Learning and Lifting - A student's tale

[Cat in the rack]

Up at around 6 this morning and a conservative weigh-in of 66.5kg, a .3kg increase over 5 days, fitting the range of .25-.5kg gain per week assuming it doesn't go up another .3kg in the next 2 days. Had bfast, chilled for a bit before going to the gym, had to go earlier than usual because the wifi is being installed today between 1 and 6, so I left some time after 9 and got back around 12.

Gym session was pretty great, warmed up with jump rope and stretching and so on so forth. Started with bench press up to 60kg for 5 then 6 then 7 reps, then close grip bench press up to 50kg for 5 then 6 then 7 reps, both to success with little-to-no reduction in speed, followed by overhead press with 25kg for 10 reps of 10, and ended with 4 sets of 5 hanging leg raises with strict form and 4 sets of 8 oblique twists. Finished with some boxing drills and a run on the treadmill. Walked home, got some food in me, showered, and here we are. Just gotta unpack my gym bag and fill in my lifting progress table for bench, close grip bench and OHP.

I have a bit of cooking to do but I should probably wait until after the wifi is installed, wouldn't want to be busy flipping pancakes when the guy arrives. Gonna be good having wifi again though, using the phone for everything online is a bit of a nuisance plus I can't stream very much.

Tomorrow's a conditioning day, box jumps, jump rope, boxing, cardio, handstands, so on so forth. Literally zero else on the agenda that day so I may find myself slightly bored, but ya know, first day after wifi is back so I'll have some stuff to follow up on that I can't do now I guess. Anyway, that's all, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at like 6 again and a weigh in down to 66.1kg, gotta be a fluctuation and tomorrow or the next day I should be back up again. Made bfast, killed a couple of hours.

It's been raining all morning so I'll probably just skip the gym today. Nah just fucking with ya, can you imagine. I never understood that excuse, the weather sucks so obviously I can't go do something that takes place entirely indoors, quit pussying out people, it ain't that hard. Anyway I'll be leaving for the gym probably within the hour, gonna do some jump rope, some boxing, some box jumps, some sprints, yadda yadda yadda. Then get back, shower, eat, continue the rollercoaster that is this summer.

Bill Nye the wifi guy did show up yesterday, took about an hour and a half but everything is sorted. No issues with the house so far and there are just two more people yet to move their stuff in, nobody else has moved in yet though, it'll likely just be me and one other person most of the summer.

That's all, like I said yesterday, nothing else on the agenda today, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up around 6 again, I'm detecting a pattern emerging, weighed in at 66.5kg, nice steady increase going on. Made a weird bfast of porridge with cashew butter and sweet potato, had to bring a lunch I could eat at work no problem.

Had an 8 hour shift today, 8 til 4, so I didn't have much time this morning before leaving for work. Then after work I had to stop at the post office, got a rice cooker delivered. By the time I got back it was pretty much time to start cooking dinner, and that is where we are now.

Just gonna relax for the rest of the evening, my legs are way too tired from all the standing around all day. Tomorrow's a heavy squat day so fingers crossed I don't have sore legs, followed by high rep bent over rows and some preacher curls, as well as some pull-up sets. Then I've got work from 5-9 that evening, plus on top of that I have a bunch of cooking to do, so lots to do that day.

Anyway, that's all for now, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Today has been fairly full-on, up at 6 as per usual for whatever reason, it's been so long since my alarm has actually gone off seeing as I always wake up way before it. Weighed in at 66.3kg, giving me around a net gain of .1-.2kg over the last 8 days, but again, gotta account for fluctuations, I might come in at 66.5kg tomorrow, I'll give it at least a total of 2 weeks before planning and I'll avoid altering calories/macros until closer to the end of the month, but by August I should be somewhere between 67 and 68 kilos ideally.

I had an hour or so of chilling after bfast before I started my meal prep for the next 3 days, 3 servings pancakes and 3 servings sweet potato, I've got new frying pans coming soon so I should be able to cook the pancakes more easily when they do, mine are real cheap. Immediately after that was done I got changed into my gym clothes and mixed my preworkout, no rest for the wicked and all.

Gym was odd today, I did not feel of optimal strength whatsoever. My chin-up and pull-up game was mad down, the max set of chin-ups didn't feel right and the 6 sets of 3 pull-ups left me exhausted. Then squats felt incredibly heavy, I still nailed them with no grinding, but they felt very heavy so rest times between sets were longer than typical. Still, built up to a set of 5 then 6 then 7 with 90kg, so that's a win as far as I'm concerned, I always feel like my last rep in a set of squats is the last rep I can do, it's probably just a mental thing, but it can make avoiding failure more difficult. Then onto 10x10 for bent-over rows, which were surprisingly easy actually, I expected them to be more of a grind but they felt quicker than ever, chalk it up to a happy circumstance I guess. Then to end I hit the preacher curls, 4 sets of 8 isolateral with a 12kg dumbbell. I don't like the grips on the dumbbells in this gym very much, they're weird, the handle moves separately to the weights on either end, kind of gyroscopically I guess, I'm sure this is intended to make it easier, but it just makes my grip feel like it's not being worked as well personally. Didn't have time for any post-workout cardio sadly ("sadly") seeing as I got work in a couple of hours, so I had to came home straight after.

Had another flatmate moving their stuff in and staying the night, so that was neat, just one left now, though I'm still the only one living here. I quite like it, it's quiet, I don't have to worry about playing music too loud, I get the feeling I'm too content with social isolation sometimes, ah well, what are ya gonna do. I've eaten but have yet to shower and I'm gonna need to start making dinner in under two hours if I wanna get to work on time. I'll be getting home around half 9 so I'll have very little time before heading to bed. Like I said, a pretty full-on day today.

