Getting Big in Little China

[pyaarawala]

May 19th Weight: 80.8 kg (177.7 lbs)
May 26th Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 2nd Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 9th Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 16th Weight: 79.3 kg (174.5 lbs)
June 23rd Weight: 79.3 kg (174.5 lbs)

Hmmm, let's try this again.

[pyaarawala]

Workout A

BENCH

182.5x5
182.5x5
182.5x5

ALTERNATING DB CURLS

45x7
45x7
45x6

HAMMER CURLS

35x5
35x4

----------------------------

A small spot in the lower back is in pain while doing squats so I'm gonna lay off those lifts for a bit. This has happened before and just sticking to the presses is what usually fixes the problem.

[pyaarawala]

Workout B

PRESS

125x5
125x5
125x5

I realized I messed up the weight. I was supposed to do 120. So I'll count this as 120x5x3 and just do 122.5 next time.

CHINUPS

BW x 10
BW x 10
BW x 10

I rested quite a long time between sets so I was able to get 3x10. I'll try it again next time with less rest.

[harryboyo]

What weight are you planning to cut to? Are you trying to reach your previous PRs in the lifts while cutting? I have this to look forward to after I’ve fully ran out my LP...

[pyaarawala]

What weight are you planning to cut to? Are you trying to reach your previous PRs in the lifts while cutting? I have this to look forward to after I’ve fully ran out my LP...

I just wanna keep cutting till I'm satisfied with my BF%. At least below 15%. I don't think I can get that high again on a cut, but I'm trying. I'll be happy if I at least maintain my current lifts.

[jshaw5]

Nice job getting the scale going in the right direction. What do you think your bf% is now?

Awesome job going 5 lbs too heavy and still hitting all your reps.

[pyaarawala]

Nice job getting the scale going in the right direction. What do you think your bf% is now?

Awesome job going 5 lbs too heavy and still hitting all your reps.

I really don't know. I look lean at night with the lights on but with no lights during the day I look pretty fat. I'm guessing around 18-20%. I'd rather highball it than lowball it.

And yeah thanks man. It's happened before too where my presses advanced well while the others didn't. And also the others advanced but the presses didn't. lol

[pyaarawala]

Missed Workout A today due to some reasons, but I should be getting that in tomorrow. Especially because I'm excited to bench tomorrow. I just got my Inzer wrist wraps as well as my SS PP 3rd Edition book.

[pyaarawala]

Workout A

BENCH

185x5
185x5
185x5

Used the wrist wraps today and they felt great. Those things really squeeze the **** outta your wrists. Felt pretty strong with them on.

ALTERNATING DB CURLS

45x7
45x6
45x4

Didn't do so well on these this time.

HAMMER CURLS

35x5
35x4

------------------------------

Tried to do some pendlays to see if the back pain was still there and it was. So gotta rest that a bit more. And Ramadan just started so it's gonna get real tough to progress anything.

[GinjaNinja85]

Workout A

BENCH

185x5
185x5
185x5

Used the wrist wraps today and they felt great. Those things really squeeze the **** outta your wrists. Felt pretty strong with them on.

ALTERNATING DB CURLS

45x7
45x6
45x4

Didn't do so well on these this time.

HAMMER CURLS

35x5
35x4

------------------------------

Tried to do some pendlays to see if the back pain was still there and it was. So gotta rest that a bit more. And Ramadan just started so it's gonna get real tough to progress anything.

Nice work Hassan. I thought Ramadan was September? An English boxer called Amir Khan refuses to fight in September because of Ramadan so I just assumed.

[pyaarawala]

Nice work Hassan. I thought Ramadan was September? An English boxer called Amir Khan refuses to fight in September because of Ramadan so I just assumed.

Thanks man. And no dude it just started a couple days ago. I'm actually feeling pretty down now that my lifts are so much lower than before and I'm still well above the body fat % I want to be at. But if I decide to bulk again I'd only be repeating the same things I did the past 2 years. Let's hope Ramadan helps a bit in the fat loss.

[Humanoidlaws]

In. What are you doing in China?

