Nesler's Battle Log

[Nesler]

Alright, it's time to get my battle log out there for the world to see! As of last Sunday (Oct-12), I am doing the Stronglifts 5x5 program and the 60-day PLP challenge side-by-side. I was gonna start on Monday, but I was already motivated on Sunday, so I started early.

 

Stats (10/12/2014)

Age:  24

Gender:  Male

Height:  5'9"

Weight:  150.8 lb

 

My main goal, other than completing the programs, is to stay consistent with these programs. For Stronglifts, that means always fitting in three workouts in a week. For PLP, that means not missing a single day (if, in the event I DO miss a day, I'll just stick with the "never twice in a row" principle).

 

I should note that this will be my second attempt at Stronglifts. I first attempted Stronglifts late July of 2013. I was off to a good start, but after 3 weeks, I wasn't able to maintain the three-times-per-week schedule (probably work stress and late nights, I don't remember). It ended up taking me three months to complete two months worth of work. My program fell apart when I completed my five sets of squats at 160 lb and suddenly got a weird neck spasm (that's the best I can remember it) and didn't go back to the gym for a week from that minor headache. Actually, that week ended up turning into three months since I went back to the gym for yoga (so glad I had a workout log for all that), but I still never got back into the rhythm for lifting until this week.

 

Also, here were my maximum weights from the first Stronglifts:

• Squats - 160 lb
• Overhead press - 75 lb
• Deadlift - 195 lb
• Bench press - 100 lb
• Bent-over row - 100 lb

So what's being done differently this time around?

• I'm going to post videos of my lifts each month so I can get feedback on my form.
• I want to do my workouts in the morning before work. I know how easily I can postpone a workout if I wait until after work to do it. There is the risk of sleeping in, but I seem to be waking up alright so far this week.
• I'm starting the bent-over rows with an empty bar. I was afraid of them being unsafe from my first Stronglifts program, but I want to give them another shot.
• I plan to progress more slowly with the overhead press this time. I saw the idea to get some 1.25 lb plates, but then I remembered I had some 1 lb wrist weights in my closet, so no need to spend more money!

I imagine the only thing to change for my diet would be to have a milky protein shake with each workout, and probably eat a little more as I progress to more strenuous workouts. My stand-alone diet is already mostly Paleo, so I'm pretty content with how it is now.

 

I want to stick with the Stronglifts program even after I've completed the three months, at least until I start training for a half-marathon around March/April. I'll decide what I want to do when I get that far. As for the PLP, I don't know where I want to go with that once the 60 days are up, but the idea of doing 100 push-ups has always been appealing to me.

 

Here's a link to my workout log for those who want to see my progress. Also, I realized soon after making my spreadsheet that someone had already made a Stronglifts spreadsheet that looks cleaner, but I feel like this one keeps me on track with doing three workouts each week.

[Nesler]

I'm only a week into this, and already I remember how big of a potential road block my work can be for working out. Having to work 10-15 hour shifts Friday through Sunday, I never got a chance to do my lifts this weekend. However, I never let that get in the way of doing my PLP's each morning, so yay for me!

 

Also, I wonder if I should increase the number of lunges I do in a PLP or just keep doing them at the same rate as the pull-ups and push-ups. I'm at the point where pull-ups are becoming difficult, but lunges hardly feel like anything. I'm thinking about increasing my lunge reps by 5 or 10, but I'm afraid of increasing too much and exhausting myself by the end of the challenge.

[Nesler]

Two weeks in, and so far, so good. I decided to throw in 5 lunges before each workout as a warm-up.

Also, I'm traveling out of town each weekend to visit my girlfriend who's taking classes for the next five weeks, and I'm questioning where I'll be able to do pull ups on Saturdays. I found a park I can do them in, but that might be problematic when the snow falls. I thought I could bring my pull up bar with me, but it doesn't fit in any of the door frames of the place she's staying at (they're all too wide).

As for Stronglifts, people seem to be offering good advice on my form so far. I'm planning to post some update videos once I hit 135 lb on deadlifts.

[Nesler]

Question for traveling:  I have a doorway pull-up bar that hangs on the door frame for doing pull-ups. I'm gonna be traveling out of town for work for a week sometime before Christmas, and I was wondering if I'd be able to use that pull-up bar inside a hotel room? I can't remember if hotel bathrooms had big enough door frames to position the pull-up bar onto.

 

As for the PLP progress, I'm starting to question how I'm gonna manage past the halfway point. I've hit 18 reps so far, and the pull-ups are starting to wear me down pretty fast. I'd like to be able to do all the reps in one session, but I can imagine myself having to spread reps throughout the day in the later weeks.

[Nesler]

I feel a little bad for having to miss a PLP yesterday. I remembered around 5 pm yesterday that I needed to do them, but we were already heading over to a friend's house. At the very least, though, I'm not missing two of them in a row, so I could just count yesterday as a rest day.

[Nesler]

I'll have to take a break from Stronglifts next week. I'll be heading out of town next week for work, so I won't have access to a gym during that time. I'll still have time to do the PLPs, so hopefully my pull-up bar will fit on the door frames in the hotel room.

 

Also, I hit 10 pull-ups in one set a couple days ago! Lately, I've started spacing out my PLPs into smaller sets, but I'm still able to do them all in a single session, so that's good. I started getting some icky-looking calluses/blisters on my hands from pinching my skin, so I've had to work on my grip a bit to prevent that.

[Nesler]

I ended up answering my own question on the hotel pull-up bar. Yes it fits, but the door frame was too creaky for me to trust it. I didn't feel like accidentally ripping the door frame off my bathroom my first night there. Instead, I decided to replace the pull-ups with inverted rows for the week.

 

I must say, though, the transition from inverted rows to pull-ups has not been kind to me. It's my second day back to Stronglifts, and adding 35 pull-ups at the end of the day is not fun. I still manage to complete them, so it's not all bad. I've been doing them in pyramid sets (start at 1 rep, slowly increase reps, then slowly decrease), which has been making the progression much easier.