Irishrage's Battle Log

[Irishrages]

Here it is - a good spot for me to keep track of my exercise, nutrition, notes and comments and general mutterings.

I'll use this as my journal, as opposed to the challenge forums - I'll keep those posts to a minimum, and maybe just post weekly updates or hits and misses as they relate to my specific goals.

 

Excelsior!

[Irishrages]

Today's Weights:

SL 5x5, Workout B

Squats: 195lbs x 5

Seated Barbell Press: 95lbs for 5/5/3/5/5

Deadlift: 230lbs x 5

 

This was my first early morning workout for a while, and I was surprised at how well I was able to accomplish the weight. I had a suspicion that I'd be a bit weaker in the morning than mid-day, but happily, that was not the case.

I did warm up and stretch beforehand (as I always do), but there was no noticeable lack of energy or strength once I started. If anything, I felt a little more motivated.

That's a good thing, because early (before anyone else is up) is very much the best time for me to workout - I can get it in before the rest of the day hits me in the groin.

 

I've got my meals, snacks and so on planned, locked and loaded. I do want to make sure I stay hydrated as well - that is always something I have to be mindful of as well.

[Irishrages]

I never did get around to logging for yesterday - or the day before, for that matter. SO!!!:

 

Thursday's Weights:

SL 5x5, Workout A:

Squats: 200lbs x 5

Bench Press: 150lbs x 5

Barbell Row: 130lbs x 5

 

It was definitely harder to get up this morning, but I pushed through the warm comfy groggies and did it. The squats are starting to creep near the challenging point, but I also find that the first rep always seems the hardest. By the time I hit rep #3, I' ready to go. Paying attention to my breathing really helps as well.

[Irishrages]

Up early, hit the weights. I was surprisingly unmotivated at first - I had a slight tightness in my lower back, which I tried to remedy by doing some extra stretches before working out.

The tightness persisted through my squat sets, so I didn't push too hard and even wound up dropping one set completely.

 

Monday's Weights:

SL 5x5, Workout B:

Squats: 205lb x 5,5,4,3

Seated Barbell Shoulder Press: 95lbs x 5,5,5,5,5

Deadlift: 235lbs x 5

[Irishrages]

Weights felt better today - but not easy! I got past my stall for the squat, and my bench press -even though I haven't stalled - felt stronger and more controlled than ever.

The tight spot in my lower back is gone, too. I'm glad that I took it easy on Monday.

 

Wednesday's Weights:

SL 5x5, Workout A:

Squats: 205lbs x @ 5r x 5s

Bench Press: 155lbs @ 5r x 5s

Bent over row: 135lbs @ 5r x 5s

 

My nutrition was strong last week, and is shaping up to be the same this week. Starting today though, I'm going to increase my calorie intake to 2500 (from 2100). If all goes smoothly, my plan is to eat at this surplus while lifting heavy things until the end of May or mid-April, with a goal of putting on some additional lean muscle mass. From there my activities generally increase (bike commute to work, more Zombies Run!), so I'll likely turn to a fat loss approach in the spring.

 

But for now, it's eat, push, eat, pull, repeat.

[Irishrages]

Woot woot! The week has been good so far. My nutrition has been on track - and I can't express just how much that's because my planning has been spot on. It's unbelievable how much of a differrence that makes. For me, at least.

I've also logged three workouts in a row (a full week's set) that took place in the wee hours. That's been a problem for me - my 5am self used to always wonder what the hell my 10pm self was thinking, but this week I pulled my arse out of bed and fought those little nagging excuses in the back of my mind.

 

Friday's Weights:

SL 5x5, Workout B:

Squats: 210lbs @ 5 / 5 / 5 / 5 5

Barbell Press: 100lbs @ 5 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 5

Deadlift: 240lbs @ 5

[Irishrages]

The weekend was a bit shaky on the nutrition, but Sunday was a good "calming" day, and I found I was able to easily put time aside to plan and prep my food for the week - largely because of how much easier I've seen it can be to eat well when I do that.

 

I changed up the workout a bit. I've moved to Waterbury's Anti-Bodybuilding Hpertrophy (ABBH), and will see how that worked. I've tried it in the past but I think I'm using higher weight now than I would have in the past, largely for two reasons:

1. I'm stronger, thanks to about 3 months (minus a few slack weeks) of StrongLifts 5x5;
2. StrongLifts gave me a much better and more accurate idea of what my 1RM's should be.

