Cure's 6 month strength building plan. Advice and comments sought.

[Cure]

hey hey,

Yesterdays workout (A)

drank a pint of milk/milk power immediatly before hand, which was stupid as it made me feel really sick and lethargic, no more food in the 30-60 mins before workout.

squats- warmups to 3x5x90kg.

The first two sets felt really really hard, the third suprisingly was slightly easier, no idea why.
I was going as low as possible, below parallel, my flexibility is definatly improving but still work to be done.
Going so low did mean my form suffered a little, with my hips rising before my upper back on some reps, but this should clear up as I get stronger and more flexibile. Will Iron out all form/flexibility issues before I shoot for 100kg.

bench- warmups to 3x5x60kg.

Nothing special to report here, but did feel good using the 20kg plates finally!

Deadlifts-

barx8
40x5
60x5
80x3
90x2
100x1
105x1
110x1
112.5x1

workset- 115x5 PR

Long warmup for these, Because I was going for 5 kg more than last time and wanted form to be spot on. The work set felt like the entire planet was hanging off my arms, but I got through it, no grip issues this time.
120kg next week!

Quag,

Ill persevere with the cleans till the end of the 6 months I think, hopefully they will improve and I will learn to like them, I can see the benefits of the movement.

I could do no pulls ups at all a year and a half ago, gradually improved till I could do about 4-5, but that was 6 months ago and Ive not improved since, I always get stuck on the 5th rep if I use proper form.
I will switch to pull downs, good plan, till I can do 10 reps at body weight, then try pull ups again.

With the body fat, Its not as much of an issue as I made it out to be.

I've always been very skinny wtih a tiny ammount of body fat (inner thights, belly). In the past few months Ive put on an inch or so round my waist, which will need to dissapear at some point, but I can still see my abs If I flex them, so its not anything to worry about!
I just meant that at some point Ill want to strip off a few % points.

My cardio is random cycling everywhere, plus the odd run/dance class. I dont need to do dedicated cardio becasue I have a very active lifestyle, always have, hence why Ive only put on weight since I've been stuffing my face!
Over christmas Im going to wales for a week, So I will indulge in some fell running! If that doesnt get me in shape I dont know what will!

Cure

 

[Quagmire911]

Another option I don't see discussed a lot is DB power cleans. Ross Enamait uses them and I think it would take away some of the issues people have. You could try them. You could also just lower the weight a bit, this is probably a good idea. It's not a race.

With the pulldowns I'd aim a little higher than 10bw before switching back, you want to give yourself the best chance possible. Pulldowns are a different movement neurally so they may or may not carry over. Get to the stage where your doing maybe 15bw or 10 with 5-10kg over bw. Your actual bw plays a huge role in chins though. Keep these strict as well, most people I see cheat on them like hell and are kidding themselves on.

That is good that you are active, but you still need to watch it. Milk gets a lot of people fat, so be careful.

Keep it up, the deadlift is looking good.

Quagmire

 

[Cure]

Sure thing, It will take a LONG time to get to 15 pull downs at body weight, bah! but worth it in the long run, will add them in after cleans. And try lowering the weight on the cleans, worthwhile if I can get my technique down.

Fridays workout was rather disasterous. Was fine for energy etc.

Front squats- warmups to 3x5x80kg, these were difficult, I was making sure to go down as low as possible. Hence getting out of the hole at the bottom was challenging, but I managed it, happy with these.

OH Press-

warmups- felt oddly heavy.

42.5kg x3 (failed 3rd or 4th rep) so dropped the weight back down-
40kgx5 (really hard)
40kgx2
My shoulders just gave up half way through the 3rd set and it was pointless carrying on. No idea what the issue was but just couldn't put power on the bar properly. Will try again on Wednesday. Nightmare

Powercleans- warmups to 5x3x58kg.
Did these with a shorter barbell and 20kg plates. which felt better. I was happy with form for most reps. I think I need to focus on ensuring my shrug and jump are simultaneous.

Sunday today and back still aching a little, hopefully be fully recovered tomorrow and ready for another dead lift session.

