Spidey: Back in Black

Training Training Logs
901

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

  1. So I know why I was feeling like shit. I eat significantly more on training days as opposed to off days. So when I added the farm work, plus dropping to 4x a week lifting, I was doing a lot more + a lot less calories weekly. Dumb[/quote]

I have to be honest, this made me laugh. I kinda thought it was common sense that farm work takes a ton out of you. Like an extra 5000 calories a day out of you.

What kind of work are you actually doing there? What kind of farm?[/quote]

I mean I know it was a little bit taxing, but I guess the style of work kind of didn’t seem to justify a lot more calories?

It’s not too big, just mostly consisting of a very large garden with an assortment of vegetables growing (corn, peas, squash, etc) and a vineyard. Plus just a lot of land. Long story short the family is from Massachusetts, they move to Kentucky to basically ‘farm’ (they have a decent amount of money) and just kind of buy land, plant the stuff, and just don’t up-keep it all too well. They are busy people, which is understandable, but basically they left on vacation for roughly a month, and when they got back weeds had gone out of control, there was ice storm back earlier this year that kind of killed most the crops, so really they hired me to basically just get everything back to square one, salvaging what crops I can. So it’s easy stuff, cutting grass, pulling weeds, but stuff like the vineyard, it can take an hour to do just 2-3 vines, finding the small bit that’s still alive, carefully removing weeds without uprooting the vine, blah blah blah. So while nothing is heavy or strenuous, I just spend 8-10 hours a day under the Kentucky sun in a third world squat position doing tedious tasks lol

902

Ok so this mini-cut was basically a decent recomp over the last few weeks. Which is totally fine. BUT, I’m not happy with it. So I’m going to be genuinely more aggressive.

Training (4x a week): 300/210/65 = 2600kcal
Off Days (3x a week): 150/210/65 = 2000kcal

Obviously that looks a low, but this week I don’t think I’ll be working on the farm. So this will be perfect. I’m aiming for about a 1.5 lbs loss a week (I’m well over 10% BF so not really worried about muscle loss). I won’t be really all too active this week, so it should be fine. If I feel i need it, a cheat day will be added. I may throw in fasting as well. We will see. The farm work and some other stressors set me back a bit, but whatever. I’m just trying to put myself in a more ideal position to bulk this Fall/Winter, so I’m not ‘behind’ on anything lol

903

Phosphatidyl Serine and Vitamin C are supposed to help with the cortisol. PS seems to work well for me just to “relax” anyway.

With my minimal experience here, I just focused on my “net calories”, using the Lose It app on my phone. “Vigorous Weight Lifting” was what I used for most of the activity, and just entered the time. Then just made sure the net calories were good, and the protein was sufficient.

I tracked my weight daily, net calories daily, and then just had excel do a handful of calculations off of that. I calculated trendlines to see how fast I was really losing weight, and then used that to calculate my “real” maintenance calories. (Assuming you’re losing mostly fat, at a 3500 calorie deficit per pound of fat, you can use your average net calories to figure out the maintenance.)

And then used that to readjust my daily net calorie goals as needed. I.e., calculated maintenance net calories - 750 calories.

I also made sure I was drinking a minimum of a half gallon of pure water a day, and did some incline walking at 120-130 bpm every couple days. But it was mostly diet.

Don’t know if that helps or not, just the way I went about it.

904

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Phosphatidyl Serine and Vitamin C are supposed to help with the cortisol. PS seems to work well for me just to “relax” anyway.

With my minimal experience here, I just focused on my “net calories”, using the Lose It app on my phone. “Vigorous Weight Lifting” was what I used for most of the activity, and just entered the time. Then just made sure the net calories were good, and the protein was sufficient.

I tracked my weight daily, net calories daily, and then just had excel do a handful of calculations off of that. I calculated trendlines to see how fast I was really losing weight, and then used that to calculate my “real” maintenance calories. (Assuming you’re losing mostly fat, at a 3500 calorie deficit per pound of fat, you can use your average net calories to figure out the maintenance.)

And then used that to readjust my daily net calorie goals as needed. I.e., calculated maintenance net calories - 750 calories.

I also made sure I was drinking a minimum of a half gallon of pure water a day, and did some incline walking at 120-130 bpm every couple days. But it was mostly diet.

Don’t know if that helps or not, just the way I went about it.[/quote]

It’s funny you mention this.

