Homemade Power Rack and stornglifts 5x5

[scotthm2]

Hi,
So I'm 22 years old. 5 ft 7" and as of this morning am 154lbs.*
This Monday will be week 9 of my program stronglifts 5x5. I started the program weighing 140lbs and have been doing a slow bulk with intermittent fasting along side it.*
My lifts so far (I am working in kg's and converting to lbs so bear with me!). Obviously as I am a women my upper body is developing a lot slower than lower body.
Squat: 85kg=187lbs
Bench Press: 42kg=92lbs
Pendlay Row: 42kg=92lbs
Overhead Press: 30kg=66lbs (just deloaded)
Deadlift: 105kg=231lbs
Now I have hit my goal weight I am going to start a slow cut. My maintenance Macros depend a lot on my carb intake as my body doesn't function so well on them, but on training days this would be my maintenance:
Carbs 200g, protein 150g and fat 40g. Think that's roughly 1800 but I don't count calories.
I am loving intermittent fasting as works really well for my carb resistance (I made that term up). I train fasted and have most of my starchy carbs after my workout.
So for my cut I am thinking about eating at maintenance on workout days and dropping carbs to 125g on rest days while keeping rest the same. I guess you could call it Carb cycling.
I will also be bringing in HIIT on rest days. I won't be doing any cardio after weights on workout days because with my rest times being so long now the sessions are already nearing the 90mins mark.
If you are interested in supplements,preworkouts, my diet, tips on stronglifts 5x5 or intermittent fasting let me know!

[scotthm2]

Haha forgot to mention I am in the process of building my own gym! Have all the equipment and am just making the flat bench and power rack now.

[KellyP92]

Hi there!

Well done on the bulk
I am bulking for the first time atm and am terrified of how the mirror is looking back at me !!

Cannot wait to get to the cutting stage as you are now :P

Good luck getting your gym set up. Your compound lifts are looking very strong

I will be following along

p.s Kg's are good for me ... took me a while to get used to converting it all into pounds too!!

[scotthm2]

Hey,
I know, getting over the fear of the mirror was the hardest part! It is worth it in the long run though and a slow bulk is the way to go.

Hi there!

Well done on the bulk
I am bulking for the first time atm and am terrified of how the mirror is looking back at me !!

Cannot wait to get to the cutting stage as you are now :P

Good luck getting your gym set up. Your compound lifts are looking very strong

I will be following along

p.s Kg's are good for me ... took me a while to get used to converting it all into pounds too!!

[scotthm2]

Okay, so I have been intermittent fasting for a while now. It is second nature and I enjoy it a a lot so did it even on a bulk. I usually did 16/8 on a workout day and 18/6 on a rest day. I have also done a couple of 24 hour fast or as my twin and I call them T4's as code so know one knows the crazy diet (way of life) we are on! As I was on a bulk I would have a very high calorie day before a T4. It seems counter productive to be fasting, which is seen as a fat loss regime, when on a bulk but honestly I love how it feels. I especially love how T4s make me feel all calm (not having to worry about macros for one day).
Anyway, to kick start my cut I thought I would try a 36 hour fast. I stopped eating at 10pm last night (Friday). It is now 10pm on Sat. 24 hours in and the prospect of going to bed on an empty stomach isn't as horrible as I thought it would be. I usually get hungry at around 22hrs and was thinking of caving...'how am I possibly going to sleep tonight...soooo hungry' but at 24hrs my hunger has dissipated. I also have a rebound in energy and mood.
Next update will be after my fabulous breakfast at 10am. 75g oats, 40g Optimum Nutrition Casein Protein Powder and 6g Fish Oil. This will be the biggest and most starchy carb dense meal of the day. There is some debate as to how to break your fast. The main ones are high protein and high fat or high protein and high carbs. I like to take advantage of the insulin response and go with carbs. If you havnt heard of intermittent fasting and have any questions or want tips/help on the subject let me know.

[scotthm2]

Also on the agenda will be photo taking and uploading :-) Not just of me but my sexy micro weights I made. Micro weights are possibly the greatest asset a female lifter can have doing strength training. I dont think I could still be doing stronglifts 5x5 without them.

