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10/09 - workout A

Squats 100 x 5,5,5,5,5
barbell rows - 75 x 5,5,5,5,5
bench 85 x 5,5,5,5,5
push ups + 15kg - 20,18,18  - had to leave a rep or two in the tank to make sure i could at least not collapse in a heap on the floor!

Felt like a good session - squats in particular are heading in the right direction and seeming not any harder session to session. Bench was a little tougher than i expected but my excuse is the one straight bar left in the gym was in use so i had to use a bent one and it rolls a little in your grip and doesnt sit comfortably. diet wise was ok - got plenty of aminos but been so busy with things i haven'tbeen eating as much as i intended to. Interestingly the blue raspberry BCAA i've got turns a disgusting glow in the dark green when mixed - maybe i had some leftover fairy liquid in it.......

Nice work Matt, nowt worse than the old butcher hook bar... 

What bcca did you get? They sound (look) intresting

I went with some Dymatize elite recoup - was decent price and i've got some unflavoured plain BCAA so thought i;d create a combo of the two. This way i have the additional extras of vitamin b's and citruline malate/glutamine and some buch better flavouring!

Good sessions there matt.

I remember we discussed this in another thread, but are you supplementing with BCAAs rather than a whey shake at the moment? If so, how much and how often? (I'm still thinking about giving it a try myself!)

Alpha Male wrote:

I remember we discussed this in another thread, but are you supplementing with BCAAs rather than a whey shake at the moment? If so, how much and how often? (I'm still thinking about giving it a try myself!)

Thats the aim but still incorparating the odd protein shake. At the moments i have a protein shake to start with in the morning with breakfast then mind morning is around 10g BCAA, same mid afternoon and same before bed. I'm going to use it in between 3/4 solid meals just to keep things topped up and aid in protein synthesis. On training days i tend to up the dosage and take around 25g BCAA that i have preworkout and during and follow it up with Recover EX which is loaded enough with BCAA that i tend not to add any extra. Diet alongside this with one thing another has been rather poor but weight was steadily increasing even though i was only on maintenance calories and i feel a lot leaner and recovery is definately way up. I'm going to up the calories in the next few weeks and keep the BCAA the same and see how it goes as im already believing them to be a great success. Cost effective option as well although with anywhere from £25-40/kg the prices you can expect. Once i get everything sorted i'll run a better log of it as I think it may well be of a lot of interest to a lot of people.

Cheers, I usually only have a whey shake first thing, then an intra workout including BCAAs plus Afterglow post workout. Was just thinking of trying a BCAA drink first thing instead of the shake.

12/09 - workout B

Squats : 102.5 x 5,5,5,5,5
military: 52.5 x 5,5,5
deadlift: 152.5 x 5
chins: 12,10,8

Knees are getting increasingly sore so have upped the fish oil dosage and even added in some glucosamine gel to see of its benefits. I think its more down to the fact that besides the gym i've been lazy and fairly sedentary the last few days so they have somewhat stiffened up

Great session Matt, the numbers are starting to get big! Hope the knee's ease up!

14/08 - workout A

Squats : 105 x 5,5,5,5,5
bb rows: 77.5 x 5,5,5,5,5
bench press: 87.5 x 5,5,5,5,5
press ups + 15kg x 20,20,20

Wasnt a bad session though im really struggling with the bench press which is pissing me off no end. Had another busy few days so diet been non existent and to top off it off a walked into my bed and smashed my knee whcih hasnt helped the soreness one bit! Hopefully be back on it today tho i didnt actually sleep at all last night so may well skip the session today

20/08 - workout B ish

squats: 107.5 x 5,5,5,5,5
DB seated shoulder press: 40lb x 12, 50lb x 10, 60lb x 10, 70lb x 6 - made a right hash of getting these in position
chins: 12,10,10

was a bit of a different session today- was feeling exhausted and wholebody aching so decided to skip on the deadlifts this session and depending on how i feel friday will add them in then. Squats were agony - knees creaking and just a tough effort, i think im getting a bit rundown with slight man flu and general tiredness/poor diet the past week or so. Decided for a slight chnage to do DB shoulder press today and it felt fantastic - pleased to get 10 with the 60's and could possibly got to 8 with the 70's but i used so much damn effort swinging and hoiking them up i didnt have a lot left in the tank by the time i started!

matt87 wrote:

20/08 - workout B ish

squats: 107.5 x 5,5,5,5,5
DB seated shoulder press: 40lb x 12, 50lb x 10, 60lb x 10, 70lb x 6 - made a right hash of getting these in position
chins: 12,10,10

was a bit of a different session today- was feeling exhausted and wholebody aching so decided to skip on the deadlifts this session and depending on how i feel friday will add them in then. Squats were agony - knees creaking and just a tough effort, i think im getting a bit rundown with slight man flu and general tiredness/poor diet the past week or so. Decided for a slight chnage to do DB shoulder press today and it felt fantastic - pleased to get 10 with the 60's and could possibly got to 8 with the 70's but i used so much damn effort swinging and hoiking them up i didnt have a lot left in the tank by the time i started!

yeah when i was doing 5x5 for four months must admit it takes it out of your body if you max out every session.......... recovery is key in 5x5 matt, take extra BCAA'S maybe help mate

THE ANIMAL wrote:

yeah when i was doing 5x5 for four months must admit it takes it out of your body if you max out every session.......... recovery is key in 5x5 matt, take extra BCAA'S maybe help mate

Cheers Animal - i have started somewhat megadosing BCAA nowadays and have noticed some improvements. Think im gonna be running it for probably 12weeks - at that point i think i'll be stalling a fair bit and sick to death of squatting!

