Clueless Lifter

[alex_uk]

@Digity

Now I’m fluctuating between 151-152 lbs. I do feel like BBB is more hypertrophy based. But I’m around 18% body fat which makes you look more soft/flat. I’ll probably go on a bit of a cut once I’m done BBB. I mostly care about getting stronger in lifts though. As long as my body fat doesn’t get too high I’m fine.

I would caution against cutting too soon (doesn’t look like you’re desperate to cut so no big deal here just thought I’d pipe in). I started lifting at 151 and struggled the gain weight and I’m happy I did, I think if I went up and cut quick I’d have spun my wheels.

Holding a bodyweight for a period of time and then moving on (in my case almost always upwards) led my body to finding “set points” where even if I fell off the wagon it would just default to that weight rather than my original weight. If you cut now I would hazard a guess you wouldn’t be happy with the outcome. Slow steady progress on the weight gain, head for 160 and if your still fairly happy with how you look hold it for a bit then 170 etc, eventually when you cut you’ll be able to sit at 160/170 lean, and be much happier but that’ll be a few years away (or never if you gain/cut frequently - which I know you’re not looking to do).

Can’t imagine you look fat at 150.

[Digity]

The idea to cut (which if I did would only last for a month and I’d aim to lose 2 lbs, so nothing major) just comes from my weight scale starting to report my subcutaneous fat as starting to be in the high range. I know those things aren’t that accurate, but I still use it as a ballpark measure. However, it only goes into the “high” range on Saturday morning when I weigh myself in the morning, because typically on Fridays I have a large/cheat meal for dinner. But other times it’s just below the high range.

That being said, yeah I don’t feel like I’m fat or anything. I sort of judge it more on waist size and whether I start needing to increase the belt notches to wear pants, which hasn’t happened yet.

[Digity]

Deload
Bench: 6x153 lbs
Medicine ball leg raises - 1x50
Bench leg curls - 55 lbs - 2x15
Chin-ups: 5x10

Since I’ve struggled the most with bench wanted to test how many reps I could do. I was able to finish 6 reps. Last TM test, which would have been lighter too, I couldn’t finish the 6th rep, so some modest progress there.

For next cycle I decided to add 5 lbs to squat, press and bench. For deadlift I added 10 lbs. I was debating about adding 10 lbs to squat too but figured I’d rather just do 5 lbs and focus more on controlled movement.

[Digity]

Squats
142.5 lbs - 1x5
165 lbs - 1x5
187.5 lbs - 1x5
142.5 lbs - 5x10

Dips +12.5 lbs: 5x10 (superset w/ rows)
Pendlay rows: 85 lbs - 5x10

Start of cycle 3. Felt a bit lighter than usual since I only increased squat by 5 lbs this cycle. I think it was the right move since it allowed me to focus more on form and trying not to dive down. Did the dive down a few times though out of habit.