Tomorrow however will be a different kind of full-on. I'll have to hit the gym fairly early as I'll be leaving to get a train at around 2, giving me precious little time to chill. But on top of that I intend to try to wake up later tomorrow, or at the very least be incredibly well rested, otherwise I'll end up falling asleep way too early. Tomorrow is a party night, so there'll be no in bed at 10 going on. I've gotta get the train to somewhere not too far to meet up with my dad who's giving me a lift, but we're gonna be going for dinner first, and then he'll drop me off. I won't be drinking of course, but I will be drinking zero kcal energy drinks to keep me going. Plus I always feel weird when I'm surrounded by people drinking and I'm there sipping on water like some sort of recovering alcoholic, at least energy drinks come in cans, allowing me to almost look like a normal human being ("almost").

I'll be getting picked up at 10 the following morning, at which point I'm sure I'll be starving, because of course I'm supposed to eat every 2-3 hours to keep my metabolism going (just kidding). But I will be very hungry, fortunately he's picking me up and taking me to meet up with my grandparents whom I haven't seen in a while, but the "fortunately" part is that we'll be meeting up with them for what will be lunch to everyone except me, for which it will be breakfast. I used to not eat until the afternoon anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard, though I may nick an apple or something from the person who's house the party is in. I know the rough servings for each macro at each meal, so I'll just order something that sort of fits the macros of one of my meals and then eat the other two meals at home later, should be no problem.

That's it for now, tomorrow's update will likely be brief which is why I mentioned tomorrow's events today, the post the day after that will likely be from a very tired me, so expect that to be brief too. I may have work Sunday though it's unconfirmed as of yet. That's all, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

I've only got 30 minutes so here's a very brief post summarising today.

After yesterday's post someone from work called, ended up going in much earlier than expected.

Weighed in at 66.3kg this morning, had bfast, not long after left for the gym. Managed to stay in bed til 7 despite first waking up just after 5.

Gym was good, 5 then 6 then 7 reps for OHP with 40kg, then 10x10 for bench press with 40kg which went very smoothly. Then 4 sets of 8 dips, plus abs work to end. Had to leave straight away seeing as I gotta go get the train at 2, had lunch, showered, and here we are.

I'm gonna get dressed and leave shortly, I'll be returning home early afternoon tomorrow. Got a call from work and now I'm working Sunday 9-4, [sarcasm/] can't wait for that. [\sarcasm]

That's all, going out for dinner before the party, no idea where or what I'll have but I've got about 800 calories and a lot of carbs to work with, not much fat typically with dinner but so long as it's within the 60-90g daily range I'm happy with it. As for tomorrow I have no idea where I'll be going for lunch/bfast with the grandparents but so long as it fits one of my three meals I'm good, which gives me just so much to work with, I'll probably end up ordering the biggest thing on the menu.

Gotta be getting ready now, have a good weekend

[Cat in the rack]

I've had an hour or two nap so I'm still pretty tired, but work tomorrow so I wanna be well rested, saving sleep for later I guess.

Party was something of a rollercoaster, everything was awesome except for the brief detail that a friend left drunk, took their car, and is now probably in a jail cell or something, though they won't tell us anything. Luckily I was sober enough to keep people calm, there was quite the dispute going on for a good hour or two after it happened. We've yet to hear from her though I managed to let her sister know.

But other than that one minor detail great night. Played games, had fun, laughed, joked, all the usual shenanigans. I got zero sleep but here we are.

That is pretty much all today, i did decide to eat 2,600 calories at one meal so I won't have to cook or anything later today but still hit all my diet goals. I'm gonna continue doing what I do best, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

With work and cooking and being tired as balls yesterday there was no battle log, so allow me to cover what happened yesterday. I woke up around half 6, weighed in around 66.3kg, had bfast, went to work, got home, did a batch cook, ate dinner, then went to bed a couple hours later. I was talking to a girl that works behind reception during my shift yesterday, she mentioned how she likes doing cheerleading but hasn't been doing it much this year because of work as it takes up too much time, 2 hours a day 3 days a week. I then had to do my best to say that I went to the gym 2 hours a day 5 days a week without sounding like an ass when she asked what sport I was into.

One thing I forgot to mention at the party is that a girl told me I didn't look like I used to because I used to be fat, I took it as a compliment, I'm like 80% sure that's how it was intended. Also the girl who crashed her car is fine now as far as we can tell, though there's still a tid bit of controversy about what happened in our little social circle.

Woke up this morning around half 6, I think getting zero sleep one night has put my sleep schedule back in order so that's nice. Weighed in at 66.3kg yet again, giving me a net gain of 0.1kg this month, not even a pound yet. If there's no upswing by the 14th I'm gonna up another 200 calories, though nothing exciting, just an extra 25g of oats with bfast and 25g of rice with dinner. The summer bulk is veeeeeery slow to start it would seem.

Gym went well, after the weekend I've had its exactly what I needed, couldn't wait to get back in there. Deadlifts up to a set of 3 then 4 then 5 with double overhand grip throughout for 117.5kg, a new DO grip weight max but nowhere near a max for deadlifts overall. Then bent over rows up to a set of 3 then 4 then 5 for 65kg, even in the warm up sets my rows didn't feel their best, we'll see how 67.5kg feels next week. And the cherry of exhaustion to end my workout was squats for 5 sets of 10 with 62.5kg, went well, even if it did leave me with a looooot of sweat. Between sets of squats I was chin-up focussed today, did 1 set of 5 for pull-ups then 10 sets of 4 for chin-ups overall, the first to test my max (ie next week I'll try for 6) and the latter to build my chin-up strength with plenty of volume, they definitely felt stronger than last week, must have just been having a bad day then. Ended with a little foam rolling, nothing fancy.