Cure.

 

[Quagmire911]

You're numbers have come up fast, you will be at the stage where you're going to start hitting walls.

Remember you can't keep powering on and adding 2.5kg to the bar every session forever. You'd be the strongest guy on the planet in no time.

It may be time to change from Rippetoe. How many deloads/weeks off have you had since you started, and when was your last deload/week off?
This is the perfect time of year to have a week off.

 

[Cure]

ok, high time for an update.

Quag, read below re. time off. I dont thing Ive exhausted rippetoe yet, all my problems in the last few months have been the result of not eating enough. That said I have stalled on squats once, majorly, but have gotten over that by adding in the front squats.

the last few weeks have been some what disastrous.

I had my week off, drunk a lot, ate a lot, did no exercise. As off boxing day ive been off the booze again and feel much better for it, but have been indulging in fine foods and also not eating anything like enough, Ive not weighed myself but suspect I'm back to around 70kg.

Then after my week off I went on holiday to wales, planned to do lots of strenuous hill walking, and I did, but I also managed to almost kill myself falling down a mountain. I'm a total idiot.
My legs are almost entirly recovered but my left hand is still wrapped up.

key point- I wont be touching a barbell for at least another week. Bah!

Ive worked out that out of my 6 months, ending early February, Ive already lost a month and a half to illness/injury/being lazy/weeks off. And ive lost countless gains to simply not eating enough food.

eat a stupid amount=gain
eat anything less than that=stall or lose weight.

So, new year, new motivation, Ill do everything right, eat loads, eat clean, workout sensibly and consistently.

Ive put all my workouts so far into a spread sheet and made a graph, which shows the following-

Bodyweight- crawling upward, but consistently in the right direction.

Deadlift- good and consistent progress. happy.

Squat- was static/dreadful for the first 3 months, but has gone up rapidly and consistently since I started alternating with front squats.

power clean- still learning this one, so can't really comment.

bench and press- both lifts going up slowly but very consistently, happy with these.

So, all things considered. here is the plan for the new year-

-Ease myself back into lifting and out of my injury's by starting nice and light for a week or to.

-Stick with the current program, except for reps, Which Im going to alter to a 4 workout rotation of- 3x5, 3x6, 3x7, 3x5 with higher weight.
I am confident this will work better for me, so will try it for couple of months and track progress on my graph.

-Eat a whole lot more. Aiming for at LEAST 4000k daily. To do this I am going to accurately track and log everything I eat for a while until I know Im eating enough.

-get adequate protein, sort supplements out properly, be consistent.

-not fall of mountains.

Will update as soon as I get back to the gym.

Cure.

 

[Cure]

Ok I managed to get to the gym last friday and did some light warm up stuff ie 60kg squats (suprisingly hard) and a few other things.

Today was the first day back proper.

squats-
bar x10
40x5
60x5
70x3
80x3x5

wasn't planning on going this high, but I after the warm ups that was what I decided i could handle and I made it through all 3 sets just about, althought the last set was REALLY difficult. I've really missed squatting.
Form was also a lot better than before the break, back more relaxed and depth was a low as possible, My flexibility seems to have finally improved.
I'm going to try and get 80, 85, 90, 95, 100 for the next 5 back squat sessions, so will be taking it easy on the front squats to allow my legs to recover better.

Bench- warmups to 3x5x50kg.
This was difficult but there wasnt any possibility of missing reps. Will build this back up to 60 and then onward to BW.

Deadlifts- warmups only, up to a max of 50kg ish, due to my hand injury I cant grip properly at the moment, so deadlifts and cleans/rows will have to wait a week or so.

general updates-

weight- I weighed myself friday. 73.3kg. I had been expecting to lose weight over the lay off, making me around 70-71, but in fact Ive gained over a kilo of what must be pure fat, its noticable around my middle as well. Im shocked at what fine foods and alcohol can do to a body! I will monitor my fat level and increase cardio if nessecary.

