Trying Harder in College

[zhangmaster12]

I am starting to lift again. Before last week, I havent lifted since March 2010. There are many reasons for my hiatus, none of them good. Now in college, I live 2 min away from the gym and have a lot of free time, so theres no excuse for not lifting.

During my break, I got really weak....

Im doing the Bill Starr 5x5 found in the FAQ. I've decided to do it, and Im gonna stick with it for the prescribed 10 weeks. After that, I might continue or go onto W4SB.

As to B. S. 5x5, even though it says not to, im gonna add some direct core training and curls and triceps and GHR's

Diet:
Still figuring it out.
As it stands now:
I only have enough credits for 2 meals per day on the weekdays and 1 per day on the weekends. This is basically what I've been eating. A HUGE breakfast consisting of a full plate of eggs, 2 fruits, 1 hashbrown, 1 cup milk, 1 bowl grits, corned beef hash or sausage. And a HUGE dinner consisting of red meat, pasta, and lots o veggies.

However, Im going to change my diet starting tomorrow (just made a walmart run). I bought a ton of tuna and frozen veggies, so i plan to eat 4 meals per day.



weight*Reps*sets

So far:
Week 1 Workout 1 (last tuesday)
Bench: 115*5 120*5 125*5 125*5 125*5
Squat: 195*5 195*5 195*4 195*3 195*3 (couldnt get the reps GRRR)
BORs: 135*5*5
Weighted situps w/ weight on head: 10*10 15*10 15*5 15*7 15*8
Curls: 60*5*5

Week 1 Workout 2 (Last thursday)
DLs: 255*5 255*5 255*5 255*5 255*4 (Except for the last set, felt pretty solid)
OHP: 95*5*5
Pullups: 25*5*5
Squat: 135*3*5

Notes on squat: FUCK! these are fucking hard after deadlifts! Goddamn!

Week1 Workout 3 (supposed to be last sat)
Really fucking sore, felt lazy, Illini hockey had a game, so i went to the game and the after party....

Week 2 Workout 1 ** Lifting on zero sleep, pulled all nighter to estudiar
Bench: 115*5 115*5125*4 120*5 120*5
Notes on bench: didn't feel, tight, everything felt heavy
Squat: 185*5 195*5*3 195*4 Felt overall kinda shitty
BORs: 145*5*5
GHR: bw*12*3

Week 2 Workout 2 (Today)
DL: 261*5 261*3 **realized my form was god awful after video taping** 225*5*3
OHP: 95*5*4
Squat: 135*5 135*3 155*3 155*3 165*3
I still can't squat well after deadlifts. My lower back just cant handle it.
GHR bw*12*3

Running out of time (got class afterward)
Pullups: 3 bw sets to failure

This workout was so-so. I was disappointed with my deadlifts immensely. Adjusting to the volume is a biatch.

Video of my second set of DL's


Now help me with my deadlift!
My problems that i can see:
- Rounded back
- Stiff Leg dling the weight
- I have trouble breaking the weight off the floor. I have always had this problem. I get the feeling its a technique/form problem

How i plan to go about solving this problem:
1) Lower weight, focus on getting perfect form.
2) Make Videos
3) Weighted hypers (yes or no?)
4) Keep deadlifting



Edit:
Forgot to add goals (LifeTime):
Total Elite in either 165 or 181 weight class for 100% raw. Hey AIM FOR THE STARS!
165: 1300lb
Squat: 475
Deadlift:550
Bench:275

181: 1400lbs
Squat: 490
Deadlift: 585
Bench: 325

(dont mind changing the numbers around)

thanks sherdog, Im out!

 

[Tosa]

You're trying to start with your hips too low, which makes you weaker off the ground. This means your hips are rising first, until they reach the point where the leverages are better and you can break the bar off the ground. This results in you back/core losing tightness, and ther's a good chance this is why your back is rounding.

Trying starting with your hips higher. Get your core, lower back and upper back as tight as possible, While staying tight, drive with the legs, and slowly pull the bar off the ground. (Slowly, since it gets you in the habit of developing tension on the bar first, and then pulling the bar off the ground, instead of jerking the weight.) Then pull as hard as you can.

