yours definitely is
mines more Mickey fallen of the wagon
5 Likes
30Jan25: Cycle 1 Week 5 Day 3
Hi handle trap bar deadlifts:
75x15, 165x5, 255x5, 345x3, 395x2, 435x2
465x9 0RIR (15lb+1 Rep PR)
435x8 1 RIR
435x8 1 RIR
435x8 0 RIR
435x1 0 RIR (got lightheaded, nearly passed out, called it)
Belt squat:
112.5x12 2.5 RIR
112.5x12 2.5 RIR
112z5x12 2.5 RIR
112.5x12 2.5 RIR
112.5x12 2.5 RIR
45 degree back raise:
25x10
25x10
25x10
25x10
Goblet squat:
60x12 1.5 RIR
60x12 1.5 RIR
60x13 1 RIR
Superset:
Face pull: 4x50x15
Ab wheel: 4x10
Notes:
- absolute fight on the deads. Hardest set Iāve done in a long time, but happy with the weight I got moving. Had to sit down after this set, had me beat.
- Scratch that. After 5 sets of deads, I nearly just called the workout.
- Belt squats felt good. Didnāt go for a rep PR, because Iām still seeing weekly gains with the new movement, and honestly I just didnāt have anything left in the tank. Changing them up a little bit, widening out my stance to a more normal squat stance, focusing on driving my knees out, hoping to practice some good reps without knee cave here
- Overall? I feel beat. Not in a bad way. But my energy levels are zero. And they have been amazing, but yesterday, I was so tired. I think itās paradoxically a case where more energy is leaving me more drained after this week. My body is feeling better overall. So I can really put my all into this rep max week, and keep the intensity high even with all the volume, resulting in a massive growth stimulus to the body, but also just a massive hit to the CNS. Actually helping with my sleep, Iāve been out like a light every night this week. I think everything is going as planned, but thank god thereās a deload next week, because my fuel tanks already puttering out, and I have one lifting day to go.
- Another aside about lifting affecting the body. I gained weight Monday and Tuesday, both days when I lifted very heavy and did cardio. Yesterday? Same food intake, except we got called off work early, and I legitimately went home and played video games and read books on the couch all evening, zero physical activity, total rest day. Down .7lbs. Bodies be weird.
- I also was telling my wife this, to which she responded āyou really donāt know what to do with all the free time this new jobs giving you do yaāā¦ā¦ I have never been so accurately called out in my life.
13 Likes
Work for today:
Conditioning:
30 min treadmill ruck
45lb pack, 5 incline, 3.3 mph
10 Likes
01Feb25 Cycle 1 Week 5 Day 4
Seated BTN Press:
135x10 0 RIR (PR)
120x10 0 RIR
120x10 0 RIR
120x10 0 RIR
105x11 0 RIR
Wide grip lat pulldown:
165x11 0 RIR (PRish)
145x10 1 RIR
145x10 0 RIR
145x10 0 RIR
145x10 0 RIR
Db 20 Inc bench:
60x20 0RIR (Pr)
60x12 .5 RIR
60x8 0 RIR
Stopped here, no use doing extra sets when strength dropped this much. Pecs just smoked from the top set.
Seated cable row:
140x11 0 RIR
140x10 0 RIR
140x10 0 RIR
Lat raise:
25x12 0 RIR
25x11 0 RIR
25x11 0 RIR
25x10 0 RIR
Straight bar pushdown:
70x16 0 RIR PR
70x13 0 RIR
70x12 0 RIR
70x10 0 RIR
Barbell curl:
67.5x13 0 RIR
67.5x11 0 RIR
67.5x9 0 RIR
67.5x8 0 RIR
Conditioning:
20 min LISS run, 5.3 mph
Notes:
- huge PR for the BTN press. My estimated 10rm was like 127, so reaching for 135 for a bit of a jump, but it moved well. Definitely a hard set, but I owned it. Up to being able to rep a plate is big for me, I know itās arbitrary but it makes me feel like Iāve got some skill in the movement. 135x10 isnāt a bad set for me standing press, so if Iām doing it BTN, Iām excited to see the carryover.
