Dunk a basketball

[cun2x]

Background

I've been lifting on and off since 2002, but have never gained any significant results, since I'm always swayed by the 'latest breakthrough in science or whatever'. I've been lifting seriously again since January this year, following the Starting Strength recommendation, and haven't stopped until now. I thought it'll be great to post my goals and what I did in the gym, and ask for constructive criticism.

I've always wanted to be able to dunk a basketball, so I'll make it my goal. I'll start from aiming for 1.5 x bw squat and 2 x bw deadlift before I added plyo or other complicated stuff. I'm finishing up madcow's intermediate 5 x 5 soon, and then will reload with the texas 5 x 5.

Current stats

Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 165 lbs, about 12-14% bf

Squat: 205 lbs x 3 reps
Deadlift: 255 lbs x 4 reps
Bench: 137 lbs x 3 reps

Short term goals

Squat: 225 lbs x 5 reps
Deadlift: 280 lbs x 5 reps
Bench: 150 lbs x 5 reps

Long term goals

Squat: 250 lbs x 5 reps (1.5 x bw squat)
Deadlift: 330 lbs x 5 reps (2 x bw deadlift)
Bench: 165 lbs x 5 reps (bw bench)

Once I get here, then I'll think about adding plyo and other stuff. I think I'll be able to dunk when I got here, since I can already grab the rim with a running start on a good day.

Hope to hear from all of you. :)

[cun2x]

My current program

Tuesday
Mobility drills, some low intensity plyo
Squat 4 x 5, 1 x 3, 1 x 8 (weight is ramped up, set with 3 rep is the heaviest)
Bench 4 x 5, 1 x 3, 1 x 8 (weight is ramped up, set with 3 rep is the heaviest)
Pendlay row 4 x 5, 1 x 3, 1 x 8 (weight is ramped up, set with 3 rep is the heaviest)
Curl superset with tricep pushdown 3 x 6-8

Thursday
Mobility drills, some low intensity plyo
Squat 5 x 5 (weight is ramped up, 5th set is the heaviest)
Bench 5 x 5 (weight is ramped up, 5th set is the heaviest)
Pendlay row 5 x 5 (weight is ramped up, 5th set is the heaviest)

Saturday / Sunday
Mobility drills, some low intensity plyo
Light squat 4 x 5
Press 4 x 5
Deadlift 4 x 5 (weight is ramped up, 4th set is the heaviest)

[Kyle]

My current program

Tuesday
Mobility drills, some low intensity plyo
Squat 5 x 5 (weight is ramped up, 5th set is the heaviest)
Bench 5 x 5 (weight is ramped up, 5th set is the heaviest)
Pendlay row 5 x 5 (weight is ramped up, 5th set is the heaviest)

Thursday
Mobility drills, some low intensity plyo
Light squat 4 x 5
Press 4 x 5
Deadlift 4 x 5 (weight is ramped up, 5th set is the heaviest)

Saturday/Sunday
Mobility drills, some low intensity plyo
Squat 4 x 5, 1 x 3, 1 x 8 (weight is ramped up, set with 3 rep is the heaviest)
Bench 4 x 5, 1 x 3, 1 x 8 (weight is ramped up, set with 3 rep is the heaviest)
Pendlay row 4 x 5, 1 x 3, 1 x 8 (weight is ramped up, set with 3 rep is the heaviest)
Curl superset with tricep pushdown 3 x 6-8


Not a bad program, should certainly see some improvments in goals.

Kyle

[jshreck]

Could you describe your mobility drills and what you are doing for your low grade plyos?

[cun2x]

js,

I use the mobility drills taken from Inside Out DVD and Magnificent Mobility. For upper body, I use thoracic spine foam rolling, quadruped thoracic rotation extension, push up plus, dynamic blackburn, reach roll and lift and then PNF diagonal with lunge. For lower body, I start with warrior lunge, supine bridges, high knee walks, pull back butt kicks, cradle walks and reverse lunge with twist.

For the low intensity plyo, I took this from Kelly Baggett's Vertical Jump Development Bible. It's basically ankle jump, 4 star drills, jump squat (no weight), slalom jump, lunge jump and low squat ankle jump.

[Heisman]

So what's your vertical right now?

[cun2x]

Heisman,

I'm not sure actually. All I know is I can grab the rim from a running start, and almost touch the rim if I jump from a standstill. I was planning to test it every month, to see what part of the basketball backboard I can touch. I'm gonna measure them this weekend actually, and I'll post it here.

[cun2x]

Yay, got couple of PRs today!

My squat is up to 210 lbs x 3 reps (+5 lbs), and thanks to Lyle's help, the set felt a lot better tighter. I felt that I could have done a total of 5 reps, but I'm going to be patient and slowly increase it.

My bench is also up to 140 lbs x 3 reps (+3 lbs). I tighten up my lower body, and start my push from the legs. I think I can still increase my weights for this cycle for another 2-3 weeks from now, before taking a week off.

[jshreck]

js,

I use the mobility drills taken from Inside Out DVD and Magnificent Mobility. For upper body, I use thoracic spine foam rolling, quadruped thoracic rotation extension, push up plus, dynamic blackburn, reach roll and lift and then PNF diagonal with lunge. For lower body, I start with warrior lunge, supine bridges, high knee walks, pull back butt kicks, cradle walks and reverse lunge with twist.

For the low intensity plyo, I took this from Kelly Baggett's Vertical Jump Development Bible. It's basically ankle jump, 4 star drills, jump squat (no weight), slalom jump, lunge jump and low squat ankle jump.

All of that looks great, Keep us updated with your progress.

[cun2x]

So what's your vertical right now?

My highest right hand reach is at 7' 9". There is no way for me to measure how high the rim is at the court I usually play, but I'm assuming it'll be at 10' give or take. I can go over the rim about 5" with a running start, which gives me about 32" running vertical. If I jump from a standstill, I can almost touch the rim, probably about 2" off. I would guess my vertical is about 25".

On a side note, I have only been able to set records on my 3 rep day of the week nowadays. I haven't been able to lift the planned weights for the other two days. My deadlift has lowered a bit from my max. My military press is also stuck for about 4 weeks now. I'll milk whatever I can gain from this cycle and take a week off. Hopefully I can get 225 lbs x 3 reps squat before the cycle ends.

On a side note, I tried jumping around after a bunch of pickup games to see how high I can jump. I can now grab the rim with 1/3rd of my finger consistently even after games. In the past, I can grab the rim only when I'm fresh and properly warmed up. Once my cycle ends, I'll take a week off, and see how high I can jump at the end of the off week.

[cun2x]

I haven't been able to sleep well the past 1.5 weeks, and now I'm getting pain on my right knee. So it looks like I won't push this cycle anymore, and reset starting this Thursday.

I started with:

Squat: 185 x 5
Bench: 125 x 5
Pendlay Row: 105 x 5
Press: 97 x 5
Deadlift: 255 x 5

I took 4 weeks to build up to my old PR (my 4th week is the old PR), and after 9 weeks, here's the results:

Squat: 210 x 3
Bench: 140 x 3
Pendlay Row: 120 x 2
Press: 102 x 3 http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif
Deadlift: 255 x 1 http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif

I'm planning to start the Texas method, like outlined below:

Day 1
Squat 5X5
Bench Press 5X5
Pendlay Row 5x5

Day 2
Back squat 2 x 5 (80% of day 1 squat)
Press 3 x 5
Chin ups 3 x max reps

Day 3
Squat 1X5
Bench Press 1x5
Dead Lift 1X5

For this cycle, I'll focus on driving up day 3 weights. I'll try to start getting PR at week 4, and try to set PR for 2-4 weeks. What do you guys think?
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[Kyle]

Cun2x,

The pain in your knee might be agrivated from doing all the plyometric drills.

Kyle

[cun2x]

I've got knee pain before after playing basketball, and I got a relief from it by doing foam rolling on my IT band. However, this time the pain resides on a different area. I played around with a tennis ball yesterday, and found that rolling the tennis ball on my right peroneals and calf muscle (see http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1259323) eliminates the pain. Today, the peroneal feels tender again, and the knee pain reappears, so I'll do some tennis ball rolling again tonight.

I've started playing pickup basketball once a week again, so I'll reduce my plyo session to 1 per week, or even eliminate it, depending on how my knee feels.

[cun2x]

Kyle,

What do you think of my last cycle, and my plan for the upcoming cycle?

Problems with my last cycle:
1. The deadlift volume is just too much for me. I went from 1 set of 5 every week to 4 x 5. I thought ramping up slowly will condition me to 4 sets, but apparently not.
2. I didn't eat enough. My weight is at 165 lbs in the beginning of cycle, and stays that way until 2 weeks ago. Then it starts to drop 2 lbs, and then suddenly a day after a basketball game, I weigh 159 lbs. My caloric intake stays the same the whole cycle, so it's probably a bit of overreaching and losing too much water.
3. I have no idea why my press is not going up, although the bench press and rows are. For my press, after ramping up, I can increase the poundages once, and then it stops for 3 weeks. After I drop the reps to 3, it increases once, and then it stops again.

Things I will do on the next cycle:
1. Drop deadlift set to 1 again.
2. Start adding 500 calories to my last cycle calories. I'll experiment with the increase until I can get about 2 lbs of extra bodyweight per month.
3. No idea what I can do about the press.

[Kyle]

Kyle,

What do you think of my last cycle, and my plan for the upcoming cycle?

Problems with my last cycle:
1. The deadlift volume is just too much for me. I went from 1 set of 5 every week to 4 x 5. I thought ramping up slowly will condition me to 4 sets, but apparently not.
2. I didn't eat enough. My weight is at 165 lbs in the beginning of cycle, and stays that way until 2 weeks ago. Then it starts to drop 2 lbs, and then suddenly a day after a basketball game, I weigh 159 lbs. My caloric intake stays the same the whole cycle, so it's probably a bit of overreaching and losing too much water.
3. I have no idea why my press is not going up, although the bench press and rows are. For my press, after ramping up, I can increase the poundages once, and then it stops for 3 weeks. After I drop the reps to 3, it increases once, and then it stops again.

Things I will do on the next cycle:
1. Drop deadlift set to 1 again.
2. Start adding 500 calories to my last cycle calories. I'll experiment with the increase until I can get about 2 lbs of extra bodyweight per month.
3. No idea what I can do about the press.

Given the time you've been training that your best bet would be the Texas Method for awahile.

a big jump in pulling like you did probably did not help you much either. Some people can deadlift like that and others cannot. I find the better set/rep/frequency for pulling to be around 3x3 1x's per week.

I think sticking to 3 good compound movements will benefit you, as you get stronger you will increase jumping ability. Just out of curiosity you may not be strong enough to do plyometrics and be capable of asborbing that much loading weekly, what is your squat in ratio to your bodyweight?

Kyle

[cun2x]

My current goal is to get to 1.5 x bw squat. I'm currently at about 1.3 x bw squat. My plyo is not a true plyo, nothing like depth jump or anything like that. It's just to help me get "lighter on my feet". I listed what I did for my "plyo" on the 5th post or so on my thread. I'll put it up again below:


For the low intensity plyo, I took this from Kelly Baggett's Vertical Jump Development Bible. It's basically ankle jump, 4 star drills, jump squat (no weight), slalom jump, lunge jump and low squat ankle jump.

[Kyle]

My current goal is to get to 1.5 x bw squat. I'm currently at about 1.3 x bw squat. My plyo is not a true plyo, nothing like depth jump or anything like that. It's just to help me get "lighter on my feet". I listed what I did for my "plyo" on the 5th post or so on my thread. I'll put it up again below:

Whats the sets/reps you'll be doing?

