Back to the gym after 9 years

Workout A

Squats
Bar 8
40kg 5
52.5kg 5/5/5

RDLs
Bar 8
50kg 5/5/5

Dumbbell press
15kg 8
25kg 5/5/5/5/5

Bent over rows
Bar 8
40kg 5
57.5kg 5/5/5/5/5

Behind the back barbell shrugs
Bar 8
45kg 8/8/8

Seated incline curls
10kg 8/8/8

Tricep extensions ss w/ face pulls
21.25kg 8
26.25kg 8/8/8 / 11.25kg 15/15/15

Cable crunches
41.25kg 10/10/10

I'm starting a PPRx2 routine on Sunday. I'll be going to the gym 6x a week so I'll see how it goes :D
 
Push B

OHP
Bar 8
30kg 4
35kg 5/5/5/5/7

Dumbbell Press
15kg 8
20kg 8/8/8

Incline Dumbbell Press
15kg 12/12/12

Low Cable Fly
12.5kg 8/8/8

Mid Cable Fly
12.5kg 8/8/8

High Cable Fly
12.5kg 8/8/8

Triceps Pushdowns ss w/ Lateral Raises
26.25kg 8/8/8 / 2.5kg 20/20/20

Overhead Triceps Extensions ss w/ Lateral Raises
10kg 8/8/8 / 2.5kg 18/16/15

The session felt good. I really enjoyed the high/mid/low cable fly - that chest pump :D
 
Last edited:
Pull B

Deadlifts
Bar 8 - RDL
50kg 5
60kg 4
65kg 2
70kg 5/5/5

Pullups
BW 5/5/4

Lat Pulldown
45kg 8
65kg 10/10/10

Behind the back shrugs
Bar - 8
30kg 8
45kg 8/8/8

Seated Cable Rows
18.75kg 8
28.75kg 12/12/12

Face Pulls
11.25kg 20/20/20/20

Dumbbell Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8

Hammer Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8
 
Last edited:
Legs B

Squat
Bar 8
30kg 5
40kg 3
50kg 5/5/5/5

DBSS
5kg 8/8/8

Leg Press
45kg 8
65kg 8
75kg 8/12/12 - it took my legs a while to recover from the DBSS :D

Leg curls
35kg 10/8/8

Calf Raises
Bar - 8
40kg 12/12/12 - I should have done 5 sets - didn't read the routine properly.

Cable crunches
41.25kg 20/12/10

I'm loving the routine so far - I think I'll add good mornings into Legs 1 as I didn't feel I hit my hammys too hard this morning. I hadn't done DBSS in 2016 however this morning showed I've improved my balance. Last year I struggled to stay upright when doing DBSS but I found it easy this morning :D

Squat progress - my glutes were activating from the 1st rep so that's some progress however 50kg still felt heavy. I noticed I'm going too slow when dropping into the hole so I'm almost/doing a paused squat. I tried going a bit quicker but I felt I lost some tightness. I'll see how it goes on Saturday and may deload (again :() and work on some speed and higher rep work.
 
Last edited:
Push A

DB Press
15kg 12
27.5kg 3 - wasn't happening today
25kg 5/2 - I pushed too hard on the first set and couldn't recover so added volume instead
17.5kg 12/12/12/12

Incline DB Press
15kg 12/12/12

OHP
Bar 8
30kg 7/6/5 - shoulders were dead after db press

Low Cable Fly
12.5kg 9/9/9

Mid Cable Fly
12.5kg 9/9/9

High Cable Fly
12.5kg 9/9/9

Triceps Pushdowns ss w/ Lateral Raises
26.25kg 9/9/9 / 2.5kg 20/20/20

Overhead Triceps Extensions ss w/ Lateral Raises
12.5kg 12/12/12 / 2.5kg 15/15/15

I tried too hard for 27.5kg which messed up the rest of my sets - lesson learned.
 
