Do you even lift? Or is your new GF more important than keeping your internet friends updated.
Feelsbadman.
Haha, yeah I am still lifting I just have been busy with the new girlfriend and been too lazy to catch up on my log because nothing that exciting has happened.
My lower back is pretty much better. Last week I matched my bench PR of 335, squat I missed 405, deadlift I got 510 to my knees and just couldn’t quite lock it out. This week is week 12 and I am deloading and then I am testing my maxes next week, by then my back will be back to 100% and I will hopefully at least hit a modest PR in every lift.
Next week I will start being more consistent logging again because I will be back to this being my only way of logging my training, now that I won’t have Josh’s excel files to go off of.
January 8th- Bench Test Day
So here I am, bench training has gone decent these past few weeks but not great. A 5 lbs PR would have been a success for me today.
Close Grip Bench
1x10 135
1x5 185
1x3 225
1x3 245
1x1 275
1x1 305
1x1 320 -Felt very strong.
1x1 345 PR +10 lbs -This wasn’t a smoke show but it felt very good so I decided to go for one of my big goals for 2011, a 350 bench.
1x1 350 PR +15 lbs -My ass came off of the bench but it wasn’t anything excessive, that is something I will have to work on for this upcoming training cycle. Bench 350 was one of my new years resolutions for last year so even though it is 8 days late I am still counting as a success. I am very happy and am now setting my sites on adding another 50 lbs this year and hitting the almighty 400. Switching to a close grip for my main bench grip about a year ago was the best training decision I ever made.
Wide Grip Paused Bench
2x6 225
DB Flies
3x10 25s
DB Front Raises
3x10 30s
Lying BB Extensions
3x10 95
BB Curls
1x10 45
2x15 65 -I am excited to going back to actually doing curls and watching my gunz get swole. My curling strength has really gone to shit but I’m sure it will return quickly.
January 9th- Squat Test Day
My lower back is pretty much all better at this point. Today I was hoping to get at least a 5-10 lbs PR but my hopes weren’t too high after not squatting anything over 400 for several weeks.
Squat
1x8 135
1x5 185
1x3 225
add belt
1x1 275
1x1 315
1x1 365
1x1 395 -This didn’t feel great but I decided to go for the number I had in my head anyway.
1x1 425 15 lbs PR -Well, 15 over the course of the last 12 weeks. This felt surprisingly strong so I threw on a little more.
1x1 435 25 lbs PR -I am extremely happy about this. My training the last month did not make me feel like this was going to be possible but sure enough it was! This just makes me wonder what would have been possible if I stayed healthy that whole time. I will without a doubt hire Josh to prep for my next meet.
Paused Oly Squats
2x3 275
GHR
3x8
Planks
3x1 Minute
I kept all the other assistance easy so that I will be 100% for Friday when I attempt a new deadlift PR. I am hoping for at least 515 lbs because that would put me at a 1300 lbs gym total.
January 11th- Overhead Test Day
Overhead press is the one lift I have felt very good about for most of the program, today was no exception.
Overhead Press
1x5 95
1x3 115
1x3 135
add belt
1x1 155
1x1 175
1x1 200 +15 lbs PR -This flew up.
1x0 210 -This got up to my sticking point and I just couldn’t quite press it out, I am not far off from being able to get this though.
Lying DB Extensions
6x10 35s
DB Hammer Curls
3x10 30s
BB Curls
4x15 65
Hanging Knee Raises
3x12
My overhead press didn’t increase for 2 years and now it has increased 25 lbs since June. My bench has also increased 31 lbs since June, I have a feeling this isn’t just a coincidence. 200 lbs has been a goal of mine for a while and I am very happy to finally hit something that isn’t completely embarrassing on this lift, now the next big goal is to hit two plates.
My arms had a huge pump for the first time in a while after all of this which felt/looked really awesome. I measured them pumped and they are both a hair under 18 inches.
January 13th- Deadlift Test Day
Yet another awesome day, I am extremely glad I hired Josh.
Deadlift
1x5 135
1x5 225
1x5 275
1x3 315
add belt
1x1 365
1x1 405
1x1 465
1x1 515 PR +14 lbs -This felt really good and went up very clean.
1x0 525 -Barely took it off of the floor. My lower back isn’t quite all the way back and I didn’t want to push it too hard. I am confident that on another day 525+ would have been there.
Shrugs
4x25 135
BB Rows
3x10 135
Wide Grip Pullups
2x6 BW
Close Neutral Pullups
2x6 BW
I am very happy with the way things went with Josh, I hit one of my goals of a 1300 lbs gym total and it is onward and upward from here. I am not doing another training cycle with him right away due to the cost, but I do plan on training with him again, hopefully to prep for a meet.
