Appreciate that!
I’ve been in the gym almost every day since I got to my parents. Back in Cali it will be a bit of a challenge due to only having a bike. Round trip to the gym of my choice is almost seven miles, which isn’t that bad. I’m thinking about doing SS for a few weeks to minimize my gym trips to every other day. But I might do 531 four days a week. I’m just not sure yet.
A little more research and I will let you know.
I left California 3-26 weighing 189 at 17% body fat.
Arrived back 4-16 weighing 198 at 18.5% body fat.
Considering I “ate like an asshole (thanks @EmilyQ),” I will consider that a successful mini bulk.
One day later and I weighed in at 194.8 and 17.5% BF - guess the travel day had me bloated.
I sucked it up and used my day pass to the muscle head gym this morning. I expect I will join, It was a 25 minute bike ride and the gym is just meh. A whole lot of gear stuffed in a big space, all second hand mixed bag, but plenty of barbells/squat racks. I did back and bis today and had the typical douchebag claiming the row machine while he worked a circuit. I didn’t see anybody but there was a backpack there. I waited a bit, jumped in and did two sets before he got back. Not a big deal.
Came back and had thin cut steak (labeled carne asada), bacon and eggs for breakfast. Suffered immediate sweet tooth.
Anyway, made it to the gym in Santa Cruz for the win.
This is interesting. I’m curious what triggered the sweet tooth.
Were there any carbs in the bacon or steak (I assume it was just a carne asada cut, no seasoning). Did you season this all with salt and pepper or anything else?
Me too. I ate a lot of cookies at my parent’s house, like at least a dozen a day, with a bunch of dark chocolate peanut clusters.
I’m a former fat bastard. I tend to go too long between meals and under eat. When I realize I am hungry, I tend to go for fast carbs to ward off the shakes.
Post breakfast, I was hungry within an hour but powered through it and wasn’t hungry after.
This pic is from a few days ago, probably 195 and 19% per my monitor. I am likely more than that.
We will see where this goes.
Took the plunge and joined the muscle head gym here, twenty minute bike ride in daylight, about twenty five minutes before sunrise (well lit road).
I had been doing a hybrid 531/PPL in Portland at PF but am planning to switch to straight 531 here. I will start low and do 5’s Pro with the BB or BBB template, I forget which is which. On Bench days I will do incline 5x10 for assistance because my chest is lagging, and OHP 5x10. Otherwise I will do opposites (bench 5x10 on OHP days, DL’s on squat days, etc…).
I will do AMRAP and add Jokers as I feel like it.
Got some Atkins sweets to deal with my sweet tooth, otherwise keeping to the carnivore diet. Still too early to tell (three days) but I feel satisfied longer and have to remind myself to eat. I am supplementing with protein shakes, probably three per day.
I’m hoping to get jacked over the next twelve weeks. I know that is overly optimistic but hypertrophy seems to return pretty quickly having been decent sized in the past. Looking to get BF below 15%.
But, important for me to remember, I just feel much better mentally when I am in the gym every day and that is my main goal.
Late.
That’s great to hear!
On the sweet tooth thing, I’m sure you can appreciate the idea of “cold turkey” as it relates to addictions. Getting “just that taste” could very well just prolong the issue. But, at the same time, you can see it as “harm reduction”: if you’re going “off program”, it’s at least not too damaging.
I love the goal that you have. I think you’re going in a good way.
Portland was a debacle as far as nutrition, but it served a purpose. However, I now need to wean myself off of that cookie needle.
I have found the chocolate protein shake takes the edge off and the sweet tooth is abating.
Cold turkey isn’t always the best way to go.
I have also decided to eat before gym which is problematic. I like to lift early which wasn’t so much of a problem when in maintenance, but now that I am trying to gain, I need to eat before the gym.
Again, keeping my eye on the goal of mental health ameliorates all of the issues.
I am doing TikTok content on the Tao. Today was verse 26 about staying close to your root - for me it is feeling good. Getting swole is a nice byproduct, but feeling good is the root.
W1 C1 D2/3
SQ 95x5, 105x5, 115x10
OHP 65x5, 75x5, 85x10
Incline BP 4x10, laterals 10x4, TPD 10x3, ab machine 15x4.
Started low because I am old, weak, and afraid of injury, lol. First time BB Squatting in years I think - a lot different than the Smith Machine, but I knew that. They went better than expected. I limited the AMRAP to ten but had more. I am cautious because I had a bike ride home.
I combined squat and OHP today because I am impatient. Will not do it again. I will play it by ear but should be able to do DL tomorrow since the weights are low and then will stick to the program.
