Learning and Lifting - A student's tale

[Rookiebeotch]

 Came home, made pancakes (one big pancake to be more precise)

We have similar practical minded cooking practices.

[Cat in the rack]

Up at half six, again. Weighed in at 67.4kg, again. Had the same bfast, again. Prepped my preworkout, again. So yeah, same as yesterday, it seems weird that I gained two pounds pretty much overnight, but perhaps I was on the brink of weight gain before I upped the calories, either way so long as I don't go over 68.2kg (average of 1 lb a week) in the next two weeks I'm on point. Besides, it's good to see the numbers finally significantly going up after a month and a half of next to zero progress.

Anyway, into the gym, warm up same as usual. I've found my jump rope really improving lately which is good. Yesterday's workout was 100% on point, and so far this week we are 2 for 2. Bench press I built up to 70kg for 3 sets of 1 then 2 then 3 reps, however the final set was not perfect. Typically I don't touch the bar to my chest, I get it as close to my chest as I can without touching so that the bar doesn't bounce off, with the exception of singles. On the final rep of the third set I was a tiny bit further from my chest, I think I was worried about it getting stuck and pushed away too soon. If the rep had been a really slow grind I wouldn't have counted it, but it wasn't significantly slower than the first two reps so I feel I could have done it properly.

Then the usual hypertrophy work. First some OHP for 5 sets of 12 with 30kg, last two sets were a real challenge but I managed to keep my feet grounded and legs still. Next cycle I'll be starting with 32.5kg for 8 reps. Then some fat grip dumbbell bench press with 14kgs, 5 sets of 12 also but these were much easier than the OHP sets. I think next cycle I'll start with 16kgs for an attempt of 12 reps. To end I superset 5 sets of dips with 5 sets of hanging leg raises, each for 3 reps. Not very challenging as of yet, later this week I'll be going for sets of 4. Then after the workout I did around 10 minutes of jump rope, again that's really improving, and some foam rolling plus handstand practice. Then I bet you're thinking I'm gonna say I did 5 minutes of meditation, but you'd be wrong... I did 6 minutes of meditation. I'm gonna increase the time a little week to week, build it up slowly but surely. Obviously I won't spend too long meditating, ain't gonna spend an hour meditating post workout when I'm sweaty and hungry have stuff to get done. I've considered meditating before the workout but then I'd have to wait until after that to take preworkout and then I'd have to spend much more time on the warm up just so it doesn't kick in too late.

Anyway, left the gym in a brilliant mood yet again, couldn't prevent myself from wishing everyone I passed on the street a good morning. Got back, made one big pancake with sweet potato and a new type of nut butter. Well, new in that I haven't tried it before, I think it was a mix of peanut, almond and hazelnut, but I could be wrong. It was okay, not as smooth as I like and a little mixed in taste, but not bad, I may buy it again once I've ran out, I may not. Gonna unpack my gym bag, fill out my gym chart, shower, aaaaand yeah I think that's about it for now. Go work obvi, 3-9 shift so pretty much dead. I'm thinking I might see if I can get weekend shifts of something around 12-8 (we close earlier on weekends) when lectures start up in October, that way, depending on how I schedule my training, I can go to the gym so that I finish showering and eating right before my shift starts, eat dinner during an hour break around 6-7, plus get home around half 8, so if there's anything going on socially that evening I'll have enough time to relax and unwind before that kicks off. I'm not exactly much of a "partier", though I'm sure that comes across in my posts pretty clearly, I don't smoke or drink except on special occasions (last time I did either was early July at a big summer party, and before that back during an Easter party), so I won't exactly be up all night plastered every weekend like some people I know. I dunno, I mean for me doing it every weekend takes the fun out of it, if I were to go to parties or clubs or whatever every week then I'd get to the third week at absolute max before getting bored.

Anyway, I don't think there's anything else going on today, I'm gonna go prep dinner and jump in the shower (in that order, sort of, I set the rice cooker on, go shower, then come back and finish the rest of it). Later y'all have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

So I thought yesterday that seeing as I have nothing important going on today I wouldn't set my alarm, aaand I woke up at half 6 anyway. Weighed in at 66.9kg which seems more accurate than 67.4, though late shift last night might have left me a little less hydrated this morning, we'll see. Made bfast, did the washing up, and here we are.

Yeah, exciting day as you can surely tell. I've got laundry to do, and I'll probably do some yoga later. Yep, that is literally it, I'll probably do some reading too, finish the chapter I'm on. Alright, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at half 6 with yet another weigh-in of 67.4kg, given I upped the calories about 10 days ago that's an average increase of 2 lbs in 10 days, we'll see how long it takes for another jolt up, but that's not a bad rate to start off. Out of interest, my waist is still between 28-29" which is where it's been for some time now, I figure so long as my clothes all fit I'm not getting too fat, given they're mostly a little baggy due to having lost weight in the past (I can't even wear most of my jeans without a belt). Figure I won't buy much in the way of new clothes until I've finished bulking and cutting, so that's quite a long way away. Anyway, had my bfast, prepped my preworkout, and headed to the gym.

