Out to lunch

[lunchbreak]

Moved some things around this week, strongman events training Saturday. Squat day will be pushed over to Monday on my de-load week.

Ate a little more last night, little carb bloat this morning. 90.7Kg on the scales. So with that in mind here are the deads:


5 x 80Kg
5 x 97.5Kg
3 x 117.5Kg
5 x 147.5Kg
3 x 167.5Kg
10 x 185Kg (1+) >2xBW
8 x 160Kg left it there, too tired.

BBB front squats @80Kg

http://youtu.be/Wq_CscXKWCc


9 and 10 were a bit poor.

[fittofattofit]

Fuarck that was Awesome Doug ... 10 reps all reset and keeping your form right to the last. Can't believe you had the energy to go for 160 x 8 after. Honestly, you should be good for 240 pull easily now

[lunchbreak]

Fuarck that was Awesome Doug ... 10 reps all reset and keeping your form right to the last. Can't believe you had the energy to go for 160 x 8 after. Honestly, you should be good for 240 pull easily now

I did collapse on the ground for a good few minutes recovering after the 10. If we Deadlift on Satuday I might go for a PB but not really sure what to try. I know I could get 230 but if I try 235 I may not have enough in me to get more on another attempt and if I skip that and try and fail at 240 I may not have enough left in me for 235. Hmm.

[doughnutgut]

Looked for a suitable gif for that session up there Doug.

Nothing appropriate found. Monster lifting for a plus 1 day at that. Took me a while to even work out if my gym has that many plates for such a lift.

Just was the answer. BBB FS must of had you blowing ass.

Your an Ox.

[lunchbreak]

BBB FS must of had you blowing ass.

Yup. Longer rests than usual needed and it felt like a struggle but worth doing because I won't be squatting again until Monday.

Interesting looking back at my deadlift videos. That's the same black gym T shirt in them all. See the difference in the way I fill it? My arms, shoulders and chest have shrunk.
Why do we diet again?

[fittofattofit]

I did collapse on the ground for a good few minutes recovering after the 10. If we Deadlift on Satuday I might go for a PB but not really sure what to try. I know I could get 230 but if I try 235 I may not have enough in me to get more on another attempt and if I skip that and try and fail at 240 I may not have enough left in me for 235. Hmm.

Go for 220 and if that flies up, then go for 240. You know you've got 230 but if you pull that you'll be setting yourself up to miss anything higher

[mirroroferised]

http://youtu.be/Wq_CscXKWCc

That was awesome.

[lunchbreak]

That was awesome.

Ta, but I'm continuing to decline at upper body stuff. Getting really annoyed now.

4 x 117.5Kg bench (1+set). Even the 4th was a grind.

Went and hurt my right bicep on pendlays too.

[fittofattofit]

Ta, but I'm continuing to decline at upper body stuff. Getting really annoyed now.

4 x 117.5Kg bench (1+set). Even the 4th was a grind.

Went and hurt my right bicep on pendlays too.

That was still a 10kg jump from last weeks 107.5 x 8 and 117.5 x 4 equates to a 130kg single .. no point in beating yourself up in a week when you deadlifted 185 x 10

I hope that biceps is OK Doug

[lunchbreak]

Should have listened, instead went by John's excitable loading.

230Kg deadlift PB
http://youtu.be/kEsJ7_W-EXs


Tried 240Kg, got it 3 inches off the floor. Need to work on speed pulls I think.

Also did some arm over arm sled pulls and then drags, and some heavy frame carrys.

[mirroroferised]

Damn man, well done!!!

[DocJekyll]

Nice pulls there brother. Mir'n.

[fittofattofit]

230Kg deadlift PB
http://youtu.be/kEsJ7_W-EXs

Congratulations Doug for cracking the 500lb mark! That looked very clean and you kept very good form ... looked like you had more in you even if 240kg on the day was a step too far. Looking very lean and jacked in that vid

[lunchbreak]

So I squatted on Monday.
It was terrible. Not just terrible, I mean really, really terrible.
Maybe Saturday took more out of me than I thought.
150Kg x 2. Yes, 2. Not 3 or 5 or even 6 as it should be, just 2.
So I did it again, and again the number was 2. One more go I thought, yet again number 3 went to the pins.
My head is hung in shame.

