Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Starting a log here to keep myself motivated to keep showing results and to get some advice on where I could improve.

Background: Generally completely unathletic. Despite being active throughout high school playing tennis and soccer, I was never able to break a 9 minute mile, I was unable to do a single pushup before I started lifting, I'm slow over short distances, no flexibility, etc. I was not overweight during HS.

Goals: Get in the best possible all-around shape possible(strength, short and long distance speed, flexibility, vert, etc) and improve my appearance in the process. To start I'm going to follow a powerlifting-ish routine, basing my workouts around push, pull, and leg days, and I'm going to mix HIIT and long cardio days. Stretching every day.

Stats: 22, 6'2, 167 lbs.

1RM: Bench - ~125 lbs
Squat - ~150 lbs
Dead - ~215 lbs

Going to head to the track at some point and time my 100m, 200m, 400m, mile, and 3mile(when I actually think I can run this far) and update that info here.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

please post more details on your lifting routine.... and any details on your diet

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Good luck man.
Post more frequently in the beginning, daily if you can.
A lot of guys here can cut down a lot of wasted energy and help you tweak your program and give a lot of good tips on training.
Keep an open mind and if the criticisms get harsh, don't take it personally. Think of it as someone half way between your concience and a personal trainer yelling at you to do ONE MORE!!!! comeon.. you can do it!

For the total review. Post your (runnng) times, lift maxes, diet, etc. Your goals too are important to pin down. Seems like you dont need to be losing weight so what is more important strength, speed, looks,cardio?

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

OK here's some more info on my routine and diet.

Routine looks like this:

Monday(Pull day, no DL):
Bentover Rows
Lat Pulldown (switching to pullups once im strong enough)
shrugs
barbell curls

Tuesday(leg day):
Squats
Front Squats
Some form of calf work(calf raises, etc.)

Thinking I should add a deadlift variant here, maybe some good mornings, and eventually also work in some other squat variants

Wednesday(push day):
DB Bench press
DB Incline press
DB military press
skullcrushers/other tricep assistance

Thursday: Off

Friday(Pull day w/ DL):
Deadlifts
DB Rows
Lat pulldown (switching to pullups)
shrugs
barbell curls

Saturday: Off

Sunday(push day):
same as Wednesday

My reps are kind of all over the place, as I post individual workouts it will give a better idea of what I'm doing, rep count is also dropping for squats and deadlifts as I get more comfortable with my form. I also want to add in some additional core work and grip work, don't think it matters too much where I put that? I will probably be mixing it up from week to week depending on when I have the most time.

Diet: Ideally, first meal of the day is scrambled egg whites with either wheat toast or oatmeal. After that throughout the day the majority of what I eat is chicken breasts, spinach, steaks, tuna and salmon rolls made with brown rice and avocado, muscle milk. Dinner is whatever my parents are eating, usually some sort of protein, some carb, mixed veggies. Snack on salads, berries+ nonfat plain yogurt or cottage cheese, nuts. PWO I drink a whey shake and eat a banana. I think the area I need to work on most is eating more veggies, I eat a ton of spinach every day(mmmmm so good), but not much else. When I'm disciplined I'm happy with my diet, but I still have way too many cheat meals and just get lazy too often and eat things I know I shouldn't. Also supplement with fish oil, eat 4-6 times a day depending on my schedule.

Log update for 8/4: 30 minute jog/walk, will start with more thorough updates on monday including what I'm eating.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

[ QUOTE ]
Good luck man.
Post more frequently in the beginning, daily if you can.
A lot of guys here can cut down a lot of wasted energy and help you tweak your program and give a lot of good tips on training.
Keep an open mind and if the criticisms get harsh, don't take it personally. Think of it as someone half way between your concience and a personal trainer yelling at you to do ONE MORE!!!! comeon.. you can do it!

For the total review. Post your (runnng) times, lift maxes, diet, etc. Your goals too are important to pin down. Seems like you dont need to be losing weight so what is more important strength, speed, looks,cardio?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks.

I actually do have a bit of excess flab, I'm probably the definition of skinny fat. Primary goals are increased strength and cardiovascular endurance, appearance/speed/etc. are secondary and are things I will probably focus on more at some point down the line.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Reading self designed lifting programs = instant life tilt.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

[ QUOTE ]
Reading self designed lifting programs = instant life tilt.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT

Atleast follow a simple framework.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Reading self designed lifting programs = instant life tilt.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT

Atleast follow a simple framework.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please. there are only a million or so proven good ones to chose from. it will be the best thing you can do. promise.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Alright, will switch to rippetoe starting tomorrow

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

best move you could make!

good luck!

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/6/07: First day of Rippetoe starting strength!