Sadly given last week's deadlift day I knew there was no chance to have a 100% day like I have every day so far this week, but I think I did about as well as I could have given the circumstances overall. Warm up same as usual with some ankle mobility work of course. Started with 5 sets of 2 for fat grip pull ups which went well, got them finished by the last deadlift warm up set. Deadlift form was on point this week I think, nice and scraping across my shins like the bastards they are, managed to avoid my hips shooting up at the start. One issue was I think my grip was a little too wide, 110kg went up with it easy, but 120kg wouldn't budge. After two failed attempts I realised the grip was too wide, I think I could have kept double overhand but I didn't want a third failed attempt so I switched to mixed grip for 3 reps which was the limit I set, then nailed that for 2 sets. Had I not endured two failed attempts with 120kg I think I would have built up to a higher max, 125 maybe even 130, but no bother, maybe next month.

Followed this with 5 sets of 12 for squats with 65kg, and oh my fricking god sets of 12 on squats are brutal, I was dead after that. One thing I've noticed with both squats and deadlifts is they both have similar sticking points in regards to knee angle, around half way up. If I ever stall on either of the lifts I'll know where I need work so that's something, probably be good to focus on box squats or rack pulls at some point in the future.

After having died during squats I dragged my lifeless corpse over to the leg press machine, warmed up to 90kg, of course having done squats there wasn't much required in terms of warming up, just two sets of 12 at 40 and 70kg got me ready. Alternated between 2-rep chin-up sets and 8-rep 90kg leg press sets for a total of 5 each. To be honest after 12-rep squat sets this was a walk in the park, knocked it out in like 10 minutes. Then to end just the standard fat grip barbell curls at 20kg, first 3 sets for 10 reps were pretty clean, fourth set for 10 ended a little sloppy, and fifth set was sloppier still.

So to plan for next mesocycle it's pretty clear: Deadlifts I'm thinking I'll start with 115kg to end with 130kg, might even go a little heavier if 115 feels smooth enough; squats are going up to 70kg to start with 8-rep sets and hopefully end with 12 reps; leg press will still be 90kg but I might attempt 12 reps on the first week, depending on how that goes I may end with anywhere between 90kg for 12 reps and 100kg for 12 reps, hopefully nearer the latter; barbell curls I'll go for 10 reps same weight again, I'm slowly improving and once I can do 12 reps for all 5 sets I'll be upping the weight; I think pull-ups will stay at 2 reps but chin-ups will go up to 3 seeing as they seem a lot easier.

Overall I'd still say great workout, ended with some jump rope and meditation same as usual. I left in an awesome mood again, tomorrow I also expect to go awesomely with OHP, high rep bench, dumbbell bench, dips, leg raises and some tri pushdowns. I may have a perfect week on my hands here, though July was a perfect month so it's nothing to be too excited about, but still great nonetheless. Anyway, got home, ate, and here we are. Same old same old, gonna shower, also have to cook a bunch of sweet potato today. Tomorrow I got gym and work but that's it. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at half 6, weighed in at 67.3kg, made bfast, prepped preworkout and headed to the gym. I say this so often I may as well skip it.

Started with OHP, built up to 47.5kg for 1 then 2 then 3 reps, no problem. Then 5 sets of 12 bench press with 45kg, meaning next time I'll probably go sets of 8 with 50kg. Then dumbbell bench press 5 sets of 8 with 16kg and fat grips, probably go 10 reps next time. Then a dip/hanging leg raise superset for 5 sets of 3 each, next time same thing but 4 reps. Then to end I hit some tricep pulldowns, 5 sets of 8 with 15kg, next time I'll probably go for sets of 12.

Cardio before I left I decided to go steady pace instead, ranged from 9.5-12km/h if I remember correctly, ran somewhere around 1.5km total again if I remember correctly. I always seem to do HIIT so I thought it'd make a nice change. Got back, made a giant pancake, ate said giant pancake, and here we are. Gonna shower, prep dinner for my 3-9 shift, and that is all I've got planned.

I'm nearly out of preworkout so I went to order some more, but myprotein only had 1 flavour left and I wanted to order more than a single tub, so I ordered one from myprotein and one from Amazon. The myprotein preworkout is called MyPre which I ordered in blue raspberry flavour, and the one from Amazon is called Grenade 50 calibre, or something equally nonsensical and overly pandering to male insecurity, in "killer cola" flavour. Overall I think I ordered about 45 servings (actual servings, not the tiny dosage they suggest), so I shouldn't need to order any more for like 4 or 5 months. I also ordered some more flavdrops, I liked the chocolate peanut butter I ordered so much I ordered like seven different flavours, tastes brilliant in coffee, also in oats.

