Do you lunge with the barbell in back or front rack position?
Back. Hadnāt actually occurred to me that I could do it another way!
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I find having it in front rack position is easier to balance + itās more challenging on the core but not limiting like with front squats due to them being single leg.
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Saturday & Sunday, 17 and 18 March
Still 218.6 this morning.
Average calories for the past two weeks have been around 2,600kcal a day and while last week I lost just over 2lbs on average, this week itās down to 1lb. Assuming some water weight in the first week I think itās fair to put my TDEE around 3,100kcal.
Iāll need to drop calories to be on track for my weight loss target so Iāll aim to hit a 1.7-2lb weekly deficit going forward with around 2,300kcal a day.
Workouts
Same both days:
Warmup
Flexible Five
Glute drills
50 pullaparts
25 dislocates
Workout
Glute circuit: donkey kickbacks, clams, single-leg bridges, banded squats, banded walks, double-leg banded bridges, bodyweight lunges.
The three-point plan to get back to squatting is:
- Strengthen left glute and overall core
- See physio to determine any postural problems etc. causing this
- Add squats as assistance after lunges to re-groove the movement
Would be nice to be back doing 5/3/1 proper and training towards powerlifting within the next month or two but who knows how long #2 will take.
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Monday, 19 March
Cutting is moving in the right direction again with a 217.8 weigh-in this morning. Knee pain definitely diminishing, though after todayās lunges Iām sure itāll flare up again briefly.
Physio appointment is Thursday, so maybe she can help out. Could be shoulder tightness from my old injury throwing off my setup, could be a general hip imbalance, could just be what it is.
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
KB swing/squat superset
Lunges
Three rounds of:
5x35kg
Wobbly, but not overly challenging. Will keep this weight on Friday. Donāt miss squatting because squatting is terrible, though I am excited to see how my squat progresses when I return to it after hitting >1-plate lunges.
Bench
3x57.5kg
3x62.5kg
6x65kg
Disappointing, but weāll see how Friday and next week go before I decide on my actions for the next cycle TM.
Assistance
50 DB rows @ 32.5kg (16/14/12/8)
50 lat raises (1x10 @ 7.5kg, 15/15/10 @ 6kg)
50 situps (10/8/8/5 @ 5kg, 10/9 @ BW)
Diet
Pre-workout
Cereal and milk
Post-workout
Shake, sans banana
Lunch
Breaded cod fillet & salad
Dinner
Spinach & ricotta chicken w/pasta aglio e olio and peas
Evening
Few slices of ham to hit the protein total
Totals:
Approx. 2,219kcal
Approx. 190g protein
Cutting out the afternoon protein bar initially to see how the weight progresses.
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Tuesday, 20 March
Continuing the nice downward trend, I hit 217.2 this morning.
P.S. mad glute DOMS today.
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
Conditioning
Decided to do an actual conditioning workout instead of being a cardio bunny.
16kg KB swings - 100 as quickly as possible
Nine minutes on the dot, which is slightly pathetic but easily improved. Hit as 20/20/20/17/13/10.
25kg power bag cleans - 50 as quickly as possible
Eight and a half minutes here. Hit as 8/10/10/8/7/7.
Tabata indoor bike sprints to finish
Diet
Pre-workout
Cereal and milk
Post-workout
Shake
Lunch
Chicken salad
Dinner
Pork loin, potato and veg
Totals
Approx. 2,356kcal
Approx 205g protein
Wednesday, 21 March
Plummeted down to 215.6 today for whatever reason. As a consequence my TDEE spreadsheet calculator believes my TDEE is around 3,500kcal a day which might be a tad high for someone who just goes to the gym in the morning then does fuck-all for the rest of his waking hours!
Knee still improving, glutes still sore.
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
KB swings/SLDL supersets
Romanian Deadlifts
Just finding a TM here. Right side seemed to be working harder still.
10x60kg
8x70kg
5x80kg
5x90kg
5x95kg
5x100kg
Press
3x32.5kg
3x37.5kg
7x42.5kg
11x32.5kg
Assistance
5x5 chinups
50 incline DB bench (10/10/8/7 @ 20kg, 15 @ 15kg)
Picked up 20s instead of 17.5s and was wondering why I was so weak.
