Andy's "I swear it's not just a New Year's Resolution!" Resolution

[ducksss]

My name is Andrew and I'm 32 years old. I was 17 when I first hit the gym with friends and we were all absolutely clueless. I spent 5-6 years in the gym and although I thought I learned a lot, in reality I hadn't learned ****. I made all sorts of dumb mistakes, which led to injuries and eventually disinterest. All learning experiences though. Since then I did CrossFit for a couple years (taught me Oly weightlifting, which I LOVE), an avid runner for a couple years, and a couch slob for a couple years (or more).



I recently finished a six week challenge at a local gym. The gist of the challenge was that its cost is refunded if you lose 12lbs in those six weeks. For the first time in my life I focused on nutrition and actually stuck to the plan. I lost 14lbs in those six weeks, going from 180lbs to 166lbs. The moment I cleaned up my diet and got back to lifting I felt like I was 17 again and in love with lifting weights.



Today, I weigh roughly the same and I'm working out on my own without a structured plan. I'm proud to say that I've stuck to my diet and don't plan on quitting any time soon. My immediate goal is to continue losing body fat. Above all else I want to be lean and healthy, and then I'll consider a caloric surplus to gain muscle. The workouts I do are the ones that keep me interested as that helps with consistency, something I've struggled with over the past few years. Specifically, I love doing conditioning work and the feeling of satisfaction that having my ass kicked by such hard work gives me.



I'm starting the Westside for Skinny Bastards program, accompanied by conditioning/GPP work on non-lifting days. This program was recommended to me for its variety and excellent track record. 

[ducksss]

December 19, 2018. First journal entry!

Conditioning workout

18 EMOM:
1. 2 Turkish Getups per arm (25#)
2. 8 KB RDL per leg (40#)
3. 8 Diamond pushups

Rest, then 4 sets of:
60s KB swings (40#)
60s Goblet squats (40#)
60s rest

[ducksss]

December 20 - Upper body repetition


Bench: 20@95 21@95 15@95
Alright, this was weird. WS4SB calls for max reps at 95 or 135 or 185 or 225. I haven't done BB bench in a long time but I guess I should have used 135. As it was, I could have done more reps in these sets, it just felt plain wrong doing so many. Maybe I'm overthinking it...

Rolling tricep extension: 10@20/25/30
DB side press: 15@20/25/30
DB hammer curl: 10@25/30/30
Pullup: 4+4 assisted (purple band), 4+4 ast, 1+3ast+4 negatives, 4ast+4negs
Superset(12 dec situp + 12 hanging leg raises)x3

Conditioning:
5 rounds for time of:
12 burpee / 15 G2OH / 10 pushup / 15 air squat
Result: 15:30

[ducksss]

Christmas has been busy, but I've been working out! I've challenged myself and my friend to a "10 days of workouts" over Christmas. Been going well so far, and having fun doing it

22/12/2018 - Lower body ME
Squat: 5/115 5/135 5/155 2/175 5/185
Walking lunge (KBs): 15 @ 15/20/25/30
SLDL: 6/135 6/185 8/205 6/225
Grip: Farmers carry with 60# DBs

Conditioning: 20 AMRAP
10 burpee, 1 length sled push, 1 length sled pull

[ducksss]

23/12/2018 - Conditioning
4 sets:
60s KB swing / 60s rest
60s pushups / 60s rest
60s box step over / 60s rest
60s DB push press / 60s rest

Finished with face pulls and band pull aparts

[ducksss]

24/12/2018 - Upper body ME
BB bench: 6/95 6/115 5/135 3/155 4/165
Inc DB bench: 10/35 10/45 10/45 13/50
Cable row: 15/85 15/100 12/120 12/125
Med ball twist and throw - 2 sets
Med ball situp - 1 set
Face pulls 3x12-15

[ducksss]

25/12/2018 - Conditioning
7 RFT:
10 burpee BJ
8 KB RDL per leg
15 air squat
15 situp

Time = 28:05

[ducksss]

26/12/2018 - Upper body repetition
BB bench (60s rest): 16/135 8/135 6/135
This felt SO much better than last time with 95lbs. Really loved it

