Quest to bench press my pig.

[vegan hal]

OK just kidding. I have 11 rescued pot-bellied pigs and none of them would tolerate me using them for training.

I've been keeping my log on paper since I started the 5x5 stronglifts. After injuring my lower back a few weeks ago doing squats, I took 2 weeks off. Last week I finally got back into the training.

Squats made me nervous. reason being is that I've always been a very inflexible person. My chiropractor told me a few yrs ago that my lower vertebrae were pretty much fused and that's a reason i have trouble touching my toes. from an injury as a kid where i fractured my pelvis. So squats are hard to do 100% because when i get my hips below or parallel to my knees, my back begins to round over. I am sure that is how i re-injured my back again. felt that POP in my lower back.

anyhow, now i just focus on getting parallel with my squats without rounding my back.

getting back in the game, i decided to log my progress here. I stepped my weight back to get back in the swing of things. I'll likely post a weeks worth at a time.

** oh i have no scale, but i'm guessing i weight about 190lbs, 6'2"

here goes....

[vegan hal]

i'm in the US, so my weights are in pounds (not metric, sorry). I also list my dates backwards (US style). I was born in the UK, but spent most of my life here, so it's just natural for me. I do ride a metric motorcycle though.

I do warm up rounds for each weight routine. 2x5 each stepping up 3 times before full weight. then a warm down 2x5 of 1/2 weight. I work out at home, trying to be safe. i only list my full weight #s below.

every morning before feeding the critters, and just prior to bed I do 25 pushups just cuz I like them. mixing standard ones with closed fist ones. I'm working on fingertip pushups, but can only do 2 at a time so far. (so weak. they are tough.)

OK, this past week.

MON 10/12/09
AM: 25 push-ups
STRENGTH B:
Squat: 25 x 155
Overhead Press: 25 x 80
Dead Lift: 5 x 145
Pull Ups: 15 x 0
Chin Ups: 10 x 0
Prone Br: 3 x 30sec x 15 lbs
PM: 25 push-ups

TUE 10/13/09
AM: 25 push-ups
CARDIO:
- no trail run
Dbl-hop Rope: 5 x 50
Single-hop Rope: 10 x 50
PM: 25 push-ups

WED 10/14/09
AM: 25 push-ups
STRENGTH A:
Squat: 25 x 160
Bench Press: 25 x 110
Barbell Row: 25 x 115 (F)
Push Ups: 25 x 15
Rev Crunch: 3 x 12
PM: 25 push-ups

THU 10/15/09
AM: 25 push-ups
CARDIO:
Trail Run: 2mi
- no jump rope
PM: 25 push-ups

FRI 10/16/09
AM: 25 push-ups
STRENGTH B:
Squat: 25 x 165
Overhead Press: 24 x 85 (F)
Dead Lift: 10 x 150
Chin Ups: 15 x 12.5
Pull Ups: 10 x 0
Prone Br: 3 x 30sec x 20 lbs
PM: 25 push-ups

---**WEEKEND REST**---

[thestoatyone]

Hey dude, good work!

If you have problems with your lower back rounding during squats have you tried subbing for front squats?

If your form is off you will probably lose the bar before you injure yourself, and it's easier to bail out making them safer if you're training alone.

Just a thought.

[vegan hal]

thanks. i've not tried the front squat. i will give it a try this week.

that's why i love this place. i have lots to learn.

[baldy]

Overhead squats are also great for improving your form. If you go slightly off path you will lose balance and have to ditch the bar. If you dont have the facilities to dump the bar from overhead fronties are probably just as good

[vegan hal]

OK so I tried the front squat, but I seem to prefer regular squats. maybe I just didn;t have the proper form for fronts. I'll give it another try though. I find that doing regular squats, I just need to make sure i keep the weight on my heels and I do fine. even did 5 extra on Wed and Fri.

THIS coming week i'll be squatting 1x my weight which i'm excited about. (at least I think i weight about 190lb as i have no scale and haven;t been to a doctor in a few years.)

anyhow this week went very well. w/ the exception that i skipped my Cardio on Tuesday due to a busy schedule. No Failures this week. although Overhead Press still beats the crap outta me. barbell rows do as well.

here's my numbers for the week. weight in pounds, not metric.

MON 10/19/09
AM: 25 push-ups
STRENGTH A:
Squat: 25 x 170
Bench Press: 25 x 115
Barbell Row: 25 x 95
Push Ups: 25 x 17.5
Rev Crunch: 3 x 12
PM: 25 push-ups

TUE 10/20/09
AM: 25 push-ups
CARDIO:
- no trail run
- no jump rope
PM: 25 push-ups

WED 10/21/09
AM: 25 push-ups
STRENGTH B:
Squat: 30 x 175
Overhead Press: 24 x 85
Dead Lift: 10 x 155
Pull Ups: 10 x 5, 5 x 0
Chin Ups: 10 x 0
Prone Br: 3 x 30sec x 22.5 lbs
PM: 25 push-ups

THU 10/22/09
AM: 25 push-ups
CARDIO:
Trail Run: 2mi
Dbl-hop Rope: 5 x 50
Single-hop Rope: 5 x 50
PM: 25 push-ups

FRI 10/23/09
AM: 25 push-ups
STRENGTH A:
Squat: 30 x 180
Bench Press: 30 x 120
Barbell Row: 25 x 100
Push Ups: 25 x 20
Rev Crunch: 3 x 12
CARDIO:
Single-hop Rope: 3 x 50
PM: 25 push-ups
Pull Ups: 10 x 0
Chin Ups: 5 x 0

[vegan hal]

i won;t post my weeks log until the weekend as it's easier that way. BUT boy, Overhead Press is my weakest link. I keep getting to 90lbs and fail the 5x5.