Yeah see, I’ve had two very successful cuts, and this^ is closer to what I did. I recently looked over that I did on those previous cuts, I really just tracked protein, calories, and ate ‘leaner’ cuts of meat/eggs whites/shakes for protein. I looked over it, and my macro ratios were pretty similar to what I wrote earlier today, which is how I got the numbers. lol So I basically used a a similar method, but just made some ‘concrete’ macros out of it.

I’ve realized recently this whole year I’ve honestly kind of drifted from what’s been successful for me in the past. I basically had to look at my old log books to kind get back to ‘my roots’, so doing that and advice like what you just told me has really got my mind right. So thanks.

905

Front Squat Lower

Front Squats: Goddammit I literally change from clean grip to cross arms to no hands mid-set sometimes. Front Squats are twats. Beltless btw
195x4x6

Paused Back Squats: I get a pretty big bounce out the whole, so these are really really hard for me. 2 min rest
185x3x10

SLDL’s ~SS~ Band Leg Curls: RIP Hammies
225x3x8-10
Orgx3x20

That was it. And I was literally about to puke. I’ve always done well with a minimalist approach to legs in the past, so 4 lifts is more than enough. May do Paused Back Squats first, just because they are harder than Front Squats for me, and than do the Front Squats how I did Deficit DL’s earlier in the week. Not sure yet though.

906

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Front Squat Lower

Front Squats: Goddammit I literally change from clean grip to cross arms to no hands mid-set sometimes. Front Squats are twats. Beltless btw
195x4x6

Paused Back Squats: I get a pretty big bounce out the whole, so these are really really hard for me. 2 min rest
185x3x10

SLDL’s ~SS~ Band Leg Curls: RIP Hammies
225x3x8-10
Orgx3x20

That was it. And I was literally about to puke. I’ve always done well with a minimalist approach to legs in the past, so 4 lifts is more than enough. May do Paused Back Squats first, just because they are harder than Front Squats for me, and than do the Front Squats how I did Deficit DL’s earlier in the week. Not sure yet though. [/quote]

Personally from a pure bodybuilding standpoint i think theres got to be a balance where you put the movements that you can use the most weight on either mid way or at the end of workouts so you are forced to limit yourself due to fatigue so you cant get hurt… but the balance has to be far enough back that you limit yourself slightly while not being so fatigued you get hurt using even very little weight because youre so fatigued

907

[quote]PlainPat wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Front Squat Lower

Front Squats: Goddammit I literally change from clean grip to cross arms to no hands mid-set sometimes. Front Squats are twats. Beltless btw
195x4x6

Paused Back Squats: I get a pretty big bounce out the whole, so these are really really hard for me. 2 min rest
185x3x10

SLDL’s ~SS~ Band Leg Curls: RIP Hammies
225x3x8-10
Orgx3x20

That was it. And I was literally about to puke. I’ve always done well with a minimalist approach to legs in the past, so 4 lifts is more than enough. May do Paused Back Squats first, just because they are harder than Front Squats for me, and than do the Front Squats how I did Deficit DL’s earlier in the week. Not sure yet though. [/quote]

Personally from a pure bodybuilding standpoint i think theres got to be a balance where you put the movements that you can use the most weight on either mid way or at the end of workouts so you are forced to limit yourself due to fatigue so you cant get hurt… but the balance has to be far enough back that you limit yourself slightly while not being so fatigued you get hurt using even very little weight because youre so fatigued[/quote]

So very true. From BBing its not about the weight its about the muscle and the fatigue and overall tension.

908

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:

[quote]PlainPat wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Front Squat Lower

Front Squats: Goddammit I literally change from clean grip to cross arms to no hands mid-set sometimes. Front Squats are twats. Beltless btw
195x4x6

Paused Back Squats: I get a pretty big bounce out the whole, so these are really really hard for me. 2 min rest
185x3x10

SLDL’s ~SS~ Band Leg Curls: RIP Hammies
225x3x8-10
Orgx3x20

That was it. And I was literally about to puke. I’ve always done well with a minimalist approach to legs in the past, so 4 lifts is more than enough. May do Paused Back Squats first, just because they are harder than Front Squats for me, and than do the Front Squats how I did Deficit DL’s earlier in the week. Not sure yet though. [/quote]

Personally from a pure bodybuilding standpoint i think theres got to be a balance where you put the movements that you can use the most weight on either mid way or at the end of workouts so you are forced to limit yourself due to fatigue so you cant get hurt… but the balance has to be far enough back that you limit yourself slightly while not being so fatigued you get hurt using even very little weight because youre so fatigued[/quote]

