Losthog—2018 First year

Training Logs
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I think there’s evidence of being good/strong at the things that you do the most, but I’ve always trained legs. I’ve squatted regularly for over 10 years. I’ve been lifting regularly for 15-16 years. I’ve never prioritized my squat, but I haven’t prioritized the others either. I’ve pretty much trained in balance the whole time whether it’s been for strength or physique.

In regards to my squat, I’m confused. Like I said, I’ve always trained legs, just not specifically squats. But I got a head start on everything else.

Another thing to consider is psychology. We’re all built differently. We don’t get to pick our genetics. You get what you get in terms of muscle fibers. Slow twitch dominant people are better at endurance stuff. Fast twitch folks are better at sprints and explosive stuff. Some people are average joes who are split down the middle. You can change yourself a little through training. If you’re 50% fast twitch and 50% slow twitch then you might be able to move that 5-10% one way or the other through training.

But with that in mind we all tend to gravitate towards things at which we are good. It’s only natural. Never, in my entire life, have I enjoyed a run. But I’ve always felt good doing short sprints. Work me hard, let me rest, and then repeat. But you can go to hell if you want me to run for 30 minutes straight at a slow pace LOL!

The psychological part might steer us towards the things at which we accel even without us realizing it. Perhaps I enjoy pushing myself on deadlifts so I train better. I tend to loathe squats so maybe I’m subconsciously sabotaging my progress by not giving it my all?

I guess it could come down to the chicken or egg debate. Am I good at a certain lift because I enjoy it? Or do I enjoy it because I’m good?

EDIT I just need to get on Sports Science and have them test me out! I bet they can explain all of this to me.

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This isn’t a 5/3/1-esque approach. Seeing how you approach your training, I’m tempted to see you as the acetylcholine-dominant lifter, meaning you flirt around with a few movements, constantly rotating between them to get your prized reward of being a good all-rounder. This also happens to be the stance I advocate.

As I age, I become more fast-twitch dominant and yet, I develop slow-twitch capabilities (walking 100KM) and this all boils down your current circumstances. The environment is like a cradle, you gently rock it and then you fall asleep on your favourite activities . rarely does anyone break out of their paradigm which is to do the hardest, most uncomfortable thing in the world and grow to love it.

Are you intrinsically motivated or do you need reward recognition to boost your efforts. Dopamine will be useful to you if you find tasks arduous and changes your non-chalance into something more real-world driven.

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You are correct. I struggle with 5/3/1. I like it, but I get bored after a couple cycles. Actually, it may not be the boredom, but I find myself not all that thrilled to do an AMRAP set some days. My workouts turn into a grind. And as I mentioned Friday after a bad workout, I usually love my gym time.

I think I’m intrinsically motivated. I do things for me and I want to do them for my own sake. They’re personal goals and I feel satisfaction when I achieve them. I don’t need to beat anyone else or win a prize to feel satisfied. And there have been times in sports (in my younger days) where I would still be disappointed by a win if I felt my performance was sub-par.

One downside of the intrinsic motivation is that’s solely based on my goals. And my goals can change. When that happens it’s easy to change directions and pursue the new thing and I feel no guilt in doing so. If I was striving to achieve something set out by another person then I’d feel guilt by abandoning the pursuit or I’d come up with some self-rationalization that the goal was unnecessary to justify quitting.

Most of the time the justification for changing directions is “Why the hell am I doing this to myself? It hurts. The world doesn’t care if I squat 4 plates. My back/hip hurts, and this is silly. I can still be strong and build a respectable physique with lunges while not killing myself.”

Obviously that’s my squat example, and it’s happened a time or two LOL!

I think the best thing I can do is stop reading! I keep reading new articles or the recycled ones on here and I get new ideas or I see something that I’m missing. The worst are those “Every lifter should be able to do _____” or “Every lifter should do this first” type of things. I see something I’m not doing but it looks good. It doesn’t fit with my current program so I’m tempted to change the whole program. Apparently I’m easily distracted.

I’m in one of those moments right now. Summer break is coming so my wife will be off work. I’d like to give CrossFit a legit shot. I want to join a gym and only do their workouts and see what happens. For a cop, it’s probably the best training approach there is. BUT, I’m just now in week 3 of a 12 week program designed for strength and size improvements. The program is supposed to help me improve my squat, bench, deadlift, and OHP. I want to improve at all of those things so I should let it run its course. Unfortunately, I’ll miss my best chance to join a CrossFit gym and go at reasonable times. Once August rolls around my wife will be busy again and I’ll have the kids on my days off. The Y has a childcare option while you work out. CrossFit gyms do not. A couple of them still offer the option of training with the group at 5am but I hate that. And that aspect alone could be a setup for failure.

Did I mention that I’m easily distracted? Holy crap, look at where I’ve been in this thread today… sorry, @losthog!

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@Frank_C. All good brother. This is a great discussion about training and a discussion that I assume all lifters must wrestle with at some point in training.

If you think you are going to miss something by not doing cross fit…do it. Get that membership and crush it.

My redirect for you would be to define your goals. Sit down, get calm, write down the pros and cons of Doug this or that. If general athletic ability is your goals do that, physique, big totals, etc… At the end of the day it is YOUR training for YOUR goals. It really at the end of the day doesn’t matter what any of us think about your abilities or training.

If you are spitballing to be held accountable then I would say (to a friend). Pick something you want to accomplish and stick to it. Bouncing from this to that is only going to accomplish nothing and create more frustration. You don’t have the time to do it all, so what are you gonna do?

