My Journey To Somewhere

[skodins2231]

Front Squats: 175 3x5
OHP: 85 3x5
RDL: 195 3x8
Lat Pulldown: 95 3x8
Hang Knee Raise: 1x15
Crunch: 1x15 (5#)
Curls: 45 2x10

Felt good. Got really good contractions on Lat Pulldown/Abs/Curls. Paid close attention to moving slow and form. Everything else was fine and will proceed.

Skipping Tues as a preventative deload. This is week 6 of no deload and want to go ahead and take one to refresh. Back at it Friday.

RDL Vid

[skodins2231]

Friday 5/13 - F5-A

Squat: 250 1x4, 2x3 FAIL/PR
Bench: 130 3x5
Pendlay: 125 3x8
Face Pulls: 30 3x10
Standing Calf Raise: 100 2x15
Tricep Pull Down: 40 2x10
Hanging Knee Raise: 1x16
Plate Twist: 25# 1x20
Crunch: 1x16 5#
Oblique Crunch: 15# 1x15 both sides

Squat was super heavy and fail was expected. Tried for vid but didn't work. I'll get one Tuesday. Added abs. Trying to do some every workout. Probably too much but we'll just see how it goes. Good to be back at it after the deload. Need to get a vid on my Face Pull up as a form check on how I'm doing them on my lat pulldown. Feeling a good contraction in rear delts so think I've got the right idea. Pendlay form is getting better at keeping arms over bar.

[skodins2231]

Front Squats: 185 3x5
OHP: 90 3x5
RDL: 205 3x8
Lat Pulldown: 100 3x8
Hang Knee Raise: 1x19
Oblique Crunch: 15# 1x17 (Both Sides)
Curls: 50 2x10
Crunch: 10# 1x12
Landmines: 10+Bar: 1x8

Going to slow OHP progression by half. Just feel it's progressing too fast since the reset. Will try 92.5 next time and try to slow it down to break 95 in a couple weeks. Added in landmines for first time as ab work. Really liked them so will continue to incorporate. Still need to figure out Ab strategy. I like the extra volume atm but really going to need to monitor to make sure it doesn't begin to set anything else back.

Tried chalk for first time today on RDL....amazing the difference. Helped so much.

Might add front squat vid later

[skodins2231]

Squat: 250 1x5, 2x3 FAIL#2/PR
Bench: 130 3x5
Pendlay: 125 3x8
Face Pulls: 30 3x10
Standing Calf Raise: 100 2x15
Tricep Pull Down: 40 2x10
Hanging Knee Raise: 1x16
Crunch: 1x15 10#
Landmines: 1x8 10#+Bar

New 5 rep PR for squat, but second fail. Resetting to 215. Vid of first set below. Form didn't feel great but after watching vid I'm ok with it given weight.

Advancing on others. Face Pull vid below. Going to be seeking critiques on form on this one.

Squat 250 Set 1


Face Pull Set 2

[skodins2231]

Front Squats: 195 3x5,1x4 FAIL#1
OHP: 92.5 2x5,1x3 FAIL#1
RDL: 205 1x8 215 2x8
Lat Pulldown: 105 3x8
Curls: 55 1x10, 1x9 FAIL#1
Hang Knee Raise: 1x17
Crunch: 10# 1x14
Landmines: 10+Bar: 1x10

Crap WO. Felt the cut today. Had strength to get FS but conditioning failed me. OHP is going to be a beast until I end the cut. Forgot how to add on RDL and did the first set at last weeks weight.

[skodins2231]

Squat: 210 3x5
Bench: 135 3x5
Pendlay: 130 2x8, 1x7 FAIL#1
Face Pulls: 20#Band 3x10
Standing Calf Raise: 105 2x15
Tricep Pull Down: 45 1x8, 1x5 FAIL#1
Hanging Knee Raise: 1x17
Crunch: 1x14 10#
Landmines: 1x10 10#

Felt much better than other day. Made a few diet adjustments to give me more carbs/cals on workout days and will offset on non workout days. Switched face pulls to using bands since my lat Pulldown just isn't going to be ideal. Felt like I had the right idea.
Pendlay form getting much better. Fixed form on triceps so I don't incorporate shoulders. Much harder resetting now.

