Jahidi's Workout Journal

[Quagmire911]

Good luck, how long is the job for?

 

[jahidi]

^ Until the end of August. Then I go back to university and everything will be back to normal for training.

The good news is that the job isn't as physically stressful as I thought it would be. I'm still taking it easy this week and haven't hit the gym since Saturday but that's just because my sleep schedule is all messed up - I have to get up at 5am every day which is hard and tiring to adjust to after staying up late and sleeping in for the past month. No lie, yesterday evening, I knelt down to pet my cat and fell asleep on the hallway floor for over an hour...lol

With every day it gets easier though and I'm starting to be able to fall asleep earlier and get a good 8 hours. Today was great and I'm not that tired at all right now. Drinking carbo gain while working as EFFORT suggested really helps as well.

The way things are going I think I'll be able to work out on a weekday next week again, maybe just Wednesday for now, as well as the Saturday as usual.

 

[Quagmire911]

A two day would be better than a 3 day whilst working this job. Check out Ironaddict's for a routine idea. I would recommend one of his hardgainers routines. Not because you are a hardgainer, simply because of the situation you are in.

Good luck.

 

[jahidi]

A two day would be better than a 3 day whilst working this job. Check out Ironaddict's for a routine idea. I would recommend one of his hardgainers routines. Not because you are a hardgainer, simply because of the situation you are in.

Good luck.

Alright thanks, I'll take a look. What is it about hardgainers' routines that make them better for my situation?

 

[EFFORT]

Alright thanks, I'll take a look. What is it about hardgainers' routines that make them better for my situation?

Because of the job you have

 

[jahidi]

Good to be back!

After taking a week off to get used to digging ditches for 12 hours a day, I'm back and made some good gains today.

SATURDAY

Squat 3 x 5 PR
8 x 45 (bar)
5 x 95
3 x 135
1 x 155
5 x 190
5 x 190
5 x 190

Couldn't go much harder than I went today on squats. I doubt I'd have been able to do 195.

Standing Military Press 3 x 5 PR
8 x 45 (bar) <-- did this warmup set today just to get the feel of the movement, not sure if it's necessary.
5 x 105
5 x 105
5 x 105

I struggled to do 100 last time, upped it 5 lbs today and it actually felt easier.

Pendlay Rows 3 x 5 PR
5 x 115
5 x 115
5 x 115

Chin-ups 2 x 8

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I'm going to Quag's advice and get going on a hardgainers routine for the summer. I hate to see Rippetoe go, I enjoyed the program and it served me well even if it was only for a month. Hopefully I can revert back to Rippetoe's program once my job ends in August and I go back to university.

 

[jahidi]

What do you guys think of this routine? It's in IA's top 10 favourite routines thread.

Hardgainer/Low Volume/Frequency Routine

Day One:
Dips or Bench Press 2-3 x 6-8
Incline Press, or incline Fly 2 x 10-12
Military Press, Or Hammer Shoulder Press 2-3 x 6-8
Tricep (skull crushers) Extensions or Tricep Pushdowns 2-3 x 10-12
Heavy Abs 3 x 10

Day Two:
Pull-Up 3 sets to failure
Barbell Row 2-3 x 8
EZ-Bar Or Dumbell Curl 1-2 x 10
Squats 2 x 10
Deadlifts, or Stiff-Legged Deadlift 1 x 10

I know IA is very well respected but do you guys think this routine would be good for me to get strength and size gains, given where I'm at right now and the job I'm working?

 

[Kerpal]

Reps seem too high for a beginner IMO... why not just do Rippetoe twice a week?

 

[jahidi]

WEDNESDAY

Did Rippetoe again today because I don't know what else to do. Any thoughts on what routine to go with now?

Anyway I only got about 6 hours of sleep last night because I watched the NBA final game and then got up early for work. Work wasn't that tiring today though...at least I thought.