I have to leave for work in under 90 minutes so I'd better shower soon, I'm currently undecided as to whether I'll bring food or eat late after my shift. Either way I should probably cook before I leave so I can just reheat it either at home or work, we'll see what option I go for I guess. As great as it is having a ton of shifts, I can't help but feel a little rushed all the time, I've had to schedule a trip to the library, a haircut and a big supermarket shop tomorrow after the gym just because I don't have work. Still, beats being bored with nothing to do I suppose, it's just a shame that with shifts that mean I can't go to the gym that day I have to put it on my days with short or no shifts, meaning I don't get many days to simply relax, ah well, such is life. At least this Saturday I just have gym in the morning and a little cooking to do, between the two I should have the morning to relax and then the late afternoon to evening to relax, or if I cook before the gym I'll have the early afternoon to evening to relax.

Good news is I've worked out that if I can get 3 reasonable length shifts (say 6-8 hours) once I start uni after the summer I can make enough to pay rent and bills and whatnot, meaning my maintenance loans and bursaries and so on can go to a combination of my savings account and impulse purchases. And seeing as I have around 3k currently and my loans/grants/bursaries total somewhere in the region of 6-9k (depends on a few variables) that means I could theoretically have up to 10k in the bank this time next year, not that that's likely in reality, but it's a nice thought. Either way, from October onwards I'm gonna have a lot more money than I have had the last 12 months, meaning I don't have to worry about anything financially speaking.

Anyway, it's getting to the point where I'll be rushing out the door to get to work in time if I don't hurry up and get to making myself presentable soon enough. Gym tomorrow is heavy bench plus close grip bench plus some high volume cleaned OHP followed by ab work, I'm looking forward to it a lot more than I usually do, and usually I'm really looking forward to it, I guess with being a little further from failure during workouts it feels even better, for instance last week I benched 60kg for 7 reps without being too close to failure, whereas maybe 6 months ago or so my max was around 60kg, makes me feel a lot stronger. I am so loving this summer of strength and mass building, even if the mass part is taking its bloody time. By the end of the summer I should be lifting my current maxes for reps, then when lectures start up again I should be going for a new max every month. Can't wait for that, anyway, rambling, peace

[Cat in the rack]

Weighed in at 65.9kg this morning, like a pound lighter than I was at the start of the month, so calories are going up from today onwards, roughly the half way mark. Added 100 kcal of nut butter and 100kcal of oats to bfast, putting me just over 3,000 calories, I'll do an accurate estimate later. First thing I did today was go to the library and get out all the books I'll need for the next academic year, gonna browse through those over summer. Sadly every day since I actually got some suncream that I've not had work there had been zero sun, so I guess it's gonna have to wait. Wednesday and Thursday I have shifts ending at 4 so on the downside there will be no gym, but on the upside I'll finish at the perfect time to sunbathe providing there is sun to bathe in, reckon I'll bring a change of clothes and some suncream and a book and if it's sunny after my shift I'll head to the park straight away. Fingers crossed ey?

Hit the gym for some chest, shoulder, triceps and abs, I do like the 50/50ish split where there's a day for legs/back/bis and chest/shoulders/tris/abs, very little overlap between the two, plus I can happily do cardio after CSTA day (gonna use acronyms for short). Heavy bench built up to a set of 3/4/5 for 65kg to success and heavy close grip bench up to 3/4/5 for 55kg to success, followed by 10x10 OHP with 27.5kg and then 4 sets of 6 leg raises and 4 sets of 8 cable twists. Overall a great workout, ended with 10 minutes on the treadmill, finally worked out how to preset interval training on the treadmills here, it's very handy not having to adjust the speed every 30 seconds or so, plus it has various difficulty levels.

Got back, got a parcel which turned out to be new frying pans, not exactly exciting but still handy, perhaps I can make pancakes that aren't half soft and half burnt now. Ate lunch, and now I gotta shower and shave before the tesco delivery arrives which is some time between 3 and 4. Side note, thank fudge I can order shopping online now, back at the student flats it was always too much of a hassle with drivers who I'm pretty sure must have been brain damaged to not be able to figure out how to get to the right door, but I digress. After I shower I've got laundry to do, fun times, then after the delivery has come and gone I can go get a haircut long overdue, whenever I'm in the gym I feel like there's a jellyfish on my head, perhaps an odd analogy but I think it works.

With the party at the weekend and work most days I am so looking forward to Saturday, it'll be the first day where I've not had work but also don't have a ton of shit to do elsewhere (ie cooking, cleaning, laundry, long-ass walk to the library then carrying back a ton of books, etc). If I'm lucky it'll be sunny and I can sunbathe, just have a nice relaxing day, I almost wish I had a bath so I could have a long relaxing bath. Man, the last time I was in a bath was just over a year ago, it's weird how sometimes you miss things a little even though you were never that into them.

I've been thinking lately that I should try new things more often, especially now I don't have to worry about money too much, and I've decided that one thing I've been meaning to try is a deep tissue massage, which I've heard are great. So I think during my next deload week which is towards the end of this month I'll book one seeing as they do stuff like that at my work, besides I should get a 20% staff discount. If I enjoy it then I'll consider making it a monthly thing every deload week, maybe try some of the other stuff they offer.

Okay, starting to ramble on at this point but I think I'm done. Wait... nope that's everything, phew, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Okay today has been pretty exhausting. Woke up half 6, weighed in at around 65.9kg yet again, two weeks in and I'm down a pound, still, gonna stick to the current approximately 3,050 calories a day, give it two more weeks, see where I stand. Had bfast, left for work shortly after, and then had an 8 hour shift 8 til 4. At first it was very busy, which I prefer so I have something to do, but by 12 it had settled down. I had lunch around then, and after that it was mostly dead. Started reading a cognitive psychology textbook, gonna aim for at least a chapter a day, if I could sunbathe that amount would go up a ton. But as I'm sure you can tell today wasn't the day for it unfortunately, raining this morning, too cloudy now, maybe tomorrow if I'm lucky.

