Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Jun 2013
- Posts
- 2,632
Hello everyone and please excuse the long first post
As an intro, I’ve been lifting on and off for a year or two now – made all the newbie mistakes early on but I think / hope I’m rather more focussed now.
Current maxes and stats
Squat 5 x 95kg
DL 3 x 140kg
Bench 3 x 70kg
OHP 8 x 40kg
Age 31
Height 5’8”
Weight 73kg
My aim is just to be all over stronger; I cycle 2/3 days a week to work and back which is a 30 mile round trip, and have a family which takes precedent over everything else but I want to be stronger and therefore live a little longer. I used to run (including London Marathon in 2010) but I’ve now realised that was just running fit and I want to be fit. I have no illusions of breaking any records or busting out of a shirt and I’m not going to make huge kitchen sacrifices to get a totally ripped physique – I’m too old for all that! I’m aiming for functional strength (whatever that really means!) and the related flexibility to play with my daughter and keep healthy for years to come.
Current program is (based on push / pull but swapped BOR and OHP as I felt I doing too much back and shoulders respectively on the same day):
Day 1 (Saturday) – Squat, Bench, BOR, Dips
Day 2 (Monday) – DL, OHP, Clean, Chins
Day 3 (Wednesday) (dumbbells only) – Shoulder 21s, Arnold Press, DB floor press
Rep wise I was going for 5x5 on all lifts but I chop and change a little (3x8 for squats). I try to keep around 20-25 reps for all as suggested. I think I’ll go back to 5x5 from now on. Rest periods are two minutes between all working sets for compund stuff, 1 min for isolations.
Where do I think I am? I think my deadlift is my strongest lift, and bench / OHP certainly my weakness. I’ve been reading around the forum and realised that my bench setup is atrocious so that may count for some of it (I grip too close but not CGBP close and don’t tuck my shoulder blades down anywhere near enough). I also think my shoulders are inflexible (although stretches are helping). I've had short Achilles from birth and two operations later flexibility still presents a challenge so I squat with my heels on some plates which makes me feel rather safer. I’ve done 5 x 95kg but I know the form was off so backed off to 55kg and just making sure my back stays straight and it doesn’t turn into a nasty squat / good morning hybrid. I have just started cleans and really enjoy them as a very different exercise for far more power and speed than I’m used to.
My third day is a weird one but I’m at home babysitting so only have dumbbell access. I was trying to use it to bolster my shoulders and triceps to improve my bench but not really sure what to do with it. Also used to do some split squats but I’ve really not nailed the workout one down.
Why start this log? Well, I already track all my sessions on Daily Burn but I wanted a more public tracker along with stated goals to make the next half year have some more meaning. It also will stop me making small changes to the routine every few weeks. And therefore here are some targets, of which I would welcome some views:
Christmas targets
Squat - 5 x 130kg
Deadlift – 5 x 160kg
Bench – 5 x 95kg
OHP – 5 x 60kg
Do these seem achievable and sensible?! I know that at my bodyweight, calculator thinks I would be an “advanced” lifter with those stats. That would be nice for the ego!
As an intro, I’ve been lifting on and off for a year or two now – made all the newbie mistakes early on but I think / hope I’m rather more focussed now.
Current maxes and stats
Squat 5 x 95kg
DL 3 x 140kg
Bench 3 x 70kg
OHP 8 x 40kg
Age 31
Height 5’8”
Weight 73kg
My aim is just to be all over stronger; I cycle 2/3 days a week to work and back which is a 30 mile round trip, and have a family which takes precedent over everything else but I want to be stronger and therefore live a little longer. I used to run (including London Marathon in 2010) but I’ve now realised that was just running fit and I want to be fit. I have no illusions of breaking any records or busting out of a shirt and I’m not going to make huge kitchen sacrifices to get a totally ripped physique – I’m too old for all that! I’m aiming for functional strength (whatever that really means!) and the related flexibility to play with my daughter and keep healthy for years to come.
Current program is (based on push / pull but swapped BOR and OHP as I felt I doing too much back and shoulders respectively on the same day):
Day 1 (Saturday) – Squat, Bench, BOR, Dips
Day 2 (Monday) – DL, OHP, Clean, Chins
Day 3 (Wednesday) (dumbbells only) – Shoulder 21s, Arnold Press, DB floor press
Rep wise I was going for 5x5 on all lifts but I chop and change a little (3x8 for squats). I try to keep around 20-25 reps for all as suggested. I think I’ll go back to 5x5 from now on. Rest periods are two minutes between all working sets for compund stuff, 1 min for isolations.
Where do I think I am? I think my deadlift is my strongest lift, and bench / OHP certainly my weakness. I’ve been reading around the forum and realised that my bench setup is atrocious so that may count for some of it (I grip too close but not CGBP close and don’t tuck my shoulder blades down anywhere near enough). I also think my shoulders are inflexible (although stretches are helping). I've had short Achilles from birth and two operations later flexibility still presents a challenge so I squat with my heels on some plates which makes me feel rather safer. I’ve done 5 x 95kg but I know the form was off so backed off to 55kg and just making sure my back stays straight and it doesn’t turn into a nasty squat / good morning hybrid. I have just started cleans and really enjoy them as a very different exercise for far more power and speed than I’m used to.
My third day is a weird one but I’m at home babysitting so only have dumbbell access. I was trying to use it to bolster my shoulders and triceps to improve my bench but not really sure what to do with it. Also used to do some split squats but I’ve really not nailed the workout one down.
Why start this log? Well, I already track all my sessions on Daily Burn but I wanted a more public tracker along with stated goals to make the next half year have some more meaning. It also will stop me making small changes to the routine every few weeks. And therefore here are some targets, of which I would welcome some views:
Christmas targets
Squat - 5 x 130kg
Deadlift – 5 x 160kg
Bench – 5 x 95kg
OHP – 5 x 60kg
Do these seem achievable and sensible?! I know that at my bodyweight, calculator thinks I would be an “advanced” lifter with those stats. That would be nice for the ego!
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