If you grow and recover on your rest days, it does seem counterintuitive to deprive yourself of nutrients on those days.
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If you are doing these with good form, your strength on this lift seems right in line to me with your other lifts. Perhaps even a bit better.
I agree. Are you seated or standing? Either way I don’t think there’s a damn thing wrong with that compared to your other lifts.
Seated, no way I can do that standing holy crap…
I think I can do 55s if I can get the damn thing up, thats my biggest blocker for that.
If you don’t already, try to clean the dumbbells while you’re stood up using your whole body then squat down to the bench with the dumbbells resting on your shoulders. I’ve found that to be the easiest way for me - I could definitely get heavier dumbbells into position than I could press.
I just rest them on my knees and in one swift motion kick them up while using my arms to muscle them up.
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i do the same. its basically a super explosive calf raise x500 and then just muscling the weight into its’ lowered position
Rest Day 4 December
Weighed in 78.4kg
Sleep 7h50m
Probably will have 17-18k steps today
I’ll take some pics tomorrow morning as well as measurements; I’ll try to make it a ritual every Sunday or something
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I wish I’d done this. As often as you do.
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17k steps today, crazy bad DOMS on triceps again, still have 26 hours to recover before the session, going to go for 160 bench so really need this recovery on point.
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Rest Day 5 December
Weighed in 78.4kg (same as yesterday)
WEEKLY AVERAGE WEIGHT (78.3 + 78.3 + 78.1 + 78.4 + 78.4 + 78.4 + 78.4 )/7 = 78.32kg (172.6lb)
Sleep 6h50m
Pics & Measurements:
Waist size measured in right around 31.0 inches, I’m guessing this will just generally fluctuate between 31.0 and 31.5 (see 3rd pic)
Still a long way to go, body fat percentage is still very high (> 25% it seems), I’m hoping some muscle can be added in the next 3-5 months then I can cut down again to reduce that %. Just focused on gaining strength in the gym and eating a decent amount of clean calories.
It also seems like BW has indeed stagnated, might see how training goes and if I have to up the calories a bit.
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X2
I waited until I was less embarrassed to take pictures, by which point the job was half done.
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I’m pretty embarrassed to take these pics for sure, wouldn’t share these with ppl i know IRL, hurts my soul seeing how bad of shape I am in just at 23 years old, but I guess we are all different, had different upbringings and definitely definitely made different decisions to get to where we are.
1 year is still a lot of time and I feel I can improve a lot this year with my level of dedication, just need my body to respond equally well.
I don’t take them as often. I have to really see a difference to take a picture. but missed some milestones. I’d like to have a picture at 203 in April 2021. Leanest ever, no picture! At the time didn’t seem like a big deal. Now it’s gone forever.
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Welp, still have a lot of DOMS on triceps, 8 hours only for recovery lol, will be an interesting Monday session…
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Not bad for today… interesting weigh in…
6 December 2021 - General stuff:
- Weighed in at 77.9kg lowest weigh in since this log lol, I might disregard this weigh-in for this week’s average unless this becomes a trend in which case I have got something else to re-evaluate…
- Slept 5h0m, Mondays always rough on sleep
- Calories: ~3100, moved up 200 from 2900, lets see how this goes.
6 December 2021 - Chest Tris Workout:
- Barbell bench press - 2x5 with 160lbs RPE 9/10, 1x5 with 155lbs with RPE 9.5-10, maybe I could have got the 6th rep but let it off easy since I hit RPE 10 on the 2nd set. Great progress for myself, esp considering I haven’t actually upped weight, I have actually decreased weight from 82kg when I started this log down to 78kg and still made decent progress, I’m sure 225 will happen sooner than I am expecting (cross the fingers).
- Assisted Dips - 3x12 only 2 pins left now until I can start actually adding weight and do weighted dips, crazy to see how far I have come here, still though, ways to go! I’m also doing this controlled and deep stretch, it hits very hard on tris and chest
- Chest press machine (couldn’t get a bench for incline db bench) - 3x10 with 160 lbs
- Chest flye - 3x12-15 150 lbs
- Tricep extension machine - 3x12 with 110 lbs
Overall, great workout. I am actually quite happy to see where I have come since starting this log. My 1RM for bench was just 155, and today I hit 2x5 with 160, just goes to show I just need to keep pushing myself even harder, we are definitely gonna make it this year, no stone unturned!
One thing I didn’t mention (or maybe I did) I actually have some insulin resistance (due to many factors, terrible diet history, no exercise, poor sleep, high bf%, low muscle mass, genetics), I am thinking I should probably drop the carbs and up the fats as I have started getting more symptoms after upping the carbs. For those who know, my fasted sugar is roughly 100 (borderline pre-diabetic). Any idea here on how I should approach this (I will consult a doc soon once I get my regular check in)? @throwawayfitness @mnben87 I am thinking you may have some idea about this?
Basically, I want to optimize my nutrition and training knowing I have poor insulin sensitivity, I know its a very important hormone.
I have cut out most high GI carbs and I also fast for roughly 12-13 hours each day to help improve sensitivity (my last meal is at 4:30PM and I wake up at 4:20AM), but is there something else I could be doing for better results/health?
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This is my point though, that 10lbs is just a stepping stone. The 10lbs just exacerbates an already existing problem. You were already skinny fat, then you gained 10lbs and became more skinny fat.
And I can’t stress enough that I fully empathise with you. I’ve been in exactly the position you’re in and worse.
I’ve been, at several points in my life, over 220lbs at 6 foot and barely able to Bench an empty bar. I’m not some naturally athletic superhuman who can walk past a gym and gain muscle, or some younger version of Jocko Willink with unwavering iron discipline. I’m just trying to pass on the things I’ve learned from going down this road myself. I’ve tried a lot of the stuff that you talk about, and I’m afraid the only “magic bullet” that I’ve found is consistent hard work in the gym and at the dinner table.
Edit: and before you pull the “I have a tiny frame” thing: hey, me too dude. I had a 28 inch waste as a full grown adult, my wrists are barely 6 inches around. You’re not the only one, and there are guys far bigger and stronger than both of us with similar or worse starts.
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Can i suggest removing all assistance from dips and running Rest-Pause for say 30-50 reps on regular dips? Dips, especially weighted (you aren’t there just yet, but will be soon) are a big booster to bench numbers.
Rest-Pause: Performing for a total number of reps, rather than dedicated SetsxReps. “Sets” are AMRAP with 10-15 seconds rest in-between. Example for 50 total reps: 15 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 7 reps, 5 reps, 3 reps, 2 reps.
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Yeah that makes sense, I was under the impression (from some of your comments) that you are a big boned 6 foot man, interesting to see you also have a fairly small frame.
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Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll give it a shot on the next session, slowly making progress, and I think this technique might even boost me further 
Edit: do you know anything about the question in regards to insulin sensitivity and how I can optimize my training/nurition with insulin resistance?