AUGUST 2019: M / 35 / 182cm / 90kg / 97cm waist
FEBRUARY 2020: M / 36 / 182cm / 84kg / 93cm waist
Background context
At age 18 I weighed 58kg. Until I discovered Starting Strength I was an incurable 'hard gainer' and I will be forever thankful to those Egyptians for what I learned from them about eating and training hard (no sarcasm intended).
Fast forward to about 3 years ago though and I made a very poor decision; I re-ran a full, months long, novice linear progression (because that's what you do after an extended layoff, no?) as a 32 year old desk jockey. I GOMADed my face off and ate through all the sticking points until I weighed a beastly 96kg, with a 108cm waist and a 155kg squat (for a set of 5 at least). More than a little bit silly in hindsight.
I have nobody to blame but myself and I've learned a lot since then (including about the existence of this forum and how to lose weight sensibly).
This log is to record my work toward being as strong (and heavy) as I can be while achieving a waist circumference under 94cm. I'm on a self-made, kind of autoregulated, 4 day Upper/Lower, Heavy/Light split that I'm continually tweaking. I'm learning that I need more volume than I think.
Oh yeah, I own a small business and have about an hour between 5:00am and 6:00am (ish) every morning to train; not ideal, but it could be worse.
Inaugural logged workouts
Monday 5 August 2019
Heavy Bench: 3x93.5, 4x93.5, 6x85, 6x86
Press density/light work: AMRAP of 47.5 in 7 minutes: 24 reps (mostly in triples).
Tuesday 6 August 2019
Heavy Squat: 3x135, 5x137.5, 3x140
Deadlift volume/light work: 3x5x105 (strapless and beltless on a 90 second clock)
Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Moderator: Chebass88
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Last edited by Col on Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
mgil
- Shitpostmaster General
- Posts: 8477
- Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:46 pm
- Location: FlabLab©®
- Age: 49
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Welcome, @Col! Have fun hitting your goals!
-
GlasgowJock
- Registered User
- Posts: 1620
- Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:15 am
- Location: Glasgow, U.K.
- Age: 38
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Welcome to the forum Col and thanks for logging.
Lots of good ideas and suggestions upstairs for a 4-day split to assist you in your programming.
Lots of good ideas and suggestions upstairs for a 4-day split to assist you in your programming.
-
ChrisMcCarthy1979
- Registered User
- Posts: 1966
- Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:30 am
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Thanks for the warm welcome gents. @GlasgowJock the depth and open-ness of information on this forum is what has attracted me to start logging here; good ideas and suggestions everywhere!
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Thursday 8 August 2019
Playing with notation
Heavy Press: 3 @ 63.5, 3 @ 63.5, 6 @ 56, 6 @ 56
Volume/light Bench: 6, 6, 6, 6 @ 70 on a 90s clock
Plank: 40s
I'm not an angry dude by nature but I'm learning that getting aggressive with my Press really helps. This song was of great assistance today (explicit content warning):
Playing with notation
Heavy Press: 3 @ 63.5, 3 @ 63.5, 6 @ 56, 6 @ 56
Volume/light Bench: 6, 6, 6, 6 @ 70 on a 90s clock
Plank: 40s
I'm not an angry dude by nature but I'm learning that getting aggressive with my Press really helps. This song was of great assistance today (explicit content warning):
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Friday 9 August 2019
Light/volume Squat: 6,6,6,6 x 100 beltless on a 90s clock
Heavy Deadlift: 5 x 155
Considering that my grip gave out after 4 reps of 152.5kg last week I am shocked, and pleased, at how easy 5 @ 155 felt today. If I was any good at RPE I'd probably have called it @7 or 8.
I've decided to drop the weight of my volume/light work to 70-75% of my last heavy work set, and add sets/reps while minimising my rest times to build a bit of work capacity. I think I will stop adding sets/reps when I am comfortably hitting 20-25 light reps per session (4 sets of 6 felt about right on the squat today and I have been having great results with 7 minute/20+ rep density blocks on my press).
