[Saith]

So I think my form issue with squats is a result of not having enough ankle flexibility. I was doing BW squats in front of a mirror on the carpet and when I got low my feet would actually slide outward. That's not something that happens with rubber soles on rubber mats. So I found a couple of ankle flexibility stretches here:

http://www.goswim.tv/drilloftheweek_...=3959_0_20_0_C

Those are the hardest three exercises I have ever done

So once I improve my ankle flexibility enough I shouldn't be having the balance issues I'm having where most of the weight ends up on my lower back. Then I can work on other aspects of my form through the Squat RX series on YouTube.

My lumbar was sore as hell last night. I definitely should have iced it after I made my shake. Oh well, missed opportunities....

I will likely be going light on DL tomorrow, as I don't want to upset it further. This is fine since DL is probably the exercise I have the worst form with. I wish my gym had bumper plates. I'd ask someone but I'm sure they would just stare at me like "What's a bumper plate?" I don't see any on the racks or laying around anywhere.

I did fairly well today on my diet:

7:45 AM: Oatmeal with a banana and ~1 Tbspn honey, 2 omega-3 scrambled eggs with a handful (~1 cup) of spinach and a slice of pepper jack cheese.
10:15 AM: 1 cup baby carrots, 1 handful of almonds, 1 cup yogurt (strawberry banana again, what are the odds?)
1:00 PM: ~2 cups chicken chili
4:00 PM: 1 apple, 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter, ~1 cup of chicken stir fry
6:30 PM: 1 Tilapia fillet (pretty large), 1 sweet potato (baked), some smart balance, and leftover green beans (~1 cup)
9:30 PM: I will be having my nightly cottage cheese with three olives

I cut out soda and candy roughly three weeks ago, and started improving my diet about two weeks ago. I could be overly optimistic, but it looks like I'm already seeing changes in my body composition, although I'm skeptical because I haven't been sticking to the diet as well as I should've been.

[Saith]

Figured out what was wrong with my squat form because I nice guy came over and gave me some pointers. I'm starting to like this place, despite the fact that it's a golds and the full body tippy-toe curlers use the curl racks.

So I can't get quite to parallel without bending forward at the waist. This is why I was noticing so much weight on the back when I was going back up. The guy helped me out and I have it pretty much sorted out now, besides not being able to go parallel yet. I will have to work on that.

Besides that I managed to make all my weights. My deadlift form is 1000% better than it was last Thursday thanks to the help from everyone on here and a few tnation articles. Still could probably use some work though. My form with squats is now also much better, though again I should be able to get at least parallel.

There is good news. Despite wanting to quit when I got to squats, I kept on through the workout and finished the whole thing, at weight too. That means I'm on track next week for upping all the weights. I do need to manage my time a little better on Wednesdays though, that's one long-ass workout.

I also need to look up some articles on OHP form so that I can make sure I'm doing these right.

Diet:

7:30 AM: Oatmeal, banana, honey, milk. Scrambled eggs, spinach, pepper jack slice.
10:00 AM: 1 cup carrots, Handful of almonds and a cup of yogurt (blackberry)
12:30 PM: 2 cups chicken chili. One more serving left before I need to cook again.
3:00 PM: Dropped my apple on the road this morning, so that was ruined. 1 cup chicken stir fry and 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter.
6:00 PM: Another large tilapia fillet, about 1/2 cup white rice (I have about half a box left to go before I finish this off) and 1 cup lemon broccoli (lemon juice, cayenne pepper, smart balance, and broccoli heated in a pan)
8:00 PM: Gatorade while working out.
10:00 PM: Whey protein shake with about a cup of strawberries. 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 3 olives.

[Saith]

Just diet today. Should've done ankle stretching but was reading Sherdog instead....

7:30 AM: Oatmeal, banana, honey, milk. Eggs, spinach, pepper jack.
10:00 AM: Yogurt, almonds, carrot sticks.
12:30 PM: Last of the chicken chili.
3:00 PM: Last of the stir fry, 2 spoonfuls of PB.
6:00 PM: Gorged on Tilapia, broccoli, and another 1/2 cup of rice.
7:30 PM: Snickers candy bar. I cheated, guess I'm getting sick of something. I think it's the Tilapia, I need a better recipe. The broccoli was awesome though.
9:30 PM: Last of the tub of cottage cheese I've been working on. No olives since I cheated.
11:00 PM: SLEEP MOTHERFUCKER!

[Saith]

Last day of my first week of the 5x5. I feel like in one week I've increased my form by quite a bit (thanks to a few helpful guys in the gym, a number of guys on here, and google).

