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View Full Version : Marathon not a sprint - Lethall's Joruney



Lethall105
08-28-14, 1:23 pm
Hi brothers

Been lifting for about two years now, and suffered an injury in my right knee in September 2013. It nagged me throughout the year, and although it got better, my squat went down and never seemed to progress significantly. I have now realised that my mindset towards this was wrong, and I was trying to achieve something that would take years in a matter of weeks. Reflected on my training, re-programmed it to something that I feel will help me address my weak points and I am getting back in the iron game, ready to go on this journey to achieve a 500kg total (1100 lbs) staying around 85kg and lean. I will be training as a powerbuilder since I feel that will allow me to get some volume work in which I love, and I aspire to have a good physique as well. It will take time, but then again, it is a marathon, not a sprint.

I tested my maxes after a month off training, and it has amounted to:

Squat- 80kg
Bench - 80kg
Deadlift - 140kg

The main goal for me will be to get my squat up. After assessing my squat, I have realised that my weakness is my quad strength. I tend to lean forward too much and put the load on my back rather than use leg drive to get out of the hole. Squatting after a month off was not painful in either knees, which felt great, and I reckon once I start getting the right movement pattern ingrained I will do just fine. My previous squat max was 130kg which I tested in June 2013. That is a number in the past, and I am determined to smash past it.

The programming I have set out follows a Wendler 5/3/1 scheme and is outlined below

Saturday: Squat (5/3/1) and quad work (Front squats, leg press and leg ext)
Sunday: Bench (5/3/1) and chest work (Volume work with DB presses, flys, mostly incline since that area lags a bit for me)
Mon: Active recovery. This is just going to be an easy walk on a slight incline. I feel a lot better doing some cardio, and since I tend to store fat easily this will help me stay lean I hope
Tue: Deadlift (5/3/1) and hamstring work (Deficit deadlifts, SLDLs, Hyperextensions and Leg curls)
Wed: Back work (Chin ups, BB and DB rows, Lat pulldowns and some bicep work thrown in. My back is one of my naturally strong parts and I absolutely love smashing it since it recovers very quickly)
Thu: OHP (5/3/1) and shoulder work (Lateral raises, rear delt flys, face pulls and shrugs)
Fri: Day off or if I am up for it, another easy walk.

On top of that, I will be doing 20-30 mins of light cardio in the mornings to help stay lean every other day.

For the next few months, I will be following a diet as follows.

Breakfast: 3 eggs, 3 slices of wholemeal bread, 1 banana (With Pak and Omega)
Late morning snack: 1 scoop whey
Lunch: 1 can tuna, 75g rice uncooked, 200g mixed veggies (Likely to be the preworkout meal)
Postworkout drink: 2 scoops whey, 7 rice cakes
Dinner: 1 chicken breast, 75g rice uncooked, 200g mixed veggies
Before bed: 3 eggs, 40g oatsdue to

Total macros: 232g protein/ 292g carbs/ 60g fat.

This diet is to help me get rid of some holiday weight I have accumulated, until I am happy with the way I look. I will be adjusting carbs by -50g whenever I plateau in weight loss. Once I am at my desired weight, I will re-adjust my macros and slowly head into a lean mass phase. I am expecting strength gains due to muscle memory.

So, that is it. I hope you enjoy the ride with me on my journey, and I will welcome all feedback negative or positive.

All the best,
Lethall

Lethall105
08-28-14, 1:29 pm
Second training session after being back from holiday. I decided to ease into it using a 5x5 system before I get up and running with my 5/3/1 (Which I will start on Saturday).

OHP: 5x5 with 45kg. The last two reps of the last two sets were grinders, but made it without form breaking down.
Seated lateral raises: 3x8x12kg
Rear delt destroyer (This is a superset I like to do, with rear delt flys followed by a rear delt row while lying face down on an incline bench): 8x12kg, 10x12kg, 10x12kg
Face pulls: 12x54.5kg, 12x59kg, 11x63kg
Tricep push downs: 15x41kg, 12x50kg, 12x54.5kg

10 mins of incline walk afterwards

All the best
Lethall

Tiger
08-29-14, 7:13 am
Let's do this!

Lethall105
08-29-14, 8:29 am
Looking forward to the start of my next training cycle. Tomorrow will be a squat day with quad accessory work. The weakest lift, but the one I am determined to progress in. I will get under that bar, and I will drop down ATG and get back up. When you feel like there is a heavy burden on your shoulders, just go and squat it right?

For now though, its time to rest up. Going to do a bit of foam rolling throughout the day. Lectures haven't started yet, so I have all day free to do as I please. Probably end up reading DOAM by G Diesel. If any of you have not read it, I suggest you do. The words are easy to relate to, and it pumps you up to go out their, fight through adversity and be successful.

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
08-29-14, 12:57 pm
in for this, lets go brotha!!

Lethall105
08-30-14, 10:48 am
Today was my first squat day with quad accessory. Was looking forward to starting this journey properly. Woke up, got some eggs and toast in, Pak, Omega and good to go.

Gym was pretty empty, due to not many students being back from holiday. Nice and quiet, the way I like it. Here is the work:

Squat: 52kgx5, 60kgx5, 68kgx7
Front squat: 40kgx9, 40kgx6, 40kgx7
Leg press: 80kgx15, 100kgx12, 120kgx6
Leg ext: 61kgx12, 66kgx12, 70kgx10

I was happy with my squat. Managed to get through without any knee pain. Depth was good on all reps. The last rep of the last set had me leaning forward a bit so I decided to rack it there. For my front squats, one thing I really had to focus on was to stop sitting back and keeping it simply straight down and up.

Leg press was a fun one. I was hyped up for it, and although the weights aren't impressive, I kept constant tension and gave it all I had. Threw up in my mouth halfway through the last set. Took a short break then moved onto the leg extensions. Kept constant tension on for them, went to positive failure for first two sets then some forced reps on the last set.

That was it, hobbled downstairs, sat for a bit in the locker room to let the jelly leg feeling go away. Got my shake and rice cakes in, and have just finished eating a tuna and rice meal. Next meal will be a shake as a snack, then dinner, then eggs before bed.

Question about progression on front squats. The rep range I am going for is 6-12. I was thinking, increasing the weight by 2.5kg (5lbs) every week until I can't hit more than 6 on all 3 sets. Goal is hypertrophy in quads to help my leg drive. Any other ideas on how you would do this?

Tomorrow is bench day with some chest/tris hypertrophy work thrown in.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
08-31-14, 10:40 am
Woke up a bit later than usual today, legs really tired me out. DOMS had kicked in, but it wasn't too bad, figured I recovered well. Anyway, got my breakfast in and headed to the lifting centre. Here is the work:

Bench: 5x52kg, 5x60kg, 7x68kg (Same numbers as squat, going to use this as motivation to get better at squatting!)
Wide-grip bench: 10x40kg, 11x40kg, 8x50kg
Incline DB press: 5x28kg, 7x24kg, 9x22kg
Low pulley cable flys: 13x13.5kg, 8x16kg, 9x16kg
Tricep push down: Did this 10 minute arms style. Choose a weight you can get for 10 reps, rest 20 seconds, and go again. If you can't hit same weight for atleast 8 reps, go down one notch on the stack. Repeat until you can't do anymore.

I have decided to incorporate some wide-grip bench stuff after reading on BOSS's article 'West of Westside'. Makes a lot of sense that training my chest more than my triceps will benefit me. Also, my regular bench grip is pretty close as well (pinky just inside the ring). For the incline DB press, I was messing around with weights to see what would be good to hit in 6-12 range.

The 10-minute TPD was incredible. Sick pump, and felt like my triceps would just blow. Next week, I will do the same format, but do it with Overhead extensions.

Tomorrow will be an active rest day.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
09-02-14, 1:33 pm
My favourite day of the week, DEADLIFTS! Was feeling pretty pumped for it since it is my strongest lift, and I just seem to get it naturally. I pull conventional. Here is the work:

Deadlifts: 5x82kg, 5x95kg, 10x107kg
Deficit deadlift (Not sure how high the box was, I would hazard a guess at 4 inches): 5x80kg, 5x90kg, 5x100kg. Did 5's. Next week, I will pull 3's and up the weight.
SLDL: 10x80kg, 10x80kg, 8x80kg
Leg curls: 12x79kg, 8 with 4 forced reps x 82kg, 6 with 4 forced reps x 84kg
Calf raises: 3 sets, light weight, high reps. Lost count. All reps were slow and concentrating on the stretch at the bottom and squeezing hard for 2 seconds at the top

On the stiff legged deadlifts, I was trying to keep my legs as straight as possible, pausing at the floor (paused for all other deadlifts as well) and really focusing on using the hamstrings to pull the weight up. Got a very good stretch. Had a dude look at my lower back and he said that was straight throughout which is happy news for me.

So that was it. Tomorrow will be a high volume back day. I will have to get up early to train since I have work later in the evening!

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
09-03-14, 10:30 am
My favourite day of the week, DEADLIFTS! Was feeling pretty pumped for it since it is my strongest lift, and I just seem to get it naturally. I pull conventional. Here is the work:

Deadlifts: 5x82kg, 5x95kg, 10x107kg
Deficit deadlift (Not sure how high the box was, I would hazard a guess at 4 inches): 5x80kg, 5x90kg, 5x100kg. Did 5's. Next week, I will pull 3's and up the weight.
SLDL: 10x80kg, 10x80kg, 8x80kg
Leg curls: 12x79kg, 8 with 4 forced reps x 82kg, 6 with 4 forced reps x 84kg
Calf raises: 3 sets, light weight, high reps. Lost count. All reps were slow and concentrating on the stretch at the bottom and squeezing hard for 2 seconds at the top

On the stiff legged deadlifts, I was trying to keep my legs as straight as possible, pausing at the floor (paused for all other deadlifts as well) and really focusing on using the hamstrings to pull the weight up. Got a very good stretch. Had a dude look at my lower back and he said that was straight throughout which is happy news for me.

So that was it. Tomorrow will be a high volume back day. I will have to get up early to train since I have work later in the evening!

All the best
Lethall
love doing stiff legs like that, even tho you cant move a ton of weight, i like to lock my knees and swing the weight forward a bit at the bottom, ohh man that stretch is insane!! good work in here man!

Lethall105
09-03-14, 11:06 am
love doing stiff legs like that, even tho you cant move a ton of weight, i like to lock my knees and swing the weight forward a bit at the bottom, ohh man that stretch is insane!! good work in here man!

Yeah, hammies and lower back are a bit sore today. I did my back 'volume' workout today, although my reps ended up being lower since I was trying to gauge what weights I should start hitting. From the post in your journey, I actually ended up doing a 45 degree bent row because the lower back was stiff. Weight was lighter that what I had moved the last time a trained back like that (1 month and half), but I did get a better pump than before. Sometimes starting on a fresh slate can help! Here is the work:

Bent over BB row: 10x60kg, 10x60lg, 5x70kg dropset to 4x60kg
1-arm row: 10x40kg, 6x50kg, 5x50kg
Face pulls: 12x64kg, 10x73kg, 8x77kg
Low row machine: 10x50kg each side, 10x60kg, 5x65kg - 6x60kg, 6x50kg, 6x40kg, 6x20kg (I don't know what came over me, but I just felt I had to go for the dropset. Had a stupid pump after this, and that last drop to 20kg was damn hard to get)
Lat pull down - wide grip: 7x63.5kg, 5x68kg, 10x54kg
Bicep curls 10 minute arm style

I was looking really forward to today, and I learnt some important things. Firstly, taking a month off drops strength by a mile. All the weights mentioned above were hit with 12 reps or more last time I did them. But that is ok, I will get back and push past it. Secondly, I think that I will swap my back volume work after deads, and give a seperate day to hamstrings and calves. This is because the lower back and lats were sore after doing deadlift variations, and this way, I can add a HIIT workout (sprints) as part of the hamstring workout.

