A Welsh Lifter's Log

Decided it’s about time I started a log so here we go.

Current maxes:

Deadlift - 112.5 Kg x 1 - hit 110x5 for 3 sets a few weeks ago, tried to hit 112.5 for five and failed

Squat - 80x5x3

Bench - 60x5x3

Overhead Press - 45x5x3

I don’t test maxes at the moment as I like to think I’m still in the position where they’ll change weekly. Deadlift ‘1 rep max’ was an accident and hopefully my true 1RM is higher.

I’ll go back to the start of the week as that sounds like a good place to start my log:

Monday (2/4) - Chest

Bench Press
Warm ups - 20x5, 40x5, 50x5
Set 1 - 60 x 5 - PR
Set 2 - 60 x 5
Set 3 - 60 x 5
Drop sets - 50x8, 40x15
Felt real good about finally cracking 1 plate per side, especially as I felt I could easily up the weight again next session

DB Bench
No Warm up
Set 1 - 20 each side x 8
Set 2 - 20 each side x 4
Set 3 - 20 each side x 7
Drop Sets - 15 each side x 9, 10 each side x 11 - triceps were absolutely dead by this point.
Think I need to take a bit more rest between the main sets on these as my muscles were pretty grilled from the barbell benching

Incline Flye
No warm up
Set 1 - 7.5 each side x 10
Set 2 - 7.5 each side x 10
Set 3 - 7.5 each side x 18 - decided to really push myself and take it to failure as it was my last set of the day for chest anyway, definitely going to up the weight next time.

Standing Overhead Press (I try and make my last exercise of the day one for a different muscle group as each muscle group only has its own session once a week so on Chest day I’ll do shoulders and vice versa and on legs day I’ll do back and vice versa)
No warm up
Set 1 - 30 x 10
Set 2 - 30 x 10
Set 3 - 30 x 10
Kept a strict 60 seconds of rest on these. Wanted to do five sets but the third one was gruelling and didn’t want to take them to failure as my shoulder day was in two days time.

Tuesday (3/4) - Back

Deadlift
Warm ups - 60x5, 80x5, 100x5
Set 1 - 112.5 x 1 - was aiming for five here as my previous 5RM was 110 but missed badly
Set 2 - 105 x 5
Set 3 - 105 x 5 - these two sets felt a lot better so I’m going to aim for 107.5 next time out
Drop Sets - 80x8, 60x7 - lower back was done by this point

DB Rows
Warm up - 10 each side x 10
Set 1 - 20 each side x 10
Set 2 - 20 each side x 10
Set 3 - 20 each side x 10 - form was really good here so upping weight next session

Ran out of time here as I didn’t hit the gym early enough, wanted to do some bi’s and some leg work to finish (studying for the final exams of degree at the moment so can’t really spend more than an hour a day in the gym)

Today - Wednesday (4/4) - Shoulders

Standing Barbell Overhead Press

Warm ups - 20x5, 30x5, 40x5
Set 1 - 45 x 5
Set 2 - 45 x 5
Set 3 - 45 x 5 - technically a PR here as while I’d hit 45 x 5 before, I only managed one set the next two were 4 and then 3 and my form was a lot better here so feeling good about these.
Drop sets - 40x5, 30x6 - shoulders were absolutely cooked by this point

Lateral Raises (50 reps total got the idea here: Shoulders and Triceps Blast)
7.5 each side x 12/8/7/6/8/9 in 5mins 25 secs - aiming to get this under 5 minutes and then up the reps until I can do 100 in 5 mins

Inverted Flye (50 reps total same as above)
5 each side x 20/15/15 in 4mins dead. Going to aim for 75 reps total next session

Close Grip Bench Press (shoulders were cooked by this point and I can’t fit in an arms day this week as the gym is closed over the easter bank holiday weekend so I thought I’d fit some in here)
Warm up - 35x10
Set 1 - 40 x 10
Set 2 - 40 x 10
Set 3 - 40 x 10

Press-ups - wanted to do more for chest work but my triceps were exhausted after the Close grip benching so when I can go back to doing an arms day I’ll do more chest work here.
1 x 20 at BW

Ah, youre that dude from the first bulk thread.

