Makeshift Chef's Shifty Log

[Makeshift Chef]

Session 20: 7 minutes on the bike
Squat: 45x2x5, 80x1x5, 120x1x3, 160x1x2, 205x3x5<PR>
Press: 45x2x5, 60x1x5, 75x1x3, 95x1x2, 112.5x1x5, 112.5x1x4, 112.5x1x2
Power Clean: 45x2x5,x65x1x5, 80x1x3, 100x1x2, 120x5x3<PR>

Pretty craptastic workout today. Started out bad as I forgot my belt at home. Definitely missed it on my squat worksets. Then things got worse as I couldn't get the presses up. I will try the same weight again on Friday and see how it goes. Need to try and make sure I'm getting enough sleep for recovery. That and not spend all weekend planting/weeding/mowing/mulching. Anybody feel like doing my yardwork for me? To make matters worse, we're considering getting some chickens too!

[Makeshift Chef]

Session 21: 7 minutes on the bike
squat: 45x2x5, 80x1x5, 125x1x3, 165x1x2, 210x3x5<PR>
Bench: 45x2x5, 80x1x5, 115x1x3, 145x1x2, 165x3x5<PR>
Deadlift: 90x2x5, 140x1x3, 195x1x2, 235x1x5<PR>

Really good time today! Squats were easy. I was much more aggressive under the bar than I have been in my previous sessions. Remembering my belt was a boon as well, lol. I was able to move the bar at a good pace during my sets. Definitely need to remember to step up with aggression and go for it when I'm squatting.

Benches were a real grind it out affair for me today. The only reason I got that last rep on my final work set was because I knew there wasn't anyone around who was gonna help me get it off my chest if I failed. Great little motivator there, haha.

Deadlifts were great fun today! I had an audience after I did my first two warm up sets. An older gent in what appeared to his mid 70's stopped and just watched as I worked my way up 235. I realize that this is no great weight for anyone here, but it was still amusing to me that he just stopped and watched.

Quick side note: Today was the first day in my weightlifting that I have used a weight greater than my body weight. This makes me happy! Next Friday if all goes according to plan I will be squatting more than I currently weigh. This is getting fun.

[Makeshift Chef]

Session 22: 7 minutes on the bike
Squat: 45x2x5, 85x1x5, 125x1x3, 170x1x2, 215x3x5<PR>
Press: 45x2x5, 60x1x5, 75x1x3, 95x1x2, 112.5x3x5<PR>
Power Clean: 45x2x5, 65x1x5, 85x1x3, 105x1x2, 125x5x3<PR>

Another good day! Squats were moving fine for me. Still have not come close to failing any reps.

Had a real light bulb moment on the press today. I realized that I was only resting like one or two minutes between sets on them. This wasn't giving me enough time to recover. Pushed out my rest time to 3 minutes after the first work set and 4 minutes after the second. Made things much easier on me. That and once again rereading the press section in SS.

Power cleans were ok. I still need to work on my form more. Time to work on tweaking my BBQ rub mix. Gonna be a nice weekend for it.

[Makeshift Chef]

Session 23: 7 minute bike warm up
Squat: 45x2x5, 85x1x5, 130x1x3, 175x1x2, 220x3x5<PR>
Bench: 45x2x5, 85x1x5, 115x1x3, 150x1x2, 170x1x5, 170x1x2, 165x1x5
Deadlift: 95x2x5, 145x1x3, 205x1x2, 245x1x5<PR>

So so day at the gym today. I was pretty tired from being up half the night taking care of my sick kid. Then the older one woke up crying after he had a bad dream. As a result of that, I was (still am) tired.

Squats were heavy for me today, but doable. The bench on the other hand, was murderous. I wasn't paying close enough attention to what I had done before and tried another 5lb jump, should have halved that. Will attempt 167.5 next time and see how that goes. A reset looms.

Deadlifts weren't really a problem for me. I'll continue the 10lb jumps on those.

Got on the scale this am and my weight has remained steady since I started. But the weights are going up and I'm starting to notice some changes in my physique.

[Makeshift Chef]

Session 24: 7 minutes warm up on the bike
Squat; 45x2x5, 90x1x5, 135x1x3, 180x1x2, 225x3x5<PR>
Press: 45x2x5, 60x1x5, 80x1x3, 95x1x2, 115x3x5<PR>
Power Clean: 45x2x5, 70x1x5, 90x1x3, 110x1x2, 130x5x3<PR>

My sleep last night was pretty piss poor. Couldn't fall asleep for hours. I even tried playing a little Endless Ocean to push me off towards lala land, but no dice. So I forced myself to go to the gym and see how things went. After my squat warm ups I was feeling decent so I went for it.

Squat form was pretty good, still trying to get the hang of the bounce out of the bottom. Was fun for me to have a couple 45's per side though!

Press remains my most hated exercise just for the fact that I seem to suck so bad at it. Almost hit myself in the chin on one of my reps today. It brushed the whiskers on my chin it was so close, lol. Still though, I managed to keep my form and get the weight up there.

Power Cleans weren't too terrible. Still working on form there. Gonna keep reading SS til I can get all the basic lifts down.

All in all a most successful day at the gym! Time to scarf down my hot ham, cheese, and fried egg sammich.

[Rezart Erindi]

Keep up the good work buddy, I'll be following your log. Try to get some sleep man, you can't go on forever sleeping 6 hours. You need to get at least 8 hours. And did you begin taking creatine?

[Makeshift Chef]

Keep up the good work buddy, I'll be following your log. Try to get some sleep man, you can't go on forever sleeping 6 hours. You need to get at least 8 hours. And did you begin taking creatine?

Thanks for encouragement! I did start taking creatine, it seems to be helping my recovery. As far as sleep goes, I try for the recommended dosage as much as possible but sometimes the brain just refuses to cooperate.

[Rezart Erindi]

Thanks for encouragement! I did start taking creatine, it seems to be helping my recovery. As far as sleep goes, I try for the recommended dosage as much as possible but sometimes the brain just refuses to cooperate.

In order for me to sleep better, I take a couple of Zinc-Magnesium pills and than I sleep like a baby. From what I've read, they also serve as a test booster.

[Makeshift Chef]

No Lifting for me today. Going camping with the family. Back at it on Monday.

[Makeshift Chef]

Session 25: 7 minutes bike warm up
Squat: 45x2x5, 90x1x5, 135x1x3, 180x1x2, 230x3x5<PR>
Bench: 45x2x5, 80x1x5, 115x1x3, 150x1x2, 167.5x2x5, 167.5x1x4
Deadlift: 110x2x5, 165x1x3, 230x1x2, 275x1x5<PR>

This was the first time that I have used weights greater than my body weight for squat work sets. I don't know if it was a mental thing or fatigue from my weekend spent outdoors but it felt really heavy today. Still, my form was decent and I managed to get them all. Bench on the other hand...

Bench was awful today. Even the warm ups were heavy. I must have the upper body strength of T-Rex. One more try on Friday at that weight and we'll see if a reset is necessary.

One side benefit of my bench failures meant that I really attacked the deadlifts. Being pissed seemed to help, lol.

Side Note: The wife told me I needed to start working on my biceps last night. Guess it's time to start trying chins and pull ups.