[scotthm2]

Morning Weight 68.7kg (149.5lbs)
So my initial (and more than likely final) impression of a 36 hour fast? It is not something I am going to using during my cutting phase unless I plateau. Where the 24hr fast was a destresser, detoxing and calming, the 36hr fast felt stressful. Instead of detoxing I woke up with a sore throat and dry skin. It was effective in that I went from 70kg to 67.8kg but predominantly water weight as I became carb depleted. I know from experience that if I restrict carbs on a 20 caloric deficit I would have reached this weight in 5-6 days anyway. Atleast now I can say I've done it. It is freeing that I know I can go that long without food should the need arise (travelling etc).
Okay so its rest day today so macros are 125g Carbs, 150g Protein and 40g Fat. Think thats 1450 is it? Again I never count calories, I think that's a waste of time. I use the app Myfitnesspal to count my macros. I seriously dont know how I survived without that thing!
So I had my first meal of the day: Oats with Cinnamon, Optimum Nutrition Casein Protein Powder and Fish Oil. Popped the slow cooker on which has my second meal. 95% lean beef mince (I treat myself to red meat every now and then), in tinned tomatoes with onion, garlic and chilli powder. Ill eat that with one wholemeal pitta bread for lunch later. My last meal will be smoked salmon egg white omelette. I have 300mg Alpha Lipoic Acid, 1000mg Garlic and 400mg Green Tea (AGG Stack) 15 mins before each meal.I am working out at 9am tomorrow so my last meal will be about 6pm.
Cant wait to hit the gym. Got a lifting belt..finally! Am going for 87.5kg squats and am pumped already! It doesnt matter that I am in a cut now. My training is going to remain the same. I will still be lifting heavy and going for broke.
Right I am off to glue up the uprights for my rack....excited. And yes you heard correct. I am glueing it up because it is going to be made of WOOD!.
Bye for now.

[scotthm2]

Morning weight: 67.6kg
Macros: 40g Fat, 195g carbs, 150g Protein (1750ish?)
So I am on the train on the way into the gym. Was too lazy to make my own preworkout so I have closest thing to it: BB Platinum Series Scream. Usually steer clear of own brand crap but no proprietary blends, know exactly what's in it and it ain't far off what my homemade stack is.
Am trying out my new belt this morning so hoping to hit my lifts.
I'll keep you posted!

[scotthm2]

What a great workout! Hit all my lifts. It was my first workout with the belt. Why didn't I get one sooner?!? In my defence I dont think I was lifting heavy enough until now to warrant the use of one.
Workout- weight sets x reps (sorry too lazy to convert to lbs):
Squats 87.5kg 5x5
Overhead Press 31kg 5x5 (micro plates make this possible)
Deadlift 110kg 1x5
It's 11.30am and I am sitting down to my first meal of the day. Had a banana and protein shake post workout at 11. 5g AGG and am now eating what I like to call my beast meal of the day.
I try and get 50-60% of my total daily calories in post workout. If you are starting out doing IF this is something I would work towards as it is daunting eating 1000+ calories and only having 700 left for the rest of the day.
Beast Meal for today consists of brown rice and chicken. Oh the excitement! That's about 120g carbs including the banana and 100g protein including the shake.
My last meal pretty much always remains the same on all days except weekends. It's very high protein and fat and low carb. Cottage cheese with almonds and one egg and a big ass serving of broccoli.

[jjeane]

Hey, Wow you are strong! If I remember 1 kg is 2.2 lbs!! How do you make it fasting for so long? I would be pissy!!! Great workout!

[scotthm2]

Hey,
Thanks for stopping bye. At first fasting was not fun and hard. Lots of coffee was the only way I survived ;-) I was only doing 16 hours to begin with and gradually extended it (if I was starting all over again I would prob start with 12/12 then 14/10 before moving onto 16/8). Leangains actually suggests women only ever do 14/10 as it is much harder for us to go without food for some reason! The first 24hrs was hard but the 2nd one was easier and the 3rd one was plain ass fun!
Yup 1kg is 2.2lbs. I find I actually train better fasted. I dont know if its a concentration thing or the fact that I never did well on carbs... I do take 10g BCAA before I lift to switch my body from catabolic to anabolic 'mode'.
Yeh but like I said I probably will never do 36hrs again...I have a spot on my chin and I am convinced the fast is to blame!! I love IF, it isnt a diet to me but a way of life and something I will use in some form or other for the rest of my life.

