I know, I was being facetious, for me I fail at the top third of the lift, I’m hoping this will help target that… That and the bands are cool.
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To be fair bands ARE cool!
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Training to outrun the band tends to make you better at being strong.
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29/01/25 204 - was 203 yesterday so slowly fluctuating downward, despite hardly having lost anything still battling the psychology of feeling smaller, screw you brain and insecurities, I’m doing it anyway!
45M W2 B6 D30*
Strength
Bench: 60, 80, 90kg x 5 (no Slingshot), SS on: 100, 110, 120, 130, 140kg x 2
S/s reverse crunches/lying leg raises crunch thing: 5 x 8 sets
Volume
Ss bench: 120kg x 2 x 7 sets, 110kg x 2 x 3 sets EMOM
S/s
Abs as above: 3 x 10 sets EMOM
Finisher
A) Inc bench: 70kg x 10 x 3 sets
B) Seated cable row: 90kg x 15 x 3 sets
C) Russian Twists: 10kg x 5 e/s x sets
Strength work was decent, morning aren’t my natural time to train so appreciate that performance was there despite this. The top set was really in my head, but got it, afterwards I wondered why it was so in my head, I’ve hit 135 with no slingshot in the very recent past, double with only 5kg more isn’t that big a deal, my mental game sucks - but I got it nonetheless.
It really sapped me though, was wondering where to go with weight on volume work, had this in the back of my mind:
So went for max (well slightly above max because of plates) and it was good, but I wasn’t getting much out of the SS - feels like there’s a technique to maximising it, like where to get it on your chest and hand width and elbow placement, but I’m only doing it to get practice at higher weights, get over that mental block and try and overload the triceps - which worked!
Set 6 and 7 I struggled to unrack it and then even more to rack it, I decided that I was approaching a risk to reward point I wasn’t happy with and dropped the weight for the last 3 (didn’t stop the clock) 110kg still felt heavy!
@BrandonCrawford - did ab work in the volume, the bigger challenge will be squats & deads!
Finisher was just a light blowout and pump.
*Well out of sequence but I’m not going to get to the carry session for a while and my next session should be in a commercial setting, I’m more confident of getting a squat rack than I am a bench, so squats will be done there.
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30/01/25
Spent all day in a dry suit, starting out in sub zero temperatures, doing water rescue training, a lot of physical work, and wrecked my shoulder on about the 3rd eddy swim of the day, awkward roll over to break the eddy line and started the stroke at a weird angle and it popped and hurt. Finished the day and didn’t miss a single eddy or rescue so it functions but it’s now stiffening.
Didn’t stop me also hitting the gym afterwards, because I’m away and get to visit a fancy commercial gym, it was class, but I didn’t use any of the fancy stuff, because program, which I didn’t consult and subsequently screwed up slightly.
45M W2 B6 D29 (day 28 still owing, day 30 done - just in case I get confused later!).
Strength:
Squats (should have been banded but no bands): 60, 80, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160kg x 2 (should have been 3s)
S/s
Hanging leg raises: 3 x 8 sets
Volume:
Squats: 130kg x 2 x 10 EMOM
S/s
HLR: 3 x 10 EMOM
Finisher:
Dips: 10, 8, 8, 8, 6, 4 (paused at the bottom of each rep from set 2 onwards)
S/s
Wide grip pull-ups: 5 x 6 sets
- Some horrible ab sequence with feet suspended in TRX (knees to chest x 10, pikes x 10, knees to elbows outs inside outside of other elbow x 3 of that sequence - collapse).
I was hanging after a day of water rescue, it was Baltic and we grafted, so did something against my new current code of behaviour and had a can of monster (sugar free).
Squats were solid, that whole sequence from start through to the end of volume couldn’t have been more than 25 mins. The gym set up was great for it, CrossFit style section so squat and hanging nigh on in the same spot. @BrandonCrawford hit the ab work during the emom on squats (lower reps helped), by the end I was blowing hard and sweating, probably harder than anyone has in that place, I can see why people don’t love commercial gyms, there was a dude squatting opposite who was squatting 80kg for low reps and would take at least 5 mins between sets just on his phone, it’s like what the heck do you need all that rest for? I genuinely think I completed the squat sections of this quicker than he did 5 sets. Still he was squatting at least!
Did the finisher with another guy on the course, so it was you go I go, and adding that pause made my dips burn out fast (they didn’t bother my shoulder which was nice), chin ups did, pull-ups not so much. Did the ab thing afterwards because he suggested it (I was going to throw ab wheel in with the assistance finisher but that really did hurt my shoulder), so he said wait till we’ve burnt out and then I’ll show you something - which was that monstrosity!
Great session, nice to have barbells that aren’t painfully cold to hold and a cold water dispenser, but I’m really happy returning to my little garage!