Funny thing that happened this workout was at some point I got a nosebleed. Didn't notice it until I saw the blood splotches on my gym notebook and looked at myself in the mirror. I must have looked like a freak, with a bright red ANIMAL shirt on ;) (Hope I did anyway)

Tomorrow is OHP + shoulder accessory day. I also found out that I have to travel for a week on Sunday for something work related. Hotel I have booked has a gym, so I can get some training in. Not sure about what weights they will have, but hoping for the best. That's all folks, see you tomorrow!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
09-04-14, 10:53 am
Woke up later than usual, but since I did not have any work today I still managed to make it in. Food timing is a bit off (having breakfast at lunch time feels weird) but I guess my body needed the rest after yesterday. Got to the gym and was glad to see it fairly empty. Here is the work:

OHP: 5x32kg, 5x37kg, 13x42kg
Lateral raises: 12x10kg, 14x10kg, 10x12kg
Rear delt destroyer: 12x12kg, 13x12kg, 8x14kg
Cable lateral raises: 15x9kg, 12x9kg, 8x11.5kg
BB shrugs: 15x80kg, 18x80kg, 12x90kg

All in all, not a bad workout. Smashed the 5+ set on OHP, all reps locked out and paused at the bottom. Got some good volume in with the laterals. Not sure what it was but I didn't feel as much in the side delts today as usual. Happens from time to time. The rear delt destroyer super set was good. For some reason, its usually the middle set where some switch is turned on in my head and I go harder than usual. Did the cable laterals to see if those help create some sort of feeling in the side delts and they certainly did. I think the constant tension the cable provides helps with that. Moved onto BB shrugs after, and went light since I ripped a callus on my hand and couldn't really grip properly. Maybe I should invest in some straps...

Tomorrow is rest day, then Squat on saturday and travelling on Sunday!

All the best
Lethall

Tiger
09-08-14, 6:32 am
Putting the work in, bro!

What's the rear delt destroyer?

Lethall105
09-19-14, 6:07 am
So, my account ended up being disabled since I had changed my e-mail addy. Finally got it back now so let's get back to posting. Here is the work from the past week

Getting back from holiday, I travelled on my squat day. So I decided I would squat at the start of the bench day and just do 2 light accessory work to ease into it

Squat - 3x56kg, 3x64kg, 3x72kg
Bench - 3x56kg, 3x64kg, 3x72kg
Inc DB press - 10x24kg, 10x24kg, 8x24kg
Leg ext - Several sets, chasing the pump. Good squeeze at the top and pause for 1 sec.

Back volume day:
Pull ups - 7xbw, 5xbw, 6xbw
BB row - 15x40kg, 12x60kg, 3x80kg drop to 6x60kg drop to 8x40kg
DB row - 7x50kg, 6x50kg, 6x50kg
Rear delt fly - 12x10kg, 10x14kg, 10x14kg
Lat pulldown wide grip - 10x59kg, 8x63.5kg
Lat pulldown close grip - 2x8x54.5kg

Deadlift/hams day:
DL - 3x90kg, 3x101kg, 3x113kg
SLDL - 3x10x82.5kg
Hip thrusts - 10x40kg, 10x60kg, 10x70kg (First time doing these, decided to see how they would feel. I reckon I can push more weight out easily. My ass is hurting a lot though!)
Leg curls - 12x82kg, 10+2forced reps x 84kg, 6+4F x 86kg

OHP/shoulders:
OHP - 6x35kg, 3x40kg, 12x45kg (I was meant to do only 3 on the first set, but it felt so light I kept going until I realised it was a 'working' set. OHP max is definitely way more than what I thought)
Lateral raises - 14x12kg, 2x12x12kg
Rear delt destroyer - 12x12kg, 2x10x14kg
Face pull and BB front raise supersetted - 12x68kg+15x15kg - 3 total supersets

Did sprints on my Deadlift/ham day, about twenty 40m sprints, all out, walk back and then go all out as soon as I get to the start line. Bit of light cardio thrown in here and there as well. Its freshers week next week so I will probably end up going out. Won't be drinking though since I don't drink. Actually can't wait to get back to lectures since the days have been long and boring.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
09-19-14, 6:10 am
Putting the work in, bro!

What's the rear delt destroyer?

Sent you a PM while my account was disabled, but not sure if you've got it. The RDD is basically a bent over fly until failure while lying face down on an incline bench, followed immediately by a rear delt row. For the row, I try and bring my elbows in line with my ears. I have noticed more roundness in my shoulders already. Also, try and match the same reps as you get on the bent over fly when you do the rows. For additional pain, add some partial flys when done with the rows and try and keep constant tension.

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
09-19-14, 1:06 pm
So, my account ended up being disabled since I had changed my e-mail addy. Finally got it back now so let's get back to posting. Here is the work from the past week

Getting back from holiday, I travelled on my squat day. So I decided I would squat at the start of the bench day and just do 2 light accessory work to ease into it

Squat - 3x56kg, 3x64kg, 3x72kg
Bench - 3x56kg, 3x64kg, 3x72kg
Inc DB press - 10x24kg, 10x24kg, 8x24kg
Leg ext - Several sets, chasing the pump. Good squeeze at the top and pause for 1 sec.

Back volume day:
Pull ups - 7xbw, 5xbw, 6xbw
BB row - 15x40kg, 12x60kg, 3x80kg drop to 6x60kg drop to 8x40kg
DB row - 7x50kg, 6x50kg, 6x50kg
Rear delt fly - 12x10kg, 10x14kg, 10x14kg
Lat pulldown wide grip - 10x59kg, 8x63.5kg
Lat pulldown close grip - 2x8x54.5kg

Deadlift/hams day:
DL - 3x90kg, 3x101kg, 3x113kg
SLDL - 3x10x82.5kg
Hip thrusts - 10x40kg, 10x60kg, 10x70kg (First time doing these, decided to see how they would feel. I reckon I can push more weight out easily. My ass is hurting a lot though!)
Leg curls - 12x82kg, 10+2forced reps x 84kg, 6+4F x 86kg

OHP/shoulders:
OHP - 6x35kg, 3x40kg, 12x45kg (I was meant to do only 3 on the first set, but it felt so light I kept going until I realised it was a 'working' set. OHP max is definitely way more than what I thought)
Lateral raises - 14x12kg, 2x12x12kg
Rear delt destroyer - 12x12kg, 2x10x14kg
Face pull and BB front raise supersetted - 12x68kg+15x15kg - 3 total supersets

Did sprints on my Deadlift/ham day, about twenty 40m sprints, all out, walk back and then go all out as soon as I get to the start line. Bit of light cardio thrown in here and there as well. Its freshers week next week so I will probably end up going out. Won't be drinking though since I don't drink. Actually can't wait to get back to lectures since the days have been long and boring.

All the best
Lethall


Sent you a PM while my account was disabled, but not sure if you've got it. The RDD is basically a bent over fly until failure while lying face down on an incline bench, followed immediately by a rear delt row. For the row, I try and bring my elbows in line with my ears. I have noticed more roundness in my shoulders already. Also, try and match the same reps as you get on the bent over fly when you do the rows. For additional pain, add some partial flys when done with the rows and try and keep constant tension.

All the best
Lethall

i like it. all of it. keep it up in here.

Lethall105
09-20-14, 6:49 am
So, today was a squat day, woop! Having some girl issues, but I did what any self respecting man should do and took the anger out on the iron. See you honey.

Here is the work:

Squat - 5x60kg, 3x68kg, 5x76kg
Front squat - 3x5x50kg
Leg press - 3x6x120kg
supersetted with 3 sets of bodyweight bulgarian split squats
Leg ext - 10x111kg (whole stack), 7x111kg, 7+2F x 111kg
supersetted with goblet squats, 3x5x24kg

Some calf raises and a couple of sets of hamstring curls to drain me

A very good workout. Sometimes something bad is just the thing needed. I threw in the split squats and goblet squats to push myself and I was nearly falling over whenever I was done with them. I think I will do it more often now. I am very happy with the way my squat is coming along. Especially since last week, getting 3x72kg was a grinder and I got 5x76kg today fairly easily. I wish I had a spotter sometimes.

Going to get some potatoes and eggs down in me now. Tomorrow is bench day, I'll keep you posted!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
09-21-14, 11:47 am
Bench day!!! I had work today, and woke up running late so I had to skip breakfast. Made up for it with a big lunch and then went to the gym a couple hours after that. Not ideal but not a huge problem. I don't take any preworkout supplements, just hype myself up on the walk to the gym and am good to go. Without further ado, here is the work:

Bench - 5x60kg, 3x70kg, 3x76kg
Wide grip bench - 12x50kg, 12x50kg, 5x60kg
Inc barbell bench (constant tension, no lockout) - 6x50kg, 8x50kg, 6x50kg
Inc DB bench - 8x24kg, 9x24kg, 7x24kg

10 minute arm style tricep pushdowns followed by a few dips and few sets of side laterals to get a pump

All in all, a good workout. I feel that I should have got more reps out on the last set of bench, but I guess I was tired. Happy with my wide grip bench progression. I need to work on getting my upper chest more developed though but I just get steamed out during the incline. I don't know what it is, but failure hits me all of a sudden.

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
09-22-14, 2:00 pm
Bench day!!! I had work today, and woke up running late so I had to skip breakfast. Made up for it with a big lunch and then went to the gym a couple hours after that. Not ideal but not a huge problem. I don't take any preworkout supplements, just hype myself up on the walk to the gym and am good to go. Without further ado, here is the work:

Bench - 5x60kg, 3x70kg, 3x76kg
Wide grip bench - 12x50kg, 12x50kg, 5x60kg
Inc barbell bench (constant tension, no lockout) - 6x50kg, 8x50kg, 6x50kg
Inc DB bench - 8x24kg, 9x24kg, 7x24kg

10 minute arm style tricep pushdowns followed by a few dips and few sets of side laterals to get a pump

All in all, a good workout. I feel that I should have got more reps out on the last set of bench, but I guess I was tired. Happy with my wide grip bench progression. I need to work on getting my upper chest more developed though but I just get steamed out during the incline. I don't know what it is, but failure hits me all of a sudden.

All the best
Lethall
man, when you say bench day, you aint lying, bench on bench on bench, bet your chest was BLASTED

Tiger
09-23-14, 4:35 am
x2 on that! ALL the Bench Press!

Looking good!

Lethall105
09-23-14, 5:55 am
Hahah thanks brothers. I am really after that thickness in the chest, especially upper!

