Also, wanted to address this part. Honestly, this is a pretty big factor for me as well. Wife and I are planning kids in 3 years, and I don’t want them to ever see me struggling with weight. I want to set a good example. On top of that, I really want to build up a solid “baseline fitness” so that when we are going through the first few years of kids, it will be more manageable for me to keep what I’ve gained without having to gain it in the first place. I’ve got a ton of respect for anyone who manages to maintain a solid fitness routine while also being an involved parent.
(@T3hPwnisher I feel like I should point out this applies to you as well)
Edit: actually now it strikes me that the majority of people following this log have kids, which is something I haven’t really thought about before. @SvenG@boilerman@throwawayfitness@anyone else who I haven’t seen mention kids but who probably has them, kudos to y’all as well. Legitimately, much respect
Very much appreciated dude. That honestly means a lot. A big part of being a dad, I find, is CONSTANTLY feeling like you’re not doing enough and letting your kid down, and things like this really go a long way.
Honestly, with how much I’ve seen you “parent” younger lifters on this forum as they try to figure out their way in the weight room, I have to imagine you show at least (and probably more) the same amount of interest in your kids, which is just awesome to see.
On a tangent here, but I suppose it’s my night for that. My neighbor across the street has a few young kids, oldest is 12. Kid wants to be a soccer player, and I just get the warm and fuzzies every time I see dad kicking the ball with him outside, running wind sprints up and down the street, doing agility drills in the driveway. Dad works, so I know it’s not like he is just killing time, it’s just great seeing strong families.
The son actually walked up to me in my garage a few weeks ago and asked for me to coach him on lifting, I ended up setting him up on a little 3x a week plan of mostly body weight stuff so this kid can get a feel for movements. Kids energetic, but as coordinated as a giraffe lol. I check in with him and his dad every week, and this kid is just getting after it. Going to gift him a couple KBs and bands once he gets to month 3, dads planning to pick him up a barbell set. Cool to see a young kid all excited about training.
Those last few posts were awesome @atlas13 . I love seeing a plan fall into place and being executed to perfection… especially from post 1. Sounds like life is nuts for you right now, but you’re making the best of it. Your consistency is amazing, dude.
I seriously appreciate the shout-out, but no kids for me as of right now. Wifey and I have a plan that we hope to stick to in that regard.
For some reason I really thought you had mentioned a daughter. Must be getting you confused with someone else. I’m awful at keeping track of usernames. If someone’s commenting outside their own log, I’m easily lost lol
Ah yes, we witness the log of Atlas, in ancient legends, it is often said he has enough strength to sever the atlas bone of ten thousand men with the blink of his eye. Great work in here dude!
woke up really congested, caught some little cold. Been slamming hot tea lol.
AM weight: 230.6 Very happy with this. Without real effort or tracking diet, I was able to up calories and maintain exactly the same weight for a month.
Range day today. Took out a few coworkers to a federal range in some national forest land. Thousands of rounds down range, had a blast. Got to test out an AR build I did a few weeks back, ran a couple contact drills since we were the only ones at the range for a bit. Used to run these for my ship, so it’s nice to get back to it. Sun took it out of me, I forgot how tiring it was just existing outside. Good day, great way to just decompress
have a pretty bad cold. Well, I think it’s a cold. Snot is just pouring out of me to the point where it’s actively running down my face, some diarrhea as well. Ever since I got Covid, my immune systems just been shot. I made it all through high school and college without ever missing a day, maybe some sniffles here or there but that’s it. Seems like im catching everything that’s going around now, need to build my immune system to strength again.
so, with that in mind, this workout felt like crap. 135 felt like 315 on deads, and 330 felt like 400. I really didn’t think I had a PR in the tank today, but decided to just send it for all I had. Somehow still managed to pull 375x12, got the PR I was gunning for, and then got so dizzy I had to lay down for a couple minutes lol.
tendonitis in my elbow is getting worse. Did a straight bar chin-up during my warmups and it just killed. Switching my weighted pull-ups to a neutral grip, hoping that helps it out a bit.
tried wrist wraps on press, then quickly decided against it. Just doesn’t feel right, even if people say it is supposed to help with elbow pain. May try it on bench, see if that’s better.
added some weight to the poundstones, crazy how just a few more lbs just drastically changes the movement. Then again, the axles only 24lbs, so bumping up 5lbs plus collars is a 20% weight jump. Going to try to pound these out more and more, strengthen up the tendons in my arms
bench went okay. Maybe that’s harsh, I hit a PR. But I was hoping for 12, trying to match what I did on 5’s week last cycle. Still, I only managed 10 reps with 210 back on Feb 24, so that’s still an extra rep gained in a month. Not great, but I’ll take it.