For my plan moving forward, I am going to try to drop some body fat and continue getting stronger by using programming ripped from Josh Bryants ebooks and articles and for my diet I will be giving carb backloading a go. I started the prep phase yesterday, because I figured a day and a half of no carbs wouldn’t affect my DL strength and I don’t believe it did. The prep phase will last 9-10 days and then after that I will basically eat very low carb all of the time, except at night after training four days a week I can gorge on all the shitty carb foods I want. Should be a really interesting experiment, I am calling my starting weight around 240 although it is hard to get a definite starting point because I fluxuate so much right now with my random carb intake.
I think I look fine in a shirt but I am not happy with the way I look with my shirt off right now so hopefully this diet will fix that. How I looked with my shirt off wasn’t all that important to me until this past month because now I have a super hot girlfriend with a perfect body who for some reason doesn’t mind taking her clothes off with me, I figure it is time to give her something good to look at.
Congrats on the PR and gym total! I’m interested in seeing how this goes. Hopefully you will achieve aesthetics.
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
Congrats on the PR and gym total! I’m interested in seeing how this goes. Hopefully you will achieve aesthetics. [/quote]
I better, otherwise I will be contractually obligated to die mirin’.
January 15th- Benchin
This is the first session where I have really been depleted and the diet has affected me. Now, several hours later, I can tell I used up whatever carbs I had left because my brain is feeling shitty. Next couple of days are going to suck and then hopefully get better as my body adjusts to using ketones for energy.
I didn’t hit the planned reps on bench partially because they were higher reps and partially because of the lack of carbs. Next week will be better because I will have reintroduced carbs and I will have gotten better at reps.
Close Grip Bench
1x10 240
1x9 240
1x6 240
1x5 240 -These were supposed to be 4x10, I didn’t fail on any of these sets I just got to a point where I knew I was done. Next week will be better.
Paused Wide Grip Bench
2x6 225
Straight Arm DB Flies
3x10 25s
DB Front Raises
3x10 30s
BB Extensions
6x10 95
January 16th- Squattin
Well today sucked. I was looking forward to a bitching squat session doing 5x5 back squats followed by paused front squats and while warming up I got a sharp pain in my left knee cap. I have never had knee pain from squatting before this week when I started to get a pain at the top of my left knee cap the night after I set my new squat PR. The pain had gone away until I felt a pop while squatting 225 and no amount of warming up would make it go away.
I did some lighter exercises to get the blood flowing and I just hope to god next week it is better. My squat is waay too weak for me to start having knee problems to train around, my lower back probably needed the break today anyway.
Squat
1x8 135
1x5 185
1x3 225
One Leg DB DL
2x8 50s
Standing Leg Curls
4x10 Some
Seated Leg Extension
4x15 90
DB Side Bends
3x8 80
January 18th- Bench Accessory
A very good session, hit all of my planned weights strong with plenty of room to move up. The zero-carb-mentally-feeling-like-a-bag-of-shit thing has passed and I feel very good at this point. This will be my last session where I am not backloading with carbs after.
Very Close Bench (Index on smooth)
4x6 250 -These all felt very good.
Seated DB Overhead
3x15 50s -The last few reps of the last set were a struggle with doing so many total reps. Next week it will be higher weight with a few less reps. This is an exercise I have historically been horrible at, I will be aiming to increase it substantially over the next 12 weeks.
Lying DB Extensions
6x10 35s
DB Hammer Curls
3x10 30s
BB Curls
4x15 65 -Even without carbs my arms were still blown up after all of this.
Spread Eagle Situps
1x20 BW
2x12 BW
January 20th Diet Update-
Today will be my final day of the prep phase. Starting Thursday of last week I have eaten four meals a day, usually starting at about 1 PM. Before that I only have coffee with a little whey, some coconut oil, and some cream.
I have been getting in at least 250 grams of protein a day, keeping incidental carbs under 30 grams a day, and eating all of the fat I can manage, I haven’t been paying super close attention to how much fat I take in, I just know it is well over 100 grams a day, most days I think we are talking around 200 grams at least. Most days my first meal is bacon and eggs.
My weight went from about 240 to about 232. I can tell my waist has definitely come in, my face looks leaner, and my arms look more vascular. Obviously all of that is to be expected when running what is essentially a keto diet, the real test is coming up starting tonight with the actual backloading. At this point I am not planning on eating like a total fat kid on backloads, at least not every backload night. I am going to see how things go and may find I need to adjust and eat a little cleaner carb sources that are still high GI to allow me to actually make progress, but we’ll see. I am going to have fun with it, my main goal is to get stronger, which I am confident I will with this diet, and slowly drop some fat along the way.
Pictures? How is the knee doing?
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
Pictures? How is the knee doing?[/quote]
Not sexhe enough yet. Once I have some good progress to show I will post pics just for your masturbation privileges.
The knee still feels kinda shitty. The real test will be once it comes time to squat again, if I have to go two weeks in a row without squatting heavyish I will go nuts. If it still hurts squatting this week I will get some knee sleeves and start seriously looking into the issue, for now I am just hoping it heals on its own and I can resume normal training.
