Disil's Log

[godjira1]

you don't seem to have a problem getting to training, so I would err on the side of taking de-loads on time and making sure your body gets the recovery it needs. it's one of them things that just needs to be done. 

[Disil]

Well said godjira. I re-read what Helms wrote on deloads and the fitness and fatigue model in his Muscle & Strength Pyramid to remind myself how important deloads are and to view them as another important part of progressing, even if they sometimes feel like the opposite and taking weight off the bar seems counter-intuitive to getting stronger. And yeah, going to the gym has never been an issue these last couple of years. Just most everything else heh.

 

 

I figured it would be a good idea to sum up the progress made (and thus volume/workload increase) over each cycle by looking at the first and the last workout (or best, if an earlier one was better) and compare numbers.

 

Cycle 1 of Lyle's Bulking Routine over roughly 6 weeks, going from an avg. weight of 62.1Kg to 63.9Kg (having started back with creatine one week ago though):

 

Deadlift: 65Kg 3x8 ---> 85Kg 8, 8, 6 (1560Kg ---> 1870Kg)

Leg Press: 80Kg 3x12 ---> 102.5Kg 3x12 (2880Kg ---> 3690Kg)

Leg Curls: 22.5Kg 3x12 ---> 35Kg 3x12 (810Kg ---> 1260kg)

Leg-Extensions: 37.5Kg 3x12 ---> 55Kg 3x12 (1350kg ---> 1980Kg)

 

Flat Bench Press: 40Kg 4x8 ---> 52.5Kg 8, 8, 8, 7 (1280Kg ---> 1627.5Kg)

Chest-supported Rows: 40Kg 4x8 ---> 62.5Kg 8, 8, 7, 7 (1280Kg ---> 1875Kg)

Machine Shoulder Press: 15Kg 3x12 ---> 20kg 12, 12, 10 (540Kg ---> 680Kg) since only recently switching to this, progress obviously is rather small

Lat Pulldown: 42.5Kg 3x12 ---> 57.5Kg 12, 12, 10 (1530Kg ---> 1955Kg)

Single Arm Pushdown: 4.375Kg 2x15 ---> 7.5Kg 13, 13 (131.25Kg ---> 195Kg)

Seated Incline DB-Curls: 8Kg 14, 13 ---> 10Kg 15, 13 (216 ---> 280Kg) not as big of an increase since this was the only lift I didn't change anything about from the last cycle to this one, therefore the neurological gains to be had were little.

 

 

Overall, this looks pretty awesome, but of course it is to be considered that by changing gyms and a lot of the equipment and in some cases exercises, there were a lot of noob gains and neurological improvements. I don't expect the following cycle to look like this, but I should still be able to make some nice gains. What this little exercise did though, was to display very clearly, how much my volume, workload and thus work capacity has increased, which explains why the deload is very much a necessity.

[Disil]

What an utterly frustrating day. I felt tired throughout, felt super weak and it showed. For whatever reason, my hamstrings were sore again, possibly from the little swimming in the pool. My lower back was mostly recovered from the last session, but had been hurting all day Friday from all the travelling. My left wrist and elbow still weren't feeling great either, but that was only the start of it. I did Deadlifts at 67.5 for 3x8 and they felt abysmal, especially in my lower back. My right elbow was giving me problems out of the blue whenever I would set up for another rep. Afterwards I went over to the Leg Press, but during the 2nd warmup set, the following happened, completely identical to February of this year:

 

On 5.2.2017 at 1:26 AM, Disil said:

My lower body workout following this I only did 3x5 Deadlifts with 77.5Kg/170.5lbs and then, while doing my leg press warm-up sets, my right knee started hurting real bad out of absolutely nowhere. I then did two planks for 110sec each and had to abort the workout. The pain persisted for almost 2 days and I was very worried, I barely could get up stairs or run. Then, the day following, nothing. As if it never had happened. This was the day of my next upper workout, so I was in the gym anyway and giving it a try, leg pressing and bodyweight squatting was no problem whatsoever. Super weird but eh, I'm not complaining.

 

Since I was familiar with it, I knew it'd be best to just abort the workout and hope for a similarly quick recovery. The idea is to just continue the deload as if I'd had this workout as planned. The first upper body one at 80% will help see where I'm at in general.

 

Oh, yeah...the two days in (rather close-by since I never actually saw the city) Venice were exhausting and while I tried my best to minimize stress and thought I had done a decent job at it, apparently I did not. The travelling was very taxing and mentally, it was taking its toll too. Overall I'm just glad I planned this deload beforehand, because with the way things are looking, I would've been forced to take it either way. Still, this bust today really got to me emotionally which of course led where it always does: too much food. While I did okay during travelling (~1765/134 for the first day and ~3540/140 for the second), I just completely lost it yesterday. I probably clocked in somewhere around 4k but I couldn't say. It was almost exclusively carbs so there's that, but still another shitty day, which will also explain the weight spike up to 65+Kg since I drew a ton of water. I'm just hoping the upper body workout will not suck too bad.

