Chesty's Accountabilibuddy

[Chesty McLifty]

I'm starting this log to keep me engaged and accountable and to have a record of my journey.

Stats: 6'3" 229lbs. 39 years old. 24.6%bf (Omron handheld scanner).

I've been on a ketogenic diet since October 2013. It has been great, with many health benefits. I lost a ton of weight, and have felt great every day. But feeling great made me neglect the gym and I slowly lost my old gains and crept up in bodyfat percentage, even though my weight has been pretty steady. So I got rid of my dining room and bought a rack, a bench, some weights, and a barbell, among other things.

I plan on taking in 250 grams of protein per day along with my usual fat calories.

I started myself on moderate weights so that I wouldn't suffer from too much detrained DOMS, although at this point I can't lift a lot of weight anymore anyway.

I found a SS excel spreadsheet somewhere on the internet. It has bench press on first day instead of press so that's the only reason I did it on the first day. Easier than reformatting the whole spreadsheet. I'll be doing squat, press, bench, chins, and deadlifts. I am not currently interested in the olympic lifts.

Sets x Reps Monday 12/11/17 #1
Squat

warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 60
warmup 1x3 90
warmup 1x2 120
working sets 3x5 150

Bench Press

warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 65
warmup 1x3 90
warmup 1x2 120
working sets 3x5 135

Chin-Ups working sets 3 sets to failure
1st Set 3 reps assisted
2nd Set 3 reps assisted
3rd Set 3 reps assisted

Will post update and new log tomorrow.

[carson]

It's always good to see you young fellows getting into Starting Strength. Check in with a certified Starting Strength coach from time to time or better regularly.

[Chesty McLifty]

Wednesday Sets x Reps 12/13/17 #2
Squat
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 60
warmup 1x3 95
warmup 1x2 125
working sets 3x5 160

Press
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 55
warmup 1x3 70
warmup 1x2 85
working sets 5x2, 4x1 (missed last rep) 100

Deadlift
warmup 2x5 135
warmup 1x5 155
warmup 1x2 170
working set 2x5 200

A couple of noob mistakes today. I thought 100 sounded easy for the press to start off with but I found out I don't have enough room overhead in my apartment to stand and press. I did the presses on my knees because I wanted to keep a little hip mobility that would be lost if I sat down. 100 was damn hard that way, I missed my last rep, and I will move down to 90 next time.

Also, I forgot that I was only supposed to do 1 deadlift set, so I did 2 before I remembered. No biggie I guess. Deadlifts were fairly easy at that weight. Will go up by 15 next time.

DOMS is really hitting me, like I expected. Hard to move again after being still for awhile. I have been eating around 4k calories and 250 grams of protein, minimum, in 5 meals, once every 2.5-3 hours. Got 9 hours sleep Monday night and 8 last night.

[Chesty McLifty]

Friday Sets x Reps 12/15/17 #3
Squat
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 65
warmup 1x3 100
warmup 1x2 135
working sets 3x5 170

Bench Press
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 70
warmup 1x3 95
warmup 1x2 125
working sets 3x5 140

Chin-Ups working sets 3 sets to failure
1st Set 3 Assisted
2nd Set 3 Assisted
3rd Set 3 Assisted

No hiccups, standard workout. I was really tired and sore, so the workout took long, but it was fine.

I've been diligent getting all my protein at regular intervals. I have gotten 8 or 9 hours of sleep each night this week.

I tried hard for those 4th reps on the chin ups. They were easier than last time but the 4th rep still eludes me. The last 20% of the movement kills me. Weekend time.

[carson]

Chin ups are just secondary in any event. Good work.

[Chesty McLifty]

Monday Sets x Reps 12/18/17 #4
Squat
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 70
warmup 1x3 105
warmup 1x2 140
working sets 3x5 180

Press
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 45
warmup 1x3 60
warmup 1x2 75
working sets 5x3 90

Chin-Ups working sets 3 sets to failure
1st Set 4 Assisted
2nd Set 4 Assisted
3rd Set 3 Assisted

Had a stressful weekend at work, got poor sleep (~5-6 hours) except for last night I got 7.5 hours. Also had gastrointestinal issues for some reason, so my calories went back down and only ate around 175 grams of protein per day.

Despite these issues, my workout was good. My press felt stronger, not just because I lowered the weight. It felt like my shoulders knew how to move better. After reading other logs saying they were stalling quickly on their press, I am happy I moved down.

The squat felt heavy but totally doable. I was even able to crank out a couple extra reps on the chin ups. Going for the fridge now.

