(Not) The greatest log in the world (this is just a tribute)

[BenM]

Thu 2/11: Squat

Food yesterday: 2154 kcal

Activity yesterday: 15.4k steps

Sleep last night: 7 hrs 18 mins - 41 mins awake

AM BW: 73.2kg (-0.8kg from yesterday)

Squats:
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 45kg
1x5 @ 70kg
--- Belt on (5th hole) ---
1x3 @ 95kg
3x5 @ 112.5kg

Rack Pulls:
1x5 @ 100kg
1x8 @ 130kg (PR)
1x13 @ 120kg

Rack Rows:
1x10 @ 55kg - last couple a bit cheaty
4x10 @ 52.5kg - these were pretty good

Walking Lunges:
1x110 (55/side) with 40lbs (20lbs / side)

Home movies:

Belt comfortably fits in the 5th hole again, but according to the scales my BF% is just staying the same. Hopefully once I start adding some carbs back in that'll fix itself because it looks awfully like I'm dropping nothing but lean mass at the moment, despite copious quantities of protein and some solid effort in the gym. Anyhoo.. only another week and a bit to go.

Session notes:
- A bit off my best squatting, the cut is really hitting lower body stuff hard. Felt like I was hitting depth but reviewed the second set and wasn't happy, so tried to bury the third. Still failed. And the last couple of reps got waaay forward, as a result the last rep was an absolute grinder. Gahhhhhhhhhhh! I think MAYBE I'd hate squatting less if I could actually do it competently. Maybe.
- Haven't done rack pulls enough, last time out only managed 4 reps at 135kg and 10 at 110kg. Might be pulling from higher, might be stronger, dunno.
- Rack rows were OK. Definitely felt them in the lats.
- Walking lunges were torture and my quads were on fire by the end. I don't think they'd be so bad if I didn't have to do about 10 laps of the room to get them done. Didn't time them but they were probably only 6 or 7 minutes.
- Anyway, all done in 70 minutes flat. Tomorrow is Friday and it's a long weekend here after that, so happy days! Best wishes to everyone on the interwebs of lifting - have a great night!

[BenM]

Sat 4/11: Bench Press

Food yesterday: 2253 kcal

Activity yesterday: 11.2k steps

Sleep last night: 7 hrs 34 mins - 39 mins awake

AM BW: 72.8kg (-0.1kg from yesterday)

Bench Press:
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 45kg
1x2 @ 60kg
3x5 @ 65kg (PR for sets across; +0.5kg)

Incline Bench Press:
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 40kg
1x8 @ 48kg
1x8 @ 46.5kg
1x7 @ 45kg

Barbell Curls:
2x8 @ 32.5kg
1x8, 1x7 @ 31kg
1x8 @ 29kg
1x8 @ 28kg
1x8 @ 27kg
1x8 @ 26kg
1x16 @ 22.5kg

Dips:
16, 12, 10, 9, 8 @ BW (Probably a volume PR)

Instagrammed

Some highlights on the tubez:

Session notes:
- My hamstrings and quads are still pretty damn sore from Thursday night. Recovery is really poor at the moment.
- Been experimenting a bit with IF the last couple of weeks, and pushed my first meal out until 1pm today. Hit the gym at 2:10pm. Not sure if this was such a great idea or not, but we're going out for tea tonight so I wanted some macro headroom.
- Ab started getting sore during the second bench set. But it didn't get worse thankfully, and blow me down if I didn't manage to grind out sets across at the weight I failed last time out. W00t - more cut gains!
- All the incline sets were pretty tough on the last rep. 3 minute rests.
- Holy bicep explosion, batman! 1 minute rest on these, til the last higher rep set (which was 2). WTF. Did them with a straight bar for a change, and no sign of the forearm tendonitis thingy I've been getting.
- 3 min rests on dips. Triceps blown up.
- 80 minutes to do the lot. Don't think the overnight fast made much difference, I'm super happy with how this went. And tonight, some restaurant food to fuel the gainz; watch my instagram for some food porn, I hope. Have a great night everyone!

[BenM]

Mon 6/11: Deadlift

Food yesterday: 1718 kcal

Activity yesterday: 16.9k steps

Sleep last night: 8 hrs 38 mins - 54 mins awake

AM BW: 72.3kg (-0.8kg from yesterday)

2" Deficit Deadlifts:
1x5 @ 80kg
1x5 @ 105kg
3x5 @ 130kg (PR, +5kg)

Pin Squat:
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 45kg
1x5 @ 65kg
1x5 @ 75kg
--- Belt on (5th hole) ---
1x5 @ 85kg
1x5 @ 90kg
1x1 @ 95kg FFS!
1x5 @ 95kg (PR by virtue of not having done them before)

Weighted Step Ups:
3x10 / side @ 55lbs (27.5lbs / side) - PR

Video of top sets:

Had a super low calorie day yesterday, pushed breakfast out til 2pm and only ate 3 actual meals. Did similar today, and trained straight after lunch. I don't mind this IF thing, it's getting easier. Don't plan on doing it every day (I do actually like eating breakfast) but definitely think mixing it up and doing it 2-3 days a week could be beneficial for a few reasons, not just when cutting.