Workout A:

Squat:

1x8 @ 45
1x8 @ 95
1x5 @ 115

3x5 @ 125

Bench:

1x8 @ 45
1x5 @ 95

3x5 @ 105

Deadlift:

1x8 @ 95
1x5 @ 135
1x5 @ 155

1x5 @ 165

Also going to do 4 min of tabata intervals on a stationary bike later this evening. Is it better to do HIIT on lifting days and long cardio on off days or vice versa? I have heard from a few people to do HIIT on off days, but also read a t-nation article recommending doing it on lifting days.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

I generally do my HIIT on workout days mainly b/c its short and its a wasted day to go to the gym just for that on nonlift days...on days you do long cardio...work to keep it at a low intensity. You arent looking to push yourself.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/8/07:

Workout B:

Pretty much a disaster. My legs were still really sore from Monday's workout so I opted to skip the squats, just did a couple of sets with the bar to get the blood flowing and practice my form.

Standing military press:

2x7 @ 45

3x5 @ 55

These were tougher than I thought, feel pretty good about my form though. On my last set, I had to drive with my legs a bit to get the 5th rep up - should I be doing this or just let myself fail the rep?

Pendlay Rows:

1x8 @ 45
1x5 @ 65

3x5 @ 75

Had a lot of trouble with the form on these. I am tall, my legs are long in comparison to my arms, and my hamstrings are inflexible. As a result I really was having a tough time getting down to the bar, any suggestions while I work on increasing flexibility?

Also did some lat pulldowns because I felt I hadn't done too much:

1x8 @ 100
3x8 @ 110

Cardio: 4 min of tabata sprints

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

[ QUOTE ]
My legs were still really sore from Monday's workout so I opted to skip the squats

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
did some lat pulldowns because I felt I hadn't done too much:

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Cardio: 4 min of tabata sprints

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm kinda confused. I personally don't allow myself to do extra stuff because I have energy left over from not doing my main work-- weird little rules like this help me keep focus. I'm also a bit surprised that your legs are fine for sprints but not squats. Anyway. Recovery runs help my leg soreness.

I guess the question(s) that I think is(are) coming through is if you know what your goals are and if you doubt that your program is well-suited for them?

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

[ QUOTE ]

I'm kinda confused. I personally don't allow myself to do extra stuff because I have energy left over from not doing my main work-- weird little rules like this help me keep focus. I'm also a bit surprised that your legs are fine for sprints but not squats. Anyway. Recovery runs help my leg soreness.

I guess the question(s) that I think is(are) coming through is if you know what your goals are and if you doubt that your program is well-suited for them?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really sure what you are getting at here, I'm following the Rippetoe starting strength routine so I'm not going to do more sets of the main lifts than is recommended on my second day even if I have a little extra left in me. I'm also doing lifts that I have never done before, so I'm not going to keep pushing myself when I'm not comfortable with my form.

As for the leg soreness, it wasn't that I couldn't do squats, but with them being as sore as they were it seemed to me a better idea to give them a couple of extra days rest until Friday instead of wearing them down even more. I've never experienced soreness as a result of tabata sprints so I didn't think those would be an issue.

I think my program is suited to my goals(strength, cardiovascular endurance), can you elaborate?

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Maybe I'm just having a tough time identifying with the following because it is outside my experience:

[ QUOTE ]
As for the leg soreness, it wasn't that I couldn't do squats, but with them being as sore as they were it seemed to me a better idea to give them a couple of extra days rest until Friday instead of wearing them down even more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just me, personally, DOMS would not keep me from a lift-- so I thought I'd poke around and see if there might be something else. But there isn't, so fine.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Ah, I was always under the impression that soreness was a sign that your muscles had not yet recovered, I could easily be wrong about that though.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/10/07

Workout A

Squat:

1x8 @ 45
1x8 @ 95
1x5 @ 115
1x5 @ 135

3x5 @ 145

Bench:

1x8 @ 45
1x7 @ 95

3x5 @ 110

Deadlift:

1x8 @ 95
1x5 @ 135
1x5 @ 155
1x5 @ 175

1x5 @ 185

Cardio: 4 min tabata sprints. Have been slacking on my long cardio on off days but will start making sure to do those next week

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/11/07: 30 minute jog

8/13/07: Workout B

Squat:

1x8 @ 45
1x5 @ 95
1x5 @ 135

3x5 @ 155

Standing Military:

1x6 @ 45
1x5 @ 55

1x5 @ 60, 1x5 @ 65, 1x4 @ 65

Got a little overeager with these, my first set with 60 felt good so I decided to up it to 65 for the last 2 sets but couldn't get up the last rep. Gonna go for 3x5 @ 65 on Friday

Pendlay Rows:

Just did a couple of sets with the bar to work on my form a bit. Gonna have to figure something out with these, my body structure/inflexibility make it just so tough to get down to the bar, and I was feeling a bit of pain in my lower back from deadlifts on Friday so I didn't want to mess with adding weight.

