12/7 Squat Week 2 Cycle 2

5/3/1 Squat
5x45, 5x95, 5x135
3x195, 3x225, 6x250 (est 1RM 290)

6th was sort of grindy, probably could have toughed out the 7th but I'm kind of a gash

BBB DL
5x10x175

Definitely more worthwhile than 165, didn't think I'd notice a 10 pound difference, but I certainly did.

Hanging Leg Raises
5x13xbw

Learning to push squat reps past your comfort zone is key in developing a man sized squat

Every time I rack up I instantly think that to myself, the trick is realizing and acting on it when the weight's on my back

For me successful squatting involves the ability to get really intense and psyched. It's a combination of being free of distractions, caffeine or other stims, being able to trigger an adrenaline rush at the appropriate moment, metal or sometimes rap (but not rap metal), atmosphere (I can't really imagine being at a globo gym, just imo, see also being free of distractions), being well rested, fed and not sick.

For the adrenaline thing, I don't mean you have to be jumping around and ****, but you have to attack the bar like you are going to die if you do not give 100%. Do all this (tailored to what works for you obv) and you will get your extra reps imo.

Yeah - I def need to be doing all of those things. Maybe banging my head against someone else's head right beforehand too and screaming at the top of my lungs before unracking.

Thanks DT, I for sure need to start psyching myself up more beforehand, with all lifts, not just squats. I just have more WIM for the upper body lifts and I'm really trying to work through that

Not that I even squat anymore, but I don't usually get too psyched up. I just go over and over the important form cues in my head.

Regarding maximum effort, take videos of yourself. Watching how easy it looks from a 3rd person perspective can give you confidence to try another rep next time.

Yeah this is definitely true too, much easier to see when you're watching a video

Next Friday I need to man up and get it done I guess

For bench, press, and deadlift I like to be listening to really intense metal, and get really really pumped. Recently I've been taking a more zen approach with squats. Often listening to metal still, but I allow the more atmospheric and progressive bands in my library to stay on during this time. I don't think to myself angry and aggressive thoughts for this exercise anymore, but now getting into my "zone," being one with the weight, and preparing to harness my innersaw. Of course this whole post is BS and you should just squat more weight and more reps. So there's that.

I'm definitely going to try those motivational techniques tomorrow when I squat/DL; luckily, Mondays are relatively easy:

12/10 Press Week 2 Cycle 2

5/3/1 Press (1RM 165)
5x45, 5x75, 5x95
3x115, 3x135, 6x150 (est 1RM 174)

Meh, would have liked to have gotten 7, but 6 is acceptable I guess.

BBB Bench (1RM 275)
5x10x155

Finished all 5 sets in 11 minutes (from the start of the first set to the end of the last one), and that plus the added weight (+15 lbs from last week) made it somewhat challenging. I'm probably going to keep adding 5 pounds a week, call this month one of the BBB challenge, and try to close to 60% for my BBB sets by the time January rolls around.

Chins
9/8/7/6/5xbw (+1 rep)

Slowly but surely, hopefully I get a little better at these once I cut.

Speaking of that, I'm going to be heading down to the beach in mid-April; when would be a good time to start cutting? Beginning of March-ish?

For reference, I'm holding steady at about 220 lbs and I'd estimate I'm around 20ish% BF -- is 6 weeks enough to lose 10-15 pounds doing something like PSMF or something like that?

6 weeks should be fine to lose 10 lbs, even on a regular diet. I don't really see the point in PSMFing unless you absolutely need to/get sick results like SAW.

However, I'd try planning a bit more ahead than that. Do you intend to drop further in BF? Get down to 15% and start eating at a surplus again? Try to recomp? Etc.

i mean, ultimately i'd like to get down to the 10-12% range by summer

so assuming I'm 20% at 220, that means I need to get down to 200 by summer and not lose any lbm

i have no idea the optimal way to do this

theres no optimal way cuz its not possible

or lose a minimal amount of lbm

work with me here brah

starting in may

16mg ephedrine every two hours

last two weeks of june

24mg ephedrine every two hours

50 mcg t3 daily


will lean you up quite nicely

CR --

I'm probably going to give it a go without the gear, but thanks.