Body composition stuff
I normally weigh myself, and take my waist measurement, first thing in the morning (post piss, pre everything else) and then calculate a weekly average on a Saturday. My travel schedule has been all over the place recently, and will continue to be so for a little while yet, so I've taken a 9 day average today.
BW: 90.4kg
Waist: 96.4cm
9 days ago (pre- this log) I was 89.8kg @ 97.5cm. It seems that I've gained about half a kilo while losing a centimetre around my waist. I'm naturally pleased with this but I suspect it's mostly down to margins of error in my measurements (cheapo bathroom scale and my wife's seamstress's measuring tape). I won't change anything for another week or two and let's see if the trend continues.
Light/volume Squat: 6,6,6,6 x 100 beltless on a 90s clock
Heavy Deadlift: 5 x 155
Considering that my grip gave out after 4 reps of 152.5kg last week I am shocked, and pleased, at how easy 5 @ 155 felt today. If I was any good at RPE I'd probably have called it @7 or 8.
I've decided to drop the weight of my volume/light work to 70-75% of my last heavy work set, and add sets/reps while minimising my rest times to build a bit of work capacity. I think I will stop adding sets/reps when I am comfortably hitting 20-25 light reps per session (4 sets of 6 felt about right on the squat today and I have been having great results with 7 minute/20+ rep density blocks on my press).
Body composition stuff
I normally weigh myself, and take my waist measurement, first thing in the morning (post piss, pre everything else) and then calculate a weekly average on a Saturday. My travel schedule has been all over the place recently, and will continue to be so for a little while yet, so I've taken a 9 day average today.
BW: 90.4kg
Waist: 96.4cm
9 days ago (pre- this log) I was 89.8kg @ 97.5cm. It seems that I've gained about half a kilo while losing a centimetre around my waist. I'm naturally pleased with this but I suspect it's mostly down to margins of error in my measurements (cheapo bathroom scale and my wife's seamstress's measuring tape). I won't change anything for another week or two and let's see if the trend continues.
-
BostonRugger
- Edging Lord
- Posts: 3383
- Joined: Wed Nov 08, 2017 8:48 pm
- Age: 36
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Welcome @Col!
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Monday 12 August 2019
Heavy Bench: 4 x 95, 4 x 95, 4 x 90, 4 x 90
Incline bench DB press: 3 x 10 x 12.5kg DBs on a 30s clock
Press density/volume: 7 minute AMRAP with 47.5kg: 3,3,3,3,3,3 then 3,2 with 45kg.
Tricep rope pushdowns: 3x15 with 12.5kg on a 30s clock
I'm travelling and trained in a very good 'black iron' gym (Strength Republic in Newcastle if anyone is interested: https://www.strengthrepublic.com.au/). I've bee reading up on volume/density training lately and, given that the gym had all the equipment, I decided to go full gym bro in between my planned movements (heavy bench and press volume/density) just to see what happens. I kept it all very light because I've never done an incline anything before, or any direct tricep work and the last time I worked in rep rages this high, with so little rest, I was a cross-fitter. The pump is real and I expect the DOMS will be tomorrow too.
If this kind of high volume, short rest, training actually produces beneficial outcomes for strength/hypertrophy, I will be very pleased. I love that, once the Bench was done, it took me all of 15 minutes to bang out the rest of my session!
In other news - 95kg is a PR on my bench press and, dare I say it, they went up easy. I wasn't 100% confident in the safety bar arrangement (nothing wrong with the equipment, just not sure I set it up correctly) so I elected not to go balls to the wall with sets across.
Heavy Bench: 4 x 95, 4 x 95, 4 x 90, 4 x 90
Incline bench DB press: 3 x 10 x 12.5kg DBs on a 30s clock
Press density/volume: 7 minute AMRAP with 47.5kg: 3,3,3,3,3,3 then 3,2 with 45kg.
Tricep rope pushdowns: 3x15 with 12.5kg on a 30s clock
I'm travelling and trained in a very good 'black iron' gym (Strength Republic in Newcastle if anyone is interested: https://www.strengthrepublic.com.au/). I've bee reading up on volume/density training lately and, given that the gym had all the equipment, I decided to go full gym bro in between my planned movements (heavy bench and press volume/density) just to see what happens. I kept it all very light because I've never done an incline anything before, or any direct tricep work and the last time I worked in rep rages this high, with so little rest, I was a cross-fitter. The pump is real and I expect the DOMS will be tomorrow too.