My mothers family is welsh and proud of it, so I’ll be following. :smiley:

[quote]hastalles wrote:
Ah, youre that dude from the first bulk thread.

My mothers family is welsh and proud of it, so I’ll be following. :D[/quote]

I am indeed. Have been upping my calories since the start of the week so will be weighing on Saturday to see if it’s working

Thursday (5/4) - Legs

Squats

Warm ups - Goblet Squats (all the racks were taken when I first arrived but they freed up quickly) - 20x5, 30x5 then Back Squat - 70x5
Set 1 - 82.5 x 5 - PR
Set 2 - 82.5 x 5 - PR
Set 3 - 82.5 x 5 - PR
Drop set - 60x10
Only did the on drop set because the three working sets really took it out of me but I’m pleased to see my numbers still going up.

Calf Raises

No Warm up
Set 1 - 100 x 25
Set 2 - 100 x 25
Set 3 - 100 x 25

Considered doing more leg work but the squats really took it out of me so I left it at that for legs.

Barbell Rows

Warm up - 20x5
Set 1 - 40 x 10
Set 2 - 40 x 10
Set 3 - 40 x 10
Set 4 - 45 x 10
Set 5 - 50 x 10

d

Tuesday (10/4) - Chest

Gym was closed over the Easter weekend but managed to fit in two cardio sessions and some bodyweight work. Stoked to be back hitting the iron again now though.

Bench Press
Warm ups - 20x5, 40x5, 50x5, 60x2 to get accustomed to the weight
Set 1 - 62.5 x 5 - PR
Set 2 - 62.5 x 4 - hit five but the last one was with some help from an over eager spotter that I did not want and probably didn’t need.
Set 3 - 62.5 x 5 - this was the easiest of all the working sets which makes me think I probably could’ve hit my reps on the second set as well, I’ll probably up the weight next week.

Incline DB Flye
Warm up - 5 each side x 10
Set 1 - 10e/s x 10
Set 2 - 10e/s x 10
Set 3 - 10e/s x 10

DB Bench
Warm up - 10e/s x 10
Set 1 - 20e/s x 10
Set 2 - 20e/s x 8 - form broke down completely on the 8th rep so left it there
Set 3 - 20e/s x 6
Think I’m going to have to check my ego at the door and drop the weights so I can hit three sets of 10, was an improvement from last week though so perhaps not.

Finisher - Standing OP
Set 1 - 30 x 10
Set 2 - 30 x 10
Set 3 - 30 x 8
Trying to do these with only a minute of rest in between sets. If I want to hit 5x10 I’m either going to have to drop the weight or up the rest. Next time I’ll man up and go for the latter.

Have been eating pretty well but haven’t weighed in yet. I’m going to wait until the end of this week by which time I’ll have two weeks of consistent eating and then see if it’s working.

[quote]Welsh_Lifter_91 wrote:

Think I’m going to have to check my ego at the door and drop the weights so I can hit three sets of 10, was an improvement from last week though so perhaps not.
[/quote]

don’t drop the weight, keep it there until you hit 3x10. Then up it.

[quote]hastalles wrote:

[quote]Welsh_Lifter_91 wrote:

Think I’m going to have to check my ego at the door and drop the weights so I can hit three sets of 10, was an improvement from last week though so perhaps not.
[/quote]

don’t drop the weight, keep it there until you hit 3x10. Then up it. [/quote]

Cheers for the tip, I’ll keep hammering away at them.

Wednesday (11/4) - Back

Deadlifts
Warm ups - double over hand grip - 60x5, 80x5, mixed grip 100x5
Working sets done with mixed grip and chalk
1 - 107.5 x 5
2 - 107.5 x 5
3 - 107.5 x 5
I took fairly long rests between the working sets but I felt they were necessary and I did improve on last week so I’ll stick with the rest periods. Left it at that for deads as they were brutal.

