Pics from T-ransformation
As I said, I made improvements but not at the rate I wanted to. Struggled with motivation and mindset throughout the challenge just like everyone else. Probably handled it better than some but a lot worse than others. My arms are bigger and I’m 20 pounds lighter, but am stronger on every lift outside of squats. Will work on athleticism and health this summer then add some mass while chasing strength through fall and winter.
That’s awesome, dude. Well done!
Amazing work!
I dunno, that sounds pretty good to me… 20 pounds is a lot. You’ve been lifting big numbers, which is even more impressive when losing that much weight. I had no idea.
6/5/21
Got my sandbag loaded and had some fun after mowing the yard.
150 lbs - 10 “stone” loads to tailgate, one press overhead, and lifted to each shoulder once.
200 lbs - 5 “stone” loads to truck tailgate with explosive lift to chin level
150 pounds - 5 more stone loads,
150 pounds - 4 trips of 65 yards carrying with various grips
Lightning quick review: Cerberus Strength sandbag is pretty damn tough and was easy to fill. I think this is the exact kinda work I need to build the toughness missing in my life.
If you had to choose only one size sandbag between the two you have, which would it be? I’m thinking about making a new one. I had one in my early 20s that was 80kg and I’m not sure if I should go for 200lbs now or go down to 150 for conditioning. Nice to hear Cerberus is a good brand.
I bought their biggest one that has a cinch closure and allows you to fill out with whatever weight you want to to 300 pounds. So I filled the main liner with 150 pounds of river pebble and then to get 200 I just opened the canvas and dropped another unopened 50 pound bag of river pebble in there. If you cinch the outer canvas hard enough it’s like one big mass. I think I paid like $80 for the sandbag and 3 inner liners.
I thought 150 might have been too much until I tried it a few times. When I figured out I could get it overhead I knew I needed more for the loading. Moving forward the 150 will likely be for more cardio/GPP and I’ll add weight if I want to develop more brute force.
6/6/2021
2.82 mile run in 24.5 minutes. Slowly increasing the pace and the effort. My body feels really good after that.
6/7/2021 - GarageRocker 5/3/1 Week 1 Day 1
Squat
45 x 10
145 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
265 x 5
310 x 5
350 x 8
Assistance
SS w/ squat - wrist rolls - 10 lbs - 1 trip up and down in each direction x 3
Giant set
Standing DB press - 55 lbs - 5 x 10
BB curl - 65 lbs x 10; 50 lbs - 4 x 10 (focus on MMC)
Ab wheel - 5 x 10
Great feeling session today, especially considering I went on the 2nd longest and 2nd fastest run of my life yesterday and then worked on cleaning my garage in 90 degree heat for 5 hours. Squats felt strong and stable, the sandbag work tightened a much-neglected muscle in my upper back that helped immensely. Assistance work was good as well, pushed the DB press and first set of curls harder since I’m only lifting twice a week. Wrist rolls always help my elbows so will be keeping them. Likely will SS calf work with my upper body work on Thursdays.
6/8/2021 - Sandbag day
150 lbs - shoulder left, lower under control, shoulder right, lower under control - 5 times
200 lbs - tailgate load x 10
150 lbs - get it overhead any way possible x 3
Total time: 25 minutes
This was fun as hell. Super challenging but I feel stronger than ever afterwards. I’ll likely have to make up a 250 pound liner soon.
6/10/2021 - GarageRocker 5/3/1 W1 D2
Bench
45 x 5
105 x 5
130 x 5
155 x 3
180 x 5
205 x 5
235 x 10 - leg/hip cramp so no leg drive from rep 4 on
Assistance
SS w/ bench
DB row - 85 lbs - 5 x 10
Giant set
SLDL - 135
Plate raise - 45 lbs - 2 x 10; 25 lbs - 2 x 10; 45 lbs - 10
Rhomboid shrugs - 5 x 10
Decent session today considering I have the symptoms of a moderate hangover without consuming any alcohol yesterday. Headache, nausea, super fatigue. The hip cramp is a characteristic of me using a lot of leg drive (which is good), but I need to warm up a bit more I think. Still happy with 235 x 10 without leg drive. Bench has felt very strong lately. Assistance was good, took the SLDL slow and focused on the muscle instead of movement. Rhomboid shrugs were awful, and it turns out I have zero MMC with my right rhomboid. Might have actively used it for 3/50 reps.
You really loaded 130 on the bar for a warm up?
I think you could be just as warmed up with:
45X15
135X5
Would save you a bit of training time. I don’t think a weight between 45, and 135 is needed for someone your strength.
Wendler put in one of his books that ya never change the weight you’ve programmed just because it’s easier to load and that mantra really stuck with me. It takes me a lot to get blood where it belongs when I’m starting out so I’ve always just erred on the side of caution. I blame baseball for destroying my elbows and shoulders before I was even an adult 
Do what makes you happy.
I start the deadlift warmup with 225. I actually think lower than that isn’t good, but to each their own. I can’t pull much less than 225 with my same form for heavy weight, so I skip those weights.
I’ve definitely considered doing that and recalculating my other warmup sets accordingly. Deads are a different beast and it’s very hard to do them without enough weight to balance you out.
This is it. I can certainly deadlift 135, but I just don’t see a point in doing a warm up that is different than my main movement.
What’s up garage? You been alright man?
Hey man, yep been alright! Just spending less time online and trying to be more responsible in real life 
still lifting twice a week and trying to take care of cardio and health the remaining days of the week. So far really enjoying it and enjoying having more time for responsibilities, music, friends/family/Mrs. GarageRocker. Hope you’re doing good too! Congrats on the internship, I’m sure you’ll kick ass 
6/14/2021 - GarageRocker 5/3/1 Week 1 Day 3
Deadlift
225 - 2 x 5 (@mnben87 - good idea here)
250 x 3
295 x 5
340 x 5
385 x 10
Assistance - giant set
Upright row - 85 lbs x 10; 65 lbs - 4 x 10
DB bench - 85 lbs x 10; 70 lbs - 4 x 10
Hanging leg lifts - 5 x 10
Decent session today. Energy and strength have been absent for a couple days, but powered through everything I had planned and feel good about it. Hamstrings have been sore from (gasp) golf for some reason.
