Squats
430 x 8
330 x 18, 10
Leg curls
10 plates x 30
Standing ab wheel
8 reps
Feeling the instability from a smaller waist. Going to increase the amount of ab work I’m doing and will hit some planks today. Overloaded squat walkouts are another idea but I’ll have to be wise on programming them in and not overtrain my back.
Woke-up 5 minutes before my alarm and got in a morning shadow kickboxing session randomly broken-up with 10 burpees. Nothing was timed, just turned on the music and flowed. Was freezing when I got out of bed and had to take my sweater off by the time I was done.
Submitted a request to be placed on the adult waiting list for a local boxing gym. I’ve had my eye on this spot since 2007. If I don’t hear anything soon I’ll sign up for my old Muay Thai gym that’s about 5 minutes from my house. It’s pricey but the proximity is worth it; I’m saving up for a car to replace the old van I’m driving and I don’t want to take my current vehicle further than this if I can help it, especially not on the regular. My first choice would have been American Kickboxing Academy, which has more competition for me (local spot has a lot of suburban family folks going for cardio kickboxing and sparring partners can be hard to come by) and actually $10 cheaper, but that’ll be my reward once I get a more reliable vehicle.
Realized my packed lunch was a little light today so I treated myself to a poke bowl with zuchinni spirals instead of rice. Despite the large bowl I was still hungry afterwards so had some of my bison hamburger meat with avocado afterwards.
Getting a little stricter with the diet as I inch further down in weight. Still holding on to my Saturday cheat day but no longer eating carby on Friday night or Sundays. Weighing around 209.
Deadlifts
505 x 3
Romanian deadlifts
365 x 2 x 10
SSB squats
240 x 10 (5 front squats, 5 back)
Kettlebell goblet squats: 50 x 20
Conventional deads tonight, not sumo. Elated that my back is healthy enough and how easy this felt.
Squats caught me by surprise; my legs felt pretty dead. Also think I’m just pretty weak at ass-to-grass close-stance squats since my squat day uses more posterior chain. Did minimal warm-up and left knee was a little achy.
Bench press:
315 x 3, 3, 3
275 x 8
Super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 4 x 10
Incline bench press:
185 x 9, 8, 8 - drop-down to 135 x 7
Super-set with reverse hyper seated rows:
4 plates x 12
6 plates x 10, 15
Dumbbell skullcrushers
35s x 9
Lying dumbbell curls
35s x 10, 12
Went to a very sad funeral for a relative yesterday. RIP auntie. Her gift was bringing our family together for a day and having us feast on lots of tremendous Persian food. Beef kabob, saffron rice, pickled eggplant, and more (I had 3 plates total):
Despite feeling emotionally drained by nightfall, the rest and feast day had me feeling physically primed today. Previously aching shoulders felt much better and I was able to bench press for the first time in several weeks. Very happy with my numbers as I’ve been losing weight and with how easy 315 felt - I didn’t slow down on any of those reps and might have been good for 5 on the first set.
Sorry to read of your loss. You have my sincere condolences.
Thank you friend, that is much appreciated.
Almost a week late on this but wanted to share my Terminator costume for Halloween last week at work. Unlike 20 years ago, nobody asked “Are you supposed to be Neo?”
And couldn’t resist doing a log rep in-costume after work
My condolences to you and your family. It’s awesome to see everyone be able to come together to celebrate a life like that, and to share in some community of food.
@T3hPwnisher Couldn’t have said it any better myself. Thank you tremendously for saying that man.
Yesterday evening:
Heavy bag work: 3 rounds, 3 minutes
Emphasized keeping busy and maintaining a high volume. Mostly just boxing but threw a few Muay Thai teeps and roundhouses.
Did a cyberpunk aerobics dance workout for about 25 minutes afterwards for some low intensity, joint-friendly fat burning. This involves kicks and is just good for my body to do compared to the repetitive motion of jogging all the time. Plenty of dynamic stretching involved.
10 minute jog afterwards.
Food note: I’ve been throwing a whole pack of lamb chops from Costco in the slowcooker overnight and have been enjoying them at work all last week and this.
Lamb is absolutely magical. That’s a fantastic choice for a work lunch right there.
@T3hPwnisher You definitely know it! Easily my favorite meat that’s obtainable at a grocery store.
Squats
460 x 6
340 x 20
It was 9:00 P.M. at this point so called it here to ensure I can sleep adequately for work. Tomorrow will leave me more time to do assistance work and abs. Quite happy I hit this during a weight loss phase.
