Squats night last night. Had to give myself a major mental kick up the ass when I got to the gym and realised that I’d only got through 430 calories all f’ing day. What a tool.
back squats - 5200, 5220, 6255 - Last rep was a real grinder. Not happy, especially as I was able to get a fairly easy 5265 2 weeks ago. Obviously, I’ve cut too many calories.
iso leg extensions
iso leg press
dips
ab wheel
face pulls
I’m seriously considering a major de-load on the squat; dropping down to a 3x5 at 135# and working up from there. Also bumping squats up to 2x week.
No matter how much I try at the heavier weights, I can feel my left side taking over in the lift.
Mmmmmm, taco! Old photo, 1 knee minus patella!
Sooooo . . . . Ramadan started here yesterday. Which means that, in the interest of ethnic and religious tolerance. . . there is a $400 fine and 1-month jail time for [u]anyone[/u] caught eating or drinking in public during daylight hours. This includes drinking water in the gym. Next year I will be saving up my holidays to escape this shithole at Ramadan.
Off to the gym today, so will have to see how much the not-allowed-to-drink thing affects my workout. I’m hoping if I sneak in plenty of fluids before-hand that I should be OK.
Not as bad as I had imagined, tbh.
OHP - 3x90, 3100, 10110
Chins
PJR pullovers
Pinwheel curls
tricep pulldowns (drop set)
bicep curls (machine drop set)
cable lateral raises (from behind the back)
face pulls
Ran out of steam tonight, lack of water sent me a bit light-headed.
Deadlifts - 3230, 3265, 8300
iso Leg extensions, 3 second hold at the top - 510 @ 17.5 (fuck knows what units they use, but its up from 512 @ 15 last week!)
iso leg press - 510 @ 45kg each side (up from 510 @ 40)
dips - 56 @ bw
HS iso low row
foam rolling. I love my rumble roller.
My bench press is terrible. I mean that in a “hopelessly weak and girly terrible” kind of way. My form feels solid right up until I go over 80kg then it all seems to go to shit. Unlike squats and deads where I can feel myself getting towards failure, BP failure just appears from nowhere with no more than 1 or 2 reps warning.
That said, I started doing dumbbell presses on a low incline (as assistance work) today and really felt it in my shoulders and forearms, so will be doing these more often for sure.
Bench - 3155, 3175, 5200
Close grip bench
Back to normal bench - 6175 (just because)
Chins 510 @ bw-40 (kg I think, but don’t know for sure. Each rep done from dead hang)
DB press 510 @ 40
Bent over row (with chest pad)
PJR pullovers
tricep pulldown drop-set
I’m a lot weaker than I once was. I’ll get back to where I was, then leave my old PRs standing.
Weigh in day today. I’ve been pretty consistent this last 2 weeks, limiting myself to 1800 calories per day.
I’ve managed to put on a whole single pound of weight pre-poop. I’m not particularly happy with that, but then I measured my waist (around the navel) and found that I’ve lost 3/4" there. Happy days.
Felt great today, squats were a breeze - I even had one or two left in the tank.
Squats - 3185, 3210, 8240
iso leg extension - 512 @ 17.5 (yay!)
iso leg press - 510 @ 50kg each side (another increase)
DB flat bench (still pissed off about yesterdays benching!) - 850, 855, 860, 865, 870 (+2 assisted)
pinwheel curls
EZ preacher curl (overhand grip)
Face pulls
OHP - 590, 3100, 12110 - pretty happy at this
DB seated shoulder press - 1025 1035, 1040, 1045, 1045
BW pull-ups (5/3/2/2/1) - definitely need to be working on these more, I think.
Seated cable rows
Bent over rows (barbell)
Skull-crushers
cable PJR drop-set (oooh, this hurt!)
Behind-the-back cable lateral delt raise thingumabobs.
Not a bad session, but feeling light-headed due to mild dehydration and no water at the gym. I’ll be glad when Ramadan is over.
Deadlift day today, usually my favourite. Today I forgot my chalk and made the mistake of doing 5x10 on the hypers before lifting (the only bar available was taken). Added to the fact that the bar was greasy as hell, it sucked.
DL - 5240, 3285, 1310. By this point my lower back had a ridiculous pump going on and was sore as hell!
DB bench press
Dead-hang pull ups * BW - 3, 3, 3, 2, 3 (using a trainer on my iPod to get me to 20+ in theory!)
decline Skull-crushers - 510 @ 75 followed by a drop-set on the cable pullover and a drop-set on the rope pulldown to fry my triceps completely.
Cable rows - 4*10 @ 120
Shitty session really, and very very very thirsty. Still no water allowed in the gym due to Ramadan (and I’m not even Muslim).
