Controlled Burn; My training log

So I used to have a training log here, and it was great. Really helped motivate me, and give me a sense of satisfaction, while not letting me get so much positive reinforcement from telling people in my real life what I planned to do. On the same note, having a log let me actually see my progress unfold, and even now it’s a reminder that I can do this.

Back then, it was a training log that detailed my road from 107kg down to 85kg. I didn’t really know what the fuck I was doing, I just kinda ran a lot and hope I burned fat.

I’m a little older know, and I’ve got at least a single braincell to spare, hence the title. I’m not just hoping; this is a controlled burn to get to where I want to be.

I’m currently sitting at 87.4kg as of this morning, and my body composition isn’t great. I’m probably dehydrated, and I know I look pretty bad. Clothes that used to be my “whoa, I fit in this now!” are too small again. I haven’t been to the gym in weeks, and it’s been months since I was consistant. Life just kept getting in the way. But hey, at least when you start a few steps behind, it’s easy to level up!

My goal is to lose weight, and to get doing to below 80kg. A healthy BMI for my height is under 85kg, so that’s gonna be a nice little sub goal for me. When I get to 80kg, I’m going to reassess; I’ve got lots of things I want to try, like running races and powerlifting, but to be honest, I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

This training log is gonna be a lot like a blog post. I’m gonna post updates, what I’m doing, and try to keep myself honest. I’ll give some progress pictures soon, because visual progress is an awesome indicator.

Stay tuned!

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Righteo. I’m going to outline my plan here, and what I’ve been doing. Thankfully, despite lack of willpower and discipline lately, I’ve not been totally idle! I’m currently 87.4kg. While I’ve backslid in terms of weight, it’s not all bad. I’ve been using Greasing the Groove and resistance bands, and I can now do 2 chin ups from a dead hang. Considering a few weeks ago, I needed a HUGE resistance band to even do one, I’m proud of that.

I’m also on week 2 of the Couch to 5km running program. I manage about 4-5 cardio sessions per week, although admittedly a lot of them are ike a 15-20 minute walk around the neighbourhood. It’s still better than nothing. I do aim for 10k steps per day, but that’s less of a goal, and more of an indicator for me.

I’ve been pretty on and off with the gym, since I generally don’t have much time. I’ve just written a new, very minimalistic program. I’m gonna trial it for 2 weeks, see how it does, then either adjust it or scrap it. It’s called “Super Minimal; Testrun”. Here it is:

Day 1:

Bench Press (dumbbell) 3x6-8
Lat Pulldown (close grip, spinated grip) 3x6-8
Hammer Curl 3x6-8
Tricep Cable Pushdowns 3x6-8

Day 2:

Sumo Deadlift 2x6-8
Hip Thrust (machine) 3x6-8

Day 3:

Overhead Press (barbell) 3x6-8
Lat Pulldown (Close grip, supinated) 3x6-8
Hammer Curl 3x6-8
Tricep Cable pushdowns 3x6-8

Day 4:

Sumo Deadlift 2x6-8
Hip Thrust Machine 3x6-8

Rest times are typically 1-1.5 minutes, set on my phone. The idea is to make gym go from some big task that takes up a lot of mental energy, into a quick 20 minute errend. When I build the discipline and habit, and stop running on willpower, I’ll expand it. Right now, I want to form the habit. If anybody is about to come for my soul for not doing an established program, keep in mind this is super similar to the “I ain’t doin’ jack” template for 5/3/1 Wendler put out years and years ago, but with extra dead work, no squats, and db bench instead of barbell.

I’m also going to be doing some light, bodyweight neck work. Nothing crazy; just extensions and flexations supersetted with my deads and thrusts on my lower day. I think my physique would suit a beefy neck.

I’m going to continue on with my cardio. Aiming to be doing at least some sort of cardio, even if it’s gentle LISS for 20 mins, 5x a week. I have major concerns about my heart health in a few decades, and a tiny bit of effort now is gonna be a lot easier than major lifestyle changes in 30 years.

