Bulking phase

[veggiesasquatch]

Cheers for the input mini, always appreciate you dropping by.

I'm not looking to hit that much cardio wise. Wanna do hill sprints but as I don't drive it would be a pain/real time consuming. A run of 1-2 miles twice is a week is all I'm aiming for really. Though I did walk to work today haha 2.5miles bagged

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Cheers for the input mini, always appreciate you dropping by.

I'm not looking to hit that much cardio wise. Wanna do hill sprints but as I don't drive it would be a pain/real time consuming. A run of 1-2 miles twice is a week is all I'm aiming for really. Though I did walk to work today haha 2.5miles bagged

Perfect.

[veggiesasquatch]

Mon-7th-April Cycle 5 Week 1 (3x5)

Shoulder mobility/lighter sets/stretches to warm up

Main lift:
OHP: (warm up sets 22.5kg x5 27.5 x5 32.5 x3) 35kg x5 42.5kg x5 47.5kg x5

Assistance:
OHP: boring but big 37.5kg 1x 10 (70%) 32.5kg 2x10 (60%) 27.5 2x10 (50%)
Pull ups: wide grips 4x10 hammer grips 1x10
MTS Hammer strength row machine (extra back work) 1x12 30 plates 2x12 35 plates

Summary: felt a little flat today, also it's a bank holiday so gym was rammed. Had people I hadn't seen for ages keep interrupting me. I know they want to say hi & we're saying how big ive gotten, what have I been doing ect but I find it takes me out of the zone to much now. Also, as it was deload last week & my appetite tends to taper off.

 I was seriously gassed on the bbb sets, come the last 2-3. Did like the challenge of not just the volume but the increase in weight. Real burn in the shoulders (obviously) & felt like a demon on my pull ups.

SOLID SESSION

[veggiesasquatch]

Tues-8th-April Cycle 5 Week 1 (3x5)

Usual warm up of mobility/stretching/lighter sets.

Main lift:

 Deadlift: (warm up sets 52.5kg x5 65kg x5 80kg x3 ) 85kg x5 100kg x5 112.5kg x5

Assistance:
Front squats (programmed assistance):47.5kg 57.5kg 67.5kg 3x10
Standing hamstring curl: 3x12

Ab circuit: leg raises/leg ups

Summary:

Up & at it today. Alarm going off at 5:00, oats eaten with a scoop of banana protein, then left home at 6:30.
Deadlifts....hmmmmm well shit session. Backs just not happy. Sumo did nothing to help, also they felt wrong. Soooooooo my plan now, required reps only from now on, even on the 5/3/1 week, failing that I'll lower the increments per cycle from 5kg to 2.5kg.

I'am grateful I can squat, squat heavy with great form & depth. So it could be worse. I just need to accept I need to lower the workload I throw at my lower back. It's annoying as my upper backs strong as fuck. 

So stuff like ghr,good mornings,stiff legged deads & barbell rowing are out of the question for the foreseeable. 
I will work on hamstrings, lower back with only hypers once a week from now on. MEH

[veggiesasquatch]

oh ye x2 2.5mile walks & a quick blast on the treadmill the last few days haha

[veggiesasquatch]

upload pictures

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

oh ye x2 2.5mile walks & a quick blast on the treadmill the last few days haha

You earned those cakes then bro

[veggiesasquatch]

That pics from a few months ago..unfortunately

[veggiesasquatch]

Had a bit of a man date with my strongman buddy tonight....





At least his starter was vegan haha

He's on the lean gains diet atm & he destroyed his food. He finished his deadlift day off with 23 reps @ 395lb

[veggiesasquatch]

Thurs-10th-May Cycle 5 Week 1 (3x5)

Decent per workout food. Bowl of oats with a scoop of choc coconut protein/sunflower seeds with a coffee & a couple local organic eggs.

Usual warm up of mobility/lighter sets & stretching.

Main lift:
Bench press: (warm up sets 40kg 2x5 50kg x5 60 x3) 65 kg x5 75kg x5 85kg x5

Assistance:
Bench press: boring but big 70kg 1x10 (70%) 60kg 2x10 (60%) 50kg 2x10 (50%)
Dumbbell rows: all per arm 32kg x10 30kg x10 28x10 22kg 2x10
Chins: wide grips 2x10 hammer grip 1x10 (did a couple of light lat pull downs)

Ab circuit: side bends, crunches, cable crunch

Summary:
Main lifts no problems, though last set seemed to take most of my energy. Bbb sets were a gasser again, which is what I wanted. Would love to see the "tricep push down" people do this kinda work, my arms were on fire after this.

Left it to long between my benching & db rowing to get my chins in. Kinda blew out on them really but it is the second time this week hitting them. Rows seemed hard today, maybe I didn't eat enough yday or something?

In all pretty decent session though

[mgabs]

Nice lifting man! You're killing it on the overhead press (the 104lbs for 5 reps the other day). How much do you weigh?

[veggiesasquatch]

I'm using Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 so out of my gaining weeks (4th is a deload) this is the lightest week.
On my actual 5/3/1 week last cycle i got 7 reps at 110lb (minimum was 1) so that was hugely pleasing. Also i had come off a 12 hr night shift & hit the gym right after, no complaints!!! I never ever lift to failure,I always keep a couple of reps in the tank.

I currently weight about 90kg (198lb???) but my OHP is wank, weight wise. My assistance is boring but big, reduced percentages but for 5x10. You just repeat the main lift of the day.  I weighed about 63kg (138lb) just under a year ago...

[chewybaws]

Hey man, have you considered just doing speed pulls a couple of times a week instead of heavy deadlifts once a week? This way you could reduce stress on your back, get plenty of practice on setup and keeping a rigid position, work on form, and still get work in. It's not going to be ideal for strength gains, but it's much easier to keep position when your tired at 50-70% compared to 85-95% of your max - and it'll give your back a bit of time to recover (and might help).

Or if you know how to power clean can work them in as well.

[veggiesasquatch]

Hey chewy,

There's isn't much I ve not considered tbh. It's just an old problem from my teens I ve never got looked at. Luckily I can get treatment through my job so going to get that rolling Monday.

I'm fine squatting, front squatting ect it's just the position of deads. Same when I sit down if my postures not good. Defiantly compression that's the issue there. I'm exploring all I can really so I'll try speed pulls if it comes to that. The last option obviously is not deadlifting. That's why I favour touch & go deads. Defeats the object I know but working round the back & all.

Thanks for taking time to post on here, appreciate the advice:)))

[robert]

Wow! You were 138lbs a year ago and now 198lbs? Holy crap! I guess I never realized that.

Well done on your bulking! Looks like all that heavy training, compound lift stuff is paying off. I'm doing a lot of that these days and really enjoying it.

Now I just need to train myself to be able to eat enough!

All the best. Keep after it!