Fat boy gets slim (and hopefully, strong) by lifting heavy stuff

[BenM]

Hello!

I've been lurking here for a while, thought I should probably start a training log.

For background:

age: 40
BW: 70.5kg @ about 15% BF according to my scales - up from 69.7 yesterday
Lifting experience: til 10 weeks ago, zero. Always played a fair bit of sport but mostly stuff like golf, basketball, cricket, etc - nothing that requires lots of strength/power.

Long version:
So at the start of this year, at 105.5kgs, l made the decision to do something about my weight. So I switched to a low calorie (but highish protein) diet, drastically reducing alcohol/sweets, did a massive amount of cardio, and the results have been pretty dramatic.

Having lost so much weight though, obviously I have lost a fair bit of muscle/strength. And having lost weight before, about 8 years back (though not this much) and put it back on later, this time I am determined to keep it off. With that in mind I decided it was time to hit the weights, and I discovered Stronglifts 5x5 which seemed to fit the bill in terms of being something that was relatively simple for a novice to pickup and run with - so I started that on 30th May, while still eating at a deficit and dropping the last of the fat. Since then I've been running SL on Mon/Wed/Fri, doing 20mins of mostly HIIT on an elliptical on Tue/Thu, plus a 3.5km walk at lunchtime Mon-Fri and a round of golf Saturday. Oh and I've been doing all that on 1800cal (weights days)/1600cal (cardio days) diet....

Suffice to say it's been a bit tough! I've still been making some strength gains but they've been slow, and I'm comfortable with that, however I'm constantly tired, my sleep is also bad as I have a beautiful 21 month old daughter who is a terrible sleeper and wakes us up screaming multiple times every night despite everything we've tried. Last week I averaged 6hrs 20mins a night according to my Fitbit, and it's always broken.

My goal was to get to sub 15% BF before starting to ramp up the food again and focus more on adding muscle, as of this morning I'm at 15.1% and I'm near enough that I feel it's time for phase 2.

So, this week I'll be dropping the 6am cardio Tue/Thu (this will allow better recovery as well as a bit more sleep - all my training is early AM). I'll also drop the walks on weights days, and bump calories to 1800 every day; then see where I'm at in a week or two before bump it again as needed.

I know I'll get shouted down a bit but for me my goals are to build muscle but keep my BF stable around this mark or even a bit below, as I want to stay fairly lean. I know the gains will be slower, I am fine with that - I actually enjoy weight training and am happy to do it forever, especially if it means I can eat normal amounts of food and drink moderate quantities of alcohol (I loves me my craft beer) without worrying about getting fat again. It'll actually be interesting to see how much I can actually eat moving forward, I'm expecting my TDEE to be around 2400cals if I'm lucky.

If you've read this far, thanks for the effort! Will put some notes down from this mornings workout shortly....

[Agilic]

Welcome. Your goals are your goals, and will likely change with time anyway. Curious about your starting lifts, lifts after SL, and current lifts?

[BenM]

This morning was sorta decent. My squat has been crap/upright, as I have had a sore back for a month or so and I think subconsciously I've been protecting it. Since videoing it on the weekend I've made more of an effort to get it right and my glutes felt it this morning.

Squat
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 40kg
1x3 @ 52.5kg
5x5 @ 62.5kg

Bench:
2x5 @ 20kg
1x3 @ 35kg
Attempted 5x5 @ 50kg
Hit the spotter on the second set and failed it, and only managed 4 reps on the last set. Other than that, managed to grind out the rest, though some were ugly....

Rows:
5x5 @ 45kg
These are relatively easy; I've failed 50kg a few times so this is a deload

Skull crushers
2x8 @ 35kg

I have some mad bruises on my back/shoulder blades from the bar since I've changed position. Need to get some muscle on them traps.

[BenM]

Welcome. Your goals are your goals, and will likely change with time anyway. Curious about your starting lifts, lifts after SL, and current lifts?

Thanks mate. I started with the empty bar. Current 5x5 PRs are:

Squat: 62.5kg - no fails yet but it's getting tough
Bench: 47.5kg - failed @ 60 this morning
OHP: 32.5kg - failed @ 35kg last time out.
Barbell Rows: 47.5kg, have failed 50kg a few times and since deloaded
Deadlift (1x5 only): 70kg - no fails yet, still a bit left in the tank

So yeah - I am laughably weak, but there isn't much meat on my bones right now, it will get better.

I really haven't tried for a 1RM in anything yet, mostly was just trying to get technique right, it's probably still poor!

Should also mention I had a bit of a break in that 10 weeks for a change of equipment so almost had to start from scratch 3 or 4 weeks ago. All sorted now though so onwards and upwards from here, I hope.....