Kyle

[cun2x]

I did 1 set of each exercise. Everything is about 10-20 reps. The whole thing took about 5 minutes. The idea is just to be "smooth" and get used to jumping motion.

[cun2x]

Plans for the weights used for first 4 weeks (set PR on week 4):

Day 1 (5x5)
Squat: 160 -> 170 -> 180 -> 190 -> +5 lbs / week
Bench press: 105 -> 110 -> 115 -> 120 -> +2-3 lbs / week
Rows: 90 -> 95 -> 100 -> 105 -> +2-3 lbs / week

Day 2 (light)
Squat: 20% of Day 1's weight
Press: 90 -> 95 -> 100 -> 105 -> +2-3 lbs/ week
Chin up: 3 x as many as possible (start easy for the first 3 weeks)

Day 3 (1x5)
Squat: 185 -> 195 -> 205 -> 215 -> +5 lbs / week
Bench press: 127 -> 132 -> 137 -> 142 -> +2-3 lbs / week
Deadlift: 230 - > 240 -> 250 -> 260 -> +5 lbs / week

Thoughts?

[Sentinel]

i wanna add some stuff. thanks for pm'ing me. ill drop by often.

ill also help u out with what i can.

more later...

[cun2x]

Movement efficiency exercises

2 sets of single leg lateral jump for 10 secs
2 sets of single leg hop on 7" box (hop to the left, hop to the front, hop to the right) x 3

Comments: Focus on smoothness for both exercises. Left leg is not as coordinated as the right one. I find that weird since I usually jump off my left leg. For the second exercise, I landed very loudly when I use the right leg, and smooth when I use the left one.

Strength training

Squat
160 x 5 x 5

Bench
107 x 5 x 5

Rows
92 x 5 x 5

The weight I'm using for day 1 is about 85% of day 3 weights. I'm taking 3 weeks to ramp up on my day 3 workout. I'm surprised about how tough the squat feels. I'm not used to having 5 sets of pretty hard exercises. However, I'm using very good form and stay tight for all 3 exercises.

[cun2x]

Backcyling, deloading and periodization

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/forums/showthread.php?p=444226&highlight=backcycle#post444226
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16860&highlight=backcycle
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/forums/showthread.php?p=201698&highlight=backcycle#post201698
http://www.mindandmuscle.net/mindandmuscle/magpage.php?issueID=19&artID=999243

[cun2x]

Weight: 161 lbs
Waist 1" above navel: 31.25"
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Training

Squat
130 x 5 x 2

Press
90 x 5 x 3

Chin up
3, 3, 3

Comments:
Workout is very light today. Last cycle, I messed up my progression because I'm keeping day 2 workout too heavy. I've learned my lesson, so I'm only going to push chin up numbers or last set of press for this cycle. Had a 3 hour pickup basketball game yesterday, so leg feels a little heavy even with squat that light. Press and chin up is only a little hard on the last set.

[cun2x]

Weight: 163 lbs
Waist 1" above navel: 31.5"
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises

Standing vertical jump x 8 (rest 30 sec between each attempt)
Low box lateral jump x 10 secs x 2

Comments:
I'm practicing my jumping movement and keep it light. I actually got the last 3 reps higher than the first 5. My low box lateral jump is not smooth at all, gotta practice being quick and staying on the ball of my feet.

Training

Squat
190 x 5

Bench press
127 x 5

Deadlift
230 x 5

Comments:
Weird, all the weights are pretty hard today. I thought by deloading, it will feel easy, but it's not. Squat feels wobbly, bench press groove was a little messed up for the last 2 reps, and the 5th rep of deadlift also feels hard. Hopefully I'll get the groove back soon for next workout.

[cun2x]

Weight: 161.6 lbs
Waist 1" above navel: 31.5"
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises

Lateral hop 10 secs x 2

Comments:
Upper part of left foot hurts when I tried to jump around with the ball of my foot. I probably have a trigger point in there somewhere, will try to find it when I watch tv tonight.

Training

Squat
167 x 5 x 5

Bench press
112 x 5 x 5

Rows
97 x 5 x 5

Comments:
Focus on getting tight and deep enough for squat. All reps are good except the last set. I might have lean forward too much at the bottom, but all of them are deep enough, since I ask my lifting partner to watch my depth. My bench press feels explosive, and I got a good speed out of every rep. I focus on stepping hard on the floor, and pushing my body away from the bar. Row feels hard for 1st set, but is explosive for the rest of the 4 sets. I make sure to keep my body tight and parallel to the ground. First set is probably tired from the bench press.

[cun2x]

Weight: 161.4 lbs
Waist 1" above navel: 31"
Ab caliper measurement: 18 mm

Training

Squat
135 x 5 x 2

Press
95 x 5 x 3

Chin up
4, 4, 3

Comments:
I re-read the Starting Strength book, and realize that I haven't been pushing out my knees at the bottom of my squat. I tried this today, but I'm not getting any bounce from the bottom. I have to practice the new form for my next workout. The press feels hard, and I thought I won't be able to get 5 rep on all sets, but by stepping hard on the floor and getting a nice groove, I managed to get all 3 sets. I also got a very nice groove on the chin up, and I only strained slightly on the last set.

[cun2x]

Weight: 161.6 lbs
Waist 1" above navel: 31.25"
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises

Standing vertical jump x 8 (rest 30 sec between each attempt)
Low box lateral jump x 10 secs x 2

Comments:
Vertical jump is slightly lower than last week. I tried my hardest to get to that level, but I keep missing it by 1 or 2".

Training

Squat
Week 1: 190 x 5
Week 2: 200 x 5

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4 :mad:

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5

Comments:
I expected an easy workout, since I'm still using my less than PR weight, but I was totally wrong.

I definitely pick too much weights for my first 2 weeks. I'm leaning forward a lot for my 4th and 5th rep of my last set. I went below parallel, but definitely not all the way. When the weight gets heavy, I tend to break only my hips, and not my knees, while the other set I start the movement with 50/50 knee and hip break. My first 4 sets are pretty good, focusing on a quick turnaround between the eccentric and concentric. (thanks, Lyle (http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/forums/showpost.php?p=579945&postcount=23))

I should have stopped on my 4th rep of bench press, considering that the rep speed slow down considerably, but I tried the 5th one and fails.

My deadlift form is also all over the place, I'm not sure if my butt is low enough or not, but my form here is not as good as I would like to. I got all 5 reps, but they are not pretty.

I have to stay with this weights for all three lifts next week. :(

[cun2x]

Weight: 161.8 lbs
Waist 1" above navel: 31.5"
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Training

Squat
Week 1: 160 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 167 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 175 x 5 x 3 :(

Bench press
Week 1: 107 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 112 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 117 x 5 x 5

Rows
Week 1: 92 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 97 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 100 x 5 x 5

Comments:

Weight has been stuck around 161 lbs for close to 2 weeks now, so I'm adding 400 calories on my volume day, the day after it, intensity day and the day after it. Total increase will be about 3200 calories in 2 weeks. I'm just adding 1 peanut butter sandwich on my breakfast, and 1 almond butter sandwich for my afternoon snack. I'm hoping to get about 1 lb of weight increase every 2 weeks. We'll see how much of it is muscle and fat.

Squat feels very heavy. I think my bad workout from Tuesday is carrying over to today. When I ascend from the bottom position, the inside of my left knee hurts. After the 3rd set, the pain hasn't gone away yet, so I stopped. I'm going to do some extra foam rolling and stretching tonight.

The rep is smooth, but not as explosive as last workout. The 5th rep of my last set is also considerably slower. Same with the row, 5th rep of last set almost doesn't touch the chest.

[cun2x]

Weight: 164 lbs
Waist 1" above navel: 31.5"
Ab caliper measurement: 18 mm

Comments:
Went to a buffet yesterday, and I'm gaining weights big time. It's probably a lot of glycogen.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 130 x 5 x 2
Week 2: 135 x 5 x 2
Week 3: 140 x 5 x 2

Press
Week 1: 90 x 5 x 3
Week 2: 95 x 5 x 3
Week 3: 97 x 5, 4, 4

Chin up
Week 1: 3, 3, 3
Week 2: 4, 4, 3
Week 3: 5, 4, 3

Comments:
Squat feels hard again, although I'm dropping the weights. I almost lose balance couple of times, and this is the first time I ever had this problem since I lifted back in January.

Press is hard, and I might lay back a bit too much.
Chin up is also hard, and I didn't get the grooves like last week.

Hopefully this is just an off day. We'll see how strong I get in 2 days.

[cun2x]

Weight: 163.8 lbs
Waist 1" above navel: 31.25"
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises

Standing vertical jump x 8 (rest 30 sec between each attempt)

Comments:
Vertical jump is the same as last week, which is lower by 1 or 2" of my all time best. Not playing basketball for 3 weeks are definitely reducing my vertical jump, probably not as explosive.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 190 x 5
Week 2: 200 x 5
Week 3: 200 x 5

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4
Week 3: 132 x 4 :(

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5
Week 3: 240 x 3 :(

Comments:

Squat feels stable, all 5 reps are good form, but the 5th rep slow down. I just focus on dropping down, and find out that I don't have to push my butt back too far to get to proper depth. I'm also using high bar, feels better. However, I'm starting to get frustrated of my lack of progress.

The 4th rep for bench press slows down, so I didn't try the 5th one.

I think my deadlift is getting worse and worse. I ask my training partner to make sure that my back angle is the same during the first pull (until my knee), and it feels like I have to squat the weight up. Failed on my 4th rep. My upper back is not tightened up, it feels weird to tighten it up.

[Matt]

From reading through this, I think you are overthinking things.

Some things that I think would be helpful.

Having a plan is a good idea, but don't be rigid about it. You will have shitty days and strong days, try to play them by ear. If the weights feel light, get after it and go heavy. Take advantage of the strong feeling. Likewise, if everything feels like a million pounds, dial it down a bit.

Don't worry so much about week to week gains or weights. Train hard, put everything into what you are doing that day.

Find some indicator lifts that you use to gauge progress and test those every 6/9/12 weeks or so. If those lifts are moving up every few weeks, what you are doing is working and note it. If they go down, whatever you did since the last test did not work - change it.

Think big picture, don't get pidgeon-holed.

I am by no means the biggest or strongest guy around, but I have been doing this a long time and these are some things I wish someone would have told me a long time ago. Would have saved a lot of wasted effort.

[cun2x]

Matt,

Thanks a lot for the advice. This is why I'm posting my training logs, for someone to let me know if I'm doing anything stupid.

I have been following what Mark Rippetoe said in the Practical Programming book, and Starting Strength. It's been working well for me for the first 4 months, but progress comes to a screeching halt after that. The past 4 months, I've tried to reduce the weights, and work up again, but I got stuck at the same weights. After that, I try reducing frequency of the hard squatting (putting light squat in mid week), and I get some gains for my squat and bench, but not press and deadlift. I guess that the impression that I get from reading the book is that I can progress quicker than this, which means I'm doing something wrong, but from your comments, I think I just gotta be patient, I can't bring everything up at the same time.

Now, I backcycle the weights again, increase volume slightly, and weight feel hard although I'm not at my max yet. Hopefully this time, I'll get stronger!

[Matt]

Matt,
I get some gains for my squat and bench, but not press and deadlift.

This is why I am not a big fan of pre-written programs. What your above statement tells me is that what you are doing for squat and bench is working, so don't mess with it. BUT it is not working for press and deadlift, so that work needs to be adjusted.

