Probably sub-optimal

[5hout]

33 today. My private lifting notebook goes back to 2/25, so I was going to start publicly logging next week, but then figured this made a better starting point. Many years ago was in shape. Then I got fat (still technically a shape, I guess). Then I got skinny (~165 at 5'7, didn't measure but about a 34 inch waist at the time) using keto and IF, but was weak. Found SS, built the most cajankity home squat rack and started not doing the program (#w00dliftinggearb4itwas'cool'). Didn't do the program for, ohh half a year or so. Then in late winter of 2019 started (mostly) doing the program. Initial logs were on paper and are lost, but my first logged week was 2/25/19: 3x5x240s 3x5x120b 1x5x245dl.

Ran the program out, started Texas Method and invited some friends that had started lifting over for a little meet in the summer. I did not note my weight that day in my log (it's written down somewhere here I think), was around 200. Sprained my wrist, so could only squat. Hit my goal of 405. Spent the rest of summer letting the wrist heal up and doing various dumb self designed programs. In the fall I got back to benching and dl'ing, and ran a bunch of lightly modified MM cycles. Squat to 440, Bench to 230, DL to 355 (strapped). Was sort of waffling between wanting to lose weight, and being afraid of losing muscle so I split the difference and didn't lose (much) weight or gain (much) muscle, but the lifts went up so hiho. Also added in doing Tu/Th/Sa chin and accessory work (most of that had to get cut, because no recovery), but went from 0 chins -> 2 chins (literally never been able to do a strict chin my entire life).

Wife had our first child in Dec, so I decided to do a cut while simultaneously running a high volume block (because I am stupid). Ran it for 6 weeks, pretty sure I went all the way from MED to past MRV, but it was funish and I learned a lot. Doing a little abbreviated peaking cycle, going to try for some PRs on Friday.

Today I hope to hit a lifetime pr, and 3 year goal, of 3 chins in one set. EDIT: 2 and a 3rd were my nose touched the bar after 3 seconds of struggle. More work required.

After this peak cycle I'm going to have to get serious about cutting, because I've been sitting at 39 inch waist for too long. If I want to bulk, and don't want to be fat again, I have to actually lose weight. I also believe it is unnatural to run longer than 400m at a time, but based on some of the health disucssions here have been considering the possibility of potentially (maybe) working towards including some kind of cardio again. I used to fence a lot, then once a week (some weeks), now I do zero cardio. This is probably sub-optimal.

[5hout]

Wed did some heavyish stuff in prep for Friday. Nothing exciting, tried to go fast so could actually hang out with wife/kid. Training Partner (TP) did his stuff solo in the afternoon. I moved the bench down to lower than normal, think I like it really low for solo benching. TP is 3-4 inches taller than me, so have to go inbetween when both of us our benching.

S: 3x135, x225, x315. 1x385, 1x415
B: 5x135, 3x155, 3x175, 1x195
D: 5x135, 3x225, 3x315

[hector]

Welcome!!!!!

[5hout]

Welcome!!!!!

Thanks much!

[5hout]

2/21 Friday:

Squat: Squatted 405, 445 (5 lbs pr over 440), 455 (10 lbs pr over 10 minute old pr).
Bench: Benched 205. Was kind of a shitshow. Could not find the groove for bench, meant to try 235, did not have 220 in me today. Next time I run a 'peaking' block or an actual peaking block I need a lot more heavy bench practice, also need to get safeties so I can bench heavy alone.
Deadlift: Was decent, warmed up and pulled a grindy 340 and 355 (1015 total for the day).

Think the 455, while a bundle of fun, was too much at the start of the day. Never really felt locked in after that lift. Was an absolute slow grinder through the sticking point. Any day where you add 15 lbs to a lift is a good day, not sad about how this went.

[5hout]

Deload week/Start of cut.

2/24 Monday:
Squat: 3x5x225
Bench: 3x5x135 (1 wide, 1 reg, 1 cg)
I have been really feeling the grind of 455. My lower back is very sore, but not painful, right now. First set of squats I could have maybe done 3-4 more, second set I could have squeezed out 2-3 more. 3rd set was really more like 5 singles. By the 3rd set some random lingering hip pain in my left hip finally went away. Bench was fine.

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2/26 Wednesday:
Squat: 3x5x225
Bench: 3x5x135
Deadlift: 1x5x225

Switched DL bar to just have 225 on it, felt fine pulling that after S/B . Lower back still a bit touched up from last Friday, but on the mend. Bench form is inconsistent, probably have to actually video it at some point. Deload week is nice b/c the workouts are so fast, but also not as effective at tiring me out. 3rd day in a row of 1.5k calories, think I'll weigh in on Friday and see how it's going.

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2/26 Friday
Some kind of throat infection, low grade fever and such. Got a Z pack.
Walked by garage and did 1x5x225, because it was there.
Naptime

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3/2 Monday
Start of non-deload, but still cutting, programming.
Planned:
S3x3RIRx275, B2x3RIRx175, D1x5x225
Notation is: (extra reps, extra reps, extra reps)

Did:
S3x6x275 (2, 5, 0)
B3x4x175 (0, 0, 4)
D1x5x225

Felt pretty good. Extra set on bench because I forgot what I was doing.

