That’s good news, then. Mostly, anyway.
I guess as long as the doctor isn’t concerned then I shouldn’t be concerned. But it’s never going to hurt to eat better which mostly means more veggies for me.
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Here’s the new plan. It’s only slightly different from the last one that I never fully ran because of my attempt to hit a peak for bench. I don’t know why I never considered hitting rear delts on my pushing days. It’s not going to hurt anything with my pulling days and it’ll help balance out my training time. Since squats are out my push days are really short and my pulling days have gotten progressively longer.
2 Likes
##6.21.17
Today marks 9 years of marriage to my awesome wife, Emily! We celebrated this past weekend so today is anticlimactic.
Woke at 222.6 lbs.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
2639 calories, 227g carbs, 99g fat, 219g protein.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t reported any weight or nutrition for the past few days. That’s because I didn’t keep track. I knew it was bad so I just went with the flow for a bit. It was a nice break but I’m back on track now.
##Today’s Training
Bench Max Attempt (emphasis on the attempt):
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
225 x 2
250 x 1
250 x 1
275 x 1
275 x 1
300 x 0
290 x 0
Apparently my max is 285 lbs.
Deadlift:
135 x 5 + 5 RDLs
165 x 5 + 5 RDLs
195 x 5 + 5 RDLs
235 x 5 + 5 RDLs
275 x 3
315 x 3
355 x 1
395 x 1
435 x 1
475 x 0
475 x 0
I feel a little de-trained. I guess my attempt to recover from training and “peak” failed.
Power Clean:
135 x 5
165 x 5
195 x 5
225 x 5
Pull-ups:
10, 10, 8 combo set with:
DB Incline:
75s x 5
75s x 5
75s x 10
Conditioning:
Run, jog, walk a mile in no particular order or duration. 9:27
Notes
I definitely was not at my best today. My conditioning sucked. I feel a little out of shape which is both surprising and frustrating since it’s only been 6 days since my last cardio workout (basketball last Wednesday). With the exception of last week I’ve been sprinting twice a week and was starting to feel decent with those workouts.
On to my next training template. I’m excited because the Training Maximally template with Jokers has worked well on deadlifts (although that’s kind of my newbie lift). I’m hoping I’ll have similar results with bench soon. As for squats, they’re out until I’m pain free in my hip. Sprints will keep my muscle mass.
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Random note. Due to high liver activity and my dad’s liver problems I’m going to drop my protein intake to 200g per day. I don’t think it will adversely affect my muscles but will make my liver work less. I know excess protein doesn’t hurt the liver in healthy people but I think it’d be smart to treat my liver as if it’s a bit weak. Better safe than sorry. I’ve been eating 250-270g lately. This will also require less meat which should assist in my pursuit to get my LDL cholesterol back down to 130.
3 Likes
I know a lot of people will say shit about it, but I very rarely go over 150 grams of bro-tein a day. I get really bloated if I eat a ton of it and I haven’t ever seen a need to eat a gram per pound and definitely nowhere near 1.5-2. Personal preference I suppose. Also, don’t worry too much about the bench and the dead brother. Just keep building and putting in workouts that push them up and you’ll get that 3 plate in no time.
4 Likes
##6.22.17
Woke at 222.2 lbs.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3554 calories, 465g carbs, 112g fat, 199g protein.
I’m not quite certain why I’ve been getting so many carbs lately. My decisions to eat fruits and veggies instead of meat might have an impact, but it’s not like 50 grapes is a lot of calories. I’ll have to start paying attention and try to hit my macro ratios.
Training
No training today. I doubled up yesterday and did some pushing and pulling and decided to put off my second pulling session til tomorrow. Saturday will be my second pushing session. With any luck I’ll get up nice and early and hit the Y so I can get in some sprints before work too.
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How’s your sunburn?
It’s about to peel. It’s strange. I’m still red and only a few spots that hurt and they feel like bruises instead of a sunburn. I have a feeling I’m about to be itchy all over.
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I spent over an hour outside running the weed trimmer. It’s about 90 degrees so I worked up a good sweat. I came inside to shower and suddenly I’m covered in tiny blisters from the sunburn. It’s incredible. I’m definitely peeling soon.
