[In One Ear]

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Intro

Hi guys, been pissing around going to my uni's gym for a month now so figured it was time to start a real weight-lifting program (and yes, I was an every day is upper body day coward). Ultimately I'm aiming for a good mixture of strength and aesthetics (aren't we all ) so strong-lifts seemed a good shortish program to build a foundation of strength in all the key moments (yes I'm looking at you dead-lifts and squats!) before I focus on more specific goals.

For those who don't know the program recommends starting with an empty (Olympic) bar for all the exercises besides the dead-lift (40kg) and barbell rows (30kg- 5kg plates either side to raise the bar from the floor) but I don't really fancy "wasting" 2-3 weeks to get to vaguely appropriate weights so I'm accelerating progression on certain exercises to save a bit of time- though keeping the squats and dead-lifts fairly light to learn the technique properly since I've never done either exercise before.

Starting stats:

Height: 6'0.5
Weight: 71kg /156 lbs
BF~15%
Dips: BW*15
Chins (close grip): BW*8
Pull-ups (close grip): BW*6
Squats: ~40kg 5RM
Dead-lifts: ~70kg 5RM/80kg 1RM
Barbell rows (bent over): ~40kg 5RM
Bench press: ~45kg 5RM
Overhead press: ~32.5kg 5RM

Current stats:

Weight: 80kg /176lbs
BF~16%
Dips: BW*18
Chins (close grip): BW*10
Pull-ups (close grip): BW*10
Squats: 85kg 5RM
Dead-lifts: 150kg 5RM/180kg 1RM
Barbell rows (bent over): 77.5kg 5RM
Bench press: 77.5kg 5RM
Overhead press: 55.5kg 5RM
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Really excited to see what I can accomplish in 12 dedicated weeks!

As a side project I'm going to be attempting to improve in body-weight work as I really enjoy it and after building a core of strength from SL 5x5 I'll transition into some more advanced lifts such as snatches, clean and jerks etc. and transition into a more cross-fit style. Currently running the 100 push-ups program alongside SL 5x5.

Callisthenics stats:

Dips: 18
Chins (close grip): 10
Pull-ups (close grip): 8
Push-ups (good form): 25
Muscle-ups: n/a

Current goals:

Okay, so I want to set some goals for the end of the next term of uni 11 weeks away-

Deadlift 200kg as a 1RM
Squat high bar with deep depth 100kg for multiple sets of 5
OHP 65kg as a 5RM (complete the overhead press competition)
Bench press 85kg as a 5RM
Powerclean 100kg as a 1RM
Be noticeably leaner.

Currently at:

Deadlift 160kg 1RM (tested 4 weeks ago- current estimation of a 1RM ~175kg)
High bar squats 85kg for sets of 5
OHP 55.5kg 5RM
Bench press 70kg 5RM (tested 4 weeks ago)
Powerclean 79kg 1RM

I don't really know how realistic these goals are. 200kg deadlift seems like a terrifying number but I seem to make rapid progress on this lift and am really not thaaaat far off currently. I don't seem to make much progress on squats so I'll be pleased with a 15kg increase on working sets if I can keep the good depth I currently have. I think a 65kg OHP 5RM is a realistic goal as I'm only 10kg away and again seem to make decent progress on this lift. Bench I'm poorer at but could do 70kg for a 5RM a month ago so hopefully my pressing/dumbbell pressing will have had some carryover meaning that I might have a 75kg current 5RM in which case again its only 10kg to add. Powerclean I'm not so sure about. Won't have proper coaching but I'll try my best to learn decent technique through reading articles and watching many vids. I'm the least bothered about making this goal but it would be pretty cool to powerclean 2 plates IMO . Think the biggest barrier to reaching these goals would be also wanting to lose some fat, but I'll re-assess closer to the end of this time-frame .

Come the end of these next 11 weeks I'll have been lifting weights for just over 7 months as a point of reference.

[In One Ear]

Workout A, Monday 19/11/12:

Squats
air squats*many
20kg (empty bar) 3*10 (was focused on acquiring technique- this was actually mildly uncomfortable on my back which is shocking)

Bench press
bar*10
30x5
35, 5x6

Barbell rows
35, 5x5

Pull-ups
BW*3 (LOL!)

Ab exercises (10 mins)

Could definitely feel that first time workout soreness in my quads/glutes/hams immediately and actually just the weight of the bar left me with a mild soreness in my shoulders for a day.

