Rewind to 10th Grade

IBack from the trip. Got in some pushups and runs in, and was just generally active, so it was a good time.

Worked overnight, have my little bro’s 5th b-day party today, and work overnight again, so will plan on just picking up next week (Mon. or Tue.). I think I might just run the first week once more, simply to get everything lined up nicely.

I have some ideas for some strongman type of stuff I’ll do on the weekend - maybe strongman is the wrong term, but it seems similar. Will update when I’ve figured it out. No idea how to program it but I think Dan John wrote some article that I need to dig up that’ll help.

I really need to figure out my diet too. Very all over the place and random. Inconsistent eating times, and lack of sticking to the same thing (which would be eaiser, so I don’t know why I don’t) have not led to great results. So that needs to happen soon, but we’ll see how quickly it does.

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Kinda forgot I had a log, haha. Will log Tuesday’s and today’s workouts after I’ve done today’s this afternoon.

Not gonna type it all out, but:

W1D1 - TUE. 08/06/2019

Same as when done on 07/24.

W1D2 - THU. 08/08/2019

Same as when done on 07/25.

Will do my 3rd one on Saturday. Will begin adding in more supersets then as well, and probably do some more activites on Sunday.

Got my class schedule finalized today. Got classes 8am-3pm, with a 12pm-1pm break on Mondays and Wednesdays, and just 9am-12pm on Fridays. Nothing on Tu/Th which is nice, leaves some days open for homework/jobs.

Have a PE class, a health class, a freshman seminar about critical thinking, Soc. 101, American Gov., and Western Civ. II (I believe covers the Renaissance through the WWI era).

None of that sounds hard at all, so should be a breeze. I will need some science classes at some point, but I was late signing up and the basics (bio, chem, etc.) were all full. Tested out of college algebra after 11th grade so I don’t think I need to take any more math classes (woo woo! haha).

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Fever of 104 and frequent vomiting today. If I really wanted to I could push through a few sets of squats and bench but I don’t really care to, haha. Will do it tomorrow.

I have my days where I post a lot, but I find myself surprised by how often others who I know/think have jobs can post on here during the day sometimes.

And an update on Breaking Bad - it’s a great show. Did get off to a slow start as I was told, but really enjoying it now.

Just rambling today ha.

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Skip the gym and let all of your body’s resources fight the illness. Hope you feel better soon!

In regards to being on here all the time - I have the forum page on my home screen for my phone. I browse through here in they morning and then it’s a steady back and forth with people throughout the day. If I have notifications then I clear them and respond.

I probably spend too much time on here but it’s a pretty positive experience.

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Been a while. So, this is not the triumphant return to training I’d hoped to have, but really, it’s been completely my choice and under my control so I can’t complain.

got pretty sick out of nowhere for a couple of days, then my best friend moved back from CO where he’d been working all summer and found some landscaping company needing some hands to finish a few projects up and asked me if I wanted to join. He somehow always knows of someone needing help - I don’t even realize how many landscaping, construction, etc. companies are around here, but he always is doing some work for someone. Or the odd farmer here and there. Anyway, so we’ve been doing that.

Long days, but it feels good. I worked construction for a while but have been doing a few PT jobs for the past few months and while it’s been easier, it feels good to use your body for some real work.

Some orientation stuff at school this next week. NASA (Native American Student Association) today and tomorrow, and Honors program stuff the next couple days. County fair is this week too and that’s pretty much the biggest event of the summer here. Girls in pretty much nonexistent clothing and dudes who have never rode a horse wearing cowboy boots and hats they’ve “always had.” Lots of drinking, overpriced food, bad country music, and running into people you don’t want to see, but it’s tradition to go anyways.

Classes start on Monday, and I’m planning on just picking the training up back then. I think some of my friends said they would do it with me. I have little faith in that being consistent but I wouldn’t mind a training partner every once in a while. I don’t feel it enhances the training much (althought I set several bench PR’s when surrounded by girls) but it makes it more enjoyable (at least for me). I could’ve been doing it, but this is the first couple weeks I’ve had in a while to catch up with old friends and really sit down and get all the frickin paperwork figured out for school.

So be back soon!

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Update:

Trained Tuesday and today, will log later.

Started school on Monday. Went pretty well. I have 7 classes, three 3 credits, three 2 credits, and one 1 credit, totaling 16 credits.

My American Gov. teacher is hilarious and awesome, so I’m happy, because the course subject is not very interesting to me, but I think it is important for people to learn about, so having a good teacher should make it easier to be engaged.

