YARSL - Yet another riveting stronglifts log!

Soldato
Joined
14 Sep 2007
Posts
15,663
Location
Limbo
Time for me to start a log, might keep up the motivation when things get hard and you guys can hopefully push me along ;)

Current stats & goals

Age 35, 5'9", about 83kg, 22%'ish body fat...although body fat scales say 26%. Have been comparing my body to pics I see online on this link for verified body fats. http://paindatabase.com/body-fat/

Current goal is simply see how strong I can get before the end of 2015.

Current lifts are as follows (04/01/15):

Squat - 62.5KG
Bench - 42.5KG
Row - 50KG
OHP - 40KG
Deadlift - 80KG

History of lifts

12/12/14

Squat - 47.5KG
Bench - 35KG
Row - 42.5KG
OHP - 32.5KG
Deadlift - 65KG

(20/12/14):

Squat - 55KG
Bench - 40KG
Row - 47.5KG
OHP - 35KG
Deadlift - 70KG

History

Been going to the gym for just over 2 years since September 2012. Long story short have jumped from routine to routine on bro-splits and haven't gained any strength to speak of. At the start of 2014 I started doing calisthenics only, pull ups, dips, push ups, BW squats. I dropped a lot of fat ready for my wedding in May.

Since the wedding i've essentially done nothing and the belly is back and body fat is increasing.

Gym

Joined back into a gym in October, went for a few weeks but got frustrated with waiting for equipment. Made the decision to buy my own. Went online, found a good deal and now I own the following:


All sitting in my garage.

Routine

As it says in the title, i'm doing Stronglifts 5x5. I've added in some accessory work as well while the weights are low. Can imagine this may get dropped in the future as I start to struggle. We'll see.

Rotating A & B routines on a Mon/Wed/Fri schedule, then alternate the following week. Every routine gets hit 3 times in a 2 week period.

Routine A

  • 5x5 Barbell Squat
  • 5x5 Barbell Bench Press
  • 5x5 Barbell Row
  • 3 x Planks

Routine B

  • 5x5 Barbell Squat
  • 5x5 Overhead Barbell Press
  • 1x5 Deadlift
  • 3 sets of pull ups to failure
  • 2x8 Barbell Curl
  • 2x8 Hanging Knee Raise

All exercises increase by 2.5KG each workout, except deadlifts, they go up by 5KG at the start.

Diet/Supplements

Not really changing much food wise, dropping out snacks, replaced with almonds/cashews.

Alcohol has gone down from 5/6 bottles beer/cider weekend nights to about 2 bottles total through the whole week.

Only supplementing with creatine right now as it's cheap and widely researched and recognised.

If you got this far, thanks for reading and hope you follow me in my journey.

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TL;DR - another noob is on stronglifts.
 
Last edited:
Good stuff - time to get strong :)

It's about time after dicking around for almost 2 and a half years :D

Good choice of trousers, cuz that ain't gonna be fitting for long. :D

It's a worry tbh, I already have larger upper legs as a leftover from being a tree surgeon 7 years ago and climbing daily with rope and leg spikes. While not much of the strength has remained, the size has.
 
Fairly easy workout last night.

Squats
  • 2x5 @ 20KG warmup
  • 1x3 @ 35KG warmup
  • 5x5 @ 50KG

Bench Press
  • 2x5 @ 20KG warmup
  • 5x5 @ 37.5KG

Bent Over Row
  • 5x5 @ 45KG...broke out in quite a sweat on the last set

Planks

3 x 70 second planks...these are a killer at the end, was actually shouting on the last 10 seconds of the final plank.
 
Keep up the good work. Very jelly of your home gym, wish I had the space, would save a lot of hassle!

It took a lot of effort and a lot of time to clean out the garage but it's really worth it.

The cold is a little off-putting as well but I use a fan heater during my warm up sets and then the actual workout keeps me warm enough.
 
Creatine can result in bloat, depending on how it's used...

But from personal experience, milk and wheat-based products (pasta, bread, etc.) are the worst culprits.

I've had the bloat from potatoes for as long as I can remember. The sweet variety tastes better and I feel no need to add any sauce. Only really started eating them the last few months though.

I've noticed cramps in my stomach since starting the Creatine though.


Cool...extra added benefit.
 
Just make sure you drink plenty with your creatine.

To be fair, however, there are colloquial reports of creatine causing "digestive disturbance" and so I'm not shocked, as such.

It could just be "one of those things" that happens... but how much are you taking in one go?
 
Just make sure you drink plenty with your creatine.

To be fair, however, there are colloquial reports of creatine causing "digestive disturbance" and so I'm not shocked, as such.

It could just be "one of those things" that happens... but how much are you taking in one go?

I'm taking 10g daily, as the suggested dose is 5g twice a day on the packet from TPW. Figured it shouldn't matter to be taking both at once, could this be the cause of the upset?

The reason for taking both doses at once is simply I forget when I wake in the morning so take it when I eat in the evening.
 
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