[Disil]

My right knee feels 100% already, but I resisted the urge to get the rest of my lower body workout in today in order to give it ample time to heal up so I can really get back into things on Tuesday with my 85% lower body workout. Unfortunately, everything else pretty much sucked. I managed to sleep for 9 hours straight, but woke up dried to shrivels from the huge unintended carbload the day before. A lot of joint pain in general, my back was a bit stiff, my allergies having returned since I got back from Venice and its coastal climate and a host of other issues all combined to bad mood and zero energy. I guess I need to reevaluate how to configure my diet going forward, in regards to carbs but especially when simple sugars are combined with fat because that just puts me to sleep and has me wake up achy as a mfer. I also look like shit. Anyhow, I got to the gym and banged out the first upper body deload workout. It was okay. 42.5Kg on the bench didn't feel too difficult, but my left elbow and wrist aren't any better thus far. My left hip/lower back area started to hurt later on as well. Overall I feel like I need a steep 2 week cut, but I promised to not do any premature cuting this bulk and so I won't. Eating today was okay. About a 335cal surplus.

[Disil]

I have decided to use the opportunity while being at the beginning of this submaximal runup and cycle to make two changes to the plan, both in accordance with the FAQ to the plan:

1. Go to 3-4 sets of 5 reps for the Deadlift. The way those higher reps fry my lower back severely impacts my upper days and I just don't believe that I actually need this much volume to increase my deadlift at this stage. 3x5 or 4x5 should be more than enough, especially since I'm still doing it twice per week (which might be the next change, depending on how things go).

2. Reintroduce Lateral Raises on the cable for 2 sets of 15. The main reason is that volume for my lateral delts is low and they recover pretty quickly, while also being one of the most lacking bodyparts. Also, the added fatigue should not impact anything else much if at all.

 

I started today with Deadlifts, 4x5 at 72.5Kg. I just went down in reps, but proceeded with the weight as planned, because I didn't want to disrupt things by accidently choosing too high of a weight when reintroducing lower rep deadlifts and I'll gladly take the better recovery for this is still a deload. I think I have improved my form, but not sure really. I need to take some better footage next time to evaluate.

The reason I'm not posting my entire workout is that I ran into some problems..again. My right knee felt perfectly fine all day and even the Leg Press went okay, for a while that is. At the very end of the 2nd set at 90Kg, the pain returned and I immediately had to stop. I then did the leg curls which were fine, but leg extensions unsurprisingly were completely impossible, even at light weights. So I hope the longer recovery from now until Saturday will be enough for my knee to fully recover, if not I need to give this some more thought.

 

Diet has been good since the big fuckup on Saturday and given how frustrated I am right now with how I'm looking and feeling bodywise, I hope to have an easier time of sticking to it.

[godjira1]

hey disil, i used to do leg curls and extensions once upon a time and they gave my knees all sorts of issues.

 

i just stopped doing them, rested up, and moved on to squats (or front squats, which I like more to be honest) and never had an issue with the knees since. it's crazy sounding I know. just point your knees outwards as you go down and it should help a lot. 

[Disil]

I wish I could. About 9 months ago, I had just worked my way up to squatting 3x6x75Kg at a bodyweight around 67, I injured my shoulder which took me out of action for a good while. While trying to get back to squatting a couple of months later, my left knee started to hurt whenever I went below parallel. I'm not sure whether I injured it stretching or doing something else, but there was no fix. I paused squatting for months and tried different things, but nothing helped. Even at 40kg, once I'm below parallel, I get a sharp pain in my left knee. Since this only affected squats and nothing else, I decided not to get surgery, because I couldn't stand the idea of not being able to work out another month or several again, especially since it wouldn't be a guarantee for squats to work afterwards. So yeah, I miss squats, but not enough to halt everything else. Maybe things will look different at another point in time, maybe I will have something else preventing me from training for a while and I can combine this with it, but right now, the leg press and extensions will have to suffice...if I can even do them.

Also, I doubt the isolation movements are responsible. This started to happen during the deload whereas it was fine when I was using heavy loads for all those isos. I figure it has more to do with a combination of weight gain (about 6 Kgs total in the last 3 months) and a ton of life stress in general as well as subpar nutrition here and there. But I will see how things look on Saturday.

 

My upper body 85% deload went well. I wasn't challenged by anything, as I should, but further ingrained good form on all lifts and got a little bit of a sweat on. Bench felt quite good and I'm so so looking forward to getting it up this cycle, at the very least to 60Kg, but rather to bodyweight or higher.

[Disil]

Workout for Saturday:

 

Deadlift (77.5Kg): 4x5 (This felt a bit heavier than I would've liked, but still not an issue)

Leg Press (95Kg): 3x12 (Pretty easy, as it should)

Leg Curls: (32.5Kg): 3x12 (decent enough)

Leg-Extensions (52.5Kg): 3x12 (Pretty rough, but given more than a week off of doing them, that's ok)

 

Lower body deload at 90%, I was half-expecting my right knee to start hurting every minute, but it held up and I'm very happy that it did and that I finally got a proper lower body workout in again, even if only at 90%. This week, work was insane, which explains the 11 hours I slept last night, so I can't be too upset about some lifts feeling more difficult than they probably should.

