Looks good man. In terms of likeliness to occur by the end of next month, I would say it's pretty close to a toss-up between a 350 DL and a 300 squat (assuming you are talking about a 1RM). Bench sort of depends on how easy a set of 5 is at 175, but that sounds doable (although a bit less likely to me than the other two).

Keep it up, though, good progress --I'm not sure I could handle all that squatting after all those DL sets. How long do you rest in between work sets?

Thanks!

I'm talking about 5RM.

According to my android app, I'm already past 300 1RM for squat, and my bench is really close to 225. My 1 RM in DL still has a way to go for 350.

I take roughly 3-5 minutes in between heavy DL sets.

I'll also take 3-5 minutes between heavy squats, OHP, and bench.

For the ten sets of three, I take one minute. It's really freakin' tough when you hit sets 6-10! The sweat really starts pouring as it's kinda like heavy-ass cardio. The reps are "dynamic effort" which basically means exploding up fast while maintaining control. This time, I did okay with the bar speed, but I don't feel like I really hit my stride until about set 7. Still getting used to them, but they're fun imo.

just found your log . our lifts and size and problem with all the fat migrating to the belly are very similar. will be following and gl

Thanks!

Yeah, it took some months of lurking here before I felt like I should start a log. Maybe you will feel the same way.

Aura --

Reading back through this thread, you are missing out on another pretty good goal to shoot for in the near term: a one plate press for your work sets. I recently achieved it and it is pretty damn satisfying -- looks like you're pretty close so go get it son.

I really like your current workout. It looks like a strength based routine with a little metabolic weightlifing and a little cardio in it. Looks like something that would get you stronger and at the same time lose plenty of fat. Perfect for your body type and goals IMO.

I really think you can melt away lots of fat with this routine. How is your diet (any mayo)?? What's your daily brotein look like? Just curious.

Good job. See you in the teens bodyfat% soon.

You're absolutely right. It will be very satisfying for me since my OHP started so lolweak.

Even though I'm not far off, those little plates are not as impressive as those 45s. Then a plate and 25 on each side and then... two???

Thanks for reminding me to visualize it.

Thanks, loco.

If it interferes with the progress of my lifts, then I will adjust accordingly, but I won't ever eliminate cardio.

The DE sets are tough (but I love 'em), and the elliptical is kinda fun. I haven't put it in the log, but I always set the resistance on the elliptical on at least 7.

My diet is pretty "clean" the vast majority of the time. I rarely have mayo, and usually it's the olive oil kind. I haven't had a full soda in over ten years. I rarely eat fast food, and I've been to McD's twice in the past twelve or so years.

Since I'm trying (semi-unsuccessfully) to cut, I will take in 2,500ish cals

I eat 200ish grams of brotein a day. My macro breakdown on average is usually 20 / 40 / 40 (F/C/B)


Yeah, I am probably in the high teens or low twenties right now. I got measured in late November at 19.5% weighing 185ish. I swear I can see more of my abs now (where nearly all of my fat is stored) than I could in December. I'm stuck at 205lbs for some reason. The only logical reason I can come up with is that I'm growing more muscle which makes sense because I can see that this is definitely true.

BF% in the mid teens by the end of the summer, hopefully.

Looks really good. Keep doing what you doing. You'll see the changes soon.

One problem I see on this forum is that some people stay at the same weight and assume they either need to cut calories or increase calories. Not necessarily so. Gaining muscle and losing fat is very possible, especially for beginners. I am with you here, the fat you losing you are offsetting with the muscle you are gaining.

You want proof of this? Get a tape measure at walmart for $2.99 and start measuring your waist. The waist is key to seeing whether there is fat loss. This year my my neck has gone from 15" to 16". And my arms have increased an 1" each. Yet the craziest thing is that my waist has dropped 3" and I have lost 10 pounds! If I had not been keeping track I would have thought "Losing too much weight, must bulk bulk bulk." But not so, the increase in neck size and arm size while decreasing my waist is 100% proof that I have gained muscle while losing fat. The holy grail. Unfortunately that has now stopped. Probably just muscle memory from my college days.

But I truly believe your program and diet is good enough that the same thing is occuring to you. Keep up the good work. If you don't get the tape measure, don't worry your belt will soon tell you. And also realize there other factors. This method is not super accurate since theoretically you could be blowing up your erectors with massive deadlifting and/or your abdominals with ab work. But this method definitely much better than looking at the mirror everyday and using the weightscale.

June 24th, 2012

Fought hard against those negative thoughts that wanted force their way into my mind.

My left hammy was feeling a bit tight so I almost decided not to go to the gym at all. It was supposed to be my heavy squat day, but I decided to just do a medium-heavy day for DL, bench, and squat. Instead of 5x5 at 80ish% 1RM, I wanted to try DE sets with a bit more weight than I usually use.

