Castiel

So, apparently I'm incapable of keeping a solid log. Had a solid squat day on Tuesday, followed by reasonable benching on Wednesday. Triples were smooth, and easy. When I get to singles, I'm going to push the weight as far as I can go, and see where I should actually be moving right now.

Okay, so I forgot to log yesterday, but I did go. Press (and squats, and chins. Shitty day, but I did my work). Today was a bit more fun. GTFS Day 4: SQUATZ! 45x5 45x5 (I always warm up with the bar 135x5 185x5 200x3 225x3 250x1 No surprises here, nice and smooth. On to the real work. Cleans 45x5 45x5 95x5 115x3 135x5 155x5 175x5 The last rep @175 was really wonky, but I got it up. Count that as a win. Deadlifts 135x5 160x5 190x5 205x5 225x5 235x5 285x5 315x5 That's already feeling better than when I pulled 315 last week.

I was in a program where we were given two meals a day, and then not given time or opportunity for lunch. It was awful. For the few days I was on my own, I ate very well.

GTFS Day 2. LBBS: 45x5 45x5 170x3 205x3 225x3 Despite having done high intensity squatting yesterday, this was super easy. To be fair, it was light weight and low reps. Bench: 45x5 45x5 95x5 115x3 135x5 145x5 160x5 165x5 175x5 All of this was smooth, even the joker sets, but it felt harder than it should have. That said, I've dropped an obcene amount of weight off my bench. I'm using this as an opportunity to make sure I'm pausing every rep. Pull-ups: 7x3 Fuuuuuck. I need to be able to do more pull-ups. These sucked. Cable Crossovers: 25x10x3 Because everyone needs a little bit of bro in their workout. I think these are actually going to help me on the bottom of my bench though. Other than that, I'm getting my diet back into place (shooting for 3,800cal/day. Very difficult. Need to find some good beer), and I'm starting back on creatine monohydrate. I seem to already be picking up a little water weight from getting active (and possibly already the creatine kicking in over the past few days), because I've been weighing in between 200 and 205. When I out of my program in Italy (where they were starving me to death), I was just under 200lbs.

Okay, first day on the new cycle (which I'm calling the GET THE FUCK SQUATTING cycle). So, naturally, I had to get the fuck squatting. I'm going to do this log a little more detailed for now, as a record. LBBS: 45x5 45x5 105x5 160x3 170x5 200x5 225x5 And that's where I'm supposed to stop, but since I've dropped so much weight off of these, and I'm not really trying to deload, I'm adding what Wendler calls Joker Sets, which are kind of extra sets you tag on to the end of your programmed sets, to do if you are feeling strong and want to give your main lift an extra push for the day. 235x5 250x5 Dumbell Bench Press: 45x5x3 Cable Row: 160x10x3 Overall, today felt much better than last week, though I'm not looking forward to squatting four times a week for the next month.

I found a new 5/3/1 calculator, and I'm doing the extra squatting variation for a cycle to get me back in the groove (just going from the low weights I started back with this week). I think it will go well. Tuesday begins the cycle proper, after fucking around in the gym for four days this week.

Alright, so this summer was a disaster, fitness wise. Since June, I've lost 20lbs, and my lifts feel like I'm starting over. That said, I'm back in the gym, have gone three times this week and am putting my 5/3/1 back together. I'm thinkng of switching to a different program. Any ideas?

I'm out of town till august, and I wasn't able to sort out the gym situation down in MD, so I'm stuck with the apartment gym where they are putting me up. DBs up to 75lbs and a kind of shitty cable machine are the only useful pieces of equipment. We'll see what I can make of it.

Hook grip is weird. I don't like the feeling, but I was able to pull 225 with one hand hook gripping. Definitely helps.

Okay, so pretty much worst case scenario for my training right now. I do not have access to a barbell at all. I have found a halfway decent dumbbell/cable training program (thanks, /r/fitness) and I'm going to see if I can run hypertrophy training for a bit. Did the first push day today, and it's hard work, and definitely hits my chest and shoulders in ways I haven't really done. This sucks. Competing in the fall is pretty much ruled out. Going to see if I can get some size (if I can keep my diet strong), and not lose too much strength. Then when I get back to philly hit it hard and train over the winter, see if I can get up to heavyweight and be ready for spring comps.

Looks like I had to skip this one too. Didn't get my summer/out of town gym figured out until too late, and now I just need to get lifting again. Testing my 1rms won't help anything right now.

Do I owe someone beer?

I might as well have, with how fucked up my training got. (No virtual meet for me). Finally got my summer training sorted out though, so I ought to start making progress again.

Couldn't hit my last working set (335) at all, then just managed to squeak out a single at 315. Bad day. I need to bump a lot of weight off next cycle and work my way back up.

Goddamn inconsistency. Squats today were terrible. Definitely not doing the NJ powerlifting meet, need to get my training in order, and that's too soon. Still probably going to retest my maxes next week to see were I stand though.

I mean, yes. My form also feels off though. Will post a check.

Today was bench day. I suck at bench again. Barely hit a double for 225. I'm going to test my maxes again next week, since there's the summer imaginary meet, and I'll have to rework from there. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

http://www.usapowerlifting.com/event/32nd-annual-usapl-new-jersey-state-open-powerlifting-championships-nj-2015-01/ August 1st-2nd, somewhere in NJ.

Well, I don't come close to qualifying yet, though I'll likely be competing in the 105kg class when I get to it. Might try to compete in the NJ meet if my summer training goes well.

Gah. I really want to do this, and I can probably adjust my singles week next week to fit it, but I'm just getting back into my 5/3/1 proper... Well, we'll see how the second half of triples goes. I'm feeling strong in my deadlift, definitely some serious progress since Valentine's.

He is talking about why intermediate lifters shouldn't do beginning programs, which seems silly. I never did 5x5, but I did do the 3x5 SS. I liked how simple it was, and how steady the progress was. I loved it, and wish I could still do it. That said, when I got to around a 300 squat, and couldn't do that three times a week. That's when I switched to an appropriate program for what my level was.

Tried to post an update yesterday, but managed to post it in the wrong thread. So, here it is.

Managed to post in the wrong thread. Sorry.

Today was a grind. Squats Low bar, back squats. Worked my way through my sets, barely ground out 280, got to 315, couldn't hit depth, failed on the third rep. But then I backed off and did 225x14 to burnout. That was a workout. I will be doing more of that in the future. I want to be able to do widowmakers. Did hams, though I could barely walk, and then did some front squats (up to 185x5), though I had to cut that short because of the burnout from the high rep set. Of course, I finished off with some bicep curls, because every session needs a little bro in it.

This cube thing looks like murder. I haven't chimed in here in a while, so I figured I'd stop by to tell you to stop being a bitch (from the guy who hasn't squatted in almost a month).