That’s insane.
Shakes out to 10lbs of muscle in a year, which is ALSO insane.
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Bonkers. Maybe enhanced with newbie gains?
More just “if we took the most optimal situation”. Justin Harris talks through this in so many podcasts: well worth listening to him. He has a few with Jon Heck on Hammer and Chisel
Jon is such a monster. Exactly how I want to be built like that or Tom Haviland, not in the cards for me though.
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4/12/2026
Calories: 2400
Sleep Night Before: 7 hours
Mood: ok
Energy Level: 4/10
Hunger Level: 6/10
Workout: None
Steps: 10k
Thought Process: My nieces are in sports now and I plan on making it to all of their games, now for the next 2 months I won’t have Tuesdays, Thursdays or Fridays available to work out. That’s ok; This is what we trained for! 
I COULD work out after some of these, especially Friday, but I don’t want to be at the games and thinking “I have to work out after this”. I want to be able to be there present 100% and also I’m going not going to want to work out after the game anyway.
So I have Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Let’s see… I could do Wednesday+Saturday full body. I’m not sure if I want to do that. Maybe I will do ULU LUL on Monday Wednesday Saturday. Or I could try hitting each muscle only 1x per week, not sure how that would go. Maybe do Upper on Monday+Saturday and Lower only on Wednesday to let the bigger muscles recover more. Who knows
Edit: Ok I have decided I will do ABA BAB on Mon-Wed-Sat. So tomorrow will be my normal Monday Upper, then Wednesday will be Lower+cardio then Saturday will be Upper again, then Monday will be lower+cardio and so on.
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4/15/2026
Calories: 2400
Sleep Night Before: 6.5 hours
Mood: ok
Energy Level: 4/10
Hunger Level: 6/10
Workout: Wednesday Lower + 30 mins incline walk.
The gym was fricken packed today so I had to do squats first. I did 3 sets of Zercher Squats using 65lbs > 75lbs < 95lbs for 8 reps. I used a wedge and it was pretty good. Way less lower back/glutes and more quads, but my hips kept shooting up taking tension off the quads and putting it on the posterior chain. I’m going to bring the weight down to empty bar again and build up slowly so I can stay upright the whole time so I emphasize quads.
RDLs I did 205lbs again for 2x12 then I felt like I could do 210lbs for 12 so I did that. That was pretty hard. I’m going to retake 210lbs. I don’t know why but I always feel the strongest on the last set of RDLs.
Then I did Neck Curls and Leg Curls. Leg curls are really improving and my neck curls are improving too. So good there.
Steps: 7500
Thought Process: These last few days, I’ve felt like complete shit most of the day. I guess I’m not sleeping enough, or well enough? I’m sleeping 6-7 hours on average, shouldn’t that be enough? But then I remembered I’d been eating 1900-2100 calories the past week or so so I upped calories. I ate 2900 Sunday, 2750 Monday and tuesday I think. Feeling noticeably more energy today and less hunger.
I have been thinking I might have sleep apnea for a while now so I ordered an at home sleep apnea test from Lofta. It was on sale for $117 so I figured I might as well. So I’ll know if I have it in like 2 weeks. One thing I learned is that a lot of ADHD diagnoses are actually undiagnosed sleep apnea cases. I don’t think it’s the usual case of having too big/fat of a neck (my neck is like 14.5"), I think it might be my jaw. My jaw sits a little far back and I used to clench my jaw a lot which might’ve made it sit back farther. But I really don’t know. I’m eager to see what the test says. A lot of people say getting a CPAP for even mild apnea changed their life.
My tiredness is basically only a problem when I’m driving or sitting still not talking to someone. And I have to sleep 8-10 hours just to feel pretty decent. Is that normal? It can’t be. I doubt many people get 8+ hours of sleep consistently. A few days ago I slept for like 6.5 hours and I woke up feeling awesome. It only lasted like half the day but there has to be something about the way I sleep or something.
I weighed myself a few days ago and got 160lbs 39" waist. I haven’t lost much in my waist yet, mostly my arms/shoulders/face/neck. I am 100% looking way better and I am way stronger and more capable so I’m moving in the right direction, especially for such a short time.
So I’m assuming that squatting to the balls of your feet is equivalent to squatting with a wedge. Thats the only way I can stay upright, have quad tension and get to depth. I wonder why that is? I guess it’s just structure from genetics. I need like double the wedge I was using today lol like a 6" wedge. But I just tried goblet squatting onto the balls of my feet slowly and it hits the quads really good.