[skodins2231]

Front Squats: 195 3x5
OHP: 92.5 3x5
RDL: 215 3x8
Lat Pulldown: 105 3x8
Curls: 55 2x10
Hang Knee Raise: 1x17
Crunch: 10# 1x14
Landmines: 10+Bar: 1x10

Felt much better today than last B WO. Tinkered my diet so I'm eating 400 more calories on my WO days than off days. I can tell its having a difference. I *think* I'm going to do 2 more weeks at current cut cal then begin adding 100cal a week. We'll see.

FS and OHP very heavy. Next week will be interesting. FS pretty much a PR. Best 3x5 prior was 190.

[skodins2231]

Squat: 220 3x5
Bench: 140 3x5
Pendlay: 130 3x8
Face Pulls: 3x10 Bands
Standing Calf Raise: 110 2x15
Tricep Pull Down: 35 2x10
Hanging Knee Raise: 1x20
Crunch: 1x10 15#
Landmines: 1x12 10#

Good energy. Squat felt really good and way easier than expected. Nice to start overcoming that mental hurdle where a 2 plate squat "looks heavy"

Bench felt good. Pendlay much better and form continues to improve. Face pulls WIP. Trying the technique from Omar's vid. Felt decent contraction but trying to get my form right.

[skodins2231]

Front Squats: 205 1x5, 2x3 PR & FAIL#1
OHP: 95 3x5 PR
RDL: 225 3x8
Lat Pulldown: 110 3x8
Curls: 60 1x10, 1x5 FAIL#1
Face Pulls: 1x10 Bands

Weird schedule today so happy with WO overall. Ate too much too soon before WO so didn't feel ideal.

*Front Squats is a 1x5 PR...form was getting a little sketchy of some reps and I could feel a little stress keeping back neutral. Might be able to get this on Friday though if I feel better.
*OHP felt much easier than expected and happy to break this previous plateau with new PR
*Last set of RDL was a mess due to using straps. Still Ok to advance. Working on grip strength but will have to use straps to keep advancing at these weights.
*Skipped abs due to meal and just did a set of face pulls to practice form.

[skodins2231]

Diet Update:

Weighed in today at 159.8...very close to 7 day avg. I weight daily and trend it that way I don't have to overreact to a one day weigh in. Began cut March 5th or so at 174. Calipers tell me I'm 9% (no way). Navy tells me I'm 14.5%. Somewhere in the middle is probably right.

My original plan was to cut to 160 and reassess. I'm as lean as I've been in a long time. I'm fairly happy with where I am but I'm wanting to go on a very long bulk so I want to have as lean of a base as possible. I'm eager to get to bulking though.

I've had very good success last 3 weeks averaging about 2100 cal / day. I've been eating 1900 on non-lifting days and 2300 on lifting days. Energy has felt pretty good and still progressing. Been losing a little faster than ideal so as I lean out more concerned about the loss going too much from muscle. So I think I'm going to up calories as I finish out this cut.

So as I type this right now I believe my plan is as follows:

-Next 3 weeks through June I'm going to eat around 2000 on non-lifting days and around 2500 on lifting days. Should average me out to around 2200. Guessing that puts me close to 155-157 and should be a good base to bulk from.

-July I'll transition to a bulk by increasing cal by 100-200 / wk. Should be very close to where I plan to bulk at by early August but we'll adjust as we go at that time. Think I'm going to stick to this idea of eating 400 more cal on lifting days vs. non-lifting days. Plan is to aim for .5 - .75 lb per wk gain. Would prefer .5 but that may be hard to measure.

Glad I got that in writing so I can remind myself what the hell I'm doing....

[skodins2231]

Squat: 220 3x5
Bench: 140 2x5, 1x6 150 1x3
Pendlay: 130 3x8
Face Pulls: 3x10 Bands
Standing Calf Raise: 110 2x15
Tricep Pull Down: 35 2x10
Hanging Knee Raise: 1x20
Crunch: 1x10 15#
Landmines: 1x12 10#

Good energy, everything felt good. Bench I got a little crazy with today but felt good so did just a little extra. Still felt like I had several reps in the tank on the last set so I don't think I overdid it. Face pulls still a work in progress. Getting a lighter set of bands in mail tomorrow and plan to use those to iron out my form. Might be just a tad much with what I'm using.

Pendlays continue to work on elbow position. They're getting better though last few reps are a struggle at this weight.

2nd set from today



Oh....and got this beauty in the mail yesterday so got to use first time today....posting a review in a bit.

[skodins2231]

Link to my Belt review so I can find it easier.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...post1447706533

[skodins2231]

Front Squats: 205 2x5,1x3 PR & FAIL#2
OHP: 97.5 3x5 PR
RDL: 235 3x8 Tied PR
Lat Pulldown: 115 3x8
Curls: 60 1x9 45 1x10 FAIL #2
Hang Knee Raise: 2x15
Weighted Plank: 10# 45sec

* Got two more reps on Front Squat so happy despite the fail. Resetting next WO. Form felt good.

*Surprised with OHP. It's very heavy and a struggle but still managing to get it up with out a complete form breakdown. I feel form is Ok but something to always work on.

*RDL tied previous PR. Heavy but Ok. Not completely happy with how form looks. Working to get hips farther back w/out falling over. I also have a tendency to go too low so trying to stop just below kneecap.

*Lat Pulldown good but I think I'm doing something on my form that is irritating my right shoulder. Didn't record today so will have to research where my issue is. I've gotten this soreness before but couldn't pinpoint which ex. it was coming from. Step in right direction so I can correct.

*Curls and Abs. Still trying to find an ab routine I'm happy with. I know Abs are needed but don't need to overwork since the compounds are working them, but I'm still fighting that urge to do more. With time...

RDL - 235

[skodins2231]

Found this in an old thread.

When you're at the top, don't let your shoulders raise up like you're trying to get a really good lat stretch; this really stresses the shoulders. Instead, stop right when your arms are fully extended, and don't let the weight pull your arms and shoulders up any further. If you wanna stretch your lats then stretch them some other way.

Yes, you may have to lower the weight some or you might not get all your reps when you do them the way I described, but that's because you'll have to perform each rep in a more controlled manner in order to stop at the top and not let your shoulders get pulled up. When your shoulders raise up at the top you're actually starting each pull by lowering or pulling with your shoulders. Your lats can't pull when they're stretched to the max, so you initiate a pulldown by pulling your shoulders back down to their normal position ... maybe only 2-3 inches at best, and then pulling with your lats. This is bad idea if you're starting from a pause with your shoulders in a vulnerable position.

This might be something along the lines of what I'm doing. I've noticed I'll get extra stretched at top on occasion. Essentially I think I'm pulling with my shoulder and since my right side is dominant side I'm guessing that's what I'm doing to be feeling more pain there. It usually goes away in a day or two but need to get it sorted out to prevent future issues.

[JustBulk]

All the best!

[skodins2231]

All the best!

Thanks! Appreciated.


Upon further review, I think my form might be jacked up on my pulldown which is the problem. Found the below video discussing upper arm angle. Found some old vids of mine and while mine don't point as far back, it's certainly not ideal. Might work on this after my A workout tomorrow. Might have to bump weight down to iron some of this out

[Squid24]

In..

[skodins2231]

In..

Welcome!

[Squid24]

So how did the yr away effect you? Any draw backs?

[skodins2231]

Squat: 230 3x5
Bench: 145 3x5
Pendlay: 135 1x8,1x6,1x5 FAIL #1
Face Pulls: 2x10,1x12 Bands
Calf Raise: 115 2x15
Tricep Pressdown: 40 1x10,1x9 FAIL #1
Landmines: 10# 2x10
Weighted Plank: 10# 45sec
Did a little lat pulldown work to practice form.


Decent session. Shoulder was a little tight this morning but by the time I worked out it was completely fine. No issue on pendlay or face pulls which I wondered about. Resetting now on Pendlays because I'm just not thrilled with my form and would rather go ahead and reset to work on that at a light weight twice next week vs. trying to battle again at 135. Slowly getting the form down on face pulls. Got some lighter bands in the mail so used those today. Allows me to really work on the form and the contraction. Then I can slowly work my way up.

[skodins2231]

So how did the yr away effect you? Any draw backs?

You know, I hadn't really thought of it as a year off but that is definitely what it was.

So I made really good progress running F5 Oct '14 - Mar '15. I had set the following 3x5 (or 8) PR's

Squat: 225
Bench: 170
RDL: 235
Front Squat: 195
Pendays: 145
Incline: 155

Last year was pretty crazy, we bought a new house and then did a bunch of remodeling stuff. Also had to work to sell the old one which didn't close until Jan of this year. Anytime I got myself back into the weights something would come up and get me off course. Just to give you an idea (and to document for my own reference)....

Worked out on Apr 3 '15
8 weeks off (packing up old house, thinking we were moving....delayed)
6 weeks on from 1st week of June until second week of July (close on new house)
10 weeks off doing remodeling on new house
6 weeks on from middle of Sept until 1st week of Nov
Off until started back in Mar 5 of this year. Did have a couple of weeks in Dec.

So you can see from that, it was always 2 steps back, 1 step forward.

But to specifically answer your question, I think the impact was much greater to upper body strength vs. lower. I've already set new PRs for Squat & Front Squat and next week I'll set a new one for RDL. However, Bench and Pendlays have been much slower to come back. So I'd consider that the biggest drawback outside a year of lost progress.

On the bright side, we now have a very nice set up here and the year allowed me to find different things that helped (or hurt) my commitment. So I think just learning from those things will help going forward.

;tl;dr; Lower body strength came back faster than upper body which is still behind where it was. Learned some lessons on how to stay committed.

[skodins2231]

30 min of LISS on elliptical this morning followed by Yoga class at lunch.

Don't log it, but been doing ~3 days a week of each on my off days. Yoga has really seemed to help with recovery. I skipped a normal Sat morning class I attend and could feel a difference yesterday and even this morning pre class.

[Squid24]

You are doing great. The program only works if ya work the program

But life is a biatch and she slaps ya real hard too...lol

[skodins2231]

You are doing great. The program only works if ya work the program

But life is a biatch and she slaps ya real hard too...lol

Thanks....and ain't that the truth!

[skodins2231]

Front Squats

1x8 - 45
1x5 - 95
1x3 - 135
3x5 - 165
1x10 - 135

OHP

1x5 - 45
1x3 - 65
2x5 - 97.5
1x3 - 97.5 Fail#1...after getting it on Fri

RDL

1x8 - 45
1x3 - 135
1x3 - 185
3x8 - 235

Lat Pulldown

1x8 - 45
1x8 - 65
1x8 - 85
1x8 - 105
1x8 - 115
1x8 - 105
1x15 - 65

Barbell Curl

2x10 - 45 (tough after all those pulldowns....very easily could have skipped but thought what the hell...)

Hang Knee Raise

2x15 - BW

Weighted Plank

45 sec - BW+10


Decent energy though these 3rd full body sessions of the week are always tough on this cut. Last week is last week before I begin transitioning to bulk.

Was nice to not have to grind on Front Squats after several weeks of really grinding. Took a page out of Squid's book and slammed through any extra set of 10 at the end for fun.

OHP not shocking but not thrilled to fail after having have gotten it on Friday. It was tough then and tougher today. Not quite sure what I'm going to do on this one weight wise...

RDL heavy but Ok.

Lat Pulldown I wanted to ramp up to work on form and find at what weight it really starts to strain. Got a little crazy with all the reps but it helped me to feel when my lats were engaging. 115 was a really struggle so I may just work up to 105 next time. Elbow position is better, but need to really review the vids I took of each set to take a look.

[skodins2231]

Skipped today's workout as a deload. Was going to workout today-Sun then skip Tues but been a little sore recently so decided to just skip today then pick back up Sun for a good 4 day rest. Trying to be good about taking that 4 day rest every 4-5 weeks just to be safe.

Did some light cardio and a little mobility work instead.

[skodins2231]

Squat

1x8 - 45 w/u
1x5 - 95 w/u
1x3 - 155 w/u
1x2 - 205 w/u
3x5 - 240

Bench

1x8 - 45 w/u
1x5 - 65 w/u
1x3 - 95 w/u
1x2 - 125 w/u
3x5 - 150

Pendlay

1x8 - 45 w/u
3x8 - 115

BOR

1x10 - 95

Face Pulls

3x12 - Bands

Standing Calf Raise

2x15 - 120

Tricep Pressdown - FAIL #2

1x9 - 40
1x6 - 40

Landmines

2x12 - Bar + 10

Weighted Plan

60sec - BW + 10

Comments

Had a sample of the new CL White Flood so used that before this workout. Felt really good - higher stim than I'm used to. Had 2 scoops of Purple Wraath intraworkout. Also beginning to supplement with L-Glutamine. Might have been more helpful to do that earlier on in the cut, but curious to see how that helps with recovery.