50 hyperextensions @ 10kg (5x10)
Diet
Pre-workout
Cereal and milk
Post-workout
Shake
Lunch
Haddock and salad
Dinner
Chicken and coconut rice thingy
Totals
Approx 2249kcal
Approx 175g protein
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Thursday, 22 March
Still slenderising with a 215.5 weigh-in today. This weekend Iām going away with the lady where there will be a wine and tapas evening and a hotel breakfast, so itās good that Iāve getting ahead of that.
Actually Iām going to take the unprecedented strategy of attempting to retain a modicum of self-discipline while Iām away. Weāll see how that goes.
Knee a little worse today than yesterday but nothing mad. It comes and goes.
Off to the physio today, so hoping to get an assessment of posture and whatnot and see what further steps I can take to correct all this shite.
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
NB: left glute is definitely and rapidly catching up to the right.
Conditioning
Rowing machine 30s fast/30s slow max resistance for 10m
Basically alternating between 1m45s/500m and 2m50s/500m. No idea what that measures up like but I assume itās shit and will strive to improve it!
Diet
Pre-workout
Cereal and milk
Post-workout
Shake
Lunch
Some cheesy fishy thing and veg
Dinner
Spaghetti and meatballs
Totals
Approx. 2352kcal
Approx. 195g protein
Thursday, 22 March 2.0
Saw the physio. It was awful.
Good news is that he doesnāt believe I have any major imbalances or postural problems; hips are level and knees are aligned etc.
My right shoulder has less ROM than the left which after dozens of subluxations and repeated dislocations is hardly surprising so he spent a while doing some myofasial release on that which was probably one of the worst things that has ever happened to me, haha.
Anyway Iāll go back in a few weeks and do some back squats with him watching to see if anything crops up when I put weight on the bar.
For now Iāll continue with the plan of lunges for the next few weeks and then re-introduce squats hopefully with the glutes actually firing.
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Friday, 23 March
Still in danger of blowing away with a strong breeze at 215.6lbs.
Blender broke today. Was a fairly cheap Kenwood used daily for six months so not a major shock. Anyone have any recommendations for a new one? I donāt mind paying a decent amount; itās something Iāll be using daily.
Knee feels good. Chest and shoulder very achey from your man beating the fuck out of me yesterday.
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
Lung- ah fuck it letās try some squats again
5x60kg
5x70kg
3x80kg
3x90kg
3x100kg
*Last set was definitely high. Focused on using the glutes here and thereās definite improvement but not so much that Iāll be looking to set big PRs anytime soon. Will continue with lunges for the next couple of weeks and likely keep them as assistance going forward.
Bench
3x57.5kg
3x62.5kg
8x65kg
Thatās more like it. Not quite a PR in terms of projected 1RM but the most reps for which Iāve lifted 65kg so Iāll take it.
1x72.5kg
0x80kg
In a wave of maniacal hubris I decided to PR bench and failed. The silver lining, however, is that this was a super-smooth and painless roll of shame.
Assistance
5x5 chinups
While doing this with ease it was satisfying to remember how hard triples were on this very skinny gym bar not that long ago.
50 situps (15x3 and a finisher of 5)
Diet
Pre-workout
Cereal and milk
Post-workout
Shake. RIP my blender.
Lunch
Tuna salad
Afternoon/evening
Post-work drinks. Just going to have a whiskey or two and head home as Iāve a ferry to catch early tomorrow.
Dinner
Pork loin steaks in puff pastry. Some concoction from the missus. With veg.
Evening
1 scoop Gold Standard with milk
Totals
Approx. 2555kcal
Approx 180g protein
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Monday, 26 March
Pushing everything back a day this week to lift Tue/Thu/Sat and condition Weds/Fri/Sun as the gym will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Unfortunately I didnāt even get a full lie-in today because my girlfriend was up at 7 to go to work.
Future workout template
After last Fridayās squats, my knee was pretty sore for basically the next 24h or so. If that stays the same or lowers as I introduce squats again then I know Iām doing OK.
This week and next week (deload) Iāll continue twice-a-week lunges. After that I think Iāll run one of the Full Body variants from Beyond or, if it arrives in time, Forever (ordered it last week). Frequency has worked very well for me in the past, unsurprisingly, so I think squatting sub-maximally 3x a week will be useful if I work on engaging the glutes and getting strong reps.
I believe Iāll do 5s PRO for squats and possibly deadlifts for the next cycle, giving myself leeway for Joker Triples/Singles on strong 3 and 1 weeks. This plan is subject to change if my knee doesnāt like it but I think I should be OK.