Here's what I did-

DL:
1x5x45
1x5x135
1x2x185
10x2x225 (prob could have done 3 reps here)
1x13x185

This wasn't so bad. I should have done 10x3x225. Maybe I'll do some 3x5 DLs later this week. Maybe.

Bench:
1x5x45
1x3x135
1x2x155
10x2x170
1x11x155

Felt just about right.

Squat:
1x5x45
1x3x135
1x2x185
3x2x225 (****! I meant to do 3 reps for each of these sets)
8x3x225
1x11x185

I meant to do 10x3x225, but I accidentally did two for the first three sets, so I just added another set of three to even it out. This... was a grind, but I don't think I was ever close to failing a rep. I made sure to try moving my gaze slightly downward; it was fine. I will continue to do this. I tried it awhile ago, but looking straight ahead felt more comfortable to me. I think the gaze change actually helped, too. Thanks, Renton555, for reminding me of this.

No cardio!
I was toast after this one.

Oh yeah, and I weighed in at 202! < 200 lbs, here I come!

The experiment was a success imo. I'll see how recovery goes. I plan on going heavy on bench next and then heavy on squats after that. I might keep DL at medium-heavy when I do them again. Gonna let my body tell me what it can handle.

same age .lifts. bf% ,gutgoals and i also have a bad right shoulder from a car accident. will be following. i started a log if intrested in checking it out. gl

How do you know my age? The similarities are spooky. I'll follow your log, too.

Thanks!

lol idk why i thought you were same age, i just re-read your log and you didn't mention your age. are you 38? cus that would be ****ing nuts dude

any chance you could post your diet?

+1

My diet is this:

I shoot for a caloric goal. Right now it's 2,400.
Then I track my food with fatsecret for a couple weeks.
Then I tweak as necessary.
I generally don't track most of the time since I know roughly what the macros/cals are for what I eat. Every once in awhile, I'll track again to see if reality is close to my guesstimating.

What I'm concerned with are total cals and brotein. I'm pretty good at getting at least 190 grams a day.
Other than that, I don't worry about restrictions. I generally eat pretty healthy, so things (like doughnuts) are already naturally excluded since I never eat them.

What I actually eat varies depending on many factors. I like chicken for protein usually, and I should eat more veggies than I do.

June 26th, 2012

Weighed in at 200!

Felt okay. Still fighting the negativity in my brain. Sometimes it helps to get a bit pissed off. I went heavy on bench and light (for volume) on squat. My right hammy was tight; I'm sure it's due to compensating for my left one last time.

Bench:
1x5x45
1x3x135
1x2x155
3x5x185 (pr)
1x9x165

That was heavy. It's a pr because I did 190 once, but it was with a bro spotting me and was only one set. The pushups, overall volume, and incline dumbbell presses seem to help.

Squat:
1x5x45
1x3x135
10x5x205
1x13x185

Sweated my ass off here. The reps for the 10x5 weren't exactly DE reps, but I rested for one minute in between sets. Gassed at the end of those! Damn, I forgot the heavy unracks again today.

Time to work on dem gunz-

Biceps cable rope curlz:
1x5x15
1x3x30
1x3x50
3x5x57.5
1x7x50

My bicepts are weak... like a little girl's bicepts.

Triceps pushdowns - rope:
1x5x15
1x3x35
1x3x65
1x5x72.5
1x13x57.5

Tired but felt okay.

No cardio!

Good day overall. Gonna see if I can go heavy on skwats next time.

what program are you on? That's a ton of squatting for 1 session.

I made up my own. It's based on volume for light days and 3x5 for heavy days. A general description is in the OP; I've slightly modified it since then. My medium days can be 5x5 or 10x5 depending on how I feel. Obv I'll go lighter in weight on the 10x5s.

Yeah, I know it's a ton of sets/reps, but it seems to be working, and I do go heavy every week. As long as my lifts increase, I'm gonna keep using (and modifying when necessary) this program. I like it very much. It's fun and challenging for me.

That seems to be half the battle to training: having "fun" and staying motivated to go workout 3x per week. GL, I'll be following your progress.

June 28th

Bleh.

lolvolume + sore lower back + sore hammys + not eating = epic fail.

Weighed in at 200.

Feast your eyes on this-

Squat:
1x5x45
1x3x135
1x2x185
1x2x225
1x3x275 (failed 5 reps)
1x0x165
1x0x235
1x5x185

What a cluster****. Did amrap on last set and could only do 5. I knew it was gonna be bad when my warmups at 185 & 225 felt heavy. My lower back was pissed off at me for doing so much volume with DLs on Tuesday.

OHP:
1x5x45
1x3x95
1x2x115
1x5x130
1x5x115

-sigh- Not good. Last set was amrap again, and I could only put up 5.

Incline bench dumbbell press:
1x5x15
1x5x35
1x12x45
2x13x45

Meh. Was just looking to get 'em in.

Backwards tire pull (small):
4x4
1x5

There are three tires. I used the smallest one for this. I ran backwards as fast as I could. The first number is sets; the second number is laps. A lap is the length of a basketball court.

