Eirik - I'm gonna be the viking!

[Eirikeb]

Hello strongmen.

Background info:
20 Years old.
183cm
ca 75kg (Don't have a weight : D)

I've been doing sports all my life. Football (eh, soccer..), cross country skiing, snowboard, slalom, basketball, taekwondo, tennis, swimming, running and crossfit (bring on the hate). When I was 19 I went to the army, Norwegian army border rangers up north, guarding those russians and whatnot. Before I wen't to the army my PR squat was about 95kg, DL was 105 or something, and shoulder press about 35-40kg. After the I army the only lift that went up was bench press, as I generally got weaker and weaker. Then I started at a university, and generally just drank beer and got fucked up. Which meant I got even weaker.

Thats going to change. Now.

My goals.
- Get strong.
- Get muscles.

I don't care if I put on fat, if I have to buy new pants, I just want to get strong. Seeming as strong and muscles usually goes pretty well hand in hand, I think I have a nice starting point.

Program:Wichita Falls novice program, which looks like this:
Day A:
Squats: 3x5
Bench: 3x5
Pullups/chinups (rotating): 3xf

Day B:
Squats: 3x5
Press: 3x5
Deadlift: 1x5 OR power clean: 3x5.

Starting weights:
Squat: 60kg.
Bench: 50kg.
Press: 30kg.
Deadlift: 70kg.
Power Clean: 30kg.

Form:I think my form on squats is starting to be pretty good, but I just realized my knees goes a bit forward when I've been going all the way down, ass to grass, and (almost) fixed that by stopping under parallel, instead of all the way down. Bench seems OK, I just need to focus more on lightly touching the chest, instead of bumping it, as I used to. Press is good/ok. Deadlift seems ok. Power Clean: Quite probably effin terrible. Never done those, except a few times in crossfit workouts. Pullups/chinups: Ok!

Eating: I've allways been skinny. To the point where my grandma force fed me butter and denied my sister it. Nice grandma, should have listened more too her. I've been trying to lift for years, but with little progress, which I don't doubt has one single reason. I eat less than I need to grow. My caloric intake goals is this:
Workout days: 5000kcals
Tuesdays/Thursdays: 4000kcals.
Saturday/sunday: At least 3000kcals.
I think I will try to up these after a while, but right now it's very hard to eat 5000 on work days, and 4000 is kind of hard on rest days, and weekends, are well weekends. I'm logging almost everything I eat, just skipping somethings on purpose, so I eat more than I log, to be sure i reach my minimums (some Icelandic candy everyday. If Jon Pall could, so can I)

I started for real monday, six days ago, and it all went well.
Day 1 (A): Monday, 01.03.10
Squats: 3x5 60kg.
Bench: 3x5 50kg.
Chins: 3xf (7,6,5)
This workout was heavier than I though, probably because a four day drinking binge. I noticed that my knees go slightly forward this day.

Day 2 (B): Wednesday, 03.03.10
S: 3x5 62.5kg
Press: 3x5 30kg
Deadlift: 1x5 70kg
Okay, squats kinda heavy, press was a bit easy, deadlift was, well, deadlifts.
Tried to fix knees to forward, didn't really fix it.

Day 3 (A): Friday, 05.03.101
S:3x5 65kg
B: 3x5 52.5
Pullups: 3xf (8,4,3)
I didn't really eat enough before workout, so I was fatigued before the pullups, but pulled (hehe!) through.

Fooooood:
Monday: 4404kcals.
Tuesday: Forgot to add dinner that day, but 3000kcals before dinner.
Wednesday: 5140kcals
Thursday: 4335kcals
Friday: 5573kcals.

Pretty happy so far, and looking forward to next week of lifting. In the mean time, happy weekend.

Oh, and I almost forgot the part I'm most proud of. I'm not going to drink a single drop of alcohol. Going form 3-4 days a week to not a single drop is going to be hard, but getting drunk ain't making me stronger.

[misspelledgeoff]

let's not get crazy now! Beer and liftin go together like squats and deads.

Do GOMAD to get your calories up. You need minimum of 5K per day--every day--not just training days. You'll need the calories to pack on the muscle. If you do the diet as you described I predict you will stall out early.

good luck!



Oh, and I almost forgot the part I'm most proud of. I'm not going to drink a single drop of alcohol. Going form 3-4 days a week to not a single drop is going to be hard, but getting drunk ain't making me stronger.

[Eirikeb]

I'll try to reach that. I'm at 2l of milk every day now, and I'll try to up it to 3l pr day if that'll make you love me.

And the alcohol thing is 50% economical as I'm broker than your average druggie, and 30% to check if I'm able to do it. 20% because I was drunk when I said it, and my mom said I should do what I say I'm going to do.

But I'll take the advice, and try to go for 5k calories a day next week.

[Eirikeb]

New week, new lifting to be done! Hurrrrayyy!