I think starting with pre-written programs is great in the beginning. It gives you some basics as to how to train. 4 months sounds good, now it is time to start figuring out what works for you. I would start making adjustments to the press and deadlift training and see where you stand after 6 weeks. If they go up, keep doing what you are doing. If they go down or are unchanged, make another adjustment.

It is basically a lot of trial and error.

Good luck and remember to have fun.

[cun2x]

Weight: 164.2 lbs (+3.2 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Training

Squat
Week 1: 160 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 167 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 175 x 5 x 3
Week 4: 185 x 5 x 5 :cool:

Bench press
Week 1: 107 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 112 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 117 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 122 x 5 x 4, 4

Rows
Week 1: 92 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 97 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 100 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 105 x 5 x 3, 4, 4

Comments:

My weight is increasing like crazy, and also my waist. I'm going to stick with the current caloric surplus until the weight gain slow down, since I don't want to gain too much fat.

I have been quite frustrated with the lack of gains on my intensity day. I am guessing that it might be lack of intensity on my volume day, and also not enough caloric surplus. I usually use about 85% of my max 5RM on volume day, but today I was determined to increase it to 90% and just keep going.

My mind keep reminding me that I have 5 sets, but I tried my best to focus only on 1 set at a time. First set feels okay, second set feels better, third set is okay, but for 4th and 5th set I have to pump myself up to lift the weight. I am very satisfied with my form, went very deep, do a half GM on 5th rep on 4th and 5th set, but nothing ugly. This is the 2nd consecutive workout that I use high bar position, and I like it a lot better. The low bar position felt like the bar is going to slip anytime soon.

I'm quite surprised that I can get 24 reps for my bench press. First set feels tough, so I thought that I will only get 2-3 sets, but I managed to keep my body tight, and almost get 5 x 5. Felt very energized after the squat today, which probably help my bench press a bit.

Rows feel very explosive, but the bar stops at about 3-4" from my lower chest for my 4th and 5th set. Good workout overall! I hope this will carry over to my intensity day.

[cun2x]

Weight: ?? (forgot to weigh this morning)
Waist 1" above navel: ?? (see above)
Ab caliper measurement: ?? (see above)

Training

Squat
Week 1: 130 x 5 x 2
Week 2: 135 x 5 x 2
Week 3: 140 x 5 x 2
Week 4: 150 x 5 x 2

Press
Week 1: 90 x 5 x 3
Week 2: 95 x 5 x 3
Week 3: 97 x 5, 4, 4
Week 4: 97 x 5 x 3 :cool:

Chin up
Week 1: 3, 3, 3
Week 2: 4, 4, 3
Week 3: 5, 4, 3
Week 4: 5, 4, 3 :o

Deadlift (very light)
135 x 3 x 2

Comments:

These two weeks, I haven't been eating as clean as before. Got relatives coming over, company's event, birthday, you name it. Waist size has been increasing quite a bunch recently, so starting this week, I gotta tighten up my diet. Shouldn't be that hard, since all those events are gone now.

Tried a new warmup today, taken from Mike Boyle's 'Functional Training for Sports'. I like it better than my normal ones, so I'll probably stick with this one for quite a while.

I use a 2-3 second count for the eccentric and concentric just to get the groove, but it's not as great as Day 1. Feels a little heavy, even though it's supposed to be my light day.

I focus on getting the drive from the floor, keeping my abs tight, and crank out very nice 5 reps on my first 2 sets. The 3rd set, I accidentally let out too much of my breath on my 3rd rep, and I have to lay back quite a lot to get the last 5th rep up, but it's still a pretty smooth rep.

I gave all my best for chin ups, but only manage to get the same reps like last week. The good thing that I notice is that my left and right are pulling more symmetrically now. Last week, the left part of my body is slightly behind my right one on my 2nd and my 3rd set.

Did a light deadlift session just to practice my form, and keeping my body tight.

[cun2x]

Pendlay's training from beginner until advanced

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/forums/showpost.php?p=169733&postcount=45
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/forums/showpost.php?p=171261&postcount=76

[cun2x]

Weight: 165.2 lbs (+4.2 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises

Standing vertical jump x 8 (rest 30 sec between each attempt)
Lateral hop 30 reps (R: 10s, 9s L: 10s, 12s)

Comments:
Vertical jump is the same as last week, which is lower by 1 or 2" of my all time best. My jumping technique is just all over the place, I can't even consistently touch the same height. I can get very nice movement with my R leg during lateral hop, but my left side is another story.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 190 x 5
Week 2: 200 x 5
Week 3: 200 x 5
Week 4: 205 x 5 (old 5RM PR)

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4
Week 3: 132 x 4
Week 4: 137 x 4

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5
Week 3: 240 x 3
Week 4: 250 x 3

Comments:

My waist keep going up. I guess I just have to accept that I need to be slightly fatter to get stronger.

My 4th warmup set feels pretty light, so I was pretty excited about my max squat attempt. Slightly GM-ing my 4th and 5th set, but form is very good on the first 3. I breathe in some air, gnash my teeth, brace my abs hard and then squat. I repeat this before starting every rep, and it helps.

The 4th rep for bench press slows down, so I didn't try the 5th one.

I decided to do my deadlift clean style from now on. For some reason, changing it to clean style really hammers my grip. I could have done more, but my grip fails. I like the 3 RM for deadlift, so I'll stick with this for a while.

Pretty solid workout overall! I'm entering the PR zone next week, can't wait to smash my old records.

[cun2x]

Weight: 165.2 lbs (+4.2 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Movement efficiency exercises

Lateral hop 30 reps (R: 10s, 9s L: 11s, 10s)

Comments:
Getting a bit more coordinated on my right, but still lose balance in the middle of set sometimes. It will get better.. :)

Training

Squat
Week 1: 160 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 167 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 175 x 5 x 3
Week 4: 185 x 5 x 5
Week 5: 190 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 4

Bench press
Week 1: 107 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 112 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 117 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 122 x 5 x 4, 4
Week 5: 125 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4

Rows
Week 1: 92 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 97 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 100 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 105 x 5 x 3, 4, 4
Week 5: 107 x 4, 4, 5, 5, 4

Comments:

I warmup for 4 sets before my work sets, using 155 lbs for my last warmup set. As soon as I was standing with the weight on my traps, I realize that this is going to be a tough workout, since even the warmup feels heavy. I guess I'm better mentally handling the 5x5 now, since at this point, I'm not even thinking about the 2nd set. Got first 5 reps, keeping form very tight, but more of a power squat rather than an olympic squat. Rest for 2.5 mins, got the 2nd set, also in very tight form. I slightly GM-ed the 4th rep on the 3rd set, same with 4th and 5th. Feels like crap afterwards.

First set for bench press is also hard, but managed to get a lot of very nice reps. For my last 2 sets, I just stopped since the rep slows down. After pushing so hard on squat, bench press feels like a breeze even though I'm pushing hard every set. :D

Row is a little weird, since I can't get 5 reps for my first 2 sets. The bar just stops about 3-4" off my chest. I adjust my form slightly, lifting my chest up, and arching my back hard for the next set, and I got a much better pull. Got 5 reps for the next 2 sets, and very close to 5 reps on the last set.

Another good workout. :cool:

[cun2x]

Weight: 164.6 lbs (+3.6 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 31.75" (+.50")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises

Lateral hop 30 reps (R: 10s, 10s L: 10s, 10s)

Comments:
Frequency definitely helps here, I'm getting better at this exercise. Feel more coordinated on both my left and right leg. Feels different muscle working on different leg, will try to pay more attention next time to see what actually happens.

Training

Warmup
taken from Mike Boyle's Functional Training for Sports

Squat
Week 1: 130 x 5 x 2
Week 2: 135 x 5 x 2
Week 3: 140 x 5 x 2
Week 4: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 4: 150 x 5 x 2

Press
Week 1: 90 x 5 x 3
Week 2: 95 x 5 x 3
Week 3: 97 x 5, 4, 4
Week 4: 97 x 5 x 3
Week 5: 100 x 5, 4, 4 :)

Chin up
Week 1: 3, 3, 3
Week 2: 4, 4, 3
Week 3: 5, 4, 3
Week 4: 5, 4, 3
Week 5: 5, 4, 4 :)

Deadlift (very light)
Week 4: 135 x 3 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 2 x 3

Pick up basketball game yesterday
Week 1: 3 hours
Week 5: 4 hours

Comments:

My waist measured at 32.25" yesterday, so I decided to lower my calories and low carbing (about 100 g) for the weekend. It helps a bit, since my waist goes down .5" this morning. I'll start increasing my calories again this Monday.

Played my first pickup basketball after 3 weeks of not playing. At my peak, I can grab the rim, but now I can only touch it, lost about 1 to 2" of my vertical, since I dropped light plyo from my workout. Once I get to 245 lbs squat, I'll put in the plyo again. The movement efficiency exercises that I'm putting in right now should help slightly too, by helping me be more coordinated on my feet. I'll add in couple more once the 1 leg lateral hop becomes very easy.

Squat feels easy. I lower the weights with full control, trying different grooves to feel what muscle is working during the warmup. I used the power squat for my work sets, trying to get the glutes firing. Very good form and focus on a quick turnaround.

Press feels pretty tough this week, but expected, since I increase the weight slightly. Breathe out after I pass the sticking point, but can only get 4 reps on last 2 sets.

Chin up felt hard, like usual, but I left 1 rep in the tank for the first 2 sets, and give my all for the last one, and still manage to beat last week total reps. Of course, I'm about 2 lbs lighter than last week, so that might help me a bit too.

Did a light deadlift session to practice my form. Feels my butt firing from the bottom part until the top. My butt is probably still sore from basketball yesterday. Can't wait to set a PR for deadlift this Tuesday.

[cun2x]

Weight: 165.8 lbs (+4.8 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises

Standing vertical jump x 8 (rest 30 sec between each attempt)
Lateral hop 30 reps (R: 8s, 8s L: 8s, 9s)

Comments:
My vertical is going down quick... :( I was getting about 3-4" lower than my best right now, It seems like my jumping technique has just gone down the drain. Well, at least I'm getting better at the lateral hop. Getting pretty quick on both legs, and surprise myself with the time.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 190 x 5
Week 2: 200 x 5
Week 3: 200 x 5
Week 4: 205 x 5 (old 5RM PR)
Week 5: 210 x 5 (old 3RM PR)

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4
Week 3: 132 x 4
Week 4: 137 x 4
Week 5: 135 x 4, 140 x 3 (old 3 RM PR)

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5
Week 3: 240 x 3
Week 4: 250 x 3
Week 5: 260 x 3 (beat old 5RM PR by 5 lbs)

Comments:

My form is great for my first 4 reps, and then I GM-ed it on my 5th rep. I am suddenly switching to power squat rather than olympic squat as I'm increasing the weight. I found that I sit back a lot to get the required depth.

Put the wrong weight for my top set, which explains why I'm using 135 lbs. The 4th rep slows down, so I stop. Man, I guess that's the power of the mind. I thought the 135 is 140, so the weight really feels heavy. The 3rd rep for my 140 lbs is VERYYYYY slow, there is no way that I can get the 4th rep.

Pump up myself like crazy for the deadlift, and the weight flew up. When I get excited, I tend to stiff legged the deadlift, but I ask my partner to make sure that my back angle didn't change in the beginning of the lift. 1st rep is good, 2nd rep is also good, but I tried the 3rd rep too quick, and almost lose my grip on the top. I still have about 2 reps in the tank if I tried really hard, but I decide to stay with the 3RM.

