11/16/13

6:18 mile, 16s off lifetime best. Nearly died / puked but nice to know my cardio is decent.

11/17/13

Squat: 4 x 5 x 215

DB Bench: 85: 3, 80: 5, 4, 3, 3

Bent Over Rows: 5 x bar, 5 x 95, 5 x 115, 5 x 135, 5 x 145

**** man, i know my deadlift form is pretty ****ty at times but you look like you gonna snap ya **** up

I mean you seem to have excessive rounding of the back

Maybe should focus on sorting that out before more 1rm lifts

Yeah, that was 3m ago. Have been doing Hex with less weigh, focusing on form a ton more.

11/23/13

Squat: 5 x 245, 3 x 235 (failed on 4th), 4 x 225 (failed on 5th)
OHP 125: 6, 4, 4, 4, 3 (PR on 1st set)
Bench 185: 7, 6, 6, 5, 5 (after OHP and squats, pretty good IMO)


Did a 5k the other day in 28:10.

Easy 20m at 6.1mph today.

11/25/13

Bench 210: 6 (PR!), 4, 4, 3, 3
Squat: 5 x 230, 2 x 5 x 225, 2 x 3 x 225
Closed Grip Bench (very narrow) 165: 6, 6, 5, 4, 5
Seated DB OHP 50: 5, 5, 5, 7, 6

11/26/13
5k in 9:10 pace or so

11/27/13
Squat: 6 x 6 x 185
Bench: 1 x 235, f x 240, 6 x 6 x 165
DB OHP: 5 x 5 x 45

11/28/13
5k in 28m

12/5/13

Squat: 1 x 283, f x 293, 5 x 5 x 213
Bench: 10 x 185, 4 x 5 x 185, 5 x 195
DL (non-hex): 5 x 295

Been terrible about logging but here's yesterday's workout:

1/13/14

Squat: 5 x 5 x 240
Bench: 5 x 5 x 175
DL: 3 x 295

Have reset a bunch on bench because shoulder's been nagging me. Managed to pull of 1 x 246 in Brazil but unclear if the weights were marked correctly...

Think I'll have to switch to TM-style programming soon-ish on squats.

Have also been running some, did 20mins today on a track.

1/15/14

Squat: 5 x 5 x 245
OHP 135: 4, 3, 3
P. Cleans 140: 5 x 3

Had to take a ton of time between sets on the squat. Took ten minutes between fourth and fifth. We'll see what happens on Friday at 250...245 is a 5x5 PR for me but still hoping to get at least a few sets in at 250.

Haven't really set goals, but am thinking something like:

Current --> Goal

Squat: 5 x 5 x 245 --> 5 x 315
Bench: 5 x 5 x 175 --> 5 x 225
DL: 5 x 305 --> 5 x 405
OHP: 4 x 135 --> 5 x 150
P. Cleans: 5 x 3 x 140 --> 3 x 205

I think squat and cleans are easiest. OHP is medium, power cleans a bit harder and DL / bench may be very tough.

Most I've ever done on bench is 6 x 210. Gets so hard after that and left shoulder doesn't like it (tendinitis).

Ran last night for 20m, 2m walk, 5m back on. Gonna do 25 mins straight today, hopefully outside (hoping for no rain here).

If I run 4 times a week that's prob total mileage of like 10mpw

Just gotta build it up slowly. From what I've read online, it looks like this is the biggest factor towards improving a 5k time. I've talked to my younger brother and another friend and both think that my doing a 5k in sub 20m (6:26 mile pace) isn't gonna happen. Long, long way to go but would love to do that by end of year.

1/16/14

Ran for 25m straight. Was tough by the end but ran slowly enough that I didn't have to stop. Will hit 30m at a time soon enough (prob within the next week).

1/17/14

Squat: 5 x 5 x 250 (5RM PR, 5x5 PR)
Bench: 5 x 5 x 180

Really exciting to get through all 5 sets of squats today. Two weeks ago I did 4 x 250 (I miscalculated the weight) so great to see continued progress. Looking like goal of 5 x 315 will be doable. Assuming I can do at least one set of 5 x 255, I'm only 60lbs away. Not saying it'll be easy and I know all too well that progress slows but nice to know I'm not super far off.

1/18/14

Was planning on running for 30m straight but had to stop at 23m cuz the gym here closes at 6pm on Saturdays? Weird but good to know going forward.

1/19/14

Ran 30m straight. I think I averaged 10:40 pace, so just shy of 3 miles in that time. Was pretty tiring but kept reminding myself to go slower. Rest day tomorrow and then up to 255 on squats on Tuesday.

Got a decent amount of work to do to stay ahead in my math classes. Algebra not so bad, complex is taking some time, and real analysis is ramping up quickly.

1/20/14

Played squash for 45 mins, lotta fun, haven't played in ages.

1/21/14

Little sore from yesterday but nothing bad.

Squat: 3 x 5 x 255, 1 x 255
OHP 135: 4, 3, 3
Cleans: 5 x 3 x 135

Did better than I thought I would on squats, still can't seem to break through at 135 on OHP. This is my 3rd deload for both of them so going from 5 x 5 to 3 x 5. Looking forward to this so I can have a bit more recovery between lifts and go heavier hopefully. Also means workouts will be a bit shorter which is nice cuz I've been spending ages in the gym, taking long breaks between squats.

