shaun's training log

[shaunuk]

14 February 2007

Back, biceps

Rack deadlifts, 92.5kgx5, 65kgx13

Assisted pull-ups, -40x11, -40x9, -40x9

Barbell rows, 35kgx10, 35kgx10

I tried barbell rows with my hands supinated today, and I had to leave the curls out because I needed to leave to go pick my girl up to go out.

-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

16 February 2007

Legs, shoulders

Box squats, (warmups: barx8, 30kgx8, 35kgx6, 37.5kgx6), 40kgx6, 40kgx6, 40kgx5

DB military press, 12.5kgx7, 12.5kgx6, 12.5kgx5

Leg curls, 2x16, 2x14

Barbell curls, 21kgx10, 21kgx6, 21kgx6

I tried box squats out today, they were a nice exercise.

The DB shoulder press is up a rep from last week (6 reps ---> 7 reps)

The leg curls are also up from when I did them on this weight last (it's the second setting on the machine).

I put the weight on the curls up by 2.5kg, got 10 reps on the first set, but then struggled with only 6 on the other 2 sets. I'll stick with this weight for a bit.

Cheers,
-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

18 February 2007

Chest, triceps, back

Incline DB press, 15kgx7, 15kgx6, 17.5kgx2.5, 17.5kgx2.5

Dips, -20x7, -20x7

Assisted pull-ups, -35x7, -35x7, -35x7

Tricep pushdowns, 25kgx10, 25kgx8

Rack deadlift, 70kgx12, 70kgx10

Right, I did more of a full-bodyish thing today, because I probably won't be able to train until next saturday, as I'm going to be out of town from monday-friday because I'm working in London all week. So I did incline press, dips, rack deads, pullups and a few others (excluding legs, because I just did them on friday, I don't feel they've had enough rest yet).

My incline DB press went up a rep (6 ---> 7). My progress seems to have been fairly linear so far. I decided to do 2 mini-sets with the 17.5kg dumbbells, in both of which I got 2 proper reps, and the last half of the third rep was assisted.

I put the assistance on the pull-ups down to 35lbs and did pretty good on those

Did a few sets of higher rep deadlifts, on which I put the weight up by 5kgs. I didn't feel up for a heavy set today after all the other work I'd done.

I also put the tricep pushdowns up by 5kg and did pretty good on those.

My next post will prolly be next saturday, 24th of February, unless I get into a gym for an hour while I'm away.

Cheers,
-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

24 February 2007

Legs, shoulders

Chin-up, bodyweightx5, bodyweightx4, bodyweightx4, bodyweightx4, bodyweightx4

Box squats, 45kgx5, 42.5kgx4, 30kgx22

DB military press, 12.5kgx7+1 assisted, 12.5kgx6+1 assisted, 12.5kgx5

Leg curls, 2x20, 2x18

I put the box squats up by 5kg on the first set, decided I'd have trouble in the second set, and put the weight back down to 42.5kg. Not too bad on those

I got 7 reps on the shoulder presses, plus another half (got stuck half way), and got the rep assisted by my bro. However, I did some chin-ups before hand to kill boredom waiting for the bench I needed for box squats. I wasn't thinking at the time, and it didn't occur to me that they'd short-change my shoulder presses later on. I feel I would've gotten 8 reps out had I not done the chin-ups, whoops

The leg curls went up by quite a few reps

-shaun

 

[6-heads lewis]

Good job man!

I looked at the last entry first, then went back to the first one, your lifts are good for your weight and size, and you've made a lot of progress since the early entries.

Sorry if youve already answered this as I havent read the entire thread, but how did you decide upon your routine? There seems to be a lot of rep variance. I think a solid 5-8 would be good for you, especially for deads and rows, which I saw to be high (10+).

Also, have you considered a more intense, lower-volume routine? When I started at 140lbs and around the same strength as you, I also did 2x5 then 1x10 or whatever once a week, but made much better progress once I dropped that last burnout set and did the exercise two or even three times a week.

If you're still a beginner, you may not need that much recovery time provided you eating and rest well, since you're nowhere near your potential.

 

[shaunuk]

Thanks man, it's really encouraging to hear that, it's very motivating! I have gained a lot of strength, and although I'm not very strong yet, I'm getting bigger and stronger every week

Sorry if youve already answered this as I havent read the entire thread, but how did you decide upon your routine? There seems to be a lot of rep variance. I think a solid 5-8 would be good for you, especially for deads and rows, which I saw to be high (10+).

Nah man, it's a good question init. I generally do aim for the 5-8 rep range, except for in deadlifts I like to get a 12 rep set in[1] as they're good for growth and because of the overall anabolic effect given, akin to 20-rep squats

Also, have you considered a more intense, lower-volume routine? When I started at 140lbs and around the same strength as you, I also did 2x5 then 1x10 or whatever once a week, but made much better progress once I dropped that last burnout set and did the exercise two or even three times a week.

Hmm, yeah, I have thought about hitting body parts more often, something like Rippetoe starting strength mate? Aye, EFFORT once suggested Rippetoe to me. What were your thoughts mate?
(I'm starting training with EFFORT soon, he's written me a cool routine which does hit some body parts more than once a week sometimes)

-shaun

 

[6-heads lewis]

With EFFORT you're in good hands, he's certainly more experienced than I am. He gave me an awesome WSB routine too, though as a beginner I can still milk the basic, all-compounds workouts.

Rippetoe is a great start, I did that for a while before making my own. My best gains have come with the 5x5 routine, the one in MrRuckus' log.

You can get away with frequently working the movements, so long as the protein and sleep is high. Its odd how when you start doing MORE work, you actually become LESS sore! Thats what happened to me, its as if my body learned to absorb protein better and recover quicker out of necessity.