Hey, Wow you are strong! If I remember 1 kg is 2.2 lbs!! How do you make it fasting for so long? I would be pissy!!! Great workout!

[scotthm2]

11pm and am just about to turn in for bed. Had some major cravings after my last meal at 6pm so had a cup of coffee. Was craving granola! I love 'hobnobs' (tell me you have these in your country?!) and granola and iced cold milk. Sigh....didnt cave though and love myself for it!
Until tomorrow. Night all.

[scotthm2]

Haha, just say how dyslexia got the better of me in the title of this thread!!

[jjeane]

11pm and am just about to turn in for bed. Had some major cravings after my last meal at 6pm so had a cup of coffee. Was craving granola! I love 'hobnobs' (tell me you have these in your country?!) and granola and iced cold milk. Sigh....didnt cave though and love myself for it!
Until tomorrow. Night all.

I have no idea what hobnobs are. What are they? But I do love granola and milk!!! Good for not craving. I didn't realized when you asked about the body media in my journal you were in Ireland. SO I suppose you haven't seen the biggest looser! Would love to go to Ireland one day!

[scotthm2]

They are glorious oaty biscuits filled with rainbows and dream! Haha love/hate the biggest looser. Or rather I hate how much I love it! When it comes on...
'ugh we arnt watching this...hey wait why'd you change the channel?'
'well you just said...'
'change it back!and get me some popcorn'
;-)

I have no idea what hobnobs are. What are they? But I do love granola and milk!!! Good for not craving. I didn't realized when you asked about the body media in my journal you were in Ireland. SO I suppose you haven't seen the biggest looser! Would love to go to Ireland one day!

[scotthm2]

Am weight 67.1kg
I am a little worried that I am loosing weight too fast but u guess you can't really tell day to day with fluctuations. Ill b a week into my cut on sat and will readjust then if needs be.
Macros: rest day so 40g F, 125g C, 150g P. If your on myfitnesspal my username is scotthm2 feel free to add me.
Last meal was roughly 5.45pm yest and am now sitting down to first meal of the day at 12noon. Took 3g AGG and chromium picolianate before.
Am meant to be going into college today to work on my final year project but got carried away with making my power rack...it's coming along nicely ;-)

[scotthm2]

I knew it! I'm coming down with something :-( I woke up with a headache and thought it was dehydration especially after the drop in scales after maintenance cals yest. Had 1.5 litres water since and my head is still pounding.
Is it sad that the first thing that went through my head is 'I hope I'm okay for my workout tomorrow'.
One great thing about being sick is while I'm lying in bed here my darling sister is off making me tea with echinea :-)

[scotthm2]

RE-FEEDS: Are they necessary?
Okay, its only 8.30pm but I am beat and will be heading to bed soon but thought I would answer this quaestion I got today about refeeds. Do I believe in them. Yes, absolutly and I will be using them during my cut. There are coupleof different ways peopl go about refeeds. Starting with when to employ one:
1. Are your lifts/performance in the gym suffering substantially? Personally I neve use this method as I am doing a program where I continue to put weight on the bar every workout so missed reps are sort of part and parcel.
2. Every 7/10/14 days? I utilised this while bulking to some effect but am not going to go this way on my cut.
3 Going by your gut? I could never do this! The inner monologue inside my head would go something like this:'mmm...granola...i'd love me some granola...I shouldnt though...but now that I think of it...I feel a bit deflated. You know what I need...a refeed! Thats a brilliant idea *pats back*...ah crap...we are out of milk :-( Is this a sign? Nah where are my car keys?'
4. Every 0.5/1/1.5kg lost. I have never done it this way but I will be trying it this time. Probably every 1kg but havnt decided yet.
Okay next up is when to do refeed?
Me I believe in on workout days (the hardest workout of the wee if you have one). I will probably do a 24hr fast the nxt day.
What to eat?
1 Do you eat clean? Count macros and just hit new bigger macros?
2 Through it all out the window and enjoy yourself?
number 1 is probably the way to go but I honestly I have been dieting for so long I am tired and want a break. So i am going with number 2. Stress free and fun. I dont really like fast food or sweets or anything so dont eat terribly unhealthy but will eat chocolate and GRANOLA (are you seeing my obsession with that particular food item yet!?) Also love homemade peanut butter and banana milkshakes! Eating healthy is a way of life now. I dont like the taste of bad food any more. Too salty or too sweet. Hell I prefer the taste of my homemade preworkout than the sickeningly sweet shop bought ones.
Sooo tires, headaching and all fogged up. I am going to rest up good and proper becaue its WORKOUT day tomorrow! Are you pumped because I am ;-)

