genetic wall, which is all I'm trying to achieve.

I'd say if you want to gain faster, you need to eat more. 6'5" at 188 lbs is still skinny as a rail, so you are not going to get too fat if you up the cals more. Don't be a woman about this. EAT.

 

[Sculelos]

I'd say if you want to gain faster, you need to eat more. 6'5" at 188 lbs is still skinny as a rail, so you are not going to get too fat if you up the cals more. Don't be a woman about this. EAT.

Hmmm, I am eating quite a bit... I guess I don't need to cut unless I'm getting flabby which right now I'm still pretty tight.

Today I ate about 6000 cals, and about 275g of protein, although most days I'm more like 5000-5500 cals, and about 250g of protein, maby I need to up my protein intake still?

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #15 6-30-07

Ah the last workout of June 07, went well... details below.

Weight: 188lbs (same as last time)

Warmup: biking and bodyweight squats.

Squats: 95x3, 100x3, 105x5x2, I'm glad I could do 105 for 5 reps today, decent improvement over only being able to do them for 3 last time.

Bench: 95x5x3, Arms were kinda thrashed from work so did these light today.

Deadlift: 105x5x3, did good, didn't increase it because I'm still slightly sore from some heavy lifting at work.

Overall decent workout, should be in quite good shape next week.

 

[disturbed311]

Hmmm, I am eating quite a bit... I guess I don't need to cut unless I'm getting flabby which right now I'm still pretty tight.

Today I ate about 6000 cals, and about 275g of protein, although most days I'm more like 5000-5500 cals, and about 250g of protein, maby I need to up my protein intake still?

Yes bro you definitely need to up your protein intake... If you are at 5k calories lets say, and your only getting 250grams of protein, Then that means that only 20% of your diet is Protien ( Protein is 4 cals/gram, 250x4=1000 cals, Then 5000/1000= 20%) I think you need to have at least 35 more towards 40 percent of your cals come from protein.. Just my opinion. Try and see if you can maybe get your protein grams to around 320-350... See where that takes you... Good luck

 

[Sculelos]

Yes bro you definitely need to up your protein intake... If you are at 5k calories lets say, and your only getting 250grams of protein, Then that means that only 20% of your diet is Protien ( Protein is 4 cals/gram, 250x4=1000 cals, Then 5000/1000= 20%) I think you need to have at least 35 more towards 40 percent of your cals come from protein.. Just my opinion. Try and see if you can maybe get your protein grams to around 320-350... See where that takes you... Good luck

Ah, okay I will try that, I will target getting about 325g a day and see were that gets me.

 

[disturbed311]

Yea that would definitely be good because you want to get 1.5-2 grams of protein per bodyweight... You weigh 190 lets say, then 190x1.5= 285 grams of protien minimum... Good luck

 

[Sculelos]

Yea that would definitely be good because you want to get 1.5-2 grams of protein per bodyweight... You weigh 190 lets say, then 190x1.5= 285 grams of protien minimum... Good luck

Yea, I must say I'm carefully monitoring my diet now and have cleaned it up the past few days, quite a few days last month I'm pretty sure I was only around 225-250g per day, while that isn't to bad if I need 300g's or more then it could slow my recovery time, anyways I've been sticking to the 325g+ protein diet and it could be mental but it seems like it's helping with recovery times.

Cottage Cheese, Milk, Tuna and Whey protein have became now much more frequent in my diet. As always I'm hoping for the best, and will see were my diet and training gets me from here.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #16 7-3-06

Well it's july, as mentioned before I increased my protein intake considerably the past few days and I think it's been helping.

Weight: 186lbs, down 2lbs. I'm pretty sure it's just water weight though since it's been a little cooler lately.

Warmup: Bike to gym followed by biking machine, kinda redundant but the gym ride doesn't get me completely warmed up.

Squats: bwx7, 45x7, 95x2, 105x5x2, 110x3x2: Today I felt even stronger on the squats then before, and have started dabbeling in the 110 area, felt pretty good, probably could of done more 110's if I didn't wear myself out doing lighter weights, next time I'll try to do 110 for 5 reps, 3 sets.

