A beginner's training log

_tim said:
I completely agree that you don't want to do anything that might end up with you being hurt. At the same time, I want to be sure that you haven't overreached too early. One of the hallmarks of HST is load progression; what you ultimately want to do through a cycle is end up at your maxes for a given rep range and then push through them in a periodized fashion. Meaning - if your 5-rep squat max is 185, I'd think that you start your 5's at 165, progress to 175 the next week, then to 185, and if you have more room to go, 195. From there, you have a couple options - drop to another rep range and keep progressing (I did 2's next), or switch to negatives. I totally understand that you want to make the most of your time before your vacation, but at the same time I want to be sure that you understand how to structure your cycle. If you stagnate at a particular load for too long, your body will adapt to it. TRUST ME, that's not what you want to do. Again, I'm not advocating you do anything that would have you improperly overreach, but at the same time I don't want to see you make a mistake in your training early on that will adversely impact your results.
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Tim,
Once again thank you for your advice. I did start my five progression at 160, since I was not planning on doing negatives i was just trying to strech the 5's as long as possible. I feel really good after yerstodays workout and I will add another weight increment to the 5's for the next workout. I am going to follow your advice and then drop to a lower rep range and keep adding weight. Am thinking of 5 set of 3's ?.
I will start adding more calories to my diet as I would like to ramp up the calories before I go on maintanace calories on the April 12th. This should help keeping the weight progression going.
 
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Ha! If you read my log, I think you'll find my affinity for triples. :) I'd stay with the same number of sets that you're using currently; if you do your loading correctly, you won't need any additional sets. It varies by muscle group, but I think you'd be pretty safe by adding 10% (always round decimals up) to your 5-rep maxes for your starting 3-rep loads. The increase in calories is essential - try to add another small meal into the mix, and then just space out your meals evenly through the day.
 
I decided to start 3's today. I started adding more carbs to my diet by adding some more legumes to meals and more banana on workout days. I am eating 5-6 meals a day. I have to travel for work so while I am not traveling keeping track of nutrients is easy, traveling it gets harder, but I am getting better at tracking what I eat.

10 workouts left before vacation.

March 26:
10 mins of cardio
Squat 3 sets of 3's 195 lbs
Incline Bench 3 sets of 3's 145 lbs
Dumbell bent over rows 3 sets of 3's 60 lbs
calf raises 3 sets of 3's 225
 
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Forgot to post Monday.

I did not track food during the weekend and I think i under ate. After being in a calorie restriction for so long my body gotten used to it. Tracking food again and working on ramping up to maintenance cal

9 workouts left before vacation.

March 29:
10 mins of cardio
Squat 3 sets of 3's 205 lbs
Incline Bench 3 sets of 3's 155 lbs ( I was not able to complete the second set. I was able to complete the 3 set)
Chins 3 sets of 3's bw ( with better form, lifting legs and starting hanging from the bar, seems to make a huge difference since I can hardly finish 3)
Crunches 2 sets of 10's 80 lbs (I just keep adding weight)
 
March 31:
10 mins of cardio

Squat 3 sets of 3's.. 215 lbs

Incline Bench 3 sets of 3's 155 lbs I was not able to lift 155 and stopped after 1 lift. tried 150 able to finish 2 I consider going to a lighter weight but after failure twice I decided to give it a break. The weird part is that I used 135 for the last warm up set and it felt light. I will try again Friday at 150

Dumbell bent over rows 3 sets of 3's 65 lbs
Crunches 2 sets of 10's 80 lbs
 
Incline Bench is a strange animal. It's not at all surprising that 135 was light and 155 was barely manageable. Try progressing in 5-pound intervals sol - that may really help in terms of staying within your limits. As you develop your shoulders, your inclines will improve drastically.

Nice lifting of late!
 
Tim,

I am really glad I followed your advice and kept progressing with 3's, they feel like they are really helping me develop my strength.
 
OK, haven't posted for a while. Started a new position and have been back on the road.

I started getting soreness in my hips, so I reduced the frequency to having 48 hours off after a workout. The reduced frequency seems to have done the job and my hip soreness has gone away. I think part of the reason for the sourness was, as the weight got heavier without noticing I started “snapping" the last part of the squat as I was standing up. I am now making sure to make the whole moment is smooth and without jerks and the soreness has improved.

I have 3 maybe 4 workouts before I go on SD. Should I test my maxes for 15's 10's 5's since my strength has changed since I started, or should I use the last few workout to keep working on strength and estimate the maxes?



April 11:

10 mins of cardio
Squat 3 sets of 3's 235 lbs
Incline Bench 3 sets of 3's 150 lbs
Dumbell bent over rows 3 sets of 3's 70 lbs
 
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April 14:

10 mins of cardio
Squat 3 sets of 3's 240 lbs
Incline Bench 3 sets of 3's 155 lbs
chins up 3 sets of 3's BW
 
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