Monday's Weights:

ABBH, Day 1

Barbell Bench Press: 170lbs @ 10 sets of 3 reps

Bent-over Barbell Row: 130lbs @ 10 sets of 3 reps

[Irishrages]

Good workout this morning. I'm doing front squats now, and those certainly hit the legs from a different angle, don't they? Going from 5-rep sets to 10-rep sets has me questioning whether I'm using enough weight, but I see now just how important that progression is: as long as I consistently add weight to the bar, I'll eventually line up with my challenging load.

Pullups were good too, I was supposed to do 5 reps of 10, but could only punch out 8 or 7. No bother. Now I have a target...

 

Wednesday's Weights:

ABBH, Day 3

Front Barbell Squat: 80lbs @ 5 sets of 10 reps

Pullups: BW @ 5 sets - 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 / 7

[Irishrages]

Good, fast workout today - as per the program. But this day has me doing bodyweight exercises - dips and hanging leg raise - which, when compared to the exercises (and loads) I've been doing in SL 5x5, feel quite under-challenging. If that's even a word. Perhaps I can throw in another core exercise on these days, but since my workout it's been gnawing at me: should I go back to SL 5x5? Stay tuned...

 

Saturday's weights:

ABBH, Day 5

Dips: BW x 5 sets of 10 reps

Hanging leg raise: 10 / 10 / 9 / 9 / 9

[Irishrages]

Monday's Weights:

ABBH, Day 7:

Deadlifts: 230lbs x 10 sets of 3 reps

Weighted Russian Twist: 25lbs x 10 sets of 3 reps

[Irishrages]

Good workout today, and my nutrition is back on track. The previous two days were spent on the road a lot, and while my eating didn't tank horribly, my prep did and so I cam in under my calorie and protein goals. One of the wee ones was up all night a few nights back, so last night was the first decent sleep in a few days. It was awesome. 

 

Thursday's weights:

ABBH Day 9:

Bench Press: 170lbs x 6 sets of 4, 160 lbs x 4 sets of 4

Bent-over Barbell Row: 120lbs x 10 sets of 4

[Irishrages]

Saturday's Weights:

ABBH Day 11:

Front Barbell Squat: 90lbs / 90lbs / 90lbs / 100lbs / 100lbs

Flat Bent Leg Raise: 8reps / 9reps / 10reps / 10reps / 10reps 

[Irishrages]

A day late to report, but no matter! Definitely hitting newer muscles that haven't been hit for a while. The chinups are killing me. Rather than mess with assisted chins (with a band), I will aim to be able to do 5 sets of 10. Soon....

 

Monday's Weights:

ABBH Day 13:

Weighted Dips: BW+15lbs x 5 sets of 10 reps

Chin Ups: BW x 5 sets of 7 reps

15,115#

 

The diet is comming along. My monthly weigh-in and measure was Monday, and everything is... the same, more or less. I feel stronger, but still don't think I'm doing a good enough job of eating to gain.

So: regroup, rally and adapt. More food. Mmmmm....

[Irishrages]

Ugh, was it ever haaard to get out of bed this morning. I've been staying up a bit too late these days, and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.

Otherwise, the workout felt good - once I was up and running...

 

Wednesday's Weights:

ABBH Day 15:

Deadlift: 6 sets of 4 reps @ 220# / 4 sets of 4 reps @ 200#

Weighted Russian Twist: 10 sets of 4 reps @ 25#

9,480#

[Irishrages]

Today's workout was good. I did the final workout of the low-rep, high-set phase for the bench press and bent over row, and felt like I was pushing myself well without sacrificing form.

The bent-over row is a tough one for me to keep that form in check: if I use crappy form, I can lift a lot more weight, so it's a constant battle to pay attention to that form, and not try to get ahead of myself by piling on more weight.

 

Friday's Weights:

ABBH Day 17:

Bench Press: 2s x 5r @170# / 8 x 5r @160#

Bent-over Row: 2s x 5r @110# / 8s x 5r @120#

14,000#

[Irishrages]

Good workout yesterday. It's a big deal to me, but I managed to schedule my workout into a small window - the day was packed and my only chance to hit the weights was earlier on a morning that I would have rathered relax and sip the coffee.