Workout B, Wednesday 21/11/12:

Squats
bar*5
30*5
35, 4x5 (didn't cause me any shoulder pain this time)

OHP
bar, 5x5

Dead-lift
40x10
60x5 (jumped the weight up quickly because 40 felt far too light considering I'm only supposed to be warming up and then doing 1x5 for the dead-lift every other workout)

Dips
BW*14,11,8

Ab exercises (10 mins)

Workout A, Friday 23/11/12:

Squats
bar*5
30*5
40, 5x5 (again this reverted to being uncomfortable on the shoulders and actually getting "out of the hole" on the 4th and 5th reps of later sets was actually hard work , guess years of sitting in-front of a computer without playing sports seriously has really destroyed my leg strength!)

Bench press
bar*10
30*5
40, 5x5 (felt pretty easy)

Barbell row
40, 5x5 (don't feel comfortable with the technique/getting full RoM so might leave the rows at 40 for a few sessions to build up that technique- I'm guessing one should avoid explosively lifting the barbell from the floor as that's kinda cheating?)

Would have done some dips and ab exercises but had to rush out of the gym to a seminar .

As you can see I'm not sticking exactly to SL 5x5 as I feel a bit of extra core work is necessary (I'm not "feeling it" from just having to stabilize these weights) and quite frankly I love dips/chins/pull-ups and feel they are good functional compound strength exercises that are quick and safe to perform.

[In One Ear]

Workout B, Monday 26/11/12:

Squats
bar*5
42.5, 5x5 (this felt much easier than last fridays 40, though for the first few sets my knees were making cracking noises from making sure I had full depth squats- it didn't really hurt so is this something I should be worried about and if so can you guys recommend any stretches/warm-up routines to help with the knee joints?)

OHP
22.5 kg 4x5, 1x8 (got a bit bored so added a few more reps)

Dead-lift
40*10
60*5
65, 2x5 (just sticking with the recommended 1x5 seems a bit pointless at this stage given that I'm recovering without issue due to the light weights, so I figured doing a few more sets would accelerate my progress)

Close grip pull-ups, BW*7
Close grip chin-ups, BW*6

T-rows, 20kg, 3x10
10 mins ab work

Pressups*10,12,8,8 (just following 100 push-ups seven week plan from the start)


Just a quick question; my right arm is noticeably (to me) bigger than my left (to be expected to a degree since I do everything with my right arm) and moderately stronger too. When I work out I would therefore expect my left arm to feel more tired as its playing catch-up but its always the case that my right arm feels more tired and like its benefited more. One very noticeable example was doing the chin ups- at my 5th/6th reps I realised that my right bicep felt very tired and engaged yet I could feel no real connection to the effort exerted by my left bicep and when I jumped down it only felt like my right bicep had done any work (though clearly this is not the case!!). Does this sort of strength imbalance/mind-muscle "connection" tend to just slowly go away with training or is it something I'm going to need to focus on correcting?

[AreebWithaHat]

(Original post by In One Ear)
Workout B, Monday 26/11/12:

Squats
bar*5
42.5, 5x5 (this felt much easier than last fridays 40, though for the first few sets my knees were making cracking noises from making sure I had full depth squats- it didn't really hurt so is this something I should be worried about and if so can you guys recommend any stretches/warm-up routines to help with the knee joints?)

OHP
22.5 kg 4x5, 1x8 (got a bit bored so added a few more reps)

Dead-lift
40*10
60*5
65, 2x5 (just sticking with the recommended 1x5 seems a bit pointless at this stage given that I'm recovering without issue due to the light weights, so I figured doing a few more sets would accelerate my progress)

Close grip pull-ups, BW*7
Close grip chin-ups, BW*6

T-rows, 20kg, 3x10
10 mins ab work

Pressups*10,12,8,8 (just following 100 push-ups seven week plan from the start)


Just a quick question; my right arm is noticeably (to me) bigger than my left (to be expected to a degree since I do everything with my right arm) and moderately stronger too. When I work out I would therefore expect my left arm to feel more tired as its playing catch-up but its always the case that my right arm feels more tired and like its benefited more. One very noticeable example was doing the chin ups- at my 5th/6th reps I realised that my right bicep felt very tired and engaged yet I could feel no real connection to the effort exerted by my left bicep and when I jumped down it only felt like my right bicep had done any work (though clearly this is not the case!!). Does this sort of strength imbalance/mind-muscle "connection" tend to just slowly go away with training or is it something I'm going to need to focus on correcting?

