Catchy title workout journal

[Andrewgen_Receptors]

Squat form is great. Knees look like they might be a bit unstable at bottom, you could rectify that by pausing a bit at bottom - but it's not a necessity.
Deadlifts look great too, nothing to add here.

Barley squatting and deadlifting over bodyweight right now and bench still under.

At the risk of derailing your thread again, intermediate numbers for men are around:
2xBW deadlift
1.5xBW squat
1xBW bench
For women, I think it's quite reasonable to reduce every number here by .5BW... so it sounds like "intermediate" may well be you.

Regarding hypertrophy centered terms:
-"Beginner" can mean that you're able to add muscle when neither diet nor training are on point.
-"Intermediate" can mean that you're able to add muscle, but only if either diet or training are proper.
-"Advanced" meaning you can't gain muscle without the right training and diet. Everything needs to be on point.
^Mike Israetel definitions, which I agree with.

I think you would land pretty well under "intermediate". I don't see many women squatting 1xBW.

 

[bullzelle]

Squat form is great. Knees look like they might be a bit unstable at bottom, you could rectify that by pausing a bit at bottom - but it's not a necessity.
Deadlifts look great too, nothing to add here.

At the risk of derailing your thread again, intermediate numbers for men are around:
2xBW deadlift
1.5xBW squat
1xBW bench
For women, I think it's quite reasonable to reduce every number here by .5BW... so it sounds like "intermediate" may well be you.

Regarding hypertrophy centered terms:
-"Beginner" can mean that you're able to add muscle when neither diet nor training are on point.
-"Intermediate" can mean that you're able to add muscle, but only if either diet or training are proper.
-"Advanced" meaning you can't gain muscle without the right training and diet. Everything needs to be on point.
^Mike Israetel definitions, which I agree with.

I think you would land pretty well under "intermediate". I don't see many women squatting 1xBW.

Well I'm not a woman so..

 

[Reader591]

Well I'm not a woman so..

Akward….. jk

 

[Reader591]

03/06/2023

Starting Strength Workout A

Cardio warmup 10 min Treadmill walk 3.0 speed followed by hip mobility/opening movements/stretch

BB Back Squat
3x5 @ 195lbs

Flat BB Bench Press
3x5 @ 115lbs

Deadlift
1x5 @ 225lbs

Pretty decent day after taking the extra day off on Friday last week. Squatvand dead form check vids. @jeffgyou want in this time before I remove? Lol

Squats felt good, was feeling particularly solid/strong on them and overall felt more calm going into the sets then other times.

Bench we dropped more so I can focus on form and feeling the weight more as I work back up and make sure elbows and everything feel good as well. Lowered rest between sets with the weight drop.

Deadlifts felt good. Was losing the grip as I went on. Might invest in straps so grip doesn't effect overall weight and do holds for grip after work set.

How does your low back feel on deadlifts?

 

[Andrewgen_Receptors]

Well I'm not a woman so..

Akward…..

Accurate My bad bro. No pictures and only a video of you in a hoodie make it hard to tell.

When you're at a point where you can blindly rely on form - take a look at DC training or maybe some of Jordan Peters stuff

 

[Reader591]

Accurate My bad bro. No pictures and only a video of you in a hoodie make it hard to tell.

When you're at a point where you can blindly rely on form - take a look at DC training or maybe some of Jordan Peters stuff

Idk man it seemed clear in the hoodie…… how’s your sight doing these days? Or……. You think he’s cute?

Haha I’m kidding I’ll take you off the hot seat now……. At least from me.

 

[bullzelle]

How does your low back feel on deadlifts?

Fine during. Too pumped after lol
I was looking at that as I uploaded as well. Was thinking I can probably sit bit deeper at the bottom and get a little more upright?

 

[Reader591]

Fine during. Too pumped after lol
I was looking at that as I uploaded as well. Was thinking I can probably sit bit deeper at the bottom and get a little more upright?

For the record your squats look good to me. As long as those knees feel stable (it looks like it but hard to tell from the side) and it feels good, I wouldn’t change anything.


On the deadlift, it looks like you’re allowing too much movement in the lower back. Honestly to me it looks like you may be trying to squat it a little too much. It’s not a bad start position, but maybe consider hips starting slight higher and relying more on the hinge to move the bar then “squatting” I’m not sure if that makes sense.

Also when starting, think about getting that entire body tight. This alone may eliminate your issue. When in position, before lifting, fire the glutes hard. Tighten and brace the core. Engage lats by pretending to bend the bar and imagine pulling it back toward your body with your lats, almost like a straight arm pull down. Retract and lock in shoulder blades. The bar should almost come off the ground from being tight before starting the rep. For me, I generate so much before starting the lift that at your weight, the bar would be off the ground if I was generating max tension before lifting. And even that isn’t enough for me when I get heavy and a spot I have to work on.

The real problems seems to be at the end though. You relax and try to lower the bar the last inch or so with your low back. Keep the tension throughout, and use the glutes and quads in the bottom to lower. Keep that core tight. Keep those lats tight. These may be some things to consider.

 

[bullzelle]

Ok thank you. I'll keep that in mind during the next session and see how they look.