 

[Wandalizer***]

Basically, what the guy above said is all great stuff, but as for really getting help on this sort of stuff I would join a lifting forum.there are far more knowledgeable people.but I think you're going to need to eat more food and eat more often.diet is the biggest part of gaining muscle and strength.

 

[zhangmaster12]

Thanks Tosa! That totally makes sense now.

Wandalizer: Um, this is Sherdog SnP. We've got a lot of great lifters here!

Yup, Im workin on diet now. Just made a trip to wallmart. Tuna and frozen veggies galore! (I cant really afford anything else right now, poor college frosh! lol)

Oh and Fedorable posted in my mistake thread:

i'd say try harder if you can.

the first thing you do is get a few girls preferably in two different living areas, maybe one in the frosh dorms, one over in the apartments, and then one who commutes. I know you are there to "learn" but it is harder to learn if you aren't happy. Without getting laid you will just end up roaming around campus with a sad face on.

The second thing is to go to gym right after dinner. No excuses and you if you don't go home first, you won't get sucked into goldeneye64.

the third thing to do is scout out the easy teachers for each subject. you want good grades and you should tryharder for them, but you don't want to work too hard for a teacher that is a hard/dumb-ass.

You should also try harder at getting enough sleep. make sure your room is dark and maybe you can take some magnesium before hand (I don't use it because it makes me see ghosts).

Lol@ Fedorable's approach to "learning." All my teachers at the moment are lectures halls. I expecting hard-ass classes, planning to double major chem and kinesiology.

 

[squatsquatsquat]

Good work. What Tosa said about the deadlift is true. It is good that you are trying to eat more. I can't be certain but my guess is that some of your problems (like not being able to squat after your deadlifts) would disappear if you ate more. I say this because you look pretty trim in your video and because I recall when I started lifting I had no idea how much I needed to eat in order to progress properly.

Good luck!

 

[zhangmaster12]

Im thin genetically. But i can eat a lot. right now my 2 meals are prob 4k calories. Dinner usually consists of some kind of steak and its all you can eat.

I want to eat more frequently though. So today I ate tuna+frozen veggies at 11:20 and 3:00. Which makes it 4 meals today.

Anybody know any good sleep sups? My sleep cycles are really fucked up due to studying / partying and i really just want something to put me out when i know i need to sleep but cant.

Squats, bench, BORs, Curls, Dips, GHR tomorrow.
I might do some lighter deadlifts to work on form as well. Ill video tape those.

 

[squatsquatsquat]

Im thin genetically. But i can eat a lot. right now my 2 meals are prob 4k calories. Dinner usually consists of some kind of steak and its all you can eat.

I want to eat more frequently though. So today I ate tuna+frozen veggies at 11:20 and 3:00. Which makes it 4 meals today.

Anybody know any good sleep sups? My sleep cycles are really fucked up due to studying / partying and i really just want something to put me out when i know i need to sleep but cant.

Squats, bench, BORs, Curls, Dips, GHR tomorrow.
I might do some lighter deadlifts to work on form as well. Ill video tape those.

ALL YOU CAN EAT STEAK??? That's AWESOME!!

ZMA is good for increasing quality of sleep but I find it doesn't exactly "put me out." The effects vary from person to person. It's definitely worth a shot. Melatonin is apparently supposed to be good for putting you out and not be too bad for you. I don't use it though and have heard that it is not recommended for extended periods of time. All other sleep supps I've heard of have a bad rap.

 

[zhangmaster12]

Sweet, ill check out zma.

Yea, usually theres flank steak or chicken breast or lamb. All you can eat. Here at uiuc we got a brand new dining hall and its really great. Usually we have two all-you-can eat meats that arent fried.

The only thing thats lacking is vegetable selection. Your basically shit out of luck unless you want salad. But thats why i got frozen veggies.

 

[Corrosion]

Hope this log lasts.

Good luck balancing lifting with college. I'm in the same boat, it gets rough sometimes.

