Tossin' more IRON on the bar - KGM's Log

[KGM]

Hello, my name is Michael. I live in the greater Toronto area. I have lots of questions but there is so much info to read here before I feel I can ask anything. Until then I shall lift in peace.

stats:
37yo male
6'0"
188 lbs.

lift maxes tested last week for program
Military 125 1RM
DeadLift 297 E1RM (278x2)
Bench 188 1RM
Squat 233 1RM

Fuel Intake:
~3500calories/day - 220g+ protein/day. fish oil pills. whey ISO @breakfast and PWO. I take no other supplemental stuff at this time.
eat mostly clean, lots of cottage cheese, milk, eggs, meats, fish, oatmeal, bananas, spinach, grapefruits etc...and shoot for a gallon+ water a day.

I am a home gym person so I dont get around. I dont have any friends to discuss lifting with so that is my main reason to start this journal. It also means I am limited to what equipment (cheap bench, 2 straight bars,@ 300lbs wts, pair DB spin locks, hex DB 10-25lbs) I have here or what I can improvise. I have messed around with some routines I threw together and have done some SS and SL. I like lifting but something just didnt seem to be working and I was in the gym a lot. So I started searching for a nice full but focused program. I came across Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 and the simplicity is EXACTLY what I was/am needing. I am doing the 4d/wk 4wk/cycle. My plan for assistance exercises is pretty much the boring but big... but I am struggling to keep the assistance small while finding a good time to do my dips. This being the first week I will see how I feel for assistance work.

Off time, or cardio time I like to cycle (mountain bike paths or road cycling), hit the heavy bag, skip rope, ice skate or roller blade, and I also have stationary bike and a rowing machine. I have run but in the future I think sprints would be better than jogging for me.

OK that is my intro. will start posting to my log later today after workout.

I skip rope 6 days a week first thing in the morning before eating or drinking. I normally do 10-20 minutes and then have some whey iso, multi vit. and fish pills as I get my oatmeal and grapefruit together.


I guess I should put my goals.... no time limit on this.
MP 190 - BP 285 - SQ 380 - DZ 475 and all for reps.

[KGM]

WK1CY1 - AP13-09
Military day
75x5
85x5
100x7

assistance was super-set
MP 60x5x10
chins bwx10x5

warm up seemed very light.
Assistance was (B.B.B.) more military press. I used 50% of my training max for 5x10. I might try more weight next week. I think I could have went heavier. While doing my assistance work and thinking of something I read earlier I decided to superset my assistance MP with bw chins. I did sets of 5 chins and ended up doing 10 sets. to make the numbers work best next MP assistance day will be 3 sets of chins, then 5 supersets MP/chins followed up with the last 2 (of 10 sets) sets of chins. This gives me total of 50 chins. I will try to add one rep to each set anytime I can complete all reps in all sets.

The press and pull do go nicely together just like what I had read.
The original plan was to do dips also but pinched nerve in neck, shoulder pain blah blah.

edit - amazed at how much I feel I worked and how little time I had to set aside for lifting.

[KGM]

WK1CY1 - AP14-09
Deadlift day
175x5
205x5
230x8

assistance super-setted
RDL 135x5x10
HLG 5x10
warm up weight felt about great.

for assistance I used stiff leg deep deadlifts and hanging leg raises. I decided to superset these since it worked nicely for my MP day. I am really wanting to hit my erectors and am wondering which would be a better assistance; sumo deads, stiff leg deads or good mornings (slight bent leg). I just tried to keep my low back cupped when I lifted and returned.

second day and I like the heavier weights I am lifting in this 5/3/1 program.

side note... also wondering (from something I read IA say) which my PWO whey ISO would be best mixed with. I was using orange juice for the carbs then switched to milk (MMmmmmmmmmmm)... but am second guessing that call since maybe the milk is taking away the reason for whey iso... the fast digestibility.

[KGM]

off day.
I just wanted to make the notation that my erector (low back) feels like it really got hit so I got out of my assistance what I wanted to.

just noticed as well I forgot to mention on thing yesterday. Super-setting the deads and HLR really gave my grip a work out. This means I am getting good grip training for 3 of my 4 work days. My bench and military day I am using some fat handled DMs for my side bends and rows.

one hour walk. 40 minutes bike ride 22km avg, 20 minutes heavy bag. 10 minutes skipping.

[KGM]

WK1CY1 - AP16-09
Bench day
110x5
130x5
145x7

Assistance again super-set together
BP-85lbs
DB row- 65lbs (thick handle)
5x10

Other
AM skip.
I also got some trial riding in before lunch. low gear and steep hills and you know you are getting a workin'. pretty good for the lungs. 55 minutes and just above 14km/hour avg.

pretty good day with only the one exception of my neck/shoulder problem. think a pinched nerve in my neck. bench is pain free when neck up but pull in left neck/shoulder when I lay head back.