[BenM]

10/8/16

BW: 70.3kg @ 15.6% BF
Food: 1838 + 2363 cals
Sleep: 8hrs 8mins + 7hrs 2 mins, but broken as per usual

Already missed my targets this week. Went walkabout at lunchtime last 2 days (albeit shorter than usual) and let myself go a bit with food yesterday - was a work supplied breakfast that bled into morning tea and lunch. I told myself as it was mostly good food (fruit, vegetable frittata, etc) that was OK, though it was a bit carb heavy/protein light. Back on the wagon today though.

Monday's workout really busted me up - I felt more sore, particularly in my lower back (which I've been struggling with for a little while) than I ever have since I started this caper. So I deliberately didn't bump up the squat weight, just to see how it went. The good news is it seemed a lot easier, I focussed on keeping tight all the way down and back up and feel pretty good now, though it's only half an hour later and I haven't fully warmed down. The bruises on my back/shoulder blades are still pretty sore though.

5 mins / 1+ km elliptical warmup, plus some hamstring stretches

Squat
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 40kg
1x3 @ 52.5kg
5x5 @ 62.5kg

OHP
2x5 @ 20kg
5x5 @ 25kg attempt - FAIL
Only managed 5/4/3/2/3. Not surprising though, I failed a couple of times at 25kg, and at 30kg before getting through. Might have to start microloading this soon.

Deadlift
1x5 @ 60kg
1x5 @ 75kg
New PR, and there is definitely a bit more in the tank still.

Barbell curls
2x8 @ 32.5kg attempt - FAIL
Got 7/5, with some body english. I've battled this one too, think I failed 25kg a few times before getting it. Just gotta battle on through.

5mins / 1+ km elliptical warm down

I also videoed the whole thing apart from the curls.... Just gotta get round to editing it.

[BenM]

12/8/16

BW: 69.4kg @ 15.4% BF
Food: 1888 + 1786 cals
Sleep: 7hrs 45mins + 6hrs 2mins

Food is about what I was going for, but my crystal ball says I'll be targeting probably 2000 cals/day next week depending what the weekend brings.

Back still a little sore, having been like it for 6 weeks or so I'm fairly sure I must have a very slight bulging disc, but have booked some time off work next week and I'll go see a physio.

5 mins / 1+ km elliptical warmup, plus some hamstring stretches

Squat
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 40kg
1x3 @ 52.5kg
5x5 @ 65kg

Concentrated on getting the bar lower on my back and improving form. Good news is they felt easier than Wednesday (though still not easy). Bad news is my shoulder blades hurt! But they hurt less than the bruises from the previous position..... Didn't seem to affect the back pain at all, or my hip (which also has a slight niggle).

BP
2x5 @ 20kg
1x3 @ 35kg
5x5 @ 50kg attempt - FAIL

This pissed me off. I got 5/4/4/4/1 - was so very close every time but on the last set I was just about spent and only just locked out the first one. That's two fails at 50kg....

Barbell Rows
5x5 @ 45kg attempt - FAIL

I called this a fail because I didn't hit my chest on the last couple of reps, but I'm being hard on myself. I've done 5x5@ 47.5kg before (this is a deload) but energy/stamina is down a bit.

Skullcrushers
2x8 @ 36kg

Did 35kg on Monday which was tough, so only added 1kg. Managed ok, but I'm not takin the bar all the way to my face so I'm cheating a bit. Probably should drop weight back and do it properly, it might help my bench etc too.

5mins / 1+ km elliptical warm down

[carson]

Welcome. Did I miss your height. 70kg at 5'5" seems fine but if you are taller you may well be too skinny.

[ravl]

... I discovered Stronglifts 5x5 ...

Welcome! That's how I ended up here. I did SL5x5 for ~2 weeks, felt terrible. Found Starting Strength, read the book in 2 days, started eating and the very next workout I put PRs on all lifts.

[BenM]

Welcome. Did I miss your height. 70kg at 5'5" seems fine but if you are taller you may well be too skinny.

Thanks. No you didn't miss it - I forgot to write it! Im about 5'11" so yeah, I could definitely put some weight.

This week is only my first week without a meal replacement shake - so rather than go scorched earth with diet I'm planning on gradually adding calories over the next few weeks til I find the right number to grow without ballooning.

Welcome! That's how I ended up here. I did SL5x5 for ~2 weeks, felt terrible. Found Starting Strength, read the book in 2 days, started eating and the very next workout I put PRs on all lifts.

Thanks! That's great to hear. SL was really good for me at the start but it's definitely tough now; being on such a restricted diet is definitely part of the problem though. I will almost certainly switch to SS in the next little while, but I like to plan these things.

[BenM]

Oh... 1830cals yesterday and 6hrs 32mins sleep.

Weighed in at 69kg flat this morning. :/

Just bought a kilo of chicken breast, gonna do some meal prep this weekend and target 2000cals a day from tomorrow, see what that does. Oh and a little personal blender - will stop my protein shakes clumping and allow me to mix them up / add more stuff to them easily

Might even try and have a light workout this arvo - feeling pretty good.