All Eyez On Me 2.0

[psychodiver9]

Holy accessory volume!

[dopamine72]

Awwww yeahhhhh 24 hour fitness brahhhh

Pls don't ever take a break from front squats again. Nice benching. You hit more than 365 on bench and you'll be ahead of me for now. But im still working on getting all my strength back so watch out.

[fittofattofit]

6/14/13

50 minute dynamic warmup / rehab work

6:55PM - 9:45PM: Lifting

Band-Pulling Squats
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 3
225 x 3
225 x 3

Wide Grip Bench Press all reps paused
185 x 3
225 x 3
260 x 3
260 x 3
280 x 2
280 x 2
280 x 2
280 x 2

CSR
45 x 20
45 x 20
70 x 12
70 x 10

Hammerstrength Isolateral Row
90 x 20
90 x 20
140 x 15
140 x 15

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
75 x 25
150 x 8
135 x 10
135 x 10

1-Arm Hammerstrength Isolateral Low Row weight is per side
45 x 20 per arm
70 x 20 per arm
90 x 15 per arm

Cable Rope Face Pulls
50 x 20
60 x 20
50 x 20
50 x 20

Machine Preacher Curls
65 x 15
80 x 15
95 x 12
110 x 10
110 x 9 -> 80 x 5 -> 50 x 10 -> 40 x 16 drop set

Decline Leg Raises
10
10
10
10

Hyperextensions
BW x 25
+45 x 18
+90 x 11
+90 x 9
+90 x 9
+90 x 9
+90 x 9
+90 x 10

Thoughts

Back felt really fatigued this session for some reason

6/17/13

45 minute dynamic warmup / rehab work

Front Squats
95 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 3
155 x 3
185 x 2
185 x 2
185 x 2

Band-Pulling Squats
155 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5

Leg Extensions
100 x 20
130 x 20
160 x 18
190 x 15
190 x 12
190 x 12
190 x 12
190 x 12

Lying Leg Curls
100 x 15
120 x 12
140 x 8
140 x 8

Seated Leg Curls
85 x 20
130 x 15
160 x 12
160 x 15

Bad Girl Machine
5th pin x 30
7th pin x 25
7th pin x 20
6th pin x 30

Leg Press
2pps x 20
2pps x 20
3pps x 10

Wide-Grip Bench Press all reps paused
185 x 3
225 x 3
225 x 3
260 x 2
260 x 2
280 x 1
280 x 1
280 x 1
280 x 1

YWTLs
4 sets of 20

Thoughts

Decided to try out some front squats today for the first time in like year. Everything went better than expected For the first time ever I was actually able to get into a clean position and not do the bodybuilder-style crossarm form. Interestingly enough, the front squats didn't really aggravate my groin at all, and I was going ATG on the top sets. After doing the front squats, I also found I was able to get into a much better back squat position and get my arms in way closer, like the front squats had helped stretch out my delts a lot or something weird.

only 1 more bench session after this before I'm due to max out. Interestingly enough, I'm due to peak on bench around Saturday, and there happens to be a PL comp at my PL gym on saturday also. I didn't wanna pay $75 to do bench-only though, so I won't be participating

On bench I played around with keeping my feet tucked back, on my toes, rather than having flat feet. Didn't seem to be any real loss of strength, however 280 is pretty light for me so who knows if it would be the same with heavier sets. Gonna play around with this further after my max out day and see if it helps me keep my butt down.

Two great sessions there Zack ..... really consolidating that benching and getting a load of good accessory work for the back and legs. nice work on those fronts getting up to 185 ATG. I don't know why you think cross-arm is more BB style ... I always found a clean grip much more natural for FSs (at least until I destroyed my RC). When you think about it ... to get into a clean grip under load you have to get your humerus into external rotation at the shoulder, so freeing this up should make it easier for you getting your grip in closer. It's tight external rotation that usually limits you getting your hands in close. It looked like a really good leg workout despite the groin issues
I'm really keen to see what your 1RM on the bench is now

[adamsz]

Holy accessory volume!

gotta do something to maintain some muscle mass since I can't really squat/DL ATM amirite

Awwww yeahhhhh 24 hour fitness brahhhh

Pls don't ever take a break from front squats again. Nice benching. You hit more than 365 on bench and you'll be ahead of me for now. But im still working on getting all my strength back so watch out.

My dude. Good to see you back man. Haha yeah been goin to 24 a lot more lately since I'm not squatting/DLing with the team at the PLing gym. I've also found that I'm generally able to get a lot more done at 24 because I don't chat/have to spot as much as I do when I'm at the PLing gym, plus the cardio bunnies at 24 are always a plus

I've never actually done front squats consistently before, ever. On sheiko they usually have them programmed in just once a month, so I did them maybe 7 times last year, but tried them out on a whim the other day. They're uncomfortable as hell with the bar all up in your throat and what not, but they're just so damn badass. Also given my spinal situation they're probably much better for me compared to back squats TBH.

And hoping for that 365 bench on Friday/Saturday/Sunday/whenever I decide to max out. Stay tuned.

Two great sessions there Zack ..... really consolidating that benching and getting a load of good accessory work for the back and legs. nice work on those fronts getting up to 185 ATG. I don't know why you think cross-arm is more BB style ... I always found a clean grip much more natural for FSs (at least until I destroyed my RC). When you think about it ... to get into a clean grip under load you have to get your humerus into external rotation at the shoulder, so freeing this up should make it easier for you getting your grip in closer. It's tight external rotation that usually limits you getting your hands in close. It looked like a really good leg workout despite the groin issues
I'm really keen to see what your 1RM on the bench is now

When I say BBing style RE the front squats, what I mean is that when you see bodybuilders doing them in training videos, 95% of the time they do them with the crossarm variation and not the clean grip variation. Nothing to do with what the movement itself is

[adamsz]

6/19/13

45 minute dynamic warmup / rehab work

6:30PM - 9:10PM: Lifting

Rackpulls
135 x 20
185 x 16
225 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10

BO BB Rows
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10

BO 1-Arm DB Rows
80's x 10/arm
90's x 10/arm
100's x 10/arm

Seated D-Bar Rows
90 x 12
120 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
120 x 12
135 x 10
135 x 10
135 x 10

Hammerstrength Isolateral Front Lat Pulldown
90 x 15
180 x 8
140 x 10
140 x 9

Rear Delt Cable Crossovers
5th pin x 20
6th pin x 12
6th pin x 11
6th pin x 12
6th pin x 12
6th pin x 12
6th pin x 12
6th pin x 12

Machine Preacher Curl
80 x 15
90 x 12
90 x 10
90 x 10
90 x 8

Bench Press varying grips, all reps paused
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
225 x 3
260 x 2
260 x 2
260 x 2

Decline Lying Leg Raises
8
10
10
10

Hyperextensions
BW x 25
BW x 25
BW x 25
BW x 25

Cable Rope Pull Throughs for dem glutes
80 x 15
90 x 15
100 x 12
100 x 12

about 50 minutes mobility work after

Thoughts

Last deload bench session before maxing out sometime in the next week. 365 soon hopefully

Did the rackpulls from about mid knee cap in the power rack, which doesn't seem to bother my glute at all unlike lower-height block pulls.

Can't wait to try some more front-squatting out soon.

[fittofattofit]

Great work on the rack-pulls Zack and great that that's not tweaking the glute. Hypers OK with the glute as well? What sort of range do you do for those?
In for the vid of the 365 bench (hopefully)

[adamsz]

Great work on the rack-pulls Zack and great that that's not tweaking the glute. Hypers OK with the glute as well? What sort of range do you do for those?
In for the vid of the 365 bench (hopefully)

Thanks Fit. The hypers don't do anything at all to the glute which is interesting. I suspect it's because the heaviest I ever go on them is 135lbs, which probably isn't enough weight to aggravate anything. When you say what kind of range fo you mean ROM?

[adamsz]

5/21/13

Was supposed to peak on bench friday/saturday/sunday from Sheiko 32 but I think between cutting / hitting my back heavy on Wednesday I dun goofed hard. I would have waited until Saturday but my PL gym had a competition that day so I wouldn't have been able to do it there (and didn't wanna pay like $75 to do bench-only when I'm only 4lbs shy of 198).

3 weeks ago I hit 355 and failed 365 about half way up. Today I hit 335 and it felt wayyy slower than the 335 3 weeks ago. Tried to make the jump to 365 after that, but couldn't barely even get it off my chest... Not even gonna upload the 365 fail because it's depressing to watch lol.

335 3 weeks ago:



335 tonight:



after that they were rearranging the gym for the comp so I ended up going to 24 Hour Fitness where I did some front squats, and after on a whim decided to mess around with some feet tucked benching for the first time. Managed to hit a solid 335 with the new foot arrangement:



Front Squats
95 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3


Thoughts

I've never been red-lighted for butt-lift in the 2 comps that I've done, but I feel like it would be good for me to switch over to the feet tucked so it's not even an issue and I feel like I can a slightly better a better arch in that position. Considering I hit 95% of my 1RM with it I don't think it should take too long for it to catch up.

Pros of the day:
- learned new foot positioning on bench
- no butt lift
- lightest I've ever been hitting 335 (I've hit it at 210 and 216lbs in competition, and around 210 in the gym, was probably around 206 gym weight today)

Cons of the day:
- Thought I for sure had a 365 bench in me for this peaking cycle
- didn't rest up properly
- I'm a retard

[fittofattofit]

Thanks Fit. The hypers don't do anything at all to the glute which is interesting. I suspect it's because the heaviest I ever go on them is 135lbs, which probably isn't enough weight to aggravate anything. When you say what kind of range fo you mean ROM?

Yeah ROM ... I used to do weighted hypers and would go from basically a 90 degree dead hang down in the roman chair to as high as i could get by hyperextending the lumbar arch. Now when I do that my right facet joint clicks and the glute spasms but if I keep the tension on and drop to 45 degrees and don't arch quite as high it stays OK. Just wondering how you do it

[fittofattofit]

5/21/13

Was supposed to peak on bench friday/saturday/sunday from Sheiko 32 but I think between cutting / hitting my back heavy on Wednesday I dun goofed hard. I would have waited until Saturday but my PL gym had a competition that day so I wouldn't have been able to do it there (and didn't wanna pay like $75 to do bench-only when I'm only 4lbs shy of 198).

3 weeks ago I hit 355 and failed 365 about half way up. Today I hit 335 and it felt wayyy slower than the 335 3 weeks ago. Tried to make the jump to 365 after that, but couldn't barely even get it off my chest... Not even gonna upload the 365 fail because it's depressing to watch lol.

335 3 weeks ago:



335 tonight:



after that they were rearranging the gym for the comp so I ended up going to 24 Hour Fitness where I did some front squats, and after on a whim decided to mess around with some feet tucked benching for the first time. Managed to hit a solid 335 with the new foot arrangement:



Front Squats
95 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3


Thoughts

I've never been red-lighted for butt-lift in the 2 comps that I've done, but I feel like it would be good for me to switch over to the feet tucked so it's not even an issue and I feel like I can a slightly better a better arch in that position. Considering I hit 95% of my 1RM with it I don't think it should take too long for it to catch up.

Pros of the day:
- learned new foot positioning on bench
- no butt lift
- lightest I've ever been hitting 335 (I've hit it at 210 and 216lbs in competition, and around 210 in the gym, was probably around 206 gym weight today)

Cons of the day:
- Thought I for sure had a 365 bench in me for this peaking cycle
- didn't rest up properly
- I'm a retard

I actually saw that 335 vid with your feet tucked yesterday and immediately noticed that your ass was rock solid on the bench in that position. That lift looked excellent to me and that position should give you a really good platform to bump your max
I also reckon the weight loss has got you looking bigger at 204/206 than you did at 213/216

[AirForceV]

335 looking pretty easy with your teet f ucked hehee

[adamsz]

Yeah ROM ... I used to do weighted hypers and would go from basically a 90 degree dead hang down in the roman chair to as high as i could get by hyperextending the lumbar arch. Now when I do that my right facet joint clicks and the glute spasms but if I keep the tension on and drop to 45 degrees and don't arch quite as high it stays OK. Just wondering how you do it

I basically go from a deadhang at the bottom and end in a perfectly neutral spinal position at the top. I used to hyper extend at the top at let the lower back do all the work, but for the last few months I've been keeping the spine neutral and really squeezing the glutes and trying to get them to do the majority of the work now.

I actually saw that 335 vid with your feet tucked yesterday and immediately noticed that your ass was rock solid on the bench in that position. That lift looked excellent to me and that position should give you a really good platform to bump your max
I also reckon the weight loss has got you looking bigger at 204/206 than you did at 213/216

Thanks Andrew. Think I'm gonna stick with the feet tucked and see how it plays out.

335 looking pretty easy with your teet f ucked hehee

well well well look who it is

[dopamine72]

I see the difference in speed/form/technique on the benching. But its not much. Just looks like you were more "peaked" in the first one. Up your cals and keep doing what you're doing so I can see a 365

[adamsz]

6/24/13

1 hour mobility work / dynamic warmup

Band-Pulling Squats
45 x 5
85 x 5
105 x 5
135 x 5
150 x 5
170 x 5

Bench Press feet tucked, all reps paused
135 x 5
170 x 5
205 x 5
240 x 5
275 x 5

Pendlay Rows
75 x 5
90 x 5
110 x 5
125 x 5
145 x 5

Cable Rope Facepulls
2 sets

YWTLs
5 sets

30 minutes mobility work after

Thoughts

I've decided I need to do some kind of 5 x 5 progression for my squats starting with light weight. Decided to try the Madcows 5 x 5 variation, and plugged in a 185 x 5 squat max, 295 x 5 bench max, 155 x 5 row max. Squats felt fine, and I'll probably stick with this progression on them.

I thought I would be alright to bench today because I didn't really feel fatigued from maxing out on Friday. Once I was under the bar though it was a different story - body felt pretty beat up and creaky when doing the reps. Did all the prescribed reps for the day, but I think I need to take the rest of the week off from any pressing exercises. If you see me doing any press exercises this week, plz feel free to talk chit and call me out!

Pendlay rows felt weird. I've done them a few times in the past, but they've never felt right. I always feel like my arms are doing all the work and my back doesn't feel it, even with the mental cues like "pull with the elbows not hands".

Not sure how I'm gonna schedule other programming. Might end up going back to Sheiko for benching after I give myself a little break, it seems like my bench has always responded best to the high volume and honestly Madcows really isn't that much volume - even though you do bench 3x/week - because you only do 1 top set each day compared to Sheiko where you do like 5 usually.

[fittofattofit]

How did you feel with the squats today? Any twinges at all? I know they're light for you but if it's pain free then I'm sure you'll fly through the progression
The break from benching sounds like a good move. You could do some more work on the rows --- I wonder if the you should up the weight for the Pendlays ... your arms are very strong so they can handle rowing that weight easily whereas a higher weight might force you to recruit the lats

[Mitch666]

So are you just gonna be lifting 3 days a week now?

[BabyOilBrah]

madcows...intredasting.

[adamsz]

I see the difference in speed/form/technique on the benching. But its not much. Just looks like you were more "peaked" in the first one. Up your cals and keep doing what you're doing so I can see a 365

Not upping cals anytime soon... cutting down to 198ish and then planning on eating at maintenance for awhile (currently around 200). If I can squat/dead heavy I don't see any reason for me to be gaining weight IMO.

How did you feel with the squats today? Any twinges at all? I know they're light for you but if it's pain free then I'm sure you'll fly through the progression
The break from benching sounds like a good move. You could do some more work on the rows --- I wonder if the you should up the weight for the Pendlays ... your arms are very strong so they can handle rowing that weight easily whereas a higher weight might force you to recruit the lats

They felt fine overall. Interesting thought on the rows though, maybe I should give that a shot. I think I just have an overall bad MMC with my back muscles though.

So are you just gonna be lifting 3 days a week now?

Been only lifting 3x/week for awhile now brah. Now that I just quit my job I might go in and hit more conditioning work though, we'll see.

madcows...intredasting.

ya buddy

[adamsz]

5/26/13

15 minute dynamic warmup

5:50PM - 6:50PM: lifting

Band-Pulling Squats
85 x 5
105 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5

did a few sets of front squats just messin around

Deadlifts conventional
135 x 5
135 x 5
150 x 5
170 x 5

KB Chain Face Pulls w/ 26lb KB
10
10
10
10

Lat Pulldowns
4 sets

Thoughts

Short and sweet. Skipping benching the rest of the week to let my upper body recover a bit. Tried some conventional pulls again with 185 x 5 as my max in the Madcows spreadsheet, they felt fine, even at the lockout, but it's obviously ridiculously light weight.

[fittofattofit]

5/26/13


Deadlifts conventional
135 x 5
135 x 5
150 x 5
170 x 5
.

Those deads are kgs right?

Jk ... I think it's a really good idea to start light and to slowly build up past the point where the deads are currently painful. If you try to push the weight too quickly your glute is going to be quick to bite back at you

[adamsz]

Those deads are kgs right?

Jk ... I think it's a really good idea to start light and to slowly build up past the point where the deads are currently painful. If you try to push the weight too quickly your glute is going to be quick to bite back at you

lmao yeah they should be but they aren't. I'm weak as fuuuuu. I really hope starting over basically and slowly building it back up will allow me to properly rehab my groin/glute and still be able to progressively add weight to the bar.




Anyways, went to the gym yesterday with my copy of Supple Leopard and tried out some new mobility stuff and did my groin rehab work.

I have to admit, I've kind of been half-assing the rehab work to a certain extent: I've only been doing it on workout days for the most part, but now that I quit my job and have a lot more free time that needs to change. I need to be doing this stuff every fukin day without exception. Took a few videos of 2 of the rehab things my chiro gave me to do.

Advanced Deadbug KB Variation:



KB Goblet Squat Flossing:



Went out last night with 100+g carbs to spare for the day, got yucky. Came home, had a protein shake and serving of peanut butter because it fit my macros. This is a huge improvement over before I started learning more about nutrition and dieting - before when I would go out drinking I would always eat a burrito or something like that afterwards. Woke up this morning at a new low - 199.8 Finally broke 200.

Here are some progress pics:

216 on left, with pump, 199.8 on right, no pump:



215 on left with pump, 202 on right no pump:



202 no pump:

[psychodiver9]

Looking juicy brah

[fittofattofit]

Looking a lot leaner and you can really see that extra definition in the BDB pose and around the delts/bis

I commented on your 'butt flossing' vid on you tube ... great depth and looks good. Mirin' those thick-ass legs

[adamsz]

Looking juicy brah

Looking a lot leaner and you can really see that extra definition in the BDB pose and around the delts/bis

I commented on your 'butt flossing' vid on you tube ... great depth and looks good. Mirin' those thick-ass legs

Thank You Kind Sirs


5/29/13 Madcows Wk1D3 (minus bench) + back/biceps

30 minute dynamic warmup / groin rehab protocol

6:00PM - 7:40PM: Lifting

Band-Pulling Squats
85 x 5
105 x 5
135 x 5
150 x 5
175 x 3
135 x 8

Pendlay Rows
75 x 5
90 x 5
105 x 5
125 x 5
145 x 3
110 x 8

Pullups
5
5
8
5
shoulders were feeling creaky on these, both on wide and neutral grips

1-Arm Hammerstrength Isolateral Rows
45 x 20 per arm
70 x 20 per arm
switch to 2 arms
180 x 10
180 x 10
180 x 10
180 x 10

Wide-Grip Seated Cable Row
75 x 12
90 x 12
105 x 10
120 x 10

Preacher Curl Machine
80 x 12
80 x 12
80 x 12
80 x 12

Standing Alt. DB Hammer Curls
17.5's x 20 per arm
25's x 12 per arm
30's x 10 per arm
30's x 10 per arm

Hyperextensions
BW x 25
BW x 25
BW x 25
BW x 25

Banded KB Romanian DLs band hooked around waist and attached to post behind me
35 x 12
44 x 12
53 x 12
53 x 12
nice MMC with the glutes on these

Thoughts

I think my endurance is starting to pick up a little bit with the weight loss. On all accessory movements I've been able to keep the rest times down to a minute, whereas compared to when I was 215-220lbs I remember being too gassed to get back to the next set on many accessories with just a minute break.

[fittofattofit]

20lbs is a lot of extra weight to carry around when it's not lean mass ... I notice a huge difference in my general fitness from when I was 10lbs heavier and when I was 20lbs heavier I could barely walk a flight of stairs without getting puffed
That was a lot of sets and plenty of reps
I like those banded KB RDLs ... How did the glute feel today?

BTW, you've given up the waiting job .. have you got something else lined up and what area of work are you looking at? Your degree was languages (Japanese) and marketing?

[Mitch666]

yu no bench???


But holy added volume, you can definitely handle it though. I added a decent amount of bbing stuff into madcows and still did great, if you have a high work capacity there's no reason not to use it

[adamsz]

20lbs is a lot of extra weight to carry around when it's not lean mass ... I notice a huge difference in my general fitness from when I was 10lbs heavier and when I was 20lbs heavier I could barely walk a flight of stairs without getting puffed
That was a lot of sets and plenty of reps
I like those banded KB RDLs ... How did the glute feel today?

BTW, you've given up the waiting job .. have you got something else lined up and what area of work are you looking at? Your degree was languages (Japanese) and marketing?

Yeah I definitely feel faster in general and more energetic. I remember when I was 220lb I would seriously have to hold my breathe to tie my shoes lmao. Funny how that works - the heavier you are the stronger you are at heavy compound lifts like bench, squat, etc., but the more your general fitness and health sucks.

Glute felt fine for the most part. Felt a tiny twinge when doing the hypers and RDLs, but enough to the point where it made me think I needed to stop. It's really more just on the lockout of DLs with with moderate to heavy weight that it really bothers it.

My degree was in East Asian Studies focusing on Japan/Japanese. TBH don't think I'll ever do anything with it unfortunately... like 90% of the people who got my degree went to Japan/China/Korea to teach English which just isn't really something that im interested in unfortunately. In the 2 years I've been out of school also I've forgotten a tremendous amount of Japanese as well... probably just gonna have to chalk it up as another one of those useless liberal arts degrees

Not really sure what I'm gonna do next. I've managed to save about 50k in the last 2 years between living at home, keeping costs down, and investing wisely in the stock market, so money isn't exactly an issue at the moment. I was thinking about going to the local community college to do a 6 month program that prepares you to take all the different Personal Trainer certifications, however one of my good friends who is in school to become a Physical Therapist (currently an exercise science major) was in town this weekend and he kind of talked me out of it - his rational was basically I would just end up spending a boat load of money the classes, textbooks, not to mention the actual test itself, which is something like $200-300, when I could just study for it on my own using free materials online. Only problem is I'm the type of person who does very poorly without lots of structure. Put me in school and I'll get straight A's and work my ass off, but tell me I have to take a test in 6 months and I gotta study on my own and I will procrastinate it to the last moment or just blow it off.

Something else I was thinking about was maybe trying to get a job at UPS. They have great pay, benefits, and insurance, and you can work your way up to a delivery driver in a year or 2. The thing that appeals to me about that job is that it is physical and it's kinda just like getting paid to do GPP in real life lol. I don't know if I'll ever be able to have a 9-5 office job. I seriously can't stand that chit. The only way I got through college was by taking a butt-load of adderal lol.

I think it would be awesome to own a gym some day, however the market in Portland is too small/saturated already that it's just not really realistic.

such is life of a mid-20's kid with no real direction in life, /rant

yu no bench???

But holy added volume, you can definitely handle it though. I added a decent amount of bbing stuff into madcows and still did great, if you have a high work capacity there's no reason not to use it

Ended up trying to max out last week. Started Madcows benching the following Monday and my joints/tendons were just feeling too damn beat up so I decided I needed to take a week off from benching to let everything reset. Haven't really taken more than like 5 days off benching in the last 9 months or some chit, so it's definitely long overdue.

How long did you run Madcows for? Starting stats - end stats?

[Mitch666]

Only ran madcows 7 weeks, I ended because I was deloading and starting my cut probably could have got more out of it

Bench was by far the best results (used incline not ohp on wednesdays) 255 to 275
Squat (be prepared to lol) I had hit 305x1, I ended up with 285x5, 295x3 and hit 315x1 right after the 295x3 so I think I would've had 15+ pounds more if I went in just to max out (315 was like @8.5 rpe)

and my deadlift stayed the same pretty much, 455. It's very disproportionate to my squat so I needed to bring my squat up anyway (I wish I would've hit a higher 1rm on squats though, my rep strength shot way up though). My weight was constant at 215 this whole time, it taught me frequency is great for bench and squat, now if I could just do that without stalling out my deadlift

[fittofattofit]

Yeah I definitely feel faster in general and more energetic. I remember when I was 220lb I would seriously have to hold my breathe to tie my shoes lmao. Funny how that works - the heavier you are the stronger you are at heavy compound lifts like bench, squat, etc., but the more your general fitness and health sucks.

It's not funny about tying the shoelaces ... the sad thing is that it's true! Throw that in with achy knees when I bend my knee and if a shoelace is undone I have to seriously consider whether I bother trying to re-tie it

Glute felt fine for the most part. Felt a tiny twinge when doing the hypers and RDLs, but enough to the point where it made me think I needed to stop. It's really more just on the lockout of DLs with with moderate to heavy weight that it really bothers it.

It sounds like it's slowly getting better. In a way this strain has come as a warning that you need to work on flexibility more and while it may take 6 months to work through it you'll be a stronger and more flexible lifter afterwards

My degree was in East Asian Studies focusing on Japan/Japanese. TBH don't think I'll ever do anything with it unfortunately... like 90% of the people who got my degree went to Japan/China/Korea to teach English which just isn't really something that im interested in unfortunately. In the 2 years I've been out of school also I've forgotten a tremendous amount of Japanese as well... probably just gonna have to chalk it up as another one of those useless liberal arts degrees

Not really sure what I'm gonna do next. I've managed to save about 50k in the last 2 years between living at home, keeping costs down, and investing wisely in the stock market, so money isn't exactly an issue at the moment. I was thinking about going to the local community college to do a 6 month program that prepares you to take all the different Personal Trainer certifications, however one of my good friends who is in school to become a Physical Therapist (currently an exercise science major) was in town this weekend and he kind of talked me out of it - his rational was basically I would just end up spending a boat load of money the classes, textbooks, not to mention the actual test itself, which is something like $200-300, when I could just study for it on my own using free materials online. Only problem is I'm the type of person who does very poorly without lots of structure. Put me in school and I'll get straight A's and work my ass off, but tell me I have to take a test in 6 months and I gotta study on my own and I will procrastinate it to the last moment or just blow it off.

Something else I was thinking about was maybe trying to get a job at UPS. They have great pay, benefits, and insurance, and you can work your way up to a delivery driver in a year or 2. The thing that appeals to me about that job is that it is physical and it's kinda just like getting paid to do GPP in real life lol. I don't know if I'll ever be able to have a 9-5 office job. I seriously can't stand that chit. The only way I got through college was by taking a butt-load of adderal lol.

I think it would be awesome to own a gym some day, however the market in Portland is too small/saturated already that it's just not really realistic.

such is life of a mid-20's kid with no real direction in life, /rant

I have to say that every lifter wants to be a trainer, but then you start to turn your hobby into a job and it becomes a chore. Don't forget that when you are a trainer, every client is your boss. I think it's better to get a job that pays well and to use the flexibility in time and money that a good job gives you to enjoy your training. When you're older and have a family having money and time with your job certainly makes a difference. You're obviously a smart guy and you've got the commitment to work hard so why settle for UPS when you could have a professional qualification. I know where you're coming from with languages and liberal arts but physical therapy is a great profession that you can skew in the interests of sports medicine if you wish. It's a tough degree to get into in most places but very rewarding. Did you consider hotel management? Hard work but a strong work ethic pays off and your languages will come of use there. With most jobs you should still be able to get in a couple of hours training most days ... it's just a matter of prioritising your time and you've been doing that with your waiting job and odd hours anyway. Good luck with whatever you decide though


And do you know that Portland is city with close links to Adelaide where I live ... similar size city. Greeny state. Sees itself as a tech/education hub. Our government looked at Portland as an guide for how to build a good public transport system. People in the PNW is very similar to those in Adelaide and Melbourne

[AirForceV]

Least you got 50 k in savings brah I got about 1.50$ to my name.

lmao