Deload Week.


Press Day - C6W4. 07-22-2013
5x60
5x70
5x85


Deadlift Day - C6W4. 07-24-2013
5x155
5x198
5x235


Bench Day - C6W4. 07-27-2013
5x88
5x110
5x132


Squat Day - C6W4. 07-27-2013
5x154
5x198
5x225


End of Cycle 6.



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.

Training 1RM for Cycle 7
Squat - 375
Deadlift - 390 (+5)
Bench - 215
Press - 140



Also have my first rock climbing lesson scheduled for next Saturday morning. I'll be logging my climbing progress here as well.

Press Day - C7W1. 07-29-2013

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.

Deadlift Day - C7W1. 07-30-2013

Deadlift
5x255
5x296
7x335


Hanging Leg raises
5x10

Pushups (all diamond)
4x10
1x17

Got in a rare early morning workout today.


Bench Day - C7W1. 08-01-2013

Bench
5x142
5x164
7x186

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?


Kroc Rows
20x100 (per hand)

Squat Day - C7W1. 08-02-2013

Squat
5x245
5x286
7x320
Last Cycle: 7 Reps, Difference: 0

Felt good. Not much to say.


Lunges
3x10x50 (per leg)


Ab rollouts
3x10

-----------

Cut my assistance short (was going for 5 sets) because I was completely exhausted and sore as ****.

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.

Wow, OP. Good job on the strength gains w/o gaining a single pound. That must be a nice feeling.

I'd definitely take a deload week, as was recommended by CP. Then drop 10% on whatever lifts were stalling and try pushing the LP again.

Dude really needs to do some cardio.

Press Day - C7W2. 08-05-2013

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.


--------------------------

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.

Deadlift Day - C7W1. 08-06-2013

Deadlift
3x275
3x315
4x355

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.


Hanging Leg raises
5x10


Diamond pushups
4x10
1x18

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.


--------------------------------

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.

Squat Day - C7W2. 08-09-2013


Squat
3x265
3x301
5x340
Last Week: 5 Reps, Difference: 0

Probably could have got 6 reps but I pussied out. It would have been a true grind.

Ab Wheel Rollouts
5x10

Lunges
5x10x50 per leg


God damn. The Lunges + Ab wheel combo is ****ing brutal. But the weekend is here finally - time to go have fun

Press Day - C7W3. 08-12-2013

Press
5x106
3x120
4x135
Last Cycle:4 Reps, Difference: 0

Need to work on keeping my back rock solid. Especially on my first rep. I have a tendency to lean to the right or the left a tad.


Chinups
55 reps across 8 sets.

Some slight improvement here.

Deadlift Day - C7W3. 08-13-2013

Deadlift
5x296
3x320 (should have been 335)
2x375

Had a mental lapse on my second set and miscalculated my weights, but no biggie. I was happy to get more than the minimum on my AMRAP set.

Hanging Leg Raises
5x10

Definitely my best HLR day ever. Dem abz getting strong...


Diamond Pushups
4x10
1x19

Not sure how I'm going to continue to progress these. Next time I should be able to do 4x10/1x20, but from there I'm not quite sure what to do.

Bench Day - C7W3. 08-13-2013

Bench
5x165
3x186
2x205
Last Cycle: 3 Reps, Difference: -1

Meh, still slowly getting weaker. Still shedding pounds too...

Pullups
8x7xbw

Did 56 reps in 8 total sets. This is a new PR for me, and I'm officially stronger at pullups than I am chinups.


Kroc Rows
21x100 per hand


My performance on pullups/Kroc's was alot better than last week.

Squat Day - C7W3. 08-16-2013


Squat
5x286
3x320
3x360 PR
Last Cycle: 2 Reps, Difference: +1

Hell yeah! Making some squat progress despite shedding 22lbs (about 10% of original bodyweight)


Lunges
5x10 per leg


Barbell rollouts
5x10

Deload Week.


Press Day - C7W4. 08-19-2013
5x60
5x71
5x88


Deadlift Day - C7W4. 08-20-2013
5x159
5x198
5x235


Bench Day - C7W4. 08-22-2013
5x88
5x110
5x132


Squat Day - C7W4. 08-23-2013
5x154
5x198
5x225


End of Cycle 7.


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 Day - C8W1. 07-26-2013

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 Day - C8W1. 08-27-2013

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.

Hanging Leg raises
5x10

Diamond Pushups
4x10
1x20

Gonna shoot for 5x12 next week.

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


Barbell rollouts
5x10


went easy on the assistance

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

Deadlift Day - C8W2. 09-04-2013

Deadlift
3x275
3x315
4x355
Last Cycle: 4 reps, Difference: 0

Felt okay. Vids are below

Hanging Leg raises
5x10

Diamond pushups
5x15

I was only supposed to do 5x12 but had a mental lapse. I was able to bang out 5x15 so good mistakes are always nice.

----------------------------------

Bench Day - C8W2. 09-06-2013

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.

Kroc Rows
21x100 (per hand)

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.