I’ve been lifting for about a year and a half. I grew up very small. I played football, basketball, track, and swam in HS. Swimming was my most accomplished sport, football and basketball (whichever was in season) was my favorite. I still play basketball in my work league, golf, and softball along with just now getting into power lifting.
After college I didn’t do anything for a few years (2003-2008). My buddy got me into Strong Lifts 5x5 after I tried to start running after a bad cholesterol report at 27. I had good results there for a long time. We did our first PL competition in March and I put up 1157 in the 198 class. Not a great total, but plenty of time to get better.
I hope to get feedback from the forum on my training. Tips, suggestions, and motivation are always welcome. I’d also like it if every once in a while someone would remind me that I’m a little wimp and call me out when I’m being a pussy. I lift a lot more than almost anybody else in my gym, so I get a lot of smoke blown up my ass, but I know I need to do better.
Body Weight = 192 (Bathroom Scale)
Note: The gym has two scales, one electronic in the gym and a mechanical scale in the bathroom. The bathroom scale consistently reads 4 lbs higher than the one in the gym, which matched almost exactly the one used for weigh in at the competition I did in March, so I correct -4 lbs when I weigh in on the bathroom scale while the electronic scale is out of service.
Squat: 3x5 - 315
Press: 5x5 - 155 (first set 175 b/c I can’t add)
Pull ups: 10, 10, 6 (2nd set head ache set in, third set worse. There’s a history there.)
Planks: 3x45 seconds
(Note, my workout partner is a 265 lb Marine. Sometimes we’re out of phase because he misses a lot of workouts. This was one of those days, so I have some auxiliary exercises added for his motivation)
Pushups: 50 while Ryan did his first set to failure. I think he did 25-30.
265 lb pull down x 3 (Ryan can only do 1 pullup and says it’s because he’s so big. Sorry, bud.
Seated cable row: 3x10x125
5 min on treadmill (foot hurt) - 1 min warmup, 30 sec sprint, 1 min jog, 30 sec sprint, 1 min jog, 30 sec sprint, 30 sec walk
Hand bike - 5 min level 12.
This was my first Press workout in 2 months. I’ve been dealing with an elbow injury from poor squat positioning and shoulder mobility. I felt no pain in either today, which is a very positive sign.
The headaches have been better lately, but my Fran (Crossfit) workout attempt last week flared me up bad and pull ups continue to be a problem. I should be able to do 15-18, 12-15, 10+.
I could use some advice on managing these headaches so I can make good progress on pullups and improve my Fran time from 7:04. The headaches got really bad on a front squat Tabata three weeks ago and have not subsided under strain.
Bulgarian SS = 3x5 115
Lawnmower Row = 3x10 60
Clean&Press = 5x135, 5x155
Snatch = 5x135, 5x155
Bench (speed) / diamond pushups = 3x12(bench), 15(pu) no rest
25 lb weighted pullup x 4, dipx5, chinupx5, dipx5 no rest
EZ bar curl 75 x 5 x 2
The goal today was just to keep moving and keep my HR up. I’m trying to get down to 181 for my next competition. I chose exercises that will help with my Thursday workout without wearing me down too much. Thursday I’m going for PR’s on 5x5 bench (265) and 1x5 DL (405).
Scale says 192. I need to get my own scale because I have no idea if that’s right or not.
DL Day
5x165, 205, 250
Buglarian Split Squats
3x5 each leg 135
Kroc Rows 40 lbs x 30 each arm x 3
50 Chins - 8,6,6,5,5,5,5,6,4
Hanging Leg Lifts to bar - 7,7,7
Chins after Krocs are harder than I’m used to. Krocs I’m going to work up to 40 on each set, then increase weight and work up to 40 again.
Last night I ran on a hill. The first five trips I had my black lab with me, but he was too slow. The next two I had the rottweiler with me, and I knew she would be even slower, so I did high knees. The next five I did by myself, then I got bored. I got an old bent rim with the tire still on it from the garage and an old tie-out line I used for the rottweiler and dragged the tire up the hill a few times.
Then I ran with it, but I could tell I was bruising myself with the cable. So I pulled out my old weight belt and looped the cable around the back of it and did 10 reps up and down the hill. It was fun and I’m pretty sure the neighbors are worried.
5/6/10
Bench Day (deload)
110x5
135x5
165x5
Shrugs - barbell
135x12
225x10
225x10
Powerclean / Snatch
135x5 / 5
155x5 / 5
Inverted Row
BWx12, 10, 15
Bench
225x12
Fran - 8:07 (much harder at the end than at the beginning)
Shrug
135x12, 225x9, 225x12
DB rear pinch
60’s x 7,10,12
50 Dips: 25, 13, 12
Inverted Row
BWx20, 15, 15
FRAN - 8:06
I’ve been pretty tired this week b/c softball keeps me up late and makes me sore on Monday night. Fran was much harder today than usual and I was light headed and dizzy through most of it. Good workout, though.
You’re a heck of a lot stronger than me, but your Kroc Rows seem super light? To my knowledge Kroc rows are supposed to be as heavy as you can handle and then you just go for rep PRs.
ohp 5/3/1
lat pull downs
triceps work
farmer carry
DB curls
Here’s my weekly routine. On squat day, some days I just do whatever I feel like doing. I was pissed I didn’t get 10 on my 245 bench, so I did some close grip bench. I’ve been sick since Friday and when I get sick I tend to get an attitude and say F it.
Kroc rows are new for me. I’m doing 3 sets of 40 on each arm, so I’m doing a weight I can do 120 times on each arm in 5 minutes and moving up as I feel I’m able to. Today I skipped them because I nearly choked on my own phlegm during dead lifts, so I didn’t do anything to get my breathing heavy.
