Time and Patience

[mirroroferised]

I want to journal properly. Last time I tried this I was in a pretty ****ty place. I had just quit drinking, was eating everything in sight and not following a real structured plan, just flip flopping between plans and going to the gym as often as I could. With much thanks to ironwill I've learned a lot about counting calories, tracking macros and weighing my food. I've spent the last 7 weeks eating between 2300-2400 cals/day with my protein at 180 grams minimum. I went from 192 to 181 lbs, not sure about body fat. I know I can see a lot of difference in my appearance though.

For this next 3 months I'm going to be experimenting a little and upping my calories to see how I respond. Every June I do a couple of charity bike rides and was talked into a duathlon this year as well by a friend of mine which is also in June. Nothing to major for the duathlon (2km-20km-5km) but the other bike rides are quite long so I'll have to start getting some real training rides in between now and then.

Goals
I don't want my lifts to get any weaker than they have been in this deficit which I'm a little concerned will happen since I'm upping my cardio over the next 3 months. I'm going to up my calories again but track them this time and re-evaluate every 4 weeks based on how I look and feel.

Plan
I found a 5x5 program that seems like it will be good.

Workout A

Back Squats 5x5
Chin-Ups or Pull-Ups 5x5
Dips or Bench Press 5x5
Wrist Work 2x10
Calves 2x15-20

Workout B

Front Squats 5x5
Rows 5x5
Standing Press 5x5
Deadlifts 3x5 (2 warm-up sets and 1 "stabilizer set")
Wrist Work 2x10
Calves 2x15-20

Days between workouts will be mostly cycling with some running but not as much since my running in June is only 2km and then 5km. Calories are going to be between 2800-2900 for the first 4 week evaluation period with a minimum 181 grams of protein. This is from iifym for a textbook bulk.

Macros are:
Protein:181
Fat:81.5
Carbs:351.5

Not liking this picture at all but it's a good one to keep up in here at least to remind me I still have a lot more muscle to gain and some fat to work on again soon.

Anyway, yesterday was my last day on my previous program so today will be cardio. Tomorrow I'm starting the 5x5 program.

[mirroroferised]

Not off to a great start with diet today. Protein way too low today. My son's 3rd birthday today and went out to Boston Pizza for dinner. I didn't make the best choices I guess



Got in a 25 minute bike ride today outside for the first time this season. Quite windy today but a beautiful sunny day. Went out for a 20 minute walk after dinner as well. Not a great day in terms of a fitness but a great day with my family so I'll take it

[mirroroferised]

Great workout this morning. I definitely felt stronger today than I have in the last couple of months.

Back Squats: 170x5x5

These felt really good but I'm wondering something though. I'm recently over a lower back injury and have been using a belt a lot but trying to get away from it. I did a couple of my sets today with it and felt I was going deeper into the squat. This last set I did without and felt I wasn't get as deep as I should be. I should have taped a set with the belt as well for comparison but didn't today. I will next time. Anyway, going up on Wednesday won't be a problem.

Flat Bench: 150x5x5

These felt great as well and the weight wasn't too bad at all. I should have no problem progressing at this weight over the next 3 months.

Chin-ups: 25 reps (5x3x3x2x1x2x2x3x2x2)

I'm absolutely horrible at these. I used to use the assistance machine but have decided to just do as many as I can in between sets and continue to work my way up in reps. I'm getting there. A couple months ago I couldn't do 5 in one go.

Hit a spin class after my workout. 30 minutes of light to moderate resistance.

Diet has been much better so far today. I missed eating more. I will just have to keep an eye on it to make sure I don't go out of control like I did a few months ago.

Wrist Curls: 45x12 l 65x12

Standing Calves: 220x20 l 220x20

Ended up being a great day. My 2 girls went out on their bikes and I went for a light jog with them tonight. Calories were pretty much spot on too.

[mirroroferised]

2 months today will be the first of my charity bike rides this June. It's the Becel Ride for Heart and we'll be doing the 50 km route again this year with a goal of finishing in under 2hour and 15 minutes which shouldn't be a problem as long as it's not too windy. There's a couple of hills but it's on a closed off highway so it's a really smooth ride and lots of fun.