I’m still doing greasing the groove with chin ups. Chin ups are a compound lift I think would pay huge dividends for me, and being able to do more than 2 reps in a set would be huge. I think honestly my weight is the main factor in not advancing right now.

My goal is to build muscle. I’ve tried to pick exercises I enjoy that are compounds, so that I get the most bang for my buck.

My upper days are pretty simple. The first lift is just a compound that alternates between a horizontal and verticle pushing motion. The DB bench is partly because db’s are faster to set up, but also I find the bar dips on barbell bench, which indicated that one of my sides is weaker than the other, and db will fix that. The supinated close grip is because my goal through the lat pulldown is to continue training pullups by training the involved muscle with external loading, as well as through gtg. I want to swap that for sets of chin ups when I can. The arm work is optional, and will be scrapped when I’m in a time crunch, but I just like training arms. It doesn’t take long, and makes me feel cool. Plus my arms are pretty weak and spindly, so strengthening them will help with my chin ups, since chins use arms.

On the lower day, I figured deadlifts would be the single best “bang for my buck” exercise I could do. I think 2 sets with a decent rep range would be plenty, since I’m doing it twice a week. I do sumo because it’s more comfortable for my anatomy. The hip thrust is because I like hip thrusts, I like how they make my body look, and my gym recently got a fancy brand name machine, so set up time is minimal.

This is my current plan. I’ll be doing the first day of this workout tonight; planning to aim for 4x weights sessions per week. My partner, who is awesome, is going to be my gym buddy, which is good because somebody to keep me motivated is sometimes the push I need.

In terms of nutrition, I’m trying not to overthink it. I’ve started logged calories as of yesterday. Aiming for 2400kcal per day, which is a 500kcal deficit IF I’m in the moderate exercise category. I’m not, but I do work a job that has me on my feet, so I can’t afford to be running out of energy on shift. I figure a smaller deficit is an OK price to pay for that. I’m also trying to keep protein high, like 160g+ per day, and meal prep. The meal prep part is because I keep splurging on Uber Eats and it’s killing my wallet. I’ll use nSuns adaptive tdee spreadsheet when I have 3 weeks worth of data, and really nail my tdee. My phone has a super handy app for daily weigh ins, which will typically be done in the morning.

OK, that’s the plan. It’s out there now, and I’m gonna stick to it. Sorry for such a wordy post, I promise they’ll be a lot briefer from now on!

As a quick weigh in:

My current weight is 87.4kg. I don’t know my bf%, but will find out soon. I’ll be taking progress pictures soon, and post them every few weeks so that my progress can be seen.

I can currently do 2 chin ups in a set, unassisted, with OK form, starting from dead hang.

In terms of lifts, my gym has been sporadic lately, within the last week, my calculated 1rms are:

Overhead Press is 49.7kg.
DB Bench is 25.3kg
Sumo Deadlift is 74.5kg
Squat is…the bar. Maybe. Hopefully. Will test just to make sure.

All of these numbers are by taking a set I’ve done within the last month, and feeding it into a 1rm calculator. Will update them soon, and maybe even do a 1rm test to get my tested values soon.

I think weight, bf% and calculated 1rms will be my major metrics for how I’m doing, since they’re easy to check and provide a pretty clear picture.

I think my first milestones for me will be:

  1. A set of 5 Chin Ups with good form, from dead hang
  2. Getting to sub 85kg, and therefore a healthy BMI for my weight
  3. A 100kg calculated 1rm on my deadlift

None of this is too ambitious; I reakon I can get to them within a few weeks. Stay tuned!

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Good stuff here. I like your clear achievable goals and I can really get behind the fact that you’re willing to take your time.

A lot of folks get super motivated, crush themselves with a huge training load and then quit. If you start with a manageable amount it will become a habit, then that’s when you can start ramping it up. I’m here for it and wish you well

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Thanks! I really appreciate it!