Bench: 95x5, 105x5x2: Nothing special about this really, but then again I'm not really trying to increase my bench right now.

Barbell Rows: 85x5x3: These arn't very hard to do, but they raise my heart rate the most out of any lift, got my heart rate to 170 doing these pretty much each set, then I waited till it got down to about 125 and did it again. I'm pretty suprised that these tax me more then my warmup cycling which I only got up to 150 doing. Probably due to having to keep my back straight while bent over.

Overall Impressions: Looks like I'm advancing at a pretty steady rate, if I do keep advancing at this pace it looks like I could be adding 10lb a week to my squat, if that proves true I should be around 145-150 in my squat by the end of the month, might yet hit my goal of squatting my bodyweight by semptember 6th (19th birthday). Anyways wishing myself goodluck

Edit: Err I just noticed I did bench when I was suppost to do Military Press, guess I will have to do press next time and now my bench/press will be reversed till I'm a dumbass and mix em up again.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #17 7-5-07

Todays workout was amazing, I felt stronger and performed pretty good. I really think increasing my protein intake from 200-225g a day to 300-350g a day is really helping me out.

Warmup: Same as always, real biking followed by gym biking, bodyweight squats and walking.

Squats: 45x3, 115x3, 110x2, 110x5x2, 115x4, well I'm happy that I was able to do 110 for 5 reps and even happier that could do 115 for 4 reps, it means my progress is even going better then I hoped it would.

Military Press: 70x4, 65x5x2, My press seems stuck, hopefully it will get better when my deadlift and squat get more powerful.

Deadlift: 115x3x5: Took me awhile to do these, but I wanted the bigger weights as I can more easily keep my back straight with em, just did 3 at a time with about a 1-2 minute interval in between sets. Not really a strength issue with doing reps, just a cardio issue as deadlifts get my heart rate up to like 180 and I need to wait till it goes down before I do more, fainting would not be good while doing them I imagine. Probably do the same weight until I can do 5reps (probably be able to do it next time I think).

Anyways I'm happy about todays workout, I thought it went well, I feel pretty damn good right now.

Edit: Forgot my weight, 188lbs today, about my average weight it seems for the moment.

 

[beerdrinker]

Good progress. You may need to start microloading your press in order to make progress. It's just the nature of that lift. Or maybe switch to push press.

 

[Sculelos]

Good progress. You may need to start microloading your press in order to make progress. It's just the nature of that lift. Or maybe switch to push press.

Yea, right now I'm not worried though, if it doesn't start picking up after a few weeks when my squat and deads are pretty high then I'll start getting more advanced with the arms, but I don't expect my arms to make any big gains till my legs and back catch up.

 

[s8nlilhlpr2]

Yea, right now I'm not worried though, if it doesn't start picking up after a few weeks when my squat and deads are pretty high then I'll start getting more advanced with the arms, but I don't expect my arms to make any big gains till my legs and back catch up.

could be technique related. Have you read Starting Strength? If not I can post up most of the advice, but the pics really do help.

Chest UP, Bar firmly on shoulders (not wrists), drive straight up try to hit your nose.

I ran in to a lot of problems pushing the bar too far forward to avoid my face. Very akward press and not efficient. With chest up shoulders up, your head is naturally pushed back, and you can press with no problems.

 

[Sculelos]

could be technique related. Have you read Starting Strength? If not I can post up most of the advice, but the pics really do help.

Chest UP, Bar firmly on shoulders (not wrists), drive straight up try to hit your nose.

I ran in to a lot of problems pushing the bar too far forward to avoid my face. Very akward press and not efficient. With chest up shoulders up, your head is naturally pushed back, and you can press with no problems.

Yea, I own starting strength and have read a lot of it, but didn't really read the overhead press info, so I guess I should do that. Sounds like I Might be pushing to far forward as well, thanks for the suggestion I will make sure to read up on the press.

 

[Sculelos]

Yea, turns out I was doing the Overhead Press wrong, I have read up on it in starting strength and will do it correctly next time.