I got out for an easy 10 km ride today and finished in just under 30 minutes.

Diet was good today. Calories slightly above my goal but I'm not sweating it yet. These quest bars are living up to the hype lately for them. They're amazing. I was out for awhile earlier so picked up a couple and that was an easy snack while shopping. Love the cookies and cream and the cookie dough.




Weights tomorrow morning.

[mirroroferised]

Great workout today. I tried front squats and failed miserably. I did a couple sets with just the bar as part of my warmup and moved onto back squats. I'll keep trying them and adding a bit of weight in but there's no way I'm going to get a decent workout with them for quite a while. I felt like I was going to fall over cradling the bar and also with my hands under the bar too. I guess it'll have to be a supplemental exercise for now.

Squats Barx5 l 135x5 l 155x5 l 175x5x3

I still feel a lot more confident with the belt on. I'm not sure if I supposed to be going even deeper than this but it felt like it was about as far as I could go.



Rows 95x5 l 115x5 l 135x5x3

These felt good and this is the most weight I've ever attempted on them. If anybody is reading and can give me a form check, that would be awesome. They felt good and the weight wasn't bad at all. I think I can definitely keep progressing here as long as my form is ok.



Deads 135x5 l 225x5 l 265x5

Felt great. I could've gotten another 10 lbs or more on these today. I'm wanting 3 plates really bad now which at the moment I can lift about 3 whole inches off the floor. Gym started filling up by the time I got to these so didn't bother with the video, too many people starting to walk around.

Overhead Press barx5 l 95x5 l 105x5x3

Heavy as hell. Should have taped them, pretty sure my form was not great by the end.

Wrist curls 55x10 l 55x10

Calf Raises 220x20 l 190x17

Did a few chinups at the end cuz I'm going to master these b@stards one day.

[mirroroferised]

Diet today was good. Calories a bit lower today but I figure that'll even out yesterday and protein was good.




Added another 250 calories and 33 grams of protein in. Had some cottage cheese and yogurt while watching a hockey game.

No cardio tonight. Being a complete tool I accidentally kicked the squat rack in the gym walking passed it and my right foot is sore in shoes tonight. My back is feeling great tonight after this workout. I haven't had doms in quite awhile now and I'm feeling it tonight .

[mirroroferised]

Back to work today so I've got my food for the day all prepped and logged. Will probably get something small when I get home from work tonight as well, I'm usually hungry when I get home late.

[QuickDad]

Nice start Mirror - 5x5 programs are great - I began with starting strength which is similar.

It's hard to tell from the squat angle regarding the depth - some of the reps look just above parallel so you could go a few inches lower.

I have not seen the wrist curls before in a 5x5 - not saying they're not in there, I just haven't seen them. Any particular reason for doing them?

From the picture it looks like you have a bit of size so I would expect some pretty good results if you follow a good program and zone in on the macros.

good job so far.

[mirroroferised]

Nice start Mirror - 5x5 programs are great - I began with starting strength which is similar.

It's hard to tell from the squat angle regarding the depth - some of the reps look just above parallel so you could go a few inches lower.

I have not seen the wrist curls before in a 5x5 - not saying they're not in there, I just haven't seen them. Any particular reason for doing them?

From the picture it looks like you have a bit of size so I would expect some pretty good results if you follow a good program and zone in on the macros.

good job so far.

Hi quickdad, thanks for the reply.

I'm not sure either with the squats. I'm going to try a different angle next time I'm at the gym and see if I can get a better read on it. It sure feels deep enough but that probably doesn't mean much lol

I read quite a few 5x5 programs and decided on the Reg Park beginner version. I have no idea why they use wrist curls but figured it can't hurt lol I've always preferred to overdo it and have been known to switch from bro program to bro program so I thought this routine would at least give me a couple extra exercises to keep me happy

I wanted to keep my calories a bit lower and stick with the 2300-2400 for awhile longer but this next 3 months will have a lot of time on a bike and some running so I upped them a bit to see if that will help me keep some size. So far, so good. A week in and the scale weight at least hasn't jumped at all and I'm somewhat content with what I see in the mirror. Holding fast at 181 lbs as of yesterday.

