Aeneas 26 BB.com 2008 recomp contest

[aeneas26]

When I was in law school, I was 6'5 150-155 lbs. I realized that I had to change my weight, and so I started lifting and eating and got up to around 225 in a pretty short time frame. Since then, adjuting to my career owning a home, and a few significant injuries have distracted me from my fitness goals. As a result, I have dropped back down to 180. Time to get back into a healthy lifestyle, so I am using this contest as a means of jumpstarting my lifting.

I will be using Rippetoes as I have only lifted for about two months of 2007 (I logged that at Controlled Labs forum). I will only be using the basic supps for the first couple of months at least. I am hoping that muscle memory will kick in for the first few months.

I will log my progress several times per week.

[Officer_Iron]

Good luck in the contest!

[aeneas26]

Originally Posted by Officer_Iron

Good luck in the contest!

Thanks, good luck to you too. Honestly I care little about the supps or any remote chance that I have at winning. I am doing this more to hold myself accountable on a day to day basis.

[aeneas26]

Well today was my first day back lifting for a few months, and it definitely showed.

Squat
115x5x3
I probably should have started at a lower weight, but since I quit lifting in early December, I thought I could pick up at 115 without too much of a problem.

Military press
95x5x2
95x5x4

My elbow really felt weird on my last rep so I didn't bother with getting to five. No sense in hurting myself the first day back.


Pullups

BW 3x5

This has always been a hard exercise for me, so I will be doing a lot of these the next six months.


Tomorrow I will do a little cardio and abs.

Supps: Generic multi
Creatine
Fish oil

I also have some Purple Wraath and GlycerGrow that I plan on incorporating into my diet once I progress a little.

[aeneas26]

Well I am progressing on all of my lifts. I am increasing the weight by 5 lbs per workout. Strength does not come easily to me, so if I go any higher I will stall out quickly.

Squat 125x5x3

BP 120x5x3

Deadlift 120x5x3

My workout went fine. Nothing was particularly hard. I am starting to feel the effects of creatine which is nice.

[aeneas26]

My lifts are progressing as one might expect them to on a Rippetoe plan. What I have been really working on the most is my diet. Since my job can be so unpredictable about where I need to be and how much work I do, I have to always have a couple of meals ready to go with me. I went to www.honeyvillegrain.com and I bought 50 lbs of oat flour and 5 lbs of almond flour. I just add in a little bit of whey and some skim milk, and I have a pretty decent meal to take with me. It has helped me immensely with hitting my macros.

Lifts

Squat 130x5x3- These were pretty easy.

Press 100x5x3- These were not so easy, but I did get all of my reps up cleanly.

Pullup BW5x3- I really struggled with these. I had to take a couple of breaks on my last set. I seem to get progressively weaker on pullups the more I lift. It has happened to me everytime I start back lifting. When I start I am 2-3 reps stronger than I am 2-4 weeks into lifting.

My diet has been in check. I have not wavered at all(so far) so I feel good about that. The only thing I am really contemplating is what type of supplements I might want to add. So far I am just using whey, creatine, and a cheap multi. Since I am so underdeveloped at this point, I don't see a huge need to add much else, b/c I should still see some good gains without having to get too fancy with the supplements.

[aeneas26]

I haven't posted in a while, but my workouts are progressing. My weekend was a little harried, so my diet was not perfect, but I will pick ut up again today.

Squat: 145x5x3
These went pretty well. My lower back is starting to feel pretty solid, and I can squat pain free.

BP: 135x5x3 I didn't have any problem with this either.

Pullups BWx5x3 These were not pretty, but I did what I could.

Since my lower back is feeling pretty good, I am going to add in some rows this week. I will start really light and make sure my form is good.

[aeneas26]

I have had the flu for the last week, so my workouts have been almost non-existent and my nutrition has been horrible. But that won't stop the next month from being solid. I did workout for the first time in about a week yesterday, and it didn't go too well. I was tired and I'm still not completely over the flu, but a bad workout has to be better than no workout.

Squat 150x5x2 I didn't have much left so I didn't try the last set. My left hamstring had a fairly significant twinge so I didn't push my luck.

Military Press 110x5x3 These went ok, but they were hard. I just didn't have a lot of energy

Pullups BWx4x2 Terrible form, but this is more a result of the flu than anything.