I think taking my time is the best approach. I used to be one of those people who would talk about all their hardcore training plans, but eventually I realised that I was just posting “day 0” style beginnings and never actually concluding.

When I set simple goals, and reached them, the feeling of satisfaction lasted for literally years. I’m not even joking; I still feel pride at what I’ve done in the past despite them being so minor and long ago.

You’re 100% right too; I know myself, and I know that my motivation and willpower isn’t anything special. I know that if I compensate with positive habits, though, I’ll be able to go higher in the long run.

Anyway, thanks again for the encouragement! It means a lot! I’ll be updating this thread today, and hopefully I’ll have increased my deadlift a little! Stay tuned!

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Alrighty!

So for my first update. I fucked around a bit but finally just went to the gym for day 1. Quick in and out mission, did my leg day, which is sumo deads and hip thrust.

I could do 5x reps of 80kg sumo. They were acceptable form, but not the cleanest. I’m happy though; I didn’t expect to be able to do that high of a weight, as I’ve looked over my training logs and realised the last time I deadlifted consistantly was last year.

My calculated 1rm on that lift is now 90kg, which is real close to my goal of 100kg. I’m going to deload and work back up. I think I could be hitting that goal within a week, and I’m very excited. I probably just needed to warm up a little more, slow down, and focus on my form. Gonna put that into practise next session and see how I do.

Hip thrusts went great. I was doing sets of 40kg with absolute ease. I suspect that hip thrusts and the muscles worked there are going to be a major factor in how my deadlifts progress, so I was very keen on starting very slow and treating it like a Greyskull style deload; doing a weight I know I can do and building up slowly but without faltering or having to struggle. I know not training to faliure isn’t optimal, but if optimal were what I was going for, I’d be doing more than 20 minutes of lifting.

In terms of my other goals, my weight has been fluctuating, and mostly going up. I’m overestimating my activity level, and also eating like shit. I’m at 87.4kg as of today, which is fine as long as I’m hitting my protein macro, but I think cleaning up my diet represents low hanging fruit in terms of progressing my goals, and definitely something to start prioritising.

In terms of my chin up goal, I’m still stuck on sets of 2 reps. I’m nor worried; as I build muscle and lose fat, that goal will progress as a byproduct. I don’t think I need to do anything specific to progress that goal yet.

So that’s my current check in! All in all a decent, if faltering start.

Next step is to test myself on barbell bench. I’ll be doing primarily db bench in my routine, but I’d like to use barbell bench as the main milestone, and I’m curious to see if I can progress it by doing primarily DB bench.

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Another update!

My 1rm’s (calculated) are as follows:

OHP is 49.7kg
Barbell Bench is 58.1kg
Deadlift is 87.1kg
Squat is 0kg

I’ve deloaded my deadlift and can rep 75kg with solid form, and I think this is a good starting point to start adding on weight.

My squat remains at zero. I tried to squat today, and started with the empty bar. I struggled, strained, and managed to slowly get it up! Just when I was a mere centimeter off lockout, I saw a portly man brandishing a barbell on his back waddling at me! In my shock I dropped the bar and began to run, before realising it was just my reflection. So that’s why my squat is still at 0kg. Terrifying, I know, but after the trauma of it all I couldn’t even bare to try again that day. Will definitely give it a solid go and try to get my back squat to progress past 0kg next session!

Once my deadlift hits my target of a 100kg 1rm, my next target is probably going to be a combined total 1rm amongs the big three of Squat, DL and Bench of 200kg. I figure that it’s a nice achievable goal once I finish my current one.

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This is great. :rofl:

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Update on my weight goal; I’ve done nothing crazy, but started trying to up my protein and water intake, and tried to cut out ordering Uber Eats. My diet wasn’t totally awful, but it was oily. I’ve clearly nudged it in the right direction, because I’m down from 87.7ish kg about 2 weeks ago, to 85.55kg as of this morning!

I’m aware this loss is mostly composed of water weight, but it’s still put me in a great mood! Little numbers add up to big numbers, and I’m thrilled to have started progressing the little numbers!

