4/27 Wednesday
Had another 20 minute opportunity before leaving the house this morning.
Tabata KB goblet squats 50lb:
11, 11, 10, 10, 9, 8, 8, 8. I think 2 more reps than yesterday but it floored me.
Bench press up to 1x225. I have more in me for sure, but that has to wait until i am on a hood bench with a spotter.
C&p 5x135. Was easy enough. Time to go.
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4/28 Thursday
Squat day.
Again, plan was to double 275, try to double 285 and 295. Just like last time though - which I wrote off to an “off day” - the 275 was hard, the 285 first rep was OK but the second rep was insufficient depth.
For penance I kept hitting 275 until I could only do singles, then kept repping as I removed weights one small plate at a time. By the time it was just 135 I did a few front squats with it.
DB rows 80lbs, some x some
Strict press 5x1x135
DB bench press 3x6 80lbs, only got 5 on the last set
Some decline situps
Leg extensions to death
Introspective monologue and requests for advice incoming. I’m frankly disappointed with how the past 12 weeks have gone, I feel at this moment like I put a TON of work in, put a bunch of weight on, made myself miserable, and got very little reward for it. In fact I got 275x4 a couple weeks ago and now 275x2 is the best I can do? WTF!
There are a lot of factors at play and I’ll write about them when I have time. I’m appreciative of all the advice and hope that many of you offer, and I’ll welcome it. No time to write at the moment.
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Weren’t you just sick last week ? Dude give yourself a break, every session wont be a PR.
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Ya, I agree.
Another issue is that those are objectively heavy weights for your right now, and in my experience doing maximal singles and doubles don’t really help that much.
Long introspective rant to follow.
Squat plan over the next few weeks is TBD, but a few things I’m pretty certain about:
a) I’m scared of going into the hole with heavy weights. Yesterdays squats were nearly paused, just above parallel, whereas if I’d had confidence I could have dropped into the hole, got depth, then maybe some rebound out. I can do that with 225 no sweat but at 275+ it’s a mental block.
b) To fight that fear, a couple ideas: 1. Do walkouts with 315+. Get used to how it feels. I’ve literally never done a walkout except to actually squat, so this might be interesting. 2. Do singles at 275 once per week for at least a couple weeks. I can hit 275x1 even on a bad day. I believe more practice will acclimate me better.
c) I have A LOT going on as @simo74 pointed out. Last week, not only was I sick (diarhea for days), I had a nasty bite on my foot, we had a midnight ER trip with the baby, I had a flat tire, took 2 days off work to take various kids to doctors for various reasons… I have a serious day job, I have a substantial side business (over 10K last year, looks over 10K this year too) which requires lots of extra thought and effort, and my youngest is turning 1 in a few days.
In the past 12 months sleep has been hard to get, mornings are centered around taking a baby shift so wife can sleep, evenings are centered around either getting the baby to sleep or being available so my wife can finally relax with me at the end of the day. With all this on the plate, it’s a wonder I’ve even kept up the effort, and progress is nearly miraculous.
d) All that said, I really have made progress over the last few weeks. Below those maximal weights, I can squat with much more confidence and better depth than before. I think my bench has gone up. I can manhandle the 200lb sandbag (it still wants to kill me, but hey…) 135 strict overhead is not a big deal any more. 225 bench isn’t a big deal any more. And I haven’t put much effort into those. So this has not been a waste of training time.
e) I hate eating. I can’t stand my eggs in the morning. Shoveling more meat, more meat is getting difficult. My belly is kinda fat right now and I’m not a fan of that. I’ve swallowed my ego and allowed it to grow because it’s what I’m supposed to do but at this point I’m not sure. I could easily lose 10lbs in the next 3 weeks and kinda want to. I’ve been drinking “get big” drinks and if I just cut those out I’d probably not maintain weight. (Egg whites, heavy whipping cream, almond milk in equal parts)
f) I’m not sure what I should be doing training-wise for the next few weeks. Am open to suggestion. SuperSquats has been suggested multiple times and I’m sure it would have great effects, but I honestly don’t think I’m at a place in life at this moment where I can reliably eat that much, or have enough mental drive to do widowmakers with 5lbs more every session. Maybe if I started at 135lbs LOL. but that’s kinda cheating right?
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No. Once you make it through from that starting point you start a little higher next time with confidence because you’ve done it before. Rinse and repeat.
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I would do 5/3/1, there’s a lot you can do.
Or ya could do Super Squats. The abbreviated version or the regular version, whatever floats your boat I guess.
Also, 135 lbs would probably be a good starting weight for you given how much you squat. It wouldn’t be cheating because you start with moderate weight in the beginning.
You could also just try and force yourself to eat
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I appreciate all this. But to be clear,
I have been doing this with a vengeance for several weeks. I’m just bitching about it because it’s getting old haha. If I weren’t forcing myself to eat I’d be 20lbs lighter.
