Busa's novice training log, Greyskull LP

[Busa]

I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never.

Male, 46, 230 pounds, 5' 11", ~ 23% body fat according to the navy tape test (41" waist, 19" neck)

I've been training for 16 weeks, using a variation of the Greyskull LP program (2x5, 1x5+). I lift three days a week, alternating A-B-A and C-D-C every two weeks.

Workout A: Bench, Squat, Row
Workout B: Press, Deadlift, Dips
Workout C: Press, Squat, Dips
Workout D: Bench, Deadlift, Row

Starting weights (in pounds):

S: 185 x 5,5,12
B: 135 x 5,5,12
D: 225 x 9
P: 95 x 5,5,10

As of this week:

S: 255 x 5,5,6 (have had to repeat weights a couple of times due to missed reps... I don't think it's a strength issue at this point, but rather lost concentration / focus during the set)
B: 200 x 5,5,8 (currently adding 2.5 pounds per workout)
D: 325 x 5 (was adding 10 pounds per workout up to 315, now adding 5 pounds per workout)
P: 139 x 5,5,7 (currently adding 2 pounds per workout)

Let's see, what else... my nutrition is not great. I eat too much crap so I need to clean up my diet, which I know will help my recovery. Sleep quality is generally good. I lift at home so I have lots of flexibility to get my training in. I've been pretty consistent on my compliance, missing only two workouts over the last four months due to business travel.

I feel like I have some runway left in the novice LP, so I'll take it as far as I can before making any big program changes. I do plan to integrate chins soon, possibly in addition to or replacing rows.

Finally, while I am not "DTP", I do execute the lifts as per Rip's instruction, which has been a big factor in avoiding injury thus far.

Back tomorrow with PRs on the press and DL.

Busa

[Busa]

Workout B today.

Press: 141 x 5,5,6 (PR) felt fairly easy but hit the top of the rack on the 7th (failed) rep of last set... grrr
Deadlift: 330 x 5 (PR) felt heavy

Will hit my accessories later today.

...and, here's part 2 of today's workout:

Weighted Dips: +12.5 lbs x 9,8,8
Assisted Chins: -50 pounds, 10 sets of two -- trying to rehab the golfer's elbow.

[Busa]

Workout A.

Bench: 203 x 5,5,7 (PR) was hoping for 8 reps on last set but didn't have it in me today, energy levels felt lowwww
Squat: 260 x 5,5,7 (PR) these always feel freaking heavy but I pushed for seven reps on the last set

Will do rows & arm stuff tonight.

Rows: 200 x 5,5,6 (PR)

Bought a Concept 2 rower today, so chose to mess around with that rather than do bro curls.

[Busa]

Saturday.

Assisted Chins: -50 pounds, 15 sets of two -- elbow felt okay, going to keep trying this protocol for a few weeks with increasing sets & reps. Eventually, goal is to be strong enough to ditch the assistance band and do bodyweight (and then weighted) chins.

Messed around on the new rower for a bit. Will start HIIT next week.

[Busa]

Workout C today.

Press: 143 x 5,5,7 (PR) felt good

Going to hit squats and weighted dips after dinner. The ability to break up my workout into two sessions during the day is proving to be beneficial, especially as the weights get heavier and the workout duration gets longer.

Squats: 265 x 5,5,7 (PR) felt good
Weighted Dips: +25 lbs x 5,5,5 — tried a bit heavier today... not really sure how to program these for added weight / reps, so I’ll keep fine-tuning these

[Busa]

Workout D. Fighting off a cold today but still got the work done.

Bench: 205 x 5,5,7 (PR) -- felt good, but heavy. I really want to get to a 225 work set without needing a deload first, so I am trying like hell to grind out the last AMRAP sets with as many reps as possible.
Deadlift: 335 x 5 (strapped) (PR) -- felt good, I feel like I could go back to 10 pound jumps each week but then I remember that I don't need to rush anything as long I am still making progress each week
Rows: 205 x 5,5,7 -- my rows are keeping pace with my bench so far, which I guess is supposed to be a "good thing"
Assisted Chins: -50 pounds, 10 sets of three

[Busa]

Workout C.

No energy today. This cold is kicking my ass.

30 minutes of fasted cardio on the treadmill

Press: 145 x 5,5,2,...5 (PR) I hate failing sets. Took a longer rest and got 5 reps for the last set.

Squats tonight, and I am not looking forward to them.

Squats: 270 x 5,5,7 (PR)

[Busa]

Saturday.

Chins: BW x 5,4,3
Assisted Chins: -50 pounds x 6,6,4,4,3

Elbow felt surprisingly good. Some pain after first set, but not terrible.

[Busa]

Workout A. Still fighting the cold, on a heavy regimen of NyQuil and creatine.

Bench: 208 x 5,5,7 (PR) -- bar path was all over the place making the reps harder than they needed to be, but got it done
Rows: 208 x 4,5,7 -- missed the last rep on the first set, no idea why, but whatever... it's assistance work

Squats tonight at 275. Yay.

Squats: 275 x 5,5,5 (PR) — they were hard.

[Busa]

Workout B. Still fighting the cold. Ugh.

Press: 147 x 4,4,0 -- well, this sucks. I'll try it again on Monday, and if I don't get the reps, then I'll either A) deload to 135 and work back up or B) move to triples and go to one pound increases instead of two pounds, and see how far I can progress that way. This might end up being the first lift that I transition to an intermediate program. Maybe.

Deadlift: 340 x 5 (PR) -- felt good but my form sucked, I could feel my back rounding. I won't be able to get away with that when the weight gets heavy, so I really need to pay attention to my setup going forward.

It's Halloween today and I will be out with my kids tonight, so I may or may not do the dips and chins later.

Chins: BW x 5,3,3,2,2

Could have done dips, but ate Halloween candy instead.