Avls SS : Advanced Novice Program Bulk log

[Avl]

Workout 15: Wed 29/06/11

Morning Bodyweight: 86.8kg

Had doms from cycling as i havent in months and also doms from my 1RM bench efforts on mon in my arm. Was tired this morning too but had a double sausage mc muffin pint of milk and 3 proplus tabs to wake me up. yes i'm cutting . Otherwise felt ok, my back and right glute/leg/hip are 95-99% now after a week just a little stiffness/soreness at the far end of stretches.

Press:
Bar x5
30kg x3
40kg x1
50kg x5/5/5 - Great! Havent regressed even though my cals have gone from 4000 to 2500 felt i could've done 6 reps on the first set, not sure whether to attempt 51kg next monday or just stick at 50kg during my cut. I have a feeling that if i push it and try for 51kg i could cause myself to not recover enough and regress.
60kg x0 - Fail - Maybe i could've had it if I'd done this before my 3x5 but i learned my lesson from bench earlier this week. It was still closeish got it 4 inches off my rack position to about chin level but it wasn't going any further than that. Actually that isn't close is it? my OHP sticking point only stops at about my forehead level. I want a 60kg press more than anything else in the world right now. It will be mine.

Chinups:
BW x7/5/5 - I really need to focus more on these, i'm a little lax with bodyweight exercises in general, but as i'm losing bodyweight i really need to force myself to do the extra reps.

Deadlifts:
60kg x5 - very light, no pain
100kg x5 - felt ok, no pain
120kg x3 - felt heavy, i could've still done 5 easily but i didnt want to push it. Honestly i've lost my confidence a little with these now. Squats I feel that as long as i dont go too heavy that my form starts to breakdown i can do them without hurting my spine and if anything goes it'll be a muscle, but with deadlifts i'm just not sure on my form anymore. Maybe i'll just work at doing sets of 8-10 of 100kg or something and stop when i feel my form slipping. Anyway no pain at 120kg so that's good.

Shrugs:
80kg x8
60kg x8/8 - GOTTA GET YOKED UP.

Back Hyperextensions:
BW x12
5kg x8
10kg x8
20kg x5 - These still didnt feel too heavy but i stopped because holding the 20kg plate was arkward as hell, use two 10kgs next time.

Dumbell Sidebends:
12.5kg x12 L+R
20kg x12 L+R - Fine, still felt light.

Planks:
BW 3x30seconds - Painful.

Overall, good workout, gonna do more spin, get back into proper working sets for squats and deadlifts and also add in GHR/Backextensions/Goodmornings.

[Avl]

Oh right, I uploaded a squat form video i took a couple of weeks ago too, any comments would be appreciated!

I've got some overhead press ones i'm going to upload as well.

I guess i should really take some deadlift ones but that'll have to wait until next week. Anyway, here it is, skip to 1 minute.

[Avl]

Workout 16: Fri 01/07/11

Bodyweight: 87.6 (What?)

This was one of those days lie I had earlier in the month when i'd have been better off missing it. I had a presentation for work to get done so pulled pretty much an all nighter and didnt have alot of food beforehand. As soon as the presentation finished i left work early to go lift (should've gone home for a nap and something to eat) and i just didnt feel 'there'.

Squats:
Bar x5
60kg x5
80kg x5/5/5 (+2.5kg next)

This felt very heavy but im going to say it's due to the not eating or sleeping. Also i did another spin class after gym in the evening on weds which had its own spincore workout afterwards. This just involved a load of bodyweight core exercises but they also did around 100 bodyweight squats with no rest periods, including squat holds for 10+ seconds, this pretty much destroyed my legs (i actually think bodyweight squats are probably counter productive, but nm) and they were still a little sore. Still should be able to increase on mon back to 82.5.

Bench:
Bar x5
40kg x5
60kg x1
70kg x5/4.5 (FAIL)
60kg x8

FFFFFUUUUUUU so close on the secodn set to getting 5, 70 felt like my proper 5rm on the first set today which it hasnt before so im gonna put that down to not eating or sleeping too.

1 Arm Dumbell Row:
3x8 40kg

Actually felt good, 40kg is feeling easier to hold onto so must be doing my grip good.

Curl:
1xF 20kg

Just cos


Looking forward to getting back to a proper schedule and proper weights again on monday. Hopefully my weight will stop being stupid as well, the sooner i get to 83kg and can bulk again (SLOWLY) the better.