[mirroroferised]

A couple of progress pictures from this morning.

1 week into higher calories and extra cardio. I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. Actually that's a lie, I'm ecstatic. I really wished I had taken a proper picture of myself in October when I quit drinking to compare it with now. Still obviously lots of work to do but so far, so good.

Hard to get a good back shot by yourself lol I'll have to suck it up and get my wife to help with some better progress shots.

Off to the gym

[mirroroferised]

Scale weight: 180.4

Good workout today. Didn't eat beforehand today. For the last few workouts I have eaten first and have had good results with it. Shift work sucks though. I'm on afternoon shift which means home late and up early. Not hungry at all this morning and the only thing I could force down was a couple cups of coffee. I'll get my calories in today though, absolutely famished now.

Squats warmup - barx10 l 135x5 l 155x5 l 180x5x3

Felt good and tried a different angle with the camera. I felt for the most part I was hitting parallel. A couple of squeaky reps in this set but I feel I've got a good idea on where to get to now. I'm pretty sure getting any lower than that won't happen anyway. I played around during my warmup with the empty bar and I couldn't get any lower.

Chins 6 PR l 5 l 3 l 3 l 3 l 3 l 2

Felt a lot stronger on these today.

Bench warmup 135x5 l 135x5 l 155x5x3

These felt great. There was a thread here a couple weeks ago with a proper benching technique and I've felt it helped a bit with my legs a bit wider and trying to drive my feet to the ground. I definitely could have lifted more weight today if I wanted to. Have to remember to follow the plan Have to remember to follow the plan Have to remember to follow the plan Have to remember to follow the plan Have to remember to follow the plan. I'm the absolute king of changing things up every few weeks.

Wrist Curls 55x12 l 55x12

Standing Calves205x20 l 205x20

[mirroroferised]

I'm at work today and decided to get dinner out. Chicken shwarma. I don't know the macros and this place doesn't offer them. It's a large pita, a ton of chicken and a ton of fresh veg with some tahini and garlic sauce. I'm quite positive it won't be more than 869 calories and the protein in it will put me over the top too.

No bike ride today. I woke up today to find my car needs a new tire. I might try and hit my gym at work afterwards and do a quick walk on the treadmill or something if I feel like it but will probably just pass today.

[mirroroferised]

Diet wasn't great today. Hit protein level as I usually do but just didn't get enough calories in, even lower than my 2300.



edit - gonna grab a glass of 2 percent milk before bed which will put me up another 200 plus.


Anybody who works shift work I'm sure can relate to days like this. Slept in late, rushed to work, didn't have much prepped...blah blah blah

Got my workout in late tonight at my work gym and all my lifts went up so the day wasn't a complete downer lol

Squats - 135x5 l 155x5 l 185x5x3

Rows - 95x5 l 115x5 l 140x5x3

Might stay here another week. Didn't have my camera with me today at work but I felt like I was heaving the weight up more than rowing if that makes any sense.

Deads - 140x5 l 225x5 l 280x5

That's a PR for reps. I'm really happy about that. Weight was pretty heavy but I'll get 290 next week no problem I'm sure.

Wrist curls: 65x10 l 65x10

No calf machine at work for some reason.

I'm not sure if this is going to eventually help or hurt and I guess I'll have to play it by ear but I've taken to doing a bunch of chinups in between sets all the time. Even at home if I'm walking passed my home gym I'll just stop and do a couple. They've improved like crazy which is obviously my goal. I'm hoping at this stage of my training it really won't make any difference because I'm enjoying being able to do more than 1.

[jonnyboy44]

Nice work going on here Mirror, Lifting is the easy part compared to getting your diet right. Can relate to shift work, Takes a bit more thought. Envy your food intake Im on a cut at the moment, keeping below 2000 cals not for ever though. Keep up the good work youve started. Subbed.

[mirroroferised]

Thanks man, great to have you in here.