Anyway, back now, won't be long before I start making dinner. Laundry hasn't dried completely yet so I'm sitting around in a dressing gown like a pleb. Oh and I did my bulk cooking yesterday so no haircut, gonna have to wait until Friday. The new frying pans work great, no stick whatsoever, making two giant pancakes instead of four moderate sized ones, much quicker.

Not much else to say, gonna chill for a bit, finish reading chapter 1, eat dinner. Tomorrow's shift is only 10-4 thank god, though I'd rather the 6 hours be 8-2 if I'm honest, can't stand the dead hours, quite literally, I tend to sit down. Still, should be able to get some reading done. That's everything, laters

[Cat in the rack]

Woke up half 6, weighed in at 65.8kg, that my weight is going down is crazy at this point, hopefully with the recent calorie addition it'll go up a little. Though it 2,850 is around maintanence then I'm likely gonna need to go higher, but that would be pretty damn high maintanence calories. Had bfast, got my shift starting at 10, then odds are by 12 it'll be dead and I won't have much to do for the following four hours. Girl called Hannah had a shift yesterday starting at 12, called at 11.58 to say she wouldn't make it, she has the same shift again today, I've been working just over a week and she's skipped 2 shifts in that time, needless to say people do not really like her.

Clearly another day of no sunbathing weather, shame really. Tomorrow my shift means I can't really sunbathe, but the day after I am free as a bird so fingers crossed for sun. Although I do have to go to the gym that day, and do some bulk cooking, and clean the bathroom, still, otherwise free as a bird. Also my fat grips arrive tomorrow, or cheap versions of them anyway, not sure how I'm gonna implement them as of yet but I'll likely wait until this cycle is over before adding them regularly.

My right calf has been playing up a little lately. Woke up yesterday with it going all spaz on me, it's died down a little but it's still not gone completely, some foam rolling aughta help I guess. It's probably be fairly distracting when doing squats as I have planned tomorrow, so fingers crossed I can get rid of it.

That's all folks, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Gonna make this one quick as I've got stuff to do. Woke up before half 6, weighed in at 66.1kg, so roughly where I started at the beginning of the month, lack of progress is frustrating but I guess you can't rush these things. Had bfast, chilled for a bit, read some textbook, then headed to the gym. Though I got a parcel and my fat grips have arrived, got to try them out.

Hit the gym for heavy legs and high volume back. Heavy squats, up to a set of 3 then 4 then 5 reps with 95kg, felt heavy but little to no form breakdown. Between sets of squats with one max set of chin-ups for 6 reps, then 6 sets of 3 fat grip pull-ups. The fat grips didn't seem to make it much harder but it definitely improved my bicep and lat pump, so that's neat I guess, maybe I've just improved at pull-ups lately. After that I did 10x10 bent over rows with 42.5kg, followed by 4 sets of 8 isolateral fat grip preacher curls with a 12kg dumbbell, which did feel harder with the wider grip. Next week I think I'll go for 7 chin-ups but keep pull-ups the same, up the squat weight to 100kg for 1-3 reps, bent over rows up to 45kg for 10x10, and curls I'll keep the same for now. Tomorrow's heavy OHP with 10x10 bench and weighted dips plus abs work finishing with cardio.

Got back, ate lunch, have yet to shower. Got a shift from 5-9 so I'll probably prepare some food soon, got 5 meals worth of cooked chicken in the fridge to get through. Last night I had steak for dinner with the mistake of not owning a steak knife, I should probably get one, just used a chopping knife instead with some difficulty. I'll probably just have 100g plain oats between now and my shift so I don't have to bring a ton of cooked rice with me to work, not sure it'll all fit in a Tupperware pot. Or maybe I'll just have oats for dinner, who knows. Yeah it's not great to skip veggies in favour of peanut butter and a nakd bar, and it's not great to substitute meat for protein powder, but every once in a while when work is in the way won't hurt. If not I'll just eat before I leave, who knows, we'll see.

Tomorrow the only thing on the schedule is gym and getting a haircut, also I need to clean the bathroom. I reckon I'll get it all done in the morning so that once I'm done with the gym I can just chill for the rest of the day. I have a list of music I gotta download, plus I wanna organise my playlists, only got one playlist titled gym so far.

Anyway, that's everything, I think I'm the only one working tonight so it'll be a quiet shift, probably spend most of it reading, then all I'll have to do is clean during the last hour which won't take long. Man have I been looking forward to tomorrow, just a day with no obligations, please bring on the sunbathing weather. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up before half 6 again, lately I've been sleeping really well, normally it takes me like an hour of lying there before I can get to sleep, but recently it's been much quicker. I guess it's most likely the cutting back on caffeine, now I only have a caffeinated drink once a day, and depending on the day that drink will either be preworkout if it's a gym day, coffee if I've got an early shift, or tea if I don't have anything. So I have to say that the week I took off of caffeine, while difficult, was definitely worth it, and I'm probably gonna start doing it every deload week. Weighed in at 66.1kg, so I'm at around where I was at the start of the month, though the pounds should start to come on over these next two weeks, if I'm not a minimum of 66.6kg by the end of the month the calories are going up again, likely from cheap carb sources.

After bfast I did some bulk cooking and then headed to the gym shortly after. One downside to the gym is that I left my bluetooth headphones charger at my mums when I moved here two weeks ago, yesterday I got the low battery alert, I figured maybe one more workout was left in it, but the regular beeps every minute or so because of low battery is too distracting, so I had to use plain ol' wired headphones. The quality is worse and the wire makes it a little awkward, but no major problems. Thing is I won't get the charger back for another week, so I'm gonna have to make do I guess, could be worse.

