MrDeadGoat's Journey of Strength and Wonder

[MrDeadGoat]

So the last squat was a genuine, bonafide grinder...I didn't tape it or time it, but it was definitely 3 seconds+ and I almost put it down. I've been doing 4 minute rest on squat. I don't mind trying for 175x5x3 if you guys don't think failing a rep will hinder my progress (I have the safety bar set, so that's fine).

I think I'll try triples on a 157.5 bench next Monday, see how that goes.

I'll have plenty of time for workouts over the summer, so I don't mind doing more sets and taking longer rest if that's what it takes.

My sleep has been good. My eating....man, I'm eating, I swear, but I guess I gotta eat more. What's a good rate of gain for someone my age and weight? Bout to pound back another 1.25lbs of ground beef....

I am about 7 weeks in.

Bill - I'll definitely check out the links you provided.

Thank you guys for all the info/support - it's been super helpful!

[Geoff Bischoff]

I don't mind trying for 175x5x3 if you guys don't think failing a rep will hinder my progress (I have the safety bar set, so that's fine).

So your next lift is Friday I'm guessing, which means you get Sat/Sun to rest. I think yes, make the attempt at 175 all the way across. Set your mind on finishing every rep. Let your body fail if it must, but not your mind. Then, if you have to lay a rep on the safeties, you've gained needed data, and have two days to "sleep it off" or whatever.

My eating....man, I'm eating, I swear, but I guess I gotta eat more. What's a good rate of gain for someone my age and weight?

Any gain's good gain at this stage. 2lb/wk, 4lb/wk. It's going to be a mix of muscle/fat. But it is very very short term. Aim for a 25lb net gain to start and hit the food/barbell as hard as you need to to make it happen, and then reassess. Punctuated equilibrium: Gain, stabilize, gain, stabilize.

If you're trying to eat clean, don't. When Tim packed on pounds, he'd hit as much milk as possible (even an occasional GOMAD; usually for a couple days here and there as I don't think it's sustainable unless your belly is made of Teflon), bowls of sugary cereal with lots of milk, as much slab-meat and ground-meat as he could get his wife to cook him ... AND THEN he'd show up to our evening Bible Study with a bag of discount Whoppers from Burger King and methodically plow through three of them during the lesson and wash it down with full-sugared soda.

When I gained 40lbs, I think 20lbs was on the pure LP phase, and the other 20 came over an additional ...6? months? But I ate all the things, and even made a game of it, finding as many one-off cheeseburger joints as I could, eating their biggest thing, and buying a t-shirt. I was traveling through Western WA at the time and I still think of it as the "Great Cheeseburger Tour."

If the eating bit is painful, I think that's a good sign: For me it meant that it was easy to scale it back and STAY at 225 once I got there, been there +/-5lbs since 2019 not counting immediately after a surgery I had in 2021. Eating should legit be an additional daily workout right now, and should feel like cardio. If you're not sweating while you eat, something's wrong, lol. Ain't gonna give yourself the DIABEETUS in 8-16 weeks mate.

[Bill Anders]

So the last squat was a genuine, bonafide grinder...I didn't tape it or time it, but it was definitely 3 seconds+ and I almost put it down. I've been doing 4 minute rest on squat. I don't mind trying for 175x5x3 if you guys don't think failing a rep will hinder my progress (I have the safety bar set, so that's fine).

I think I'll try triples on a 157.5 bench next Monday, see how that goes.

I'll have plenty of time for workouts over the summer, so I don't mind doing more sets and taking longer rest if that's what it takes.

My sleep has been good. My eating....man, I'm eating, I swear, but I guess I gotta eat more. What's a good rate of gain for someone my age and weight? Bout to pound back another 1.25lbs of ground beef....

I am about 7 weeks in.

Bill - I'll definitely check out the links you provided.

Thank you guys for all the info/support - it's been super helpful!

The last one being a grind isn't a bad thing, nor is it necessarily a sign of things to come. Sometimes it will just be like that. Keep grinding them out. And a single rep failure at the end of your 3 work sets won't hinder your progress. If anything, it's a sign that something needs to change (the First Three Questions). Make adjustments to those elements of your training before you even consider a reset or changing to triples or some other scheme.

Re: triples - watch Nick's video and he'll explain why that's not the direction that you need to be going right now.

Honestly, these issues will work themselves out as you gain weight.

Any gain's good gain at this stage. 2lb/wk, 4lb/wk. It's going to be a mix of muscle/fat. But it is very very short term. Aim for a 25lb net gain to start and hit the food/barbell as hard as you need to to make it happen, and then reassess. Punctuated equilibrium: Gain, stabilize, gain, stabilize.

If the eating bit is painful, I think that's a good sign: For me it meant that it was easy to scale it back and STAY at 225 once I got there, been there +/-5lbs since 2019 not counting immediately after a surgery I had in 2021. Eating should legit be an additional daily workout right now, and should feel like cardio. If you're not sweating while you eat, something's wrong, lol. Ain't gonna give yourself the DIABEETUS in 8-16 weeks mate.

Listen to Geoff's advice and become a vacuum cleaner right now. It's tough and it will feel like a job, but that's the route that you need to go.

Keep at it!

[MrDeadGoat]

Ok. Already had 3 donuts and a very large protein shake this morning 😅

[MrDeadGoat]

So confession time - I've been smoking 3-5 cigarettes a day for the past three weeks or so. I bet this hatd been limiting my weight gain and performance in the gym. Gonna quit today.

[rkjohns1]

So the last squat was a genuine, bonafide grinder...

One thing I learned during this process is that my definition of 'hard' was recalibrated almost every single session once I was several weeks in, like you. Trust in the process, and at some point in the future you will be using 170, easily, as a part of your warm up sets.

High five on the quitting smoking!

[tiny&mighty]

When I notice that I don't eat enough, I turn to LOLFMAD: one litre of low-fat milk a day.

[MrDeadGoat]

Saturday, 5/14
165lbs - been eating trash, highest weight since December

Squat: 175x5x3
Increased rest to 6 mins. A few really hard reps, but I think those have more to do with form (leaning too horizontal) than weight.

OH Press: 95x5x3
Did better with my hips, can definitely continue upwards.

Deadlift: 265x5
Got it up.

Chins: 7,6,5,2 (20)

Took more time today. Didn't feel great, but hit my targets. Now I just gotta keep eating and sleeping as much as possible.

[Bill Anders]

Took more time today. Didn't feel great, but hit my targets. Now I just gotta keep eating and sleeping as much as possible.

Yep, it's not always going to feel great, especially as it gets heavy. You're not there yet, but this is great training and prep work for when it does get heavy. The key is that you hit your targets and that you're starting to gain a greater understanding of what's needed for that to happen.

Keep at it!

[MrDeadGoat]

Monday, 5/16
167lbs - still eating trash, highest weight since December

Squat: 180x5x3
This was really, really hard....but again, I think it might be more a form thing than anything else. Wiped me out for the rest of my workout.

Bench Press: 155x5x3
Left shoulder/chest still bothering me, but I got all five triples up without too much trouble. Will add to the bar next time.

Deadlift: 270x5
Proud of myself for attempting this - after the squats, almost turned this into a light day.

Chins: 6,5,5,4 (20)

Took my time (over 2 hours) but today really worked me more than any previous workout in my NLP. Gonna try to eat and rest up as much as possible before Wednesday. Probably do light deadlifts...a little nervous at 185 for squats, but I'll try it regardless.