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
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.
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.
