Dan's Log

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DanCow		Dan's Log	11-04-2014 @ 20:52
Member 5297, 31 posts	Short history: I hurt my back a few times when I was 17, suffered bilateral sciatica everywhere below hips for 7 months. Injured a facet joint in my upper back with pain radiating down both arms. Against the doctors advice to do jack st - which was all I could do - I decided to lift. Starting stats: Age:18 height:5ft 10 Weight: 137lb Squat: 25kgx5 DL: 40kg Progress has been slow, setbacks and injuries have plagued me since the beginning. Started university 5 months into the program, which has fked up training furthermore. 11 months later: Weight: 187lb Squat: 113kgx5 Strict Press:36kgx5 Bench 59.5kgx5 Deadlift 122.5kgx5 Now it's the end of term for uni (only exams left), food and sleep can increase, still making PB's almost every session. The sciatica still flares up from over 2 years ago, but getting stronger physcially and mentally helps.

DanCow		...	11-04-2014 @ 21:28
Member 5297, 31 posts	11/04/2014 Squat: 108x5x3 Bench: 61x5x2, 61x3 DL: 122.5x1 Possibly the worst training session I've ever had. Pulled hamstring squatting on monday, so a small reset on the squat was probely needed. Felt heavy as hell. Gym is empty on fridays, because, of course, going to party's is much more important. Benching alone was scary as fk; first 2 sets felt easy, but last set was becoming a grind. So decided I didn't want to die today and racked it on 3rd rep. My bench press is stty because the bench is either taken, or there is nobody to spot me. I take the train to the gym, which means I either have to rush my workout, or drag it on as it comes hourly. On my last set of squats, a guy comes into the gym - this gym has eleiko bars, bumper plates, 4 platforms, a power rack and a bench - I'm getting ready for bench, I have been alone for over an hour and what does this guy do? Use the f**king bench. So I wait it out a while, and within 15 minutes, he managed to put on his benching equipment, do 2 sets of bench, and walk out. So now I need to rush my bench and deadlift to get the train in time. At this point, I'm so pissed off, and cannot focus on anything other than how much I hate humanity. My warm up sets for deadlifts were rushed, and I ended with a only a single rep at 122.5.

DanCow		...	14-04-2014 @ 20:22
Member 5297, 31 posts	14/04/2014 More positive experience today Squat: 110kgx5x3 Felt light Press: 36.5kgx5x3 PB Chinups: 3,2,2,2,1 PB Barely slept all weekend, didn't eat much either. Quite suprised. Making progress now deadlifting frequency has been reduced to every 5th workout.

DanCow		...	16-04-2014 @ 21:10
Member 5297, 31 posts	16/04/2014 Squat: 80x5x3 Light day Bench: 61x5x3 PB Power Cleans: 60x3x1 Bench felt crazy light. Havn't power cleaned in a very long time, used to hurt my back. But I've added them in again.

AaronJ		...	16-04-2014 @ 22:06
Intolerant of old shtick. Member 5276, 431 posts SQ 222, BP 145, DL 265 632.0 kgs @ 96kgs UnEq	Nice work mate

MuscleDemon		...	16-04-2014 @ 22:52
We all live as we chose. Member 5051, 866 posts SQ 157.5, BP 95, DL 220 472.5 kgs @ 61.1kgs UnEq	Post Edited: 16.04.2014 @ 22:56 PM by MuscleDemon DanCow said:14/04/2014 More positive experience today Squat: 110kgx5x3 Felt light Press: 36.5kgx5x3 PB Chinups: 3,2,2,2,1 PB Barely slept all weekend, didn't eat much either. Quite suprised. Making progress now deadlifting frequency has been reduced to every 5th workout. I find that deadlifting taxes the nervous system heavily impacting recovery ability. Leading up to a strongman competition I did which had a deadlift event I didn't train them at all and it went well. Good job on all the PBs. I hope you keep up the motivation. Consider throwing in some alternative compound exercises which will support progress on your main lifts and keep it exciting. I am sure that only cycling squats and bench press will become stale after a while and continued long-term progress will not happen without exercise variety.

DanCow		...	18-04-2014 @ 19:35
Member 5297, 31 posts	18/04/2014 Squat: 111.5x5x1 111.5x3x1 Press: 37x5x3 PB Chin Ups: 4,1,5 negatives PB (Dead hang chin ups) Gym only open for 2 hours, had to rush warm up slightly. Felt some weird sensations down my legs, and my SI joint was feeling like a b**ch, so decided to stop squatting. Press felt easy. Chin ups felt good, quite suprised I hit 4, my max chin up around 2 weeks ago was 2. Havn't slept very well lately, but apparently my body really does not care. Thank you for the comments.


DanCow		...	21-04-2014 @ 17:34
Member 5297, 31 posts	21/04/2014 Today was a morning session because gym only open 2 hours, I have never trained this early in years. I felt tired, and 200mg of caffeine did nothing. Took squat out. Bench: 62.5x5x3 PB DL: 122.5x2x1 122.5x2x1 122.2x1x1 Bench felt heavy. fked up on deadlifts, just felt so tired. All of my missed deadlifts are from not getting it off the floor. I lowered the weight and changed starting position so my hips are higher. It feels harder to keep spinal extension, but it felt easier, like the distance had reduced, and it felt easier to keep the bar close. Next DL session I'll reduce to 120x5 and see if my new start up position makes it easier. Not much eating over weekend due to work related st. When i'm stressed, I eat lots and sleep little. When i'm very stressed, I eat little and sleep lots. One of the hardest things about this sport is eating. Normal People will laugh at you and tell you; you're greedy, you're fat, you don't need all this food, give your stomach a break. Why don't normal people just shut up?