So very true. From BBing its not about the weight its about the muscle and the fatigue and overall tension.
[/quote]

So maybe go with the Paused Squats first? I think they take a lot more out of me. But then again that could be from having done the Front Squats first

Off day today. Fast for something like 22 hours? I can’t remember. Regardless, eating was pretty simple. Remember, this is in a pretty small window of eating:

Meal 1: 1.5 cup Low-Carb Choco Milk + scoop of Protein

Meal 2: 1 lb of Pork, 1 lb of Rice, Veggies

Meal 3: Pro Shake

Meal 4: 1 cup Cottage Cheese, 1/2 cup of blueberries, 4 tbsp PB

Going ‘lower’ carb (still 150g obviously) is so much easier with IF’ing.

909

Bench Upper

Flat BB: Everything was solid
195x5x5

Incline BB: Paused this week. 75s rest
135x4x6-8

Pull-ups: I’m going to do Pavel’s Fighter Pull-up program. Deadstop, starting conservative.
BWx6-5-4-3-2

Single Arm Laterals:
25’sx3x15
15’sx25

High Pulls: I like these as opposed to rows sometimes, just feel more athletic. Really hits the upper back really nice.
135x4x5

Rear Delt Flies:
10’sx2x50

That’s it. Was a good workout, feeling like I’m hitting my stride. Going to Warped Tour in Cincy tomorrow. So that’ll be fun.

910

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I mean I know it was a little bit taxing, but I guess the style of work kind of didn’t seem to justify a lot more calories?

It’s not too big, just mostly consisting of a very large garden with an assortment of vegetables growing (corn, peas, squash, etc) and a vineyard. Plus just a lot of land. Long story short the family is from Massachusetts, they move to Kentucky to basically ‘farm’ (they have a decent amount of money) and just kind of buy land, plant the stuff, and just don’t up-keep it all too well. They are busy people, which is understandable, but basically they left on vacation for roughly a month, and when they got back weeds had gone out of control, there was ice storm back earlier this year that kind of killed most the crops, so really they hired me to basically just get everything back to square one, salvaging what crops I can. So it’s easy stuff, cutting grass, pulling weeds, but stuff like the vineyard, it can take an hour to do just 2-3 vines, finding the small bit that’s still alive, carefully removing weeds without uprooting the vine, blah blah blah. So while nothing is heavy or strenuous, I just spend 8-10 hours a day under the Kentucky sun in a third world squat position doing tedious tasks lol [/quote]

Ah, I see. Different kind of farm work than I usually think of. Sounds more like larger-scale gardening than “farm work”.

But I’m guessing you feel better now that you’ve upped calories?

911

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:

[quote]PlainPat wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Front Squat Lower

Front Squats: Goddammit I literally change from clean grip to cross arms to no hands mid-set sometimes. Front Squats are twats. Beltless btw
195x4x6

Paused Back Squats: I get a pretty big bounce out the whole, so these are really really hard for me. 2 min rest
185x3x10

SLDL’s ~SS~ Band Leg Curls: RIP Hammies
225x3x8-10
Orgx3x20

That was it. And I was literally about to puke. I’ve always done well with a minimalist approach to legs in the past, so 4 lifts is more than enough. May do Paused Back Squats first, just because they are harder than Front Squats for me, and than do the Front Squats how I did Deficit DL’s earlier in the week. Not sure yet though. [/quote]

Personally from a pure bodybuilding standpoint i think theres got to be a balance where you put the movements that you can use the most weight on either mid way or at the end of workouts so you are forced to limit yourself due to fatigue so you cant get hurt… but the balance has to be far enough back that you limit yourself slightly while not being so fatigued you get hurt using even very little weight because youre so fatigued[/quote]

So very true. From BBing its not about the weight its about the muscle and the fatigue and overall tension.
[/quote]

So maybe go with the Paused Squats first? I think they take a lot more out of me. But then again that could be from having done the Front Squats first

Off day today. Fast for something like 22 hours? I can’t remember. Regardless, eating was pretty simple. Remember, this is in a pretty small window of eating:

Meal 1: 1.5 cup Low-Carb Choco Milk + scoop of Protein

Meal 2: 1 lb of Pork, 1 lb of Rice, Veggies

Meal 3: Pro Shake

Meal 4: 1 cup Cottage Cheese, 1/2 cup of blueberries, 4 tbsp PB

Going ‘lower’ carb (still 150g obviously) is so much easier with IF’ing.[/quote]

1lb of rice still makes it into 150g of carb huh

912

LoRez: Yeah I feel a ton better now, just had to get used to it. But I’ll be lowering the frequency of when I do the farm work now, 1-2x a week, because I start as being a manager at a grocery store. lol

Ryan: Yeah I looked at what I ate in my log, you were right. I misremembered,I had only eaten 12oz of rice. lol.