Sweet tooth still present but I bought some Atkins low carb desserts that are pretty good - just have to limit my intake.
Steak and eggs for dinner later.
Out.
C1 W1 D4
DL 135x5x3
Rows 50x10x4, LPD’s 50x10x3, DB shrugs 40x10x4
The lat pull machine is a bitch.
Today was a challenge. I went in early, about 5:30 (meaning I left the cabin at 5:05) and while the weight wasn’t really heavy, I was a little gassed from squats yesterday and the bike rides.
It felt good to get it in.
Tomorrow is BP and starts Week 2.
I have to drop my bike off for a tune up later today - it is way overdue. The derailleur isn’t shifting properly, the brakes are jacked up, it’s had a lot of miles and no love, so it is overdue.
I am not sure I will get to the gym tomorrow.
I am not sure how I will pick it up, whether I catch a ride with a neighbor, walk, or call and Uber, but I likely won’t lift on Friday.
Gym was packed at six - I had to go outside to DL. There are four racks inside and four outside. The gym is owned by a couple of IFBB Pros so they have racks and shiz.
Bunch of juiced dudes walking around too.
I’m pretty handy, but a professional tune up every so often is like finding a new favorite pair of shoes- for your bike.
C1W2D1 - OHP
OHP - 10x45, 70x5, 80x5, 90x10
Incline press 75x10x4, laterals on machine, I think 40x10x4, ab machine 40x15x4, one arm curl machine 20x10x4, hammer curls 20x10x4.
Hit the gym about eight, went to the grocery store and bought some things, then dropped my bike off for the tune up.
I’m not good with mechanical things. I can read and figure it out, but it is not my strong point. Kind of funny since my son is planning on getting a Mechanical Engineering degree. My lack of mechanical ability is only exceeded by my mechanical ignorance.
Dropped the bike at ten when they opened, and took an Uber back to the cabin. Got a call at 11:30 - it was ready. Wondering why I bothered leaving, should have just walked around and waited.
Anyway, walked back to pick it up - 3.5 miles. It’s mostly the same but the gears shift and the brakes work, and I got a new kickstand (the other one broke). Eighty dollars total, home run.
Once again I intimidated the guy next to me in the other squat rack. He was all tatted and pierced, squatting 385 for reps across while I pressed 70. He was afraid to look me in the eyes.
Yeah, those two don’t always go hand in hand though. Like, I’m on the technical/application side, but formal engineering is more about the bigger picture concepts put to work-> where I come in. Different power systems, strength of materials, dynamic & static systems, etc.
I had the privilege (completely by happenstance) to meet one of the brightest and most influential mechanical engineers of our time, simply because his office is in the same building as my therapists. I was admiring his version of “industrial art” in the hallway (blueprints and mechanical drawings done in hybrid acrylic/standard form) as he walked by and he struck up a conversation.
Awesome guy.
My son thinks he is a math and science kid, but he scored better on the SAT on the Verbal. Humble brag here, he was 96th percentile in Verbal, 94th in Math. I feel comfortable sharing because they are his accomplishments, not mine.
But he considers himself a math and science kid.
I’ve spoken to contractors that hate engineers - yeah, you learned that in college, but I have to build it and it ain’t going to work.
I am intrigued.
Its quite a read.
I have mixed feelings on this. They actually hate draftsmen, but engineers get a lot of the flack for it.
Automotive engineers though- they’ll climb over a mountain of virgins just to fuck a mechanic. 
I skimmed the first few pages, will read it later. I got the gist. Guy is a little smart.
Funny story, when I managed the country club there was a newish member that was an English professor. Hipster, played very high level tennis (was actually a pro) and a published author. What was more interesting was that he was married to one of the preeminent concrete engineers in the country - and she was smoking hot.
I loved talking to him over a beer (back when I did that) about literature based on my background, but I really liked looking at his wife.
And he knew it, lol. He gave me a signed copy of his last novel.
Long ago in college I was on a team that built and raced an open-wheel race car. Lots of mechanical engineers (I wasn’t). They were some of the best engineers I ever worked with since they had to actually build the thing they designed, and fix everything that broke or failed catastrophically.
Turns out most engineers get better if they actually put in the time having to build and maintain their stuff.
We had an oil pan burst while testing in a local parking lot. That was a fun afternoon…
Yeah. It was a hoot sitting down and shooting the bull with the guy who created the codes and standards I weld to.
I worked with a couple of engineers on automated welding systems who also designed them. It was great. Thats when I learned about virtual space and run away robots!