I am feeling better everyday, and I expect tomorrow to be much better. I will start back on creatine tomorrow as I am confident that I will be over the flu tomorrow.

[aeneas26]

I am just now starting to feel back to normal from the flu. That was 10 days of pure suck. I tried lifting a few times, but they weren't fantastic workouts. After posting my progress pics for this month, I noticed that I am not really seeing any improvement in my arms or calves. So I decided to add an extra day where I do some arm and calf work.

Saturday:

weighted situps

Ab pulldowns

dumbbell curls 35x8x3
preacher curls 55x10x3

Calf raises

[mmmc]

Originally Posted by aeneas26

I am just now starting to feel back to normal from the flu. That was 10 days of pure suck. I tried lifting a few times, but they weren't fantastic workouts. After posting my progress pics for this month, I noticed that I am not really seeing any improvement in my arms or calves. So I decided to add an extra day where I do some arm and calf work.

Saturday:

weighted situps

Ab pulldowns

dumbbell curls 35x8x3
preacher curls 55x10x3

Calf raises

I can see progress! Keep up the good work, but not too good because I want to win. Ha.

[aeneas26]

Well my last week has been pretty solid. I got three decent workouts in, and my diet has been pretty good too. Next week might not be as good b/c my sister's stepson was in a car accident and they just removed life support. So I will probably be spending a lot of time trying to help her out this week. I don't want to sound like lifting takes priority over family, because it doesn't, but I am going to really try to get my workouts and eating in.

Here is Friday's workour results:

Squat 160x5x3

Bench Press 150x5x3

Rows 130x5x3

Squats are just really hard for me. Even going up ten pounds a week is a challenge. I will keep on going and try to get better.


I think I am going to try Xfactor. My wife is killing me in this contest so I am going to try and do something to keep up with her

[aeneas26]

Squat 165x5x3

Deadlift 155x5x2

Bench Press 155x5x3

I had to give up on my deadlifts b/c something in my hamstring popped when I was doing my last rep on my second set. It felt really strange, so I decided not to push it. My leg still feels weird today, so I might not do any squats tomorrow. Aside from the hamstring, my form is improving on my deadlifts. Once I am comfortable that my form is good, I will increase the weight.

I have started x factor and so far so good. Nothing to report, but it is only four days into the supp and it takes longer than that to get it built up in your system.

[aeneas26]

Squat 170x5x3

Form was not very good at all, I think I will keep with this weight one more time and try and improve form

BP 165x5x3

This was not too hard, except for the last rep.

Pullups BWx8, 6, 4

About the same, I haven't really gotten much stronger rep wise, but I do weigh a lot more now than when I started this recomp contest

[aeneas26]

Squat 185x5x3
These were not as hard as I thought they would be.

Military Press 130x5x3
The last set was hard, and my form wasn't too great, but it wasn't terrible either

Bent over rows 155x5x3
By the end of this workout, my hamstrings were exhausted.

[Ronald A. Strahan]

Are you trying to pack on mass?

[aeneas26]

Originally Posted by Ronald A. Strahan

Are you trying to pack on mass?

Yes. My long term fitness goal is 225 at around 10% bodyfat.

[aeneas26]

Squat 195x5x2 I just didn't have the last set in me today. I got really bad sleep and bad nutrition the last few days, and it showed.

Military Press 135x5x2 135x3
Overall I am happy with my progress on this lift, but I do wish it would come faster.

Pullups


Not a great workout, but better than nothing. I will keep on pushing the weights and see what happens.

[aeneas26]

Squat 205x5x2

BP
185x4 x3 x2 x2
Time to reset

Deadlift 225 x5x3

[mmmc]

Originally Posted by aeneas26

Squat 205x5x2

BP
185x4 x3 x2 x2
Time to reset

Deadlift 225 x5x3

Lookin good!

[spldbtch]

Not sure if you saw this:

Originally Posted by :P

IMPORTANT NOTES:


1. BEST LOG OF THE MONTH MARCH

I am proudly proclaiming that we had a tough competition between spldbtch abd Ron A. Strahan. Ron finally won the playoffs, ehm, the run-off elections with 8:3 votes. He certainly has done a great job and his log is surely brilliant at detailedness and informational content, including pics.

