Back under the weights this week.

Some baselines

Squat - 375 x1
Incline Bench - 285x3
Trap Deadlift - 470x1

Barebell DL & OHP coming later this week.

I'm mostly happy with the start. I haven't been under 300 pounds on squats in a long time so I was happy I was able to hit what I got. I failed at 400 on squat and 500 on DL. I also was scared to up on bench without a spot.

Nice!

Incline jumps out and is impressive! Is that your main chest press lift? Just curious if you prefer that over flat.

Yeah very strong lifts!

Yup. About a year or so ago I ditched flat bench for incline. Feels a little safer, hits some shoulders too, and I just felt like my upper pecks needed more development. It's probably not the most efficient way to train chest but I'm okay with that.

One thing I've come to terms with is that if you study this stuff enough, you will hear about all kinds of "optimal" or "efficient" or whatever buzz word exercises for whatever body part.

I've come to find that if I do what I enjoy, the results are pretty good. And I usually get burnt out on a certain variation after a certain period of time anyway, so I get enough variety that way.

Ordered a weighted vest for my walks. I really want to add more sprints into my routine but I usually can't get out of the house till late at night and don't like the idea of running full speed when it's dark - just seems like a recipe for an injury.

Does anyone think that loading a heavy sled and pulling it with a harness could replace sprints? Because that is something I could probably do in my back yard. It's just not big enough to do an all out 30 second sprint.

I think the sled is an awesome addition to your training for conditioning. It won't do the exact same things for your fitness that sprints will, but it has a lot of crossover benefits, I believe.

Going to finish up this training block mid-February and then do a cut - plan on adding a lot of sled/farmer walks/weighted carries to my main 5/3/1 work as my accessory stuff to keep the volume down and help with weight loss.

It's amazing how much of a difference twenty pounds makes when you're paying attention - I can tell a huge difference in my conditioning. Simple stuff has me breathing hard when before I wouldn't notice it at all.

Same, I just added a 20 lb vest, and non lift days will walk on an incline on the teadmill and just gassed by the end of it

I love me some sleds. I got this bad boy a while back and don't use it nearly enough.

I have a little tiny Rogue one that I bought back when I wasn't "all in" on this lifestyle. I need to upgrade to one like that with posts so I can push it. Right now I just have a harness or straps so I have to pull it behind me.

I usually donate the stuff I outgrow to nieces and nephews or keep it for my kids.

As I build my garage gym this year, cardio is the element that concerns me the most. Ideally would prefer to get a treadmill since I tolerate incline walking to most. I used to live close to a local high school and in the summer time could access their turf practice field that had tires and a steep hill next to it for sprints.

I did see this product show up in one of my feeds and it definitely piqued my interest. Hoping one of you will buy and report back

https://thetibbarguy.com/products/the-sledtred

I want a torque tank M1 sled so bad. I keep hoping to snag one on marketplace for a discount but they're few and far between. The wheeled kind would be better for me.

You knew exactly what you were doing with this post!

Another thing I didn't know existed that I definitely don't need...

Macro question ...

is 170g/protein, 35g/carbs, and 80g/fat sustainable or even somewhat close to what I should be looking close to for losing weight but maintaining muscle?

I've been on a low carb (between 30-80 grams daily) for a while now aside from some light cheat days on weekends and trying to get around 200 grams of protein daily, but gained a little weight over the break, so im thinking of scaling back overall calories to around 1800. The above macros are an idea for how to meet in the middle of those goals, but I'm not sure if it's going to help me at all, or if I should just do small bulks and cuts over the next couple months instead?

Just rambling here on a Monday morning, but any help or links to studies or anything would be much appreciated!

What is your current weight?

From what I have read, you can lose about 1% of your body weight max a week and maintain muscle, but probably closer to .5% a week to be safe. And try to eat .8g to 1g of protein per pound of body weight - I would probably shoot for a number that is between your current and goal weight - so if you're 220 and want to be 180, I'd try to get 200g in. Then you can lower it as you close in on the 180.

Honestly, I don't even bother tracking fat or carbs. If my energy level feels consistently low during my workouts, I try to add an extra carb with a meal or something but that is about it.

Obviously, you can up your activity level too if you don't do much cardio, but I feel like that is always a dangerous game depending your calorie deficit. Want to make sure your main focus is your strength training so that you don't lose the strength you've built.

Pantera said:

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if I should just do small bulks and cuts over the next couple months instead?

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I plan to do things in 3 month blocks and monitor my progress - bulk 3, cut for 3, maintenance for 1, etc. That may be what you meant by what you said, but I am reading it as a smaller frame of time. So if I misread that, disregard the below.

This is just my personal preference and opinion, but I would only do bulks and cuts like this if you're very experienced and very in tune with your macro and caloric needs and if you have very specific and high level goals in mind. I think it teeters on micromanaging too much for "weekend warrior" types. I don't really want to hassle with something that involved until my strength levels start to reach the upper levels of intermediate/beginning levels of advanced, if ever.

My new years gym resolution is to manage my fatigue better. 6 days a week has already become 5. But I still think I need to get to 4. I'm trying tweaking the plan.

Right now I desperately need a deload, but I'm taking a 15 day family trip on the January 25hth where I won't be working out; so I'm saving it for then. I'm in this spiral where everything hurts and I hate working out. Any tips?

Make sure you're getting proper rest between workouts. That means sleep and giving certain muscle groups time to recover. If you're going to go hard this often then make sure you're fueling them too. Good diet and lots of water. Stretching helps too.

