My Log - Road to 1000(+)

[JoshUCF4444]

Hey guys. Currently my total sits at about 750 and my stats are 265 squat, 200 bench, and 275 deadlift. I've been lifting for 2 years and cutting all but 4 months of those 2 years. I didn't know what I was doing especially form wise til about 6 months ago. Haven't got too strong since I've been cutting most of the time. I got fat from gaining 20 lbs in two months the two times I bulked.

I learned what to do and am looking to put a lot of weight on my total during this long 6-10 month bulk I plan on going on. I'm currently half way done at UCF and am a business major.

I'm going to run a version of babylover's SS until my squat increases about 50-80 lbs, as well as my deadlift. I'll take what I can get with bench since it's so much closer to my other lifts. I'm going to squat 3x a week, DL 2x a week every other week and 1x a week the other week, and bench the same as deadlift. I'm going to throw in a light day on the middle squat day after a few weeks. After about two months, I'm gonna start candito's linear program, which I really like the setup of.

I have about two weeks left on my cut til I start bulking again. Currently at 5'5 151. Have so much weight to gain!

Here's today's lifts and I will keep this updated and post vids sometimes

6/22 Monday

LB Squat 215 3x5
Bench 165 3x5
Deadlift 225 2x5
BW Neutral grip pull-ups 10,10,8
DB Row 50 3x10 each arm
Facepulls 3x15

Squats feeling good. Loving my SBD knee sleeves and just got my red and gold Romaleos and they are sexy as fuark. Very excited. Ready to bulk already

[JoshUCF4444]

6/24 Wednesday

Today was my light day for squats. Starting to squat three times a week again will take a week or two getting used to so did 80% of 215 from Monday for 3x5

LB Squat 175 3x5
Standing OHP 105 3x5
Weighted Pull-ups(+10 lbs) 3x6
Close grip pulldown 100 3x10
Face-pulls 60 3x15
Barbell curls 55 3x8

Was an easy day. Feeling weak at the end of this 20 lb cut. At around 1700 calories a day. It's pretty bad. Got to use my Romaleos 2 for first time and they felt great. Didn't even feel the forward lean, felt natural. Ready to hit 225 on Friday. I've only hit 225 5x3, not 3x5 but let's see if I can hit it. Can't wait til I can progress without stalling, a week left til bulk

[JoshUCF4444]

Today went alright. During this summer, I'm working out at a gym in a country club type center and there are ****loads of old people. We're also on the second floor so sometimes they don't let me slam the weights, making me do touch n go deads. I suck at these and my form is really off/lose tightness during touch n go's compared to dead stops. Everything went up and will post a clip of my top set Touch n go DL. Can't wait to go back to UCF with bars that aren't thick and people who aren't old but I'm not gonna complain

BW at 151 lbs

6/26 Friday
LB Squat 3x5@ 225 lbs
Bench(touch n go) 3x5@ 155 lbs
DL(touch n go) 1x5 top set @225
Pull-ups 3x8
Rear delt flies 3x15
Hammer curls 3x8

Squats felt good, bench was meh, deads sucked. Will post a vid a little later

[bradleysegal1]

1700 calories a day sounds brutal brah! In for progress

[JoshUCF4444]

Bro you don't even know lol. Surprised I've kept my strength. I think once I start bulking my progress will be much better cause 1700 isn't anything

[JoshUCF4444]

So today was the start of my second week of squatting 3x/week again. Squats went great and so did bench, deads have been feeling weird lately. out of my groove.

Monday 6/29

LB Squat 3x5 @ 230 lbs (5 lb PR)
Bench 3x5 @ 155 lbs
DL 1x5 ramped up to @ 230 lbs
Pullups 3x8 BW
Close-grip pulldown 3x10 100 lbs
Rear delt flies 3x15 30 lbs

Squat and DL topset videos are uploading to the youtubes now and will be posted soon.