Next month's mesocycle I've decided to end a little differently. Typically for the 5+ sets I'll do one set of 5, one for an attempted 6, then one for an attempted 7 (and 3, 4 and 5 for 3+; 1, 2 and 3 for 1+). For the final week instead of increasing reps each set (for the record since I've started this system I've managed 3 reps for every final weight) I plan to do heavy singles for 3 sets, and increase the weight if possible. For example for 1+ reps I'll build up to 72.5kg for bench press, if it goes up easily enough I'll try 75 after that, and if that goes up easily enough I'll try 77.5, I'm not saying I expect this to happen, that's just a best case scenario. How I decide to do the mesocycle following that will depend, if I increase the weight each time and the last set isn't too grindy I'll build up to that for the final week of the next mesocycle, if the last set is too grindy I'll probably build up to the weight before it, and if I can't increase the weight at all I'll do it as the routine planned. I don't want to divert from the routine as the progression is pretty solid, but at the same time I don't want to progress slower than I potentially can, and I don't want to push the weight to a point where I stall out.

Anyway, after yesterday's improvement of deadlift form there are two things I notice today: 1) hamstrings are sorer than ever, and 2) my knees and shins are a little bruised from the bar. Shins can expect a little scraping here and there, but I should work on not hitting the knees, I think my problem is bending the knees too soon on the lowering portion, so I'll be more careful next time.

As for now, I have no gym until Monday when the deload begins, and as per usual this deload shall see a caffeine reduction. I've decided to just stick to one small cup of coffee at most per day this deload instead of the usual zero caffeine I tend to do, reason being I don't feel like I need another week off caffeine this month, sleeping fairly easy lately, probably will next deload though.

Honestly I don't feel like I need a deload, but it can't hurt, plus it'll give me some form work and I'll be so eager to get back to heavy lifting the following week and it's always a good feeling, plus plus the preworkout will hit a little harder. I'm also thinking I may go the first week back without preworkout and use coffee instead, just because I feel three weeks on a preworkout usually results in the third and most difficult week it having the least effect. The again, I may be better off just starting the first week with a smaller dosage and increasing it week to week (ie 15g week 1, 30g week 2, 45g week 3) so that I average the same dose overall but still with the bigger hit when I need it. I don't know yet, I'll see how I feel in over a weeks time.

Anyway, goodbye heavy lifting I will miss you when you're gone, hello again light weight and cardio, please don't stay any longer than you have to. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Okay up at half 6 and weighing in at 67.1kg, though I can't take that at face value due to the late shift last night. Made bfast and some coffee and here we are.

I've decided I will be caffeine free this coming week, I may not need it but if I'm going to skip a caffeine free week I'm gonna want to hold off until after lectures start, make the most out of it. I've also decided to have different dosages of preworkout each week (15g week 1, 30g week 2, 45g week 3) to make the most out of that, especially seeing as this next month I'll be pushing for new max weights.

Speaking of next month, this month marks 1 year since I first started lifting, so yay me I guess. It's a shame this month couldn't have been the month I push for new maxes, but oh well, September I'll see how far I've gotten in 13 months I guess. Plus by doing it next month I'll have my maxes all tested before I start lectures again, so that's a plus. I'll probably want to test maxes again after a total of 18 months, maybe sooner.

Anyway, not much planned today, another boring day I suppose, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Yesterday was weird, took a nap which I rarely do and then went to bed pretty early, and today I woke up at 6. Weighed in at 67.6kg, not sure if it's a fluctuation or an increase, would make sense as an increase given yesterday was a rest day with little activity. Still, we'll see soon enough.

Made a large bfast, had a shower, and that's about it. Got a 10-2 shift today so what fun, and I've also got some bulk cooking to do. Yesterday I had some muscle soreness in my chest but today it seems to be completely gone, so I'm feeling pretty good. Today's Sunday which means I'll be having one last dose of caffeine at the start of my shift, and then a week caffeine-free.

Not much else to say really, just over a month of summer break left, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at half 6 with a weigh in of 68kg this morning, surprisingly high, 1.2kg gained total this month with the calories increased around two weeks ago. So that's what, 1.5 lbs a week average if I count just the last two weeks or 1 lb a week if I count the whole month, pretty high overall, better keep an eye on it, anything beyond 68.4kg is towards the high end of acceptable and 68.8kg is too high.

Anyway, headed to the gym caffeine-free through terrible weather, and not just typical British terrible weather, but even worse than usual. Got there and warmed up, got the cardio out of the way, jump rope, boxing, running. Then the deload lifts, 1-rep pull-ups, 3x5 squats, 3x8 dumbbell rows, 1-rep chin-ups, 3x8 leg press and 3x4 curls. Boring as per usual, but a deloads a deload I guess. Got back, ate, and here we are.

I get to open a new protein flavour today, thinking I'll go chocolate mint. Just got a call from work saying the girl that always skips work... [pause for dramatic effect] didn't come in for work. I've got a delivery coming at 1-2 however so there was no point in me coming in for all of maybe 1 hour. Shame really, I have zero planned today. Ah well, gonna shower in a bit, and as I said, zero planned today. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at half 6 with a weigh-in of 67.8kg, makes more sense than 68kg, giving me 1kg total net gain this month so far with under a week to go. Headed through not as terrible as yesterday weather to the gym caffeine-free. This is the third caffeine-free week I've done in as many months and it's easier now than it was the first time, still not great though.