Maybe just consciously try and feel the lift bicep working or something? I know what you mean though my right bicep is bigger and stronger than my left.

[In One Ear]

Workout A, Wednesday 28/11/12:

Squats
bar*5
45, 5x5 (again easier than the squats on Monday and no problems with my knees this time - flexibility in squat range of motion has already improved greatly!)

Bench press
bar*10
42.5 5x5

Bent over barbell row
40 5x5 (stuck to same weight because last time it felt like I was cheating a bit- this time I used the short preloaded barbell instead of the Olympic bar+20kg and it felt much easier- dunno if anyone else feels that the Olympic bar makes everything feel heavier than when using short barbells even when the total weight is the same?)
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Neutral grip pull-ups, BW*4 (seems that rows really take it out of my biceps even if I don't really notice it)

Dips, BW*12,8

Over head dumbbell press 25*9

Bicep curl into dumbbell overhead press 25*8

Bicep curls, 25*8

5 mins ab work

Pushups*11,15,9,9,16

[In One Ear]

Workout B, Friday 30/11/12:

Squats
bar*5
47.5, 5x5 (first time it felt harder than last session since 40kg- but this probably had something to do with the pain in my left knee I had directly after Wednesday's session- so I was extra careful with form and my knee seemed better after Fridays workout compared to before it... )

OHP
25, 5x5

Dead-lift
40*10
60*5
70, 2x5
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pullups, BW*5
chinups, BW*4 (interesting to note again how the other compound movements seemed to really tire me out for these)

ab work

pushups*14,16,12,12,19

[In One Ear]

Workout A, Monday 03/12/12:

Squats
bar*10
50, 5x5

Bench press
bar*10
40*5
45, 2x5
50x2
60x1 (just testing what I can actually lift for 1 rep, 60 didn't feel that heavy but strangely my right arm/shoulder felt like it was giving in before my left which is not normal so I didn't try any more, especially as I had no one to spot me)
45, 3x5

Bent over barbell rows
42.5, 5x5
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dips, BW*10,10,7
some ab work
some forearm work (reverse barbell curls, and whatever you call those wrist rolling up with a barbell exercises palms facing and away)- feel this is a weak point already

As an aside I noticed everyone in the gym seems to be squatting heavy (most guys are doing 80-140 kg) which would imply that they should be dead-lifting around 100-160 kg (most people can dead-lift a bit more than squat) yet I almost never see anyone dead-lifting, and when they do its typically light in comparison to the squats (sub 100 or 100 ish, bar the occasional person doing more). Maybe people are afraid of dead-lifts?

Push-ups*16,17,14,14,16(+2+2)- really disappointed by this, last set was supposed to be a max set with at least 20 reps but I only made 16 and had to pause twice more for a total of around 10 seconds to make the last 4 reps. Just was not regaining enough energy during the rest periods and couldn't generate any force out of my arms, guess doing dips and bench on the same day before may have impacted this. Plan to take the end of week 2 exhaustion test tomorrow anyway and continue onto week 3 and see how that goes- looking at the later weeks the gains they expect me to make seem completely unreasonable so I imagine I'll be doing this challenge for a lot more than 7 weeks- law of diminishing returns and all.

[In One Ear]

Workout B, Wednesday 05/12/12:

Squat
bar*5
52.5, 5x5

OHP
30, 5x5 (should have been doing 27.5 this workout but due to the uni's gym closing today the performance weight room was paaaacked and so I had to use a pre-loaded barbell as all the Olympic bars were being used on the lifting platform- will keep at 30 for the next workout B as well to allow my muscles time to adjust as I found the final set of these tough).

Dead-lift
40*5
60*5
70*5
75*5 (+20 second hold)-funnily enough my right hand grip was slipping not my left
+extra set (should only be doing 75 this workout) 80*5 because I was just in a great mood and wanted to lift more!
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Dumbbell bench press (20kg dumbbells), 3x10 (pleased with this as two weeks and a bit ago when I started SL I was doing 10,8,7 or so but 3x10 didn't feel that challenging )

Bent over barbell rows, 40 3x5 (gonna row every session at around -10% on the days I "shouldn't" be rowing)

Weighted calf raises, 3*many

fore-arm/ab work

Gotta admit I really look forward to going to the gym now (hated It for the first week when I started) and look forward to every exercise except squatting, which I already hate .