Dumbell Rows:
Warm up - 10 each arm x 10
1 - 22.5 each arm x 10
2 - 22.5 each arm x 10
3 - 22.5 each arm x 10
4 - 25 each arm x 10
5 - 25 each arm x 10
Originally I only intended to do 3 sets but after the first three I comfortably felt I could do more, will be sticking with 5 sets in the future.

T-Bar Rows
Warm up - bar + 20 x 10
3 working sets at bar + 30 x 10
First time I’ve ever done these so just trying to get a feel for correct form before I start really adding weight.

Finisher - 20 rep squats at 50
These were tough, not because of the weight but the conditioning element really took it out of me. They were a fun way to finish the workout though so they’ll be making a regular appearance on my back days from now on.

Felt like a pretty good workout out all in all but I feel like I should add in perhaps one more back exercise for volume’s sake or perhaps work shrugs in here as I feel like I need some direct trap work somewhere.

Thursday (12/4) - Shoulders

Standing BB OP
Warm ups - 20x5, 30x5, 40x5, 45x2
Set 1 - 47.5 x 5 PR
Set 2 - 47.5 x 5 PR
Set 3 - 47.5 x 5 PR
First rep on the first two sets was pretty ugly, not cheated up but far from perfect form, the rest of the reps were good. First rep on third set was perfect but the last one was a real grinder, got it up in the end though.
I decided to get rid of the drop sets to get some more volume in with DB presses.

Lateral Raises - total of 50 reps
7.5 each side x 15/9/8/8/10 in 4mins 25 secs - next target is 75 reps in <5mins

Inverted Flye - total of 75 reps
5 each side x 25/21/18/11 in 4 mins 5 secs - next target is 100 reps then I’ll up the wieght

Seated DB OP
Warm up - 10 each side x 10
Set 1 - 15 e/s x 10
Set 2 - 15 e/s x 10
Set 3 - 15 e/s x 10

DB Shrugs
Warm up 20s x 10
Set 1 - 30s x 10
Set 2 - 30s x 10
Set 3 - 30s x 10
Found that my grip held me back a lot on these, so I may switch to barbells

Pressups
BW x 15/12/15
Ideally wanted to do some benching for my finisher but the benches were taken when I wanted to do them, hopefully I’ll be able to use one next time out. All in all pretty pleased to be making progress, extra eating seems to be working on the strength front.

Will keep an eye on your training log mate as I am from UK also so nice to see some weights in KG lol

[quote]Daniel.San wrote:
Will keep an eye on your training log mate as I am from UK also so nice to see some weights in KG lol[/quote]

Thanks for following.

Friday (13/4) - Legs

Weighed myself this morning - 85kg/187lb/13 stone 5

Not 100& sure on the accuracy of my 77kg two weeks ago, almost certain I didn’t gain 8kg/almost 20lb in two weeks so I’m going to be using this as my weight from now on. Think I have gained some muscle though, main lifts are back on linear progress and feeling stronger.

Squats
Warm up - 20x5,60x5,70x5,80x3
Set 1 - 85 x 5 - PR and BW
Set 2 - 85 x 5
Set 3 - 85 x 5
Last set was tough but I felt like I had more in me so more weight next week.

Calf Raises
no warm up
Set 1 - 110 x 25
Set 2 - 110 x 25
Set 3 - 110 x 25

Jump squats (landing with feet together on a step) - I want to start introducing some more explosive/speed work into my routine so thought I’d start today
BW x 10
BW x 10
BW x 10
Just wanted to get a feel for form, didn’t miss a landing and didn’t have to watch my feet at all so next week I’ll start adding weight

BB Rows
Warm up 20x10
Set 1 - 50 x 10
Set 2 - 50 x 10
Set 3 - 50 x 10
Set 4 - 50 x 10
Set 5 - 50 x 10

Doing good in here man. PR’s and weight gain, that’s what it’s all about! :slight_smile:

Explosive work is best kept to less reps and more sets. It’s not like you’re not getting anything done if you don’t get fatigued from it. Quite the opposite actually. For example, it would work better if you did a bunch of single jumps with a minute or two rest in between them or something along those lines. And if you do them first in your session before you get fatigued you’ll likely see better results. Read some of Christian Thibadaeu’s stuff if you’re interested in explosive work.

