We built this city on rock and swole

Wasn't feeling the workout last night as I was still ruined from the extra Deadlifts Monday... :D It means I'll be working out tonight and tomorrow but at least I get the weekend off.

Squats:
WU
bar x 5
bar x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 3

WS
75kg x 5 x 5

Business as usual

Bench:
WU
bar x 5
bar x 5
40kg x 3

WS
52.5kg x 5 x 5

These are definitely getting harder but I don't think I'll hit any real problems until 60-65kg

Barbell Row:
42.5kg x 5 x 5

Rows are still row like

Dips:
BW+2.5 x 5
BW+2.5 x 5
BW+2.5 x 5

I forgot this was going to happen!! Got to dips on the app and was met with BW + 2.5 x 5. Looked hilarious dangling that tiny 2.5 off myself but it all starts with a 2.5 I guess? It was nice to dust off the dipping belt even if it did take me ages to work it out.. :o:p:D
 
Dude.

In the same way that the lightest deadlift morally and spiritually possible is 70kg, weighted dips require either:

- minimum 5kg plate,
- at least three 5kg chains over your shoulders, and then posting the total as 115kg or something (:D)...
 
The sad thing is the dip bars are rated to only 136kg... Add my current 102kg of girth into that and I've only got 34kg to go before I break them. Haha! :p:cool:

(Obviously I wont be hitting that for a while...:()
 
So this session was supposed to be last nights but I was still feeling Thursdays so did this today. However I was at a work 'fun day' for most of the day and then I said I'd do a family BBQ.. So once all that was out the way and I'd eaten too much meat and bread I decided to do the workout.

It seemed a lot tougher than I thought it would be...

Squats:
WU
Bar x 5
Bar x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5

WS
77.5kg x 5 x 5


Seated barbell press:
WU
Bar x 5
Bar x 5

WS
32.5kg x 5 x 5


Deadlift:
WU
60kg x 5
80kg x 5

WS
95kg x 5 x 5

Still, onwards and upwards! :)
 
Squats:
WU
bar x 5
bar x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 3
70kg x 3

WS
80kg x 5 x 5

Getting heavier, (as obvious as that sounds) although felt pretty comfortable still.

Bench:
WU
bar x 5
bar x 5
40kg x 3

WS
55kg x 5 x 5

These felt tough on 2nd set but kind of got easier..

Barbell Row:
45kg x 5 x 5

I hate barbell rows. Seem to put unnecessary strain on my lower back. Might swap to one arm dumbbell rows if they start to feel worse.

Dips:
BW+5 x 5
BW+5 x 5
BW+5 x 5

The last dip was quite tough so we could be looking at our first failure next dipping session. Come at me dips!!! :D
 
So I've just bailed out of today's workout and am now logging from a warm bath.. :( So today at work I abandoned my normal role of datacenter supervisor which involves pretty much drinking tea and sitting down all day to getting hands on in our warehouse trying to sort through loads of old kit that needs to be sold/weee wasted/binned. This obviously didn't agree with me too much as by the time I got home I was having quite the lower back pump. (Similar to what the squats on Monday gave me) unperturbed by this I decided to hit the gym this evening anyway and consequently after the squat warmup and two sets of 82.5 x 5 I decided it was best to live to fight another day/play the long game/it's a marathon not a sprint etc etc. So bearing this in mind, what do you non mobile/ex non mobile guys do out there for mobility? I've got the feeling where I have been concentrating on getting low I'm been doing it at the expense of my lower back, I.e. Getting low but rounding the lower back/not keeping it neautral. I think it was delvis that shared a t nation video about the very thing the other day: squat depth/spine neautrality

TLDR What do you guys do for increasing lower back/hip mobility? I'm going to get some vids up so you guys can confirm or deny it but that's what I believe my problem is from the feel of it and watching the t nation vid.
 
I can't believe its been 6 months since my last update... :(

A lot has happened in the last 6 months. Hurt my back a bit as per the last posts, had a baby (well, the wife did..) and consequently turned to eating too much as a source of energy due to not getting a massive amount of sleep. However, the baby is now doing better and starting to sleep through the night, i'm battling the tasty food of the world in an attempt eat healthier/cut out the rubbish and most importantly my back is now in a far better place since i hurt it due to working on my flexibilty. :) So i'm now ready to enter the breach once more (Garage gym) and lift some weight! (Do some curls)