After a warm up I hit OHP building up to a set of 3 then 4 then 5 for 42.5kg easy. Then I did 10x10 bench press with 42.5kg which moved smoothly on all but the final set, between sets of that I did sets of 7 leg raises with a focus on form, even got a compliment from some guy on how good they were which was nice. Finally did sets of dips, my dip game seems to have fallen a little and I'm not sure why, only got two sets to 8 reps with 5kg barely, maybe my ROM is just higher now so it's more difficult, who knows, but I think I'm gonna focus on getting bodyweight dips to a higher max for reps over the next mesocycle before throwing weight back on. Between dip sets I did sets of cable twists, no issues there. Ended with some interval sprints but had to cut it short because I really needed to pee. I've found by drinking water with ice in I don't drink as much in the gym, but my tiny girl bladder still lets me down it would seem. Next week I'll be doing OHP with 45kg for 1-3 reps, bench press 10x10 with 45kg, bodyweight dips to 10 reps, and the usual abs stuff.

Anyway, got back, ate lunch, yadda yadda. After I've posted this I'm gonna go shower then fill in my lifting stuff, then probably clean the bathroom which won't take long. The weather is sunny as was hoped, so I'm gonna sunbathe and read while I can, then head to the barbers a little later. That will conclude everything I had planned today, if work calls I am not going in today, no chance, and then business as usual I guess. I'll probably ask about deep tissue massages at work some time towards the end of next week, see when I can get one.

Oh, and exam results came yesterday, all modules totalled at least 60something which I believe counts as a 2:1 in subsequent years, this year it's just pass or fail though. Plus the house now has he bills figured per month, should come to 20 quid tops from each of us with gas and electric and water and wifi, and of course 450 for rent, which seeing as I'm making around 650 a month is good news for me, even though I could probably afford rent with what I've got in my savings currently.

That is about everything, later y'all

[Cat in the rack]

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened today. Up by half 6, weighed in at 66.1kg, ate bfast, played Thief on Xbox seeing as it was free with gold, then went to work at 10 for a long-ass 8 hour shift. Got back, made dinner, and here we are. Another perfectly sunny day spent at work it would seem. Still, tomorrow's a much easier 5 hour shift from 3 til 8, odds are it'll be a little dead, not as dead as today was, but still fairly dead.

Tomorrow marks the start of the week and it's gonna be a 1-3 rep week in the gym with sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, looking forward to it. I also did a Myprotein order today, should arrive Tuesday so I'll go to the gym after it arrives, 6 flavours ordered and about half of them are new to me. Also ordered some musclepharm assault preworkout, people at work highly recommend it so I'm gonna try it next mesocycle.

Anyway, that's all folks, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Coming too you from work today, got called in a couple hours early due to a coworker "calling in sick" and another leaving early. It's a little quiet but not dead yet, holding down the fort solo so I don't have to look busy 24/7, though to be fair I get so much more done here on my own, I pace myself, and actually do things like clear plates before stacking them up next to the sink, and clear tables as soon as the people who trash the place leave. But ya know, other unreliable people have jobs here too for some reason.

Woke up this morning for half 6, weighed in at 66.3kg, finally an increase, come August anywhere between 66.6 and 67.1kg is ideal seeing as half of the month had zero net change, though I'd like 67kg exactly just because it's a nice round number. Had bfast, chilled for a bit until early morning I got a text to come in a couple hours early. After that I did some bulk cooking and prepared my dinner, a shelf in the fridge broke spilling it on the floor so I had to cook dinner twice, that was fun.

I've decided to start tracking my water intake, so I got a gallon jug which I'll aim for every day, seeing as typically I think I drink too much water and end up peeing too often, often waking up to pee then going back to bed. Should be interesting.

Anyway, tomorrow I can finally get a haircut and start my 1-3 rep week in the gym. Plus I have the day off from work so gonna try and get some sunbathing in again. That's all for today, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Dear work, can you please fucking not? Got a text today which is my day off: 'can you work any hours today?', I know I could say no, but as its my first month I wanna give off a good impression, plus the more flexible I am now the more leniency I'll be able to get if I need time off or to leave early later. Plus plus if I do decide to go into sports psychology having a boss at a sports club who has a great opinion of me could really come in handy, and seeing as my reputation at work is 'the guy who makes really good coffee' I wanna keep their opinions of me high, first impressions can be really important. So I decided to give them four hours, it'll be dead so I can just do what I was planning to do at home in the kitchen. This'll be the fifth time I've had to cover someone else's shift so far this month, it's a pain having a manager who knows I live a 15 minute walk away.

Back on topic of the day so far, get ready for this shocking paragraph opener: woke up around 6 today, weighed in at 66.3kg again, made myself bfast. Most of the morning I didn't get up to much, had to leave for the gym relatively early as I'm expecting a package I need to be here for, I believe it's my Myprotein order, though I've been back over an hour and it's still not here, go figure. Forgot my fat grips which was a shame, I wanted a good test of how difficult chin-ups are with them, I'll just have to be conservative with my starting reps next mesocycle. Anyway, started with heavy deadlifts up to 1 then 2 then 3 reps with 125kg, could only manage one rep with DO grip, but it's still a weight max for DO, just not for deadlifts overall. Then heavy bent over rows up to 1 then 2 then 3 reps with 67.5kg, felt much cleaner than last week's 3-5 reps with 65kg, I think that was just an off day. Followed up with squats for 6 sets of 10 with 65kg, man do they wipe me out, between those sets I got in one set of 6 pull-ups and eight sets of 4 chin-ups, sadly without fat grips. When I start up again after the deload week I reckon I'm gonna be going for 5-7 reps with 115kg for DL, 5-7 reps with 62.5kg for rows, sets of 10 squats with 65kg, a pull-up set of 7, and up to 10 sets of 3 for chin-ups with fat grips. Tomorrow's a heavy bench, heavy close grip bench, 10x10 OHP, plus 10 sets of hanging leg raises and 4 sets of 8 for cable twists.

