6 March 2017
Finally able to do my squat without pain.
Was able to complete all of them with no problem.

For the first time I stalled from my bench press.
Did my first "roll of shame" because I have no spotter.
The rep range are pitiful though, 2,2,2,1,1 at 42.5kg.
Will repeat the same weight next time.

Stalled on my row too.
Guess I'm all exhausted from the previous exercises.
I can't get the form right during those two sets where I manage to complete all 5 reps.
I rounded my back in all the reps, guess I will be repeating the weight too.

Assisted deadlift is good.
Started to get used to the form and the feeling of performing it properly.
Hopefully I can still manage with proper form on my real deadlift day.

Didn't expect I would be able to complete all the reps for my assisted dip.
Looking forward for a bigger arms in the future

Workout A
Warm-up sets:
Squat
2x5x20kg
1x3x40kg
Bench Press
2x5x20kg
1x3x30kg
Bent over row
1x5x40kg

Workout sets:
Squat
5x5x55kg
Bench Press
5x2/2/2/1/1x42.5kg
Bent over Row
5x5/5/3/4/4x50kg
Deadlift
3x5x40kg
Assisted dip
3x10x-40kg

Squat 55KG


Bench Press 42.5KG


Bent over row 50KG


Deadlift 40KG

For bench, if you're stalling that badly on that weight, I'd suggest lowering it to 40kg and do 25 reps. Doesn't matter how many sets, as long as you get 25 reps total. So you can do something like, 8x3, with last set being 4 reps. Get the volume in. That's how you grow your bench press. Keep doing that that until you can comfortably get 5x5 before increasing the weight.

I actually did squeeze my ass there. I think it's not noticable in video

The program call for repeating the same weight and if I fail three time then I deload by 10 percent and work my way up again. Shouldn't I be following the program's way to deal with stalling?

It's one of the things I don't agree with SL 5x5 and Mehdi. His program is brute forcing the strength gains instead of slowly building a solid base foundation. Bench press requires a different approach, it's not a squat, or a deadlift. To build a base you gotta do volume. Deloading over and over again will not get you anywhere, that's what I learned after 2-3 months of SL. I've been where you are right now and continued to pound on the same weight, deload, go up and fail again, then deload again, and getting stuck. My suggestion is what I would have personally done differently.

Next video show us how u f**k the barbell. Lol

Thanks bro for the advice. Getting stuck at bench for a while now. Volume over strength based training it is.

Make sense, guess I will give your method a try next time

8 March 2017
My squat are progressing, though it still feels tiring as hell on each sets and I have to take more than 3 minutes rest in between.
Able to perform all reps with good form nonetheless.
Will be squatting my body weight on Friday <3

Overhead press are stalling again, seriously probably due to being fatigued after my squat.
Maybe next session I will attempt to press before I squat and see how it goes...

Romanian deadlift I think it is good enough. I superset it in between my overhead press because I'm running out of times.

Deadlift are not as good as I hoped for.
On rep 4 and 5 I didn't drop my hip low enough.
I'm not sure if this is acceptable form or should I repeat the weight next time?
Let me know, guys

Able to finish all assisted chin up sets this time.
Will start to decrease the assisted weight next time.
Looking forward for bigger bicep

Workout B
Warm-up sets:
Squat
2x5x20kg
1x3x40kg
Overhead press
2x5x20kg

Workout sets:
Squat
5x5x57.5kg
Overhead Press
5x2/3/2/2/2x35kg
Romanian deadlift
3x5x20kg
Deadlift
1x5x55kg
Assisted chin up
3x10x-50kg


Squat 57.5KG


Overhead Press 35KG


Romanian deadlift 20KG


Deadlift 55KG


This post has been edited by RyoKenzaki: Mar 9 2017, 03:02 PM

It looks like u rounded ur back on the way up too in addition to on the way down. Yeah, u didnt sit low enough during the initiation

And about ur back rounding up on the way down, i think the root problem is that u dont push ur hip back enough to allow the bar to move past ur knees without hitting them? U're essentially lowering the bar with ur knees, therefore u will hit them and have to move the bar slightly to avoid that, losing tightness in the process. If u dont hit ur knees on the way up, u shouldnt hit them on the way down?