Rolling tri ext: 10/20 10/30 7/35 8/35
Rocking lat pulldown: 10/50 10/50 10/50 10/50 (added 2-3 pullups to first couple sets)
Side DB press: 15/25 15/30 15/35
Hammer curl: 12/25 10/30 10/30
Abs: 45s plank + 15 leg raises, immediately 30s plank+ 12 LR, immediately, 15s plank + 10 LR; rest two mins then repeat

[ducksss]

27/12/2018 - Conditioning
75 air squat
15 burpee
50 walking lunge
15 burpee
40 situp
15 burpee
20 walkout
15 burpee
40 situp
15 burpee
50 walking lunge
15 burpee
75 air squat

Time = 22:16.
A month ago this same workout took me 32 minutes. Very happy to see the progress I've made since then!

[ducksss]

28/12/2018 - Conditioning
90 min fat bike ride on icy trails, did my best not to get TOO bruised up

Later:
4 sets of EMOM:
20 pushup
45s reverse plank (not sure what this is actually called)
20 push press (20#)
20 OH tri extension (15#)
20 KBS (53#)
Rest

[ducksss]

29/12/2018 - Lower body ME
Squat 3/135 3/155 2/175 1/185 5/190
SLDL 5/165 6/185 6/205 7/225
Walking lunge (KBs) 15/20# 15/25# 15/35#
Static hangs twice. These bother my shoulder so I stopped
Face pulls 3x12
GHR 2x10 -- First time doing these and they felt AWESOME

[ducksss]

30/12/2018 - Conditioning
A) For time:
20-17-15-12-9-6
Goblet squat + 10 burpee + KBS
Time = 12:10

B) 5 Rounds
10 DB push press
10 box jump
10 situp
Time = 8:35

C) 12 min EMOM
15 pikes
15 superman rocks
20 hollow rocks

[ducksss]

31/12/2018 -Upper Body ME
BB bench
95x8, 115x5, 135x5, 155x3, 165x6

Inc DB bench
40x10, 45x10, 50x10, 55x8

Cable row
100x15, 120x15, 120x12 drop 85x8

Face pulls
30x15, 35x15, 35x15

Situps
BWx15, 6MBx12x2

Russian twists
6MBx30, 10MBx30x2

Scissors
15, 20, 20

[ducksss]

03/01/2019 - Upper body repetition
BB bench with 90s rest
135x18, 135x10, 135x7

Rope pushdown
50x15x3

Pullups + lat pulldown superset
4+50x12, 4+80x12, 3+80x12, 90x12

L-Raises
12.5x12 15x12, 15x12

Hammer curls
30x10, 35x7 (sloppy), 30x10

45s plank+MB situps
3 sets

Facepulls
3 sets

[ducksss]

04/01/2019 - Lower body ME
Squat
Barx10x2, 95x8, 115x8, 135x5, 155x5, 175x3, 185x3, 205x5

BB reverse lunge -- these were tough for me, definite weaknesses
65x16 (8 per leg), 95x16, 95x16

SLDL
135x8, 165x8, 185x5, 205x5, 225x8, 235x8

DB hold (untimed, these were **** and my grip was feeling toast)
55lbs, 60lbs, 65lbs

[ducksss]

Took a week off due to a tweak of my rhomboid.

13/01/2019 -- Day 1 of GZCLP
Squat
175x3 175x3 175x3 175x3 175x10

Bench
110x10 110x10 110x10

Pullups
5 4 4

Rocking lat pulldowns
70x15 70x15 70x25

[ducksss]

14/01/2019
OHP
95x3 95x3 95x3 95x3 95x10

Deadlift
185x10 185x10 185x10

Rocking Lat pulldown
70x15 70x15 70x25

Facepulls
15 15 25

[ducksss]

16/01/2019
Bench
145x3 145x3 145x3 145x3 145x10

Squat
135x10 135x10 135x10

DB Row
30x15 30x15 30x25

Facepulls
60x15 60x15 60x25

Hammer curl
Dropset 25x12 20x15 15x25 (not sure why I did this set... but I did)

[ducksss]

17/01/2019
Deadlift
235x3x4 235x10 (Video of last set: youtu.be/TB6T3ZkI9Kw, any feedback appreciated!)

