BMT, Military Life & Beyond 2L8ForGrace's Lifting Log

[2L8forGrace]

This log is dedicated to all my training up till I leave for Basic Training and my life in the military and hopefully even beyond that.

Videos will be posted every workout.


Current Conservative 1RM

WT:196
B:245
S:405
D:495
C:255

[2L8forGrace]

Deadlift
75% x4x3
80% x1x3

Supinated grip Bent row
10x4 @8 RPE (2 lifts left in the tank)

Single Arm Dumbbell Row
10x4 @8RPE

Ab wheel Rollouts
10x3


Notes: Pretty easy workout relatively speaking. Right now I am basing my percentages off of very conservative max numbers so stuff is moving pretty well.

[2L8forGrace]

9-4-15


Pause Squats
285x3x4

DB Bench Press
70x8x4 @8.5 RPE

Seated DB overhead press
35x8x4

Dips
BWx10x4


9-05-15

Pause Deadlift 2 count right off the floor
345x3x3

Pullups
AMRAP (8,7,7,5) x4

Ab wheel Rollouts
10x3

Freestyle (optional)
Calves
4x12
Biceps
4x12
Leg Curls
4x12

Notes: Won't normally compact days together but I had some stuff come up. Both days fairly challenging but I am not acclimated to pause reps right now.

[2L8forGrace]

Just wanted to make a note.


I am thinking about posting some ideology behind some of my training methods or things I like doing for future references.

[2L8forGrace]

Haven't posted because I haven't had internet at all. Vids coming as soon as they upload.



Squat

75%x5x3 @ 305

80% x2x2 @ 325

Safety Rack Fail

Incline Press

75% x5x3 @ 170

80% x2x2 @ 180

Pull Ups

AMRAP x4 (as many reps as possible)

12,9,8,6

Dips

8s EMOTM Attempt to get an extra set over last week

5 rounds

Ab Wheel Rollouts

8x4

Notes:

Challenging only because I was having trouble due to mis-grooving on everything on what felt like every rep. I also noticed my work capacity is somewhat inconsistent day to day and I think a lot of it is mental for me.

[2L8forGrace]

Deadlift

75% x4x4 @ 360



80% x2x2 @ 380



Supinated grip Bent row

10x4 @ 175 @8 RPE (2 lifts left in the tank)

Single Arm Dumbbell Row

10x4 @ 70 @8RPE

Ab wheel Rollouts

12x3


Notes:

Very challenging for me as I feel my deadlifting work capacity is very poor right now. Dealing with some hip pains right now which made this even more challenging.

[2L8forGrace]

Pause Squats

70% x3x5 @ #285

DB Bench Press

8x4 @8.5 RPE @#75

Seated DB overhead press

8x4 @#50

Dips

10x4 (make 4th set an AMRAP) + 10 lb plate

10,10,10,13

Notes: Once again my camera isn't correctly capturing videos so I am going to get that checked out. Been dealing with some really bad piriformis stuff that makes doing anything brutal. Despite this, I was absolutely burying reps today on squats. Body weight has really been going up as I am sitting around 200lbs ATM. Been really trying to improve consistency when I lift in every regard from walk outs to consistent motion patterns.

[2L8forGrace]

Pause Deadlift 2 count right off the floor

70% x3x4 @#335



Pullups

AMRAP x4
10,7,7,5

Ab wheel Rollouts

10x3

Freestyle (optional)

Slingshot Bench
230x8x3
Hamstring Curls
70x12x4
Biceps
miscx12x4

Notes: Wow felt super easy today in fact i felt like I didn;t need very much time for rest between sets. Overall felt pretty good as a whole and I flew through this workout

[FireKnight1]

This log is dedicated to all my training up till I leave for Basic Training and my life in the military and hopefully even beyond that.

Videos will be posted every workout.


Current Conservative 1RM

WT:196
B:245
S:405
D:495
C:255

What branch are you going into? Are you doing any of the exercises the branch your going into is going to have you do for your physical fitness test?

[2L8forGrace]

What branch are you going into? Are you doing any of the exercises the branch your going into is going to have you do for your physical fitness test?

Air Force. What branch do you serve in? I've been able to do push ups really well. On my off days I try doing sit ups and some cardio but I need to get better at doing those. My cardio's fairly good as I've been able to run half mile splits at a low/mid 2 minute clip without being too winded. My issue is actually that I am over the weight limit for my height right now!

[2L8forGrace]

Squats

75% x5x3 #315

80% x3x2 #330



Incline Press

75% x5x3 #165

80% x3x2 #175


Pull Ups

AMRAP x4 (as many reps as possible)

8,8,8,8
Dips

8s EMOTM Attempt to get an extra set over last week

5 sets

Ab Wheel Rollouts

10x4

Notes: Really solid workout. Pretty hard mentally due to a piriformis thing I am battling through but sometimes it's just about putting your head down and living the grind. I think I was a bit too conservative on my incline bench but it's better to program too light than run into a wall in the middle of my program. Squats didn't move super well for my last set but I wasn't able to grab food before my lift so I feel that impacted my lifting somewhat significantly.

[2L8forGrace]

Deadlift



75% x4x3 @ #365

80% x3x2 @#390

Supinated grip Bent row

10x4 @8 RPE @ #175


Single Arm Dumbbell Row

10x4 @8RPE @#75

Ab wheel Rollouts

10x4


Notes: Good workout everything felt super light.

[2L8forGrace]

Pause Squats

70% x4x4 @ #285lbs

DB Bench Press

8x5 @8.5 RPE @ #80lbs

Seated DB overhead press

8x5 @ #55lbs


Dips

10x4 (make 4th set an AMRAP)

+10lbs on each set

10,10,10,16

Notes: Didn't have time to grab videos as I had to run back to my hometown for family dinner so my entire workout was rushed. Did pause squats beltless without knee sleeves and they felt super easy as I had minimal rest between sets. DB's felt good and I realized I am significantly better at BB's than DB's on military.

[2L8forGrace]

Pause Deadlift 2 count right off the floor

70% x3x5 @#340

Pullups

AMRAP x4

9,9,8,6
Ab wheel Rollouts

10x3

Freestyle (optional)

Biceps
4x12
Calves
4x12
Bench Press
3x8

Notes:
Really felt sluggish today but I pushed through everything. I just didn't feel into it mentally but I hit everything with relative ease. Couldn't record today but everything will resume to normal on Monday. Going to go hunting tmrw.

[2L8forGrace]

Squat



75% x4x2 @#305

80% x3x4 @#325

Incline Press



75% x4x2 @#175

80% x3x4 @#180

Pull Ups

AMRAP x4 (as many reps as possible)

9,9,7,7

Dips

9s EMOTM (try to match or exceed 5 sets)

5 sets

Ab Wheel Rollouts

12x4


Notes: Pretty easy workout and I hit my sets and reps without a lot of problems. Had some trouble misgrooving warming up so I was a bit concerned going in but once I had working sets everything fell into place. Noticed it was a lot easier lifting with a friend because it felt like I was more motivated.

[2L8forGrace]

Deadlift

75% x5 @#365

85% x2 @#415

80% x3x4 @#390

Supinated grip Bent row

10x4 @8.5 RPE (1.5 lifts left in the tank)

@#175

Single Arm Dumbbell Row

10x4 @8.5 RPE

@#80s

Ab wheel Rollouts

12x4


Notes: Weight just flew around today on deadlifts. Heaviest set literally felt like I could do it for 10 reps.

415x2

[2L8forGrace]

Pause Squats

70% x4x4 @#285

DB Bench Press

8x5 @8.5 RPE @#80

Seated DB overhead press

8x5 @#60

Dips

10x4 (make 4th set an AMRAP)

10,10,10,24

Pause Deadlift 2 count right off the floor

72% x3x4 @#350

Pullups

AMRAP x4 @#7,7,7,7

Ab wheel Rollouts

10x4

Freestyle

Bench
4x12
Tri's
4x12
Bi's
4x12
Hamstring Curls
4x12


Notes:Collectively everything was pretty easy on a relative note. My Saturday workout was done pretty hung over too which made it mentally challenging.I feel incredibly strong right now and it seems like everything is moving really well.

Also I accidently edited out on of the reps of pause squats but I did 4s

[2L8forGrace]

Squat

77% x4 @ #315

82% x4x4 @#335

Incline Press

75% x4 @#170

80% x4x4 @#180

Pull Ups

AMRAP x4 (as many reps as possible)
10,8,8,7
Push ups

15s EMOTM (military style)

9 Rounds

Ab Wheel Rollouts

12x4






Notes: Been dealing with some low back tightness so today squatting was only difficult because mentally I felt like I was "guarding" my back, which in turn affected my groove. Incline felt heavy but not particularly difficult. Push-ups were really easy and honestly I stopped after 9 sets because I could have done this for quite a while longer and I was running out of time. All in all a solid days work.

[2L8forGrace]

Deadlift

86% x4 @#425

82% x4x3 @#405

Supinated grip Bent row

10x4 @8.5 RPE @#175

Single Arm Dumbbell Row

10x4 @8.5 RPE @#75

Military test style sit ups

AMRAP x3


Notes: Met some cool people at the gym. Went ahead and bumped up the weight a little bit as we had no 2.5 lbs plates for my 82% deadlifts. Everything was super easy and it moved well!

[2L8forGrace]

Pause Squats

72% x4x4



Bench Press (baby steps back in)


6x3 @7.5 RPE

Seated DB overhead press

8x5

Dips

10x4

+ AMRAP Push ups close grip

Notes: Good day today. Didn't feel super amazing but everything moved well. Bench felt a bit odd because I was able to fairly easily do reps but my arms were shaking.

[2L8forGrace]

Squat

82% x5x4 @#335

Incline Press

80% x5x4 @#180

Pull Ups

AMRAP x4

8,8,8,8

Push ups

ARMAP x4

60,50,44,35

Ab Wheel Rollouts

12x4



Deadlift

85% x4x4 @#415

Supinated grip Bent row

10x4 @8.5 RPE @#185


Single Arm Dumbbell Row

10x4 @8.5 RPE @#75

Military test style sit ups

AMRAP x4

50,43,35,30


Notes: Been dealing with some minor hip flexor/low back pain that has made my workouts difficult. Honestly, it's been a bit harder mentally than physically but I've been grinding away. Monday was a bit rough because squatting I felt like my body was "guarding" itself. The reps themselves weren't difficult but the fact that I wasn't in my normal "groove" made everything seem off. I was back home on Wednesday at my old highschool and I felt like it would have been a bit awkward recording as the entire volleyball team came down to lift. Surprisingly deadlifts moved super easily, probably the best I've ever moved 400+ lbs for sets & reps. Incline feels a bit off right now but I think it's more due to the fact that I'm moving more overall tonneage beforehand.


Speaking strictly in terms of my military testing stuff I've found my sit ups to probably be my biggest weakness and its more due to a weird back pain I get from doing them on occasion. I've found push-ups/pull ups a bit harder now as I've been gaining weight but both of them seem to be alright considering that I just really started doing them again. Coming up I will be running again soon to see where my cardio is at. I absolutely hate running but I've found I'm not too bad at it and despite gaining weight I'm still fairly good at it.

[2L8forGrace]

Will start posting regularly again tomorrow. Just been super busy with things in life lately.


Here's a clip from saturday messing around post workout.

[2L8forGrace]

Unfortunately, I've been really bad about posting but the training block has gone pretty well collectively. As of right now my hips are really beat up and I've been dealing with some low back pain. I think the volume and frequency of squatting and deadlifting has started getting to me.

On a positive note I've hit 275x5 on the slinger and it feels like my squats have shot way up. Deadlift has been the most effected by my injuries lately but hopefully it's just due to being a bit burned out.

Overall, the hardest thing right now is just the overall mental grind of going to the gym everyday and dealing with heavy weight. One nice thing lately with this past bulk has been people really noticing. I get a lot more remarks about how I've gained a lot of size from various people.

[hamzatm]

Hi there, noticed you've not posted here recently but I saw your post from a while back that you used to be 130lb at the start. To call your progress huge would be an understatement! Any advice for a skinny lanky (6'2" 180lbs) dude?

[2L8forGrace]

Hi there, noticed you've not posted here recently but I saw your post from a while back that you used to be 130lb at the start. To call your progress huge would be an understatement! Any advice for a skinny lanky (6'2" 180lbs) dude?

Wow sorry for the long response time. I haven't been on in ages but I think I will start up again to keep myself motivated.

Basically when it comes to gaining weight I found drinking calories to be the most efficient (milk/shakes and or ice cream) but also having food readily available at all times (doesn't have to be much.. perhaps granola bars or different types of nuts) and one thing I usually do when I'm bulking and have "unlimited" food is attempting to eat my food as fast as possible to consume the most I can per sitting.

Obviously, there's a lot more that can factor into this but I'd need to know some of your circumstances to give some better advice.

[2L8forGrace]

So I thought I'd give a brief update since I haven't posted in like 8 months. I honestly haven't been able to really squat or deadlift since early November 2015 (so around 7-8 months) due to my back issues which are finally now resolving a little. I've been back lifting post BMT (which I will get to in a second) for about 2.5 months. Basically my bench went from about 190 to hopefully 285-300lbs when I test this next week which I should have a vid for. I just started squatting/deadlifting again for the first time this past week.. Pretty bad numbers as I can only squat around 3 plates for a few reps on a good day and probably around 450ish on deadlift. I'm going to start really light to hopefully make a bit of a comeback.

BMT didn't go as expected but I'm in the process of trying to get a waiver to head back and into the ROTC program which will ultimately be better. I literally got sent home 2 days before my flight graduated. Currently I'm working on the farm putting in around 50-60 hours a week so gains are probably not optimal until school next semester.

Thought I'd end this on a high note. Here is footage of me setting 2 unofficial state records at my age and wt class. I have a video of me missing 570 on deadlift due to grip if you want to see that.

Going forward I am most likely going to do more bodybuilding stuff for the first time in my life.. I got back from BMT at around 183lbs and I'm currently around 202-205 as I start a mini cut for the summer.

Might start posting some videos talking about a few topics in lifting or some of my training footage if time allows.. not in this for anything other than something to keep motivating me for lifting.

Sorry this got long winded for those who read or even care but as of now I'm going to make an effort to post again.

[hamzatm]

Nice work man! Good luck with the ROTC, hoping it works out for you. Bodybuilding work is serious fun, I'm sure you'll explode with gains.

What's your take on setting up a bulk for the long term, do you think it's worth just going all out and getting heavy then dealing with it, or would you recommend bulk/cut cycles?

[2L8forGrace]

Nice work man! Good luck with the ROTC, hoping it works out for you. Bodybuilding work is serious fun, I'm sure you'll explode with gains.

What's your take on setting up a bulk for the long term, do you think it's worth just going all out and getting heavy then dealing with it, or would you recommend bulk/cut cycles?

Thank you! I really enjoyed the military lifestyle so it's priority number 1. In the brief time I've started doing bodybuilding stuff I do enjoy it. The style of lifting is a lot more challenging than I originally thought and it is something new, which at this point is interesting to me.

To answer your question I think bulking is highly dependent on a person to person basic. I don't want to get too long winded because honestly I could write a short essay on this but I think it's important to consider a few things. Namely, a persons metabolism and their discipline if we want to make this as simplistic as possible. With those things excluded here would be my general rules of thumb..

I would advice a longer term, moderately aggressive bulk to around 15-18% BF at the maximum. My reasoning for this is I've generally seen even the most committed people struggle come back efficiently from a dreamer bulk(20 - +25%BF).

Now my reasoning for this is I've generally seen people that take a multitude of mini bulks and cuts end up seeing diminishing returns concerning their lean body mass (lbm) due to the fact they lack discipline/interest/resources/knowledge. A lot of times I see people gain 8 lbs and lose 4lbs but they end up managing their macros poorly so while they end up going up in bodyweight they end up seeing very little in terms of actual lmb, which at the end of the day is the most important physique wise. Beyond that I think from a biological stand point the constant flux of metabolic stress is not ideal.

Now it's fairly easy to be a devils advocate and argue for mini bulks and cuts on the same premises I argued against it, but it ultimately comes down to discipline and metabolism if they put on weight at a quick pace. In my experience I've seen people be more successful with a longer term bulk because it allows less interruptions and less opportunity for error or poor management. If your able to efficiently make cuts either way could theoretically be plausible.

[hamzatm]

Ah that's interesting to know. Makes sense, thanks very much for the information!

[2L8forGrace]

Bench Press
260x3x2
275x3x1

Sling Shot
295x1x1
305x1x1

Plate Loaded Incline
180x4x8

DB Flyes
2x15

Pullovers
45x4x12
DB Skullcrushers
55x4x12

Pushdowns
4x12
Facepulls
4x12

Raise Complex
20x3x10

ABS


Notes: TBH a fairly bad lift in terms of feel. It doesn't help I am using a terrible bench with an awkward power rack set up in which I smack higher pins everytime I unrack the weight. That said everything went up alright.. Should be testing later this week on bench. I will be slowly adding in some squatting and deadlifting going forward, albeit most of my effort will be put towards bodybuilding.