Biggest Guy in Class: How to Rebuild a Monolith

Training Training Logs
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I’m gonna mirror what Pwn said. Which is habit of mine. For 2 reasons
1 - I cant think of a bad bit of advice hes given. And it’s easy to second good advice.
2 - whilst I was going to give this response and was fairly confident in it - I wasn’t 100% sure. And I typically like to be 100% sure.

Respectfully disagree.
Since September I’ve lost 9kg. And set PRs in bench, press, log, axle deadlift, squat and front squat.
And whilst I’m overweight (another 10kg to go) - I’m a more mature trainer than the OP. Who is still in the newbie gains period.
Weight loss will slow gains but for guys who are very over weight or very new CAN lose weight and get stronger.
It’s about doing more things right. Like HIGH protein, HARD exercise & GREAT sleep.

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Sorry, I should have included those exceptions in that statement. Surely I agree that total novices and overweight folks can continue to set PRs in a caloric deficit, depending highly on the personal circumstances. In my defense, however, I likely unconsciously neglected such cases because I did not have the impression that OP fits either extreme. Of course, I could be wrong. After all, he considers himself a beginner in the title and initial posts. I should not have overlooked this. I also have no idea what his sleep or nutrition are like. I only say all this because I consider myself a beginner and have only set a PR in a caloric deficit once in my life. But I suppose either way I probably shouldn’t give advice then, hahaha.

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It’s cool. I’m not picking fights. Just saying whilst guys that are picking up 600lb at 12% bf might struggle to set PRs if they try and drop weight us fatties and newbies can carry on making gains (albeit slower) when dropping a few kg.

No - always chime in. If someone doesn’t agree we talk it out like adults.

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Thanks to everyone for the advice and tips! I always really value everyone’s opinions, so please never hesitate to share what you think!

A few updates on physique, cardio and training:

Thought I would check in with a brief physique update just for a laugh. I appear to have magically burnt about 0.8kg/1.75lb of fat overnight, lol. I always find it funny how much weight fluctuates from day to day. Obviously it’s just a random blip though so I’ll keep tracking the general trend.

In other news I had swimming this morning and I am completely cooked. My lats are especially fried, so I don’t know if my chin-ups are going to be particularly good in this evening’s workout. On the plus side I had a filthy pump, and my muscles were all dirty tight, in a sort of weirdly uncomfortable yet pleasant way.

Training wise, we begin a new cycle of 5/3/1 today. I have tentative plans to up the training max. The squat is progressing well. Deadlift is a tad behind that but still good, and press and bench have been progressing well too, except for this week. I will perhaps increase the TM 5kg for the lower body lifts and 2.5kg for the upper body lifts and monitor my progress, since for the most part, this last cycle has been very good.

In the meantime, I’m going to have a nap I think. I only got 6 or so hours of sleep last night because swimming and because life. Everything will quieten down towards the end of the year though so my situation recovery-wise will be improving.

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Quick life update: I’m finally done with the tough part of the year - should have way more time from here on in. So more sleep, yay! I’ll post training and physique updates later though since it’s getting a little late now, and I should probably get some of that sleep I’ve been talking about so much.

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Alrighty. Welcome back to another episode of Most Depleted Guy In Class. This week marked week 11 of my 5/3/1 cutting journey. We begin with the workout reports – there are 4 to report on, representing the whole of the 5+ week. We’ll do a physique update and have a chat about how things are looking later – gotta do some thinking first.

First workout -

09/11/20

Sort of a quick session, time was a tad tight. Had swimming this morning.

Deadlift

Warmup: 60kgx5
Set 1: 80x5 (5 @65%)
Set 2: 92.5x5 (5 @75%)
Set 3: 104.5x8 (5+ @85%). (Needed 10 to beat all time PR, needed 8 to beat 5+ PR. So not sure if this counts as a PR.)
Superset: FSL 80x5x5 (5x5 FSL @65%) with chins 7, 6, 6, 6, 6 (31, 5 sets. Yeah the rep counts are weird lol.)
Superset: Dips 12, 9, 9 (30, 3 sets) with BB rows 55x7, 6, 7. (Dips were a little shallow, shoulder was acting up a bit.)
Pullovers 2 sets
Circuit x2: BB curls – weighted situps – Neck work

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Second workout to report.

11/11/20

Press

Warmup: 20kgx8
Set 1: 36.5x5 (5 @65%)
Set 2: 42.5x5 (5 @75%)
Set 3: 48x6 (5+ @85%) (needed 7, wanted 8. So no PR. I think maybe the bar moved forwards on the 7th rep which may have caused me to fail the rep. Will keep an eye on it later.)
FSL: 36.5x5x5 (5x5 FSL @65%)

Assistance:
Superset: Chins 9, 7, 5, 5, 4 (30 reps, 5 sets) with dips 9, 9, 7, 8 (33 reps, 4 sets)
BB rows 60x7, 7, 6
Pullovers 2 sets
Circuit x3: BB curls – weighted situps – Neck work

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Third workout to report.

