Pain is Inevitable, Suffering is Optional: Dave(DBD)'s Log
Intro
My name is Dave. I am strength enthusiast with a bit of a powerlifter slant. I'm not too tall at about 5'9" and I always keep myself at a lower bodyfat percent, well, vast majority of the time. At the time of writing this I am in my mid twenties and I live near Toronto, Canada. I was relatively athletic when I started my strength career with Mark Rippetoes Starting Strength program. I have tried a few different programs but I'm currently using my variation of the Texas Method. I'm decently versed in nutritional science and biomedical literature, I maintain a subscription to PubMED. However I am self taught aside from a few classes in university. I'm starting this log because I need a bit of extra motivation. I had a log years ago and I found I pushed myself a little bit harder when I displayed my progress to the world.
Background
I've played a variety of sports throughout my life, so I've always been relatively athletic. I started strength training during university after I decided I wasn't going to pursue any sports religiously. As I was used to having a physical dedication I needed something to fill the void and strength training was it. It was something I had a fascination with since I was a kid and basically knew it was something I would pursue someday. I began my career on Starting Strength (SS) with mild nutritional understanding. I finished SS with a very significant improvement in strength, a decent physique at a mildly higher bodyfat then I started with and a far stronger understanding of nutrition. I went from SS to a crude version of the Texas Method (TM) , I then tried a few other intermediate programs and about a year ago returned to the TM. I have a nagging knee injury from sports and I bulged a disc in my back late last year. About a month after bulging a disc in my back I had my Appendix removed. I then proceeded to take about 2 months off from the gym. This was the longest break I have had from the gym since I started and I now regret it. During this time I allowed my weight to climb to about 205 pounds and a relatively high body fat percentage. I have since been cutting and now weigh about 180 pounds at a very reasonable body fat percentage. I am also still suffering from back and knee problems.
Stats (in starting this log) physical
Height: 5'9"
Current Weight: 181 Lbs
Personal Records (in lbs):
Deadlift: 460
Squat: 355x5
Bench: 260x5
Over Head Press: 170x3x5
Power Clean: 225
Monday
Deadlift 1x5
Bench 5x5
Squat 5x5
Wednesday
Over Head Press 3x5
Squat 2x5
Barbell Rows 3x5
Friday
Bench 1x5
Squat 1x5
Power Cleans 3x5
Until recently I moved Deadlifts from Friday to Monday and moved power cleans from Monday to Friday. I was previously doing Power Cleans at 4x6 on Mondays. This switch was inspired by Mark Rippetoes template for the Texas Method on T-nation.com. I have also been considering alternating Bench and OHP for the 5x5 set on Mondays. Oddly enough I wouldn't say my OHP is lagging to hard behind even though it falls on my recovery day (Wednesday) at a less work load then the bench so we will see. I tend to switch things up a bit. The barbell rows on Wednesday could switch to other things like pull ups and the 2x5 squats sometimes turn into front squats for periods of time. This is could change as I feel necessary.
Injuries
I have two major injuries: my right knee and my lower back. My knee was weak coming into starting strength from repeated sports injury. I made it a lot worse by squatting during SS with a narrow stance and poor form in general. Thus I have a case of patellar tendonitis in my right knee that can flare up if I go too hard in the gym or do something fucking stupid outside of the gym. I bulged a disc in my back at a power lifting meet late last year. In short I got a little too pumped and went a little to ape shit. I had a nagging pain in my back that has only very recently subsided. I also made a very poor choice of not dead lifting for about 4 months afterwards. Thus my deadlift has suffered horribly. It has only very recently begun its climb back to somewhere mildly fucking useful.
Nutrition
I currently employ carbic cycling to cut weight. I've seen gains well losing weight. Its been slow at about a pound a week but from everything I understand that's the most you can hope to lose without losing significant amounts of muscle. I usually have two high carb days, 1 medium and a bunch of low days. I have actually seen decent gains and fat loss well doing this so it seems to be working out. I would like to get down to about 170 lbs but that's just some loose goal. . I've debated employing leangains.com's method of intermittent fasting if carbic cycling runs out of steam either that or adding morning fasted cardio sessions. I tend to have a rigorous diet Monday through Friday and will either cheat on Saturday and/or Sunday or at the very least eat a less rigorous healthy diet.
My primary food sources right now are eggs whole/whites, chicken, steak, some whey, a bit of tuna, tilapia, olive oil, almonds, bread, brown rice, sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli and a few other things.
I subscribe to Poundstone Powers method of consuming food. I blend and drink a whole lot of shit. Basically if I don't actually like consuming it then I add water and blend it: chicken, tuna, brown rice, and sweet potatoes are a few
I usually balance my gains and my body fat percentage. I strength train because I believe it's one of the best ways to invest time and inevitably the feeling of progress makes me happy. I however find myself unhappy when my body fat percentage is too high, so I usually try and keep it a bit lower. Eating everything would probably have the best progress but I couldn't be happy being fat. Thus I balance progress and body fat.
Goals
I usually have a few short term goals here and there to keep me motivated. Right now it's to lose a bit of weight well still making gains. However I really don't have any concrete goals at the moment. I usually just want to make steady progress as best I can particularly on the squat, deadlift and bench. I may compete in amateur powerlifitng but I dont really have any goals of beating anyone just quite yet.
