Khanthebrit Strength Journey!

[Khanthebrit]

Just a quick but about me. I'm 19 years old and live in the UK. I'm about to start university which I'm finding extremely nerve-wracking + exciting at the same time. I'm hoping the drinking won't mess with the strength gainz but I'll put a cap on it while I'm up there because I love lifting weights a bit tooo much. When I first started I was the typical college boy wanting abs and to look ripped kind of person. When I realized how weak I was (couldn't press the bar) I looked online for hours upon hours on ways to get stronger. I've learnt that heavier = stronger and my desire for actually look aesthetically seemed to of died after that, although obviously I don't want to be fat!!
I'll try to update this blog frequently, perhaps it will be evidence I can look at to show me how far I've come in 6 months time. I might load in a few questions every now and then because even though I've read SS more than a few times, along with looking at a lot online, I still consider myself a noob.

Do you reckon my 6 month target stats are a realistic expectation if I'm doing the program properly?

Age: 19
Heigh: 6ft 2
Weight: 203lbs

Current Stats 5RM
Bench: 52.5kg
Overhead Press: 40kg
Deadlift: 100kg (I've deloaded the deadlifts from 115kg back down to 100kg due to form + failure)
Squats: 105kg

Target Stats in 6 months time
Bench: 100kg (too optimistic?)
Overhead Press: 60kg
Deadlift: 180kg
Squats: 140kg
Weight: 225lbs

[Kyle Martin]

Good luck! I envy the fact that you're starting at 19. And just remember, too much beer is just carb loading for tomorrow's workout.
Training With A Hangover | Bill Starr

[Dave_M]

...and here's the right place for a log.

Welcome. Beer + college + training = gainzZz. It did for me...minus the training.

[Khanthebrit]

Sunday 10th September
Usually this is my extra rest day in the week (workout Mon, Weds, Friday) but because I am away all day Wednesday and moving to university Saturday, I've had to add in an extra workout for the week to make next week work out! So it's been one day on one day off this week.

Squats: 107.5kg (5,4,0): Perhaps that extra day of rest would have come in handy? Oh well, my squats have gone up 5kg this week alone and I'm sure I'll be ready success Tuesday.
OHP: 41kg Successful: Started to microload the press. First set I did I failed because I kept on getting stuck under the bar and didn't bring my torso forward enough. I ignored that set and got 3x5 out on the next lot. I realised you have to be quite aggressive with brining your torso forward once the bar passes your forehead or otherwise you're going to have a hard time.
Deadlift: 105kg Successful: Felt quite easy, especially from remebering when I last did this weight. I probably could have got out 110kg but slow and steady wins the race. Going to continue with 10lb jumps.

I'm actually quite happy still. New PR on the Press, deadlifts now feeling a lot easier. I've had a similar fail on the squats at 100kg before (5,0,0), next workout I banged out 3x5 so I'm hoping I can just repeat this. Right, I'm off to drink my milk and eat my food.

[Dalton Clark]

Honestly, you'll probably meet those goals if not exceed them by a fair margin. With regards to the squat, the typical cause of a failure pattern like this is not maintaining tightness at the bottom and letting the weight push you into the hole. I had sudden failures without getting a single rep due to that as well. I like your realization with the press. Keep it in a straight line and push your chest through and you should be good for a while.

[Khanthebrit]

Thanks man, I really hope I do meet them! Thing is I doubt I'll reach them bulking up to 225lbs so I'll either have to go overkill and continue bulking to the stats or try and go for a highly successful efficient cut where I can maintain my strength stats.

12/09/17
This was a horrible workout. Failed both my squats and Bench Press. I've actually somehow got weaker. Last time I could bench 5,5,4 at this weight, today I couldn't even get out 1 set. I had to deload to 50kg which thankfully I successfully did so will have to build back up from there. This is so annoying. I can't tell how I'm not YNDTP'ing: I've been consistent, eating a tonne and doing my best to sleep a tonne. Granted for the past 2 weeks I've only been doing 1 day on 1 day off due to not being able to make certain dates. I haven't a clue what how I'm 'YNDTP' and it's kind of starting to rile me up.
Squats: 107.5kg (5,4,2)
Bench Press: 50kg (5,5,5) - DELOADED WEIGHT

I'm going to post my diet everyday now this thread now. Perhaps it is that. I don't have the healthiest diet at all. In fact, a lot of my calories come from junk. I just can't understand how I'm not YNDTPing so I'm assuming there's got to be something wrong with my diet.... idk.