 

[bullzelle]

03/08/2023

Starting Strength Workout B

Cardio warm-up 10 min Treadmill walk followed by few minutes of hip mobility

BB Back Squat
3x5 @ 200lbs

Standing Shoulder Press
1x5 , 1x2 , 1x1 @ 90lbs

BB Row
3x5 @ 140lbs

Added in a double overhand hold @ 135lbs for 40 seconds

Squats felt good. Heavy but didn't really ever feel stuck so still solid.

Standing press was rough and 1st set showed it would be. Will be dropping and working back up next week.

Rows felt decent. Not too bad. Possibly going to drop also for more form and focus work, though I do keep these a bit more explosive, and to keep in line with bench a bit more.

 

[bullzelle]

03/10/2023

Starting Strength Workout A

Cardio warmup 10 min Treadmill walk 3.0 speed followed by hip mobility/opening movements/stretch

BB Back Squat
3x5 @ 205lbs

Flat BB Bench Press
3x5 @ 120lbs

Deadlift
1x5 @ 230lbs

Everything felt super solid tonight. Idk if I felt any better hitting the workout at night or not over mornings. Usually I'm asleep at this time already so it's different.

Can't complain with how it went though. Hit everything and it all felt good and solid. Felt super calm the whole time. Definitely starting to sweat a lot. All the way through the sweater lol

 

[bullzelle]

Went in for some recovery and relax tonight. Did about 10 minutes in the sauna, cooles pff and hit the steam room for another 5 and then jumped in the hot tub for 10 minutes.

Shit made me feel all sleepy now

 

[bullzelle]

03/13/2023

Starting Strength Workout B

Cardio warm-up 10 min Treadmill walk followed by few minutes of hip mobility

BB Back Squat
3x5 @ 210lbs

Standing Shoulder Press
3x5 @ 65lbs

BB Row
3x5 @ 115lbs

Felt ok this morning. Definitely notice the hip tightness on squats, even after some mobility, compared to Friday evening now.

Still felt good though. First Squat set felt the roughest then 2 and 3 weren't so bad.

Lowered weight on ohp and rows. Ohp failed last time and needed a reset. Rows just keeping form in mind and more in line with bench for now.

 

[bullzelle]

Actually did some cardio today. Took the gf with me so she could do her own little workout while I was on the treadmill.

Did a total of 45 minutes. First 15 at 3.0 speed with 2.5 incline. Then 15-20 was 3.5 speed. Back to 3 for minutes 20-25. Jogged a little for 2 to 3 minutes at 4 speed *jogging hurts) and finished to 30 minutes at 3 speed again. Then left speed at 3 and dropped incline to 1 for 30-35, .5 for 35-40 and no incline last 5 minutes.

We'll see if this hampers my squats now come the morning workout

 

[bullzelle]

Made it back in today. Went with 2 guys from work after work today and hit what turned into just a Chest day lol

Decided to try maxing bench since I had a solid spotter. Now idk if the bar was different or something, we weren't at my usual gym. Or if it was being with friends and confidence of a good spotter but I hit a max of 205lbs.

I'm not sure on the bar cuz even 135 felt real good a flew. Or if it was just being with some guys and the time of day being after work and having some meals in that had me feeling that much better.

I'm gonna be going with them more after work instead of 4am so we'll see how that goes. But as it stands looks like I hit a bench pr of 205

 

[turkey_sandwich]

bench pr of 205

congrats

 

[bullzelle]

congrats

Thank you. Bench is now closet lift to my goals if the weight holds true

 

[bullzelle]

Went with one of the guys from work again this afternoon. Did Lower today.

Started on squats and worked up to a max to see where I am at. Hit a big PR for myself of 265lbs.

Followed up with some single leg leg press on a machine you're almost laying down on. Single leg standing leg curls and Seated Calf raises.

Also since it was messing with my head since yesterday we did a quick bench workup and I hit and confirmed the 205 pr from yesterday lol

 

[bullzelle]

Hit it after work today again. Liking it a bit more then early I think since this other gym doesn't get nearly as busy lol

Anyway today went for max deadlift today to see where I'm at. Worked up to and hit a big PR of 315lbs (mixed grip) and on the workup PRed 275lbs for double overhand grip.

Finished with grip work. Had 135lbs loaded and did near max holds. First hold 45 seconds, gave 45s rest then held 30s, 30s rest, 10s hold, 10s rest, 6s hold.

Basically burning out grip, gave myself rest for as long as I had just held for until I couldn't hold got at least 10 seconds.

 

[bullzelle]

Updating for last Thursday. Hit Upper with buddy from work.

Flat bench 135x6 155x6 185x4, spotter help for a 5th at 185

Rocit Shoulder press machine, 3x12 @110
Rocit incline Chest Press 3x12 @ 90, 110, 140
Lat pulldown 3x12 @ 60,70,80
Cable Row 3x10 @ 70,80,100
Tricep pulldown 4x15 superset with cable curl 4x12 @ 40,50,60,70


Took Friday and this weekend off. Keeping an eye on nosebleeds I've been getting. Blood pressure is same as has been, weather been changing so lots of sniffles and nose blowing. Has only happened when blowing nose. Nothing just randomly or at the gym