My HPER (human performance, education, and recreation) and health classes are taught by the same woman, who recently got her doctorate in something, but started off by telling us that she did not have a syllabus for us (at least the future homework part), rather she wanted us to write short papers describing our childhood through high school experiences with sports/phys. activity, and health (writing one for each class), so she knows what we know before making a schedule. I understand what that reasoning would be, but a part of me feels it’s just her not really having a plan for the class…we’ll see. That’s how many of my high school teachers were, which I hated (I didn’t go to a very “real” high school), so I’m hoping she’s not like that.

She also couldn’t spell hospice or career, among other words,and she blamed it on not having spell-check on the white board, which is another issues many humans seem to have, so I have ammo for my slight dislike of technology, haha.

On that note, my Gov. professor teaches my freshman seminar class, titled “How to Think” and yesterday he was talking about how a big part of the human brain is designed for being aware of our location and remembering where we came from and how to get places. He gave the example of a rabbit running around a yard - even though it runs in a zig-zag pattern and will change its course at the slightest disturbance, it always know where its holes are and where to go for safety. He said scientists have found that as our dependence on GPS grows, the aforementioned part of the human brain is shrinking and growing more and more inactive.

It’s sad. To me, at least. And I mean, I use technology. I have Netflix. I get on T-Nation too often. I like Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, etc. I use a GPS rather than a map when driving to a place I’ve never been to, or when driving around a big city I’m unfamiliar with (so, pretty much every big city). I also like AC, heat, lighting, cars, TV’s, ovens, fridges…I like everything convenient about my life. It makes it so much easier. But it’s got its bad side. I think Wendler (and maybe others) said the human man has been declawed and defanged. Others have said we’re no longer in the food chain. It’s true. If civilization collapsed tomorrow, I wouldn’t know how to survive. I can maybe start a fire, and I can shoot something (I’m physically capable of it, not necessarily mentally capable of it).

I can’t guarantee the fire, I can’t skin an animal, I can’t cure meat so it doesn’t go bad without my fridge, I can’t catch a fish without a pole, I can’t make my own clothes, or even really repair the ones I have. I can find the North Star but other than that and the sun’s position have no clue how to navigate myself. I’ve lost my former ability to run for miles on end, and have never been able to swim very well. Beyond a few fist fights with people untrained in combat that I’ve been in, I doubt I’d last very long in a serious fight. Basically, I don’t think I’d make it.

So really, right now, the best thing I can do is get myself as physically prepared as I can. I don’t have any access to any type of combat or martial arts training, nor is my family a hunting/fishing/camping type, so I doubt I’ll learn that much there. The least I can do is be as strong, fast, and healthy as I can possibly be. So although that was already my goal, it’s been reinforced. This whole thought process was just fueled by listening to my prof. talk about rabbits and brains, so I’m taking things too seriously, but I want to find things that confirm my beliefs and keep me on track.

On a different topic, I had an anxiety attack on Tuesday. Or panic attack. I don’t know the exact term for it. I haven’t had one in a while. It sucked, but it’s over. I’m not sure exactly what caused it. I think I’m going to need some time to adjust to my new lifestyle and schedule. I was smart in high school, and rarely needed to study or work hard to do well. I then spent 2 years having to work, but also being able to do pretty much whatever I wanted to do. It’s different now. I have to deliver newspapers at 3 or 4 every morning. I then have class all day. I need to maintain a certain GPA to keep my scholarships. I need to do my homework and study. I need to train. I need to make time for social things and free time. I need to spend time with my family. I need to work my other job at the YMCA when scheduled, and go to a local bar a few days a week to be the janitor (side note: awesome job. Really glad I heard about it. It’s really gross - cleaning up peoples’ vomit and crap, but I can go whenever I want, do it as quick or slow as I want, it pays well, I can blast whatever music I want as loud as I want, and if the manager is there, he’ll make me wings or a burger or something. It’s convenient.).

Really, it’s not a ton. I just am not used to it. So I need to get my crap together and not be overwhelmed. I’ve done this before. I’ve been in school and had jobs before. I’m not the first person to do this, nor the last. It’s just a part of life.