Thinking about taking a session with a personal trainer to learn how to do cleans, or maybe substitute bent-over rows. Gonna do a lot of stretching this week and work on form at home to see if it helps.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/14/07: 4 min tabata sprints

8/15/07: 30 min jog

Workout A:

Worked on dropping the amount of warmup I was doing and focused more on the work sets.

Squats:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 95
1x3 @ 135
1x2 @ 155

3x5 @ 160

Bench:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 95

3x5 @ 115

Deadlift:

1x5 @ 115
1x3 @ 135
1x3 @ 155
1x2 @ 185

1x5 @ 195

Going to drop weight and work on form next time, after reading SamG's log I realized that I am having the same problem as him where my hips are rising faster than my shoulders at the start of the lift. No matter how much I focus, with the higher weight I just can't avoid this.

ps - been thinking about pendlay rows so much that I had a dream about beasting them w/ perfect form last night. Waking up sucked [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

There are several different body types/lever lengths in this video. In all you'll see the shoulders and hips rising as one and the bar traveling close to the body. The lifter is just standing up, in a safe way, with the bar:

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/C...dliftIntro.wmv

But don't try to watch yourself do this in the mirror. It is something you need to feel.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Thanks for the vid shemp.

I feel like I know what I need to do and don't have a problem with lighter weights, but I just can't get my body to move as one as I increase the weight and my torso inevitably "falls" forward a bit. Will keep working on it

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Grey haired guy had the best form IMO. I hate the way almost all of them are lowering the bar. Also many are using an overhand grip which sucks.

Pop,

Maybe setting the bar up a little farther forward and pulling back more with help?

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Overhand grip is fine Thremp. Change to an alternate grip when grip strength becomes a limiting factor-- but until that point, best to develop grip strength via an overhand grip.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Yeah moving the bar up a bit might be a good idea.

Just went and checked out my form in front of a mirror, and comparing my deadlift to that video my torso starts out in a more upright position than anyone else is doing. If I start out bent over further that seems like it would help

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah moving the bar up a bit might be a good idea.

Just went and checked out my form in front of a mirror, and comparing my deadlift to that video my torso starts out in a more upright position than anyone else is doing. If I start out bent over further that seems like it would help

[/ QUOTE ]

Should be Knees>Hips>Shoulders. If you are normally sized and built they should be roughly equidistant from one another. If perhaps you have an amazingly strong lower back you can turn it into more of a SLDL, but whatever you do...

Good luck!

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/16/07: 30 min stationary bike

8/17/07: 4 min tabata sprints

Workout B:

Squats:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 95
1x3 @ 135
1x2 @ 155

3x5 @ 165

Very nearly failed the last rep of my last set, and I realized that I have no idea what I'm supposed to do if this were to happen. I have the bars set on the squat rack below me, but the bar is 2-3 inches above them at the bottom of my squat and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to safely get that low. Just try and fall forward I guess?

Standing military:

1x5 @ 45
1x3 @ 55

3x5 @ 65

Pendlay Rows:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 65

3x5 @ 75

Feeling a lot better about these, I think a couple more weeks of stretching/practice and I will be solid

Pullups:

3x3 @ bodyweight

Wow turns out I can actually do a few of these, very pleasant surprise

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Practice dumping with the bar. I think you'll find that that 2 inches isn't really a problem. If it still is a problem, then go with better to fail a backsquat backwards and see how that goes.

Good workout.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

[ QUOTE ]
Practice dumping with the bar. I think you'll find that that 2 inches isn't really a problem. If it still is a problem, then go with better to fail a backsquat backwards and see how that goes.

Good workout.

[/ QUOTE ]

?

Thanks

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

I mean that if you try the experiment as I said I think you'll see there isn't much of a problem with covering the 2-3 inches, but if you still aren't comfortable-- then I'm giving you more direct advice-- fail backwards if you can. There's not a nice way to dump a back squat, that is why it is wise to use the cage or trained spotters every single time.