Another deload day today, started with cardio like yesterday, bench press, OHP, dumbbell bench press, dips, leg raises, tricep pulldowns. Got back, ate, much the same as yesterday.

I tried the chocolate mint protein powder, it's not bad, a little too synthetic-tasting for me, had it in oats this morning and pancakes just now. Probably won't order it again though. Got work 3-9 today, so I'll have to prep dinner in a bit. Anyway, that's about it, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at 7 today, nice to mix it up a little. Weighed in at 67.6kg this morning, but I'm always lightest after evening shifts. Still no caffeine, oh what a joy life is without caffeine. Terrible weather, but I don't have work or gym so no problem for me. So yeah, not much on the agenda today. Tomorrow I have to come in to work 2 hours early for a staff meeting, but I get to leave an hour early, that maths doesn't really add up, but whatevs. Anyway, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Gonna make this one quick as I'm very short on time today. Woke up at half 6 and weighed in at 68kg, lot of fluctuation going on lately. Had bfast, headed to the gym for a deload, deadlifts, squats, pull-ups, chin-ups, leg press. Ended with some running on the treadmill. Deadlift form is definitely looking better, not banging up my knees now.

Yesterday I cooked 5 days worth of pancakes, wasn't sure if the bananas would last so I figured I'd play it safe. Today I got a 1-8 shift, so just over two hours til I gotta leave, gotta shower, prep dinner, etcetera etcetera. Gonna be a long shift I reckon, there's a staff meeting also.

I had my payslip emailed to me yesterday but it's ridiculously lower than it should be so I've gotta find out what's going on. Had £325 which is 50 hours worth, when I worked 120 hours between the two dates on the payslip, so something's definitely wrong. Anyway, that's it, have a good one

[Rookiebeotch]

Yesterday I cooked 5 days worth of pancakes, 

 

You mean you made a single 2 kilo pancake and cut it up into 5 slices?

[Cat in the rack]

You mean you made a single 2 kilo pancake and cut it up into 5 slices?

Sadly I just made 5 large pancakes, though that would have been better.

[Cat in the rack]

Up at 7 today with a weigh-in of 67.5kg, though I did feel less hydrated than usual, so we'll see how it changes over the next few days, only 4 days left until September.

I've had to make a few changes to my workout schedule due to my work rota that I got yesterday. There are five people who work in the cafe including me, first week of September one is taking a week off due to getting married, one is cutting their hours to one day a week, and one is now no longer allowed to work on their own due to the risk of fainting, whether it's a genuine health issue or an excuse I have no idea. That leaves me and one other person to cover most of the first week of September, so I can't avoid some incovenient shifts now and then.

Anyway, that means I've got to start the next mesocycle a tid earlier than I'd planned. I was supposed to start Monday, now I'm gonna be starting tomorrow. As a side note there's a party I'm going to on Friday, which is another reason I've got to start earlier. It is pretty soon, but technically I have taken an entire week deloading, seeing as my last proper workout was Friday last week. So yeah, I won't be having a deload session in the gym today, and tomorrow I'll be doing a heavy squat day, not what I was expecting to do but it's not half bad.

As for today, aside from a 3-9 shift I don't have much planned. I talked to my manager about the paycheck issue, he's looking into it and I should get the remainder of what I should be paid next month. Not ideal, but I'm not exactly strapped for cash so it's no issue, just a little inconvenient. That's about it, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at half 6 today with a weigh-in of 67.8kg, had bfast and prepped my preworkout for the first time in a week. I forgot that on weekends we open at 8 and got there at about 7.50, but i knocked on the back door to the kitchen and got let in, it feels good to be privileged.

One serving of orange mypre today which is what I'll be going for this week unless I run out. Standard warm-up, using some weird rubber bar thing to do overhead squats and lunges, some ankle mobility work (side note: my right foot seems to be more mobile than my left, my right foot used to be a little messed up from a prenatal injury, could twist it 270 degrees once upon a time, it was a cool party trick so it's a shame I can't do it any more), stretching, jump rope, so on so forth.

Fun story, I was warming up next to a PT who was warming up with a client, I started to walk to the squat rack, got half way across the gym floor, and the PT sprints past me to get to the squat rack first. Personally I think that's a little dickish and against the gym bro code or whatever, but oh well, now I know how that particular PT wants to play it I'm keeping an eye on him next time I head to the squat rack and he's there. Thing is, I knew that I'd take up to half an hour, and he only took about 10 minutes with his client, so if he'd have simply asked if I minded him going first because he'd only take 10 minutes I'd have said yes no problem, I had pull-ups to warm up for anyway. But nope, I guess the PTs here feel self-entitled just like the PTs at my last gym, though at least they're not as rude.