Session notes:
- Previous best deficit deadlifts was 125kg for eights, so figured 130kg for fives would be about right. It was, but only just. Wow. Also, forgot to belt up for the first set, not that it mattered. I made a really conscious effort to set my back before every rep but it still got a leetle more rounded as each set went on.
- Hadn't done pin squats before so had no idea what to attempt for ascending sets. Thought I could maybe get similar to what I'd squatted to a box, but after the third set, decided that wasn't happening. I had the pins set slightly too low as well, no cheating depth with these suckers! Lost tightness in the hole on the second rep of the (intended) last set, and left it on the pins - was pissed off about that, and I'm a stubborn bastard so I went back for a second crack and got them.
- Added a little weight to the step ups just because.
- Was a good session in the end, 70 mins all up, happy. Have a great day internet lifter land!

[BenM]

Wed 8/11: Press

Food yesterday: 1701 kcal

Activity yesterday: 14.8k steps

Sleep last night: 7 hrs 41 mins - 52 mins awake

AM BW: 72.5kg (no change from yesterday)

Morning Cardio:
Air bike - 22 mins
11.18km, avg HR 133 BPM, 229kcal burn

Evening Lifting:

Overhead Press:
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 35kg
1x4+F @ 46kg grr overshot
2x5 @ 45.5kg (new 5RM, +0.5kg)

Floor Press:
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 40kg
1x4+F @ 60kg grr overshot AGAIN
3x5, 1x4+F @ 57.5kg

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press:
1x5 @ 45lbs / side
1x7 @ 42.5 lbs / side
1x8, 1x9 @ 40lbs / side

Seated Dumbbell Press:
1x6 @ 35lbs / side
1x8, 1x7 @ 30lbs / side
1x8 @ 27.5lbs / side

Dumbbell Lying Tricep Extensions:
3x12 @ 25lbs

No video, couldn't be bothered. The press fail is on Instagram though - Instagram

Shithouse day today. The dog went in to get a melanoma removed, which we thought was benign and hadn't spread. Turns out it's not benign and it's in his lymph nodes as well. Don't know what to do about it - treatment might prolong his life but there's no guarantee it'll be effective. We're pretty fucking sad here right now. This was supposed to be some iron therapy, but I wasn't very focussed.

Still doing IF, that's 5 days in a row now I think. Calories waaay down.

Session notes:
- Shouldn't have gone for the 1kg PR on press, but was kinda happy to get a half kilo PR after the fail.
- Overshot the floor presses as well. Thought 55kg was way too easy last time round, it probably was, but not 5kg too easy. Oh well.
- Dumbbell work was an absolute shitshow. Probably the cut, the fatigue, and the difficult day but I just couldn't rep what I've repped before and had to keep dropping weight. The last LTE reps were pretty shabby and my ab started getting tweaky through those sets.
- Anyway - it took me 80 minutes because of the extra work, but whatever. It's done, I'm glad I did it, if it had've been squat day I probably wouldn't have. Hopefully next time out will be better. Happy lifting, internet lifter folks.

[BenM]

My mind is really not on work today, so I edited up last night's training video for your amusement:

[BenM]

Fri 10/11: Squat

Food yesterday: 1832 kcal

Activity yesterday: 11k steps

Sleep last night: 8 hrs 7 mins - 50 mins awake

AM BW: 72.4kg (-0.3kg from yesterday)

Back Squat (low bar):
2x5 @ 20kg
1x5 @ 45kg
1x5 @ 70kg
1x3 @ 95kg
1x2 @ 115kg
3x2 @ 127.5kg (new PR, +2.5kg)

Narrow Stance High Bar Back Squat:
3x10 @ 85kg (new PR, +5kg)

Romanian Deadlift:
1x10 @ 80kg
3x10 @ 90kg (new PR, +5kg)

Decline Situps:
3x20

Instagram of first squat set

Youtube of ze workingz out:

I've averaged 1800 calories/day this week. Just feels insanely low, especially after that long reverse diet. Was hoping to be in the 70-71kg range by the end of this cut but I probably won't quite get there unless I push on for another week. On the upside, the scales say I'm back in the 15.x% body fat range.