Today is a deadlift day, but I have a student ambassador training session with the university before that. Will post in here later on!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
09-23-14, 1:10 pm
Right. Been a long ass day and I didn't have much to eat. Got 6 eggs and 6 slices of bread in me and a bananna, then hit the gym a couple of hours later. Not ideal, but work got in the way. Was feeling pretty pumped up for it though and luckily managed to get a platform! All these freshers are just crowding around and curling in the squat rack and whatnot. Was an interesting session because I ended up doing more work than planned. It's a deload next week, so I figured why not. Here is the work:

Deadlift - 5x95kg, 3x110kg, 5x120kg (Lost my breathing on the 5th rep, I definitely had a couple more left in the tank.)
SLDL - 3x10x85kg - Linear progression is going well on this, but I was losing my grip towards the end
Hip thrusts - 5x60kg, 5x80kg, 5x90kg - Big squeeze at the top of the movement for about 3 seconds.
DB row - 6x48kg, 6x48kg, 5x48kg - Really short rests, good squeeze and full extension. I will take a leaf out of Tiger's book and get on some Kroc rows perhaps next week!
Leg curls - 8x93kg, 8+2F x 97kg, 4+2Fx102kg
Leg extension - 10xm, 8xm, 8xm drop bout halfway down the stack and get another 8 out (m means max or whole stack)

Calf raises to finish off.

Good session. Tomorrow I will be hitting dat OHP and then my back volume work on Thursday. I figured I'll put OHP in the middle because working back with a sore lower back makes it a pain. Also going to invest in some straps for a few exercises on back day.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
09-24-14, 2:29 pm
I basically am a peer mentor at university, where I get assigned a few first years on my course to look after if they have any problems. Today was an induction day, where I met them and then took them on a treasure hunt around town. Got a nice long walk out of it and got to know them a bit better. Eating has been a bit off, but I am still making strength gains so I am happy. Not as lean as I would like to be though. The gym has been chock full, and my session had a lot of breaks in it because nothing was available.

Here is the work, not gone to plan but oh well

OHP - 5x40kg, 3x42kg, 6x50kg - Was meant to hit 47kg on my 1+ set but no small plates available.
Lateral raise - 20x10kg, 16x14kg, 13x14kg
Bent over fly - 8x14kg, 10x14kg, 12x14kg

At this point, nothing was available so I went back and did 3 supersets of lateral raises followed by OHP again. Went 3x12x12kg on the laterals and 3x5x40kg on OHP. Good pump

Finish off with some reverse pec dec.

Couldn't hit my rear delt destroyer today, and I definitely felt a noticeable lack of pump in them. That little superset is an absolute killer. On the plus side, I hit the most weight I ever have on the reverse pec dec, smashing my previous PR on it by a good 20 kilos. Last time I did it was in June.

All in all, an OK session. I feel like I could have gone harder, but save it for another day. Tomorrow is back volume day, and I am going to get some straps before that. I will do forearm training seperately at the end, and I won't use straps on my pull ups

All the best
Lethall

Tiger
09-25-14, 3:59 am
OHP and Deads are looking good!

Lethall105
09-25-14, 9:52 am
Back volume day. Went and bought a pair of straps for about 6 quid ($10) this morning and figured I would try them out on some exercises. Here is the work:

Pull ups - 8xbw, 8xbw, 6xbw
Lat pulldown - 10x63.5kg, 8x68kg, 4x77kg drop to 4x59kg drop to 6x41kg
Close grip pulldown - 5 rep dropset, going from 63.5, to 54 - 45kg - 36kg - 27kg (Massive stretch at top, bring all the way to mid chest and try and SQUEEEEZE)
Meadows row (using 5kg plates for more rom) - 8x25kg, 8x25kg, 10x25kg with straps on the last o
1-arm row, straps on - 10x50kg, 10x50kg, 8x50kg

Interesting thing to note, I felt that my mechanics had changed when I put the straps on. I started feeling the movement a lot in my mid back on the rows. Interesting to see how it plays out. Definitely happy with grip not failing. Moving on..

Deadlift shrugs (Deadlift with 3 shrugs on the top of the movement, no straps) - 5/15x60kg, 5/15x80kg. 3/9x100kg - My lower back was absolutely exhausted after this. Great exercise from the man Antoine Vaillant!
Unilateral low row (straps) - 8x55kg, 6x65kg, 6x70kg

Finish off with some curls

1 word for this workout, BEASTLY. Had a stupid pump and was powering through everything. Most of the reps I hit today were where I failed at. Tried budging the weight once more many times but couldn't get it. I had one phrase going through my mind - 'YOU CAN REST WHEN YOU ARE DEAD'. I think I had that mindset because I am a bit angry with how small the gym is and how the availability of stuff is low. I guess I just need to get bigger so people move out of the way! (Just kidding, I like to keep to myself in the gym and not bother anyone else. What are your thoughts on this fellers?)

I think I will do my deload squat session tomorrow. I am working 9-5 on saturday, showing visitors to the uni around. We are expecting 18,000 people to turn up, so I am going to be on my feet all day!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
09-27-14, 2:45 pm
Why is everyone here? Why are we in the iron game? To me, it is to fulfil a purpose. The iron calls out to me. The purpose is to be the strongest I can be. For some of you it may be the biggest, or perhaps the most shredded. But one thing to remember is that there will be someone out there who has the same goal, but is better than you. Does that mean you should quit?

ABSOLUTELY NOT. Why not strive to be the best YOU can be. From all of our goals, we have one thing in common. We pay our dues. We may never be the strongest or the fastest, but we can be the toughest.

Now, what does toughest mean? To me, as an engineering student, toughness is defined as the ability of a material to absorb energy and deform without fracturing. Applying this to my training, I understand that my training will change me. It will make me better. But it will never break me. I will always keep training in some form or the other. But I will NEVER GIVE UP.

I will be the toughest that I can be.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
09-28-14, 10:50 am
Deload week this week. Decided to take it pretty easy on the squat session. Here is the work

Squat - 5x5x40kg
Front Squat - 5x50kg, 5x52.5kg, 6x40kg

Form felt like it was breaking down. I will take a step back, go with 45kg next week and work on it. Need to work on staying more upright, but it is nothing major.

Bench session
Bench - 12x40kg, 5x50kg, 5x60kg, 5x70kg
Close grip bench - 5x60kg, 3x70kg all paused for 3 seconds
Wide Grip bench - 2x10x50kg, 3x5x60kg
Inc DB bench - 14x24kg, 10x26kg, 8x26kg

The wide grip bench felt SO GOOOD today. I could have hit way more than 5 reps, but figuring it was meant to be a 'deload' I felt it best to not get ahead of myself. Great progression on the Incline DB bench as well!

After my bench session, I got 10g of BCAA's down in me, a lot of water, and then hit a Kickboxing session for an hour. That was a lot of fun, doing it for the first time. I think I will definitely do it again, twice a week as my cardio. Might get a bit of sparring in aswell. Got a shake down after, and now I am at home with some potatoes in the oven. Will have those with some greens in about 20 minutes. Then a meal with chicken and rice, and something with eggs.

Tomorrow is a rest day, but I think I will go do some running to keep the flab coming off.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
09-28-14, 10:51 am
Oh also, I want to up my squat frequency during the week. To get better, do more of it right? So what I have figured out is doing a squat 'control' session after my deadlifts. I will follow a 5x5 progression on this, and start with 60-65% of my training max.

weightsb4dates
09-28-14, 7:13 pm
Why is everyone here? Why are we in the iron game? To me, it is to fulfil a purpose. The iron calls out to me. The purpose is to be the strongest I can be. For some of you it may be the biggest, or perhaps the most shredded. But one thing to remember is that there will be someone out there who has the same goal, but is better than you. Does that mean you should quit?

ABSOLUTELY NOT. Why not strive to be the best YOU can be. From all of our goals, we have one thing in common. We pay our dues. We may never be the strongest or the fastest, but we can be the toughest.

Now, what does toughest mean? To me, as an engineering student, toughness is defined as the ability of a material to absorb energy and deform without fracturing. Applying this to my training, I understand that my training will change me. It will make me better. But it will never break me. I will always keep training in some form or the other. But I will NEVER GIVE UP.

I will be the toughest that I can be.

All the best
Lethall

nice quick motivational read.

and nice work all around.

Lethall105
09-30-14, 3:02 pm
Today was my deadlift deload day with 'control' squats after. With uni in full swing, getting my eating right is bugging me. I need to up my food prep. Going to be boiling eggs for lunch in bulk. Out of the blue question, but can I store eggs in the fridge after boiling them for a couple of days?

Anyway, here is the work from today:

Deadlifts - 4x3x100kg. I was using a new bar and it felt really off. Old bar wasn't available
Squat - 5x40kg, 5x50kg, 4x5x60kg
Some leg curls to finish off

I was intending to do a 5x5 with 50kg on squat (roughly 65% of my estimated max) but felt good so bumped up to 60kg. All reps were with good depth and tried my best to accelerate all the way through the lift. I genuinely feel I need to add more squat sets, because I felt better as the sets went on. Got into a nice groove. Practice makes perfect. Also, I may have found a training buddy for leg days. That will help me keep my form in check and since he is way stronger in the squat than me, be a bit of motivation. He is running Smolov at the moment, something I wish to attempt once I get past 3 plates on the squat.

All the best
Lethall

DaGOAT
09-30-14, 5:57 pm
Once boiled, they will keep for about 4 days in the fridge.

Lethall105
10-01-14, 2:29 am
Awesome, thanks!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-01-14, 4:09 pm
OHP day today. I was feeling a bit rusty this morning and decided to try out an energy drink. Bear in mind that this was probably the first time in 3 years that I have taken caffeine/stim type product. Was absolutely buzzing, and ended up having a pretty decent workout. Here is the work

OHP - 5x40kg, 5x50kg, 3x60kg, 4x60kg, 6x40kg
Flat bench (messing around waiting for dumbbells) - 2x5x67.5kg
Lateral raises - 14x12kg drop to 14x7kg, 3 total sets
RDR - 8x14kg, 8x14kg, 10x14kg
Some more OHP waiting around for the cables to get free. I think it was 40kg, for about 6-8 reps for 3 sets

Finished of with face pulls, getting my training buddy for the day to give me a number. I would then hold the contraction for that many seconds. Quite exhausting.

Had kickboxing later in the evening, and cut open the bottom of my foot. Bit painful, but I'll wrap it up and be good to go. Also, my university played our rivals at rugby tonight, and we lost. The opposition had a streaker who tackled one of our players as he was about to score, and that threw the game away for us. All the ref did was give away a penalty, which wasn't much use. Absolutely disgraceful and very disappointing to see such poor sportsmanship.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-04-14, 8:40 am
Whats up fellas? Haven't posted in a couple of days because I slipped and hurt my lower back. It was a bit sore and inflamed but nothing serious. Decided to rest it for a couple of days and take some pain killers and was feeling good to go today for my SQUATS! Good session, although I was feeling very sleepy and kind of tight (not as flexible). Now the thing is, I like to be tight when I am squatting, but not so tight to the point where movement is restricted. Foam rolling and mobility work is something I really need to start implementing! (Going to do it once I finish this post ha!)

Here is the work:
Squats - 5x55kg, 5x65kg, 8x72kg
Front squats - 3x50kg, 5x40kg, 5x40kg, 5x45kg
Leg press - 10x110kg, 12x120kg, 6x140kg drop to 8x80kg to 12x40kg. - 6x140kg is the most weight I have ever done since injuring my knee and I am very happy about it! Next cycle, I will try 4pps. If I can move that for 1, that will be a lifetime PR!
Leg ext - 10xstack, 8xstack, 8xstack.

