veggiesasquatch

Your ohp is fucking awesome man...I hope I can get somewhere near that one day. Congrats on the all clear, I bet it felt good to get down to some deads even if, for you they are light. Could you be tempted to use 5/3/1 once you're ready to Properly train lower body again to help with a steady increase/gain? I know you're experienced, just interests in the process you may/may not have planned...

Saw him recently & he's incredibly lean isn't he for a strong man competitor I know he doesn't train full time in strong man events due to being a cop & have seen him stop half away through a dead set & he'll mimic the atlas stone movement. I think you'd need the DNA of a god to become that big/lean & strong.

That's cool, I usually do 2 scoops protein 50g starch with supps then I also eat within the hr... For some reason I'm not eating much pasta atm, I always go through Phases on not liking something. Though 2 cups of rice go through me rather fast now. Same as veggies not eating many but I'm loving loads of salads again. I still swear by eating a pizza; be it veggie/vegan once a week. It's handy for me coming off my last night shift as I sleep a few hrs but get up as to get back into sleeping during the night. With the toppings or a side salad it's a good meal. I love making the base with seeds mixed in. It can be fat, carb heavy but it also gives me a huge energy boost coming off nights. As I'm finishing in the morning I'll go right to the gym & to bench, sleep a few hrs then get up. So it also allows me to grab some/catch up on calories. I cook with tofu for the first time in ages recently, reminds instantly how crap it is & why I don't use it. Just a poor selection over here....

How long after do you take in carbs once you have worked out? Really you should have some along with the shake like instant/oats you've blitzed up. I use maize starch but even a couple of banana are good. Something easily digestible. I'm going to try the ice cream Idea post workout after my break

No worries amigo...

That's pretty uncanny, even through the shirt you can see the progress compared to the "converge" pic haha you're more than welcome in regards to the advice, anytime. Good luck again tesing bench! I got serious hunger rage from working last night & deadlifting today

I'm glad you are coming round to this. After I dropped from 202lb (over weight unfit meat eater) down to 138lb I had become a little over obsessive with food. After moving back to my home town I joined the gym. I'd run 3 days a week, 6 miles. Do a 5 day split & also goto a keysi class once a week. Sometimes I'd do a huge loop on a Saturday & run to the gym, 8 miles (12.8km) even before lifting a weight. I was just frightened to death of getting fat again. Looking at pics now when I was light I think I look a little ill, super fit but it doesn't look very healthy. When I had to buy an xsmall t & 28" jeans it clicked that I needed to gain weight. So I started the process of talking, reading, listening as much as I could. Slowly I cut back the running, I just started to generally eat more & train smarter. The gains over a relatively short amount of time have been great. I feel stronger, feel I have more energy & look a damn sight healthier. it's why I bang on about over training, I've done it & lived it so I feel I can have an opinion on it! As well as gaining mass. Don't mean to give you my life story but a lot I read here really mirrors what I use to think, do & now what I want. Just don't be to afraid of gaining weight, what's the worse that can happen? Your lifts go up a little more It's pretty cool we both are taking the same journey. Being big & strong all year round being the goal! not just 8 months of the year

I'm continuously impressed with your progress in such a short-time. It's pretty amazing, mate. I feel you - when I started StrongLifts in September, I couldn't, for the life of me, do one "regular" push-up which was embarrassing. Now I can bang out small sets in between benching. Thanks for the kind words:)

Before I log my workout I want to say how annoyed with myself I'am. Relaxing the weekend has now given me a pain in my lower back to the right. All the work I did to help my sciatica (on the left side) has been great but now this is a kick in the teeth. Not squatting or dead lifting for a fair few weeks followed by a basic plan to bring strength back up to getting onto 5/3/1 has been tough but all worth while. Now because of a laps in posture I have pain. Basically sat on the sofa against the one end with my legs/feet tucked up to the side. I'm so annoyed...... Get through this week then a week off. Luckily the pains doesn't seem all that bad but still...... Update: A decent sleep today seems to of helped. Tues-6th-March cycle 3 week 1 (3x5) Worked last night, pretty beat in all honesty. Had 50g instant oats, 1 scoop protein, peanut butter & a banana to see my through this session. Not the greatest pre workout nutrition but I haven't got time to eat, sit around to let it digest & then train with work again tonight. This was a great time to take Wendler's advice & to pick your battles. Required reps today only. Warm up was good, foam rolls along with body weight squats & mobility work. Actually ended up doing a lot of mobility without realising. Dead lift: 80kg 92.5kg 105kg Assistance: Front squats (programmed assistance 3x10) 37.5kg 45kg 55kg GHR 3x10 reverse hypers 3x10 Ab circuit: side bends, cable crunch, hanging legs & v-ups

