July 19
7.5 hours
158lb
2500cal

Didn't manage to fit in a workout today, I'm slacking

July 20
7 hours
158 lb (first day where I haven't gained a pound )
2800cal

Bench
2x5x117.5
1x8x117.5
I'll attribute this to the shoes

Pullups 1x4, 1x3
Chinups 1x4
Struggling to make progress here

OLLP 3x10x140

Squat
2x5x105 paused
1x10x105
Shoes definitely were a huge help here, but still feels like my form is pure crap. I'll try to get a video up next time.

Calf raises/negatives

I'm not sure why you're eating to gain weight given you (at least indirectly) stated fat loss as a goal. At your stage, you'll probably gain quite a bit of strength as you lean out.

You'll have better progress on pullups if you do more sets of them. If your body is too heavy to be able to rack up some volume (seems so if you can only do 3x4 or whatever), then perhaps you should do some extra sets of lat pulldowns or rows in a higher rep range after you've done your pullup work for the day.

I don't think I've stated that fat loss is a goal. I'm sort of ambivalent about total weight, I think I could justifiably lose some, maintain, or gain some. I think my optimal long term weight is around 170, but the current plan is to get up to around 165 and hit some (arbitrary) strength goal then work on cutting down BF% on a deficit. It seems like all beginner programming strongly encourage weight gain.

I definitely need to up the volume, I'm not capable to the intensity of super heavy loads yet (obv with pull-ups there's a min) so some of my workouts end up being a bit weak. I like the idea of barbell rows, I need to replace the bridge anyways as an accessory - don't really have the equipment for it.

July 21
7 hours
2800cal

July 22
8 hours
159lb

OHP
2x5x87.5
1x7x87.5

DL
1x7x235
2x3x235
1x5x185
1x10x135 P
Went to another gym with proper plates, felt good. Trying to add some volume here, since DL is really the biggest lift I'm doing currently, I feel like I"ve been doing it far too little (basically 3 worksets every 2 weeks)

Curls 5x10x45
OL squat 4x5x20
Same idea here, adding a bit of volume. I haven't really added to weight on my accessories, so this seems like a good change and helps feel more fatigued

I'll probably drop the one leg squat soon, now that I'm doing the leg press and squat on the other day, its a bit of overkill, need an idea for a replacement. My knee has been bothering me a bit lately. My routine has unfortunately gotten a bit upper body heavy lately, really I want to be more focused on lower body though.

July 22 - 1800 cal

July 23
8 hours
157 lb
1200cal

Played football, had a double header with zero subs. Completely exhausted by the end. Did have a couple fun screens that I managed to dance the length of the field but we weren't really competitive.

Took an ice bath afterwards, haven't done that before but was actually quite nice. Forgot to eat.

Meal prepped 9 meals, going to amortize those calories over the week. Did not realize just how many calories were in olive oil! A bit over 900cal per meal



July 24
7 hours
2600cal

July 25
8 hours
156lb
3200cal

Still really sore from football

Squat
1x5x115
1x5x115 P
1x10x115
Felt like my back is doing too much of the work here



Bench
2x5x120
1x6x120
Harder than I expected

Pullups 2x5
Chinups 1x5 1x4

Barbell rows 4x10x45

I think weight gain for beginners is overrated and overprescribed. Sure, if you fit Rippetoe's broad brush archetype of underweight 18-year-old athletic male, but you don't.

Whatever you do, whether bulk, maintain, or cut, I'd work on making your diet more consistent. If you're over 20% body fat, you could probably train on a slight deficit and lose fat while gaining muscle for a few months. If you want to eat a surplus, I'd make it a small one and still aim for consistency day to day.

As to your optimal weight, you just don't know and can't know at this point. But it's probably lower than you think. Most people underestimate how fat they are and how much muscle they could carry as an early intermediate lifter.

Maybe a bit on the last ones but looks pretty good to me

+1 renton. I just tried to eat at a small surplus and then if I was stalling on weights bump up my food intake a bit. I had several of these bumps. I need to do it again ****, but I'm scared.

I agree that I'm mostly just spitballing, I don't think choosing to go in either direction really matters. I've been within a 10lb range for 95% of my adult life, so not expecting any drastic changes. Like you said mostly focused on consistency.

scared of what, getting fat? Seems pretty harmless as long as its gradual


July 27

OHP
2x5x90
1x6x90

DL
1x7x240
2x3x240
1x5x185
1x10x135 P
Conquered my previous stall here! Had a bit of a tight hamstring today and was nervous.



Curls 5x10x45

Great new Alan Thrall video on SQ that you might like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmNPOjaGrVE

Good video, I don't low bar squat because of mobility, its just never worked for me. I do keep the bar fairly low relative to a high bar squat.

July 29

Found a new gym, definitely switching here. 7 spots to squat, new equipment and the place is actually clean. Even the standard hyper-enthusiastic salesperson didn't take more than 3 minutes of my time.

BP
1x5x122.5
1x6x122.5 (miscounted)
1x7x122.5
Gym has micro-plates which is cool. Looking forward to my previous failure @125 next session. Feels like my left arm is taking most of the load on the final rep.



Pullup
1x6 (wut, no clue where that came from, last rep wasn't even hard)
2x5

TRX 3x15

Squat
2x5x125
1x10x125

I think TC's video helped with visualizing hip drive (although it seems a bit exaggerated in the video). I'm not sure if I should be concerned with how far forward my knees are going.

