asparagus

I hope you have a fancy velour track suit and a fuzzy kangol hat to go with those sweet kicks! If you do, obviously you must snap a photo of you pulling heavy wearing all that!

Is he cute?

You could train for push-pull and get your strength fix and then still go out on stage and look great. Just go for what makes you happy, and if it all makes you happy then do it all!

Nice lifting, especially those trap bar deadlifts!

On grip strength - one thing that I feel helped me was doing conventional deadlifts with double overhand grip. I would do all except my heaviest two sets with double overhand (at this point its anything over 315#). Heavy farmer's walks and volume heavy single arm rows were also good.

Also, use chalk! Your grip will feel much more secure when your hands are truly dry. I use Eco Ball Chalk by Metolius ($6 on Amazon) which is non-marking and you don't need a whole lot of it like regular chalk. If your gym won't allow chalk the eco ball is a good way to sneak it in - just keep it in a plastic bag. It looks like chalk in the bag but you can barely see it on your hands and nothing on the bar.

Hit 11 reps @ 133# strict Overhead Press, personal best there. Would have been 135# but I had to use a 15kg bar instead of the usual 45# bars (they were all in use, not sure why my gym has a random 15kg bar).

5/3/1 Cycle 5 Week 4 recap

Deload week

OHP 3x5@60/75/90#

Deadlift 3x5@175/215/255#

Hang clean and jerk 3x5@115#

Squat 4x5@115/135/165/195#

Bench 3x5@95/115/135#

DB Row 3x5@40/50/60#

Hanging knee raise 3x5@BW (207#)

Lost a pound and a half since last Friday. Not much to worry about, pretty standard variation. Got a headache again on Tuesday while doing deadlifts. I think it's an exertion headache, as it only happens on deadlifts when I take breath at the bottom and hold it for the whole rep, or on squats when I do really slow heavy sets and really squeeze my core. I only switched up my breathing on deadlifts as Rippetoe recommends it in his book, so I wanted to try it. However, I think I will stick with breathing at the top, as I don't get headaches that way! I also won't be doing my volume sets of squats as slowly. Time under tension is great and all but headaches aren't, especially if they make me stop lifting (like last Friday).

5/3/1 Cycle 5 Week 3 recap

Lots of good lifts this week

OHP: 7@145#, 5x10@80#, Pullups: 2x5@BW (208#), 5@213#, 4@218#, 4@223#, 5@208#

Deadlift: 7@395#, 5x10@225#

Bench: 6@210#, 5x10@120#, DB Row: 8@110#

Squat: 7@310#, 2x10@175#

However, I screwed myself up somehow. I now have a pretty bad headache at the back base of my skull after squatting. On Tuesday I tried to change my breathing pattern on the deadlifts to breath at the bottom instead of at the top between reps. I found it very uncomfortable and much more difficult, but that might only be because I am used to breathing at the top. At the end of my last two x10 sets, I felt a bit of a headache at the back base of my skull, on my left side. It dissipated after a short while so I didn't think much of it. However, it came back today on squats. On the last rep of the heavy set I felt a minor headache in the same spot as I was straining. It went away pretty quickly. On the last rep of my first set I felt it again, but it was also minor and went away after a minute. At the end of my second x10 set, it happened again, but it was intense. The "scrunch your eyes up" intense kind of headache. I sat down for a couple minutes and waited it out a little, but this time it didn't subside quickly at all. I am still feeling it 35 minutes later, although it isn't painful anymore. I don't get headaches very often. Luckily next week is a deload week, so I'll take it extra easy and hopefully it is only a strained muscle that is causing the pain.

Oh yeah, and I weighed in at 209.4# at today's session. I'm gaining. Not quite sure where I want to go with this, though, although the side effect of being stronger is nice

I also agree with C.O., in that you need to try out a few different ratios to find out what works out best for you and your goals. Personally I think that eating that much protein is ridiculous for most people - not including strongmen, bodybuilders, etc. I believe that part of the high protein recommendation in your book might be to aid in weight (fat) loss, as protein requires more energy to metabolize than carbs or fats.