Often my workouts take closer to 2 hours than 1 since I spend some time waiting for equipment and do a brief run/cycle to warm-up and read somewhere that after about an hour of working out hormonal changes (increase in cortisol?) actually makes working out further detrimental. Is this something I should be worried about or is it just largely bull****? I get out of the gym usually feeling great so its not like I'm stressing myself to the point of feeling sick or anything...

[In One Ear]

Workout A, Friday 07/12/12:

Uni gym is closed now for just over a couple of months whilst they gut it and transform it into a "state of the art" gym utilising a hefty 1.5M investment. Read the description of what will be in it and it was just an endless list of various cardio machines and the fanciest, newest (and probably most expensive) isolation exercise weight machines . Old gym had a performance weights room with squat racks/bench racks and a lifting platform with Olympic barbells for dead-lifting and Olympic lifting- just hoping the new gym has an area for this at least as big as the old gym or I'm going to be mega upset at my wasted membership time.

Decided to try a day pass at one of the gyms in Coventry (pure gym) and it suffers from exactly the same as every other gym I've been too- too many cardio machines, faaarr too many isolation weight machines, and no way near enough squat racks/benches/free weights. Its a big commercial gym and has all of about 5 load-able barbells of various sizes (and I'm pretty sure non of them Olympic) and not even an area to do dead-lifts- certainly not any Olympic lifting. On the plus side I got to do some ab work on the power plate which was pretty fun .

Squats (had to wait 15 minutes just to get a rack...)

55, 5x5 (I still suucck at squatting- the reps are genuinely hard to "get out of the hole" without rounding forward, though I'm noticed increased ability to squat deep and better balance so I guess some progress is being made )

Bench press
bar*10
47.5, 5x5 (wonder how long till I stall, think it might be around 55 but we will have to wait and see)

Bent over barbell rows
45, 5x5 (I swear these get easier every time even when upping the weight! )
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Pull-ups, BW*6,5 (+2 with a quick switch to neutral grip)
Dips, BW*10,10,8

some light reverse barbell curls and overhead pressing

and then ab work on the power plate!! (all the mats were taken so I thought I'd have a go)

[In One Ear]

Workout B Monday, 10/12/12:

At home now so have to deal with some odd weights.

Squats
bar (6kg barbell lol...)*5
26*5
58, 5x5 (love how every squatting session feels about as hard as the last but the weight keeps going up )

OHP

30, 5x5 (felt easy this time, definitely ready for some more weight!)

Dead-lifts
41*5
56*5
71*5
81*5
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pullups, 2x5
dips, 3x10 (woop)

[In One Ear]

Just a quick update:
Since I recently got home I've finally been able to weigh myself and I'm now already 74kg! Thats a 3kg improvement (or about 6.5 lbs) since I started weightlifting 8 weeks ago and I'm pretty sure judging from my waistline and facial chubbiness that I've lost a small amount of fat too- I'm certainly no fatter than I was when I started which means that I've maybe gained even a bit more muscle than that! Considering I only even started leg work 3 weeks ago (which is the part of the body with the most potential for mass gain) I'm absolutely delighted by those numbers. In the mirror I can definitely see that my entire torso has thickened out and in particular my arms/shoulders have a definition and thickness they never used to have so I have plenty of motivation to press onwards with the program (I've grown to really enjoy working out anyway so wouldn't feel demotivated even If I hadn't really made any visual progress).

Can't say my legs look any different to me but then again 3 weeks is nothing. Yesterday I noticed that I seemed to be able to jump higher than I recall in the past so I put it to the test and it seems my vertical jump has increased 2-3" since I started squatting and dead-lifting which I'm also delighted about- hopefully by the time the initial 12 weeks (of SL 5x5- week 4 atm) is up I might even be able to hang off a basketball rim which would be brilliant for me since I love to play basketball!

Just can't wait to see the changes both visually and functionally in myself once I've been doing this properly for say 6 months or so .

Hope everyone is making good progress towards their goals!