Thats what I get for being arrogant and not reading about a lift for a few minutes at least I was pointed in the right direction. Oh well even If I think a lift is simple I will make sure to read up about it next time. Doing it next time should be fun, I'm fairly flexible so positioning shouldn't be very hard.

Thanks for the advice, far better to correct any problems early in my training when I'm still pretty new to lifting. I'm pretty sure I will see some nice gains with correct form if I don't I will be surprised.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #18 7-7-07

Well today I fixed my form on the overhead press, analyzed my form on the barbell row and I was doing them fine although my reps on it got a little crazy. as for squats they were good as well, no form problems on them. Details below.

Weight 186.5lbs: Definitely seems like my weight likes to fluctuate, I figure I've gained about 3lbs of non-water mass since I've started though.

Squat: 45x5, 115x2, 115x3, 115x4x2, 120x3. First time doing 120lbs today, I will still get up to were I can do 115x5x2 before I increase the weight any higher though.

Military Press: 45x5, 65x5, 70x4, 70x5, YAY, I'm actually increasing in these since my form is correct now. Probably will be able to up the weight next time.

Barbell Rows: 65x5x2, 75x5x2, 85x5x2, 90x5, I was analyzing my form on these today. I thought my reps were starting to get to really high so I stopped, anyways these weren't very hard so I think I'll try doing 3 sets next time at 95lbs. Anyways found out that I do these best with a straight lower back but a slightly arched upper back so thats the way I intend to do them.

All in all it's been a fun first six weeks, my body is conditioned for weight lifting now so I think I should continue to see gains in the Squat and Deadlift and since I'm done tweaking the other ones I should be seeing gains in them as well, will see what the next six weeks bring me, and I promise I will show update pics when I reach 200x5 in the squat, right now I don't look much different then the original pics, just slightly fatter and a slight muscle size increase.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #19 7-10-07

Basic log as I'm in a hurry.

Weight: 188lbs

Squat: 45x10, 95x5x2, 105x3x2, 115x3x3, 115x5:

Bench: 45x10, 95x5, 105x5x2

Deadlift: 105x5x3

Improved my decline form on deadlift today, took a lot longer then normal to warm-up because someone was hogging the squat rack so thats perhaps why I was a little more tired when lifting.

Just maintained as I was a little bit sick yesterday so that probably effected things some to.

Probably did to many warm-up squats as well I think.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #20 7-12-07

WOW, amazing workout... felt pretty good only thing is my deltoids were still kinda sore from military pressing last time due to doing it correct for the first time, so I kinda skimped on that excercise but still I'm happy, and I'll say whomever beat it into my head to take protein is awesome, I've been getting about 300-325g's a day and I'm getting stronger way faster then I was with my 200g/day.

Weight: 197lbs, really surprised me as this is the heaviest I've ever been, I'm betting it was in water and glucose though as the past two days have been refreshingly cool compared to normal.

Squat: 45x5x3, 95x5, 125x5, 120x3, 115x3, 115x5, felt good, the last rep of 125 was slow to come up but I still managed and am really excited about that, definitely won't increase the weight though until I can do 125x5 with decent power on the last rep.

Military Press: 45x5, 75x4, 70x4, 65x4, 45x3 skimped on this excercise today because my deltoids are still sore.

Barbell Rows: 95x4, 95x3, 85x4, 85x3, 85x1, these were kinda heavy today but I felt like I should try to up the weight... I'm still getting sweaty doing these but my endurance is picking up, I just deweight every time so I just consider it a set break if I take more then 15 seconds to do the next rep.

All in all a very good day, hoping to see continued improvement over the upcoming weeks.

 

[beerdrinker]

Hey now, you keep putting weight on like that, and we'll need to see more pics! Can you see a difference yet?

 

[Sculelos]

Hey now, you keep putting weight on like that, and we'll need to see more pics! Can you see a difference yet?

Yea definite difference but I don't feel it's major enough to post pics yet, I promise pics when I can do 200x5 on the squat though.