Also, you’re in a pretty good position right now to start teaching yourself the olympic lifts (the snatch and the Clean and Jerk) Power snatches and power cleans are great tools for building power.

[quote]hastalles wrote:
Doing good in here man. PR’s and weight gain, that’s what it’s all about! :slight_smile:

Explosive work is best kept to less reps and more sets. It’s not like you’re not getting anything done if you don’t get fatigued from it. Quite the opposite actually. For example, it would work better if you did a bunch of single jumps with a minute or two rest in between them or something along those lines. And if you do them first in your session before you get fatigued you’ll likely see better results. Read some of Christian Thibadaeu’s stuff if you’re interested in explosive work.

Also, you’re in a pretty good position right now to start teaching yourself the olympic lifts (the snatch and the Clean and Jerk) Power snatches and power cleans are great tools for building power.[/quote]

Thanks for the tip man. I’ve always like the idea of being able to clean but I’ve been too pussy/lazy/insert insult here to get round to it. I’ll get on to some articles and videos and see if I can teach myself. I finish university at the end of June and my university gym is fine with people doing cleans, dropping weights etc. So I’ll make the most of this opportunity before I end up training at my shitty commercial home gym again.

As for less reps for explosive work, I was thinking of doing some speed bench on my bench day on monday would something along the lines of 10 sets of 2-3 reps be what I should be aiming for?

Saturday (14/4) - Arms

Triceps:

Close Grip Bench
Warm up - 20x5,20x5(did two sets to get a feel for grip width, went to close on the first one and was real uncomfortable in the shoulders), 40x5
set 1 - 50 x 5
set 2 - 50 x 5
set 3 - 50 x 5
set 4 - 50 x 5
set 5 - 50 x 5
Thought about upping the weight towards the end but decided against it, reps were going up smooth and quick and didn’t want to exhaust my tri’s too early, more weight next time though. This is also a PR of sorts as I’ve never CGBP’d for low reps before.

Skullcrushers with e-z curl bar
Warm ups - 20x10, 25x10
Set 1 - 30 x 10
set 2 - 30 x 10
set 3 - 30 x 10
set 4 - 30 x 10
set 5 - 30 x 6 - last two sets were tough and I started to feel a bit of pain in my right wrist at this point so I called it at 6

Tricep overhead press with a dumbbell
No warm up
Set 1 - 20 x 10
Set 2 - 20 x 10
Set 3 - 20 x 10
Set 4 - 20 x 10
Set 5 - 20 x 10
Probably could’ve gone heavier here but I wanted to make sure I got a full range of motion

Biceps:

Bicep row
Warm ups - 10s x 10
Set 1 - 20s x 5
Set 2 - 20s x 5
Set 3 - 20s x 5
Set 4 - 20s x 5
Set 5 - 20s x 5
Did feel like I could use more weight on these but I wanted to make sure that my biceps were doing most of the work, think my lats would’ve taken over more if I’d upped the weight any more.

BB Curl (in the squat rack!! In my defence there was me and one either guy in the weight room, he was benching)
Warm up - 20x10
Set 1 - 30 x 10 - so hard
Set 2 - 30 x 6 - definitely not strong enough for five sets of these yet
Set 3 - 25 x 10
Set 4 - 25 x 10
Set 5 - 25 x 7
Going to aim for five sets of 25 for 10 reps next week then work from there. Got an insane pump from these though and my biceps felt like they were on fire at the end

DB Hammer Curl
No warm up
Set 1 - 10s x 10
Set 2 - 10s x 10
Set 3 - 10s x 10
Set 4 - 10s x 10
Set 5 - 10s x 10
Would usually go a little heavier on these but my bi’s were still feeling the bb curls and I wanted to focus on good form

Felt good about this workout, got the best pump I’ve ever had.

