Friday

Squat 215lb 2x5, 1x10
Bench 155lb 3x5
BB Row 155lb 3x5
Chin up 45lb 3x6

Squats felt good, again surprised I got that 1x10 amrap, considering it's been 4 gym days in 6 days.

hard earned 3 days off now.

grinding some mtts all weekend for the first time in a while, and actually dealing live at a tourney on monday

Wednesday

Squat 185lb 3x5
OHP 127.5lb 3x5
DL 245lb 1x10

Squat was tough. Think 4 days off was too much. Should have been up to 225lb today but didn't think I'd be able to get much better than my 185 warmup so stuck with it.

On the other hand got a PB OHP and DL went pretty well

Bought a 3ft chain for $4 to wrap through plates and around my belt for chinups
sup

Agree that squats and deads look much improved. Could get tighter on DL, but then so could I, so we'll make a pact to work on it together.

Friday

Bench 160lb 2x5, 1x9
BB Rowl 135lb 3x5
Chin up 45lb 3x5
Facepull 110lb 3x15

Gym closed early so couldn't do squats. All for the best anyway was still a bit sore lower body. Bench went well, and chin ups went good with new chain

Going to need to see some chin videos; what's your weight at these days?

Disappointed loco apparently forgot about your LC intro; hopefully he gets to it eventually.

yea I can do that.

~169lb, down from 180

The only reason I ask is that you're pulling a fair bit of weight, and I had the issue that I wasn't truly utilizing full ROM (i.e. not going all the way down on mine) either a few months back when I was a chinup monkey.

Yea tbh I know my chinups at 45lb are sloppy. I've been just kind of seeing how much weight I can do. I'll prob go down to pulling 25lb plates and start videoing them so I'm compelled to do better

I wrote it. Took 20 minutes. And then my phone ate it. Maybe Monday.

Monday

Squat 205lb 3x5
OHP 130lb 1x3, 125lb 1x5, 115 1x5
DL 265lb 1x8
Facepull 3x15

pretty good day. not surprising that I peaked with a 130lb OHP. Think I'll need a 10% reset there.

Wednesday

Squat 185lb 1x5
Bench 165lb 2x5, 1x6
BB Row 135lb 3x5
Chin Up 35lb 3x5 (proper)

Not a great day for squats. Warm ups actually felt good, but my quads Noped on me during my 185lb set which was meant to be a warmup before 225lb. After a bit of rest I wasn't even able to continue 185 for 2nd and 3rd sets and feel real ****ty about it. Not going to let it get to me though because last couple of weeks has been tough for me since my extended 4 day break. I'm not going to be back at the gym until Monday but I'll be able to get back to my MWF schedule so I'm going to reset where necessary and try to get a last push of progressing until my trip in May when I plan to start bulking again

Monday

Reset day across the board

Squat 165lb 2x5, 1x15
OHP 115lb 2x5, 1x8
DL 225lb 1x10
Facepull 110lb 3x15

felt really good. killed the amraps. set myself up so that in 3-4 weeks before my trip I should be at weights close where I was before my cut. (OHP already surpassed that so yay shoulder strength?)

Wednesday

Squat 175lb 2x5, 1x10
Bench 155lb 2x5, 1x9
BB Row 145lb 3x5
Chin up 35lb 3x5

forgot to update yesterday

Friday

Squat 185lb 2x5, 1x10
OHP 117.5lb 2x5, 1x8
DL 245lb 1x10
Facepull 110lb 3x15

pretty solid end of week day considering I was a bit sore but I powered through everything. next week will be real test as this was just beginning of resets. hopefully these amraps are helping though

Monday

Squat 195lb 2x5, 1x10
Bench 157.5lb 2x5, 1x8
BB Row 145lb 3x5
Chin up 35lb 3x5

Wednesday

Squat 200lb 2x5, 1x8
OHP 120lb 2x5, 1x8
DL 265lb 1x8
Chin up 35lb 3x5

Friday

Squat 205lb 2x5, 1x10
Bench 160lb 2x5, 1x8
BB Row 150lb 3x5
Facepull 110lb 3x15

Monday

Squat 210lb 2x5, 1x8
OHP 122.5lb 2x5, 1x8
DL 285lb 1x8
Chin up 2x5, 1x10

Ok so I need some advice

I'm going away in 2 weeks for 10 days. Will be eating a lot, drinking a bit and not going to the gym. Not a great time to be cutting.

