Nightbird's Log

[nightbird]

Since I recently got tired of posting logs on meathead forums (too much dick waving & man card bravado), I figured I'd see if I have the nerve to post here consistently. I'm in my late twenties (will post once the big 3-0 comes rolling along) working on my MA thesis in English literature, with plans to go into primary school teaching eventually (which I've done in the past and it went well). I used to be incredibly skinny (like, 60kg/125lbs at 1,80/5'11) until I found strength training three and a half years ago while being stranded and recently made single in London. Since then, I've worked my way up to 75kg/165 and somewhat acceptable numbers in the weight room. Other sports interests include parkour (2010-2012 mostly), jiu jitsu (2011-2013) and muay thai (on and off); I also play in two bands (apparently I'm a good guitar player). Right now, I'm in the process of moving to a new flat and finding it hard to get enough time & sleep, so all martial arts training is on ice.

I'm currently running a program called Madcow intermediate 5x5. It has you in the weight room 3x/week, squatting each day (heavy/light heavy) and then do bench presses and rows on Monday and Friday and overhead presses and deadlifts on Wednesday. I also throw in a bit of fluff at the end the session for 5-10 minutes, you'll see. Anyone who's interested may want to check out this link: http://www.jcdfitness.com/2010/02/bill- ... -training/

Anyway, here we go.

[nightbird]

MON 7-7-14, 2:20pm

Entered the Gym feeling hopeful and anxious as I'm in week five of the current cycle. This means that I will start to attempt weights that are heavier than I'm used to (the first four weeks have you move up to your maxes so they're more of a break in period.

hang snatches: 35kx3x3
I recently started doing these because I love the way olympic lifts look and I want to learn them. They're also a good warm up.

back squats: 5x60, 70, 80, 90, 4x97.5, 1x 97.5

Aww crap. I thought I had it in me to get the last rep but then I couldn't get out of the bottom... No worries, I didn't get hurt (thank you for being there, power rack). Waited for one minute and then redid the last rep.

bench press: 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 3x72.5, 2 forced reps added

I had a spotter who is a big believer in HIT training so I got the first three on my own and then did two ugly, slow reps with him pulling the bar up. Not recommended. The last one took AGES.

pendlay row: 5x40, 47.5, 52.5, 60, 67.5

Well, at least one lift that I managed to finish.

back extensions with 27k: 3x12
stall bar leg raises: 3x12

In and out in about 70 minutes including the warm up.

[nightbird]

WED 9-7-14, 1:15pm

IT'S SO HOT!!!

hang snatch: 35x3x3

back squat: 5x60, 70, 80, 80

This is the light day, so no surprises.

overhead press: 5x20, 40, 45, 50, 3x53.5, 1x

Meh. Maybe next week.

deadlift: 5x 60 (snatch grip), 95 (regular), 107.5 (mixed grip), 120 (get the chalk), 130!!!

WOOOH! This is an all-time PB for me - I've done 130x3 in the past, but this... And it wasn't a good day! I'm looking forward to next Wednesday.

chin ups: 10, 10, 10, 6, 5 - one minute rest periods. The goal is to eventually get 5x10 this way.

[philsov]

nothing to comment on directly, but digging the form in your avatar.

keep it up!

[DenisL704]

I second the good form on the back squat. Don't worry about the weight being low, most guys squatting 300+ don't even go halfway down.

[nightbird]

I second the good form on the back squat. Don't worry about the weight being low, most guys squatting 300+ don't even go halfway down.

Cheers. I'm listing weight in kg, btw, so my max squat should be in the 250 range...

[nightbird]

FRI 11-7-14, 12:45pm

Went to a warehouse gym for strongmen since the uni gym was closed. This turned out to be a good decision since the room is much colder and the atmosphere more intense

snatch: 35x3x3 (on a platform; I love having a lifting platform)

back squat: 5x60, 70, 80, 90, 3x100, 8x80

first time I squatted two plates in 17 months and it felt very solid... yay. (Though the third rep was a tad too high for my taste)

bench press: 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 3x73.5, 8x60

This was surprisingly easy. I think sleeping well the night before made a big difference here.

Pendlay row: 5x40, 47.5, 55, 60, 3x68.5, 8x55

The triple wasn't fast enough, but I'll take it.