 

[s8nlilhlpr2]

For your squats, the weight is relatively light right now. Make sure you try and accelerate from the 'hole. The faster you can get that bar moving initially on the upwards movement, the easier it will be. I like to use the same technique for basically all lifts, on the negative I feel the muscle stretch until the tension is maxed out (for squats, this would be hamstrings) then explode the weight back up.

Good work, keep pushing those squats!!

 

[Sculelos]

For your squats, the weight is relatively light right now. Make sure you try and accelerate from the 'hole. The faster you can get that bar moving initially on the upwards movement, the easier it will be. I like to use the same technique for basically all lifts, on the negative I feel the muscle stretch until the tension is maxed out (for squats, this would be hamstrings) then explode the weight back up.

Good work, keep pushing those squats!!

Yeah, I pretty much use the same technique as you and it seems to be working well, I'm pretty sure I will be improving on my lifts for quite some time seems like my strength gain is actually picking up some since I started... I'm pretty happy about it, any gain is good gain for me and more gain is better.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #21 7-14-07

Well today my energy was a little lower then usual due to 2 extra hours of speed walking yesterday cause I was testing boots, but I still put in a good workout... trying to get my reps constant and I figured how to improve my decline on the deadlift so now my form on all my lifts is good now.

Anyways details below.

Weight: 195lbs, down a little from last time.

Squat: 45x5, 115x3, 115x5, 115x3, 115x5, Strange how that worked but trying to get my reps more consistent in the squat. Had good power on these but was being careful because I'm still sore.

Bench: 95x5, 115x5x2

Deadlift: 115x5, 115x4, 115x3, 115x4, My endurance is definitely going up on these, not getting nearly as tired as I was. I also think my deadlift will probably overtake my squat pretty soon.

Anyways I thought it was a pretty good workout, I'm excited to see what I will be able to do next week when I'm fairly fresh... seems like I'm always the strongest early in the week.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Great progress! Keep those weights moving!

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #22 7-17-07

Todays workout went well, don't think I recovered as well as I would of liked but I still was in better condition then last time so thats good.

Weight: 195lbs

Squat: 45x5, 95x5, 120x5x2, 125x5, today I managed to do 125x5 with a good paced last set and did 2 120s as well, so I'm definitely happy that my squat is increasing so well.

Military Press: 45x5, 65x5, 70x5, 65x5, I guess this excercise progresses really slowly... but no matter still a good excercise and I'm sure I'll gain in it soon enough.

Barbell Rows: 95x4x4, I do think I am getting stronger in these, they still don't stress my arms much but their making my back much stronger.

Overall another good workout, I've already made nice progress but still have a long ways to go.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #23 7-19-07

I did an excellent workout today, increased all weights and it still felt easier then last time, I think my body is recovering much, much faster then when I started probably due to me getting used to the extra excercise and also my diet improvements have helped a lot as well.

Weight: 194lbs

Squat: 45x5, 95x5, 125x5, 130x5x2, not only did I do more weight on the squats then I ever did before I also managed to do 5 reps of 2 sets, my body's starting to see that I'm serious about this and finally adapting.

Bench: 45x5, 95x5, 115x5, 120x4. just went though the standard with bench, I'm betting this will get better as my back strength improves, can't really get a big chest or arms without a strong back.

Deadlift: 95x5, 115x5, 120x5, 125x5: My dead lift is catching up to my squat, probably will overtake it soon.

I'm still really happy about my workout though, and I'm really enjoying my workouts. People speak about it likes it's unpleasant but it feels great to me.

 

[s8nlilhlpr2]

lol, only people that don't LIKE working out find it unpleasant. Its almost always my favorite place to be.

Your deadlifts look like they are spaced REALLY close together, is this intentional? Does 125 feel heavy for you? Just wonderin, 'cause it seems to me you should be able to pull 95/115/135 fairly easy @ 3 reps, and that would get you to the correct bar height @ 135.

 

[Sculelos]

lol, only people that don't LIKE working out find it unpleasant. Its almost always my favorite place to be.