[scotthm2]

Morning weight 66.8kg (ah fast! What is going on!!)
Workout day- Macros 200g carbs 150g p and 40g fat
8am and am on the way into the gym. I have 2 lifts this morning that I didn't manage to hit last time I was in so am in serious need of some pump.
How does everyone get pumped for their workouts? I am terribley self conscious an the only time you will see me dance in public is in the locker room of the gym before the workout! I woul love to have a Meredith/Christina dance party up in there but have no gym partner. In my head I am at that party though! If you don't know the people I am referring to in this paragraph then shame on you. How can you not watch greys anatomy??

[scotthm2]

Yes, you read the title right! No joke, water squirting out of my eyes!
Not really sure why tbh. It was my second set into my squats and I think i put so much pressure on my CNS that after I racked the bar the dripping began!
Anyway hit all my lifts today, yay :-)
Workout today:
Squats 90kg 5x5
Bench 43kg 5x5
Pendlay row 43kg 5x5
Finished up with some Tricep Dips using trap bar inside the rack and then plank&side plank.
Didn't plan to do cardio but cricket was on TV and best place to watch was from the treadmill. Only did a mile with some intervals thrown in.
11.45am and am sitting down to my 'beast meal'. Had shake and banana post workout 11.15, 11.30 5g AGG and now 500g tub FF natural yogurt, 70 odd g chicken, 100g brown rice, broccoli and some sunflower sweeds. Sooo full!
My skin is saying no to brown rice! Want to eat less starchy carbs and more unstarchy (is that a word??) ones but to hit my macros do you have any idea how much broccoli that is!?!
Didn't really realise how close xmas is till today. Yay ;-) would love the book "the renegade diet". Anyone read that? What is everyone else hoping for this xmas?

[jjeane]

Hey. Weight coming off too fast, could just be the fact you started cutting. Maybe. Were you crying in pain? Hope you didn't hurt yourself.

[scotthm2]

No not pain... It was so weird. I think I put so much pressure on my nervous system that when I finished the set it had to let that pressure out somehow! Have u ever heard of anything like that?! Im sorta starting to worry I'm loosing too much muscle

Hey. Weight coming off too fast, could just be the fact you started cutting. Maybe. Were you crying in pain? Hope you didn't hurt yourself.

[scotthm2]

Morning weight 66.5kg
Grrr...it was maintenance calories yest so wasn't hoping for a drop in weight. I'm worried I loosing all my hard win muscle by cutting too extremely but is it to early to tell?? I was thinking that I upped my fasting window to 18hrs instead of 16. I have noticed the longer you fast the more you get to eat ;-) I've said I am going to wait till sat but am now thinking if upping cals in workout and rest days by 10%. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Rest Day-Macros: 150g P, 125g C, 40g F. Was going to to do a HIIT session today but with the scales continuing to drop I think I am going to hold off on cardio. Why use up all your tools at the beginning of your cut?! If I plateau atleast I will have something I can add in immediately to shock the system. I only figure this out 10mins into the session so technically I did 1.6miles.
Last meal was at 6pm last night and i have just finished my beast meal for the day at 12 noon.
Off to do some last minute Xmas shopping and getting mats and some olympic weights for the gym. Glued up the flat bench yest, it's really coming together so exciting!