[5hout]

3/4 Wednesday
S2x5x315
B3x4x165 (0, 1, 2)
D2x5x225

Only had 20, maybe 25, minutes to lift. Basically blasted this as fast as possible. Door to door time 20 minutes.

[5hout]

3/6 Friday
S2x8x275
B1x1x195, 2x1x210,1x5x175 (tried heavier, no go)
D1x5x225

Not sure I got to 3RIR on the squats, so used to doing only 4-6 reps on stuff that 6+ feels like death, even if bar speed is still fine. Just have to keep on trucking and build some rep capacity. Tu/Th did some chin work. Not 100% sure on what I want to do while cutting. Right now I am doing a few strict, unaided singles, then 1 banded amrap set. Did not have time to jump rope/cardio this week.

EDIT: Likelihood of cardio has dropped substantially. I had been halfway promising myself if I got the cardio up (and it fell on an open weekend) I would fence a fun local tournament where you win a beer mug if you place top 3. For reasons unknown to me this tournament does not seem to be happening this summer. Tragic, because all (maybe all but one?) my old mugs from this tournament have been broken through the years (moves plus random life events). It's a E and under tournament, so like a tournament with entry restricted to people with 275 wilks or under in a tournament within the last 4 years.

[5hout]

3/8 Sunday

60 degrees and beautiful. Burned through some yard waste, did some garden prep and then decided it was so nice I needed to do some power cleans and ohp'es in the backyard. Shirtless, of course. Don't think I've cleaned or pressed since late fall. Worked up to 140 clean and press and PC'd 150.

Not serious training, but a damn nice way to spend an hour in the warm sun after a long winter.

[5hout]

Now with media! Had to remove sound b/c it was mostly circular saw noise from background.

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3/9 Monday
S2x5x315
B3x3x175 (1, 1, 0)
D1x6x225

PC/OHP really seemed to wreck my bench, but was fun. S/DL probably should have pushed a bit harder. Forgot to put sleeves on. My sleeves are really loose, but I think it's the first time I've squatted without them since buying. Felt strange. Was rushed. BW 194 3 day avg. Cut is coming along, not great, but not terrible.

[5hout]

3/11 Wednesday

Tanning a deer hide in my garage. Left the lid on the can slightly cracked. Garage smell is incredibly bad. Did not do planned lunchtime lift, may lift tonight if (re-lidded the can) smell dissipates. Lesson learned: Tan shit behind garage under a tarp to keep rain off, not in the garage.

EDIT: Smell cleared up, lifted after work.

S3x10x275 The more I do lifts past the holy number fahve, the more I develop capacity to lift past fahve. Not sure if this was really 3rir, but was fine.
B2x3x185 My bench form has gone to shit, idk if it's the cut or overthinking it, but I'm all over the place.
D1x7x225 I am loving this 225 DL bar perma-setup. Think I'm going to ++ up to 10 reps, then start moving up the DL workout even during the cut.

[5hout]

3/13 Friday

Solidly meh workout. Not super sure what happened on 3rd bench set. Rep 1 and 2, fast. Rep 3 very slow. Rep 4 wasn't happening so called it on benching. Cut is going ok. If it all goes this steadily that would be A-OK with me. Based on some Stronger By Science stuff and self-observation I'm switching from IF to 1 big meal midmorning, a small lunch and a medium dinner. If I eat too much past 7pm, even if total cals stay at 1.5k/day, I seem to stall.

S3x5x315
B3x3x165 (2, 3, 0)
D1x5x225

[5hout]

3/17 Monday

Have lost all the birthday cheat week weight and maybe 1-3 extra lbs, cut is moving along. Currently .4lbs/day. If this rate continues for another week I might go from 1.5k cals/day to maybe 1.6. Want to be done cutting as fast as practical, but also don't want to lose excess muscle from cutting too fast.

S3x8x275
B3x5x140 (cg, 2, 1, 0)
D1x5x225

[5hout]

3/18 Wednesday
Pretty bored with reasonable RIR based workouts, so I did some heavier squats/DL today. 1st rep at 405 was really easy, then I promptly failed the second rep b/c I forgot to actually get setup.

S1x3x315, 1x405
B3x5x155
D1x3x225, 1x2x245,1x2x265, 1x275

[5hout]

3/20 and 3/23 Wed/Mon:
Exodus down was down! ErrMaaaGerddd

Friday:
S1x5x225, 1x6x315, 2x1x405
B3x5x155
D1x5x225

Daycare closed, so trying out a 1-2 lifts per day thing during the apocalypse. More time getting ready, but less time in gym so easier to sneak away.
Monday:
S1x9x275, 3x3x265 pause squats, 20 second rest.
Tu:
B5x5x155, short rest (first set was a death grind, second easier, third was either right b4 or right after DL 1x10x225, last 2 were easier.

[5hout]

3/25 Wednesday

S1x10x275, 45 second rest, 3x5x275, 30 second rests, extra 30 seconds, 1x10x275

No warmups is very weird, but including getting dressed I think entire workout was 20 minutes.