mgage

Hey all, so I’m having a bit of an unplanned diet break and rest week this week. Various things have happened, including my grandmother needing emergency heart surgery, and then on top of that I had a lot of appointments come up during my lunch hours when I normally hit the gym. Plus I’m going on a golf trip this weekend and expect lots of drinking. So I’m definitely off track for this week but my hope is to hit it hard again next week.

Deadlift Day: DL: 5x1x375, 3x5x315 Seated Row: 3x8x180 Lat Pulldown: 3x8x130 Skipped hamstring curls today. The hammies were feeling a bit rough already and didn’t want to push it.

Press day- last week the press felt a bit rough so I dropped the weight for this week. Press: 4x1x145, 3x6x115 Incline BB: 3x8x145 Chest Press: 3x12x110

Today was an off/cardio day. I just did 30 minutes of LISS mostly so I didn’t just sit at my desk all day without moving.

Absolutely! If I lost no weight and just kept dropping inches off my waist that would be ideal. Of course realistically it won’t happen that way but I’m always more concerned about the measurements.

Goals update! So far so good. My weight hasn’t gone down at the pace I’d like but the waist moved down nicely. Goal 1: training has been great. No missed days. Goal 2: my food was only on point 5/7 days. I blame alcohol... Goal 3: weight down from 201.8 to 201. Waist Dow from 36.5 to 36.25.

Squat Day- heavy squats are feeling good! Nice and smooth. Squat: 5x1x340, 3x6x285 Leg Press: 3x10x540 Leg Extension: 3x15x145

Bench day- better late at night than never Bench: 5x1x230, 3x6x195 Incline DB: 3x10x110 Seated DB Press: 3x8x80 Triceps pushdown: 3x15x150 I’ve been doing this for about 3 weeks now and it feels like I’m zoning in on where my singles are right now. So I’ll probably slow down the progression next week and only move the singles up every few weeks or maybe even every month.

Got in my cardio today plus the back work I would have done yesterday. Seated Row: 3x10x160 Lat Pulldown: 3x10x120 Cardio: 2 rounds of 6 high intensity intervals

Deadlift Day Deadlift: 5x1x365, 3x5x315 Hamstring Curls: 3x10x90 I am saving the back stuff for tomorrow along with cardio because I’m pressed for time. But on a positive note, the DL sets felt smooth today. Strength is coming back slowly but surely.

Press Day Press: 4x1x155 (I didn’t feel confident I could get the 5th. I was trying to do short rest due to time. If I had longer rests between I imagine I could hit all 5 sets.) 3x6x125 Incline BB: 3x8x135 Chest Press: 3x12x100

I didn't have time on Tuesday to do my squat workout, so yesterday I just did a quick cardio session and did the squats today. Squat Day Squats: 5x1x335, 3x6x275 Leg Press: 3x10x500 Leg Extensions: 3x15x125 Squats are feeling good and today was the first day in probably a year that I could fit into my weightlifting belt, so I'm pretty happy about that. It should help with the heaver squats and deads.

Thanks! My programming is pretty basic right now. I have days focused on bench, squat, overhead press, and DL. On each day I will start with some heavy-ish singles or doubles and then I will do volume work (back off sets plus accessories). I used to have a much more complex program of RPE style training influenced by Mike Tuchscherer. But right now I am just trying to rebuild my base for strength and then I can add more volume as I gain more tolerance for it.

While I'm at it, I'll write down my training from yesterday so I can start my log. For each day, I am doing some higher intensity strength focused reps and then going for volume. Bench Day - Monday Bench Press: 5x1x225, 3x6x195 DB Incline Press: 3x10x100 DB Seated Press: 3x8x80 Triceps Pushdowns: 3x15x150

I died of dysentery, but I'm back now... So, I'm not exactly sure what happened. In Spring 2016, I had all the momentum on my side. I had been successfully losing weight and inches off my waist, while hitting all time PRs (Squat 435, Bench 265, DL 465). During the past two years, I was derailed by a few minor injuries and an almost total loss of motivation. My weight climbed from 193 to 212 (and not in a good bulking way) and I lost a lot of strength by not hitting the gym with any regularity. I used to be really driven to get to the gym as much as possible, but I somehow lost that drive. Even so, I'm starting to build it back up again by forming some habits. I've been sticking to my workout routine consistently since the beginning of July and tracking macros and doing a good job of hitting my targets. My strength is creeping back little by little and my weight so far is down to 201.8. My goals right now are just consistency until doing these things once again becomes my normal lifestyle that doesn't require extraordinary willpower. Goal 1: Training Strength training 4 days per week / Conditioning 1 day per week Goal 2: Food Hit protein and stay within 5% of total kcal targets 6 days/week. Goal 3: Keep Losing Continue momentum of losing weight/inches. I am about 40 lbs away from my goal which can feel like a long way to go. So the thing that is going to really help me stay motivated will be to continue eating small chunks of this elephant. By the end of this challenge, I'd like my weight to be down to at least 196 and my waist to be below 36".