DanCow		...	23-04-2014 @ 17:33
Member 5297, 31 posts	23/04/2014 Squat: 111kgx5x3 Press: 37.5x5x3 PB Chin: 3,3,2,2 PB Squat felt crazy heavy, I actually thought I st myself on the first set, haha. I keep getting near this weight and my form goes to st, and I think "better lower the weight". As you progress as a novice, the definition of "heavy" changes so often, I'm just gonna plow through it, until I get pinned. Press and chins felt good. Sleep has been good, eating not so good.

DanCow		...	25-04-2014 @ 21:30
Member 5297, 31 posts	25/04/2014 Squat: 80x5x3 (Light day) Bench: 64x5x2 64x4x1 (Missed last rep on last set) Power cleans: 60x3 I've learnt that food has a much bigger influence on my gains than sleep does. I can get almost no sleep, eat lots, and still make PB's. But little food and lots of sleep, and It's alot harder. I am going to eat everything in sight over the weekend. I lost upperback tightness on the last set on bench. I mentally think "Push", but In doing so, I push my scapulas out of position. "Tight" may be a better thing to focus on. Power cleans scare me. I'm constantly focusing on my back, just waiting for the pain to come back. I'll drop the weight next time and get my confidence up with it. What I love about this sport is also the thing I most hate; facing fear. It teaches you how to deal with fear, it proves yourself that your mind is talking s**t. That you can actually do it. This lesson has great carry over to other areas in life.

DanCow		...	28-04-2014 @ 22:38
Member 5297, 31 posts	28/04/2014 I ate quite alot over the weekend, but I had barely any sleep the night before. So for the first time ever, I took a pre workout, It was that Grenade 50 calibre. All my lifts felt super fking easy, My form felt perfect. But around 3 months ago, I burst a blood vessel in my eye from squats, I took a month off lifting, ever since I've been worried about it coming back. And on the 2nd set of squats, a little bit of blood had burst in my eye... It went within 15 mins, but it scared the fk out of me. So I don't think I'll be taking that s**t again. I think it raised my blood pressure too high. I may skip wednesday's workout, just to make sure my eye has properly healed. I have exams next week too so I need to revise anyway. Squat: 112x5x2 (Crazy light) Press: 38x5x3 PB Chins: 5, 5 negatives PB I'll increase as normal next workout, but It may be a struggle without the pre workout.

DanCow		...	02-05-2014 @ 22:59
Member 5297, 31 posts	2/05/2014 Squat: 80x5x3 (Light day) Bench: 65.5x5 65.5x2 Deadlift: 120x5 (Felt easy, reduced time between reps also) Deadlift felt so easy with my hips higher, I'm not squatting the weight up anymore. First set of bench felt heavy, on the second set I had a different spotter. This guy is massive. I prefer taking the bar out the racks myself, but this guy took the bar out and placed it way too low. I asked to rack it as I couldn't hold this position and explained it was too low, but he argued and told me I was too high and that it's very dangerous. So I thought, fk it, I'll just do it. As the bar went down, he would lean right over and follow it with his hands above so I couldn't see the wall above me, I CAN'T SEE JACK st! The bar felt so heavy, I can't focus, and I missed the 3rd rep. "See, it's too heavy for you! What your doing is dangerous". I love learning new things, I have read many books on lifting, and spend the majority of my time watching lifting videos on youtube. But you can't reason with somebody who says "I've been doing this my whole ilfe, I'm stronger than you". This guy is actually a staff member, and he won't let me bench unless I do it his way. Look's like I'm going to a new gym.

DanCow		...	08-05-2014 @ 11:34
Member 5297, 31 posts	07/05/2014 Squat:113x5x2 113x2 113x2 Press:38.5x5 38.5x4 38.5x2 Gym was so busy, didn't have enough time to rest between sets. Squat form felt good, although I had a massive bruise on the barline that got worse as the set went on, couldn't take the bar out of the racks without pain. Felt some weird eye pain on the second set that I can still feel, but no knee or quad pain for the first time in ages! In the middle of exams at the moment, my head hurts.

DanCow		...	10-05-2014 @ 17:58
Member 5297, 31 posts	09/05/2014 Squat:80kgx5x3 (Light day) Bench:65x4x1 65x4x1 (No idea, felt heavy) Chins: 3,3,3,1 PB Last day of hard exams, can start eating and taking training more seriously now. The eye pain was an exertion headache, suddenly got the pain again at the back of my head on the last set of squats, think my neck may have something to do with it, it f**king hurts.

DanCow		...	12-05-2014 @ 21:31
Member 5297, 31 posts	12/05/2014 Squat: 114x5x3 PB Press: 38.5x5x3 PB DL: 122.5x2 Ankle was hurting all weekend, couldnt squat without pain at the bottom. But with lots of warmup, managed to set a PB and it was even deeper than usual. No headache pains or hamstring pulls thank god. Deadlifts just felt insanely heavy! I think the heavy squats may have fatigued my legs too much. And the fact my thumbs f**king hurt, I will get some tape to wrap them next time. I think 2.5kg jumps on deadlift is too much, I'll try 2kg jumps from now on.

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