3 hours
First two weeks of new cycle done and itās fine. Was tired this last week and lower back wasnāt too happy.
Still got work in. Hit 295 for two smooth singles on deadlift. Not all bad ig.
Forgot to cut nails so ended up scratching the inside of my thighs pretty bad doing rep work
Digestion isnāt great so Iāve been bloated and looking soft. The impulse eating has probably also caught up bc Iāve been consistently up a pound.
Itās not bad since the plan is to gain some mass, but my workouts are feeling any better
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this weekās been very meh. Lifts felt a lot harder than they should have, could barely get 185 for 4 on the squat which is very disappointing. Deadlift was fine but more of a struggle than they should have been.
I donāt think itās an overall strength issue. I havenāt been sleeping well.
Digestion still off and still soft, very frustrating.
Work is going okay, but baby sitting code is getting very annoying
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Another kind of meh week of training. Deadlifts felt good, but squats still sucked. Did 185 for 4 again. Probably could have hit another rep but was getting a weird pinching pain in my right hip coming out of the hole on the 4th rep so called it. The weight doesnāt feel heavy for the first two reps, but I seem to ālose powerā. Also got a bad headache during the second squat workoutā¦.. not fun
sleep hasnāt been good so maybe thatās the culprit.
Iām also really really unhappy with how Iām looking given the sub par gym performance. Iām noticeably softer and wider. I used to be able to see clear midsection definition if I flexed, now I donāt. Waist is also wider.
Digestion has been iffy tooā¦..
Iām really really pissed off. Many people far more advanced than me make much more progress than me
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Progress pic? Itās been a while.
Do you have a certain look youāre going for?
Or do you just want to continuously get leaner than you are now and youāll figure out how you want to look overtime?
You look healthy and strong to me, but I do understand your frustration at the lack of visible muscle given your strength and hard work.
Iāll let those with more knowledge offer advice.
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I donāt have a ālookā Iām going for.
I just want to be as lean as possible while improving strength.
I am okay with being softer if I get proportionally stronger (e.g., I gain 5 lbs but put 20lbs on my squat)
yeahā¦ I donāt even look like I work out from the front. Iād have to lose a lot of fat to look good (drop 10lbs of fat or so), but itās not my goal and I frankly donāt have the discipline anymore. I am much more frustrated that Iām not getting stronger
getting fatter throws acid on the wound
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When was the last time you tried a different training method? Iāll admit I donāt follow close enough to analyze your training but your focus seems to be deadlift/squat?
What does your coach say about your progress or perceived lack/lack of progress?
what do you mean training method?
Every 4 weeks we reassess and make tweaks.
since the start of the ābulkā Iāve been doing higher reps on everything except the deadlift ( I donāt tolerate it well)
Weāve played around with rep ranges, variations and swapping accessories in and out
He is also confused but remains hopeful. Iām considering dropping him after the contract is up
I forgot to mention, Iāve dropped steps from 25000 to 15000 starting on Monday. Itās supposed to help with workout recovery, weāll seeā¦.
I am okay with being softer if I get proportionally stronger (e.g., I gain 5 lbs but put 20lbs on my squat)
I wouldnāt call this proportional. Iād call it unrealistic honestly.
IIRC, youāre around 100lbs. A 5lb gain would be a 5% increase in bodyweight. You squatted 4x185 recently, which I put through a 1rm calculator to get to just about 200lbs. A 20lb increase is a 10% increase in the squat.
Letās say you have a 300lb lifter that squats 1000lbs. This would mean that person goes on to squat 1100lbs putting ONLY 15lbs of bodyweight on.
I can tell you: there are lifters who would perform UNSPEAKBLE acts if they could add 100lbs to a 1000lb squat while only gaining 15lbs of bodyweight. A 10% gain in the squat (assuming technique remains consistent) is going to require a larger gain in bodyweight to go along with it.
I forgot to mention, Iāve dropped steps from 25000 to 15000 starting on Monday. Itās supposed to help with workout recovery, weāll seeā¦.
Just read this. Yeah: there was no way strength was getting added with that sort of activity, and even with the reduction, this is still serving too many masters.
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The way in which you are training. Your training lowish reps? Maybe switch that up for a bit and do higher rep little lower intensity or try a completely different style of training.
I find my body parts respond different to different stimulus. I need high rep high intensity for my arms but my back and chest do well on lower rep higher weights.
My legs require very little work to grow.
What Iām getting at is if you feel something isnāt working it doesnāt hurt anything to try a different technique.
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@anna_5588 - This was my knee-jerk when I read your original post, so Iām glad to see that even though Iām in no position to give advice these days (if ever I was?), at least someone I trust agreesā¦
I feel like Iāve noticed a positive change in your posts since you transitioned away from CMU, but I think maybe you still just need to give yourself room to achieve your strength goals. I see your photos and I think, āDamn! So much power in such a little package.ā (And I mean ālittleā in an endearing way. Sorry Iām not able to formulate something more eloquent or expressive at the moment.)
I think Iāve said this before, but your frame is similar to my wifeās, youāre lighter than her, and A LOT strongerāI know sheād kill to have what you have!
Iām really not trying to preach here, I promise, but I apologize if it comes off that wayā¦
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hmm, I never thought about it that way
Iāve been doing more high rep work. Iāve never really thought about how different body parts respond. My back seems to grow doing just about anything though. Legs can handle a lot of beating, I donāt pay attention to upper body enough to notice much
Glad you noticed! Iām under much less pressure
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Thats a nicely equipped gym.
Just a thought- ditch all step based cardio and start doing 5k twice a week on that rower.
Approx 1000 cleans from the floor, on a different plane, aka crossfit.
Training this week was pretty good actually. I managed to hit 295 for a not to grindy double and the first rep went up so fast I thought I misloaded the bar lol.
Overall work has been stressful. Iām a TA for my PI and while the actual work isnāt hard, there are just a lot of āfiresā that need to be put out since students have a āshopping periodā where they add and drop classes basically at will.
Iāve been working with my PI for almost a year now and, not going to lie, Iām a bit worried.
Positives
- He seem to genuinely care about my development and outcomes. Even if Iām wrong and heās being manipulative, heās consistently handed me good learning opportunities and gives useful pointers on a pretty regular basis
- Heās accomplished and has the connections to get me into the places I want to and realistically can get into
Negative
- I am increasingly skeptical about his reliability. He is just too busy and seems to drop a lot of balls. Frankly speaking, getting a research assistant into grad school is pretty low priority on profsā to do list. If he has so much trouble keeping up with his important tasks, how much confidence can I have in him to give good feedback on my application materials or put in a lot of effort into a good letter.
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@Brant_Drake do you know of any large forums or channels where chefs talk about the industry or share job opportunities?
It seems that thereās not very much research studying the restaurant industry on a micro level and Iām interested