Biggest Guy in Class: How to Rebuild a Monolith

Training Training Logs
501

Thursday’s training session - I was out all day so had to do this one late at night.

18/02/21

Squat:
20kgx10, 40x5 (warmup)
63.5x5 (5 @70%)
72.5x5 (5 @80%)
81.5x5 (5 @90%)
40.5x20 (20 @45%)

Superset: Press with weighted chins (+10kg)
38x5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 with chins 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 + 1 (rest-paused) reps

BB shrugs 30x20, 20, 20, 20, 20 (last 3 with calf raise)

Pullovers 2 sets

Notes:

  • This workout was actually quite easy. I’m not sure if this is because it really was easy, or because the last two workouts have been so tough that everything now seems quite simple. Total time was only an hour too.

  • For the 20-rep squat set, since the weight was quite light, I just did it as a high-rep metabolic set rather than a traditional 20-rep breathing squat set.

  • Rest on pretty much everything was 2-3 minutes or so, less between sets of press (1-2 min). During the press-chin superset, pretty much all of that was taken up by me trying to get the 10kg plate attached to my waist… not sure what I’m going to do when I need to use the 10kg plate on the barbell for the press. It will involve a lot of faffing about.

  • Took all the presses from the floor.

  • Just missed the last rep of weighted chins and had to rest-pause it, which gives me a target for next time.

  • Sort of rushed through the shrugs and skipped the face pulls since time was short. Need to stop doing that.

3 Likes
502

Yesterday’s cardio, 19/02/21: 25 minutes walking with weighted backpack (20kg). Just walked around the house for 25 minutes straight while watching some YouTube. Actually quite tough on the shoulders and traps… and also had a bit of a spring in my step after taking that backpack off (literally).

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503

Cardio today 20/02/21: 20kg weighted backpack walking, just under 25 minutes.

504

Two workouts to report on.

21/02/21

First session to report - had to split this into two because I had football halfway through.

PART 1

Squat
20kgx10 (warmup)
59x5 (5 @65%)
68x5 (5 @75%)
77x5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (5x5 @85%) (superset with pullovers except for first set. where I forgot)

Press, sup. w/ chins
20x5 (warmup)
35x5 (5 @65%) sup. w/ 11 chins
40.5x5 (5 @75%) sup. w/ 5 chins
46x5 (5 @85%) sup. w/ 6 chins
35x10 (AMRAP @65%) sup. w/ 6 chins

Football, bit of running about

PART 2 (few hours later)

Superset: Chins 10, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 5, 3 (66 reps, 12 sets, plus 35 in Part 1 to make 100 total reps) with Dips 13, 10, 8, 8, 7, 7, 8, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 5 (100 reps, 13 sets)

Notes:

  • Split workout worked pretty well, quite happy with this. Not sure about the time breakdown but I think it was a little shorter than last workout since I was getting higher rep counts on the chins due to the extra rest, which helps polish off the 100 total.
  • Bit unhappy with the AMRAP pressing, got 35x10 this time but got 38x10 last time, so yeah, would have wanted two or three more reps.
1 Like
505

Cardio, 22/02/21: swimming, 1 hour. Total distance 2 km (1.25 miles). Relatively easy session but still quite good.

Swimming has started again (yay) so I will be aiming for three swim sessions a week. Not sure if I will keep the weighted walks, as that on top of swimming might get a bit much, but if I get some free time I would be quite happy to include 15 minutes or so here and there. Also want to keep up my running, so maybe will do one easy sprint session a week… not sure about that one though.

506

Today’s workout - second session to report.

23/02/21

Deadlift
60kgx5 (warmup)
81x5 (5 @75%)
93.5x5 (5 @75%)
106x5, 5, 5 (3x5 @85%) (first set dead stop, last two TNG) (weight felt a little heavy today but last set was very good)

Bench
20x10 (warmup)
46x5 (5 @65%)
53x5 (5 @75%)
60x5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (5x5 @85%) superset with BB rows 60x16, 14, 12, 12, 12

BB curls 20x21, 9, 8, 7, 7, 6, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9 (100 reps, 11 sets)

Pullovers 3 sets

Notes:

  • DLs a little heavy today, last set good though - did focus on pointing the toes out a little more on that set though so maybe that’s why.
  • Bench sets were a little tough towards the end too.
  • Slightly narrower grip on the curls today (little finger on smooth, normally it’s on the knurling). Not sure if it matters but they did feel a little better. If I had an EZ bar I would do these curls with that - I feel the slightly less supinated arm position may feel a bit better, but that might come at the cost of working the biceps fully.
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507

Cardio today 24/02/21: 25 minute weighted walks, 20kg. Looks like I will probably be doing 2 swim sessions a week, so will fill the remaining 1-2 cardio sessions with sprints or weighted walks.

508

Update on today: didn’t feel any soreness at all from yesterday’s session, anywhere. The fact that my biceps are completely soreness free is quite different to after the 100 curls last week. On that note I’ve been freaked out all day because my arms look so skinny… I’m meant to be on a mass phase, but I swear to God they have shrinked :sob: I don’t know what to make of it, it’s really bad. The rest of me still looks pretty rubbish too but the arms… man.

509

Training for today!

25/02/21

Squat (all sets after warmup sup. w/ pullovers)
20kgx10, 40x5 (warmup)
59x5 (5 @65%)
68x5 (5 @75%)
77x5 (5 @85%)
50x20 (20 @55%)

Press, sup. w/ weighted chins (+10kg) - press all taken from floor
27x5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 with chins 5, 5, 4, 5, 4 + 1 rest-paused (cocked these up a bit - in my rush to have low rest periods for the press I forgot that the weighted chins would need more rest, so I started dropping reps on set 3. Quickly increased rest, and then decreased the hell out of it once done with chins.)

BB shrugs with calf raise: 50x17, 14, 15, 15, 14, 12, 13 (100 reps, 7 sets)

Notes:

  • 20 rep squat still repot easy, again did it as a metabolic hypertrophy set rather than in the classic breathing squat style.
  • As described, rest on the press and chin superset was iffy, so I missed some reps on the chins (rest-paused the last rep on the last set to get 5 though.) After I was done with the chins, I dropped the rest significantly on the press, down to as little as 30 seconds by the end - it turned into a sort of cluster set, really. Also focused on getting that slow and controlled eccentric - 50% is quite light, even with my terrible pressing ability. All presses were taken from the floor with what was essentially an upright row.
  • Am still neglecting my band work. I need to do it, but a. I’ve lost the band I usually use, and b. I can’t be bothered. I will need to stop being lazy and improvise.

That’s all for today! Tomorrow morning will be swimming, so I’ll report on that tomorrow. If I can remember the exact workout when I get home, then I might share that, just to show you guys what a typical session looks like.

510

Cardio for today: an AM swim session. To give you a glimpse of a typical session, here’s today’s set.

A key for landlubbers:

  • “R” denotes a rest time between each “set” - so 4x50 R 10 sec means 50 metres swim four times with 10 seconds in between each.
  • IM= Individual Medley; each stroke is done for an equal distance. So 100 IM is 25 metres each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, in that order.)
  • Pull buoy: foam block held between the thighs. Stops you from kicking and makes you only use your arms.
  • We sometimes eliminate the “-style” from the stroke name and shorten it to free, back, and breast (and fly for butterfly).

The pool is 25 metres, and all distances are in metres.

The set:

Warmup: 100m freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 100 IM

4x50 free drill: 3 strokes left arm/3 strokes right arm, R 10 sec

4x50 free w/ pull buoy, R 10 sec

2x50 back w/ pull buoy, R 10 sec

Time trials:

100 free sprint, R 1:30 (clocked in at 1:26 - new PR I think!)

50 free sprint, R 1:30

50 breast sprint, R 1:30

(I was dead at this point but there’s more)

50 back sprint R 1:30

50 Fly sprint (yeah this was bad, can’t call it a sprint) R 1:30

25 free sprint

Remaining work:

8x25 free, R 10 sec

4x50 free, R 10 sec

2x50 free, negative split (second 25 faster than first one) R 20 sec

Total distance: 1.725 km/just over 1 mile - quite good considering this had a brutal main set.

511

Life update:

I’m starting studying again from next week after a long holiday break, and I have a sinking feeling that I should kiss my free time goodbye. So unfortunately I will not be active on the forums for a while. I know it’s a bit sudden, but unfortunately I’m just not going to have any time.

Training-wise, I plan to finish BtM (hopefully I don’t get screwed over by my schedule there too), and then move on to some sort of bodybuilding split - probably something a bit HIT-esque, which will help save time. I’m going to fight as hard as I can to keep training despite the schedule. Looks like 5 am workouts are going to become my best friend. Worst case scenario, I might have to abandon BtM temporarily for something less time-intensive… but I’m hoping it won’t come to that.

I really appreciate everyone here on the forums, especially everyone who has given me pointers over the last 7-8 months or so since I’ve been here. It’s a fun place to hang out and I’ve learned a lot - and a lot of people have put time and effort into guiding me, so I just thought as a courtesy that I should leave this post here. And also, it annoys me when training logs just stop without any warning, haha.

In any case, I’ll be sure to drop by again at some point to check in and give an update when I get the chance. And hopefully, if/when life does ease up again, I can return.

So yeah… to summarise, if anyone is reading this a week/month/year from now and wondering where I’ve gone - I haven’t quit, I’m just stuck under a pile of textbooks. :slight_smile:

6 Likes
512

Good luck and great prioritisation - hope you finish BtM well!

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513

Well hello again everyone… good to be back.

Just polished off the last exam of this term, and I have 1 month exactly 'til everything starts back up in full force again. Still have some study to do over the holidays, mostly to try and get ahead and get some extra credit etc. - but I have the luxury of doing that on my own terms as I please, haha.

So, given the relative freedom I will have over the next several weeks, I thought I would return to the forums once again! (If only for a month or two before I’m back in the deep end.)

I have a lot of training-related work to do - allow me to explain…

We left the action at the end of week 2 of Building the Monolith. On the plus side, I am delighted to report that I finished the program in full, right down to the last chin and dip. However, unfortunately the last two or three weeks were severely handicapped by study. My diet and sleep worsened more than I would have liked, and so I finished BtM not with a bang, but a whimper. Results were mediocre, largely due to this, but now that I look back on it, I had been developing a half-decent look to my physique at the time that I started study.

I also hit a big milestone immediately after finishing BtM though - I took a 12 day layoff and then I decided to max out. First, I hit a PR on bench - 70kg for 4 good reps (154x4). A day or two after, I hit a NEW deadlift PR, one of my original goals when I started this log: 145kgx1, or 320 lbs! I am so proud of that, haha. The beginning of the “I don’t suck anymore” phase! This is all at a bodyweight in the mid-70kg (165lbs or so) range. If I hadn’t fallen off the diet and sleep wagon in the last few weeks of BtM, maybe I’d have lifted even heavier :eyes:

Unfortunately things soon started to change for the worse…

As the term went on, my diet began quickly to suffer both in quantity and quality. My sleep worsened hugely - 6 hours or less was the norm; there were weeks I was running on 4 hours. And understandably, my training fell by the wayside. It became hugely irregular - perhaps every week or so I’d sneak in a 10-20 minute workout, doing maybe a few snatch-grip high pulls or bench presses. Not worth counting. Essentially, I quit, but not by choice.

The upshot is that I’ve shrunk a little. I am down about 10-15 lbs, a mix of fat and muscle, but not much leaner than when I started. My strength is also down a lot. So yeah.

:neutral_face:

Now what? I want to be back in shape. The plan is to rebuild. I’ve been back into my swimming for a few weeks, so that’s coming along well. But I can feel the struggle now that I’m not lifting - lower back fatigue, lack of power and calf cramps while swimming. So time to do something.

THE PLAN

The plan is to run Coach Thib’s “Complete Power Look Program”.

Why this program? It’s designed to add mass, and also revolves around low-rep work, to build my strength back up. Perfect.

Disadvantages: I need to get comfortable with my push press, and brush up on the front squat. (I’ve done a few sets of front squats over the last few weeks - 70kgx3 was my maximum, but that’s going to be lower now.)

Other problem: the program doesn’t include much back work, which is the main body part I want to grow - I have (or had) a decent back, and I want to really develop it. So I’ll probably add some more chins rather than just doing them once a week - the only modification I will make.

Sleep and diet will also be dialled in big-time now - no excuses any more.

Cardio will be done 3x weekly - 2-3x swimming sessions and/or 1x running/sprint session if needed to get the full 3 days.

The program is 10 weeks long, so it’ll overlap with the start of next term, but I’m hoping next term will be a little less demanding so I can keep up the training. And now that I’m used to the studying, I can organise myself better… hopefully.

The immediate plan, though, is this: I’ll take the next few days to practice the movements and get back into the groove. I’m going to be training tonight, in fact. And immediately after that little breaking-in period, we will get started on the new program.

I think that’s everything - so let’s get cracking. And it’s good to be back. It’s going to be a challenge to get back into training and eating and logging like I used to, but I am determined to get it right.

4 Likes
514

Great to have you back dude!

Something I’ve appreciated doing is what I dub “daily work”: getting in a fixed amount of reps every day. For chins, you could settle on a rep total like 20-50 and just knock them out through out the day and accumulate a good deal of back volume without digging too deep into recovery for the program.

1 Like
515

Heyo Pwn!

Ah yes I’ve seen you talking about this. Never tried it myself but will definitely give it a shot, sounds ideal!

2 Likes
516

THE STARTING POINT

A quick update on yesterday’s session, 17/06/21 - I’m out of the house and currently don’t have my paper training log with me so forgive the lack of detail. (Will update this post later with the exact session, for the record.) Also some starting measurements to show where I’m at with my physique.

Essentially yesterday consisted of running through the four lifts of the Power Look program, working up to/estimating an appropriate max and getting back to grips with the movements. Unfortunately the news is not great…

  • Front squat - worked up to 70 kg for two hard reps. Settled 72.5kg as a maximum. Technique needs a little work; due to my very long legs the elbows are dropping at the bottom as I lean forwards. However hips and back seem to be coming up together rather than the hips shooting up so that’s good.

  • Push press - struggled with getting the bar onto the shoulders on this. My collarbone seems to get in the way no matter how hard I shrug my shoulders up to try and get the delts to take the weight - so for now I’ve just kept the bar in my hands just off the shoulders. Hopefully will improve with time. Max here was a pathetic 55 kg, and even that was a little difficult. Overhead pressing strength has really declined.

  • Bench press - strength has also declined. Worked up to 70kg as a max; got stapled under 75kg, which is embarrassing. Consider that I took 70 for four reps just a few months ago, and that was with substandard rest and nutrition at the time.

  • Deadlift - worked up to 120kg and couldn’t even break it off the floor. 110 appears to be the maximum for me. I have barely deadlifted for the last few months admittedly, but still… the fact that I couldn’t even move 120kg when I pulled 145kg not that long ago is again very embarrassing.

Also had swimming in the morning of 18/06/21

Starting measurements:

Weight: near as makes no difference 70 kg (154 lbs)… yes, I know
Shoulder circumference: 48.5 inches
Chest: 44 inches
Waist: 30 inches controlled, 31.25 relaxed
Arms: 14 inches (yes… I know)
Legs 21 inches
Calves 14.5 inches

Essentially everything is a little bit down, and weight is down a good 13 lbs or so. So got some work to do.

I plan to get straight into the new program tomorrow - no sense in delaying it! I have four weeks only so better start making good use of it.

Here goes!

3 Likes
517

Glad to see you back!

1 Like
518

THE COMPLETE POWER LOOK PROGRAM

And so it begins! Started it off with the front squat day, which was deceptively brutal despite the unimpressive loads being used. Report below.

19/06/21 - Week 1 Day 1

Front squat: 80%, 5x3
20kgx6, 40kgx5
58x3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Paused front squats (2 sec at bottom) 4x8
50x6, 7, 6, 7 (brutal. However should have lightened the load and smashed out the 4x8 as Coach Thibs states.)

Bulgarian split front squat 4x8
30x8, 8, 8 8 each side (not pushing this super hard but still challenging)

Burnout: 2 sets heels elevated narrow-stance BW squats (A substitute for the “optional bonus work” Coach Thib suggests. Ow.)

3 sets chins (daily work): 8, 5, 6 (bit cheaty that last set)

Notes:

  • Rests were all around 2 mins or so. Will use the 5/3/1 philosophy on rest of simply taking enough to keep performance acceptable.
  • Quite a tough session; main work was OK, assistance was brutal. Took a good 10 minutes lying on the floor to recover after the paused squats.
  • Need to obey the sets and reps outlined by Coach Thibs more accurately as that’s what is instructed in the program.
  • Struggled with the higher reps on the paused front squats as my rack position is difficult. I get the bar digging into my collarbone a LOT. This was the main reason I couldn’t hit 8 reps, I’d say. Tolerance/technique with respect to the front rack may improve as I become more familiar with the front squat as it is still a relatively new movement for me.
  • On another note, my chinning technique has improved massively. I have played around with it over the last few months and have managed to really focus it in on the back muscles. I am interested to see whether it will yield any benefits.
  • Still a bit miffed at the loads being used in today’s workout. They seem unimpressive, even for me. But it is what it it. Just got to stick with it and stop complaining!
3 Likes
519

Yesterday’s bench session - pretty solid. First proper upper body day in a long time so felt good to be back in the saddle again!

Week 1 Day 2

22/06/21

Bench: 80%, 5x3
20x10, 40x5
58x3, 3, 3, 3, 3 (good eccentric control and quite explosive concentrics, good reps)

Bench 4x8 (substitute for the DB presses prescribed, since I don’t have proper DBs)
50x7, 45x8, 8, 8
(First three sets superset with daily work chins 7, 6, 4)

Close grip CG floor press (1 sec pause at bottom) 4x8
30x8, 8, 8, 8

Optional bonus work: PJR pullover

Notes:

  • Pretty happy with the main set reps, good control down and good speed back up.
  • Had to swap the DB bench prescribed for BB bench as I don’t have proper DBs. Started too heavy on that so dropped the weight to get the full 8 reps.
  • Floor press used some ridiculously light weights but still challenging!
2 Likes
520

Ooooh this is a good one. I’ve done it twice with good results.

Who cares about the weight you use! Indeed you should be able to complete all the reps on the non percentage work, and most likely have 1-2 in the tank. Remember that the way you complete the rep is even more important than the number of reps.

Front squatting will get better with time… But it’s never a super pleasant experience ahah

1 Like