Haha eat something else;)

When I started at the gym last feb I must of weighed roughly 138lb, I couldn't do a single chin even with a narrow underhand grips. I didn't start to really train them until maybe 6 months ago. I just did singles, then doubles & so on. What helped build them up was going with hammer grips, I find these work really well for me & I can generate a lot of power through them. Wide grips are obviously the hardest ones & my left shoulder joint was hurt in a car accident, I also look like batman trying to turn his head when I look left, really stiff neck. So I try not going past shoulder width when I go wide but today I hit 2x10 wide then maybe a 9, I switched to hammers then but my shoulders had enough. I usually do say 5 wide grips, hang there & change to a diff grip & so on. Crazy to think I now weigh 185lb & I can do more. With the hammer I started to also add in a 10lb plate... Keep at them, they'll soon come on

Great summing up:) something to read while it's 4:47 & I have two hrs left of my shift... For N.O.V to really work I def think you need a prowler & a sledge, other wise it's just conditioning. Sorry if I didn't explain that better before hand. I love the programmed assistance template, You already know/have two loadable lifts & no dicking about thinking what to lift. If you settle on Triumvirate don't be scared of adding weight to stuff like dips when you need more of a challenge . Just as long as it doesn't kill the tricep & bench day goes out the window (though you should have a two day gap between upper/lower days) I'm almost as excited as you that you're so bumped for this haha This is always my advice: all you need is self belief, once you have this everything else will fall into place. Ok enough "bro" talk....go make two peanut butter & banana sandwiches & down them haha

I had the book with the first 49 comics so just starting that. I've been into loads of stuff over the years...favs being spawn & hellboy. I got a lot of Comic/sci-fi tattoos haha I'm being whisked away by my gf next week for a surprise birthday get away so this will be my first break from lifting since last summer. Have read people just skip the week they miss but I have re/plotted the sheet so I just pick up where I left off. I under shot all my lifts, nothing wrong at all doing that. Good luck with the testing this week. Shall be a great journey once you get cracking

I wouldn't worry over cardio to much. You got a great base & you know how to plan food so the gains should be great (Though I'm gonna badger you to death when you start 5/3/1 to just eat when you want haha) Biking to the gym is a good option, I have a 20mins walk usually & I do a really quick mile on a treadmill to warm up 4 times a week. Then I walk home again so it's nothing heavy. I agree with the star wars comment btw I'm a nerd but I have come to realise that nerds make for the best lifters.... Off to read my walking dead comic..

try myfitnesspal

Mon-5th-March Cycle 3 Week 1 (3x5) Pretty lazy weekend with a couple of 8ish hours sleep & good amount of food in take. Went into today's session with the plan of required reps only on military pressing. Just for the simple fact of showing restraint, I usually always go past required reps on last set (never to failure) so need to do this more. Warm up involved treadmill sprints, Hindu push ups, regular push ups. Lower weight press & stretching. Military press: 32.5kg 37.5kg 42.5kg Assistance: Close grip bench (programmed assistance 3x10) 42.5kg 50kg 57.5kg Tricep push downs, Bicep db curls (shock I did some curls), Cable seated rows, chin ups Chin ups seemed to obliterate me after the two big lifts. Got 2x10 on wide grip then went down hill from there using even hammer grips Post workout shake...x2 scoops protein, 50g maize starch, glutamine & bcaa's

N.O.V is along with the main lifts & assistance...Not instead of assistance:) It's basically high intensity conditioning which is functional... A nice 1-2 mile run 2-3 times a week well still serve you well but as you're still after weight gain I'd say to keep cardio relatively easy & limited eg a 2 mile walk, A low level stationary bike cycle (though we all know how soul destroying treadmills & the like are) I'm into more death metal, grind ect but I like converge. Saw them along with Gaza not long back, Was amazing.....