 

Weight: 64.7Kg
Calories: ~2869

Estimated Surplus: ~319

 

Diet has been on point for 7 days now and I've got a good feeling about it going forward. Weight is still bouncing all over the place, now 2 weeks into supplementing creatine again and I've seen both 63.9 and 65.4 within the last week. I really need to find out where maintenance is right now, so the idea is to just keep calories where they are until my avg. doesn't move anymore for a while.

 

[Disil]

Workout for Sunday:

 

Flat Bench Press (47.5Kg): 4x8 (My entire lower body was pretty sore and setup never felt quite right. Barpath was all over the place and I'm surprised I still managed 4x8 with all that inefficient, fidgety nonsense)

Chest-supported Rows: (57.5Kg): 4x8 (-)

Machine Shoulder Press (15Kg): 3x12 (-)

Lat Pulldown (52.5Kg): 3x12 (The last set was a struggle. The hell)

Single Arm Pushdown (6.25Kg): 2x15 (Barely completed these. So much for deloading eh)

Lateral Cable Raises (3.75Kg): 2x15 (see above)

Seated Incline DB-Curls (8Kg): 2x15 (^)

 

Upper body at 90% and just like with the last deload, in parts this really didn't feel like a deload anymore. Whatever, I just want to get this over with and return to progressing.

 

Weight: 65.2Kg
Calories: ~2856

Estimated Surplus: ~306

[Disil]

Workout for Tuesday:

 

Deadlift (82.5Kg): 3x5 (I'm so sick and tired of this shit. They didn't feel too heavy, but I just could not get properly tight and nothing felt right, my lower back really took a hit and I don't understand why. Before the deload I managed 3x8 with this weight, 2Kg lighter and wasn't feeling as horrible as I do now, what the fuck?)

Leg Press (100Kg): 3x12 (Barely made it, not a deload at all)

Leg Curls: (35Kg): 3x12 (as above)

Leg-Extensions (55Kg): 3x12 (as above)

 

So yeah, I have no reasoning for why this was so difficult and horrible. I've had enough sleep, food, recovery, low stress, took this stupid deload and for what? To be weaker than 2 weeks ago. After finishing this cycle, I might change the way I do deloads, maybe keep the weights but reduce sets and reps a bit, maybe do only a week but more frequently, whatever. But these 2 weeks of run-up where I always end up weaker than before with the 95% deload workout pretty reliably feeling like 100% are just the worst.

I'm just praying that this won't leave me so crippled that tomorrow's upper body at 95% is badly affected. Also, I might just go berzerk if Saturday's deadlifts at 85Kg go the way today's deadlifts did. I've really been patient and diligent, but days like today are just so unbearable and make you want to quit this nonsense for good.

 

 

Can't remember what I weighed in this morning. Diet was stellar. Whatever.

[Disil]

I had trouble falling asleep yesterday, my low/mid back was throbbing and achy. Surprisingly I woke up with no pain and just your regular soreness.

 

Workout for Wednesday:

 

Flat Bench Press (50Kg): 4x8 (Smoked these. Form still was all over the place and had I not lost tightness for the last couple of reps of the fourth, I wouldn't even have had to struggle, but this certainly felt right for a deload. Part of me would really like to bench 3 times per week (3sets each) to further ingrain good technique, but I don't see a way to implement this without major changes in the plan)

Chest-supported Rows: (60Kg): 4x8 (-)

Machine Shoulder Press (17.5Kg): 3x12 (-)

Lat Pulldown (55Kg): 3x12 (-)

Single Arm Pushdown (6.875Kg): 15, 13 (-)

Lateral Cable Raises (4.375Kg): 13, 11 (-)

Seated Incline DB-Curls (10Kg): 2x10 (-)

 

Much better and so, so very needed. Upper body at 95% in the bag and therefore done with the dreaded deload. Now it's two days of complete rest and then Sat/Sun starting to kill shit and progress. Unfortunately, the isos already were working weights, but everything else felt pretty well calibrated for what was supposed to be 95%. I'll really have to monitor the deadlifts, but if all else fails, I'll throw them out and just focus on my upper body plus leg press and isos. As nice as the thought of the big five compound movements is, I just won't sacrifice progress anymore to cater to that thought. It already cost me enough.

 

Weight: 64.9Kg
Calories: ~2854

Estimated Surplus: ~304

 

 

Addendum: I just realized that there is barely any soreness in my hamstrings which is incredibly rare. Given how the deadlifts went, I can only conclude that whatever I screwed up resulted in much less tension on my hamstrings and thus my lower back doing way more work than needed/good for it. I simply guess I might've gone too low, taking tension off of the hamstrings which at least gives me an idea of what to look out for when I go for 85Kg on Saturday.