January 20th- Deadlift
First day of my new deadlifting program. This is ripped directly from Josh Bryant’s Powerbuilding e-book (as is my bench program), they are routines #7 and #8 if you have the book. I have to adjust the weights downward a little from where they are in the book for deadlift but I feel like this deadlifting program hits me exactly where I need it.
The first 4 weeks the main exercise is still legged deficit deads, even though these are light they hurt like hell and are going to strengthen exactly the areas I need to be strengthened.
Still Leg 3 Inch Deficit Deads
1x10 205
1x10 230
1x10 250
2x10 200 -Did this all beltless and holy shit they were hard, I was gasping for air after every set. This is the longest ROM exercise in the whole world when you are over 6’. They really hit my glutes and hams super hard and not my lower back too much, which surprised me.
Shrugs
4x25 245
BB Rows
3x10 185
Pullups
2x6 BW
Close Neutral Pullups
2x6 BW -These were a bit easier than last week due to the weight loss.
Hanging Knee Raises
3x12 BW
Hanging Leg Raises
2x10 BW
This all really killed me today, felt great! Driving home I realized another benefit to backloading, I really need to kill it in the gym every session to feel like I earned my carbs for the night.
January 22nd- Bench
Close Grip Bench
1x10 250 PR
1x8 250
1x6 250
1x5 250 -This was supposed to be 4x10 again. 250x10 is a PR, a cheap PR, but a PR none the less. I’m not worried, the reps lower as the program progresses and I am sure I won’t have a problem with the later weeks.
Wide Paused Bench
2x6 235
DB Flies
3x12 25s
DB Front Raises
3x10 35s
Lying BB Extensions
5x12 100
1x10 100 -My triceps were completely fried and I couldn’t get two more reps.
January 23rd- Legs
The diet is going very well. My weight is back up to 235 but I look leaner than at 232, my girlfriend even noticed how my waist has gotten smaller. All of this while eating cookies and and fries.
Unfortunately, my knee started acting up again today.
Squat
1x5 135
1x5 185
1x5 225
1x2 275
1x1 275 -I got to a heavier weight this week and it didn’t hurt as bad so I feel like it is healing. The more I think about it and feel it out it really feels like there is a bruise on my actual knee cap. It is getting better so that is what matters.
One Leg DB Deadlift
2x8 55s
Leg Press
1x10 1 PPS
1X10 2 PPS
1X10 3 PPS
1X10 4 PPS
3X10 5 PPS -I decided to give these a shot, with my feet wide and high on the platform my knee didn’t hurt, thank god I can still do something heavy for my quads.
DB Side Bends
3x8 85
Leg Extensions
1x20 100
1x20 115
1x20 130
1x20 145
I still got a real good real leg workout in, at least I can maintain my strength and still get some good workouts in with the leg press.
Welp, got really behind on updates so heeere we goooo!
January 25th-Bench Accesory
Closer Grip Bench
4x6 255
Seated DB Press
3x12 55s
DB Tricep Extensions
6x15 35s
Hammer Curls
3x8 35s
BB Curls
4x15 75
Spread Eagle Situps
3x15
Stiff Leg 3 Inch Deficit Deadlift
1x10 210
1x10 245
1x10 260
2x10 210
Shrugs
4x20 255
BB Rows
3x8 195
Wide Grip Pullups
2x8 BW
Close Neutral Pullups
2x8 BW
January 30th- Bench
I skipped my leg workout this week because I was sick as shit and I figured I would give my knee a break.
Close Grip Bench
2x8 260
1x1 295
1x1 310
1x1 355 (spotter assist)
1x1 370 (spotter assist) -370 I had a hard time lowering under control, 355 felt decent though.
Wide Paused Bench
2x6 245
DB Front Raises
3x8 40s
BB Extensions (To nose)
6x8 110
February 1st- Bench assist
Closer Grip Bench
2x5 275
2x4 275
DB Seated Press
3x10 60s
BB Extensions (To forehead)
5x10 95
Hammer Curls
3x10 35s
BB Curls
4x15 100
Spread Eagle Situps
3x15
February 3rd- Deadlift
I realized my deficit wasn’t quite 3 inches so I made my platform higher and reaped the benefits.
Stiff Leg 3 Inch Deficit Deadlift
1x10 220
1x10 255
1x10 270
2x10 225
Shrugs
4x20 265
BB Rows
3x8 205
Wide Grip Pullups
2x8 BW
Close Neutral Pullups
2x8 BW
February 5th- Bench
Shitty day.
Close Grip Bench
1x7 270
3x5 270
Kind of Paused Wide Grip Bench
1x6 250
1x5 250
DB Flies
3x10 40s
DB Front Raises
3x10 40s
BB Extensions to Nose
6x12 110