Got another day of nice weather in Seattle so missed the gym and went for a walk, was probably 3.2 miles of which I jogged 1 mile at a bit over a 10 min pace. Did .9 at about 9:45 then walked for a few min and ran for a minute at probably 70%. Felt awful, as long as I have nice weather I’m going to gradually step up my outside conditioning though.
I need to start losing weight too, I don’t need to be this fat to hit 1500 lbs. I been hovering in the mid to upper 290s since the beginning of July, the good news is I haven’t gained anything since then and have added muscle so I’ve lost inches where I should but the scale isn’t moving and the inches are dropping too slowly. Am going to try and be in the mid to upper 280s by Thanksgiving.
Morning weight: 297.6
Had a 6am meeting today, I normally start work between 9 and 10, so that was a bit early. Got good and caffeinated which fucked up my gut but today was fine otherwise.
c = conventional, s = sumo
Back/bi
DL: bar x 10 (c), 135 1x5 (c), 1x5, 2x3 (s), 245 2 x 5 (s), 355 4x2 (s), 405 1x2 (s)
BB Row: 135 x10, 185 2x6, 1x10
Lat pulldown: 150 3x8
Straight arm pulldown: 100 3x8
Single cable curl: 20 3x10
Rope curl: 60 3x10
Low row: 140 2x8
DB hammer curl: 25x10
My from is still a work in progress to say the least but getting somewhere I feel safe with sumo is way easier. I took a few videos and played with my stance a bunch, I’ll post those later. I actually failed 405 initially with double overhand as the bar rolled out of my hands but got it easy with a mixed grip. Think I’m sticking with sumo as my primary movement for the next month or so. Rest of the workout was solid despite not feeling very well physically, stomach was a mess and low back was stiff from running. Probably taking tomorrow off or maybe just hitting a shoulder pump session.
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Took yesterday completely off and got drunk last night, led to a mediocre workout but was nice to have a completely off day.
Shoulders:
5 min incline walk, knees a bit grumpy
Ohp: 95 2x5, 135 2x5, 175 3x4, 1x5
Cable front/lateral raises: 20 2x8 for each
Wide face pulls: 40x10, 60x10, 90 2x10
Med grip high row: 65 4x10
Shrugs: 155 x10, 245 2x10
Chins: 1x5
Assisted chins: -50x5, -100x5
Played with grip width on ohp, id been super narrow (fingers right next to the smooth), tried one set at 135 with pinkies on the rings but that was too wide. Ended up about 2 inches wider per hand, felt stronger and got the shoulder more engaged.
Chin progression was kinda fun, think I’m going to throw in a bunch of assisted volume until I’m strong/lean enough to do without.
Weighed 298 yesterday and 294.8 (booze dehydration) today. Will probably start tracking food if weight doesn’t come off in the next 5 days
Weight 301.4, holy bloatman. Body does this every time I drink and I also ate like shit yesterday, which is also pretty common. Seems like I should quit drinking so much
Legs:
10 min incline (7.5%, 3.3mph)
BS: 135x5, 225x5, 275 2x2, 315 x2, 365x1, 405x1, 425x1
RDL: 135x10, 185x5, 225 2x5, 1x10
Quad extension: 90 3x20
Ham curls: 110 3x10
Leg press: 460 2x10, 1x20
One of my better leg sessions in a while. Took videos of 405, looks pretty clean, depth is pretty solid. 425 isn’t quite as nice, felt way heavier unracking it, and probably cut it an inch higher but still moved pretty well. Think my 450 prediction should be pretty on point
Some sumo vids from last session, lots of work to do.
Any advice/critique is appreciated, as always.
Took yesterday off, was nice. Going to hit some deads and back later today.
Yesterday woke up at 296.8
Today 296.6, after eating a shit ton around dinner.
My normal eating routine is usually eat well from 10am - 5pm (mostly veggies, chicken, small-mid amount of carbs) then eat whatever for dinner, get high, have some dessert. Then 2 hours later eat another portion of food and whatever snacks I can find. I’m essentially only attempting to stop the 2 hour post dinner binge session, last night that just led to me binging a bit earlier in the night but I still think it lessened the amount, a bit. Will see how it goes.
Meeting ran late, got to the gym late, deadlift spots were taken so I improvised and will just hit them hard later this week.
Back/bi
1.1 mile speed walk to the gym
Chest supported rows: 45x10, 90x10, 115 3x8, 1x15
Low cable row: 90 3x12
Rack pulls, just below knee: 135x10, 225x5, 275 2x5, 315 1x3,1x5
Assisted chins: -64 neutral 2x5, -76 pronated 2x5, -100 neutral 1x10
Wide lat pulldown: 140 2x6
Machine curl: 75 3x8
Rope hammer curl: 70 2x6
All of the lifting done in 50 minutes which kicked my ass, hard. As always, need more conditioning, I’m contemplating buying an exercise bike to keep in my garage.
Not too annoyed by not doing deadlifts today, the rack pulls were 34x harder than I remembered, really forces a good brace and to get my hips higher. Might keep this as a main lift on my 2x a week back weeks, pretty sure I added 10lbs to my deadlift and 3lbs of pure muscle from the rack pulls alone lol
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@guineapig you think those squats a few posts up show more back or leg weakness? I’m not sure I went quite heavy enough to really prove anything
Not super obvious but I’d say relatively strong legs v posterior chain.
Technique wise I can see some looseness in the back causing the bar to roll forward a bit. Exacerbated by weight/balance shifting forward upon initiating the concentric. Could become a problem if it get’s worse when going heavier and/or closer to failure.
