Just a thought, higher volume could cause some inflammation and maybe cause water retention.
I wouldn’t sweat it yet, give it a day or two. I often swing as much as three or four pounds during the week, which is why I average it.
Trust the mirror more than the scale.
Today’s training
Lazy lifter plus shoulders
Squat
15 strap fatman pull-ups between first here warmup sets
5x324 lbs, under 6 RPE - barely to depth, knees coming in
5x374 lbs, under 6 RPE - focused on pushing knees out, better
5x418 lbs, 6 RPE - no real rest between reps, I need to do something to make these a bit challenging since I’m not going for PRs.
I’m making a deliberate effort not to treat the top sets as anything special. That includes not bringing my grip in, not taking reset breaths between reps, etc. This will be good for cycle three, where my week two and three top sets will be entering heavy territory.
Front squat FSL 3x8x220 lbs, under 6 through to 7 RPE. Straps feeling good so far, but I have to really jam the bar into my throat. Short breaks between sets. Quads noticing this.
SSB RFESS 50 total reps at 154 lbs: 10, 12, 15, 13
By set three anything more than one more set outweighed how shit extra reps in the current set would be so I did what I had to.
45 degree back raises plus 44 lbs chain 100 total reps: 30, 25, 25, 20
Supersetted calf raises/hanging leg raises
Calves 100 total reps at 143 lbs: 30, 30, 30, 30
Leg raises 50 total reps: 20 (8 STB first reps), then my left elbow/bicep started feeling off like last weeks so I did the rest with slings for 10, 11, 10
Here’s the highlight reel for the week too
@The_Myth you may be onto something. Like you said, I’ll be patient and see where things go. I’ve also felt a tad run down these last couple of days and I often add weight when I’m crook despite eating and training normally.
Just for a laugh
The instant regret every time you try to do the lat spread with your hands on your sides was hilarious
Looking good bro, #nohomo.
I see ab outline, and the signs of the linea alba, good shit! You obvs carry a lot of muscle so when you lean out a bit more, you’re going to look jacked.
Good work!
Good work Mark. Consistent progress is being had leaning out. Going to pay off big time in the long run.
Thanks guys! It’s coming along, and I’m enjoying the process. Getting impatient, but enjoying it. The difference between now and three or four months ago is that I can see what’s coming and that makes being patient harder.
Delving through my psych textbooks, and thinking about it. Most often times humans in general do that (myself included), I think it comes from naturally having anger as an emotion, but as we age I think we pick and chose which emotions sit at the forefront. I had this issue in high school towards my graduation years and a year or so after I graduated. It’s kind of like how I’ve been as a child all my life, but on the flip side. Instead of getting angry, I opt towards getting emotional, more so on the sad end of the spectrum. I don’t cry, but I get agitated and slightly get in my feelings. Over mundane things. But I’ve also been reading that, expectation for certain things or situation can spark off feelings of anger, agitation, sadness, disappointment, etc. it’s these emotional connections we make with things, and it can be something so slight, but if it doesn’t line up with what we expect to happen, it can press buttons and the like. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with feelings emotions at all. My therapy skills books mention that it’s okay to feel them for what they are and let them pass, and be okay with sitting in whatever pool of feelings you have, so long as you don’t stay there for too long (not saying you do).
This is interesting. I can relate to this, as often there are situations where a ‘normal’ response would seem to be sadness or disappointment, while I quickly find myself getting angry. Good post!
Thanks man. And my grandma used to always say this: “The same pants you got mad in, can be the same pants you scratch your ass and get glad in”.
As funny as it sounds it speaks a good amount of truth in relation to how humans operate and whatnot.
That makes sense. Thank you. Especially the part about expecting one emotion and getting another. Kind of like secret Santa, but not as fun.
Posing takes some time in a mirror with a camera. It is also much more exhausting than I could have ever imagined.
It also takes confidence…I would have ran away covering my nipples like a scene from animal house had the lady came in while I was posing hahaha
Leaning out nice btw. Where do you think your BF% is?
@BOTSLAYER I’m hoping around 18% but I know I’m hideously bad at estimating myself visually. Been bummed these last few days because scale weight went up (started going down today) so my mind kept telling me I’m not lean at all so that also doesn’t do much for my estimating ability.
Did a buttload of walking this weekend. Turns out my measly 10 minute conditioning sessions twice a week have had a decent impact.
Saturday:
Walked around 8-9 km up in the Snowy Mountains National Park from Charlotte’s Pass just about to Rawson’s Pass and back. Windy AF. It’s about a two hour drive South from Canberra.
Sunday:
Walked up Mount Majura (888 metres), gradient was anywhere between 15 and 35 degrees. Really noticed how much easier the stairmill walking made this. Took around one and a half hours all told. Last third of the walk was all around 30-35 degrees, ran the last 200-300 metres because I was fed up with walking by this stage.
I enjoyed reading this thread. Very focused programming that’s bound to sear those movements into the mind. I would fall back on this once I get LB intensive. Thanks for sharing!
You may be right. Thanks for visiting.
Throughout the day left hamstring started tightening up. Foam rolled it a little, but it’s tight AF. I can only put it down to that uphill run.
Hopefully it loosens up by Tuesday.
Leader cycle 1, week 3
Slept really well. The Valerian seems to be the go for me. Left hamstring still stiff AF, can feel the knot. Got the other half to pummel the shit out of it this morning, more later. Seems to help a bit. Going back down on the scale, sitting around 203.5 (so about 2 lbs lower than Saturday when it spiked) and maybe even looking leaner than before on waking.
Today’s training
Lazy lifter plus shoulders
Bench press
30 pull aparts with rotation between first three warmup sets
5x192 lbs, under 6 RPE
5x214 lbs, 6 RPE
5x242 lbs, 8 RPE
3x8x192 lbs, 6, 7-8 and 9-10 RPE - felt good but got hard very quickly. Pecs felt fried by end of set three.
Very pleased with this. Feels like I’m getting leg drive and groove is getting there. Feet kept sliding, but I think that’s the floor more than anything. Pauses weren’t super long but that’s nothing too terrible. The new Elite FTS normal wraps are amazing, but I hate to think what the heavies feel like.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPTY4ChBM73/
Supersetted military press/T-bar rows
Press 50 total reps at 88 lbs: 15, 15, 14, 12
Rows 100 total reps at 88 lbs: 27, 21, 22, 17, 15
Supersetted hammer curls/BB shrugs
Curls 50 total reps at 30 lbs: 16, 14, 11,
Shrugs 100 total reps at 220 lbs: 25, 25, 25, 25
HUGE pump in my traps by halfway and it stayed there for a while.
Stationary bike sprints 10 x 40 sec off/20 sec on at level 11 - either I didn’t work very hard here or my conditioning has improved since I did them last week.
Stretched the shit out of my left hamstring. Feels a bit better, but I think the knot is going to need more work.