13/11/20

Got put through a pretty tough kick set today in swimming… timing could perhaps have been better considering today was squat day, lol.

Squat

Warmup: 20kgx10, 40x5
Set 1: 58x5 (5 @65%)
Set 2: 67x5 (5 @75%)
Set 3: 75.5x9 (5+ @75%) (needed 12 for all-time PR, 9 for 5+ PR.)
FSL: 58x5x5 (5x5 FSL @65%)

Assistance –
Superset: Chins 9, 7, 6, 5 +4 sort of rest-paused (i.e short rest) (31 reps, 4 + 1 rest-paused set) with dips 13, 9, 8 (30 reps, 3 sets)
BB rows 60x7, 6, 7
Pullovers 2 sets
Circuit x3: BB curls – weighted situps/BW twisting situps – Neck work

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Fourth workout to report – today’s session.

14/11/20

Bench

Warmup: 20kgx10
Set 1: 44x5 (5 @65%)
Set 2: 51x5 (5 @75%)
Set 3: 58x9 (5+ @85%) (needed 10 for all-time PR, 9 for 5+ PR.)
FSL: 44x5x5 (5x5 FSL @65%)

Assistance –
Low rest superset: Chins 8, 4, 4, 5, 4, 3, 3 (31 reps, 7 sets), dips 10, 6, 6, 6 + 2 rest-paused (30 reps, 4 + 2 rest-paused sets). (Usually I take about 1:40 rest from when I finish my dips to when I start my chins – this was much less, starting with only enough time to take a few breaths and shake it out, and lengthening it a little bit later on. Gotta shock the muscle, right babe?)
Pullovers 2 sets
Circuit x3: BB curls – BW situps w/ twisting – neck work

Edit: Forgot to mention that I actually did some cardio today, finally haha. 5x 100m sprints, on the 2:00 minute mark.

Will post a cutting update later!

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Seems like your performance is faring well despite the deficit. I’d be pretty pleased if I were in that situation.

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@Bagsy yes, I agree, things could be much worse lol. My press TM may be a tad too high though. I will need to consider carefully what I do for the next cycle. But I’m not sure if my deficit really counts as a deficit haha - unfortunately, my fat loss has come to a halt.

Brief cutting update:

Physique-wise: currently weigh 78.4 kg, and the waist is at 32 inches or just under that controlled, and 33.25 inches relaxed. (I’ve been stuck at this sort of weight for the last two weeks or so. Feels like longer though.)

Leanness wise, well it’s weird. For some reason, I can see the pectoral muscle actually contracting, and I can see the deltoid muscle moving around under the skin, but my waist is still fat as all hell, and my abs are nowhere to be seen. Back is pretty lean too, until you get to the love handles. And my legs, well, I couldn’t care less, lol, but they’re still exactly the same.

Of course, being able to see the pec contracting would look a lot cooler if I actually had a pec worth contracting… you’d think that at a 46 inch chest one would actually have decent pectoral development, but apparently not. To be fair I think most of my “chest” measurement is accounted for by my back though lol.

But yeah no idea what’s going on. As usual I look like crap though, so that hasn’t changed haha.

Diet-wise: I’ve just been looking at some John Meadows videos on refeed meals. Based on this Refeed Meal | What - When - How - Who - YouTube it seems that I qualify for a solid refeed. I had a semi-refeed about two or three weeks ago, and I’ve been going slightly higher carb the last two days, but honestly I think I’ll need to just stop the diet for two or three days and reset a little bit. To be honest, I’ll still be eating pretty much 100% clean - I haven’t felt the need for a cheat in a long time. Then again, I’d eat cardboard if it got me results.

On that note, I’ve decided that I need to put together an actual solid meal plan. I’ve basically been winging it so far, but in reality I have no idea how much I’m eating and I’m just going on instinct - something which I don’t have enough experience to do. That works for the first 10 lbs, as I’ve shown, but after that you need to dial in a bit. So I will come up with one and post it here in the log.

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Hard for anyone to know besides yourself if you’re in a deficit or not. It seems like whenever someone on the Internet decides to lose weight nowadays, the first question is when the first cheat meal or refeed is, hahaha. If you have no idea how much you’re eating and, more importantly, how to adjust the intake, then that’s an issue. You’ll either have to eat very similar foods every day or start weighing food (at least initially) But if you’re sorta lean and think the fat loss has come to a halt when it shouldn’t, then a refeed or diet break can definitely help physically and mentally.

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Keep a food diary.

Always step 1. Keep a food diary for 2 weeks. You will find your diet improving as you’ll be too embarrassed to write down:
“Ate some cake - well 4”

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Got to report on Monday’s deadlift session, and then talk about some diet and cutting tingz.

16/11/20
Had swimming this morning as usual, so lats were a little tired.