[Disil]

"Also, I might just go berzerk if Saturday's deadlifts at 85Kg go the way today's deadlifts did."

Well, I went into this one fully recovered, but got throbbing pain in my spinal erectors immediately after all 3 sets despite being super diligent about form. I recorded all 3 sets and they looked absolutely fine. Once I'd finished the workout, there was a piercing pain right in the middle of my spine whenever I'd bend over or to the left side. Maybe something with one of the discs, but nothing major, otherwise I couldn't walk or sit as painlessly as I do right now...I think. Anyhow, I'm a little scared how I'll feel tomorrow and whether/how much that will impact my upper body session. I was really hoping for better for my first non-deload one.

 

Workout for Saturday:

 

Deadlift (85Kg): 3x5 (They felt lighter and better than 82.5Kg while paying more attention to "loading the hamstrings", but given the above, I cannot in good conscience continue doing these as I feel it jeopardizes my entire lifting right now which I don't know how I would surive. I may or may not entertain the idea of RDLs given I could actually do them now with power racks and all being at my disposal, but I also remember them killing my triceps and lats due to the isometric tension. My hamstring mobility is a lot better now though, so that might help with the execution. We'll see)

Leg Press (102.5Kg): 3x12 (Apparently I really made use of my hamstrings, because they actually were the limiting factor here and I barely made it through all the sets. Still nice to see I could confirm where I was before the deload. Up)

Leg Curls: (37.5Kg): 11, 7, 7 (A mild PR and given the above it is no surprise the reps were fairly low)

Leg-Extensions (57.5Kg): 12, 11, 10 (A new PR. Yay working weights)

 

So I could try rack-pulls a tad above the floor. I could try sumo again. But really, I've put so incredibly much effort into this and I am just through with it. As stated, I might see if RDLs work, I might not. And as much as I enjoy doing Deadlifts, being in pain and unable to progress is a lot less enjoyable, even moreso when it negatively impacts everything else, arguably more important aspects i. E. upper body. As much as I'd love to just be the athletic person who can just go ahead and do the basic compound lifts, I am very evidently not. Having wasted countless hours of practicing, recording, talking, watching, working on mobility, getting people to look at technique, getting personal trainings and almost 2 years of lifting with basically nothing to show for, I am simply done trying to force it. I have a long time ago stopped being the type of person who makes dumb excuses and certainly no one can tell me that I didn't try, but at the end of the day, it is a sad fact that I've got incredibly shitty anthropometry and have always been an anti-athlete. And while yes, hard work can make up for some lack of talent, there are limits and I have reached mine.

 

Weight: 65.2Kg
Calories: ~2852

Estimated Surplus: ~302

 

To make matters worse, I ended up overeating on ice cream in this unbearable heat yesterday. I managed to not go overboard too much, but it was still a fail, the first in 13 days at least.

[Disil]

I woke up with my back basically the same as yesterday, no better but also no worse and soreness wasn't even that bad, but the pain was still there whenever I moved in certain ways. The soreness in my hamstrings and glutes on the other hand is off the charts and even my quads have slight soreness for the first time in like forever.

Anyhow, I was both really looking forward to this workout and scared about how it would go, in regards to how my back would affect everything as well as how I would perform post-deload..

 

Workout for Sunday:

 

Flat Bench Press (52.5Kg): 4x8 (The first 3 sets were fairly easy, the fourth could've been, but I lost tightness halfway through which made the 2nd half more taxing than it needed to be, but it was still a lot easier than before the deload. Up)

Chest-supported Rows: (62.5Kg): 4x8 (Pretty difficult. Up)

Machine Shoulder Press (20Kg): 3x12 (Wow. Up)

Lat Pulldown (57.5Kg): 3x12 (Up as well)

Single Arm Pushdown (6.875Kg): 15, 15 (...up)

Seated Incline DB-Curls (10Kg): 13, 13 (-)

Lateral Cable Raises (4.375Kg): 14, 13 (-)

 

Rep PRs on everything except for the arm isos. Guess I have to take back some of the trash talking on deloads after all. Yesterday being a huge shit-show start to finish has me even more impressed by today's results and I dearly hope that I can build on them on Wednesday.

 

Weight: 65.3Kg
Calories: ~2856

Estimated Surplus: ~306

[Disil]

Welp. Today is the first time I skip a workout since May 2 and it certainly isn't voluntary, I would love to go. My hamstrings and glutes are still in no condition to train despite 2 days of recovery and while my lower back was and is not that sore, the mid-pack bain has only improved, but not disappeared entirely which has me quite wary of doing any sort of deadlifting, even RDLs. My upper body is still completely fried which is no surprise since the next workout isn't scheduled until tomorrow. Sleep sucked the last 2 days, both in terms of quality and quantity, which certainly contributed to the subpar recovery.

