Road trip begins! Wife and I left Tacoma today, made it to Missoula. The pup is doing surprisingly well just chilling for the road trip, so that’s a good sign. Living off of gas station protein shakes and beef sticks lol. Only 36 more hours of driving to go….
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Where the heck is wall drug?
If you know, you know
It could also be your shoulders. If midpoint to top end is your weakness its usually because your not generating enough force right before that point. Shoulders help transfer power and give you the speed and follow through
Anything that comes fast is going to have a price. I learnt that the hard way, plus look at the silver lining, your losing weight and getting stronger. That counts for something
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Hmmm. I never thought of this. I have always assumed my shoulders were strong, basing that completely on my overhead press to bench ratio. Good for around 175x5 overhead, while bench is prolly around 230-235x5. But that’s shoulders strong in overhead, maybe not in benching. I’ll have to pay attention next time I bench and see what I’m feeling.
It totally does, and I’m overall happy with my progress. I just find venting helps me to get my thoughts out and not focus on them lol
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Road trip update:
(@T3hPwnisher this one’s for you)
Made it to Minneapolis. Found a Brazilian Steakhouse right next to the hotel. My wife said she had never been to one. Game. On.
We went in, and I schooled her on the basics. No carbonated drinks, just water. Avoid the salad bar, it’s a trap to sell you cheap carbs. You can always get a 2nd plate to stack more meat if the first gets full. We don’t stop when we are full, we stop when we hate ourselves.
My wife went through a complete spectrum of emotions tonight. Intrigue at the new experience. Joy at the quality of the meat. Laughter at the zeal with which I indulged… then shock at the amount I kept eating… then mild concern over the lack of a slowing pace…. growing horror at the realization that yes, this was happening…. Regret and disgust after realizing she had married this meat inhaling monstrosity, and would forever have to live knowing that beneath the polished layer, a slovenly beast lurked within. I consider it an absolute win.
The wait staff understood me. They knew my soul. Soon, they all came directly to our table, bypassing the entire floor to serve us first. Before long, they no longer came with any chicken or sausage, only the good stuff. 30 minutes into the evening, and they had learned the red card did not mean stay away, it meant open to lamb or ribeye. I didn’t get small cuts, they would slice me off half a steak and then ask me if I wanted more. One man stopped asking altogether, only coming to me when he had the choice slices, and cutting my portions without even asking if I wanted more. We shared a bond. I confessed my love. It was a beautiful moment. My wife was consulting her sisters if this was normal for men.
He asked if I wanted dessert. I said I’ll trade you a dessert for more meat. He asked me what I wanted. I said lamb chops. HE BROUGHT ME THE SKEWER. I do not mean he came by with a skewer to serve me. This angel from the carnivore gods walked up to my table and laid an entire skewer of lamb onto my plate. I asked him to be the godfather of my future children. My wife was researching couples therapy.
We are now back in the hotel. I am nearing my third trimester with my meat baby. I lie on top of the sheets to counteract the meat sweats. Life is grand. The wife is regretting not getting a double room.
Ahh, Brazilian Steakhouses. Keeping marriages strong since 1876
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Yet another road trip update:
I am asleep in the hotel. It is 0400. I wake up and use the restroom. Come back to bed. Feel a little congestion in my throat, so I clear my throat while laying in bed.
Suddenly, my previously dead asleep wife yells “holy shit” and proceeds to do what I can only describe as a “Scooby Doo” run, just windmilling her hands in almost a little speed bag circle, just repeatedly smacking at my face.
I grab her arms and calm her down from her sudden start, then ask “what was that?”
Wife: I thought you were choking
Me: So you decided to repeatedly punch me in the face?
Wife: I saved your life
…… Pray for me folks, idk if I’m making it out of this road trip
Update: wife is now calling herself a hero and saying I owe her. Send help. (But do it subtly, because she reads all of these)
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If you found it, you were only about 3 hours away from me! lol
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@simo74 my wife was sleeping soundfully in the passenger seat while I drove today because, as she put it, “saving lives is tiring work.”
@QuadQueen we did! Haha, made sure our route went through. I’ve got family in Nebraska, so bought some small souvenirs for all of them
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that’s perfect
Home sweet home.
