The last month was a bit of give some - take some. I took two weeks off to undertake a tough winter trek through the high Himalaya, which I managed with relative ease thanks to all the training I’d packed in through the previous months.
Weight training progress did take a few steps back though - I was struggling with 55 kg BP and 45 kg OHP this week, but I guess I’ll build it back in the coming weeks. The DL and squats though haven’t taken much of a hit, and in other exercise, my pull-up, running, and rope climbing game has vastly improved. I guess the thin air and rucksack lugging did reap some benefits.
On the body front, its mostly status quo, barring for a tiny increase on the bicep, a 2kg drop in weight (I’ll attribute it to the limited eating managed on the trek), and an inch shaved off the chest (again, the trek I suppose). The stomach’s also gotten a teensy bit tighter, or so I feel.
On the food front, getting back to more gym-friendly diet now - averaging around 140g of protein per day, and roughly 2600 calories (a 200-300 cal deficit from TDEE, I estimate).
Glacial progress, but not much else I can do I suppose.
In the last month, I tweaked my regime on two fronts:
I began weight training six days a week (usual bro split, but a lot of core too), and ran on the seventh (in addition to cardio through the rest of the week).
I upped my diet toward a (relatively clean) caloric surplus, and doubled down on the protein intake (well over 2g per kg of body weight if my tracking is on point).
The results:
My weight went up by a whopping 5 kgs to 75.1 kgs (against my 5’ 9" frame).
My strength gains have been considerable, and I’ve progressed through many PRs in lifts as well as free exercises and runs.
There’s been a reasonable addition of muscle to my frame, especially around the biceps, chest, and most excitingly, upper abs!
My loose lower abdomen is still an issue, but I guess I’ll have to be patient with it.
Vascularity on the arms and calfs has become reasonably more pronounced.
The good bit is that I don’t look visibly ‘fatter’ despite the weight gain, and many people have begun assuming that I’m a gym rat (when I’m clothed, obviously). Traction on dating apps has also seen a decent upswing (a fringe benefit, but very welcome).
The bad bit? Not any that I can think of. Sure, the saggy gut hasn’t disappeared yet, but that’s a long-term project anyway.
All in all, the decision to follow general advice to add mass seems to be paying off, slowly, but surely.
Training and diet remained the same as the last post.
Weight is now 76, up by almost 1 kg.
PRs still coming in!
A slight uptick on muscle tone in general, but only to my obsessive eyes, I imagine.
In the right light, I can see hints of upper abs (as funny as it sounds, I’m pretty kicked about it!)
Not much of a change as compared to last time, except for half an inch of chest gains, and a little more of a cut on the chest-shoulder zone in general.
My 32nd is 2 months away now, so I’m trying to get a bit anal about what I’m eating till then. Giving up on bread and sugar and anything packaged as much as possible, and starting off on creatine in addition to whey. Trying to max out my protein intake massively as well. I reckon I’ll be around or slightly below maintenance for a while.
Weight’s dropped by 1 kg, measurements intact. In terms of strength gains, things are looking fairly decent (bench press has FINALLY moved beyond bodyweight, 100+ kg squats aren’t as worrying as they once were, and sub-25 5k runs are a regular now, for instance). Slightest of changes in body comp, I suppose, but I’m trying not to stress too much on micro-progressions. The usual suspect - the belly sag - feels a little shallower though.
Calorie count’s hovering around at-maintenance or slightly below, but protein intake is the same as earlier. Workout routine is still the same - 6x weekly weights, and Sunday runs.
Another month down. This one was a bit problematic as where I live slid into a disastrous second wave of the pandemic. The gym’s been shut, and even stepping out to run is a deathwish, so I’ve been working out at home again. I’m still stuck with the light 10 kg dumbbells, but have fashioned a kind of bar with some construction equipment lying around. In any case, it hardly compares to real weights, so I’m trying to move into an upper/lower routine, six days a week (each muscle group worked twice), and focusing on high rep counts instead. The seventh day is simpler stretching and HIIT.
Diet wise, I remain in a deficit, and have been successful in avoiding complex carbs and sugars so far.
Stats? Well, body size remains the same, but the weight’s dipped decently - from 74ish in April, to just below 72 now. I’m assuming its a good recomp panning out.
I don’t see myself being able to get back to the gym for another month at least, so lets see how things pan out.
Here are the updates:
Also throwing in a little bonus here. Turning 32 this week, so thought I’ll compare notes with where I was last year. I reckon I was around 74-75 kgs then, can’t remember for sure. Here goes:
