Yeah up your calories/have a cheat/refeed day. -If hititng 20 reps on squats you are churning through calories
I say stick with front squats for next couple cycles. If want ‘more’ focus on really pushing for rep PRs, dont up max more than prescribed.
Also squatting or deadlifting evevry day is going to catch up sooner or later so you want some room for manoeuvre
Why so?
This is counter to your stated goal
If you like front squats, stick to front squats. I wouldn’t recommend increasing your max more than prescribed. Stick to what you’re doing. You’ve waited 13 years to get to this point, an extra cycle or two of practising the lifts isn’t going to be an issue, whereas going too quick and hitting a wall is.
Totally agree man. You came here frustrated you hadn’t progressed; now you’re progressing quickly - just stay the course. I think your tendency is to think too much (it gets us all), so don’t give yourself an excuse to do that.
Over thinking is my Achilles heel.
You can probably do some mobility drills for that. Just kidding! Keep after it
The reason I was disappointed with 9 reps is that 122.5 lbs x 9 = max rep of 157.7 lb
However, previously I had done 117.5 lbs x 11 = max rep of 160.6 lb
Doing 122.5 lbs x 10 = max rep of 163.3 lb, which would have been an improvement.
I will aim for x10 on Friday. However, my bench tends to be worse on Friday than Monday.
Don’t worry to much about 9 reps, you got 13 and 14 on the first week
11 and 12 reps on the second week
9 on the third week is very fine.
Increase by 5 lbs for next cycle
Front squat increase by 10 - 15 lbs you hitting high numbers here on the third week.
Almost finished the first cycle that’s good now it’s time to eat a bit more. Eat what you’re used to eat top it with a couple of eggs and some milk before bedtime.
Do not lose weight if your goal is to increase, after 3 weeks you should be up by a pound maybe even two.
Yeah, I lost a pound. I’ve bumped my calories up to 2300. Before they were 2000ish.
This is what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast
Strawberries - Strawberries 6, 3 fresh 27 6g 0g 1g --mg --mg 4g 2g
Banana, 1 medium 105 27g 0g 1g 0mg 1mg 14g 3g
Kirkland Signature - Unsweetened Almond Milk, 0.67 cup 20 1g 2g 1g 0mg 73mg 0g 1g
Kirkland - Organic Soy Milk, 4 oz 50 4g 2g 4g 0mg 55mg 3g 1g
Vegan Prottein Creamy Vanilla, 1 scoop (38g) 150 11g 3g 21g 0mg 330mg 1g 4g
presidents choice - puffed wheat, 2.2 cup 110 24g 0g 4g 0mg 11mg 0g --g
Lunch
Kombucha - Drink, 1.5 cup 45 11g 0g 0g 0mg 15mg 3g 0g
breton - Multigrain Crackers, 10 crackers 300 37g 13g 7g 0mg 383mg 3g 3g
Turkey Chili, 1 serving(s) 368 48g 7g 32g 62mg 443mg 9g 12g
Dinner
Kirkland Egg Whites - Egg Whites Liquid, 1 cup(s) 133 0g 0g 27g 0mg 400mg 0g 0g
Kirkland - Shredded double cheddar cheese, 0.33 cup 160 1g 13g 9g 40mg 333mg 0g 0g
Spinach, 2 cup 14 2g 0g 2g 0mg 47mg 0g 1g
Bob’s Red Mill Nutritional Yeast - Nutritional Yeast, 1 tbsp(s) 15 1g 0g 2g 0mg 6mg 0g 1g
Dimpflmeier - Organic Spelt Bread With Wild Rice, 1 Slice 120 24g 1g 4g 0mg 220mg 2g 4g
Becel - Olive Oil Margarine, 0.5 teaspoon 18 0g 2g 0g 0mg 18mg 0g 0g
French - Ketchup, 1.5 tbsp (15ml) 30 6g 0g 0g 0mg 255mg 6g 0g
Olive Oil, 1 tsp 40 0g 5g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g
the Little Potato Company - Red and Yellow Potato Variety, 226 g (~22g/potato) 144 33g 0g 4g 0mg 0mg 5g 4g
Snacks
365 - Dates (Pitted), 3 Pieces (40g) 55 15g 0g 1g 0mg 0mg 13g 2g
Protein Bar, 1 Bar 52g 210 23g 9g 12g 0mg 260mg 13g 5g
Melon Cup - Melon, 0.5 cup 38 6g 0g 1g 0mg 13mg 6g 1g
Pb&me - Sugar Free Powdered Pb, 12 g (2 TBSP) 45 4g 2g 6g 0mg 1mg 1g 2g
Choco PB Protein Ice Cream, 1 serving(s) 154 27g 2g 9g 0mg 15mg 14g 5g
TOTAL: 2,351 311g 61g 148g 102mg 2,879mg 97g 51g
Calories and protein bolded.