I've gotten home, eaten lunch, not showered due to the aforementioned parcel that still isn't here, and finally finished season 10 of supernatural, I'm not even overly fond of the show, I've just invested too much time with there now being a total of 230 episodes that I may as well stick it out to the bitter end, what's a couple more seasons after all. I'm gonna prepare my dinner for later, though I intended to have steak, not sure how I'm gonna work around that, maybe just cook it at work seeing as I'm entrusted to be a chef now with zero training. Side note, I must steal a steak knife from work if they've got them, it's not worth spending money on a whole darn set of cutlery when all I need is one knife. As well as preparing dinner I also planned to bulk cook chicken for future dinners tonight, guess I'll be doing that also, and despite how fast the oven at work is at cooking chicken (like 7 minutes) I think I'll do this at home. After the parcel arrives I'll shower, then FINALLY get a god damn haircut. Seriously, sets of 10 for squats had me sweating so much it felt like I was wearing a waterbed on my head.

The tracking water thing is going well, by having chilled water I don't drink it as fast, though last night I did wake up to pee, probably the pot of herbal tea I had towards the end of my shift yesterday. I only got through one shaker bottle of water at the gym today, and I'm over half a gallon down overall so far today. Gonna see how I feel after a week and see if I need to alter the amount at all, though I'm liking a gallon so far.

Anyway, I won't take up any more of my time here seeing as I have work today now. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Gonna make this one quick as I got a fair bit to do before leaving for work. Woke up at half 6, weighed in at 66.3kg again, chilled for a bit before leaving for the gym. Just as I was about to close the front door behind me I see a Royal Mail van pull up, guy gets out and gives me a parcel I ordered so perfect timing. The parcel was a tub of musclepharm assault preworkout, people at work say that it's awesome so I figure I'll give it a go, went for raspberry lemonade flavour which with the Myprotein preworkout tastes like palma violets or whatever they're called, guess I'll start it next mesocycle. Speaking of which, I've decided to take a week off of caffeine again during the deload week, then for the first week of the next mesocycle using coffee instead of preworkout, and starting using preworkout only from the second week onwards.

Anyway, workout went really well, though unfortunately I ended up taking a little too long during the first two lifts because I was talking to a guy I work with who happened to be in the gym as well, so the lifting portion ran about 70 minutes from the first non-warm up lift to the last, not the worst thing in the world but I do try to keep it to an hour. Hit heavy bench up to a set of 1 then 2 then 3 with 67.5kg, none of them were grindy but I feel as though a fourth rep would have been, so that's gotta put my 1RM at 72.5kg minimum right now. Then close-grip bench up to a set of 1 then 2 then 3 with 57.5kg, I feel as though I could have gone to 5 reps if I'd wanted to, but of course stick to the program as planned. Then came two exercises done alternating for 10 sets each, 10x10 OHP with 30kg and 10x7 leg raises, the form for hanging leg raises has really improved, gonna stick to 7 reps and keep improving form rather than upping the reps. After that 4x8 cable twists, then ended with 10 minutes of pre-set interval training at level 6 which went to like 10.5km/h or whatever the units are, heart rate never went over 155.

Given this 1+ rep week session today, next mesocycle will open with 5+ reps with 62.5kg on bench and 52.5kg on close grip, OHP will start with 10x10 for 27.5kg so in the third week I'll be going for 32.5kg, and the abs work will be kept the same, with a higher setting on the cable twists. The next mesocycle should end with 70kg on bench for 1+ reps, hopefully with 3 reps as a max but we'll see.

I was gonna get a haircut today but of course being the idiot I am I forgot that I have a supermarket delivery coming and the time isn't specific enough that I can go get a haircut before, so it's gonna have to wait... again, sigh. Oh well, tomorrow I have no gym planned and work starts at 12, so I should be able to get to the barbers before work no problem, figure I'll go around 9, that'll give me plenty of time to get back and shower and prepare food before work. Today I still need to prepare food for my shift tonight which is 4-8 so fairly easy. I now have two days in which I sadly get to go to the gym zero times, damn work, got a 9 hour shift on Friday so that's the entire day gone pretty much. Still, I got bills I gotta pay so I'mma work work work every day. Thankfully Saturday I only have a 4 hour shift in the morning before hitting the gym, and Sunday I have no work whatsoever. Looking at the rota I see that the girl who comes in to work when my shift ends is the same girl who's been calling in sick a lot, but if they ask me to stay longer it's gonna be a no from me, maybe an extra hour but no more, and the girl working Sunday is far more reliable so I shouldn't get a call to come in then, phew. Also this weekend I'm going to dinner with my mum at some point, so hey, I'll be getting my headphones charger back at long last.

That's all folks, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

But of a weird morning, woke up around half 5 for some reason, and since them I've pretty much just been cooking. I had to cook dinner for tonight and tomorrow seeing as I got work 12-8 today and 10-7 tomorrow, just rice, avocado, brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, and chicken, nice 8-900 calories I think, same meal I've had for like 95% of dinners so far this month. Then I had to cook pancakes and sweet potato for three days worth, seeing as tomorrow's 10-7 shift wouldn't leave me enough time to do so, and also peel and chop a bunch of avocados that arrived yesterday with the online shop.

