I’m really pleased that this challenge exists, I think it’s a great way to put that little bit of extra pressure on yourself to hold yourself accountable. Hoping this will be that wake-up call to really hone in on my diet for the next 6 months and beyond. So thanks t-nation and it’s users for providing this sort of outlet, much appreciated.
A bit of background, I’m 25 years old, and 180cm/5’11". As of now I’ve been training about 5 and a half months. I started off with starting strength for the first 2 months, then decided to swap to something more sustainable in the long run, as I felt I wasn’t able to focus as much on form whilst simultaneously chasing the ever growing numbers workout to workout on SS. So I’ve since made the switch to 5/3/1 and am currently finishing up my 4th cycle of triumvirate. I’ve really enjoyed it so far and am looking forward to seeing where that will take me in the next couple of years at least. I have been training consistently for this time period, and have only taken time off during a planned holiday in September.
Starting stats:
93kg/205lbs
Deadlifts: 102.5kg/225lbs x 10
Bench: 65kg/145lbs x 12
Press: 52.5kg/115lbs x 7
Squats 102.5kg/225lbs x 12
I’m a bit unsure on how to estimate my 1-rep maxes, as I don’t want to incorporate that into a workout somehow, so I hope the above provides some idea of my starting point, though I appreciate they don’t mean that much without the context of my progress throughout 5/3/1 thus far.
Goals:
I plan on running triumvirate and lean bulking for another 3 months, and then re-evaluating from there as to what template would be best to run for the final half of the challenge. All I do know is that I most certainly want to try and cut for the last 3 months, and as of now I don’t have much beyond a basic idea on how to accomplish that. But alas, that’s a problem for future me. As for goal stats, I’ll shoot for these 1-rep maxes:
Deadlifts: 150kg/330lbs
Bench: 85kg/185lbs
Press: 65kg/145lbs
Squats: 140kg/310lbs
Don’t care about weight, just want to be happier with the way I look by the end of it.
Diet:
I want to preface this by saying I really love cooking. So almost everything I eat will be from the butchers/farmers’ market and prepared at home. I recently made a food plan with my girlfriend listing what foods (read: meat/veg/grains) we plan to get in the upcoming month, so there are quite a few kilos of chicken breasts to be had in the foreseeable future. I’m still not quite sure how I want to track my calories as of this point, and as to whether it is necessary or not to be super meticulous at my level anyway, as I am still very much a beginner. But I do want to make the effort of logging what I eat here, to at least have a reference point of what I am eating and get a better idea of my BMR. I did recently get a scan done that put my BMR at almost exactly 2000 kcal, so I guess that will be my starting point, with a 250-400 surplus on training days. If anybody ever wants to talk anything cooking related YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND ME.
As you can see from my before pics, there is a lot of work to be done. Looking forward to learning from all of you and seeing how everybody performs!