[GinjaNinja85]

In. What are you doing in China?

He lives there lol

[Humanoidlaws]

He lives there lol

I thought he was studying there, that's all.

[GinjaNinja85]

I thought he was studying there, that's all.

Sorry mate was being a bit childish.

[pyaarawala]

In. What are you doing in China?

I was studying medicine here. I just graduated though so I'll be going back for good in August. I'll check out your log too!

Sorry mate was being a bit childish.

Haha that was funny

[pyaarawala]

I thought he was studying there, that's all.

Got a link to your log?

[pyaarawala]

May 26th Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 2nd Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 9th Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 16th Weight: 79.3 kg (174.5 lbs)
June 23rd Weight: 79.3 kg (174.5 lbs)
July 9th Weight: 78.0 kg (171 lbs)

Ramadan weight loss is kicking in! Not to mention I've got a full time job now so things have been pretty hectic.

Workout B

SQUAT

215x3

I felt like I was gonna throw up after the 3rd rep so I stopped. Definitely because I want right after opening my fast with a lot of food. I was so bloated and I could feel the food coming right back up.

PRESS

122.5x5
122.5x5
122.5x5

Don't know why, but these were harder than last time's 125x5x3. Even with the wrist wraps.

CHINS

BW x 5
BW x 5
BW x 3

I felt like crap here too.

----------------------

Gym was closing so I didn't get to do cleans. I'm just glad my lower back doesn't hurt anymore. And going to the gym while fasting is a must. I just get out of work so late so it's tough to work it in but I'm trying.

[pyaarawala]

Another crap workout even though I tried to do it fasted this time. I feel so weak. And I'm down to 171 lbs now since Ramadan started.

[pyaarawala]

Workout A

SQUAT

215x5
215x5
215x5

BENCH

165x5
165x5
165x5

DEADLIFT

245x5

PENDLAY ROWS

145x7
145x6
145x6

STANDING CALF RAISES

315x12
315x12
315x12

ALTERNATING DB CURLS

35x10
35x8
35x3

-------------------------

[harryboyo]

Keep chipping away mate. I’m sure you’ll get back up to your PRs in no time.

[pyaarawala]

Keep chipping away mate. I’m sure you’ll get back up to your PRs in no time.

Thanks dude!

Workout B

SQUAT

220x5
220x5
220x5

PRESS

125x5
125x5
125x4

I knew that last one wasn't gonna go up without some major low back strain.

POWER CLEAN

130x3
130x3
130x3
130x3
130x3

Felt pretty easy for the most part.

CHINS

BW x 10
BW x 8
BW x 4

Rip doesn't say much about rest times for chins in his PP 3rd Edition book. I don't know if I should rest a long time like I do on the bigger lifts or just treat this as a hypertrophy exercise with less rest. I'm sure I could rep out 3x10 if I rest as long as I do between squat sets. Like around 4-5 min.

INCLINE DB BENCH

45x10
50x10
50x10

Last set was a real killer but got an insane pump afterwards. I'm sticking with 10 reps on all accessories for hypertrophy.

------------------------------

I've been reading through PP 3rd Edition and learning a lot of things that I didn't know before. But he doesn't mention anywhere about cutting while strength training. It seems like a cut on strength training is not even a consideration for him, lol. Sometimes I even consider if I should just start from scratch on SS like a total noob and even do GOMAD. lol. I still have a decent amount of chest, belly, and low back fat that I wanna lose. He did mention some guy who went from 175 lb skinny fat (sounds a bit like me) to 220 lbs "lean and muscular". Kinda hard to decide which route to take.

[pyaarawala]

Here's a (****ty) pic from today.



I definitely shrunk but I'm not nearly as fat around the waist and chest as I was before. But before my legs had noticeably much more size, but that's to be expected as I was squatting 330x5 at that time. I gained weight too fast then and maybe I might look better if I do it again, but right. But this happened twice in the past already and I always end up like this. I've posted in the SS forums for advice on what to do. I don't mind asking for advice here in my log but I don't wanna ask in the forums here because I always get a million different kinds of responses.