I am really loving this routine. in and out in a jiffy.

guess I will mention not that I am doing the stretches outlined in the book both pre/post workout as well as warm up with his suggested jump rope routine.

nutritional note. I have added eggs to breakfast and removed my whey from breakfast. I added that whey to my PWO drink for a much higher protein boost.
still curious which drink my whey would be faster acting in, OJ or milk? I am hoping milk because it is just delicious and has extra protein (which might be the binding problem). But OJ would be nice also and it has 2 more carbs and probably faster carbs.

[KGM]

WK1CY1 - AP17-09
Squat day
140x5
160x5
180x7

Assistance super-set
5x10
105 squat
65 DB(thick handle) side bend

Today I really focused on form. I had been led astray by others so really I am unlearning and relearning the squat. My biggest fault IMO was my chest coming forward. So my focus is on pushing the bar with my shoulders FIRST. Also important today was tightening my abs, erector and chest.

Most frustrating lift for the home gym'ers. I rack on my bench and bend under, sit up and then stand to do squats. I also squat over my bench but I put a platform under it so I can get below parallel, or do a sort of box squat.

took a 30 minute walk before lunch.
took temp this AM and it was 97.7F.

[KGM]

WK2CY1 - AP20-09
Military day
80x3
90x3
105x5

Assistance
3x6 chins
super set 5x6 chins and 5x10x60 MP.
1x5 chins
1x6 chins

chins total=59

Notes:
I do not think I mentioned this Friday but I have started wearing the belt since seeing the sticky come up a couple times. Only for my heavier sets of lifts and slightly loose, to force me to tighten my core muscles up to reach the belt.

I really felt my chins in my lats this time.
The assistance MP was pretty heavy but I still enjoyed it. Last set I came down extremely slowly and then exploded up again for all 10.

I have been doing the shoulder flexibility exercise from the sticky to see if it will help me with my neck/shoulder issue. It really seems just an exaggerated chest stretch motion that is in the warm up anyway. I find my shoulder sometime gets a bit tight while skipping but I normally just through in some crosses and that gets it loosened up again.

have switched my diet to more calories (@3650) while upping my protein and fat intake and cutting my carbs way down and only AM and pre/pwo. sort of 1/2TCD I think. intake is high since I really only want to maintain weight while recomping (hopefully). well I am at IA now so it is on the right track.

weight this AM 186.5. goal is 190 and BF<12%. Then new goal. Hoping for around Jan 19 next year. Which in reality means I have about 15pounds of muscle to put on and lose about 12 pounds of fat.

VIDS

front view 105x5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFUWQzVfTpE
side view 105x5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAQg-hSxc0A

Chins x6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8am6G792IQ

[kutt3r]

Nice log KGM.
Your last MP # threw me though, I think it was supposed to be 105?

I am loving 5/3/1 and how quick you can get in and out of the gym. I am working on my 3rd cycle and still loving it.

DC shoulder stretches have helped me, started doing them about 1-2 months ago and my shoulders feel a world better and I am gaining flexibility to boot.

Cheers and good luck!

[KGM]

Thanks for catching that typo... yes 105 and I edited it.

In and out in a flash and still feel a great workout. The simplicity, full workout and low amount of time is what sold me on this routine. So simple it seems baffling.
Thanks for stopping in.

[KGM]

WK2CY1 - AP21-09
Deadlift day
190x3
215x3
245x7 (302)
245x3 (re-lift for camera)

Assistance
SLDL 160 5x10
superset with
HLG 5X10 - only wussed out on the last 2 reps of 2 sets and did knee raises.

Other
skipped ? minutes AM
brisk walk 30 minutes

Notes;
did not mention about my obliques!!! DAMN then side bends are MUCH more of a workout for the sides then I ever would have given credit for.

last set of SLDL I did wide stance just to see. seems less stress on the hams but I could be confused.

I am making vid clips of my lifts to see what I am doing. with just a short preview my DL looks pretty good. I plan on filming my last work set of each lift as well as my assistance exercises. Depending on what I come up with I might post them and get the sites opinions.

VIDS

front view 245x7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW1mXpbS1PQ
side view 245x7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz9dpotnLXU
side view 245x5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSnFSQv4RmE

Stiff Leg Dead Lift
front view 135x10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVRXDTRR8iA
side view 135x10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1xbJQAj4ns

Hanging Leg Raise x10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhQpkl-g2xc