My original plan at the beginning of the year was to cut until then, take that time off, and then start bulking again after.

Here's the thing though: I've lost almost 15 pounds since January and my lifts haven't suffered too much. I'm down to 165lb and when I began my first bulk last year around this time I was at ~155lb. Still haven't gotten rid of my belly though, and don't want to bulk with it. So obviously I'd like to continue the cut to see if I can get rid my belly entirely. Presumably if I cut down to 155-160lb and have retained a lot of muslce I should be noticeably more cut than when I started this whole thing, but I'm worried I won't notice a difference and this will all be for nothing. And even if everything goes well and after a few more months of cutting my belly is all gone and I've still maintained a lot of muslce mass, I'm going to want to bulk up to ~180 again at that same BF and who knows if that will work.

continuing cutting through the summer is convenient for me because soccer starts back up again twice a week, so I think if I go down to lifting twice a week all this activity should help pretty well. But I'm just concerned that after the summer which will be 14-15 months worth of bulking, cutting and lifting, I'll be no better off than where I started.

Thoughts?

1. Look at the pics you posted at the start of the thread
2. Look in the mirror
3. Laugh at the post you just made

tbh though, I know I was a skinny **** when I started. And yes when I flex I can see muscle definition, but I'm still skinny, and I still have a flabby belly.

I dunno maybe I just expected to have more noticeable results after more than a year, but realistically probably will have to put another year into this before I'm actually happy with my results

Wednesday

Squat 215lb 2x5, 1x7
Bench 162.5lb 2x5, 1x8
BB Row 155lb 2x5, 1x8
Face pull 110lb 3x15

Why do you train? I ask because as of right now you'll obviously achieve a better body composition by improving your lifts/BW ratio, but your program is pretty far from optimal if hypertrophy is important. Just look at EV's and Evoken's logs and you'll notice they do a **** ton more upperbody volume than you. Point being, if hypertrophy is important to you you might want to focus more on training specifically for it.

Secondly, the reality is that unless you're genetically blessed or strong as ****, must of us have to be really lean to have good ab definition. If you want a hard 6 pack you'll have to cut a lot more than you thought. However, as you know you can't spot reduce fat but having a strong core will help slightly so you might want to do a lot more ab work - planks, side planks, ab wheel rollouts, bird dogs, curl ups etc, look up Sensei's or Pummi's log I think for some good thoughts on the subject (and don't do situps). Of course doing this is good for injury prevention too.

Lastly, I think you're a bit stuck with the thought that bulking has to be done by eating at a significant surplus. How much would you have gained in strength if you bulked at half the pace? Certainly the difference is a lot less than half. Fakebusto is one who does "lean massing" aka super slow bulking and is doing really well so you might want to check his log. Going forward, if I were you I'd cut to a BW you're happy with and then when you start bulking just do it at a really slow pace. Progress will slow down but at least your gains will be lasting.

It's going to take a while to be happy with your physique. But you will be happy with your upperbody once you hit these lifts at 165lb bodyweight

250lb bench press
20 clean chins or pull-ups
Bodyweight military press
Standing ab wheel for reps

I can hit all of those at 160lbs bodyweight except the Abwheel and I look like a greek statue.

I have your lowerbody lifts though and my legs look like spongebob.

Point is bro, you got a way to go before that mirror brings a smile. I just wear long pants and shirtless I can't help but smile at the mirror and think, wow that's a sexy cat.