Personally, my goal was overall strength with moderate lean mass gain. Over the past 2.5 years from when I started lifting again I've gone from 178# (~81kg) to 206+# (~94kg) while remaining at ~15% bf (maybe slightly less, but probably not more). At first I ate between 125-150g protein per day (~.70-.83g per # BW). I currently average around 150-160g per day Monday-Friday (~.75g per # BW), and probably around 75g or less(!) on weekend days. However, I also currently eat almost 4000kCals on weekdays. Oh yeah, practically all my daily protein is whole foods - NO protein shakes except on the rare occasion that my meals for the day are really low on protein. Oats, beans, rice, tempeh and tofu, for the most part.

This is what works for me. I give it as an example that you do not need to stuff yourself with super high levels of protein to support strength increases and muscular growth.

I eat a fair amount of tempeh, but I don't like plain soy tempeh at all. The tempeh I get is 3-grain, and is a blend of soy, rice, and millet. It has a much milder flavor. I usually eat tempeh raw, only letting it sit for a few hours in some teriyaki or other marinade. The best way I've found to enjoy it cooked is baking it with a marinade. Teriyaki is by far my favorite, as the tempeh really soaks it up well.

Had a killer week in the gym. Crushed all my heavy sets and definitely feel like I'm on the comeback now from the deload. My upper body (especially chest) is still lagging a bit behind the lower on the progress, but I'm still happy with the way things are going. I think the chest issue stems from the sporadic muscle soreness in my upper right arm (not shoulder related, my shoulders are fine). Since I'm progressing on my weights and the problem seems to be getting slightly better (still getting stronger), I'm not sure what to do about it, other than bring it up at my next doctor's appointment.

My bodyweight today at workout time was 208.3#. Heaviest I've ever been. I've been eating a little more, and I'm sure the hypertrophy work over the last month is packing on some muscle. I don't think I'm really leaning out much. Still on IF 5 days/week.

5/3/1 Cycle 5 Week 2

OHP: 8@135#, 5x10@75#, Pullups: 6,6,6,5,6

Deadlift: 8@375#, 5x10@225#, Back raise: 5x10@BW+10#

Bench: 7@200#, 5x10@120#, DB rows: 15@100#, 5x10@60#

Squat: 9@295#, 5x10@175#

I've left a little in the tank each day on my heavy set, too. I probably could have hit one more rep on all of them.

Hey chewy, nice to see you on here again! I'm eager to see how much you're pulling these days - last time you posted I think you deadlifted around 250 kg...

There's your workout right there, moving large appliances around! Just weld a steel bar between the washer and dryer and use it for all your barbell work.

Glad things are going well for you!

Glad to hear your back injury isn't too severe. Rest up, take your time and heal, then get back to epic deadlifts!

hey dude, nice to see you're still at it and going strong.

updated to here.

Mellon - welcome to the top of the chart! Nice lifting!

BT2 - I've added you under the assumption that you are male, given your lifts. If you are female, please correct me! In either case, nice lifting and welcome to the board.

Still here!

I haven't been checking in much lately. I'm still hitting the gym, trying to work back up to where I was. Hit another setback last month. I woke up one morning and my right shoulder was all out of whack. I noticed my right side acromion protruding a bit, significantly more so than my left side. I also found myself a bit weaker on all my upper body lifts, especially in my right arm. I had to drop all my upper body training maxes by 15%. I get occasionally soreness at the bottom of my right deltoid in my upper arm, but that's it. No pain, no range of motion difficulties. Just a loss of strength. Going to make an appointment with my doctor and get kicked around the referral chain for a bit, hopefully I can find out what the problem is.

Still following intermittent fasting, my weight is currently sitting around 206# at workout time (early/mid afternoon). Still doing the hypertrophy sets after my main lifts. I'm pretty happy with my form on all my lifts at this point. I've put in a lot of effort to get it down, and although my work weights are a little lower than what they previously were, I'm happy to be doing things right finally.

5/3/1 Cycle 5 Week 1 recap

OHP - 8@130#, 5x10@75#

Deadlift - 10@355#, 5x10@225#

Bench - 7@190#, 5x10@120#

DB row - 10@90#, 5x10@55#

Squat - 10@280#, 5x10@165#

Hope all is well out there with you guys in VBB&F land.

by the way, MF, have you sent out the prize pack? I've removed the challenge from the original post.

sorry I've been lax on following up here. updated.