I just finished 2300 cals for 7 weeks and that wasn't too bad but below 2 sounds hard. I upped mine to see if that would offset all the extra cardio I need to be doing in the next 3 months and the first thing I did after going up to 2700-2800 is hardly do any cycling or running lol

[mirroroferised]

Did a 45 minute spin class yesterday. My lower back has been a bit sore these last couple of days, hopefully just needs a good stretch. I'll do some core work and stretching before my workout later.

Yesterday's macros:

[mirroroferised]

My daughter is home from school today so I've decided to split my workout in 2 today. I'm at a point where I don't feel comfortable squatting at home until I get a power rack, especially with my back feeling so tight. Did some stretching and I'm feeling a bit better. I'll hit the gym for squats and calves tonight when my wife gets home.

Bench - barx10 l 95x5 l 135x5 l 155x5 l 160x5x3

I've picked up some good tips around here lately on bench and they seem to be helping. This weight is going up without much of a problem. I'll stick with the progression though.

Chins - 6 (again ) 5 l 4 l 2 l 2 l 3 l 3

Still really happy with how these are coming along. I know it's supposed to be 5 reps and I'll change it next time, I just get so happy that I'm doing more and more each time lol

Squats - warmups l 190x3x5

The weight felt light tonight and I didn't think it would going in. Funny how that works. I did calves in the squat rack after I put the bar back on the stands.

Forearms - 60x12x2

[mirroroferised]

Went for a jog tonight. 4km and at a very manageable pace. Probably about a 20 minute

[QuickDad]

Nice work Mirror

You definitely looked like you had more in the tank on the bench press.

[mirroroferised]

Nice work Mirror

You definitely looked like you had more in the tank on the bench press.

I agree. I'm trying really hard to stay with the progression of starting a bit lighter and working my way back up. Once upon a time I got just over 200 lbs up any many, many years ago 2 plates for a squeaky partial but since coming back 190 has been my max on bench I believe. Hopefully sticking with this program will blast me right past that and properly.

[mirroroferised]

Good workout tonight.

Squats - warm-up 135x5 l 185x5 l 195x5x3

These again were not much trouble. Couple extra grunts on the last set but will definitely be progressing still.

Rows - 95x5 l 115x5 l 135x5x3

I lowered the weight a bit and tried what Rawelite suggested in his thread. Still not entirely sure about my form and I'm not sure why I seem to be having the most trouble with these in terms of form.

Deads - 135x5 l 225x5 l 290x5

Keep hitting those pr's on deadlifts for reps lately. 300 next time and I can't wait. I can't wait for 3 plates. I tried 4 weeks ago and could barely budge it. With how I felt today I'm thinking I might have gotten 1. I'll be patient though

OHP - barx10 l 95x5 l 110x5x4 - 105x5

Felt like crap on these tonight for some reason. Felt like I couldn't get a good position under the bar and the weight on these felt like an absolute ton so I dropped back down 5 lbs for my last set and I'll keep it at 105 next time too.

Wrist and calves at the end.

Absolutely famished today. I'm on day shift which means for 3 days I'm up at 0500 which always drives me crazy lol Been eating and drinking coffee all day. A little over my total today but I earned it after those deads and squats And also the couple days this week where I was under too. I'm going to start taking DNG's suggestion and do the +/- at the end of every 6 days period.

[mirroroferised]

Only thing on the go today is ball hockey tonight. First game in 3 weeks and looks like not many guys coming out so lots of running.

[mirroroferised]

I took a nice hit yesterday in my game and my back is sore as hell today. My wife said I looked like a little old man hobbling up the stairs to bed last night lol

I'll see how it goes today. It's a beautiful day today so the plan is to go outside with the kids, do some light yard work and do some stretching and a bit of core work later. Hopefully I'll be up to my workout later. I've been up for a couple hours now and do feel a lot better now than I did initially. Stupid hit didn't even lead to a scoring chance, what a waste lol

[mirroroferised]

Sh!tty workout today. The only real highlight today was doing an absolute ton of chins out in the backyard on the kids playground monkey bars with them. I didn't count but did well over the 25 over an hour or so playing with them. That was great, the rest not so much. I went to the gym after and my back was feeling good and still is. The weights however felt like an absolute ton.

