James Cavin's Log

[JCavin]

I just restarted my workouts last week after about 2 years of not lifting at all. As such, all of my numbers are weak at the moment.

7-26-2011
Squats45x2x5
55x1x5
95x1x3
135x3x5

Bench45x2x5
70x1x5
95x1x3
115x1x2
135x3x5

Deadlift60x2x5
95x1x3
135x1x2
160x1x5

PullupsBWx5
BWx5
BWx5

[JCavin]

7-28-2011

I realized I needed to deload even more on squats because my form went to shit. My deadlifts felt great from the get-go, though.

Squats
45x3x5
65x1x3
90x1x2
115x3x5

Press
45x3x5
50x1x3
60x1x2
75x3x5

Deadlift
75x2x5
100x1x3
140x1x2
170x1x5

[JCavin]

7-30-2011

Squat form getting better slowly.

Squats
45x3x5
65x1x3
95x1x2
125x3x5

Bench
45x2x5
70x1x5
95x1x3
125x1x2
145x3x5

Deadlift
95x2x5
115x1x3
150x1x2
180x1x5

Chins
BWx5
BWx5
BWx5

[JCavin]

8-2-2011

Squats
45x2x5
55x1x5
95x1x3
135x3x5 - Way easier now that the form is getting better again.

Press
45x3x5
55x1x3
65x1x2
85x3x5 - Actually extremely easy. I guess my form got better on these as well. Still going to continue with 10lb jumps, though.

Deadlifts
115x2x5
135x1x3
160x1x2
190x1x5

Pullups
BWx5
BWx5
BWx5

[JCavin]

8-4-2011 - Been drinking my GOMAD. Up to (5'11)200 from 185 already. Although, i'm sure that most of it is water weight at this point.

I'll probably continue with deadlifts and chins/pullups for another week or so and then switch them to every other workout. I just don't feel like recovery is a problem while i'm still this weak.

Squats
45x2x5
55x1x5
85x1x3
115x1x2
145x3x5 - Not hard at all. Only thing was I felt slightly right side dominant on the last two sets. Going to try pointing my right foot out a little more too see if that corrects the issue.

Bench
45x2x5
75x1x5
105x1x3
135x1x2
155x3x5 - I apparently didn't lose as much strength in my bench as I did my squats. Probably because the movement is so simple when compared to the complex squat form.

Deadlift
135x2x5
170x1x2
205x1x5 - Again, not hard at all. For some reason my deadlifts have felt great from the beginning.

Chins
BWx5
BWx5
BWx5

Additional Work

Dips
BWx3x5

Barbell Curls
75x3x5

Also worked on the power clean form for a bit. Hopefully start substituting it in a week or two.

[RobCor]

If you know how to eat I would not suggest continuing with GOMAD. GOMAD is a blunt instrument. One that I've used to great effect, mind you, but it's not for everybody. That's a LOT of weight gain in a very short amount of time.

[JCavin]

I've actually used it before. I think most of my weight gain has been water-weight, though.

For what it's worth, I had planned on stopping in the next few days just to see how much of the weight I lose from the decrease in fluids. I'm definitely not going to be drinking and eating like I did previously because I don't think I need to anymore. My main concern right now is keeping my bodyweight around 200lbs. I'm comfortable there.

I'll let you know how it goes. I may actually go ahead and clean it up tonight because I think my wife is getting sick of all my gas, lol.

[JCavin]

8-5-2011

Breakfast - Not gonna lie, I did NOT want to finish it this morning, but I did.
6 eggs w/ cheddar cheese
10 strips of bacon
2 pieces of toast
1 banana
1 glass of whole milk

Lunch - This won't be in one sitting. My job allows me to graze all day if I want. My goal is just to have it all eaten by the time I leave for the day.
2 Bison burgers w/ swiss cheese covered in raspberry chipotle bbq sauce
15 strips bacon
1/2 of a rotisserie chicken

Snacks/Extras
2 protein shakes to eat throughout the day(46g protein each)
1 can of sweet and spicy tuna
1 Cliff Builder Bar(23g protein)

Dinner
2 Cheddar Brats on bread (I lift again the next morning)

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RobCor, i'd be interested in your opinion on eating like this regularly. I'm not that experienced eating like this so any help I can get would be appreciated.

I've been looking back over my notes and it seems that 215 was my best weight. I felt the strongest there according to my old notes. So, while i'm not going to be pushing for that weight, if I do happen to get there, that will be fine.

[DV]

Hey JC, good to have you back on the boards - E&P is alot more fun when you are around, though I think you could be more active in your own "joined a new gym"-thread.

As for diet. I agree with Rob that 200@5'11 with your squat still below BW, I wouldnt GOMAD it either. Not that I'd be afraid of milk, though.

As for eating/diet-guidelines I have found John Sheaffers advice to work really well. I never paid much attention to diet, just following the eat everything+milk, with a few tips from Starrs book. But following Johns advice has helped bodycomp quite abit, and my energylevel is generally better as well. It even makes eating (slightly) less of a chore. He runs strengthvillain.com, so you might have a look. With all probability he would have you eat every 3 hours, doing something like this:

Meal 1: 2 fists carbs, 1 palm protein (i.e. portions roughly same size as your fist/palm)
Meal 2: as 1
Meal 3: as 1
Meal 4: 1 fist carbs, 1 fist protein
Meal 5: as 4
Meal 6: pure protein (usually whey).

Carbs would be rice, potatoes, whole grain bread, yoghurt, oats, fruit and stuff like that. Protein would preferably be cow, pig or eggs and not too lean (as you are trying to gain weight). Also 2-3 meals per day would probably be something like whey and oats (or if you cant handle oats like me, whey and fruit/yoghurt/whatever).

If/when your lifts start to stall, you can add some stuff, like olive oil to the shakes, bump up the protein portions and such. On the other hand if you want to shed some fat, you start cutting the carbs back abit, shift protein to lean fish and chicken etc.

This has worked really well for me - with every Sunday being eat whatever and how little you want. It's abit BB'ish, I know, but it fuels the lifts, your energy-level during the day is very stable, and it keeps you from becoming too "fat".

Just an input. As long as you keep getting in the gym 3 times per week, everything will work out.
Dave

[JCavin]

Thanks DV. I really appreciate the help. Last time I did the program I was real skinny and GOMAD was just a no-brainer for me so I never had to worry about my food too much.

Thanks for the props too, btw. I'm trying to be more active in my gym thread, but I am working out in the mornings these days so the crazies aren't nearly as active in the mornings. Well, at least not at the gym.

I'll definitely need to be adding in some more carbs to my diet. I'm a big fan of oats, so i'm pretty good there. I can fill a glass halfway up with them, throw in some water, and chug them no problem. The bloating sucks afterward, though.

Again, thanks for the help.