22/08 - workout A ish

Didnt do squats as my knees were killing me so thought i'd rest them up and most likely cut back and squat twice a week now on mondays and fridays.

Deadlift: 157.5 x 5
DB incline bench: 50lb x 12, 60lb x 12, 70lb x 10, 80lb x10, 90lb x 6
barbell rows: 80kg x 5,5,5,5,5
press ups + 15kg - 20,20,20

Bench press was in use so decided to switch it up and do some incline pressing, dont have the angle too high at around 20 degrees and felt good. Had some trouble getting 90lbers in position as the grip on them is twice the thickness of the rest of them and struggle to grip them in my little girl hands.

Gonna have a slight rethink on the exercise routine now and cut back to squatting twice per week so suggestions welcome!

Nice numbers Matt!

26/09 - having a bit of a chuck whatever exercises and weights i feel like week till i come up with my new routine with less squatting in.

Deadlift - 60x10, 100 x 5, 140 x 3, 160 x 1, 170 x 1, 175 x 1, 180 x 1, 190 x 1
DB shoulder press: 40lb x 12, 50lb x 12, 60lb x 10,10,12

Didnt really do a lot else as deadlift took up most of my time but very happy with the session. First time in ages i had gone all out on deads and increased my pb by 5kg so reckon that 200 is within my reach by the end of the year. Shoulder press felt good as well, so much more comfortable that barbell military press and got a fair few decent sets and reps outta it

28/09

Again this was still part of a semi PB week to see where i am and to calculate working maxes for a new programme based around wendler 5/3/1 progression.

Squats : various warms ups: 120 x 2, 125 x 1, 130 x 1, 135 x 1, 140 x 1 - really happy with these were getting better as i got heavier and hitting good depth on these as well. New PB and potenially had more but didnt wanna puch my luck!
Incline DB bench : 60 x 12, 70 x 12 , 80x 10,10,10
DB rows : 80 x 15,15,15

Will post up my new programme shortly to be critiqued but its a mixture of strength/hypertrophy and hopefull will ease off on the knees somewhat

Looking good Matt, very strong!!!

Cheers Marty - this is usually the bes ttime of the year for training for me and feeling fit and healthy at the moment so really starting to enjoy it and the weights are responding!!

Have decided on my new routine and was one i was looking at a while ago which is a mixture of Wendler 5/3/1 and some more hypertrophhy built in. Its essentilly very similar to Adams current routine and based upon his success its confirmed i'm on it!! The 5x5 was proving too much for my knees but going to still squat twice a week on monday and friday as progress was great and this should ensure gain continue and provide sufficient rest as well. So heres the new programme:

Monday
Bench 5/3/1 using 100kg as starting max as still struggling with shoulder and want to take it slow
Squats 3 x 8-12
Cable rows : 3 x 8-12
Chins : 3sets
press ups: 3sets

Wednesday
Deadlift 5/3/1 using 190kg as my max
military press/DB press: 3 x 6-10
DB rows: 3 x 8-12
side raises: 3 x12-15

Friday
Squats 5/3/1 using 140kg as my max
incline DB bench: 3 6-12
barbell rows: 3 x 8-12
chins: 3sets

Will be taking 90% of my current max and using those figures to work from. Fourth week will be a deload for the starting lifts each day. For those who dont know it the 5/3/1 programme works on percentages so wk1 you do 75% x 5 , 80%x5 and then last set you do 85% for 5+reps and do as many as possible, percentages increase acorss wk 2 and 3 as the rep targets get lower. Every 4weeks you add around 5kg and start again.

Diet wise will be carrying on what im doing, high amounts of BCAA in between meals and prebed and around workouts with 4meals spaced out throughout the day. This has been wokroing great in conjunction with previous programme as weight is up around 5/6lbs toabout 162lbs.

Monday 01/10

Bench:
60 x 5
67.5 x 5
77.5 x 13

Squat:
70 x 12
80 x 12
85 x 12

Cable rows:
dunno weights but 3sets x 12,12,10

Chins + 5kg: 3 x 8

Press ups + 15kg: 15,15,15

Tough first session - havent gone much above 5reps for squats in probably 3months so felt exhausting on those and didnt really know what weight to use but felt comfortably at 85 so probably do all three sets starting at that weight next week. Bench felt very comfortable and shoulder handled it ok.

Wednesday 03/10

Deadlift:
110 x 5
135 x 5
145 x 12

DB shoulder press:
50lb x 12
60lb x 12,12
70lb x 8

Barbell row:
60 x 12,12,12

lateral raises 3 x 12

Third set of the compound is proving to be a tough effort going for some max reps, was a real test for the grip