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I'm sorry, but I'm going to over-share a bit. I cried this morning when I was putting my boots on. For months now my feet have been so swollen and my belly so in the way that just putting on shoes was an absolute ordeal that took several minutes, careful planning and resulted in extreme discomfort once I managed to get them on. I've been wearing sandals whenever I can for months now because I've been too blasted fat for fully enclosed footwear. Anyway, the swelling started coming down over the weekend and I've lost 4 lbs in the last 72 hours, mostly water out of my ankles and feet. My old hiking boots just slipped right on and actually felt kind of loose. I was so happy I started bawling. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
So I felt really motivated tonight to keep producing stresses that will lead to further beneficial adaptation:
Squat:
25x5
45x5
65x3
85x2
105x5x3
Once I got warmed up these felt good. I've made big progress in mobility, but it's still the limiting factor. I think I have at least a couple more 20 lb jumps left in me before the weight also decides to become a limiting factor.
Bench:
45x5
95x5
135x3
175x2
195x4 190x4 190x2
Honestly after failing my press on Saturday I should have not tried for a 10 lb jump in the bench, but I felt really, really good after the squats. Didn't matter--195 was just not going up 5 times today. Hooray for safety rails. I tried to rest 10 minutes and back off the weight a little, but my arms were already blown. I'm confident that I could have done full sets at 190 and I'll do that next time.
Deadlift:
135x5
175x3
240x2
285x5
I don't know how I got the last rep locked out, but I did and I think it's time to start practicing power cleans and alternating those in. The days of 30 lb deadlift jumps every week are in the past.
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I never could do a power clean so I tip my hat to you for that. Your bench numbers are awesome.
I join you in praising the Lord for the good experience with the boots. Keep it up.
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Good news first. I weighed in at 331 today, so the water weight continues to pour out. Body fat formula says 10lbs of fat loss and a 4 lb loss of lean mass (water is lean, I guess) in 20 days. Mobility continues to improve, which makes sense as the edema represents inflammation that would also be present in and around the joints, restricting them.
The bad news: I way overdid it on stretches yesterday trying to prepare for power cleans and woke up with sore shoulders.
Squats:
45x5
55x5
75x3
100x2
125x5x3
Knees felt good, left knee wasn't pulling in except on the first set of warm-ups. Cheesepuff's stretch suggestion really worked, thanks. Also I farted at the bottom of one of the squats. I was really disappointed that it didn't help push me back up. Guess I don't have a future at NASA.
Press:
45x5
75x5
95x3
115x2
137.5x5x2 137.5x1
Weight wasn't the problem, bar speed was OK through both sets and I was able to get the layback working, but my sore shoulders got worse through the warmups and after the first rep of the last set my right shoulder politely but insistently told me that I was done pressing for the night. I don't think I seriously injured it, but it's really sore right now. I guess aggressive stretching also requires recovery.
Power cleans:
I can't do these yet. I have trouble getting my elbows up. My wrists, triceps and the placeholder tissue where my lats will eventually be are just too tight. I wasn't ready to call it a night, so after making sure hanging from the bar didn't make my shoulder worse, I tried a set of 5 jumping chins. I wasn't able to hang in position worth a darn and I was barely able to slow myself coming down, but I hung on as long as I could afterwards and at least got some grip work in.
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great progress, and a protip is to always follow carson's advice.
take it slow, and keep the steady progress going
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My new cheapo, no-name brand plates arrived today. While they're approximately 45 lbs each, they're also about an inch less in diameter than standard plates. Still bigger than 4 10s and a 5, so an improvement overall. It's going to be a while before I need to put them on the bar though.
Squats:
45x5
55x5
85x3
115x2
145x5x3
Easiest squat set I've done yet. Mobility keeps getting better every time. Definitely feel like I've got some more 20 lb jumps left.
Bench
45x5
95x5
130x3
170x2
190x5x3
Definitely felt good to finish my upper body sets after missing them in the last 3 sessions.
Deadlift
135x5
170x3
245x2
290x4
I tried using a hook grip, which definitely prevented grip failure, but form went to crap after the 3rd rep and I just wasn't able to get the bar up that last little bit to lock out the last rep. I knew going into this that not eating enough was going to end the easy increases prematurely and that I'd probably wind up in a "false intermediate" phase until enough weight came off enough to do the program correctly. And I haven't hit that false intermediate point. I'm still progressing every session in at least one lift and I should be able to keep that going for a while yet. In the meantime, I'm losing weight faster than I'd dared hope for, so it's all good. I just need to keep hitting my macros, getting enough sleep and doing as much of the program as I can until I've lifted myself out of the giant hole I dug with my fork.
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When I started my squat was very terrible. My deadlift was better and the deadlift seemed to help drive progress on everything else. Looks like that is playing out for you.
Keep at it!
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Measured 56" at the belly button this morning--that's 4.5" lost in under 4 weeks. Barbells are magic.
Squat:
45x5
65x5
95x3
130x2
165x5x3
165 felt heavier than 145 did on Saturday, but I'm pretty sure I can do 185 next time. Mobility continues to improve, I'm now able to get the bar low enough with my thumb and 2 fingers inside the J hooks. Originally my hands were all the way out at the collar.
Press:
45x5
75x5
95x3
115x2
140x5x3
Looking at the weight on the bar, I was worried that I was going to miss my press again, but it went up easy except for the very last rep which went up kind of hard. Going to micro-load to 142.5 next time.
Power Cleans
45x5
65x3x5
I did a set of stretches after the presses and was finally able to actually get the bar into rack position, so I went through the steps from the first video here until I felt like I was ready to start. Man, I am not used to jumping and after 30-40 practice jumps with an empty bar even 65 lbs had me panting and wheezing between sets, but I actually power cleaned. Unfortunately to land back under the bar after the jump I was spreading my legs wide like a sumo deadlift stance instead of going into a partial front squat, but I was able to improve that as I went along. I think I should do some front squats while warming up to help. But the important thing was I was actually able to jump the bar up and catch it in more or less the rack position. I can improve form and add weight from here.
Also today I learned that the other 345 lb fatty fat-fat at work also has been losing weight. He's doing cardio+way more severe calorie restriction and is 21lbs down after 2 months. We now have a friendly wager on whether he can get under 300 before I can deadlift body weight. I'm feeling confident since I get to approach the problem from both ends.
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I think I'm coming down with something. The wife has had a cold and my head has been stuffed up all day and my throat started getting sore in the afternoon. It was a bad session.
Squat:
45x5
70x5
110x3
145x2
185x5x3
I started getting really short of breath during the first warm up set and it got worse. Legs got shaky on the last rep.
Bench
45x5
95x5
135x5
175x5
195x5 195x4 195x1
No matter how long I rested I couldn't seem to catch my breath between sets. Failed 195 for the second time. Going to start micro-loading bench and press.
Deadlift:
135x5
170x3
245x2
245 had my legs shaking and 290 was welded to the floor. I couldn't even budge it.
I think I'm going to be really sick tomorrow. Gonna drink a big glass of water and turn in early.
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Was pretty sick yesterday, but got a lot of sleep today and feeling better. Best of all, it's been 1 month on the program and I've come a long way.
Weight: 345->329
Belly: 60.5->56
Neck: 19->20
Body Fat %: 46.5->40.9
Squat: 0->195
Bench: 150->190
Press: 105->140
Deadlift: 155->285*
Tonight's work:
Squat:
45x5
75x5
115x5
155x5
195x5x3
Press
45x5
75x5
115x2 (forgot to do 95x3)
142.5x5 142.5x5 142.5x1
Failed my press again.
Deadlift:
135x5
175x3
245x2
290x1
285x1
I think maybe going up on the squats is messing with my deadlifts. Going to try to deload to 265 and start going up again because it's been over a week since I finished a set of 5.
Still fat and weak, but much less so. Goal is to get my weight down to 285 and reassess. If I've stopped having fat guy problems by then I'll shift macros for body recomp instead of fat loss and hopefully finish my novice progression, because sooner or later squats are going to stall out on this calorie deficit and I'm going to have to pretend to be intermediate while still being weak.
Last edited by Lardo McFatterson; 10-03-2020 at 10:46 PM.
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