Not going quietly...

[Silent P]

Been a long-time lurker in S&P, and now that I'm in the bench comp, I figured it's about time a start a log.

The story so far:

Been lifting on and off for years, with stops and starts, migrated away from the big 3 to more isolation and BB excercises. Started focusing on squat, dl and bp at the beginning of this year, and was making good progress until I had my appendix out at the end of April. Started up lifting again in June. Took a while to get back to where I was. I have lower back issues that flare up from time to time, which has made progress on the squat very slow.

Current stats:

BW: 205
Squat: 200x5
Bench: 230x1 (220x5)
DL: 330x3

Current goals:

Squat: ???
Bench: 275
DL: 405

I've been doing an upper/lower type split, mostly based on what days I can get to the gym. It looks something like this:

Day 1:

Squat: 3x5
DL: 1x5, 1x3
BORs: 3x5 or Pullups/chinups 3x5

Day 2:

Bench: 3x5
SOHP: 3x5 seated
Hang cleans: 3x5
DB Flys: 3x5
Curls: 3x5

I usually do Day 1 at the gym on Mon/Thurs and Day 2 at home on Tues/Fri, since I don't have a rack for squats at home.

I'm open to suggestions on improving my workout. I'd love to do cleans but I don't really have the room for it at home, and there's definitely no room at the gym. And yes, the curls are purely for vanity.

[Silent P]

8/31/09

Back is semi-borked as of two weeks ago, so today's workout was on the light side.

Warmup: 12 min on treadmill, 1.25 miles

5 min stretching focusing on lower back and hams

Squat 135x5, 155x5, 175x5
Deadlift 2x 225x5
Bent-over Rows 3x 135x5
Crunches 3x x15

Back felt good, no twinges or anything. I need to concentrate on getting more flexible and work on avoiding any tail tuck.

[Silent P]

9/1/09

Damn, I think my kids gave me a cold just in time for back to school. Oh well.

Bench 135x5, 3x 200x5
OHP 3x 105x5
Upright Rows 3x 105x5
Curls 3x 105x5
DB Flys 3x 40x5

Bench felt strong for first set, a little weak on the last set. Maybe need a bigger breakfast.

[freeski]

Nice lifting fellow evil benchman. Back pain sucks.

[McClure]

Great job.

Hope you don't mind...but why the upright rows and db flyes?

IMO you'd be better off with other choices...

Of course, being a fellow Evil Benchmen you are naturally intelligent and good-looking so I'm certain you have your reasons.

However, based on my experiences (and I, of course while also being naturally intelligent and good-looking, have alot to learn as well) it pays to look closely at your exercise/movement selection and choose compound over isolation when possible.

Upright Rows could be replaced with either dynamic rows or hang cleans for example.

DB flyes could be replaced with either DB presses, dips, close grips or floor presses.

Good luck - and feel feel to peruse my sorry, failure-filled and generally weak-natured log to comment.

[freeski]

Are you anywhere near Boston?

[Silent P]

McClure -
I had been doing dips instead of the flys, but was having some shoulder pain. Based on some excellent post in S&P, I figured out that the shoulder pain was probably due to my bench form -- real wide grip, elbows flared. This was about 3-4 months ago.

Since then, I've changed my form to slightly wider than shoulder width, and work on keeping my elbows in, and haven't had any issues since. I should probably look at adding dips back in.

freeski -
I am north of Boston, Tyngsboro to be exact. Last stop on Rt 3 before Nashua.

[Silent P]

9/3/09

Felt stiff this morning -- must be part of getting old. Still going with lighter than normal.

Warmup: 12 min on treadmill, 1.25 miles

Stretching 5 min.

Squat 135x5, 155x5, 175x5
Deadlift 225x5, 275x5
Pullups 3x5, BW only
Leg-Hip Raises 3x8

Feeling pretty good today.

[freeski]

Cool. If you are ever in Boston and want to hit the gym let me know.

[Silent P]

9/4/09

Felt strong this morning. Same weight as Tuesday, but somehow lighter.

Bench 135x5, 3x 200x5
OHP 3x 105x5
Upright Rows 3x 105x5
Curls 3x 105x5
DB Flys 3x 40x5

Going to move up to 205 for reps next week.