 

I guess I will use this opportunity to switch upper and lower workouts by training upper tomorrow and lower on Thursday. As mentioned, the only reason I did not do it this way to begin with were the deadlifts, but since I don't need to be worried about impacting them negatively through sore lats etc. and thus sacrificing form and risking injury, I might as well do it in this order to better focus on my bench and other upper body lifts. Sure, if I indeed reintroduce RLDs, sore lats will be problematic, but I see much less risk here, given I can do that lift much more safely to begin with. Let's just hope that upper body soreness has ceased a fair bit by tomorrow, but eh, I will not rest 3 days in a row no matter what. This already is a more than annoying start into the cycle.

At least diet has been very good.

[Disil]

Hamstrings are still dead. Really not sure what to make of this in regards to the deadlifts, especially since I wrote this after the second to last lower body workout: "I just realized that there is barely any soreness in my hamstrings which is incredibly rare." So I figure I used much better technique last time, but probably also too much weight in combination + going up in weight for the leg press and leg urls as well. Still, I'm not willing to risk anything with my back so regular deadlifts are out for the time being.

My pecs and lats were still a bit sore, but nothing that would really interfere with training them again.

 

Workout for Wednesday:

 

Flat Bench Press (55Kg*): 8, 8, 8, 7 (Almost got there. But to be honest, this is probably better anyway, given an immediate jump to 57.5 next session likely would've been too much and so I'd profit from staying at a new weight for at least 2 sessions before going up again)

Chest-supported Rows: (65Kg*): 4x8 (The last one was close, but still made it. Up)

Machine Shoulder Press (22.5Kg*): 12, 12, 5 (The 3rd rep, my left elbow started to hurt a lot during the eccentric part of the movement. Called it there)

Lat Pulldown (60Kg*): 3x12 (Heavy. Up)

Single Arm Pushdown (7.5Kg): 12, 15* (Didn't go to failure the first set so I had a bit left in the tank for the 2nd)

Seated Incline DB-Curls (10Kg): 13, 13 (No progress, but my elbow was still hurting and my biceps were pretty exhausted from the rows and pulldown)

Lateral Cable Raises (4.375Kg): 15*, 14 (-)

 

PRs are marked with a * - pretty awesome workout. What makes this even better is that I've been having a really stressful couple of days, slept less than 6 hours Mon->Tue and still had some soreness going into this one. Can't wait for Saturday after a long good night's sleep and no work, getting to the gym around 1 or 2 in the afternoon.

 

Weight: 66.4Kg
Calories: ~2867

Estimated Surplus: ~317

 

About a 1Kg spike, likely caused by a ton of salt, food volume and late meals yesterday. On track and doing well otherwise.

[godjira1]

silly question - but have you considered trying sumo deadlifts as an alternative to conventional deadlifts? The grips are usually the limiting factor if you try to do them in the same workout as conventional deadlifts, and the glutes will suffer during the leg press. But given your ongoing hamstring issues it is worth a shot. 

[Disil]

Yeah, I tried those recently and while my back angle obviously is much better, they're just not for me. With my arms being as extremely short as they are, I end up basically ripping my hands open against my thighs and overall they just didn't work for me.

 

 

My hamstrings were still pretty sore from Saturday, but I wanted to give my legs something to do so I just went for it.

 

 

Workout for Thursday:

 

Romanian Deadlift (60Kg): 3x5 (Quite light, but my hamstring flexibility was still fairly limited by the situation right now. Gonna increase steadily every week now. Up)

Leg Press (105Kg): 2x12 (My hamstrings were hurting a lot and I didn't want to induce another bout of extreme soreness, so I stopped at 2 sets, but 3 wouldn't have been a problem I believe. Up)

Leg Curls: (37.5Kg): 10 (No sense in doing these right now. Gotta give some time to recover)

Leg-Extensions (57.5Kg): 3x12* (Nice. Up)

 

Quite meh, but alas, I did something.

 

Weight: 66.1Kg
Calories: ~2989

Estimated Surplus: ~439

 

Tried to eyeball it today because I just didn't have time to pre-plan and calculate a lot. Ended up a bit over, but no biggie.

 

[Disil]

Thankfully, my upper body recovered nicely and there was only some very mild soreness in my pecs and lats remaining.

 

Workout for Saturday:

 

Flat Bench Press (55Kg): 4x8* (The warmup just never felt quite right and the first set was meh, the 2nd even moreso. The 3rd I struggled a bit, but for the fourth, a friend arrived at the gym and spotted me, no handoff or any help whatsoever, and I just smoked the 4th set with probably even another rep in the tank. Up)

Chest-supported Rows: (67.5Kg*): 4x8 (Very heavy. Barely made them. Up)

Machine Shoulder Press (22.5Kg): 12, 12, 10* (Elbow held up mostly. It felt a bit funny once I was done with the exercise, but it quickly passed)

Lat Pulldown (62.5Kg*): 12, 10, 7 (Quite the step-up.)