Back seems to be doing fine. I only get a little discomfort when I'm sitting in my car seat too long, or if I'm sitting on the floor or something similarly solid. In general I've been super busy at work, so everything else has been suffering a bit as well. It may well have been work stress that caused my lifting performance to tank last month. I'm coming from the deload and am happy with all my lifts so far. I like going back to slightly higher reps on the heavy sets.

5/3/1 Cycle 4

Last Thursday, Week 2

Bench: 6@195#, 5x10@120#

DB rows: 10@80, 10@70, 5@85, 3@90, 3@95, 12@100#

Right arm was lagging on the rows, needed to use a lot of body to get the last few reps up. Right arm's been bugging me for a few weeks off and on, noticing a lack of strength in upper right arm on rowing and pressing.

Last Friday, Week 2

Squat: 8@285#, 5x10@170#

Squats are coming along nicely.

Today, Week 3

Yesterday was Labor day so I combined yesterday's OHP day into today's deadlift day.

OHP: 5@140# +3 push press, 5x10@70, 1x10@70 behind the neck

Deadlift: 5x385#, 5x10@225#

A bit sad that my OHP has dropped as much as it has, but nothing to do other than work back up. I won't stop until I can press my own bodyweight. I probably won't stop after that either.

If you are in the US, and have access to Trader Joe's, they sell an organic super-firm high-protein tofu in 1 lb blocks. In an 85 gram serving, it packs 130 calories, 7 grams fat, 3 grams carbs, and 14 grams protein. I alternate between this and Trader Joe's organic 3-grain tempeh as part of my daily meals. I also eat a lot of rice and beans, which make up a large percentage of my daily protein.

I hear you on the lagged posting. I'm lagging myself. Been super busy at work, so haven't been able to take the time after my workouts to post, and by the time I get home at night I don't even think about it. That's how it goes with forums though, after a while most everyone gets tired of it and stops posting.

Welcome back! Nice deadlift too!

Dude, your quads are huge! Nice work.

Hey BnB, nice to see that you're back. Keep at it!

Thanks, as far as I can tell I'm back on the horse at this point, so to speak.

Still doing 5/3/1, boring but big. I'm not logging each individual workout since the weights are a little lower and I'm building back up. So far the emphasis on stressing proper form is working out. I feel more comfortable in my lifts and am noticing more often when I'm not doing something correctly.

Last week's 5/3/1

Thursday: Bench top set 6@195, 5x10@115

Felt like I should have been able to do at least one more rep at that weight, but whatever.

Friday: Squat top set 5@285, 4x10@155, 1x10@165

It felt much heavier than I wanted it to.

Yesterday 5/3/1

OHP top set: 5@135 +2 push press, 4x6@65 +4 behind the neck, 1x10@65 +4 behind the neck

Gym was a zoo, full of meatheads that work out for the first two weeks of the semester then never step in the gym again. On rep 5 of my top set, as I had the bar at full extension overhead some idiot walked under the end of my barbell, screwing up my concentration. After I dropped the bar to my chest and told him to watch out, I switched to push press. On the second rep of push press a different idiot walked under the end of my barbell, so I ended the set at that.

Today 5/3/1

Deadlift top set: 8@365, 2x10@205, 2x10@215, 1x10@225

Lost count during the deadlift set, which is good, because I was super focused on the lift and maintaining my form. I'm pretty sure I did 8, and even had a little left in the tank. I'm really feeling good about my deadlifts, but we'll see how it goes when it starts to get heavy again.

I've also been making sure to get in more calories on lifting days and on the weekends. Peanut butter, cliff bars, and now twice weekly (on deadlift and squat days) protein shakes to the rescue. I'm relaxing my 8/16 IF a bit to make sure I'm getting all my calories, so it's turning to more of a 14-15 hour fast during the week and 12 hour fast on weekends. My weight dropped 5 lbs over 3 weeks as of last week, but it seems as though I've put 3 lbs back on since then.