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Hopefully I’m going to hit my goals of a 3 plate bench and 4 plate squat. Once I hit those then I’d like to maintain them. But maintenance is easier than progress, so once I do that then I’ll be free to explore (within reason).

The CrossFit discussion opened my eyes a bit. Stronghold claimed that a guy could hit some big numbers on the big three by strictly doing CrossFit. I know that there are some monsters in the CrossFit world but they were big and strong before they started. I’m not saying I can’t achieve my goals through that avenue, but I’m not sure. I know I can do it the traditional way. I’ve dedicated this year to pursuing my all time goals. Even when my goals change, those 3/4/5 plate goals still hang out in the back of my head. They’re always present so that tells me they’re important to me. This year is dedicated to pursuing those. I’m going to finish this 12 week program and I might dabble in CrossFit on my own for a couple weeks as a sort of deload. I’ll definitely be ready for something different after 12 weeks of progression.

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This got my attention. You could have furthered your other goals but more pressing ones got in the way right. Always happens to me. All I can say is that to achieve big goals, you really got landmark the hardest ones first and never lose sight of them. Your goal-setting must be rock solid so you don’t waste any time diverging or deviating from smaller goals. Thanks for the in-depth reply, JMaier31. Sorry I took a while to reply, went for a lil walk.

All the best, will be watching.

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Right? A guy I’m friends with from high school swears by his 405lb hip thrusts. I do them with 135-225 and hold the peak contraction for 3 seconds each rep when I do them, but lighter weight = better pump IMO. anything over 225 provides diminishing returns because it’s nearly impossible to get a glute pump with all the other posterior chain muscles accommodating for all that weight

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I think this is the same reason why some ‘good ol’ boys’ are considered to be “country strong.” Working on a farm for the first 20 years of your life and then going to a weight room must be the easiest transition ever. Lifting and/or carrying several hundred pounds at a time/by yourself/in one hand would DEFINITELY prime your body to be ready to build a lot of muscle mass.

I’ve read before that people who consistently run long distance (people who play basketball for 15 years of their adolescence or cross country runners) have unknowingly trained their bodies to resort to fat stores for energy more quickly than normal people’s bodies do. It seems like the same concept, and it makes sense that the environments/conditions that you’re exposed to as a young person could modify gene expression for certain genes. I bet many future great-grandchildren will reap the epigenetic benefits from those of us that have worked physically hard in our early years

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I totally agree. Some of the naturally strongest guys I’ve ever seen are the dudes in my gym in rural Tennessee. They are mechanics and farmers.

They just come in, bench and deadlift huge weights, and leave. Most of them aren’t even on a program. They just hit some heavy weights every morning and eat a ton of food. I guess that’s the benefit of having a hard physical job. You are essentially training 8+ hours per day for years.

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Almost like a Spartan lifestyle. hmmmm

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4-8-18. Measurement day

I’m suffering from a head cold or allergies who knows. Chest cold…blah blah blah

Bf%: 17.72 (12,30,12)
Ft lbs: 43.5
LBM: 202.5

Neck: 17.25
Shoulders: 52.25
Chest: 46.25
Ribs: 42.25
Belly: 42.5
Waist: 41.5
Hips: 44.5

Rt/ Lt
Bicep: 16/16
Forearm: 12.5/12
Thigh: 25.5/ 25
Calf: 16/ 16.25

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@muskratlifts @lava2007

The last thing I ever wanted to do after running pipe or pulling wire for 8-10 hours in 90 degree heat or 35 degree cold was go workout. Most days it was just nice to get home take a shower, eat, play with the kids, go to bed. Most weeks I worked close to 50 hours a week. If I remember correctly most I ever worked was 94 hours in a week…and we were on 7-12 hour days then for close to a month. It was a good way to make a living, but bodies wear out. I’ve got mad respect for the 50-60 year old guys I used to work with.

The best was when it was 60-70 degrees and low humidity and we were working outside…those days almost made it worth all the suffering.

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94 hours…christ

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My thoughts exactly.

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Late to this discussion.
Are The Hog a beast or not:
If the kids at school says “Hog you’re a beast” then you’re a beast. It has nothing to do with how much you squat, press or pull.
You have worked hard, you’ve got the physique of a worker. You’re over 240 pounds and not fat.

CT put out a program

He starts of by a story about him at the age of 17 he had just pulled 500 pounds it’s in the christmas holidays a 50 year old uncle comes up to see what he is doing and asks if he can try it.
“And without any warm-up, knowledge of technique, or effort (or so it seemed), he picked up the barbell. He held it up and said, “So that’s what you kids do to have fun?” He put it down gently and went back downstairs.”
To young CT that was a beast.

I was a sailor before I became a cop. There where some hard work, but not all the time. I did not work out in my younger years. At all.
I took up running and bike racing and all I ever did in the gym was bench and some back work.
A couple of years ago I did bench 2 plates. And couldn’t squat more than 1 plate. It’s just recently my squat overtook my bench, and I’m struggling with it. My DL is not much better but it’s just going up.
As @Frank_C says it’s what’s you’ve been doing and what you like. I love DL it’s so rewarding to take that barbell from the floor and just pick it up, it’s very primal.

Sorry for the long rant Hog, hope you don’t mind.

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@mortdk I don’t mind a bit man. I enjoy the discussion about training and life.

Work up this morning feeling bad. Just beat-up and sniffles, head and chest full of stuff. Ugggh. I hate being sick.

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Sorry to hear that hog. Hope you’ll get well quick.

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Feel better!

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Get well soon man!

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Just finished in 54min. I feel better, but not good. I need rest! I’ll post workout when I get home. When you don’t want to do it…go do it anyway! Gains are made when you don’t want to…

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