Today is the first day of my new eating plan, Im going to assemble a weekly list of food stuffs which have to be eaten each week at some point, and Ill tick them off as I eat them, for example, 7x4 pints of milk, 4 x whole roast chicken. 2x packet of peanuts etc etc.
This should garantee me sufficient calories and protein.

Injury wise, legs are fine, but my middle back is still causing minor trouble, It tightens up sometimes, not painfull but noticable, and occasionally Ill move to tie laces or bend over and it will suddenly twinge for a split second.
I was really hopeing this would go away over the break, maby its something to do with my form? any ideas or links to relevant articles? I tried researching but didn't find a lot.

Cheers.

Cure.

 

[Cure]

update time, finally.
Have been banning myself from sosuave for a while (see thread in "tips")

My hand is all healed up.

Ive been back to the gym a few times, in brirf-

14th-

Front squat up to 3x5x70kg, happy.
oh Press- was very weak from layoff, did 3x5x32kg I think.
Power cleans with up to 50kg, was happy with these.

16th-

squat up to 3x5x80 again.
Bench- 50kg again.
Deadlift- warmups to 5x90kg, happy.


19th-

Front squat up to 3x5x80kg. this is equal to my PR so very happy with this.
OH Press- 5x40kg, 2x5x37.5kg. Almost back to previous best, happy.
Powercleans- tried 55kg but didnt go very well, I still need to work on technique, Im lifting with my arms still when it gets heavy.

21st-

squat- 3x5x85kg. pretty challenging but within my limits. 90kg next time
Bench- 3x5x55kg, very difficult but got all reps.
Deadlift- 5x100kg with power to spare. Happy.
also I did some ab work.

general-
Im eating pretty good but still ahve to watch the calories to ensure I eat enough.

Currently supplementing with-

100%rda magnesium citrate
167%rda zinc (non-oxide)
approx 1000%rda vit c
plus a general multi vitamin.
and in theory cod liver oil but Ive been bad at taking it the last week or so.
Is this sufficient supps?

Weight was 72.8kg today, which is good. Will measure again in a couple of weeks when hopefully I will have made strenght gains.

Being weaker than I was before the holidays is very annoying, but I will soon be setting new PRs.

current goals Im going to work toward-

Squat 110kg
Deadlift- 125kg
Bench Press- body weight.
OH press- 50kg.

Ive got a pretty usefull graph I made of my lifts over the past few months, It shows that my Presses have been going up slowly but very consistantly, my deadlift to has made good and regular progress. My squat has been up and down all over the place and is my least consistant lift. Annoying.

Cure.

 

[Cure]

Humbug!

I hate not making progress.

Im pretty sure Im mostly ectomorph, which is really annoying. But atleast I know what I need to do to gain weight.

Todays workout-

An hour of yoga, which was just awesome!

front squats-
warm ups to 3x5x80kg. these were difficult but within limits, I could have managed 85 but Im resting (ish) on front squats to keep legs in one peice for back squats.

OH Press-
two warmup sets, but my shoulder was feeling weird, and in the middle of the first work set (40) I gave up because I was way to unstable, it just felt wrong, and better safe than sorry.

seated pull downs, 3x12 40kg.
These were great, felt really usefull, so will use these for now instead of pull ups untill my strenght is up.

power cleans- technique work. I think I sort of get it, but not really.. I think I might switch back to barbell rows, they are more "measurable" and will probably work better for me.

ab work- roll outs and some other stuff.


Diet- the main problem.
I just find it so hard to eat enough and stick to some sort of budget. Ive made a spread sheet of the foods I "normally" eat and my ratio is pretty alright. I think I just need to pick snack foods that I can carry and eat anywhere, and forget the whole concept of a "meal" in the normal sense.

For example-
4 pints whole milk plus 200g skimmed milk powder is-

2100 calories.
140 protein
200 carbs
80g fat

So if I get that down me every day. and snack on

peanuts
cereal (like fruit and fibre or somthing)
fruit and veg.
boiled eggs
that should get me up to 3000 calories.
then If I add extra random food as and when I feel like it including meat and fish for protein.