Dog update, for those who care: we're in a holding pattern. We want to talk to the oncologist before we decide whether to go ahead with chemo, but still waiting for some scan results and stuff to come back so she can advise us with all the facts at hand. Early next week hopefully we can get that done and move forward with treatment, or not. It's definitely put a bit of a downer on our little family, and we haven't really been able to tell our 3 year old what's going on.

Session notes:
- Was dreading this workout, and almost put it off til tomorrow as I still felt pretty sore. Flashback to last cycle, heavy doubles for squats, and I couldn't even hit 125kg like I had before. This time round I had a decent lunch (still doing IF, so no breakfast), waited an hour, drank 500ml of Monster and smashed it. Nailed depth on the first one, got a bit lazy after that. Still, damn happy with that, all things considered.
- The high bar squats were probably still a bit too light, but 5kg more than last time and I was a bit fatigued after the heavy sets. They had me blowing a bit though.
- Got distracted halfway through loading the bar for RDLs, and did a lighter set accidentally (with no collars on it). Doesn't matter. Did 3 sets at another 5kg PR. Don't know that my form was too flash, lats on both sides were getting a bit sore - felt the last set in the hamstrings the most.
- Went light on the ab work (almost skipped it) since that little tweak still isn't right. First set of situps were continuous, last two sets were getting more and more rest pause by the end, think the last ten probably took a minute or more.
- Long workout, 1hr 28mins, and my Fitbit says I burned almost 500 calories, which is more than usual. Super happy it's done, and I can spend tomorrow with the family. Have a great day peeps!

[BenM]

Sun 12/11: Back Hypertrophy

Food yesterday: 1846 kcal

Activity yesterday: 14.8k steps

Sleep last night: 7 hrs 32 mins - 43 mins awake

AM BW: 71.9kg (-0.5kg from yesterday)

Pullups:
6, 5, 5, 5, 3, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 @ BW

Dumbbell Bent Over Rows:
4x10 @ 45lbs / side

Face Pulls:
5x15 @ 22.5kgs

No video today. Didn't even get the camera out.

Cut update: average calories for the week: 1833; average weight drop from last week to this one: 0.9kg. Confirmed I'm gonna cut for one more week.

Still doing IF and this is the first workout I've attempted fasted (just BCAAs + black coffee). Thought it went well.

Session notes:
- Might seem a bit pointless doing this kind of hypertrophy workout during a cut, especially in light of Andy's most recent video. But I wasn't gonna go 4 days without training, and a lighter session like this fits in nicely before heavy benching on Tuesday night. Also I'm not 'low carb' (still averaging 200+ grams a day) so I'm not totally depleted.
- That said, I was pretty sore all over from Friday still. Mostly the normal stuff I'd expect after a heavy squat/lower body session (lower back tightness, legs tired etc), plus a new one, right hand side lat is sore. It definitely affected me doing the pullups, but didn't get worse so I pushed through. RX was for 50 in 10 sets or less, with 2 minute rests. Unfortunately I still can't get 50 in 10 sets, but I just did 2 more and made sure I got them - took about 30 mins all up. Bit better than last time out, no PR though.
- 1 minute rests between sets of rows and face pulls. The rows were probably a bit heavy, especially by the end. Face pulls too. Form started to suffer a bit on both.
- Just a nice 50 minute session though, just what I needed really. Keep lifting, people of the internet!

[BenM]

Mon 13/11:

Food yesterday: 1935 kcal

Activity yesterday: 9.3k steps

Sleep last night: 6 hrs 32 mins - 39 mins awake

AM BW: 72.5kg (+0.6kg from yesterday)

Leg Extensions:
3x15 @ 45kgs

Supersetted with

Kettlebell Swings (with dumbbell):
3x20 @ 40lbs

then

Air Bike:
15 mins / 7.38km / ave HR 115 BPM / 126 kcal

I always weigh in heavy on Monday mornings. Got up super early intending to get a light session while watching the recording of the Brazilian GP from overnight. Somehow recorded the pre-race show instead, so only saw 30 minutes of actual racing. Meh. Coincidentally this little session also took bang on 30 minutes. Have a great day!

[ithryn]

Congrats on the squat PR. Sorry about the dog. I don't know if you're ready for gallows humor but what did George Carlin say - obtaining a pet is just procuring a delayed tragedy?

[BenM]

Congrats on the squat PR. Sorry about the dog. I don't know if you're ready for gallows humor but what did George Carlin say - obtaining a pet is just procuring a delayed tragedy?

Thanks man - on both fronts.

Yeah I can deal with that and it’s pretty much what I said to the wife last night when I found her crying about it in the bathroom. It’s the biggest downside to having pets.

I’m trying to put on my best Stoic (as in the philosophy not the verb) face. Memento Mori. Applies to pets as well as people. Giving him all the love we can right now.