Some seated calf raises to finish off.

Very happy with the work today. For the leg extension, I was planning on going single leg like my boy weightsb4dates, but since the gym was crowded and I was hopping in with a random person, I didn't want to hog the machine too long. For the front squats, I dropped the weight since last time, and kept a focus on staying as upright as possible and moving straight up and down rather than sitting back. Sometimes, I need to remember to let my ego at the door. The time will come when I am squatting some respectable weight! But for now, I need to get the foundations right.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-05-14, 12:40 pm
Hey all! Today was a bench day, but it had an interesting twist. Started the day off at a work shift. Got some carbs in the form of pasta in me, and couple hours later hit the gym. Here is the work

Bench - 5x54kg, 5x64kg, 9x70kg PR
Wide Grip Bench - 10x50kg, 4x6x60kg PR

Now here is the fun part. All the benches were taken and it was pretty crowded so I figured to skip the incline DB work and flys. Walking out, bumped into a friend who was going in to do deadlifts. So I thought, yeah why not? Legs are sore, but lets go and train.

Deadlift - 6x60kg, 6x80kg, 3x100kg, 3x120kg, 10x120kg PR
Pull ups - 8xbw, 5xbw+10

Walked out and did sprints. 1x40m, 2x100m.

Super happy with today. I do think I could have got a couple more reps out on my top set in the bench with a spot. Happy with the wide grip work. It is definitely helping my bench go up. The last set of deadlifts was for a laugh, and I honestly didn't think I could get it. All the reps were touch and go though. I will keep working on it and one day get 10 without touching and going. Tomorrow is a rest day, followed by deadlifts and squats on tuesday.

Also my friend filmed my set today on deadlifts. Couple of issues on form. I seem to shrug the weight at the top which I didn't realise I did. Going to get the video up later today and hopefully get some criticism on it!

All the best
Lethall

Cellardweller
10-05-14, 1:45 pm
Nice day there. I like how you about faced and went back in with your friend for more punishment Animal style. How are those wide grip bench presses on your shoulders?

Lethall105
10-05-14, 2:00 pm
Nice day there. I like how you about faced and went back in with your friend for more punishment Animal style. How are those wide grip bench presses on your shoulders?

Yeah, I think it was just the fact that I felt like I was leaving something in the tank. Didn't feel right to me to do that. Cheating myself you know?

I really like the wide grips. I don't put my warmup on here, but I ensure that my shoulders are nice and warm before going. I do that by doing some rotator cuff exercises. Simple rotations, external, internal, all that. Another exercise I do at home is to put my back against the wall and slide my arms up and down above my head ensuring that my elbows and wrists touch the wall at all time. That is a very good mobility check and over time helps resolve a lot of issues. I feel that it 'opens up' my shoulders. Also, I try and do more pulling volume than pressing. Have a pull up/dip station at home which I use everyday to get pullups in, for example when waiting for stuff to heat up in the microwave or during a TV advert. I attribute that to ensuring my shoulders are balanced.

My form on the wide grip bench is similar to a regular powerlifting form. So, scapula retracted and traps dug in. One of the guys I used to train with sometimes also did wide grips but he would keep his back flat against the bench. He ended up getting tendonitis in his shoulders. Now. obviously, I can't say that was the reason for it, but it's just an observation I made.

All the best
Lethall

Cellardweller
10-05-14, 2:07 pm
My shoulders suck. I'm going to try that thing on the wall.

[QUOTE=Lethall105;1389627 Have a pull up/dip station at home which I use everyday to get pullups in, for example when waiting for stuff to heat up in the microwave or during a TV advert.[/QUOTE]

This is badass and how you get stronger. Love it. About a month ago at work I was in the triage area with a male medic. I told him after we triage each patient we should do 10 pushups. If we triage 40 people in 8 hours we'll have done 400 pushups. He looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I am.

Lethall105
10-05-14, 2:15 pm
Yes! Its funny how when you spread out things over a period of time, you look back and think 'wow, that was a lot of work'. I think I get about 50-75 pullups in everyday, 5 each time I get on the station. They are getting easy now, I should go for 8 each time!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-07-14, 2:03 pm
Whats up brothers! Today was meant to be a deadlift day, followed by control squats. What happened was hilarious, had a great training session in the end, and I am absolutely knackered. Bearing in mind I did deadlifts and bench on Sunday, here is the work:

Deadlift - 5x85kg, 5x100kg, 6x110kg - back off sets 2x3x100kg

Here is the good bit. I had planned on hitting 5x5x 65kg on the squat but instead, I ended up testing a new max! Pretty stupid after deadlifts, especially since I had deadlifted heavy only 2 days ago! Managed to hit a PB for this year, well happy!!!

Squat
5x40kg
5x50kg
5x60kg - Recorded this set, video might be up later
2x5x65kg - At this point I decided to bump up
3x80kg
1x100kg ------PB!!!!!!!
5x60kg

Now, I was absolutely knackered, and the same thing happened to me as on Sunday. Friend walking in, asked me if I wanted to bench. Of course I said yes!
After warming up on bench - hit 5x60kg, 5x70kg, 3x80kg. Attempted 90kg - fail. I could've gotten in, but some bloke hit the bar walking by. Thats how crowded my gym is!

Anyway, I am going to now eat a boatload of food. My best friend is visiting, so will be out tonight. No alcohol as always obviously. Hopefully a good fun night, where I stay out of trouble!

Tomorrow, we do OHP

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-09-14, 1:19 pm
Hey all. Missed my training session yesterday since I was absolutely knackered from the day before. Today was meant to be a back volume workout, but I added my OHP in right at the start with some other shoulder work during the workout. Without further ado, here is the work:

OHP - 5x35kg, 5x45kg, 8x50kg, 3x60kg. I was meant to hit numbers less than this and stop at the 3rd set (5+), but was feeling good.
Pull ups - 8xbw, 6xbw, 4xbw, 5xbw - No straps as always on these, and very little rest.
DB row - 8x48kg, 6x48kg, straps on 10x48kg
Low row (straps on all sets) - 7x60kg, 6x70kg, 5x75kg
BB row (no straps) - 8x60kg, 2x5x70kg
BB shrugs (straps) - 20x80kg, 2x10x110kg
Lateral raises - 14x10kg, 2x10x12kg

Forearm work - pinching a plate in each hand and holding till failure for 3 sets.

Ridiculously busy in the gym. Also, I seem to be getting leaner, but bw is more or less the same. Weighed in at 87.8kg today. I am going to keep the diet clean, and around maintenance. Maybe add some more cardio in to keep the fat burning away. Tomorrow I will take a rest day and catch up on sleep. For my squat, after testing my max, I have decided to go ahead and increase my training max. On saturday, it will be a 3/3/3+ day. Should be good to see how that turns out!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-11-14, 10:10 am
Leg day! Straight to the work:

Squat - 3x67kg, 3x76kg, 5x86kg!!!
Front squat - 5x40kg, 3x45kg, 3x60kg, 2x60kg
Leg press - 11x3pps, 9x140kg, 6x150kg
Calf raises - 8x120kg, 6x120kg, 5x140kg, 5x140kg
Leg extension - 12xstack, 12xstacks, 10xstack, 8xstack

Good session today. I felt that I was going to fail on my 3+ set and not hit it, but I had a friend spurring me on and hit 5 with good depth! The form on all exercises today was very good. Front squats were straight up and down, no sitting back. Calf raises were with a nice stretch at the bottom and a squeeze at the top.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-12-14, 9:11 am
Woke up late today. Was intending to do my bench session before kickboxing, but it had to be the other way round. 2 hours of gruelling kickboxing, taking a lot of hits and then hit the bench. Only had a banana for breakfast, so the rest of the day I am just going to carb load and get a lot of protein in. Chest session was short and sweet, here is the work:

Bench - 3x55kg, 3x65kg, 6x75kg
Wide grip bench - 7x60kg, 6x65kg, 6x65kg
Pullups - 3x6xbw

I could have definitely gotten more on the bench, but my shoulders were just blasted from punching pads as well as having done about 300 pushups during the course of the kickboxing session. It's all for a good purpose though! Time to eat, and recuperate.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-14-14, 1:52 pm
Something is wrong with the FORVM server. Sometimes the site doesn't load at all. Writing this post again because the last one failed to load. Today was deadlift/squat control day

Deadlift - 3x90kg, 3x105kg, 7x120kg - All reset
Squat - 5x5x70kg

Some leg curls, and GVT style arms (props to my man weightsb4dates for this idea!)

Did some sprints afterwards, ran 80m in 12.3 seconds. Not a bad time for a non-professional sprinter, but I can definitely do better! Will be timing myself weekly now

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-15-14, 2:02 pm
OHP day today, was feeling pretty good and up for it! Eating was a bit off, gave in to cravings. No major fluctuations in how I am looking so that is good. Here is the work:

OHP - 3x40kg, 3x50kg, 7x55kg
Lateral raises - 20x10kg, 2x22x10kg, 14x14kg drop to 12x6kg
RDR - 3x10x14kg
Face pulls - 15x55kg, 12x59kg, 12x64kg

Decided to up the volume on the lateral raises, the high rep sets really felt good. Majority of the reps were controlled both concentric and eccentric, and once I failed with arms locked out, I finished the set off with arms bent to reduce the lever, make it slightly easier. My triceps were pretty tired today, went for the 8th rep on the OHP but failed to lock out. No worries though, slow progression beats no progression!

Tomorrow is back volume day!

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
10-15-14, 5:31 pm
OHP day today, was feeling pretty good and up for it! Eating was a bit off, gave in to cravings. No major fluctuations in how I am looking so that is good. Here is the work:

OHP - 3x40kg, 3x50kg, 7x55kg
Lateral raises - 20x10kg, 2x22x10kg, 14x14kg drop to 12x6kg
RDR - 3x10x14kg
Face pulls - 15x55kg, 12x59kg, 12x64kg

Decided to up the volume on the lateral raises, the high rep sets really felt good. Majority of the reps were controlled both concentric and eccentric, and once I failed with arms locked out, I finished the set off with arms bent to reduce the lever, make it slightly easier. My triceps were pretty tired today, went for the 8th rep on the OHP but failed to lock out. No worries though, slow progression beats no progression!

Tomorrow is back volume day!

All the best
Lethall

nice. love tho high rep side lateral raises

Lethall105
10-16-14, 4:35 pm
Back volume day today. The coursework has been piling on, so been pretty busy lately. Even though the workload is high, I get my training in because it is a nice break. Helps me focus, but it does take some time out of my schedule. No more going out for me, I don't need that to succeed. It's going to be hard graft until January exams, and that is also when I will start a cut and achieve one of my goals of being lean. At the moment, I look good in clothes, got a wide upper back. Once the clothes are off though, easy to see the blubber around my stomach area that has been haunting me since childhood. That is going to change.