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

gotcha

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/20/07: 30 min stationary bike

Workout A:

I have started to get some lower back pain, and have previously injured my lower back and am generally pretty injury prone so I'm not going to take any chances. Going to scale back on the weight and really make sure that I am confident in my form every time I increase the weight before continuing. It's easy to let my ego get in the way and keep on adding weight every workout but it's not worth an injury. Anyway:

Squat:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 95
1x3 @ 135

3x5 @ 155

I feel like my weight is coming forward off of my heels as I add weight, gonna drop down to 135 or 145 on Wednesday and focus on keeping my weight back

Bench:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 95
1x3 @ 105

2x5, 1x4 @ 120

Deadlift:

1x5 @ 95
1x5 @ 135
1x5 @ 155

1x5 @ 165

Talked a bit about my form issues on the deadlift earlier, but watching the vid shemp posted has really helped, and I'm feeling good about my form now. Will look to steadily increase the weight on these

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

So my back got worse after Monday's workout, and I decided no more squats/deadlifts/pendlay rows until it was feeling better. I took Wednesday off and thought I might be good to go yesterday(silly me), but that didn't work out. Did some upper-body work and hopefully I'll be able to get back to doing everything on Monday.

8/24/07:

Bench Press:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 95
1x3 @ 115

1x5 @ 125, 2x4 @ 125

Military Press:

1x5 @ 45
1x2 @ 65

2x5 @ 70, 1x4 @ 70

Pullups:

3x3x2 @ bodyweight. Then did 3 negatives

Dips:

Tried a set of these but I'm too weak to do full reps

Tricep pressdowns:

3x10 @ 50

Barbell curls:

3x9 @ 45

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/27/07:

Back feeling better again (pls pls stay this way!!), so back to regular workouts

Workout B:

Squats:

1x5 @ 95
1x5 @ 135

3x5 @ 155

Form is feeling better, but weight is still moving forward a bit on a couple of the reps. I will probably keep the weight here again on Wed. and try and bump it up if everything goes well on Fri

Military Press:

1x5 @ 45
1x3 @ 65

3x5 @ 70

Pendlay Rows:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 65

3x5 @ 85

Pullups:

3x3 @ bodyweight
3 negatives

ROM is getting a bit better on these

Also, for the first time in as long as I can remember I was able to bend over and touch my toes during my stretching today. Not an accomplishment for a normal person, but it's good progress from where I started

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/29/07:

Workout A:

Squats:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 95
1x3 @ 135

3x5 @ 155

Feeling confident in these again, weight goes up on Friday

Bench:

1x7 @ 45
1x5 @ 95
1x3 @ 115

1x5, 2x4 @ 125

Bah, sucks not to have made any progress on these, I think I will be able to do 3x5 on Monday though

Deadlift:

1x5 @ 95
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 155

1x5 @ 175

Tempted to go higher, but I'm going to take it slowly. Most likely will hit 185 on Monday

Also made a decision today that I am officially cutting. I haven't been weighing myself recently, but I think I'm in the 167-170 range (started at 167). Not a lot of weight for my height, but I still am fairly flabby. Reasons for cutting first instead of bulking:

1) over the next 3 months I will be spending 3 weeks between Borgata and Foxwoods, and another 2-3 weeks in India, with no access to a barbell most likely.

2) Keeping my bf% down will be good for my endurance goals as well as easier on my joints

3) Still getting comfortable with my form, I will probably be able to push myself harder in the future and it would seem to be better to bulk then

So, plan is a 3 month cut where I drop ~10 lbs. I'm a little worried about how thin I'm going to look after this, but I'll live with it. Any feedback appreciated

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

8/31/07:

Workout B:

Squat:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 95
1x3 @ 135

3x5 @ 160

Military Press:

1x5 @ 45
1x3 @ 65

1x5, 2x4 @ 75

Pendlay Rows:

1x5 @ 45
1x5 @ 65
1x3 @ 85

3x5 @ 95

Pullups:

3x3x2 @ bodyweight
2 negatives

Didn't do too well on these today, thinking it's probably because I upped the weight on my rows

Decline sit-ups:

3x10 @ bodyweight

Tricep Pressdowns:

3x12 @ 50

Barbell Curls:

3x10 @ 45

Also, cutting sucks, it doesn't seem to hard to get a few hundred calorie deficit over what I was doing before but I'm constantly hungry and it just feels so wrong not to feed my hungry muscles. I'm probably just going to try and stay really active and make sure to eat super-clean so I don't have to cut back on quantity of food

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

Bought and used this blender for the first time today: http://www.everythingkitchens.com/vitamix-vitaprep.html

OH. MY. GOD. I never thought I would say this about a blender, but this thing is so incredible I would describe it as life-changing. If you make a lot of your own shakes and aren't completely happy with your blender I would definitely recommend one

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

holy [censored] dude...thats an expensive blender...

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

[ QUOTE ]
holy [censored] dude...thats an expensive blender...

[/ QUOTE ]

ballin [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Seriously worth it if you can afford it/will use it a lot though

Re: Poppinfresh\'s log
 

WTF 375 FOR A BLENDER?