 

[elevate]

good to see you lifting again.

 

[zhangmaster12]

Been sick.
Sick as fuck on friday and sat, so no lifting.
Better today, still have hacking cough.

BUT, I had a very good workout
Warmup: work up to a 155 clean.

weight*reps

Bench: 115*5 120*5 125*5 130*4 130*4.5 (momo spotter decided to "help" me when i stalled -_-)

Squat: 185*5 195*5 205*5 205*5 195*5
Squats felt great, all reps solid. Second set of 205 had me almost cough a lung up.

BORs: 145*5*5
DB Bench: 40's*5 40's*8 45's*8 50*2
The last set of 50*, my pecs were already tired as hell. But hey, I was really just doing these for fun.

DB Curls: 27.5's 5 30's*7 30's*7 30*5

Decline Situps w/ weight on head: 20*10 20*10 20*7

GHR: BW - 5 sets of 10 reps.

Good Mornings (light): 95*5 105*5 115*5

Felt great, been eating well 2, 4 meals a day. I just steal food from the dining halls.

One thing I did notice, my conditioning SUCKS! After squats I was gassed, like really tired. I recovered a bit after BORs cause the hard stuff was over, but still, I feel like I should have better GPP.

Any suggestions for GPP work? I've never really worked on GPP/conditioning, so any suggestions would help. Im thinking maybe adding some sprints, jump-rope, maybe some circuit training. I dont have access to a sled/prowler unfortunately.

Also, anyone else from U of I?


Time to sleep, NyQuil is the greatest thing EVER!

 

[Tosa]

Also, anyone else from U of I?

I'm not, but a train at the U of A. You should switch, then you could use a prowler.

There's some suggestions here for what you can do for GPP here:
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/42802267-post4.html

Personally, with the routine I'm doing right now, my workouts already on the long side, so I've be either cycling or swimming at other times to get in some conditioning. Swimming is also good for recovery. It works well for me, and doesn't get in the way of lifting.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

I know nothing about GPP.

 

[zhangmaster12]

Played some b-ball for about an hour, did some really light benches (3x3x95) and front squats (3x3x95) to get the blood flowing and stretch out a bit. Less sore overall after that.

Thanks for that link Tosa, looks pretty sweet.

 

[Tosa]

b-ball

That's another thing you can do for GPP. If you read about Sheiko (One of the sports Sheiko mentions specifically is basketball) and other Russian training routines you'll find that their GPP often includes regularly doing another sport. I've heard, although I don't have a solid source, that some Russian lifters make master of sport (A Russian classification saying you're awesome) in the sport they do for GPP.

 

[zhangmaster12]

good workout today.
warmup: clean up to 155
DL: 235x5 255x5 255x5 245x5 245x4 Form Check tomorrow
OHP: 95x5x5
Pullups: BW+5x5x5

DINNER!

Cable rows: 140x5 160x5 160x8
Hanging Leg Lifts: 5,5,5,5,5 Abs still sore from Monday. These are pretty damn hard.
Seated DB OHP: 30x5 35x5 35x5 Went easy due to a little discomfort in left shoulder.
Squat: 185 x3 x5 Felt great. Good depth, form, speed.

I've discovered that if i break up my Wed into 2 workouts, I can deadlift and squat without a problem. Next week Ill do the full 5x5 squat on wednesdays.

Also, there might be a break in the regularly scheduled program on Friday, I'm gonna be working with the U of I powerlifting team! Sweet!

Gonna do some general "fitness" work tomorrow, maybe some cardio and hopefully b ball or flag football.

Also, I got a fitness checkup thing today, they were doing it for free at the gym, so I did it.
Height: 6 ft
Weight: 152.6 ( Hey i gained 3 lbs!)
BMR: 1807
Bodyfat: 12.7%
BMI: 20.7
Right Leg fat %: 15.9
Left Leg: 16.2
Right Arm: 15.6
Left Arm: 16.4
Trunk: 9.9

Im pretty happy with my current bodyfat. At the moment, I dont care a whole lot about bodyfat %, just want to stay below 15. Once I can deadlift 315 for 5x5, I might do a carb cycle or something to get down to about 8%. Then repeat at 365, 405.

