[josht36]

01/06/12 - Awful nights sleep and revision all day is not good for the gym. Felt like I spent half of my time yawning.

Squat
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5 - Equal PB but with no caffeine.

Press
65 x 3
60 x 5
60 x 4 - Really poor, just felt like I had no energy.

Chins
+15 x 6
+20 x 5
+20 x 5

Dips
+20 x 5
+20 x 5
+20 x 5

[josht36]

03/06/12 - Just a quick one to wake me up from revision. Pretty good considering 3-4 hours sleep.

Squat
142.5 x 5
142.5 x 5
142.5 x 5 - PB 3x5 I think the key to this going up for me is just all in the mind. Physically I am definitely capable of more but its about pushing myself through the last few reps each time.

Dumbbell Bench
42 x 6
48 x 3 - Lost balance
44 x 7
44 x 6

Wide Grip Chinup - 60 seconds rest each time
10
6
4
5

[josht36]

06/06/12

Squat
145 x 5
145 x 5
145 x 5 PB 3x5 - Only got one session left before I go on holiday for a week and head back home so that will probably take another few days sorting out the new gym. Overall I am pleased with my squat progress this semester as that was my big weakness and what I set out to improve. I have gone from 130kg belted 1 rep max on about the start of Feb which was set before a month layoff to 145, 3 sets of 5 unbelted now. Might go for something different on Friday after my last exam. Maybe triples at 150.

Dumbbell Bench - Had to do this again as I had no spotter.
42 x 8
42 x 8
48 x 3

Incline Dumbbell Bench
36 x 8
36 x 6 - So rubbish at repping. I fatigue so fast.

Deadlift - Hasn't really gone up at all over the past few months, but to be honest I haven't really been wasting energy on it. May focus on it more over the summer.
140 x 5
160 x 5

Curls to finish. In and out in under 55 minutes.

[Glow in the dark]

What do you do for shoulders?

[josht36]

(Original post by Glow in the dark)
What do you do for shoulders?

I press probably a bit over once a week. Really lazy with it though and would need to do it much more often to see any progress. Main reason I don't do it as often is I just prefer benching as that is what I am good at.

Used to do a lot of dumbbell shoulder press. Might shove it back in as its nearly summer and will likely have more time to kill.

[josht36]

08/06/12 - Last session before holiday. Did a relatively quick one as I didn't get much sleep before my last exam.

Squat
150 x 3
150 x 3
150 x 3 - These were tough but definitely felt I had 1 or 2 more on the last set.

Press
60 x 5
60 x 5
60 x 5 - Dropping down the weight and making sure I hit everything. Definitely taken over my squat as my weakest lift.

Chins
+15 x 7
+15 x 6
+15 x 5

Dips
+15 x 8
+20 x 5
+20 x 4

Biceps at the end. Felt this was needed as will be on the beach in a few days, have to get in the mood for it.

[The_Blade]

In on this! Good lifting

[josht36]

19/06/12 - Felt like I haven't done any exercise in a long while. Went to the rubbish gym today and will probably join a bodybuilding gym for the summer period.
Decided upon doing some sort of bodypart split for the summer months for a number of reasons. The gym i'm joining only has one rack so is likely to be busy, but has an infinite number of dumbbells etc so will be more convenient. Also, I am likely to be eating less because I'm back at home and so could lose a bit of weight and strength gains will be harder to come by. Hopefully this will keep me interested as I have been doing just the core lifts mainly for quite a while now.
As soon as I get back to uni in September I will likely to go to something more strength focused as I will have plenty of food available but for now i'm hoping the different exercises will be a welcome change.
Did chest today as it is about the only thing you can do effectively in this gym.

Bench
105 x 5
105 x 5
105 x 5

Dumbbell Incline
36 x 8
40 x 5
40 x 5

Dips
+20 x 5
+14 x 6
+14 x 5

Then did some slow flys to stretch and some tricep extensions. Don't think I will bother logging numbers on these sort of exercises as I think the weight is less important and also I am lazy.

[liftorrot]

Nice benching !

[josht36]

(Original post by liftorrot)
Nice benching !

Cheers, I am sure i'm capable of more but haven't benched in a while so a bit out of practice.

[liftorrot]

(Original post by josht36)
Cheers, I am sure i'm capable of more but haven't benched in a while so a bit out of practice.

I see... what is your bench 1RM ?

[josht36]

(Original post by liftorrot)
I see... what is your bench 1RM ?

A very easy 120 a few months ago. Think I have done 110 for 3 sets of 5 but can't remember if I got any higher than that of the top of my head. It is something which I think can go up significantly with weight gain so hoping for lots of progress come September.

[liftorrot]

(Original post by josht36)
A very easy 120 a few months ago. Think I have done 110 for 3 sets of 5 but can't remember if I got any higher than that of the top of my head. It is something which I think can go up significantly with weight gain so hoping for lots of progress come September.

Nice , well I will keep an eye on this blog , how soon do you think you will be able to lock a 3 plate bench press ? :P

[Mdawg]

Great progress being made here.

How far did you get on Madcow's for your bench? I started off at 90x5 and after two progress "waves" I've got to 107.5x5 and am resetting again, but not sure whether I need to switch to something more advanced soon.

Also were you bulking and what is your BW?

Cheers.