Deads have been really off lately due to a number of factors that I won't use as excuses:

-1700 calories. lol
-Old people in the gym so I have to control the negative. Havent done this since i was doing 135 for reps so I'm not used to letting it down slow. I also have to use mats underneath the plates cause were on 2nd floor and whole floor shakes. I miss my university's gym :/
-This looks too heavy, when i start the bulk ill drop to around 175 lbs and work back up cause my form starts breaking around 195 (roughly 70%)
-Thicker bar than used to, grip tougher
-Hips tight after squat, cant always pull myself into position with completely straight back, especially after first rep or two
-Can't find a stance that I feel comfortable in. Im 5'5 with short arms and short legs. Anything narrow seems bad because my knee seems to cave in before I start the lift and thats not a good position to pull from. I try to go wider but then i cant get my back into position well. Only have vid of sideview but will take vid of front view soon. I'm determined to fix my DL because I finally feel like my squat and bench form are where they need to be!

Vids should be up tonight. Gotta work first then I'll post squat and deads

[JoshUCF4444]

Here's the Squat 230x5 vid. Felt really good formwise. Pitched a little forward on reps 4 and 5 but this is my second session w/ oly shoes and this is a pr at this weight so I'll take it.




Here's the 230x5 DL. Everything feels off ever since I've switched gyms due to lots of factors in my above post. Not getting into position well but will lower weight cause I can point out a hundred things wrong with this set. No worries, do what we can.



Will post a new DL video on Friday with like 165 so you guys can see what my real form looks like cause re-watching this makes me cringe

[JoshUCF4444]

Today is the middle light squat day. Everything was good but **** squatting 3x a week on 1700 Cals while working 35 hours lol.

Wednesday 7/1

LB Squat 2x5 @ 185 (80% of Monday's weight)
OHP 3x5 @ 105
Pull-ups 3x5 @ BW
Close-grip pulldown @100 3x10
Facepulls 3x12 @30

Everything was pretty light today, didn't record much. Gonna go for 235 3x5 squat Friday and go light on deads to finally find my right stance.

[JoshUCF4444]

Hey guys. Training went well today. Hit a 5lb PR on 5rep max on Squats and Deadlifts worked on form some. Recorded all three top sets of each lift.

Friday 7/3

LB Squat 3x5 @ 235lbs
Bench 3x5 @ 160lbs
DL 1x5 @ 195lbs
BW Pull-ups 3x8
Rear delt flies 3x15 @ 30lbs

Squats: Felt good but heavy. Definitely in the 90%'s.



Bench: Felt heavy also but good. I'm starting to prefer paused to touch n go.



Deads: Still working on form a little before this bulk. Only worked up to 195x5. Worked on bending at the knees, then bringing my chest up. I also try to bring hips forward instead of hyperextending. Still cant find a stance width that feels great. With my short ass arms I'm trying to get my hips lower and hopefully that'll help some

[pogioli4]

didn't check bench, but on squats and deads. nothing looks too bad. some things you really want to focus on...
Deads:
-like you mentioned, lower your hips
Squats:
-don't go so low, you're buttwinking
-Keep it controlled and slow on the way down (it'll be easier to get up when things get heavier)

[JoshUCF4444]

Yeah I don't always dive bomb so hard, my hammy was feeling weird so I guess I didn't want to descend slow. Thanks though but I'm barely hitting parallel and im training for powerlifting so idk about cutting depth any more

[JoshUCF4444]

Hey guys!

I'm really liking my current programming as I'm now eating at maintenance for about a week because I'm just tired of dieting. Within a week or two, I will start eating in a 200 surplus. TBH, I'm probably eating in a slight surplus right now.

Squats have been going great! Another 5lb PR. My previous 1rm was 255 (could've got more i think) and now I'm doing 240 3x5 at my lightest BW ever, 151 lbs. I'm leaning forward a little but i've only had these oly shoes a week or two, plus the weight is feeling heavy but its going up. My birthday is tomorrow! Very excited.

Monday 7/6
LB Squat 3x5 @ 240 lbs (5 lb PR)
Bench 3x5 @ 160 lbs
DL 1x5 ramped up to @ 195 lbs (still working on form)
Pullups 3x8 @ BW
Closegrip pulldown @ 100 lbs
Rear delt flies @ 30 lbs

Squat:

Felt great. Wednesday is a light day and going for 245 3x5 Friday!