Here is the work from today:

Pullups - 6xbw, 8xbw, 6xbw, 6xbw
BB row - 12x40kg, 12x60kg, 8x70kg, 5x80kg drop to 5x60kg
Meadows row - 6x30kg, staps on, 8x40kg, 7x45kg
Unilateral cable row - 12x50kg, 10x68kg, 8x68kg
Lat pulldown wide grip - 9x63kg, 8x68kg, 7x68kg
BB shrugs - 12x100kg, 14x110kg, 10x120kg

Some hammer curls to finish off

Decent workout. Changed some of my usual exercises, and it felt good. Meadows row was interesting since I was doing it on an ordinary barbell and where I was gripping had no knurling on it so it was slipping. It felt really good, especially in my lower and mid back. In fact, I have never felt a pump in my mid back as I did today. It kind of hurt, and at first I thought I had tweaked something, but now I realise it was just a lot of blood going there and making it really tight. The unilateral cable row was interesting aswell. Just put the pin in the highest stack and went for it and it came pretty easy. Sat on a box for that, and was pulling from an angle about 30 degrees above my shoulders.

I feel that whilst my rowing is strong, I am weaker when it comes to vertical pulling movements such as pull ups and lat pulldowns. I know my weaknesses now and I am going to eliminate them.

What do you guys drink intra workout? I sometimes get really burnt out, but I can't afford any extra supplements other than Pak, Omega and whey. To keep energy levels up, is it worth trying sport drinks? Or are you guys more worried about muscle breakdown and take BCAA's intra? Would be great to know.

All the best
Lethall

Cellardweller
10-17-14, 9:39 pm
Decided to up the volume on the lateral raises, the high rep sets really felt good.


nice. love tho high rep side lateral raises
Crazy bodybuilders. Lateral raises are one of the things I can't stand doing but make myself do for balance.


What do you guys drink intra workout? I sometimes get really burnt out, but I can't afford any extra supplements other than Pak, Omega and whey. To keep energy levels up, is it worth trying sport drinks? Or are you guys more worried about muscle breakdown and take BCAA's intra? Would be great to know.


I do both. I buy a 3 lb container of powder Gatoraide. It has 60 servings for $10. A 32 oz bottle of Gatoraide is about $1 here at the right store. I then get the same or a similar flavor AA supp like BCAA Stack or Atomic 7. I put half a scoop of Gatoraide powder and a whole scoop of the AA's in a 32oz Gatoraide bottle and mix. I reuse the Gatoraide bottle for about a week or two. After I drink it all I fill the bottle up with water at the drinking fountain. By useing the Gatoraide powder vs buying a bottle of Gatoraide for each training session I save $50 on sports drinks over probably 10-12 weeks. That alone more than pays for the AA sups. A can of Glutamine is about $12 and pretty much lasts most of the year. I put a little of that in my intra workout drink too.

Lethall105
10-18-14, 8:28 am
Crazy bodybuilders. Lateral raises are one of the things I can't stand doing but make myself do for balance.



I do both. I buy a 3 lb container of powder Gatoraide. It has 60 servings for $10. A 32 oz bottle of Gatoraide is about $1 here at the right store. I then get the same or a similar flavor AA supp like BCAA Stack or Atomic 7. I put half a scoop of Gatoraide powder and a whole scoop of the AA's in a 32oz Gatoraide bottle and mix. I reuse the Gatoraide bottle for about a week or two. After I drink it all I fill the bottle up with water at the drinking fountain. By useing the Gatoraide powder vs buying a bottle of Gatoraide for each training session I save $50 on sports drinks over probably 10-12 weeks. That alone more than pays for the AA sups. A can of Glutamine is about $12 and pretty much lasts most of the year. I put a little of that in my intra workout drink too.


Thanks for the insight man! I will look into getting the gatorade powder and BCAAs.

Today was one of the best training sessions I had in a while. Squat day with accessory work. Here is the work:

Squats - 5x71kg, 3x81kg, 4x90kg ----> Was dreading the last one, had no spotter but grinded through them all. Depth was ATG as well! Nice PR
Front squats - 2x60kg, 5x40kg, 2x6x40kg, 5x40kg ----> Top set had me burnt out so I just figured I'd drop the weight, focus on form and do some higher reps
Leg press - 10x3pps, 12x140kg, 6x4pps drop to 6x3pps -----> MASSIVE PR for me, never attempted 4 plates per side before, and I was intending on doing it for my next cycle. All reps were as low as I could go as well and felt really good on the quads :D

Now this is where the workout gets interesting. Was thinking of finishing it up with leg extensions, but a buddy came in and asked me to spot him on squats. So, whilst spotting, I decided to get back in to squats. Along with squats, he was doing pin squats. The work was as follows

Squats - 2x5x60kg
Pin squats - 3x100kg, 2x120kg
Squat lockout - 1x140kg hold for 30 seconds following a negative controlled descent to pins
Squat lockout - 2x160kg
Leg extensions - Moved to single leg today since I am able to rep the stack now. 3x8x50kg

SLDL - 6x60kg, 2x3x100kg
Deadlift - 1x140kg, 1x150kg - Messing around waiting for my friend to finish.

Sprints outside - 3x80m timed. Ran 12.37, 12.27 then 12.00 on the dot. Shaved 3 milliseconds, and after a leg day like todays, I am pretty happy with that.

I think today was so different mainly because the gym had very few people in. I love it like that, especially since my gym is very 'commercial' and has a very la dee dah atmosphere. I am sure that is very welcoming to new people and I am more than happy that they take up training. But what annoys me is when I see those people following a PT's 'advice' and doing silly things such as squatting on a bosu ball. Or the regular gym bro who says 'bro, squats are bad for your knees' whilst doing kipping pull-ups. I have realised there will always be someone doing their own thing and thinking it is the best thing to do, and that is probably because they have different goals. I just agree, give a compliment and move on. To me, do what you believe in and get out. No point shoving it down someone else's throat.

Tomorrow is bench day with couple hours of thai boxing to follow. Will take a small break in between to get some BCAA's in me and a bit of food. Maybe a shake with oats so I don't throw up when I get kicked in the stomach. Going to watch a football game now, Newcastle United vs Leicester. Love match days, great atmosphere in town.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-19-14, 3:12 pm
Bench day today. Straight to the work:

Bench - 5x63kg, 3x71kg, 6x80kg
Wide Grip Bench - 3x6x65kg
Inc DB bench - 10x28kg, 7x30kg, 9x32kg
Dips - 10xbw, 8xbw, 9xbw

Followed by 2 hours of thai boxing. Got kicked in the face, which is hurting a fair bit. Chicks dig bruises though right? Shins are quite beat up as well, but less pain than last time. Pain conditioning is fun. Happy with the chest work today. Wide grip progression is coming along quite well. Shoulders were a bit tight at the end, so I threw in a few sets of face pulls. I find they really 'open' up my shoulders and are a great exercise in general. Tried a different pull this time, more towards above my head rather than my forehead. Felt pretty good.

Resting tomorrow, followed by deadlifts and squat control on tuesday.

All the best
Lethall

Cellardweller
10-19-14, 3:43 pm
Boxing had to suck after training your chest. Your pecs must have cramped all day afterwards after all that pressing and punching.

Lethall105
10-19-14, 4:17 pm
Boxing had to suck after training your chest. Your pecs must have cramped all day afterwards after all that pressing and punching.
Thanks for checking in!

Today was more of me being a punching bag rather than punching someone else. Nevertheless, did 300 push ups during the training, and my chest hurts A LOT. Glad its a rest day tomorrow.

Ever since i have been doin boxing, ive noticed some good development in my front delts. Plus, it gives me more of a reason to go crazy on my back volume days to balance things out :)

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
10-20-14, 12:30 am
Bench day today. Straight to the work:

Bench - 5x63kg, 3x71kg, 6x80kg
Wide Grip Bench - 3x6x65kg
Inc DB bench - 10x28kg, 7x30kg, 9x32kg
Dips - 10xbw, 8xbw, 9xbw

Followed by 2 hours of thai boxing. Got kicked in the face, which is hurting a fair bit. Chicks dig bruises though right? Shins are quite beat up as well, but less pain than last time. Pain conditioning is fun. Happy with the chest work today. Wide grip progression is coming along quite well. Shoulders were a bit tight at the end, so I threw in a few sets of face pulls. I find they really 'open' up my shoulders and are a great exercise in general. Tried a different pull this time, more towards above my head rather than my forehead. Felt pretty good.

Resting tomorrow, followed by deadlifts and squat control on tuesday.

All the best
Lethall
nice work on those pressed, and dips last!? that had to be painful, good shit man.

face pulls are a great excercise, i really like the above head version like you stated as well

Lethall105
10-21-14, 11:34 am
Whats up brothers? Today was a deadlift and squat control day, but I had very limited time in between classes so I couldn't do any further accessory work. Good day, with me hitting another PR. Here is the work!

Deadlifts - 5x100kg, 3x110kg, 7x125kg (I think its time I upped my training max for my next cycle)

Squats - 2x5x60kg, 5x70kg, 5x5x80kg, 2x100kg!

I was supposed to hit 75kg for 5x5, but I felt really good today and decided to stop being a pussy and go for 80kg. All the reps were with good depth except for the last rep on my final set. That was at just parallel. I then decided to wait a bit, and then see how I fare with 100kg today. Got it for 2 good deep reps, but I lost my breath on the 3rd one and had my spotter help me back up. Happy nevertheless! Deadlifts were good too, and I had watched a BOSS video to get motivated for them!

Next week is meant to be a deload week, but I will see how I am feeling and skip into the first week of the next cycle if I feel good. At the moment, I am getting good amounts of sleep and am recovering just fine. Hopefully that keeps up and work doesn't get too much in the way!

Tomorrow, its OHP day followed by thai boxing, but I am not sure if I will that yet. Maybe do a lot of rear delt work after OHP so my front delts aren't hammered before boxing.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-22-14, 8:56 am
Hey all, hope you are doing well! Nice and short OHP session today, straight to the work:

OHP - 5x45kg, 3x50kg, 6x60kg!
Lateral raises - 2x15x12kg, 14x14kg, drop to 10x6kg followed by some partial reps
Bent over cable fly - 12x7kg, 14x8kg, 12x11kg

Some leg curls, leg extensions and very light paused squats as a warmup before sprints.
10x30m sprints, pyramiding in intensity.

Shortened the session today, it was ridiculously busy. Tomorrow is a volume back day and I am planning on going in the evening when it might be a bit quieter.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-22-14, 4:45 pm
Ok, went ahead to thai boxing. Was a good session on consolidation, so basically just repeatedly doing moves to make them second nature. No sparring so no bruises. Front delts are absolutely hammered. Going to get the final meal of chicken, rice and salsa in.

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
10-22-14, 4:54 pm
Hey all, hope you are doing well! Nice and short OHP session today, straight to the work:

OHP - 5x45kg, 3x50kg, 6x60kg!
Lateral raises - 2x15x12kg, 14x14kg, drop to 10x6kg followed by some partial reps
Bent over cable fly - 12x7kg, 14x8kg, 12x11kg

Some leg curls, leg extensions and very light paused squats as a warmup before sprints.
10x30m sprints, pyramiding in intensity.

Shortened the session today, it was ridiculously busy. Tomorrow is a volume back day and I am planning on going in the evening when it might be a bit quieter.

All the best
Lethall


Ok, went ahead to thai boxing. Was a good session on consolidation, so basically just repeatedly doing moves to make them second nature. No sparring so no bruises. Front delts are absolutely hammered. Going to get the final meal of chicken, rice and salsa in.

All the best
Lethall
nice job on the ohp's

noticed you did sprinting and thai boxing, how is your recovery one a day this intense?