I was thinking of starting SS from scratch as a complete noob pretty much. Maybe drop my squat down to even 185 ish and work my way up as if I'm a total novice. But let's wait till I get a response from the SS forums.

This is how I looked before:

[GinjaNinja85]

Hello mate. It's been a while! My 2 cents on the situation is that you've lost a good amount of weight and also a fair amount of strength. I don't wanna sound out of line saying this, but I think this is because you've taken your eye off the ball with your graduation and seeing girls. That's life. I think you'll learn a harsh lesson like I did that if you let things outside of lifting affect your lifting and/or eating habits, there is a price to pay. You should be squatting 300 still but it's happened and there's nothing you can do about it now.

I think starting from scratch is unnecessary although perhaps a slight reset and a return to a slight surplus would be my route. You can always throw in a short cut in a couple of months time. My approach at the moment is to gain slowly and then when I level out on my current calories (4000) I'm going to just carry on eating that and training hard and see what happens. It's a lifelong experimentation. We all make mistakes and what is done is done, as long as we learn it's worth it.

On the positive side of things you have lost a lot of body fat and a return to a surplus will take you back to your old numbers nice and quickly and probably at a much lower body weight which will = progress. If you put in consistent work and eat right from here then you'll feel a whole lot different about things in 6-12 weeks.

[pyaarawala]

Hello mate. It's been a while! My 2 cents on the situation is that you've lost a good amount of weight and also a fair amount of strength. I don't wanna sound out of line saying this, but I think this is because you've taken your eye off the ball with your graduation and seeing girls. That's life. I think you'll learn a harsh lesson like I did that if you let things outside of lifting affect your lifting and/or eating habits, there is a price to pay. You should be squatting 300 still but it's happened and there's nothing you can do about it now.

I think starting from scratch is unnecessary although perhaps a slight reset and a return to a slight surplus would be my route. You can always throw in a short cut in a couple of months time. My approach at the moment is to gain slowly and then when I level out on my current calories (4000) I'm going to just carry on eating that and training hard and see what happens. It's a lifelong experimentation. We all make mistakes and what is done is done, as long as we learn it's worth it.

On the positive side of things you have lost a lot of body fat and a return to a surplus will take you back to your old numbers nice and quickly and probably at a much lower body weight which will = progress. If you put in consistent work and eat right from here then you'll feel a whole lot different about things in 6-12 weeks.

Yeah man it has been a while. I lost a lot of motivation lately so it's been affecting how I am. I'm even too lazy to open up others logs as I used to do religiously in the past. I need to see more definition or gain in strength to be back in my motivation zone. And no you're not out of line, what you said is exactly what happened.

And yeah I'm just trying to figure out where to go from here. The cut just isn't working for me. I'm not doing the best job that I could but I'm not completely not trying either. Maybe not from scratch but I think I'll still stick with 3x/week novice training, maybe advanced novice PP. I'll keep my lifts where they are now since they all are pretty much after a reset (except for OHP).

Thanks for the tips bro.

[dk240t]

Yeah man it has been a while. I lost a lot of motivation lately so it's been affecting how I am. I'm even too lazy to open up others logs as I used to do religiously in the past. I need to see more definition or gain in strength to be back in my motivation zone. And no you're not out of line, what you said is exactly what happened.

And yeah I'm just trying to figure out where to go from here. The cut just isn't working for me. I'm not doing the best job that I could but I'm not completely not trying either. Maybe not from scratch but I think I'll still stick with 3x/week novice training, maybe advanced novice PP. I'll keep my lifts where they are now since they all are pretty much after a reset (except for OHP).

Thanks for the tips bro.

Might be good to just regroup, get a steady routine, keep the bodyweight at about the same level, or let it float up a few pounds, and just rebuild the strength. I suspect you'll see some progress a you are able to get strength up close to your peak but at this lower bodyweight. Then you can work either way from there, slow bulk or cut and maintain as much strength as you can.

I dunno man, but I know you won't quit and I know when you put your mind to it you'll be successful.