Single Arm Pushdown (7.5Kg): 14, 15* (-)

Seated Incline DB-Curls (10Kg): 13, 14 (These will be really tough to increase with how spent I always am after the rows and pulldowns. Gonna keep trying tho)

Lateral Cable Raises (4.375Kg): 15*, 15 (Really difficult. Up)

 

Despite not feeling too great going in, this was good stuff.

 

Weight: 65.5Kg
Calories: ~?

Estimated Surplus: ~?

 

I was at 1818cal in the afternoon, but visited a friend and between a huge tuna salad and a lot of chocolate bisquits, I probably ended up a bit over, but I don't really know. Weight has normalized again from Wednesday's spike and waist remains unchanged for about 2 weeks now which is good.

 

I really wanted to work out on Sunday, but my hamstrings were still obliterated from Thursday. I guess I really should've given them (even) more rest before training them again, especially since this leg press in my new gym is putting a lot more emphasis on the hamstrings than the one in my previous gym. So giving them enough rest is what I will do, reluctantly, this time around. Which probably means not training them until Wednesday, which is a 6 day pause which in itself will probably create a lot of soreness, but so be it.

[Disil]

My left hamstring still isn't 100% and so I didn't do anything Monday and will have to do lower body on Wednesday, 6 days after the last one, just like predicted. Oh well.

I went into this one feeling pretty good, well recovered, but with a little bit of a sleep deficit from Sunday->Monday at only 6 1/2ish hours.

 

Workout for Tuesday:

 

Flat Bench Press (57.5Kg*): 8, 6, 6, 6 (This felt incredibly heavy. The unracking alone was quite taxing and I certainly had a few 9.5 RPEs in there, particularly the first and last set. 6 reps shy of going up, I'll probably be here for a minute. Which is fine, 4x8 would've been scary, because I can feel my ligaments etc. barely being able to keep up right now and they certainly are glad I won't go up to 60Kg next session)

Chest-supported Rows: (70Kg*): 8, 7, 6, 6 (Finally some real ass working weights)

Machine Shoulder Press (22.5Kg): 12, 11*, 12 (Didn't want to go to failure on set 2, didn't need to for 3, I'd call that a win)

Lat Pulldown (62.5Kg): 10, 9, 8 (Lost 2 reps, which probably means I'm on the low end of the performance spectrum today which gives me hope for bench next time around)

Single Arm Pushdown (7.5Kg): 15, 15* (Up)

Seated Incline DB-Curls (10Kg): 13, 14 (These will be really tough to increase with how spent I always am after the rows and pulldowns. Gonna keep trying tho)

Lateral Cable Raises (5Kg*): 10, 10 (Gonna be here a while)

 

Tough to give this one a thumbs up, but it also wasn't bad at all. 4 weeks ago, I would said this here must've been a smashing success, so I guess I can't complain too much about this. 2 full rest days after tomorrow's lower body workout and more attention paid to enough sleep should prime me for a bunch of rep PRs on Saturday.

 

Weight: 66.1Kg
Calories: ~2852

Estimated Surplus: ~302

 

Unfortunately I've had 2 weak days on Sat/Sun, but it's difficult sometimes when in company. At least I didn't go overboard too much on either day.

[Disil]

Workout for Wednesday:

 

Romanian Deadlift (62.5Kg): 3x5 (No effort really, but I guess I just need to ease in on these if I don't want to keep being super sore all the time)

Leg Press (107.5Kg*): 12, 12, 10 (This thing is really brutal and I can feel it in my hamstrings, glutes and back, but unfortunately barely in my quads. Fortunately, the leg extensions are getting up there so my quads shouldn't be an issue)

Leg Curls: (37.5Kg): 12, 12, 8 (Good)

Leg-Extensions (60Kg*): 12, 12, 11 (Almost)

 

Despite how heavy everything felt yesterday, upper body soreneness is rather mild, barely anything in the pecs, a little in the shoulders and arms and the most in the lats. It's tough to get motivated for lower body day though. I'm so far removed from any PRs with the RDLs (did 8/7/5 with 80Kg on January 3 and 8/8/8 with 77.5Kg the session before that), the leg press is just destroying me and the others are boring isolation machines (though to be fair, the extensions feel pretty awesome). I did a handful of rack holds with 90/100/110Kg to see if I can do something for my traps. Overall, these two workouts I put in some decent work and should be able to reap some rewards this weekend I hope.

Also, I intend to start working some light cardio back in, as I feel the heavier I get, the worse my endurance is gonna become. I also miss the time to think and reflect on stuff while listening to music and running through the forest and lastly, I figure it will both help me eat more food as well as enable me to have a more successful cut later on (next year or whenever).

