Atlas13 Burning the Boats

Had this chat with a couple of guys in the gym last night. All of preferring to do a heavy but very low volume deload (work to max single or triple and stop) vs a lighter 50% with some volume week.

I believe deloads are a necessary part of the puzzle but they can be boring.

One option to spice them up a bit is to include some sort of horrible conditioning challenge that will smoke you but not effect your overall recovery.

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I definitely notice the difference when I include deloads, and looking back the past few years, can definitely identify a couple times where I probably derailed a good training block by just keeping my foot on the gas for too long.

I like the idea of just working to a heavy single or triple then dipping, I may have to experiment with that. I think it may have to be a little bit lift dependent. IE, a heavy triple of BTN press and I am probably recovered in a day. Heavy triple on the trap bar with high handles? Iā€™m pretty smoked for a few days after. But still, something to consider!

And smoking the conditioning is an awesome idea. Wonā€™t do it this week, because I have a planned out progression im doing that is basically me trying to armor proof my shins lol, but next deload i think i can use that rower for some sadistic challenges!

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06Feb25: Cycle 1 Week 6 Day 3: Deload

Hi handle trap bar deadlift:
305x5
305x5
305x5
305x5

Belt squat:
95x8
95x8
95x8

45 degree raise:
Bwx8
Bwx8

Heels elevated goblet squat:
40x8
40x8

Superset:

Face pull: 35x10, 35x10

GHD sit-up: 6, 6

Conditioning:

20 min incline treadmill

45lb pack, 3.3 mph, 5inc

Notes:

  • still deloading.
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08Feb24: Cycle 1 Week 6 Day 4: deload

BTN press: 85x5, 85x5, 85x5, 85x5

Lat pulldown: 100x8, 100x8, 100x8

Inc db press: 40x8, 40x8

Seated cable row: 70x8, 70x8

Finished with some pushdowns and curls

Conditioning: 15 min run, 5.3 mph

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Cycle notes:

  • happy with this cycle overall. Dropped a little weight, hit PRs on all the big lifts, established a really good routine.
  • things I did well: following program, strict diet compliance, focus and intensity in gym
  • Areas needing work: conditioning. Let the snow and cold push this off a little at the beginning, going to ramp up a bit the next mesocycle. Treadmill really helps here. I donā€™t mind running in the cold, but running on ice is just not gonna happen.

Goals for next mesocycle:

  • SSB: 305x10
  • Hi handle trap bar: 480x8
  • Incline bench: 205x10
  • BTN press: 145x10
  • Track macros everyday. Wonā€™t be perfect compliance, have a little trip planned in the middle (driving cross country, wife is PCSing, finally done with the long distance), but at least track

Other notes:

  • dropped calories to about 2550 a day. I was dropping about 0.7lbs a week at 2900, and thatā€™s just a little too slow for me. Not trying to change a ton, but get me at least a pound lol.
  • energy levels still feeling great.
  • the last two weeks, literally without fail, Iā€™ve seen scale weight go up days post workout, and drop on days I do nothing, with constant calories the whole time. 2-3lbs shifts between days. Trending down overall, but Iā€™ve never seen my body respond like this to training before. Itā€™s interesting, and counterintuitive. I know Iā€™ve mentioned it before, but just kinda nuts that itā€™s literally 100% accurate trend right now.
  • my wife objected to me having a naval academy flag in the gym, but nothing for her school. So we now have TWO Norwhich flags, along with THREE various army flags, which means I have now out represented 5 to 1ā€¦.


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10Feb25: Cycle 2 Week 1 Day 1
SSB:
235x10 4 RIR
235x10 3.5 RIR
235x10 3.5 RIR

Good Morning:
210x10 3.5 RIR
210x10 3.5 RIR
210x10 3.5 RIR

DB BSS:
25x10 3.5 RIR
25x10 3 RIR
25x10 3 RIR

GHR:
10
10
10

Superset:
Face pull: 55x12, 45x12, 45x12
Cable crunch: 55x15, 55x15, 55x15

Conditioning:
30 min incline treadmill
3.3 mph, 45lb pack, 5incline

Notes:

