quest to improve compound lifts

ok here goes,
im new to this forum been weightlifting for about a year. im 17 started when i was about 16 ish. when i first started i had no real clue on any excercises and form was minimal over the last year i have added 95 pounds onto max  bench press and 100 pounds onto deadlift. my main goals are:          1) get stronger
                2)healthier
                 3) raise my bench press up to 300lbs
                  4) increase deadlift to 400lbs
                   5)i also want to add muscle mass which is evry1s goal i suppose lol
over the last year i have read the forums (this 1 and others), and decided the training jourals were a great way to stay motivated and to stick to aims and goals.
 
hers my stats:    bicep: left 14.25
bi right  : 14 inche
neck: 15
forearm left: 12.5
forearm rite:  12
calf left:    14:(
calf rite:    14:(
waist:        35:(
 
Bench press 1 rep max: 220lbs
deadlift 1 rep max:305lbs
squat: not to sure 135 *10
 
for the last2 months ive platoed quite a lot onli adding a few pounds onto bench press and simular with deads  i try to consume over 200 grams of protein a day in 5 meals but i have to admit i am not consistant as i am a student and dnt have the funds to buy lots of chicken breasts etc. instead i consume lots of tuna and fish.
 
i train 5 times a week each with a juration of 1 hours ish
heres my split
day 1: chest/abs
day 2:back/ calves
3 : bis/ tris
4: legs/abs
5:shoulders/traps
 
day 1:
dm press   4 sets   15,12,12,10
bench press 4 sets  15,12,1210
wide grip dips 4 sets body weithgt as many as pos usually 15
chest fly:   3 sets 12 12 12
crunch   3 sets 10 10 10
 
day 2: pull downs 4 sets 12 12 12 10
bent over bb row 3 sets 12 12 10
machine row 4 sets 12 12 12 10
seated calf raise 4 sets 15 15 15 15
 
day 3  arms
standinf bb curl   4 sets  12,12,10,10
db curl 4 sets   12 12 12 10
conc curl 4 sets 10 10 10 10
21s   2 sets
close grip bench 4 sets 12 12 10 10
bb tri extensoins 4 sets 12 12 10 10
tri dips   3 sets to failure
 
day 4
legs/abs
sqats  5 sets 12 12 12 12 12
leg press 4 sets 15 12 10 9
leg extension 4 sets 10 10 10 10
reverse leg curl 3 sets 10 8 6
machine crunches  5 sets 20 18 16 14 12
 
shouders/taps
shoulder press 4 sets 12 12 12 10
laterols 4 sets 12 12 12 10
bent over laterols 3 sets 12 10 8
farmers walle 3 field walks
shrugs 4 sets 15 12 10 8
deadlifts 4 sets 20 15 12 8
 
right thats about it al post me diet up in due course every 4 weeks i will be caring out 1 rep maxs mesuring and after 4 weeks i will be doing a full week of power excercises which i will post in a few weeks
feel free to critisize anything i do !!!!!!!!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

http://uk.youtube.com/user/franco18grant

NEW VIDEO

DEADLIFTS 420 * 6

[link=http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-1529123881923130945]http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-15

rite day 1 of this training week i decided to max out as i hadnt maxed out in a while nothing had changed exactly 220 lbs.
 
dumbell press: 40 kg  1* 15    
                    42.5    1*12
                     46.5   1*10
                    46.5    1*8
bench press bb  50kg  1*16
                      50      1*14
                      50       1*10
                      50       1*9
chest fly           15kg    1*8
                       15       1*6
                       15       1*7
wide grip dips      body weight * 6
                        bw              *5
i was F-in  nakered by this point i realise my weight for my sets of bench press are low but im tryin to keep my form as good as possible, and rep speed quite slow i could easily do 60  kg * 16 but with poor form. as i have platoed alot on bp over the last cuple months i am hoping making my form better may help me in increase my max from 220 to 230 i dunno thow.
 
as for diet:
woke 7:30     2 weekabix 1 piece toast 1 yogart and a cup of milk
 
10:00: 2 sausages 2 pieces brown toast half lite water
 
1:00  cup of pasta sum ****ty tomato and papers source
 
3:00  tin of tuna plus sum mayonase n sweetcorn
 
5:00   made a pizza that i found the recipe for in mens health
 
6:00 workout: lasted bout 45 mins mbe more
 
8:00 tin tuna
 

didnt train 2day will do tomorrow at the gym. had a few aches today from the chest work out not relally to bad thow slight bit in chest, and deltoids which is probably from the 1 rep max i did yesterday.
diet 2day prity bad to be honest through lack off will power i guess lol
 
