LiE's Log Part 4

Elbow is OK now it just was a little tender.

Did back on Wednesday, managed a 160x3 deadlift which felt OK. I need to sit down and write a proper plan because I'm sort of in limbo right now. I'm very tempted to take a step back from strength and just hammer out some hypertrophy for a while to save my ageing joints.
 
So after 2 weeks of no training due to combination of iffy elbow and multiple colds I was back in the gym yesterday. Easing back in.

Incline DB Press
20 x 15
20 x 15
34 x 12
34 x 12
34 x 10

Dips
BW x 15 x 3

Cable Cross Overs
20 x 15 x 3

Straight Bar Dips
BW x 10 x 2 - elbow didn't like

Rope Cable Extensions
20 x 10 x 3

Cable Kick Backs
3.75 x 12 x 3

15 minutes peppering my leg mobility
 
Yesterday's session.

Lat Pull Downs
30 x 15
30 x 15
65 x 10
65 x 8
57.5 x 10

Seated Rows
57.5 x 10 x 3

NG Chins
10, 8, 6 - RIP pulling power at the end

Seated DB Shoulder Press
20 x 15
20 x 15
34 x 12
34 x 10
34 x 10

Lateral Raises
7 x 15 x 3

Face Pulls
15 x 15 x 4

DB Alternating Curls
16 x 18 x 2

Cable Hammer Curls
7.5 x 12 x 2 x per arm

#bromode

Training 3 times a week at the moment.
 
Incline DB Press
20 x 15
32 x 10
42 x 11
42 x 10

Dips
BW x 15 x 3

Cable Cross Overs
25 x 15 x 4

Tricep Push Down
35 x 8 x 3

Rope Cable Extensions
15 x 10 x 3

Cable Kick Backs
3.75 x 12 x 3

Press ups to failure x2
 
Had about 2 1/2 weeks off due to super man flu and then went into a caffeine detox which was tough. Joined the new Pure gym on Sunday to give me access to some better equipment and flexibility with times I can train. I was in Sunday evening training chest and triceps, god how I have missed the seated dip machine. Monday was legs with a bigger focus on quads as I've noticed how weak they are in comparison to my posterior chain. Lying leg curl machine is amazing, it's been a long time since I've used one and it's still as good as I remember.

Today is shoulders and abzz, Friday will be back and I'm hoping to do some deadlifts. They do have a trap bar so I can do that variation if I fancy a change.

It's been about 5 weeks since I last squatted, Monday was back under the bar to work on high bar movement. Still feels odd, still lots to improve but it feels like it's hitting the right areas.

Here is my final set.

 
Cracking shoulder workout today, managed to do seated DB Press with the 40s for 8 reps.

I'm now training 5 days a week and split things up a little more. The current plan:

Chest / Triceps
Quads / Biceps
Shoulders
Hamstrings / Back
Core / Legs

Hamstrings and Back tomorrow for the first time doing this combination. I feel like progress is going well.

Here's a recent pic.

bwgS5as.png
 
:D

Weigh in this morning 79.7kg. Going to break that 80kg soon! It will be weird if I can get back to 83kg which is my power lifting weight.
 
Not sure why but I went for a 200kg deadlift single today, it went up but it has highlighted a number of things. 1) I need to get some more time doing deadlifts and finding my groove. 2) I still have quite a bit of tightness which meant my lower back took too much of this weight. So I'm now determined to tidy this up and see how we can progress in the future. Interesting I can do a 200kg pull and I have only been back deadlifting a few weeks.

 
Weight this morning 82.7kg, almost back to my 83kg days :p

Been hammering the gym recently and diet has been on point hitting 3-3.2k per day on training days.

My left elbow keeps giving me problems on back days mainly, it can't handle the torque. So for next week I'll drop back and bicep movements, then the week after I'll introduce them again but light. During those weeks I'll be adding in some one handed hangs each day to help with grip strength.

Bench press on Monday was really good managed 100x5, 110x5, 120x4 paused. 5th rep on the 120 would have been failure if I paused so didn't bother.

Changed my training this week going forward to get my deadlifts and squats on track.

Monday - Chest/Back/Triceps
Tuesday - Squats/Paused Deadlifts/Quads
Wednesday - Shoulders/Core
Thursday - Back/Chest/Biceps
Friday - Deadlifts/Box Squats/Glutes

If I maintain decent sleep and eating I should see some nice gains.
 
