Really awesome work in here OP. Your consistency (on diet and the workouts) is very impressive. Throw in a busy job and family and you should be really proud of the work you're doing. Keep it up as you transition to a new program!

FWIW, I've really enjoyed doing SS as a beginner. Another advantage to doing a popular program is that there are lots of others with experience in that program who can help. Although if you have personal access to an Olympic lifter, I guess that's tough to beat. I'm sure whatever you choose will be fun, since it will all be so new and you'll see progress.

You really can't go wrong if you just follow this.

Curious what program you choose (and why) and how you set up your eventual gym, so hopefully you'll share all those thoughts here in your log. Also, where'd you pick up your row machine (sorry if that was already mentioned and I missed it)?

Thanks! I am very pleased that I have been able to maintain a regular exercise schedule throughout crazy busy times at work. Lots of 11pm dinners due to late workouts but it has been working for me so far.


You have been killing SS. Posting pretty wicked numbers.

The trainer had some interesting things to say about Olympic lifting. He has had some really strong powerlifter's come to him for training on Olympic lifts that were complete trainwrecks despite their raw strength. He thinks that some of the Olympic lifts are lifelong pursuits of technique. I forget the exact parameters but he said he wouldn't try to train anyone in Olympic lifts until they were able to press and squat certain amounts very controlled for fear of injury. With your numbers you would be good to go.


It will either be SS due to longstanding influence of this forum or trainerdude's program. As long as I can remember reading in here, SS has always be held in very high regard and I have always figured that would be my starting point. I also figured I would switch fairly quickly to GSLP. This trainer though does have me wavering on that though. He doesn't think SS is a bad program at all but he does think it is designed for sales and is geared towards a younger less patient demographic. I dunno. A program without deadlifts though? At any rate, as you kind of alluded to in your log I won't really be doing the SS program as I won't be getting the requisite amount of food or sleep.

The rowing machine just came from Amazon when it was on a slight sale.

The gym is going to be one of everything that Rogue Fitness carries.

May 18 - 150.3 lbs

16 mins mobility work and stretching.

Rower - 2000m, 8:17.2

2107 cal/223 carb/52 fat/199 protein/64 fibre

The home gym is going to be spread out across a few different rooms in our house and really cramped compared to your huge garage space.

I plan to build an 8’x8’ platform in the garage with a couple layers of plywood and topping it off with ¾” stall mats. So kind of the ghetto version of what HalfSlant did with his recently (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...postcount=2251). I am getting a ghetto version rack compared to his too.

The planned list of goodies is:
- 30” bolt together R3 rack plus Matador for dips, extra set of J-cups, couple single bar holders, plate storage pins and extra single pull up bar
- 260lb set of Rogue Echo Bumper Plates (Color if they are in stock at the time of ordering, black if not)
- Change plates and fractional plates
- Rogue Flat Utility Bench 2.0
- Rogue Chan Bar for me and a Bella 2.0 bar for her
- OSO Mini Bar and Rogue Infinity Kids Pullup bar to maximize conspicuous consumption
- GH-1 Abram GHD
- Flat pack games box
- 20lb slam ball
- Dip belt
- Spud Inc Neck Harness (just to honor kidcolin really as he will hate 85% of this list, this will never actually get used)
- Spud Inc Econo Tricep and Lat Pully
- Rogue Neutral Grips
- Grip Strap and Carabiner Set, HG Collars, Abmat, Rogue Infinity Shackle
- 44lb and 53lb Kettlebells

This will round out the bit of stuff we have already:
- Some light dumbbells
- Kettlebells up to 35lbs
- FID bench with leg extension/curl
- C2 Rower
- Elliptical
- Ab roller wheel
- Skipping ropes
- Swimming pool with swim jets

Elliptical is in the basement pretty much on its own. The rower, FID bench and dumbbells are in a sunroom and the GHD may end up in there as well. The rack and weights will end up in the garage and the kettlebells will end up all over the place. We have mats in our living room for a kids play area that gets used a lot by us for exercise as well – kettlebells, circuit training stuff, rope jumping, stretching, etc. Planning to mount a pullup bar or hang rings out near the pool somewhere and keep some mats handy for stretching, kettlebells and whatever as we expect to spend a lot of time out there with the kids this summer.

to the homegym plan.

