tiger04’s workout journal

Have been on 5×5 for ~2 mos. I have been enjoying my progress; the routine; number of workout days gets tedious. Any advice? Want to take some time off; my body says one thing; the mind says another. What should I do? Thanks!

Having a difficult time setting my goals. I know what I want to accomplish; gauging my progress has been difficult. Have been doing bodyweight workouts for about 2 mos. hings are moving along smoothly. Legs have seen some growth esp. in the quads, chest and upper back. Any advice or suggestions?

Still liffting here. Just changing my routine ftm. Nothing much going on here. Just doing bodyweight (BW) routines until I can get back to the gym. Seeing progress in the pecs. Wanted to know should I contine with the pushups. Been doing regular and inv. pushups. The pecs are growing. As for the back, I do supermans; I hit the legs by doing squats and lunges. Does anyone have ne advice on whether I should stick with my current routine or change; if I change, ne ideas on what I should and how I go about doing so? Keep in mind I train at home without weights (just using my own weight).

Decided to BB BP today. Took a bit of prodding and whatnot. Plus, the benches were all in use. We only have three benches for flat bench for BBs; one for incline. I had to wait for a bench. In doing so, this is what I did.

Machine Shoulder Military Press 2×6x90; 2×6x100
Machine Chest Press 2×6x100; 2×6x110
BB BP 1×5x45;1×3x65;1×6x65;1×5x65
Machine Incl. BP 3×5x60
Pec Dec 2×5x110; 1×3x140
DB Hammer Curls 1×8x25;2×8x30
DB Shrugs 2×10x35;2×10x45
Hanging Leg Raises 2×10x170
Bicycle Kicks 2×10x170

My comments:

Two things, no power from the base, legs, shoulders. Second, not sure where to place the bar when benching. Let me give more detail about this one. I mean that I don’t put the bar in the same place twice when benching. First time out, I go mid-chest; next few times I go just below the pecs. Also, think I just maybe too tall for BB BP.
Any advice, comments, suggestions?

Managed to do four sets today, on all lifts exc. one, one arm rows. I did four sets on the following exercises in no order, lat pulldowns: 90×6, 100×6,110×6; 120×6, military press: 90×6, 100×6, 110×6; 120×6, one armed rows, 50×6, 60×8, 60×4(was going for 6 reps; couldn’t seem to get them last few out); 45×8(was a burn out set), rear delts 2×90x6, 100×6, 110×5.
Also, did ab crunches, 2 sets of 90×6; 100×8.

My thoughts on the workout:
Things went better than expected. Don’t know where I found that extra energy; man, did it help! As for the workout, it couldn’t have gone better, imo! The military press was shocking, didn’t think I could manage the weight I did. Went hard; pushed that weight, even though my shoulders said otherwise. Mind you I did this after hitting the rear delts. My arms and shoulders felt dead, lol!

The one armed rows went ok; it didn’t seem as though I rlly hit the back muscle like I would if I had of done seated rows. Just my opinion though! Next week, think I will try to go back to seated rows; Idk b/c of time constraints and classes. Might take next wek off. We’ll see! My back felt as though it got punished, BIG TIME! Felt as though the rear delts rlly hit the lats hard esp. as I upped the weight and changed the angle of the grip on the machine.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions for change, etc.?

Have been lifting for about a year. Making decent progress, nothing to write home about. My chest progression sucks! The rest of my body is growing like a weed; my chest is lagging. Dnt know what to do. I have tried to up the reps; have changed the order of my routine around. About to give up on my chest b/c idk what else to do. Btw, my current routine is flat bench,  incl. and dips (when needed), machine bench press, cable flies and pec dec. My sets usually average around 12. My reps are mid-range. Beginning to think I need to up the rep rnage and lower the sets. Also,  have been at 45 lbs. DBs for a while. Want to try 55 lbs.; I might be a little out of my league. My next goal is 50. Was wondering should I skip the 50 lbs. and go sraight to 55; does anyone have any ideas, suggestions, comments, etc.?

Feel as though I need to vent. This thing called "weight gain" is a pain, imo! It feel as though I am doing everything right imo; the results are slow in coming. I know people say it takes time; how much is the question. NO, I am not looking for a fast way to get this done. It seems as though the results are not equaling the work that I am putting in. I go to the gym twice a week. Go hard every time out. The muscle gains are evident. The weight is another story!

On top of that, I try to manage my diet to the best of my ability. I try to get the recommended protein/carbs/fats. This is easier said than done. My issue seems to be that I am taking in more carbs and fats than protein. Don’t know why this is, when most of my protein comes from chicken, fish, pb, peanuts and other forms of protein. Is there something that I am doing wrong? For those who are wondering, no I don’t take any supplementation. I stopped that a while back. I have tried protein shakes; it did nothing but give me either gas or a case of the - - - -s. The only thing that seemed to help was the creatine; I have been off of that now for ~ 2-3 mos. Almost feel as though or I have given some thought as to going back on it. Does anyone else ever feel this way? Any thoughts, suggestions, comments, etc.?

Debating whether I should do the following: take the next few weeks off, cut back on going heavy, change the rep/set scheme or let my body rest or go light/semi-heavy to maintain my gains.Any suggestions, advice, etc.? Btw, haven’t been feeling msyelf lately. I have been having a hard time getting to get the gym; at times, feel as though I could go heavier; choose not to. Does/has ne1 ever felt this way? If som what did you do? Thanks for the help!

Just wanted those to know who constantly check my page and comment me. I am still at it! Been going hard stats are going up; progress is being made. The amount of weight being moved is beginning to scare me, lol! You would have to understand my thought process about lifting to understand that statement. Think I might have found something to even out my pecs. Just recently added decline cable crossovers to my routine. On occasion, I do deads every so often. Any advice, suggestions, comments, etc.?

Decided to do a combined workout, mainly upper body. I did back and chest. What a workout. I felt whipped when finished. Dnt know if I would have been able to manage another set or rep, lol! I did manage to get in three sets on the seated row machine. Also, used a different grip than usual, today, I used a V-grip.Really seemed to hit the back hard; in a different way than before.  Next, I used the rear delt machine for ~2 sets. I used a moderately heavy weight for this exercise; I changed the hand position for more umph. So to speak! Then for the chest, I used the vertical chest press.I managed 4 sets; I did two drop sets. I plan to finish up my chest routine later with some pushups. Any advice, comments, or suggestions, etc.?