Using a bmr calculator, my current bmr is 2177, so multiplying by my activity level that takes me to 3375. I'm assuming I could just do something like 2400/day for a month or so and then reevaluate?

its not gear, just fat burning supplements. t3 will turn your body into a furnace and melt the fat off. u will lose muscle tho...

This will serve as the loco signal



Come guide me and punctuate it by saying fack a lot

I'd rather not **** with my thyroid; my wife has Grave's disease and I've seen firsthand how an out of whack thyroid can mess with you

Post noodz pls. nohomo. I want to compare to my 205lbs / 20% estimates.

If you want to be 10-12% by summer, I'd start in January. It gets harder as you go. You probably need to lose 25-30 lbs to be 10%. Assuming more than 1 lbs/week (discounting water weight loss) is probably a pipe dream, even though you'll lose more at first. And you need loco-like focus to go straight from 20 to 10.

Suggestion for optimal diet strategy:
1) Use 5/3/1 with BBB or similar high volume assistance work
2) Use http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/, use "lightly active". Subtract 25% from the TDEE and use that as your baseline cal intake.
3) Log everything you eat, at least for the first month. You can possibly guesstimate after that.
4) Take a diet break after 8 weeks, 2 weeks eating at maintenance.
5) Have a cheat meal a week if you feel like it.
6) If you're not IF'ing, refeeds are good too, both psychologically and physiologically (cheat meals not required if you do these). In fact, just follow Lyle's advice in "a guide to flexible dieting".
7) If you have social events, plan around it. Going to a huge dinner buffet? Eat very little for the rest of the day. Try to avoid the biggest calorie culprits. If I'm dieting and going to a chinese buffet, the fried stuff is out and I basically eat the cooked stuff and veggies, little to no rice.

You say that an awful lot...

Sounds fairly correct, since MC is 4" taller than you and you're a bit stronger than him on the DL/squat. Plus individual variance ldo.

Thanks Soulman

So using your guidelines and the 1percentedge site, I should be looking to eat around 2100 calories per day (75% of 2816) . . . that is not a lot of food.

I don't really have a burning desire to be 10%, just under 15%, but that probably doesn't make a gigantic difference.

I cut down on my potatoes with dinner and had more broccoli last night, and also didn't have dessert -- cutting out the crap is probably going to get me pretty close to where I need to be anyway so this shouldn't be super hard.

My food during the week is generally:

3/4 C oatmeal with 1.5 C skim milk
1.5 scoops whey with 12 oz skim milk
Lunch (usually a hoagie)
1.5 scoops whey with 12 oz skim milk
Dinner (lean protein with a veggie and either rice or potatoes)
Some kind of dessert

So cutting back/eliminating dessert and maybe having two veggies and just a bit of rice or potatoes is probably the solution for me here. Other than getting something to measure my oats in the morning I'm pretty much set at work, and I'll probably need to start mass cooking chicken and veggies to bring for my lunch.

Hopefully I'll look like I even lift in a few months, thanks guys!

That sounds a bit on the low side - lifting 4/week, my maintenance is roughly 2650-2700 cals @ 180 lbs/14% BF. So possibly closer to 2900-3000 for you. I'd start at 2200. And yes, there will be (some) hungry. That's the name of the game. If you eat wisely, you won't be wracked by hunger pangs though.

You obv know that you need to get a decent amount of protein as well. Exactly how much is a matter of contention among the gurus, with 1 g/lbs of LBM being the minimum, while some espouse as much as 2.

I would definitely log all my food if I were you. Makes compliance so much easier, and you'll probably learn quite a bit. Both about your own food habits/where your major leaks are as well as the caloric and macro contents of your food.

2200 sounds marginally easier than 2100, so I'll start there. The first ~5 pounds for me always come off pretty easily (like if I'm swamped at work and forget to eat for a few days), and I was 218 this morning. Anything below 210 has been pretty much uncharted territory for me while working out, so passing that will be a big milestone.

Definitely planning on logging my food, I just need to get a solid half cup measure for my oatmeal and I'll be set. I'm going to be a sad panda if/when I have to cut out the skim milk with my oatmeal and protein

Just my protein shakes (without the milk) is ~75g of protein a day, and I try to eat protein with every meal. I haven't tracked it in a while, but I'd be surprised if I'm not in the 200-250g range. Logging will definitely be interesting.