Log On The Tyne

[Mark Samuel]

Definitely happy with getting my weight up a fair bit. 90kg sounds fair.

Was thinking of switching them down to 3x5 after it starts beconing daunting but I quite look forward to it atm haha. May do it sooner.

Cheers for the info!

[Mark Samuel]

26 07 16

BW: 80kg

Squat
20 x 5
45 x 3
67.5 x 5,5,5

Press
20 x 5
32.5 x 3
45 x 4,6,5

Row
20 x 5
32.5 x 5
45 x 5,5,5

Shrug
90 x 10,10
70 x 10

Curls
25 x 10,10,10

CGBP Incline
45 x 10,10,10

Cardio
6k Jog, untimed

Notes
First workout since last Thursday. Parent's cottage in the southern Lake District was properly relaxing, took the girlfriend down for a night. But travelling Saturday AM and arriving back Sunday PM meant no time or energy for lifting.

Decided to take Lion Heart's advice, and take the sets down to 3 for all the main lifts.

Bodyweight down to 80 again, mind I have just sweated absolute buckets. Not happy regardless, going to stuff my face tonight.

Squat was challenging again, no form breakdown as far as I'm aware though! On the Press I missed a rep by accident, racked it after 4. Was sure I had 5 but my partner insisted so I did 6 on the next set to make it up, will still increase again. Row, still feel awkward. Going to give it a few more sessions and post a form video if it's not getting more natural.

Forgot chalk for shrugs so was mixed grip for 90. Just some random trap work really, will continue with normal progression on that when I remember chalk next time. Curls weren't too hard, using a little bit of momentum but not too much. Flat benches were taken for CGBP so had to sneak onto an incline, used a random weight (plates that were available on that bench) but 45 felt challenging!

Afterwards I normally play footy on a Tuesday but it was called off (2 of the regulars have suffered broken legs in the past month) figured I'd use this time to take my cardio a little more seriously. My mate was absolutely gassed from the off, which meant I ended up stopping or jogging slower than I'd have liked. Took a detour at the end and sprinted most of it as he walked the shorter route so I could get myself out of breath. Legs are feeling it now, need plenty of food for recovery for 70kg squats on Thursday!

[Mark Samuel]

28 07 16

BW: 80kg (after cardio again)

Bench
20 x 5
32.5 x 5
65 x 5

Squat
20 x 2 x 5
40 x 3
70 x 3 x 5

Deads
40 x 5
100 x 2
90 x 3

Paused Press
35 x 10,10,8

Chins
BW x 4,3,3,2,2

Tricep Pushdownss
50 x 3 x lots

Leg Raises
BW x 3 x lots

Cardio
Seated bike 10km in ~ 20 mins

Notes
Notes later. Now steak.

EDIT: Bodyweight not shifting again. Had no tea and just finished cardio when I weighed in though... is that excuse enough to be the same weight? Need to get more food in somehow.

Bench was quite easy until the last set, last rep. Proper grinder. Squats I was very afraid were going to be awful, hadn't fully recovered from that jog 2 days earlier. Hopefully my body will get used to doing cardio right after lifting and it'll not be a problem again. 70 was alright in the end, every rep felt hard though.

Forgot chalk for the deadlift... lower back felt weird going into the workout for some reason too. Did 100 double overhand, it slipped. Tried again alternate grip, back seemed to immediately round. Did a few reps with 90kg. All with no rest besides stripping the weights.

Chin Ups were pathetic as always haha. Paused presses were enjoyable. Then the tricep pushdowns and abs I just did as many reps as I could each set, nothing tracked. Wish I had some more EZ-Bars so I could do LTEs. There's a 15, 20 and a 45 in my gym which seems a bit useless for progression. And the 15 & 20 are always taken by someone curling.

Cardio was hard. Hardio.