My goal is to get 230 x 3 for squat, 155 x 3 for bench press, 290 x 3 for deadlift before the cycle ends. I think squat and deadlift is very difficult, but doable. Not sure about my bench press. Looking at my bench press always depress me, it's way lower than what other people can do. :(

[cun2x]

Weight: 165.8 lbs (+4.8 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Movement efficiency exercises

Lateral hop 30 reps (R: 8s, 8s L: 9s, 9s)

Comments:

Old news, right leg is getting a lot better, same with left leg, but left needs to catch up to the right one. I am still not as balanced with my left compared to the right one. Weird, since I jump off my left leg, and my left leg is stronger than my right.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 160 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 167 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 175 x 5 x 3
Week 4: 185 x 5 x 5
Week 5: 190 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 4
Week 6: 195 x 4 x 5

Bench press
Week 1: 107 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 112 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 117 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 122 x 5 x 4, 4
Week 5: 125 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 127 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 3

Rows
Week 1: 92 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 97 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 100 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 105 x 5 x 3, 4, 4
Week 5: 107 x 4, 4, 5, 5, 4
Week 5: 110 x 5, 5, 4 x 3

Comments:

I didn't stop as long at the bottom like the previous workout. Try to get some bounce at the bottom, and it definitely helps. Bad news is that I can only get 4 reps on all the sets. Last 2 reps on the last 2 sets are hard, I got a sticking point halfway up. Need to stay with this weight next week.

First set for bench press is tough. I didn't get a very nice groove for this lift today, it keeps changing from set to set. I didn't even get 4 reps on the last set. Need to stay with this weight too next week.

Form is very good on this exercise, I'm getting better at it. I barely touch my chest for the last rep of last 3 sets. I'll increase the weight next week, but will be prepared to get only 4 reps on the first set.

Mark Rippetoe has commented that he has never met a 165 lbs male that got stuck at 205 lbs using the novice workout. I might be dropping this program, and go back to the novice workout while eating more to see if I can eek out more gains from a simpler workout.

[cun2x]

Weight: 165.2 lbs (+4.2 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Movement efficiency exercises

Lateral hop 30 reps (R: 8s, 8s L: 8s, 9s)

Comments:
Left is still not as balanced as right. I sometimes have to regain my balance in the middle of the set, but it's getting better. Right leg is pretty awesome now, I can jump to wherever I want while keeping the speed.

Training

Warmup
taken from Mike Boyle's Functional Training for Sports

Squat
Week 1: 130 x 5 x 2
Week 2: 135 x 5 x 2
Week 3: 140 x 5 x 2
Week 4: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 6: 155 x 5 x 2

Press
Week 1: 90 x 5 x 3
Week 2: 95 x 5 x 3
Week 3: 97 x 5, 4, 4
Week 4: 97 x 5 x 3
Week 5: 100 x 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 100 x 4, 4, 2 :mad:

Chin up
Week 1: 3, 3, 3
Week 2: 4, 4, 3
Week 3: 5, 4, 3
Week 4: 5, 4, 3
Week 5: 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 5, 4, 3 :(

Deadlift (very light)
Week 4: 135 x 3 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 2 x 3
Week 6: 155 x 2 x 3

Pick up basketball game yesterday
Week 1: 3 hours
Week 5: 4 hours
Week 6: 3.5 hours

Comments:

I've been struggling with back pain the past two days and it's freaking me out. I kept thinking that I won't be able to lift weights anymore.. :D I think bouncing at the bottom of my squat last Thursday causes it. On Friday, I can't even sit still for a long time if I don't arch my back. It's burning and felt very uncomfortable. I went to a massage therapist on lunch time, but it didn't get any better. After work, I went to a chiro who knows ART, and I got ART on my glutes, and some spinal adjustment. She rubs some ointment on my lower back before doing the ART, so I can't tell if I felt better or not, since the lower back is warm no matter what I did.

At home, I did some McKenzie press up, and sitting on tennis ball. On Saturday, I still have the same problem, lower back is tight, but I can now sit longer. I guess it's not a very wise decision to play basketball with my back like this, but I played anyway. During my rest, I hangs off a table, and ask my friend to hold my legs to relieve some pressure of my back. After the game, my back still feels tight. I forgot to try jumping around, since I was too focused on my back.

This morning when I wake up, I got a sore left shoulder (some pain when I lift my left arm overhead), sore right ankle, back feels a lot better. Man, I felt old. :( Well, at least the back pain is somewhat gone.

Started out with my squat. I guess my back pain is a blessing in disguise, now I can suddenly feel whether my lower back is arched or not. I lower the weight, and I can even feel the hamstring and glutes contracting. By my second set, I can suddenly touch my calf with my hamstring while still arching my back. This is the best squat form I've ever done. Everything felt very stable, and of course I learned my lesson, I didn't bounce anymore at the bottom. I just focus on a quick turnaround when I touch my ankle.

Press is crappy today. 5th rep for my first set feels very tough, and since my left shoulder kind of hurt, I don't want to push it. When I started my 3rd set, I actually stall in the middle of the first rep. Did a very hard 2nd rep, and I just end the set. I hope this is just a one time thing.

Crappy chin up too today. I actually regressed in number of total reps from last week. Hope to get 5 reps for 3 sets soon.

I found that the deadlift done on day 2 really helps, since it seems like the form I practice on day 2 carries over to a good lift on day 3. I wonder if I can set PR while doing a full squat on Tuesday. I guess we'll just have to see later.

[cun2x]

Weight: 167.6 lbs (+6.6 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises

Standing vertical jump x 8 (rest 30 sec between each attempt)
Lateral hop 30 reps (R: 8s, 8s L: 8s, 9s)

Comments:

Got a better height on my 5th set onwards, but it's still about 1-2" under my best vertical. I think that the vertical drop is really because of my technique (didn't get to practice as much). I think I've plateaued on the lateral hop, it's already pretty quick now, not sure if I can get much better. I'll just do this for another couple of weeks until I feel very coordinated, and then I'll do something else.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 190 x 5
Week 2: 200 x 5
Week 3: 200 x 5
Week 4: 205 x 5 (old 5RM PR)
Week 5: 210 x 5 (old 3RM PR)
Week 6: 215 x 5 (old 3RM PR + 5 lbs)

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4
Week 3: 132 x 4
Week 4: 137 x 4
Week 5: 135 x 4, 140 x 3 (old 3 RM PR)
Week 6: 142 x 3 (old 3 RM PR + 2 lbs)

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5
Week 3: 240 x 3
Week 4: 250 x 3
Week 5: 260 x 3 (beat old 5RM PR by 5 lbs)
Week 6: 270 x 1, 265 x 1

Comments:

I didn't get enough sleep and walk around a lot the past two days, since I was traveling for the long weekend. Thus, I didn't really expect a good workout today.

Started warming up with my squat, and at 90% of the top set, I can still touch my calf with my hamstring with a very good form. This is the first time I actually felt scared to squat the weight. Weird, I just felt so nervous, but managed to have a pretty good set. Did a very good first and second rep with my PR weight, slightly GM-ed it on my 3rd and 4th, and badly GM it on my 5th rep, but the eccentric rep is amazing, couldn't do it better, I go down with full control, but it's the concentric rep that giving me problem. I set a PR with a deeper depth, yay! :cool:

I set a PR on my bench press, but it's a miniscule 2 lbs. :( I was planning to get 5 reps with it, but my 3rd rep took a good 3-4 secs. There's no way that I can get the 4th rep, so I'll repeat this weight again next week.

Too overzealous with the weight increase I guess. :) I tried an increase of 10 lbs over last week. First rep is super slow, I tried a second rep, but the weight won't budge. :D Drop it to 265 lbs, and the 2nd rep won't budge too. :P I wonder what weight I should try next week. Advice anyone?

My lower back still tighten up now and then, when I sit down or stand up for a long time. Right ankle is still slightly sore and my left shoulder is still stiff. I rolled around with a tennis ball after my workout on both my scapula and butt, and now my shoulder and back felt a lot better.

[cun2x]

Weight: 166.8 lbs (+5.8 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 31.75" (+.5")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Movement efficiency exercises

Lateral hop 30 reps (R: 8s, 7s L: 8s, 8s)

Comments:

I was midway through the set for my right one, and tried to go faster, and turns out that I can do it. I can control the left one better now, but it's still not as coordinated as the right one.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 160 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 167 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 175 x 5 x 3
Week 4: 185 x 5 x 5
Week 5: 190 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 4
Week 6: 195 x 4 x 5
Week 7: 195 x 5, 3 :(

Bench press
Week 1: 107 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 112 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 117 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 122 x 5 x 4, 4
Week 5: 125 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 127 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 3
Week 7: 127 x 5, 5 :(

Rows
Week 1: 92 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 97 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 100 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 105 x 5 x 3, 4, 4
Week 5: 107 x 4, 4, 5, 5, 4
Week 6: 110 x 5, 5, 4 x 3
Week 7: 110 x 1 (do reverse pushup x 5 x 2) :(

Comments:

I went to physiotherapist yesterday to check out my back, and he suspect that there might be a bulging disc that affect the nerve. He said that without MRI, it's pretty much impossible to determine, but he didn't think it was that severe, so MRI is not needed. He also found out that my right glute is not firing as well as the left one, it's helped by lower back for hip extension movement. The treatment will consist of electrical simulation to relax the lower back muscle, and he'll give me some exercises on Monday to re-educate the glutes muscle. After the treatment, my back feels very relaxed, but it tightens up again after an hour or so.

Man, I felt like 100 years old. Before my workout, I felt some pain on the inside of my right knee if I tried to stretch my right glute. Right shoulder also felt stiff.

Started out with squat. I knew something is wrong when my warmup with 125 lbs felt heavy. I decided to use the planned weight anyway, and boy... are they heavy. I manage to get my first set, but second set, I felt like the lower back feels very weak, so before I hurt myself, I stop. I tried to drop down to 165 lbs for my work set, but it also feels heavy, so I stop right there.

Now, I'm debating whether or not I should go on with the bench press or just go home. I decided to warmup and see how I feel. Got two nice sets of bench press and then I stopped. I thought I'll just do a mini deload by lowering the volume.

After the bench press, I thought that upper body will give me no problem. I warmed up for the rows, and found that it's really hard to keep my body vertical, since my hamstring suddenly feels so tight. I decided to do my work set anyways, and the first rep feels so hard. I felt a lot of pressure on my lower back, so I call it quits. I felt like I gotta do something still, so I just went to the Smith machine and try to bang out some reverse pushup. Now I know how weak my scapula retractor is, I can't even touch my chest on any of the reps. I did two sets for 5, and call it a day.

Crappiest workout ever! I'm guessing it's because of my lower back. I didn't feel pain on my workout, but maybe it's weaker than usual which causes exercises that depend on lower back to shut down? Hopefully this doesn't carry over to the next workout.

[Matt]

Do you do any assistance work? Work for lower back, abs, etc? You might want to think about it.

If you check out Eric Cressey's Get your butt in gear articles, they have a pretty good layout of stuff to get your butt working right.

That sounds kinda weird to say. :D

[cun2x]

Matt,

No, I didn't do any assistance work. I always thought of myself as a newbie, so I thought that working with the big 3 workout (squat, dead and bench) is all I need. What assistance work do you think I need, Matt? Just hyper extension and heavy abs work?

Thanks for the advice on Cressey's article. I've read them before, but I'll re-read them again.