OHP
70x10x3

BB Row -- these were ugly. I'll stick to DB rows for now
95x12x3

Facepulls + Rope tri pressdown superset
60x15x3

Scapular retractions
12x2

[ducksss]

January 19, 2019

Squat
185x3x4 185x10 (video of last set: youtube.com/watch?v=IAA9dLOjn6M)

Bench
115x10x3

Pullups
6 5 4

Lat pulldown
70x15x3

Face pulls

[ducksss]

20/01/2019
OHP
100x3x5+ AMRAP: 10 reps

Deadlift
195x10x3

Pullups
4 4 6

DB Row (Inc bench support)
35x15x3

Facepulls
30x15 30x15 30x25

[ducksss]

22/01/2019

Bench
150x3x4 150x10

Squat
140x10x3

Lat pulldown
90x15x2 90x17

In and out pretty quick. Wasn't feeling great

[ducksss]

24/01/2019

Deadlift
240x3x4 240x11 (Video of last set, pardon dude's calves at start: youtu.be/qdu7C44u5B8?t=20)

OHP
75x10x3

Pullups
7 5 4

DB Row
35x15x2 35x20

Face pulls
30x15x2 30x25

[ducksss]

25/01/2019

Today was supposed to be a day off but I'm going on a ski trip tomorrow so I figured I'd get a workout in first.

Squat
190x3x4 190x11
Video of last set: youtube.com/watch?v=gR9DL17PYLA

Bench
120x10x3

Pullup
6 5 5

Lat Pulldown
90x15x3

[ducksss]

28/01/2019

OHP
105x3x4
105x7

Deadlift
190x10x3

Pullup
6 5 5

DB Row
40x15x3

[amibiswajit]

Good keep going.

[ducksss]

29/01/2019

BP
150x3x4 150x9

Squat
150x10x3

Leg Press
2 plates x 15 x 2

Lat pulldown
70x15x3

So my squats have been half squat, half GM. I've been reading up on this and it sounds like a quad weakness. From now on I'm going to hit my quads directly more often to help them catch up to my posterior chain

[ducksss]

31/01/2019

DL
250x3x4 250x10
Video of last set: youtube.com/watch?v=YZdGpVgstpQ&t=6s
My hook grip failed me after rep 4 and the set got monumentally more difficult at that point. I had to focus on simply hanging on to the bar so my form might have gone to crap, at least a little

OHP
85x10x3

DB Row
40x15x2 40x25

Leg Press
2Px15x2 2Px25

Face pulls
40x15x2 40x25

Losing my grip on the DLs was a bummer but I feel like my form is significantly improved over a few weeks ago. I have the strength to go higher than what I did today, which makes me excited to continue seeing gains on this LP program. I threw in leg press in a continued effort to improve my quad strength for the squat issue described previously

Last night I asked advice from a low bar squatter at the gym. He said my bar position looked good so I guess my problem mostly comes down to lack of shoulder mobility.

[ducksss]

02/02/2019

Squat
200x3x4 200x8

Video of last set: youtube.com/watch?v=WEf7MBDmRRY
This was actually terrible. I've been having ongoing struggles with poor quad strength leading to my posterior chain taking over and leaving me being pitched forward. The video of this set exemplifies my problem perfectly. I don't feel like 200lbs is heavy when I hit my squat technique accurately, but when I mess it up like in this video it feels brutal. I'm going to keep doing my quad work and next heavy squat day will probably drop the weight down to maintain better form. I have a lighter squat day coming up and I'm going to put major focus on not GMing the weight.

Bench
125x10x3

Lat pulldown
80x15x2 80x25

Wanted to do some face pulls and probably pullups after these sets but I didn't have the energy. I felt like absolute garbage after my squats, which was a combination of fatigue and hangover from the night before (oops).

[ducksss]

04/02/2019

OHP
110x3x4 110x9
Video of last set: youtube.com/watch?v=4NPMltEzFpY
Upon watching the video I noticed areas for improvement. Bracing isn't very tight, and I'm shaky. Wrists are bent and they should be vertical. Overall I'm happy to get 9 reps as last week at 105# I only got 7 reps

Deadlift
200x10x3

DB Row
45x15x2 45x25

Facepulls
40x15x2 40x25

Leg extension
15 15 25

Hammer curls