Well it’s way better than eating chips ahahah
I really lack the restraint to dress up, go out and just run a mile for recovery
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It took me about half an hour to work up the willpower to get out of bed lol. But if I had skipped it I would have spent the whole day kicking myself haha.
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I know you said you jogged, but 1 mile is such a terrible distance for hard running. 400m and 800m are brief enough to tolerate regularly, and at longer distances you can relax a bit. But with a mile… there’s no room to breathe literally and figuratively.
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Yeah I know what you mean… that sort of distance sucks. Although to be honest, for me, all the distances suck in their own unique way… maybe I’m just bad at running 
Running sucks in general. I played soccer nearly half my life and dabbled in cross country and long distance running for a bit. Can’t say I miss half marathons.
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Cardio this morning: swimming. Last swim session until the Christmas break finishes in February. Pretty tough session - today’s weight session will not be pretty. Will report back with today’s squat workout later. In other news only 10 more sleeps until the bulk begins and I can go get some cheat food.
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That’s a long Christmas break.
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Yeah I know right? It comes out to about a month and a half I think. Not ideal because my swimming is going to suffer quite badly lol, but yeah it is what it is. Should be able to get back into it quickly though.
Going to be forced to push today’s session back. Christmas season stuff you know - unfortunately always out and about. Don’t really want to go but yeah. I’m going to try and get out of it and head back home to train as soon as I can lol. I’ll update later.
Do you have a specific swimming goal? Not sure if I missed that
Yes I haven’t actually written much about my swimming here, so you haven’t missed anything lol. No specific goal really - I don’t compete or anything, so the goal is mainly just not sucking too much. But of course I do have an interest in swimming and I enjoy it, and always am looking to improve my times across the board in the different strokes/distances.
Generally, to get properly good at swimming you need to swim quite frequently (like 4-7 times a week, and often even more than that.) Since bodybuilding is really my main thing, I’m only in the pool twice a week, just for general fitness/cardio and fun.
Managed to make it home this morning for a squat session. Actually solid session - but I spent a large part of it lying on the floor sobbing silently. Don’t think I hit an all-time PR but I did beat last week’s disastrous performance. Also tried some sets of 10 to finish off the supplemental just to get a feel for the BBB style… not fun.
19/12/20
Squat
Warmup: 20kgx10, 40x5
Set 1: 62.5x3 (3 @70%)
Set 2: 71x3 (3 @80%)
Set 3: 80x7 (3+ @90%) (needed 7)
FSL: 62.5x3x5, 62.5x2x10 (kill me)
Superset x3: Lying on the floor, superset w/ whimpering
Assistance –
Superset: Pull-ups 7 (iffy), 5, 5, 5 + 2 rest-paused (30 reps, 4 + 1 rest-paused sets) with dips 14, 9, 10 (33, 3 sets)
1-arm DB row L/R: 24.5x12/12, 11/11, 10/10
Pullovers 2 sets
Circuit x3: Lateral raise – BW situp – neck work – BB curl
Notes:
- Was going to finish with Tabata front squats but was pretty drained, so skipped.
- Not a spectacular session for squats today - no huge PR - but yeah a bit of an improvement. I was really focusing on breathing and bracing today, and I think I’m getting better.
- Dips were really good today!
- 5x10 is going to be the death of me. I better have my nutrition in order when I run Beefcake and BtM…
Otherwise, just been relaxing today. Holidays and stuff. Been watching the Olympia - it’s looking like a great lineup this year. Anyway I’ll try train tomorrow morning (bench session).
Oh, and 9 more sleeps until starting the bulk!
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I find moderate rep squats difficult in a way that no other lifts are. I think this is the case because, if you’re strong enough to do moderate reps with the weight you chose, then it’s entirely a matter of will. There’s no small muscle or obvious weak point that you can’t just muscle your way through, so you body can most certainly do it, but your mind will say “This feels really, really hard. Let’s stop!”
And you gotta keep telling that part of the mind that it’s being weak and it should shut the hell up.
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100%, that sums it up perfectly. I generally suck at higher rep work as well, so it’s always a challenge for me, but if you can’t push through then you don’t get the results I suppose.
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Sets of 13 remain the absolute worst thing ever when it comes to squats. Low rep sets are about surviving. You’re getting under a heavy bar and you just gotta push with all you got. 20 rep sets are about steeling your resolve and enduring until the end. Sets of 13 are like waiting in line at the DMV while being covered in fire ants: combination of horrific boredom and agony.
@tinkertailortanker You’re most likely more of an adult than I am, so I’m more saying this to myself, but I have to be cautious about building up “the bulk” in my mind after long periods of calorie restriction. I no joke undid 3 months of dieting in 1 weekend after my final powerlifting meet. I think you’re going to have an awesome growth phase, especially with all the experience you’ve accumulated here.