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Cool, appreciate the input. 425 definitely felt a little off balance, my brace is still def a work in progress. Going to watch some vids tonight.
Been pumped about lifting recently, had a few good consecutive months and am noticeably stronger and leaner. Still a long ways to go but I’ve made obvious progress. I’m tentatively planning a solid week the rest of this one, a hard heavy week the next then a deload of some kind followed by a max week. Unless I underperform (I.e. missing 1300 total) I’m going to keep doing my own programming.
Morning weight:296
Chest/tri:
16 min incline walk (5%, 3.6) should do assault bike but lazy
BP: 135 2x10, 225 2x5, 255 x8, 275x6, 295x4, 315x5 (rep pr)
CG Incline BP: 135x10, 185 4x8
Tri ez pushdowns: 80 3x10
Tri ez pulldowns: 80 3x10
Chest flies: 90 3x12 (slow)
I’ve been benching a lot on a Thompson Fat Pad, which is wider and more tacky, went on a very slick comp width bench today and it sucked. Had to work hard to not move around, which actually got my legs more engaged, definitely made the movement harder. My rear delts are also fatigued from the rowing and what not I did yesterday which was somewhat noticeable during bench and way more noticeable during incline (hands were about 1.5inches outside the smooth). My rear delts were absolutely pumped after those, could feel them the rest of the workout, need to remember that before trying to max out in a few weeks. In any case, I’m happy about the rep RP, could definitely get more if I didn’t do any volume beforehand and was a bit more rested but I’ll take the little wins.
Nothing else noteworthy, need to figure out what to do for squats tomorrow, my knees much prefer low volume but I’m not sure that’s what I need to grow. Will probably do some triples and a high rep backoff set in the mid 200s to get some volume in.
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Didn’t weigh in this morning as I had a 6:45am meeting I had to rush to get to, with how I ate yesterday, was probably up a pound or so.
Legs:
10 min incline walk (7%, 3.2)
BS: 135 2x5, 225 2x3, 275 2x2, 315 x2, 365 3x3, 245 x 12 (ugggh)
Glute Drive: 90 x 10, 180 3x10
Single leg press: 70 3x10
Called it there, definitely underfed (700kcal) and undercarbed (12g). Also, the early wake up and poor sleep probably didn’t help. The triples at 365 were hard but tolerable, the back-off set sucked but am pretty happy with it. Took a vid of my second set of 365, might post it if I find anything noteworthy.
Never used a fat pad but I’d like to one day. What’s it be like?
They’re awesome, I would never bench on a comp one (no plans to compete at this point) if my gym had more of them. I’m pretty broad and pretty fat, so it makes it way easier for me to get comfortable. I have a weird bench setup, that probably isn’t maximally efficient but I like it. I pull myself up to the bar, pull my shoulder blades in tight, then just before I lower back to the bench spread my shoulders a bit, to get wider and more solid on the bench, but try and maintain tightness. Long story short, I have to keep my shoulder blades in tighter on the comp bench, which I find harder stability wise. The padding is a bit softer and has some braille like grip on it, so you essentially never slide anywhere, which is hugely beneficial too. I actually spotted a guy who was using it, he had some bench grip pad that he was using for his shoulders and ass, I have no idea why though.
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Back/Bi:
10 min incline walk (7, 3.5)
DL: 135 2x5 (s), 245 2x5(s), 355 3x3 (s), 2x3(c), 405 4x1 (c)
Iso Row: 90 per side 1x10, 135 per side 3x8
Back raises: 1x8, 45 3x6
Neutral close lat pulldown: 100 x 10, 180 3x8
Hammer curl: 25 x10, x8
Curl: 25 x10
Something in my forearm felt off so stopped a bit short on curls but not too worried about that. My deadlift form felt like ass, I really need to focus on it more. I took videos of 3 of the 405 singles and will post some later, I essentially straighten my legs immediately and use my lower back to lift, on the final one I actually have a decent pattern but I need to put more time into these. Might hit two easier sessions for DL next week just to try and ingrain the pattern more.
Drank a lot for a friends birthday last night, ugh. Was out of it and slightly hungover for the workout, it sucked but got done.
Shoulders:
Db press: 25x10
Lateral raises: 15 3x15
Front raises: 15 3x10
Smith Med/wide upright row: 2x10 65, 4x8 85, 1x15
Hang cleans: 95 3x5
Rear delt flyes: 130 3x10
Rope shrug: 90 2x10
20 min walk
My left elbow hurt when lowering the weight on the press so I gave up, felt a bit off on the flyes too. Imagine it’s probably from heavy pull downs yesterday. Have a few days before I have to bench, imagine it’ll be fine by then. Note to self, stop drinking
Meeting ran long, got to the gym 15+ min late for a 90 min leg session, skipped warmup/liss but whatever.
Legs:
BS: 135 2x5, 225 2x5, 275 2x3 (sleeves), 315x2 (belt), 365 x 2, 415 2x1, 425 2x1
RDL: 125x10, 225 2x5, 275 2x5
Glute Drive: 90x10, 180 3x10
Leg press: 550 3x10
Best my squat has felt in a long time, started deliberately setting my hips before descending on the 275s and that really carried over. My 2nd at 425 had some loss of back tightness but still moved pretty well. Very confident i’ll match my old pr of 445 in a couple weeks, pretty confident I’ll exceed it.
That shoulder session smoked my delts, guess I should add volume more regularly.
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