Your deadlifts look like they are spaced REALLY close together, is this intentional? Does 125 feel heavy for you? Just wonderin, 'cause it seems to me you should be able to pull 95/115/135 fairly easy @ 3 reps, and that would get you to the correct bar height @ 135.

Yea, my dead lift spacing was intentional, I could have done more weight but I wanted to make sure my form was staying good. next time I'll probably increase it further. Really the bar height doesn't make much difference to me anymore, I'm sure it will when I do heavier weights but then I'll be using 45's anyways so it shouldn't be a problem.

I'll try doing 135 next time, if I can keep good form then I'll do 15 reps with however many sets is required.

 

[s8nlilhlpr2]

sounds like a good plan. I simply prefer using 45's so that the bar is at a consistent height. if you want, take a vid of your dl and we can critique it on here for you. seems like a straightforward lift but I've seen a lot of guys at my gym fugg it up.

 

[Sculelos]

Well this mourning I woke up and my neck was really sore, I think it was probably from sleeping wrong or possibly minor dehydration, anyways I'm going to wait a couple hours and if the soreness doesn't subside probably put off working out 'till tomorrow.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #24 7-21-07

Well my neck was getting less sore as the day progressed so I said screw it, and I went to the gym, don't use my neck on any lift anyways, right now it's still a tiny bit sore but isn't bothering me.

As for the workout I did my regular plus two extra's since I haven't increased some areas recently and maby if I hit them harder they will respond better.

Weight: 197lbs, I'm either getting fatter, adding muscle mass or gaining tons of water/glucose weight, maby doing all of them.

Warm-up: 15 minutes of intense biking.

Squat: BWx10, 45x10, 95x5, 115x5, 135x3, 130x4, 125x4 I was getting fatigued faster on squats then normal, still managed to do okay although I wasn't hitting my target reps of 5 on the last 3 sets.

Overhead Press: 45x5, 65x5, 70x5, 75x4, 65x5: These are getting easier although it's definitely progressing slowly.

Barbell Rows: 95x5x3, These were good as well, I should add some weight to these next time.

Deadlift: 135x3x5, Yeah, last time I skimped on deadlifts so this time I added weight, no problems with 'em.

Bench Press: 45x10, 125x5, 130x5, 135x5, I'm actually going to try increasing on these now.

Overall I just wanted to hit everything pretty hard since I have 2 days off in a row from lifting, and felt like I'm not doing enough on some of the lifts. I'm pretty sure my squat should be a little stronger when my next gym day comes although I will see.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #25 7-24-07

It was a good day today, increased previous weights and did nothing wrong, I'm pretty happy about it.

Weight: 197lbs, same as last time.

Squat: 45x5, 115x5, 135x5, 140x5, nice I managed to increase this quite abit from last time, held good form although I'm paying a lot more attention to breathing as the weights are getting heavier.

Bench: 45x10, 115x5, 125x5, 130x4, probably could of done that last rep but I didn't have a spotter and didn't want to chance it.

Deadlift: 135x4x5, 140x2, tried 140 to see how hard and it and I couldn't do it very smoothly, well probably do 135 next deadlift day then maby increase to 140 next week.

All in all a good workout, I'm getting ever closer to my squatting goal of 200x5 which as promised is when I will post update pics.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #26 7-26-07

Well I'm pretty excited today, If it wasn't enough that I've been lifting for two months now, I am also going to be changing to a different job with much less walking, similar pay and less time involved which will let me do some high intensity cardio to keep my lung and heart capacity up but also will probably speed up my muscle gain and leave me with a lot more energy to put into other things that I stopped doing due to the physical drain of my job.

Anyways on to todays workout...

Weight: 197lbs, I think I'm losing water weight but still gaining muscle it's not going down though so I'm good.

Squat: 45x5, 115x5, 135x4, 135x5, Missed that one rep, today my legs were still kinda tired so I didn't push my squats.

Military Press: 45x5, 75x5, 75x4, 75x3, I figure since me ramping down to lower weight on these isn't bringing any big gains maby keeping the same weight but doing fewer reps might help.