Either way you're making great progress, so keep up whatever works, I just thought I'd chime in with something to consider when its time to switch it up.

 

[shaunuk]

26 February 2007

Chest+triceps

Incline DB press, 15kgx8, 17.5kgx2+2 assisted, 15kgx6, 15kgx5

Dips, -15x6, -15x5, -15x5

Tricep pushdowns, 25kgx4, 20kgx6, 20kgx6, 15kgx8

The incline press is up by a rep, hah pretty linear progress so far I gave the 17.5kg dumbbells a go for my second set, but I'm still not able to get em up for any decent number of reps. I'm gonna go straight for the 17.5kg DBs next time and hopefully I'll be getting 4 reps out.

I put the assistance on the dips down to 15, and I did pretty OK on those

Haha, my triceps were toast by time the tricep pushdowns came around, so I just did my best and then got outta there.

A pretty good workout again

-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

28 February 2007

Back, biceps

Rack deadlifts, 92.5kgx5, 67.5kgx16

Assisted pull-ups, -35x7, -35x6

Supinated pulldowns, 45kgx10, 45kgx6, 45kgx6, 45kgx5

Curls, 20kgx8, 20kgx8, 20kgx8

The gym got rid of the old power rack and got a new one, and the safety pin heights don't quite correspond so I did rack deadlifts from a lower setting. Since the pins were lower than usual, I used 92.5kg, like I did last time, but I put 2.5kg more on my high rep deadlift (16 reps).

-shaun

 

[simba_]

Just read through this, nice progress man. I admire your ability to keep a log, looking back on it will give you so much more motivation.

 

[shaunuk]

Thanks simba I appreciate the encouraging comments

yeah man, you're right, keeping a log is really motivating. If you're ever having a bad day, you just look back at your first entries, and say, ooh look how much my lifts have gone up...

-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

Right, I actually started this week last saturday (with legs), so going into the gym yesterday wasn't necessary. However, I was bored and had a few hours to kill, so I just went in and did some incline presses..

2 March 2007

Chest

Incline DB press, 4x17.5kg, 4x17.5kg, 4x17.5kg

incline press is up properly to the 17.5kg dumbbells now

Right, as I mentioned a while ago, I now have the privilege of being trained by EFFORT. I'm starting my new routine he wrote for me on monday, it's mainly based off the westside barbell format, I'm looking forward to starting it

It starts off with only 2 days per week (monday+thursday) for the first 2 weeks, and then up to 3. The routine lasts for 10 weeks, and I should be gaining quite a lot of strength during it. The coming monday is Max Effort Lower, followed by Max Effort Upper on Thursday.

Thanks as always,

-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

Right, I started off my new EFFORT-prescribed routine yesterday...

5 March 2007

Max Effort Lower

Box squat, 37.5kgx3, 37.5kgx3, 37.5kgx3, 37.5kgx3, 37.5kgx3

Barbell row, 45kgx5, 45kgx5, 45kgx5

Pullthrough, 45kgx10, 45kgx10

Not bad, it was pretty enjoyable.

Because the first 2 weeks have only 2 workout days in them, I get in the gym next on thursday.

Cheers,

-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

7 March 2007

Max Effort Upper

Flat barbell bench, 37.5kgx3, 37.5kgx3, 37.5kgx3, 37.5kgx3, 37.5kgx3

Incline DB press, 15kgx6, 15kgx6, 15kgx6

Lateral raise, 5kgx8, 5kgx8, 5kgx8

Dumbbell situp, 20kgx10, 20kgx10, 20kgx10

The workout was pretty cool. The triples on the flat bench press are done with about 80% of your 3RM, and you try to do the movement explosively. After the 3reps, you rest for only a minute, and continue until your 5 sets are up. I was fvcking sore from those bench presses.

EFFORT's now put me on shoulder presses instead of lateral raises because they are pretty uncomfortable for me (i.e. joint clicking), and it gets a bit painful. So DB/hammer shoulder presses instead

-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

12 March 2007

Max Effort Lower

Box squat, 45kgx3, 45kgx3, 45kgx3, 45kgx3, 45kgx3

Supinated pulldowns, 55kgx5, 55kgx5, 55kgx5

Leg curls, blah, a few sets

I got the box squats up from 37.5kg to 45kg, awesome Fvck I've been sore as hell in the hamstrings and quads from those box squats.

I was supposed to do good mornings as well, but I couldn't figure out good form. EFFORT's changed the routine and put glute-ham raises in, as well as higher rep (15) good mornings and pullthroughs so I can practice the form.

-shaun

 

[WesCottII]

Thats crap.














Only kidding sunshine, it's pretty damn awesome. I'm proud of you.

 

[shaunuk]

Hehee, cheers tom

-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

15 March 2007

Max Effort Upper

Flat barbell bench, 40kgx3, 40kgx3, 40kgx3, 40kgx3, 40kgx3

Incline DB press, 15kgx7, 15kgx6, 15kgx6

DB shoulder press, 12.5kgx5, 10kgx8, 10kgx8


-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

19 March 2007

Lower Heavy

Rack deadlifts, 95kgx3, 97.5kgx3, 97.5kgx2

Pullthroughs, 40kgx10, 40kgx10

Barbell rows, 47.5kgx3, 47.5kgx3, 47.5kgx3, 47.5kgx3, 47.5kgx3

-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

21 March 2007

Upper

Flat barbell bench, 42.5kgx3, 42.5kgx3

Flat DB bench, 15kgx6, 15kgx6, 15kgx6

Skullcrushers, 17.5kgx10, 17.5kgx10

DB shoulder press, 10kgx9, 10kgx9, 10kgx9


-shaun