If this kind of high volume, short rest, training actually produces beneficial outcomes for strength/hypertrophy, I will be very pleased. I love that, once the Bench was done, it took me all of 15 minutes to bang out the rest of my session!
In other news - 95kg is a PR on my bench press and, dare I say it, they went up easy. I wasn't 100% confident in the safety bar arrangement (nothing wrong with the equipment, just not sure I set it up correctly) so I elected not to go balls to the wall with sets across.
Last edited by Col on Sun Aug 11, 2019 8:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Tuesday 13 August 2019
Heavy Squat: 5 x 137.5, 5 x 140, 5 x 142.5
Light/volume Deadlift: 6,6,6,6 x 110 beltless and strapless on a 90s clock
Lat pulldowns (wide grip): 3 x 10 x 33kg on 30s clock
Leg extensions: 3 x 15 x 30kg on 30s clock
Still in a different town and using a commercial gym (the same one as yesterday - a really great place to train, actually). I forgot my belt for this trip but I found a sweet lever belt in the gym's lost & found and used that. I think I want to buy a lever belt now - so much easier to get off after a heavy set than my Best Belts single prong.
The bro work from yesterday didn't cause as much soreness as I was expecting so I had a crack at some more today. I used negligible weight again, just to get a feel for the movements and my tolerance for the high rep/low rest protocol. Seriously considering a membership at a commercial gym just to get a few 'bro sessions' in per week (if I haven't mentioned it before, I normally train at home where I have the ordinary, minimal, equipment - rack/flat bench/bar/plates).
Thought bubble: I can do my strength reps at home, in the morning before I leave for work (as I always have) and given how quickly the hypertrophy sessions go, I could knock them out at the end of, or during, my work day ... one benefit of working for one's self is being able to hit the gym during work-hours. hhhhhmmmmm.
Heavy Squat: 5 x 137.5, 5 x 140, 5 x 142.5
Light/volume Deadlift: 6,6,6,6 x 110 beltless and strapless on a 90s clock
Lat pulldowns (wide grip): 3 x 10 x 33kg on 30s clock
Leg extensions: 3 x 15 x 30kg on 30s clock
Still in a different town and using a commercial gym (the same one as yesterday - a really great place to train, actually). I forgot my belt for this trip but I found a sweet lever belt in the gym's lost & found and used that. I think I want to buy a lever belt now - so much easier to get off after a heavy set than my Best Belts single prong.
The bro work from yesterday didn't cause as much soreness as I was expecting so I had a crack at some more today. I used negligible weight again, just to get a feel for the movements and my tolerance for the high rep/low rest protocol. Seriously considering a membership at a commercial gym just to get a few 'bro sessions' in per week (if I haven't mentioned it before, I normally train at home where I have the ordinary, minimal, equipment - rack/flat bench/bar/plates).
Thought bubble: I can do my strength reps at home, in the morning before I leave for work (as I always have) and given how quickly the hypertrophy sessions go, I could knock them out at the end of, or during, my work day ... one benefit of working for one's self is being able to hit the gym during work-hours. hhhhhmmmmm.
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Thursday 15 August 2019
Heavy Press: 3 x 64, 2 x 64, 4 x 60, 3 x 60
Light/volume Bench: 6,6,6,6 x 70 on 90s clock
I always aim for at least one heavy triple on my press (which I will probably work down to a double as things get heavier) followed by either another heavy triple or back off sets. I felt like I had 2x triples at 64kg in me this morning but it turns out I did not. I then proceeded to overshoot my backoff set weights and the whole thing turned into a bit of a clusterfuck.
On the up-side I have never put 64kg above my head, for any number of reps, so it wasn't a total loss.
