Beginners luck...

Good work on the weights and your future inability to find trousers that fit! :)

Oh it ain't the future! 34 inch waist and can't fit my thighs in standard trousers. Having to buy 36s and cinch the waist in massively with a belt.
 
No excuse for not logging more frequently then!

*sniffle* sorry! I'll be good, I really will. Honest Mister!

Nah, having a bit of a problem at the minute in that my lifting partner is becoming a complete woos and massively unreliable. Cancelling last minute on me. Turning up late. Refusing to increase weight etc. Think I'm going to have to go solo and hopefully the cage will help with that.
 
Refusing to increase weight? Then increase your weight and leave his where it is. Rarely do training partners actually lift the same weight.
 
Refusing to increase weight? Then increase your weight and leave his where it is. Rarely do training partners actually lift the same weight.

We're getting to quite a yawning gap however. For example on squats he refuses to go - flat out refuses to go above 70kg! We're benching more than that!
 
I keep dropping back and have no problems at 45. Move up to 47.5 and struggle but then flat out fail after two sets at 50. So frustrating!
 
Couple of ideas: the way I'm doing 3x5 at the moment is to do 2x5 then the 3rd set I do AMRAP (as many reps as possible). This way when I fail a weight and dial the weight back, I can still aim for rep PR's on the 3rd set rather than just doing 3x5 at weights I've already done and hopefully that extra work will translate to some imrprovement on the previous weight PR. Not sure if that'll work on 5x5.

The other than that I've done is buy micro-plates from Strength Shop - 2x 0.25kg, 0.5kg, 0.75g and increase the OHP by 1-1.25kg rather than 2.5kg. Like jumping up a weight in dumbbells, I find 2.5kg jumps work okay in a wide rep range (e.g. 8-12) but at a fixed rep range it can be a bit much and so I'd rather try and creep upwards slowly v.s. have to keep yo-yoing weights until I make progress.
 
OHP press is a tough one :) smaller muscles, harder to gain strength.. don't compare it to deadlifts/squats.. I went from 70kg dead to 170kg in ~16 months but my OHP went from 35 to 55kg only so an extra 20kg over 16months! - that's my working weight, PB and the only time I've tried it was 60kg, I'm sure I could kick off 70kg but just don't see the point in trying at this moment.
 
Cheers for the advice guys. Might go for some lower weight plates and try smaller increases. See how that goes!
 
So...new problem has arisen...

With the increase in weight of my rows I can no longer balance and I'm finding it impossible not to fall forwards.

Should I swap them out for something else?
 
I've been utterly neglectful of this thread.

Update!

I'm now at 1.25 x bw for squats, 1.5 for dl and 0.9 x for benches. Not too far off my goals which are 1.5, 2, 1.

considering recent progress after delays through moving house, illness and injury I'm expecting to hit my goals in about a month. Bw is now 95 kilos.

Afterwards I'm thinking of switching it up to the beginner
workout from below.

Anyone think this is a good/bad idea?


http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/training-at-home-power-rack-workout-program.html
 
So...random update on this one.

Had a bit of a nasty knee injury. Tore the tendons at the top half of my kneecap meaning i've been pretty much gimped since Feb this year at which point I was squatting 120 5x5 and deadlifting 125 for 5 reps.

Rested the knee and started up cycling again to build a bit of strength and for the last 2 weeks it's been completely pain free.

As a result...I've started squatting again. So far I'm only on an empty 12.5 kilo bar but i'm completing 5 sets of 5. Think I'll stick at very low weights like this for another 2 weeks and see how it goes before I start working up again.

I didn't rest on my laurels however...

Bust through my overhead plateau. Currently at 57.5kg and climbing. Benches are up to 90kg and climbing. Rows are currently at 87.5kg and a bit stuck there due to balance issues!

I've also added a few other things in to the routine as supplementary exercises - calf raises, upright rows, pull downs (standard and reverse grip), tricep pulldowns and...bro curls. All of these are on three sets of 8 reps.

My bodyweight has increased quite a bit since I started, from 85kg I'm up to about 98. Up until my knee went pop this resulted in major trouser purchase issues!
 
That sucks! How did you get the injury?
Seems like you'll be sensible but try not to be too impatient when working the squats back up. The worst thing to do is to think your knee will be fine, put the weights up too much and then tear it up again!

Good job on the rest of the lifts though! Strong OHP!
Can I steal some of your bodyweight please, I'm struggling to get past 78kg!
 
That sucks! How did you get the injury?
Seems like you'll be sensible but try not to be too impatient when working the squats back up. The worst thing to do is to think your knee will be fine, put the weights up too much and then tear it up again!

Good job on the rest of the lifts though! Strong OHP!
Can I steal some of your bodyweight please, I'm struggling to get past 78kg!

Was on a warm up set of squats and it just went. I think I'd had my feet too parallel when I was squatting and it weakened it. Just poor form really although I'd had people spotting and never mention it
Taking it very very slow on the way back up.
 
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