Anyway, I did 5 sets of 2 fat grip pull-ups between warm-up sets of squats, built up to 100kg for 3 sets of 5, I wanted to go a little higher in reps but I didn't feel too strong on rep 5 of set 2, and I didn't wanna bail mid-rep on day 1 of a new mesocycle, though I think I probably could have got a sixth rep out of it looking at the footage. Then onto fat grip dumbbell rows, 5 sets of 12 with 16kg, last rep or two on the last set was definitely near my limit so pretty happy with them. After that I did leg press superset with fat grip chin-ups for 5 sets each. Leg press was for 12 reps with 90kg no problem, chin-ups were for 4 reps again no problem. And to finish I did 5 sets of 10 fat grip barbell curls, all was clean except for the last one or two reps of the last set so I'm seeing improvement, not gonna lie I love the pump I get from those.

After that I quickly went to pee and then hopped on the treadmill, 10 minutes of running running running, trying to get cardio in daily now. Wanted to foam roll a little before leaving but the functional zone was weirdly crowded, I think there was a spin class about to start, all the middle-aged people trying to stave off a heart attack doing random shit on the mats while they waited. I'll just have to do extra foam rolling tomorrow to make up for it. Receptionist was flirting with me a little before I left, nice little ego boost for me. Headed home, ate, aaaand here we are.

I'm gonna fill in my gym stuff, unpack my gym bag, shower, shave, then later I've gotta bulk cook some sweet potato. I'll also be going out to see a film and have dinner with my mum later, so that'll be nice. Aside from that nothing on the agenda, also unsure of where we'll be going to eat, but I'm willing to suspect I may weigh in a little higher tomorrow as a result.

Anyway, that's all for now. Can't believe it's almost the final month of summer, won't be long before I'm back in sweaty lecture halls and walking miles a day, well, more miles than I currently do. Over a mile to uni from home, over two miles from uni to the gym, a mile from the gym to home, that's four miles walking if I go to uni in the morning then straight to the gym/work then walking home, and that's assuming the timings line up perfectly and I don't go home between any of those. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Been a long day today, long looooong day. Woke up around half 6, weighed in at 67.8kg I think, that was like 10 hours ago so I could be misremembering, doesn't really matter. Only two more days until September so 67.8kg would be a decent way to end the month, though 68kg would be neat, nice round number. Didn't have bfast until around 8, then started work at 10. Had a shift until 2, then went up to the gym.

Heavy bench day today and I was pretty amped for it. Built up to 65kg which I did for 3 sets of 5, again I didn't want the bar to be stuck on my chest. Went to pee and then came back and decided to chuck a fourth set of 5 in for good measure. After that it was OHP 5 sets of 8 with 32.5kg, last couple reps on the last couple sets were a little difficult. Followed by fat grip dumbbell bench press 5 sets of 12 with 16kg fairly easily. Next I did dips superset with hanging leg raises, 5 sets of 5 each. Then to end I did tricep pulldowns 5 sets of 12 with 15kg, again fairly easily. Before I left I did 10 minutes on the treadmill, some foam rolling, and some meditation.

Not much left to do today. Gonna jump in the shower, gotta do some cooking later but not much. I'm also nearly out of clean laundry, due to work and gym it's difficult to get a good several hour window where I don't need clothes so I can do it all, but I figure I can make a start today and finish the rest tomorrow. I could just do three express wash cycles and get it done today, but express wash may as well be no wash at all, especially with my coffee stain coated work clothes.

Anyway, gonna do all that stuff I just said, not much else to say, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Alrighty, up at half 6 with a weigh-in of 67.8kg, I hope tomorrow's weigh-in is the same just so I have a clear September starting point, though I've been at around 67.8kg for a while now so I can expect a jump up in weight any day now. Currently I'm at a 1kg net gain since the start of the month, aka just over a pound per two weeks average, fairly conservative but not bad, I'd rather be a little on the low end than the high end so long as it's consistent. Made bfast, headed to the gym. I've found a single serving of preworkout hasn't given me much of a kick, next week I'll be trying out 'Grenade 50 Calibre' preworkout for the first time with double-servings, we'll see how that's feels, and week 3 will be a mix of both preworkouts for 3 servings total.

Moving on, gym was good but with one downside, as I was walking to the gym with music playing I heard a triple-beeping noise, aka he annoying noise my headphones make when they're down to their last 10 minutes or so. It would be okay if it weren't for the fact that it repeats this noise every 30 seconds, so it was a musicless training session today. Opened with deadlifts, built up to 115kg which I did for 5 reps double overhand, then 5 reps mixed grip, and on the third set I misgrooved after rep 3 and had to bail. Oh and between warm-up sets I did 5 sets of 2 fat grip pull-ups, I think I underestimated at first how difficult fat grips make traditional pull-ups, at some point fairly soon I should test my max pull-ups and chin-ups, perhaps at the end of this mesocycle.

After deadlifts I moved on to squats. Last time I did squats I had an anecdote about a PT exhibiting the typical entitled behaviour many of them do. Today that same PT was there but doing different exercises, and I've noticed he also leaves the weights on the bar at EVERY piece of equipment he has his clients hop to for 5 minutes. But when I finished deadlifts there was a different PT on the squat rack, I asked how many sets he had left and he said 1, but then he'd be having his client do lunges, which is fair enough, he was there first. But he was nice enough to alter his planned session so I could use the squat rack after his clients last squat set. So there's a confirmed 50/50 split of nice and dickish PTs.