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Keep eating like a pig, run Super Squats, then after the 6 weeks are up, go on one of those diet breaks @T3hPwnisher talks about. Just an idea but anything else can work tbh.
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I felt the same way for a while.
Gaining weight will give you the opportunity to put on muscle and get stronger but the work you do dictates where the extra calories are put. Eating a huge surplus should allow you to add a shitload of volune and still be able to recover, if you’re hitting a medium volume and intensity 3x a week program you don’t necessarily need a huge surplus just due to not taxing your body a whole lot. Sure, the excess calories ensure you will recover, but eating beyond recovery will just end up as excess weight gain.
It’s definitely tough to walk that fine line of eating to recover… but not too much, and not too little. That might be why I think deepwater is an ideal program. It allows you to just mainline food and work your ass off without having to even think about eating “too much”.
Have you ever tried squatting 315? I see you’ve hit 295 many times, and hit 285 a few days ago. You’re pretty much there. If I were you, and keep in mind I’m a stupid idiot, I’d just go for it to get over that mental barrier. Even if you cut the rep short it shows you can go down with it and come back up, then next time just sink it deeper.
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There is no way you are weaker than you where 15 days ago
So - the metal side if something I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. There is little chance you can do the volume you can - with out being able to push on through to bigger weights. Well that is my opinion.
It is also telling that this was the FIRST comment you made. It is also the only one to get a dedicated bullet point for an answer.
When I hit this issue - I was left scratching my head. I took the weight back down and did a REALLY simple 5 week lead up.
So W1 = max reps with 230
W2 = 240
W3 = 250
W4 = 260
W5 = 270
W6 = 280.
Each week is “just” a 10lb increase. Fight hard for each rep. If you do 8 reps with 230 - then aim for 8 with 240. And then 250. Soon enough your doing 6 reps with 260, 6 with 270 and then 5 with 280.
This is how I’d attack this.
FYI - no idea how the weights go up with lb’s. So these are all guesses. I’m not sure if 250lb is an easy weight to load or not.
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I am going to come back to this later when I have a little more time. But my quick response is that you need to get this 315 out of your head. Just set up a simple 4-6 week strength block and get in the reps you are told to do in the program. The. Rinse and repeat and you will get stronger.
@wiseman83 May know better than me but the other option maybe to run a proper peak block.
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Saturday, 4/30. Felt shitty and groggy, so rat3than the heavy sandbag i did something light and fast
135lb.
10 rounds, EMOM
-power clean
-3x front squats
-power clean again
-push press
Mile walk with the family and an hour of yardwork.
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Here’s a couple older but still awesome super heavy-leaded recipes if you think something new might help the eating struggle:
If you really don’t want to chew, I can help you come up with a shake that maybe you could, dare I say “enjoy” - if you’d like too. Maybe we can make this less “painful” for ya! lol
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@QuadQueen thanks for the recipe suggestions.
Perhaps if I put some effort into my eggs I’d find them easier to eat - I just fry a few up in olive oil, a little salt and paprika, and try to eat them as quickly as possible. Always in a hurry and it’s never something I look forward to. I’ve been away from bacon for a while, maybe that’s the missing factor! I’ll tag you if I try this. Re: the wagon wheels, well I’m a big sweet potato fan so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to add some extra stuff in there would it? Thank you, again.
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5/2/2022, Monday
Squat:
4x225
4x245
4x265
1x275
3 walkouts with 315, turns out it’s not so monstrous after all 
Left hamstring feels injured, definitely felt it at the bottom of every squat.
Bench press:
4x185
4x195
4x205
Had a spotter the last two sets, which was great. Didn’t even want an unrack, just the security/confidence of knowing I’m not going to die.
3x8 pullups, SS with the bench.
BSS, 2x5 each side.
1x20 RDL 135 to get blood into my injured hamstring, which now actually hurts. Was just a twinge while squatting, worse now.
Weighted in at 199.8 just after this.
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How did these 2 sets feel ?
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They were fine. My cramping hamstring made the bottom position feel a bit dicey, but i think depth was there, brace was good. Knees stayed out.
5/3/2022 Tuesday
Bodybuilding while watching my now-one-year-old in the garage, early morning:
Circuit:
Upright rows, 4x12x(65?)
EZ bar curls, 4x8x(65?)
Lying leg curls, 4x20x35 (getting some blood flow to this niggle)
Circuit:
Strict press, 4x8x95
Ab rollouts, 4x4
Circuit:
Lateral raise, 3x?x15s
Pec flye, 3x?x20s
Tried to put a bit more effort into breakfast per @QuadQueen . No veggies to put in there but I did add olive oil and cheese to my eggs, and whipped them up like an omelet. Topped with salsa. More palatable? Perhaps. But I ended up eating on the way to work (do not recommend) and was still late, so perhaps shouldn’t have put the extra few seconds into breakfast haha!
Also started a pot roast for tonight, that’s gonna be good.
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So have you decided what the next training block looks like ?
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