Day off from lifting tomorrow but I will be playing badminton for an hour so that’ll sort my conditioning out for the day, hoping to do cardio at least 3 times a week until after my finals when I’ll be able to do so more often. Looking forward to getting back in the gym fresh and ready to lift again on monday

[quote]Welsh_Lifter_91 wrote:

[quote]hastalles wrote:
Doing good in here man. PR’s and weight gain, that’s what it’s all about! :slight_smile:

Explosive work is best kept to less reps and more sets. It’s not like you’re not getting anything done if you don’t get fatigued from it. Quite the opposite actually. For example, it would work better if you did a bunch of single jumps with a minute or two rest in between them or something along those lines. And if you do them first in your session before you get fatigued you’ll likely see better results. Read some of Christian Thibadaeu’s stuff if you’re interested in explosive work.

Also, you’re in a pretty good position right now to start teaching yourself the olympic lifts (the snatch and the Clean and Jerk) Power snatches and power cleans are great tools for building power.[/quote]

Thanks for the tip man. I’ve always like the idea of being able to clean but I’ve been too pussy/lazy/insert insult here to get round to it. I’ll get on to some articles and videos and see if I can teach myself. I finish university at the end of June and my university gym is fine with people doing cleans, dropping weights etc. So I’ll make the most of this opportunity before I end up training at my shitty commercial home gym again.

As for less reps for explosive work, I was thinking of doing some speed bench on my bench day on monday would something along the lines of 10 sets of 2-3 reps be what I should be aiming for?[/quote]

10 sets of 2 reps each would work well. Try to explode from the bottom, not just accelerate the weight so that it’s moving fast at the top.

Monday (16/4) - Chest
Going to be working out a little later in the day from now on. I’ll be going to the gym a few hours after I get up instead of straight away. I find it gives my day a bit more structure and lets me get more work done as I’m starting to brick it about exams. That didn’t stop this from being an awesome workout though.

Bench
Warm ups - 20x5(speed reps) 20x5, 40x5,50x5(standard bench)
Speed bench:
1 - 30 x 2
2 - 30 x 2
3 - 32.5 x 2
4 - 32.5 x 2
5 - 35 x 2
6 - 35 x 2 - felt them starting to slow a little here
7 - 30 x 2
8 - 30 x 2
9 - 32.5 x 2
10 - 32.5 x 2
Think next time out i’ll just stick to 30 for the 10 sets and focus on speed
Standard bench
Warm up - 60x3
1 - 65 x 5 - PR
2 - 65 x 5 -
3 - 65 x 5
After the incident with the spotter last week it felt great to nail these without any aid at all.

Incline flye
Warm up 5s x 10
1 - 10s x 10
2 - 10s x 10
3 - 10s x 10
4 - 10s x 10
5 - 10s x 10
These felt easy, going to be using the 12.5s next week

DB Bench
warm up - 10sx10
1 - 20s x 10
2 - 20s x 10 - a PR of sort, finally got the 20s for 2 sets of 10
3 - 20s x 8
4 - 20s x 7
5 - 20s x 5
I’ve realised I suck really bad at dumbbell benching, I seem to have pretty awful stabilisers compared to my chest and tricep strength. To solve this problem I’ve decided I need to up the volume. Practice makes perfect and all that.

I did some more flat bench to finish, I’ve decided to do my 5 sets of 10 at the end on that day’s exercise not a different days. I think upping the volume a little will justify only hitting each muscle group once per week and I was finding that when I was doing overhead presses here my triceps were already pretty fatigued and my shoulders weren’t getting the full benefit.

Set 1 - 40 x 10 - too much grinding on this, want to keep these fairly smooth and explosive
Set 2 - 35 x 10 - same problem again
Set 3 - 30 x 10 - dropped my ego and focused on getting full smooth reps
Set 4 - 30 x 10
Set 5 - 30 x 10
Going to up the weight by 2.5 next week but I’ll make sure I can hit all reps without grinding them out.

