Viva La Rebellion's Workout Journal

[vivalarebellion]

Well, I've been working out for roughly a year, since last summer. But, it's only been about two months or so before I really started to work out. Before, I was just one of those little punks that took up bench space doing nothing, and curled all day. So I waste most of that time . Still, I've started to workout seriously over the last month or so. So, without further ado, here's my workout, I used to follow Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength Workout, and now I've switched over to Mehdi's Stronglifts 5x5 Workout, which is pretty much Rippetoe's with more sets.

Workout A:
Squat 5x5
Bench Press 5x5
Barbell Rows 5x5

Workout B:
Squat 5x5
Overhead Press 5x5
Deadlift 1x5

I workout Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and alternate weekly. So Week 1 is like A,B,A and Week 2 is B,A,B, and so on. I'm currently in my 4th week of this workout. Every time you workout, you go up in weight, usually 5 pounds for everything except the deads, with deads you go up 10 pounds.

Here's where I'm at:
Bench: 185 pounds
Squat: 205 pounds
Rows: 120 pounds
Overhead Press: 90 pounds
Deads: 155 pounds

I'll probably stall out on the Bench Presses in about a week or two, and the Overhead Press in about the same time span. Squats I'll probably keep on going for quite some time (used to be much heavier, but I lessened my weight because my form was suffering). As for Deads, I've been taking them easy, trying to get the motion and form down before I go heavy.

As for my diet, what can I say, I eat healthy for the most (Taco-Bell once in a while), but teenage metabolism rocks:cheer: .

Here's my stats:
Height: 5 feet 7 inches (maybe 5'8)
Weight: 187 pounds
Age: 16, soon to be 17
Bodyfat: No idea, need to get calipers or something.

 

[Quagmire911]

Hmmm it is 5x5.

And a squat of 205 with a dead of 155 is f***** up, you are doing something wrong.

 

[vivalarebellion]

Hmmm it is 5x5.

And a squat of 205 with a dead of 155 is f***** up, you are doing something wrong.

I noticed .

As for the Deads, that was my **** up. Everyone at my gym told me that it was a horrible exercise, that it would injure me, that I would eff up my back and so on. And...I listened for a while. Then I actually researched it, and realized that I wouldn't snap my spine in half or some BS like that. Up until a week ago, I pretty much excluded them from my workout. Now, I'm just starting back up and trying to add weight steadily. I can go much much heavier with them, but I'd rather take it slow with proper form.

 

[Quiksilver]

Perhaps he just has muscular imbalance. Tight hammies or lower back perhaps.

I was able to squat big and deadlift not-so-big.

Do you have good form, viva? By this I mean, did you teach yourself or did somebody with training instruct you?

Also, is your squat done with a barbell or in a smith machine?

 

[vivalarebellion]

Perhaps he just has muscular imbalance. Tight hammies or lower back perhaps.

I was able to squat big and deadlift not-so-big.

Do you have good form, viva? By this I mean, did you teach yourself or did somebody with training instruct you?

Also, is your squat done with a barbell or in a smith machine?

I make sure that I have perfect, or near perfect form, and I squat with a barbell. Squatting with a Smith Machine feels unnatural and awkward to me.

*edit: Taught myself. I've taped myself doing the various exercises, so that I could tell whether I had good form or not.

 

[Quagmire911]

Ass too grass I hope.

 

[vivalarebellion]

Ass too grass I hope.

Of course .

I went out and just ran for a bit, decided to exercise a bit even on days that I don't go to the gym. Ran around half-a-mile at a slow jogging pace.

 

[Quagmire911]

What are your goals?

 

[vivalarebellion]

What are your goals?

I want to Squat near 300 lbs in regular sets (not as maximum). For benches I want to get up to 225 in regular sets, for Overhead Press I want to get to 135 (hopefully). As for Barbell Rows, 185? I have no idea how heavy I'm trying to go with them. Deads, 300lbs, 400? I'm not sure as right now I'm still doing them quite easily.

For my body, I want to get around 10% or lower body fat percentage. Pretty much want to be able to see definition in abs.

 

[Quagmire911]

You should be there in under a year.

Then some new goals...

 

[vivalarebellion]

Awesome day at the gym, did all my sets and reps easily, when last week I seemed to be struggling with the Overhead Press.

Squat: 210 pounds
Overhead Press: 95 pounds
Deadlifts: 165 pounds

Though I didn't get near enough sleep, since I was coming off of Spring Break, so I was yawning and just sluggish in the gym.

 

[Quagmire911]

That deadlift should fly...

Keep it up...

 

[vivalarebellion]

Squat: 215 pounds - Personal Record
5 sets, 5 reps:
First, Second Set: Easy
Third Set: Legs started to feel heavy.
Fourth Set: Had to make great effort to finish.
Fifth: Almost stalled out near the end at the bottom of the squat.

Bench: 190 pounds - Personal Record
First 4 Sets - 5 reps, Last Set - 3 reps
First Set: Heavy but Easy
Second, Third, Fourth: Heavier, Triceps start to fail and Pecs feel tight
Fifth Set: After three reps muscles failed and I had to bail out.

Rows: 125 pounds - Personal Record
5 sets, 5 reps
First-Fifth Set: Heavy, but manageable.

It was a bad workout day, I pretty much struggled with everything. I barely managed to eke out the last set on Squats, and next Monday I'm going to stick with 190 and try to get all the sets and reps. (I managed to do 4 complete sets, but got 3 reps into the last set before I had to bail out). Rows weren't too troublesome though.

For Squats, roughly how far apart do you guys keep your legs? I usually do shoulder width, but going a little wider then shoulder width seemed to help. And how far apart do you keep your hands? I used to keep them quite close together, with half my thumbs sticking out into the smooth part of the bar. It worked out well when I was light, but now that I'm starting to struggle, the bar is starting to teeter-totter on my traps and slide a little.

 

[Quagmire911]

Making PR's is not a bad workout, and for God's sake put PR next to the set if it is. Also the number of sets and reps.

Squat stance will vary wildly, do what feels most comfortable. As for grip width it is something you will have to experiment with.

Keep it up...

 

[vivalarebellion]

Making PR's is not a bad workout, and for God's sake put PR next to the set if it is. Also the number of sets and reps.

Squat stance will vary wildly, do what feels most comfortable. As for grip width it is something you will have to experiment with.

Keep it up...

Well, it's been PR's for few weeks. Every week I've done better then ever before, so I've kind of gotten used to not making a big deal of it. I was happy with the bench the most though, finally got up to my body weight .

Will do, and maybe it's just because I'm feeling the regular pain of squatting now. Before it was easy, but now I walk out with my legs feeling like lead. Amazing feeling .