Dips: 6x6 with 15 seconds in between.

EZ curls, 22.5: 6x6 with 25 seconds in between.

(These two are done with Gironda's 6x6 system - a great way to get a lot of volume in while sparing the joints)

[nightbird]

SAT 12-7-14

Conditioning

rope skipping intervals:

5 minutes continuous skipping - rest 60 seconds
5 x 60 seconds (sprint in place) - rest 30 seconds between intervals
5 x 30 seconds (sprint in place) - rest 15 seconds between intervals

Credit goes to Ross Enamait.

[nightbird]

MON 14-7-14, 6:00pm

Awful, awful day. Spent the last 24 hours packing boxes & bags, getting in a fight with my soon-to-be ex-flatmate and not sleeping enough... I was actually thinking of skipping the gym, but went anyway.

short warmup

no time = no snatches

squat: 5x40, 60, 70, 80, 90, 97.5
Yay.

bench press: 5x20, 45, 55, 60, 65, 3x72.5
Damn. I thought I'd get it after friday but I didn't quite believe it, so I lost all tension after the third rep and needed the spotter to get it up a fourth time. Bad, bad.

Pendlay rows: 5x42.5, 50, 55, 62.5, 68.5
Good. Maybe too much momentum, but I'll take it for now.

Considering the state I was in, this was a decent session.

[nightbird]

WED 16-7-14, 15:30

I spent the majority of the last few days packing boxes, carrying boxes and painting walls; I haven't felt this awful in a long time. And I'm pretty frustrated about a certain disagreement with a certain ex-flatmate...

So I went to the gym and did what I could.

snatch - 3x40kg
Awful, awful. Zero explosiveness in me that day.

squat - 5x40, 60, 70, 80, 80

overhead press - 5x20, 40, 45, 50, 53.5!!!
Well, a minor PB. The last rep was a true grinder. Anger is great fuel.

deadlift - 5x60, 100, 112.5
I know I just said something about anger etc etc, but I didn't feel like pushing for a deadlift PB when I feel dead. Maybe next week.

chin ups - 10, 10, 8, 5

Better than nothing.

[nightbird]

FRI 18-7-14, 12:45pm

Feeling much better due to sleeping longer and deeper

snatch: 40x2x3

back squat: 5x60, 70, 80, 90, 2x100, 1x100, 8x80

Gah. I lost my balance on the last rep of the triple... You know what, I'll call this an unlucky rep and move on with the progression.

bench press: 5x20, 45, 52.5, 60, 65, 3x73.5, 8x60

Again, very doable... Doing it for five on Monday might turn tricky.

Pendlay row: 5x40, 47.5, 55, 62.5, 3x70, 8x55

Good.

Dips: 6x6 with 10 seconds in between - got five on the fifth and four on the last set, so I'll stay with it.

EZ curls, 22.5: 6x6 with 20 seconds in between - again, failed the last few reps of the last two sets, so I'll stay at the 20 second mark.

I need to eat more.

[nightbird]

SAT 19-7-14, 11:00am

Conditioning: rope intervals

The rest of the weekend was surprisingly active, including an involuntary 20k bike trip (which gave me a massive sunburn), lots of rowing, a 1000m uninterrupted swim... All of these made me question why I did a conditioning session to begin with

[nightbird]

Back picture... Marvel at the outline of a tanktop.

[nightbird]

MON 21-7-14, 5:40pm

Snatch - 40 kgx2x3

Squat - 5x 65, 72.5, 82.5, 92.5, 2x100

Ach, crivens.

Bench - 5x 20, 45, 52.5, 60, 3x67.5

No comment.

Rows - 5x45, 50, 57.5, 65, 4x70

Screw this. What an awful session.

[Nath]

Rule of Five

[nightbird]

Rule of Five

Hah, thanks The longest set i've ever squatted was 70kgx30 I think. I also recently did 85x15...

[Nath]

I was more referring to the bit about not sweating the occasional shitty workout, but the high rep stuff is interesting too. I did 100x12 a few weeks ago and wanted to collapse.