The squats felt a little brutal but not as bad as 65kg for sets of 12. I did 5 sets of 8 with 70kg today, first two sets were a breeze but on set 3 and 4 there was a little clicking in my left knee, not loud audible clicking, just the little clicking feeling you can't get sometimes. Not 100% sure why that was the case but it seems to have been no problem. After that I did fat grip chin-ups sets of 4 superset with leg press sets of 8 with 100kg, chin-ups went up easy, leg press felt heavy but I reckon I could have done sets of 10, maybe even 12. And to finish I threw in the usual fat grip standing barbell curls, which have improved, last time there was use of momentum on the last few reps of the last few sets, today I did 5 sets of 10 and there was only slight use of momentum on the last two reps of the final set. Plus on top of that I remeasured my arms the other day and saw a 1/8-1/4 inch increase from whenever I last measured them, yes it is highly possible I had a better pump at the time, but if so I will just remain in denial so I can keep my self esteem fractionally elevated for a week or two.

With no music plus exhausted legs there was no chance of cardio today, but I've been good so far this mesocycle, 2 decent bouts of postworkout cardio out of 3 workouts ain't half bad. Went for a LOT of foam rolling instead, really tried to loosen the hamstrings more than anything, they were pummelled. Headed back home in the rain, ate, and here we are. I have under an hour before work (1-6 shift) so I'm gonna have a brief shower and get ready to go back to the gym, which is where I spend my entire life it seems. Hopefully I'll be getting my lecture timetable this week so that I can plan out when I'll be able to get to the gym from October onwards. Anyway, that's all, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at half 6 and the first weigh-in of September is... 67.8kg. Averaging 2 lbs a month so far which is conservative but high enough, so long as it's consistent I'm happy. Trying to get into the habit of not eating bfast straight away, at least on non-gym days, so I did some reading and ate after an hour or so. Not a lot planned today, got a little cooking to do, then a 2-8 shift at work. I might be getting my lecture timetable next week, might not, we'll see. Taking a well-earned rest day today, then tomorrow I'll be pressing and the day after squatting. Not a whole lot else to say, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Today was looooooooooooooooooong. Up at half 6 with a likely fluctuating 68.5kg, had bfast and left for the gym at half 8 in the morning and because of my 12-8 shift have just now got home 12 hours later.

Interesting thing happened this morning, and by interesting I mean a tiny bit creepy. I was looking through my phone and saw a photo was taken at half past midnight of my bed. My bedroom door was locked so it could only have been me, meaning the only explanation I can think of is that I was sleepwalking. Weird.

Gym was pretty good, 3 sets of 5 OHP with 45kg, 5 sets of 8 bench press with 50kg, 5 sets of 8 dumbbell bench with 18kg, 5 super sets of 5 dips and 5 hanging leg raises, then 5 sets of 8 tricep pulldowns with 17.5kg. Ended with a bunch of foam rolling and around a mile run on the treadmill.

12-8 shift was extra brutal due to my boss lurking around, plus she was in an extra bitchy mood today. It didn't help that she walked past when I was sat down for 5 minutes and then I worked for about 2 hours before sitting down for 5 minutes again, at which point she walked past again. Still, I got through it. Had an interesting conversation with a customer today, he asked how things were with me and a girl I work with, turns out there's a rumour going around that she's got a thing for me, no idea whether it's true or how some random customer I don't know knew, but whatevs.

Tomorrow gets to be almost equally long, I gotta open the cafe at 7.30 and finish at 3.30, though I'm gonna try and get off early if I can. Then after that I've got gym, meaning if I'm lucky I might get home around half 5. Plus on top of that I have a bunch of bulk cooking to do.

Anyway, I gotta unpack my gym bag, repack it for work and gym tomorrow, and get ready for bed. Man today was long, I cannot state that enough. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Two longest days of my life are finally over, overall I've spent 22 hours at the gym during today and yesterday, either working or working out. Woke up at half 6, weighed in at 68kg, got ready for work and then went to work. Long shift today, hellah busy, tons of cooking to do, took me ages to get even 5 minutes rest. Then at 3 I mixed my preworkout and headed up to the gym.

Pretty excellent gym session today. Opened with squats for an agonising 10 sets of 3 with 100kg, last couple sets felt unbelievably close to failure. Superset the first 5 sets with fat grip pull-ups for sets of 2, they felt much smoother today than usual, definitely upping to 3 reps starting Sunday. Superset the last 5 sets with fat grip chin-ups for sets of 4, went up super-easy, upping to 5. Followed with fat grip dumbbell rows for 5 sets of 8 with 18kg, first two sets I accidentally had a 16 and an 18, so I did 2 sets with the dumbbells switched for 2 sets of 18 per arm, then 3 sets with 2 18s after that. Then to end was the typical 5 sets of 10 fat grip barbell curls, all but the last two reps of the last set were clean, and even they weren't terrible, think I'll up to 12 reps Sunday onwards. Then before I left I did some cardio on the treadmill and foam rolling.