Bench: 115x5x5, had no problems, form was decent.

Squats: Pyramids up to 155x5, had some trouble keeping good form at 155, but I'm gonna go ahead and keep upping the weight anyway because it's still gonna be lower Monday for 5x5s and I will be able to improve my form a lot cranking those out at somewhat higher weight. On the plus side my form was very good on the lower weights, I even managed to get to parallel a couple times.

Pendlay Row: 110x5x5. I improved my form on these tremendously, so I'm going to add a little extra weight on Monday. Normally I'd want to work on form before adding weight, but since my gym doesn't have bumper plates just getting the weight to 135+ will help a lot. Plus these were so easy I'm not worried about it.

Diet:

7:30 AM: Oatmeal, banana, milk, honey. Eggs, spinach, pepper jack.
10:15 AM: Yogurt, almonds, carrots.
12:00 PM: Whole wheat pasta with onions, mushrooms, peppers, spinach, and some Parmesan chicken. Thank you Noodles & Co.
3:00 PM: ~2/3 cup whole wheat pasta with tuna, peas, mushroom soup, milk, and cheese. Forgot the peanut butter and didn't have any apples to bring.
6:00 PM: Taco bell. Lack of sleep all week has finally caught up with me. Chicken quesadilla, chicken soft taco, and cheesy fiesta potatoes.
8:30 PM: Post workout whey protein + milk + leftover strawberries.
9:00 PM: Cottage cheese.

Now if I can get through the weekend avoiding my bane, Baja Fresh chicken nachos, I'm solid. God created this plate full of saturated fat just to make sure I would break my diet, but I'm not giving in! 51 hours to go and I'm solid.

[Saith]

Strength Goals

Long Term:

Bench Press: >200 by 2009.

Deadlifts: > 400 by 2009

Squats: >400 by 2009

Short term:

Squats: Get form down solid by the time I get to Phase 2 of the Bill Star 5x5

Deadlifts: Same

Bench Press: Same

[Saith]

Diet today:

11:00 AM: Oatmeal, honey, milk (out of fruit and bananas). Eggs, spinach pepper jack.
1:30 PM: Yogurt, almonds, carrots.
3:00 PM: Bit of tuna casserole again.
5:00 PM: 1 Spoonful of cinnamon raisin PB, 2 spoonfuls regular PB, 1 apple, and the last of the Tilapia (hurray!)
7:00 PM: 6" Tuna sub from subway. Honey oat bread, tuna, spinach, tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, black olives, sweet onion sauce.
9:00 PM: Half a pan of lemon bars. I've had these in my pantry for a little over a month and haven't gotten around to baking them. I figure binging on them is better than eating them one by one since it will make my body digest them less efficiently. I probably should've just given the mix away, but my "no wasting" instincts kicked in. Oh well.

One day until a weekend without Baja Fresh. I refuse to give in to the siren call of saturated fat.

[Saith]

Diet:

10:00 AM: Oatmeal, blueberries, honey, milk. Eggs, spinach, pepper jack.
12:00 PM: Tuna casserole
2:30 PM: Yogurt, almonds, carrots.
6:00 PM: Chicken pot pie.
9:00 PM: Apple, 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter, 1 spoonful chocolate peanut butter.
10:00 PM: Cottage cheese.
Throughout the day: Other half of the lemon bars. Now the worst thing in my apartment is cinnamon apple sauce and white rice. I managed to get through the weekend pretty well. I'm definitely eating better than last weekend. If I can keep this up my diet will be much better.

[Klotz]

What do yellow and red mean?

[Saith]

Cheat

Extra cheat

[DEVILsSON]

Nice log.

Few suggestions:
#1 always warm up
#2 form first and foremost
#3 dont try to move too much weight too fast
#4 video tape your lifts ASAP....you need to be sure your form is good from the get go....and most beginners idea of good form and what experienced lifters consider proper form are often very vasly different perspectives
#5 watch a lot of videos on proper form..

Squats:
PUSH OUT WITH YOUR LEGS/KNEES and SIT BACK....this is one of the most common mistakes people make...they squat over their legs instead of between them.
HEAD UP, CHEST OUT, ELBOWS DOWN, BODY ALMOST VERTICAL(slight lean is fine)....push back on the bar and go out of the hole head first...DO NOT goodmorning the weight

Deadlifts:
Keep hips fairly low...and push with your legs...do not pop up with your hips before the weight leaves the ground...squeeze your glutes hard....keep chest out...

Bench:
practice good arch, body positioning/set up, etc...

good luck