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15Mar25: Cycle 3 Week 1 Day 1
Squat:
305x6 RPE 7
305x6 RPE 7
305x6 RPE 7.5
305x6 RPE 6.5 (this set felt great)
RDL:
195x8 RPE 6
195x8 RPE 6
195x8 RPE 6
Db BSS:
25x10 3 RIR
25x10 2.5 RIR
25x10 2.5 RIR
Superset
Decline Sit-up: 10, 8, 8,
Face pull: 50x12, 50x12, 50x12,
Notes:
- first time barbell squatting in months. I think the SSB work paid off, quads feeling stronger than before, though definitely still my weak link. Last set was easily my best set, should have taped it. Brought stance a little narrower, which seemed to help engage my quads. (How using my weakest link more helps the overall squat, I don’t understand, but it did lol)
- Hips tight from the 42 hour road trip. Very much hope no more cross country moves.
Note on programming:
- First “strength” focused training block since getting back from deployment. Hypertrophy time was good, think I added some mass, and definitely gave some time for some creaks and aches to heal up. That being said, very ready to crank the weight again.
- Plan is 4 day split. Lower, upper, 2x full body days. Trying to give myself as many “touches” with the movements as I can, really trying to nail down some better technique here. Hitting 4x6 on the main lifts for the next month, then will shift around next block. Throwing in a variation lift for all my comp lifts. Some high bar squats, RDLs, and CGBP.
- Weak points I know I need to address: Triceps and quads.
Some other notes:
- hitting the gym with the Mrs, really enjoying this. She seems excited about it, and it made the whole experience a lot more fun.
- Diet is going to be changing up a bit. I can eat like a monk, same meal 4x a day. My wife, however, has standards lol. So, I need to up my meal prep game.
- I say “I” need to because my wife is excited about getting into fitness, but is not exactly skilled in nutrition. Her diet is roughly 90% carbs lol. So I’m trying to do some meal prepping that we can both share, and she is having fun making stuff with me.
- Yesterdays diet for example:
- Breakfast: 3 eggs, a banana, skyr yogurt
- Lunch: turkey chili bowl
- Dinner: pot roast
- Second dinner: buffalo chicken tacos
All super high protein with smallish amounts of carbs. I gotta admit, it tastes better than monster mash lol
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Did you custom make that meme? Either way, I love it haha
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I did, yes. But second dinner absolutely resonates with me on so many levels—I basically had no choice but to celebrate it!
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16mar25: cycle 3 Week 1 day 2
Bench:
195x6 RPE 6
195x6 RPE 7
195x6 RPE 7.5
195x6 RPE 7.5
Bent over row:
165x8
165x8
165x8
Db Inc bench:
70x8
70x8
70x10
Lat pulldown:
155x10
155x10
155x10
EZ curl:
70x10
70x10
70x10
Cable overhead extension:
55x15
60x14
60x11
Superset
DB A raise: 15x15, 15x15
Reverse curl: 50x15, 50x15
Notes:
- first flat bench in months. Felt very tight on my setup, happy with that. 195 moved pretty quickly, bar speed was fast.
- Changing barbell rows yet again. No belt, bending over more, letting upper back round. Feels like my entire back gets lit up. Kind of like the old videos of Arnold doing them.
- Rest of my accessories felt good. Not going to failure, but keeping it 1-2 RIR, little more effort, little less volume than in my last block.
- Debating if I want to try and build bookshelves to match a somewhat annoying wall and fireplace build in my sitting room, or if I just tear it down to studs and rebuild how I want it
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@unicornsandrainbows instapot update:
I tried making monster mash today. GAME CHANGER. Literally just threw rice, broth, ground beef, seasoning, and spinach into the damn thing and set to cook. I did burn the rice…. Think I need more broth. But still! Came out great, took legitimate 3 minutes prep time, this is huge lol.
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GAME CHANGER PART TWO:
So I got a ninja Creami since my wife has the worlds largest sweet tooth.
Tried a recipe from @Chris_Shugart for plain vanilla. Basically, 2 scoops vanilla metabolic drive, 12oz 2% Fairlife, like 1gram of xantham gum (idk if that’s his exact recipe, but it’s what I did).
It came out as the BEST vanilla ice cream. I added in 3 Oreos, so it came out to around 580 calories total, but with 60 grams of protein! Honestly, this is pretty fantastic. Tastes great, super filling, and the macros aren’t bad. (Would be better minus the Oreos). Gonna use this vanilla as a base for other things to try, but the base recipe is fantastic and you can play around with add ins from there.
…. My wife’s been in the house for 3 days and I’ve already completely revamped my meal prep game lol
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Good to hear! That is how to meal prep, hitting a few buttons. I bet clean up was fun.
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