7:30: 2 weeabix plus milk and 2 pieces of toast and cup of milk
10:30
3 sausages and 2 hash browns
1:00  cup of pasta and a meat source from skwl
4:00  tin of tuna plus mayo plus sweetcorn
6:oo
1 large tuna steak plus 1 normal beef steak plus salad plus 2 small potatoes and some ICE CREAM!
9:00 1 LEFT OVER STEAK and 1 of these strange german nmeat fings frikidella or somat lol and 1 glass of milk
 
and also i consumed a pack of chocalate buttons at this rate im never gonna lose weight:(  got a decent amount of protein thow.
 
btw at the moment im 12 stone 7 at the moment id love to get that down to 12 stone then i will probably keep that the same till august however if i dnt clean the diet up i wont be losing any fat.
 
 

ow btw im 5 foot 10 ish slightly under i fink back day tomorrow hopefully the gym ul be queit
 

rite yesterday was back day
lat pull downs : 50 kg*15
                      55kg* 12
                      60kg* 8
 behind neck:    55 kg *8
                      55kg*  7
 
rows using lat pull down bar   ive lost the pice of paper with the weights but i did
8 sets*10
i did that excercie instead of bent over rows
 
i no 8 sets is a hell of a lot 4 one excercise but i felt that i needed a change, and i enjoyed the change as i new i had successfully trained my lats as they were achin all nite. the 5 sets of lat pull downs were a killer. i also decided to work my traps as i couldnt resist i used that machine that you use for curls cant rrember wat its cause its on the floor on a chain. lower pulley i think nyway i did:
shrugs: 5 sets of 100kg *10  
inbetween each of these sets i used the crunch machine to do 75kg * 20 so i did 5 sets of ab crunchs
 
right ok i didnt stick to my routine as i usualy do but i felt happy as my back was achin and i felt i got a good workout usually doing my usual routine i dont feel any aches so i was happy
 
my lats are awefull so i really want to bring them out so im going to try n work them harder than all my other body parts as i feel they are lagging.
 
i also did 15 minutes of rowing at the end of the workout that burned 150 cals. diet waS Alright could of been better ! i enjoyed the gym today as it was relativly empty.
 
 

rite ive lost the piece of paper with the details of my workout from day 3 but i will find it tomorrow. i remmebr the details of todays workout which is day 4.
 i couldnt get to the gym as i am skint as i have no part time job (im full time college)
rite ive got an olympic bench and olymice weight set so i improvised.
i did squats
warm up:  the bar 25 times
65 kg *10
65kg* 8
75kg* 6
lunges left anf right 3 sets of 10 reps each leg
i decided to do clean and press. its more of a shoulder press as once i get the weight up to shoulder height i weight 3 seconds then press the weight up using a shoulder press. i wanted to see what my max weight was that i could shoulder press. last time i did this it was 60 kg.
i didnt think it would hav gon up. however i went for 65 kg and did it easily i was vey surprised. i decided to go for 70kg i didnt think i could do it but i did! it was tough thow
 
NEW SHOULDER PRESS PB: 70KG  YAY SO HAPPY ?
HOW THE HELL HAVE I ADDED 10 KG ONTO IT IN 4 WEEKS!!??. thats 11 stone that i can press above my head. im really happy as i weighed 11 stone last august so i can military press me from last summer over my head!.
i really dont get why this has gone up my bench hasent gon up so why this? who nos lol.
 
i have upped my protein over the last 3 weeks by 50 grams a day ish while i have dropped my fat intake by a large amount, and cut my carbs down alot. ive lost only 1 pound. but since ive had strength increases maybe im gaining muscle at the same time well im going to carry on what im doing.
 
hmmm my sqauts are useless i no. but i had problems with my left leg when i was 15 so i had to stop doing sport which i think has affected my leg strength owell i hope 2 build my squats up not so long ago i could onli deadlift 200 now im to 300 so it can be done!
 