[AreebWithaHat]

(Original post by In One Ear)
Just a quick update:
Since I recently got home I've finally been able to weigh myself and I'm now already 74kg! Thats a 3kg improvement (or about 6.5 lbs) since I started weightlifting 8 weeks ago and I'm pretty sure judging from my waistline and facial chubbiness that I've lost a small amount of fat too- I'm certainly no fatter than I was when I started which means that I've maybe gained even a bit more muscle than that! Considering I only even started leg work 3 weeks ago (which is the part of the body with the most potential for mass gain) I'm absolutely delighted by those numbers. In the mirror I can definitely see that my entire torso has thickened out and in particular my arms/shoulders have a definition and thickness they never used to have so I have plenty of motivation to press onwards with the program (I've grown to really enjoy working out anyway so wouldn't feel demotivated even If I hadn't really made any visual progress).

Can't say my legs look any different to me but then again 3 weeks is nothing. Yesterday I noticed that I seemed to be able to jump higher than I recall in the past so I put it to the test and it seems my vertical jump has increased 2-3" since I started squatting and dead-lifting which I'm also delighted about- hopefully by the time the initial 12 weeks (of SL 5x5- week 4 atm) is up I might even be able to hang off a basketball rim which would be brilliant for me since I love to play basketball!

Just can't wait to see the changes both visually and functionally in myself once I've been doing this properly for say 6 months or so .

Hope everyone is making good progress towards their goals!

Good to see it's working and the results are coming in!

[In One Ear]

Workout A, Wednesday 12/11/12:

Squats
26*5
41*3
60, 5,5,5,4f,5 (wasn't focused- accidently let my hips rise faster than my shoulders so I slowly toppled forward whilst trying desperately to remain upright , last set felt surprisingly easy considering)

Bench press
(no bench atm so did dumbell presses on a moderate incline for a change but struggled to find an appropriate weight)
23.5*5 (man this was hard! getting them into position was such an effort)
21*5
22, 5,5,4 (just had no energy for the last rep- wasted so much getting the dumbbells into position as I didn't have a proper bench so had a half bench tilted at an angle from the floor which is fine in most respects but makes getting the weights into position harder)

Bent over barbell rows
26*5
48, 5x5

chins*4,3
dips*8,7 lol was just not feeling it at this point .

[In One Ear]

Workout B, Friday 14/12/12:

Got my squat rack and bench and a new (longer- 6ft6) barbell today!! So spent an hour setting those up before my workout.

Squats
28.5*5
43.5*3
62.5, 5x5 (I think I'm cheating slightly- as I get more tired I tend to squat 1-2 inches less deep so that I'm only around parallel rather than going below so I'm considering maybe only upping the weight every 2nd workout (thats still 3.75 kg/week) so that I can focus on getting proper good squats)

OHP
bar*many
32.5, 5x5 (this was pretty tough- I'll be surprised (pleasantly ) if I manage the full 5x5 at 35 kg next time)

Dead-lift
43.5*5
58.5*5
73.5*5
85*5
63.5, 2x5 (practicing mah form)

5 pull-ups
10 dips
2x8 EZ bar curls

[In One Ear]

Workout A, Monday 17/12/12:

Gotta admit I hate working out in my home workshop alone- its really hard to find the motivation to push yourself whereas in the uni gym/a public gym everyone else working out and suffering is a great motivator to try hard (which coincidentally is the fastest way to actually get into the mood...).

Squats
28.5*5
43.5*5
62.5, 3x5

Bench press
28.5*10
43.5*3
50, 5x5

Man this was hard! Partially due to the spotters being too close meaning I can't take my preferred grip without hitting them and mashing my elbows up so I have to go a bit closer and consciously try to avoid hitting them which is really off-putting

Bent over barbell rows
28.5*5
50, 5x5

Easier than the bench- lol?!

God why do I suck at squatting/benching so much .