- I canāt really call this a PR for lat pulldowns, just because every machine has its own feel, and Iām gripping the handles wider than I have before, so I canāt really compare. BUT, this felt good. Trying to keep it a little strict, cut the set as soon as I wasnāt able to touch chest with the bar.
- This cycle has just exploded my db pressing. I think Iāve always tried to go a little too heavy. Dropping the weight and focusing on volume got me comfortable with the movement, particularly the longer ROM, and now Iām just cranking those out. DBs only go up to 80, I may need to get some new ones before long. Was smoked after that set of 20 though.
- Side note: I never buy gym shirts. I have like 3 neversate shirts k got like 8 years ago. Everything else is either old college shirts, stuff I got free from promotions or as a bonus with something else, or navy stuff. Well I just got gifted 2 Carhartt tees, and I love these things. Granted, I look terrible in them lol. Baggy and unflattering, not to mention runs very large. But the cotton is super thick and fails great in the gym, and the baggy actually feels good when lifting when if it looks kinda sloppy lol. Might try to get some of their tighter cut shirts later on. Also, how come everyone gives away promo tees, no one gives away promo shorts? Or promo sweatpants? I could use some variety lol
12 Likes
Notes:
- This finishes up the top week of my first mesoscycle. Overall, I am pretty happy with how it went. I hit PRās on every lift that I was trying to improve, and on several hit PRs far beyond the growth I was expecting. My self programming cant be too bad if I am getting results like that.
- Nutrition wise, I am pretty solid. Been doing the vertical diet for about a month now. My weight has been all over the place on a day to day level, and its interesting that I generally see an immediate weight gain after any lifting day, then steep drop after a non-lifting day. Weekly averages show I am dropping about 1lb a week, which is right about the sweet spot I want to be in. Started using the Macrofactor app to help track my daily nutrition, seem to be doing well on 2850 calories a day, which is actually a fairly massive amount of food to consume when everything is coming from clean, whole food sources. I may be on a cut, but the way I am eating, I would honestly guess this was a bulk unless I had the scale to tell me otherwise.
- Overall health is feeling great. Getting into my rhythm at the new job. Solid sleep schedule, my energy levels are increased, joints feeling good, I honestly feel like I am just firing on all cylinders at the moment.
17 Likes
You seem to be doing really well on the increased volume. How are the joints holding up ?
1 Like
Knees, elbows, hips, no pain whatsoever to speak of.
I still have the torn labrum in my right shoulder. Well I think I do, I never had surgery to fix it anyway. But the shoulders feeling good. It was a little irritated with me about a week ago, I need to cut the BTN presses at about ear level or I get pain, but other than that itās feeling pretty good too.
I donāt enjoy doing this really high volume, but I think itās good for me to cycle in now and then. Workouts take forever, and arenāt all that exciting, but they get good results. De loading this next week, then one more cycle thatās going to be very similar to the last, and then Iāll be moving on to 4 week strength blocks instead of the 5 week hypertrophy ones.
6 Likes
It will be interesting to see how you transition to the lower rep stuff. It always feels great for me when I donāt have to do higher reps.
1 Like
I like the Cortez reference.
1 Like
I think it will be a nice change of pace!
Iām also purposely staying away from close variations of the competition lifts during this phase, because I want to keep my competition lifts lower rep, really trying to tighten form, which I donāt think goes well with higher reps.
1 Like
ā¦. Fill me in here because idk what this is. Like, the Spanish explorer?
Spanish Explorer Hernandez Cortez burned his boats when he arrived at the New World. His men were well motivated because of that. There was no turning back.
2 Likes
Hernan Cortez
2 Likes
Oh the log title! Lol, yes! Sorry, I thought you were responding to my last post, had me scratching my head about what I said. I probably should have made the connection lol.
Yeah, I always thought that was a pretty epic story, and it seemed a great title for my first lifting block after getting off a ship!
