Is it even a bulk if it isn’t 2lbs a week? You got 195 @jdm135
@simo74 is this front squat stuff all isolated to your logs or are you posting in a broader forum?
It is just something @wiseman83 and I decided on. There is not a thread for this, but I am thinking there now needs to be one.
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Lol, could be a great Pivot after the transformation challenge. People spent a lot of time getting pretty, now it’s time to get strong
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Lol. I was 190 or 200 on 1/1. Literally just finished T-ransformation so time to get fat again?
Haha but seriously i learned some things this year. I’m getting older too. I want strength AND health, and it seems 175-180 is pretty healthy for me.
We shall see though. I need to get barbell access and today thats not possible.
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Work for today: JuggernautAI Powerlifting week 3 day 4
Spoto press: 165x8, 155x8, 155x8, 155x8, 155x8, 155x8
Deadlift technique work: 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 275x3
Good mornings: 155x8, 175x8
Lat pulldown: 130x16, 130x16, 130x15
Db lat raise: 20x18, 20x17, 20x15
Tricep overhead ext: 65x18, 65x18, 65x16
Cable curl: 30x18, 30x17, 30x16
Notes:
- forgot my headphones, pre workout, and shoes today. So did this all in hiking boots lol.
- program starting to ramp up. Weights still aren’t “heavy”, but definitely a notch up in intensity from last week, and doing it for more sets. I find this has always had a way of sneaking up on ya, goes from easy to just soul crushing without really noticing the coming change.
- there’s one deadlift platform that has you facing a mirror, by chance I’ve just never used it. Did so today, and my ego exploded lol. Even with light weight, the gym lighting and tank top had me looking the most yoked I’ve been in my life lol. Deceptive? Maybe, but I was surprised enough by how much my traps and shoulders were popping out that I actually stopped like mid set lol.
- went barbell for good mornings. Felt better than SSB. SSB actually did feel good, but felt like it was an upper back workouts more than a hinge workout, which I don’t think is the goal here.
- rest of the work was just pump accessory stuff, all felt fine.
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Flying out, layover in New York.
Airport lounge had free breakfast, was actually Phenomenal lol. Best potatoes I’ve had in a long time.
Also, it was amazing how many people were drinking. I get the booze is complimentary. It is still 8am lol. Maybe I’m just not vacationing right haha
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I’m a non-drinker, but airports are a “no-rules” environment because of timezones.
3 in the morning? Time for ribs, haha.
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Ha, i was just in the Anchorage airport and they had a sign that was effectively “no booze before 10am.” I was like “who drinks before 10am?” (I am sure i have), my GF essentially made the same comment you just did.
Airports are the real Wild West lol
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Lol, I’ve definitely slammed drinks at 8am before, but that was only because we hadn’t ended festivities that were started the night before. I can’t imagine waking up to drink
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I’m all about having a drink before my flight. One drink will get me tired and I’ll be asleep by the time we taxi out and wake up during landing depending on the length of the flight.
What you mean you never took a swig from a warm can of beer in bed upon waking ? How else do you reduce the burning from that first cigarette in bed ?
Back from the trip, and thank god I am. Not sure if I could have taken another day lol. Amazing time, catching up with some men who mean the world to me, lots of hiking, fishing, and truly sinful amounts of drinking. my only liquids for the last 3 days have been beer, whiskey, and coffee. Pizza, fish tacos, hearty mountain breakfasts. I feel like death lol. Time to get back into it.
Work for today: JuggernautAI powerlifting week 4 day 1
SSB: 290x8 (ugly PR), 240x8, 240x8, 240x8, 240x8
Axle press: 105x8, 105x8, 105x8, 105x8, 105x8
Halting deadlift: 295x6, 295x6
Finished off with goblet squats, GHR, ab wheel
Notes:
- SSB was ugly. Watched some film and realized that for some reason, my knee cave is much worse when I go wide on SSB in comparison to low bar. Need to bring it in a little. Still, the weight moved, that’s a win.
- swapped to an axle for press, because I was doing this hungover and sleep deprived in my garage and truly did not have it in me to unload my barbell that already had the right weight for deadlifts lol.
- more notes to follow later
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well done, even if ugly.
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Work for today: JuggernautAI Powerlifting week 4 day 2
Incline bench: 140x8, 145x8, 150x8, 155x8, 160x8
Nautilus chest support row: 120x15, 120x15
EZ bar curl: 50x18, 50x17
Db shoulder press: 45x19, 45x16
Back support Tricep pushdown: 66x17, 66x16
Conditioning: 10 min assault bike
Notes:
- easy upper body pump day again. Everything moved well, still sweating straight booze lol.
- the EZ curl bars at this gym are my all time favorite. Sounds stupid, but they curve is much shallower, barely deviates from a straight bar, and that just feels so much better. Straight bar bugs the elbows and wrists for me, but the big curves on some of these bars doesn’t feel fantastic, more brachialis than biceps. This one is the Goldilocks bar.