One minor thing about plates:

If I were to re-purchase plates for my homegym, I'd probably only get one pair of 20 kg (or 45 lb for the metrically challenged) 460mm diameter bumpers and the rest would be 'standard' plates of 450mm diameter with holes of some sort for gripping.

I have 2 pairs of 20 kg bumpers and one pair of 10 kg bumpers but they're mostly collecting dust / never get used, other than one pair of the 20's for deadlifting.

And the reason why they never get used is convenience; loading a deadlift bar is a breeze when the 1st plates to go onto the bar are slightly larger in diameter than the rest to follow.
Plus holes for gripping makes handling plates so much easier, especially when operating with just one hand.

Also, for purely personal reasons I hope you continue your work with the coach...too many SS/GSLP logs.
And IMO it won't matter 12 or 24 months from now whether you started with SS or anything else non-******ed.
Ultimately "Don’t get injured and keep adding weight or sets/reps" is all that matters.

I'll have to keep an eye out for some 460mm bumpers, I can see how that would be convenient. We do have some rubber coated weight plates around which I suspect are smaller diameter than 450mm that could work too but I don't think we have much weight right now.

I'll count you as a vote for Coach Program. It won't take much to push me one way or the other.

May 19 – 150.9 lbs

Mobility work and stretching done between exercises.

Alternated between pushups and squats:
Pushups target– 18/22/16/16/25+ (repeat)
Pushups done – 18/22/16/16/25

Goblet Squats (16kg KB) – 20/20/19/19/19

Alternated between pullups and single leg rdl’s:
Pullups target – 5/8/5/5/8+ (repeat)
Pullups done – 5/8/5/5/8 (used a different grip for each set, pullup/chin/neutral)
Barely completed last rep of last set and had to use more than a little body English to get there.

Single leg rdl’s (2x12kg KB) – 2x 10/10/9/9/9

2141 cal/194 carb/71 fat/201 protein/61 fibre

Sounds like a sweet gym plan. Can't wait for pics.

And if you're taking votes, count me in for Coach Program, for exact reasons as Pummi. Really curious how that training would go.

May 20 – 151.4 lbs

Pressure washed new shed and fences to get things ready for staining. By the time all of that was done and I picked up stain it was past 10pm.
Decided to just do a light 20 minutes on the rower. Pussed out after 10.
Rower – 10min, 2175m
Decided to swim for 10 min to make up for that puss out and pussed out after 5.

2322 cal/201 carb/73 fat/197 protein/51 fibre

May 21 – 149.8 lbs

Pretty much worked in the backyard from 6:30am until 9:30pm. Lots of sanding, wiping, taping and staining. My little helpers chipped in for a solid 30 seconds of sanding each plus a bit of help with the staining. We did work in a nice 1.5 hour splash break. I was up and down ladders all day with lots of crouching and squatting. Was bagged by the end but after my previous puss out session and knowing that Sunday and Monday weren’t going to be much better I squeezed in a little workout.

I switched up my regular bodyweight+ workout a bit to line up a bit better with weights program.

Squats – 16kg, 3 x 20
Pushups – 3x 20
Kettlebell Bent Over Row – 16kg, 2x 3 x 10
Alternating Kettlebell Press – 12kg, 2x 6/5/5
Chinups – 8/7/6
KB Single Leg RDL’s – 12kg, 2x 3 x 10
Was going to add a 7th exercise, either KB Swings or Hyperextensions but I was absolutely wiped, so next time.

2249 cal/187 carb/66 fat/212 protein/31 fibre

And now off to spend the day staining. Which beats the **** out of sanding at least.

I can notice some progress comparing before and after photos...

Definitly stomach is Your biggest problem...

Can You post Your daily meal?

Thanks, I'll be sure to post some. Setting that gym up looks like it will likely get pushed into June at the rate I'm going. Vote logged!

Gut is definitely the largest problem. Lack of any muscle is close behind. My stomach would be about right if I just added 50 or 60 pounds of muscle. Started at about 38 inches around the belly button and still at 34.5 inches.

