Quagmire911 Lifting Journal

[Fuglydude]

Yo,

Congrats on the PRs man! 380 x 6 is solid for someone in the mid-170s who's on somewhat of a carb/calorie restricted diet. My last work out I did 380 x 8, w/ a single a 470... Based on this, I have little doubt that you'll be able to nail 440 x 1 (200 kg). Just go in nice and fresh and you shouldn't have any issues.

One of the things I'll encourage you to do w/ any heavy pulls is to really struggle and hold the last rep in lock out for as long as you can. I usually manage 20 seconds or so. I feel this really helps to train your nervous system to pull through and "grind" after the initial lift off. Furthermore, having 400+ pounds of steel hanging off your shoulder girdle has to do something to stimulate muscle growth!

I know I've asked this before, but what impact do you think you deadlift conditioning sets have on your pulls? Given the volume of the conditioning sets, I know my lower back would be totally pooped out, but it seems to be working well for you. I probably have way more of a muscular imbalance than you though...

Again, congrats. Keep it up!

 

[Quagmire911]

Monday to Wednesday

My wrists feel fine again. Should be good to go with them on Monday. My left quad is the only real issue, even if it isn't bad. Getting it better and not worse is the name of the game, but this requires being careful with leg work which derails progress in this area.

Cardio has been the same:

40-50 minutes walking every day. One day was a little longer as my Dad couldn't quite keep my usual pace. I am on the verge of jogging most of the time. It feels like it would be more efficient.

Weight on Tuesday was 174.8lbs, waist was 34". This is exactly 14lbs/a stone below my all time high of 188.8lbs. I'm unhappy that I haven't achieved leanness yet, oh well. I must have been fatter than I thought. I'm surprised my waist didn't come down futher this week. There isn't really a whole lot of fat anywhere else anymore, it's all on the lower belly/love handle area. My arms/legs/face are certainly way leaner than when I was 188.8lbs. There hasn't really been a lot of change since 180 though.

I can't think to much into though, body weight is a strange thing. I did have a huge cheat meal on Sunday, I think too large, and I'm not doing one that big again. Carbs have been low apart from that, so water weight might still be down. I just need to stay on track for a few more weeks and it should come together. I remember Dave Tate photos once where 2 weeks made a night and day difference.

I hope that once I am done though and carbed up, I'm in the 170's. I don't care much about weight, but 160's seems awfully low.

We'll see. Until next time,

Quagmire

PS- Fugly, I really don't know with the deadlifts. It hasn't hurt though. It should make me more efficient in some aspects I guess, but overtraining will be a big issue for some. I'm on a two day, and am quite good at pushing out reps.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

You are likely going to have to dip into the 160s. You probably need to lose like 8-10 lbs and you'll be solid, granted you don't lose too much muscle. Your description of yourself reminds me how I was 2 years ago if you remember when I was just starting to train under Rob.

 

[Cure]

Quag,
If you havent lost strenght, and IIRC you are still making PR's, then weighing less is a bonus.
You will be stronger relative to body weight, and generally fitter.

Dont worry about losing weight unless you start losing strenth.

Cure.

 

[Quagmire911]

You are likely going to have to dip into the 160s. You probably need to lose like 8-10 lbs and you'll be solid, granted you don't lose too much muscle. Your description of yourself reminds me how I was 2 years ago if you remember when I was just starting to train under Rob.

I did lose 4lbs from last week, which can't all be fat. If 2 pounds is water and I'm 176.8 carbed up, this is why I think I'll finish in the 170's. I just don't see myself in the 165 area, I've gained too much muscle since I started. I was 155 with abs starting out. I've also lost an inch off my waist at around every 3.5lbs, so 178.8lbs-7lbs is 34" to 32", and I had abs at 32" in the past. So I may hit the high 160's uncarbed up, but then return to the 170's with carbs.

If you're right, and I end up 165 carbed up, I am taking up running.

Cure I've said it before, being huge isn't my primary concern. I still don't want to look like a concentration camp victim.

Quagmire

 

[Fuglydude]

Dude, stop looking at the scale! If you're strong and look good... who cares??? I think I was around 163 when I was in my best shape aesthetically speaking. I was still relatively strong: Deadlifting high 300s, Squatting 225 x 8, cleaning >200 lbs, etc etc.

If you're sub 170 and able to pull 450+ on deads, then you're strong as phuck and are obviously gonna be very fit! Stop looking at the scale, focus on strength and your appearance!

 

[Quagmire911]

Monday

Back into it. Here it is:

60x5 70x5 82.5kgx10 (182lbs)- This will do for week one. Felt quite strong, had a few more.

Squats 80x5 100kgx5- I was going to do 115x5 probably, but my legs were near to cramping. I massaged the hell out of them on Friday and last night and it seemed to have quite a big affect. There seemed to be a lot of knots and tightness, and the pain in my left quad was nearly gone today. They obviously haven't recovered fully from loosening up, and probably some parts were being used that hadn't been recruited properly in a while. The second set wasn't too bad though.

Skullcrushers 30kgx10 35kgx10x10- Not bad.

Leg press 200x5 250kgx5x5- Not bad.

Pressups 5x10 Bw+10kg 60s between sets. I'll be interested to see what this does to my pecs.

And that was it. Not a lot else to say, pretty good first session of the new wave. Will go for the PR's in week's two and three.

That's it for today, until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

An alright day today. Wasn't feeling strong and it seeing as it was the first day of the new cycle I kept it brief and didn't really push anything.

Db oh press 24x5 28x5 32kgx7 (70lbs)- Alright.

Deads 120x5 140x4 157.5kgx6 (347lbs)- Deads didn't feel great today. Hopefully today will prime the rest of this wave.

Kneeling rollouts +10kgx10- Just getting back in the groove.

If I left here I could catch a bus in 10 minutes, where usually I'd get the one in 40. Seeing as I didn't feel strong, I left it there.

That's it for this week. Still doing walking and have tweaked the diet a bit.

That's all for this week, until next...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Monday

This was a pretty decent session for week 2 of the wave. Here it is:

Bench 60x3 75x3 87.5kgx8 (193lbs)- Felt strong on these. No spotter or rack so I left it here. I had more though. I think 11 would be a PR, that may have been possible. Aiming for 92.5/204x10 next week.

Squats 120x2 130kgx1 100kgx5 - Did these with a box set below parallel so as not to aggravate my quad- it only feels odd in the a2g position. This was only touch and go, no pause. Without the bounce in the bottom position I am weaker, although I can't tell how much the box will affect strength, even without a deliberate pause. I also haven't been squatting much over the last few weeks as well. But hey if I'm around 300 that will do till I get the issues sorted out.

Skullcrushers 30kgx10 40kgx10 PR - Good.

Kroc rows 48kgx21- I did the first 8 reps without laying the DB down. Then I reset some reps. These are thick handled.

Leg press 200x5 250kgx12 (550lbs) PR - Good.

That was all.

Not much else to report. Did some bodyweight stuff today to get the blood going.

Until Thursday...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

Alright session today, strength was down a touch, but I was pretty carb depleted I reckon. The low gi carbs don't seem to fill the cells or whatever with whatever, probably cause insulin is kept fairly low and balanced. Here it is:

Db oh press 26x3 30x3 34kgx5- This was one rep less than the last time.

Deads 130x3 145x3 165kgkgx6 (363lbs)- This isn't really "down", but it was a very hard last rep, and I did 172.5x6 last cycle. It could just be a slight off day, but I am happy enough beacuse my weight is down around 15lbs. I am actually still a little stronger than when I was 188.8, so that is ok.

Kneeling rollouts +15kgx15 PR- These were easier today, up to +20kg next week, and then I will attempt standing for reps after that.

Sumo deads 100kg 2x10- Nice and fast.

Pulldowns 100kgx5 85kgx10- Was pretty spent by here.

Hip machines stackx15x15- Meh.

And that was it. Carbs were all low gi since pwo on Monday. My weight seems to drop around 4-5lbs when I do this, so less glycogen and water I guess. I did some HIIT yesterday, although it wasn't that long a session. My focus now is the abs, and I'm going to be nailing some HIIT in the few weeks, and pretty hard. I'm aiming to maintain strength best I can. If I lose a rep or two, so be it.

Weight was 174lbs this morning, waist was 33.75". This was before the morning bathroom trip though, and I only really count it after that to be consistent. I've done it before and after before, usually takes a half pound and a half inch off . Maybe tommorow .

As far as the HIIT goes, I've always wanted to be in great shape. I used to be, then I started this stuff and dropped high intensity stuff. I suppose I disagress with Warboss on this one, he didn't like it so much. I never wanted to be 220 or anything though so I suppose goals have to be taken into consideration. I've always been my leanest, when I have been my fittest though.

As far as leaness goes, my arms and back have got plenty of definition now, just that little bit of belly fat refusing to budge. I do think I saw a slight improvement this week, but we will see how it copes with all the HIIT I'll be throwing at it.

Enough gibbering for one week though. Until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Monday

Not a great day, and I didn't have a lot of time. Here it is:

Bench 70x5 80x3 92.5kgx7 (204lbs)- This is around my best, I think I may have done it for 8 before. I wanted to get 10 to get 200+ for 10, but it wasn't happening today. I had to use the shi* setup today so I could get a spotter and go for it, that may have taken some out of me- it just feels incredibly unstable. The gym was too busy to set up my pseudo-rack which was the plan. It could also just be the lack of carbs because of the diet, or a slight loss of strength. I'm pretty happy to maintain around this area though over the next few weeks, whilst I attain the six pack.

Squats 120kgx3 140kgx1- The 120 was with a touch and go box, below parallel. The 140kg was at or slightly above parallel, because I had to use the safety pins as I couldn't set up the fake rack. Unfortuntatley that is lowest the actualy shi*ty rack goes, as it only has 4 heights. Fuc*ing idiots. I'm not happy with squats at all at the moment. I only really feel comfortable when I can go a2g, but I can't do it right now because of the quad. Hopefully this will be back to normal soon.

Leg press 180x5 270kgx12 (594lbs) PR- Strange that I PR here. This suggests that the shi*ty setup on bench did affect it badly. Who knows.

And that was all I had time for. As I say, the main focus is on getting the six pack, and I am really close now. I want to get it done fast, so if strength stays the same or dips slightly that is fine.

Weight was a new low of 173.4lbs on Friday (carb depleted) and waist was also at 33.5". I added in HIIT late last week, so hopefully that will have more of an affect this week.

That is all for today, until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

Pretty decent session today. Here it is:

Oh press 50x3 60x3x3 70kgx1 (154lbs) 50x8- Decided to do normal oh press today with the bar. I used a thumbless grip for the first time, Wendler recommends this, and it isn't dangerous like with the bench press. Not done this in a while, pretty pleased with how it went. The 70 was hard, but I had more there. My best is 80. Time to attack that.

Deads 135x5 155x3 175kgx5 (385lbs) PR- Pretty pleased with this. I did get 172.5x6 three weeks ago, but this is the most I have done with this weight. Considering I'm down in weight quite a bit and stronger than when I started losing weight, I am happy. Hopefully in three weeks I will be lean enough that I will do a big carb up the day before deads and really give it a go. 182.5x5/200x1, will fall soon.

Sumo deads 100kg 2x10

Kneeling rollouts +20kg 2x10

Chins BWx5- Fast reps.

And that was all. The fat loss is going well. I was down to 173.4lbs and 33.25-33.5" waist. This is a new low and now 16.4lbs from where I started. This is carb depleted. I've noticed subtle changes in the mirror in both week one and two of the new diet. I've done HIIT twice this week and will again tommorow, so I am hoping that will speed things up. I'm pretty happy that I did HIIT tuesday/wednesday and hit decent dead numbers today. I'm coming to the opinion that if you aren't in shape, that is your primary concern. If strength suffers for a month or two while your get there, fine. Long term the advantages are far better.

My rough diet is pretty much this:

Meal 1- 4 eggs + cheese + 50g of lentils
Meal 2- 200-250g of meat + 50g of lentils
Meal 3- 100-125g of meat + 50g of lentils
Meal 4- 100-125g of meat + 50g of lentils

The exceptions are the pwo meal where you can have fast carbs, and saturday where anything goes. When I say anything goes I'm not really eating 3 pizza's and a two tubs of ice cream right enough. I just get rid of the lentils in the morning and have toast, have a pizza for dinner etc. No going over the top. I drink at night. The last two weeks I actually followed the diet until Friday at around 8-9pm where I drank and then did Saturday as the above, and started again on Sunday. Ideally I'd only drink Saturday or not at all, but hey, I'm sticking too it and it is working. It would work faster I suppose, but my chances of sticking to it would drop like a stone.

So far no problems. I've done four HIIT sessions in the last week and have seen a pretty large difference already in fitness. I recommend taking it up. I've been doing burpees. HIIT is definitely easier with the low gi carbs in there than when doing very low carb.

Anyway that is all for this week, until next...

Quagmire

PS- I'm actually pretty happy with my weight going lower. It means when I finally do put on another 15lbs or so, I'll get a pretty large boost in strength.

 

[Being_the_Don]

Thursday

Pretty decent session today. Here it is:

Oh press 50x3 60x3x3 70kgx1 (154lbs) 50x8- Decided to do normal oh press today with the bar.

I'm trying to visualize this. You're using a Swiss bar?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7JRmtqoLMw

Or this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayIG7mok8Uo

 

[Quagmire911]

Just using a normal barbell. Neither of those grips. Nearly like the second one, but my thumb is wrapped over the bar with my other fingers. No problem. Wendler says it helps keep a good bar path.

Just completed 100 burpees for the day, 3rd time this week. Time to enjoy the weekend.

Quagmire

 

[Being_the_Don]

Just using a normal barbell. Neither of those grips. Nearly like the second one, but my thumb is wrapped over the bar with my other fingers. No problem. Wendler says it helps keep a good bar path.

Just completed 100 burpees for the day, 3rd time this week. Time to enjoy the weekend.

Quagmire

Why a thumbless grip? How does this help the lift?

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

Got struck by a cold on Sunday. I had a tickly throught on Saturday morning, drank a lot Saturday night (brother's 21st) and it hit me the next day. It was a bank holiday on Monday so there were no buses, I tried to go Tuesday but missed the bus because they weren't going to the usual place, so I gave up on Monday's workout entirely. Probably for the best to let me get over the cold. Feeling about 90-95% today, so it went alright. I get there today though and am told the gym is shutting at 5 (35 minutes), it usually shuts at 10-10.30 or something. So I only had time for the main stuff. I was thinking about doing this anyway with maybe some light assistance so as not too make things too hard coming off the cold. Here it is:

Oh press 75kgx1* 60kgx8- Might have been 77.5kg. My best is 80kg. I think I can beat that soon. Pretty happy with where this is considering I haven't done it directly in quite a while, and have taken off some weight.

Deads 120x5 140x5 162.5kgx6 (358lbs) * - I've got a star next to these as I could only use the silver bar today which is different from the two blacks. I've been told it weighs 22.5kg instead of 20kg, but I don't know. I'll maybe verify this. Deads were a bit harder today, but that could just be coming off the cold. I wasn't going to PR today anyway and I'll be back to the normal bar next time, so I may not bother unless I have to use it again.

And that was it. I would have done more but I was the only one left and the manager came to throw me out. It was an alright workout.

On the fat loss front, I wasn't expecting much this week as I had Sunday off as well because of the cold. Mon/Tue/Wed were all spotless as far as the diet was concerned, but there was no HIIT. However, I weighed today and got 171.8lbs which is -17lbs from where I started- carb depleted though as I keep saying. Waist was also a new low of 33-33.25". I reckon I have now got 3-4lbs left to get it done and another inch of the waist. The top abs are starting to come through, but there is still the bit of fat bellow the belly button. It is smaller right enough. Resuming HIIT tommorow, so hopefully by the end of the month I'll be around a 32" waist again and have the abs. We'll see. I'm not stopping though. At the end of the day numbers are only a guide, I'll go by the mirror.

Anyway that's all for this week, until next time...

Quagmire

 

[ProDJ26]

good job at least your pushin it

 

[Quagmire911]

Monday

Didn't feel great going in, drank too much again on Saturday. Who knows what happened, but it went well. Here it is:

Bench 60x5 70x5 82.5kgx12- Good, had a few more if I had had a spotter.

Squats 85x5 100x5 115kgx14 (253lbs) PR- No clue what happened here. After 4-5 it was hard. Got to 11, and had to go for 14. No spotter or rack either and the last one was a grinder, legs shaking and everything. Pretty ace though. My fitness is definitely up.

Skullcrushers 30x10 45kgx5 PR 40x8- Good.

Leg press 200x5 250x5 310kgx6 (682lbs) PR- Ace.

And that was all. I was pretty wiped after this. No idea where the PR's came from, but I'm not complaining.

I'll hit the burpees hard the rest of the week, the fat is coming off nicely. Nearly there. Another 3lbs and another inch of the waist should make a big difference.

Until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Quagmire911]

Thursday

Still hadn't fully recovered by yesterday afternoon, probably the weekend drinking was the cause. I decided to come off the diet around dinner last night and pile in the food. Ate a fair amount and took 50,000 iu vitamin d, among other things. Woke up this morning feeling topnotch.

Pretty good session, but nothing to really shout about. Here it is:

Oh press 70kgx1 82.5kgx0 (182lbs)- Got this to around eye/forehead level. It would have been a PR. I'll get it soon.
60x3 60x5

Deads 130x3 150x3 170kgx5 (374lbs)- Pretty happy with this. I think this is the most I have done with this weight, but I did 172.5x6 about a month ago on a stellar day, so no outright PR. Next week I have the option of 180/182.5, I think I'll take 182.5 (400+). I expect to finally rep it. I got a 2nd rep to the knees last year. I'd like to do a triple next week. We'll see.

Kroc rows 48kgDBx22 (106lbs) PR- Good stuff. Thick bar, rest-paused.

Hip machines stackx2x15

And that was all. Pretty pleased with how things are going. Once I can start eating a bit more again things should go well. The diet has been kind of side tracked the last week or two because of this damn cold. Not so much the diet, but more the cardio. I did a half hearted HIIT session last Friday and decided not to do anymore this week so as not to make things worse. Last nights remedy seems to have done the trick though, and I feel fine pwo, so I should be back on track as of today. So probably HIIT tommorow, and maybe Saturday as well.

After last night's feast, I weighed 174.4lbs this morning. That's +2.6lbs on last week. If I did a full day or two I'd excpect another 1.5-3lbs on top of that. Seem's about right. Waist was 33.5". So hopefully I'm now set and can hammer things for the last 3 weeks this month and get most of the way there.

That's all for this week, until next time...

Quagmire

 

[Fuglydude]

Good progress man... Great Kroc row!

Good luck on your next heavy pull attempt. Just try and rest for 3-4 days before hand to let your lower back and posterior chain be 100%! Good luck!