That should work.. I want my lifts to start going up again.

Cure.

 

[Cure]

my lats are KILLING me from monday, which is good I guess.

yesterdays workout went really well-

Squats
8xbar, 5x40, 5x60, 3x70, 3x5x90kg.
The middle set was the hardest, the last set slightly easier, I think it was a change in mental attitude which made the difference.

going for 95kg next time and looking forward to it!

Bench-
8xbar, 5x30, 3x50 3x5x60kg.
Had spare energy on the second and third sets once Id got used to the weight again.
Felt great to be lifting at my max strenth again, might try for 62.5 next time.

Deadlift-
8xbar, 5x60, 5x70, 2x80, 2x90, 5x105

Again weight wasnt the issue, It was the grip, so need to keep practicing that.

Also did some random ab work.

had makeral and quark bagels for breakfast today, gym again tommorow, loving it.

Cure.

 

[JDiddy]

Looks like your diet is holding you back

I did SS for about 10months (too long in hindsight), made it to squat 3x5 @142.5kg (3 plate), Deadlift got up to about 165kg then regressed back to about 140 due to squatting heavy 3 times a week.
Months 2 and 3 I drank 3lts milk everyday as my diet was pretty poor, really gave me a boost and got the squat up to 100kg easily. After that I slowly got it higher, quite a few deloads, I really milked the hell out of the program.
By the way do you do a mixed grip for your deadlifts?

 

[Cure]

JDiddy, yeah its a diet issue, when i eat like a horse I grow, when i dont, I dont, simple as. I just find it hard to eat and easy to make excuses.

How much were you weighing at 142kg squat?

I use mixed grip for deads yeah, just sometimes have grip issues.

Im so bloated I can hardly move..

diet is going better, been packing in pleanty of calories last few days and have also got a gas cooker so can finally cook meat. This should mean more ease and variation in cooking.

fridays workout- slightly rushed.

Front squats-
warmups to 3x5x80kg.
These were difficult but I had extra energy, could have got 85 or 90 all out but Im holding back on front squats to allow more back squat progress.

shoulder press
warmups
3x40kg - felt like ****.. could do it.
2x5x37.5- went up ok.

ran out of time here but managed-
2x12x42.5 lat pulldown. Going to go for 3 sets of 45 next time.


todays workout-

Squats
8xbar
5x40
5x60
2x80

3x5x95kg.

awesome.

Bench
warmups
3x60kg, failed 4th rep
got a spotter and told myself to man the fukc up.
6x60kg
5x60kg
(spotted didnt touch bar at all)

deadlifts- was beat up after squats so didnt go heavy-

barx8
60x6-7
80x10 (felt good to do deads for reps again)

10-15 seconds static hold at the top x2

woop.

Cure.

 

[Cure]

wednesdays workout-

back squats- technique practice up to 60kg max weight.
shoulder press- struggled to get 35kg for 3x5, really bad.
lat pull down- 45kg for 3x12, pretty happy.

Yesterdays workout-

I had knee pain on the day but it cleared up during my warmup, and is back today with a vengence, weird.. but never mind Ill keep an eye on it.

Got some new converse style lifting shoes which I like.

squat-
8xbar
5x40
5x60
3x80

3x5x100kg PR.

WooHoo!!!

Toughest squats Ive ever done, lots of breathing between reps, but I managed it. finally broken triple figures. Happy.
Form was a little weird, Im using my back to much and due to flexibility issues I have to lean forward a lot to stay balanced, which stops me getting low enough.

Bench- warmups to 3x5x62.5 but spotter touched the bar on quite a few reps so wont count it just yet.
Ive realised a lot of the bench is in my head, I CAN lift the weight, I just need to make myself do it. 65kg soon I hope.

Ran out of time again.. but didnt want to do deads anyway- I was obliterated from the squatting.

Body weight- 73.7kg, moving in the right direction again! hurray!