Okay, so today's workout sucked. I am probably going to skip my next session to recover. I also averaged about 2,000 total cals and 160 grams of protein this week. I pushed it in too many spots and got crushed for it.


Gonna make some adjustments and learn from this.

July 3rd

Okay. I'm back after skipping a session. Was unsure about how it would turn out, but I soon found out.

Squats:
1x5x45
1x3x135
1x2x205
2x5x240
1x7x240
1x13x185

Felt light, but I didn't go nuts on volume.

Bench:
1x5x45
1x3x135
1x2x155
3x5x190 (pr)
1x7x170

These actually felt okay. Just the right weight imo.

Incline dumbbell bench:
1x5x25
1x3x40
1x2x55
1x3x70
1x4x65
1x9x50

Not bad. 70 felt heavy as ****, so I dropped to 65. I like having these in the mix.


4x1 lap with medium tire. Pulled backwards with 1 minute rest in between laps. This was brutal in the sweltering afternoon heat.


Standing calf raises (machine):
1x5x70
1x2x130
10x2x190
1x13x160

Just felt like it. :-/

Overall, a pretty good day. Squats felt good, and I got a pr in bench. My right hammy is pissed at me, so I will have to see what's up next time. I won't push too hard. I've also been eating a bit more. Weighed in at 201 today. That's fine. My weight loss can be very slow- as long as I don't gain a bunch of pounds. OHP and light squats next time.

July 6th

Took an extra day off. I'm really trying to recover enough and not overdo things at the gym. Looking for that happy medium.

Weighed in at 202.

Deadlifts:
1x5x45
1x4x135
1x2x185
1x2x225
1x5x275
1x5x225

Felt good. Used a mixed grip for the last two sets. My pr is 285. Gonna try to break that this month.

OHP:
1x5x45
1x3x85
1x2x115
1x4x135
1x5x115
1x9x95

Yeah. 135 was heavy and intimidating. At least I put it up a few times. Hope to do better next week.

Squats:
1x5x45
1x3x135
1x2x185
1x5x230
1x5x205

Still adjusting to the gaze shift I made a couple weeks ago. Coulda done more sets, but I was feeling brotesque, so I decided to do curlz in the power cage.

Barbell bicept curlz:
1x5x45
1x5x65
1x5x70
3x5x55

Kinda felt weird as it was one of the few times that the power cage/squat rack area was getting busy.

Rope pushdown- triceps:
1x5x20
1x3x42.5
1x2x65
1x5x72.5
3x9x50

72.5 was tough.

3 laps backwards medium tire. 4 laps running forward dragging the small tire.

It was hot as **** outside today!

Pretty good day. Deadlifts were solid; OHP was tough but I finally put up a plate a few times. Gonna go back in two or three days. It'll depend on how I feel in two days. I believe that if I had gone yesterday, my session would have been worse than it was today. Eating well... roasted a chicken today. om nom nom nom nom.

July 8th

I felt rested enough to go today.

Squat:
1x5x45
1x3x135
2x9x215
1x13x215
1x13x185

unrack/rack 1x3x315

Not bad. No issues with the squats. My form is getting better; it's almost there. Finally remembered to do the heavy unrack/racks. Damn, that felt heavy.

Bench:
1x5x45
1x3x135
1x2x155
10x2x175
1x13x155

Felt good, but my DE reps should have been faster.

Incline dumbbell bench press:
1x5x25
1x3x35
3x9x45

These are kinda fun. I always add a twist at the top. Lotsa room for growth with this exercise.


4 laps x 3 sets forward running tire pull. I don't think I was close to passing out, but I did feel dizzy a couple times. The heat was brutal.



Solid day. The tire pulls are > the elliptical imo.

July 10th

Felt pretty good today. No issues with my hammies or anything else. Weighed in at 202.

Squat:
1x5x45
1x3x185
1x2x225
3x5x250
1x9x185

No problems. Some dude was power cleaning 205 next to me. I complimented his pcs, and he told me my squat form is solid. He also said my stance might be a bit narrow; the funny thing is that my stance is usually wider. I need to be more aware of this when I'm unracking.

OHP:
1x5x45
1x3x75
1x2x115
2x3x135
1x9x95

Well... yeah. 135 is still heavy. It's okay as long as I keep progressing. This is by far my worst major lift.

BB bicep curlz:
1x5x45
1x3x55
3x5x70
1x13x55

Aw yeah.

Triceps rope pushdown:
1x5x25
1x3x50
3x5x72.5
1x15x50

Tough but not too hard.


Running forward small tire pull: 4 laps x 3. Hoo boy!

Treadmill: 5 minutes / .32 miles / 31 cals. This was basically a cool down.


Everything felt good. My body shape is definitely changing. It's pretty cool to see the muscles grow and the gut slowly disappear. I still want to get to 195 lbs eventually.