Monday:
S: 67,5kg Perfect weight, heavy, but still good control. Think I've fixed the knee issue now, will try to camcord my self, then try to fix it and then post it on the board when I can't improve it more on myself.
P: 32.5 Kinda easy. Looking forward to getting to 40kg, so I can use 10kg plates instead.
Chins: 6-6-2. I was still sore from the pulls on friday, so these were very tough on me. Didn't get optimal rest this weekend, due to work1, work2 and not eating or sleeping enough. Will fix it this week.

Ate 5017kcal today, pluss some peanutbutter and jam which I didn't count. 3L of whole milk went down easy. Think I can up it to 4l, which is just over a gallon. Sweet!

I can allready see a change on my beergut, happy times. I'm getting fat : D

[Eirikeb]

I ate 6000kcal yesterdays. A lot of icecream, chocolate and other crapfood. Made me happy!

over 5000kcal todays, 4000 with 2l of milk, and I have eaten one big burger with fries and shit and one liter of milk left as well.

Squats: 5x3 70kg - first set was heavy, rest went pretty good. Knees felt good again, my back was kind of sloppy on the first set. Didn't tight it all up.
Bench: 5x3 55 - just the right weight, maybe it could be heavier.
Power Cleans 3x3 40kg: Didnt remember the reps/set, so gambled on the 3x3. Spent 40 minutes practicing forms first, then did the cleans. 40kg was maybe a bit to heavy, but overall went ok. Forgot to go to jump positions once, and need to work on rack positions, getting my elbows high enough.

All in all, friggin amazing workout!

[Eirikeb]

Saturday:
S: 72,5
Press: 35
Pullups: dont remember,around 7-5-3 or something

Didn't workout on friday, and got drunk on sunday. good job Eirik.

Tuesday: New week, new possibilites:
S: 75: first set very heavy, second quite ok, third as it should be.
Bench: 55 Heavy, I think I arch my back to much, I get some pain in the lower back.
Deadlifts: 80kg, heavy as it was deadlifts, but I could have pulled 10kg more I think. Strength is definetaly(sp?) improving.

eggs, bread, mayo, peanutbutter, salmon, a very small bite of potato, 3l of milk and probably tuna or ramen before I go to bed. Nice. Maybe a bit olive oil as well.

I need to film myself soon. I think I sometimes miss the contraction in the lower back on the squats, and the kneeves cave slightly in sometimes. I'm worried about my arch on the bench, and I have to read about deadlifts once more.

Also, my starting strength is falling aparts. The glue doesn't hold together : (

[Eirikeb]

Woah. New day, new posibilites! Fuck yeah.

Working out is starting to become the highlight of my day. Actually it is! It doesn't feel like a walk of shame anymore, it's a pimp walk of glory.

S: 77,5 Easy. Like, I could have done 80. Cool! Felt my form was good, as long as I remember to push knees out, keep the arch in lower back, and I also practiced hip drive. Wow, what a difference. Need to practice those, it was like lifting 10kg less. I though I had loaded wrong on the first rep of the work sets, so I racked it and checked..
P: 37,5 h-e-a-v-y. I knew this was going to be heavy, but I'm confident that I'll get 40kg on next press day, and thats a huge barrier for me. Finally a big plate instead of lots'a small ones.
ChinUps: 10-7-4. I think I need to bring some bananas or something, cause my energy is dropping before chins. But I did them, and I was stronger than last time. Decided that shoulders touches the bars is the requirement for a rep, to make sure I go all the way with chin way over the bar.

I'm still getting my calories mainly form fat 50%, carbs 30% and just 20% from proteins, but bread is cheap (under a dollar for one bread, while a beer in a pub is at 10$), calorie rich and easy to eat. I've upped my breakfast form four eggs to six, and I'm eating a can of tuna almost every day to get some extra proteins (and fat from mayo and carbs from the bread). Need to get back on the olive oil track, and maybe start eating some fruit and veggies? Now the only I get is 2-3 bananas a week, 2-3 cans of tomatoes a week.

No haul for Eirik

[PVC]

Working out is starting to become the highlight of my day. Actually it is! It doesn't feel like a walk of shame anymore, it's a pimp walk of glory.

I know what you mean. When I was skinnier and weaker I was ashamed to be going to the gym because it served to emphasize how skinny and weak I really was. Now that I'm a bit stronger and a bit bigger, going off to do my squats is the highlight of my day.

[Eirikeb]

I know what you mean. When I was skinnier and weaker I was ashamed to be going to the gym because it served to emphasize how skinny and weak I really was. Now that I'm a bit stronger and a bit bigger, going off to do my squats is the highlight of my day.
Meh, for me it was more the walk to the gym, after school, maybe a slept a bit little. All these small excuses for not doing working out. Now it doesn't matter. I'm gonna work out - no matter what!

But it helps getting stronger.