[Matt]

Right, I would suggest reverse hypers if you have them, if not the 45 degree back raise. Do 2-4 sets of 8-15 for those. If you can bang out 15 reps of bodyweight on the 45 back raise, start adding weight by holding 10's, then quarters then plates. Hold them to your chest till that gets easy, then move them to behind your head.

Then hit some heavy abs, again 2-4 sets of 8-15. For these I like ab pulldowns, the ab wheel and side bends.

Get that midsection strong so you can keep the proper position to squat. This will also help your positioning for your rows.

[cun2x]

Weight: 166.0 lbs (+5.0 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Movement efficiency exercises

Lateral hop 30 reps (R: 8s, 8s L: 8s, 9s)

Comments:
Speed is ok now, will do this for another workout or two, and then I'll add some other movements, while maintaining this one (just do the lateral hop once a week or so)

Training

Warmup
taken from Mike Boyle's Functional Training for Sports

Squat
Week 1: 130 x 5 x 2
Week 2: 135 x 5 x 2
Week 3: 140 x 5 x 2
Week 4: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 6: 155 x 5 x 2
Week 7: 155 x 5 x 2

Press
Week 1: 90 x 5 x 3
Week 2: 95 x 5 x 3
Week 3: 97 x 5, 4, 4
Week 4: 97 x 5 x 3
Week 5: 100 x 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 100 x 4, 4, 2
Week 7: 100 x 5, 3, 3

Chin up
Week 1: 3, 3, 3
Week 2: 4, 4, 3
Week 3: 5, 4, 3
Week 4: 5, 4, 3
Week 5: 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 5, 4, 3
Week 7: 5, 3, 2

Deadlift (very light)
Week 4: 135 x 3 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 2 x 3
Week 6: 155 x 2 x 3
Week 7: 155 x 2 x 3

Pick up basketball game yesterday
Week 1: 3 hours
Week 5: 4 hours
Week 6: 3.5 hours
Week 7: 3 hours

Comments:

Got kneed on the inside of my left knee during basketball yesterday. I'm not sure what got hit this time, but it's nothing I've ever seen before. I see about 4 veins bulging out and then they disappear after 15 mins or so. I have some pain after the game if I tried to straighten my knee completely, but it's gone now. Lower back pain still comes now and then when I sit for a long time. I can't round my back for a long time too, since it'll cause my lower back to tighten up considerably.

The light squat didn't feel that easy today. I didn't find it as easy to keep an arched back at the bottom of my squat now. I think I have to do more of the press up again.

None of the reps stall in the middle, but I still can't do 3 sets of 5 reps. I didn't do any crazy back arching to lift the weight up this time though. I'm trying to be extra careful with my back.

Not sure what is up with my strength, since my chin up regressed again for the 2nd straight week.

Did some light deadlift and using the hammer rows machine to do a couple sets of scapular retraction.

[cun2x]

Weight: 166.6 lbs (+5.6 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises

n/a

Comments:
With my low back pain, and now that my right heel feels numb, I don't feel like jumping around.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 190 x 5
Week 2: 200 x 5
Week 3: 200 x 5
Week 4: 205 x 5 (old 5RM PR)
Week 5: 210 x 5 (old 3RM PR)
Week 6: 215 x 5 (old 3RM PR + 5 lbs)
Week 7: 220 x 1 :(

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4
Week 3: 132 x 4
Week 4: 137 x 4
Week 5: 135 x 4, 140 x 3 (old 3 RM PR)
Week 6: 142 x 3 (old 3 RM PR + 2 lbs)
Week 7: 142 x 2 :(

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5
Week 3: 240 x 3
Week 4: 250 x 3
Week 5: 260 x 3 (beat old 5RM PR by 5 lbs)
Week 6: 270 x 1, 265 x 1
Week 7: 185 x 3 :(

Comments:

I can't sit down without feeling a burning sensation on my lower back after an hour or so. I've been doing what the physiotherapist said, Mckenzie pressup every 2 hours or so, but it hasn't felt any better. My right heel also feels numb since two days ago. I'm not sure if it's related to the bruise I got on Saturday or not. I've also been slacking off on my foam rolling, so I started doing them again yesterday. Sigh.. I am going to take a week off squatting and deadlifting, and sparing my lower back to see what will happen.

My squat felt pretty heavy when I warmup using 125 lbs. :mad: I tried to go up all the way until 220 lbs to see what will happen. I can get 1 rep, but the descend is faster than I want it to be, so I stop it right there.

I thought I can set a PR on my bench press since it is not depending on my lower back, but 2nd rep is already slow.

At this point, I don't feel like doing the deadlift anymore. I just deadlifted whatever my training partner was using. I can't concentrate that well for the set since I keep thinking about my lower back, so I just stop at 3 reps.

[Matt]

Ya might also think about ditching all the basketball for a while too. Seems at your level of training, that would be harder on your body than the weightlifting.

Rest, take a week from everything then see where you're at.

Do you have access to a chiropractor? For me, they are a godsend. A little electro-shocker, some myofascial, ART and racking and cracking get me good to go.

[cun2x]

Matt,

I just want to say thanks for keeping an eye on me. I assure you that the advice is not falling on deaf ears.

I did go to my chiropractor, physio and massage therapist. Felt a bit better last week, but the low back is acting up again now. It's probably because I was too stubborn, and still did some squats and deadlifts last week.

I played basketball only once a week, but I'll probably skip it this week, depending on how I feel. I'll be calling the physiotherapist at lunch time, to ask him about my right heel numbness and what he recommends. I'm also reading 7 steps to pain Free Living by Robin McKenzie, as recommended by my physio. I hope I feel better soon. :(

[Matt]

If you want to read a book, get this one Ultimate Back Fitness (http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=218&pid=1426) by Stuart McGill. Its on sale right now too.

He is considered probably THE leading guy on lower back stuff.

[cun2x]

I also have that book. I was thinking about getting rid of the back pain, and then I'll work on strengthening the back per Stuart's recommendation. I've read it once, but since I didn't have back pain at that time, I kind of gloss through the book. :) Now that I'm having problems with low back, it'll be a lot more useful for me.

[cun2x]

Weight: 165.8 lbs (+4.8 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 31.75" (+.5")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Movement efficiency exercises
Hip flexor stretching
Supine bridges focusing on glutes activation

Comments:
Focusing on making the glutes fire properly.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 160 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 167 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 175 x 5 x 3
Week 4: 185 x 5 x 5
Week 5: 190 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 4
Week 6: 195 x 4 x 5
Week 7: 195 x 5, 3
Week 8: 125 x 5 x 3 (split squat)

Bench press
Week 1: 107 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 112 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 117 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 122 x 5 x 4, 4
Week 5: 125 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 127 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 3
Week 7: 127 x 5, 5
Week 8: 130 x 5, 4, 4

Rows
Week 1: 92 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 97 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 100 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 105 x 5 x 3, 4, 4
Week 5: 107 x 4, 4, 5, 5, 4
Week 6: 110 x 5, 5, 4 x 3
Week 7: 110 x 1 (do reverse pushup x 5 x 2)
Week 8: 95 x 5, 5, 5 (machine rows focusing on scap retraction)

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: right heel still feels numb, low back is not comfortable if I sit without arching my back

I started my squat with just a bar, focusing on using my glutes from the bottom. I can do that pretty well if I think about it. After that I move to warmup with split squatting (to reduce spinal loading while keeping my leg strength). For my 2 warmup sets, my left glute is firing properly, but my right glute wasn't. Once I got to my work sets, everything works perfectly. I have to concentrate fully to keep my balance, but I got a great workout. My upper back is actually very tired from supporting the squat. I woke up today with very sore glutes, but the soreness is different from the one I got from squat.

Got a pretty good speed on all my work sets for bench press. Nothing else to comment here.

Instead of doing bent over rows, I did chest supported rows on a machine, focusing on scapular retraction. All the 5 reps are not hard, but on the last rep on my last set, I almost cannot pull all the way.

I found a physiotherapist that works in a 'hardcore' gym yesterday, so I'm going to be seeing him today. Hopefully he has more experiences working with people who lift weights regularly. I wonder what his diagnosis will be.

[cun2x]

Weight: n/a (forgot to weigh)
Waist 1" above navel: n/a (see above)
Ab caliper measurement: n/a (see above)

Movement efficiency exercises

n/a

Comments:
I'm not jumping around until I'm sure my back is ok.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 130 x 5 x 2
Week 2: 135 x 5 x 2
Week 3: 140 x 5 x 2
Week 4: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 6: 155 x 5 x 2
Week 7: 155 x 5 x 2
Week 8: 160 x 5 x 2

Press
Week 1: 90 x 5 x 3
Week 2: 95 x 5 x 3
Week 3: 97 x 5, 4, 4
Week 4: 97 x 5 x 3
Week 5: 100 x 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 100 x 4, 4, 2
Week 7: 100 x 5, 3, 3
Week 8: 40 x 4,3,4,2(L) and 4,4,5(R)

Chin up
Week 1: 3, 3, 3
Week 2: 4, 4, 3
Week 3: 5, 4, 3
Week 4: 5, 4, 3
Week 5: 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 5, 4, 3
Week 7: 5, 3, 2
Week 8: 4, 4, 3

Deadlift (very light)
Week 4: 135 x 3 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 2 x 3
Week 6: 155 x 2 x 3
Week 7: 155 x 2 x 3
Week 8: n/a

Pick up basketball game yesterday
Week 1: 3 hours
Week 5: 4 hours
Week 6: 3.5 hours
Week 7: 3 hours
Week 8: n/a

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: lower back pain seems to be gone, but I haven't been rounding my back at any time for a while. I've been sitting with a lumbar arch every time, and lying down on my stomach while I watch tv, type on computers, etc. Right ankle is still tender if I roll it inwards, I think this is related to numbness on my right heel. I found another chiro, also an ART instructor, and worked with strength athletes in the past, so hopefully I get the chance to see him next week.

Squat doesn't feel that easy. I seem to forget how deep to squat nowadays, sometimes I squatted deeper, sometimes shallower. I'm a very concerned about tucking my back at the bottom of the squat, so I ask my lifting partner to watch my back. He told me that I got slightly lower than parallel without tucking my back, but I can't get any deeper than that.

I tried dumbbell work today for my shoulder, but 1 db at a time to reduce spinal loading. I found that my right shoulder is A LOT stronger than my left one. I could do 5 reps easily with the right one, but sometimes only 3 reps on the left one. I did 1 extra set for my left one. During warmup, my left shoulder hurts a little bit when I lower the weight. I have to retract and lower my left scapula so that it didn't cause any pain.

Sigh.. not sure what I could do to increase the chin up numbers. I never know how much I'll get for the day. I received the New Grip lifting glove from Strength Mill product give away on Friday, so I gave it a try on my chin up today. Looks like I'll be using them often from now on for the pulling exercises. The bar usually press hard on my calluses, and it's painful. No pain at all this time.