Also, just checked my YouTube comments for the first time in awhile and am kinda delighted by a few people “accusing” me of being on steroids. Not trying to be clever here; it is a really cool compliment to someone who’s never taken anything (yet) and always feels skinny, especially as I’m creeping up to my 40s and have been wondering what my natural test levels are at this age (have to constantly fight intrusive thoughts like hmm, wasn’t it easier to get bigger and stay lean when I was younger?).
Sorry for your loss bro.
@whiplash1 Thanks man, wasn’t expecting condolences because I’m so used to recording these same entries in my personal training log so it’s been really nice to receive these comments.
@jcpjcp Very true. People don’t know or care about what consistency can do.
Last night did a full-body workout to keep my light press session on-schedule and get in some extra leg work at the same time.
Log clean once and press away: 140x3
Chin-ups: 5
10 rounds in 7:08
Narrow high bar ATG squats: 240x10
Arnold press: 50s x 12
Push-ups: 25, 25, 20
Facepulls: 15, 20, 20
Leg curls: 50 plates x 30, 30
Leg extensions: 5 plates x 20
Poundstone curls: 130 (PR)
No rest times except to set-up equipment and take a moment to jot down what I did. Didn’t have time to hit abs, but will today.
This morning before work I also got in 50 burpees.
Bench press
330 x 2
280 x 8
Last set super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 10
Swiss bar bench press: 225 x 10, 10
Super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 10, 10
Incline Close-grip bench press
195 x 6
185 x 8, 6 - drop-down to 135 x 6
Super-set with seated reverse-hyper rows
4 plates x 10, 15, 20
Left shoulder was in a bit of pain Thursday night after doing lights sparring rounds with a person I’m training. It was mostly better today and bench pressing didn’t aggravate it. Very happy with where I’m at.
I’m going to check the status of a powerlifting meet that’s happening next Saturday. There’s a good chance it’s already too late; if so, I’m not fretting it as I’ve been going back and forth on it for awhile.
I’ve signed up for a powerlifting meet next Saturday. As such, I switched to the straight bar for squats today rather than the Yukon bar. I wouldn’t call this a deload workout but there was definitely some backing off since I just squatted several days ago and I needed to get used to the joint discomfort of the barbell.
Squats
480 x 1
SSB squats
240 x 10
330 x 10
Romanian deadlifts
365 x 8, 8
.
10 hanging leg raises
Good luck
Yes love it. Getting my popcorn ready.
Thanks for the well wishes guys. I’ll have video of the event.
Going to be less training to report on this week as I maximize my recovery for Saturday’s meet. Biggest challenge and prime objective is to keep my back feeling good. It was sore yesterday after squatting and deadlifting in the same session on Sunday but already feels better today. Sleeping on my back on the firm mattress side made a bigger difference than any amount of rehab exercises, although I’m still glad I bought a reverse-hyper with how many different uses for it I have.
I also haven’t reported that I’ve been taking creatine for a few weeks now and I noticed a big change in how full I look from it. Never noticed this drastic a change in my youth, but I was never taking it while cutting carbs to the extent I have recently, either. Very interesting. I did a very unorganized loading phase, taking anywhere from 2-4 servings a day for roughly a week and a half. Studies show you eventually get to the same point by 30 days - loading just does it faster.
Keeping my cardio minimal this week. Just jogging and some light martial arts practice purely for fun. Those two activities are primarily how I listen to music and destress.
Ordered a new King Kong powerlifting bag. My old duffel is a cheapie off Amazon that’s 12-years-old and coming apart. It’ll be a good upgrade - it even has a place to store my belt on the outside.
Wrote my openers down:
Squat:
450lbs / 204kg
Bench:
315lbs / 143kg
Deadlift:
515lbs / 233kg
Did a light workout last night.
Strict press
145 x 3 x 8
Super-set with chin-ups
10, 12, 15
100 total push-ups across 3 sets
Super-set with chin-ups: 12, 12, 15
Band pull-aparts
20, 40
Dumbbell curls: 35s x 3 x 12, 10, 10
Post-workout picture:
Feeling incredibly nauseous this morning at work, which is par for the course for me when eating this much. Glad it’s only for a week.
Back has been hurting more than usual the past few days, which is funny timing. Not sweating it, I’ll do the best I can and have fun. Feels like my back gets better as the day progresses so I may have been sleeping in disagreeable positions.
Been feeling majorly nauseous these mornings from all the food. I’ll go a little easy on the calories once this evening sets in. Since nausea usually means I’ve been eating a lot, it’s usually when I’m strongest under the bar. I need a shirt that says “Nauseous but strong” with a jacked, sick-appearing lifter sitting miserably at a packed dinner table with his gut hanging out.
