Cian's Training Log - The Gradual Change from Pudge to Beastmode

[Cian]

Hi guys. 20 year old male here a couple of weeks into SS (Practical Programming Novice Edition). Decided to start this log to show anybody who's interested in what can be achieved when your goals are (in order):

1) Get Strong
2) Be Not Fat
3) Be Beast

I will be filming as many workouts as physically possible so people can critique my form and see my progress as I lose fat and try to get ox-strong.

ABOUT ME

Male/ 20 years old / 5' 10'' / 83 kg (current - will hopefully change) / bf ~24% (also will hopefully change)
No max lifts as I'm still a newb suckling on the teat of SS
Location: Ireland
Diet: Nothing special, but I do try and eat as little gluten as possible as it makes me shit myself silly and fart terribly. Usually eat 2,100 calories on off days and 3,000 on workout days. Often interspersed with drinking as I am a college student, so this log will either be a triumph of youth or an ideal picture of what not to do.
Program: Standard stuff with the addition of chins/ pulls/ back ex/ ab work as per the program. I picked this version over the normal SS as I am most interested in becoming strong in the most general way possible, and I am crap at pulls/ chins.

Have done SS in the past but for no longer than 2 months due to an injury. Currently 4ish weeks into the program. Feel free to critique or rage all over me. On to business!

[Cian]

20/7/2013

Hot as a oven out here, training was hard in the heat but pretty enjoyable. Squat form is terrible, but I'm keeping the weight at 67.5kg until my knees have stopped caving at the bottom; then I'll work on the other problems.

Squat 67.5 kg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZfT-7qUxnk

Deadlift was really hard; double overhand grip failed at rep 2 so I switched to alternate grip for the rest of the set. Knees were getting in the way so I focused on lowering the bar then bending the knee. Lower back is not as tight as I want it - little bit of bendage, but will still go up 2.5 kg next workout.

Deadlift 115 kg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96MDxNhxk0k

[slowjoe]

20/7/2013

Hot as a oven out here, training was hard in the heat but pretty enjoyable. Squat form is terrible, but I'm keeping the weight at 67.5kg until my knees have stopped caving at the bottom; then I'll work on the other problems.

Squat 67.5 kg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZfT-7qUxnk

Deadlift was really hard; double overhand grip failed at rep 2 so I switched to alternate grip for the rest of the set. Knees were getting in the way so I focused on lowering the bar then bending the knee. Lower back is not as tight as I want it - little bit of bendage, but will still go up 2.5 kg next workout.

Deadlift 115 kg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96MDxNhxk0k

Welcome.

What height are you? From the videos, I'd guess 5' 11"?

For heavy deadlifts (and relative to bodyweight, your deadlifts are getting there), chalk is your friend: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_...climbing+chalk

Squatting form is just beautiful. So is the gym. Where is it?

[Cian]

Welcome.

What height are you? From the videos, I'd guess 5' 11"?

For heavy deadlifts (and relative to bodyweight, your deadlifts are getting there), chalk is your friend: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_...climbing+chalk

Squatting form is just beautiful. So is the gym. Where is it?

5' 10" on a good day, will pop that up in the first post.

Gym is in the West of Ireland, a warehouse gym that's trying to look like a Crossfit box although they have no affiliation. Still, loads of places to squat.

[slowjoe]

5' 10" on a good day, will pop that up in the first post.

Gym is in the West of Ireland, a warehouse gym that's trying to look like a Crossfit box although they have no affiliation. Still, loads of places to squat.

I'm spending a week in Lahinch at the beginning of August. Can you be more specific?

[Cian]

The Warehouse Gym - Monviea, Galway. Staff are a bit clueless but it's a pleasure to train there.

[Cian]

23/7/2013

Good training today, apart from the squat. Finally added in the chins/pulls/back extensions to the program, makes a huge difference. I am now following the Practical Programming (2nd Ed) Novice Program. My chins were useless; I only managed 6,4,3 and I was sore in places that I didn't know could be sore the next day (at least now I know what lats are!). Trying to give you guys as many angles as possible for the major lifts, but I didn't record the accessory work as I presume I'm doing chin ups (and the rest of the exercises) right. As of today I also bench more than I can squat with good form. I'm slowly becoming that douche at the gym...

Squat

Began at 67.5 kg but noticed my knees were flailing like crazy and I was doing the chicken dance. Not wanting to injure myself or look like a huge tool, I dropped the weight to 50 kg for sets two and three; where I focused on driving my knees out over my toes. I also focused on narrowing my stance a tad and maintaining a slightly more vertical back - but the weight is still drifting forward of the midfoot. I believe an even more vertical back will fix this. Forcing my knees to stay out over my toes is now my number once concern while squatting.