Lethall105
10-22-14, 5:24 pm
nice job on the ohp's

noticed you did sprinting and thai boxing, how is your recovery one a day this intense?

Good question there. What I do on a day like this is up my carb intake, add BCAA's, foam roll and make sure I get 8-9 hours of sleep. Food and sleep are top on my list for recovery.

More recently, I have been finding that I have a drive to get stronger and simply be the best I can be, and therefore I can keep training. Especially through the help of this website, I find motivation every day to train. Some of my friends think I am crazy, I just tell them I am different. I like the hard work, and the best part is getting results.

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
10-22-14, 6:02 pm
Good question there. What I do on a day like this is up my carb intake, add BCAA's, foam roll and make sure I get 8-9 hours of sleep. Food and sleep are top on my list for recovery.

More recently, I have been finding that I have a drive to get stronger and simply be the best I can be, and therefore I can keep training. Especially through the help of this website, I find motivation every day to train. Some of my friends think I am crazy, I just tell them I am different. I like the hard work, and the best part is getting results.

All the best
Lethall

i agree, with all of the bolded. nice work man.

ps: just curious but how old are you, i noticed you said you did sprints, muay thai, and lifting in one day, thats a ton of work, and muay thai is a young mans game.

Lethall105
10-23-14, 5:13 am
Only 20! Turning 21 in December.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-23-14, 1:49 pm
Back volume day today, was looking really forward to it. Delts and shins were pretty sore today, but nothing serious. Here is the work:

Pullups - 8xbw, 6xbw+10kg, 6xbw+10kg, 4xbw+10kg drop to 2xbw
BB row - 12x60kg, 9x80kg, 7x80kg, 20x40kg
Meadows row - 8x40kg, 10x40kg, 8x45kg (Even though I was using straps, grip was the issue because bar was too slippery. Great mid back pump though)
Cable row - 10x68kg, 6x73kg, 7x73kg
BB hyperextension - 8x50kg, 4x80kg, 3x100kg (I used to do this as a deadlift accessory. Decided to bring them back since they hit my traps, lats and erectors0
BB shrugs - 10x100kg, 12x100kg, 10x110kg

Happy with today's work. A lot of rowing, and not so much vertical pulling.

Also, I found a great deal on Animal Cuts and decided to order a can to try it out. Going to run a cycle of it to see how it works. Thinking of it as a mini cut to reduce body fat a bit, and then readjust and go back to lean gaining. I think this approach is more suitable for me, especially since I dieted down a lot before and still have loose skin and a bit of fat. I believe hacking away at it slowly in small phases will help me keep sane and reach my desired physique goals. Looking to lose about 5kg of fat. Mostly around my mid-section. Also, have a ball coming up and need to fit into my tux!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-25-14, 4:24 pm
Hey all, hope everything is going well! Today was a squat day. It is meant to be a deload week, but I have decided to skip the deload since I am feeling pretty good. Straight to the work, then a bit of discussion about my form and changing some things up:

Squat - 5x65kg, 5x75kg, 6x85kg
Front squat - 2x6x45kg, 5x45kg, 7x45kg
Leg press - 10x3pps, 8x4pps, 6x4pps, 20x2pps
Bulgarian split squats (holding onto a pole to enable me to focus on quads and glutes more) - 3x10x20kg
Leg curls - 9x102kg, 8x102kg, 6x106kg
Single leg extension - 10x52kg, 10x52kg, 8x56kg

Some calf raises, then a few light sets of conventional deads which my partner filmed to analyse my form.

All in all, not a bad day. Not too happy with my 5+ set, was hoping for atleast 8 reps, but I guess that its ok. The split squats were pretty good as well. Holding onto something took the instability out of it and allowed me to concentrate on the quads/glutes.

Over the past two months, my progression has been pretty good. I haven't missed a + reps set yet (running Wendler 5/3/1) and have been adding weight steadily to other lifts. However, I believe that I have figured out my main weakness, and I am going to adjust my training to improve on it. I have come to this conclusion based on how I feel my form is on my main lifts.

I feel that I have weak as fuck quads. The reasoning behind this is that my front squat is not as good as it should be. I still tend to sit back when I get to 'heavy' loads. Today was decent and the loads were fairly light. I should leave my ego at the door! Also, on my deadlift, my hips rise up and it ends up looking a lot more like a stiff legged deadlift rather than a conventional deadlift. I associate this with weak quads because I don't use that much leg drive to get off the floor and instead use a lot more lower back.

Solution: Train quads harder. Switch squat bar position from a 'hybrid' to a more high bar position. Work on my core to help stay upright. Increase front squat volume. BOSS recommends doing several sets of 5-8 and so I am thinking of doing 5 sets of 5-8, adding 2.5kg every session. I will also do front squats after deadlifts and back squats on Tuesdays. This will also help some more mass to my legs and hopefully get me bottom heavy which is something I really want!

I am going to take the approach 'squat more often, squat more weight'. Looking forward to see how my quads develop over the next few months.

Any feedback and advice would be welcome!

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
10-25-14, 5:44 pm
Only 20! Turning 21 in December.

All the best
Lethall


Back volume day today, was looking really forward to it. Delts and shins were pretty sore today, but nothing serious. Here is the work:

Pullups - 8xbw, 6xbw+10kg, 6xbw+10kg, 4xbw+10kg drop to 2xbw
BB row - 12x60kg, 9x80kg, 7x80kg, 20x40kg
Meadows row - 8x40kg, 10x40kg, 8x45kg (Even though I was using straps, grip was the issue because bar was too slippery. Great mid back pump though)
Cable row - 10x68kg, 6x73kg, 7x73kg
BB hyperextension - 8x50kg, 4x80kg, 3x100kg (I used to do this as a deadlift accessory. Decided to bring them back since they hit my traps, lats and erectors0
BB shrugs - 10x100kg, 12x100kg, 10x110kg

Happy with today's work. A lot of rowing, and not so much vertical pulling.

Also, I found a great deal on Animal Cuts and decided to order a can to try it out. Going to run a cycle of it to see how it works. Thinking of it as a mini cut to reduce body fat a bit, and then readjust and go back to lean gaining. I think this approach is more suitable for me, especially since I dieted down a lot before and still have loose skin and a bit of fat. I believe hacking away at it slowly in small phases will help me keep sane and reach my desired physique goals. Looking to lose about 5kg of fat. Mostly around my mid-section. Also, have a ball coming up and need to fit into my tux!

All the best
Lethall


Hey all, hope everything is going well! Today was a squat day. It is meant to be a deload week, but I have decided to skip the deload since I am feeling pretty good. Straight to the work, then a bit of discussion about my form and changing some things up:

Squat - 5x65kg, 5x75kg, 6x85kg
Front squat - 2x6x45kg, 5x45kg, 7x45kg
Leg press - 10x3pps, 8x4pps, 6x4pps, 20x2pps
Bulgarian split squats (holding onto a pole to enable me to focus on quads and glutes more) - 3x10x20kg
Leg curls - 9x102kg, 8x102kg, 6x106kg
Single leg extension - 10x52kg, 10x52kg, 8x56kg

Some calf raises, then a few light sets of conventional deads which my partner filmed to analyse my form.

All in all, not a bad day. Not too happy with my 5+ set, was hoping for atleast 8 reps, but I guess that its ok. The split squats were pretty good as well. Holding onto something took the instability out of it and allowed me to concentrate on the quads/glutes.

Over the past two months, my progression has been pretty good. I haven't missed a + reps set yet (running Wendler 5/3/1) and have been adding weight steadily to other lifts. However, I believe that I have figured out my main weakness, and I am going to adjust my training to improve on it. I have come to this conclusion based on how I feel my form is on my main lifts.

I feel that I have weak as fuck quads. The reasoning behind this is that my front squat is not as good as it should be. I still tend to sit back when I get to 'heavy' loads. Today was decent and the loads were fairly light. I should leave my ego at the door! Also, on my deadlift, my hips rise up and it ends up looking a lot more like a stiff legged deadlift rather than a conventional deadlift. I associate this with weak quads because I don't use that much leg drive to get off the floor and instead use a lot more lower back.

Solution: Train quads harder. Switch squat bar position from a 'hybrid' to a more high bar position. Work on my core to help stay upright. Increase front squat volume. BOSS recommends doing several sets of 5-8 and so I am thinking of doing 5 sets of 5-8, adding 2.5kg every session. I will also do front squats after deadlifts and back squats on Tuesdays. This will also help some more mass to my legs and hopefully get me bottom heavy which is something I really want!

I am going to take the approach 'squat more often, squat more weight'. Looking forward to see how my quads develop over the next few months.

Any feedback and advice would be welcome!

All the best
Lethall

nice man, not sure what the drinkin age is there but i know were 21 in america so stay safe if its th smae (although i think not)

also whats a meadows row (im guessing named after john meadows right?)

and man that is a ton of compound excercises in one session for legs, it must be hell the next day hahaha

Lethall105
10-26-14, 3:52 am
nice man, not sure what the drinkin age is there but i know were 21 in america so stay safe if its th smae (although i think not)

also whats a meadows row (im guessing named after john meadows right?)

and man that is a ton of compound excercises in one session for legs, it must be hell the next day hahaha

Drinking age is 18, but I don't drink anyway so it would affect me haha!

A meadows row is essentially a tbar row done with 1 hand whilst standing at the end of barbell. Almost like a 1-arm DB row, except that because the barbell end bit occupies less space than a heavy DB, you can pull it up further and get a better contraction.

Yeah, I am hurting as I am writing this. Took me a couple of minutes to get off the toilet seat this morning haha! Going to foam roll now and stretch out a bit, then its bench followed by a small break followed by thai boxing!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-27-14, 1:19 pm
Bit late in posting Sundays workout, had a lot of work and very little time on my hands! Here it is:

Bench - 5x60kg, 5x65kg, 10x75kg
Wide grip bench - 6x67kg 6x67kg, 7x70kg

Was feeling really good so I decided to test my bench max. Got 90kg for 1, went for 95kg and failed about midway.

OHP - 8x40kg, 6x50kg, 3x60kg, 1x65kg. I really wanted to hit 70kg. I know I can get it. Tried several times, but always got stuck midway. I suppose I was tired after all that benching. It's elusive, but I WILL get it!

Dips - 2x10xbw, 4xbw+20kg, 3xbw+30kg

Thai boxing after about 30 mins of rest. For the first time in my life, I cramped up both of my triceps. Unbelievable pain. Got a couple of bottles of Lucozade down to rehydrate and get some electrolytes in. Very intense session.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-28-14, 5:45 pm
Deadlift and squat control day today. Really focusing on form to use more leg drive on the deadlifts, and getting the quads involved in the squats. Here is the work:

Deadlift - 5x90kg, 5x102kg, 10x115kg
Squat - 5x60kg ,5x70kg 5x5x82.5kg
Front squats - 2x6x45kg, 5x40kg

Deadlifts were decent. All reps were reset, no lower back rounding. My first set of squats actually felt ridiculously heavy, even though it was only 60kg. Had a buddy just motivating me throughout the workout and managed to hit the 5x5 goal. Few grinders in there, but all were good depth.

Filmed my second set of front squats, and boy, it looked so much more different (horrible) than how it felt. Upper back rounding, but fortunately due to strong shoulders I was still able to keep the bar up. My upper arm was parallel to the floor throughout, but it looked pretty horrible on film. Also, I was sitting back rather than straight up and down even though I felt like I was going in a vertical line. Dropped the weight. Going to take baby steps, and really nail the form on these. Quad strength is a must for me to focus on.