[cun2x]

Weight: 167.6 lbs (+6.6 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Training

Squat
Week 1: 190 x 5
Week 2: 200 x 5
Week 3: 200 x 5
Week 4: 205 x 5 (old 5RM PR)
Week 5: 210 x 5 (old 3RM PR)
Week 6: 215 x 5 (old 3RM PR + 5 lbs)
Week 7: 220 x 1
Week 8: 130 x 5 x 3 (split squat)

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4
Week 3: 132 x 4
Week 4: 137 x 4
Week 5: 135 x 4, 140 x 3 (old 3 RM PR)
Week 6: 142 x 3 (old 3 RM PR + 2 lbs)
Week 7: 142 x 2
Week 8: 140 x 3

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5
Week 3: 240 x 3
Week 4: 250 x 3
Week 5: 260 x 3 (beat old 5RM PR by 5 lbs)
Week 6: 270 x 1, 265 x 1
Week 7: 185 x 3
Week 8: 215 x 3

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: lower back is almost gone when sitting for prolonged period, but I have to put a lumbar support on my chair. Lower back will cramp up if I sit on the floor with my legs straight in front of me, or if I sit on my calves. Right hamstring feels very tight now and then, sometimes I felt like it's going to cramp up. Right heel numbness is almost gone, but the right ankle is still somewhat tender if I roll it inwards.

Split squat is still ok, not that hard. It seems like my left butt is moving to the left when I got the bottom of the rep, but my right butt is not. Not sure whether it's a tight hip flexor or something else. My left butt is not firing using the hip extension test, so I'm not sure if it has something to do with this.

I reduce the weight slightly to see if I can get 5 reps, but I only got 3. The last rep is about 2-3 seconds. There's no way I could get the 4th rep. I'm going to stay with this weight, and focus on increasing the 5x5 weights.

I tried 155 lbs and got it reasonably easy. I move up to 215 lbs, but I can't seem to keep my lower back from rounding at the bottom. I tried using the new grip lifting grip during the deadlift, but found that my grip keep slipping. Not sure whether I should do single leg deadlift or a rack pull next time. It would be a lot easier for me to keep the neutral back if I deadlift from a higher pins, but I'm going to check with my physio if it's okay, since I probably could rack pull more than my deadlift.

[cun2x]

Weight: 168.6 lbs (+7.6 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Movement efficiency exercises
Hip flexor stretching
Glutes medius activation
Glutes maximus activation (supine bridges)
Mobility drills

Comments:
I took the activation exercises from Stuart McGill's book. Since now I can't squat as heavy, I'll just focus on retraining my glutes. I have to consciously activate my left glutes, since it doesn't fire when it's supposed to.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 160 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 167 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 175 x 5 x 3
Week 4: 185 x 5 x 5
Week 5: 190 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 4
Week 6: 195 x 4 x 5
Week 7: 195 x 5, 3
Week 8: 125 x 5 x 3 (split squat)
Week 9: 135 x 5 x 4 (split squat)

Bench press
Week 1: 107 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 112 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 117 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 122 x 5 x 4, 4
Week 5: 125 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 127 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 3
Week 7: 127 x 5, 5
Week 8: 130 x 5, 4, 4
Week 9: 130 x 4, 3, 2, 4, 2

Rows
Week 1: 92 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 97 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 100 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 105 x 5 x 3, 4, 4
Week 5: 107 x 4, 4, 5, 5, 4
Week 6: 110 x 5, 5, 4 x 3
Week 7: 110 x 1 (do reverse pushup x 5 x 2)
Week 8: 95 x 5, 5, 5 (machine rows)
Week 9: 95 x 4, 5 x 4 (machine rows)

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: right ankle is still tender. My lower back pain is pretty much gone, although now I become very conscious of my posture when I sit. I strained my right upper trap in the middle of my bench press set yesterday.

Went to see my new physiotherapist yesterday. She told me that I got overactive psoas and rectus femoris (hip flexor) and overactive obliques. She said that this is causing the lower back to take the load that it's not intended to take. I also told her about the problem I have with my left shoulder (I can't seem to tuck in my scapula properly and the shoulder keeps clicking). She said that it's a tight infrasupinatus and teres minor, told me to use tennis ball on it, and after that she'll show some some exercises to strengthen the muscle. My chiropractor and physio will be working together, and both of them know ART, so it's pretty awesome. I hope I'll be fixed real soon.

I started the warmup with front squat, but I stopped, since the weight feels like it's choking me. Ugh, hate front squat, so I decided to do split squat again. Left hamstring was taking over big time for my first work set, but I managed to fix that by "gripping" the floor with my foot. I have to concentrate to not let the back knee banging the floor. Tough glutes workout!

I started the bench press by warming up with a bar, and the bar path is all screwy. On my 2nd set, the right upper trap starts to spasm, and it keeps pulling the right scap out of place when I press the weights. I was so frustrated at this point. I stretch the upper traps and tried to do some work sets. That probably explains why the reps are all over the place. The right hand is always lagging behind the left one, causing the groove to be all messed up. Crappy sets!!

The upper trap affects this exercise too somewhat, but not as bad as the bench press. It gives me more trouble when pressing compared to pulling. Remember to get big chest and pull using the elbow next time! I did that for some of the sets but not all.

[cun2x]

Weight: 168.6 (+7.6 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32.5" (+1.5")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Movement efficiency exercises

Hip flexor stretching
Glutes medius activation
Glutes maximus activation (supine bridges)
Mobility drills

Comments:
Good stuff, my left butt starts to fire during the glutes medius activaction exercise now. I hope I'll get some improved performance when I get back to squat.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 130 x 5 x 2
Week 2: 135 x 5 x 2
Week 3: 140 x 5 x 2
Week 4: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 6: 155 x 5 x 2
Week 7: 155 x 5 x 2
Week 8: 160 x 5 x 2
Week 9: 160 x 5 x 2

Press
Week 1: 90 x 5 x 3
Week 2: 95 x 5 x 3
Week 3: 97 x 5, 4, 4
Week 4: 97 x 5 x 3
Week 5: 100 x 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 100 x 4, 4, 2
Week 7: 100 x 5, 3, 3
Week 8: 40 x 4,3,4,2(L) and 4,4,5(R)
Week 9: 40 x 5, 5, 4, 4 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)

Chin up
Week 1: 3, 3, 3
Week 2: 4, 4, 3
Week 3: 5, 4, 3
Week 4: 5, 4, 3
Week 5: 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 5, 4, 3
Week 7: 5, 3, 2
Week 8: 4, 4, 3
Week 9: 3, 3, 3

Deadlift (very light)
Week 4: 135 x 3 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 2 x 3
Week 6: 155 x 2 x 3
Week 7: 155 x 2 x 3
Week 8: n/a
Week 9: n/a

Pick up basketball game yesterday
Week 1: 3 hours
Week 5: 4 hours
Week 6: 3.5 hours
Week 7: 3 hours
Week 8: n/a
Week 9: n/a

Comments:

Thanks Bob! I'm still not 100% on the lower back, still got couple of movements that can irritate the back, but it's getting better day by day.

INJURIES/SORENESS: Sitting for a very long period still irritate my back somewhat, but it's light and years better than before. Right ankle is still sore if I roll it inwards. Left ankle doesn't have full ROM.

Yesterday, I tried to sit down on the floor for a while, and my back didn't cramp at all. Definitely a progress here. I've been very diligent with my foam roller work, tennis ball work and stretching, and I think it has been helping. My new chiro and physio also seem to know what they're doing, so it's all good. I'm going to see my chiro again this afternoon, and physio on Thursday. Right now, the focus is on loosening up muscles that caused my lower back pain, to ensure it doesn't happen again in the future.

I was visiting a friend on Saturday, and he got a lot of chips, chocolate lying around his house. I never had them in my house because I'll end up finishing up all of them in a day. Sure enough, I ate half a package of Pringles, chocolates and Chinese food for dinner. I got a nice .5" increase on my waist overnight.

It felt like it's been ages since the last time I squat. I got two very good work sets though, got very deep, ensuring the extra ROM at the bottom come from the hips, and not the lumbar area. Once I can't get any more ROM on the hips, I stop, it's way under parallel for sure, but I can't get the calf and hams to touch. I think my squatting mechanics change somewhat, now I'm sitting down straight between my hips, rather than sitting back, so there's no GM movement whatsoever. I focus on gripping the floor, and got some glutes to help out with the movement.

Left shoulder was somewhat uncomfortable during the warmup, but everything is okay as I get heavier. I'm surprised at how much my left shoulder improved, since last week I can barely get 4 reps, but this week I'm getting 5 reps for 2 sets. My right shoulder wasn't that bad either, I got 5 reps on all 3 sets fairly easily.

I just focus on getting good form on my chin up today. I got 1 tough rep in me for the first set, 1 very tough rep in me for the second set, and I'm straining slightly to get my last rep for my last set. I use the new grip lifting glove for this exercise.

[cun2x]

Weight: 169.8 lbs (+8.8 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32.25" (+1")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Movement efficiency exercises
Upper body mobility
Hip mobility
Glutes activation work

Comments:
I had a lot of difficulties trying to keep the left scapula tucked in during bench press in the past. From doing Z-health and the exercise on the I/O manual, it hasn't been bothering me for a while. I haven't been doing Z-health stuff for the past 3 months or so, and no I/O for the past 2 months or so, and the problem starts to come up again. I'm integrating I/O stuff back in to see if it changes anything.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 190 x 5
Week 2: 200 x 5
Week 3: 200 x 5
Week 4: 205 x 5 (old 5RM PR)
Week 5: 210 x 5 (old 3RM PR)
Week 6: 215 x 5 (old 3RM PR + 5 lbs)
Week 7: 220 x 1
Week 8: 130 x 5 x 3 (split squat)
Week 9: 140 x 5 x 3 (split squat)

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4
Week 3: 132 x 4
Week 4: 137 x 4
Week 5: 135 x 4, 140 x 3 (old 3 RM PR)
Week 6: 142 x 3 (old 3 RM PR + 2 lbs)
Week 7: 142 x 2
Week 8: 140 x 3
Week 9: 140 x 3

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5
Week 3: 240 x 3
Week 4: 250 x 3
Week 5: 260 x 3 (beat old 5RM PR by 5 lbs)
Week 6: 270 x 1, 265 x 1
Week 7: 185 x 3
Week 8: 215 x 3
Week 9: King deadlift (L: 8, R: 5 x 2)

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: right ankle is still tender. Sitting without arching my back feels a little bit uncomfortable, but disappear immediately if I arch my back and sit properly.

He poked around the lower back, and it still feels very tender. He told me that my lower back is irritated, because it's taking too much of the load when I lift. My physio will let me know how to train my core, and I'm also reading up on Stuart McGill's book to learn how to gain stability on the lumbar region. I got some ART and accupuncture treatment on Monday night. The chiro used a combination of needle and electric stimulation, that activates both erector muscle. I couldn't bend forward for 2-3 hours after that, until I took hot shower, and expose my lower back to the water for 10 mins or so.

Split squat is getting harder now. It seems like my left butt is moving to the left when I got the bottom of the rep, but my right butt is not. I did a lot of activation work before hand to try to integrate the left glute in the movement, but it's not working that great today.

This bench press weight is not improving whatsoever. The last rep is about 2-3 seconds. A guy actually come running trying to save me from being killed by the bench press during my 3rd rep. :D

I was trying to switch deadlift with something else for the next 3 weeks, so spare my lower back until I get my abs strengthened. I tried doing King deadlift, started with my left one, and they are ridiculously easy, but I felt nothing on my left butt at all. I moved to my right one, and holy cow.. it's hard. I can't wait to start deadlifting again.

[cun2x]

Weight: 170.0 lbs (+9.0 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32.5" (+1.25")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Comments:
It looks like I gain about 2 lbs a day after my workout day, since I was 167.8 yesterday. Next week, I'll start weighing myself on the workout day, not the day after my workout day.

Movement efficiency exercises
I/O mobility drill (upper body)
Hip mobility drill
Glutes activation
McGill's big 3 (curl up, side bridge, birddog)

Comments:
Added new stuff, taken from McGill's book. He mentioned that activating those big 3 can help before strength training exercise, so I'm adding them in. Every extra stability will help my lower back.

