17/02/19
Chins - 23 total (SB) (3 sets)
Dips - 40 total (SB) (3 sets)
Very pleased with both efforts here today. Particularly the chins - I got 9 repetitions on the first set. That’s really not a far cry from my best of about 12.
Was chatting with a mate today about our progress and goals. We’ve agreed to have a race to a double-bodyweight bench press. A dream goal, perhaps. I don’t know how many natural lifters reach a double bodyweight bench press. Very few I’d think. The main man Omar Isuf is just about there I think. He recently benched 370 and I think he weighs about 185.
So did a bit of data crunching, going back through the thread and picking out my 1RMs. I wanted to plot how the total has progressed over the last couple of months since I first tested the lifts. The total has gone up 66kg in 58 days. That’s over 1kg added per day! Pretty crazy, right?!
I’m happy with that. The image shows a linear fit to the data - I’m aware that as I get stronger, though, it’ll get harder to make progress at the same rate. So I’ve done 1RMs about once a week. I’ve outlined a little plan for the week ahead which culminates with me attempting a 153.5kg squat and 122.5kg bench on Friday. All small steps.
March will be interesting. I’m going skiing for a week. Hoping to lose some weight then, will go off the creatine for the week. Actually, thinking about it, the 500kg total that I’m going for might be quite difficult to make as I’ll have just the first two weeks of March, and then I’ll be adjusting after the week’s skiing. We will see.
Had a broken night’s sleep night before last. It felt like it was the creatine, for some reason. So I’ve gone off it today and yesterday, and slept much better last night. Might have a break of about a week without it. Still feeling my legs from my last squat session. I’m not going with the routine I made up on paper, I’m just listening to my body, and what it needs now is rest. I expect I will squat and bench tomorrow. I might even go for the 1RMs, haha. I’ve learned that I don’t need so many warm up sets, so I tax myself a lot less these days.
Does anyone else find being on creatine for 1 month as I have affects their sleep? Perhaps I’m making too big a deal of it, but something affected my sleep the other night.
19/02/19
Bench press - 123.5kg * 1 (PR)
Squat - 153.5kg * 1 (PR)
I do 10 pressups in the morning, to get me going for the day and as a kind of metric for what my body is feeling like, and today it felt pretty good. I did 5 warm up sets. On 115kg, the lift wasn’t convincing, and left me wondering whether it really was my day after all. But I went ahead, and got the new pb with 122.5kg. And then not only that, I smashed out 123.5kg. That’s 3.5kg more than my best in any other training period. So I’m burning up new territory.
My bench was 100kg 2 months ago. At this rate, I’m gonna hit 130kg soon, 300lb some time, and 140kg in the not-too far off distant future. Wow, I would be dead chuffed. I’m starting to think I have some potential in this game.
One thing I did this workout was to add a bit of liquid chalk to my grip. My hands were ever so slightly sweaty. I honestly think this might make a 1 part in 100 or 1 part in 200 difference. Anyway, a small but definite difference. Will make sure to do this more often.
Praise be to the Lord! May he keep me humble and may the little I do be an honour to him! Let’s do all we do in the name and honour of our Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
20/02/19
OHP - 37.5kg * 17, *14 (SB)
Chins - 9,8
Nearly got the tenth rep on the chins. I do feel like a bit of self-flagellation helps. In my head yesterday I wasn’t going to workout today, but I felt like I was at a bit of a loose end, so ended up working out. That’s just 24 hours between the upper body workouts, but it felt fine actually.
21/02/19
Deadlift - 210kg * 1 (SB)
Pleased. This means my current lifts are 153.5kg, 123.5kg and 210kg for a 487kg total, the best ever. I think we’re on course for 500kg in March. I think I will set some new goals after my skiing trip mid-March.
I felt a lot more comfortable with the right hand under, left hand over split grip, than the other way round.
22/02/19
Bench press - 60kg* 22, *18
Rows - 60kg * 3 sets
I got up to 115kg for a single on the bench and was tempted to go for 125kg, but my captain sensible kicked in. I’ve done a lot of heavy singles lately and I was feeling ok, but not tremendous. Somebody has set me the goal of 130kg bench press, but I shouldn’t rush towards it as that may be counter-productive. So I went to rep city.
I have been thinking lately that I need to have a 3-rep max or a 5-rep max; something to work on instead of going for the 1rm, to balance it out a little bit. Trouble is it’ll be a bit of guesswork at first working it out.
23/02/19
Squat - 100kg * 12, * 10
Looking for that intermediate thing I was talking about in my last post, I decided to go for a weight that was approximately 2/3rds of my 1RM. I got 12 reps, a couple more than expected. So I now have about 3 types of workout - my 1RM workouts, 50% workouts and 2/3rds workouts. Hopefully this is enough variation that my body won’t adapt and will continue growing.