Now I didn;t get to workout until last night after unloading a truckload of supplies for the farm. so I was a bit tired. I generally like to work out mid-day if I can. But I was fine on squats, deadlifts, and others.

I'll give 90 another try on Friday. I need to break that barrier.

[vegan hal]

OK so I did 90lbs Overhead Press again on Friday and while I did better than Monday, I still FAILED!!! ughh, OP is my nemisis. I can;t seem to get past this number. I'm going to try again on Wed.

OTHERWISE, i back squatted what I believe to be 1x my weight of (190-195) which I was stoked about. Now I'll just keep pressing forward to 1.5x.

I feel that besides my OP woes, i'm making good pregress and it seems to be showing.

here's my numbers for the past week...

MON 10/26/09
AM: 25 push-ups
STRENGTH B:
Squat: 30 x 185
Overhead Press: 19 x 90 (F)
Dead Lift: 10 x 160
Chin Ups: 10 x 12.5, 5 x 0
Pull Ups: 10 x 0
Prone Br: 3 x 30sec x 25 lbs
PM: 25 push-ups

TUE 10/27/09
AM: 25 push-ups
CARDIO:
Trail Run: 2mi
Dbl-hop Rope: 5 x 50
Single-hop Rope: 5 x 50
PM: 25 push-ups

WED 10/28/09
AM: 25 push-ups
STRENGTH A:
Squat: 30 x 190
Bench Press: 25 x 125
Barbell Row: 30 x 105
Push Ups: 25 x 22.5
Rev Crunch: 3 x 12
CARDIO:
Dbl-hop Rope: 1 x 50
Single-hop Rope: 2 x 50
PM: 25 push-ups

THU 10/29/09
AM: 25 push-ups
CARDIO:
Trail Run: 2mi
Dbl-hop Rope: 5 x 50
Single-hop Rope: 6 x 50
PM: 25 push-ups

FRI 10/30/09
AM: 25 push-ups
STRENGTH B:
Squat: 30 x 195
Overhead Press: 26 x 90 (F)
Dead Lift: 10 x 165
Pull Ups: 10 x 5, 5 x 0
Chin Ups: 10 x 0
Prone Br: 3 x 30sec x 27.5 lbs
PM: 0 push-ups

[vegan hal]

since OP is my nemisis, I decided to try 5x5 of Incline Bench Press today. no OP today. that's on Wed. Maybe IP on my alt days will help.

did 30x200 back squats today. felt good.

just barely failed on my bench press today.

my workout was later than i usually like to do, so maybe i was a bit tired.

[Frostfire]

Hello Vegan Hal!

Love the log, and I LOVE that you have rescued potbelly pigs! Who's the cutie in your avatar image? I volunteer at a local (and small!) farm animal sanctuary near where I live and there are ~19 potbelly pigs right now. They are so amazing , and I get to learn how to trim their hooves soon - wish me luck!

Also, I'm currently doing a 5 x 5 squat routine and its already killing me! I feel your pain. Keep up the good work and keep up the log, its great reading about your training and your life

[vegan hal]

<<-- "Cloud"

Thanks Frostfire. yeah, that's Cloud over there. we rescued him with 7 siblings and the mom when he was less than a week old. the Mom's brothers went to a private sanctuary down the street from us. and a bunch of others went up to another place. He's a cool pig. his sister Mae Mae is my favorite of the bunch. we also have 2 old pigs. I've read your blog. sounds like a cool place you're workin at. Me I hate messing with Hay bales. but when i do, i just make sure to wear long sleeves cuz that stuff will cut your arms up good and you itch for days. of course i pretty much itch all summer long around here with all the chiggers, spiders and mosquitoes. Oh and trimming hooves or tusks aint much fun either ans they don;t like it much and squeal like pigs we really only have to mess with the lazy older pigs for hoof trimming, as the younger ones walk around enough to trim their own for the most part. Good luck with it. you're doing great work!

OK did CARDIO yesterday and with the cooler weather, the trail running is much nicer. no running through spider webs or excessive heat. But now that the leaves (especially Oaks) have dropped most of their leaves, it's harder to see rocks and other obstacles that like to turn my ankles. woke up this morning and my left foot was a bit sore. usually by the time i finish our morning feeding routine, it's warmed back up.

OK 5x5 strength today. hopefully not so late.

[vegan hal]

OK. I finally didn't fail at my 5x5x90 OP (overhead press). I thought by rev 3 i was gonna fail, but pressed on. r4 was tough and actually r5 wasn;t that bad. trick for me between reps is to stretch my arms out by hanging on the pull up bar for a second or two.

so next time i'll finally get to 95. i'll probably fail, but at least i passed this threshold.

just had my post workout protein shake. back to work. feelin good.

[Frostfire]

Woot! Awesome for getting the 5x5 OP! Those are really hard

[vegan hal]

thanks!

Cardio today. seems like running just is never fun for me. I do it and get it over with. the good thing is it gets me on my trails here and I clear away limbs that fall down over the trail and sometimes discover a fallen tree that I come back and clear away over the weekends.

we have a guest tonight at the B&B. I don;t always meets the guests as it's my wife's gig. but we were feeding the critters and I was talking to this guy who's 60yrs old and does 50mile trail races. truly inspirational. but i can;t imagine running for 10hrs at a time. he certainly looked fit!

ok. Strength 5x5 tomorrow. hoping to clear 210 on back squats. amongst others

[vegan hal]

I switched from weighted push-ups today to Dips. 5x5 no added weight.

I figure I do pushups every day anyhow. and I rigged up a good dip station with 2 chairs and some weights on them to keep them stable.

i'll keep these in my routine now.