Sunday's Wwights:

ABBH Day 19:

Front Squat: 5s x 10r @ 105#

Lying Bent Knee Raise: 5s x 10r

5,750#

[Irishrages]

It seems to be getting easier to get out of bed early in the morning, but I'm still dragging my arse for the first 15 minutes or so. I'm starting to become concerned that I'm not getting an optimal amount of sleep (but I'm not completely sleep starved, either) - I'll have to work on that.

 

Tuesday's Weights:

ABBH Day 21:

Weighted Triceps Dips: 5s x 10r @ BW+25#

Chin-ups: 2s x 7r, 3s x 8r @ BW

16,122#

[Irishrages]

Tried to pay strict attention to my Deadlift form, and found that doing so really slows down the movement, but does make it feel more solid, and not as uncontrolled. Me likey.

I've completed the 1st half of ABBH I, so the next workout will be the first of the same exercises but switched: the days I was doing high weight low reps will now be mid weight with mid reps and vice versa.

 

Thursday's Weights

ABBH Day 23:

Deadlift: 4x5 @ 200#, 6x5 @ 210#

Weighted Russian Twist: 10x5 @ 25#

#11,550 (+122%)

[Irishrages]

Yesterday was the start of the second half of my current program. The intent of this program is to add some muscle mass before the summer hits - mainly because once the snow is gone, my biking and running will put me in a good spot to start cutting. Currently I'm trying to decide if I want to hit another round of a similar program after this one - giving my bulking phase and end date of end-of-April, or if I want to begin the cut now. 

Once I begin the cut, I'm loving this body weight program for starters.

Anyhoo...

 

Saturday's Weights

ABBH Day 25

Weighted Dip: 10x3 @ BW + 40#

Weighted Pullup: 10x3 @ BW + 25#

12,150# (-75%)

[Irishrages]

A lapse in logging, as I've been out of town over the last week. Other than adding an extra rest day (which the program does allow for - I simply finish one day later), I've still fit in my weight lifting all week though. But my diet has not been the best. I do feel like I've put on some muscle, but am also starting to feel like there's a fair bit of fat in the mix. I'll get some measurements today to try and quantify that.

 

Monday's weights:

ABBH Day 27

Deadlift: 5x10 x 120#

Weighted Russian twist: 5x10 @ 20#

 

Thursday's weights:

ABBH Day 29

Bench Press: 5x10 @ 110#

Bent Over Row: 5x10@ 80#

 

Saturday's weights:

ABBH Day 31

Front Squat: 10x3 @ 130#, 7x3 @ 140#

Weight knee raise: 10 x 3 @ 20#

[Irishrages]

Just dips and chins today ma'am, just dips and chins.

 

Monday's workout:

ABBH Day 33:

Weighted Dip: 10 x 4 @ BW+40#

Weight Chin: 10 x 4 @ BW+25#

16,200# (+135%)

[Irishrages]

Wednesday's workout:

ABBH Day 35:

Deadlift: 5x10@140#, 1x10@145#

Weighted Russian Twist: 5x10@22.5#

8,175# (+117%)

[Irishrages]

This morning went well. The press felt too easy, but by the end of the last set, it was about right - perhaps a bit more weight needed, but that will come next time around.

The row felt great, from a "form" PoV, and I think the weight is bang on.

I am wondering if my volume is too low - perhaps I'll start trying to track that as well. Maybe a lbs lifted over time type of ratio...

 

Friday's workout:

ABBH Day 37:

Bench Press: 5x10@120#

Bent-Over Barbell Row: 5x10@85#

10,250# (+108%)

[Irishrages]

Bit of a disjointed workout: it was a busier day than usual, and had to split my workout into before-and-after supper components. But all-in-all, the weights moved when I pushed them...

 

Sunday's Weights:

ABBH Day 39:

Front Squat: 10x4@140#

Weighted Leg Raise: 10x4@15#

6,200# (+138%)

[Irishrages]

Good workout today, and with the weather getting (barely) warmer, it seems like it's also getting easier to get up and out of bed.

My nutrition is going well so far. I'm trying to be extremely accurate with my weight and measuring, so as to try and get an actial TDEE estimate, and then go from there...

 

Tuesday's Weights:

ABBH Day 41:

Weighted Dip: 10 x 5 @ BW+40#

Weighted Chin: 2 x 5 @ BW+25#, 8 x 5 @ BW+22.5#

20,150# (+124%)