1 Like
Now conquer the Aztec Empire and DL 500 lbs for reps !
2 Likes
This is living the dream right there. So amped to see things working out for you like this.
1 Like
03Feb25 Cycle 1 Week 6 Day 1: deload
SSB:
205x5
205x5
205x5
205x5
RDL:
135x8
135x8
135x8
BSS:
Bwx8
Bwx8
Hand assist Nordic:
Bwx8
Bwx8
Superset:
Face pull: 35x10, 35x10
Ab wheel: 5, 5
Conditioning:
15 minute treadmill ruck
45lb pack, 3.3 mpg, 5 incline
Notes:
- this felt great. Super easy, motions were smooth, focusing on really contracting the muscles, just some good restorative blood flow. First time ever taking a deload in a program I made, which probably shows the shortfalls of some of my previous programs lol. Also knocked out the lift in about 30 minutes, which was also a nice change of pace lol.
- Deload felt deloadey. Not much else to say
14 Likes
@T3hPwnisher thanks boss! Itās feeling really great. Iām angsty to see what I can do when I go into a dedicated strength block. Doing one more hypertrophy because I know I should, but Iām really excited to see how all this recovery and nutrition helps me on the main lifts in lower rep ranges. Still gunning for some of these heavy goals, so I need to make pretty quick progress, but I just might be able to pull it off.
Other thoughts:
- I feel great cutting weight the way I am, like 1lb a week, just nice and slow to trim up a bit while still eating a lot. But damn, I would not want to do this without counting macros. The scale weight is just all over the place, and you can see weekly averages trend down over time, but without KNOWING how much you ate, it would be way to easy to see a weight swing and think āI just undid two weeks work!ā And start to panic. How I cut weight before, 2-3lbs a week, had much more reassuring daily trends, but strength definitely took a cut.
- In very related news, I did indeed wake up 2lbs heavier today than Sunday lol. I find I really have about a 3lb day to day range. Which seems like more than Iām used to, but not sweating it.
- really liking the macrofactor app, itās by far the easiest way I have found to log food. Interestingly, it gave me some parameters to use for cutting weight. Recommend macro splits, total calories, etc. I already had my plan, so decided going in I was just going to do that. After the first day, found I was within 30 calories of their recommendation, and the only real difference in macros was I ate about 6 grams less fat and about 10grams more protein. Interesting to me that my own knowledge got me so close to the programs.
- the combination of magnesium and melatonin consistently has my sleep better than ever. Worth noting, I have gotten into a weird sleep pattern. I get into bed, and absolutely crash. Except for those increasingly rare days when insomnia hits, I can normally go from lying in bed to being asleep in 20 minutes. I am NOT sleeping throughout the night, but I donāt think thatās bad? Instead, I will wake up every 2-3 hours, legitimately for about a single minute, then go back to bed. I feel energized but note āwiredā when I wake, and think itās just a momentary awareness in between REM cycles. Iām also having VERY vivid dreams, which I havenāt really had at all when my sleep was in a bad spot, so thatās interesting.
12 Likes
Your sleep patters describe my own, which is what Iāve comfortably settled into after years of only being able to sleep for 2-3 hours total and then just giving up. The vivid dreams can happen with the melatonin as well. Also positive to hear regarding the weight trends. With daily weigh ins and consistent nutrition, you get to discover your bodyās natural pattern. I described recently a day where I was āfeeling lightā. There are other indicators too. For me, how my rings fit can help me determine how swollen I am.
1 Like
04Feb25: Cycle 1 Week 6 Day 2: Deload
Incline bench:
135x5
135x5
135x5
135x5
Db chest support row:
40x8
40x8
40x8
Db bench:
40x8
40x8
Cable hi row:
35x8
35x8
Tricep extension:
35x8
35x8
Db curl:
15x8
15x8
Conditioning:
15 min LISS run, 5.3 mph
Notes:
- deload is still deloadey. Pretty boring tbh.
14 Likes