Yesterday I went to Warped Tour, was fun. I’m exhausted today, will need to rest up before Squats. I spent 9 hours jumping, moshing. and just moving in the sun. Nutrition was a no go. I think I ate a mini pizza at like 4pm then had a legitimate meal after everything that night. Plan was to fast during the concert but with hardly any water and all the activity I was getting light headed lol.

913

So this is where the cool kids hang out eh?

Looking good Spidey

914

[quote]Yogi wrote:
So this is where the cool kids hang out eh?

Looking good Spidey[/quote]

Thanks man, glad to see you back! I knew your posts had a very familiar tone, but it took my Scottish doppelganger’s sleuthing to figure it out I see. How’s training been going for you?

915

Back Squat Lower

Jump Squats:
135x3x3

Back Squats: Man, yesterday took a lot out of me, but I did what I could.
285x3x5
285x7

Deficit DL’s: Matched reps this week in a minute less. Didn’t push it felt heavyyyy
335x14 in 6:30 minutes

Pull-ups:
BWx6-5-4-3-3

Split Squats: 90s rest
135x4x8

I did some ankle mobility stuff and did 100 reps with the bar for OH shrugs too. I’m still Squatting like with this weird low bar/high bar hybrid, and it just seems the most natural, but has pitfalls of both styles. However, today I just didn’t push it because I was definitely pretty tired from yesterday. Just felt like I couldn’t drink enough water, just dehydrated kind of. Whatever, the fact I hit the minimums I set up means I at least didn’t program this super retarded.

916

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]Yogi wrote:
So this is where the cool kids hang out eh?

Looking good Spidey[/quote]

Thanks man, glad to see you back! I knew your posts had a very familiar tone, but it took my Scottish doppelganger’s sleuthing to figure it out I see. How’s training been going for you? [/quote]

Haha! Well I’m touched that anyone remembers me at all!

Training’s been a mixed bag of late, on one hand it’s really good (should hit a 180k bench by the end of the year I reckon, that’s about 400lbs) but on the other hand injuries this year have made progress shocking on other lifts. My front squat, for example, is starting again pretty much from scratch! Topped out at 40k (90lbs) yesterday! Lol.

Onwards and upwards, as they say. I seem to remember you saying something about doing a show at some point in the future. Any plans still with that?

917

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Back Squat Lower

Jump Squats:
135x3x3

Back Squats: Man, yesterday took a lot out of me, but I did what I could.
285x3x5
285x7

Deficit DL’s: Matched reps this week in a minute less. Didn’t push it felt heavyyyy
335x14 in 6:30 minutes

Pull-ups:
BWx6-5-4-3-3

Split Squats: 90s rest
135x4x8

I did some ankle mobility stuff and did 100 reps with the bar for OH shrugs too. I’m still Squatting like with this weird low bar/high bar hybrid, and it just seems the most natural, but has pitfalls of both styles. However, today I just didn’t push it because I was definitely pretty tired from yesterday. Just felt like I couldn’t drink enough water, just dehydrated kind of. Whatever, the fact I hit the minimums I set up means I at least didn’t program this super retarded. [/quote]

You also eat more carbs than normal yesterday? I know this exact feeling with the dehydration. Next time try to take either 200mg of caffeine or go for 2-3 cups of coffee then switch back to water… for me I figured whatever is in my stomach (usually carbs) seems to soak up all of the water so even if i drink a gallon over 2-3 hours im still dehydrated but the caffeine makes it so I dont get bloated and actually can rehydrate

918

[quote]Yogi wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]Yogi wrote:
So this is where the cool kids hang out eh?

Looking good Spidey[/quote]

Thanks man, glad to see you back! I knew your posts had a very familiar tone, but it took my Scottish doppelganger’s sleuthing to figure it out I see. How’s training been going for you? [/quote]

Haha! Well I’m touched that anyone remembers me at all!