 

right 2moz is day 5 im goin to stick to the routine. except ive decided to do 5*5 for deadlift. instead of the high reps just for a bit of variation i feel at the moment i can make strength gains, and i no from past expericne the 5*5 method is good for this

right today i did day 5 i was going to do it on monday but i ahd acting legs from the squats.
DEADLIFT:  125 KG   *  5
                 125KG       5
                 125           5
                 125           5
                 125           5
SHOULDER PRESS
                 35KG         13 
                                 8
                 30KG          11
                 30KG          11
 
OLYMPIC BAR RAISES
                 20KG           7
                 20              10
                 20              10
                 20              10
SET 3 AND 4 WERE SUPERSETTED WITH
                7.5               3 REPS
                7.5               3
THIS SUPERSET WAS  really hard shoulders were burning i expected to be able to do 10 reps with the 7.5 but it shows how much my shoulders were fatigued after the presses.
 
UPRIGHT ROWS WITH OLYMPIC BAR
BAR WARMUP: 15
25G               11
25KG              12
 
THE DEADLIFTS were a bitch. not a bad workout. 2days diet was poor
at the moment i cant stik to anyfing
however 125kg times 5 for 5 sets is good for me as lst month i could onli do 120kg tiimes 5 so ive added 10 pounds onto deadlift. it wud be great if i could stik to a decent diet my main meals are alrite but its the meals inbetween where i consuume ****. i somtimes eat 100 grams of peanuts which gives 20 grams protein then a cuple slices of brown bread and a yogert. but im trying to lose weight and these foods are high  in carbs which is not good while trying to lose fat i guess. owell chest and abs tomorrow.
 

right tomorrows wednesday which will be day 1 i wnt be able to fit all my work outs in this week at this rate so im combining day 2 and 4 and will have a long work out at the gym
 

ok my traps are achin from the deadlifts but i cant afford to miss this chest work out so im going to do it in my shed now !

right 2day i had a cracking workout  chest . abs
 
db press 45kg@ 12
             50kg@ 9
             50kg@9
             50kg@8
 
barbell bench press
             55kg@15
             55kg@12
             55kg@11
             55kg@9
 
chest fly  15kg@10
              15kg@9
               15kg@*
crunches    i did about 50 of these lol
 
right what a work out my dumbell and press has improved and i was doing an extra 5 kg for the same amount of reps as last time! wow whats happend. i also added 5 kg onto my bench press, and for set 2 3 and 4 the reps stayed the same. so ive gained on my bench press! the form is still very strict to. i also did more reps by 2 or 3 for each of my chest flys sets!
for the last month or so my weights lifted have stayed the same and all of a sudden in one week theyve gone up dramatically wow. my shoulders were also still aceing from yesterday so i thought theyd effect my workout!
 
also my diet has been poor so god nos wats gone on im lookin forward to my pwerlifting week in 2 weeks then i will find out if my maxs have gone up or just muscle endurence.

btw im sorry about my spelling, and puncuation i was typing fast lol
 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ive just realised from looking at the excercies i said id do st the start of the journal that i havent stuck to it all lol owell shows how good i am at sticking to programes! i neva ave been good at sticking to regimes.  but i am seeing gains so the variation must be good
 
 

Doesnt matter, as long as you dont change your workouts loads, you should be fine, listen to your body, ive already had to change my training routines because of certain implications, you never know if its good til you do it, keep up the good work.

thanks for the input link.rite today should be workout 2 day, but my chest is sore and my traps still slightly. im worried that if i work out today al end up overtraining however its thurday and im onli on day 2 and i dont want the workout to run into next week. i will let you no how it pans out.

ow yes and as i mentioned earlier ive combined workout 2 and 4 and this workout will be done at the gym tomorrow hopfully if i can get work out 3 which is arms done 2day.

rite 2day i didnt train my arms i got to my shed picked up the barbell, and i knew straight off i could not put 100 percent in to workout so il leave it till i can.
ive tried to upload a picture i justt took of my upper back duno if its worked i just waned to see if i could do it lol. its a rather poor picture. lack of definition etc. owell thats why im training (to get that definition)

Attached Image(s)

haha it worked first picture now successfully uploaded. feel free to give me pointers. i will get some more pics asap of my lower and middle back lats etc. i really need to add some definiton to my back. im really bord at the moment. ive made alot of posts this week cus ive got plenty of time on my hands as ive finished my exams hmmm im worried that a night out tomorrow will effect next weeks lifts. 200 cals in a can of beer! 9 of them,and its 1800 cals etc so im gona have to be good tomorrow

right went gym yesterday. not 2 bad but the gym was full
of p**cks.
i did back, and legs
1) leg press
warmup 25 reps low weight
340lbs@7
360@6
410@2
 
leg extension
40kg@11
35kg@10
40kg@11
45kg@8
 
reverse leg extension
40kg@11
40kg@10
40@10
40@10
 
calf raise
20kg@15
25kg@12
30kg@10
 
back
i did lat pull downs supersetted with long bar rows
lat pull down
1 55kg@12         with              40kg@15
255kg@9            with              45kg@10
 
now 4 lat pull down i changed the bar to a narrow grip bar to try and build some back thickness
 