I've got a little cooking to do and a ton of washing up, it's really piled up due to the zero free time over the last couple days. Still, I've got 3 days off now and I've damn well earned them. Tomorrow I'm heading to a campout with school friends, the day after that me and a guy from uni are gonna hang out, then the day after that the only thing scheduled is gym, so it's gonna be a good couple of days.

Been in a fairly good mood today considering the stressful work day, I think it's the relief of it ending and the anticipation of the gym, hopefully taking high-caffeine preworkout at 3pm won't have too much influence on my sleep. I've had that marvin gaye song stuck in my head since yesterday morning, not a song by marvin gaye, the song called marvin gaye by some guy I've never heard of. Still, before that I had the cups song from Pitch Perfect in my head, so it's an improvement.

When warming up for pull-ups I mimick the movement pattern by holding onto the barbell in the squat rack and pulling myself up and pushing with my legs, couldn't help but think my lats are looking pretty good today whilst I was doing it. Maybe my ego has just been a little high lately. Anyway, don't think there's anything else to say, I still got stuff to do so have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Up at half 7 with a weigh-in of 67.7kg and then made bfast. No gym today, I have a ton of books I have to take back to the library or I'll get an even more ridiculous fine. There's a campout I'm going to tonight but to get a lift I have to leave here around 2, spend some time with my dad's side of the family which is always a pain, but I have to get it out of the way every couple of months.

I will be bringing a small amount of scotch with me as well as some zero cal energy drinks, some cigars, and not much else. Odds are I won't be getting home until around 2 or 3 at the latest, so for the first time in so long I'll be sleeping in a little late. I should have my sleep pattern back to normal by Sunday, but I don't have work until Monday so it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, not much else to say, after 10x3 squats yesterday I was expecting more leg soreness but perhaps the increased frequency is helping their recovery. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

I AM SOOOOO GOD DAMN TIRED.

I spent 7 hours in and out of various cars before I got to the party 90 minutes later than I wanted to, and stayed at the party until 1, then got a lift to my mums, got there at 3, then managed to sneak in 2 hours sleep before my stepdad was able to take me home on his way to work. Plus today me and my friends who recently moved into their house nearby have plans tonight, thinking I might literally die but oh well.

The party was pretty great, saw all my friends I haven't seen in about 2 months, the girl who drunk drove and crashed her car 2 months ago was there and seems to be unaffected by those events, there was lots of singing, dancing, drinking (I drank Monster Absolute Zero, but same difference), overall just a pretty great night. No plans of seeing them until New Year's Eve at this point, so it might be a while before I see them again.

I have so very little planned today, just a little cooking I neglected to do yesterday pretty much. I ate bfast like 30 minutes ago but I feel like I'm already hungry again weirdly. I decided to watch the Lego movie, which is a surprise favourite movie of mine. I have gym tomorrow so the likely ton of sleep I'll get tonight should have me ready for it.

Anyway, that's it, I'm gonna go be tired, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Okay, I am back to my usual alert self and it feels good. I woke up around 7, had bfast, and left for the gym. To be honest I was expecting a bad gym day today, I only weighed in at 67.5kg, plus my last workout was 10x3 squats and there was a lot of dancing at the party, plus plus I didn't get to sleep until 11 last night with only 2 hours sleep the night before. My expectations were very low.

Preworkout today was a double-serving of grenade cola flavour, taste was a little strong for my liking but it sat well in my stomach unlike some preworkouts, perhaps if I dilute it a little more it'll taste better. Spoiler alert, the workout went really well today, the preworkout may have played a role in that, though it may also be the introduction of 10x3 squats 3 days ago, I'll need more workouts before I can know. Warm-up and mobility as per usual, a little rowing to warm-up, then the lifting began.

First was fat grip pull-ups for 5 sets of 3 between warm-up sets of squats which went well, up a rep from last week. Then built up to 105kg on squats. I decided to try something new today, not a change to the routine but rather to my thinking, this is the second week in which I do 3+ reps whereas last week I did 5+ reps. I decided to keep the idea fixed in my head that this week was week 1 with 5+ reps, tell myself repeatedly that last week never happened and that I was starting the mesocycle today and that 5 reps was the minimum. Again, perhaps the 10x3 squats 3 days ago were what allowed me to push for more reps than usual, but I got to 5 reps whereas 8 days ago I only built up to a triple for the same weight of 105kg. First set was a fail because I miscalculated and accidentally forgot to put a 2.5kg weight on one side; second set I did 5 reps, however at the bottom of rep 5 my left foot turned outwards a little, but I still pushed back up for a successful rep, not gonna lie though my heart was racing after that; there was no way I was gonna settle for less than 5 reps on set 3 after nearly dying on set 2, rep 5 was a little slow but not quite a grinder.