[In One Ear]

Workout B, Wednesday 19/12/12:

Squats
28.5kg*5
43.5kg*5
65kg 3x5 (later reps were a griiind)
45kg 2x5 (at least this feels quite light now when 3 weeks ago it felt heavy)

also switched to high bar for no real reason at all

OHP

18.5kg*10
35kg 5,5,5,4,3 (damn first stall, just no way those last reps were going up- hopefully I will get 5x5 next time)

Dead-lifts

43.5kg*5
58.5kg*5
73.5kg*5
90kg*5 thought my form was **** on these, back was rounding- feels like I could probably pull 100 for 5 but as the weight gets heavier my form goes to ****- my back starts to round and I feel like I'm pulling through my back and not really using my legs as much as I should be
90kg 3x1 singles to focus on form, reduced my back rounding significantly in these but it felt much harder to get the weight up like this
---------------------------------
Moderate incline dumbbell presses
17kg dumbbells 8,6,5 (lol!? obviously my arms must have been tired from something, my left arm was just giving in)

Seated rowing
4 plates*10
6 plates*4
5 plates, 2x8 (don't know how much weight this translates to)

Bicep curls
11kg dumbbells, 2x8

[In One Ear]

Workout A, Friday 21/12/12:

High bar back squats
28.5kg*5
43.5kg*5
67.5kg 3x5 later reps were a grind again but fewer balance issues than last time and felt a bit easier dare I say
52.5kg 2x5

Bench press
28.5kg*10
43.5kg*4
52.5kg 5x5 delighted at this!! Genuinely thought I'd fail based on just getting 5x5 at 50kg last session- think I'll stall on 55 as this was tough but we will see since I thought the same last time.

Bent over barbell rows
28.5kg*10
43.5kg*5
52.5kg 5x5 reckon my ROM dropped a bit this time so I'll maintain this weight for the next session and focus on getting the bar right up to my torso.
-------------------------------
Dumbbell overhead press
13.5 kg dumbbells, 8 (short break), 5.5 (longer break), 8

Chins 5,5,5

[In One Ear]

Workout B, Monday 24/12/12:

Squats
28.5kg 1x5
43.5kg 1x3
58.5kg 1x2
70kg 1x4 felt something pulling in my left hamstring with each rep and didn't want to injure myself so I didn't do the 5th rep and lowered the weight.
61kg 4x5

OHP
18.5kg 1x10
35kg 5x5 (3 rep PR)
31kg 1x5 last rep went down twice before finally going up lol

Dead-lift
58.5kg 1x5
73.5kg 1x5
83.5kg 1x5
93.5kg 1x5 grip a big issue here only just held onto the last rep
83.5kg 1x5, 1x3 dropped the bar on the way on third rep because grip gave out
--------------------------------
Incline dumbbell press
17.5kg dumbbells 9,5,5

Seated rowing
4 plates 1x10
5 plates 2x8

bicep curlz
11.5kg dumbbells 2x8

grip=fried

disappointed about squats.

[In One Ear]

Workout A, Wednesday 26/12/12:

High bar squats
28.5kg 1x5
43.5kg 1x5
63.5kg 5x5 felt the pull in my left hamstring in the first set but not as bad so I kept on and it just disappeared for the other sets. De-load has massively improved the snappiness and depth of the squats.

Bench press
28.5kg 1x10
43.5kg 1x3
55kg 5x5 wow wasn't even that hard, very pleased with the progress on this exercise.

BoBR

43.5kg 1x5
52.5kg 5x5
---------------------------------
pull-ups 1x5
chins 2x5
dips 10,9,7
bicep curls 11.5kg dumbbells 2x8
standing overhead dumbbell presses
13.5kg dumbbells 8,6,5 worse than last time I think but this time I did a load of other exercises beforehand which accounts for the drop I think.

[In One Ear]

Workout B, Friday 28/12/12:

Pretty ****ty session today tbh, but a bad workout is better than no workout!

High bar squats
28.5kg 1x6
43.5kg 2x5 was feeling the same pull in my left hammy again and this is at a much lighter weight so I repeated the weight and did a low weight for the working set
58.5kg 3x5

OHP

18.5kg 1x10
28.5kg 1x1
37.5kg 5,3,3,3,3 lol what a difference 2.5kg makes!!
push press 37.5kg 2x5
strict press 28.5kg 1x5

Dead-lifts
58.5kg 1x5
83.5kg 1x5
97kg 1x1
100kg 1x1
93.5kg 1x1
83.5kg 1x3
73.5kg 1x5

dead-lifts terrible today, really not feeling it. Form was all over the place and I kept banging my shins
------------------------------
seat rowing
4 plates 1x10
5 plates 3x8 feeling a lot easier now can probably move up to 6 plates

pec-deck machine
5 plates 1x10
7 plates 1x8
8 plates 1x8
9 plates 1x6

bicep curls (11.5kg dumbbells)
2x8 again getting much easier can probably move to 12.5kg