SQ 45x5, 95x3, 165x5x3
DL 175x5
OHP 45x10, 100x5x3
Pulldowns 10x3, abmachine 15x3,Shoulder Press machine 10x4, hammer curls 10x3, shrugs 10x3
Travel day and hanging with my kids resulted in a two day bulk, lol.
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SQ 45x5, 95x5, 135x3, 175x5x3
DL 185x5
BP 45x10, 95x3, 145x5x3, 155x2, 175x2
Machine BP 10x3, rows 10x3, FPās 10x3, TPDās 10x3
Encouraged by being able to lift today on one day rest, and to hit my reps. They are difficult, but if I recall last time I did SS I always doubted my ability to hit my reps and it always worked out until I got to about 235. Might be time to drop the increases to five pounds.
Getting plenty of food and sleep, so that helps.
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SQ 45x10, 95x5, 135x3, 185x5x3
DL 195x5
OHP 45x10, 75x3, 105x5x3, 115x2, 125x2, 135x2
Incline BP 95x10x4, Ab Machine 15x3
Woke at 3:15 after five hours of sleep. I have been getting up early to see my daughter before she goes to work, and my son before school, then taking an afternoon nap, so I am getting enough sleep.
Squats were a challenge today and I took a full five minutes between working sets. I have been doing arms and stuff in addition to SS but I think that has come to an end as my SS took almost forty minutes today and I was gassed. I will do BB accessory stuff tomorrow but know that I am coming to a point where I will have to choose between SS gains and doing the accessories.
Will drop the weight increases to five pounds to extend the NLP past three weeks, lol.
Happy with the progress so. far, still kicking myself for not doing SS right away.
Oh well.
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Lat Pull downs 10x3, Face Pulls 10x4, EZ Curls 10x3, Hammer Curls 10x2, Shrugs 10x4, HLRs 12x3
While recovery is good I figured I would do some direct arm work on my non SS days. Yesterday was OHP for SS so I matched it with pull downs and BIās today. Tomorrow will be BP for SS so on Monday I will do rows and tris. I am planning on doing abs on every non SS day.
I realize that āI am not doing the programā but will stop the non SS workouts when I get closer to stalling. For now, I am well fed, well rested, and recovery is good so I am searching for gains.
I fly Monday so I am not sure if I can make it to the gym before leaving. I will be with my parents for several weeks so I will continue to be well fed (cookies) and well rested.
No scale here so Measurement Monday will have to wait until I get to Oregon. Curious as to how much weight I have gained since leaving California - I am guessing 2-3 pounds, am hoping BF has stayed the same.
I am seeing small improvements in the mirror, so that is encouraging. Obvs, have been making good progress on the NLP, so all is well.
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SQ 45x5, 135x3, 190x5x3
DL 205x5
BP 45x10, 95x3, 150x5x3
Fly machine 10x3, rows 8x3, TPD 10x3, curl machine 10x3, EZ curls 10x2, shrugs 10x4
Solved the over crowding issue - went to the gym at midnight. I had a lengthy nap today (yesterday) and travel today so I went when it opened at midnight.
I reduced the weight increase on squat to five pounds but was tempted to do one joker set at 195 to check body weight squat off my list but decided to wait. I was a little worried about the working sets but the last five moved better than the first five.
Plus, I have been reading (never a good thing) and read that most guys my size can get to 375 SQ on their NLP so I figured I was just being a scaredy cat. I am pretty motivated right now - hopefully it stays that way.
I have always had creaky shoulders since separating them in college and they are letting me know they are there so I may need to get some 2 1/2ās for when I get back to California in July (there are only two of them at my gym).
Looked good in the mirror (to me) with post workout pump - noticeable separation between my anterior delts and pecs, traps starting to show up.
I plan on continuing calorie surplus for at least three more weeks, will assess again then.
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Measurement Tuesday
192.5@17.5%
A little confused - have been eating well but weight is steady, have been lifting productively but BF% is up.
This is why you donāt rely on BF monitors.
Went to The Moth (a story telling event) last night. Kinda weird but in a cool way.
EDIT - did 25 minutes on the TM.