[SteveWright1]

you set pretty high standards Lunchbreak
but 150kg for a double repeated twice more, is 6 reps in total at a very good weight for squatting
heavy sessions recently and you are cutting/ dieting - thus probably accumulative fatigue issue and nothing to be ashamed about in my opinion

good job on getting back under the bar and trying again twice more
better any day of the week than calling it finished after the 1st double

[doughnutgut]

Cmon Doug. Get angry!!!

BOOOOOM.

GJDM.

[fittofattofit]

So I squatted on Monday.
It was terrible. Not just terrible, I mean really, really terrible.
Maybe Saturday took more out of me than I thought.
150Kg x 2. Yes, 2. Not 3 or 5 or even 6 as it should be, just 2.
So I did it again, and again the number was 2. One more go I thought, yet again number 3 went to the pins.
My head is hung in shame.

You still got 150 for 6 reps .. even if you got them in separate sets
It's very easy to underestimate how much deads take out of you for squats and visa versa. I almost always alternate bad weeks with good weeks. Your bad weeks are still a lot better than my good weeks

[Flounderbout]

Buggering arsepants. While I had been wondering where you had been, it turned out I had just sausage finger unsubbed myself. And what a time to do it!

Amazing DL Doug - congratulations!!! That is not only a huge lift, but it just looked so smooth - seriously easy. I would have put pile of cash on you pulling 240kg after watching that. On the other hand, those near max DLs take so much out of you - if I try and add even a few pounds after one big lift I usually find I can't shift the damned thing an inch (Andrew did warn you you'd miss the 240kg if you pulled 230kg!). But immense lift anyway, and next time if you load up the 240kg from fresh you will nail it, no doubt at all. Brilliant.

And then of course, turns out I also missed the 150kg x 2 squat. I don't know why you are annoyed about that. To achieve that you need the heart of a lion, a bison's physique, to be good looking and funny, hung like a racehorse, etc etc... LOL. No seriously Andrew has nailed it. A massive DL pull will leave you weak as a kitten for a few days. Or at least that is what always happens to me. I wouldn't sweat it.

Can't believe I was ignorant of all this going on. Please tell me you didn't have a video with Gemma cartwheeling naked through it up just while I was gone too...

[lunchbreak]

Kind words lads. I still feel disappointed in myself but I can see the logic. Those were my 1+ week squats so I feel like I've short changed myself this cycle. I think I may just re-run the same numbers next time since I'm still dieting. Plenty of time for Flounder to cement his lead.

This was how far off the ground 240Kg got. Can't see the 5Kg white mini plates on each end from this angle but they are there, honest!

(skinny legs)

It is de-load week and this time around I think I need to take advantage of it. Everything aches and tendons feel a little sore at elbows, knees etc. We have a friend staying over for a few days so I'll probably skip the gym and cheat a little more on the diet until he's gone.

I've been watching the Commonwealth games weightlifting[1] in various states of awe. When we finally find a suitable house with an outbuilding I can use as a gym I'm definitely getting myself a bumper set. In the meantime I'm looking up Oly coaching facilities in my area but it seems they are a bit thin on the ground. There's a crossfit place not too far away that may work but I don't yet know if they would let me just do the Oly training side or expect me to become a full cult member.

[1] B.B.C. red button or B.B.C. site

[Flounderbout]

This was how far off the ground 240Kg got.

In that case you have got it easily next time. Damn when I miss a DL it doesn't budge at all...

[lunchbreak]

In that case you have got it easily next time. Damn when I miss a DL it doesn't budge at all...

Oh I don't know, I was stuck at the same point with 220Kg for months on end.

[acrawlingchaos]

Holy sh*t man, massive pull. It's right around the corner.... amazing work.

[DocJekyll]

Enjoy the de-load and the dirty foodz! Does the body good.

[fittofattofit]

I'm like Flounder ... if it gets off the floor I usually finish it. That is just below your knees so you only had a few more inches to go before hitting the glutes for lock out. I'd have no doubt you would have got that if you hadn't pulled the 230 beforehand

Cool gym with beer barrels in the corner!

[lunchbreak]

Been a bit busy of late so I haven't had much free time to lurk or post, will have to catch up with people's journals over the weekend.