Ronald, take my sincere congratulations! Please contact the guys from Beast Sport Nutrition and tell them which product you wish.


2. CHANGE OF RULES

Now, this is very important! So, please everybody carefully read this because it affects every contestant.

From now, every contestant will need to do two things every month:

1. Give a brief report in this thread on updated stats/pics

2. in the same breath every contestant have to nominate his favourite log(s) of the month. People are doing a truly excellent job on their logs and it is not very helpful when only a handful of people nominate or vote. Of course, everybody who does not compete in this contest can nominate / vote as well. So, if you have friends or other people who are subscribed to your log, please motivate them to come here and to give their votes.
Whoever won't follow this rule will get negative points and will be publicly exposed for not follwoing the rules.

3. NEW CONTEST FEATURES

From now on I will publish on a monthly basis a list with all contestants who are still actively participating in the contest and with contestants who are out of the contest for various reasons.

There will NOT be any "Top 10" or similar lists. I can understand that this might be very entertaining, but it would be not fair. Here are the reasons: People who decided to first cut and then bulk might be in an artificial advantage. and people who are slowly but steadily doing a true recomposition would be artificially disadvantaged because their true results would become visible only after the full contest period.
Top 10 lists are perfectly suited to bias public opinion. this I don't wish.
when contest is over, the jury will make their secrete voting and the public will make their public voting without any bias from outside.

[aeneas26]

Originally Posted by spldbtch

Not sure if you saw this:

Thanks for that. MMMC usually keeps me up to date on these happenings. One of the many perks of being married to her


All of my lifts have stayed the same or are moving back a little. I might need a break. It is one of the drawbacks to being such an extreme ectomorph. So I might scale back for a week or two.

[mmmc]

Originally Posted by aeneas26

Thanks for that. MMMC usually keeps me up to date on these happenings. One of the many perks of being married to her

Aww...That was nice (the many perks thing)

[Ronald A. Strahan]

Originally Posted by aeneas26

Yes. My long term fitness goal is 225 at around 10% bodyfat.

We're not so different in terms of our goals, except you have about 4 inches on me and a hott wife!

It's all about the big boy movements you've been doing to pack on the mass, keep it up with the weights, just double your caloric intake!

[aeneas26]

Originally Posted by Ronald A. Strahan

We're not so different in terms of our goals, except you have about 4 inches on me and a hott wife!

It's all about the big boy movements you've been doing to pack on the mass, keep it up with the weights, just double your caloric intake!

My focus needs to stay on the core lifts, but honestly sometimes I just dread squating. Doing it three times a week burns me out, so I am going to take a few days off and then go back at it.

Once I hit 225 I am really going to focus on ROM and strength. I won't derive much benefit from being any bigger than 225. My job certainly doesn't demand it, and as I get older strength and flexibility are going to serve me well.

[Ronald A. Strahan]

Originally Posted by aeneas26

My focus needs to stay on the core lifts, but honestly sometimes I just dread squating. Doing it three times a week burns me out, so I am going to take a few days off and then go back at it.

Once I hit 225 I am really going to focus on ROM and strength. I won't derive much benefit from being any bigger than 225. My job certainly doesn't demand it, and as I get older strength and flexibility are going to serve me well.

What do you do for work ?

[aeneas26]

Originally Posted by Ronald A. Strahan

What do you do for work ?

I am an attorney.

[spldbtch]

Originally Posted by mmmc

Aww...That was nice (the many perks thing)

Better be that way, right mmmc!

[Ronald A. Strahan]

Originally Posted by aeneas26

I am an attorney.

That's cool. Hiow do you like KS?

[aeneas26]

Originally Posted by Ronald A. Strahan

That's cool. Hiow do you like KS?

It's ok, I guess. I dig the Midwestern ethos, but there is not much natural beauty. After mmmc gets out of law school we will probably move.

[Ronald A. Strahan]

Originally Posted by aeneas26

It's ok, I guess. I dig the Midwestern ethos, but there is not much natural beauty. After mmmc gets out of law school we will probably move.

I've been out there twice, I flew to Kansas City and drive to Fort Scott and then later that year I drove from Reno, NV to Rose Hill, KS (Right outside Wichita). Nevada made it to Dodge City, maybe next trip.

All I remember of the natural beauty was being able to see forever...