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There is a young guy on my gym, who to be fair to him is pretty strong and has a decent size, but he will spend his entire training session on his phone. When I say on his phone I mean having a conversation with someone with his ear pods in. He will stop talking to do a set of 5 on the bench and then start up the conversation again straight after, or sit on the leg press machine to train his calves and do one set every 5 mins and keep talking. I just don’t know how anyone could have a conversation that was so important you needed to do it at the same time as your training session. If it was so important surely you would have it before or instead of training and if it isn’t important then shut the fk up and train harder.
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Haha that’s ridiculous, I couldn’t see what need you’d have, but maybe as a one off, if you’re pressed for time, but every time really?! Also I tend to spend time between sets gasping for air, wiping sweat and adding weight to the bar, it would be a awkward conversation.
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Yep me too, our conversations would be like being on a really crappy sex chat line. LOL
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Haha!
Me:
“Heavy breathing”
…
“Grunting”
…
“Clanging metal”
Them:
Is this some weird sex dungeon chat line?!
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It is just weird mate, I always feel like saying, get off your phone and work harder. If he didn’t talk so much he could probably get the workout done in half the time.
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I just wanted to say that I appreciate the effort you’re putting into that bizarre diet thread. I just didn’t care to post in that specific thread to say so, haha.
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Haha, I don’t quite know why I did it, sometimes I type replies and delete them, knowing it won’t be worth it, but I’m such a genuine optimist, even sometimes when the evidence is contrary!
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@QuadQueen has jumped in there as well now, which is awesome, confident it will all fall on deaf ears and end in strange ramblings, but it’s worth a try.
Also well done in the dbol thread, last I checked that’d taken a really positive turn. Either genuine or a troll who wanted a happy ending!
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That totally turned out like an after school special. Giving up D-Bol for Dan John. I should actually let him know about that.
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Haha, absolutely, I do so hope that it’s genuine. I haven’t seen it in a while but I freaking love it when you get a thread like that revived a few years later with photos and the dude has just taken the advice, got the results and absolutely smashed it.
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I thought given the high energy demands of the 2 days away, the meals wouldn’t be too much of an issue, that and I made what I felt were okish choices (no deserts or sugar in general), breakfast bacon, sausage, eggs, beans and hash brown (2/3 of each), lunch was sandwiches and a protein shake, dinner the first night was beef curry, and second night was a burger (with fries). I definitely could have been cleaner, but didn’t expect this:
Morning weight: 207.
It’s funny my weight fluctuates, but it’s usually down, particularly when gaining, going up is novel! It’s probably inflammation more than anything but surprising nonetheless.
Not sure how training is going to look, the next session is supposed to be bench day, going to play that super cautious with my shoulder. I’ve got a really important event upcoming on Wednesday that will involve a whole morning of physical activity and I don’t want to screw that up, so if needs be it’ll just be some light walking for the next few days.
Diet wise I’ll make some minor adjustments, I’m still not counting, so I’ll try another month with this method and see if that needs to change by the end of Feb.
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The after-school special is taking a textbook deviation - the cool older kid has come in and whilst our protagonist is trying to stay on the straight and narrow they’ve offered them some temptation, can our character resist the lure of the forbidden fruit or will they crumble into a life long drug habit? Becoming a tale of life wasted, giving our viewers a glimpse of the misery that awaits our poor life choices as teenagers.
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02/01/25 - 204.75
Probably need to do a 7 day moving average like @Stormblessed if I want this to meaningful. I started around 207/208 and ignoring the brief jump, I’m averaging around 204, which is where I’d want to be, feels slow, but generally painless, if I keep up a 2/3lb per month loss and can keep gaining strength, or at worst, not regressing, then l should be looking in pretty good shape by the cruise.
I’ll reassess regularly, obviously. I’ve decided no lifting until Thursday this week as I can risk further injury before Wednesday (will update this in the future). Will do some walking though.
Photo from the hotel with the good lighting and mirrors!
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Looking great man!!
The moving average has helped me care less about the daily fluctuations and lets me look bigger picture, which has been really helpful
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06/02/25 - 202.5
The big thing that I’ve been coy about has been done, if I get my preferred outcome then I’ll be open about it. It was physical and my diet was a little wonky because of it yesterday, which I think is why the scale moved a little more than normal, but it’s not unwelcome.
I also feel like I’m looking slightly leaner, without looking smaller, that’s a win.
Getting that out of the way means I can get my focus back training, finishing 45M round 2 with a bang. My shoulder however is still not great, deadlifts today, we’ll see how things go, might have to get some soft tissue work done on it.
Walking this morning.
@BrandonCrawford your summary of the total daily work you got done for the month outside of the program was inspiring, that stuff really adds up quickly when you’re doing it every single day without fail. Time to be consistent myself and find a routine that works for me and doesn’t involve me going to the garage, the more roadblocks I remove the more likely the compliance.
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