Eating is fine. Trying to get the sleep is difficult. Nigh on impossible with young kids.

I'll see how I do at weekend after maybe better sleep than last few days.

My better sleep hasn't materialised. Yet.

4 minutes is a bit long IMO. 2-3 is cool if you're pushing relatively heavy weight, which obviously you should be on 3x5. What are you weighing mate? I think I may have asked you this before!

Hulka T wrote:

4 minutes is a bit long IMO. 2-3 is cool if you're pushing relatively heavy weight, which obviously you should be on 3x5. What are you weighing mate? I think I may have asked you this before!

Rippetoe says 4 minutes is too little for 3x5. Rest as long as you need to, especially for the upper body exercises. You're training for strength so you rest as long as you need to between sets in order to do in your 2nd and 3rd sets what you can do in your 1st.

I weigh 74kg. I've been resting 2 minutes between sets. Upped it to 3 minutes now as I'm finding things harder. Rested 3 mins after 1 set of OHP then accidentally (got chatting to friend!) 4 minutes after 2nd set. 

Probably not the rest, probably better sleep in morning and better eating pattern today that helped. Last time I went was after work, weekends are usually better I find

Hi there.  What do you want to do today?

In other news, I managed 3x5 of 65kg on bench on Wednesday. I weigh 74kg. 

Deadlift 85kg, still going up
Squat 77.5, still going up
Bench 65kg, plateauing
Press 37.5kg, need to perfect form still.

Good elf, Elf.

I can manage 15 straight chins on the Olympic Rings, go me.

I love seeing other peoples training, I made a point of tearing up people's training diaries when I started training them. It holds you back more than anything. On everything apart from deadlifting and squatting do one set to warm up then 4/5 sets doing as many 6-10 reps with the heaviest weight you can manage. Only way to train.

Skerret wrote:

I been doing that, though you are a mutant Vere and not restricted like mortal man.  Been doing 20 rep squats every non-squat session too, me quads is expanding rapidly.

It's just the best way to train,it's ace. And you don't waste time on weights that you know you can do and totally waste time and energy on.

Good work with the squats, I gotta do my calfs every session, though they still don't grow. Quads and hams grow, calfs just stay the same. Bastards. Though I still think Hill-Sprints are the most important part of leg training, it's immemse what you get from them. I'd still do Hill Training sessions for clients if I had the insurance.

It'd be ace if we could do a session together,tried shoulder DB pressing 75's if anything to feel the weight and take the neg for memory, wow that was a bad idea, did one, shat out a lung and the noise dropping the second was insane...but it was invigorating.

Skerret wrote:

I can't even fathom that last sentence.  My boned shoulder (getting much better via pilates) has killed any pressing movements.  When I heal I'll be back down to 50kg OHP and crying about it.

Hill sprints are fab and I have found a perfect hill on which to do them, so I'll be back into that after Xmas.

Re: training together, I dunno... I suspect you doing warmups with my 1RM would crush my piddling ego.

That's a good OHP though as you'll be doing it perfectly. I struggle with perfect OHP, military press etc as I just don't have the flexibility to hit form, gotta do DB's as the individual pressure and ease of movement means I can touch my shoulders and get the right depth.

Hill Sprints are just the best, you don't even have to do many or for long!! Just put 100% in to a few and you're golden.

Ahh you know as well as I training isn't about what weights you throw about, it's about watching 'dat form' and technique, you always need to pick up the heaviest weights you can do, if you can do them right. I hardly lift much with my biceps and get people asking why I do so little with them and so much on everything else, they're small muscles that when worked to full extension will be done in little time due to the pump and exhaustion in them. Get them to do one set right on the almighty single arm DB preacher to full flat extension and bingo, penny drops, they're missing 4" a rep, using their body weight to move it AND putting 30% of the work through their shoulder, pussies.

I'm lazy with hill sprints but they still work. Sprint up, walk down, 10 reps. I find I'm faster on the last one than on the first normally.

Skerret wrote:

Re: training together, I dunno... I suspect you doing warmups with my 1RM would crush my piddling ego.

You'd love it.

Verecocha wrote:

I love seeing other peoples training, I made a point of tearing up people's training diaries when I started training them. It holds you back more than anything. On everything apart from deadlifting and squatting do one set to warm up then 4/5 sets doing as many 6-10 reps with the heaviest weight you can manage. Only way to train.

How does keeping a training diary hold you back?

MoesTavern wrote:

Verecocha wrote:

I love seeing other peoples training, I made a point of tearing up people's training diaries when I started training them. It holds you back more than anything. On everything apart from deadlifting and squatting do one set to warm up then 4/5 sets doing as many 6-10 reps with the heaviest weight you can manage. Only way to train.

How does keeping a training diary hold you back?

Because 99% of people who use them are only limited by them. What does it tell you? It tells you what you did on a certain day in terms of weight and reps, what does that mean in the scheme of things? Nothing, the only thing that really matters should be the last set you did on each exercise. Because that should really be what you start on next time, or very near.

Every day you go in the gym your body is in a significantly different state due to a number of factors, most of which you don't have much control over. Your aim should be to go in every day and give a 100% of what you have that day. People with diaries tend to just stick to exactly what they did previous or very very close when you should be doing anew order and different exercises so what does it even tell you?. It should be a new challenge every day to do with technique, speed and weight. Referring to a diary slows you down far too much. You know what body part you're doing all day, you should know what exercises you're doing when you step in the gym, and you should start by picking up the heaviest weight or best weight you can and go from there, too heavy today then go down, too light then go up etc. A diary will hold you back and means so very very little.

You should know 10/15 exercises per part that work for you, just you, who gives a shite about anyone else, choose 4/5 a day for whatever you're doing and go in and arsehole them. One exercise, done bang on to the next, if anything a diary should say all the things you already know, best chest press, best squat, best dead etc.

Diaries hold you back, if you look at the biggest or leanest or whateverist people at the gym you admire I can bet my arsehole they do not have a diary, they've got a goal and each day they give 100% if what they have that day to get there.

I worked for many years as a PT so while this is of course just my opinion...it's right.