  • Jesus 235x10 felt heavy as hell. Moved fine, but the weak deload for some reason just has this relatively light weight feeling like a ton on my back.
  • Took a video from the side. Happy with depth, this is about as low as I can get with my mobility, and Iā€™m just kissing parallel, so happy there. Hair higher and I wouldnā€™t be at a good depth, but a hair lower and I think my hips explode. Accepting my ugly squat leverages at this point, and just trying to make them work lol.
  • Also noticed myself pitching forward a bit, you can actually notice my heels rising slightly at the bottom of each rep. Ankle mobility issue? Not really sure how to address that. Possibly over analyzing here, but maybe not. Terrible self judge. Made me want to compare to straight bar, so I did a few doubles with 210 on the straight bar, form looked a lot more solid there. Still some forward bar path, but it kind goes from bar starting over my heels to bar ending over mid foot, heels staying flat, feels a lot better. So my SSB squat is a lot uglier than my regular, which I guess is better than vice versa
  • Switched RDLs for good mornings this cycle. Noticed how far back my shoulders are during my low bar rack position. Need to work on external rotation there. Shoulders also feeling very cranky after the low bar
  • Going to start doing more shoulder pre Hab exercises. Cable rotator cuff work between sets; maybe actually start doing some mobility stuff. Iā€™ve never taken it seriously, except for a brief period of time post rotator cuff surgery. I think my squat and press would both benefit from some healthier shoulders.
  • ā€¦ā€¦ maybe this is a sign I should actually start doing mobility in general. Some thoracic spine may help my bench, and I know my squat depth could be assisted with some more open hipsā€¦. I hate mobilityā€¦. But these 08nov goals wonā€™t reach themselves
  • High rep good morning suck
  • BSS felt heavy, then realized I went up in weight. Whoops. Sticking with it though.
  • Took me a while to figure out how to setup GHR on the freak athlete machine, but they felt great once I did.
  • Conditioning felt good.
  • Overall, happy with this day. I wish I had a nice ā€œdumb strengthā€ squat movement. Like a hack squat, or leg press, really anything that would stabilize for me to allow me to just push and not worry about form. Feel like thatā€™s harder to do with free weights, particularly quads if youā€™re cursed with the long femurs. Going to throw in Hatfield squats after deads, I think those may help fill that void.

And side note, may be done with the training vlogs. Some slight conflicts with work, still working it out. Prolly will still be able to post lists, just not run a channel like that. Iā€™m sure my 7 views are a real concern lol. Worst case, all social media (including this) may go. So if I dip out, know that I am doing well, lifeā€™s going awesome, I love my new position at work and am having a blast, the weights still being lifted, rucks being carried, and all that stuff. Hopefully wonā€™t be an issue, but we will see.

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I always felt this was actually kind of the point of the SSB, itā€™s less technical more brute force and ignorance, itā€™s constantly trying to throw you forward and fold you over, fighting it seems to be half the benefit to me.

Thatā€™d be real shame, hope it isnā€™t the case.

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Hope you donā€™t have to duck out all together, happy to share an email or too if you cant do this stuff.

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11Feb25: Cycle 2 Week 1 Day 2

Incline bench:

155x10 4 RIR

155x10 3.5 RIR

155x10 3.5 RIR

Wide grip barbell row:

135x10 4 RIR

135x10 4 RIR

135x10 3.5 RIR

Db bench:

60x10 4+ RIR

60x10 4 RIR

60x11 3.5 RIR

Chin grip Pulldown:

140x10 4+ RIR

140x10 4 RIR

140x11 3.5 RIR

Overhead rope extension:

35x15 5+ RIR

40x15 4 RIR

45x10 4 RIR

Db 45 Incline curl:

20x10 4 RIR

20x10 4 RIR

20x10 4 RIR

lat raise:

20x15

20x15

Conditioning:

20 min run, 5.3 mph

Notes:

  • I donā€™t remember my 1 week sucking this much last time lol. Not sure if thatā€™s means I deloaded too much and my body is feeling lazy, if Iā€™m starting too high, or if just the week off has me mentally feeling like a punk. Bar speed was good, so not too worried.
  • Shoulders cranky from the low bar yesterday.
  • Pretty intense DOMS in my quads, which is 100% what Iā€™m chasing, so happy there.
  • Attempt number 87 of trying to make barbell rows work for me. Gripped the bar a bit wider, kept my torso a bit more vertical, and this actually felt fairly decent. Upper back definitely feeling it a lot.
  • Conditioning felt great. This day felt pretty good overall, happy there.
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(@QuadQueen you better be proud)

So Iā€™ve been about 150 calories below my goal the past few days. Just how my meal prep worked out. Iā€™m mainly low on my carb numbers. Was going to just add a banana and call it goodā€¦. But then I had a different idea.

For backstory, Iā€™m not a good cook. Like, I feel, a lot of Americans, I didnā€™t have a ton of real home cooking in suburban America. Hamburger helper, pizza, etc. lots of pre-prepared foods, heat up and go meals, you know what I mean.

But Iā€™m increasingly wanting to become a better cook. Not because I want better tasting food, but because I just BELIEVE it has to be good for you. Iā€™ve traveled pretty damn extensively around the world at this point, spent time in Africa, Middle East, Europe, Asia. You see SO much more home cooking in a lot of these places, people having a ā€œspreadā€ of food at their meals. Thereā€™s a reason America is so fat. (And donā€™t get me wrong, there are a ton of factors, to include how tough all these well prepared meals are to do in a dual income home.)