[Mark Samuel]

31 07 16

BW: 81kg

Squats
72.5 x 5,5,5

Press
47.5 x 5,5,5

Row
47.5 x 5,5,5

Shrug
80 x 10,10,10

Curl
27.5 x 10,9,8

Paused CGBP
50 x 10,10,10

Leg Raises
3 x some

Cardio
Seated bike 5km in ~ 10 mins

Notes
Squats are going to be awful forever now aren't they? Dreaded every set! Press was difficult, think I might microload it from now... will take twice as long to progress but I just think I won't keep up the 2.5kg jumps. Row I never seem to feel in my back on the day, instead my hamstrings get sore off trying to stay in position. Am pulling with my elbows and think my form is okay, maybe I just need to get the weight up, aware it's fairly low.

Cardio was difficult, think it's going to stay at a similar level since the squat weight keeps progressing. Going to move onto the regular exercise bikes though from now, these ones are really awkward to sit on (the ones with a backrest) and I tend to want to lean forward which I can't do.

[Chris McCarthy]

On any sort of LP once things generally get hard they don't get much easier, yep. But on the plus side bookmark that post above and in a couple of months time go back and squat 72.5 x 5 and THAT is when it'll good.

Any sort of back exercise can be hard to "feel" in the same way you do with other exercises - especially when your hamstrings or lower back are stressed whilst supporting the "working" muscles - but after a while you it will get easier. I wouldn't recommend chasing the load up above-and-beyond normal progression anyway, you might just be pursuing something you can't really catch just yet.

[Mark Samuel]

02 08 16

BW: 83kg

Squat
75 x 5,5,5

Deadlift
90 x 5

Press
50 x 5,5,5

Chins
3,2,2,2,1

CGBP
52.5 x 10,10,10

Cardio
1 and a half hours of footy later tonight

Notes
This is the only day where I truly need to get through everything quickly. No bench was free at the start so I couldn't do my benches. Decided to do heavy presses again this workout instead and got 50kg for 3x5 which I was happy with. Increased my paused CGBP too so, fingers crossed, my bench will surely be a bit stronger. Will be trying 67.5kg x 5,5,5 on Thursday night.

Forgot chalk again for deadlifts, managed 90kg DOH fairly easily though. Will do 95 next time again. And remember chalk.

Rushing out for football now.

[Mark Samuel]

04 08 16

BW: 82kg

Bench
20 x 5
40 x 5
67.5 x 3 x 5

Squat
20 x 5
40 x 5
57.5 x 3 x5

Row
20 x 5
50 x 3 x 5

Pause Press
35 x 3 x 10

Shrugs
82.5 x 10,8,8

Curls
30 x 10,7,6

Notes
Right glute/ham was feeling off after footy, squats & DL on Tuesday still so decided to have a light squat session (used my mate's workset weights so we didn't have to switch plates around or anything) and concentrated on good form. Got a wedding to go away to in 2 days so didn't want to risk anything!

Bench went up alright, think I'll get 70kg for 3x5 okay on my next session. Will only be able to make a Mon/Wed session next week as I'm off to the Lakes (again) next Thursday to climb Blencathra.

[Mark Samuel]

Life got in the way a bit...

09 08 16

Squats
60 x 3 x 5

Bench
70 x 5,4,4

Deadlift
90 x 5

Pause Press
40 x 8,7,6

Chins
BW x 4,3,2,2,2

Notes
Feel like this was too much time away from the gym, every single exercise felt awkward. Squats I didn't want to go too high on with football later and with how weird they felt warming up.

Can't wait to get back into routine.

[Mark Samuel]

16 08 16

BW: 83kg

Bench
70 x 4
65 x 3 x 5

Squats
65 x 3 x 5

Deadlift
90 x 2 x 5

Pause Press
40 x 3 x 8

Close Grip Pullups
BW x 5,3,2,2,2

Notes
Been away camping last week, had a great time but glad to be back to be able to train consistently. Put the weight slightly down on some lifts, just matched what my mate had on for squats too.

Nothing felt off really, my form is definitely getting better on the close grip pull ups.

[Mark Samuel]

Quite embarrassingly pulled my lower back last week building some IKEA furniture. Felt like electric shocks zapping through my body from my lower back to my left hip, similar to a spasm or a cramp whenever it happened. Still sore. Will hopefully be back in the gym on Thursday training extra light!