 

Weight: 65.9Kg
Calories: ~2857

Estimated Surplus: ~307

[Disil]

Workout for Saturday:

 

Flat Bench Press (57.5Kg): 8, 7, 7*, 6 (I went pretty close to failure on the third set, but I wanted to get at least 2 more reps out of this one compared to last time. I potentially could have done one more in the end, but I didn't want to risk that much form breakdown)

Chest-supported Rows: (70Kg): 4x8 (Damn. Up)

Machine Shoulder Press (22.5Kg): 12, 12*, 10 (Unfortunately, my left elbow started huring with the 9th rep of the last set which kept me from completing 3x12)

Lat Pulldown (62.5Kg): 3x12* (I actually did 10/8 with 67.5Kg for the first two because I didn't set the weights correctly, but I figure this still qualifies as 3x12 with 62.5)

Single Arm Pushdown (8.75Kg*): 13, 15 (Nice!)

Seated Incline DB-Curls (10Kg): 15, 15* (Instead of making the huge jump to 12Kg next time, I will simply add a third set with the goal being 4x15 at this weight before going up to 12kg)

Lateral Cable Raises (5Kg*): 12, 13* (-)

 

Quite happy with this. Friday was a pretty miserable day and I'm sure that with more sleep and less stress that day, this could've been even better. Going into upper body without any back soreness is really great. My upper hamstrings, adductors and especially glutes are still pretty much toast so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

 

Weight: 66.5Kg
Calories: ~2889

Estimated Surplus: ~339

 

A huge very late meal yesterday explains most of the weight spike, but realistically I'm probably around 66 now. A bit faster than I would've liked, sure, but also with a ton more to go before I get to a weight I'd comfortably cut down from again. I don't think I will set an arbitrary number for this either. 75 sounds good, but I'll probably use a mixture of strength numbers and feel to decide when to stop the bulk. What's certain is that I'll keep going for at least a year in total, so from April '17 until end of March '18 and then I'll assess where I stand and how to proceed.

 

 

[Disil]

Workout for Sunday:

 

Romanian Deadlift (70Kg): 3x5 (I misremembered last week's weight, thought I needed to do 67.5 when it was actually 65, couldn't be bothered to look for both 2.5 and 1.25Kg plates in this area of the gym and figured I'd just RDL 70 since last week was way too easy and 3x5@70 is still way below 3x8@80 which I was at in January 5Kg lighter. They were moderately heavy, but still far from challenging. Maybe RPE 6, dunno. I did some more rack-holds with 110Kg for dem neck gains afterwards)

Leg Press (107.5Kg): / (During the last warmup set, my right hamstring was already feeling a little too stressed and after the first couple of reps of the first working set, it turned into downright pain, probably a strain or maybe a pulled muscle. Whatever)

Leg Curls: (37.5Kg): / (Gotta let that hamstring recover)

Leg-Extensions (60Kg*): 3x12 (Pretty easy, probably due to the lack of prior exhaustion because of the skipped leg press)

 

Bummer. Oh well. As long as upper body keeps going well I don't care all that much tbh.

 

Weight: 66.4Kg
Calories: ~2966

Estimated Surplus: ~416

 

I had an apple after I was at 2850, no big deal really.

[Disil]

Sunday-> Monday I fucked up and too much food leading to food coma (2h nap) leading to not being able to get to bed early leading to only sleeping 1.5+2+0.5 hours made for a very long, exhausting day. I was super sore which is no surprise given this lack of recovery and I dreaded what it meant for the next workout (already preparing all the excuses here).

 

Tuesday Workout:

 

Bench Press (57.5Kg): 8, 8, 8, 7* (Wow. Added 3 more reps and if it weren't for pretty horrible form during the 2nd and towards the end of the last set, I very well might've completed 4x8. Certainly would have if it weren't for the aforementioned recovery deficit)

Chest-supported Rows: (72.5Kg*): 4x8 (Dafuq? A couple close reps but still. Up)

Machine Shoulder Press (22.5Kg): 12, 10, 3 (That left elbow again. Not sure what to do about this. Strength is not a factor, I easily could've done 12/12/10+)

Lat Pulldown (65Kg*): 12, 10, 9 (-)

Single Arm Pushdown (8.75Kg*): 15, 15 (Sweet. Up)

Seated Incline DB-Curls (10Kg): 15, 12 + 8 standing curls (Guess the compound pulls already fried my biceps)

Lateral Cable Raises (5Kg): 14*, 13 (-)

 

I'm Impressed. Totally did not expect anything out of today, let alone this. Not sure whether I'll be able to train lower body tomorrow given my hamstrings are still completely done.

 

Weight: 66.7Kg
Calories: ~3323

Estimated Surplus: ~773

 

Given the shitty mood and everything yesterday, of course I ended up overeating by like 800 cals. I could have managed today at least, but I was ravenous after that workout and so I just inhaled 1700 calories worth of pizza, fruit, greek yoghurt and nuts, putting me way over again. At least my lifts are going up..