But, I was watching some videos of Dagestani Wrestlers the other day (big Khabib fan), and saw a video of them eating, and it just floored me the nutrition of these guys compared to most American athletes. Hell, just showing the vendor food in some of these areas, for a couple bucks you are eating better than anything besides a nice health food restaurant in this country. So I decided I was gonna start trying to expand a little bit. Not every meal, but once a week or so try something new, learn some skill, and try to establish some healthy cooking habits (AKA: other than weekly cooking a shit ton of ground beef and white rice).

So, decided to make a vegetable soup for my remaining Macros.

Kind of winging this here, but the general process:

One: Shovel snow to actually get to the grocery store

Two: Assemble ingredients

Three: Chop up and cook carrots, leek, and onion. (Should of grabbed celery tooā€¦)

(Note: purposely no tomato. My dad has like 5 dishes he knows how to cook, and one of them is an absolutely terrible vegetable beef stew, so I was trying hard to avoid this memories lol)

  1. Add potatoes and chicken stock. Season with salt, pepper, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme.

  2. take out a few ladles, blend them, return to soup. (I thought this would thicken it more than it did)

  3. add peas to soup, and enjoy

Honestly, besides the 17 minutes of crying while trying to dice an onion, this really wasnā€™t that hard to prep. I think I went a little heavy on the pepper seasoning, but overall still really good!

Macros ended up being 133cal, 6g protein, and 29 carb.

Life needs more soups.

Also, I had to name this recipe in my macro app, and I went with ā€œshire stewā€ because I swear this looks like the stew Samwise made after SmĆ©agol brought them rabbits lol. Also, it would be very easy to add shredded chicken to this and make it an actual meal.

Other Atlas Ramblings brought to you by an unplanned snow day:

  • I see lots of ā€œhealth foodā€ stuff on social media, especially since I spent the last two days diving into recipes and stuff for ideas. Why the hell is everyone eating on a cutting board?
  • I am becoming nerdier as I age. I was very much the ā€œjockā€ growing up. Now? Iā€™m listening to YouTube videos explaining warhammer 40k lore lol. (Donā€™t actually play the game because not willing to take out a second mortgage for tiny army men, plus idk anyone who plays, but the story is interesting)
  • 3 days into doing some mobility stuff, and I swear my joints are cracking more than ever! But maybe thatā€™s a sign of something good. I find that asking me to do a real mobility session is unlikely. BUT, if I pick a few movements for a day and do them in between sets of lifting, that actually makes my time in the gym more fun, because I donā€™t get bored sitting around between sets.
  • getting an itch to get back into some sort of fight sport. With grad school on the horizon plus my job and lifting goals, not really a good timeā€¦. But maybe I can fit something in.
  • I really like my new job. Enough that I may try to transition to something similar in the civilian field. But dang, it would be tough money wise. Definitely taking a comparative pay cut if I stay in federal service instead of going private sector. Which I, as an individual, donā€™t really mind. But, I do like the idea of being able to have my wife not work once we have kids, and idk if, with this pay scale, and the cost of living in the DC area, if thatā€™s really a feasible option. If I grab an MBA and leverage my experience, then it wouldnā€™t be a concern, but federal service only pays so well, and Jesus lifeā€™s gotten expensive. For now, we are both getting O3 pay, so money is beyond flush, but just trying to look 5 years down the line and see some options.
  • (these ramblings have no theme lol)
  • I think thereā€™s a ā€œRangeā€ of calories your body can burn. To elaborate, I think I can cut calories by a certain amount from my TDEE, and Iā€™ll lose weight, and vice versa for gaining. But, I donā€™t think that my TDEE is really 1 number, as in I donā€™t think I burn 3287 calories a day or something like that, and any calories above or below will go to some level of bulk or cut. Realistically, I feel like Iā€™ve got like a 200-300 calories range where itā€™s all ā€œmaintenanceā€. If I eat more, my body just burns it or disposes of it, but I think that the ā€œmaintenanceā€ range really does have a little give in it. I have nothing to back this up, donā€™t ask me to support it.
  • how come whenever I am trying to find a stud in my wall, itā€™s a near impossible task, studfinder be damned. However, everytime I try to place drywall screws, I without fail find the damn stud.
  • I think people on social media get WAY too comfortable calling things poison. Drink enough water and you die. It ainā€™t poison.
  • that being said, one of the few things that people regularly consume, alcohol, really IS poison, and everyone keeps on trucking with that, so maybe relax on calling out apples.
  • I saw a video of someone meal prepping ground beef, banana, and maple syrup. And Iā€™ll be honest, that sounds so terrible that Iā€™m almost tempted to make it just so I can see lol.
  • trying to cut back on caffeine. Have a strong energy drink craving every day, itā€™s 50% ritual at this point. Well, I drink and LMNT packet everyday, so decided to get the canned LMNT drinks instead. Carbonated, definitely hits the same spot as energy drinks do mentally, and cheaper since Iā€™m just having one can of LMNT vice a packet of LMNT and an energy drink.
  • I do think Iā€™ll start drinking coffee again though. Better form of caffeine, and smaller dosage
  • I want more soup. Not because Iā€™m hungry, but because itā€™s cold outside, and kinda chilly inside tbh, and warm soup feeds the muscles and the soul
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You just became Mrs. SvenGā€™s favorite person!

