Back under the bar

My training has been all over the place these last few months.  In an attempt to introduce some kind of order to a very chaotic and inconsistent activity, I’ve gone back under the bar and started lifting again.  Mehdi over at www.Stronglifts.com has a pretty cool excel spreadsheet available for free which he has called the 5 x 5 program.

I’m still using his older spreadsheet with the fewer exercises on.  After only a few weeks I’ve noticed the benefits, and I find it a really useful way to add structure to something I’ve only ever done inconsistently and with no real forethought.  Squat, bench, overhead press, deadlift and chins – all the exercises I need, and I can be in and out of the gym in 20 mins.

The only problem I have right now is that our gym has had a bit of a setback and our weights room is out of order, so I’ve had to go to a commercial gym.  It’s a leisure centre on a university campus so not quite a Globo Gym, but it still sucks.  Douchebags walking around talking on their mobiles, guys using squat racks to do their bicep curls…  If you can come up with a weights room stereotype, I’ve seen it in the short time I’ve been there.

My plan for now is to do my strength training at least twice a week (hopefully three) and mix that up with rolling, Muay Thai and the odd swim or yoga session.  Usually I say to myself I’ll do this but know deep down I’ll bail after a few weeks, but I’m keen to stick this out for the duration – positive thoughts!