[scotthm2]

Morning Weight 66.3kg
Macros- Workout day: 200g C, 150g P, 40g F
Okay, so i missed all my lifts this morning but I dont feel like it was a bad workout if that makes any sense! A couple of months ago it would have upset me but now I feel like missed reps are part of the game and I am stronger now than I was yesterday so next time I hit the gym Ill get those lifts easy.
Workout (exercise: weight, Reps/Reps)
Squats: 92.5kg , 5/4/2/4/2
Overhead Press: 32kg, 5,5,5,4,4
Deadlift: 115kg, 3
Its 12 noon and I am just finished my post workout beast meal. Sick of brown rice so subbed in some wholewheat Pittas instead. I am struggeling a bit with my depression these last few weeks. The doctor suggested anti depressents and at the time I said no but now I am thinking it mught not be such a bad idea. It seems like the only time I am happy is when I am under the bar!
Anyway its finally stopped raining in time for xmas and cant wait until the 25th. I have designated it my refeed day :-) Maybe I should change my name to the 'granola monster'!

[tina722]

Hi!

You are strong! and I love that you are following the 5x5 program. Don't worry about not hitting the reps. I think many people will switch to a 3x5 when dieting. 5x5 is intense at those weights, and I imagine it takes a few hours to get the workout done.

The other thing that struck me - you're fats are pretty low. When I was doing low fats, I had a lot of issues with feeling depressed. Do you take fish oils?

[scotthm2]

Hi Tina,
I take 6g Fish oil everyday. My fats are 20% of diet on workout days and 25% on rest days. You think I should up it? I was actually thinking of upping my cals by 10% on workout days and putting it all into fat so Id hit 60g fats on workout days. I've suffered from depression since I was 16 I am afraid but since I started exercising it has gotten a lot better it usually does get worse this time of year though.

Hi!

You are strong! and I love that you are following the 5x5 program. Don't worry about not hitting the reps. I think many people will switch to a 3x5 when dieting. 5x5 is intense at those weights, and I imagine it takes a few hours to get the workout done.

The other thing that struck me - you're fats are pretty low. When I was doing low fats, I had a lot of issues with feeling depressed. Do you take fish oils?

[scotthm2]

Morning Weight 66.1kg
Okay I am 1 week into my cut. I started at 69.7 so that is a total loss of 3.6kg! I know a lot of that was water weight coming off my bulk but I think I will up my cals on workout days by 10 so new macros will be: 200g C, 150g P and 59g Fat. Obviously it being xmas I probably wont hit my macros spot on this week. Also gym closed on some days so will miss a workout or 2 :-( had planed to use xmas day as a refeed (do not read a 'eat everything in site because I can' day). Just a day where I don't count macros and eat until I am satiated. The problem is that I don't feel hungry any more. I am struggling to hit my macros on off days where am eating below maintenance. So I think I might have to have a 'plan' in order that I eat enough to constitute a refeed.
Also on my mind is continuing my bulk until I hit 100kg squats because I am so close! I will have to think about this one some more though. The fact is I am happier now than I was when I was bulking but...100kg squats in my grasp...would be epic!!!

[jjeane]

100kg squats would be epic!! If you lost 3.6kg this week I would think your cut cals are low. That is over 6# in a week. Have a good holiday!!

[KellyP92]

:O your putting my 1 RM deadlift of 62.5kg to shaaame!

115kg for 3 reps... Thats amazing well done

Reading your log is inspirational, you are VERY strong as Tina said too!!

Oh and.. I have burst into tears at the gym several times, seems to happen on bench pressing days ha!

Christmas.. 3 more sleeps!! I have asked for a onesie otherwise I am rather easily pleased to be honest ... maybe I should turn up at the gym wearing it

Keep it up

[scotthm2]

Haha love the onsie idea!! I've been following your journal. Great workouts and 68kg deadlift is great. 115 is after a bulk remember plus I hav 7" and 20kg on you :-) you should be very proud of your deadlift. I started with 30kg 10 weeks ago, you will be surprised how quickly it can grow!

:O your putting my 1 RM deadlift of 62.5kg to shaaame!

115kg for 3 reps... Thats amazing well done

Reading your log is inspirational, you are VERY strong as Tina said too!!

Oh and.. I have burst into tears at the gym several times, seems to happen on bench pressing days ha!

Christmas.. 3 more sleeps!! I have asked for a onesie otherwise I am rather easily pleased to be honest ... maybe I should turn up at the gym wearing it

Keep it up