Pull A

BOR
Bar 8
30kg 5
40kg 5
45kg 3
50kg 2
57.5kg 5/5/5/5/5

Pullups
BW 4/4/5/4

Lat Pulldown
45kg 8
65kg 8/8/8

Behind the back shrugs
Bar - 8
30kg 8
45kg 9/9/9

Seated Cable Rows
18.75kg 8
31.25kg 15/15/15

Face Pulls
11.25kg 20/20/20/20

Dumbbell Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8

Hammer Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8

I may deload BOR as my form isn't very good on the 5th set. I'll see how I feel next week.
 
Legs A

Squat
Bar 8
40kg 4
45kg 2
52.5kg 5/5/5/5

RDLs
Bar 8
40kg 8
50kg 8/8/8

Leg Press
45kg 8
65kg 8
80kg 12/12/12

Leg curls
35kg 8/8/8

Calf Raises
Bar - 8 - I had to use the lighter bar - I'm not sure if it's 10kg or 15kg
40kg 12/12/12/12/12

Cable crunches
41.25kg 15/12/10

Captains Chair Crunches
BW - 10/10/10/10

I've got to up my calories, I've lost weight so I'm going to stuff my face today to compensate :D
 
Push B

OHP
Bar 8
30kg 5
37.5kg 5/5/5/5/5

Dumbbell Press
15kg 8
20kg 9/9/9

Decline Dumbbell Press
15kg 12/12/12

Low Cable Fly
12.5kg 9/9/9

Mid Cable Fly
12.5kg 12/12/12

High Cable Fly
12.5kg 12/12/12

Triceps Pushdowns ss w/ Lateral Raises
26.25kg 10/10/10 / 4kg 20/20/17

Overhead Triceps Extensions ss w/ Lateral Raises
10kg 12/12/12 / 4kg 15/15/15

Plank
BW - 1m/1m/1m
 
Pull B

Deadlifts
Bar 8/8 - RDL
50kg 5
60kg 5
65kg 2
70kg 1
75kg 5/5/5

Pullups
BW 6/5/4/5

Lat Pulldown
45kg 8
65kg 10/10/10

Behind the back shrugs
Bar - 8
30kg 8
45kg 10/10/10

Seated Cable Rows
28.75kg 8
33.75kg 15/15/15

Face Pulls
11.25kg 20/20/20/20

Hammer Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8

Dumbbell Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8

I love deadlifts :D
 
Wouldn't bother doing so many warm up sets with so many reps for deadlifts. You're probably slowing progress on your working sets 15 reps of warm ups even tho it's only 25kg less than your working sets.
 
Yeah I was feeling a little tired towards the end of my working sets. I've been doing a fair few working sets as I wanted to practice the movement as much as possible. I think I'll drop the volume of the working sets and increase my working sets in increments of 2.5kg instead (instead of 5kg).
 
Legs B

Squat
Bar 8/8
40kg 3
45kg 1
55kg 5/5/5
40kg 7

DBSS
5kg 10/10/10

Leg Press
65kg 8
82.5kg 12/12/12

Leg curls
35kg 10/10/10

Calf Raises
Bar - 8
40kg 12/12/12/12/12

Captains Chair Crunches
BW 10/10/10

I'm struggling with squats but I don't feel like I'm pushing hard enough. I haven't failed a rep yet so for next/future sessions I'm going to keep pushing until I fail a rep. My legs were like jelly after the DBSS :D
 
It's a mental thing. I'm tired after my sets but I don't feel like my legs are anywhere near failure. For example I did squats first yesterday, I went straight to DBSS with no problems. After DBSS I was hobbling across the gym to the leg press :D I don't think I should be that bad after squats but I think I should be showing more fatigue than I am now.

Like I said, I'm not stopping until I fail a rep :)
 
Push A

DB Press
10kg 8
15kg 5
25kg 5/5/5/5/5

OHP
Bar 5
30kg 8/8/7

Incline DB Press
15kg 12/12/12

Low Cable Fly
6.25kg 10/10/10

Mid Cable Fly
8.75kg 8/8
6.25kg 14

High Cable Fly
6.25kg 13/13/13

Triceps Pushdowns ss w/ Lateral Raises
26.25kg 11/11/11 / 4kg 20/20/20

Overhead Triceps Extensions ss w/ Lateral Raises
12.5kg 12/12/11 / 4kg 15/15/15

Going up to 8.75kg on both sides of the cable flyes was too much. I'll keep the weight low and increase the reps to 15/20 until I can comfortably do 8 reps at a higher weight.
 
