MarkKO's Training Log

Q score as in the AQ test, or is it something else?

It’s scary how well those bullets used to describe me, but I’ve change a good bit over the years. I could relate to every bullet aside from the anger/anxiety stuff. It was five-six years ago though, and the whole puberty and actually socializing like a normal person (thanks, mom and dad for home schooling me from K-8) fixed a lot of that for me.

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Yep, AQ test. I know those kinds of tests aren’t super reliable but I need to follow this up.

You too huh?

We all do. I think I was kind of ‘normal’ for around two years from 16 to 18 though - oddly enough coinciding with me smoking as much weed as I could get my hands on as often as I could get my hands on any - but then all that other crap (re)surfaced and until I started training I was pretty miserable. Frustrated AF as a kid too, that’s pretty much what I remember feeling most of the time.

I hate to be the ‘the iron saved me’ guy but it really kind of is how things worked out. Other stuff I was obsessed with before never quite gave me peace the way getting stronger does. It’s what I’m here to do. If I’m really lucky and keep my shit together I’ll get to keep being a parent too because that’s the only other thing that puts me at peace. It’s a horrible and scary thing to say, but what keeps me functioning is knowing that no matter what happens I’ll still be able to get stronger. Lonely, but stronger.

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For the record I KNOW I’m narcissistic to an extent - I think anyone who loves the iron is to some degree. I also know I’m selfish in some aspects, but they’re the aspects I need to be selfish about to stay a useful and tolerable human being - in other words I do the minimum to keep myself happy and at peace so I can take care of my loved ones. Training and related activities are what do that.

All the stuff I mentioned above are separate. I don’t avoid loud, crowded situations like the plague because I’m too selfish to put up with them for my other half to enjoy them, I avoid them because they flick a bad switch.

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A lot of what you have discussed I can relate to.

Any chance you have seen the documentary on Netflix “Minimalism”?

I’m not saying you should be a minimalist, but they had some interesting general ideas that I’m going to give a go to try to be less stressed and angry all the damn time.

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Well shit, same here.

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@littlesleeper I haven’t but I will now. Thanks.

About the music and people crap… We are the normal ones! A social interaction but made impossible to interact? That and walking down 5th street (really long outdoor mall here, it is THE strip here in PDC) is the worst, so many people just not paying attention nobody having an courtesy it is the worst. If just half of the people would have common sense or common courtesy it would never actually BE over populated. But it is.

It saved me at the age of 27. Combination of that and realizing the path (since high school) I was on sucked and not what I wanted to be (and Sofi). I became successful in my work but even if you love your job it is still how you pay the bills and shouldn’t define you.

I feel like there is an increasing percentage of people becoming content with themselves far too early in life (myself in early to mid 20s). Which is an oxymoron because people who strive to be better than who they were yesterday will never one day say “ok, i’m done”.

I don’t know if we are the outsiders for being this way but I think it is crazy to have no goals or to not care about them enough to pursue them. Real goals, not I want this phone next week junk. So many friends go to the same clubs every Thurs Fri Saturday living only for their next distraction and just exist.

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I know, but I’m borderline aphasic when it comes to expressing myself about this to my other half, Eh SUCKS.

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DITTO She used to think I was mad with her because of my tone. I have learned to be “softer” with her and she has learned we dont walk on 5th street for longer than the 37 seconds I can handle it hahaha

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Leader, cycle 2 - week 1

Second half of the weekend was shit, but as it stands I can’t go back and fix it and broadly speaking the shitness was my doing so I can’t complain either. Happy to train, of course. It’s nice to back.

Today’s training

Lazy lifter plus shoulders

Hips tight and left knee achy, but cleared up by end of work sets. Maybe the run on Friday.

Bench press

30 pull aparts between first here warmup sets

5x170 lbs, under 6 RPE
5x198 lbs, under 6 RPE
5x220 lbs, 7 RPE
3x8x170 lbs, 6-7, 8 and 6-7 RPE - short break between first and second set

Very pleased with how bench is coming along, leg drive is starting to feel good. Mistimed a bit on the top set though.

Log press, 50 total reps at 110 lbs: 8 strict/6 leg drive, 6 strict/7 leg drive, 6 strict/5 leg drive, 6 strict/6 leg drive

Working on doing what everyone suggested @T3hPwnisher @strongmanvinny2 @flipcollar

Last set:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP3eRCahGlE/

T-bar rows 100 total reps at 110 lbs: 29, 18 - as usual this is where I start regretting high volume for the leader phase - 21, 19, 14

Supersetted hammer curls/BB shrugs
Curls 50 reps at 30 lbs: 18, 18, 15
Shrugs 100 total reps at 220 lbs: 36, 28, 36

Stationary bike sprints 10 x 40 sec off/20 sec on at level 12 - felt the extra level in my quads by halfway. Heart rate was fine though.