[nightbird]

I was more referring to the bit about not sweating the occasional shitty workout

Funnily, Dan John was on my mind when I was done. I've found in the past that he's pretty much on point with this rule... I also like his sense of humour:

"Five minutes of looking for training journal

Sat in chair six or seven minutes reading Seventeen magazine

Tried the exercise the girl did on the beach with her tote bag

Rubbed injured back for six minutes from exercise with tote bag

Eight minutes of watching the hot girl on the treadmill watching Oprah

Did one pull-up and played with a plastic dumbbell

Hot tub and sauna

(Actually, I've had worse workouts.)"

It wasn't really about me missing the weights though, I just FELT awful after I was done. Alas, it all passes.

[nightbird]

Thu 24-7-14

The whole flat situation is turning into a maelstrom of grotesque hilarity, so I felt too run down to train on Wednesday and had to sleep another night before I hit the weights. I also dropped the snatches for now.

Squat - 5x40, 65, 72.5, 82.5, 82.5

Press - 5x20, 40, 45, 50, 3x55, 1x55

That was to be expected, I guess.

Deadlift - 5x60, 100, 110, 120, 4x133.5, 1x133.5

I shouldn't have done the last single - it looked really, really ugly. But I'll be ok I guess.

After that, I played around with a closer grip on the bench and quickly worked up to 1x65. Just fooling around, really.

No chin ups.

[nightbird]

Due to stress and feeling beat down, I'll be in full maintenance/deload mode for the next two weeks.

MON 28-7-14, 3:20pm

pause squat - 5x40, 65, 65, 65

These were PAUSED. As in 'go down into a full squat, wiggle around to stretch, breathe out, breathe in, tense, go up'. Very easy on the joints and CNS, I hope.

medium grip paused bench - 5x30, 50, 50, 50

Row - 5x50, 50, 50

Then I felt like playing...

power clean - 5x50, 2x55, 4x60

A minor PB since I haven't done them in ages.

[nightbird]

WED 30-7-14, 1:30pm

pause squat - 5x40, 65, 65, 65

overhead press - 5x20, 35, 35 ,35

deadlift - 5x60, 90, 90, 90

(i kept the rest periods to a minute)

Then, play time...

Bulgarian split squats - bodyweight x50/leg

incline curls - 7.5x15, 10, 10x6

Is this what 'working out' with no specific goals looks like? It's relaxing.

[nightbird]

THU 31-7-14, 6:15 pm

Conditioning

8 hill sprints, each of them followed by ten press ups. So app. 400m total sprints + 80 press ups.

[nightbird]

FRI 1-8-14

box squat - 5x20, 40, 65, 65, 65

medium grip bench - 5x30, 50, 50, 50

row - 5x50, 50, 50

PLAYTIME!

dips - 25, 15, 9

alternated with

chins - 15, 9, 7

1 minute rest period for everything I did today.
Next week will be a proper deload so it will be even more boring... Sorry.

[nightbird]

MON 4-8-14, 9:00pm

squats - 5x20, 40, 65, 65

bench - 5x20, 30, 50, 50

rows - 5x50, 50, 50

Stretching. Done.

[nightbird]

WED 6-8-14, 3:10pm

Squat -20x20, 5x40, 65, 65

OHP - 5x20, 30, 35, 35

Deadlift - 5x60, 90

12 chin ups.

I'll be away from Friday til Monday, so no updates for the rest of the week. I might do a few hill sprints etc. while I'm gone but not much else.

The current plan is to do another 8-week cycle of Madcow's 5x5 along with this http://www.t-nation.com/workouts/chin-up-project

After that (so in October) I'll go back to 5/3/1.

[nightbird]

OK, one last entry...

THU 7-8-14, 1:00pm

conditioning

kettlebell swings (24k) 5x10 alternated with
press ups 5x10

no rest. Three minutes total.

[nightbird]

TUE 12-8-14, 1:25pm

NEW GYM!

Since my old membership expired I was free to go elsewhere. I'm now a permanent member of the strongman gym I've mentioned before. This is awesome (albeit more expensive).

Squat - 5x20, 40, 55, 65, 75, 82.5, 90

I've started squatting to a low box that stops me a tad below parallel. This isn't really a proper box squat - more like a depth gauge where I lightly touch it and go up again.