There are, but of course, the bulk of them are using "enhancements", and they're still hammering out lots of leg presses, hack squats, leg extensions, etc. in place of squats. You can still build size without them (just not a lot of carry-over strength as leg press = pure crap for real strength that will transfer to squats). Squats and deads are ideal as they'll give the most bang for your buck, but of course, if you can't do them, there are ways around it, just that you may need to do more to get the same as you would from squats! On point as always VeganEssentials, Look at what VeganEssential has listed. Squats give you a greater bang for your buck. It's about training smart, not necessarily harder & the carry over from the other things like leg press, As stated isn't all that great. If squatting is just simply to hard then stuff like leg pressing ect is a great way to build up to squats, I know a ruby player who did this & now is on the Smolov squats program at an advanced level. I use to hit leg day with hacks, pressing, curls blah blah now...All I do is squats with good mornings, Deads along with front squats & always glute ham raises on lower days. if you can squat correctly then you can learn anything

I don't bother to cycle creatine, though I'll have a break off all supps next week as I'm on holiday I just take it indefinitely & know a lot of people doing the same. as soon as my tub of creatine is finished I won't bother again. Im a non responder on that supplement! Will be a good time to test to see how you do without it for sure...It's always worth taking something out now & then to see if you notice a drop/increase in anything... Have read/seen loads of articles & actual tests regarding creatine & for the most part people do respond to it...but it's never going to be beneficial for every user. I rarely ache from training & if I do it's not for long, I do eat a fuck load of food though haha

Cool, £6 for the smallest bag won't break the bank to try them. Looks a great way to get in some minerals, Been thinking of trying them but seeing your post shakes it's made me want to try it. Did you have any issues using them at first? I know you need to start with a low serving. I had a cheeky bottle of crabbies ginger beer yesterday Hope you have a great lifting week

Can I pick your brain on these greens powders mate? Have you noticed a difference when using them? Do you just use it post workout? Was thinking of getting this next time I order http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/organic_barley_grass_powder

If it's mass you're after then rep ranges should be no more than 6ish as a general rule. To build mass the weight needs to be heavy. You also do not need to lift to failure to get bigger/stronger. You should always leave a rep or two in the tank. You do not need to be dragging deck after every session, You should always work hard of course but people think you need to be dead after a work out, you don't. Adding to this you do not always lift to a "max" weight each time you lift. Asking your body to improve over a longer period of time means better gains & more acceptance. Doing to much to soon will mean at some point the body wont want to know. For mass all the workouts need to be based off Military pressing (no leg movement at all), dead lifts, squats & barbell benching...

Get a foam roller. Sounds like you know how to squat (what you should be doing) but you may have some mobility issues. Also how do you warm up? If it's that painful go see a doctor. For now I'd let it rest a week, No lower body work at all & see how it feels but make sure to do some mobility work. General rule, joints need movements/muscle stretching. If you fuck your knee up then you're fucked...simple Starting strength is great but it has you adding a decent amount of weight every week, This program just may not suit you & if you're new it maybe to much to quickly. It's more prudent to make smaller gains than trying to get to much done to soon. Rippetoe is awesome, I always point people to his work when starting out but it just maybe not the right program for you. mon-wed-fri is a smart way to train. If you can video the squats so we can take a look at what your doing, It could be that something like eg width of your feet, position of your toes ect needs a little adjusting....

Last session this week means end of the delaod, Weekend off so plenty of rest, food & xbox in order. Fri-2nd-March deload (3x5) Squat: 47.5lg 60kg 72.5kg Assistance: Good mornings (programmed assistance 3x5) 30kg 37.5kg 45kg GHR 3x10 Ab circuit: Side bends, Leg raises, Hanging leg raises, Cable crunch. Feel good & ready for cycle 3.....

They're a great company & they clearly label everything even before you click on the item http://www.myprotein.com/uk/cats/protein/best-sellers They do pea, rice proteins to. But I live in the uk