Cut is continuing to go well. For whatever reason, I put on some weight over the last week, but I cut a little over 3 pounds the week before, so it still averages out to slightly over -1lb/week, which is what I'm shooting for. I'm hoping to hit my goal of 195 after the next 4 weeks.
Press
5x95
5x105
8x120 Last Cycle: 7 Reps, Difference: +1
These felt good. Focused on not letting the bar travel forward and it helped me keep a rigid core. If I continue outperforming last cycle I may be able to bump my press up again.
Chinups
51 reps across 8 sets.
After seeing some quick gains in chins, I haven't made any progress in a month or two.
These felt good. My balance was a little off at first, but I recovered. The bigger problem is that a few cycles ago I busted out 11x186. I'm probably losing some strength, but I think my form needs to improve as well. I really need to rewatch SYTYCB (I've said this like 3 times in my log, and haven't done it yet). The one silver lining is that I'm also 15+ pounds lighter than I was when I did 11x186
Pullups
51 reps across 9 sets.
I'm basically as strong at pullups as I am chins. Isn't that crazy abnormal?
I had my first climbing lesson bright and early this morning. I got like 4 hours of sleep after drinking about a liter of whiskey last night, but I felt good.
The class is designed for 6 people but I was the only person signed up, so I got a nice 3-hour private lesson from this cute instructor.
We spent about an hour going over the basics - how to tie knots, how to belay, the verbal commands, etc. When it came time to climb, I tackled a few 5.6's without a problem.
I decided I'd keep pushing myself to go on more difficult routes until I stalled out (hmm, this sounds alot like SS's first workout). I was able to scale a 5.7 nice and easy, and the 5.8 wasn't that challenging either.
The 5.9 I tried was truly humbling. I could barely get 15 feet up the wall because the holds were real small and slippery and I couldn't figure out a way to get my feet in the correct positions without losing my center of gravity. My technique definitely sucks and I think I was able to get through the 5.8 just on pure strength.
After about 10 attempts I called it quits on the 5.9 and decided to try some bouldering. I completed a V0 on my first attempt, and made a few attempts at a V1 but was unsuccessful. At this point my 3 hours was almost up and I was getting pretty tired, so I called it a day. I think I'm definitely a bigger fan of bouldering than top rope climbing. It's much more strength based and I can do it solo - two things that my powerlifting background really carries over to.
I don't have any friends to pair up with and do top rope climbing with, but I ran into some dude at the climbing facility that I know from my gym (we've basically just exchanged some 'sup bro?'s a few times). Next time I see him I'll prob shoot the **** a little bit and see if he'd be interested in doing some climbs together.
For my first experience, I had a ton of fun. I'll need to take a belay test sometime in the near future so that I can climb without instructors, but I hope to make this a new weekly activity.
Press
3x100
3x115
7x130 Last Cycle: 7 Reps, Difference: 0
Felt good.
Chinups
54 reps across 8 sets.
+3 from last week. Nice little bump.
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I'm starting to deal with some tendonitis/golfer's elbow in my right elbow. There's actually bruising on the outside of it this time. I definitely strained it a little bit from rock climbing, but hopefully this won't be as much of an obstacle as it was months ago when I was doing vigorous SS workouts 3x a week.
I was able to do the 3x315 double overhand w/o chalk, which is pretty cool. Overall these felt great from the start. I was able to use the belt to get super tight on my 355 set. I'm happy that I progressed my deads.
I cut my thumb slicing some onions the morning before this workout and it made gripping anything pretty difficult and blood was actually dripping from the cut when I squeezed my hand (had a bandaid on obv). I think it impacted my performance.
Bench Day - C7W2. 08-09-2013
Bench
3x155
3x176
5x196 Last Cyle: 6 Reps, Difference: -1
Not bad. Seems like my bench is slowly getting weaker. I'm not too worried though and won't be adjusting my training max until I actually fail to get the minimum reps.
Pullups
51 reps across 8 sets.