My gym has a very strict no camera policy, which I think is good, so I will have to take a vid of my squat with my dumbbell at my house to show what im doing
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And I have to sleep 8-10 hours just to feel pretty decent. Is that normal? It can’t be. I doubt many people get 8+ hours of sleep consistently.
This may seem like just one question, but it’s actually several.
8+ hours of sleep is the commonly quoted amount as “needed” to be healthy.
Is that a normal amount of sleep in the general population? No.
But HERE is the question you forgot to ask: is the normal population HEALTHY?
The answer to that is “no”. So yeah, you’re correct: most people AREN’T getting 8+ hours of sleep…primarily because most people are engaged in unhealthy lifestyles. Most people aren’t worth emulating.
Congrats on the bodyweight!
Thanks man! I have been 159-160 for like 3 weeks now while getting leaner. I look pretty damn awesome
About the sleep, I know most people aren’t healthy at all. What I mean is; Is it normal to need so much sleep just to not almost fall asleep while driving home from work? I feel like everyone else has higher energy than me even though I am probably more health conscious than them.
I feel a lot better today after upping the cals and sleeping a bit more. But I could go to sleep right now if I wanted to.
Yes. Just to survive and function your body requires sleep. When you add weight training to that you are putting extra work in. While 6.5 hours might work when you are doing the minimum, you will require more when you are active. I switched to a kettlebell workout 5 weeks ago and I couldn’t keep my eyes open by like 5 PM. The increase in work exhausted me. So yeah, it’s no surprise that you are tired.
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Is it normal to need so much sleep just to not almost fall asleep while driving home from work?
This is the thing: you’re calling 8 hours “so much sleep” when it’s really just the requisite amount. It’s not excessive at all. IN many cases, it may be too little. Humans, ideally, go to sleep when the sun goes down and rise when it comes up. In winter months, that could be quite a bit of sleep. In the summer, it’s still probably in the range of 8 hours. Regularly existing off 6 hours of sleep is, for many humans, a form of sleep restriction/deprivation.
I feel like everyone else has higher energy than me even though I am probably more health conscious than them.
What you’re observing is most likely the manifestation of elevated cortisol as a result of a combination of poor sleep combined with excessive stimulants.
When I could only sleep 20 minutes at a time, I was consuming in excess of a gram of caffeine a day. I trained 2-3x per day during that time, worked full time, etc. To the outside observer, I was full of energy! And I was strung out, wired and exhausted.
I went down a similar path with sleep.
7-8 hours is the recommended amount of time spent actually sleeping. It is not the recommended amount of time in bed.
Almost everyone has tons of “micro-awakenings” where you wake up but aren’t aware of it.
“Sleep efficiency” is the percent of time in bed that you’re actually asleep. Greater than 85% is considered “good”.
So with 85% sleep efficiency, and 7-8 hours of sleep, that’s 8.2-9.4 hours actually in bed.
So yes. It’s normal to need so much sleep.
Even more if you’re training and stressing the body and/or mind.
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Hmm ok. That makes sense. It is annoying though, having to sleep and all that.
Do you have a deviated septum or allergy issues? I have bad flair ups every now and then which recks my sleep. Dry noses and stuffy noses cause me to mouth breathe
I use to exist with terrible allergies (like sinus infections all through the winter) and I did allergy shots in highschool. They helped a ton
I don’t think I have a deviated septum but it’s possible. I don’t think I’ve ever been hit in the nose and i don’t have any symptoms.
I used to have terrible allergies too and not even shots did anything. Thats one reason I got away from landscaping for a living. Shame because I actually like landscaping
On another note, these squats are fricken kickass. My quads and lower abs are a little sore just from doing that yesterday. And it was easier to climb stairs. I can’t wait to progress them
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Lots of times you are just born with it. I don’t have symptoms day to day, but it makes me more prone to sinus issues
Hmm that is interesting. I’ll ask my doc about it next time I see him. Maybe I do have it because most of the time nasal breathing kind of requires force but its not clogged
Well actually now that I read more about the symptoms maybe I do have it but the symptoms are kind of vague like one nostril being more clogged. I’m pretty sure that’s just normal and it changes every so often. Right now my left nostril is more clogged. I will check later to see if it changes sides.
A lot of old timey guys from the 40s and 50s squatted on their toes to emphasize quads. If it feels like it’s working, give it a go!
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