Kerpal's Training Log

[Quiksilver]

No, the dumbbells I'm using go up in 5 lb increments so I can't use the 5% solution.

Hah, you are just looking for reasons not to progress aren't you?

Back in the day when I was doing DB pressing, the weight stack went up in 5lb jumps too... I used to grab two sets of DBs, the ones I'd be training with + a pair of 2.5lb DBs. It was awkward as hell to hold, but hey my progression would have stopped had I only tried using the main DBs.

A little while later with the same method I used to wrap lengths of chain weighing 1lb-3lb around my wrists and press like that.

You know.... Or I could have just said "Damn I'm not doing well on this movement, fvck it".

Your choice, but I think your psychology is holding you back.

 

[Quagmire911]

Fuc*ing ace dead, especially for not feeling great.

What supps are you on at the moment? What is diet/sleep like?

 

[Kerpal]

Haha Quik, I really like the double dumbbell idea. Never would have thought of that, I'll try it out. I could also get some chain at Home Depot.

Quag, I'm not using any supplements right now, haven't been for a while. I'm a little low on funds lately so I can't really afford it anyway.

I've had the worst headache for the past couple of days. When I got up yesterday morning I was so dizzy I could barely make it to the bathroom. I felt hung over even though I haven't had a drink in over a month. I feel fine now though. I think I was congested because I noticed my hearing was a lot worse than usual the past week, it was probably related to that. But it's clearing up now.

Sleep/diet not good at the moment. The sleep thing is due to my classes though. I've had 4 tests and a big project due in the last week so I've been up all night studying.

Need to get the diet sorted but I need to figure out how to increase my appetite. I'm just never that hungry for some reason and that makes it impossible to eat enough. I was talking to this girl I'm dating today and she was saying how she hadn't eaten much today, and she listed off what she had eaten, and it was more than I had today. This is a 110 lb girl, and on a day that she doesn't eat enough, she eats more than I do

 

[Fuglydude]

10/30/09

Deadlift:

5 x 355 lbs
5 x 375 lbs
6 x 400 lbs

I didn’t feel too well today and wasn’t in the mood to train. Have had a headache the last couple of days.

Dude, your lifts make me feel like a pussssy! I wanna see some vids from you so I can see your form. Your squat/deadlift numbers are great, so your core strength and your legs are obviously very strong. You don't do any accessory work for core/legs do you?

 

[Quagmire911]

The reason I mention the supps is that I've been really interested lately about vitamins/minerals.

If your diet isn't up to scratch you will be falling short on some important stuff like zinc/magnesium. And this is before you've even done any weight lifting. Then you lift, and your requirments go up further.

Not to mention dietary sources aren't as good as they use to be for providing the vitmanins and minerals. I think the evidence is pretty strong for everyone to be taking a good multi and some extra zinc/mag/calcium, not to mention fish oil. Especially lifters.

Poliquin actually says 100% of his athletes are deficient in magnesium when they first come to him. Magnesium is crtically important for a lot of bodily funcitons.

Just something to think about.

 

[Kerpal]

Yeah, well I know my diet is holding me back but my appetite is so low that it's impossible for me to get all the nutrients and everything. It's 4:45 pm here and I still haven't eaten anything today. I'm just not ever hungry and I can't force myself to eat or I'll feel sick. I have no idea how I got up to 190 lbs eating like this.

 

[Quagmire911]

I'd recommend you get the basic stuff. Something like the Now adam multi, and some zinc/mag citrate. Fish oil too. This stuff is cheap, and will stave off/fix deficiences that I'm sure you have/will get.

The fact you don't eat much and your weight is 190ish suggests your metabolism might be in the shi*ter. Do you feel low on energy/depressed a lot?

How much exercise are you doing except the weights? Might be a good idea to do some morning walking or something to get the appetite going. You'll have to get onto a better eating plan.

If you got the supps theres a good chance that will stimulate your appetite, your body needs the raw materials to be able to digest efficiently.

I'm sure you know all this, helps to be reminded though.

 

[Kerpal]

I'd recommend you get the basic stuff. Something like the Now adam multi, and some zinc/mag citrate. Fish oil too. This stuff is cheap, and will stave off/fix deficiences that I'm sure you have/will get.

The fact you don't eat much and your weight is 190ish suggests your metabolism might be in the shi*ter. Do you feel low on energy/depressed a lot?

How much exercise are you doing except the weights? Might be a good idea to do some morning walking or something to get the appetite going. You'll have to get onto a better eating plan.

If you got the supps theres a good chance that will stimulate your appetite, your body needs the raw materials to be able to digest efficiently.

I'm sure you know all this, helps to be reminded though.

I'll look into the supplements.

I do think my metabolism is low. Otherwise I don't understand how I could have gotten this heavy eating so little. I feel depressed all the time but I've had mental health problems my whole life, schizophrenia & depression run on my mom's side of the family. So I'm not sure if that has anything to do with my metabolism.

I don't do anything except lift weights right now, should probably start doing more.

 

[Kerpal]

11/04/09

Floor press:

5 x 45 lbs
5 x 95 lbs
5 x 135 lbs
5 x 155 lbs
5 x 170 lbs
1 x 190 lbs (was going for 5, couldn’t get more than 1)
8 x 170 lbs

First time doing floor press, so I had no idea how much weight to use. My triceps felt like they were going to explode after this.