I've decided to change one thing though. I'm not setting goals anymore. I just want to lift regularly using Stronglifts and just get where i get. That isnt to say im not motivated, i just think i need a change in my approach. For example, if i set myself a goal of hitting 450 and it starts to slip i may start vanity lifting or lifting with bad form just to hit the figures im after. Although fun at the end of the day lifting is just a hobby for me. I have enough goals and tasks in my working life and everyday life that putting another one on myself in the form of a lifting target is just too much. And in my case i believe it does the following:

* Set goal
* Lifting going well and feeling good
* Miss a milestone/a few sessions and get behind on my goal
* Try to make it up by compromising form and or weight
* Get a slight niggle/injury and set yourself back
* Miss more milestones
* Get annoyed at progress and stop

I've seen the above happen to me a few times over the last few years so maybe this new approach where i just lift what i lift and thats it is the way forward? If i hit 450, i hit 450. If i only hit 400 i only hit 400. I mean i'm not a professional lifter and i'm not aiming to be a professional lifter. At the end of the day lifting is just a hobby to me albeit a fun one. So maybe i should just treat it as fun like it should be rather than pressuring myself to hit goals that are obviously too much for me.

TLDR: I'm making excuses and setting no goals so i can't then fail as theres nothing to fail. :o :p

I look forward to posting my workouts again soon. :)
 
So I'm back in the lifting game again but my updates wont be terribly interesting as by Stronglifts 5x5 app has got me starting at half the unimpressive weights i was on before..

So my view from looking in the Gym threads and the Logs section. Where has everyone gone!?! I couldn't believe my log had only dropped(fnar fnar) to the second page?! :( Obviously i was aware of all the non lifters on the FB group but it seems very quiet here apart from Wolls.

Regardless, I'm going to become part of team "attempting to lift" now so hopefully with a good run behind me i can get back to my old numbers fairly soon. :) (The leg DOMs i have right now from my first session back squatting two days ago are ridiculous by the way but at the same time a suitable punishment for me forsaking the iron for so long.. Having my gym down the end of the garden means i have zero excuses not to lift.)

However, i do have some requests for anyone who can help. (Stares at MrThingy and the usual suspects) I need some exercises to try and fix myself. Being a desk monkey my posture is bad and although i try to be wary of it and sit up straight etc i don't think that's enough. There is some history of people in my family with Dowagers Hump and i really want some exercises to try and prevent myself going in that direction. Dreamforger also posted some videos above but now they don't seem to work for me.. They were of a bald guy doing about 8-10 flexibility exercises for sorting out a range of tight things. I know that's not a lot to go on but i cant remember his name or the name of the exercises. It was definitely some sort of snappy name like Flexible 8 or something. Anyone help a brother out? :cool:
 
Limber 11 for the flexibility and concentrating on strengthen your back to sort any postural issues. Deadlifts, pull-ups and facepulls should be a minimum.

Good luck :)
 
So I'm back in the lifting game again but my updates wont be terribly interesting as by Stronglifts 5x5 app has got me starting at half the unimpressive weights i was on before..

So my view from looking in the Gym threads and the Logs section. Where has everyone gone!?! I couldn't believe my log had only dropped(fnar fnar) to the second page?! :( Obviously i was aware of all the non lifters on the FB group but it seems very quiet here apart from Wolls.

Regardless, I'm going to become part of team "attempting to lift" now so hopefully with a good run behind me i can get back to my old numbers fairly soon. :) (The leg DOMs i have right now from my first session back squatting two days ago are ridiculous by the way but at the same time a suitable punishment for me forsaking the iron for so long.. Having my gym down the end of the garden means i have zero excuses not to lift.)

However, i do have some requests for anyone who can help. (Stares at MrThingy and the usual suspects) I need some exercises to try and fix myself. Being a desk monkey my posture is bad and although i try to be wary of it and sit up straight etc i don't think that's enough. There is some history of people in my family with Dowagers Hump and i really want some exercises to try and prevent myself going in that direction. Dreamforger also posted some videos above but now they don't seem to work for me.. They were of a bald guy doing about 8-10 flexibility exercises for sorting out a range of tight things. I know that's not a lot to go on but i cant remember his name or the name of the exercises. It was definitely some sort of snappy name like Flexible 8 or something. Anyone help a brother out? :cool:

Mobility WOD? As long as you that I know you just like looking st me. :D

And MoNkeE is more than enough for all of us. ;)
 
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Well i hope to join you soon with some postage.

I'm three workouts down now with some rowing sessions thrown in here and there. Right now the weights are frankly rubbish from a personal point of view/previous weights so i doubt many would be interested. I'll start the logging in a few weeks i think once the weights have ramped up. :)
 
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