Mex's Journal

[Mex]

I started StrongLift's 5x5 today, and figured I would start a journal. I am starting from absolute bottom; empty bar, and I want to keep track of progress on here. By the way, my height is 5-7.

Monday, 11/16/09 - session 1

Weight = 144 lbs.

Workout:
Squats 5x5x45
Bench 5x5x45
Inv Rows 12,5,5 (no resistance no support)
Pushups 20,10,8 (no resistance no support)
Rev Crunches 12,12,12 (no resistance no support)

Squats and bench were extremely easy. Inv rows were toughest, push ups started easy, but muscles gave out quick on 2nd and 3rd set. Crunches felt awkard, I still have to practice form, and they were easier than they should have been.

What are good numbers for Inv rows and push ups for three sets a piece? The StrongLifts says to go til failure on 3 sets for these.

By the way, are you supposed to eat the same on days off? I will do a Mon-Wed-Fri routine.

 

[Fuglydude]

I'm assuming you mean that weight in kilos.... Definitely increase the weight on squats/bench. Yes, eat very similar on your days off... w/ the exception of any specialized pre-WO supplements you're taking. Some guys like to carb up pre-WO, etc.

 

[Mex]

Thjanks Fuglydude. Actually, everything is quoted in lbs. I know that the weight is low on the first two, but I will increase by 5 lbs each session, so I will be patient, and focus on form while it is easy.

Any comments about number of reps for push ups and Inv rows? I am doing three sets of each. What number of reps is considered "good"? Remember, I am doing until failure on both of these.

 

[Fuglydude]

k you need to seriously increase the weights... my gf is 5'9" 135, and she's squatting more than twice as much as you...

I think 135 is a reasonable weight to get a feel for a squat. Its still under bodyweight, so I think its reasonable. 5 x 5 is a tough regimen... When I do a 5 x 5 regimen, I'm completely fried. Lift as heavy as you can while keeping your form decent.

 

[frenchbeauty]

135 sounds a little too heavy to start off. I mean my buddy that just started out is having trouble keeping good form with 115. I would suggest starting off with 95, but eh if you're confident with 135, by all means go for it.

 

[Mex]

I understand what youre saying fugly, but at the same time, the description of this routine specifically says to start with empty bar (45 lbs) unless you are experienced. I dont consider myself too experienced. I hate to sound like 'by-the-book' but I have no other info to go on. Also, the weight on the squats will increase fast, 15 lbs per week in fact. The other exercises (bench, deads, and overheads) alternate (see below) so they will increase 15 lbs every two weeks. I alternate workouts A and B each time I go, which in MWF. At this rate, I will be squating my own weight in under 2 months. Anyway, I appreciate your advice, and dont mean to rub it off, but I have to go with the info I have.

At the same time, I really have even more motivation to get back to the gym since I know the weight will increase each time for a while.
Believe me, I am very tempted to increase the weight since I feel like a wuss lifting only the bar, but I want to do it right and get results this time, so I am ignoring my ego for now. I know I can do a lot more.

Workout A
Squat 5x5
Bench Press 5x5
Inverted Rows 3xF (F means until failure)
Push-ups 3xF
Reverse Crunch 3x12

Workout B
Squat 5x5
Overhead Press 5x5
Deadlift 1x5
Pull-ups/Chin-ups 3xF
Prone Bridges 3x30sec

But still, if you can comment on the number of reps for push ups, rows, and pull ups that are a good goal I would appreciate that too. Thanks.

 

[Fuglydude]

Its all good man... I've been at this game for over 10 years, and have a penchant for lifting heavy. Movements like squats/deads are very instinctive/natural for me now, so I guess I don't know what its like to be a beginner.

The program you're using is solid and will give your central nervous system enough training so you can learn the movements. Soon they will become second nature and you'll see how hard a 5 x 5 regimen can be when you're lifting heavy!

I love deadlifting, so naturally, I'm gonna tell you to increase the frequency of your deads, as I see you're only doing 1 x 5 w/ them.

Just stay consistent and you'll see progress.

How's your diet?

 

[Mex]

Thanks again Fuglydude! As far as my diet, here is what I ate on my first REAL workout day.

-2 hardboiled eggs
-1 pack raisins (1.5 oz)
-3 oz mixed nuts
-workout
-lunch was pasta salad (1 can tuna, 1/3 lb pasta, and random crap like celery, pickles etc)
-1.5 scoops protein shake
-1/4 gallon whole milk
-almost 3/4 gallon water (includes shake)
-dinner (.6 lbs ground beef,1/8 lb pasta,1/2 bell pepper, 1/2 onion, tomato sauce, and 1 tomato)
-20 to 25 blueberries

Today I will do similar, but sub some carb heavy stuff for protein (i.e. replace pasta with more meat/tuna). I will try to get more fruit/veggies in today also, as well as in the future. It seems that my stomach still has some stretching out to do haha.

