Benching is starting to get at my AC joint again. I’m praying the gym opens up soon so I can get back to DB pressing and incline benching. But- it doesn’t seem to be lasting discomfort for now, just during and for a little bit after benching.
I’m feeling as if my best plan right now is to finish, do a week long deload, and run the beginner program again with the Weights I eventually arrived at, plus 5#. This has been the hardest program to accurately gauge weights that I’ve done, and I want the full accumulation effect of staying with one weight and just reducing rest times. I’m happy with this run for a first run, but I can do better, and I won’t be doing a write-up until my second time through, when I’ve done the program as written, with static weights.
Quick question can you throw out a recent days food log out there. Just curious how one manages the diet as you get further into DW. One more question since you are wrapping up your run of DW did you put on much if any fat or are you still fairly lean? I’ve read a bunch of good things about this program as far as gaining good lean muscle mass.
Honestly not tracking much, calorie-wise - just making sure I’m eating every few hours and that it’s minimal carbs and maximum protein/fat.
I would say I have put on lean size in this program, but not 100% lean. I do focus on eating more on my less active/non-lifting days - best chance to recover is during those days.
I think the program and diet attached are great. After I’m done running this program again, I may go back to some pre-workout carb intake, since I find myself being burnt out quickly with none of them, but that’s kinda the point, I guess.
Awesome. Its been a fun ride. Glad you’ve hit your stride. Great work.
Really the only thing besides the diet is figuring out the “right” weight. Sometimes percentages don’t cut it. Especially if you are like me and don’t test maxes. From what I’ve read of your log sounds like you’re in that boat too little here too much there. I really the idea or mentality of this program though…just basically toughen you up mentally and physically.
I don’t remember if I already said this, but if not, Jon DOES permit carbs eaten around training if one is a “carb user” per his words. When I ran the program, I’d exercise that on the harder workouts. It might be something you experiment with your next go round.
That said, your adherence to the diet the whole way through has been very admirable.
@T3hPwnisher - You didn’t mention it - I’m kind of relieved to hear this. I can do without carbs despite really loving them, but around workouts they’re super valuable for energy. Of course this is the reason why Jon doesn’t like them, but there’s nothing worse than starting to yawn when I already can barely breathe on my later sets, hah.
@anna_5588 I can’t think of a single good reason for you to place any more restrictions on what you’re eating. Our situations are very different - what is a pro for me is likely a con for you.
Yeah, I can’t find the specific videos where he talks to it, but he’s allowed it a few different times. But definitely thinks less of those who use them, haha.
Quick rant: I’m so fucking sick of the home gym. It’s not the end of the world, but I have 2 boys, 3 and 4, and I have to stop my workouts constantly, or watch out for hitting them with a barbell because whether I’m inside or outside they’re right there with me. It’s not the end of the world, I’m not trying to bitch and moan about my situation, but I had to vent, because I got through the deadlifts, but I just could not get my head in the game the whole time and was just frustrated and short-tempered during and after, which isn’t fair to the kids and isn’t helpful for me (despite hating the actual workouts, I feel pretty good once I start recovering and all the endorphins are flowing). The gym watches my kids for up to 2 hours, and the daycare there is open til 7 every day. I also just miss the clanging metal.
Anyways, I’m finishing this bad boy out, home stretch, and I’m amending my plan, conditionally:
If gyms open up in phase 2 which should start on Friday and is when I finish this first DW run, I’ll do a deload and jump back in to the beginner program, adding 5# to every weight I’m currently at. If we’re looking at another 2-3 weeks of no gym, I’m going to run the 10K KB swing workout and THEN start a DW beginner run with the weights I’m using now. Not that it’s any more enjoyable to do the most repetitive workout program of all time, but it’s the type of thing I can grab and finish in 25-30 minutes with no equipment setup, and it’ll help me lean out just a bit. I’m not unhappy where I’m at right now, but it’d be cool to see where I’m at now after last time I did the KB challenge, and I wanted to make it a yearly thing. We’ll see. I’m happy with either outcome, and would actually prefer the gym to open so I can continue this program, but with my current situation it’s beyond frustrating at times.
Your lucky to just to have a barbell. For me, it’s gotten to the point to which I’m literally dreaming about the gym.
A couple of nights ago, I dreamed about benching and woke up with a chest pump
That would be the lucky part, although it was more “as soon as I heard gyms might close I bought the dicks weight set, which was still widely available at that time”, and the unlucky part would be that my gym is occupied by tiny crazy people.
I feel you on home workouts with kids. A couple times during my 10K KB swing challenge one or two of them would wake up. I’d be shooting for a time PR and have to take kids to pee and fix them juice, then make sure they stand clear of the KB…
I can’t imagine 10x10 DL with the kids in your face.
Yeah, I think it’s the hatred of the workout combined with the kids that makes it bad.
Still, it’s a good time to take a step back, and tell myself to stop whining like a little bitch about my healthy kids, who look at me like their hero every day, bothering me during my workout with hard-to-find home gym equipment in my comfortable and air-conditioned home in our safe and low-crime neighborhood.
Perspective sucks to deal with when you want a good whine.
I don’t want to suffer for the sake of suffering, I want to suffer for the sake of getting bigger. I can’t say for sure that it’s happening any faster than it would have if I had gone the slow-and-steady route, but I feel like I’ve kicked off growth at a faster rate than when I’m doing things that I enjoy.
A lot of it probably hearkens back to my time in the Marines. I hated the still-dark wakeups for insane workouts, the 20+ mile hikes in full combat gear til my feet were bleeding, the climbing mountains til I puked on myself (then my best friend in front of me passed out from heat stroke and my other friend and I, being the fastest people available, had to run down the mountain and 2 miles back to the village to get help since we were in the jungle in the Philippines), but I was strong, lean, mentally tough, and physically dangerous. Nothing I did to get to that point was fun, or relaxing, or anything but hell. But it worked.
Mostly, this is just a very long, very miserable experiment to see how much of a difference exists between the minimum stimulus needed to hypertrophy my muscles and the maximum.
Your log has disappeared for me over the last few days for some reason, but still felt I would go back a few days and find this one and say DAMN SON. I have some idea what that musta been like.