SO, plans now, Im thinking of juggling the routine up a little to have a break from SS and get over my OH pressing plateau.
I need to work on-
glute strenght (currently using quads to much in the squat)
Shoulder stability and supporting strenght. (so my OH press can progress)
getting my deadlift up to three plates per side!

So with this in mind Im going to try moving to a higher rep, lower weight compound upper/lower split-

1.
Front squats (easier to get good form, more glutes, less preassure on back)
Deadlift
Glute and calve isolation excersises.

2.
Bench Press
barbell Rows
Lat pull down.
farmers walk (traps and grip strength)

taking rest days and and when I need them, but probs aiming to do 3 workouts per week.

This is designed to give me a break from SS for a month and hopefully correct various issues that are holding my lifts back.

Any thoughts/changes/suggestions guys?


Cure.

 

[Cure]

yesterday-

I did yoga, then deadlifts, went for volume again, warmed up to-

4x100kg
stand up, several deep breaths, change grip over,
4x100kg

5 minute rest, then the same again, so 16 reps of 100kg total, I was well pleased with this, My lower back is absolutly shattered today, and my glutes really ache as well, which is good.

Then i left the gym, ate a load of food/milk and came back a couple of hours later for-

Bench press-

50kgx13
50kgx13
50kgx11 then 3 negatives
60kgx6 negative reps.

I was benching with an awesome spotter hence playing around a bit, Im well chuffed I got 50 for 13, will aim to build up to 60 for 10 before going back to 5 rep sets.

barbell row-

4x8x40kg

These felt good, but my back is clearly much weaker than my front, an imballance I need to correct. So Ill be working for a few months to get my Row up a lot closer to my bench. No point getting BW bench if I can only row 50 odd..

cable pull downs- 47kg, 2x12, then 10 narrow grip assisted pull ups.

one arm dumbell row- 2x8x18kg (per side)

some farmers walks and shruggs with 26kg dumbells

ab work to finnish off.

felt great yesterday, and obvously did the job because everything hurts today!!



Cure.

 

[Cure]

Just taken the chance at home to take my measurements again, compared to where I was a couple of months ago.

Bellybutton 86cm (+2)
Chest 98cm (no change)
Shoulders 121cm (+1)
Upper Arm (tensed) 31.5cm (+.5)
upper leg (middle) 53cm (-2)
calf 35.5cm. (+.5)

The only possible conclusion is that measuring is pointless and Im doing it wrong.. how d oI measure myself accuratly? Its impossible that my squat has gone up 25-30kg while my thigh diameter has gone DOWN.

Ive gained a tiny ammount on my waist which I expected, in terms of visible fat, no noticable chance, I can still tense and my abs show through so not worried yet.

I dont appear to have grown at all really.. which is weird because my lifts have gone up.

In conclusion, Im not going to bother measuring myself anymore, except my waist, to keep an eye on fat, and my numbers as far as my lifts go, this will keep me sane!

Im off on holiday to Germany now which will be awesome, so back in the gym on the 18th/19th Feb, looking forward to deadlifting again!

cheers guys!

Cure.

 

[Cure]

Back from Holiday,

I weigh the same as before.

Todays workout-

OH Press-
35kg 3x5
been a while since I pressed so hopefully can get back up to 40kg and start making progress again!

bent over row-
50kg 4x6
felt a bit unbalanced on the way up, need to get this up to 60kg with good form.

Bench
50kg 2x10
Im going to go easy on bench to let my back catch up, and let my press develop better.

pull downs 50kg 2x10
pull ups 3-4 x 5 (mixed grips)

Dont really like doing the whole upper body on one day. Also, I have knee problems at the moment so im going to give squatting a break.
Thus the new arrangment will be-

A.
OH Press, heavy.
light chest exercise of some kind to keep it in the habit.
shrugs

romanian deadlifts
leg curls
calf raises.

B.
upright rows, heavy.
assisted pull ups.
dumbbell squats resting against an exercise ball.
pleanty of core work.

need to get diet nailed properly, thinking of upping the protein intake and switching to semi skimmed milk to reduce fat intake slightly.
also need to eat more fruit and veg.

