scorpio

Hi all! I've been eating primally for the last month, although not 100% strictly. Luckily I have a primal cafe near me so eating during the week is easy (but expensive). My typical meals during the week look like this: Breakfast: Long black made with butter (bulletproof coffee) Scrambled eggs, bacon, wilted spinach, roast tomato Mid morning: Another coffee Lunch: Chicken, grilled salmon or shredded pork Baby spinach Rocket lettuce or sweet potato/cauliflower mash Sometimes almond milk smoothies w/ either berries, coconut butter, açai, vanilla bean or mango, kale, lime and avocado, both with organic honey. Apple for an afternoon snack if I feel like it Dinner: Alternating between: Mixed greens, capsicum, cucumber, onions, carrots, tomato, grilled chicken, sometimes with feta and olives Steak with steamed veggies and sweet potato Grilled salmon with steamed veggies and sweet potato Baked chicken with moroccan/cajun herbs, baby spinach The only thing that stands out to me is that my water intake isn't that great. I'm guessing 0.5-1L a day on average, if that. On the weekend I let myself go a bit, but avoid fries and bread as much as possible. Sometimes I'll have a burger with half the bun, or one or two bites of bread if it comes with a meal. I also drink beer, but only on the weekend. Over the last month I've noticed my energy levels are much more stable and consistent, I don't crave sugar anymore and my digestion has improved out of sight. If I cheat and have bread or grains I really notice the difference the next day with digestion and stomach cramps. I've noticed a little bit of weight loss, but nothing substantial - I estimate I have about 5-10 kgs to lose. Is this something that will come with time, or is it because I'm relaxing on the weekend and not being 100% strict? I've made the mental adjustment to primal so I should be able to go 100% without TOO much trouble, but at the moment I'm enjoying the break for a day or two. Thoughts?

When it rains, it pours. Knocked down the weight by about 10kg on each exercise and did each much slower, about 2-3 seconds down and up. Felt that my form was much better and I felt much more confident. Then my back started hurting later in the day. Not injury, just a general DOMS. This lasted a few days where I was walking around like an old man for a while. Sigh. Feeling better this week so gotta get back on to it.

Not a good couple of weeks unfortunately. Got up to this: Squat: 72.5 kgDeadlift: 57.5 kgBench: 50 kgOHP: 37.5 kgChin ups: 3 (negatives for the rest of the set)Pull ups: 2 (negatives for the whole set)The next workout I couldn't complete the sets and my form went to hell, and then got a viral infection so was off for a week. Having trouble getting back in to routine and also finding that my form has been pretty average. Thinking of knocking down the weight a bit and focusing on my form for a while.

Welcome from a fellow Aussie Rebel!

Latest: Squat: 62.5 kgDeadlift: 52.5 kgBench: 45 kgOHP: 32.5 kgChin ups: 2 (negatives for the rest of the set)Pull ups: 1 (negatives for the whole set)Distance: 4.65 kmHaven't noticed a change in my weight, but I feel trimmer and clothes are starting to fit more. The runs have been purely slow runs so I don't think this will interfere with strength training too much.

So this isn't really a daily battle log, but it's good to check in I've been doing Practical Programming and Ease into 10k for 3 weeks now. I'm up to: Squat: 55 kgDeadlift: 50 kgBench: 42.5 kgOHP: 32.5 kgChin ups: 2 (negatives for the rest of the set)Pull ups: 0 (negatives for the whole set)Distance: 4.65 kmThe weights, squats especially, are starting to get challenging. I'm 180 cm and weigh 82 kg with a BF of around 19% (apparently) so maybe I'm just starting to push myself. Running hasn't been difficult at all, I know it's not recommended to do both at once but so far I'm doing ok. Prior to this I was doing circuit training at the gym as instructed by a PT, this was good to get in the habit of exercising every day but I found the lack of structure and progression plans to be demotivating, not to mention the mental boredom in going to the gym every day. Now I'm alternating going to the gym with running outside which I find a lot more mentally beneficial. I'm focusing on eating as many natural foods as possible but not full paleo. Typical day looks like this: Breakfast: cut up mango and pineapple, coffee w/ soy milkMid-morning: another coffee w/ soy milkLunch: mixed salad, chicken/turkey breast slices, slice of cheese and carrot sticksDinner: steamed asparagus, broccolini and sweet potato with either beef, chicken or salmonDrinks: mainly coffee and mineral water. I'm avoiding alcohol as much as possible.