Pendley Rows: 115x3x5, thought I should try doing these higher weight as I haven't really even tried to increase these in the past, they were actually surprisingly successful so I'm definitely going to keep doing these, hopefully can get my reps up to 5 with these as these are still the most blood pumping excercise for me.

Anyways like I said I'm happy with the workout and might start increasing at a faster rate very soon.

 

[Sculelos]

Today I think it's probably in my best interest to not workout, I've been hammering myself pretty hard lately at work and have been increasing at the gym, but my body is showing signs that I need rest... so I'm deliberately skipping today and will be back in the gym on Tuesday.

It's very tempting to go to the gym and workout today, but I'm pretty sure I will progress much better if I take a deload period every 7-9 weeks.

 

[beerdrinker]

It's very tempting to go to the gym and workout today, but I'm pretty sure I will progress much better if I take a deload period every 7-9 weeks.

Good idea.

I've had a one month deload. I was sick for a week, then family came into town (which means I drank too much for a week), then I went out of town on vacation, and now I feel like a damn slug. I've wiped out weeks of progress, I think. It sucks. I feel like shit.

 

[Sculelos]

Good idea.

I've had a one month deload. I was sick for a week, then family came into town (which means I drank too much for a week), then I went out of town on vacation, and now I feel like a damn slug. I've wiped out weeks of progress, I think. It sucks. I feel like shit.

Hehe, well I decided to go to the gym and so some cardio and light lifting, well when I was doing the easy stuff I was like DAMN I feel great, so I decided to lift today, I don't think I need a deload... just was wary after being sluggish in the gym last time, but I felt a hell of a lot better today then last time, anyways.

Workout #27 7-28-07

Weight: 197lbs, I don't know why I'm holding at 197lbs but I'm getting a lot stronger so I think I'm finally losing some water weight that I got at the hottest parts of the summer.

Warmup: 10 minutes riding bike, 5 minutes starmaster.

Accesory work: 3x10 Needsize sit-ups, 20 pullups and dips, 50 jumping jacks, 10x3 hanging leg raises.

Squats: 45x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 140x3, 140x2, 145x2, 145x1, did quite a few of these and managed do to 145 for the first time today. Suprisingly no problems.

Benchpress: 45x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x3, 135x4, I did 3 135s today then found someone to spot me and managed to do 5, but on the last one he helped me so I didn't count it, still my bench is finally increasing some now.

Deadlift: 30 bw, 135x3, 135x2x6, btw bodyweight is just the motion, no bar or weight involved I just wanted to perfect my form and stretch my back some, Deadlifts were the hardest excercise I did today and I did them with no problems.

Overall I'm happy that I even worked out today, I guess I can save the deload for when I start stalling on my lifts.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

Doing great! Keep those numbers moving, and make sure you are getting proper rest and protein to support muscle growth. At this point you will probably start making faster gains in squat and DL, while your Bench might be harder to move on up. Congrats on getting the big plates up though, that is a huge first step!

I say pile a bit more weight on your squat next time if you are in a power rack. Your tendons and ligaments have had plenty of time to thicken up and I bet you can jump 10lbs per week for a few weeks. Just eat a lot and warm up proper.

 

[Sculelos]

Doing great! Keep those numbers moving, and make sure you are getting proper rest and protein to support muscle growth. At this point you will probably start making faster gains in squat and DL, while your Bench might be harder to move on up. Congrats on getting the big plates up though, that is a huge first step!

I say pile a bit more weight on your squat next time if you are in a power rack. Your tendons and ligaments have had plenty of time to thicken up and I bet you can jump 10lbs per week for a few weeks. Just eat a lot and warm up proper.

Yea, I'm increasing on my squat at about a rate of 8-10lbs/week which is pretty good, now that I have done 145lbs I just gotta try and get 5 reps before I advance, thats what I've been doing for awhile now, maby dabble in higher weights and do 2-3 reps before going in the next day and reping 5 or so and maby even doing a higher wait as well, seems to be working wonderfully well for me.