Bench:

Felt very good. I'm wearing a very baggy shirt so it looks like my back is flat on the bench but I do have an arch. It's a decent one too, doesn't look like it tho.



DL:

Form looks better with same weight than Friday. I setup my stance. Bend at the knees til shins touch and reach down for the bar. Squeeze lats and pull my chest up while dropping my hips a little lower and pulling slack out so I can be in a better position due to my trex arms.



If anyone sees anything they would suggest for anything please chime in. Hope people will start joining once I keep posting and hopefully keep progressing

[JoshUCF4444]

Hey guys.
Had my birthday yesterday. Turned 20 and was very good. Still maintaining right now but I bulked yesterday at 4000 Cals lmao.

Anyway, today was a light day for squats and decided to throw in a chest accessory so I can get pecs for big paychecks. My 80% 2x5 squats felt hard but that's due to me PRing 3 times in the last two weeks. Looking forward to crushing 245 3x5 Friday. No vids as lifts wre light.

Wednesday 7/8

LB Squat 2x5 @ 190 (80% of monday)
OHP 100 3x5
Weighted pull-ups 3x6 @+10lbs
Incline db 3x8 @ 60lb db's
Close grip pulldown 3x10 @ 100lbs
Facepulls 3x15 @ 40 lbs

[JoshUCF4444]

Hey guys. Feeling a little mixed about today's workout but that's okay. Whenever something goes well with one lift, another lift seems to have problems.

Hit 245 3x5 low bar today pretty well which was 5lb PR

Friday 7/10

LB Squat 3x5 @ 245lbs (all time rep PR, heaviest I've gone is 255x1)
Bench 3x5 @ 165lbs****
DL 1x5 ramped to @ 205lbs
Pull-ups 3x8
Facepulls 3x15

So I started too heavy on bench and thought progressing 2x a week was likely. Resetting 15% to 140 to learn tucking elbows better. Will progress 2x a week til stall, then will progress 1x a week for bench.

DL still feels weird. I'm learning that cause I have such short arms and long femurs, I will have to do some extra quad specfic work, ab work, and maybe even try to do some rack or block pulls to help. Not sure how to incorporate this to my current routine but we'll see.

VIDs later after work, 7 hour shift rip. peace guys

[JoshUCF4444]

Hey guys.

Squats went well today. All time PR of 250 3x5. My previous highest squat was 255x1, so my squat programming seems to be doing well.



Dl is still work in progress. Wanna get form high before I get back to what I was deadlifting before. For my DL, I've realized I should start warming up my hips and hammies as I do for my squats. Since i have to use lower hips and use more quads and hip hinging, I've noticed that my hip flexors are sore when I DL from squatting low bar. I feel like warming them up would allow my hip hinge to work better and to get in a better position to pull.



Monday 7/13

LB Squat 3x5 @ 250 lbs (5 lb PR)
Bench 3x5 @ 140 lbs (reset 15%, started too high this cycle)
DL 1x4 @ 185 lbs
Pullups 3x8 @ BW
Incline db 3x8 @ 60lb dbs
Rear delt flies 3x15 @ 30 lbs

All in all good workout. I'm trying to work on my bench form and DL form. Trying to tuck elbows enough and bring bar low on my chest.

[JoshUCF4444]

Hey everyone. Had a nice light squat day as well as getting some hypertrophy in.

Wednesday 7/15

LB Squat 2x5 @ 200 lbs (80% of Monday's 250 3x5)
OHP 105 3x5
Weighted Pull-ups (10lbs) 3x6
Incline db 50's 3x8
Barbell curls 55 lbs 3x10
Rear delt flies 3x15

Good day, nice chest and bicep pump. Ready to hit 255 3x5 squats on Friday and to practice my DL form. Still doesn't feel great but working on it everyday.

[Anthony21]

What's up buddy.

[the540guy]

Another 5'5 148 guy here. I know the trex arm pain. Looks good!