 

[Fuglydude]

Diet doesn't look bad, but you need to increase protein intake. I'm gonna estimate you're taking in around 130-150 g protein w/ the diet you gave, which is decent at 144 lbs. However, if you wanna see serious gains, consider trying to get to 200 g protein/day. Try and eat at least 1 lb of meat a day.

I'm not sure how close you're eating prior to working out. I'd stay away from nuts, and anything high in fat content pre-WO as it takes a lot of blood/resources to digest fat, and this takes away from resources your body has available to train hard. In addition if you feel full, its hard to go all out w/o feeling nauseous.

My rule of thumb w/ diet is to take your body wt (144) x by 1.5, so that's around 210. Round down to 200 for simplicity's sake. Divide 200 by 5-6 meals. That means that you should try and aim for 40 g of protein per meal. At this stage don't worry too much about junk food. Eat right 90% of the time, but its cool to go out a couple times a week and down a baconator from Wendy's.

I usually have a protein shake around an hour prior to training, just so my body has some free amino acids available during and after training. I take my post-WO shake as well. Ensure you're consuming some form of high GI carb following your work out. Fruit juices, high GI fruits work great. Have a protein shake w/ the juice or whatever post-WO. I believe simple sugars are an integral part of post WO nutrition as it increases your blood sugar levels quickly. This signals to your body that you're not starving and reduces the production of stress hormone (cortisol), which has potent catabolic properties. In addition a good sugar intake post-WO will augment the natural post-WO insulin spike to help shuttle nutrients into your muscles.

Good way to start training. It was over 5 years in before I had any sort of real handle on training and diet. I trained hard, and made progress, but didn't train smart. Consider yourself 5 years ahead of me already, as you're training smart.

How about supplements? EFAs, multivitamins, etc?

 

[Mex]

I am not taking any supplements (EFAs or multivitamins). I am just having 1.5 scoops of Six Star Whey Protien. I know its probably not top of the line, but its cheap at WalMart and I am on a tight budget. I do use olive oil in most of my food (always have just becasue I like it) so I dont know if that counts.

And actually, I did not know anything about high GI vs low GI fruits. That is really useful info Fuglydude.

 

[Fuglydude]

I'd strongly advise starting up on a good strong multi... GNC has some good ones, as well as EFAs. EFAs can be expensive especially if you're trying to get a quality product and consume significant amounts of it. A good concentrated fish oil supplement w/ > 500 mg combined of EPA/DHA is a decent cost-effective EFA. One such supplements is available at Costco up here at least. In my opinion you can get away w/ just supplementing w/ omega 3's as other fatty acids are readily available in food.

As far as protein goes, I use one from Costco, I get 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of a whey isolate, so around 90% protein by weight, for $45. This is up in Canada, and our stuff's more expensive than down in the states, so I think you should be able to score some decent deals on good protein. Costco is a good place to shop for supplements.

 

[Quiksilver]

Here's a little supplement guide, based on your level of experience/disposable income.

Tier 1:

Fish oil
Whey protein
Multivitamin

Tier 2:

Glutamine
Creatine (mono or CEE)
BCAAs

Tier 3:

Flax seed oil
Taurine
Vitamin C (extra pills)
Zinc or ZMA (extra pills)
Green tea extract
HCl

Tier 4:

Dextrose/Maltodextrine
Hydroxycut

Tier 5:

Everything else


I'm sure there are many more, but the basics up top are pretty much all you'll need for a long long time. Don't waste your money on stuff you don't need.

 

[Mex]

Wednesday, 11/18/09 - session 2

Weight = 146.7 lbs (all weights quoted in lbs)

Workout:
Squats 5x5x50
Overhead Press 5x5x45
Deadlifts 1x5x45
Chinups 5,5,4 (no resistance no support)
Prone Bridges 3x30seconds (no resistance no support)

Squats were a bit tougher than last session, but I think its because my legs are still sore (was a virgin to squats until a couple days ago). But it went okay. My hamstring started to cramp up a little, but nothing bad. Overhead press was very easy first 4 sets. Last set was still pretty easy, but I am noticeably weak at these. Deadlifts were not hard-only one set, but legs were sore from squats. Chinups were really tough, especially 2nd and 3rd set. Really need to improve there. First time doing Prones, harder than it looks haha, but I am short and light so not that bad.

 

[Mex]

I'd strongly advise starting up on a good strong multi... GNC has some good ones, as well as EFAs. EFAs can be expensive especially if you're trying to get a quality product and consume significant amounts of it. A good concentrated fish oil supplement w/ > 500 mg combined of EPA/DHA is a decent cost-effective EFA. One such supplements is available at Costco up here at least. In my opinion you can get away w/ just supplementing w/ omega 3's as other fatty acids are readily available in food.

