That Vegetarian Guy's Log

[Kregna]

Skipped wednesday's press and light squat session due to laziness. Haven't been eating much at all (but still GOMAD because it's convenient) this week. Was tempted to skip today but I thought I may as well give it a go. Very pleasantly surprised!

Squats
142.5kg / 314lbs: 5
Can't believe I managed this with the horrendous eating I've been having and skipped gym this week. Really inspired me to get it together and keep going.

The reps were hard as shit. But harder than just hard, I'm in a world of my own during these 5rms. Very weird sensation. My 4th and 5th rep must've taken 3 seconds each. I didn't film but I made sure to grind through reps without GM-ing to make it easier. Yayayy

Press
61kg / 134lbs: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Went for 3x5 but my 4th rep of 1st set was back too arched, grindy, failure rep, so I decided to save my back, stop with 3 reps and do this. I quite like it. I'll try linear progression with this set/rep scheme for a while. 3-4 minute breaks

Deadlifts
157.5kg / 347lbs: 5
Belted. I focused on pressing through my legs rather than lifting my body, back tight, focused gaze and I think it went well. Raped my shins a little, though.

Chin ups
6.25kg: 5
My morning weight was about 1kg less than normal, probably due to hardly any food in me since I've been lazy as hell with eating this week. So I guess the total weight was 102kg

[Mr_Rogers]

I focused on pressing through my legs rather than lifting my body, back tight, focused gaze and I think it went well. Raped my shins a little, though.

I'm guilty of this as well when I do the olympic lifts so I can only assume I was doing it on deadlifts as well. I really need to focus on driving with the legs and when I do, man does it make a huge difference. Good job on the DLs Kregna.

[Kregna]

I'm guilty of this as well when I do the olympic lifts so I can only assume I was doing it on deadlifts as well. I really need to focus on driving with the legs and when I do, man does it make a huge difference. Good job on the DLs Kregna.

Yeah it's one of those cues I ignore because it seems too basic, like 'drive through the heels' for squats or 'sit back'. I hadn't even considered it for the olympic lifts. Is it a problem with your back staying extended or just a better pull?

And Cheers

[Kregna]

I've been away since Friday, so that's why my Monday session is on a Wednesday. Didn't eat that well whilst I was away but who cares, a break is a break. I weighed in at 95kg this morning. A 2kg drop. No worries, I'm sure I'll be back to my fat self soon.

Squats
117.5kg / 259lbs: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Real hard. I tried to focus on a slot over the midfoot and not hips coming up first. I'll put up a video in technique section later. I'm having a hard time working out how to not GM but still drive with the hips.

Bench
87.5kg / 193lbs: 1
75kg / 165lbs: 5, 5, 5

First was a weight I've done before but I barely got 1, so I lowered the weight and did some sets with little rest. I'm sure it's because of my time away / lack of eating while away. I'll probably just move these onto the TM soon anyway.

RDLs
82.5kg / 182lbs: 5, 5, 5

Chin ups
6, 6, 6
4 minute breaks. 2 extra reps! But I do weigh a little less

[Mr_Rogers]

I hadn't even considered it for the olympic lifts. Is it a problem with your back staying extended or just a better pull?

When I'm in my setup my coach yells "legs!" because I have the tendency to fire my ass up and lift with my back...it looks like I ratchet the weight up, hence the new nickname. I'm 99% sure I was doing this when I was doing LP on deadlifts which was hurting my back. It would have a dull ache for two or three days after. When I remember to keep things tight and drive with my legs it's almost effortless to get the bar overhead or to my shoulders. I assume mechanics would transfer to a deadlift because he has us setting up with the bar over the midfoot, shins touching the bar and scapula over the bar.

[Mr_Rogers]

Got an email from my brother-in-law and he'll be finishing up his sessions with his personal trainer on Friday. On Monday he's starting SS :-)

He did ask about BCAA's as they were recommended by his trainer for recovery purposes. I've taken them before but I didn't notice too much of a difference. Being a vegetarian (him not me) I'm not sure how much he's getting. I told him to look for a protein powder which apparently has vegetarian whey options so he's not restricted to soy. I said he'll need lots of sleep and lots of food, but can you think of any supplements that have helped you?

[Kregna]

If I ever go back to power cleans I'm gonna give that 'legs' thing a go (add it to the list of things I need to work on with that lift).

Good stuff! Will he be making a log, or will you be adding a few comments on his progress in yours? To be honest I've never taken any supplements, so I can't comment. I just tried to get my milk and eggs really lol

[Kregna]

Light Squats
95kg / 209lbs: 5, 5
These felt hard.
I used 80% of my volume day's weight, which I think is rippetoe's recommendation (I'm pretty sure I even read recently in PP that he suggests the light day be increased over time to a higher %) rather than lascek's 75%.

Press
62.5kg / 138lbs: 3, 3, 3
52.5kg / 116lbs: 7
I was going for 5 sets of 3 to get enough volume but the sets were killer (I couldn't have done 4 in any set) and I don't think I'd regularly have time for 5 sets, so I'm gonna try 3x3 linear progression and do a back off set. I'm not sure if back off sets are meant to be used multiple times a week but hey, experimentation is part of it!

Dumbbell curls
10kg / 22lbs: 8, 7, 8 (right hand) 4 (left hand)
Yeah I did some curls! 3 sets, 45 seconds rest. I found my left arm was a fair bit weaker. Next time I'll use less weight for the left arm.

[Mr_Rogers]

Good stuff! Will he be making a log, or will you be adding a few comments on his progress in yours? To be honest I've never taken any supplements, so I can't comment. I just tried to get my milk and eggs really lol

I'll try to get him to make a log. The Mrs. joined and intends to start a log when she starts training again, so it would be cool if there were three of us on here. Funny you mention eggs and milk because I had the exact same thought the other day. I'll probably send him the Clarification article too.


Have you thought about moving your presses to TM as well? I think I'm kind of in a similar situation as you with them, I was stalling at a lower press but I was able to still progress quite easily on bench press (got up to 195lbs before I stopped I think).

[Kregna]

I'll try to get him to make a log. The Mrs. joined and intends to start a log when she starts training again, so it would be cool if there were three of us on here. Funny you mention eggs and milk because I had the exact same thought the other day. I'll probably send him the Clarification article too.


Have you thought about moving your presses to TM as well? I think I'm kind of in a similar situation as you with them, I was stalling at a lower press but I was able to still progress quite easily on bench press (got up to 195lbs before I stopped I think).

Great! Have them sign up with the names 'Mrs_Rogers' and 'Brother_Rogers'. Yeah the milk and eggs are just great. Both high in protein and neither are that filling or hard to cook/prepare.

Well progress would be slow on TM (small weight increases every other week) so I'm hoping to get a bit more out of the presses by lowering the reps before I move on. I may not even make any progress this way, but if I do that'll be some nice time saved