Now just gotta make this little blip into something sustained, and hopefully I’ll be able to tick off my stated goal of sub 85kg pretty quick!

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I feel like I’m updating too often, but this one is exciting!

My calculated 1rm for deadlift is now 106.7kg. Form was solid. Nothing special, but nothing terrible either. So that’s one of my first goals ticked off!

I also finally started hitting a solid working weight for hip thrusts. I’ve upped my rep range to 8-12, since I feel like it’s having a very direct impact on my deadlifts, and higher reps seem like a good plan for that movement. Besides, faliure at high reps is a lot less dangerous on hip thrusts than other lifts, so why not?

My milestones:

  1. A set of 5 Chin Ups with good form, from dead hang
  2. Getting to sub 85kg, and therefore a healthy BMI for my weight
  3. A 100kg calculated 1rm on my deadlift

Since 3 has a big tick next to it now, I’m replacing it with the next one! My third milestone I’m working towards is now a combined 1rm total amongst the big 3 of 200kg. This is very much a spacer goal because I know I’ll ace it, but it’ll give me time to figure out another good milestone to work towards!

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Love the “controlled burn” metaphor, leptonsonfire! Sounds like a solid plan, and accountability is key. Looking forward to seeing your progress! If you’re looking for more tips on how to get an online job, check out this helpful resource :crossed_fingers:

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So to update my progress on my goals:

  1. My chin up goal hasn’t really shifted, either in the positive or negative. In the short term, this isn’t great. In the medium to long term, I’m actually thrilled, for reasons that will become clear soon.

  2. My weight is currently 87.5kg, as of today. This might seem like a regression, and apart from upping my protein I haven’t really been very strict on my diet. Despite this, my body composition has visibly changed. I’ll take and upload some progress pictures soon, but although my weight itself hasn’t changed, there is some clear muscle improvement, and the fat distribution is a lot better. I think I’m unintentionally recomping, which is fabulous! More than that, since my amount of chin ups being performed hasn’t increased or decreased, despite my weight going slightly up, that means that when I finally cut my bodyweight, I’m guessing the number of reps I can perform will also skyrocket.

  3. My current combined 1rm is 104.5kg (deadlift) + 58.1kg (barbell bench) + 0.1kg (squat) = 162.7kg combined. My deadlift is up at 90kg for reps, but I’ve stopped adding weight and started focusing on form and progressing by increasing reps, which I think is better in the long run. I could probably pull higher weights, but I’m in no hurry! I went from a set of 4 and 3 at this weight to a set of 5 and 6 this session, which I’m super thrilled by! My squat is at 0.1kg; it should technically be zero, but I got up off the couch the other day while wearing my underwear after a netflix binge, and there were crumbs all over me. Probably roughly 100g of them. Because the movement was basically a squat, I’m counting it.

In other news, my barbell hip thrust is at 90kg for sets of 6. Trying to get it up to sets of 12 before adding weight. I’m pretty thrilled, since I finally nailed the form, and I feel like the more I train it, the easier life in general becomes. Even simple tasks like walking feel easier as I train that one, which to me implies I’ve discovered a massively neglected muscle group!

That’s all from me for now! I’m slowly getting back into meal prepping, and I think it’ll start to effect my diet soon, and I can finally start progressing goals 1 and 2!

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Before I forget, to be honest, my cardio has been atrocious. I’ve done almost zero walks or runs in the last few weeks. But then again, I’ve also been taking more shifts at work, so my step count it still higher than if I was sedentary. Not exactly making up for it, but it’s still better than nothing. The weather is COLD where I am, and I just went and got a new light jacket for running and walking, so hopefully now that it’s arrived, the weather won’t be such a deterrant! I like doing cardio at night, so I also got myself a fluro vest, since there have been a few times I’ve been worried about being run over when crossing the road at night. I’m hoping with these two bits of gear, I can get back on the horse with that one!