Macros looks fine to me.
have some protein before bedtime, you can easily eat 2500 if you lost weight at 2000 then 2300 might just be maintenance. You’re a young lad, you’re hitting some good reps your assistance is on point
On press and bench I can get a better E1rm with higher reps. Do not sweat it. In 2 cycles you’ll be hitting the same weights and now you have a rep max as a goal the first cycles are always a bit hard to see if things are right, but trust me when the weights comes back in a couple of cycles you’ll smoke them and if you’re eating right you’ll totally smash them.
I agree with Mort, don’t get discouraged by your Rep/Max calculations. The numbers as really close, so don’t worry about comparing week one week to the next like that. Just think about the next 3 week cycle. It takes a little while to get stronger.
Be sure to beat 14 reps in the 5s week, 12 on the 3s week and 9 on the 1s week and you’ll be on track.
Deadlifts
75% 157.5 1 5
85% 177.5 1 3
95% 200 1 1+ (16 reps)
75% 157.5 5 5
Press
75% 77.5 1 5
85% 87.5 1 3
95% 97.5 1 1+ (9 reps)
75% 77.5 5 5
Assistance
Incline DB bench: 35 lbs - 16,13,10,11 (Goal: 50 reps - 2 min rest)
Chin-ups: 15,11,8,8,8 (Goal: 50 reps - 2 min rest)
Ab roller: 2x25
Note:
Are you doing cardio? And are you timing your rests to keep yourself moving? Cardio might sound counter-intuitive to your goals but it will help you do more quality work in less time. Every time I drop cardio my workouts get long. Otherwise, an hour really isn’t terrible for the amount of work you’re doing. Stick it out for another cycle or two before going to Triumvirate (which is a really good program to follow Beginner Prep).
Maybe try putting chins before your incline bench work? Getting your back good and tight with chin-ups will help your incline bench (or any pressing work, for that matter). I would absolutely NOT drop chins because your performance dropped such a small amount on one given week. Training isn’t supposed to be easy or comfortable - keep reminding yourself of that. It doesn’t have to be masochistic and painful, but it shouldn’t be easy.
Yeah cut this out, messes with your test and hormones. Almond milk totally fine
I do cardio on my off days…so on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. This often entails a stationary bike where I (supposedly, if you believe the machine) burn 400-500 calories. However, on the weekend I aim for 500 calories or cycle outside if the weather is good for a few hours.
My issue is that I do this workout at lunch time and want it to be done in an hour so I can get back to work, but today it took ~90 mins.
I will stick to this until people here think it’s time to move on. I’m looking to you guys for guidance.
OK, I will experiment with shuffling chin-ups around.
I don’t buy the argument that soy messes with your hormones, etc. I know it’s a very controversial topic though. I eat lots of tofu too. I love it in stir fry.
How intense is your cycling? If you’re doing this much and you’re not eating to support it, it will have a negative effect on your strength work.
Given your very long history of not achieving success and feeling a need to jump to genetics as your reason frequently, I am shocked you would even take the risk here.
If there is the slightest chance something could be sabotaging you, you should avoid it. The fact you eat soy all the time AND you never achieve your goals is a data point that shouldn’t be disregarded.
At the very least, soy protein isn’t as complete as bovine milk or meat. You need a lot more of it for it to have as much of a positive effect as other protein sources. Keep that in mind.
The jury is still out on its effects on sex hormones. Given how involved your mind is in this process, you should be eliminating things that have the potential to prevent you from reaching your goals. Give yourself every reason to believe that you’re setting yourself up to be successful, because that’s a large part of the battle.
Well wont go into a big debate but the Tnation consensus is that its no bueno. Theres at least 10+ articles like this…
Cut back on cardio also, that really excessive. do the outdoor bike ride and one other session a week preferably HIIT style, thats it.