Tomorrow is OHP day. Should be a breeze. If only my lower body was as strong as my upper!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
10-29-14, 12:43 pm
Today was OHP day. Also started on Animal Cuts. Was pissing like a racehorse! Now, just need to keep my diet in check and hopefully I will see some good results. Here is the work:

OHP - 10x40kg, 5x47kg, 7x55kg
Lateral raises - 14x14kg, 14x14kg, 8x16kg drop to 8x6kg
Bent over front raise (New thing I thought I'd try) - 14x10kg, 12x10kg, 10x10kg
Rear delt row (weightsb4dates style, thanks bud!) - 10x10kg, 2x12x10kg
Machine press - 15x15kg per side, 10x25kg, 10x35kg

Interesting day, the last 3 exercises were something I have never done before. Felt good changing it up. Can definitely move more weight on them, but today was more getting used to them. Really good pump from the rear delt row.

Tomorrow its meant to be a back day, but I am going to be working late and don't think I will have time. May have to skip and do it on Friday!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
11-02-14, 2:07 pm
Bit late in posting Thursdays workout. I had to go to London over the weekend, so I moved my leg workout to thursday instead. Not quite optimal, but I was feeling recovered enough to have a crack at it. Ended up being different than usual, but it was fun. PR's all round.

Squat - 10x3x60kg warming up. 3x70kg, 3x80kg, 5x90kg, 2x5x60kg with 2 second pause
Speed squats - 3x8x40kg
More paused squats - 3x60kg, 3x80kg - 3 second pause
Some leg extensions and barbell rows

2x80m sprints

Got hold of the squat rack. Did a lot of warmup sets (10 with 60kg as well as many others with lighter weights) to get the movement ingrained. Was happy with getting 5 reps on my 3+ set. A friend came in and he was going for a new 1RM of 160kg at 68kg bw, so I figured I'd stay around and do some squat variations with his warmup weights. He missed his first attempt (uses low bar and the bar started rolling off his back) took a minute off and went at it again and hit it! Very proud of his aggression towards the weights and motivated by it aswell. It is great to have someone stronger to look up to!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
11-03-14, 3:46 pm
Morning/Evening all! Decided to go ahead and do my deadlift and bench session today. Here is the work

Deadlift - 3x95kg, 3x110kg, 7x122kg
BB row - 12x60kg, 2x5x80kg
Bench - 3x60kg, 3x70kg, 8x77kg
Wide grip bench - 6x70kg, 3x4x70kg

Moved on to a few sets of standing DB press, then many sets of OHP pyramiding up from 40kg to 60kg for some triples, then backing down to a few sets of 5 with 40kg.

Mixed workout. Happy with deadlifts, but I still need to learn how to use proper quad drive. Bench was good too. However, on the wide grip, I should have gotten more reps, but some guy bumped into the bar on the left side and messed up my groove. My shoulder felt a bit funny, and therefore I decided to see how DB presses and OHP's go with a lighter weight to make sure there wasn't too much of an issue. Thankfully, they felt fine.

Weight update (After training session) - 89.3kg. Just wondering, but I suppose I should weight myself in the mornings after I wake up right? The only thing is, my scale isn't very accurate, and I can't afford to buy another one at the moment. I was thinking, to see a trend in weight loss, I shouldn't worry about the actual numbers, but just the change in numbers on a daily level. Therefore, as long as I am consistent with using my crappy scale, I should be fine yes?

Any thoughts on that will be appreciated!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
11-05-14, 1:39 pm
Yesterday I decided to hit some squats. I forgot my log book so didn't record any sets, but I will go with memory..

Squats - Many warmup sets with 60kg, 3x80kg, 3x90kg

I was actually meant to be doing 5x5 with 87.5kg, but instead I decided to go ahead and try 110kg for a 1RM.

First attempt - fail, too high
Second attempt - fail, high again
Third attempt - GOOD, well below parallel, slow out of the hole but strong finish.

Really happy with that. I was very doubtful about the weight and hence went high, but on the last one, I dropped down as low as I could and went back up. Really happy, 30kg increase on my squat max since I started this journey. The only way is forward now.

Bench - 10x60kg, 5x65kg, 5x70kg, 5x80kg.

I was just messing around on the bench while my friend was working. He asked me for a spot and I got bored whilst he was resting so decided to jump in.

Today, my CNS was fried. Woke up about 5 hours later than usual...

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
11-06-14, 1:34 pm
OHP day. All I had to eat was a bananna and a cheese and tomato sandwich. Woke up running late and hate a meeting that dragged on and on. Still, PRed today, so feeling pretty good!

OHP - 3x48kg, 3x54kg, 7x61kg, 1x70kg - Last 2 were both PRs
Lateral raises - 16x14kg, 2x12x16kg
Rear delt flies - 14x10kg, 2x20x10kg

A friend of mine was deadlifting and we decided to do something fun. Here is a video of Mikhail Koklyaev doing it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZLCwd0PZ_I

Went from 60kg-130kg-60kg instead of beasting it like Misha... Was good fun!

Did some pullups, face pulls and bicep curls afterwards to finish off.

2x100m sprints.

Good day today, happy with OHP progression!

All the best
Lethall

Cellardweller
11-06-14, 2:24 pm
Have you watched this?

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0LEVzLfyltUDdIAIjFXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBya HEyNGMxBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1VJQzFfMQ--?p=so+you+think+you+can+squat+elitefts

Lethall105
11-06-14, 3:06 pm
Yeah, I saw those vids a while back. Thanks for reminding me, should look at it again and take some pointers!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
11-08-14, 8:28 am
Squat day! Here is the work:

Squat - 5x75kg, 3x85kg, 7x95kg 20 second rest pause then 1x95kg ---> Really happy with this, considering this was my 1+ set.
Front squat (focus on form) - 10x40kg, 7x40kg, 5x40kg
Leg press - 8x140kg, 8x160kg, 5x180kg drop to 6x120kg drop to 8x80kg

Was going to do leg extensions, but someone was already on the machine. Decided to hit some deadlifts instead. Went with sumo to see how that felt.

Sumo deadlift - 5x100kg, 1x120kg, 1x140kg, 160kg attempt, couldn't get it off the ground. Switched stance to conventional, got 160kg fairly easily -> NEW PR!

Some leg extensions to finish off.

Very very happy with my squat today. Sumo deadlift felt good, but couldn't pull my max. Bear in mind, I have never done sumo before and am still learning how to. I definitely like it and I think I will start training both styles soon.

Tomorrow, we bench followed by thai boxing!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
11-09-14, 5:00 pm
Bench day today. Woke up late (pretty tired from yesterday I suppose) so had to train later in the evening. Here is the work:

Bench - 5x65kg, 3x73kg, 4x85kg.
Wide grip bench - 4x6x70kg, 3x60kg paused
Incline DB press - 7x30kg, 5x34kg, 8x26kg
Incline DB fly - 2x8x18kg, raise the incline 1 notch and got 10x18kg
Dips - 10xbw, 5xbw+15kg, 2xbw+15kg drop to 2xbw

Some face pulls to finish off and loosen everything up.

Pretty happy with today, especially the wide grip bench progression. Upper chest is definitely a weak point both from a size and strength perspective. Was absolutely burnt out by the time I went onto dips, arms just felt like they would give up on me.

Rest day tomorrow but I might go in and do some cardio.

All the best
Lethall

Embee
11-09-14, 5:40 pm
Switched stance to conventional, got 160kg fairly easily -> NEW PR!

Very very happy with my squat today. Sumo deadlift felt good, but couldn't pull my max. Bear in mind, I have never done sumo before and am still learning how to. I definitely like it and I think I will start training both styles soon.

Tomorrow, we bench followed by thai boxing!



Congrats on the new PR man! Especially since it went up fairly easily. A new PR while in the back of your mind you know you could do even more for some reason really motivates me, don't know why.
Might have to give sumo a try as well soon though and see if I can adjust to it.

Also, Thai boxing after benching? That has to be brutal.

Nice job on the dips after all that pressing. Reminds me I need to start adding weight to my dips and pull-ups as well. Let's hope the shoulder holds up.

Lethall105
11-09-14, 6:33 pm
Thanks man! Was absolutely blown out today and woke up late so couldn't get my boxing session in. It is pretty brutal usually, had tricep cramps the last time I did it! Next one is on wednesday, which will land after shoulders, so that will be fun as well...

Yeah, definitely go after the weight on dips and pullups, but make sure you can get reps comfortably with just your bodyweight first! I am sure you physio will be able to guide you better when it comes to mobility, but one of the things I find keeps my shoulders happy is face pulls. I do them about 3x a week, after chest, shoulders and during my back workout. My shoulder mobility is very good; I can hold a bar just outside shoulder width and rotate it all the way around from the front to the back with my elbows locked out, and I could only do it once after I added face pulls into my routine.

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
11-09-14, 8:01 pm
Bench day today. Woke up late (pretty tired from yesterday I suppose) so had to train later in the evening. Here is the work:

Bench - 5x65kg, 3x73kg, 4x85kg.
Wide grip bench - 4x6x70kg, 3x60kg paused
Incline DB press - 7x30kg, 5x34kg, 8x26kg
Incline DB fly - 2x8x18kg, raise the incline 1 notch and got 10x18kg
Dips - 10xbw, 5xbw+15kg, 2xbw+15kg drop to 2xbw

Some face pulls to finish off and loosen everything up.

Pretty happy with today, especially the wide grip bench progression. Upper chest is definitely a weak point both from a size and strength perspective. Was absolutely burnt out by the time I went onto dips, arms just felt like they would give up on me.

Rest day tomorrow but I might go in and do some cardio.

All the best
Lethall

tons of work being done on the bench today man, killin it!

Lethall105
11-11-14, 4:20 pm
Deadlift day, it was so busy in the gym I had to wait ages for a platform to be available. Hadn't had much to eat today so energy levels were down. Was determined to PR though and got it! Here is the work:

Deadlift - 5x102kg, 3x116kg, 7x130kg 15 sec rest pause to get some more chalk on the hands, then 2x130kg. ---> PR (None of the reps were touch and go either!)
Sumo Deadlift - 3x100kg, 3x110kg, 3x120kg
Pendlay row - 8x60kg, 5x80kg, 2x4x90kg

That was it. Short and sweet, no squats today.

I have been changing up the way I approach my top sets. I think about some of the negative things that have happened, things that I had control over and could have changed and I try and get my adrenaline going. It has definitely been helping me. Sumo pulls were low volume, just trying and get the form right. Was using oly shoes for these. I think I will try pulling in chucks next time. Experimenting with width and pointing toes at different angles.

Tommorow, we OHP.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
11-12-14, 5:59 pm
OHPing today, was feeling pretty pumped going into the gym. OHP and bench are just the lifts which I am naturally good at! I wish it was the same case with the squats...