Now I've got over two and a half hours until I leave for my shift, so after I post this I'm getting changed and heading to the barbers at long last. Gonna be seeing my family next on Saturday for dinner, when I'll finally get the headphones charger back, plus I ordered an Umoro One which is something I've been meaning to do for a while, I've heard it's pretty awesome.

For the first four hours of my shift the chef will be there, and for the last four hours I'll be solo, so it's likely gonna be business as usual. To be honest I've noticed there's never a need for more than one staff beyond 2pm, and beyond 4pm there doesn't even really need to be one staff, yesterday's shift I served about four coffees at most. Still, more shifts equals more money, and I've taken over like 15-20 hours of other people shifts on top of my existing 100 hours this month where they've been calling in sick.

Anyway, I should be getting next months rota fairly soon, gonna ask about it today, I do want enough time so that I can plan my training around shifts and ask for any changes if it proves too difficult to schedule. This month the gym time has typically started between 10-2, and I intend to keep a rough consistent time throughout each month, so who knows, next month I might end up going in at 8am typically, or even 4pm, who knows, regardless I'll find a way to schedule training around shifts.

That's it for today, I'm sure work will be as thrilling as ever, tomorrow's post had better not include something inconvenient like the barbers being closed. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Alrighty, up at 6 and a weigh-in of 66.5kg, more steady increases are a good sign. Work yesterday was pretty dead, and pretty long, but I got through it, it was much easier once I was the only one there. I would feel sorry for the woman who was working until 3.30 yesterday seeing as she always has to rush to clear everything up and ends up leaving late, but she's been working there a long time, and the fact that she hasn't figured out simple shit like stacking cleared plates and cups makes them easier to wash up plus the fact that she always leaves me with a ton of mess anyway makes me not. Still, it's not like I'm too busy to do it. Today's gonna be a long one, 9 hours plus there's someone else there the entire time, so it's gonna be pretty damn slow. Still, I have two meals to eat during the shift, figure I'll really stretch out those two breaks. Plus I won't have to clean up and close down everything at the end, so there's that.

Anyway, can't wait to get back in the gym tomorrow, plus only a 4 hour shift and then none on Sunday. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at 6 with a weigh-in of 66.4kg, so still more than I started the month, but only by like .2-.3kg, I'm gonna stick to my current calories/macros until the end of the month and see where I'm at, then if it seems like enough of a gain give it two weeks to see how it continues. Had work at 9 today so not much went down in the morning, finished at 1 then headed to the gym, nice and short shift, got out around 3.

Felt great in the gym today, and I don't mean in a strength way more so than usual, just after two days of long shifts and no gym I guess it feels good to be back in there. Started with a set of chin-ups to 7, then began 10 sets of 3 fat grip pull-ups between warm-up sets for squats, I like to finish the pull-up sets immediately before the first working set of squats, as alternating between pull-ups and heavy squats seems like it'd be pretty taxing on the CNS. Built up to a set of 1 then 2 then 3 for 100kg for squats, no issues there. Followed up with 10x10 for bent-over rows with 45kg, set 9 was a fuck-up as I got thrown off on rep 3, but there were no issues with set 10 so I'm counting it as a win. Tried out something new afterwards, alternated between a calf raise machine and preacher curls, both for 4 sets of 8, I figure as neither is pretty taxing it makes sense, it doesn't add much if any time to my overall workout, I normally spend preacher curl rest periods on my phone anyway. Curls were 12kg with fat grips, calf raises were 25 on whatever unit is used, but I didn't go as heavy as I thought I could just as its a new movement.

Given today's gym progress I'll be starting next cycle with 95kg for 5+ reps on squats, a max set of 8 chin-ups attempt, 10 sets of 3 for pull-ups with fat grips again, 45kg for 10x10 bent-over rows, 12kg for preacher curls again (side note if I can't do 14kg with fat grips by the end of next mesocycle I think I'm gonna replace the exercise, I think I can do 14kg without fat grips) and I'm gonna give the calf raise machine a go for a mesocycle, I feel as though calves are the only leg muscle that I don't hit with squats and deadlifts, plus I've been getting nocturnal leg cramps lately (this could be for any reason though, as it can be a side effect for me due to restless leg syndrome) and I think hitting the muscle might help. We'll see how the next mesocycle goes with these changes.

Today all else I've got to do is laundry, also going out for dinner with the family later where at long last I'll get my wireless headphones charger back, it's been a pain using regular headphones, they're less clear and the wire gets in the way, plus some exercises can't be done with a phone in your pocket. Tomorrow I've got OHP, bench press, dips and abs work followed by some cardio, then next week begins the deload week. I don't feel as though I need it, but it's better to be safe than sorry, plus with work I can't get a cardio/conditioning day in every week on top of 4 lifting days, so this'll help keep me doing cardio. I should be getting the rota for August very soon, either today or tomorrow, Monday at the absolute latest, I'll go through and make sure I can fit my training around it.

That's about it for now, only got less than two hours until I'll be going out for dinner, gonna have something of a cheat meal today, if only because it's next to impossible to get all the carbs I need from a restaurant without eating stuff I don't typically eat like pizza or burgers or chips, most restaurants don't have 'a shit ton of rice' under their side dishes, but I'll still be making sure to get plenty of veggies. If they don't have anything I fancy then I'll just order something typical and small and just eat some oats later, no point wasting a "cheat meal" on something I don't particularly want. Not that I follow the whole cheat meal thing, I always think that "rewarding" yourself with food can lead to an unhealthy view of it.