[Avl]

Workout 17: Mon 04/07/11

Bodyweight 86.6kg

Was hot as hell today, it doesnt often get above 30celcius in the uk but when it does it sucks because noone has ac. That includes the gym, felt really drained of energy from the heat. I actually felt quite ok beforehand but weak in the gym which tells me its probably a recovery/ eating thing.

Back Squats:
Bar x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
82.5kg x3 (FAIL) Just too damn heavy. - Attempt again on friday
60kg x12/12

OHP:
Bar x5
30kg x3
40kg x1 - Felt heavy, not a good sign
50kg x4 (FAIL) - Damn it, i've lost 2 reps of strength on this, not sure whether i've actually lost it or it's just a recovery issue. Attempt the same next monday.
40kg x5/5

Chinups:
BW x8/8/8


So this was a pretty bad workout. I'm hoping it's just a lack of eating (2250 over the weekend vs 4000+ on bulk) and not true regression. I'm going to change my workout from SS to lower volume. Will be giving a day do each of bench ohp squat and deadlift with light days for each also. So next monday will be: OHP heavy, Squat light, Tuesday: Deadlift heavy Bench light, Thursday: Squat heavy OHP light, Friday: Bench heavy.

Light exercises will be just that, couple of 60kg sets of 8 for squats and a few sets of comfortable dumbells for ohp and bench. I wont do light deadlifts but instead add goodmornings and GHR to squat day.

Hopefully doing this will boost my recovery with the light days and just give me longer in general to recover with the week between going heavy so I can maintain strength. Will see how it goes next week with this plan. If it doesnt work will have to reconsider cut if strength loss doesnt stabilise.

[Avl]

Workout 18: Tue 05/07/11

BW: 86.0kg

Had to squeeze this one in quickly. I workout at a uni gym and it's now the summer so it was completely empty which was nice.

Power Clean:
40kg x3
60kg x3/3/3 - fine, should've done two more sets but today was about deadlifts so i moved on as was in a hurry

Deadlift:
80kg x5
120kg x5 (+5 next)
80kg x8/8

Shrugs:
80kg x8/8

Weighted Decline Crunch:
BW x8/8/8 (Not done these in a while)

Curls:
30kg x8/8/8

DB Bench:
20kg x8/8 - Just light recovery work for bench on friday.

Felt pretty good on deads, no pain from injury. 120kg went up pretty comfortably. Then did two sets of 80kg trying to focus on form/ keeping proper back extension. Think i got it a little better.

[Avl]

Workout 19: Thu 07/07/11

BW: 86.6kg

Felt ok, only got a few hours sleep due to preparing for an important meeting in the morning but it's much cooler now and i'd eaten lunch. I watched the so you think you can squat series on yourtube and got some good pointers from that which I tried to apply to squats. They felt better with the technique change (i did one set of old one of new) but not actually any easier which was a shame.

Squats:
Bar x5
40kg x5
60kg x3
82.5kg x5/5/5 (+2.5kg next) - this felt really heavy but at least i got it this time, i'll try 85kg next week, if i can get back upto 85kg whilst on this cut i'll be relatively satisfied.

Goodmornings:
40kg x8/8/8

Weighted Decline Situp:
5kg x8/8/8

Light Dumbell Seated shoulder press:
15kg x8/8

An ok workout, my volume is way lower doing this 4day cutting split than before on SS (around half to two thirds the workload) which makes me feel like im not working hard enough, but i guess if it's keeping my lifts the same then it's ok. Work has been a bit stressful over the last few months and while i'm not goign to be any less busy now the next couple of months should hopefully be much less stressful. Whether this helps with my lifting or not we'll see.

I've been keeping well to my cals, i'm working at a 500 cal deficit at the moment (2500 a day) with one refeed a week each wednesday after triclub spin session (3500). I'm losing weight steadily and my measurements are all down an inch or two. I may lower to 2250 at the end of this week for the next two weeks and then a final week at 2000 to make sure i hit my goals and can clean bulk back up.

[Avl]

Workout 20: Fri 08/07/11

BW: 85.9kg

Another short nights sleep (5-6 hours) but ate a good lunch and downed a couple of coffees before. Session was ok, i really hate only doing 2 compounds a day though, feel like im cheating after doing 4 a day in an hour for so long.