Bench - 5x20, 40, 47.5, 52.5, 60, 65

I had to wait for a few minutes because a wiry Asian was using the bench - and ended his bench session with an 8x80 set. I SO need to improve.

Row - 5x40, 47.5, 52.5, 60, 65

Dips -BW+20x5, 5, 5
Sit ups - 20, 20

3m rope climb (for fun)

I also did a few easy sets of ten chin ups throughout the workout, which is for the project I linked to.

[nightbird]

picture

[BattleMoose]

I particularly like those barbells dedicated for deadlifts. And the bent bar for deadlifts too, haven't seen that before, wicked idea.

This is a good gym.

[nightbird]

The three bars in the left part of the picture are two fat bars and one safety squat bar; I haven't tried any of them yet. The fat bars are most useful for pressing, though I know some people who like to deadlift with them as a grip challenge.

[nightbird]

WED 13-8-14, 7:25pm

yes, two days in a row... I didn't want to shuffle the schedule too much, so it'll be Wednesday and Friday.

squats - 5x20, 40, 55, 65, 75, 75

Without a box. Since these are light, I'll use them to get a feel for depth.

overhead press - 10x20, 5x35, 40, 45, 47.5

deadlifts - 5x60, 90, 100, 110, 122.5

I could feel my quads giving up so these became more stiff-legged than I wanted to.

trap bar deadlifts - 5x75

just wanted to try them.

EZ curls - 27 for 3x12

back extension - 2x20

[nightbird]

FRI 15-8-14, 6:40pm

Squat - 5x20, 40, 55, 65, 75, 82.5, 3x92.5, 8x75

Bench - 5x20, 40, 47.5, 52.5, 60, 3x67.5, 8x52.5

Row - 5x20, 40, 47.5, 52.5, 60, 3x67.5, 8x52.5

skull crushers - 17.5x20, 15, 20

I'll replace these with something else next week.

sit ups - 2x20

[nightbird]

SAT 16-8-14, 12:20pm

48 chin ups in five minutes
total chin ups for the week: 248

Muay Thai later. God, I'm so bad at it right now...

[nightbird]

MON 18-8-14, 8:00pm

Squat - 5x20, 40, 60, 67.5, 77.5, 85, 92.5

Bench - 5x20, 42.5, 47.5, 55, 60, 67.5

Row - 5x42.5, 47.5, 55, 60, 67.5

Dips - BW+20x7, 8, 7

Sit ups - 3x20

[nightbird]

19-8-14, 7:30pm

Muay Thai

rope skipping
low kicks + teep kick defense
pad work
conditioning
stretching

[nightbird]

20-8-14, 5:30pm

Squats - 5x20, 40, 60, 67.5, 77.5, 77.5

Press - 5x20, 37.5, 40, 45, 50

Deadlifts - 5x60, 90, 100, 112.5, 125

Curls - 32x9, 8, 7
Back extensions - 3x20

Farmers walk - 75x2x50m
These should be renamed callous removers.

I also did 70 pull ups over the course of the day.

[nightbird]

FRI 22-8-14, 8:00pm

squats - 5x20, 40, 60, 67.5, 77.5, 85, 3x95, 8x77.5
bench - 5x20, 42.5, 47.5, 55, 60, 3x68.5, 8x55
row - 5x42.5, 47.5, 55, 60, 3x68.5, 8x55

triceps pushdown - 32x30, 40x20, 44x15
situps - 3x20

While this band was on rotation on the PA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhhJygcta1M

[nightbird]

SAT 23-8-14, 12:50pm

48 chin ups in five minutes (bah. The timer went off just as I was grabbing the bar for number 49)
total chin ups for the week: 298

Muay Thai

warmup run
rope skipping
combinations
pad work
light sparring
stretching.

[nightbird]

MON 25-8-14

squats - 5x20, 40, 60, 70, 77.5, 85, 95
bench - 5x20, 42.5, 50, 55, 62.5, 68.5
row - 5x42.5, 50, 55, 62.5, 68.5

dips - +20x7, 7, 7
hanging knee raises - 3x20

[nightbird]

TUE 26-8-14, 7:30pm

Muay Thai

skipping
combinations
pad work (flying knee to the head, among others)
drilling
stretching

This was a very focused, but untaxing session.