OHP - 5x50kg, 3x58kg, 5x65kg---->PR
Seated DB press - 8x26kg, 4x34kg
Seated lateral - 12x12kg, 12x12kg drop 4x8kg drop 8x6kg, 12x12kg drop 6x8kg drop 8x6kg
Rear delt destroyer - 12x14kg, 10x14kg, 11x14kg
Face pulls - 12x64kg, 12x68kg, 10x73kg

Some calf raises to finish off

Really happy with today. Projected OHP max is 77kg now, which puts me in the advanced category for my bw (87.6kg) so pretty happy! I will attempt to hit it sometime soon to see how accurate the calculator is (strstd.com). DB press was just me messing around. The rear delt destroyer was pretty insane today, got a good pump. Really noticing some good shoulder development.

Tomorrow is meant to be a back volume day, but I have lectures 9-5 so going to be pretty tired I think. Nevertheless, will see how it goes!

All the best
Lethall

Embee
11-12-14, 6:20 pm
Deadlift - 5x102kg, 3x116kg, 7x130kg 15 sec rest pause to get some more chalk on the hands, then 2x130kg. ---> PR (None of the reps were touch and go either!)



That's a lot of reps for that final set man, damn! Nice job!

Good one on the OHP PR as well. That projected 1RM is pretty impressive, but I do expect you to actually hit it soon!

Lethall105
11-14-14, 2:41 pm
Back day today. The day hadn't been going well, woke up late, ran to uni to find that the lecture had been cancelled. Had to skip breakfast for that.. to top it off, it was absolutely pissing it down today. Non stop rain for a good few hours. Nevertheless, sucked it up, had some caffeine and hit the gym. Trained with my old partner today, we used to go pretty hard last year but this year his timetable has been much different than mine, plus he has different goals. One thing in common though, we both love volume. Had an exciting twist at the end of this session, enjoy the work:

Pullups (wide grio) - 8xbw, 4xbw+10kg, 5xbw+10kg, 4xbw+10kg drop to 2xbw
BB row - 10x60kg, 6x80kg, 6x90kg
BB shrugs - 20x100kg, 10x120kg, 10x140kg (all with straps)
Unilateral Cable row - 3x8x68kg
Wide grip lat pulldown - 7x10x68kg thats right SEVEN sets. We were gunning for 10x10, GVT style, but decided to go for 3 sets of close grip pulldowns
Close grip pulldown 3x12x54kg
Hyperextensions with BB - 5x50kg, 3x70kg, 2x110kg

Grip work in the form of plate flips... used a 10kg plate without an edge, and did it till failure

Abs - rarely train abs, since I do a lot of compound movements. But these days, I think I should develop them more for physique purposes. Starting slow, did weighted planks with a 20kg plate, then one with 30kg.

And thats it folks. Great day today in the end. Heck, my forearms are cramping up. Tried brushing my teeth and my bicep cramped up. Going to take in a lot of carbs, tomorrow is squat day. It's meant to be a deload, but I think I will do a 5x5 type session with 90kg, with some bodybuilding work afterwards.

All the best
Lethall

weightsb4dates
11-14-14, 4:07 pm
Back day today. The day hadn't been going well, woke up late, ran to uni to find that the lecture had been cancelled. Had to skip breakfast for that.. to top it off, it was absolutely pissing it down today. Non stop rain for a good few hours. Nevertheless, sucked it up, had some caffeine and hit the gym. Trained with my old partner today, we used to go pretty hard last year but this year his timetable has been much different than mine, plus he has different goals. One thing in common though, we both love volume. Had an exciting twist at the end of this session, enjoy the work:

Pullups (wide grio) - 8xbw, 4xbw+10kg, 5xbw+10kg, 4xbw+10kg drop to 2xbw
BB row - 10x60kg, 6x80kg, 6x90kg
BB shrugs - 20x100kg, 10x120kg, 10x140kg (all with straps)
Unilateral Cable row - 3x8x68kg
Wide grip lat pulldown - 7x10x68kg thats right SEVEN sets. We were gunning for 10x10, GVT style, but decided to go for 3 sets of close grip pulldowns
Close grip pulldown 3x12x54kg
Hyperextensions with BB - 5x50kg, 3x70kg, 2x110kg

Grip work in the form of plate flips... used a 10kg plate without an edge, and did it till failure

Abs - rarely train abs, since I do a lot of compound movements. But these days, I think I should develop them more for physique purposes. Starting slow, did weighted planks with a 20kg plate, then one with 30kg.

And thats it folks. Great day today in the end. Heck, my forearms are cramping up. Tried brushing my teeth and my bicep cramped up. Going to take in a lot of carbs, tomorrow is squat day. It's meant to be a deload, but I think I will do a 5x5 type session with 90kg, with some bodybuilding work afterwards.

All the best
Lethall

nice work man. i think google should invent some kind of a translate extension to auto change kg to lbs for us ameribrahs, and visa versa for you non ameribrahs. lol i always come in here and automatically look to see how many lbs the weight is hahaha

any ways good work bro

Lethall105
11-14-14, 4:39 pm
Haha you know what, I was thinking the same thing. I'll start putting stuff in lbs as well if I find time ;) Thanks mate

All the best
Lethall

Embee
11-17-14, 2:59 am
Damn, you walk the walk when it comes to saying you love volume! Nice work man.

Looked up what those plate flips are and found a video of Klokov doing them with 25kg...
Must give them a try soon!

Cellardweller
11-17-14, 9:10 pm
Heck, my forearms are cramping up. Tried brushing my teeth and my bicep cramped up.

Love this.

Lethall105
11-18-14, 8:14 pm
Sorry, bit late uploading the last two sessions. Been pretty busy with uni work! Without further ado, here it is:

Squat day:
Squat - 3x70kg, 3x80kg, 3x90kg, 5x100kg -->PR, 3x100kg
Front squat - 2x6x40kg, 8x40kg
Smith machine hack squat - 8x80kg, 7x80kg, 5x80kg (New exercise I figured I'd give a go whilst the leg press was taken)
Leg press - 12x140kg, 12x160kg (4pps), 6x180kg drop to 8x120kg

Some leg extensions to finish off.

Bench day:
Bench - 3x70kg, 3x80kg, 2x90kg -->PR, 3x80kg, 3x80kg, 2x80kg
Wide grip bench - 4x10x60kg
DB pullover - 2x10x24kg
Hammer strength chest press - 10x30kg per side, 8x40kg, 6x40kg

Some standing DB presses to finish off.

So, that's it for the weekends work. Meant to be a deload week, instead I set some PR's. Pretty happy with how well my squat is coming along. To think I was grinding 1 rep out with 100kg a few weeks back on the squats! When I started training, I had this feeling sometimes of just being able to let out stress in the gym. That had disappeared for a while and now its coming back. Love going in and smashing some weight. Keeps reminding me of why I am in this game. Tried some new exercises, which was a bit of fun. In the new year, some of my friends who are competitive powerlifters are looking to get together to design a program. I think I will join them, add some volume days to it for my own needs and see how that goes. But so far, I am very grateful for Wendler. Great program to run, and I have seen nothing but consistent strength gains.

All the best
Lethall

Embee
11-19-14, 2:21 am
Nice work on the PR's again! Seems you're progressing nicely!

Lethall105
11-19-14, 9:21 am
Nice work on the PR's again! Seems you're progressing nicely!

Thanks man! Yeah, I am just happy to be squatting without any pain. Fingers crossed it stays this way.

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
11-24-14, 3:26 am
Posting work from Saturday, have too much work on my hands so a bit late! In a couple of weeks the workload will have eased so should be back to regular then. I have reduced training sessions to 3x a week temporarily.

Squat - 5x68kg, 5x80kg, 10x90kg
Front squat - 3x60kg, 4x60kg, 6x60kg, 3x60kg
Leg press - 12x140kg, 13x160kg, 15x180kg----> PR

Some leg extensions to finish off.

Good session. Tried putting my arms across the top of the bars for the front squats and immediately saw a lower amount of upper back rounding. The only thing I need to get used to is the instability. Got a leg press rep PR. Switched my leg press stance in to narrow and low on the pad, so the focus is entirely on quads. Feeling it today!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
12-05-14, 12:27 pm
So, haven't posted in a couple of weeks and that is mostly because I have been unable to train. Firstly, my workload was ridiculously intense, and secondly, I got a pinched nerve in my neck, making it very hard for me to load my left arm and my upper back. Been to the chiropractors, and I will be unable to do any of my usual work for another couple of weeks. However, before this happened, I set a couple of PR's including a 160kg sumo deadlift (had missed this a few weeks ago) and 4xbw+40kg on dips!

So, what's next for me? I am going to take some time off (2 weeks) from upper body training, and anything that involves holding stuff in my left hand. The plan is to hit my legs with leg press, leg extensions, leg curls, hip thrusts against a bench, and abductor/adductor machines. Maybe do some glute ham raises as well. On top of this, I will be doing very light band work for face pulls to help open up my shoulders and release stress in the upper back.

Coming into the new year, I will be running a new program which I am currently in the process of designing. I will have healed completely by then (hopefully) and be good to power on through 2015 and set some personal records!

The marathon continues...

All the best
Lethall

Embee
12-05-14, 5:48 pm
Just a slight bump in the long road we're on man, but hope it feels better soon though. Like you said, you can still train legs, so you can still kill it in the gym!

Looking forward to seeing your custom programme as well.

Lethall105
12-09-14, 11:19 am
Just a slight bump in the long road we're on man, but hope it feels better soon though. Like you said, you can still train legs, so you can still kill it in the gym!

Looking forward to seeing your custom programme as well.

Thanks man. Programme is complete, I just need to find a way to upload the spreadsheet!

Will work on that later. I did 10x10 on leg press on Sunday, and my legs are seriously sore. Got another adjustment scheduled for tomorrow. Pain is gone, and I can move my neck freely, but there is a very slight tingling when I lean my head far back. Getting there!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
12-10-14, 9:08 am
Here is a link to the program I will be following in the new year. Questions/feedback is welcome!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iJ58WoKlRc39EjeQjFtZb-uYrvBDNN6F0h8X0eP6G6Q/edit?usp=sharing

All the best
Lethall

Embee
12-10-14, 9:32 am
Interesting stuff man, thanks for sharing!

There's only one way to find out how it'll work and that's just getting out there and doing it.
Will follow you along for sure, as I'm quite curious how you will progress using RPE-based training

I've also done some research into RPE (just because I like learning about stuff like that) and there are some arguments both for and against it, so it might be interesting for you to watch these video's as well.

Against (by Jonnie Candito):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAlB9A02VyI&list=UUWZmmDqEJv277d7hBa1nRfg

For (by Mike Tuchscherer):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dpdOZlvMDQ&list=UUs9S1Uqx7vYYzzQFkf5qcAg

Both are members of the US Powerlifting Team, so both of them are experienced lifters.

Lethall105
12-10-14, 10:31 am
Thanks for the links man!

All the best
Lethall

Lethall105
05-07-15, 12:55 pm
Haven't posted in here in a while. My studies caught up to me, and I had to make as much use of my time as possible. Training has been going well. Took a week off the last week. I tested a few maxes a week ago, and best of all... I FINALLY GOT THE 100KG BENCH!

Here are some of the other maxes I tested (or max effort lifts) all beltless:
Squat: 120kg
OHP: 75kgx3
Block pull (2inch block): 200kg
Dips: bw+40kg x 3

I am really happy with how my squat has come along. I am going to be competing in November, and my goals for that meet are at to get 140/110/210 at the very least. The gap between my squat and bench is still very small, but slow progression is better than no progression.

1 more week of coursework and exams, and then I will be done and hopefully working during the summer.

All the best
Lethall