Bench day, disappointed that my bench hasn’t moved, though my form feels a lot more solid. I just wish people would stop spotting me when I don’t want them to touch the bar!
Bench - 5155, 3175, 5200, 15135 - no improvement 
Not counting the assisted reps. Added in the last set just to try and get a better ‘feel’ in the movement.
DB flies - 510 @ 35#
HS high press (cable) 510 immediately followed by
cable pullover dropset, and
tricep pulldown dropset
seated cable row (V-handle) - 510
Preacher curls - 510
45* hypers - 5*10 holding a 10# plate to my chest
Got my 2.5 Ib plates through the post today, so using the weights as calculated (per 5/3/1 percentages), rather than rounding up.
Squats - 5200, 3225, 10250 - VERY happy with this progress
Leg extension - 58 @ 26 per leg
SLDL - 310 @ 135 - only went for 30 reps as I haven’t done these in a long time, will build up the volume over the next week
Kneeling glute isolator machine thing - 510 - thought I’d try this out just for the hell of it, actually was pleasantly surprised at the feel. It’s one of those kneeling ones where you push up and back on a platform behind you.
Iso leg press - 5*10 @ 50kg each leg.
Cut the session short as started getting a major dehydration headache. It doesn’t help that I tend to sweat like a fat chick in a cake shop whenever I exercise. The sooner Ramadan is over, the better.
10 days before I go on holiday and see the family for the first time in 4 months! (6 months for Mom and teh grandparents!). I’ve decided to get min. 8 sessions in before I go on leave, so have hopped straight to the 3/3/3 section of the next cycle, just to see how it plays out.
OHP - 390, 3100, 12110 - didn’t count the last rep (13) as it was a bit of a grind, with one side going up quicker than the other.
BW pull-ups - 4/4/4/3/3/2
Seated row (cable) - 510 @ 130#
Skullcrushers - 310 @ 85#
Rear-delt flies (machine) - 510 @ 40#
Lateral raises (machine) - starting from 10# going down the weight stack, aiming for 10 reps. Once I couldn’t get more than 5 reps, drop-set back down to 10#.
Face-pulls - 5*10 (not sure about the weight, I do these as i find it helps my posture after a day of stooping over a computer desk).
Got into a musical routine now, travel to the gym today was accompanied by Smack My Bitch Up (Prodigy), Lemon (Scars of Life) and Meet the Creeper (Rob Zombie).
Deadlifts - 3230, 3265, 8295 - felt good!
Leg extensions - 510 @ 26# / leg - had to stop/start on the last 2 sets to make sure I hit the full reps on my right leg
Glute iso - 510 @ 60#, stepping this up soon. Interesting to find that my right glute is more responsive / stronger than my left, presumably it has taken to compensating for the lack in quad strength.
Iso leg press - 510 @ 55kg / leg - after the glute isos, realised that YES my right glute is doing most of, if not ALL of the work.
45-degree hypers - 510 with a 10# plate
BW wide(ish) grip pull-ups - 4/4/4/3/3
EZ preacher curls - 510 @ 45# - next bar up is 55# so I’ll aim to hit 56 or 58 next time
Cable curl drop set
30 minutes light cardio on the stationary bike, relaxing to Madeleine Peyroux, Duffy, Adele and Katie Mehlua on shuffle. Yes, my music tastes are somewhat broad.
1 month comparison. Not a huge difference, but manboobs seem to be reducing slightly.
Scale weight shot up by 5# when I upped the volume initially, but has now come back down again. Waist measurement around the navel is currently 37" down from 40.5" 9 weeks ago.
Next update will be in 2 months time, seeing as I doubt I will get to train much whilst on holiday; a certain 3 year-old is getting very excited about having her Daddy home again 
It’s been 4 months since I’ve seen my wife and daughter - Skype doesn’t count, as half the time it makes them look like they’re made of lego.
Bench day today. Was supposed to be yesterday, but the gym was shut due to some special prayers at the nearby mosque. Ho hum.
Todays driving music was some good ol’Pantera - “Mouth for War” and “5 Minutes Alone”
Bench - 3160, 3180, 6205
BW pullups - 4/5/3/3/3/2
DB chest flies - 510 @ 40
seated cable row - 510 @ 140
Incline DB press - 410 @ 50 (over-estimated here, looks like I need to drop to 45s to go 510)
Lat pull-downs (wide V-handle) - 510 @ 54kg
Ab wheel roll-outs - 3*10
Cable pullover dropset, followed by tricep pulldown dropset to finish off
No cardio today, in desperate need of water.