Cure.

 

[Cure]

today-

Shoulder Press 35kg
3x5
3x5
3x7
last set felt easier, was lowering the bar only to my neck rather than mid chest and this felt a more natural movement.

incline Dumbbell Press 20k per side, 2x6

stiff leg deadlifts
35kg x8
50 x6
70x6
70x6

calf raises, 3x10 per side, holding a 10kg plate

shrugs and farmers walks with 25kg plate per side.

Happy with this.

Cure.

 

[Cure]

today-

barbell rows-
8xbar (12kg bar)
5x32

4x6x52kg

leg extension machine (I know!!!)
3x15 at 26kg.
was pretty interesting isolating my quads for the first time ever.. more weight next time.

assisted pull ups x1
pull downs 49kg 3x12

cable rows 2x10 at approx 40kg.

felt good, really tough on my Biceps.

Diet has been good.

Cure.

 

[Cure]

yesterday-

OH Press 37.5kg x5, x6, x7 (dodgy last rep)
Still doesnt feel "right" but the weight is going up again, will try 40kg next session, and go for more than 5 reps each time.
I want to hit 45kg for 3x>5 reps.

Incline dumbbell press- 22kg per side.
2x6
tried for a third set, but it just wasnt happening, couldnt even manage one rep!

Straight leg deads
37.5 x8
50x5
70x3
80x6x2

this was realyl tough but felt excellent, and today my glutes and ham's really ache! Im giong to try and get this lift up to 100kg for reps. Then hopefully will be able to switch back to regular deadlifting.

Im thinking Im going to include heavy rack pulls (more than my dead PR- like 130kg or somthing) in my deadlift workout to get my grip stronger prepare myself for heavy full deads.

I was going to do my pull day today, but my back is wiped from the deadlifts, which is strange, Im going to rearrange my program slightly so they dont interfere.

Cure.

 

[Cure]

sundays workout-

barbell row-
4x6 54.5kg

this was strong to start but form broke down a little toward the end. Getting up toward 60kg though.

A selection of pull up exercises- I still suck. I did a 3x3 pull ups, then some negatives/holds. Some pull downs with 50kg odd.
I think doing these right after the heavy rows is the problem so Im not going to worry to much.

Quite a lot of ab work.

tuesdays workout-

OH Press- went for 40kg again. got 5 reps, then 2x4 basically stalling again. It feels like if I go about 40 Im to unstable, form breaks down with my middle back caving in and feeling under A LOT of stress, which is stopping me putting max effort in because Im pretty sure Ill hurt myself.
I think Im going to switch to seated dumbell OH press, that should hopefully take the pressure off my back.

bench-
40kgx8
60kg x3, x,3, x4
Pretty happy I still had this in me after a few weeks with no flat benching.

Rack pulls-
60x5
80x5
100x3

2x5 120kg
Heaviest weight Ive ever held, and felt every bit of it, Aiming for a 3 plate deadlift (140kg) so im going to build up to 140kg rack pulls and 100kg stiff led dead then switch back to regular deadlifting.


On the diet front, Ive established Im really not eating enough, its depressing becaseu Im eating loads, but the simple fact is that my weight is crawling up, Ive been hovering around 70-73kg for ages now, If I want to gain strenght I need to gain weight, which means eating more, and especialy more protien, I need to be eating at least 250g and 3500-4000 calories consistantly, in recent months Ive probably been averaging 180g and 3000k, which is maintainance.

No wonder my lifts arn't really going up. I think Ill add 6 boiled eggs a day, thats easy and a good way to boost cals and protien. Might even try raw eggs if I can stomach them.

Cure.

 

[Rampage1]

Keep plugging away. I used to feel that with my back in the overhead press. I think you should consider wearing a belt for it, or even doing the dumbell press. Me personally I moved over to dumbell presses, I think they are a better exercise anyway.

I think you hit the nail on the head, if your lifts aren't going up take a look at your diet. Iron addict said that there is no reason you shouldn't be hitting PR's every single workout until you are advanced if your diet is in check