Squats - 200x5x3

That last couple reps on my last set were shaky.

Bench - 165x5x3

Nearly couldn't get the last rep up and seriously thought I was going to have to dump the bar at one point. Really strange feeling today. Last time 160 went up and if felt light. One of those days I guess.

Calves and wrist work done too.


I'm going to redo bench and squats next time at the same just to make sure I get to the point where I'm doing 5 reps without any problems.




Reeled it all in at the end of the night with a sandwich and a glass of milk.


An interesting revelation tonight while logging that sandwich. I used to come home (ok fine) stumble home after a night of drinking and kill 2 or 3 of these sandwich's. Bread, a few cold cuts (salami tonight 30 grams) some old cheddar (41 grams) a bit of mayo and mustard. That alone with the milk was 709 calories!!!

So after a night of pints at the pub and some hot wings usually at some point with blue cheese dressing (got to get them again soon) I would come home and eat 2 or 3 of these sandwich's. Back then I was skipping the milk and usually washing it down with a couple more beers so I'm looking at around 1700 calories to end my night. It's no ****ing wonder I was fat.

The more you learn!!!!

[doughnutgut]

Sh!tty workout today.

These become the most important workouts. The crap ones and the non missed ones.

I'm going to redo bench and squats next time at the same just to make sure I get to the point where I'm doing 5 reps without any problems.

Get 5 reps before moving on and you will be pretty good to go for a long time.

Read through. Good stuff Mirror.

Subbed.

[mirroroferised]

These become the most important workouts. The crap ones and the non missed ones.

I hope so. Just wasn't feeling it today.

Get 5 reps before moving on and you will be pretty good to go for a long time.

Read through. Good stuff Mirror.

Subbed.

Welcome aboard. I did get the 5 reps on all 3 working sets but that last one was so shaky on bench I'm guessing it should realistically count as only 4. I'm feeling better about the squatting today then the bench anyway.

Too bad I didn't have my camera there today, it could have been a highlight reel bench attempt lol


I've also felt like I'm having to force food in today, which is unusual for me. Getting 2700-2800 cals per day isn't normally a problem even with a couple of lower days lately. Today just feels blah for lack of a grown up word. Had a great day with my kids at least so that's probably a lot more important lol

#nexttime

[mirroroferised]

I added up the +/- for the week and looks like I have 809 calories to play with today. Pancake breakfast time

[jonnyboy44]

One of those days We all get them, But you still got some work done. Plus time with the children happy days.

[mirroroferised]

God I love the nice weather. This and a ballgame on the radio was my afternoon.





Had it with a baked potato with sour cream, grated old cheddar, scallions, a ton of pan fried peppers and onions and a gravy made from drippings, chicken stock, onions, horse radish, garlic, balsamic and a bit of butter and milk at the end.

I also didn't track the gravy but threw at least 2 good sized tablespoons on the beef and potato skins. Add another 100 cals to that total.

What a day!!!!

No running, no cycling. Just playing with the kids, referring their fighting lol and lots of food.



Getting in an extra 800 plus calories isn't gonna happen today lol. Massive dinner and 2 desserts. I'm done.




Doughnut suggested I take a read of Bill Starr's 5x5 as it has a good linear progression to it. I did that last night and checked out the excel file as well. It seems like it might be a better 5x5 program than the one I'm doing and there are some things to it as well that I think I'll like more, mainly the extra accessory lifts and the built in deloads. I've seen this one done around here quite a bit too so it must be a popular one for a reason.

So I filled out excel sheet using not my last workout but the one before as my best 5 reps for each lift and will be starting that tomorrow in place of this Reg Park 5x5. According to the template I should be dead lifting 3 plates in 9 weeks and squatting 2 plates in 9 weeks. Fingers crossed.

If I keep eating like I did today, I'll be doing that without a problem lol

[mirroroferised]

One of those days We all get them, But you still got some work done. Plus time with the children happy days.

At the end of the day I'll take that over one crappy workout, that's for sure.