I think that doing much of my work in the ~65% area will have some benefits - it’ll be easier to make incremental gains - such as adding a rep and less devastating when you lose a rep if you’ve upped the weight.
So yeah, I’m very happy with my lifting at the moment. All my lifts seem to be increasing. The only thing is my waist circumference has gone up a little. I’m eating too many desserts. I guess I shouldn’t worry; the main thing is that my strength is increasing and I should only focus on one goal at a time. If I stop gaining strength then maybe it’ll be time to do some cutting.
I still live for the 1RMs. I guess they’re just in my blood. But I’m trying to be disciplined and implement other styles of workouts.
24/02/19
Bench - 125kg * 1 (PR)
Chins - 25 total (3 sets) (SB)
Dips - 49 total (3 sets)
I was almost 50/50 for working out today. Reason being I was wondering if I was feeling a little bit tired, and the DOMS in the legs from yesterday’s squatting session. I was so glad I did go ahead with my session. I rather fancied going for 125kg on the bench. I am so bad at following a plan, as I should have been doing dips and chins, but I did these after. I thought the 1RM effort might reduce my dips, but it seemed to enhance them; I got 3 reps more than my previous best for a total of 19 reps. I will have to start adding weight soon. I suppose some big long term goals would be 40 bodyweight dips and 20 bodyweight chins.
A 500kg total is just around the corner now.
25/02/19
Deadlift - 212.5kg * 1, 140kg * 6
Arggh. This workout was a bit of a grind. And I could feel that my form broke down on the single - a certain straightening in the hips area happened. Gonna try and not push it in future and try and improve the form. I think I will change my form so that I’m not doing it from a jumping start. A recent poster on Reddit who managed an 8 plate pull talked about pre-loading the bar being the most vital part of his technique. I’m tempted to follow him.
26/02/19
Bench press - 126kg * 1 (PR),
Press - 77.5kg * 1, 60kg * 6
Chins - some
This was a long workout due to starting off with 6 sets on the bench press. Total workout length was 1hr 40m. I’ve been really going for it lately on the bench, and I’m seeing results with it.
I’m really excited about what numbers I can put up this year, and in future years. It’s going to get harder, I’m sure, but I’m preparing myself for that. Weightlifting really is my passion now and I love it as a sport. I’ll have to get into competing at some stage. My bodyweight is 199lbs now (90.26kg). If I were to diet I’m sure I could get it down to 83kg. At the moment I don’t want to do that though - I want to keep increasing my strength. I’m starting to like what I see in the mirror - I’m getting a bit bigger.
Where could I be in 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, a year’s time? I’m very excited just by the question. One thing I know is I want to keep it up. Hence ‘The Long Game’. I know I’m not bored of it yet. So keep dreaming, son. It’ll be good if I can make it all the way to November with my training, and hence complete a hard year’s training. I guess the most important goal of all is consistency, because only then can we improve.
I’m pretty sure 77.5kg on the overhead must be a PB. I know I thought I had done 80kg before but I can’t believe that to be true. It sure was a fight that rep, loved it. I just love lifting heavy.
27/02/19
Squat - 155kg (PR), 75kg * 22
Maybe could have had an exra kilo on the squat. In the grand scheme of things it probably doesn’t matter. My technique is not that good - I feel my back changing its shape under the pressure. I’ve got to work hard to keep my chest up and a straight back. Or maybe it’s a vanity, I’m not sure. Looking forward to Friday when I will do a workout with a friend and he can have a look at my technique.
I’ve had a look at this video by Candito - he’s really good:
I like his tips - I’m sure they can make a difference. I’m going to add pause deadlifts into my routine, and I’m going to widen my squat and deadlift stances because I’m sure I’m not recruiting my glutes enough.
Also I’m going to start adding stretches to my routine. I don’t stretch before deadlifting or squatting. I think that’s really bad so I need to fix it. Just found this video, looks good
28/02/19
Bench press - 127.5kg * 1 (PR), 100kg * 5
Rows - 60kg * 3 sets
Started early today at quarter to eight. Had a protein shake, and a few tangerines to get some glucose into the muscles. Progress is nice at the minute. Total up to 495kg. Looking forward to implementing a few tips, like proper warm up stretches, and going shoeless for the deadlift and squat. I’m looking forward to the day when my deadlift is burning up new ground, but I’ll have to wait a while for that yet.
That’s something like 10 days in a row now.
01/03/19
Deadlift - 160kg * 6 (I think)
Did a workout with a long term friend and workout buddy. He videod my form - from the side, and my back looked nice and flat, which I was pleased about. Was feeling good and could have gone heavy but I didn’t have the liquid chalk with me again.
It felt good deadlifting in just my socks.
We had a bit of time to do more so we ended up doing bicep curls. I just about managed two sets of 5 reps a side with the 25kgs.
