5x5 + 4x2 - calories = ???

[Cynical Simian]

Bodyweight: 183.0lb - same as last week

For over $1000 I should hope you got enough calories to negate a week of attempted cutting.

The meal entry was a lot more fun to read than the workout entry...glad to hear you had fun. Was it a special occasion, or did you just run out of liquid nitrogen at home to make the stuff yourself?

 

[anotherbutters]

I just read this about getting hold of liquid nitrogen:

http://www.zyra.org.uk/getliqn.htm

Interesting

My friend's visiting from Australia and he's always wanted to go to this restaurant. He's seen Heston Blumenthal a few times on TV and just had to go there. We couldn't get a table last time he was over, but we were a bit better organised this time (we're also trying to arrange a piss up in a brewery ). My friend wouldn't let me pay anything as it was his idea, but I'll pay him back somehow. I think it'll be my tab whenever we go out for a while now!

 

[anotherbutters]

Week 2, Day 2

Bodyweight: 183.0lb - still no change, although I weighed 180lb at the time of the workout, so I expect to be a lot lighter tomorrow.

All weights in kilos, warmups in brackets, previous weeks in grey.

Front Squats
(bar x 5) 40 x 5, 50 x 5, 60 x 5, 70 x 5, 76 x 5
(bar x 5) 40 x 5, 50 x 5, 60 x 5, 70 x 5, 78 x 5 ...... (78kg = 172lb)

Deads
(60 x 5, 80 x 5, 100 x 3, 120 x 1) 130 x 4 x 2 reps, 120 x 5
(60 x 5, 80 x 5, 100 x 3, 120 x 1) 132 x 4 x 2 reps, 100 x 8 ......... (132kg = 290lb)

Incline Bench
(bar x 5, 30 x 5) 35 x 3 x 5 reps ... (military press)
(bar x 5, 40 x 5, 50 x 4) 55 x 5 x 5 ........ (55kg = 121lb)

Front squats were hard on my wrists, so I'll have to stretch them first next week. My left wrist's better, so I can actually bend my hand back now. The squats were quite hard, but my wrists took my mind off them. I'll do 80kg next week, which will be a PR.

Deads - I'm already worried about going to 134kg next week, but I will do. I did 140 just 2 weeks ago, yet 132 felt heavy today.

Incline bench - I've very rarely done this, so it's practically new to me. I did this weight last time I tried, so anything above this will be a PR, lol.

I skipped abs. I've discovered World of Warcraft

 

[anotherbutters]

Bodyweight today: 179.6lb - if only it was all fat

 

[asdfzxcv]

I skipped abs. I've discovered World of Warcraft

So begins the downward spiral ,just play in moderation.Seriously those online games can get you hooked very quicky if you are not careful.I got to the point where I was so obsessed with WoW & similiar games that my life revolved around being on the computer 12-14 hours a day for almost a year.I only ever thought about leveling up characters,finishing quests or obtaining some elusive item at the expense of everything else.I lost most of my friends and my body suffered greatly due to the lack of activity.It got to the point that my family was greatly concerned about my mental wellbeing.Looking back I cannot believe how pathetically addicted I was.

One day I said said to myself this cannot go on.I smashed all my game disks and began to change my ways.I took up lifting as a way of filling the void left by my gaming addiction and have never looked back.

 

[anotherbutters]

It can have health benefits too. The servers were down the other night and I didn't know what to do with myself, so I went to bed early

Sounds like you got fairly hooked! I can see it being very addictive.

 

[anotherbutters]

Week 2, Day 3

Bodyweight: 180.0lb

All weights in kilos, warmups in brackets, previous weeks in grey.

Squats
(bar x 10, 40 x 5, 60 x 5) 85 x 5 x 5
(bar x 5, 40 x 5, 60 x 5, 70 x 2) 87 x 5 x 5 ...... (87kg = 191lb)

Bench
(bar x 5, 40 x 5, 50 x 5, 60 x 3) 72 x 4 x 2 reps, 65 x 6
(bar x 5, 40 x 5, 50 x 5, 60 x 3) 72 x 4 x 2 reps, 60 x 8 ......... (72kg = 158lb)

Rows
(40 x 5) 51 x 5 x 5
(40 x 5) 54 x 5 x 5 ........ (54kg = 119lb)

Decline situps
2.5 x 20-20-20
5 x 20-18 ......... (5kg = 11lb)


I'm pissed off. On the 4th set of squats, I literally stopped at my sticking point for a second and had to push like my life depended on it to finish. I've no idea how, but I managed to complete another set without killing myself. I can't see how I can possibly increase these next week.

I didn't realise until afterwards, but I'd read my notes wrong and chose the same weight for bench as last week, only this week they were a lot harder. Even the much lighter backoff set was hard.

Rows were ok.

I tried decline situps with a 5kg/11lb plate. Every single rep hurt my back, but I managed to get 20 reps. The second set was just awful. I set the bench to flat for the final set, but after leaning back for the first rep, I just lay there and gave up.

So in summary, a pretty piss poor performance. I could put this down to just being one of those days, or that I've dropped my calories a lot, especially in the past few days as my bodyweight wasn't dropping. But I don't know. I didn't expect things to get this hard this quickly. I wanted to keep the weights relatively high for this run, but now I'm finding I can't implement progressive resistance, since I can't go heavier. If I drop the weights and ramp up again, I feel like I'll have to drop them so much I'll decondition from what I can handle now. Week 2 and I've blown it already. I'll have to reset somehow.

 

[blut wump]

Don't Panic

Firstly, the bench performance would have been hurt by the straining on squats. The sit-ups, too, would have been affected by the hard squats. Who knows what muscles you pulled into the effort in unaccustomed ways to get the weight up?

Congrats on the tough squats.

With an effort like that going in, you'll have gotten something out of it to get you through next week. At least, if you were feeding yourself you would have. Cutting is tough. You could hold the weight steady, if you're concerned about it, which would be equivalent to an increase if you're in caloric deficit.

 

[anotherbutters]

Thanks. I wondered about keeping the weight constant. It's not that 'interesting', but might be effective whilst cutting as you say. I probably ate too little today. I find it hard to control my weight accurately, even though I'm fairly good with my diet.

Honestly BW, I can't thank you enough for all the help you've given me whilst I've been on this board. You're a good man.

 

[blut wump]

Thanks, AB. The way I see it, we go into the gym and give a good hard push at the weights. After that, the body does what it will with the efforts we've put in. Mostly I just try to give you a positive outlook on your workout when I think you're entertaining negative thoughts. If it helps you to give another hard push at the weights on your next visit then I'm a happy man.