S: 80kg - Almost failed on the last rep on the first set, lost tightness because I looked up/in the mirror and fell down, but pushed it up again. Lost tightness in lower back on 4th rep on the last set. Hip drive is coming along. Need to focus on hip drive, lower back, knees, low bar, tightness.
B: 60kg - first set extremly heavy, second ok, third heavy. Getting close to reset on bench, but fuck that. I found out it's a very stupid idea to close my eyes when it gets heavy, because it fucked up the bar path.
PowerCleans: Yihha, 40kg, 3x5. Felt good. Need to remember that bent arms suck, and to really jump. As in taking a jump. Did a jump on my last rep, last set and the bar racked it self. Woah. It was like "oh, the bar is allready racked? How did that happen?"

good workout. Ate power breakfast. 400gr of minched meat and a can of tomatoes. Sweet.

[Eirikeb]

S: 82.5kg filmed my reps for the first time ever. Scary! I go too far down, and my knees still go forward/buttwink. Also the bar is a bit to high.
P: 40kg: Heavy, filmed theese as well and I overextend the reps. Stupid. Miscounted the second set, so did 6 reps on the last instead. Heavy
Deadlifts: 85g. Normal/easy. form looked good on video!

[Eirikeb]

Back in black after easter.

Had one workout during easter.

Thursday 08.04.10
I went down on all lifts now, to practice form and shit.
S: 75kg (form was really awfull, i wasn't able to concentrate or something)
B: 57,5kg (felt tough, but would have managed 60kg
Pullups: 5-4-4 or something. Started with a very wide grip, and then narrowed it.

[Eirikeb]

S: 77,5kg Heavy, but could have done 80.
P: 37,5kg Heavy, but did it without to much trouble
DL: 85kg, heavy, the extension in lowerback died in the second rep, the rest was good.

I'm ordering shoes later, and combined that I spent way to much money on food lately, I have to cut down as I'm completly fucking broke, I need to cut down a bit on the eating. Also, my suit don't fit anymore, and I'm gonna wear on 17th of may, so it's ok. I'll try to be at around 4000kcal every day instead of 5000kcal.

[Eirikeb]

Well, fuck me. I'm a pussy.
No excuses.
M: 03.05.10
S: 75 Feeling good
P: 37.5 The last reps were heavy.
DL: 80kg. Form felt odd. Dunno.

[Eirikeb]

Wednesday:
S:77,5kg Ok, form felt sweet.
B: 55k: Rather easy
PC: 3x5 40kg. Need to keep working on the "jump" burt and not bending the elbows before the body is extended. Form is good enough to go up in weights.

Friday:
S: 80kg Ok, form felt swwet
P: 40kg. Last set, last rep was heavy. Will consider 2kg raises.
PU: 8,4,4.

[Eirikeb]

Tuesday:
S: 82,5 - I think im getting the back positin more and more.
Bench: 60kg
DL: 85

I got incredibly sore in the back after this workout. Think it waas due better back activation folloed by reasonable heavy DLs, and then awkard sleep position.

Friday:
S: 85 - felt good, but fucking heavy. I'm slighty dizzy after squats.
P: 42.5 FAIL. 5-5-3. I knew this one would come soon, but fuck, allready. Well well, will keep drinking milk.
Pullups: 10-3-3

Kind of mad at the presses, but hey, they will go up after a while. Also, INDTP, but thats quite fine with me. Can't gain anymore fat, so if I'm starting to stall thats allright. Have ordered my do-wins, sweet!

[Eirikeb]

Squats 87,5kg FAIL. 4-5-3.

I the first set was heavy due to bad unracking, bad breathing, bad tightening of muscles etc. Second was heavy, but I did it. Last set was heavy. I should have been able to complete the 4th rep, but alas. Bah. Been eating very bad and way to little due to prioritizing exams and reproducing organs interacting with reproducing organs. Shit happens. Doesn't really worry me too much.

B: 62,5 Not too hard, not to easy. Filling the lungs, creating a solid platform to push from and just doing the reps with minimum breaks makes it easier.

PC: 45. Form feels allright, still need to work on really jumping I think. Looking forward to get lifting shoes instead of soft-heel running shoes.

[Eirikeb]

Thursday:
S: 87,5: 4, 5th rep fail on first set
P: 42,5
DL: 90

Saturday:
S: 82,5 Fair enough, 3d set had the form nailed
B: 65 holy fuck that was heavy.
PU: 8-4-3 or something. Whatever.

[Eirikeb]

Finally done with finals. Time to get back on track (for the fourth time? I suck). Got my Do-Wins now, sweet. Allthough I had to recalibrate when I was lower than parallell again. Squats felt more stable than barefot, presses felt very stable, and deadlifts were fucking sweet with the shoes.

S: 80kg
P: 37,5kg
DL: 80kg

[Eirikeb]

S: 80kg - got them down again with my new shoes. Felt very good this time. Need to get next workout on video and post it.
B: 55kg - easy.
PC: 40kg - easy, and videotaped the last set. Need to get the bar closer to my chest, and completely extend.

[Eirikeb]

S: 82,5kg
P: 40kg
PU: 10-6-4

Videoed my squats, will upload. I go too far down, need to focus my eyes on one point and I struggle with bar placement on the traps.