I've forgotten most of last week's +5 set figures, although I did manage 11x135Kg squats on Friday. I remember this because afterwards my right knee was rather painful. I have a bit of history with this knee, a small lump on the outside that is probably a ganglion cyst or something. I've been ignoring it for a year now but it has been making itself known more and more of late and is actually very painful to the touch. Something with the squatting set it off this time where normally it doesn't affect it at all. Saw the Doc, referred for an ultrasound sometime next month so they can work out what to do with it.

Frustrated with losing both muscle and fat in roughly equal proportion ie. becoming a smaller and weaker version of myself rather than properly lean and ripped I decided to see exactly where I stand on the male scale. I took a blood test for the main male hormones.

The results were interesting but not all that surprising. I'm actually right at the low end of the testosterone scale, within range but still low. My SHBG is low too, although this is presumably why I don't feel like total crap, just generally lacking in drive and recovery ability, as my free test levels would be even more horrible if my SHBG was higher. Unfortunately this also probably explains why I've had high blood pressure for the last 10 years! All the other stuff tested was smack in the middle of normal range.

I don't feel terrible or anything, the decline in "pep" has been a decade long rather than overnight shift. I'm thinking about whether it's worth following up with the docs. I know diet can affect some of these levels and I have cut out much of my carb intake. Perhaps I should just eat normally for a while and get another test in a month's time.

[doughnutgut]

Eating normally and retesting sounds like a,solid plan.

Interesting read and a pita about the knee bobble. The cutting scares the chit out of me for that same reason. I am already weak as fuark and dont want to return to emacitated soon.

[fittofattofit]

I was hoping you weren't injured or anything Doug .. good to hear that you managed the 11 x 135 squats.
My tests are the same as yours except that I have very high SHBG levels so that my free test is rock bottom. I suspect that my high SHBG levels is related to stress and lack of sleep and I don't really watch my nutrition. If it's any consolation you must be doing something right because you've made huge strength and mass gains in just over two years of lifting. One thing you could look at is upping your fat intake if that's not already around 40% of your cals

[lunchbreak]

Eating normally and retesting sounds like a,solid plan.

Interesting read and a pita about the knee bobble. The cutting scares the chit out of me for that same reason. I am already weak as fuark and dont want to return to emacitated soon.

The knee bobble is small, like a peanut size lump. The dog brushing against it is enough to make me wince in pain. I'm terrible at going to the docs about this sort of stuff. My girlfriend usually ends up pushing me into it. She also likes to be present so I don't get fobbed off without an action plan as I have a habit of downplaying issues to medical professionals and giving them the opportunity to do nothing.

Testing again in a few weeks is probably the right way to go, but as it is privately done it does incur a cost. Getting lean and holding onto muscle with low T is never going to be easy.

I was hoping you weren't injured or anything Doug .. good to hear that you managed the 11 x 135 squats.
My tests are the same as yours except that I have very high SHBG levels so that my free test is rock bottom. I suspect that my high SHBG levels is related to stress and lack of sleep and I don't really watch my nutrition. If it's any consolation you must be doing something right because you've made huge strength and mass gains in just over two years of lifting. One thing you could look at is upping your fat intake if that's not already around 40% of your cals

It is actually quite gratifying that even though I've probably had low T levels the whole time I've still managed to make some gains, its just the levels I have probably only support the big(fatter) and strong(ish) or skinny and weak ends of the spectrum. Oh well.

For the record here's the figures from the test sheet:

Test	Result	Units	Range
Follicle Stimulating Hormone	6.2	IU/L	1.5-12.4
Luteinising Hormone	4.9	IU/L	1.7-8.6
Testosterone	8.5	nmol/L	7.6-31.4
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin	14	nmol/L	16-55
Testosterone/SHBG Ratio	60.7	-	24-104
D.H.E.A. Sulphate	6.8	umol/L	0.44-13.4

This test didn't include estradiol or other useful stuff unfortunately. The SHBG result is slightly out of bounds low. The "consultant" on the phone didn't seem overly worried about that unless I was feeling symptomatic which I do but not to any massively life impairing degree.

[doughnutgut]

I see a little low t there but that can,be raised with a higher fatty diet though right?

Brian aka archangel pretty much busted his ass while low t as well iirc.

Was wondering about the test and private or not. But you mentioned private so my thought is answered.

[lunchbreak]

Yeah private, via Medichecks. First place I found on the net. Exact test is here.

Of course I do wonder what my levels might be like in another 10 years if this is where they are now!
I guess I'll end up with completely hairless legs to match my already baby smooth calves!