Lanky Me Chasing 5 More lbs, 1 More Rep

Buy a couple of 20 oz baseball bat weights, they fit perfectly on an Olympic bar.

Like these?

Exactly.

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What a coincidence. I’ll leave this here for me to read on later when I get home

Meh. It’s overkill

Don’t think I’ll be able to do them in our gym anyway. Lol

Ok, so played volleyball for 2-3 hours today. Definitely feel that something in my left knee on lateral movement. Was able to jump all I want with no pain though, so that was definitely good. Been experimenting with different angles of my feet on squats, and I think more towards parallel feet are putting more torque (?) up towards my knees. I’ll try to squat with toes a little more flared out again and see how my knees respond. BW squats with toes a little flared out seem to not “pull” on my knees, so no pain. I think my flat feet are definitely a factor. Sucks to be addicted to sports and have flat feet. Oh well, play with the cards you are delt. Most likely need to have it checked by an ortho or PT too, just to be sure.

24 March 2019

Really happy to hit the gym again

Squat 80kg x 5 x 5
Flared my toes out, and was able to squat with no pain. Didn’t try to replicate the pain with toes in their usual position with how I squat for the longest time now to confirm if that was really the cause. Probably should have, but no thanks I guess. Just really happy to have no pain when squatting.

Bent over barbell row 50kg x 5 x 5
Bench Press 50kg x 5 x 4, failed on 3rd rep of 5th set. Didn’t push too hard
Cable lat pull down 45kg x 10 x 3
Seated Cable Pec Deck 100 lbs x 10 x 3
One arm seated cable rows 3 plates x 8 x 3 (didn’t know what each plate of the machine weighed)

Next session will most likely be my last session with StrongLifts. I think the squatting each gym day is not good for my knees. Just really happy to be able to squat without pain

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31 March 2019

Damn…training has been inconsistent. Last day of StrongLifts…well, I didn’t squat today so that I can see if deadlift will aggravate my knee without having to think if it would be the squat or deadlift that will cause pain. The pain and unstable feeling has improved a lot. There’s still a little unstable feeling, but I’m happy that it’s not getting worse, and that I can lift pain free.

Deadlift 90kg x 5, 100kg x 5, 90kg x 5
I really should focus on slowing down and pulling the slack out of the bar first. Grip and rip (even if it wasn’t the intention) makes the lower spine flexion on initiation more apparent

Back extensions BW x 10 x 3

Strict OHP 30kg x 5 x 5
SIde lateral raises 10 lbs 10 x 4
Seated cable face pulls 20kg x 10 x 3

StrongLifts Progress Summary
November to March
(yeah, didn’t take Mehdi’s advice to start with just the barbell)
Squat 60kg → 100kg
Bench 40kg → 55kg (touching the chest now)
Deadlift 80kg → 100kg (most erratic progression due to multiple deloads to fix form)
Sumo 80kg → 105kg (been doing this after conventional just for fun)
Strict OHP 25kg → 40kg
Barbell Row 40kg → 60kg
All for 5 reps. Didn’t bother to drop down to 3 reps

Body weight 70kg to 72.5kg, but now I’m 70.5 ish without even trying to lose weight. Gotta eat more.

Will start 5/3/1 Wednesday!

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Roadto100kg

5/3/1 is an INFINITELY better program than Stronglifts. Just eat to grow and watch results happen.

Lol. Nah. Gonna go up to 75kg first then see how things feel from there with regards to my sport lol

Not really defending SL but it was nice for a while… then it quickly became shit. Lol. Most important take home was it teaches you programming and how important a good program is. Ironically. Lol.

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Doc,
Check out this little video about foot, knee and hip alignment. See if anything resonates with you.

Woah there flats, no need to be all formal and call me doc. Haha. I’m not licensed in the US yet anyway. Hope to get back stateside next year. Hehe. Thanks for the video! Yeah, exactly what I was thinking! Most likely, my flat feet changes the dynamics a bit. I guess I gotta work on my glutes (both medius and maximus) more then.

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03 April 2019

First day of 5/3/1

Squat 65kg x 5, 75kg x 5, 85kg x 8 (rep PR), FSL 3x5
Stopped at 8 reps because the bar was slowing down, so I didn’t push it further.

Was supposed to bench afterwards but arrived at the gym late so there were a lot of people. Didn’t want to hog the squat rack.

Horizontal cable leg press, 3 plates x 3 sets x 10 reps per leg

Seated cable chest press 60 lbs x 3 x 10
Seated cable flyes 100 lbs x 3 x 10

Cable lat pull downs 45kg x 3 x 10
Seated one armed cable rows 3 plates x 3 x 10

The main work was really nice. Still a bit overwhelmed with the amount of accessory work needed to be done even if I was just aiming for at least 50 reps per category

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Can’t remember the last time my quads had DOMS. Its always my glutes and hamstrings that get sore whether squats or deadlift. I know DOMS aren’t an indicator that the muscles are being worked, but I just can’t get rid of the thought that what if, just what if I might be doing something wrong

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You squatted and did a special assistance move for your quads. They should be sore. Don’t start worrying already!

That’s the thing…they aren’t at all…not even the slightest bit…maybe they’re a little more resistant cause I’m jumping all the time from volleyball? dunno…

Btw, I don’t think I’ve seen it in your log, but I’ve been curious about your age

Sorry man, I was reading you wrong.

Sometimes “lanky” guys have trouble hitting quads with regular squats. If you really want to feel that soreness you could maybe try front squats or goblets where you’re more upright. Or like 1 million lunges or something.

I’m 39 this year.

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Alright, will have a go at that some time. Maybe on Deadlift days

Will definitely have a go at that :laughing: