-
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 - W1D2 - Light
Squat: 160x5x3
Press: 105x5, 100x5x4
Power Clean: 95x3x5
Lat Pulldowns: 95x10x4
Good workout, and I was glad for light day. Squats were easy at 160, which is nice for reinforcing form. Press weight-wise wasn't hard, but I most definitely wasn't ready for the volume at this weight, especially after 2 weeks since last pressing. I also thought my last press was 5lbs heavier than it actually was, so this was set back less than intended, relative to everything else. Still, weight went up for all 5 reps, so it was good.
Power cleans are recently re-added. 95 felt good today, and I have to admit...I didn't do any warm-ups after presses, because I didn't want to switch out to the 10lb bumpers after having the 25s on for press. Lat pulldowns moved up, and the pulldown bar arrives tomorrow, so I'll be able to try that instead of the strap handles.
I don't think I mentioned earlier, but I set the weight back so that in 5 weeks (so week 6) I'll be lifting what I would lifting my next session if I stayed on NLP. The exceptions are deadlift, which will be at 315, not 325, and presses, apparently. This is probably a fair bit more than I needed to drop the weight, but I think I'm going to be on this for a while, so I am trying to learn patience and steadiness.
Went for a walk yesterday. 40 minutes, which was pretty bad at just under 2 miles, but I did it. Heading out now for 20 minutes. Goal right now is 20 minutes after lifting, 40 minutes on non-lifting days. After about 2-3 weeks, I'll change it to 40 mins after lifting and 60 mins on non-lifting days. I may move to 60 minutes across the board, but not planning that at this time. The walking is to help offset a sedentary job and pretty much everything else at this time.
-
Saturday, February 22, 2020 - W1D3 - Medium
Squat: 180x5x4
CG Bench: 145x5x4
Deadlift: 235x5x2
Press: 90x5x2
Overall medium day was pretty easy, and definitely easier than I was expecting. There are only a couple of things worth mentioning. First, deadlift and press should be 3 sets and will be going forward. On all of this I thought I had reduced time, so rest times were shorter, and by the time I got to Deadlifts and Presses, I was short on time. I did Deadlifts and Presses back to back (aka: supersets). At this weight it wasn't bad, but I belted deadlifts for getting the feel down, and so I was winded getting into presses. Luckily, presses are @85%, and mainly for extra volume, so at 90 lbs, they were easy. Lat pulldowns didn't happen due to time.
-
Monday, February 24, 2020 - W2D1 - Heavy
Squat: 205x5, 195x5x4
Bench: 167.5x5, 160x5x4
Deadlift: 285x5
Lat Pulldown: 100x10x4
Good session. Even though it's a heavy day, nothing felt incredibly heavy, which is good as I'm definitely capable of more. 4 more weeks until I will be progressing from where I was before I purposely cut over to HLM from NLP to accommodate weight loss. Part of me wants to jump there now, but I keep reminding myself that I'm in for a long journey on the weight loss just to get to where people my height might end up weight-wise on NLP.
All lifts were good. Of all the lifts on heavy day, bench is the one I'm surprised actually feels challenging. Heck, I did 175x5x3 2 weeks ago, yet all of these feel heavier than that. Though in an odd way, they can feel heavy to me, but at the same time not feel like I'm going to fail any of it. So odd, but as long as the weight goes up, I'll take it. Today was the first day I got to use my lat pulldown bar, and it was considerably better than using the straps that came with the spud. It is a bit wider than the rack, so getting into position is interesting, but overall it works out well.
On a dietary note, this was the first week I had a heavier eating Sunday (pre-heavy day). I've been doing 2000 calories during the week, and did 2700 on Sunday. It's a net effect of 2100/day, but with a bulk on Sunday to help with Monday's lifts. My weight wasn't up as much as was suggested on Andy Baker's blog/site, but that may be because I only had ~375g carbs and I kept fat sub-50g still. He also recommends the food being salty, and I didn't do anything much saltier than I would normally eat, just more of it, including finishing the day off with a can of bean w/ bacon soup (I know it's processed, but bean-protein + carbs/fiber is just awesome). Regardless, I had the energy/capacity for today's workout, so whether this did it or the weight is just easy enough, I'll keep it going.
On the other hand, I will be traveling again next week. I am hoping to lift a couple days while out of town, but schedule will dictate. I'll be aiming for quality on the diet, but that is always the challenge when traveling. As long as I don't exceed maintenance for the week, I guess I'm good.
-
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - W2D2 - Light
Squat: 165x5x3
Press: 107.5x5, 102.5x5x2
Power Clean: 100x3x3
Lat Pulldown: 105x10x4
Light day is nice. This was all pretty standard, except that after some more reading, due to caloric deficit, I am going to be reducing overall volume. It shows here with only 2 back-off sets on press, and that will follow through on heavy lifts as well. Friday's medium day will be 3 sets across @ 90% heavy. Medium deadlift will be 2 sets now.
Presses felt way harder today than I would expect. Hope that's deficit-related. Lat Pulldowns are also getting challenging, but I'm only resting for 2 minutes between sets. Friday goes to 110, and after that I will move to 3 min rest. I'm hoping to get them to 150lbs or more before dropping to sets of 8.
-
Friday, February 28, 2020 - W2D3 - Medium
Squat: 185x5x3
CG Bench: 147.5x5x3
Deadlift: 242.5x5x2
Press: 92.5x5x3
Lat Pulldown: 110x10x4
BW: 307# (down 4.7#)
Waist: 52.5" (down .5")
Medium lifts were good. Not much to say about them. Everything is pretty light, but I'm letting things move up steady, so I'm good with that. (Though it's really hard not to add +5 or +10 at this time). I like having the light press today for the pressing volume, but I may end up dropping it because it just adds to overall volume. Will keep it for now, but it's below the line if I need to make changes.
Body weight and waist drop were good. 4.7 pounds is really more than I should be dropping in a given week, but I've spent the first ~6 weeks hanging around 310-312, so I take this as my body finally agreeing it's time to lose weight. Will keep an eye on how things are moving forward as I'd like to keep loss <= 1% BW, and this was 1.5%. Waist side is great, though. Only 1/2" down from last week, so within a margin of error, but my lifting belt concurs that I am indeed a bit thinner, as I've been able to set the belt 1-2 holes further in. That's a win.
-
Monday, March 2, 2020 - W3D1 - Heavy
Squat: 230x5, 200x5x2
Bench: 170x5, 162.5x5x2
Deadlift: 295x5
Pulldown: ?? Said 200, but felt like somewhere between 100-110. Did 4 sets of 10.
Traveling again, but was able to get in my heavy day, which is the biggest win. I'm hoping for light day on Wednesday, but if my schedule doesn't allow it, I will be skipping light this week.
Squats were 230 due to bad math, and it was supposed to be 210. I got all the reps, but wasn't expecting this weight, so it was not the best looking. I'll be doing 215 next week to keep with the programming. Due to travel, I really don't know exactly what I'm eating, and since weight loss i my primary goal, I'm erring on the side of caution. I only had 2 meals instead of 3 before lifting, and think it was only about 1000 calories, not the usual 1400-1500. I think that was part of the challenge I had with the squats.
Bench was solid. Deadlift were harder than I was expecting, but not too hard.
Pulldowns.....I did them. It was on a machine that had I believe 4 pulleys, providing incredible amounts of mechanical advantage. The stack only goes to 210. I programmed 115, and ended up doing 200. It felt like somewhere between 100-110, so whatever it was it was. I did a bottom pause/hold to make the most of it. If I'm there on Wednesday, I will be doing 210 and calling it good. Will work out where I really am on Saturday at home.
Diet-wise, I'm not tracking, but doing what I think is decent. My overall goal/hope is to come out the same as last week on the scale/waist and not go up. Any amount of weight loss is just bonus.
-
Consistency while traveling is tough, man. Way to keep at it.
How's the evil, nasty scale treating you this run? (Edit: Nevermind; now I see it. So you're starting to see movement now, and are basically at -5? Wewt!)
Last edited by Geoff Bischoff; 03-03-2020 at 12:32 AM.
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
-
Forum Rules