I got to a similar point when I switched from Stronglifts to Madcow - I was just totally drained, mentally and physically after a couple of months of Madcow.

I took a couple of months off of 5x5 style training and changed my workouts to focus on doing 3x8s for those two months. I kept doing the main 4 lifts so that I wouldn't get rusty and could focus on practicing form, but only did a 3x8 and then added in accessory lifts for areas I felt weak in so that I didn't feel like I was wasting time or not making progress - I think it's important to still feel like you're making progress somewhere to avoid that feeling of "wasting time" or "losing what you've earned".

I did things like ATG split squat, single leg deadlifts, more dumbbell work, more iso exercises (curls, overhead tricep extension), etc.

I am doing 5/3/1 now and feel WAY better, likely because deloads are scheduled in the program.

What does your week look like and how does that compare to what you used to like about lifting? I think I would hate it also working out 5-6 days a week.

10andBOUNCE said:

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I think I would hate it also working out 5-6 days a week.

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Yes, that sounds awful. I could maybe talk myself into that if it was my job and paid me six figures. Otherwise, no thanks.

Now, if you had a sled tred, you'd enjoy it 7x a week.

I have 22 days to get in on the early bird special. Too bad I already blew all my Christmas money

CC09LawAg said:

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What is your current weight?

From what I have read, you can lose about 1% of your body weight max a week and maintain muscle, but probably closer to .5% a week to be safe. And try to eat .8g to 1g of protein per pound of body weight - I would probably shoot for a number that is between your current and goal weight - so if you're 220 and want to be 180, I'd try to get 200g in. Then you can lower it as you close in on the 180.

Honestly, I don't even bother tracking fat or carbs. If my energy level feels consistently low during my workouts, I try to add an extra carb with a meal or something but that is about it.

Obviously, you can up your activity level too if you don't do much cardio, but I feel like that is always a dangerous game depending your calorie deficit. Want to make sure your main focus is your strength training so that you don't lose the strength you've built.

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This is the part I've been most concerned with I guess, and I think it's just overthinking.

I weigh 200 right now and am up from 195 about a month back (I went on a break of counting strict calories during the break) so I'm only looking to lose that weight plus maybe an extra 5 but over the next few months. I had been at maintenance levels for the month prior to December and was able to maintain at around 200 grams of protein a day not really worrying about carbs or fat as long as I was at or under my 2,200 calorie limit, but now that I have it scaled back to lose .5 pounds a week its going to be almost impossible to get to that amount of protein unless I swap out some fat for extra whey or a can of tuna.

I was just looking for reassurance that I wasn't going too low on the carbs or fat, but I think you're right to just focus on calories overall and protein!

From your followup comment, I was thinking doing 6 week bulk followed by 6 week cut, but I was worried it wouldn't be long enough like you stated you do the 3 month sections which is what I've seen most places. Just want to have the best of both in one, and I'm learning there are no short cuts, it's just going to be tough sledding to get to my goals.

One of these days I'll get my squat up and post my maxs when they get closer to yalls lol

I agree in regards to not changing anything based on 5 pounds gained during the holidays. Just get back on track.

That's awesome. Congrats.

That is awesome, and very motivating!

Great work!

I am hoping to hit that benchmark for the first time in my life in about a month.

It sounds like you've been there before, albeit when you were younger - what is the grind/expectation like from 400 to 500? I am trying to set a realistic goal for 2024 - is 60 to 70 pounds on your squat/deadlift realistic for a year if you have your diet and sleep locked in?

I've been close but never hit 400#. I actually made it a goal to hit a 400# squat by the time I hit 40 but I started that too late and I've let my current job derail a lot of my goals. I am 44 now and still lift heavy but kind of resigned myself to no new PR's but I'm probably just being a wuss. I still work a lot of long and irregular hours so it's tough but I need to remind myself that my best days don't have to be behind me.

I gots no clue what the grind from 400 to 500 will be! But I think, and maybe Hoose will say I'm off-base, the strength comes from the reps after the super heavy sets. For instance, after the 400 I went down to 360 and did 5 relatively easy reps. I could have done more sets but pressed for time since I was taking 7-8 minutes rest time between heavy sets (I also doubled 395 right before that).

So that's one way to get more heavy working sets in, but I also think it's getting your brain/mind used to the idea of that weight. There so much psychological aspects to lifting heavy, and once your reach that new breakpoint, it all of a sudden is more manageable going forward (I remember that was the case at 275, then 315, etc). 350 was a huge accomplishment, but now is just a working set towards the super heavy sets. Since it had been 20 years, 400 lbs just seemed daunting, but now I broke through and keep that in mind for each next goal.

So, on my way to hopefully 500, 425 is my next goal. I also want to be able to double the weight since sometimes the first rep might feel a smidge high, so the next rep I'm better prepared for depth and how it will feel going back up.

I also have a bench goal of a 300 lb pause rep (raw). I can touch and go 300, but feel pausing it is truly owning 300.

It also took me a loooong time to figure out my best anatomical squat/deadlift/bench stance/form. I learned that for squat and deads, I like the belt just under my rib cage but just a little snug (meaning I could have it on all day at the office and I'd be able to move around/breathe normally). I found that if the belt is lower, or too tight, I couldn't activate my hips properly and definitely didn't activate my core enough. I hurt my back a few times with a tight belt than a loose belt. Listening to Andy Galpin, learned that the point of the belt is to just have something you can feel and press against with your core, not that the belt itself is keeping your core tight.

Yeah I prefer my belt higher than most so it doesn't interfere with my hips at the bottom of the squat