Tried out the wrist wraps, decided I don’t like them and won’t be using them. Which I honestly find odd, because when I was competing in powerlifting way back when, I freaking loved wrist wraps. Wore them for everything. Part of me thinks it may be the wraps I have. Mark Bells Gangsta wraps, got them as a gift a long time ago and never tried them out. They might be just a bit “too stiff” for someone not pushing massive fricking weight. Either that or I’m just so used to not using them now that I hate the feeling. Either way, screw wraps
Kroc rows felt good, focusing hard on pulling with my back in an effort to save my elbow.
pull-ups went well. First 2 sets felt strong, started calling the rest of the sets pretty early, just letting go of the bar as soon as the elbow got cranky
just a great day. Coming off the 12 hour shift, dragging pretty hard on the car ride home, but a little caffeine and some good music got everything clicking into place.
Happy with the Press PR, 145x12 might be an all time PR for me. Was definitely a max effort set, a 13th rep was not in the bags, but 12 moved solidly
VERY happy with my pull-ups today. Pr on weight for 5, PR for my back off set with 15, and then still managed to hit 8 clean reps AFTER all the weighted work. For being 230, I feel like I’m getting decent at these.
started doing BB curls. Think I am going to switch between these and Poundstone Curls on a 6 week basis. Seems like a good way to attack the biceps from two directions, and I think that maybe some heavy bicep work can help strengthen whatever tendon in my forearm is angry at me.
AM weight: 229.1. Lowest I have been in years, I can’t remember a time since college when I saw under 230 on the scale. Down 1.5lbs in the last week, which is just about where I am looking to be for this cut. Hell yeah.
also, quick layout for how all these workouts go, as I realize I don’t describe it the best. I start with whatever lift is at the top, so today press. I will do a giant set of slams, pull-ups, press, until done with all of those. Then I will move on to a superset of box jumps and deadlifts, followed by super setting the curls and pull aparts. Slight variance with different days, but that’s the gist. Giant and supersets for everything to make the most of time.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to see progress, but look at these two, I can definitely tell that I stopped some weight, and prolly packed on some muscle as well. Nice.
SSB PR was a mental battle. One of the hardest sets I can remember doing. The SSB bar has a way of weighing forward on you during higher reps, I feel as if it’s impossible to take a breath. I have had a few fairly intense military trainings where we did pool exercises. Swims with our hands tied, carrying weights underwater, etc. there’s a moment when doing that stuff, when you body is out of oxygen and you are still moving, where you feel an involuntary sense of just panic. I felt that on rep 9 of this set. Kind of freaked me out, haven’t felt that in probably 5 years. Took a pause in my reps, forced a couple deep breaths ( or as deep as I could make them), and managed to finish the set, then promptly collapsed to the floor. I love the SSB…. I also hate the SSB
pull-ups continuing to go well. Didn’t hit 11 reps, might have if I hadn’t been a fool at the start of my set, but my core was so loose that I had to pause at rep 4 because I was swinging back and forth all over the place, took me too long hanging there to get my body still again. Still, 10 reps much easier than last week, definitely a rep number that I am good for anytime I walk into the gym. Back off sets increasing reps from previous weeks as well.
bench felt like lead. I think that’s going to be a trend. My worst lift, and it hates when I lose weight, so that’s going to be fun. Doing the best damage control as I can, then hopefully I can really make some strength gains again once I’m done with this cut.
AM weight: 226.6. I have no idea how, weight kinda flew off the last few days. Either feel, the scale is showing good progress, and I “feel” lighter than ever. Slowly getting dangerous. Good.
You know what I haven’t done in a while? Monthly goals. Know what I have a lot of success doing? Monthly goals. You know what I need to do more of? You guessed it, monthly goals. Here we go.