DISCLAIMER: these are probably the strangest photos I’ve ever posted on the internet.
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##6.23.17
Forgot to weigh myself this morning. Our dog shit all over the floor right in front of my bathroom so I was a bit distracted when I got up. I also didn’t work out this morning. I went to bed after 10 and set my alarm for about 4:10am. My son woke me up at 12:30 and 1:30 so I didn’t really sleep well. I didn’t really care about getting up when my alarm went off. I needed the sleep. It’s been a messed up training week anyway. I’ll get something done on my lunch break but obviously no cardio/conditioning.
Silver lining: if I had forced myself out of bed at 4am I probably would have stepped right in the dog shit with my bare feet because I usually don’t turn on any lights on the way to the bathroom.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3513 calories, 402g carbs, 136g fat, 209g protein.
I’m actually struggling to reprogram my brain with my new eating habits. I keep wanting to go for chunks of meat but don’t need the protein. Last night I hate an open faced PB&J on toast and an ounce of almonds for dinner. That put me over on carbs but right where I needed to be for protein and helped me catch up in fat. Later I had 3 more tablespoons of peanut butter which is a disappointingly small amount. I used a big spoon and it was about one scoop.
4 Likes
##Training
It feels like I haven’t typed that in a while…
Made it home for a speedy workout which kind of sucked for various reasons.
First, my lats are apparently sore AF from Wednesday. It’s actually painful to pick up a bar. That’s right, I’m past soreness and to the flat out painful DOMS.
Second, I worked up a sweat and then had to immediately get dressed and back to work.
Deadlift + RDL Warm-Up Sets:
135 x 5 + 5
165 x 5 + 5
195 x 5 + 5
Paused Deadlift:
235 x 3
255 x 3
275 x 3
295 x 3
It was tough to feel anything other than my lat insertions screaming during these so I shut it down pretty early. I have a lot more in me but there’s not much point in punishing myself today.
Underhand Bent-Over Row:
185 x 10
195 x 8
205 x 6
This workout is right on par with my week–FUBAR (see Saving Private Ryan for reference)
I’ll finish up with some half assed push work tomorrow morning (hopefully) and start fresh Monday.
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It never rains but it pours. Some weeks flat out suck.
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##6.24.17
Woke at 223 and change. I don’t remember if it was 223.2 or 223.6 lbs.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3476 calories, 366g carbs, 93g fat, 212g protein.
@littlesleeper I threw in a little bit of IIFYM last night and had four Corona Lights followed by a 9 ounce chicken breast for “dinner”.
Besides cheese and red meat, do you have any suggestions for increasing my fat intake? I seem to draw a blank when I try to think of high fat/low car foods. I know adding oils and butter to meals helps but I don’t want to just increase fat and calories; I want some actual food. Increasing my fruit and veggie consumption has bumped my carbs up. Now I’ve decreased protein a bit so I need to make up more calories and I don’t want to do it with carbs. Any suggestions and examples of healthy, fatty foods would be greatly appreciated!
##5:30am Training
Seated OHP:
bar x 5
bar x 5
bar BTN x 5—left shoulder really hurt during warm-ups so I tried this to see if it felt better or worse. It was the same.
95 x 5
115 x 3
130 x 1
140 x 1 ™
140 x 6 (PR Set)
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8
Ab Wheel:
2 x 12
Band Pull Aparts:
2 x 20 with a black band
Face Pull:
2 x 15 with black band
It occurred to me as I looked at my workout for the day that I probably didn’t need to get up early for this. I’m pretty sure I can knock this out during my lunch break. If I do that then I’ll have the option of using DB’s and cables and could even do standing OHP. I’ll probably start sleeping in a bit more on Saturdays (6am).
As far as my shoulder goes, it felt horrible. It felt horrible last week when I did seated OHP. I’m not sure what the problem is. It’s my left shoulder which is new. I usually have trouble with the right one. I’ve noticed quite a bit of pain when applying lotion and aloe vera to my back this week. I have a history of subluxations in both shoulders but haven’t done that in a really long time and I thought it was limited to my right shoulder. I felt much better after pull aparts and face pulls so I wonder if the new pain is a result of not doing any reverse fly’s, face pulls, or similar work for a couple weeks.
I sure hope I feel normal again on Monday. I’m in need of a solid workout (mentally).
2 Likes
Probably so as well as a lack of mobility and an influx of horizontal pressing. Also could have been tweaked at one point, minor of course, and pressing agitated it.
As far as you fats go, I would say to start eating more nuts and maybe add in avocado or guac. It’ll help bump the numbers up without just adding oils and such in. I would definitely stick to red meat and cheese along with egg yolks mostly. Just watch your cholesterol levels and monitor them since yours has been high and you should be good.
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I love guacamole and avocados but they’re so damn expensive! I’m still eating red meat; I’ve just backed off a bit. In regards to my cholesterol, my HDL is saving me. I guess I’m still at a healthy ratio so there’s no major concern. I’ve just decided to try to get my LDL down to 130 which should put just about everything back in the recommended ranges. The doctor’s not worried but I’m doing it more as a “Why not? What could it hurt to lower it?” approach. I’m doing the same thing for my liver by lowering my protein consumption to 200g per day. Better to prehab than rehab and recover (although I don’t think you can do that for organs).
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##6.25.17
WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD.
Woke at 224.8 lbs—a little heavy.
There are 3 possible reasons this happened:
- Way less physical activity over the past two weeks but I’ve been eating the same.
- I underestimated how much meatloaf I ate last night.
- The two servings of peanut M&M’s I had after dinner.
I’m guessing the extra 500 calories didn’t cause me to gain several pounds so it’s probably a combination of all three. Not a big deal though.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
4134 calories, 403g carbs, 159g fat, 268g protein.
I’m intending to gain weight, but slowly. Since I made this decision I’ve been up and down. I’ll eat normal for 5 days a week and then have a bad meal where I over-indulge. I’ll spend a couple days in a deficit to make up for that. Once I feel like I’ve recovered I’m in the 220’s or 221’s again. I don’t let the scale creep up; I keep forcing it back down to that range. It’s time to relax a bit and let it creep up. I’ll cap it at 225 but I’m not going to worry about anything below that. No more adjusting to get it back down. I’ll just keep eating the same as long as it stays below 225.
After seeing the results of the T-ransformation Challenge I’ve been thinking about finding some sort of physique goal to pursue in similar fashion, but over a much longer period. I already want to add muscle mass slowly over time. I don’t want to dirty bulk and then cut; however, my “peak” was when I was 22 and living at the Olympic Training Center. When I hit 231 at 8% body fat (9 site skinfold taken by the head strength coach) I was on my way back down from 247. That was the heaviest I’ve ever been. Now I don’t want to blow up like a balloon and then cut, but it definitely has me thinking. I’ve attempted to get back into the 230’s while staying lean multiple times and I’ve always bailed because I feel like I just start to get fat. I’ve posted a photo of my back from my time at the Training Center and by comparison I look bigger AND fatter. But I can’t deny the fact that the process led to my best physique. I was also in a phenomenal environment–basically single, worked in a gym, had food prepared for me all day long, and I could train while on the clock. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I’m playing with the idea of “bulking” for a set amount of time. It’d still be a clean bulk, but I’d commit to a date or certain number of months and pursue it no matter what. No bailing because I lose my abs. I’d have to do some math to figure out what I think my body can hold at a certain body fat percentage; that’d give me my top bulking weight. Once I have that then I’ll be able to set out a timeline and make a plan instead of just hitting the buffet no holds barred style.
For now this is just an idea. I haven’t decided one way or the other. One thing I’m certain of is that regardless of which training approach and goals I decide to pursue, 5/3/1 Training Maximally will be a part of it. Even if I decide to go with a Four Seasons of Training approach that has a MetCon phase I’ll still start the days with 5/3/1 for the main four lifts.
I’ve been training for well over a decade now. In all honesty, I weigh the same that I did when I started my senior year of high school. My body has changed. I’m leaner and have a bit more muscle mass than I did then. Since hitting the 220 mark as a 17 year old I’ve fluctuated between 210 and 247. I got up to 240 my freshman year of college and maintained that until senior year. The one exception is when I had shoulder surgery as a sophomore and dropped below 215 as the result of being in a sling for three months. Senior year is when I discovered my abs and that’s been a whole new obsession.
My strength is at its highest now on some lifts, and lower on others. I think a lot of it has to do with specificity of training. I can’t expect to be at my best on certain exercises if I don’t do them consistently. That’s been the downside of my bodybuilding approach. I change exercises fairly regularly.
Some might think that the fact that I’m pretty much the same means that I’ve failed at my training. There are days where I think I’ve wasted a lot of time since this is the case. But it occurred to me yesterday that I haven’t failed at anything. In college when I was probably at my “peak” I had a much different lifestyle. I went to class for a few hours a day and could train for several hours a day. I had very little responsibility. Fast forward to present day and I work 40 hours a week, own a house, and have a wife and two kids. My responsibilities are through the roof by comparison.
From a training perspective I’ve failed. But from a life perspective I’ve done pretty good. I’ve managed to maintain while adding a lot of other things to my life. I view this as a win. It’s not easy to add things to life without taking away from something else. I realize that I’ve added quite a lot but I’ve still managed to keep training consistently and maintain my strength and physique. Am I world class? Hell no. Will I win any physique, power lifting, or strongman competitions? Absolutely not. Will I win any of the challenges proposed on this site? Doubtful.
My point is that from a narrow perspective it can appear that I’ve done nothing more than flail around at the gym and waste my time. But when you broaden the scope and look at the whole picture I’ve done quite a lot.
Don’t let tunnel vision ruin your outlook on your training and your life. There’s a lot more going on than your sessions at the gym.
3 Likes
##6.26.17
Woke at 221.2 lbs.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3359 calories, 362g carbs, 112g fat, 186g protein.
##Training
Deadlift:
135 x 5 + 5 RDLs
165 x 5 + 5 RDLs
195 x 5 + 5 RDLs
235 x 5 + 3 RDLs
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 1
405 x 1
425 x 1
455 x 1
405 x 1
405 x 1
405 x 1
Power Clean:
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
Pull-ups:
2 x 10, 8-2-2 (double rest/pause)
Hip Add/Abd Machine:
3 x 10 ea @ 130
Cable Row:
165 x 10
180 x 8
195 x 6
210 x 4
225 x 4
Pulse Ups:
3 x 10
Smith Machine Side Crunch:
2 x 10 ea @ 105
Straight Bar Curl:
90 x 6
90 x 6
90 x 12
##Conditioning
Dropped my daughter off at home and headed to the track.
Run 150m, walk 50m x 8
I managed to keep the runs close to 30 sec ea and the rest/walk 50m portion was consistently 1 minute.
I’m slow and out of shape. I didn’t even try to go hard at the start. I’m happy I managed a consistent pace on all the runs.
3 Likes
##6.27.17
Woke at 222 or 223 something. I forgot to log it immediately so of course, I forgot. I was 225.0 after 16 ounces of water, three 16ish ounce cups of coffee, and two egg sandwiches consisting of four pieces of bread, 2 eggs, 200g of egg whites, and two slices of cheap, processed pepperjack cheese.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3769 calories, 372g carbs, 116g fat, 218g protein.
##Training
Bench:
135 x 10
155 x 5
175 x 5
205 x 3
225 x 1
245 x 1
265 x 1 x 5
DB Incline:
60’s x 8 x 3
superset with:
Reverse Cable Fly:
30 x 8 x 3
Reverse Cable Fly (rear delt emphasis):
30 x 12
30 x 10
Reverse Cable Press Down:
140 x 6
140 x 6
140 x 20
##Conditioning
Planned on keeping it light today.
Precor AMT:
.51 miles in 5:12
My wife was on the machine next to me finishing up and talked me into running with her on the indoor track…
The track is 1/6 of a mile or about 270 meters with the straightaways being about 90 meters. Guess that means the curves are approximately 45 meters each. We did the following:
run the curve, straightaway, and curve (about 160-180 meters depending on the starting point)
walk the remaining straight away
repeat for 6 rounds
Walk a lap to cool down
Time: 16:31
We took an extra minute of rest after the 4th run and then ran the last two a bit faster.
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Not sure if you were looking for some new ideas for your workouts or not, but as an officer and a gentleman I figured you’d appreciate Tacticalisthenics and may want to add them into your conditioning haha hope you enjoy!
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