Deadlifts might take a little while to start taking off again, but I'm sure by the end of next week they will have increased at least by a little bit.

As for Press, Bench Press and Rows I expect them all to increase as well although at a reduced rate.

Anyways I'm on track for my target goal of squatting 200lbs by sometime in September if everything goes well.

Edit: Lifting yesterday was a smart choice as I'm actually feeling even better then I was yesterday before I lifted, guess it helps since I've slept 12 hours since then and have been eating even more food as I've been stuck at 197 for awhile now.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #28 7-31-07

Well it's the last workout of the month, besides that today I kinda felt sluggish but then I got to the gym and felt better, funny how that works for me.

Weight: 197lbs

Squat: BWx10, 45x8, 115x5, 135x5x2, 145x3, I'm steadily getting stronger in the squats, last time I could barley do 2 reps of 145 and today I got 3 of them without much difficulty.

Overhead Press: 45x5, 80x5, 75x3, Today I decided I wanted to try for 80 and I did, my last rep was super slow and I didn't have really any energy left over after struggling with 5 reps but it's the heaviest I've ever done so I'm happy.

Pendley Rows: 95x5, 115x5x2, 125x5x2, I'm advancing pretty fast in these now that my back and legs are strong enough to hold form well now.

Overall I'm very happy with today, seems like certain areas I've been stuck in for awhile are advancing and thats enough of a reason for me.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #29 8-2-07

Well today I had quite a bit more power then normal and I also finally feel like I got my workout and diet routines down so their solid, I've said this many times but I always feel giddy after working out... now if thats not good motivation I don't know what is! Anyways enough blabbering details are below.

Weight: 198lbs, YAY I finally increased.

Squat: 45x10, 135x5, 145x5, 150x3, I'm happy got 145 with 5 reps down and did 150 with 3, these are still progressing fast and I'm seeing how far I will come until progress starts slowing.

Bench: 45x10, 115x5, 135x5, 140x5, I'm actually kind of shocked that my bench increased so much as well, seems like all of my lifts are finally gaining instead of just squats and deads like in the beginning.

Deadlift: 135x5, 145x5, 155x5, it's official my deadlift has overtaken my squat I knew it would happen but I didn't know it would happen so soon.

All in all a good workout, the hardest thing for me about it is the waiting until next workout day.

 

[Sculelos]

Here is an updated pic taken today just to give you an idea of what I've done.

I'm still hiding my main features until I hit my 200lb squat, but it gives at least an idea in what direction I'm heading.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i149/Samuel101/Updatepicshirted.jpg

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #30 8-4-07

I'm still increasing at a fast rate, actually I would say right now it's faster then it was in the beginning due to my ligaments, tendons and bones getting stronger to support my new hobby. Really happy with the results today.

Weight: 199lbs, I'm finally getting kinda heavy, I feel lighter though due to increase in strength.

Squat: 45x8, 135x5, 145x3, 150x5, 155x2, 155x5

Overhead Press: 45x5, 75x5, 80x5, 80x3, 75x4, Definitely getting stronger on these although these progress the slowest.

Barbell Rows: 135x5x3, moved up 10lbs from last time and it actually was a bit easier, so good gains here as well.

Overall I'm getting up there, it's just exciting for me to actually start getting stronger after being weak for so long.

 

[kevinoy93]

Congrats - keep up the great work.

 

[Sculelos]

Workout #31 8-7-07

Another day, another workout... everything went well and I broke previous personal records, whats not to be happy about?

Weight: 199lbs

Squat: 45x8, 135x5, 155x5, 160x4, 165x4, actually did 5 reps on 165 but my last one wasn't below parallel so I'm not counting it, won't increase till I can do 165x5 with good form, (which will probably be next time)

Bench: 45x8, 135x5, 145x4, 140x2, 140x4, Minimal improvement but still whatever I can get I will take.

Deadlift: 135x5, 155x5, 165x5, Deadlift was good today, increase over last time.

Overall I did heavier on all my lifts, so it's good... working out and eating right is the easy part, the hard part is all the waiting that I have to do.