Diet for the Past week
Tues 5th
Breakfast: 4 eggs and 2 slices of bread
Lunch: Big Mac Large meal
Snack: Protein Shake
Dinner: Gallon of whole milk (I didn't drink this all at once, just though I'd label it for dinner)
4538kcal

Weds 6th
Breakfast: 4 eggs, 2 slices of bread and 500ml of milk
Lunch: 2x double cheese burgers
Dinner: gallon of milk
Other: Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake ready meal + protein shake. Can of coke
5461kcal

Thurs 7th
Breakfast: 2 slices of bread and 3 eggs
Lunch: Roast chicken, bacon and stuffing sandwich with Pepermani bar
Dinner: Chicken and bacon pasta bake ready meal
Gallon of whole milk + protein shake
4710kcal

Fri 8th
Breakfast: Roast chicken, bacon and stuffing sandwich + peperami bar
Protein Shake
Dinner: chicken and bacon pasta bake ready meal
Chicken Southerfried stake
gallon of milk
4652kcal

Sat 9th
Roastchicken, bacon and stuffing sandwich with peperami bar
2 slices of bread
1 Chicken southern friend steak
Chicken and bacon pasta bake ready meal
gallon of whole milk
4738kcal

Sun 10th
Chicken tikka footlond subway
Stuffed crust peperoni pizza (2 slices)
3x chicken southern fried steaks with 2 slices of break and tortilla wrap
gallon of milk
5289kcal

Mon 11th
4 eggs +2 slices of bread
gallon of milk
1500 ml more of milk
3x double cheeseburgers
Chicken abd bacon pasta bake ready meal
4847kcal

Tues 12th
4 eggs + 2 slices of bread
Roast chicken, bacon and stuffing sandwich
Peperami bar
4x chicken southern fried steaks
Turkey breast and ham footlong
half a gallon of milk
19033kcal currently until I eat more. Will probably start eating 5250kcal now onwards.

So I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Is my diet bad.... does it need changing. Or are my genetics just shit. I thought I'd be growing on a diet like this.

[Royce Nichols]

Khan, you need to see a coach. If i remember, your bench press and squats needed some work. Don't know what your deads or press look like but I gather they need some critiquing. This is not an insult. We all need coaching! It happens man. Plus, you seem to be really inconsistent with your training schedule. It seems like you're gaining weight and sleeping fine.

[Khanthebrit]

I understand, no insult taken. I honestly would love to get in touch with Carl Raghavan to help identify the things I'm doing wrong. Unfortunately, I currently live and am moving to university far away from where he is based (London) and furthermore will not have the money for personal training. I've had to take out loans to pay for my education and have received a small scholarship to help me while I'm up there, so seeing him is virtually impossible for me right now. I will get in contact though to see the dates of his classes as that is something that could perhaps be possible. I know these sound like 'excuses' but unfortunately I'm being realistic and that's the situation I'm in right now. I'm starting to fear gaining weight a little now as I don't really seem to see much of a correspondence to strength gains. I'm considering doing a hard-reset and cutting out the gallon of milk etc to lose a fair amount of weight and then doing a hard-bulk from there. It would put me in a much better position to build from then what I am currently doing now and perhaps I can learn along the way without fat-fucking myself. Haven't made a decision yet but that's a choice I might have to make, would also help as buying food is going to be hard enough while up there and need to save a bit for the first few months.

[Khanthebrit]

-SNIP

I mean I could maybe scrape aside enough for 1-2 hour session with him if that would teach me everything I needed to know about the program along with the book. I'll have to assess as I'm running a very tight budget, all for a degree in economics

[Royce Nichols]

You're not seeing the strength gains because you have been not been consistent with your training schedule and your technique is off.

I understand it's difficult man, especially being young like yourself and with little income. No need to explain! They are not excuses. I think all of us can relate on some level. When you get to university and have a general idea of what your schedule might look like, get consistent with when you train and stick to it! Post form checks here. Read the book over and over. Watch videos. Try to learn as much about the lifts and yourself as much as possible.

I would not lose a bunch of weight because I don't know where you would be losing from. You're not fat, at all. However, I would advise you to learn more about nutrition. Spend some cycles learning about nutrition on this forum and elsewhere. Hell, you could even post to Jordan's Q&A for advice.

good luck