What training are you doing/have you done today? Vol.2

[Animal]

Not done any exercise in a fortnight because of a really horrible cold that just won't shift. Went for a run along the river this afternoon: I had to keep stopping to catch my breath, but I feel fantastic now. There's a lot to be said for fresh air and a great view!

[LordGrover]

militantmandy said:

ViperPict said:

Very hard set of squats last night:

15 x 185kg

Closing in on 20 reps with 1.5 times bodyweight - always been a life-time goal!

Also:

Dumbbell shoulder press: 10 x 42.5kg, 6 x 47.5kg

Bent-over barbell rows: 10 x 155kg

Pretty amazing numbers there!

Sounds like a big unit ~ 130kgs?

[militantmandy]

LordGrover said:

Sounds like a big unit ~ 130kgs?

Makes me feel slightly better. 20 @ 1.5 bodyweight would be about 112kg. I might manage 10 if I was feeling great. I've done 7 or 8 at 110 right at the end of a session. For 20 I think I'd need to lay off the pies for a while!

[chris watton]

Arms and shoulders today - could feel that I slightly overdone yesterday's routine with all of those Bench Presses - not fully recovered today..

BB Clean and Press - 4 sets of 12-8 reps (Was torture, almost wasted after first 4 sets)!
Low Pulley Side Lateral Raises - 4 sets of 16-10 reps (up to a whopping 7kg, but very strict movement)!

Heavy Upright Rows – 3 sets of 10, 6, 4 reps
Push press – 3 sets of 6, 4, 2, 1 rep (70-80kg - not so easy after doing the above)

Standing (Strict) BB Curls – 4 sets of 12-8 reps
Close grip Bench Press – 4 sets of 12-8 reps
Seated Inclined DB Curls – 4 sets of 12-8 reps
Triceps Extensions – 4 sets of 9-8 reps

Wrist Curls – 4 sets of 12-8 reps

Crunches - 2 sets of 30
Hanging Leg raises - 3 sets of 12

[Johnny]

Just back from 16 muddy miles on the CX bike.

Hard work but good fun.

[HD Adam]

I started doing the 5x5 in November and even though the program says you don't need extra exercises, I felt that I wasn't getting a complete(ish) workout.

So on Saturday, I went to the gym and did some lateral dumbell raises, cable rows, pull downs, skull crushers, Triceps cable pushdowns and barbell curls.

I did 3x10 on each and not exactly at light weight figuring that I was already working those muscles on the 5x5.

Sunday I did my normal 5x5 as in squats, overhead press and dead lift.

Today, I can barley lift my arms over my head because it hurts

[chris watton]

HD Adam said:

I started doing the 5x5 in November and even though the program says you don't need extra exercises, I felt that I wasn't getting a complete(ish) workout.

So on Saturday, I went to the gym and did some lateral dumbell raises, cable rows, pull downs, skull crushers, Triceps cable pushdowns and barbell curls.

I did 3x10 on each and not exactly at light weight figuring that I was already working those muscles on the 5x5.

Sunday I did my normal 5x5 as in squats, overhead press and dead lift.

Today, I can barley lift my arms over my head because it hurts

If you are new to this, I would strongly recommend sticking to just the 5x5 routine for at least the first 6 months. Compared to these main compounds, the other exercises are just garnish. It is the heavy compounds that make you both stronger and pack on the muscle.

But I say this with the assumption you are just starting out. If not, ignore...

[smiffy180]

Wasn't feelings today's session until I took a preworkout I've been working on, made me feel great
Ended up doing a easy 255kg suited squat PB for overload training followed by a easy 125kg log which is 2.5kg off my PB
https://youtu.be/EvQgiKIG-G4

[Johnny]

Nice!

[ViperPict]

LordGrover said:

militantmandy said:

ViperPict said:

Very hard set of squats last night:

15 x 185kg

Closing in on 20 reps with 1.5 times bodyweight - always been a life-time goal!

Also:

Dumbbell shoulder press: 10 x 42.5kg, 6 x 47.5kg

Bent-over barbell rows: 10 x 155kg

Pretty amazing numbers there!

Sounds like a big unit ~ 130kgs?

121kg right now. Trying to drop my weight a wee bit too.

[LordGrover]

---

I've been a little under 80kgs for the last month despite a boozy Christmas and January, including a week in the sun and little training. Lifting back to 3-4 days a week and feeling pretty good. I think I'll be 75-77kgs and 10% BF in June from a starting point of 88kgs 20% last September. Slowly,slowly, catchee monkey.

[chris watton]

LordGrover said:

---

I've been a little under 80kgs for the last month despite a boozy Christmas and January, including a week in the sun and little training. Lifting back to 3-4 days a week and feeling pretty good. I think I'll be 75-77kgs and 10% BF in June from a starting point of 88kgs 20% last September. Slowly,slowly, catchee monkey.

Good for you! I think that, at our age, we have learned the true meaning of patience.

I am in the opposite boat, and now steadily increasing my weight, at last - albeit very slowly..

[militantmandy]

Had a great bench session this morning. As I've mentioned my bench is pretty gash compared to my other lifts. So today I managed 6 reps at my previous 1rm. So things are definitely improving!

As part of my new commitment to getting back into cardio, I'm going to try Fran tomorrow. For the uninitiated it's a Crossfit WOD. Three rounds, 21, then 15, then 9. 40kg thrusters then chin ups. Since I'm not a crossfitter I will be doing proper chins rather than kipping. I expect this to be very difficult and probably take aaaagggeesss. The pros do it (with kipping) in about 3-4 mins. I will be many multiples of that!

Still though, it'll give a nice, repeatable benchmark.