Dips:

2 x 10 x bodyweight

Squat:

5 x 5 x 305 lbs

 

[Quagmire911]

I'm very inactive most of the time at the moment. I actually looked up calories for a guy who sits on his ass in the 185 range, it was actually under 2000.

It only takes cardio 4 times a week or so and your then closer to 3000.

So you might actually be eating enough to sustain yourself. 1800-1900 isn't difficult at all.

I've been looking at the nutrition side of depression a bit as well, I tend to feel shi*ty a lot of the time. To convert tryptophan to serotonin requires b6, magnesium, zinc, etc. If you're deficient in this stuff (most of the population are) your body can't make serotonin as well. I don't think its a concidence that diet has degraded over the last few decades and now millions of people are on anti-depressants. I think there is a connection for a lot of people.

And then you look at Poliquin who says 100% of his athletes are deficient in zinc and magnesium when they first arrive- this suggests the athletic population might be even more at risk of feeling rundown/shi*ty all the time.

How much of a link there is is irrelvant anyway, this stuff is required for a ton of other stuff too.

Quagmire

 

[Kerpal]

I'm thinking about quitting squats.

My quads are simply getting too large. None of my pants fit me anymore. They fit fine around the waist, but I can't pull them up past my quads. Also, my legs are just starting to look weird.

 

[Drum&Bass]

I wouldnt give up squats. I'd use variation. switch to zercher squats.

 

[Quagmire911]

I'm thinking about quitting squats.

My quads are simply getting too large. None of my pants fit me anymore. They fit fine around the waist, but I can't pull them up past my quads. Also, my legs are just starting to look weird.

This is blasphemy.

 

[Kerpal]

Yeah I know, but it's just starting to get ridiculous. My pants don't fit me and my legs look really weird and out of proportion. If there was some way to keep getting stronger without my legs getting bigger, or even making them smaller, I would probably keep doing it.

Plus I'm tired of my quads being sore all the time. My glutes only get mildly sore, and my hamstrings never get sore when I squat, but my quads always feel extremely sore for days afterward and it's annoying.

 

[Drum&Bass]

I ran into the same problem training my running athletes ! they all had over developed quads and under developed hams and glutes. Your quads have become so strong that your glutes, hips and hams are not firing correctly during movement.

Switch to Zercher squats, Sumo Deadlifts, and glute ham raises as your main leg exercises. I would give up squatting traditionally for awhile until you correct the muscular imbalance that has occurred.

I would also do mobility warm ups EVERY day, birdogs, fire hydrants and hip thrusts.

heres an article that might drive this point home even more.

 

[Kerpal]

Can't stop doing back squats or my strength in them will plummet and it will take months to recoup.

That link didn't work for me. How do you know if your quads are over or underdeveloped? I've noticed that most of the powerlifters at my gym have relatively small quads, but they do wide-stance multi-ply half squats so their quads don't have to work as hard as someone who actually hits full depth with a realistic stance.

My hamstrings have definitely gotten a hell of a lot stronger since I started training. But I never feel them actually working unless I do glute-ham raises and reverse hypers. They do get sore after deadlifts and good mornings, even though I don't feel them actually working during those movements. When I squat they never get sore at all. My quads and adductors get very sore though, and my glutes get pretty sore but not as badly.

 

[Kerpal]

11/06/09

Deadlift:

3 x 375 lbs
3 x 400 lbs
4 x 425 lbs

Bah, I was hoping for 5 with 425 but I failed on the 5th rep.

Sumo deadlift:

10 x 315 lbs

It’s ridiculous how much easier sumo style is. I feel like I’m only moving the weight half as far compared to conventional.

 

[Quagmire911]

Sumo will be easier when you knock 100+ pounds off . Give it a try at 425lbs...

It has helped my dead in the past to switch between the two.

 

[Kerpal]

Yeah, I have read that they help each other. I think I'll start doing these more often, my hamstrings are very sore today but I don't know if it's because I used a sumo stance or just because of the higher reps. My hamstrings always get very sore if I do higher rep deadlifts.

How wide of a stance do you use? I tried a few different stances before the 315x10 set. I tried a very wide stance, with my toes almost touching the plates, but it felt really weird and like I was going to crush my toes on the way down. Eventually I settled on a narrower stance with my heels just outside my hands at the bottom.

I'll try using more weight next time. This was only my 2nd time trying sumo deadlifts so I was conservative with the weight.

 

[Kerpal]

11/07/09

DE Bench:

2 x 135 lbs (wide grip)
3 x 135 lbs (normal grip)
3 x 135 lbs (close grip)

3 board press:

2 x 5 x 185 lbs

I could have used a lot more weight here, but the racks were being used and I didn't have a spotter so I had to be careful. First time doing this anyway so probably a good idea to stay light for now.

1 arm dumbbell overhead press:

3 x 6 x 50 lbs (per side)
2 x 6 x 55 lbs (per side)

I thought my arms would be more tired after the benching so I went to 50 lbs, but that ended up being too light. Increased to 55 lbs for the last 2 sets. The last reps of the last 2 sets with my left arm were almost side presses, but I managed to finish them.