Squat 3 x 5 PR
8 x 45 (bar)
5 x 95
3 x 135
1 x 165
2 x 190
3 x 185

Horrible, I guess I wasn't up for working out following a day of work after all. Hopefully I adjust more and can get used to this but squats were brutal today. I knew something was up when my warmup set 1x165 was a little more difficult than it should have been. I was pissed and still am but Saturday has to be better.

Bench Press 3 x 5 PR
8 x 45 (bar)
5 x 95
5 x 140
5 x 140
5 x 140

First time doing 140 without failure. It almost felt as if I could do 145. I was debating going home after squats but I knew I could probably lift a lot out of anger. Good improvement here.

Deadlift 1 x 5 PR
1 x 135
1 x 185
5 x 230

Again, I was able to do this because I was mad at myself for not being able to squat. The extra energy in my legs probably helped too, though.

Weighted Dips 2 x 8
8 x 35
8 x 35

I'm ready for an increase here, my tri's have become noticeably stronger lately.

$hitty workout overall mainly because the squats set me off. At least I was able to do bench and deads. Saturday will be much better.

----------

The good news: I'm looking noticeably bigger although I haven't gained much more weight since the start of the month (maybe a couple lbs). I'm not going to weigh myself again until July 1st though, just have to trust that I'm doing everything right. I think I base all my success on how much I weigh and if I don't gain weight I see it as a failure so I need to stop weighing myself all the time.

Also, after a week I've already got a reputation at work for bringing in a ton of beef and eating like a monster... lol that can only be a good thing.

 

[jahidi]

SUNDAY

I went to the gym yesterday after being busy all day, pulled into the parking lot at 6:15 and found out the gym closed at 6. So I went today instead.

Squat 3 x 5
8 x 45 (bar)
5 x 95
3 x 135
1 x 165
3 x 195 --> fail
5 x 185
5 x 185

Took a step backwards here. I'm not sure why, maybe part of it is that I had that huge mental block after my brutal attempt at squatting last time.

Standing Military Press 3 x 5 PR
8 x 45 (bar)
5 x 110
5 x 110
4 x 110

Finally starting to see gains in this exercise...

Pendlay Rows 3 x 5
5 x 115
5 x 115
5 x 115

Chin-ups 2 x 8

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BTW, I haven't talked about my diet lately. I've been following EFFORT's Simple Starting Diet still; according to fitday.com my calories are in the low 3000s (I know some say 3500-4000 but keep in mind I'm only 5'8" and weigh in the 130s) and I protein is around 220-250g. I think I've found the amounts that work for me so everything is going well diet-wise.

EDIT: Forgot to add that I'm eating more now because of my job. I eat more beef and also have carbo gain shakes while at work. What I mentioned above were my old numbers, I'll see on fitday what my new numbers are.

 

[jahidi]

TUESDAY

I wasn't planning on working out today but work ended early and I was feeling energized. I love the flexibility of a 2 day split, it works for my busy schedule.

Squat 3 x 5
8 x 45 (bar)
5 x 95
3 x 135
1 x 165
5 x 190
5 x 190
5 x 190

Back to 190, nice. This was crazy hard though, I don't know how I found it inside me to get the last rep of each set done.

Bench Press 3 x 5 PR
8 x 45 (bar)
5 x 95
6 x 140
7 x 140
5 x 140

Added some more reps, hopefully I can do 145 next time. I could have done more first set but my foot seized up, it was really weird and painful. My right toes all curled up and went numb so I had to stop lifting and walk it off. It's happened to me before, maybe a nerve problem or something? Never hurt this much though which is why I just ignored it... anyone know what's up?

Deadlift 1 x 5 PR
1 x 135
1 x 185
5 x 235

This is gonna start slowing down soon, I can't keep increasing at this rate and my grip strength is horrible. It always feels like I'm going to drop the weight since I can't grip it tight.

Weighted Dips 2 x 8 PR
8 x 45
8 x 45

Nice...

----------

So, any thoughts on what routine I should follow? Should I stick to Rippetoe or go with a hardgainers routine? If it's the latter, is the one I suggested good, or can you recommend a different one?