Video with 2 angles:



Barbell row 5x10x65


Some H&F cardio as my puppy plays monkey in the middle:

July 30
Football

July 31

got a 'complimentary' personal trainer session. Was hoping to work on form but instead had me do lots of low weight high volume fatigue inducing stuff. I guess it didn't hurt :shrug: but annoying to have missed some progress, definitely wasn't able to do worksets of ohp/dl afterwards, so I'll go back to those lifts on thurs.

I did get a more accurate BF% at 18%, so the other scale seems to be off significantly.

August 3

Not much time, so not accessories today

OHP
3x5x93


DL
1x5x245
2x3x245
1x5x185
1x10x135 P

Thought I had one more rep of each left in me for the AMRAP, but didn't work out. Should be interesting next session, I think I have a shot at each, especially with a solid warmup and good pace.

August 5

Bench
2x5x125
1x6x125

Squat
2x5x135
1x10x135

Pull up 1x6,5,3

Kettle row 2x10x60

August 7

Got pretty angry today, turns out the adrenaline allowed me to high new maxes, for more reps than my previous lower session Remember feelings?



OHP
2x5x95
1x6x95

DL
1x7x250
2x3x250
1x5x185
1x10x135 P

curls 5x10x50

Not really focused on anything other than the major lifts, so I'm kind of ok with the lack of accessories lately. Need to add some leg work, so thinking of just doing lunges and rows on squat day, and pull-ups and curls on DL day.

August 10

Bench
3x5x127.5
Maybe could have got one more rep, didn't want to risk it

HBBS
2x5x145
1x10x145

Pullups 4x5, 1x4
Lunges 3x10x30
I think once I can get comfortable with these they should be good for mobility as well

Rotator cuffs

August 12

OHP
2x5x97.5
1x4x97.5

De-loading 87.5

DL
1x5x255
2x1x255
1x5x185
1x10x135 P

I've always avoided the barbells with the really rough knurlings, but this one was way too worn down, really struggled with keeping my grip firm on the bar, needed to reset grip at every rep. Not quite ready to move up with this performance so I'll repeat this weight next time.

Curls 5x10x50
Barbell Rows 3x5x90 - pretty bad form, thought I'd do less volume higher weight, but haven't really gotten the form down yet, will move back down for a bit

treadwall

August 13

Football

Week 4 meal prep

Progressive overload means doing more work and/or harder work every day you train. I see no reason to repeat 255 again. Just get a pair of straps if you need. You're making great progress!

'mirin meal prep man.

Renton has spoken!

I don't think I need straps yet, maybe just a bit picky about the bar with a perfect amount of roughness

It's a step up in life if you compare to my omelette from 1 year ago: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=113

August 15

BP
2x5x130
1x6x130

Thought I was due for a failure here but exceeded expectations Got a good bench with grip and really focused on tightness after watching this video. Bar path was a bit iffy, and I'm not sure if my elbow path is good or bad.



HBBS
2x5x155
1x8x155

First time not getting to 10 AMRAP, finally starting to feel what I think a squat should feel like The only thing thats bothering me is some pain where the bar touches the spine for a minute or two after the lift. Not sure if that is normal, if I just need to wait for more back muscle to increase clearance, or if I'm doing something wrong.



Lunges 2x12x45
Pullups 4x5 1x4

August 17

OHP
2x5x87.5
1x8x87.5

Rep max at just 1 more than last time I lifted this weight a month ago. Slightly disappointed but I think its just a testament to how quickly fatigue hits with OHP.

DL
1x6x260
2x3x260
1x5x195
1x10x135 P

Running up on that old internal debate wrt using straps. The 6th rep there is pretty weak, but I think thats mostly because the bar was starting to roll down my fingers. I'm happy to build grip with the rest of my DL strength, but at some point I might be holding myself back.

The triples were pretty hard for the same reason.



Curls 5x10x50
DB Rows 2x12x25

Those two are pretty hard to superset. Maybe should swap the pull-ups with curls, since those are the two high volume accessories, and lunge/curls is time efficient. Not sure if I should even be rowing given the overlap with pull-ups, maybe should swap a different accessory.

Yeah I notice the same with OHP.
I see no reason not use straps if your grip is limiting you at certain points. You using a mixed grip? Also chalk works ****ing wonders. I also slap some chalk on my back for skwatts, but it's low bar.
I've lost any shame about using straps/belt whenever and also just got some wrist wraps which worked great for any wrist pain on the squat.
Nice progress, you're doing good brah.

chalk is a good idea. I use overhand grip, I do mixed grip sometimes for triples and use it for the paused set, but never really feel comfortable with the movement even though the grip is much easier. I've also tried hook grip a couple times but it hurts

I'm sure I'll use straps eventually, but I'll at least wait for another deload first. Having a strong grip is fun!

I hope you get some action in the BFI thread, will be railing (<1% chance he actually follows through unfortunately)

Squat
2x5x160
1x8x160
Used a belt for the first time. How tight is it supposed to be. I made it super tight, and it helped a ton, but thinking maybe its just supposed to be on firmly to press back on the core. Definitely could have done more than 8 with the belt, was more worried about oxygen flow

Bench
2x5x130
1x7x130

Forgot my microplates so repeated the weights rather than jump 5 pounds.

last rep barely counts as a new max, didn't feel like failing so threw my shoulders under the bar and forced it up.

Really focused on the 'so you think you can bench' concept of tightness, my legs were more sore by the end than on squats or deadlifts. Between the belt and the tight bench, this was one of my toughest workouts, maybe not in intensity but definitely in pressure.

Lunges 2x12x53
pull-ups 4x5 1x3
Had one set with a wide grip, so much more difficult than my usual ~shoulder width grip. I guess I should mix it up to distribute the gains but might lose some $tats temporarily.

Treadwall