gain 25lbs & get stronger

[solitaire]

I mis-typed my name in the title of my original log, and felt like it needed a better title anyway.

Here's the old log.

solltaire's log

So, I currently weigh ~177lbs. Rip says a grown man should weigh at least 200 lbs, so I am trying to steadily increase my weight, while also following the program as closely as I can.

[solitaire]

Squat
61kg x 20

Press
45kg x 3 x 5
Still quite a struggle on the last reps of these sets. Might try to go up next week.

Power Clean
46kg x 3 x5
I haven't been working on my cleans much recently, but I felt in the groove on the last set.

Not a huge amount of volume here, but best I could do before work. May add in some rows later if I have the energy.

[solitaire]

Just bought "Practical Programming" ....

[solitaire]

Row
65kg x 3 x5.

Squat
95kg x 3 x 5.
Felt I had the arch in my lower back working better today.

Chins
5kg on belt: 7, 7, 6.
Almost got 7th rep. on last set, but couldn't quite get chin over the bar.

Deadlift
130kg x 5.
This was hard and I had to reset grip for last repetition.
I did include a set of 5 at 120kg as part of my warm-up , so perhaps that made it a bit tougher.
Next time I think I'll go 60, 90, 110, 122.5 or something.

Bench
62.5 x 5 x 5.
Warm-up set at 60kg felt pretty hard, so I didn't go heavier than last time on this one. A bit frustrating. I may bring my micro-plates next time so I can do 63.5.
Having said that, the actual work sets went well, kept a decent bar-speed. I am rather cautious about benching because of ... choking, death etc..

Just realised I have a bit more holiday owing me than I thought, which means I will be able to get down to the gym for a couple of Wednesday sessions in October & November. Yay!

[solitaire]

Weighed in at 12st 8lbs. Weird, don't know how I lost a pound ...

Went for short run just to see if my knee was okay. It seems to be. Half-marathon is tomorrow. I'm doing it barefoot

[Chris McCarthy]

Good luck on the Half...how far under the hour are you looking for?

I'm not surprised 130 x 5 was tough after 120 x 5!

[solitaire]

Thanks Chris. We did it in 2hrs 22mins. Which was about what I was hoping for.

I've been reading that there's no need to do 5 reps for each warm-up set. This will help a lot, I think!

[Chris McCarthy]

Thanks Chris. We did it in 2hrs 22mins. Which was about what I was hoping for.

I've been reading that there's no need to do 5 reps for each warm-up set. This will help a lot, I think!

I think so - 120 for a double, perhaps? Out of interest, how many reps did you do at 60 for the bench?

Congrats on completing the Half!!

[solitaire]

I think so - 120 for a double, perhaps? Out of interest, how many reps did you do at 60 for the bench?

I did 5 reps at 60. Until now I have always done 5 reps for each warm-up set. Anyway, I will alter that from now on and do fewer warm-up reps as I get closer to my work-set. Thanks for helping me work this out .

Today's garage bit ...


Row
66kg x 5 x 3
(I think this is the way Rip writes three sets of 5, I've been doing it the other way round!)

Press
46kg x 5 x 3
Last set was fairly tough!


Will do Squats & Deadlifts at the gym later.

Squats
95kg x 5 x 3
Made my final warm-up 80kg for 2 reps. Thought my legs might be a bit tired after the race yesterday, but I felt the work-sets went well. I went nice & deep, arched my back, heels on the plank etc.. Pleased.

Deadlifts
132.5kg x 5
Followed Chris's suggestion and made my final warm-up 120kg for 2 reps. The work set felt good. Very happy with how this lift is coming on.

Dips
6.25kg on the belt - 8, 8, 9.
A couple more reps than last time.

All in all, I am happy with my lifts today.

[Chris McCarthy]

Sweet - I'm surprised you had decent legs too for this after a Half yesterday...I'd have needed a lie down.

Thinking about it - if you are doing 60 x 5 and then 5 x 5 at 62.5 you are: a) REALLY doing 6 sets of 5, and b) it was your comment about 60kg feeling hard and not having the confidence to go up beyond 62.5 - if your last warm-up is so close it is going to feel more-or-less like a work set anyways but you still have it in the back of your mind that you have to go HEAVIER yet for your actual work sets, which is not a recipe for attacking those sets with confidence!