BigA's Log

[BigA]

Wednesday

Press (no belt+: 190 x 0, 172.5 x 4, 3, 3, 3, 2
Weighted Chin-ups: 55 x 1, 50 x 1, 47.5 x 1, 5 x 7, 6
Incline Bench Press (no arch): 205 x 3, 3, 155 x 10

I got very little sleep the night before.

Squats later tonight.

[BigA]

HBBS (no belt + no wraps/sleeves): 340 x 5, 5, 5, 1* (rehab)

I am 99% sure that I did 5 reps on the last set but I rested and did 1 more rep. Based on how shaky that rep felt, I definitely did 5 reps.

[BigA]

SLDL (no belt + mixed grip): 400 x 5 (rehab) LO RS

Cardio (Bike): 4:15 minutes @200+ Watts (at highest resistance)

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 190 x 1, 172.5 x 5, 4, 4, 4, 4
Weighted Chin-up: 10 x 5 x 5
Incline Bench Press (no arch): 210 x 3, 3, 160 x 10

Pretty workout considering that I didn't get a full night's rest.

[BigA]

HBBS (no belt + no wraps): 345 x 5, 5, 5 (rehab)

The gym was closed Sunday (or should I say, it closed at 10 but I realized this at 930 so I didn't even go) so all of these workouts are 1 day later. I was able to get all the reps in but they were shaky. I also didn't work out close to my meal time (about 4.5 - 5 hours later). I am curious how SLDL's will feel tomorrow. It looks like this injury is almost behind me now.

I perused through my previous log entries a few days ago and overall, I am ok with how things are going. Obviously my HBBS and SLDL would have been stronger if I hadn't gotten injured but, on the other hand, I learned some valuable lessons. My press is moving along decently even though it feels like it's taking forever to go up.

I am really digging this 8 day training week, especially for lower body. That 1 extra day really makes a difference in my recovery.

[BigA]

SLDL (no belt + mixed grip): 405 x 5 (rehab) RS LO

Cardio (Bike): 4:30 @200+ Watts (at highest resistance, no rest interval)

I decided to specify that I am not taking any rest periods for the cardio.

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 190 x 1, 172.5 x 5, 4, 4, 4, 3
Weighted Chin-ups: 55 x 2, 50 x 2, 47.5 x 2, 5 (lbs) x 6, 6

Skipped incline bench due to time. Not a great workout, I think I wasn't completely recovered from the last session which hopefully means that my next session will yield a PR as there was a reduced workload this time.

[BigA]

HBBS (no belt + no wraps/sleeves): 350 x 5, 5, 6 * (rehab)

I did 6 reps on the 3rd set because I think that the first 2 reps were not to depth based on how they felt. Interestingly, the 6th rep was very easy. I think one of my form creep problems that is popping up now is that I tend to do a slight pause at the bottom. If I just rebound straight up, the rep is much easier.

To be honest, I am genuinely surprised at how far the LP is going. Maybe it's the extra day but I feel like I can keep on going for a while. If I get to 405 x 5 x 3 beltless (obviously), that would be amazing.

My diet has been of a better quality for the past month or so and it's showing in my physique. I haven't had mcdonalds in a while. I haven't been tracking my macros but I have been eating slightly less overall. I think the cardio that I am doing is also helping. A general trend that I have been noticing in myself is that I am starting to not care about food so much. Before, I would enjoy my post-workout meal with an almost emotional joy. It definitely wasn't anywhere to the point that heavily overweight people have reached (ie stress eating, happy eating, craving food all of the time) but the restaurants in an area that I was contemplating moving to (more like fantasizing as i am now in the beginning stages of my "American Dream") were an actual consideration. Now, I am trending towards having a better diet and I think that, eventually, I will eat mostly for performance because I just won't care about eating out. This is a positive change and I hope that it continues in this direction.

It would be cool to have abs at 245. My frame is big enough that it totally achievable naturally and I could even probably have abs at 260 naturally if I made a concerted effort towards it. But, you know, if that happened, everyone on Youtube would accuse me of taking steroids. Which, I guess in a way, is in fact the ultimate compliment for a natural athlete.

Morning Bodyweight: 245

[BigA]

Sunday

SLDL (no belt + mixed grip): 410 x 5 (rehab) LO RS

I skipped cardio due to lack of time (created by my own mismanagement of time that day) and I just didn't care enough to force myself to do it later.

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 190 x 2, 172.5 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Weighted Chin-Ups: 12.5 x 5 x 5
Incline Bench Press (no arch): 215 x 3, 3, 165 x 10
Curls: 3 x 10