Decline Situp:
BW x8 - Just bored waiting for a bench

Bench Press:
40kg x5
70kg x5/5/4 - (Same next time) Goddamn it, the guy i was working in with spotted me the first couple of sets and knew not to go near my bar. The third set i had to grab a random dude, should've known he'd touch it from the eager stance he took behind the bar so my fault for not saying anything. Anyway he gave it a light touch on the 3rd and more so on the 4th even though i had both. Not sure if i'd have got the 5th but i'd lost my focus by then anyway so racked it. I felt stronger on the first set than last week, think i could've done a 6th rep so i'd like to get 70 x5/5/5 once before i finish cutting.

1 arm DB row:
40kg x8/8/8 - good, im actually getting better at these, may try going up a weight next week for the first set at least.

DB Side bend:
20kg x12 each side - dunno, early finishers guilt

Im on conference wed-fri next week and have a busy day on tues so gonna workout sun, mon, sat(squat AND bench) next week with the same lift format as this one. Then the two weeks after that the uni gym closes for refurbishment, so i'll need to find another place to workout until august.

I feel like i should get this log moved to the general section or renamed or something as it's a little misleading now. But i cant be bothered to make a new log for a months cut just to make another new intermediate one when i start that in aug. Start date for that is either 1st or 8th of august depending on how the cut goes (when i hit 83kg). If i start losing strength though then i may curtail it early providing im below 85kg.

[Avl]

Workout 21: Sun 10/07/11

BW: 86.3kg

Good day. Didnt get a great nights sleep due to the heat and cramp in my calves (went mountain biking on a trail course on sat so i think i was dehydrated). Felt strong though for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Light Squats:
Bar x5
60kg x12/12
80kg x3

squats felt good, my hamstrings were really sore after i tried the new technique changes last week which i tok to be a good sign. So i used the same technique today and felt quite a bit more solid. Will go for 85kg on sat.

OHP:
Bar x5
30kg x3
40kg x1
50kg x5/5/5 (Equal PB) (+1 next)

Great. definitely felt stronger could've got 6 maybe 7 reps on the first set, i guess the lower volume is letting me recover more whilst still cutting so will try to microload whilst cutting. Next OHP day isn't until next monday though.

Chinups:
BW x8/6/5 - Only negative, i was being rushed to finish up so didnt leave more than a minute or so between sets, felt like i could've done 10-11 on the first set though, perhaps i should've.

Cut is going pretty well, not lost much in the way of strength and waist and hip sizes are down a couple of inches whilst shoulder chest and thigh are all the same so positive so far. Can't wait for 83!

[Avl]

Workout 22: Mon 11/07/11

BW: 85.7kg

Another rubbish nights sleep but made up for with a big afternoon nap. Had a bit of a carb overdose for lunch which may explain why todays workout was so good, but nevermind im not complaining.

Deadlift:
60kg x5
100kg x5
130kg x5 (+5kg next) - This felt great, think my back was holding in good extension and think i had the strength to do 8 or so so i think my strength on deads has returned now, my pb on SS was 140 which i think i can get up to before i finish cutting.

Power Cleans:
60kg x3
60kg x3 + Superset x5 Front Squats
60kg x3 + Superset x8 Shrugs

Deadlift:
60kg x12 + Superset x8 Shrugs

Not quite sure what I was doing, in a good mood after deads went well so i added in some front squats and shrugs to my sets for fun. Power cleans felt easier than last time, was feeling very explosive. Front squats felt easy too.

Light Bench:
Bar x5
60kg x5/5/5 - Actually pretty tough after everything else and pressing yesterday. Brought me back down to earth a bit.

TGU:
17.5kg x2/2 (2 each side) - Fine, just waiting for my buddy to finish

Think i'm gaining strength? didnt think that was possible, definitely haven't lost any yet.

[Avl]

Workout 23: Sat 16/07/11

BW: u/k

Back in the gym after week away at conference, planned on doing squats but had doms from soccer a day before and my board shorts ripped right down the back when i started which was a bit distracting.

Squats:
Bar x5
60kg x3
80kg x1
85kg x3 - stopped will do on monday.


Bench:
Bar x5
40kg x3
60kg x1
70kg x6/5/5 (PB!) Very pleased with this, technically a PB due to going for 6 reps on the first set, could've ground out a 7th, more pleased that i managed to get back upto 70kg 3x5 whilst cutting though.

Lying Tricep Extension:
25kg 3x8 - Gave these a go after seeing the latest SS video, now sitting here with lots of tricep doms.

1arm DB Rows:
40kg 3x8 - fine.

Good day. Will be using a different gym for next two weeks now due to my usual one being refurbished.