+1

A typical day looks something like this:
Breakfast:
1.25 cup Kashi GoLean Original Cereal (8g sugar which is about as low as I can find for super quick easy cereal option)
1 cup 2% milk
1 scoop protein powder
1 coffee with ½ a cream and ½ a sugar

= 396 cal, 51 carb, 5 fat, 39 protein, 13 fiber

Mid-morning snack (this is a typical breakfast if the above does not happen):
Quest bar

= 210 cal, 21 carb, 8 fat, 21 protein, 17 fiber

Lunch:
Sandwich with ~100g of roast beef/pork mesquite/turkey and ~25g of cheese with either mustard or dijon mustard (sandwich sometimes replaced with a spinach or kale salad with berries, nuts and ~150g of chicken breast)
Handful of carrots and/or sugar snap peas and/or broccoli (sometimes pushed until mid-afternoon)

= 568 cal, 55 carb, 19 fat, 44 protein, 11 fiber (105g roast beef and 30g cheese, 135g carrots option)

Late afternoon snack:
~175g 2% greek yogurt
1 scoop protein
~70g blueberries and/or blackberries and/or raspberries
1 coffee with ½ a cream and ½ a sugar
Sometimes some nuts and/or beef jerky as well, depending on how macros are looking for the day so far

= 371 cal, 37 carb, 7 fat, 39 protein, 2 fiber (182g yogurt, 56g blueberries option)

Dinner:
Often steak lately or chicken (usually thighs recently) or pork or salmon or other fish, plus sweet potato/potato or rice, plus salad with berries of some sort. I often just top up my plate depending on how macros were looking for the day. Been eating pretty late 10pm – 11pm so usually no room to do any snacking afterwards. Often a protein shake after working out, immediately before dinner as well.

= 660 cal, 56 carb, 20 fat, 59 protein, 3 fiber (6.5oz rib eye steak, 138g rice, 52g harvest kale mix salad, 39g blueberries)

== 2223 cal, 220 carb, 62g fat, 202 protein, 46 fiber

Obviously that will vary a bit from day to day and this example looks a bit high on protein and carbs and a little low on fat compared to average but this is pretty close to my norm. The average over the past 3 weeks has actually been 2200 cal, 191 carb, 71 fat, 187 protein, 43 fiber.

May 22 – 149.6 lbs

Another day up and down ladders staining from 8am until 10pm. Last bit was done in the dark and looked quite a bit the next day like it was done in the dark.
Only thing resembling exercise was a 1 hour break in the pool to play with the kids. Didn’t really give any serious consideration to trying to fit in some cardio.

2187 cal/137 carb/86 fat/184 protein/21 fibre

May 23 – 148.2 lbs

The run up and down ladders all day diet program is working well. Been trying to stabilize weight at ~150 but apparently not eating enough for activity level lately or just sweating out water. Another full day of staining, started at a much more reasonable 10am but went until 10pm and didn’t get a splash break with the kids. Again didn’t give any consideration to fitting in some cardio. One of these past two days was meant to be a rest day. Not the most restful long weekend but it was pretty productive. Back yard should be completed sometime within the next month. Garage gym hopefully falls in the same timeline.

2494 cal/170 carb/88 fat/190 protein/29 fibre – cal uptick compliments of Muskoka Brewery Mad Tom IPA. I should have had a dozen or more of these over the weekend. Saved just one for the end.

May 24 – 148.6 lbs

12 mins mobility work and stretching.

Went for another session with the CoachTrainerDude. One more session next week and then he is out of commission for at least 3 weeks following knee surgery. He plans to squat 300lbs x 10 or 20 on the eve of his surgery.

Squats – bw x 13, 45lbs x 9, 70lbs x 20
Bench – 60lbs x 10 x 3
Bent over row – 55lbs x 10 x 3
OHP – 50lbs x 10 x 3
Chin ups – 9/8/7
Dips – 8/7/6
Curls – 50lbs x 10 x 3

2366 cal/205 carb/78 fat/210 protein/54 fibre

May 25 – 148.3 lbs

Obviously haven’t sorted out my energy expenditure and cal intake yet. I am eating more, doing less cardio and losing weight still. I have been unusually active around the house lately which is the only difference I can point to. I’ll just keep slowly increasing food intake until I find maintenance and resist the urge for now to top off with a few beers at the end of each day. I have been topping off with cottage cheese and almond butter lately. Weird.

Got started on cleaning up a spot in the garage for a home gym. I can now see part of the floor where the rack is supposed to go. I will need to find a home in the shed for bicycles that are currently taking up space in the garage. The shed got moved last fall as part of the backyard project which is still ongoing and is a complete disaster. That phase will take some time.