Diet
NB: didnāt get a chance to weigh in today. Weekend was a holiday weekend so definitely over calories but hopefully not by a major amount.
Breakfast
Shake
Lunch
Chicken breast and salad
Dinner
Cheese, leek and bacon chicken w/potatoes and veg
Evening
3x boiled eggs
Totals
Approx. 2186kcal
Approx. 205g protein
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Tuesday, 27 March
Weighed in at 216.8, which considering the weekend I had could have been a lot worse. Pretty sure Iām not going to meet my somewhat ambitious goal of 210lbs or less by the time I go to London next week, though!
Still looking to have my weight start with a 1 by the T-ransformation deadline (without switching the scale to stone or kg) which I think is pretty reasonable.
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
KB swing/squat sets
Left glute definitely feels a hell of a lot stronger than it did a couple of weeks ago.
Lunges
Three rounds of:
5x35kg
Balance is still a lot tougher than the movement itself.
Squats
Been experimenting with stance width. Feet slightly further apart and a fair bit pointier feels a lot better on the knee. Just testing it out today; nothing too taxing. Feels weaker but a) it was after lunge sets and b) itās a new pattern to get used to.
5x60kg
5x70kg
3x80kg
2x90kg
Bench
5x60kg
3x65kg
6x70kg
Solid PR with 70x3 being my previous best.
Three rounds of:
5x60kg
Assistance
5x5 chinups
Diet
Pre-workout
Porridge & two eggs
Same calories as cereal but 2.5x the protein. Also way more depressing to eat.
Post-workout
Shake
Lunch
Chicken salad
Dinner
Spaghetti & meatballs
Evening
2 eggs
Totals
Approx 2,250kcal
Approx 190g protein
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Wednesday, 28 March
Down to 214.2 today. Getting sick (fucking again!) because dickheads keep coming into the office when theyāre ill. Iām working from home today because Iām not a cunt.
Picked some conditioning that I could do without leaving the house.
Workoiut
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
Conditioning
Tabata intervals: pullups, squats, pushups, lunges, situps, mountain climbers
Rest 90s
Do it again
Rest 90s
Do it again
And so on and so forth
Diet
Pre-workout
A bowl of sadness and a plate of depression AKA porridge and eggs
Post-workout
Shake
Lunch
Would have been a pork steak and salad at work, but now not sure. Considering a 600kcal pepperoni/ham personal pizza #IIFYM
Dinner
Teryaki pork belly w/rice and veg
Totals
Approx. 2490kcal
Approx. 185g protein
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Thursday, 30 March
Still feeling a little under the weather, but down to 213.6 this morning. Maybe I will make =<210lbs next week!
EDIT: oh and the knee feels fine after those wider-stance squats which is great. Itās still giving me a bit of a twinge here and there day-to-day but nothing that Iād actually call pain. Definitely just hurt rather than injured.
Had already decided to hit some kind of deadlift PR today, illness be damned, so I had a goal.
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
KB swings/SLDL sets
Deadlift
Hadnāt any numbers programmed in this cycle so just winged it.
5x100kg
3x120kg
1x132.5kg
1x145kg
1x155kg (PR)
Kinda wanted 160 but the 155 wasnāt the strongest.
Press
5x35kg
3x40kg
7x45kg
11x35kg
Not bad considering I wasnāt set up at my preferred bench.
Assistance
Chins: 8/7/6/5/5 @ BW
Sin Ć©. Felt really shattered and coldified after the deads and press so wasnāt going to do any major assistance work today.
Diet
Pre-workout
Porridge and eggs. The plus side of this breakfast is that lifting is no longer the worst part of my morningā¦
Post-workout
Shake
Lunch
Chicken salad
Dinner
TBD
Totals
Approx. TBDkcal
Approx. TBDg protein
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Friday, 30 March
Still the same weight this morning with a 213.6 weigh-in. The goal of =<200lbs by the end of May is looking incredibly achievable, even considering the pending wedding and Dublin weekends.
Knee is a little worse for wear after yesterdayās session but nothing to be bothered about. Should be on for squats and lunges tomorrow.
Workout
First day in a while that Iāve totally failed to do any conditioning work. Boo! The Bank Holiday really threw me off. I plan to have a reasonably cardio-focused Deload Week next week though which I hope makes up for itā¦
Tomorrow is a repeat of Tuesday, Bench/Squat. Iād like to work up to some maxes and see where I land; yesterdayās 155kg deadlift means that a TM of 140 is pretty accurate so (especially with resetting squats) Iād like to see how to move forward for my next cycle. Iāll use this wider stance that feels decent and see where my 1/3/5RM winds up.
