Side note: that dude at my gym who I saw squat 685? He just set the USPC record for with a 707 squat. Super hyped for him, it was his first powerlifting meet and he was really excited to get the lift.
Work for today. 531 c3w2d1
Press: 45x10, 95x5, 115x5, 130x5, 145x5, 165x2
Widowmaker: 115x17 (PR?)
Lat pulldown: 155x11, 155x11, 155x10, 150x10
Cybex machine press: 180x10, 180x10, 180x10, 180x11
Machine shoulder raise: 70x15, 70x14, 70x12
Alt Hammer curl: 25x15, 25x15, 25x15
Arm extension machine: 60x15, 60x15, 60x15
Notes:
- alrighty, got a free weekend, was an absolute insane week. Went into work Monday, didn’t leave until Wednesday evening. Wasn’t planning that, so only brought food for Monday lunch, and then ended up just straight working through any meal times, so had a 2 day fast this week. Ended up eating 2 rotisserie chickens with my hands like a freaking caveman when I got home Wednesday, as that was the only hot food left at the grocery store when I stopped on my way home. No training happened. No meal preps happened. Been living off canned tuna, almonds, apples, and protein bars. Good news is I probably won’t ever have a week quite this crazy again.
- had a sailor have a breakdown yesterday, had to be hospitalized and he was supposed to move into a new place today. Spent most of the day packing an uhaul and moving all his stuff into his new place, couple guys in the division volunteered to help out, we tried to put everything together in a way that makes sense. Hope he likes it when he gets out.
- press moved pretty well. 145x5 was easy, 165x2 moved without too much struggle, and the Widowmaker had me in a good spot. Showed up to work today, and it went well.
- accessory movements all moved well. Feeling strong. Was worried the week would have taken it out of me, but it seems my body was itching to throw some weight.
- hammer curls felt good on my elbows.
- planning a burrito monstrosity for dinner tonight, hopefully I can match @boilerman in the kitchen. Pics to follow lol.
Edit: I always find a ton of typos in my posts if i re-read them. Know that I’m typing all this steam of consciousness between sets at the gym, I promise I know how to spell lol.
Your ability to just get it done in the face of all that is AWE-some.
To be frank man, I didn’t get it done this last week. No training, probably low on protein, sleep was shit. As much as I’d love to say that I could handle whatever life threw at me while keeping my routines, at a certain point I’m just running out of hours in a day. My only “win” I’m counting here is that I was able to hop back into the grind as soon as all these various crises were handled
I hear you, man, but don’t sell yourself short.
2x for this!
@boilerman took a page out of your playbook
6 eggs, .5lbs ribeye, air roasted potatoes, cheddar cheese and some salsa. My wrapping skills need a little work, but it was functional lol. Also delicious. Didn’t quite match the California burritos that spoiled my so much in San Diego, but was still pretty damn good.
My. Man. That looks awesome!
The wrapping is never easy with the amount of food that’s involved, but totally worth it. Thank you for posting a pic! I love it!
Boilerman approved, what more is there to say? Lol
Jesus man. That’s rough.
Great pressing though.
Threw on a 35lb backpack while mowing the lawn today, gonna call that conditioning. Finally warming up, so hopefully I’ll be able to start working on some house projects I’ve been wanting to do
You are cleverer than I ams then.
Work for today: 531 c3w2d3
Deadlift: 135x5, 225x3, 280x5, 325x5, 370x5
Widowmaker: 280x20
Heel elevated Close stance SSB: 70x10, 140x8, 140x8, 140x8, 140x10 (+weight)
Arsenal leg extension: 35x15, 35x15, 35x15
1 leg hamstring curl: 20x15, 50x12, 50x12, 50x12
Hanging leg raise: 8, 7, 5
Conditioning: 35 min elliptical
Notes:
- went into this in the AM between work commitments, was pretty fried going into it. Top set moved slow, Widowmaker moved well but definitely had me questioning some life choices
- rotating out belt squats for a bit. We have a slant board, so using that for the SSB. Crazy ROM for my knees, crazy how drastic the movement changes. Honestly, it feels similar to a hack squat. Slow and controlled reps, maintaining that chase for juicy quads.
- also, the extra ROM squats and leg extensions are my attempt at knee rehab. My bad knee is a little upset with my from the running. Hasn’t felt “good” since I had surgery. Hoping that really working the knee will help make it happy with me again.
Work for today: 531 c3w3d1
Bench: 45x10, 135x10, 160x5, 180x5, 205x5
Widowmaker: 160x19
Seal Row: 135x11, 135x11, 135x10,
Incline bench; 135x12, 135x12, 135x12, 135x11
Lat pulldown: 155x10, 155x10, 155x10
Hammer curl: 25x12, 25x10+2alt, 25x10+3 alt
Rope pushdown: 35x15, 35x15, 35x13
Superset:
Lat raise: 20x15, 20x15, 20x15, 20x25
Neck flexion: 10x20, 10x15, 10x15, 10x25
Notes:
- bench went decent. Had more in me on the Widowmaker, but I had slid back so far on the bench that I nailed the uprights on the last 5 reps, and just called it after nearly losing the bar on rep 19. Also widened my bench grip to pinkies on the rings, going to give that a go for a while.
- accessory work all felt strong. Happy with that. Lots of blood flow today, muscles felt like someone had taken an air pump to them
- added a little neck work, simply because I always had a thick neck from football or wrestling, and I’m noticing now that it’s a bit more slender than it used to be. A strong neck has protected me from more hard head hits than I care to remember, so i want to make sure I keep it strong. Never really done direct neck work before, felt weird.