[Chesty McLifty]

Wednesday Sets x Reps 12/20/17 #5
Squat
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 75
warmup 1x3 110
warmup 1x2 150
warmup 1x5 165
working sets 3x5 190

Bench Press
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 70
warmup 1x3 100
warmup 1x2 130
working sets 3x5 145

Deadlift
warmup 2x5 85
warmup 1x3 125
warmup 1x2 180
working set 1x5 215

Workout felt easy. I accidentally did a set of 5 squats at 165 because I apparently should not have been allowed out of first grade math. I felt like a beast until I recounted the weights. But my last set of 190 felt easier than my first 2 sets, so it didn't hurt.

Bench felt easy.

Deadlifts felt easy. Going up 15 lbs again next time.

I have not had any DOMS this week except for a little from the press. I was surprised at how quickly that happened. I figured I'd at least have a month of pain from being so detrained. Really enjoying the program so far.

[Chesty McLifty]

Friday Sets x Reps 12/22/17 #6
Squat
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 80
warmup 1x3 120
warmup 1x2 160
working sets 3x5 200

Press
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 50
warmup 1x3 65
warmup 1x2 80
working sets 5x3 95

Chin-Ups working sets 3 sets to failure
1st Set 4 assisted
2nd Set 4 assisted
3rd Set 4 assisted

My workout felt far harder than the last one and my joints were all crackly and poppy. I drank a lot of water today so I blame it on not eating enough. I have felt pretty overfed and almost nauseous lately so I didn't eat as much the last couple days. I am going to eat like a monster this weekend to make up for it.

Squats felt much harder than last time, the last rep of each set was a bit grindy but I got them all. I think I'm going to make one more 10lb jump and then start going up by 5lbs after that.

The press felt easy. I have gotten stronger there for sure.

This training day was a good, quality stimulus and I am going to focus on eating and sleeping to get the most out of it.

[Chesty McLifty]

Monday Sets x Reps 12/25/17 #7
Squat
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 80
warmup 1x3 125
warmup 1x2 165
working sets 3x5 210

Bench Press
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 75
warmup 1x3 105
warmup 1x2 135
working sets 3x5 150

Chin-Ups working sets 3 sets to failure
1st Set 4 Assisted
2nd Set 4 Assisted
3rd Set 3 Assisted

Christmas gainzzz! I really did not feel like working out today. My body felt heavy and tired and I thought I might just skip Christmas. But then I thought "those reasons are as good as any to train!" And I got up and went to the rack.

Part of the issue is I know I'll be drinking tonight, so my usual timeslot for working out will not work. So I need to get it done earlier today. My body is way more alive in the evenings than mornings and afternoons, it has always been that way.

I have been eating protein like a champ every few hours all weekend. Getting 3500-4k calories and 50g of protein minimum every 3 hours max. Usually it's more like 75g of protein. Yes that means I am also eating a ton of fat.

Squats felt horrible. Worst squat session yet. I don't totally blame the weight because the last set felt better than the first two with no form breakdowns. I blame my body being tired/heavy today. Also my shoulders felt stiff for the first time, with some pain right in the joint when doing the lowbar position. I did some shoulder stretching and warming up before my heavy sets. I may need to add that in to my usual routine now. I've also been wrapping my wrists for lowbar, bench, and presses.

Bench was easy, never felt like I wasn't gonna get it.

The chin ups are where the real story was told. I actually completed fewer this time than last time. Since I didn't change weight on them, I can tell my body is the issue today.

Oh well, there are going to be bad training days. Consistency is the key, not how I feel. Sticking to the program.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I only got about 7 hours of sleep per night all weekend. Less than usual. Probably another reason I felt crappy. Also had to deal with long, mildly stressful family obligations, causing my cortisol to go up.

[Chesty McLifty]

Wednesday Sets x Reps 12/27/17 #8
Squat
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 85
warmup 1x3 125
warmup 1x2 170
working sets 3x5 215

Press
warmup 2x5 45
warmup 1x5 55
warmup 1x3 70
warmup 1x2 85
working sets 5x3 100

Deadlift
warmup 2x5 135
warmup 1x3 165
warmup 1x2 190
working set 1x5 230

This workout felt easy. The squats felt heavier on my back but lighter on my legs, if that makes any sense. Hardly any slowdown doing them.

The press was very doable. Will go up by 5 again next time.

The deadlift was silly easy. Going up by 15 again next week.

I got a lot of sleep over the last couple days and I have been very strict with my protein intake and calories, eating exactly every three hours. I think it really makes a difference.

Edit: Just noticed my spreadsheet on press has been saying 5 sets of 3 reps, but it has always been 3 sets of 5 reps. Will fix that going forward.