Actually, looks like the practical programming plan could be better: Monday 3x5 Squat 3x5 Bench press / Press (Alternating) Chin-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps Wednesday 3x5 Squat 3x5 Press / Bench Press (Alternating) 1x5 Deadlift Friday 3x5 Squat 3x5 Bench Press / Press (Alternating) Pull-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps I'd be concerned about squatting three times a week and running though.

So I've lurked and even posted on these forums for a while without doing a proper introduction. I'm a 30 year old male from Australia. I'm not new to exercise but I'm looking to make it more of a priority. I'm currently sitting around 82kg and 20% BF at 180cm, my first priority is to trim down before building strength. My plan is to start running again (I was running about 30kms a week at my peak) using the C25K and 10K programs, as well as weight training 3x per week. I've recently completed 6 weeks of personal training which was great for motivation, however a lot of it was machine or iso exercises and trying to do as much volume as possible without focusing on form. What it did teach me was that I can work out every day without killing myself I've previously followed a program based around the major lifts which I'm thinking of doing again, this was: Day A Squat 3x5 Bench 3x5 Seated cable row 3x5 Day B Deadlift 3x5 OHP 3x5 Lat pulldown / neg pull ups 3x5 Alternating this with running, I should be doing 6 days of exercise a week. I've never been taught proper power cleans so I'm a little wary of doing SS verbatim, but open for suggestions on my training plan. Diet is my biggest problem; I work for a company that provides free ice cream, coke and chocolate. I'm also lactose intolerant so that confuses things a little. I'm planning to cut down on breads and grains as much as possible while hopefully avoiding the sugar rush. What I'm hoping I get from this site is help with programming and training as well as accountability. I'll create a post with my goals and diary entries when I figure out what guild I want to join - so far looks like the Rangers

Thanks for all the replies, videos are here: The second one my form was a bit off because I'd just completed the last of my set and then realised the camera didn't focus I used to look at the mirror, now I'm trying to keep my head neutral and look down as I lower and forward as I lift up.

Thanks all! I look forward at a mirror during OHP but try to move my neck slightly back on the way up, and then forward again once the bar passes my head. That might be where it's coming from, not sure. I'll post a form check vid as soon as I can; I train by myself so I'll have to find a way to prop up my iPhone or something but shouldn't be too difficult. In the meantime I might keep the OHP around the empty bar until I can find the source of the problem. Gotta say I'm pretty impressed with this forum so far. Doesn't have the elitism or pretentiousness of others I've seen

Sorry if this is the wrong forum. Beginner weight trainer here, I've been following this routine for the last few months; Day A Squats, bench, seated cable row - 3x5 Day B Romanian deadlift, overhead press, negative pull ups - 3x5 Had a pretty bad neck injury a couple months ago which kept me out for a month. As best I can tell it was caused by either the overhead press or the negative pull ups. At the time I was only lifting about 35kg, not exactly powerlifting. I've started doing dynamic warm ups, replaced pull ups with lat pull downs and started back with the empty bar but I'm still feeling a bit of a twinge in my neck after doing the overhead press (luckily nowhere near as bad). Is there a better alternative I can do, or should I just knock down the weight even further and build up slower? Also looking for feedback on the routine itself. Chose 3x5 as it was recommended in starting strength but I'm open to ideas. Background info Male, 30, height 180cm, weight 82kg. Have gym access, prefer compound or body weight lifts. Currently have a lot of chest and belly fat, working towards a lean and strong physique (think basketballer). Current lifting weight 30kg, aiming for 1800 calories a day - not strict paleo but avoiding bread and grains where possible. Thanks!

Time to make my health a priority Main QuestDrop to 15% body fat or lower - Weight train 3x per week- Establish a regular sleep pattern- Cut out sugar- Cut down on alcohol Life Side QuestTake, process and post photos every week. All my life I've been a bit tubby. I'm 30 years old at around 20% body fat which seems to be concentrated around my chest and stomach. I want to drop my body fat level to at least 15% to get the "athletic" look. I'm planning on upping my paleo efforts and following Starting Strength. I'm also considering doing a 10k running plan but that might interfere with my weight training. I'm also a budding photographer and need to spend more time learning and practicing