The results were slightly disappointing, but not surprising. I could feel my clothes getting tighter over the last year or so. I don’t think I look terrible (with all the squats and deadlifts, I carry a lot of weight in my legs, and my upper chest and back are still thicker than my middle), but I have much more weight around the midsection than I used to and that doesn’t thrill me.
The good news is, now I know, and I think something as simple as a daily weigh-in will turn this ship around pretty quickly. Knowing my personality, I respond to data, and simply tracking my daily weight will almost assuredly nudge me in the direction of a few better dietary decisions that should lead to a better outcome. Back in the early days of this log, I was pulling in the 500’s at a bodyweight of 220ish, and I know that’s achievable with sounder food choices and working a bit more NEPA into the day (park-and-walk will be hugely helpful). The journey begins today, and I’ll use the same approach I have to gaining strength - small changes over time lead to results. A modest target of losing 1 pound/week (absolutely achievable with basic tracking and decent choices) will have me into the 230’s by summer and the 220’s by fall. Let’s do this.
I can understand if it’s not part of the plan, but if you ever want to take the little ones out for a few laps around the lake and whatnot, I’m usually up for that, and Connall can run for ever.
Argh. On the fourth pull at 425 I felt a pop/catch in my back and some slight pain. Now, the truth is, I’ve been here before - this seems to happen about once a year - so this might actually be a blessing in disguise. My back hasn’t felt quite right for a few weeks and maybe it just needed this to finally let go of whatever screwy tension it was holding onto. I’ll look back in my log to see how I have recovered from it before but if I’m remembering correctly it’s usually just been something like “keep lifting but take it easy on the weights for a week or two and it works itself out” - so here’s hoping this is the small step back that gets me back to full working order.
Looked back in my log and the last time I remember this specific feeling in my back was November 18, 2017. Looks like at that time about two weeks of light deadlift workouts had me back in some semblance of working order. That may be the plan depending on how it feels when I wake up tomorrow.
Will follow the road map that I did last time I was recovering from this. It’s odd, my back feels fine in some positions but in certain angles it’s a killer. I wouldn’t dare try a max deadlift right now but it actually felt fine on the upward motion of the pull - I had to be ginger going back down though. I’ve got a plan for the next few days to work back into order. Things went pretty well in the November 2017 recovery from the same thing (go read there if interested) - should go fine this time as well. I also think this may be a “good” thing - based on absolutely no knowledge of physiology, of course, just a weird feeling that maybe whatever had been making my back feel funky for the last few weeks may have needed this “pop” to happen so it will resolve, and once the inflammation settles down from whatever just happened I’ll feel back to normal. At least I’m gonna tell myself that!
Very encouraged for being just two days post tweak. I decided ahead of time that 305 would be the max working weight for today out of an abundance of caution & and while it’s still mildly tender, this was very encouraging overall.
Also: not shocking announcement here, but I am temporarily tabling the pursuit of a 700 deadlift while I try to lean out in pursuit of the healthier physique I once had. Low-keying this, but my wife is also pregnant with our second child, and I know the hell an infant plays on sleep and recovery, so I think I’ll be doing well to keep my deadlift in the 500’s while I stabilize my bodyweight in the 220ish range where I feel and look better. I’m not permanently abandoning 700 as a long term goal, but for the summer I’m shooting more for “515-plus at a leaner 220” and will work from there.
I’ve been weighing myself daily, but don’t feel the need to log every one here. I’ll give an update once a week or so. I’m at 255.6, so down three pounds from the first weigh-in. The trend has been consistently in the right direction too - not just one big drop - so I’m doing the right things food-wise so far. As a short term goal, I’d like to be 249 by the end of February.
Healing slowly but better each day. Plan for the next week is to repeat this exact workout and nudge the weight for the last rep up 5 pounds a day until I reach 370 next Tuesday; then I’ll re-evaluate what seems best from there. I think my home-base workout for this spring & summer is gonna be this sequence: 5 singles at 245, 5 singles at 335, and 5 singles at 425. So I’m just rebuilding towards that a few pounds at a time while making sure my back is a-OK.