3 55kg@6          with               45kg@10
4 45kg@10         with               45@10
5 45@10            with               55kg @ 10 for this set i did really fast repititions.
 
right my weights for back are quite low but bare in mind my rep speed is very slow to try to keep form precise. for the last set of rows i used quick reps for a bit of variation.
i onli did 10 sets using 2 different excercises because i do deadlifts also during the week, and this is a important back excercise.
when i woke up this morning i could hardley walk my legs were very sore. however my back was not sore one bit. so obviously i did not put in enough effort,and will include more excercises next week.

 
 
 

2day is sunday theres no chance i can workout 2 day my legs are worse than before there sore as hell. in fact i can herdly put any weight on them. also last nite i tripped and the corner of some drawers went str8 into my ribs, and i cant move my upper body at all.so theres no chance i will be doing any workouts for at least 3 days im gutted.as i didnt get to work my arms or shoulders. this is all i needed.
I have decided that during this week im going to finish off last weeks work out. when i will do my power week next week which i will post the details of in due course. ive decided  to lay of this next week as i felt over trained last week, and real im not recovering like i usually do because of this overtraining. i also want to have as much energy as possible for my power week as alot of the lifts are heavy, and i need the energy.
so this week i will finish last weeks workouts. so al be just doing shoulders and arms next week. im really disapointed but theres no point training when your to sore to do so. as you will never make gains if your not 100 percent to start with

right yesterday i worked my arms.
olympic bar curls:
22.5kg@!5
25@11
25@10
25@9
db curls
10kg   l 10    R 10
         L10     R9
         L9      R9
         L10     R10
LYING down db curls(on bench)
1) 7.5kg@8
2) 7.5@11
3) 7.5@9
 
triceps
CLOSE GRIP BENCH (HANDS 8 INCHE APART)
1) 75KG@6
2) 65KG@7
3) 65KG@6
4) 65KG@6
 
OLYMPIC BAR EXTENSIONS
25 KG @10
         @10
         @6
REVERSE GRIP 20KG
         @6
         @4
 
 
 
 

cant wait till my power lifting week, next week.my aims for my maxs are
bench from 220 to 230
deadlift from 305 to 320
squat from 135 *10 to 145*10
clean and jerk    70kg
 
my previous maxs are from my powerlifting week 3 odd weeks ago. im detirmined to beat them

rite did shoulders today
deadlift:130kg@5
130kg@3
right at this point somthing terrible happened.....................................................................................................................
i had got my sister to film my deadlifts, and to my shock i realised that my form was awefull for the heavy deadlifts. so i abondonded them. my lower back was much 2 rounded. so i got my sister to film me doing some light deads so as i could practise form.
60@10
60kg@10
thoese 1s were good so i need to keep practising!>
 
shoulder press
1)35kg@13
2)       @10
3)       @8
4)30kg@12
 
olympic bar front raises
1)20kg*10
2)20kg*12
3)20kg@11
4)20kg@11
5)20kg@11
 
upright row olympic bar
bar (20kg)
@12
25kg@12
25kg@13
 
ok not a bad workout i was sooooo disapointed with the deads but ive just gota work on the form. i think the back is arching becasue my legs are not strong enougth to carry out the first part of the deadlift. owell good diet today got over 200 grams protein which is good for me lol
 

Now this is what i love to hear, someone taking form over weight, it may be a bruise for now but trust me, you just saved yourself from probably a bad injury, you'll get to that weight again, though halfing it is quite a bit, im sure you could do a little more with still good form, keep lifting!
 