This was a great workout, stoked for back day tomorrow

Tuesday (17/4) Back

Started off by trying out some power hang cleans/clean high pulls
No real structure to it, but I only used any empty bar (20kg) and kept to about 3 reps. I was sweating like a pig by the end of these. I’m going to try them with a bit more structure next week, probably 5 sets of 3 reps for each, and perhaps film some of the cleans so I can’t post them here and get some form tips. If I can get hang cleans with the bar nailed in next week I’ll do them from the floor the week after then start adding weight.

Deadlifts
Warm up - 60x5, 80x5, 100x5 (had to slip to mixed grip for the last rep) 105x3
Working sets done with mixed grip and chalk
1 - 110 x 5
2 - 110 x 5
3 - 110 x 5
Felt really strong here, bar went up quickly and no grinding on any set should be able to hit a PR next week.

Dumbbell Rows
Warm up 15x10 each arm
5 working sets at 25 x 10 each arm

Barbell rows - focussed on form from the floor with these as I’ve previously been doing them from pins
warm up - 20x10
1 - 40 x 6 - still tired from the DB rows, rested then did 4 more sets of 10 reps with 40. These next 4 sets were pretty easy but I wanted to make sure my form didn’t slip.

Got all this done pretty quickly so added in some lat pull downs at the end
all sets done close grip with V handle
5 plates x 10
6 plates x 10
7 plates x 10
7 plates x 10
8 plates x 8
No idea how much each plate on the stack is, they’re either 5kg in which case I’m obscenely weak or 10kg in which case I’m still very weak but at least I’ll be pleased with my performance

Wednesday (18/4) - Shoulders
BBOP
Warm ups - 20x5,30x5,40x5
Push presses:
1 - 40 x 3
2 - 45 x 3
3 - 50 x 3
4 - 50 x 3
5 - 50 x 3
Strict press
warm up - 45x3
1 - 50 x 5 - PR
2 - 50 x 5
3 - 50 x 0, drop set 45 x 2
Think I fatigued myself by trying to do much by adding in push presses. Think I’ll throw them out for now and stick to learning the clean for my explosive training, I’ll be cleaning/trying to on back and leg day for the next few weeks to see how that goes. Hopefully I can nail 50 for three sets next week hoping to keep this linear progression up a while longer.

Lat raises - total 75 reps
7.5s x 15,11,10,10,10,13,6 - time 7:05

Inverted flye - total 100 reps
5s x 25,20,20,20,15 - time 7:50

Need to work a hell of a lot faster on these. Once I hit 100 reps in under 5 mins I’m going to go to doing 5 sets of 10 for a while for some hypertrophy.

Seated DBOP
warm up - 5sx10
1 - 15s x 10
2 - 15s x 10
3 - 15s x 10
4 - 15s x 10
5 - 15s x 10
Pleased with these seeing as how my presses at the start didn’t go so straight. I’m still trying to find my feet with regards to how much volume I should be doing per session. I think I’m going to get rid of push presses and speed benching and limit my explosive work to clean, I think I’ll add shrugs back in here too and stick with them for a while.

Thursday (19/4) - Legs

Terrible workout today. Wasn’t motivated for it and realised I was almost breaking myself in half with my squats

Squat
Warm ups - 20x5,60x5,70x5,80x5,85x2 - at this point someone pointed out to me I was bending over quite badly when coming out of the hole. I had been squatting with the bar across my neck which I’ve now realised is a horrendously bad position. I tried the bar a little lower down my back, it was awkward at first but I think I got the right feel for it. Didn’t go too heavy though did:
60x5,60x5,65x5,70x5,75x5 - none of these were max effort which makes me think that now I’ve got my bar position sorted I should be able to still put up the same numbers or at least do so very soon.

Did some leg curls:
25x10,50x10,68x10,77x10,86x10,95x10,105x10,109(whole stack)x10,109x6 (lower back pain)
Only did so many sets to find my working weight, was hoping to 5x10 at 109 but on the second set I started to feel a twinge in my lower back, probably because the seat wasn’t properly adjusted.

Not at all happy with this workout but I’m glad I found out about my squat issue sooner rather than later, here’s hoping tomorrow’s session goes better.

hey, why dont you throw up some videos of form so we could help?