Deadlift

Warmup: 60kgx5
Set 1: 86x3 (3 @70%)
Set 2: 98.5x3 (3 @80%)
Set 3: 110.5x6 (3+ @90%) (needed 8 to beat all-time PR, 7 to beat 3+ PR. Failed to improve here).
FSL: 86x5x5 (5x5 FSL @70%)

Assistance:
Superset: Chins 8, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4 (30 reps, 6 sets) with dips 9, 7, 7, 7 (30 reps, 4 sets). Went lower rest on these again, pushing the pace hard. Might do this for a little while and then increase the rest periods again to shock the muscles.
BB rows 50x10, 10, 10 (had to drop some weight on these after the chins)
Pullovers 2 sets
Circuit x3: BB curls (lighter) - weighted situps - neck work

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Cutting and diet update now. I did some cardio yesterday evening, just some standard tempo runs. 4x40m sprints on the 1:30 mark, with a 3 minute break after every four. Did that four times. Did not feel fantastic during that - it’s not that the glutes and quads were tired and taxed like they used to be, but just a general sort of tiredness and generally feeling smashed. That’s been a constant feeling for the last few days, and the effects that has on my physique and lifting have been f–ing with my headspace, lol.

Diet-wise: the last few days I’ve basically just been refeeding - more rice for some extra carbs, and a bite of pizza too (unfortunately). Felt like crap after that, almost felt like throwing up. In 12 weeks I’ve gone from force feeding myself to bulimic. Just grand, lol. Jokes aside, it wasn’t bulimia or anything, I just ate too much too quickly I think. Not used to eating pizza, haven’t had a cheat meal in a long time. I didn’t want to eat it to be honest, but there was nothing else, and I couldn’t have a protein shake.

Anyway - weight and waist have stayed constant (78.3 kg, 33/31.9 inches relaxed/controlled) which is good - it means I haven’t gone overboard at all with the refeed as some people do. Although, as I alluded to earlier, the physique is not looking great, something’s off. Despite being the same size, it’s almost like my waist is looking fatter or blocky, and that the lats (usually a good feature for me) are looking flat and narrow. Really sucks.

I haven’t been tracking my food for the past few days because of the refeed, but I’m working on my meal plan as we speak. I’m using Coach Thib’s ‘Best Damn Diet For Natural Lifters’ The Best Diet Plan for a Natural Bodybuilder. Will try get it finished as soon as I can, but in any case the refeed is over now. Going to restart the weight loss - need to actually make some progress.

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This could be 1 of 3 things:
1 - temporary illness or being run down. And could pass in days.
2 - a sign of doing too much much. And you need to adjust your exercise plan.
3 - just plain old hard work on calorie deficit. In which case no change needed.

Treading the line between 2 and 3 is (unfortunately) the balancing act. Working out hard on a deficit can / will leave you feeling rough.
Keep it up though. Aim for 75kg before Christmas. Thats 3kg in 5weeks. And perfectly within you grasp.
And if you are feeling really crap skip sprint session. Longevity is the key.

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Workout report.

18/11/20
Unfortunately another poor workout. Have failed to make any progress for the 3rd week in a row now sadly… really sucks. Dunno. It is what it is.

Press
Warmup: 20kgx6
Set 1: 39.5x3 (3 @70%)
Set 2: 45x3 (3 @80%)
Set 3: 51x5 (3+ @90%) (needed 6, wanted 7)
FSL: 39.5x5x5 (5x5 FSL @70%) (this was tough towards the end not gonna lie, really had to push for the reps)

Assistance -
Superset: Chins 9, 6, 4, 4, 4, 3 (30 reps, 6 sets) with dips 10, 8, 7, 7 (32, 4 sets). Still keeping rest low on these - 1 min from finishing dips to restarting chins.
BB rows 50x9, 10, 10 (again, keeping these light)
Pullovers 2 sets
Circuit: lateral raise - weighted situp - neck work

Notes:

  • 3rd week in a row I have failed to make progress on the press. Will be keeping the TM the same for the next cycle methinks, and see if that helps things.
  • Have added some lateral raises instead of curls today because a.) need to bring those shoulders up a bit, and b.) I feel like some shoulder assistance work may be beneficial. In any case it’s been a while since I’ve done anything for shoulders apart from press, so it will be a nice change. I’ll do lateral raises instead of curls on press day and bench day.
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How many cycles have you run PR sets for main and 5x5 FSL for supplemental? It may simply be time for a new 5/3/1 program.

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Ah yes I believe I’ve seen you mention this approach before. I’m in week 12 of doing 5/3/1, and one of those weeks was a deload. So I’m on the fourth 3-week cycle now, if I am not mistaken.

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Well, if nothing else, you’re about due for another deload. 2 cycles-deload-2 cycles-deload. Deload every 2 cycles, if not every 1.

But otherwise, you could make the switch at this point, or ride out 1 more cycle.