[chris watton]

Today, less than an hour's work. But first two are always a killer..

Squats - 6 x 10-5 reps
DB Lunges - 4 x 12-10 reps
Hamstring Curls - 4 x 16-12 reps
Calf raises - 4 x 15 reps
SL Deadlift - 3 x 10, 6 and 4 reps
Good Mornings - 3 x 10, 6 and 4 reps
Hanging Crunches - 3 x 25-20 reps

[militantmandy]

chris watton said:

Today, less than an hour's work. But first two are always a killer..

Squats - 6 x 10-5 reps
DB Lunges - 4 x 12-10 reps
Hamstring Curls - 4 x 16-12 reps
Calf raises - 4 x 15 reps
SL Deadlift - 3 x 10, 6 and 4 reps
Good Mornings - 3 x 10, 6 and 4 reps
Hanging Crunches - 3 x 25-20 reps

DB lunges are the devils work.

[chris watton]

militantmandy said:

DB lunges are the devils work.

Hateful things, like one arm DB rows - no matter how cold it is, I am always left a sweaty mess after those, and gasping for breath. My leg actually collapsed at the 11th reps on the 3rd set! They must work the calves, too, as my standing calf raise weight is down a few kg to meet the required rep range.

I liked the leg extensions after squats better, but I think they're more for defining the quads (and not adding muscle too much), and I think I need more meat on the bones before the luxury of a relatively easy exercise..

[LordGrover]

Calling Halb!

Not seen you post here for a while, how are you getting on with Smolov?

[HD Adam]

chris watton said:

HD Adam said:

I started doing the 5x5 in November and even though the program says you don't need extra exercises, I felt that I wasn't getting a complete(ish) workout.

So on Saturday, I went to the gym and did some lateral dumbell raises, cable rows, pull downs, skull crushers, Triceps cable pushdowns and barbell curls.

I did 3x10 on each and not exactly at light weight figuring that I was already working those muscles on the 5x5.

Sunday I did my normal 5x5 as in squats, overhead press and dead lift.

Today, I can barley lift my arms over my head because it hurts

If you are new to this, I would strongly recommend sticking to just the 5x5 routine for at least the first 6 months. Compared to these main compounds, the other exercises are just garnish. It is the heavy compounds that make you both stronger and pack on the muscle.

But I say this with the assumption you are just starting out. If not, ignore...

Chris, not exactly starting out.

I used to lift in my youth and then had a very physical job offshore which was basically like a 12hr shift (if you were lucky) of a strongman competition with deadlifting equipment about, doing a farmers walk, usually with stairs and generally very active.

Then, as I progressed into the office and traveling it turned into fat bloke behind a desk syndrome over the past few years.

I'd more often than not use hotel gyms but there's no free weights and usually rubbish all in one trainers.

Last October, I'm just in the main office with hardly any travel so it was time to get back in a proper gym to do the big compound lifts again.

Seeing as I'm physically 54 (not mentally though) I decided to do the 5x5 program so I could build up and not hurt myself

Starting with just an empty bar felt weird and even now, I feel I could squat, deadlift, press etc more but I'll stick with the proven method and I've nobody to impress by going for a 1 RM and blowing my knees out at this stage.

I did my squats, bench & row today and feel fine. Doing the extra exercises are probably a bit of fluff but the post work out ache I felt just proves to me that not all the muscles get worked on the 5x5.

I've never felt that, especially the upper arms.

I'll probably do the extras twice a week. Can't see it making anything worse and if I start going backwards on the 5x5, I'll know it's time to stop.

[chris watton]

HD Adam said:

Chris, not exactly starting out.

I used to lift in my youth and then had a very physical job offshore which was basically like a 12hr shift (if you were lucky) of a strongman competition with deadlifting equipment about, doing a farmers walk, usually with stairs and generally very active.

Then, as I progressed into the office and traveling it turned into fat bloke behind a desk syndrome over the past few years.

I'd more often than not use hotel gyms but there's no free weights and usually rubbish all in one trainers.

Last October, I'm just in the main office with hardly any travel so it was time to get back in a proper gym to do the big compound lifts again.

Seeing as I'm physically 54 (not mentally though) I decided to do the 5x5 program so I could build up and not hurt myself

Starting with just an empty bar felt weird and even now, I feel I could squat, deadlift, press etc more but I'll stick with the proven method and I've nobody to impress by going for a 1 RM and blowing my knees out at this stage.

I did my squats, bench & row today and feel fine. Doing the extra exercises are probably a bit of fluff but the post work out ache I felt just proves to me that not all the muscles get worked on the 5x5.

I've never felt that, especially the upper arms.

I'll probably do the extras twice a week. Can't see it making anything worse and if I start going backwards on the 5x5, I'll know it's time to stop.

Ah, OK. I am only 5 years behind you in age. I also used to weight train in my youth, didn't start again until three decades later, as 47!

I sometimes run an old Reg Park power routine, usually for 5 weeks after spending 4 months or so on a split routine. This consists of (all 5x5 with the first two sets being warm ups, and the last three being working weight):

Squat
Bench Press
Power Clean - 8 sets of 2 reps (I find this is great for overall flexibility)
BB Press
BB Curls
Rows
And sometimes add pull up variations

I think all new exercises you bring into your routine make you ache more. I was doing a few different leg exercises, but have just recently included Lunges - the day after doing those, despite me being used to volume with Squats etc., my backside ached like a bh!

[smiffy180]

Decided to go heavier on my daily max today and got a very easy 240kg squat bodyweight PB
Squat every day is paying off
https://youtu.be/rPj9P1Tcrkg