02/03/19
Bench - 130kg * 1 (PR)
Dips - 17, 15, 14
I’m happy with this new best. It was a grind. I thought I wasn’t going to get there and then I felt the weight re-racking. I have been really focussed on getting to 130kg after a friend told me to target it. It’s as if I’ve had laser-vision on it. I’ve been benching more than usual - every upper day instead of every third upper day. This took something out of my dips offering today. I would be the first to admit that my training hasn’t been particularly balanced. And I would have to admit that I’m probably addicted to pushing iron right now. Haha.
Appendicitis strikes
So, nearly 3 weeks off lifting. I had appendicitis… A bit of a bore, but I’m glad I had the op to have it out. Obviously, you can’t get it again. I did do some exercise, going skiing after about a week and a half of resting.
23/03/19
Rowing - about 50 mins
Chins - 5, 5, 4
Press - 20kg DBs * 5, 4, 4
Squats - 70kg * some, 80kg * some
Could feel the side I’ve had the superfluous organ removed from during some of the lifts, but it was certainly bearable. So, shit, I’ve lost a lot of strength, haven’t I, damn…
Oh well, I’ll get it back.
My plan is to hit the gym every day, even doing upper and lower on the same day, to just hammer the overall volume and get back to where I was quickly.
I also want to cut out the desserts and start leaning out a bit for the summer.
Stay tuned…
Had a fairly active period of days, playing football twice, doing some chinups and playing golf.
26/03/19
Bench - 60kg * 15, 50kg *17
Row - 50kg * some, 50kg * some
Can feel the hole left by the appendix on these lifts but carried on anyway. It’s going to be some time to recover my lifts to where they were before I had my appendix out - I really don’t know how long. I suppose I should go on the record - my best guess would be that it’ll take a month before I’m hitting PBs again. It’s long enough of a break that I can consider this a new lifting season, really; 3 weeks off. So, just a reminder, last season’s bests were
155kg squat
130kg bench
212.5kg deadlift
And the all-time PRs:
155kg squat
130kg bench
220kg deadlift
The squat and bench PRs were at about 90kg bodyweight; the deadlift PR was at about 80kg.
I’d really like to improve that deadlift. It’s a long time ago that I set that PB. I don’t even know what year it was, but I’m guessing it was uni days - so about 2010. My squat has gotten stronger relative to the deadlift which is probably a good thing because it lags a bit. My ‘theoretical’ total is 505kg if you include that very old deadlift PB. Last season’s total was close to 500kg - 497.5kg. It’s interesting isn’t it, in some sense you’re only as good as your last lift, but you will always remember your best lifts. And how exactly do you measure these things. I guess that’s why there’s powerlifting competitions.
27/03/19
Deadlift - 90kg * 9, *9, *8
Dips - 11, 13
Chins - 6, 6
Cross trainer - approx 60 mins
Was pleased to get a couple more reps on the second set of dips. I didn’t do any movement-specific warm up before the first set. It just shows how one should not omit to do warm-ups. The temptation is just to go straight in.
I had no trouble from my side on the chins or dips, but could feel it a little on the deadlift.
I had a nice surge of endorphins after the workout…
So, I’m pleased to be back in action.
29/03/19 6.15pm
Squat - 80kg * 8, 8, 8
Cross trainer - Approx 20 mins
The squats felt good today - there was no pain coming from my side I had the appendix out. It actually feels as though it’s healed. I’m easing my way back into the whole lifting thing. I noticed before appendix I hit 75kg for 22 reps on the squat. It may take me more than a month to get to that level. But I did leave a few reps out there today, as I’m not sure how far I can push myself. I implemented Candito’s squatting advice with the wider stance and toes pointing slightly outward. It felt much better on the lower back.
30/03/19 3pm (1hr 30m)
Chinups - 7, 7, 5
Press - 70kg * 1, 40kg * 8, *10
Cross trainer - 50 minutes
Good to progress to doing 7 chinups.
Checked my weight today and it’s 13st 10lbs. The last time I recorded it before the break it was 14st 5 lbs. So that’s a drop of 9lbs! I think there are three factors - water loss, muscle loss and fat loss. I think the water loss is due to coming off creatine. I seem to be a high responder to creatine - I notice a weight gain of 4-5lbs when going on it. If I were to guess I’ve lost 5lb of water weight, 3lb of muscle and 1lb of fat. I’m not sure if I want to go back to taking creatine because I quite like my thighs not chafing as I go for walks! 
Probably had a bit more than 70kg in the tank on the press, but as I’m building things up slowly after a break I’m not pushing things too early on.
I’m enjoying my lifting again. I guess this will never be more than a hobby, but I still can set goals. A really big one I want to chase is a double bodyweight bench press. I talked about it with a friend who also lifts. It’ll be interesting to see how my lifting develops this spring and summer. Hopefully, God willing, I’ll have a good run with no interruptions to the pattern of lifting. Anyway, for now, it’s just recovering to where I was before the break, which I’ve given myself a month to do.
That’s a solid week of exercise done. Mini pat on the back.