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That is both highly impressive and highly terrifying. How on earth did you do that?
Yeah same here - I’m going to try my best not to get stupid. Don’t want to waste 18 weeks of dieting haha. But I am definitely very excited to finally shift gears and start to gain again.
Workout report and physique update:
Yesterday night I did the 3+ bench session - a relatively quick session, managed to match last cycle’s performance. The report:
20/12/20
Bench
Warmup: 20kgx10
Set 1: 47.5x3 (3 @70%)
Set 2: 54.5x3 (3 @80%)
Set 3: 61x6 (3+ @90%) (needed 7)
FSL: 47.5x5x5 (5x5 FSL @70%)
Assistance –
Superset: Chins 9, 6, 6 with dips 15, 10, 8.
Notes:
- Dips were on point. I think I might have to start weighting my dips actually. However I’ve decided to save the weighted chins for when I start BtM. I’ve adjusted the grip slightly on the dips - parallel bars with a slightly wide grip, compared to the angled setup I was using before - and it seems to have improved strength, but I’ll do some more experimenting.
Physique update: this morning I was well under 74 kg, somewhere in the mid 73s (about 73.6 kg/162.3 lbs). Waist is at 30 inches controlled and 31 relaxed. Was looking a bit off though, perhaps a tad flat, but don’t think there’s anything to that. Obviously I’m very happy to have hit my goal (I’ve officially cut over 10 kg/22 lbs now). But of course I was a bit spooked to see the number on the scale looking so low. 162 lbs is… not a whole lot. But we’ll soon fix that!
Will do the deadlift workout today - it’s 1+ week, and it’s also the final week of the cut, so we’re going hard and heavy right till the finish line!
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Deadlift workout today: this one was a real grind to get through. I think I’ll feel it tomorrow morning… that, and after the FSL sets I realised I had torn a little-fingernail-sized flap of skin off my finger, which made the rest of the workout a bit of a pain. See the Notes, as there are a few other things to go through here.
21/12/20
Deadlift
Warmup: 60kgx5, 75x5
Set 1: 92.5x5 (5 @75%)
Set 2: 104.5x3 (3 @85%)
Set 3: 117x3 (1+ @95%)
FSL: 92.5x4x5, 92.5x1x10 (5x5 FSL @75%)
Assistance —
Superset: Pull-ups 5, 5, 4, 3, 4, 3 (30 reps, 6 sets, I think - sloppy counting lol) with dips 15, 10, 9 (34 reps, 3 sets - angled grip)
BB row 60x8, 7, 9 (careful due to skin tear on finger)
Pullovers 2 sets
Circuit x3: Lateral raise — weighted decline sit-up — neck work — BB curl
Notes:
- Disappointing performance on the PR set today… only half the reps of last cycle. I sort of knew it was coming, since sets 1 and 2 felt heavy and slow, but still… then again 117x6 was something special.
- The last set of deadlifts was a 10 rep set, just to give the Beefcake setup a go. Before I actually did it, I thought I wouldn’t be able to do 10 reps… turns out I was wrong. I was taking several breaths between each rep, but it was still tough as hell. But it is going to be doable, especially with the right nutrition. Anyway, after this set, I realised I had torn the skin on my finger… that sort of made the rest of the session difficult, especially the rows. I just put a plaster on and continued as best I could. Yes, high rep squats suck - but at least they don’t try to flay you alive like high-rep deadlifts.
- The pull-up/dip superset had slightly longer rest today (1:40 ish). Also dips were with an angled grip (like an “A” - hands were internally rotated). It was nice but I’ll just stick to parallel for simplicity’s sake as I felt no significant difference. Will weight the dips next time.
- Workout nutrition - I had a bit of pomegranate juice along with my water, the idea being that it would help me get through the slightly longer and tougher deadlift session by elevating my blood sugar (first time doing that, usually it’s just water). It’s red like an actual intra-workout supplement, so I suppose that’s something…? Anyway not sure if it helps. But nice to have it there anyway. I suppose it’s all intra-workout carbohydrate at the end of the day… sort of. And I can pretend that I’m having Plazma or something.
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Just one helluva junk food bender. I put on all the weight I lost and went “Alright, cool: water weight. Just gonna let that slide right off me”…and it never did, haha. That coincided with the last time I ever cut weight for a comp. Figured it just wasn’t good for me.
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Not a training related post but I wanted to ask you something language-related since I know you’re into foreign languages. I’ve been doing a foreign language for the last 6 years now but now I’m not going to be studying it formally since I’ve left school and won’t be doing languages at a higher level. I really don’t want my language skills to go completely down the drain though as it’d be a bit of a waste. I was wondering if you have any recommendations for how to keep up your language skills after finishing your study?