Squat and Bench both felt good. Squat form looked pretty solid, even as the weight is getting back up there.

Last 2 sets of Pendlays were the best form they've looked ever. Kept elbows up over the bar throughout. Began using a thumbless grip to help get that feeling in the back. I also used the thumbless grip on the tricep pressdowns. They helped me isolate the triceps more, but also made the weight heavier so will be resetting that much lower to build up.

Face pulls seems to be feeling better but still trying to make sure I'm activating rear delts appropriately.

I added 1 set of BOR at the end of Pendlays. This is something I'm going to begin doing with various exercises depending on day of week / feel / where I am in a reset cycle. 2 goals with this. 1) Should keep some variety in the days with different things and have some fun with a little extra volume without going dumb. 2) I plan to progress to U/L split when I'm done with this. Targeting 10/1 or so to switch. If I stall before then I'll switch sooner but I'm thinking by that point it will be about 5 months on the Novice with 2 months on SL before then. Mentally, I'll be ready to switch and I want to keep myself interested. So I figure adding in these extra sets will allow me to work on the form on those exercises I'll be adding and figuring out some ballpark weight to use when switching.

F5B on Tues.

[skodins2231]

Front Squats

1x8 - 45
1x5 - 95
1x3 - 135
1x2 - 165
3x5 - 175 - Felt good working my way back up post reset. Able to really focus on form.

OHP

1x8 - 45
1x3 - 75
3x5 - 97.5 - Still heavy but much better than last time post deload. Adding 2.5 next time and we'll see how 100 goes

Incline Bench

1x8 - 95 - Just getting a little practice on form at light weight for eventual UL split.

RDL

1x8 - 95
1x3 - 185
1x2 - 205
3x8 - 245 - PR. Will likely repeat next week 1 more time before raising 10. Felt decent but certainly heavy. Focusing on driving up with hams and glutes. Vid below of 2nd set.

Lat Pulldown

1x8 - 45
1x5 - 85
3x8 - 115 - Form getting better...still fine tuning. Just the few changes I've made I could def feel much more back activation. Thumbless grip on last 2 sets. Forgot on 1st set.


Barbell Curl

2x10 - 50 - Whatever...


Hang Knee Raise

2x15 - BW - Made a change where I'm trying to lift knees up and away vs. moving hips back to raise knees. Felt it much more in lower abs. Might try next time with 3lb dumbell.

Cable Crunch

1x10 - 30
1x20 - 40 - Adding these in and just working on finding a good weight and form

Weighted Plank

60 sec - BW+10 - Will try adding 15sec next week.

2 days off from lifting and will resume on Friday. Cut Over beginning Friday! Mentally charged right now to lift and slowly ramp up cals to begin very long bulk.

RDL - 2nd Set

[skodins2231]

Tonight's dinner

Baked catfish in avocado oil

[skodins2231]

Squat

1x8 - 45 w/u
1x5 - 95 w/u
1x3 - 135 w/u
1x2 - 185 w/u
1x1 - 225 w/u
3x5 - 250 PR - Had to really grind at end but got it. Was harder than I hoped it would be. I know I've been cutting, but really beginning to debate a switch to U/L.

Bench

1x8 - 45 w/u
1x5 - 65 w/u
1x3 - 95 w/u
1x2 - 125 w/u
3x5 - 155 2016 PR - This still didn't feel too bad. Very challenging but never really felt fear of failing.

Pendlay

1x5 - 95 w/u
3x8 - 120 - Form much better since reset. Thumbless grip is helping use back more correctly


Omar Face Pulls

3x15 - Bands - Added 3 reps vs. last week. Feeling much better on form.

Standing Calf Raise

2x15 - 125 - Getting pretty challenging on last few reps.

Tricep Cable Pressdown

2x12 - 20 - Very easy but was getting a good pump at end from volume and little rest between sets. Going to proceed more slowly progression wise on curls/triceps vs. what I've been doing.


Landmines

2x13 - Bar + 10

Weighted Plan

65sec - BW + 10