Just my observation and opinion. I still have my own problem of rounding up upper back, so dont take my words for it

My man Ryo, bro. You gotta change them shoes man. Those are running shoes. They're not meant for lifting heavy ass weights. I can see on the squats where the heel compressed a bit. Wear Converse Chucks instead, or something similar. I personally wear Admiral futsal shoes or an Everlast Chucks imitation. One day if you decide to get serious with lifting you can get a pair of squat shoes, but those are expensive as hell.

For squats, your balance is a bit off, or your ankles aren't mobile enough. I say that because your heels are rising out of the hole on every rep. That should never happen. Keep the center of mass directly on top of your mid foot, near the base of your ankles there. Also, like I said above, change your shoes.

For deadlift, I can't really judge your rounding. Get a tripod or record yourself from farther away. Looks ok IMO, definitely need more practice in setup and initiation but nothing too glaringly bad. Keep at it you'll get it soon enough.

Ah I just read this after my workout.
You are probably right but I can't get the feeling of how to reverse it yet.
Guess I will practice more at home using broom stick.
I'm really terrible at forms tbh....

Thank you for your advice, will get a flat shoe soon.
I didn't even realize it until you mentioned.
I always thought it's because my core isn't strong enough to support the weight but I guess your suggestion is also a possibility.
Does lifting with bare foot helps before I get my shoes?

There are a lot of mixed opinions about barefoot squatting and deadlifting. Some are for it, some are against it. Most gyms don't allow it though. I'd say try it if you're comfortable with it. If it hurts the arch of your feet then don't do it.

I think I will stick to my current shoe until I get to buy a new one.
I did a brief online shopping survey and noticed that all of those sneaker are not completely flat, the front part are always slightly elevated.
Is that alright?

10 March 2017
Finally squatting my own body weight.
Tiring as usual, I think I will stall on my squat soon

As for bench, I tried Npad's method and use 40kg to complete 25 total reps.
Never expect that I couldn't do 5x5 because it was quite easy for me to complete it when I was doing the same weight last time.
I ended up doing 8 sets in total
As usual, I'm suspecting it's because I'm exhausted from my squat because the previous session I did not do squat and went to bench right away and can do it with not much struggle.
During my later sets I can't even unrack the weight and need to ask my friends to help me with it
Next time I will try to do squat last and see how it affect my other lifts

Bent over row is still terrible, the weight is just too much for me.
Rounded my back so much and I even lost balance on the last rep.
Will repeat same weight next time, probably gonna deload soon

Deadlift I think I rounded my back a lil bit this time...
Ah well, probably exhausted as I was trying to complete each exercises ASAP because of time restrain...

Dip is pretty tough but still manage to complete it all with longer rest in between.

Workout A
Warm-up sets:
Squat
2x5x20kg
1x5x40kg
1x3x50kg
Bench Press
2x5x20kg
1x3x30kg
Bent over row
1x5x40kg

Workout sets:
Squat
5x5x60kg
Bench Press
5x5/3/4/3/2/3/3/2x40kg
Bent over Row
5x5/4/4/3/2x50kg
Deadlift
3x5x40kg
Assisted dip
3x10x-35kg

Squat 60KG


Bench Press 40KG


Bent over row 50KG


Deadlift 40KG


This post has been edited by RyoKenzaki: Mar 12 2017, 08:43 PM

Get some cheap ass converse style flat shoes. Im using asadi school shoe lol. Barefoot or with socks depends on yr gym flooring. Some r epoxy and some carpeted, which r quite slippery. U wanna get a good grip on the floor for such exercise

Agreed. I'm still rocking my RM50 Everlast (Converse Chucks style flat shoes) for deadlift and my RM25 Admiral futsal shoes for squats.