Now, please don't flame me about bodybuilding and abs and shit. One can be "lean" and strong, look at all the lifters from defranco's, ect.

Starting This week, Ive been eating 3 -4 times per day.
Rest days:
Breakfast 7:15 am
1 whole plate scrambled eggs, 2 slices toast + margarine, 2 cups 2% milk, 1/3 plate potatoe hash or corned beef hash, banana or peach slices or both. 1 Cup cofee

Lunch: between 12 and 2 (around class times)
Whatever I brought back from dining hall night before or what i have on hand

If i didnt bring anything back the night before:
2 Cans of Tuna, 1.5 - 2 cups frozen veggies

If I did:
Prob some type of meat, so pork or chicken or flank steak and whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce

Dinner 5-7ish:
Potatoe or whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce
A ton of whatever non-fried meat they have. Usually either flank steak, grilled chicken, or lamb. Sometimes pork slices.
1 Plate of whatever vegetables they have. Usually brocolli or green beans or tomatoes
Some kind of fruit
1-2 glasses of skim or 2% milk.

Our cafeteria doesn't have whole milk, but whole milk tastes nasty anyway.

On lifting days:
Post workout shake:

2 handfuls of frozen blueberries mixed with frozen strawberries OR 1.5 cups fresh blueberries or strawberries if I can snitch some from the dining hall.
A good heaping of cottage cheese, id say about 1/2 cup.
2-3 scoops whey
1 Banana
Enough milk to make it a shake.

Tastes great actually. You cant taste the cottage cheese at all, and you get good fruits in with it!

 

[zhangmaster12]

October 8th
Great fucken workout today, lifted with the Illini powerlifting.

Im gonna be lifting mon, tues, fri, sat now cause thats when they are lifting. Ill still be following the basics of 5x5 though.

Man, powerlifters are the best training partners possible.

Squats: 185x5 205x5x4

Front Squat: 135x3 155x1 145x4
The 155 for 1 was really hard for some reason, no idea why. I smoked 145x3. Anyhow, 155 was the most ive ever gotten front squatting anyway.

Jump squats: 40x5 40x15 40x15
These were done using this cool machine that uses air to make tension on ropes that hooked up to a belt. More so for conditioning that other stuff i felt.

Ab complex
BORs: 145x5x5
Im gonna go up next workout, these felt easy.

Tomorrows gonna be "bodybuilding" day. Im gonna Bench 5x5, do some curls and other stuff.
Monday: deadlift day
Tuesday: bench + squat day
Fri: squat day
Sat (I added this day): bbing day

On rest days: I will try to go and play bball and rock climb on thursdays.

 

[MIDMOBOX]

Look forward to where you get in a few months

 

[zhangmaster12]

Sat:
Played like 2 hours of intense b-ball, 1 hour easier half court 3on3

Bench:
Left peck felt strained, didnt go too hard.
115x3 125x3 130x3 135x3

Seated DB OHP:
40x5x3
Easy, time to move up.

DB Curlz:
30x10 30x7 30x7

Today: Sunday/Way to early monday morning:
Got tickets to the 30 sec to mars show! YAHOO!
Ughh, fuck procrastination. I was sleepy, so I slept from 8pm-1amish now Im no longer sleepy and am trying to find a research paper topic..... Fuck!

 

[zhangmaster12]

Today: Monday
Deadlift day w/ Illini Pling

Deadlifts: 240x5 250x5 255x5 255x5 Belt On 255x5

Ate and oatmeal cookie

Rack Pulls: 265x2 Belt On 308x2 319x2
Farmers Walk w/ DB's about 180ft: 70lb DBs, 70lb DBs, 80lb DBs
These were easy, Im gonna go up to 80s and 90s if we do these next week
BB Rows: 145x5x5
I planned to go heavier, but my whole back, lower and upper was fried. So I did
these "pendlay style"

Laramie's (the coach) Ab Complex