LiE said:
My last log ended in 2013, plagued with injuries there wasn't much to write about. I then had my son in 2015 and gym hit a new low. I was still ticking along in my home gym but nothing really clicked. Over the next few years my weight stayed about the same (75kg) and lifting didn't amount to much. In Jan 2018 I decided to sell my home gym and go back to my local DW to give myself a boost. 2018 for the most part was good and I started added some strength and weight again.

I'm now 78-79kg, still with dodgy knees and a ropey shoulder but they are manageable. I'm 33 now, 34 in July, so not in the same place I was when I was 27 and in my peak. My goals for this year are to steadily add some more muscle and get some of my strength back. I also want to keep things sensible for longevity.

My training is a split, and it's hybrid in so much as I'm doing my main lifts with strength in mind but other lifts are focused on gaining size.

Diet is going well at the moment, mainly eating beef mince, brown rice, chicken breast and sweet potato.

Split:
Monday - Chest/Tricep
Tuesday - Back/Bicep
Thursday - Shoulders/Core
Friday - Legs

Doing 15 minutes mobility each morning trying to keep my legs from seizing and my shoulders from sitting too far forward.

My current maxes:
Bench 130
Dead 180
Squat 170
Click to expand...

Time to resurrect the log, I haven't updated it since June.

So let's see how I did against my 2019 goals.

My goals for this year are to steadily add some more muscle and get some of my strength back.
Click to expand...

I'm currently 82kg and had a little body recomp so I'm leaner and holding a little more muscle, overall I'm really pleased with where my physique is.

Strength wise it's getting there. My chest has come on really well. Last week I managed 130x5 paused bench press, 130 for a single was my max a year ago.

Lower body has been a bit more inconsistent. I sacked off squats for many months in favour of other leg exercises but recently I've come back to them and trying to dial them in. Today was 160x3, which I'm really happy with. Deadlifts are in similar shape, I've not done them consistently for quite a while, been doing them again recently and it's coming back, today I managed 160x5 after squats.

My current 5 day split is:

Sunday - Upper
Monday - Lower
Tuesday - REST
Wednesday - Push
Thursday - Pull
Friday - Legs
Saturday - REST

I keep training to 1 hour, except for the Sunday upper day which can go to 90mins.

It's been working well. On the lower and leg days I've been doing squats, so hitting it twice a week to help dial in the form. Deadlifts have been relegated to leg day after squats while I'm again working on form. The important thing is I'm hitting each body part twice a week.

So goals for 2020.

- Slowly gain muscle to 83-84kg. Staying lean.
- Stay injury free.
- Get my squat and deadlift strength back.

It's going to be hard since pushing numbers will naturally increase the risk of injury. I need to be careful to manage this, I'd rather stay injury free then get numbers. This means I'll be taking a very cautious approach to my progression.

I am planning to move deadlifts to a separate day so I can focus instead go doing them after squats. Squats will go back to once a week - legs will still be hit twice a week.
 
Legs
Duration: 57m

Squats
60 x 10
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 7
140 x 3
160 x 3 - last rep felt like death.
100 x 11 - back-off set.

Deadlifts
100 x 5
140 x 5
160 x 5 - comfortable. Mega belt pinch on the last rep, need to make sure I keep that in check.

Leg Extension
59 x 15
66 x 15 - Nice slow reps with a hold at the top and a slow eccentric.

Lying Leg Curl
36 x 11
41 x 10 - struggled today to feel the connection, probably hamstrings are zapped.

Hip Abductor
39 x 20
39 x 20 - much glute pump.

Moving deadlifts to the lower day should allow me to get more volume in with the other exercises.
 
Yesterday was upper, it was hard after a full day of cleaning the car, DIY and shopping.

Upper
Duration 87m

Paused Bench Press
60 x 10
60 x 10
80 x 8
100 x 10
100 x 9
100 x 8 - doing higher reps paused is killer.

Seated Cable Row (handlebar)
73 x 12
86 x 12
86 x 11

Seated DB Shoulder Press
20 x 20
30 x 11
36 x 11
40 x 8 - hated doing these after previous 2 exercises.

Lateral DB Raise
10 x 22
10 x 21
6 x 12 - no rest from previous set
6 x 20 - 6kg and going super strict really hits the spot better.

Close-grip lat pull down
66 x 12
79 x 10
79 x 10 - not sure about this exercise, seems to use a fair amount of bicep.

Tricep Rope Extension
18 x 14
23 x 11
23 x 11 - nice pause/squeeze at the bottom.

Facepull
18 x 14 x 3

DB Bicep Curl
16 x 15
16 x 9 - biceps pls respond. Pump and fatigue was too strong.

Incline DB Curl
10 x 13
10 x 13 - mother of god. The pump was so strong I wanted to cry.


Lower today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom