Biros' Road to Leanness

Training Logs
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A little background on me. Just turned 28, 6’3, 280 right now. Been back at it for about 3 1/2 months. I use to be serious in the gym when I was 22. pRs back then- bench 365 squat was close to 5, deadlift was 495.

Right now, haven’t maxed anything yet, but for sets of 5x5 I’m doing bench 285, squat 355, deadlift 375. I haven’t been squatting this whole time, knees are iffy to say the least.

Goals:
Losing body fat
Strength
Keep eating habits clean
Surpass my old PRs

Right now I’m doing a basic push/pull/leg sit since I’ve only been back for a short time and let’s be honest, it works. 5x5 for big lifts, 3x8-10 for accessory work.

Update-- Hit the 505 deadlift. Felt awesome. Can’t stop there though, new goal – 550. I would like to get a 500lb squat but my knees feel rough. Always popping and clicking and what not. I know everything isn’t right with them, so I’m not in a rush for that.

new update 8/25-- hit the 550 deadlift.onto 600

new update: @575 for deadlift. havent really been keeping the 5x5 going. mostly been doing triples on bench & deadlift working up to a 1 rep, not max but about 50-60lbs from it. seems to be workin

new update: at 585. 600 will be tried in a couple weeks. ill have a video once i get that

10/18-- hit 600, onto 650 maybe now.

Update—- 1/15/21 hit the 650 I was after…I’m gunna re evaluate my goals and see if I want to keep going and shoot for 700 or if I want to focus something else. I don’t really know.

Update — 3/9/22

Kinda strayed away from the 700 lbs. after I got to 650 I had a bunch of obstacles with health, and then started going a different direction of losing weight and getting lean. Currently at 284, which is down like at least 16lbs in the past few months. Def still keeping strength, but numbers aren’t as high as when I was 300-305 which is expected

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Monday:

Bench- 3x5 285, 2x275, last set did 225x8
Incline DB- 3x7,7,6x95
Shoulder DB-3x8,8,7x75
Tri push down-3x10 was 180
Abs

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Tuesday-

Deads-4x5 375
Bent over rows- 3x10 225
Lat pull downs-3x8 165
Curls- 3x6,6,7 45
Abs

The deads felt good. Definitely will be adding weight next week, will go up to 385. Same with rows.

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Wednesday today-

Cardio

25 mins on epliptical
Couple sets of abs
Did sprints at the soccer field afterwards but

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Thursday- Leg day

Squats- 315 4x5
Leg ext- 130 3x10
Abs

Legs were a little tired today after yest. Cardio. Went lighter on squats also. My knee started bruising after heavy squats last week where I had my ACL reconstructive surgery years back so took it easier today. Wanted to do more today too but ran out of time.

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Friday–

Bent over rows- 245 3x8
Lat pull downs- 3x8x165/150
DB shrugs- 3x10 95
Abs

Felt good today, legs a little sore. More like a fatigue. Calices on my hands were affecting my grip today also, good workout tho.

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Saturday–

Went to do cardio, but then just couldn’t stay away from the weights, so just did some Tris, calves and abs.

Tri push down - 3x10 180
Close grip press on Smythe - 2x10 180 + bar, 1x8 230
Face pulls-- 3x15 140
Calves-- 2x12 180 1x14 270
Weighted abs

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Taking today off. Woke up and wanted to do cardio but my body didn’t want to get out of bed. Going to test my 1RM this week to see where I’m at, starting with deadlift tomorrow.

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Ended up doing chest today.

Monday–

Flat bench- 285 3x5, 225 1x9 after
DB shoulder press- 75 3x8
Incline DB-- 95 3x7,6,5 was pretty fatigued already. Usually I’ll do these after bench but did shoulder press first then these.
Rear delts- 25 3x10 30 1x10
Weighted abs

Everything felt good. Glucosamine works wonders for my joints. Have noticed a huge difference since I started taking it almost 2 months ago. Should be getting my redcon preworkout in the mail today so tomorrow I’m gunna dead lift and test it out

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Today was a good day. After working last night til 1030 and having to be back in for 6am, still managed to get to the gym afterwards. Was working on only a couple hours of sleep too.

Got a 505 deadlift still! It matches my PR from when I use to go 6 years ago. But for only being back in the gym about 3 months I’d say that’s awesome.