Training

Squat
Week 1: 160 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 167 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 175 x 5 x 3
Week 4: 185 x 5 x 5
Week 5: 190 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 4
Week 6: 195 x 4 x 5
Week 7: 195 x 5, 3
Week 8: 125 x 5 x 3 (split squat)
Week 9: 135 x 5 x 3 (split squat)
Week 10: 140 x 5 x 3 (split squat)

Bench press
Week 1: 107 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 112 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 117 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 122 x 5 x 4, 4
Week 5: 125 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 127 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 3
Week 7: 127 x 5, 5
Week 8: 130 x 5, 4, 4
Week 9: 130 x 4, 3, 2, 4, 2
Week 9: 130 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4

Rows
Week 1: 92 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 97 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 100 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 105 x 5 x 3, 4, 4
Week 5: 107 x 4, 4, 5, 5, 4
Week 6: 110 x 5, 5, 4 x 3
Week 7: 110 x 1 (do reverse pushup x 5 x 2)
Week 8: 95 x 5, 5, 5 (machine rows)
Week 9: 95 x 4, 5 x 4 (machine rows)
Week 10: 70 x 5 x 5 (seated rows)

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: Lower back is only tender if I sit for a very long period with a slouched posture, or if someone press the spine near the tailbone hard (like what my chiro did). Both ankle hurt around the joint if I tried to do supported ankle raise. I can't even do a one leg unsupported ankle raise, since I think the ligament is too weak.

Went to see the physio yesterday, and she gave me some exercises to do. It's pretty much what McGill outlined in his book: supine bridges, birddog and pushup plus (for my left serratus). She asked me to do ankle raise, and I just realize I can't even do one unsupported one properly. It hurts around the ankle joint when I do the movement even if I'm supporting myself using the wall. My chiro will be working on this next Monday, and I'm supposed to slowly strengthen them by doing calf raise throughout the day.

Finally found out what's causing my left glute to shift outwards. My training partner is showing up for his workout again, so I told him to watch me when I'm doing my split squat. For my right leg, everything looks good. For my left leg, he noticed that I'm rotating to the right when I descend and ascend. Right when I descend, I abduct my left leg forcefully (the leg doesn't actually move), but I guess I managed to activate my glutes medius, since I'm feeling it on the butt the whole rep. My left leg is a lot stronger than my right. I almost didn't get 5 reps on my last set for my right, but the left one is not hard at all, I just have to keep abducting the leg.

Now we're moving to bench press. I'm so anxious to get 5x5 with the 130 lbs this time. First set is tough, so I thought I won't be able to make it. Second set, I tighten up my back hard, and the weight get somewhat easier, and I got another 5. Third set, I set up the leg properly, and the weight felt even easier, got another 5. Fourth set, bar speed slows down slightly on 4th rep, so I stop to conserve some energy for the fifth set. Fifth set, 4th rep took about 3 seconds.

I changed the back exercise to seated rows, since this is easier to control. I started all reps with scapula retraction and then pull using the elbow. I asked my training partner to put his finger between my scap to make sure I didn't cheat for my 3rd to 5th set.

[cun2x]

Weight: 168.2 (+7.2 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32.5" (+1.5")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Comments:
My weight has been hovering around 168 for 2 weeks now, so I'm upping my calories by 200 calories. It's basically just an extra slice of bread and 1 more snack sized Kit Kat for me. No biggie!

Movement efficiency exercises
I/O mobility drill (upper body)
Hip mobility drill
Glutes activation
McGill's big 3 (curl up, side bridge, birddog)

Training

Squat
Week 1: 130 x 5 x 2
Week 2: 135 x 5 x 2
Week 3: 140 x 5 x 2
Week 4: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 5: 150 x 5 x 2
Week 6: 155 x 5 x 2
Week 7: 155 x 5 x 2
Week 8: 160 x 5 x 2
Week 9: 160 x 5 x 2
Week 10: 165 x 5 x 2

Press
Week 1: 90 x 5 x 3
Week 2: 95 x 5 x 3
Week 3: 97 x 5, 4, 4
Week 4: 97 x 5 x 3
Week 5: 100 x 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 100 x 4, 4, 2
Week 7: 100 x 5, 3, 3
Week 8: 40 x 4,3,4,2(L) and 4,4,5(R)
Week 9: 40 x 5,5,4,4 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)
Week 10: 40 x 5,5,5,3 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)

Chin up
Week 1: 3, 3, 3
Week 2: 4, 4, 3
Week 3: 5, 4, 3
Week 4: 5, 4, 3
Week 5: 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 5, 4, 3
Week 7: 5, 3, 2
Week 8: 4, 4, 3
Week 9: 3, 3, 3
Week 10: 4, 3, 3

Machine rows
Week 10: 65 x 8, 6, 7

Pick up basketball game yesterday
Week 1: 3 hours
Week 5: 4 hours
Week 6: 3.5 hours
Week 7: 3 hours
Week 8: n/a
Week 9: n/a
Week 10: 3.5 hours

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: I got home late on Thursday and Friday, so I skipped my soft tissue work and I'm definitely paying for that. I cannot sit on the floor without my back cramping. When I arch my back hard, I had some tenderness on the tailbone area. Ankles still hurt around the joint if I do calf raises. Back also got very tight during when I'm resting during basketball games. I was laying on my stomach when I was resting to relax the lower back. I didn't really notice them when I was playing though.

I was squatting in front of the mirror yesterday since my training partner is not there to watch my depth. I'm arching my back throughout the movement and got below parallel without opening my hips. My knees are always in line with my toes the whole movement. I'm really not used to have a lot of weights on my back now. I could do 165 somewhat easily, but the weight feels very heavy on the back. I have a full control over the whole reps though.

Weight is very easy on the right one, and only okay on the left. I have to focus hard to keep the left one in groove.

Got a nice 4 reps on first set without much straining. The last rep on the next 2 sets are pretty tough... it took about 2 seconds to bring myself up.

Finish up with 3 sets of machine rows, focusing on mid back, using supine grip. I'm going to do this at the end of all my workouts to get my mid back up to par. I stretched the upper traps and levator scapulae before every set to reduce their involvement, but they're still very much involved. Got a mad bicep pump for this stuff! :D

[cun2x]

Weight: 168.4 lbs (+7.4 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm

Comments:
Weird, weight has been fluctuating for a while. My waist just drops half an inch all of a sudden.

Movement efficiency exercises
Upper body mobility
Hip mobility
Glutes activation work
McGill's big 3 (curl up, side bridge, birddog)

Training

Squat
Week 8: 130 x 5 x 3 (split squat)
Week 9: 140 x 5 x 3 (split squat)
Week 10: 145 x 5 x 3 (split squat)

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4
Week 3: 132 x 4
Week 4: 137 x 4
Week 5: 135 x 4, 140 x 3 (old 3 RM PR)
Week 6: 142 x 3 (old 3 RM PR + 2 lbs)
Week 7: 142 x 2
Week 8: 140 x 3
Week 9: 140 x 3
Week 10: 140 x 4

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5
Week 3: 240 x 3
Week 4: 250 x 3
Week 5: 260 x 3 (beat old 5RM PR by 5 lbs)
Week 6: 270 x 1, 265 x 1
Week 7: 185 x 3
Week 8: 215 x 3
Week 9: King deadlift (L: 8, R: 5 x 2)
Week 10: n/a

Machine rows
Week 10: 65 x 8 x 3

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: Both ankles are still screwed up. Lower back is still tender around the tailbone area if I arch it. Sigh, I wonder when it'll be gone.

I got accupuncture and ART treatment on Monday. ART on my glutes are not painful anymore, but it's very painful on the hamstring and decent on the erector muscles.

On Tuesday, I went to see a new massage therapist about a postural correction program called http://www.symmetryforhealth.com/. No idea how good they are, but I like the assessment. It turns out that I'm anteriorly tilted by 17 degrees on my left side and 19 degrees on my right side, which cause my pelvis to be rotated slightly to the right, which is compensated by my torso rotating slightly to the left. I guess now I know why I'm rotating to the right when I'm split squatting.

Cold weather is coming, and my gym didn't bother turning up the heat. I warmed up but felt very cold during the workout. First set of split squat is hard, much harder on the right than left. I barely got 5 reps, and sometimes I lose a bit of balance on the way up.

Up until this point, my lower back still feel stiff. If I arch it or rotate, I can actually hear the vertebrae popping, like when the chiro did some adjustment. I got a nice speed on my 3rd rep today for bench press. I got greedy, tried to push for 1 more rep, and strain my lower back.

Try to do rack pull at this point, but lower back didn't agree with me. I just did the machine rows at the end of workout.

[cun2x]

Weight: 167.8 lbs (+6.8 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 24 mm (+5 mm)

Comments:
Weight hasn't moved yet, although I already increase calories by 200. My waist shrink, but my ab caliper numbers has increase quite a bit.

Movement efficiency exercises
I/O mobility drill (upper body)
Hip mobility drill
Glutes activation
McGill's big 3 (curl up, side bridge, birddog)

Training

Split squat
Week 8: 125 x 5 x 3
Week 9: 135 x 5 x 3
Week 10: 140 x 5 x 3
Week 11: 145 x 5 x 3 (L) and 3,4,2,2 (R)

Bench press
Week 1: 107 x 5 x 5
Week 2: 112 x 5 x 5
Week 3: 117 x 5 x 5
Week 4: 122 x 5 x 4, 4
Week 5: 125 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Week 6: 127 x 5, 5, 4, 4, 3
Week 7: 127 x 5, 5
Week 8: 130 x 5, 4, 4
Week 9: 130 x 4, 3, 2, 4, 2
Week 10: 130 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Week 11: 130 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 4

Seated Rows
Week 10: 70 x 5 x 5
Week 11: 75 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 3

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: Lower back seems to get better, although I have to be very consistent in my trigger point work and stretching. I can do a supported ankle raise now for both ankles, there are some pain, but not as bad as before. I've also been adding ankle mobility exercises and the postural correction exercise to my program.

I'm going to reduce the weight on split squats, and try to work to 8 reps for 3 sets. Weight is simply too dangerous to handle. Got an easy 5 reps for 3 sets for my left leg, but I was struggling big time with my right one. My left knee felt uncomfortable after the workout for 3 workouts now, so I'm not going to abduct my left knee anymore. I'll see if I can stop my glutes from shifting to the left.

Rep speed slows down on 5th rep for both 3rd and 4th set. My 4th rep for last set is taking a good 2-3 seconds, so I stop here. Man, progress is hard to come by for this exercise. I'm improving by 1 rep per week.. :(

For seated rows, I'll try to pull under control from now on. I did just that for my 5th set, and the weight stalls halfway. It's a lot easier to cheat if I pull quickly. I'm going to stay with this weight for next workout.

[cun2x]

Weight: 171.0 (+10.0 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 19 mm (no change)

Comments:
Weird, so I was walking around more on weekend, and eat less than my week days, and then my weight shot up 3 lbs. Go figure. My waist and abs measurement is also yo-yoing. I look fatter on the mirror but my waist and ab caliper measurement didn't show it, so I might have gained fat somewhere else. I'll just keep doing this until my pants don't fit anymore.