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Mystery solved - my parents have an old school mechanical scale, I weigh myself in the dark at dark thirty and I misread the scale.
Measurement Wednesday
198@17.9%
Iām good with that.
SQ 45x5, 95x5, 155x3, 195x5
DL 215x5
OHP 45x10, 75x5, 110x5x3
Pull downs 10x4
Was looking forward to the BW squat for sets across but weighed in at 198 so I guess I will have to wait for Friday to officially check that box . . .unless I gain three more pounds before then.
My dad is 87 years old, coached a lot of ball when we were kids, is into following nutrition and fitness despite the fact he is morbidly obese. I sent him a link to @T3hPwnisherās blog a week or two ago and he told me this morning he has been reading it, gets a kick out of it - do I get a commission?
Have been excited about going to the gym lately. In the past, I have been glad to have gone but didnāt actually enjoy the lifting part, but that has shifted. I think it is because I am adding weight each workout rather than hitting rep prās like in 531. Goals are pretty clear - get my fives.
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FAFO day
Shrugs 10x4, hammer curls 10x4, ez bar curls 10x2, curl machine 10x2, face pulls 10x4, upright cable rows 10x4.
Rippetoe would be pissed at me.
I get a feeling this is me instead, and thatās really awesome! It means a lot that you and your family read it.
It is, my bad. I always struggle to @ you for some reason, have to check and recheck the spelling.
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Not 1337 enough I suppose. 
I think my mental agility has slipped of late and cannot process any type of 1337. Combined with my belief that spelling and grammar indicates your worth as a human and I am screwed.
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Definitely early 2000s internet culture.
@T3hPwnisher is really quite clever. Just maybe didnāt age well.
I am curious if you got the Lo/Rez reference. Not sure if Gibson is up your alley at all.
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It is not. I just Googled it I feel so ignorant and inferior now.
I was a big SciFI fan in HS, The Foundation trilogy amazed me. Unfortunately, my grad school experiences and vision issues have ruined reading for pleasure so my development has been stunted.
1337 and Leet are new to me as well. I was hip when I was teaching school but I have just become a chill old man since I retired (I was an angry old man).
I have to get with it!
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Believe me, the name is like a time-capsule badge of shame, haha. But at least it wasnāt a tattoo.
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SQ 45x10, 95x5, 135x5, 155x3, 200x5x3
DL 45x5, 135x5, 225x5x3
BP 45x10, 95x5, 155x5x3, 185x2 (Joker Set, YNDTFP)
Incline BP 85x10x5, Rows10x4, TPDās 10x4, leg lifts 10x4
BW squat checked off, two plate DL checked off - things are going well.
Realized that I have been chasing leanness mistakenly thinking it would improve my aesthetic. I am of the opinion now that I need to add mass in my chest, back, and shoulders.
Gain train departing the station.
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Woohoo! I applaud you for reaching the right conclusion here.
When in doubt, GFH (get f**king huge).
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As a former fatty this is a difficult decision for me, but back on SS has me drinking the Rippetoe Kool Aid. Figured no matter how lean I am, my proportions wonāt approach the Golden Ratio without more mass.
I am still clear on my priorities - health, strength, aesthetics, in that order.
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And in THAT regard, you could not have made a better decision. The correlation between lean tissue and health could not be stronger. Far better to have an abundance of it with a little extra adipose than to be ripped, lean, sickly and frail. I actually saw an interesting theory the other day regarding the idea of metabolism slowing with age. Our metabolism actually stays pretty much the same, BUT, as we get older, we tend to lose muscle and gain fat, which can mean that our WEIGHT stays the same, but our composition changes. And since fat is less metabolically active than muscle, our metabolic demands reduce, meaning we need less food than we did before, which LOOKS like a metabolism slowing down.
Which is a pretty good sign that, to win this ābattle of the bulgeā, we need to seriously prioritize putting on muscle.
I know youāre sticking with the plan for Starting Strength right now, but I also know the origins of this log, and with your familiarity of āMass Made Simpleā, I feel like thatād be an outstanding pivot at some point to continue on this progress. I honestly want to get back to that again myself. Complexes and high rep squats are an awful bit of genius.