Tues-
Deadlift–worked up to 505 for 1 rep then did 315 2x5
Lat pull down- 2x10 135
Bent over BB rows- 2x8-10 225 1x5 275
Curls- 3x8-10 45

Feeling good today though, form on deadlifts has gotten real smooth, no lower back pain or anything👍

New deadlift goal now is 550.

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Probably should of taken today off and did cardio but u know how it goes. Couple sets of squats and I was toast. Tomorrow will be a full rest day.

Wednesday–
Worked up to 355-- 2x5

Third set my legs were gone. Groin was feeling some pain too as was my knee was I just called it a day. What do you guys think of my form?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BynVxw4n-Bw/?igshid=9f52surams5q

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Went and did some light stuff today besides calves

Thursday–

Flat DB Bench 2x10 75 2x10 85 pause for second
Flys-3x10 40/45
Tri pushdown-3x10 180 (max on machine)
Calves 3x10-15 (Smythe) 270 pause at top for CPL seconds 1x10ish 340
Weighted abs 2x15

Felt good. My groin was bothering me after those squats yesterday.

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Good to have you here, brother. Look forward to seeing the progress.

WRT your iffy knees, besides just “make sure your technique is sound” - you might consider a pair of knee sleeves. I’m a big fan and I know others with chronic knee pain that swear the knee sleeves have been the thing that’s let them squat again pain-free.

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Thanks man. I have knee wraps but don’t really like them. I think sleeves are my next purchase though. Do you have any recommendations?

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Yeah, wraps and sleeves are pretty different. I can’t speak much about wraps, I’d leave that to some of the powerlifters here (@chris_ottawa, @MarkKO, @flipcollar) who have actually used them. Sleeves are not going to give you much extra weight on your squat like wraps, but they provide compression and support. You can also leave a pair of sleeves on during the whole workout, whereas wraps (if you’re wearing them correctly…) are so tight that you really have to re-wrap for each set. They’re just meant for different purposes.

I have Rehband 7mm sleeves, which come quite highly recommended (edit: you’ll see these worn by a lot of high-level Olympic lifters). I’ve also read a lot of good things about SBD sleeves. Both of these brands are a little pricey, but probably worth it if they keep your knees healthy in the long run. I held off on getting the Rehbands for awhile, but now that I have them, I’m glad that I pulled the trigger.

If you’re going to use them for squatting heavy, I’d recommend getting 7mm sleeves. Thinner ones may be better for CrossFit workouts or Olympic lifting, but you’ll probably want the extra support offered by a 7mm versus a 5mm or 3mm sleeve.

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Yes I can barely walk when I put the wraps on lol. Sleeves sound better for right now while dealing with discomfort though. I’m not really looking for adding weight because of wraps, maybe down the line. I’m going to look into some thanks for your input man always appreciated.

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Friday–

Did some cardio on elliptical
Hit rear delts-, swings and rear pec deck
4x10 light lat pull downs- with 135
Weighted abs

My groin still bothering me. Probably slightly pulled it the other day. Feels better than yest, just tight.

Ordered some knee sleeves and wrist wraps will be in tomorrow. Love Amazon’s guarantee 2 day free shipping.

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Wraps are not meant for walking around in, all you can do is waddle up to the bar and squat. And you are supposed to take them off after each set, some new guys seem not to realize that.

Why exactly do you want knee sleeves? The only thing they really do is keep your knees warm, if you have tendinitis or something like that there is a chance they could help (some people claim they do) but if bad technique is what’s aggravating your knees then you need to fix that first.

Looking at your squat video, your walkout is a bit rushed and awkward, and you aren’t squatting below parallel (but if you aren’t training for a PL meet then it doesn’t matter). Also, you have a lot of forward knee travel which will put more strain on your knees, this could be a contributing factor to your knee issue. Initiate the descent by breaking at the hips and shift your hips back a bit further rather than shoving your knees forward. In addition to reducing strain on the knees, this will also make it easier to hit depth. Slowing down your descent a little but could help as well.

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I guess I shouldn’t say walk around in. I’d only use them to do that-- waddle up and squat then take them off. honestly though I don’t think I’m at a point where I need them though.

Thanks for the advice. I will put it to use. The forward knee travel is probably why it feels hard to descend lower. It also feels like I don’t have much flexibility in my knees.

That’s why I love this sport, im always learning stuff.

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Saturday–

DB shoulder press- 3x8 75s
Front raises- 3x10 30s
DB shrugs- 3x10 110 paused for 2 secs at top
Calves
Abs

Starting Monday I’m going to start doing pull/push/legs to give me the extra couple days of rest on my legs.