Movement efficiency exercises
I/O mobility drill (upper body)
Hip mobility drill
Glutes activation
McGill's big 3 (curl up, side bridge, birddog)

Training

Squat
Week 8: 160 x 5 x 2
Week 9: 160 x 5 x 2
Week 10: 165 x 5 x 2
Week 11: 165 x 3, 5

Press
Week 8: 40 x 4,3,4,2(L) and 4,4,5(R)
Week 9: 40 x 5,5,4,4 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)
Week 10: 40 x 5,5,5,3 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)
Week 11: 40 x 5,5,5,5 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)

Chin up
Week 8: 4, 4, 3
Week 9: 3, 3, 3
Week 10: 4, 3, 3
Week 11: 4, 3, 2

Machine rows
Week 10: 65 x 8, 6, 7
Week 11: 70 x 5, 4, 4

Pick up basketball game yesterday
Week 8: n/a
Week 9: n/a
Week 10: 3.5 hours
Week 11: n/a

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: Lower back is still tender around the tailbone if I arch hard. Sitting for a very long period with slouched posture also didn't feel good. Feels like a burning sensation but not that bad, much much less than when I had them initially. Ankle joint only hurts a little bit if I do calf raise.

I was experimenting with my squat form today. Try to sit back more for my warm up and 1st set, but it feels very awkward. My lower back starts to tuck as soon as I got just a little bit below parallel. I changed my form on my second work set, getting more motion from the knees and I can get much deeper without much problems. The body stays very erect, and lower back doesn't tuck until I got way under parallel. I struggle a bit for my last 2 reps halfway up.

Got a nice 5 reps on my shoulder press for both sides. I'm going to up them by 1 lb next week.

Chin up is a struggle again. I couldn't even get 3 reps on my last set, got stuck halfway up.

I tried to stay very tall when sitting to get the midback working rather than my upper traps. It's quite a challenge to reduce the upper traps movement, but I'm sure with enough practice, it'll be done.

[cun2x]

Weight: 169.4 lbs (+8.4 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32.25" (+1")
Ab caliper measurement: 21 mm (+2 mm)

Movement efficiency exercises
Upper body mobility
Hip mobility
Glutes activation work
McGill's big 3 (curl up, side bridge, birddog)

Training

Split Squat
Week 8: 130 x 5 x 3
Week 9: 140 x 5 x 3
Week 10: 145 x 5 x 3
Week 11: 140 x 5 x 4 (R) 5 x 3 (L)

Bench press
Week 1: 127 x 5
Week 2: 132 x 4
Week 3: 132 x 4
Week 4: 137 x 4
Week 5: 135 x 4, 140 x 3 (old 3 RM PR)
Week 6: 142 x 3 (old 3 RM PR + 2 lbs)
Week 7: 142 x 2
Week 8: 140 x 3
Week 9: 140 x 3
Week 10: 140 x 4
Week 11: 140 x 3

Deadlift
Week 1: 230 x 5
Week 2: 240 x 5
Week 3: 240 x 3
Week 4: 250 x 3
Week 5: 260 x 3 (beat old 5RM PR by 5 lbs)
Week 6: 270 x 1, 265 x 1
Week 7: 185 x 3
Week 8: 215 x 3
Week 9: King deadlift (L: 8, R: 5 x 2)
Week 10: n/a
Week 11: 5, 4 (R) 8 (L) (one leg stiff legged deadlift)

Machine rows
Week 10: 65 x 8 x 3
Week 11: 70 x 8, 7, 6

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: Lower back is still tender around the tailbone area if I arch it. Right ankle is still tender if I roll it inwards, but left ankle has a better mobility now.

When I did my bird dog for my left leg, I realize that my left leg always externally rotate on its way back. I stretch the piriformis just before the set, but I think it reduces the glutes power as well. I guess I found another reason why my left butt is moving outwards when I do my rep.

I dropped the weight for split squat since I was trying to get 8 reps. 140 lbs feel just as heavy as 145 lbs. All the weights are lowered in a very controlled manner this time, and I do an extra set for my right leg. First set is very tough, I barely got 5 reps, but as I go along, 2nd and 3rd set is slightly easier.

Got 3 reps on bench press, last rep is about 2 seconds. I learned my lesson from last week, so I didn't force a 4th rep at all.

I stole a hip dominant exercise from Mike Boyle's 'Designing Resistance Training Programs', a single leg stiff legged deadlift. Got a pretty good workout here, when my hamstring got tired, I can't balance myself at all. I got good forms on all my sets here, asked my training partner to watch whether my body move sideways or not.

Finished up with 3 sets of mid back exercise, the machine rows. I'm firing my mid back better now, since I don't feel anything on my biceps or upper traps. I focus on staying tall throughout the exercise, pulling from the elbow, and pulling smoothly (no jerky movement).

[cun2x]

Weight: 169.4 lbs (+8.4 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 24 mm (+5 mm)

Movement efficiency exercises
I/O mobility drill (upper body)
Hip mobility drill
Glutes activation
McGill's big 3 (curl up, side bridge, birddog)

Comments:
For my birddog, I can't keep my back from not arching if I kick my legs back. I didn't notice this until my physiotherapist tell me.

Training

Split squat
Week 8: 125 x 5 x 3
Week 9: 135 x 5 x 3
Week 10: 140 x 5 x 3
Week 11: 145 x 5 x 3 (L) and 3,4,2,2 (R)
Week 12: 140 x 5 x 3 (L) and 5 x 4 (R)

Bench press
Week 8: 130 x 5, 4, 4
Week 9: 130 x 4, 3, 2, 4, 2
Week 10: 130 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Week 11: 130 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 4
Week 12: 132 x 5, 4, 4, 4, 3

Seated Rows
Week 10: 70 x 5 x 5
Week 11: 75 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 3
Week 12: 75 x 5, 4 and 70 x 3, 3, 3

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: Lower back only feels tender if I arch or flex it a lot. Right ankle and left ankle are sore from heavy split squatting yesterday.

I went to see the physiotherapist yesterday, and things are looking better. Couple of problems she notice is when I do birddog, I can't keep my back from not arching. The other thing is super tight upper traps. I also told her about the problem I have when I arch my back a lot, and she said that I'm probably arching too much and compress my spine.

The stretches below are done daily:
- Left piriformis (6-7 times a day, 3 x 60 seconds)
- Right hip flexor (1-2 time a day, 3 x 60 seconds)
- Upper traps (6-7 times a day, 1 x 30 seconds)
- Hamstrings - leg is bent slightly (1-2 times a day, 3 x 60 seconds)

I lost my balance couple of times on the top part of the rep for split squat during my first and second set. As the sets go along, it get easier to balance. I lower in a very controlled manner, and got a good workout here.

For bench press, I lost my groove for my 2nd rep during first set. The 3 sets following that are usually 3 pretty quick reps, followed by a very slow 4th rep. For my fifth set, I can't get the groover properly, and got only 3 reps.

Apparently 75 lbs is too much if I stay tall during seated rows, pulling using elbow, and pull under control. I lower the weight to be 70 lbs, and I still can't get 5 reps for any of the sets. I'm going to try 65 for the next workout, and try to get 5 sets of 5 good reps. Form is very good though this time.

[cun2x]

Weight: 169.8 lbs (+8.8 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32" (+.75")
Ab caliper measurement: 24 mm (+5 mm)

Comments:
I'm getting tired of stuffing myself. Gotta find some new recipes!

Movement efficiency exercises
I/O mobility drill (upper body)
Hip mobility drill
Glutes activation
McGill's big 3 (curl up, side bridge, birddog)

Training

Squat
Week 8: 160 x 5 x 2
Week 9: 160 x 5 x 2
Week 10: 165 x 5 x 2
Week 11: 165 x 3, 5
Week 12: 165 x 5 x 2

Press
Week 8: 40 x 4,3,4,2(L) and 4,4,5(R)
Week 9: 40 x 5,5,4,4 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)
Week 10: 40 x 5,5,5,3 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)
Week 11: 40 x 5,5,5,5 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)
Week 12: 41 x 5,5,5,5 (L) and 5,5,5 (R)

Chin up
Week 8: 4, 4, 3
Week 9: 3, 3, 3
Week 10: 4, 3, 3
Week 11: 4, 3, 2
Week 12: 3, 3, 3

Machine rows
Week 10: 65 x 8, 6, 7
Week 11: 70 x 5, 4, 4
Week 12: 70 x 7, 5, 5

Pick up basketball game yesterday
Week 8: n/a
Week 9: n/a
Week 10: 3.5 hours
Week 11: n/a
Week 12: 3.5 hours

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: Lower back is still tender around the tailbone if I arch hard. The right outer part of my left knee is sore too this morning. I've been feeling beaten down for the past week or so. I slept 8 hours or more a day, but when I woke up, felt very tight all over and tired.

I ask my training partner to check when my lower back start to tuck in. It was right at parallel, so for the whole set, I just aim for that depth. My first set feels good, but I sit back and lean forward a bit. Second set, my form is all over the place, changes from rep to rep. I'm squatting just around bodyweight nowadays, and it felt very heavy on the back.

I'm surprised at the number of reps I'm getting on my shoulder press. The groove changes slightly on the last 2 reps of the last set for my left one, but all the rest are good.

I just focus on getting some good reps for my chin up, without straining myself. First and second set is good, but third set, I slow down a little bit for my last rep.

Machine row exercise sucks today. I keep trying to pull using the midback but the upper trap keeps taking over. The traps have been very tight the past few days. I did some trigger point work on them and also stretch them, but it hasn't gotten much better.

[cun2x]

Weight: 171.0 lbs (+10.0 lbs)
Waist 1" above navel: 32.25" (+1")
Ab caliper measurement: 24 mm (+5 mm)

Movement efficiency exercises
Hip mobility
Glutes activation work

Training

Split Squat
Week 8: 130 x 5 x 3
Week 9: 140 x 5 x 3
Week 10: 145 x 5 x 3
Week 11: 140 x 5 x 4 (R) 5 x 3 (L)
Week 12: 150 x 5 x 3 (R) 5 x 3 (L)

Bench press
Week 8: 140 x 3
Week 9: 140 x 3
Week 10: 140 x 4
Week 11: 140 x 3
Week 12: 140 x 3

Deadlift
Week 8: 215 x 3
Week 9: King deadlift (L: 8, R: 5 x 2)
Week 10: n/a
Week 11: 5, 4 (R) 8 (L) (one leg stiff legged deadlift)
Week 12: 5 (R) 5 (L) (one leg stiff legged deadlift)

Machine rows
Week 10: 65 x 8 x 3
Week 11: 70 x 8, 7, 6

Comments:

INJURIES/SORENESS: Glutes are sore the day after I did split squat. The left glutes medius felt very tight yesterday, but it's gone today. Lower back is only tender on extreme lordosis, no pain at all when sitting for a long period.

Today is my best sets ever of split squatting. Everything felt very stable. I didn't hit my knee on the way down for my left and right leg. My butt also didn't sway outside on the way down for my left leg. I lost my balance a little bit on the top for 1 rep on my 2nd set, but everything else is very solid. First set feels hard for both legs, but it gets easier for my left leg on the 2nd and 3rd set.

Same ole same ole on bench press. I got 3 reps, and the last rep took about 2 seconds.

For the 1 leg stiff legged deadlift, I tried to get the back leg to be parallel to the floor, but I couldn't do it. I felt extreme stretch on the leg that is on the floor, and I keep losing my balance.

I didn't do the machine rows exercise since my upper traps is very tight. I've been feeling very tired constantly every day, so I think I'll take a week off and go from there.

[Chris Regnery]

This is a great journal! I think dunking is within anyone's reach with enough training. No pun intended... :P

[msingh]

so can you dunk now?