Gonna head off to shower and do laundry, probably in the opposite order, laters

[Cat in the rack]

Last night was pretty good, just my mum was able to come but I like one-on-one time with her, we have a lot of overlapping interests. Interestingly she brought the wrong wire, but the wire she brought which was for an old phone fits my headphones, so I dunno, I guess the universe is throwing me a bone. We went to a Thai place, was actually really good even though I'm not typically a fan of Thai food, definitely gonna go there again at some point. Speaking of food however, the weigh-in this morning was around 67.5kg, which I'm sure I can attribute to sodium and eating later, I'm not optimistic enough to think I put on a kilo of muscle overnight, though a man can dream. Had bfast, spent a lot of the morning sorting out music downloads before heading to the gym.

Aaaand on to the gym. Had to wait for the squat rack for the first time at this gym as three guys were using it for squats, though the wait wasn't as long as the wait almost every single time at my old gym, so no problems there. Started with OHP which built up to 1 then 2 then 3 reps with 45kg, no problems there. Then alternated between bench press with 45kg and hanging leg raises, did 10 sets of each, 10 reps for bench and 7 reps for leg raises, again no problems. This means I've had a whole mesocycle where I didn't miss a single planned rep in any of the big lifts (DL, rows, bench, CG bench, squat and OHP) for both low rep and 10 rep sets. Then ended with alternating between 4 sets of cable twists and dips for 5 sets of 10 with fat grips. Did 10 minutes HIIT before leaving.

Based on this the next mesocycle is all planned out, and OHP will start at 42.5kg and bench press 10x10 will start at 45kg, looking forward to it. The heaviest I will attempt on all lifts is as follows and all will be for 1-3 reps:

-Deadlift = 130kg

-BO row = 70kg

-Bench = 70kg

-CG bench = 60kg

-Squat = 105kg

-OHP = 47.5kg

None of these are weight PRs but most are around previously attained maxes when you account for 3 reps as a max. This means that the mesocycle after the following one, which will take place in September, will involve attempting new maxes for 3 reps and in a couple of cases (DL, BOR and OHP I think) new weight maxes overall. This also means that during the first month back to uni in October I will be going for new overall weight maxes up to three reps on all lifts, so I'll probably be in either a great or disappointed mood during those lectures, here's hoping for great.

First day off work in over a week today because of all the shift-covering I've had to do, though I have very little actually planned, not that being able to relax isn't in itself the best feeling in the world right now, feels like I've been so busy lately. Heck, it's a good thing I don't have a partner or a dog at the moment, odds are they'd feel pretty neglected, what with work and gym and then fending for myself (cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc) I have so little free time as it is. But, on the upside I think I've earned the freedom to deny a shift or two next month so long as I make it clear before the month starts, should be getting the rota today or tomorrow. On a similar note, pay day is Friday, so that should be neat, think I get paid for all my shifts prior to the 20/21st-ish which is around 50-60 hours, so at least like £350 minus tax. This will of course be my smallest pay cheque, as it's the first month it's only like 20 days worth of shifts, whereas future pay days will take into account a full month, with some variation both up and down. Not that it really matters as I currently have over £2,000 in the bank, and that's after paying a months rent today, so I believe typically I should be bringing in roughly equal to the amount I'm spending, meaning come October I should still have £2,000 in the bank, at which point I can expect working hours to go down (because lectures), but also I'll be getting student finance, which will average roughly how much I spend month to month, meaning any money I bring in from work after lectures start will be going straight to savings.

Anyway, I do ramble on a bit, end of essay, laters

[Cat in the rack]

Coming at ya from work today, during my break of course, boss would have a fit otherwise. Woke up this morning and weighed in at a reasonable 66.7kg, it may still be a little skewed and I might weigh in lighter tomorrow, but we shall see. Anything 66.7kg or higher at the end of the month is just enough given I didn't gain anything for the first two weeks, but I'll avoid making adjustments until two weeks into next month.

Today is mostly work, I'm approaching the half way point of the 7 hour shift now, finish at 4. I also have a ton of cooking to do today, got chicken, sweet potato, pancakes and avocado to make in bulk. Would have done it yesterday but it was my first day off in over a week, so nah, plus I got a day off tomorrow but I will be gymming it for some conditioning, get in some cardio, box jumps, etc, then the day after is a deload day, but I'm undecided as to how I'm gonna do them this time.

In other news I'm off caffeine again this week, until the next mesocycle starts at least which I will know exactly once I get my rota whenever that's gonna rear its ugly head. Nowhere near as difficult this time, not yet at least, maybe it'll hit me in a day or two. Still waiting on that rota though, I need it soon if I'm to plan next months gym days properly.

That's about it for today, break is nearly over, let's hope tomorrow's post includes talk of next months rota and a decent weigh in, have a good one

[Rookiebeotch]

 10x10 OHP

 

What is your resting period on those? And how close is the weight to your 10rm? 

[Cat in the rack]

What is your resting period on those? And how close is the weight to your 10rm?

I tend not to count rest periods but rather go by feel, and given that I alternate between OHP and leg raise sets the time between sets of OHP would probably be pretty long, I'd say from the moment I finish an OHP set and the moment I start the next one it's probably about a minute. And honestly I haven't tried for a 10RM as I've just been doing 10x10 sets, if I had to estimate based on my 1RM and how the 10x10s are going I'd say around 35kg, maybe 37.5.

[Rookiebeotch]

Ah so your 10x10 weight is about a third lower than your 10rm?

Whenever I can get multiple 10rep sets of OHP at my 10rm weight, it isn't my 10rm anymore. Forever chasing my own tail like that.

[Cat in the rack]

Ah so your 10x10 weight is about a third lower than your 10rm?

Whenever I can get multiple 10rep sets of OHP at my 10rm weight, it isn't my 10rm anymore. Forever chasing my own tail like that.

Well like I said I'm only estimating, given at the start of the month I could do 40kg for at least 7 reps and I can do 10x10 for at least 30kg, it's gotta be somewhere between those two. I personally don't give much thought to max weights beyond the 1RM.