Hey guys, well I see that Boatburner's contest got the hammer, so figured that if we can't run a competition of that nature, why not try and do some good for ourselves and log what we're doing etc, give each other advice and so forth in a thread here? Doesn't matter what you're doing, how much you know about training or anything - just somewhere to post with your progress, goals, etc.. If it gets really busy then maybe we could have a subforum done in STS for people to keep logs and a general chat thread? Depends how interested people are in it I guess.
I'll start off, got back from a week away yesterday and starting a new routine/plan today. Been doing madcow 5x5 in the gym for the last few months, and plan to carry on doing the same routine going forwards. Only thing I'm really changing is my diet. Cutting out all deserts and the 3 subways I used to have each week, swapping several of the dishes I'd often have in the evening with leaner alternatives too.
Was shocked when I weighed myself this morning to find I'd gotten up to 205lbs (93kg), although I expect that a significant amount of that is water weight from my carb filled week away (spent the entire week eating and drinking shit loads).
My target weight for now is 170lbs (77kg), if I don't lose too much strength around there then I'll keep on going and aim for 160lbs. I'm 5'8", so at 205lbs am a huge fat ass. Long term goal is to be a lean 10% bodyfat 170-180lbs year round, need to gain a fair bit of muscle for that to be realistic though.
As of week before I went away I was lifting as follows: bench: 72.5kg x 5, squats: 120kg x 5, deadlifts: 150kg x 5, bent-over rows: 65kg x 5, overhead press: 52kg x 5.
1RM PB's are 90kg bench, 140kg squat, 185kg deadlift, 60kg OHP, all last summer.
All lifts are full ROM, so touching chest for bench, back horizontal with floor for rows, squats below parallel, etc. My bench is my worst lift and always has been, not sure if it's a form issue, I've watched a ton of videos online trying to sort it but they've helped minimally, I know a powerlifter so may attempt to get in front of him for some advice, it may just be my body mechanics are shit for it. Either way, continually pushing it and it is grinding up, albeit very slowly.
Madcow routine is as follows:
Tue - Squats (5x5), Bench (5x5), Rows (5x5)
Thur - Squats (4x5) - light, Press (4x5), Deadlifts (4x5)
Sat - Squats (4x5, 1x3, 1x8), Bench (4x5, 1x3, 1x8), Rows (4x5, 1x3, 1x8)
When I say 5x5 I don't mean 5 sets of 5 repetitions with the same weight, but using madcow ramping, which I've set at 12.5%, so each set I increase the weight by 12.5% up to my top work set.
So here goes!
For today food wise I've got pineapple, an oats/fruit/nut bar, chicken salad, cajun chicken & brown rice, a couple apples and a protein shake. Aiming to hit in between 1600 and 1800 calories each day.
Doing my tue gym session when I leave the office. Looking to reset all the weights down a bit to ease into the diet change and also due to having built up a ton of fatigue over the last few weeks. Will look to get back up to my previous 5rm's in 4-5 weeks time, and hopefully exceed them - although I'm sure strength gains will be minimal without a calorie excess.
I'll start off, got back from a week away yesterday and starting a new routine/plan today. Been doing madcow 5x5 in the gym for the last few months, and plan to carry on doing the same routine going forwards. Only thing I'm really changing is my diet. Cutting out all deserts and the 3 subways I used to have each week, swapping several of the dishes I'd often have in the evening with leaner alternatives too.
Was shocked when I weighed myself this morning to find I'd gotten up to 205lbs (93kg), although I expect that a significant amount of that is water weight from my carb filled week away (spent the entire week eating and drinking shit loads).
My target weight for now is 170lbs (77kg), if I don't lose too much strength around there then I'll keep on going and aim for 160lbs. I'm 5'8", so at 205lbs am a huge fat ass. Long term goal is to be a lean 10% bodyfat 170-180lbs year round, need to gain a fair bit of muscle for that to be realistic though.
As of week before I went away I was lifting as follows: bench: 72.5kg x 5, squats: 120kg x 5, deadlifts: 150kg x 5, bent-over rows: 65kg x 5, overhead press: 52kg x 5.
1RM PB's are 90kg bench, 140kg squat, 185kg deadlift, 60kg OHP, all last summer.
All lifts are full ROM, so touching chest for bench, back horizontal with floor for rows, squats below parallel, etc. My bench is my worst lift and always has been, not sure if it's a form issue, I've watched a ton of videos online trying to sort it but they've helped minimally, I know a powerlifter so may attempt to get in front of him for some advice, it may just be my body mechanics are shit for it. Either way, continually pushing it and it is grinding up, albeit very slowly.
Madcow routine is as follows:
Tue - Squats (5x5), Bench (5x5), Rows (5x5)
Thur - Squats (4x5) - light, Press (4x5), Deadlifts (4x5)
Sat - Squats (4x5, 1x3, 1x8), Bench (4x5, 1x3, 1x8), Rows (4x5, 1x3, 1x8)
When I say 5x5 I don't mean 5 sets of 5 repetitions with the same weight, but using madcow ramping, which I've set at 12.5%, so each set I increase the weight by 12.5% up to my top work set.
So here goes!
For today food wise I've got pineapple, an oats/fruit/nut bar, chicken salad, cajun chicken & brown rice, a couple apples and a protein shake. Aiming to hit in between 1600 and 1800 calories each day.
Doing my tue gym session when I leave the office. Looking to reset all the weights down a bit to ease into the diet change and also due to having built up a ton of fatigue over the last few weeks. Will look to get back up to my previous 5rm's in 4-5 weeks time, and hopefully exceed them - although I'm sure strength gains will be minimal without a calorie excess.