And now youā€™ve become my favorite person!

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You might be interested in Jamie Lewisā€™ ā€œStewroidsā€ series. LOTS of soup/stew recipes to go over.

Loved ALL the Atlas rants. The TDEE range thing is real: the body LIKES homeostasis, and will fight hard to maintain it. You bump the calories up a little, and it increases NEAT a little: you start tapping your toes and wiggling a little more than usual. Itā€™s why we need a HARD bump up in order to trigger growth. And when we shave the cals off just a hair, it just slows down a hair to adjust. Itā€™s why these folks that want to ā€œminimize fat gainā€ on a bulk shoot themselves in the foot: the body just keeps adjusting to the small changes and NOT build muscle, and eventually you nudge yourself up to 4000 calories and STILL canā€™t gain.

The ā€œhealth foodā€ is a joke. Health food is stuff that DOESNā€™T come packaged. If itā€™s got an ingredient list on it, start over.

For the combat sport thing, you could consider my current approach: just sign up for the competitions and skip the training, haha. Saves a LOT of timeā€¦

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So, so proud. Like, actual tears of proudness over here. That stew is beautiful, so much better than a banana! I absolutely LOVE the different colored carrots and there are not a lot of people who understand the value of a bay leaf - so extra points for that too! Youā€™re a freaking rock star in my book!

No lie. This world would be a better place with a little more broth and a lot fewer Big Macs!

:joy:

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Assuming that this isnā€™t like super close? If youā€™ve got 5 years and a dual income, do the maths, if you can afford to save 50% of your joint income (itā€™s a big sacrifice but you state you are beyond flush at present) every year you save is a year that your wife can stay at home, 5 years of saving and youā€™ll have enough to cover until school years.

Great choice, Iā€™ve cut down caffeine (was on 10 cups of coffee and some energy drinks and nicotine lozenges) - down to two cups a day of caffeine and then Iā€™ve got the same bean blend in a decaf version, doesnā€™t have quite the same taste but does taste great still, or Iā€™ll drink decaf green tea.

Stews making me jealous!

Yup 100% this, for me. Gaining it tends to have to be a significant shove, but Iā€™ve even noticed it this time round, trying to slow cut, my body is pretty keen to hold weight - I know I could really hammer weight down fast, but I know that also comes with negatives I donā€™t want. Homeostasis is a marvel and a pain in the backside!

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I have stopped using fresh onion completely in my cooking. Now using dried minced onion. Time and crying saved. Youā€™re welcome.

Hell yes. Iā€™ll eat soup when itā€™s 100F outside.
One of my favorite new recipe sites, likely @QuadQueen approved as well.

Here is the link to the soup section. Itā€™s one of my guilty pleasures to spam my favorite food blogs on this forum.

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Itā€™s one of my faves too!

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13Feb25: Cycle 2 Week 1 Day 3

Hi handle trap bar:

410x8 4 RIR

410x8 4 RIR

410x8 4 RIR

Hatfield squat:

245x10 4 RIR

245x10 4 RIR

245x10 4 RIR

45 db back raise:

20x10

20x10

20x10

Heels elevated goblet squat:

60x10 4 RIR

60x10 4 RIR

Superset:

Face Pull: 45x12, 45x12, 45x12

Db side bend: 60x10, 60x10, 60x10

Notes:

  • time crunched today, running through this lift.
  • Holy hell I love Hatfield squats. Never had a squat that felt so immediately ā€œright.ā€ Good for reinforcing stance width and depth too. Plus, actually feeling my quads on these. I think these are about to become an absolute staple. I think I could get some real poundage here.
  • Trying to touch hamstrings to calves on the goblet squats. Iā€™m thereā€¦ ish. The elevated heel helps a ton.

Owe a ton of replies, but running late for a work happy hour event, will respond later!

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My misses cooks some lovely soups but I usually complain there is not enough protein for me. My wifeā€™s simple response is always ā€˜fat people dont eat soupā€™

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Sheā€™s clearly never heard of Chankonabe.

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I think she would argue this is technically a stew. That may be semantics but my misses is generally very good at details.

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