Showed some great improvement here, despite the thumb issue. Previous PR was 51/9
Kroc Rows
16x100 (per hand)
My performance here was poor. I can think of two reasons why:
1) I did all 51 pullups before a single Kroc. Usually I mix in the Krocs after about 30 pullups or so.
2) My thumb definitely affected my grip. My bandaid also fell off mid-set and became a distraction.
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The base of my thumb - mainly the outside, not the palm side - is in bad pain today. I'm pretty confident that I must have strained some muscles or ligaments in there. I probably put it in a bad position by subconsciously altering my grips so that I wouldn't aggravate the cut on my thumb. Hopefully this heals quick.
Still making good progress on the cut. I'm very close to my (new) goal of 195lbs. Abs are starting to come in a little bit and you can actually see my muscles. I'm starting to get a bunch of compliments from friends/family who I haven't seen in awhile, and my confidence has been skyrocketing. I've been more successful at pretty much all aspects of my life. I can't believe I lived as a fatty for so long .
I'm not yet satisfied though. I'm going to try to cut down to 185lbs, then finally start bulking again. Should take me about 6-7 more weeks to hit 185.
Press
5x95
5x105
7x120 Last Cycle: 8 Reps, Difference: -1
These felt good. Two cycles ago I also only hit 7 reps so I'm not too worried about the drop-off, I just ran a little hot last month. I didn't lose stability in my back this time.
Chinups
7x8xbw
56 reps is a new PR, and ties me with my pullup record. I'm still alternating between 4 grips - neutral, normal, wide, close
Deadlift
5x255
5x296
6x335 Last Cycle: 7 reps, Difference: -1
Hate to see my deads drop. My form never felt that great from the get go. It felt awkward getting into a solid pulling position with an extended back. I'll chalk it up to a bad day.
Got in a rare early morning workout today. I'm flying to Chicago tomorrow morning and don't feel like doing squats at 6AM. Therefore, I did bench this morning and will be doing squats tonight. Gonna be a tough day.
Bench Day - C8W1. 08-29-2013
Bench
5x140
5x165
7x186 Last Cycle: 7 reps, Difference: 0
Feeling good, although my left shoulder started getting a little sore. I'm glad that I matched last cycle's performance because my bench had been slowly dropping.
Pullups
8x7xbw
Same as last week. I didn't really push myself.
I cut my assistance short today (no Krocs) because I was in a rush and also wanted to save some energy for squats later.
Given my condition this workout went great. I had already put in a bench session earlier in the day, helped my friend move a heavy foosball table, had a later-than-normal workout on a hungry stomach, and had a gimpy hamstring after walking 5 miles yesterday.
Squat Day - C8W1. 08-30-2013
Squat
5x245
5x286
7x320 Last Cycle: 7 Reps, Difference: 0
The WIM was strong here. I almost fell down after my 6th rep, but was able to catch my balance, get my feet positioned correctly again, and squat a 7th rep. A true grind
Spent labor day weekend in Chicago. I got really drunk every night, stayed up really late (5AM), got very little sleep, and ate really ****ty food. I expected to do poorly in the gym today and I did.
Press Day - C8W2. 09-03-2013
Press
3x100
3x115
5x130 Last Cycle: 7 Reps, Difference: -2
This is what I get for treating my body like **** over the weekend. It's cool though, gotta have some fun every now and then.
Chinups
1x8xbw
7x7xbw
This is +1 more rep than last week. I'm going to try to build to 8x8xbw
Bench
3x155
3x176
4x196 Last Cyle: 5 Reps, Difference: -1
****! Bench keeps slowly dropping. However in terms of percentage of bodyweight, I'm not getting weaker. Hopefully I won't need to drop the weights before my cut ends.
Pullups
2x8xbw
5x7xbw
1x8xbw
3 more reps than last weeks. My chins/pull-ups continue to show strong improvement.
Thoughts on your back during the pull? Looks a little rounded on reps 3 and 4 but not in the lumbar area. My back looks very similar during the pull fwiw.