EDIT: Lying down dumbell curls?
Interesting, is this one of your own lifts? May i steal it? lol.
Sounds very difficult and sure set winner to develop strong muscles, and stops pesky cheat curls

lol yh its a great arm excercise. i found it in the arnold book the encyclopedia! (the 50 quid 1) basically you lie back on a bench with the dumbells on the floor and curl them up. remmebering to go right down, which really stretches the arms , and also remember to squeeze at the top of the excercie. arnold says this excercie is great for gettin those peak biceps! there almost like conc curls but there more strict.
as for the form over the last few months i have perfected my bench press form with lower weights, and have each week added extra reps on. il try to do this with deadlifts. but im sure my poor form is due to my weak legs. anyway its my power week next week so i mite do
6 sets of 1 or 2 for deadlift using 90-95% of my 1 rep max. my form is alright for the first 1 or 2 reps with heavy deadlift so this is why ive decided to try, and only do 1 or 2 reps for sets. i also read an article by some famous powerlifter who recomended sets of single reps for adding pounds onto your max.
i have come to the conclusion my journal is rather complex with lots of changes.
i am not to bothered about these changes as ive only been lifting for 1.5 years, and still want to learn as much as possible to how my body respnds to different workouts.
if im honest im not feeling as motivated as i should do, and this might be why im not sticking to things. the reasons for lack of motivation is to much college lol, and not enough money to buy supplements that i used to use such as creatine, and whey. next week ive got a task worth 200 quid so al be buying all the whey i neeed, and will hopefully be more motivated. i do believe ive got strnger since starting this journal as most lifts have improved in just 3 weeks.
bring on my power week! soz for the long boring paragrapth but i cant be arsed go bed as i have free periods in morning lol n dont need be up till 8 :30

rite heres fridays chest workout.
 
db press (bench)
55kg@9
55kg@8
55kg@8
55kg@7
 
bb bench press
60kg@14
60@9
60@9
60@8
 
bd chest fly
17.5kg@9
@8
@7
 
ok a short workout but a productice 1 2. when i started the journal i was db benching 46.5 kg times 8 now im dumbelling benching 55@ 8 so i must of got stronger. all this weekend ive been resting so i have peak energy supplies for the powerlifting this week
 

this is what im doing in my power week
day 1
squat 5*5
deadlift into shoulder press position( the clean and jerk without the shoulder press) 1*10 1*8 1*6 1*4
clean and jerk: 2*5 1*3 1*1
db shrug : 3*8
 
day 2
 
barbell bench press 1*10  1*8  1*4 1*1
deadlift into upright row 3* 6
shoulder press 3*6
bb shrug 3* 8
 
day 3
 
heavy deadlifts 6*1
clean and jerk 3*2  2*1
cheat curls 3*5
farmers walk 100 yards * 3 with dbs
 
day 4 (2 days after 3)
 
20 press ups
10 reps of light weight bench press
bench press max out 1*1
squat  max out 1*1
 
days 4s basically a max out day durning this week i will be upping my carbs, and also protein, and try to get 8 hours plus sleep a night oposed to 7 hours.
 
 
 
 
 
 

2day i did day 1 of the powerroutine minus the shrugs! my shoulders were dead at the end of the workout lol
1)squats
85kg
1)5
2)5
3)5
4)5
5)5
deadlift in shoulder press position
60kg
1)6
2)7
3)7
4)4
CLEAN AND JERK
60KG@4
60KG@4
60KG@3
60KG@1
 
OK THIS WORKOUT MAY look short but believe me it was hard especially the squats 5*5 for squats is very hard!
clean and jerk was pleasing as on my last power week 4 weeks ago i only did 50 kg * 4 so ive basically added 10 kgs on. very pleased my shoulders were killing
 

my clean and jerk isnt much of a clean and jerk theres no technique. alls i do is jerk the weight up onto my shoulders and then its basically just a shoulder press very little legs are used.

did day 2 of my power week. i went all right perhaps not as good as i would of liked
 
BENCH PRESS:
80kg@7
80@6
90kg@3
95kg@2
97.5@1
80kg@5
 
DEADLIFT INTO UPRIGHT ROW
 
50KG@9
50KG@7
55KG@6
55KG@6
55KG@6
 
SHOULDER PRESS
 
45KG@7
45KG@6
45KG@6
 
SHRUGS BARBEL
 
60KG@10
60KG@10
60KG@10
 
RIGHT  not to bad i was disapointed with the bench presses as they have not really increased since my last power week last month. i managed to press 97.5kg after 4 sets so i didnt have that much energy. i feel that on day 4 the max day i will max out at 100 kg agen so thats no increase! but maybe i will have more energy and strengh as i will not be doing any sets before the max. the deadlift into upright row is an excellent back excercise it works the whole body legs, back,shoulders,traps forearms etc. i got a real burn after the 5 sets. i was shown the excercise by my games teacher at skwl. i did more reps of this excercie than when i did it last month. the shoulder presses have also increased by 1 rep. 1 rep better than nothing i supose
now i pray to the bench press gods that i can get a max of 102.5 kgs COME ON.