@QuadQueen mind if I pick your brain on some diet questions?
Want to really try to get my nutrition solid. Stress and sleep are both in a pretty bad spot, but I notice STRONGLY that I day to day just feel more lethargic if I eat crappy food. Took a look at my usual meal preps, and realized that my usual “lean protein+starch+veggie” isn’t really giving me any fats throughout the day. I’m sure that’s no bueno for hormone levels, and given my other factors aren’t exactly shining starts, I figure I need to get that right.
Made a plan yesterday, meal prepped today, do you see any glaring gaps or just dumb things I’m doing that I should change?
Meal 1:
8 oz 93/7 ground beef
White rice cooked in bone broth
Spinach
Carrots
Avocado chunks (thanks @T3hPwnisher )
Meal 2:
Whole grain pasta
8 oz chicken
Mushrooms
Pasta sauce
Snack:
Apple
Meal 3:
8 oz chicken
Cucumbers
Baby tomatoes
1 serving almonds
1 light baby bell cheese
Home made Tzatziki sauce to dip the chicken and veggies in
Meal 4:
Celery stalk with nuts n more spread
2 hard boiled eggs
Small handful blueberries
One pic just so this isn’t completely boring
Trying to avoid starchy carbs later In the day, the bloated feeling I get kinda screws with my sleep sometimes.
Not really going for a cut or bulk right now, just want to fuel myself through the day and feel good in and out of the gym.
I’m going to start this by saying that overall, you are rocking it in terms of your overall diet/nutrition balance. Honestly, there’s not much I would change here. I love the leaner meats and healthy fat choices. I’m not sure you even need to add a whole lot there.
Let’s take this meal by meal:
Meal 1: You’ve got your fat covered with the meat and the avocado. I love the veggies here too. If you wanted to pack in more nutrients, you might consider switching out the rice for sweet or white potatoes. Overall though, solid.
Meal 2: Not too bad here either. If you wanted to plug in a little healthy fat here - saute the mushrooms in some olive oil or add some olives to your sauce if you like them. Nice job with the whole grain pasta. If you’re going to have pasta, that’s the way to do it!
Snack: Maybe balance the carbs//sugar here with a little fat and/or protein. Some nut butter or another one of those little cheeses sent from heaven. (I LOVE those!!)
Meal 3: Since you don’t like carbs here, you’re looking good. You’ve got fat in the almonds and a little in the cheese too. You could switch up the Tzatziki sauce with hummus once and a while for some additional healthy fat and fiber, but only if you’d like a little variety.
Meal 4: This is a nice “finisher” - a hint of carbs, fat, and protein. Nice job.
So, yeah, overall - you’re looking really good. Just remember that variety is important - especially in the fruits and veggies (eat a rainbow), to help both get all the nutrients you need, and also to prevent “taste bud fatigue” and end up going all-in on a pepperoni pizza or something.
I’d say that if this is working for you, and you feel good when you’re eating like this - run with it. If it stops feeling good, give me a holler and we can play with it. But, I give your current plan 4.5/5 stars!!
Wow, seriously appreciate such an in depth response, it’s genuinely appreciated!
Glad to hear I’m on a decent track. I loathe olives lol, but I could definitely cook the mushrooms in some olive oil. Great idea to switch out the tzatziki with some hummus now and then, plus I just love hummus. I think I will generally swap out my fruits and veggies pretty much week to week, mainly because I get tired of them by that time lol.
Oh! I tried the steamed veggies with the balsamic vinegar! Had that with some tuna steaks for dinner the other night, was absolutely delicious!
Again, really appreciate all the expert advice you dish out to me and everyone else on the forum. Awesome to have our resident expert we can field questions to! Thanks!
Right??? How is this not a bigger thing? lol
You are so welcome! I’m super happy to help, and I’m always here if ya need me!
Work for today: 531 c3w3d2
Squat: 45x10, 135x10, 185x3, 215x5, 245x5, 285x5
Widowmaker: 215x20
Nordic Curls: (hand assisted) 8, 8, 7
Hack Squat: 140x12, 140x12, 140x12, 140x15 (+weight)
Reverse hyper: 140x15, 140x12
Face Pull: 35x20, 35x20, 35x20, 35x20, 35x20
Notes:
- had some type of bug yesterday, guess it’s out of my system today. Felt fine going into the gym.
- top set of squats moved fine, but my stance was too narrow. Second week now, and I think I actually figured something out. I will naturally adopt a closer stance when the weight gets heavier, just reverting back to what I used to do whenever I felt something heavy on my back. Need to be conscious about keeping that wider stance on squats.
- hack squats feeling good. Narrows stance, knees going well past toes, quads on fire
- reverse hyper just absolutely blew out my lower back.
- I just realized how that last note sounded. I’m not changing it.
Now some GREAT NEWS.
Some updates at work, but a big one involving daily schedule. Found out today that I am going to be able to cut out about 15 hours a week from work, getting down to around 90-105 hour weeks, which is EXPONENTIALLY better than 105-120 hour weeks.
May try to get back to lifting 4 days a week. Definitely having some more time for cardio and meal prepping. Who knows, I might even have time for a social life night out for once. Beyond excited. Have been redlining for a while now, this was a much needed relief.
Do you have more days in your weeks over there ? WTF
Overnight shifts a few times a week plus 12 hour days and weekend work days. Still, this is a win, and it may just be getting better from here. If I could get to 80, I’d be elated