I'll deload to 3 x 5 x 230 on squats, 3 x 5 x 120 on OHP, keep cleans as they are (still 5 x 3).

Playing squash again later today. Haven't weighed myself in a bit but think I'm definitely a few lbs lighter than 242. We'll see once I find a scale. One in the gym here claims I'm 216...

1/23/14

Squat: 3 x 5 x 230
Bench: 3 x 5 x 185
DL: 5 x 225

Everything seemed tough today. A bit frustrating since this is a deload + going from 5 x 5 --> 3 x 5 but these things happen. On the plus side, workout took less than an hour which is a nice change.

Playing squash later tonight. Told the guy I played in college, asked if I should go to the "advanced" group and he basically stuffed me and told me to come to the normal practice and they'd pick advanced people from there. Gonna be a complete waste of time, w/e.

1/25/14

Squat: 3 x 5 x 235
OHP: 3 x 5 x 115
P Cleans: 5 x 3 x 135

Squash in the afternoon for an hour

1/26/13

Felt pretty tired in the legs so only did:

10m jog
5m walk
10m jog
6m walk

Total: 2.5mi

1/27/14

Squat: 3 x 5 x 240
Bench: 3 x 5 x 190
DL: 5 x 235

Squats were tough today but managed to get through it. Think I was supposed to rest today and lift tmrw so I'll rest tmrw and lift the day after. Should help the squats.

Have to stay on top of math classes and, in a strange twist, my linear algebra class so far is definitely harder than my abstract algebra one.

1/27/14 (cont'd)

Good friend and I have a bet re: who can run a faster 5k in 6m (sometime in the summer). He ran a 22:20 yesterday. I did one for time:

5K: 27:42 (pace: 8:56)

His pace was ~7:12, so I've got my work cut out for me.

1/29/14

Squat: 3 x 5 x 245
Cleans: 5 x 3 x 140
OHP: 2 x 5 x 120, 4 x 120 (failed last rep )

Felt lightheaded during the workout, hadn't eaten since 8am (was working out around 2pm). One good rack was being used so I had to clean the 120 before pressing it overhead. Frustrating workout, felt I should have had 120 easily.

So I went home, ate / relaxed for a while then went back to the gym later to run. Ran 30m at 5.5mph.

Run: 30m, 3.0mi

1/30/14

Played squash for an hour, tonna fun.

1/31/14

Squat: 3 x 5 x 250
Bench: 3 x 5 x 195
DL: 5 x 245

DL felt easy. Bench was reasonably hard, squats were *very* challenging. Am going to run tomorrow and Sunday, then lift Monday.

2/1/14

2m at 20m pace
35m at 10:56 pace
5m at 20m pace

Total Distance: 3.6mi

Wasn't super hard but still had to work. Definitely an improvement over where I was a month or so ago cardio-wise. I'll probably test my 5k in another 2-3 weeks, not sure what's reasonable to hope for. Will definitely try to keep a constant pace, maybe 7mph, so 8:34 pace.

That would be an improvement of 22s/mile, so shaves just over a minute off my previous time of 27:42 (8:56 pace).

2/2/14

5m warmup at 20m pace
~22mins at 10:56 pace
6m cooldown at 20m pace

Total Distance: 2.6mi

Felt easier than yesterday's run, definitely getting more comfortable with the pace. Will see what Daniels' running book recommends for easy paced running based on the next 5k I run.

2/3/14

Squats: 3 x 5 x 255
OHP: 3 x 5 x 120
P Cleans: 5 x 3 x 145

Squats weren't as hard as I thought they would be. Definitely hard, but glad to get through and give 260 a shot on Wed.

I might press more than you by the time the year is over...

1/5/14

Squat: 3 x 5 x 260
Bench: 3 x 5 x 200
DL: 5 x 255

Took 10 mins between squat sets. Barely made it through...265 should be interesting tmrw

Ran a mile after lifting.

Squash later today.

Also think I'm going to have to adjust my goals for the year, esp. re: squats. I originally wanted to do 5 x 315 by year end but don't think that's nearly ambitious enough given that I'm at 3 x 5 x 260 now.

Maybe 5 x 365 by EOY?

A bit tough to set since a) it's a fairly long time period and b) IDK how dramatically my progress will stall (feel like I was stuck at 225 for ages and have since broken through).

Bench continues to dominate me: barely got 3 x 5 x 200 yesterday and I've been hovering around 190-205 for ages. Not really sure what to do about this, aside from getting more rest on a program like TM. Hopefully that'll help.

I'm trying to do a better job of not comparing myself to others. Don' t think it's terribly productive / beneficial and certain measurements are clearly better for certain body types. Ex: Bench / BW clearly favors a v. short guy vs. a tall guy (tall guy will be heavier, other things being equal and has farther to move the bar).

As far as those measurements are concerned, I think I have one of the worst body types: 6'7", 240lbs.

Regardless, just gonna keep focusing on getting my lifts to increase as that's the goal here anyway.

Would be nice to DL > Squat (atm I think they're almost the same). Am v. hopeful I'll DL > 400 with good form by EOY.