astanto2 training log

[astanto2]

thanks, guys. i posted a form check in technique, since this felt heavy. hope to hit three plates soon - with good form.

[astanto2]

2/9/10
going in to this week, have decided to switch to the PP novice program of:
A squat bench back ext. pullup/chinup
B squat press powerclean/deadlift

squat
45 2x5
145 1x5
215 1x3
245 1x2
305 3x5
felt good. worked hard on pushing knees out and keeping back tight.

bench
45 2x5
135 1x5
155 1x3
165 1x2
195 3x5
bench has been funny. every workout, the weight feels exactly the same. 195 felt just like 175 felt when I was doing that. anyway, going to add 5 again.

back extensions. 3x12 unweighted. my gym doesn't have a good GHD, it has one that is set at a 45 degree angle. better than nothing.

chinups. 6, 3, 4 1/2. the second set i think my grip was too wide for chins. anyway, these numbers are unimpressive.

bodyweight: 230.3.

[misspelledgeoff]

nice work on squats and bench!

[astanto2]

nice work on squats and bench!

thanks - all exercises are going pretty smoothly except for the press. I also meant to note that I switched to the PP routine with chins because the deadlift volume was killing me as the squats started getting heavier. Hopefully decreasing the frequency of the deadlifts will help me continue to make steady progress. Also interested to see where my weight ends up. I'm committed to eating enough to keep the weights moving. Looking at my log, I have gained 13 (approx 217 to approx 230) pounds since January 17, which doesn't seem outrageous.

[astanto2]

squat:
45 2x5
155 1x5
225 1x3
255 1x2
310 3x5
press:
45 2x5
70 1x5
80 1x3
95 1x2
120 3x5
dl
135 2x5
245 1x3
325 1x2
375 1x5.

got all my press reps despite last workout's set back at 115; glad i bumped up. squats were good and deep, have video taken on my blackberry and for some reason, can't figure out how to get it off. that's pretty absurd, eh? got all the squat reps. on dl, grip failed after 3; quickly got the straps on and finished. still, time for 5 lb jumps here.

[astanto2]

2/14/10

squat
45 2x5
165 1x5
245 1x3
265 1x2
315 3x5. Happy about this. It's getting hard.
bench
45 2x5
135 1x5
155 1x3
165 1x2
200 3x5. still relatively easy, but it was a little slower on reps 4 and 5 than it has been at lighter weights. However, I'm still very comfortable completing all reps without asking for a spot, which tells me it's still pretty easy (or I'm pretty stupid).

Pullups 3, 4, 4. not so good. needs work, glad I'm doing them.

back extensions. 3x12. what do people do about adding weight here? Do you add sets first, or weight? Not sure I've seen the protocol.

bodyweight: 233.2

[astanto2]

2/16/10
squat
45 2x5
165 1x5
255 1x3
275 1x2
320 1x5, 1x4, 1x3. A little disappointed but I knew this day was coming. I think it is definitely time for a re-set, even though this is my first failed effort. I'm getting enough to eat, I'm sleeping 7-8 hours, etc.
press
45 2x5
75 1x5
95 1x3
105 1x2
125 3x5. very pleased with this progress. 125 felt better than 115 did a few workouts ago.
Schedule called for powercleans today. I skipped them -- feeling a little beat up in the mid-back and left quad. nothing serious, but worth being cautious.

bodyweight: 229.7.

[astanto2]

2/19/10

first workout with home equipment that i picked up from a friend moving out of state. squat stand, no rack. may improvise some safeties, but no need right now.

got some helpful feedback from members and rip on my 315 sets, and based on that as well as my failure at 320, I backed 10% off the worksets today.

squat
45 2x5
135 1x5
185 1x3
225 1x2
285 3x5. These felt pretty good. I tried to focus on knees out, chest up and narrowed my stance some. I am looking forward to the arrival of my belt and shoes.

bench
45 2x5
135 2x5
155 1x3
205 3x5. This was easy. 5 lb jumps continue on the presses, so that's good.

chins: 5, 5, 4. meh.

bodyweight: 224.7. I think this is water-weight fluctuation, or differences in the gym and house scales. I will try to track this more consistently (i.e., same scale, same time). While I'm not going to keep a food log, I do want to make sure that I'm getting enough of what I need to progress, so I'm taking a look at what I did today, which is about average.

I've had four cups of whole milk (600 cal./32 g fat/48 g carb/32 g protein); 2 scoops of protein powder (260 cal./4 g fat/6 g carb/52 g protein); 4 eggs (320 cal./20 g. fat/4 g carb/28 g protein); a turkey club wrap (428 cal/16 g fat/41 g carb/32 g protein), 2 pieces of toast (160 cal/3 g fat/30 g carb/ 4 g protein). Haven't eaten dinner yet. So far 144 g protein, 137 g carbs, 1,768 calories. Clearly, at this point in the day, this is wildly insufficient. I need at least another 1,500 calories, and nearly another 100 g protein. Seems unlikely, but this gives me an idea of where I need to improve.

[astanto2]

2/21/10. I'm an idiot. See below.

Squat
45 2x5
135 1x5
225 1x3
290 3x5. These went well, but I think I will repeat this weight, to continue working on the form issues identified by rip and others on the board. reviewing the video, i'm still seeing a little bit of softness at the bottom, and some issues with chest up. no issues with depth, though.
press
45 1x10 (this warms me up quicker, I'm finding, than sets of 5).
115 2x5
135 1x3. What??? Am??? I???? Doing????? brainfart. this week I picked up equipment for home. my written log is at the gym. i was certain that 135 was the number today, until i started the set, and realized, "hey wait -- this feels pert heavy!" came up and checked the log online, and - only supposed to be at 130. so,
130 1x5, 1x4. I will repeat 130.

deadlift. Hey, there, dummy! want to screw up the progression again? Sure!

135 1x5
225 1x5
295 1x3
365 1x3 (note this felt very good).
395 1x3. WHY? The actual number should have been 380. Idiot.

Lesson learned: check the log before you start. Yeesh.

[astanto2]

2/23/10

squat
45 2x10
135 1x5
185 1x5
225 1x3
295 3x5. Ok, so I lied about staying at 290, but I'm glad I did. 295 felt good. I'm getting better, big revelation is that narrowing my stance to slightly narrower than I'm comfortable with is key. also, got my belt today. nice.

bench
45 2x10
135 1x5
185 1x3
210 3x5. done and done.

good mornings (I'm using this as a sub for back ext., I have no ghd in my home gym).
115 3x10

pullups
4, 4, 5