Some history: I began weight training in February 2009 with no weight training or athletic experience to speak of. I followed Mark Rippetoe’s “Starting Strength” program to the letter and improved all of my lifts by a large margin. After stalling and consequently jumping around from program to program, I’m starting Wendler’s 5/3/1 to give me some sort of consistency with my programming that is numbers and goal oriented.
Current gym maxes (may be outdated, just numbers that I have performed for reference):
20rm squat: 265lbs
1rm squat: 370lbs
1rm bench: 205lbs
1rm deadlift: 365lbs
1rm mp: 125lbs
current stats: 6’2, ~190lbs, 20 years old
I just came off of a 20rm squat 6 week cycle that coincided with a smolov jr. cycle for my bench. My bench 1rm increased from 190lbs to 205lbs, however, I’m ending my squat 20rm program prematurely as I feel that my other lifts are lagging behind and that I should progress some more before completing such a specialized program.
I did however improve my squat 20rm from 225lbs to 265lbs, with my tested gym 1rm squat being 375lbs before I began the program. Whether or not the 20rm scheme had any carry-over to my absolute squatting strength is suspect, but will be revealed through further training…
My current lifting goals are to reach the 200lbs/300lbs/400lbs/500lbs mark with my press/bench press/squat/deadlift.
I don’t have any current aesthetic goals, as I started out as a 150lb toothpick with skinny abs and no mass anywhere. I generally want to gain as much muscle as my lifts require, and while I’d like to minimize fat gains, I’m much more worried about my lifts increasing.
Diet-wise, I used to be a vegan but changed my diet when I began weight training, heavily incorporating eggs, fish, and chicken, along with sources from dairy such as cottage cheese. I also supplemented my diet heavily with whole milk when I first began training, and have tapered this off from drinking 1/2 a gallon-1 gallon a day to the cup or two on days that I train now.
After a particularly heavy squat or deadlift day, I’ll occasionally visit a buffet (Indian is my personal preference) and stuff myself with relatively healthy sources of foods (meat that isn’t too decadent, vegetables, avoiding anything fried or battered or oily/greasy).
I aim to have about 200 grams of protein a day and I don’t count my other macros, I just make sure I consume fats from healthy sources (nuts, avocados, coconut milk, etc) and avoid sticky refined sugars found in my center aisle foods in favor of grains like couscous, quinoa, brown rice and sweet potatoes.