Also please read under my bench press above, I'm concerned about my foot.

Keep the gains coming!

 

[ProDJ26]

Stick to the ripptoe for now. It like the old saying goes "If it aint broke dont fix it"

Are you moving your feet when you bench? You shouldn't....
Get some videos of that bench

 

[Kerpal]

You're very strong for a beginner, you're already deadlifting almost 2x bodyweight for reps

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Do you use alternate grip when deadlifting? If you don't start doing it as it may help your grip problems.

 

[jahidi]

Thanks for the replies guys.

ProDJ26 - Yeah I think I'm going to stick to Rippetoe because it seems like I'm still making gains on this program since starting my job over 2 weeks ago, so like you said why fix it. However I'll only do Rippetoe 2x per week for now since I'm still pretty tired after work on most days, not to mention having to do physical work the day after a workout when I'm sore. BTW I keep my feet still when I bench but I'll try to get you guys a video.

Kerpal - Thanks. I'm looking forward to hitting the 2x bw deadlift.

Stallion - Yeah I've always used alternate grip. But I know for a fact, and already knew this from lifting random heavy household things and stuff, that my grip strength is very weak. I think if I stop making gains in my deadlift soon it will be because my hands can't take it anymore, not because my body can't.

 

[jahidi]

Progress!

Starting with June 1st I decided to weigh myself and measure myself on the 1st of every month to see how I've grown in the past month. Here are my new numbers.

BTW I weigh myself first thing in the morning, after going to the washroom but before eating. Apparently this is the most accurate way, and I didn't know this at the start of the thread when I said I weighed 133 - that was really just an average since I was 129 in the morning and 136 or so in the evening.

Weight May 1: 129 lbs
Weight June 1: 133 lbs
Weight July 1: 138 lbs

Gained 5 pounds in the last month.

I measured myself May 24th and want to do that every month as well. This is my growth since then. I need to measure more muscles though, unfortunately I only did those 2 measurements on the 24th just because someone asked me to do only them.

Arms May 24: 12.0"
Arms July 1: 12.5"

Thighs May 24: 19.5"
Thighs July 1: 20.75"

Decent gains... I wish I had measured my calves because they are looking a lot bigger and I want to confirm. All in all I've seen a little bit of growth in my upper body but more growth in my legs.



Anyway that's all for now. I went away for the long weekend so I couldn't train at all, but I'll be working out 2x per week now for sure.

 

[Quagmire911]

Congrats, keep it up!

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Great job dude. Do waist measurements too

 

[jahidi]

Thanks guys!

WEDNESDAY

Squat 3 x 5 PR
8 x 45 (bar)
5 x 95
3 x 135
1 x 165
5 x 195
5 x 195
5 x 195

Nice progress still... almost at 200!

Standing Military Press 3 x 5
8 x 45 (bar)
5 x 105
5 x 105
4 x 105

Regressed from last time, this is a tough exercise...

Pendlay Rows 3 x 5 PR
5 x 120
5 x 120
5 x 120

Weighted Dips 2 x 8 PR --> Should have been Chin ups 2 x 8
8 x 50
8 x 50

I just realized I did dips instead of chin ups, mistake. It went well but this isn't a hard routine to memorize and I don't know how I forgot.

Solid workout though, other than my poor military press.

 

[Quagmire911]

Your military press is actually pretty decent for how long you have been working out.

Now about that grip. In my opinion everyone should be training grip directly, cause from what I have seen if you don't you are screwed. A strong grip is vital. On that note, I recommend you work on crushing grip and pinch grip. Therer are three types of grip, the two I just mentioned and "supporting grip" which is stuff like gripping the bar on the deadlift.

I would highly recommend getting a captains of crush gripper, I think they are $10 in the US although I am not sure. I am in the UK and they are still only £20. The "trainer" is a good gripper to start on. If you can't afford one, then look at this article:

Do something like farmers walk two sets, and then door grab for two sets. If you get a gripper you would do something like 2sets each hand on the gripper and then door grab for two sets.

Keep it up!