Squat: 75 kg

A body weight squat is still a long way ahead, but today I managed to do 75 kg. I felt a bit weary before the workout, so I didn’t max out in the bench and deadlift.

• Squat: 75 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Bench press: 57.5 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Deadlift: 90 kg × 7 reps × 1 set

The squat felt heavier than ever in the first set, but got more managable in the next two sets. Not the first time that happens – the first working set is often the heaviest. In the third set, I was up to the same speed as last time, when I lifted 72.5 kg. I’m eager to keep raising the weight, but should probably stick to 75 kg for another workout to be safe.

I stayed at 57.5 kg in the bench press today. It felt like a good decision. No room for extra reps this time, but hopefully next time.

I felt a bit weary in my back even before the deadlift, so I decided to go back to 90 kg today, which I managed to lift 7 times. Next time, I’ll go back to 92.5 kg again, and then beyond.

I also learned (from experience) that I should keep my shirt on while lifting, to keep warm between sets. It’s tempting to take it off and flex my pumped muscles in the mirror, but today it seemed like getting cold hampered my performance.

My goals (version 1.0)

The goals of this project are:

• To become relatively strong (i.e. compared to me in the past).
• To look strong.
• To get a healthy fat percentage (anything less than 18%).

Goals like these tend to become more precise with experience. It’s clear however that the change I seek will require serious and constant attention for years.

To keep it interesting during all this time, I’ll need to find some lesser goals to celebrate. The weights I lift is an obvious data point for goal setting. My own weight is another. My fat percentage is yet another. And then there are important milestones such as lifting my body weight or doing a full chin-up (which is far, far away). Here follows a few past and future goals, listed in a reasonable order of achievement:

• Lift more than 80 kg in any exercise.
• Deadlift my body weight.
• Lift more than 90 kg in any exercise.
• Weigh more than 90 kg.
• Get under 25 % body fat.
• Lift more than 100 kg in any exercise.
• Squat 80 kg.
• Squat my body weight.

The lifting targets above refer to 5RM.

Deadlift: 92.5 kg

Wow! Three new records!

• Squat: 72.5 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Bench press: 57.5 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Deadlift: 92.5 kg × 6 reps × 1 set

I hoped to finish this workout earlier in the week, but I have been too tired after work. So with a 7 day gap since last workout, I considered to stay with last week’s weights, but decided to go for new records instead. Today I’ve felt more rested than usual, due to 8+ hours of sleep last night.

The 72.5 kg squat felt surprisingly light. If anything, the intensity was less than last time. Same with the bench press. Last rep was a bit shaky, but I’m ready for 60 kg next time (especially if I manage to do some presses before that).

The deadlift was super-heavy but I managed to do an extra rep. I’m eager to get to 95 kg next time.

Squat: 70 kg

Tonight I beat my personal squat record, by finally reaching 70 kg. Feels great!

• Squat: 70 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Bench press: 55 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Deadlift: 90 kg × 5 reps × 1 set

The squat was surprisingly easy. I had to pause a bit at the end of the squat sets, but I feel like I’m ready for another increase. In the other two exercises, I touched my max weights. My bench press form was probably better than ever. I’ll try to increase the weight next time.

In the deadlift, I used the normal grip with hands an inch wider than usual to use more of the knurling on the bar. I’m afraid my form may be lacking at this heavy weight. All my powers go to lifting the bar, no matter how, so I’ll stay with 90 kg next time and record myself to be sure about the form.

All in all, a succesful workout. I’m back at my max weights again, and made a new personal best.

Intermezzo

I had another upper body workout on Wednesday:

• Seated press: 32.5 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• EZ curls: 27 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets

So, I did three full sets of seated press today but I’m not sure if it’s due to an increase in strength or simply the fact that I did my lifts a bit faster this time. In any case, I think I got to work on my form a bit, so I’ll stick with this weight until I can do 7-8 reps.

The plan is to continue to intersperse my full workouts will special upper body workouts. I’ll have at least one more full workout this week.

Upper body

I’ve had some success in developing my thighs and core muscles, but the upper body hasn’t seen much progress at all since I started. And my bench press is not improving. So, I’ve realized that once a week is not enough for upper body exercises.

Yesterday I did three sets of seated press (since I cannot do the standing variant at home), and added some EZ bar curls just for fun. Here’s the workout:

• Seated press: 32.5 kg × 5 reps × 2 sets + 4 reps × 1 set
• EZ curls: 27 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets

The press felt very productive. I felt my lats work in a way I haven’t felt before, in order to stabilize the bar. I’ve never progressed beyond 32.5 kg, and didn’t this time either, but if I keep doing it 2-3 times a week now, I should soon be ready for higher weights.

Busy earnin’

My barbell training has become more sporadic lately. I devote a lot of time to studying work-related things these days, and work currently has higher priority than training. Perhaps it’s complacency too, and fear of failure. Anyway, I had a long break until November 8, when I finally had a workout. To punish myself for the time off, I lowered the weights a bit… Here’s the report from my November 8 workout:

• Squat: 65 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Bench press: 50 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Deadlift: 85 kg × 5 reps × 1 set

It was a relatively light workout, as expected. Today I had another session, where I increased the weights based on last workout:

• Squat: 67.5 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Bench press: 52.5 kg × 5 reps × 3 sets
• Deadlift: 87.5 kg × 6 reps × 1 set

I touched my personal best with 67.5 kg in the squat. Looking back, I see that I’ve stopped at this weight three times before (usually because the weight has been too heavy to handle safely). But today it felt alright. I’ll be ready for 70 kg next time, unless I have another break.

My bench technique is improving too. Today I made a mark in the roof to have something to focus on when benching. The idea is to look at a fixed location that aligns with the bar in the top position. This makes it easier to resist the temptation to look at the moving bar. It helped.

Deadlift felt really heavy. I wanted to do two extra reps but lost the grip after one, despite the mixed grip. Feels like I have to start using straps soon.