I haven’t been on my medication for a few weeks. It’s an antidepressant. I thought it was helping for a while - less irritable, less mood swings, easier to fall asleep at night, but then I started feeling like all I wanted to do was sleep. I could get 8-9 hours of solid sleep, and wake up barely able to get out of bed. I would go to work and come home thinking I should train, but I just ended up taking a nap. I wasn’t even tired, I just didn’t want to do anything but sleep. It turns out one of my aunt’s is on the same meds and had been feeling the same way. I’m sure my poor diet plays a big part of my mood, but hearing she was feeling the same made me reconsider it. I need to meet with my doc and discuss it. See if there’s different options.

I do have free counseling through my school. Just learned that, and I think that’s really cool. I’ve never been a huge fan of it, but maybe I need it again. I deal with a lot of outside stress and probably don’t handle it well. I tend to shove it down. That never ends well.

Long post, but I’m just putting my thoughts out there. Got an easy week ahead - 2 classes tomorrow, 3 day weekend, 1 class Tuesday, so no big days until next Wednesday.

Will post about training tomorrow or this weekend. I had started 5/3/1 Beginner’s Prep…I don’t like it. I think it’s a good program for my goals though - getting my ass back in shape and getting ready for more volume-orientated programs, so I should probably just stick with it, but I’m not enjoying it. Maybe that’s just me being picky though.

@T3hPwnisher - if I remember correctly, in Beyond 5/3/1, Jim says FSL can be 3-5 x 5-8. Then it seems like in most templates throughout Forever, FSL is 5x5. Do you think that could still be adjusted to the 3-5 x 5-8 or did he move past that and settle with 5x5 only?

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Some of these types of people are just flat out different. It’s too bad she isn’t able to decide for herself what the goals of class should be. You’d think someone who has a doctorate would also be smart. :man_shrugging:

You don’t have to go to the wild and force yourself to survive to learn these skills. Just practice them occasionally. If you have extra time for your trip to a new place then try to figure it out on your own. Look at a map to get a reference and then go by memory. I drove from Kansas to Lake Placid, NY with a road map. It’s not difficult; we’re just spoiled.

I commend you for what you’re doing. Balance is always the key to a happy life, but sometimes you also have to be able to recognize when you’ve taken on too much. Try to adjust to your new life demands, but if you find yourself losing the battle then you might consider dropping one of your many responsibilities. Don’t let stubbornness and pride push you into a bad position.

Give it a shot if you feel the need. Good counselors can actually teach you some coping mechanisms to use on your own.

I’m an advocate of enjoying your training most of the time. Grinding through something you dislike is good for you once in a while, but now might not be the time for that. Save that sort of stuff for summer or some time when you have less demands. If you’re already stressed then you’ll probably be more likely to skip a session if you don’t like it in the first place.

Thanks for the reply, man. I like you - you seem like a cool dude. Same goes for a lot of guys on here, really, but I’d interacted with you and a few others like Flap more than most.

Haha, yeah you would.

This is an issue for me. I have a hard time ever doing anything in the middle. Same, perhaps, to your struggles with your diet. I need to be busy 24/7 always being productive, or if I don’t, I end up being a lazy slob who watches TV and procrastinates. I need to learn how to find the middle ground.

Me too. I think being able to do something you don’t enjoy is good, like work. Most people don’t love working, but we need to do it. Some people, like Pwnisher, say they hate training, but they do it, and reach incredible levels. I’m not that way, at least right now. Just like you said, if I don’t like something I am more likely to skip it.

I think I’ll end up doing Nutty’s beginner program. It’s really quite similar to Beginner Prep - continually get stronger at some big barbell lifts and supplement with bodyweight work, but there’s a little more variety. Front squats, RDL’s, DB work, etc. There’s also more variety in rep ranges - 5’s work, but they get a little boring sometimes. I think I’ll find myself more entertained and enjoyed by his program, and at least for the stage of my life I’m in right now, I think I’ll do it.

Since you created the challenge, @Frank_C , can I not change it at all?

Like, I can’t do 50 total reps of chinups in a workout. I used to - could do a couple sets of 20 no problem. But I’ve gotten fatter and weaker, haha. So if up to me, I’d probably spend some time doing easier movements, then less chinups, than 50 chinups. Something like that. What’s your take on that? My goal is to reach the point where I can do the complete program, but I need to work up to it. Is that ok, or no?

EDIT: Just saw that Nutty himself said more rows or latpulldowns will work, if chinups stay the eventual goal. So I think that answers my question.

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You can push FSL up to 5x10; it’s just a question of balancing the main work with that supplemental work. 5x5 is easy supplemental work, so it means you can push the main work hard.