Training’s been a mixed bag of late, on one hand it’s really good (should hit a 180k bench by the end of the year I reckon, that’s about 400lbs) but on the other hand injuries this year have made progress shocking on other lifts. My front squat, for example, is starting again pretty much from scratch! Topped out at 40k (90lbs) yesterday! Lol.

Onwards and upwards, as they say. I seem to remember you saying something about doing a show at some point in the future. Any plans still with that?[/quote]

Dang what kind of injury? Hope it heals up quick for ya. But a near 400 Bench is AWESOME!

I do want to do a show, but after seeing Pwolves and others experience, I really don’t want to compete in the Physique category anymore, at least not as a natty. I want to be big enough for natty BB’ing, or not compete really. Plus, I really do like training for strength, so right now I just really enjoy riding the ‘powerbuilding’ train. So I’m really trying to hit some strength goals first, before I try my hand at something a bit more ‘specified’ as BB’ing.

919

[quote]PlainPat wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Back Squat Lower

Jump Squats:
135x3x3

Back Squats: Man, yesterday took a lot out of me, but I did what I could.
285x3x5
285x7

Deficit DL’s: Matched reps this week in a minute less. Didn’t push it felt heavyyyy
335x14 in 6:30 minutes

Pull-ups:
BWx6-5-4-3-3

Split Squats: 90s rest
135x4x8

I did some ankle mobility stuff and did 100 reps with the bar for OH shrugs too. I’m still Squatting like with this weird low bar/high bar hybrid, and it just seems the most natural, but has pitfalls of both styles. However, today I just didn’t push it because I was definitely pretty tired from yesterday. Just felt like I couldn’t drink enough water, just dehydrated kind of. Whatever, the fact I hit the minimums I set up means I at least didn’t program this super retarded. [/quote]

You also eat more carbs than normal yesterday? I know this exact feeling with the dehydration. Next time try to take either 200mg of caffeine or go for 2-3 cups of coffee then switch back to water… for me I figured whatever is in my stomach (usually carbs) seems to soak up all of the water so even if i drink a gallon over 2-3 hours im still dehydrated but the caffeine makes it so I dont get bloated and actually can rehydrate[/quote]

Not more carbs than ‘usual’ per say, but definitely a LOT less protein. I’ll have to do that next time, definitely need to buy some caffeine pills. My work days will start at 5:30am most days now, so I’m going to need some extra kick anyways lol

920

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]Yogi wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]Yogi wrote:
So this is where the cool kids hang out eh?

Looking good Spidey[/quote]

Thanks man, glad to see you back! I knew your posts had a very familiar tone, but it took my Scottish doppelganger’s sleuthing to figure it out I see. How’s training been going for you? [/quote]

Haha! Well I’m touched that anyone remembers me at all!

Training’s been a mixed bag of late, on one hand it’s really good (should hit a 180k bench by the end of the year I reckon, that’s about 400lbs) but on the other hand injuries this year have made progress shocking on other lifts. My front squat, for example, is starting again pretty much from scratch! Topped out at 40k (90lbs) yesterday! Lol.

Onwards and upwards, as they say. I seem to remember you saying something about doing a show at some point in the future. Any plans still with that?[/quote]

Dang what kind of injury? Hope it heals up quick for ya. But a near 400 Bench is AWESOME!

I do want to do a show, but after seeing Pwolves and others experience, I really don’t want to compete in the Physique category anymore, at least not as a natty. I want to be big enough for natty BB’ing, or not compete really. Plus, I really do like training for strength, so right now I just really enjoy riding the ‘powerbuilding’ train. So I’m really trying to hit some strength goals first, before I try my hand at something a bit more ‘specified’ as BB’ing. [/quote]

thanks mate, it’s not exactly a competition lift though, it’ll be done on a very slight decline (do all my barbell pressing on a very slight decline now, shoulders have never felt better) which I think probably adds 10k or so, and won’t be paused or anything. Very much a “gym lift” if you know what I mean.

The injury’s just my back doing what it always does! I’m really taking steps to improve it now so hopefully this’ll be the last time.

I hear you about the comp, I thought about maybe doing one myself but seeing as I’ve dabbled a little in AAS I couldn’t (or at least wouldn’t) enter a natty comp, and I’m not comfortable taking the amount of drugs necessary to be competitive on the assisted stage, so it’s not something I think I’ll ever do now.

Keep up with the “powerbuilding” my man! Worked for Layne Norton!