I have opted to create one, that I will update occasionally so that I have a place to look back at in weeks/months/years and see where I have come from.

My history:

(grab some milk, this is long)

I have always been sedentary. I ran around in the woods and played outside like a kid, but once I got to high school I couldn't be bothered. I hit 6'3" in Junior year and weighed around 150lbs. I didn't care after that. I was 218 about two years ago, and I decided I was just embarrassed in how I looked.

I started initially by trying to "keep it simple" because I am a nerd, I tend to over-complicate things and min-max the crap out of them. I started by just lifting dumbbells and jumping rope and such. I did compound exercises I found on exrx, but I had no pattern. I dropped to 170lbs that way, so I clearly was at least getting some exercise.

I then did P90X for a while. I knew it wouldn't be the end-all to my fitness gains, but I wanted to be able to do a pullup and look decent. It did work, because what it did was teach me about nutrition. So, terrible program or not, it taught me quite a bit about keeping track of everything I ate. I also was able to do quite a few pullups after.

I then wavered between SS or CrossFit. I wanted to get stronger, but there are very very few good gyms near me. The closest gym with a power rack was a 20 mile drive, and I was not going to do that. So I went to do CrossFit. After 4 months of that I realized I was just going to get injured doing that, so I decided to do SS. Which brings me to this part:

Starting stats:

I worry about this part, simply because of the fear of the the dreaded YNDTP, but I am going to explain as best I can. I was eating 2400 calories (40 carb / 40 protein / 20 fats) when I started CrossFit. I bumped it up to 2900 to start gaining size. After the four months I had achieved this:

Weight: 171
Height: 6'3"
Age: 29

Deadlift - 275 x 1
Squat - 245 x 1
Bench Press - 145 x 1
Press - 95 x 1
Power Clean - 135 x 1

I was pleased, but the deadlift was heavy, and both the deadlift and squat form to be honest, were shit. I mean really shit. I think that 245 squat was less than a quarter. I could do 225, but it was just above parallel, although it felt deep. The deadlift was better, but I think that was just because I get a kick out of deadlifts and my height isn't as much a factor.

Current status:

So I've started SS. I work a lot, and I sleep very little. I cook all my own meals, and don't have anyone to help me, so I think that has affected my weight gain.

Weight: 187lbs

I was on track for gaining 1lbs a week, but when I go anywhere on the weekend, I tend to lose weight. I'll go into that later.

Deadlift - 327.5 x 5 x 3
Squat - 246.25 x 5 x 3
Bench Press - 156.25 x 5 x 3
Press - 117.5 x 5 x 3
Power Clean - 167.5 x 5 x 3 (form was sloppy)

I've reset the squat once, because I was starting to get too many failures, and I reset the clean due to hurting my foot from stomping too hard, so that was a technical breakdown. My press/bench press/deadlift have kept going up, but I am only able to do 1.25lbs each time. I can manage 2.5lbs on the deadlift, when I try 5lbs or more my form goes down the toilet. Despite the slow gains, I am pleased as my press is getting to "not total shit" and my squats are still all the way down and such. Oh, and I dropped squats to 1.25lbs a workout (so 3.75 a week) since I was able to get to about 230 before I started to go real slow on the ascent around Friday each week. With 1.25 I am able to soften the blow. I am not happy it's slowed, but I know this is how this works.

So there you have it. I do NOT do GOMAD, not because I want my sweet abz (never had them, not even at 160lbs, don't really care), but because I feel I can eat clean and be smart about this.

I eat 3500 calories a day right now, still keeping it close to 40/40/20, although it's closer to 50/30/20 or 40/30/30 some days. I eat around 200+ grams in protein, and I think I may have to goto 4000 calories in order to get to 200lbs.

I need to adjust my diet for that many calories and my work schedule, but I'll make another post for that. Oh, and I've been at this... about 2.5months. I want to say three, but I missed a few days (once a week max) due to work or life.

I think my gains are probably not amazing because I don't eat a pony with veggies every day and my form isn't great, but I learn by doing, and this log is hopefully going to remind me that I did start somewhere a lot weaker.

Oh and lastly, I don't have the heart to tell the guys at my gym I won't do CrossFit anymore.


If anyone reads this, thanks, and I hope you enjoyed my inane comments. I will get strong, one step at a time. I apologize for the fact that this is a brain dump, and I told my life story, and I probably need to eat more and lift heavier, but I am trying, and I am honestly doing my best. I had 4 hours of sleep last night and I still PR'd my bench press again like I do every time.