- the high reps honestly just had me walking around meeting ridiculously jacked lol. Can feel my triceps just pushing out my arm, it’s fantastic. I get why people like bodybuilding workouts
- honestly, this whole sessions takes under an hour, and I think it’s legit my favorite for that reason alone lol.
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Alrighty, some notes.
Back home, back to work tomorrow. Spent today doing some meal preps, cleaning, laundry, generally just getting life back together after my time off.
This weekend was a great time. I needed this. A reset in the mountains, reconnecting with some lifelong friends who I have not seen in too long. Crisp air, great hiking and fishing, i cant remember the last time I literally cried from laughter, but I can scarcely think of a time I wasnt close over this weekend. It was a blast.
Fun time is over, now I am back, time to get to work.
So I won the T-ransformation challenge. I wasn’t expecting that, but I am pretty pumped about it. That being said, I am not where I want to be, but I was on a good track before all the social events of the last two weeks. Consciously decided to just enjoy those guilt-free, and I certainly did. Now it is back to the grind.
And when I say grind, i want it to truly be a grind. Single life means I can afford to be a bit obsessive, and work schedule the next few months will have me homebound to do just that. The push to 190 is on, and I fully plan on the next 3 months being a time of near fanatical devotion.
Plan of action:
- Diet: Going to hop back into the Velocity diet, started today. Plan to maintain this as strict velocity diet for the next few weeks, until im roughly 210lbs. Doing this partially for the ease of it, partially because I find that starting off a diet with something extreme is a great way to assure buy in. After that, I intend to do a modified velocity diet, where I go from 1 to 2 meals a day, and introduce some carb cycling on workout days. Will be tracking macros when I do this, which isnt normal for me, but neither is getting into the level of shape that I intend to.
- training: JuggernautAI Powerlifting. No change there. Going to do some sort of cardio everyday, keeping it moderate intensity for the most part, maybe a few HIIT sessions thrown in. Im finding intense cardio to be a little fruitless on a hard deficit, as I dont have it in me to “push” as hard as I need to. Get better results by pulling back a bit and going longer. still going to add pullups in daily, just a few reps throughout the day, then plan to hit them hard once im sub-200.
- Hormones and recovery: A few things on this end. 1) Due to a myriad of symptoms, Im beginning to wonder if I have low test levels. I can still train obviously, still make progress. But mood regulation, energy levels, lethargy, just a lot of things that seem to indicate I may have some issue there. Given my sleep and workload, its not surprising. Going to see if I can get Navy medical to test my levels, and will figure out the rest from there. 2) I havent been able to breathe out of my nose in years. broken it a few times, gotten worse every time, but now it feels like sucking through a straw to breathe through my nose, and ive become a serious mouth breather. going to see if I can get a referral to an ENT and see if there isnt anything they can do about that, thinking it might help my sleep. 3) Going to prioritize sleep. Only so much I can do on this front, the overnight shifts are here to stay whether I like it or not. But on my other nights, I generally get 5-6 hours of sleep, which would mean I am averaging 4ish hours a night at best. going to focus on getting to bed early, trying for a full 7 hours a sleep on any non-overnight shift. 4) stretching and meditation: I never really do either. Going to start trying to do some of both daily. maybe only 4 minutes of each, but I figure the difference between none and some is still 100%, so hopefully they help a bit lol.
On a different note, most of the friends I was with this weekend were Marine Corps officers, went to school with all of them. I find that personality wise, its a much more natural fit for me than my current peers, just in terms of general hobbies and background. As we talked about our careers, I found that I still was very much interested in ground unit kind of work. I know i’ve mentioned it before, but I was originally planning to go Marine Corps out of school, my second knee surgery got me a medical disqualification, which is how I ended up where I am at. Interestingly, I looked into trying to go Army out of school, and found that they would still take me with my knee.
This is my last tour in this job. Lowest retention rate in the DOD for a reason, its just not a sustainable amount of work, and I am certainly not going to keep on doing this for a career I didn’t want in the first place. Planning some federal work after this, but was thinking about staying Navy Reserves. I like the idea of keeping my foot in the door, want to be able to hop back in quickly if real conflict actually breaks out. Now, I am wondering if it may be possible to go Army Reserves, or maybe National Guard. @TrainForPain, you have any info on either of those routes? Either way, something for me to look into as I get closer to finishing up my active duty career.
Lets get to work.
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Good job on all the above.
You’ll love the way pullups feel as you drop BW. It’ll be amazing.
You at 190 is going to be great!
Sleep… good luck.
Last tour… yeah i bet!
Reserve… ive heard bad things but good luck, maybe itll be great!
Curious what sort of federal job you may have in mind. Sooo many career fields open - to you even more so than me, and its been good for me.
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My biggest regret is leaving the Army. Private message me if you want to talk about it live
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Total 3 biscuits; lots of gravy, .75lbs turkey sausage, and 5 eggs
I will forever maintain that biscuits and gravy is a gift from god himself and everyone should experience the awesomeness that it is at least once
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