[josht36]

(Original post by liftorrot)
Nice , well I will keep an eye on this blog , how soon do you think you will be able to lock a 3 plate bench press ? :P

Probably reasonably soon if I was to continue bulking. Should definitely hit it this year if I decided to bulk again from Sept. It has been difficult to max alot because I have been benching in a squat rack as they ordered the wrong bench at my gym. Bit harsh to ask my spotter to row up close to 3 plates. Obviously with a bit of help.

(Original post by Mdawg)
Great progress being made here.

How far did you get on Madcow's for your bench? I started off at 90x5 and after two progress "waves" I've got to 107.5x5 and am resetting again, but not sure whether I need to switch to something more advanced soon.

Also were you bulking and what is your BW?

Cheers.

Sorry, I don't know if I did madcows long enough for me to fairly say whether it was successful for my bench. If i remember correctly I had to stop for easter holidays and afterwards I realised I was still able to make a fair bit of progress with adding 2.5kg each time.
However from my experience I would say that I have increased my bench most when I have been doing more volume, say 3 sets of 5, 1 and a half times a week and just going up when you can, sort of like your press.
I don't know whether thats because when I was a noob I trained chest a lot and can now recover easily from it or whether its just because I haven't given other methods as much of a chance.
In the end I think its going to be more similar to press, in that your gains are going to be much slower than squat or deadlifts and often go up in bursts. You're likely to make gains doing 1 x 3 or 3 x 5 and what's optimal will vary from person to person. You've just got to be patient and find out what works for you.

I'm probably currently about 90kg at 5ft11. I think I have had consistent weight gain from being about 80 in Feb. Planning to maybe cut back a bit now so bulking can commence later. As much as I enjoy strength gains, i'd rather they were a bit slower and I still looked like I go to the gym. Got all winter to fatten up.

[Mdawg]

(Original post by josht36)
Probably reasonably soon if I was to continue bulking. Should definitely hit it this year if I decided to bulk again from Sept. It has been difficult to max alot because I have been benching in a squat rack as they ordered the wrong bench at my gym. Bit harsh to ask my spotter to row up close to 3 plates. Obviously with a bit of help.



Sorry, I don't know if I did madcows long enough for me to fairly say whether it was successful for my bench. If i remember correctly I had to stop for easter holidays and afterwards I realised I was still able to make a fair bit of progress with adding 2.5kg each time.
However from my experience I would say that I have increased my bench most when I have been doing more volume, say 3 sets of 5, 1 and a half times a week and just going up when you can, sort of like your press.
I don't know whether thats because when I was a noob I trained chest a lot and can now recover easily from it or whether its just because I haven't given other methods as much of a chance.
In the end I think its going to be more similar to press, in that your gains are going to be much slower than squat or deadlifts and often go up in bursts. You're likely to make gains doing 1 x 3 or 3 x 5 and what's optimal will vary from person to person. You've just got to be patient and find out what works for you.

I'm probably currently about 90kg at 5ft11. I think I have had consistent weight gain from being about 80 in Feb. Planning to maybe cut back a bit now so bulking can commence later. As much as I enjoy strength gains, i'd rather they were a bit slower and I still looked like I go to the gym. Got all winter to fatten up.

Your stats are almost identical to mine (90kg at 6ft), that's some pretty rapid bulking you've undertaken.

Yeh I agree with pretty much everything you've said there and if you had a history of chest training before beginning proper strength training then that would account for your better reaction to high volume.

I'm probably going to stick with Madcow's for a while because my squat and deadlift still have quite a bit more linear progression to go, even if my bench does not. I'm also hoping to hit a 3 plate bench by the end of the year if I bulk to something like 95, but my bench setup at home is awful so it may not happen. I maxed out at 125 recently btw, would have had at most 127.5 in me.

[josht36]

(Original post by Mdawg)
Your stats are almost identical to mine (90kg at 6ft), that's some pretty rapid bulking you've undertaken.

Yeh I agree with pretty much everything you've said there and if you had a history of chest training before beginning proper strength training then that would account for your better reaction to high volume.

I'm probably going to stick with Madcow's for a while because my squat and deadlift still have quite a bit more linear progression to go, even if my bench does not. I'm also hoping to hit a 3 plate bench by the end of the year if I bulk to something like 95, but my bench setup at home is awful so it may not happen. I maxed out at 125 recently btw, would have had at most 127.5 in me.

Yeah for some reason i have always found I seem to lose or gain weight really quickly without drastic changes to my diet. Good luck with madcows. Will follow your progress and maybe give it a proper go at some point if it works well for you.

[josht36]

21/06/12 - Grip let me down severely today. Felt like it was hindering me significantly on every exercise. Hopefully this type of routine will allow it to improve to near what it once was.

Deadlift
160 x 4
160 x 2 - On these two sets the strength was without doubt there and so hopefully should go up reasonably fast.
150 x 5

Wide Grip Pullups
+5 x 5
+5 x 5
+5 x 5
Bodyweight x 6

Dumbbell Rows
40 x 10
40 x 10
40 x 10

Curls to finish.

[josht36]

23/06/12 Doms today didn't really help but did what I could. Hopefully going to the better gym tomorrow/monday for squatting.

Press
60 x 5
60 x 5
60 x 5

Dumbbell Seated Press
30 x 8
32 x 6
32 x 6

A few chins and a few different shoulder assistance exercises. Short session today.

[liftorrot]

Is the DOMS due to squats ?