Heavy Press: 3 x 64, 2 x 64, 4 x 60, 3 x 60
Light/volume Bench: 6,6,6,6 x 70 on 90s clock
I always aim for at least one heavy triple on my press (which I will probably work down to a double as things get heavier) followed by either another heavy triple or back off sets. I felt like I had 2x triples at 64kg in me this morning but it turns out I did not. I then proceeded to overshoot my backoff set weights and the whole thing turned into a bit of a clusterfuck.
On the up-side I have never put 64kg above my head, for any number of reps, so it wasn't a total loss.
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Friday 16 August 2019
Light/volume Squat: 6,6,6,6 x 105 on a 90s clock
Heavy Deadlift: 4 x 160
Plank: 50s
For reasons related to a lack of personal organisation I went without caffeine this morning (and yesterday too). I will try my best not to do that again.
The squats felt way heavier than I thought they should so I put on a belt.
160kg is the most weight that I have ever pulled off the floor; I went in with a goal of '3-5' reps so I'm happy with 4. I considered a couple of backoff sets but, honestly, I was spent. I've had bad experiences deadlifting heavy while fatigued so I don't do that any more; I'm probably just a pussy but I'm a pussy who can put his own pants on (more often than not) so I'm OK with that.
Light/volume Squat: 6,6,6,6 x 105 on a 90s clock
Heavy Deadlift: 4 x 160
Plank: 50s
For reasons related to a lack of personal organisation I went without caffeine this morning (and yesterday too). I will try my best not to do that again.
The squats felt way heavier than I thought they should so I put on a belt.
160kg is the most weight that I have ever pulled off the floor; I went in with a goal of '3-5' reps so I'm happy with 4. I considered a couple of backoff sets but, honestly, I was spent. I've had bad experiences deadlifting heavy while fatigued so I don't do that any more; I'm probably just a pussy but I'm a pussy who can put his own pants on (more often than not) so I'm OK with that.
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Sunday 18 August 2019
Body composition
BW: 90.9 kg
Waist: 95.75 cm
This is a 4 day average using measurements taken after I got back from my most recent travel. Being away from my regular measuring devices (and my gym and kitchen) for intermittent periods is not ideal for my body composition goals but I'm trying very hard not to let perfect be the enemy of good when it comes to tracking my weight and waist.
It's a short window of time so I'm not going to take this result to the bank but this is a second consecutive bodyweight increase with accompanying decrease in waist circumference. Even allowing for margins of error in my measurements, things are definitely trending in the right direction.
Body composition
BW: 90.9 kg
Waist: 95.75 cm
This is a 4 day average using measurements taken after I got back from my most recent travel. Being away from my regular measuring devices (and my gym and kitchen) for intermittent periods is not ideal for my body composition goals but I'm trying very hard not to let perfect be the enemy of good when it comes to tracking my weight and waist.
It's a short window of time so I'm not going to take this result to the bank but this is a second consecutive bodyweight increase with accompanying decrease in waist circumference. Even allowing for margins of error in my measurements, things are definitely trending in the right direction.
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Monday 19 August 2019
Heavy Bench: 3 x 97.5, 5 x 88, 5 x 88, 4 x 85
Light/volume Press: AMRAP @ 45kg in 7 minutes - 24 reps (all triples)
A 100kg bench press is just around the corner!
Short on time this morning so I ran my bench back-offs on a 2:30 clock - hence the fairly significant degradation in weight and reps on the last set.
Gym lesson for today: Limiting rest periods on the heavy bench and rolling straight into a press density block = super pump... either that or I have Rhabdo again.
Heavy Bench: 3 x 97.5, 5 x 88, 5 x 88, 4 x 85
Light/volume Press: AMRAP @ 45kg in 7 minutes - 24 reps (all triples)
A 100kg bench press is just around the corner!
Short on time this morning so I ran my bench back-offs on a 2:30 clock - hence the fairly significant degradation in weight and reps on the last set.
Gym lesson for today: Limiting rest periods on the heavy bench and rolling straight into a press density block = super pump... either that or I have Rhabdo again.
