Pkant's Log

[Pkant2002]

Facts

Age - 19
Weight 130 lbs.
Height 5ft 8 inches

Rough Starting Measurements
Chest 36 inches
Waist 32 inches
Arms 10 inches
Legs 18 inches

Programme

Strong Lift 5x5

Workout A
Squat 5x5
Bench Press 5x5
Inverted Rows 3xF
Push Ups 3xF
Reverse Crunch 3x12

Workout B
Squat 5x5
Overhead Press 5x5
Deadlift 5x5
Pull/Chin ups 3xF
Reverse Crunch

Complete 3 workouts a week alternating between workout A and B with at least 24 hours in between each workout.

Diet

Aim to eat 6 meals throughout the day, to cut out all junk food. + maintain my diabetes.

Goals
To get stronger especially in my legs in time for the rugby season, as well as build muscle size. (Never pushed a weight before)
Get a greater level of control over my diabetes; get my HBA1C down from 8.2 to 6.0

[Wotan]

Good luck matey!!

Welcome to the forums by the way!

[MJ.23]

Hello pal Good luck with your training.

[Pkant2002]

Ok so i started this training programme on Monday 22/08/2011. Due to my huge lack of experience and no knowledge of what weight I should be pushing i didn’t follow the programme 100%. Instead i attempted to find out what weight i should be starting at and were i should build from.

Squats - I found these came fairly naturally to me. I was able to body weight squat with a straight back below my knees and nothing in front of my knees. I was able to squat 5x5 at 50kg

Deadlifts - I struggled a little here and had to seek help for technique. I found i was ok on the up phase but going down i kept losing my form. In the end i substituted the standard Olympic 20kg bar for a slightly smaller 10kg one so i could put bigger weights on the end meaning i don’t have to bend as far down. Eventually i found i could just about complete 5x5 at 40kg.

Bench Press - Again i wasn’t 100% sure i was doing everything properly here so i had to seek help. Eventually i settled at 28kg 5x5.

Overhead Press - This to me hurt the most and I don’t think i have everything perfect yet but i was able to do 5x5 26kg

The body weight exercises i had a bit of experience with and didn’t struggle as much with theses. Chin ups i could do 6x5 and press ups, inverted rows and reverse crunches were all 12.

Ok so that’s my base starting point, they are very low compared to were most people start, but i have to start some were and i hope to see some improvements, only time will tell, though I must admit it is fairly depressing ahaha.

[Pkant2002]

Ps thank you for the welcome.

One thing that i am not 100% sure on and hopefully someone may be able to clear up before i start my log is the ammount i should be eating.

I was under the impression 10% body fat was the ideal percentage, and im not really sure how my weight sits in comparison to my height but im fairly skinny and weedy so i would think i am either about right or below. From reading the forums and trolling on google and such if i want to help with my muscle gains, do i need to start packing on alot more Kcals but from good foods ect or should i be aiming for this 10% body fat and in turn maintain my weight.

Ps sorry if this is unclear

[MJ.23]

James is the resident bodyfat guru as he seems to know how to manipulate it rather well.

Imo trying to achieve 10% bf can be a lengthy process. I am bias as I am all about strength and power and do not care for bodyfat; but I feel in the beginning just concentrate on the lifting and fueling the training. At your height and weight I would suggest trying to gain some size over worrying about bodyfat at this stage.

[dowdy16]

start all exercises at 20kg, i promise you that is a must. you need to nail the form so that when you are squatting heavy weights you're not all over the place. its your ego that gonna stop you doing this and nothing else. have a read at what mehdi at stronglifts.com has to stay.

i started at 20kg on all my lifts and have now upped them to bench 60, squat 85, deadlift 105, shoulder press 45

type in on google 'so you think you can squat', its a very good 5 part series that will help with the squats

[Pkant2002]

Hi
Dowdy - Thanks for the info, I think im going to take your advice and make sure my form is near perfect as i have had back trouble in the past and its not a process i want to go through again.

Mj23 - Again thank you for your info, i appologise but im not sure i understand 100% what you are saying, do you think i should just match my diet to my expenditure or do you think i should eat more kcal than i am expending in order to help with gains.

Many thanks

Pkant

[SpiderDan]

Eat enough to progress with getting stronger. Get in to good habits with your food choices and find a meal frequency that suits you (anywhere between 2 and 8 meals a day - it doesnt matter)

As you're just starting out the the level of stress on your body will be small and wont require a huge calorie intake to recover from. There is no point in throwing down 5000 calories at the moment because you'll just end up getting fat.

BUT at somepoint in the future if you maintain what your doing your calorie levels might end up getting that high to provide the necessary energy for growth.

Sorry to be blunt but at 5'8" and 130 pounds you are skinny so really dont worry about bodyfat percentage.

My advice would be the same as in my guide have a look a section 6 to get an idea of what you should be taking on.

[Pkant2002]

Thanks for all the help so far. I am just going to stick to a good diet eating wholesome foods.
But onto the training side of things.

Today i completed my first proper session,
Workout A
But with an extra set that i did for each of the weight exercises with just the bar so 20kg to practice form.

Squats 50kg
Bench 28kg
Inverted Rows 8x3
Push Ups 10x3
Reverse crunch 3x12

I felt good today and coming out of the gym now i feel like my legs are made of jelly, but in a good way. Looking forward to going back on Wednesday and trying workout B.
Just about to start cooking dinner now i am going to make kedgeree, which is a mix of brown rice, boiled eggs and a mixture of fish (salmon, haddock and cod) all sort of mixed together with some parsley and some green salad.