The spirit of the challenge is to simply pursue one goal for the rest of the year. You could run six different templates of 5/3/1 and still meet that standard. If you think you’ll need to swap out assistance stuff after a month then so be it.

I just think we should plan the rest of the year’s training and follow through. It’s that simple - make a plan and stick to it.

Thanks @T3hPwnisher - helps clear that up. Is that mentioned somewhere? I don’t have the books in an accesible place right now but I hadn’t remembered that. Anyway, thanks.

@Frank_C - OK then, my official plan is Nutty’s beginner program. I will slightly alter the assistance movements, but since he also mentioned several times in his thread about it, that it’s really just a template and the assistance doesn’t really matter, no biggie.

Overal I will be sticking to the spirit of his program - same big lifts and double progression.

Actually looking forward to it! That’s nice.

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His newest BBB program “BBB Beefcake” makes use of 5x10 FSL, as do some of the programs in Forever, which is where he also discusses the balancing between supplemental and main work (in the first section).

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Oh, I’d never actually read that article on his website. Thanks!

Here’s my plan for the challenge thing-y we’re all doing. Doing @isdatnutty 's beginner program, with some slight alterations.

DAY 1

Deadlift - 5x3-5 (ss: Situps - 50 reps total)
Front Squat - 4x6-8 (ss: BB RDL - 4x10-12)
doing BB RDL’s so I can just use the same bar I’m using for my front squats
DB Lunges - 4x12-15 (ss: Back Ext - 4x10-15)

DAY 2

OH Press - 5x4-6 (ss: Inverted Rows - 50 total reps)
doing rows for now until I’ve gotten stronger, will switch to chinups soon
DB Incline Press - 4x8-12 (ss: Rows - 5x10-12)
Pushups - 4x15-20 (ss: Curls, Band Pull Aparts - 100 reps)

DAY 3

Back Squat - 5x6-8 (ss: Situps - 50 reps total)
DB RDL - 4x10-12 (ss: DB BSS - 4x10-12)
using DB’s so I can use them for the BSS’s right after
GHR - 4x12-15 (ss: Back Ext - 4x12-15)

DAY 4

Bench Press - 5x4-6 (ss: Inverted Rows - 50 total reps)
Lateral Raises - 4x8-12 (ss: Rows - 5x10-12)
doing lateral raises rather than another overhead movement, just for fun
Push Ups - 4xMax (ss: Curls, Face Pulls - 100 reps)

That’s it. Will probably be doing 4 days a week, unless I get busy and need to do 3 days a week. Will also be running it along with my girlfriend, so we’ll see how that goes, haha.

Starting tomorrow!

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I usually like Wendler, but his t-shirt designing, or whoever is in charge of that could use some work.

Looks like one of his newer one has literally every slogan on it: Eat, Sleep, Mate, Defend; 5/3/1; North Of Vag; Healthy Body, Sick Mind; Jim Wendler Athletic Dept…just seems like too much.

Or the one that has BBB on it, and then goes as far as to actually explain it by saying “5x10”.

I really don’t care what his t-shirts say, they’re just slightly amusing sometimes.

@Frank_C - if kids are related do they usually get the same case worker? One of my cousins lived with us March - August and now I heard some other cousins got taken out their home and I think they may have the same case worker. Is that random or do they usually work with entire families like that?

Sorry, that’s like 2 weeks old but I was just catching up on his log and noticed that.

They normally assign a case worker to the family, not just the kid. I always find it odd when one kid gets removed from the home, but others don’t. That’s usually a case where the kid is a large part of the problem (habitual runaway).

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FUCK this challenge, fuck you Nutty, and fuck me for doing this.

Holy shit, this workout kicked my ass. I really didn’t think it’d be this hard.

I did 5x5 DL’s w/ 185lbs, ss: w/ 10 situps on a GHD. That wasn’t really hard at all.

Then 4x8 front squats w/ 95lbs, ss: w/ RDL’s with same bar, same weight. The RDL’s wouldn’t have been hard but the squats before hand gassed me.

The end…man this part pushed me. 4x12 walking lunges (I couldn’t do 15, haha, and I didn’t even add any weight!) ss: w/ 15 back extensions.

Those lunges had my legs cramping up like crazy, and after the back Extensions I had pretty much collapse on the floor dreading the timer going off. My legs will be shaking uncontrollably my heart felt like it was about to pound out of my chest and I’m using the voice narrator to type this because my hands don’t want to work… This sucks but they keep it up I think the results were pretty awesome

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