Set One (67.5): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDd71OLU9yM
Set Two (50 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzqMvFh7BPs
Set Three (50 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UocnGlrukB4

Bench Press
I love the linear nature of this program, every time you walk in the gym you know you are more than likely going to hit a PR on the lifts (unless you're me and suck at squatting). This bench felt pretty good; drove the bar so hard on rep one it almost flew out of my hands. Luck it didn't. Only recorded my final set on the bench as - let's be honest - it's hard to record yourself benching without looking like a bit of douche. Felt good though, whatever muscle is just at the top of your armpit facing outward was quite sore the next day. Fairly pleased with form; elbows were nice and tucked.

Set Three (57.5 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGyXmF2e4Ks

Full workout:
Squat: 67.5 1x5 [FAIL], 50 2x5
Bench Press: 57.5 3x5
Chin Ups: 6,4,3
Back Extensions: 3x10 (no added weight - using 10kg plate next time)
Ab Holds (on slant board): 1x10 (body held at vertical position for five seconds, ten times)*


*I added these myself after every workout because I have very weak abdominal muscles and they need to get strong.

[Cian]

25/7/2013

Good session; easily hit 52.5 kg on the squat but more importantly I fixed my knee caving issue. I noticed too that I wasn't keeping my chest up after set one, but I quickly fixed that. Critique my form please! As you will see, form is something that declined as this workout continued. Nobody in the gym today, and it was still pretty hot - giving me an excuse to get the enormous guns out for deadlifting. I also discovered the gym has 2 setlists for music and these are played constantly and loudly.

Squat

Looks ok, could be better. Bar is still travelling forward. Unsure how to remedy this.

Squat Set One (52.5 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_06Qgsn0H4
Squat Set Two (52.5 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXQn3Aj2AbQ
Squat Set Three (52.5 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i45ojHJZq6g

Press

Man did I fuck this up. Missed 40kg (almost catastrophically) again so I dropped that bitch back to 30 kg to work on form. Definitely haven't got that bow thing right, but I'm working on it. My front abs (or whatever the correct anatomical term is) are quite weak so I often get this weird bending in my back as I try to press the bar, so I'm just focusing on keeping my abs as tight as possible now to prevent injury. Still get some back pain though. As always, form critique/ tips are greatly appreciated.

Set One (40 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFx0qnL5D0U (weird back bending thing at rep four - FAILED)
Set Two (30 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CCEfgeatZo
Set Three (30 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAdCSeE15HU

Deadlift

Felt good. I was concerned that I was lacking low back tightness and sure enough my back started to hurt a little bit - like a dull pain - about an hour or two after the workout. Felt amazing though. Thought I tore a callous at rep three but it was all good, I'm managing them pretty well and thanks to holding the bar correctly they aren't big at all. I'm not keeping my neck neutral, and combined with a lack of low back tightness this is what I am currently working on. A guy that worked at the gym stopped to watch a couple of reps and didn't say anything, so I presume my form isn't that bad or he didn't care if I snapped my shit up. Still though, low back is a bit sore still.

Set One (120 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZH2QMjcvOQ

Full Workout:
Skwat: 52.5 kg 3x5
Press: 40 kg 1x4 [Fail], 30 kg 2x5
Deadlift: 120kg 1x5

[Cian]

28/7/2013

Missed Workout

Unfortunately, couldn't make it to the gym. I have no transport of my own, so I have to obey the buses or get a lift to the gym; which is at least 20 minutes away. Not necessarily a bad thing though since I ended up drinking heavily instead that night. Not good for the gains. Sorry Rip.

Training tomorrow instead.

[Cian]

30/6/2013

Good stuff. Finally fixed my fucking knee caving problem on the squats.

Squat
Set one was the usual shite; knees caving and core not tight enough. I watched the video and instantly saw how bad the knee wobble was. On the next two sets I focused hard on getting the knees out and boy did it work - suddenly my ass felt really weird after squatting. I was using my glutes for the first the time. They hurt like crazy the next from the DOMS. Feels good man. Almost killed myself at the end of set two. Need to maintain a more vertical back angle now.

Set One (55 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXN1nGJJAT4
Set Two (55 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ_Qfs7636s
Set Three (55 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIjJknH2rAY

Bench Press
Was feeling a bit weak, and sure enough failed my first set at 60 kg at rep 4. Dropped it back to 50 kg and powered through. Should definitely be incorporating some leg drive into the movement now, but I'm not sure how. Bar path could be straighter too.

Set Three (50 kg): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJbMv9NGFtY

Chin Ups
I'm a weak bitch with anything overhead. Went 6,4 and 3. Pitiful, but getting better.

Set One (6 reps): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc0PruCl9XM

Back Extensions
Used 10 kg, felt pretty good. ROM could definitely be greater though, I think? Went for 3 sets of 10.

Set One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFUtfYkwLqU

Full Workout
Squat: 55kg 3x5
Bench Press: 60kg 1x4 (fail), 50 kg 2x5
Chin Ups: 6,4,3
Back Extensions: 10 kg 3x10