13 March 2017
So I tried to do my overhead press first to see if my squat are affecting my performance...
Nope, still the same fail reps although it's slightly better than the previous session...
Next session would be my final try, if still fail then I would have my first official deload

As for squat, it's just as fatiguing as usual but still manage to finish it.
The one shown in the video are my last set so I'm really pushing all out and form are breaking on the last set.

Not much to say about my Romanian deadlift, since I'm not increasing the weight because I'm just treating it as my warm up sets.

Deadlift, finally deadlifting my body weight.
I followed 5 ques in this session and I think it works well.
1. Place bar at the mid foot aka 1inch away from shin
2. Bend down and grab the bar on shoulder width
3. Bring my chest up and high
4. Push my way up
5. Squeeze my glute

My shoulder did not go over the bar in the first rep, causing me to lose balance.
The negative is still weird though, looks like my hips are still not in the optimum position. Will try to do it better next time

Chin up is ok. Nothing much to say about it.


Workout B
Warm-up sets:
Overhead press
2x5x20kg
Squat
2x5x20kg
1x5x40kg
1x3x52.5kg

Workout sets:
Overhead Press
5x4/3/3/3/3x35kg
Squat
5x5x62.5kg
Romanian deadlift
3x5x20kg
Deadlift
1x5x60kg
Assisted chin up
3x10x-45kg

Overhead Press 35KG


Squat 62.5KG


Romanian deadlift 20KG


Deadlift 60KG


This post has been edited by RyoKenzaki: Mar 23 2017, 12:45 PM

I can only buy it at weekend :v
All the shop already close by the time I got home from work, sadly
I didn't try barefoot yesterday, forgot about it

17 March 2017
Today I started my workout with bench press first and sure enough I can perform better if I do it before my squat.
Able to press 40kg at 5x5 without problem with 3minutes rest in between.
Hopefully next session I will be able to break through 42.5kg.
Will definitely start by doing bench first from today onwards.

Power rack are occupied when I finish my bench so I continue doing my row first.
I manage to do 5 reps but honestly I am not lifting the bar high enough especially on the last rep on every sets.
I don't think I should progress the weight so I will deload 10% next time because this is the third time I failed on this weight.

Well, power rack are still in used so I do my deadlift first.
Following the previous ques, I think I performed well enough.
During the second sets when I try to touch the bar with my shin after placing the bar on top of my mid foot, I noticed that I have to bend forward so much and it doesn't seems right.
Sure enough, I noticed that the bar is bended

Finally I'm able to do my squat and it's a hell to do it after deadlift (Even though it's just light weight deadlift)
I'm already feeling it on my first warmup set.
Still able to do it with enough rest, though every sets really squeezed the shit out of me.
I did it barefoot and I'm liking it.

Able to finish my dip too but my right knee always lifted up from the platform when doing it, anyone know how to fix it?

Workout A
Warm-up sets:
Bench Press
2x5x20kg
1x3x30kg
Bent over row
1x5x40kg
Squat
2x5x20kg
1x5x40kg
1x3x52.5kg

Workout sets:
Bench Press
5x5x40kg
Bent over Row
5x5x50kg
Deadlift
3x5x40kg
Squat
5x5x65kg
Assisted dip
3x10x-30kg

Bench Press 40KG


Bent over row 50KG


Deadlift 40KG


Squat 65KG

Form is looking good my man. Good job on grinding that last 2 reps on the squats. Depth is questionable but it doesn't matter. You did good. That's what separates strong people and whiny people. Shit is supposed to be difficult. Deadlift looking pretty light too. Like too easy for you. One thing I'd comment is your bench press setup. You're setting up too far from the barbell. The barbell has to travel so far to get to the starting position. I would advise going back further on the bench. My personal preference with the bench is having the bar right above my nose or eyes. Basically right on top of my face.