[pyaarawala]

Might be good to just regroup, get a steady routine, keep the bodyweight at about the same level, or let it float up a few pounds, and just rebuild the strength. I suspect you'll see some progress a you are able to get strength up close to your peak but at this lower bodyweight. Then you can work either way from there, slow bulk or cut and maintain as much strength as you can.

I dunno man, but I know you won't quit and I know when you put your mind to it you'll be successful.

I agree. A lot of times when I bulk I jump the wagon and gain too fast. The strength gains are always great but not the fat gains. The only problem I'm seeing is that I can't imagine eating close to maintenance only and still progressing for a long time on the novice training. Rip says plenty of times in PP that the novice needs to eat maybe 1000-2000 calories above maintenance!

June 2nd Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 9th Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 16th Weight: 79.3 kg (174.5 lbs)
June 23rd Weight: 79.3 kg (174.5 lbs)
July 9th Weight: 78.0 kg (171 lbs)
July 20th Weight: 77.3 kg (170 lbs)

I'm gonna cruise around this weight or try to gain slightly from now on.

[pyaarawala]

Workout A

SQUAT

225x5
225x5
225x5



These are kinda hard. I should stay with a more conservative approach in order to keep my lifts progressing. I'm not sure if I should take some more weight off as a starting point or just keep it as it is and hope the extra calories I'll be intaking from now on does its job on recovery.

BENCH

167.5x5
167.5x5
167.5x5

These were pretty easy. Bar literally feels like a toy with the wrist wraps. Maybe it's just a mental thing though.

DEADLIFT

145x5
165x5
175x5
185x5

I'm trying to find a decent starting point for deadlifts where my form is good. I might've been able to hit 195 or even 205 but I'd rather stick with good form since I've been struggling with form on deadlifts the most out of all my lifts. And with 10 lb jumps I'm sure it'll be up in no time.

INCLINE DB BENCH

50x10
50x10
50x10

STANDING CALF RAISES

295x12
295x12
295x12

Focusing completely on hypertrophy for all the accessories. Meaning very short rest times (~45-60 secs), and 10 reps on each set. This means I had to reduce the weight on the calf raises as well as the incline DB bench.

CURLS

45x10
65x5
55x5
45x8

These were a fail. 45 felt too easy then 65 was too heavy, and so was 55.

-------------------------------

I think I'm going to go with the advanced novice programming, which looks something like this:

Week 1
Sun - Squat/Bench/Deadlift
Wed - Light Squat/Press/Back Extensions/Chins
Fri - Squat/Bench/Power Clean

Week 2
Sun - Squat/Press/Back Extensions/Chins
Wed- Light Squat/Bench/Deadlift
Fri - Squat/Press/Back Extensions/Chins

Week 3

Sun - Squat/Bench/Power Clean
Wed - Light Squat/Press/Back Extensions/Chins
Fri - Squat/Press/Deadlift

And so on.

[dk240t]

I agree. A lot of times when I bulk I jump the wagon and gain too fast. The strength gains are always great but not the fat gains. The only problem I'm seeing is that I can't imagine eating close to maintenance only and still progressing for a long time on the novice training. Rip says plenty of times in PP that the novice needs to eat maybe 1000-2000 calories above maintenance!

June 2nd Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 9th Weight: 80.4 kg (176.7 lbs)
June 16th Weight: 79.3 kg (174.5 lbs)
June 23rd Weight: 79.3 kg (174.5 lbs)
July 9th Weight: 78.0 kg (171 lbs)
July 20th Weight: 77.3 kg (170 lbs)

I'm gonna cruise around this weight or try to gain slightly from now on.

You aren't really a novice though. You are rebuilding. And that kind of calorie overload is really intended for skinny teens I think. Especially those that complain they aren't gaining weight, where if they target 2000 calories over maintenance they'll probably hit 500-750.

And if you can't keep up the gains, add in recovery squat days and microload. We'll make this work.

[GinjaNinja85]

Cool first session. I thought that template was for females or older trainees with recovery issues from pulling every workout?