Diet
Breakfast
Cereal and milk, 2 fried eggs
AM dinner
Girlfriend bought some doughnut thing and I figured I could squeeze it in
Lunch
Salmon fillet with mixed veg
PM snack
Shake
Dinner
Chicken thighs and spaghetti
Misc
Half an Easter Egg
Totals
Approx. 2388kcal
Approx. 170g protein
Not bad for a day featuring a doughnut and chocolate!
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Saturday, 31 March
Weight now baffling and Iām worried the scale is broken. Was 213.6 for the third day in a row, but then nudged the scale and re-weighed at 212.2lbs. Hmmmā¦
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
KB squats
Squats
Went back to a narrower stance which lets me get more depth and presumably glute involvement. Knee was twingey for the first couple of sets.
5x60kg
5x70kg
3x80kg
3x90kg
2x100kg
1x110kg
Probably could have got 115, and this 110 was unquestionably deeper than my last 125 PR. Think itās fair to set a 100 TM for my next cycle.
Assistance
Dumbbell bench 5x10 @ 20kg
Chinups 5x5 @ BW
Diet
Pre-workout
Cereal and milk
Post-workout/brunch
Big olā fry-up
PM snack
Shake
Dinner
Going out to a restaurant, so will be over calories today. Still, apparently I can afford a cheat day since Iām 7-9lbs down this month.
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Monday, April 2
Weighed in at 215.4 this morning, up from the low last week but not bad considering a back-to-back pair of gluttonous weekends.
That saidā¦
Scale seemed weird this morning, giving me weights of 215.4, 214.2 and 218.8 depending on how I moved it. I reset it a few times and then consistently weighed 215.4, so I think I should just be mindful to do that in future. Hopefully the 6-7lbs Iāve lost in March are actually real!
Workout
Decided to keep this deload week to a simple bodyweight routine. A lot of my deloads are going to coincide with holidays/trips away so I think it makes sense to have something in the arsenal that I can do almost anywhere.
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
Workout
5x5 chinups
3x10 pushups
3x10 BW lunges (per leg)
3x60s planks
3x8 inverted rows
Diet
Breakfast
Cereal and milk
Lunch
2 sausages, 4 rashers, 2 eggs
Post-workout
Shake
Dinner
Burger & and sweet potato fries
Totals
Approx. 2477kcal
Approx. 170g protein
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Wide move grasshopper.
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Tuesday, 3 April
Scale seems consistent now and I was 214.8 this morning. The =<210lbs pipe dream is dead (though obviously I could be that tomorrow if I wanted but itās not about a water cut!) but hitting 212 last week was an anomaly anyway, I reckon.
Todayās workout barely even qualified as a workout but Iām having a lazy deload week so sue me.
āWorkoutā
Warmup
Flexible Five
100 pullaparts
50 dislocates
Glute drills
āConditioningā
2 mile walk - no weight vest, just walking briskly. Will definitely be getting a weight vest next month though.
Diet
Pre-workout
Cereal and milk
2 fried eggs
Lunch
Chicken salad
Dinner
Irish stew
Evening
Shake
Totals
Approx. 2310kcal
Approx. 178g protein
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Wednesday, 4 April
Back down to 214.1 today. Hopefully this weekend doesnāt undo everything over the past few weeks.
Heading home this evening for my friendās wedding on Friday and coming back on Sunday. Unfortunately I donāt really get hangovers so itās not like Saturday will be a fast-and-purge day to compensate for anything.
Workout/warmup
Flexible Five
200 pullaparts
100 dislocates
Glute drills
Some deeper hip/hamstring stretching
Diet
Pre-workout
Cereal and milk with two eggs
Post-workout
Shake
Lunch
Southern fried chicken salad
Dinner
Fishcake, salmon fillet and veg
Totals
Approx. 2315kcal
Approx. 178g protein
Weekend log
Wonāt update here until next week, but going to hit another bodyweight session tomorrow at my parentsā since they have a pullup bar and then just some general mobility work daily.
Come Monday I plan to run 5/3/1 for Beginners again with 5s PRO on squat. That said, 5/3/1 Forever just arrived today so I may find something more suitable in that and change my plans.
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