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Tuesday 20 August 2019
Heavy Squat: 5 x 142.5, 5 x 145, 5 x 145
Light/volume Deadlift: 6,6,6,6 x 110 beltless and strapless on a 90s clock
Heavy Squat: 5 x 142.5, 5 x 145, 5 x 145
Light/volume Deadlift: 6,6,6,6 x 110 beltless and strapless on a 90s clock
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Thursday 22 August 2019
Heavy Press: 3 x 65, 3 x 65, 6 x 58, 5 x 58
Light/volume Bench: 6,6,6,6 x 71 on a 90s clock
The bar felt like a 10kg training stick when I first grabbed it this morning. I love it when that happens.
Super pleased with my Press, other than dropping a rep on my last set of back-off 6's (I think it was more form related than muscular failure - I'm shit at pressing overhead).
I'm still getting a feel for Bench Press volume work - 71kg is 72.8% of my last heavy bench triple so I think it's in the right wheelhouse but, honestly, it didn't feel at all challenging until the last reps of the final set. I wonder if I need more reps? more weight? less rest? or maybe I need to break out of my Egyptian 'grind until you shit yourself' mentality and accept that some gym sessions aren't supposed to kill me.
Heavy Press: 3 x 65, 3 x 65, 6 x 58, 5 x 58
Light/volume Bench: 6,6,6,6 x 71 on a 90s clock
The bar felt like a 10kg training stick when I first grabbed it this morning. I love it when that happens.
Super pleased with my Press, other than dropping a rep on my last set of back-off 6's (I think it was more form related than muscular failure - I'm shit at pressing overhead).
I'm still getting a feel for Bench Press volume work - 71kg is 72.8% of my last heavy bench triple so I think it's in the right wheelhouse but, honestly, it didn't feel at all challenging until the last reps of the final set. I wonder if I need more reps? more weight? less rest? or maybe I need to break out of my Egyptian 'grind until you shit yourself' mentality and accept that some gym sessions aren't supposed to kill me.
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
Saturday 24 August 2019
Light/volume Squats: 6,6,6,6 x 107.5 on a 90s clock
Heavy Deadlift: 3 x 162.5
Pullups: 2 sets of 5
Pullups make my shoulders feel tweaky. Weird. My wife has been sick all week and my head hurts ... it's only a matter of time until I lose all my recent gains to manflu I just fucking know it.
Body composition stuff
Weekly average
BW: 90.25 kg (last week 90.9)
Waist: 96.58 cm (last week 95.75)
I had 'one of those weeks' this week - work got busy, I got lazy with my eating and I stepped off the 'no beer' wagon for a bit of fresh air. I was a day late on my deadlift session but at least I can hold my head up and say I didn't miss training, even if everything else went to shit. A lot of my weekly waist circumference increase is down to one errant day where I returned a 98cm reading - I'd downed 3 beers and a bag of potato chips the day before, so I think it was more of a temporary bloat than actual gut growth... at least that's what I'm telling myself.
Light/volume Squats: 6,6,6,6 x 107.5 on a 90s clock
Heavy Deadlift: 3 x 162.5
Pullups: 2 sets of 5
Pullups make my shoulders feel tweaky. Weird. My wife has been sick all week and my head hurts ... it's only a matter of time until I lose all my recent gains to manflu I just fucking know it.
Body composition stuff
Weekly average
BW: 90.25 kg (last week 90.9)
Waist: 96.58 cm (last week 95.75)
I had 'one of those weeks' this week - work got busy, I got lazy with my eating and I stepped off the 'no beer' wagon for a bit of fresh air. I was a day late on my deadlift session but at least I can hold my head up and say I didn't miss training, even if everything else went to shit. A lot of my weekly waist circumference increase is down to one errant day where I returned a 98cm reading - I'd downed 3 beers and a bag of potato chips the day before, so I think it was more of a temporary bloat than actual gut growth... at least that's what I'm telling myself.
-
ChrisMcCarthy1979
- Registered User
- Posts: 1966
- Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:30 am
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
When you monitor these things closely it can be quite surprising how easily you can see the cause-and-effect...you'll be fine. 
-
Col
- Registered User
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm
Re: Col's log of less than ideal (metric)
It's all a bit of a learning curve!ChrisMcCarthy1979 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2019 12:45 am When you monitor these things closely it can be quite surprising how easily you can see the cause-and-effect...you'll be fine.