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You have no idea how reassuring that is to hear.

Yeah, so, I need to figure out how to do that. I think if I get somewhere while it’s quieter and emptier and then stick around while it crowd up and gets louder I might be able to deal with it better because I’ll get used to it. That’s my theory anyway.

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I definitely didn’t have to look that word up…

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Sure thing.

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I see someone is starting to like the log haha.

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It’s fun. Plus I noticed today I felt my front delts working hard, which they pretty much never do with military press.

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I think you need a bit more weight on there for you to be able to sit back with the log when it’s in your lap. Try to get some footage of some heavier work next time, but in the meantime hopefully that video offers quick insight.

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agreed. Hard to really see much when you’re working with such a light weight. The empty log at my gym is 60 lbs more than that, lol.

Mark, what’s the diameter on that one? Is it 10 or 12?

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Yes, extra weight would help with sitting back. Not sure about the diameter, I hadn’t thought about it much.

One thing I’ve noticed since last week is that the drop to 2300 calories doesn’t seem to have changed a whole lot. OK, so it’s a short time, but I seem to remember that when I went from 2700 to 2500 calories things started changing quickly. One scenario is that I suddenly started mis-measuring my food so I’m not actually at 2300 calories but at 2500 calories or over. I realise that is borderline insane.

Now, that’s probably because when I last adjusted I was at a higher bodyfat percentage so it was easier to shed, but I’m still kind of surprised mostly because I seem to have continued to yo-yo between 201 to 203 lbs or so from day to day while in the mirror I look pretty much the same. To my chagrin my picture in the transformation thread looks so far off what I look like on waking in that same mirror. Vain much?

Well, if I’m going to be completely honest I’m probably being stupid and impatient and I just need to get comfortable with the fact that the drop from 25 per cent to 20 per cent was reasonably easy but the drop from 20 per cent to 15 per cent may quite probably be a different animal entirely. I’m due to have a body scan in about three weeks, which will give me an idea of how much further I have to go in terms of numbers compared to the image I have in my head. I’m curious as to what the number will be. My guess is somewhere between 18 and 19 per cent.

My main concern/question is what I’ll need to do if the calorie drop alone doesn’t have any effect (which when I write it out is nonsensical, because that’s a 1400 calorie drop per week). I find it hard to believe that I’d need to add extra cardio in some form to get to 15 per cent. To 10 per cent it’d be a matter of course.

@BOTSLAYER @Yogi1 and @The_Myth any thoughts on this? I’m being a fuckwit aren’t I?

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Slept for very little time and yet felt fine on waking - that Valerian is a GD gamechanger. Ended up training with young Tommy and got his DL looking better. We finished DL and his friends Tom and Nick showed up so I convinced them to finish our session with us.

Today’s training

Lazy lifter

Stiff bar DL

6 neutral grip pull-ups between first three warm-ups. First set felt decent, others too but like usual the extra rep felt… extra.

5x341 lbs, under 6 RPE - hook grip, hands tired from yesterday. Not agonising because I finally managed to just sit my thumbs under my fingers and use it like a strap instead of squeezing down on it
5x390 lbs, under 6 RPE, straps
5x440 lbs, 6 RPE, straps - arguably easiest 440 lbs has ever felt, and I’m getting better at setting the straps up quickly.

SGDL 3x5x269 lbs, all under 6 RPE - felt ridiculously easy

SSB squat 50 total reps at 291 lbs, Oly shoes:
25 - started feeling dizzy and nauseous every rep from 13, did it mostly in three rep blocks with breaks for suffering in between)
15 - one count pauses in the hole for 10 reps, four normal reps and a five count pause in the hole for the last rep. Still nowhere near as unpleasant as the first set
10 - no fucking around, just normal reps

Tommy had 45 degree back raises to do and it ended up being a challenge of who could do the most unbroken. I got 100, the last 20 were work.

Ab wheel 50 total reps with 44 lbs: 20 and 30 because I didn’t want to deal with a third set. Grip was fried by the end

Calf raises 100 total reps at 154 lbs: 56 (slipped on 57, but no harm done), 44. My ROM may not have been enormous but certainly enough that my calves were fried by the end of set two.

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