Pull A

BOR
Bar 8
40kg 5
50kg 3
57.5kg 5/5/5/5/5

Pullups
BW 5/4/4/4

Behind the back shrugs
Bar 8
45kg 11/11/11

Lat Pulldown
45kg 8
65kg 12/11/10

Seated Cable Rows
18.75kg 8
36.25kg 15/15/15

Face Pulls
11.25kg 20/20/20/20

Dumbbell Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8

Hammer Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8

I was going to deload on BOR after last week but 57.5kg felt a lot easier this week. Moving onto 1 plate next week :D
 
Legs A

Squat
Bar 8
40kg 5
45kg 1
55kg 5/5/5/3

RDLs
Bar 8
40kg 8
52.5kg 8/8/8

Leg Press
65kg 8
85kg 12/12/12

Leg curls
35kg 12/12/12

Calf Raises
Bar - 8
42.5kg 12/12/12/12/12

Cable crunches
41.25kg 15/15/10

Squats were crap again. It's got to be a form issue, my weight is shifting onto my right leg and I feel like I'm only using my right leg to push to get out of the hole. I'm going back to my initial plan of doing box squats and high volume squats.
 
Push B

OHP
Bar 8
30kg 5
40kg 5/5 - I had pain in my lower back while doing the last rep. I'm arching my back too much so I dropped to db shoulder press so my back was supported.
15kg db 8/8/8

Dumbbell Press
15kg 8
20kg 8/7/7

Decline Dumbbell Press
15kg 12/12/12

Low Cable Fly
6.25kg 10/10/9

Mid Cable Fly
6.25kg 14/14/13

High Cable Fly
6.25kg 13/13/13

Triceps Pushdowns ss w/ Lateral Raises
26.25kg 12/12/12 / 4kg 20/20/20

Overhead Triceps Extensions ss w/ Lateral Raises
12.5kg 12/12/12 / 4kg 20/20/15

I feel like my lower back will be hurting tomorrow, it's aching now so I'll have to see if I do any deadlifts tomorrow. A quick google seems to suggest a weak core causes the back to arch. I feel like a weak core is also hampering my squats so I'll be focusing on that for the next couple of weeks.

On another note I feel like I'm being hampered by a lack of sleep. I go to the gym at 6:15am on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri and 7:15am on the weekends. If I get a bad nights sleep, I rarely catch up. I'm going to try going after work tomorrow to see how busy it is.
 
I took a day off yesterday as my lower back was feeling really tight. I went to the gym after work today and I shall not be going back at that time again. It was so busy I couldn't get near the free weights so I'll be going tomorrow morning instead.

I did some cardio though while I was there as I haven't run for a couple of weeks.
 
Pull B

Deadlifts
Bar 8/8 - RDL
50kg 5
60kg 3
70kg 5/5/5

Pullups
BW 5/4/4/4

Behind the back shrugs
Bar - 4 - my lower back started hurting so I switched to DB shrugs.
15kg 12/12/12

Lat Pulldown
45kg 8
65kg 12/10/10

Seated Cable Rows
28.75kg 8
36.25kg 16/16/16

Face Pulls
11.25kg 20/20/20/20

Hammer Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8

Dumbbell Curls
10kg 8/8/8/8


After a couple of days off my lower back still hurts if I lean back. I don't think deadlifts were the best idea this morning but I didn't have any pain while I was doing them.

I'm going to have a couple of weeks off squatting. I don't see how grinding reps at 50kg is helping me get passed this plateau. I'm going to work on strengthening my core and glutes. I'm also going to work on my flexibility to see if that'll help me get passed 55kg.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom