I love the power aspect and those movements help me stay explosive even when I’m not playing basketball. I’m also hoping they help me find those mythical traps CT is always talking about.
Those lifts might not be on most people’s list of back builders but I figure upper traps fit on back day. Legs are tomorrow; I could move them over a day but I don’t think it’ll make much difference other than changing my workout times.
I’ll probably do more SGHP than clean pulls since the weight is much lighter and can still get my desired results.
Flap, on the topic of high stress and low reward, I know I should stop pursuing heavy deadlifts. Pulling more than I already have will do nothing for me.
I know that forcing my hip joint to move while holding an extra 500+ lbs cannot be good for long term hip health. I already know my cartilage is a bit chewed up.
But I’ll be damned if my brain doesn’t still think about pulling 600 lbs. Maybe I won’t go for 6, but I’ll settle for doing 500 for multiple reps.
It’s going to be tough to fight the battle of can vs should as I move forward and past this hip injury.
Your PR sets were motivating as fuck and I think you’d already be pulling 600 if not for the injury, based on how smooth that 545 was. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want you to get back there. Maybe you can still. Deads are definitely rough on the hip but I swear squats are worse on my hip, fuck regular squats, haha.
Squats are definitely out for a long time - possibly forever. I can get athletic benefits from box squats that keep me way above parallel.
I don’t think deadlifts are off limits, but I just imagine the grinding of the soft tissue in my hip socket. It’ll be one of those things I could pursue but is is worth sacrificing my hip? It might be the difference between making it through life with my hip or needing some titanium.
I’m undecided. I think I know the smart answer. Maybe there’s an in between option like pursuing it til I reach a certain age - like 40.
40 is young these days! If we want to go for long-term goals, the best thing would be to stop now and go back to it later. @bulldog9899 is from the late Cretaceous era and he’s still strong as shit, unless he’s lying about #s and using fake weights in his videos, and he’s just jealous of the 17 year old deadlifting 700+ in the PL forum.
I’ve officially ended this cut. I’m getting light headed fairly regularly. I hit my weight goal but I don’t look the way I’d hoped. I’m hoping/thinking it might be the result of running on 200g carbs a day. I really like my carbs and swapping potatoes, rice, and pasta for broccoli or a frozen veggie mix has been rough. I actually ate over my caloric goal of 2420 on Monday night. I was over 2700 calories last night and still dropped another 0.8 lbs for today’s weigh in. I took some photos to capture the moment but we’ll see if they’re my final product. According to just about every calorie calculator I use, my maintenance is between 2900 and 3100 calories. Based on past experience and using CT’s math for cutting and bulking (and splitting the difference), my maintenance is between 2900 and 3000 calories. I’m looking forward to that extra meal (or just eating a full meal at each sitting).
Breakfast was between 700-800 calories today and it was soooo good! Four scrambled eggs from my wife’s aunt’s chickens, three ounces of pork loin, two pieces of whole wheat toast with strawberry fruit spread. I even managed to get to 50 grams of protein without drinking it!
The nutrition book I’m going through is a bit frustrating at times. It has dumb stuff in it like “you can only use 25g of protein at a time” and really pushes the milk industry, but it has reminded me to eat a variety of foods both in color and type. By doing that, I can ensure I’m getting all of my micronutrients as well as my macros.
Hope everyone is doing well; @losthog, hope you’re feeling even better today than yesterday afternoon. @simo74, hope you’re not crippled from DOMs from that leg workout the other night. @mortdk, hope you’re recovering from your long work days and have energy to knock out a workout today. @flappinit, you’re a sick SOB with all of your supersets and volume. @bustedwheel, hope you’ve recovered from the three pounds of booze you consumed over the weekend! And, @jackolee, I saw your new plan and wish you luck! I’m jealous of the AAS part and if I were in your shoes then I’d definitely do what you’re doing.
I know that’s not everyone, but those are the last few I’ve interacted with on here.
My energy levels have been pretty good with the lower calories (mostly sticking to 2400 Ish with 1 day over 3000 and one day around 2700). Been 6 weeks and if I look at weekly averages, have dropped around 3.5#. I’m going to keep going to 215 for a weekly average (vs for a day which I could do in 2 more days).
Good work mate. I know you’re disappointed with the results, but you did what you set out to do. I bet when you look back in a few weeks, you’ll be much more proud of your efforts.
Maintenance! I’m actually hoping that eating more food will fill out my physique a bit. I’m holding on to a tiny bit of hope that I don’t like my look because I’m not full of muscle glycogen.
Maybe I’ll bounce back to 220 lbs and look better than I do now?
I’m comparing myself to December of '17 and I was still carrying a bit of a tan from summer. Maybe that’s my problem - I’m comparing a tan 217 to a pale 215.
Very similar thought process to me. Finished a long painful cut and just looking to maintain for a bit before the next big push in either direction. Let’s see if there’s any truth in this set point theory.
Glad to hear the cut went well. I’m impressed with the true knowledge and understanding you found about nutrition and your own body. Nice work!
I feel better. Each day I feel more “normal”. I’m still not % and I’m sort of bummed out that it’s taking this long to bounce back. My hammy has no bruise which is good! It is sore like an extreme doms. Both legs are sore.
So, now what is the goal? Will you see if you can tear the hip off? Or keep it safe? Looks like the itch to lift heavy is coming back for you…
I’m almost at a point to say screw lifting heavy and just push weight around drop some weight get lean and light. And feel good. But I haven’t done a 315 bench so I’ve got a goal to keep me focused on that anyway for now.
Hell yeah dude, I think maintaining at 220 is gonna be a good plan. I feel like you dropped a ton of fat really quickly, and you’re at a good place to focus on building some more mass.
This is the misery of the “bodybuilding” training! You know you’re progressing in other ways, but, well, this sucks.
Is the PT having you work to fix your IT band, or mostly avoid things that insult it? The injections are mostly there to calm stuff down once you’ve aggravated it too much - they don’t “fix” anything.
Great job on the cut! The benefit now is you can eat a ton more and get stronger while maintaining some of your new leanness!
For what it’s worth - I do better skipping early meals when I’m trying to lose weight. I think the “overeating later” falls a little bit out the window when you’re actually tracking.
Awesome job with the cut J, well done.
Yeah keeping at maintenance I think you should be able to burn some fat and add some muscles… hopefully.
I didn’t mean it that hard when I said don’t go mental.
It was just a be careful if your pain’o’meter keeps going up.
I kind of know you are.
Gonna be fun to watch you BB journey.
Congrats on an effective cut! I’ve been catching up on your log and agree with the general sentiment of taking things easy with your hip, shifting your focus to bodybuilding-style training, and thinking in terms of health and relative strength for years instead of weeks.
Great job mate on hitting your goal weight and now ready add a little food and start building. I’m feeling pretty good actually my body is coping with the reduced calories abs higher output pretty well which tells me I wasn’t working hard enough before this cut. Good to know that I can push even harder when I start eating again.
I talked with the PT about the ache in my hip. He thinks it’s the femoral glide I experience. As I flex and extend the hip, my femur is shifting forward and then coming back in the socket. The ache is a result of that.
He said as long as the ache subsides by Friday (started on Tuesday) then I’m good to continue the clean pulls. I felt good going into today’s leg session and the ache came back during box squats. It’s gone now so I think I’m good.
Careful, Hog. You’re drifting into my world now. I’ve been doing this back and forth thing for years.
I hope so. My bulking/gaining goals have taken on a new perspective. I might still cut a few pounds but I need a break. My “bulking” goals will now be in terms of years. I’d love to add muscle (if that’s even possible anymore), but I’m thinking like 5 lbs in a year. No sense in getting huge again. I tried it and it didn’t work out.
All of my hip work should alleviate the IT band pain. The injection was to determine if I have a mystery problem or if the Heterotopic Ossification is causing inflammation in the joint.
My pain is good for now. With the knee pain it seems to be a 1-2 or an 8-10. There wasn’t an in between. I’m hoping it doesn’t spike again now that I know how to properly strengthen the weak link.
I’m doing pretty good with my choices but my foot is hovering over the gas pedal itching to drop. That pretty much only applies to deadlifts though. I’m pretty happy with all of my other training but leg day is tough when I can’t flex my hip past 90 and can’t do leg extensions.
Those limitations eliminated leg press and some lunge variations. I have a short list of exercises and I don’t really like all of them.
I saw your post about being able to go a long time back in your running days. It sounds like your only limit is going to be time. If you have enough time to rest between sets then you can just keep going.
24" BOX SQUAT (blue band around knees)
135 x 10
225 x 5
275 x 5
295 x 5
315 x 5 x 3 sets
HACK SQUAT MACHINE
280 x 8 x 4 sets
RFESS
65 x 8 ea x 4 sets
Both of these felt easier but I think my rest was longer due to talking to a trainer between sets.
SL SQUATS (on 12" box)
2 x 20 ea leg I stood on the box and just squatted down til my foot tapped the ground. Nothing fancy but it burned. I think people really cheat when the do step-ups because they just fall on the eccentric and push off their trail leg. This is a much better option and much more controlled.
LOW DECLINE DB CRUNCH
80 x 10 x 3 sets
And the big finish…
BIKE WORKOUT FROM T-NATION Airdyne - 2 min cruise, 20 sec all out x 6 rounds
Last time I did that workout my quads got quite sore. This didn’t feel as hard as I remembered so maybe my conditioning is better from the elliptical and bike. This is a good way to finish leg day.
By the way, my legs were sore when I started. I was getting that burning feeling going up the stairs.
I had PT today and I’m up to the blue band on reverse clams. I’ve been using the green but it’s too easy.
% and I’m sort of bummed out that it’s taking this long to bounce back. My hammy has no bruise which is good! It is sore like an extreme doms. Both legs are sore.