After the most terrifying squats I've ever done I had 5 sets of 10 planned for fat grip dumbbell rows with 18kg, but I was feeling good so I went for sets of 12 instead, and I succeeded in all 5. After that was a superset of fat grip chin-ups with leg press, chin-ups were 5 sets of 5, leg press was 100kg with 5 sets of 10 planned but again I went for and succeeded with sets of 12. And to end was the typical 5 sets of fat grip barbell curls, sets of 12 today, on set 3 the last 4 reps were really sloppy and I thought the last two sets would be as well, but I may have just not rested long enough after set 2 because sets 4 and 5 were fairly clean. After the workout I jumped on the treadmill, and for the sake of transparency I'll say that I got caught up in a conversation on the group chat on my phone, I alternated between running and a slow jog, but got to nearly a mile. Headed home, ate, and here we are.

Next heavy squat day I'll be going for a 1RM rather than a max reps with 110kg, given I did 105kg for 5 reps I'm optimistic about how heavy I'll get, my plan is 3 sets similar to powerlifting rules but a little heavier than I'd go if it actually were, I'll start with 110kg for a single, followed by 115kg and then 120kg possibly, emphasis on "possibly" as I may not succeed. Also at the end of this wave I'll be doing another 10x3 for squats, I'm gonna go for 105kg whereas last time I did 100kg. I'm considering altering which lift I do 10x3 for each cycle, I enjoy 10x3 but I'm sure it'll be draining in the long term, and I reckon next cycle I'll go 10x3 bench press, so I have legs twice a week but chest and back three times a week. As for accessory work, for the rest of this week pull-ups and chin-ups and curls will be the same, next dumbbell rows will be sets of 8 with 20kg on 10x3 squat day, and leg press will be sets of 8 with 110kg on deadlift day, then next wave potentially sets of 12.

Nothing else planned today really, just gonna take it easy, tomorrow is bench day which I'm looking forward to, but I'm also back to work tomorrow... which I'm looking less forward to. I finally got my lecture timetable and it's much better than I was expecting, there's none of the handholding bullshit we got in the first year, just 5 lectures a week, and it happens to be one per day so it'll be easy to plan around them, though I haven't planned it out yet, I will have by tomorrow. Still haven't got this month's work rota annoyingly, I'm used to it being very late but a week into the month is a little ridiculous. At least when lectures start my shifts will be on my terms, I'm going to tell my manager I can handle three shifts a week, and give the hours I can make each day, there won't be any worrying about whether I can schedule around my shifts that way.

Long post today I know but there was a let to go through, there'll be a fair bit tomorrow as well I suspect. I'm gonna plan next month's training around my lectures and work, fill in my lifting table, unpack my gym bag, shower, eat (again), and then do very little for the rest of the day. Have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Gotta make this one quick today...

Woke up half 6, weighed in 67.5kg, went to work, had bfast. Headed up to the gym around 2.

Felt a little off in the gym. Benched 70kg for 4 then 3 then 3, OHP 32.5kg for 5x10, fat grip dumbbell benched two 18kgs for 5x12 with the last few reps of the last few sets a little sloppy, then 5x6 dips superset with 5x5 hanging leg raises, then 5x12 tricep pulldowns at 17.5kg. Not bad, not the best, next week I'll be starting with 72.5kg then going for 75kg and after that will depend on feel, if I'm very lucky I'll make it to 80kg... very very lucky, that is.

Got home, ate, I have yet to shower, a bunch of cooking to do, and that's about it. Yesterday I ordered a bunch of new clothes which should arrive over the next few days, also a bunch of textbooks. I also get to open two new flavours of protein for tomorrow, though I haven't decided on which.

Anyway, that's it, have a good one

[Cat in the rack]

Woke up half 6 a little more tired than usual, weighed in at 67.5kg yet again, sad to see that one week into the month I'm almost a pound lighter than I started, here's hoping it starts to go up soon.

Gym was a little mixed today. On the one hand, I built up to 122.5kg as planned for two sets of 3. On the other, on rep number 3 of the second set I felt a little twinge in my lower back, wound up cutting all subsequent exercises to 3 sets and doing a lot of foam rolling and no cardio.

I've noticed that I tend to hurt my lower back fairly consistently on second sets of deadlifts, so it would make sense to reduce the number of sets I do for deadlifts in the future to just one maximal set. I also tweaked my form a little by standing with a narrower stance, the bar moved a lot smoother and didn't smash my knees. Another change I intend to make is to introduce higher rep deadlift work on a different day, keeping it relatively light, it's clear my deadlifts are seeing the least improvement so it makes sense to deadlift more in order to deadlift more.

I will be testing my deadlift max next week along with everything else, but I'll be cautious with it. Tomorrow is a rest day which is definitely needed, followed by OHP day and then squats 10x3.

Anyway, I have cooking and showering and whatnot to do before my shift at 2. I saw my manager today and he should be able to let me know how much money I'll be getting on top of my wage, so that's good. Plus I finally got this month's rota, only 8 days into the month. Sadly I have a 9-4 shift once per week, but that's nothing I can't work around.

Anyway, not much else to say, have a good one