[Disil]

My hamstrings stil weren't recovered by Thursday. I also decided that I urgently need to reintroduce cardio in some way for a multitude of reasons. This lead to a run on Friday, of course I immediately ran my old distance of 7km, knowing it was stupid. My lungs were burning and I had to take a few pauses, ended up with a rather slow time of ~48 minutes and a pace barely under 7min/km and I'm very sore today, but hey that's me. Also, I've discovered (or rather re-realized) that I'm actually pretty inflexible in my hamstrings and what I've been doing was mostly increase calf flexibility so I've also been working on hamstring flexibility for a couple of days now, already making pretty decent progress. Hopefully this will alleviate some of the current lower body problems, mostly the constant hamstring soreness/injuriy-ish stuff as well as a better RDL. Yeah, no lower body workout since last Sunday, but what the hell.

 

Aaaaanyway. This wasn't the ideal setup for today, but what the hell. Workout for Saturday:

 

Bench Press (57.5Kg): 4x8* (First set felt almost easy. Paid for it by going into the 2nd being too cocky, having pretty lackluster/shifty technique and wasting a lot of energy which made the much better 3rd set way harder than needed. Set 4 rep 8 it felt like time stood still for a few seconds and it certainly was an RPE 10, but I wasn't going to be denied and pushed through, literally. My left elbow hurt a bit here and there, but nothing major. Up - to 60Kg and thus 1 plate on each side, finally)

Chest-supported Rows: (75Kg*): 8, 7, 7, 7 (Decent)

Machine Shoulder Press (22.5Kg): 3x12* (No elbow pain to start with despite the bench. Towards the last set it came back, but not strong enough for me to not finish the set. Up)

Lat Pulldown (65Kg): 12, 7, 7 (Lats were done after the rows. Technique was horrible in the end of the first set)

Single Arm Pushdown (9.375Kg*): 13, 12 (Good start)

Seated Incline DB-Curls (10Kg): 15, 15, 10* (Slow and steady)

Lateral Cable Raises (5Kg): 2x15* (Struggled hard, but forced these. Up)

 

 

I'm always anxious, afraid I might not be able to top my previous performance, especially if it's already been a pretty good one as was the case before this one, but I guess that's a good spot to be in. Putting some pressure on yourself and being able to pull it off is an awesome feeling. I just need to keep being mindful of technique and not end up sacrificing form for progress. But honestly, I couldn't even do 4x8x52.5 on the bench no matter how much I'd contort myself and sacrifice form, so being able to do 4x8x57.5 no matter how is undeniable proof that I'm getting stronger, better and thus bigger.

 

Weight: 66.6Kg
Calories: ~

Estimated Surplus: ~

 

Invited to two gatherings today (one in the afternoon and one house party), I will lose track inevitably, but I don't mind too much after such a great workout.

[Disil]

I'm kind of lost on lower body right now. Friday's run had my quads and inner thighs supremely sore while my hamstrings were finally recovered, both from soreness as well as apparently the strain on the right side from last week. Also, I really wanted to give squats one more try, because my knee has been feeling different (=better) and I was really itching to do so. In reality, I probably should've made a setback of my usual lower body workout and stayed the hell away from squats, especially on sore legs, but of course I didn't.

 

Workout for Sunday:

 

Romanian Deadlift (72.5Kg): 3x5 (Still not particularly challenging)

Squats (50/52.5/55/60Kg): 5 each (I spent like 20 minutes trying out low-bar for the first time ever, but I so very much do not have the shoulder and wrist mobility to come close to doing it. Super short arms again, should've known better. But while that didn't work, my knee held up fine and so I just tried high bar with somewhat "heavy" weights, at least considering my last squats were like half a year ago and the last time I regularly squatted was 11 months ago, 6/6/5x75Kg at around 68Kg. Today's felt fine, looked surprisingly decent and that day and the day after my knee still feels pretty ok so I guess we'll see what happens)

Leg Curls: (37.5Kg): 12, 11 (Decided to keep this at 2 sets to not make for too much soreness)

Leg-Extensions (62.5Kg*): 6 (Yeah, doing this with such sore quads after all those squats was not gonna happen)

 

No idea what to do with my lower body. Writing this down on Monday, I'm extremely sore all over. Only getting a little over 5h of sleep surely contributed, but my lower body is complete toast, as is my upper back, my triceps, my lats, forearms. I feel like I need 4 rest days and I've got no clue how I'm supposed to bench 60Kg tomorrow. Part of me really wishes I'd just stopped with the compound lower body movements for good to keep focus on upper, but I just love that stuff too much even if it doesn't love me back.

 

Weight: ?
Calories: ~2615

Estimated Surplus: ~65

 

I wisely didn't weigh in after that house party. I drank a bit and ate way way too much food, so the following days I didn't even feel all that hungry. I'm super annoyed how I'm storing all the weight in my midsection again. Even if I'm gaining some size in my upper back, shoulders or lats, V-Taper is a pipe dream with the speed at which my love handles are expanding. Sigh, can you tell I'm unhappy right now? Doesn't matter, gotta walk right through this and keep on getting stronger and bigger, just not as quickly with those bursts from overeating. Let's make August an entire month were I keep things in check. That'll help.