Back to the bar

[jman1978]

Not been on this site for a loooonnnnggg time.

A year of ill health, lack of commitment to the gym, Crossfit and generally drifting through training have left my body not in the best of shape.

Decided to get back to some basic strength training, with a bit of cardio (maybe) along with training Ju Jitsu once or twice a week.


The Plan;
Get Strong.

Previously I've had good sucess with things like starting strength and some of the classic 5x5 routines.
Current plan pulls together a mix of starting strength workouts, some lower rep stuff and some strength endurance stuff. I know, 'if it ain't broke......' but I need to get up strength endurance for Ju Jitsu.

So I'll be rotating 6 workouts. You'll get the idea as I start posting them.

The Bad

Over the last 6-9 months my weight has gone from about 80kg (175lb) to ~103kg (226lbs) and none of that is a good gain.

So I need to drop some bodyfat.

The goals

My previous bests are (I think):

Squat 1rm: 160kg (~352lbs)
Bench 1rm: 112.5kg (247.5lbs)
Deadlift 1rm: 165kg (363lbs)
Standing Press: Not Sure
Clean: Not sure

My first goal is to get back to this, Most of these were maybe 8 years ago.

Currently I'd estimate my numbers are

Squat 1rm: 100kg-110kg
Bench 1rm: 80kg
Deadlift 1rm: 125kg
Standing Press: 60kg
Clean: 60kg-70kg been a while since I cleaned heavy

[jman1978]

This was done yesterday (26th Jan) and is straight from Starting Strength.

Working sets listed only

Squat
3 x 5 \ 80kg (176lbs)

Bench Press
3 x 5 \ 60kg (132lbs)

Deadlift
1 x 5 \ 90kg (198lbs)

Comments
Enjoyed this workout, nice to have some focus back to my training.

[jman1978]

Today's session, aimed at heavy work for low reps

working sets listed onlu

Deadlift
8 x 2 \ 110kg (242lbs)

Standing Press
8 x 2 \ 55kg (121lbs)
These were heavy, may have started too high.

Pendlay Rows
1 x 2 \ 60kg (132lbs)
1 x 2 \ 65kg (143lbs)
6 x 2 \ 70kg (154lbs)

Wasn't sure of a worknig weight for these so started on the light side

Comments
A bit sore from yesterday, I train at my work gym and am only in the office 3 days a week so rest days vary around work shedule
Was listening to Mark Rippletoe while I trained, first time I'd heard him speak. Interesting guy.

Here's a link to the video I was listening too
www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Uh5IoYovA

[jman1978]

Decided not to over complicate things and just stick to starting strength for a while to get up numbers back up. Since I did overhead work last session I've gone back to workout A.

Working sets listed only

Squat
3 x 5 \ 82.5kg (181lbs)

Bench Press
3 x 5 \ 62.5kg (137.5lbs)

Deadlift
1 x 5 \ 95kg (209lbs)

Comments

Great training session, had pretty much recovered from Tuesday and liftsa all felt good.

Looking back through my trainining logs looks like I squated a single for 120kg (264lbs) back in March along with an overhead press of 60kg (132lbs) and a deadlift of 130kg (286lbs)

[jman1978]

Did a 2 hour Ju Jitsu session yesterday, was a fairly low intensity session so not really feeling it this morning.

Diet was awful this weekend, tired after a tough week at work. No excuse really and back on track today.

Working sets listed only

Squat
3 x 5 \ 85kg (187lbs)
First 2 sets felt heavy and by quads weren't happy. Last set flew up though.


Overhead Press
3 x 5 \ 45kg (99lbs)

Cleans
1 x 3 \ 50kg (110lbs)
1 x 3 \ 55kg (121lbs)
3 x 3 \ 60kg (132lbs)

Was not sure were I was on clean form and strength so start light.

Comments

Great work out. Nearly caught an idiot in the head with end of bar cleaning.

[jman1978]

Working sets listed only

Squat
3 x 5 \ 87.5kg (192.5lbs)

Bench Press
3 x 5 \ 65kg (143lbs)

Deadlift
1 x 5 \ 100kg (220lbs)

Comments

Another good day in the gym.

Bench felt light, as did working set of deadlifts. Deadlifts warmups felt heavy today.

[jman1978]

Working sets listed only

Squat
3 x 5 \ 90kg (189lbs)

Changed bar position today, switched from high bar to low bar. Felt strong on these.

Overhead Press
3 x 5 \ 47.5kg (105lbs)

Cleans
5 x 3 \ 65kg (143lbs)


Comments

Work shedule is still leaving me wrecked, but made all my numbers so I'm happy.