Thanks again Fugly, now I need to look up more acronyms...haha...great info though! Regarding fish oil, is this the stuff you see in pill form at say WalMart or Walgreens?

As far as protein goes, I use one from Costco, I get 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of a whey isolate, so around 90% protein by weight, for $45. This is up in Canada, and our stuff's more expensive than down in the states, so I think you should be able to score some decent deals on good protein. Costco is a good place to shop for supplements.

Unfortunately there is not a Costco close by me, but my parents have one where they live and they shop there all the time. I should have them load up and mail it to me. Can you tell me what kind you are using?

Tier 1:

Fish oil
Whey protein
Multivitamin

Any particular multivitamin product you use/recommend?

 

[Quagmire911]

Good multi's are the beverley international super-pak, or the now adam multi.

Quik gave a good supp list, although personally I'd switch tier 2-3 about and point out the magnesium in the zma. Better to buy zinc/mag seperate anyway. And if you do get them remember and get a form that ends in ate, citrate is usually the cheapest. I'd add calcium to the list as well. Ask about amounts if and when you get the supps. The multi well tell you on it however, and fish oil 5-15g a day is a good bet.

Good luck.

 

[EFFORT]

Post up your daily diet plan (6meals) and lets get that together before we talk about getting any supplements.

 

[Quagmire911]

Post up your daily diet plan (6meals) and lets get that together before we talk about getting any supplements.

S*** I forgot the most important supplement of all

 

[Mex]

Here is what I had today (workout day)

meal 1
2 eggs (hard-boiled) ~1.5 cups milk, ~.5 cups fruit juice diluted with ~.5 cups water. I package oatmeal with some berries. Some protein shake.

-workout-

meal 2
1 can tuna, 1/4-1/3 lb pasta. Some more protein shake, 1.5 oz raisins.

meal 3
1/4 lb ground beef with peppers, onion, tomato sauce.

meal 4
celery with peanut butter spread on it (about 3-4 tbsp).

meal 5
3-4 chicken drumsticks, mixed frozen veggies.

meal 6
1.5 cups milk, some berries. (not really a meal, but right before I sleep so I dont want to load up too much)

Bed...


In total, I have 1.5 scoops whey throughout day, not all at once, but mostly after workout. I know there is still work to do. I am still trying to figure out what to cook etc to get in meat & veggies in one meal. On my days off from workout, I plan to eat similar, but maybe less carbs on meal 2 and more protein??

Of course, I will not eat the same everyday. For meal 5 (which is dinner for me) I will have either chicken, ground beef, or pork chops, but in such a way that I get close to same protein. Meal 3 is usually left overs from previous days dinner, and meal 2 is what will vary in carb/protein level depending on whether it is a workout day or not.

I guess this is my tentative plan to follow, but like I said, I will likely refine it as time goes by.

 

[EFFORT]

I'm a big fan of having a set diet ...this doesn't mean it has to suck either, you can use spices to make things taste better. When you eat the same thing everyday it really brings clarity to your results or lack of results. It makes changing things as simple as saying "add 3more eggs to meal 2 and 3".

Its not mandatory to do it this way, but most people would have better results on a set already planned diet. And having a set diet would def do more for your progress than any supplement would do. The diet below would be a good starting point for you

Meal 1 - 2scoops whey, 2raw eggs, 1/2cup oats
Meal 2- 5oz beef, salad, 1/2 cup brown rice
Meal 3- 2scoops whey, 2raw eggs, 1/2cup oats
Meal 4- 5oz beef, salad, 1/2 cup brown rice
Meal 5- 2scoops whey, 2raw eggs, 1/2cup oats
Meal 6- 2 cans tuna or 5oz chicken breast

 

[Mex]

Meal 1 - 2scoops whey, 2raw eggs, 1/2cup oats
Meal 2- 5oz beef, salad, 1/2 cup brown rice
Meal 3- 2scoops whey, 2raw eggs, 1/2cup oats
Meal 4- 5oz beef, salad, 1/2 cup brown rice
Meal 5- 2scoops whey, 2raw eggs, 1/2cup oats
Meal 6- 2 cans tuna or 5oz chicken breast

Any fruit? Also, I am assuming I can sub pasta/potato for rice on occasion, and sub pork for chicken/ beef? I am a fan of simplicity, but my stomach will turn after eating the same things over and over.

By the way, 6 scoops of whey each day will be expensive. Can I do say 1 scoop plus peanut butter or cottage cheese or milk, just something less expensive that is protein heavy?

As far as the oats. How do you eat them? Do you add hot water like oatmeal?