Cardio - Did 10 - 15 minutes of swimming mixed in with 45 minutes of playing with the kids in the pool. My swimming endurance is garbage. Very frequent rests required.

2365 cal/204 carb/89 fat/195 protein/45 fibre

May 26 – 148.0 lbs

Mobility work and stretching done between exercises.

Goblet Squats – 16kg – 21/20/20
Pushups – 21/20/20
Kettlebell Bent Over Row – 16kg – 11/10/10 x2
Alternating Kettlebell Press – 12kg – 7/7/6 x2
Chinups – 9/8/7
KB Single Leg RDL’s – 2x16kg – 8/8/8 x2

2398 cal/198 carb/82 fat/208 protein/44 fibre

May 27 – 149.4 lbs

Too hot out to deal with cleaning out the shed this weekend, so bypassed that step and just jammed the bicycles in the house to make room in the garage for the home gym. Made some good progress on getting the garage cleaned up and ready.

Semi-Cardio – 10 mins swimming

2223 cal/201 carb/71 fat/206 protein/50 fibre

May 28 – 148.8 lbs

Got up just after 6am to pick up plywood and horse stall mats for a weight platform. Got the plywood shimmed and screwed together after spending several hours putting together outdoor patio furniture.

Semi-Cardio – 10 mins swimming

2332 cal/140 carb/117 fat/168 protein/48 fibre – ate out for dinner, lots of guessing


May 29 – 147.6 lbs

Got up just after 6am again today and went straight to work cutting the third horse stall mat into two 4 x 2’ pieces to finish the platform. Screwed all three layers together around the perimeter of the horse stall mats and finished cleaning up the garage. All set to order the equipment now.

Mobility work and stretching done between exercises.
Goblet Squats – 16kg – 21/21/20
Pushups – 21/21/20
Kettlebell Bent Over Row – 16kg – 2x – 11/11/10
Alternating Kettlebell Press – 12kg – 2x – 8/7/6
Chinups – 9/8/8
KB Single Leg RDL’s – 2x16kg – 2x – 9/8/8

2535 cal/215 carb/80 fat/252 protein/57 fibre

Partial set up pics. The platform takes up a good chunk of the garage, so it looks like the garage will be used for weightlifting only. I thought the GHD might fit as well but it appears not.
Platform pics:


I think the rower, GHD and FID bench with leg attachment will end up in the sunroom. Exterior shot of recently stained sunroom and lots of unfinished work still to go:



Couple pool shots again with lots of unfinished work still to go in the background:


Pool Swim Jets:


Not quite powerful enough for a good swimmer. I am not a strong swimmer and they are just on the edge of useless if doing the crawl, does the trick for breast stroke for me though. Excellent for blowing really young weak swimmers to the deep end to meet their demise. Kids love them.

May 30 – 147.5 lbs

Rower – 5000m, 22:33.3

2653 cal/223 carb/85 fat/252 protein/50 fibre

The house is looking awesome!

Thanks! The backyard is coming along nicely. We are over one year now into what started out as a foundation waterproofing project.

May 31 – 147.9 lbs

20 mins mobility work and stretching.

Went for a final session with CoachTrainerDude. The order for the home gym equipment has been placed.

Squats – bw x 10, 45lbs x 10, 75lbs x 20
Bench – 45lbs x 7, 65lbs x 10 x 3 sets
Bent over rows – 45lbs x 8, 65lbs x 10 x 3 sets
OHP – 55lbs x 10 x 3 sets
Chin ups – 10/8/8
Dips – 10/8/7
Curls – 55lbs x 10 x 3 sets

2536 cal/252 carb/73 fat/222 protein/49 fibre

Pretty stoked to see the finished product. All of the other renovations look pretty sick too.

Grunching but Platform looks nice. A lot like the blocks I use for Sumo pulls.

Some things I learned: having a soft cushion-y gym flooring for dropping dbs is great but they do develop a lot of unevenness. I dont know if you will be using any.

Have more than one oly bar. I really need to get one more. It really helps reduce unnecessary setup times and effort.

This depends on footwear I guess but I find the carpets like Aidan has to be perfect for gripping the floor with your feet. I have one next to my cable pulling station and the carpet provides a lot of stability and is aesthetically the most pleasing thing in my gym.

Pool shots look great