< Insert Creative Title Here > -- Smash's workout journal

[smashedurgfx10]

Backstory - 2012 - 2022

-I got into lifting seriously around age 17
-Prior to this, I had gone on a crash diet for a year and lost a load of muscle and strength. I was never 'athletic' but had a decent baseline level.
-I realised something had to change, and now I was starting literally from scratch.
-I began doing Starting Strength, which I stayed on for about 1.5yrs and went from approx 130lbs to 220lbs in that time - eating pretty much everything in sight.
-Went from doing the big lifts with the bar, to the following (at my strongest):

Squat - 157.5kg x1
Bench - 95kg x2
Dead - 190kg x1
Military Press - 70kg x2

Those are rough figures, but about right from what I can remember.
By the time I reached those, I had (along with muscle) gained a lot of fat, and I transitioned from SS to milling around with different splits as I felt like it, and basically made no progress over the following 6 months.
I also was massively overdue a deload, and life stress got in the way, and I ended up taking about 1yr off serious lifting.

By the time I got back into it again I had lost a lot of strength and size. To this day I have never able to hit these numbers again, but I have also never weighed 220lbs again.

In these years which followed, I instead just focused on eating healthy, and decided to 'recomp' my body and just hit the gym when I felt like it. General health began to be much more important than strength to me.
I picked up other sports like running, swimming and badminton in place of weights.

This casual approach to fitness stayed with me until now, so about 6 years.
I've had a lot going on in my life in this time, career and relationship wise.
So it has been easy to put off the prospect of getting strong again, as it required discipline and energy I simply didn't have time to allocate. I had priorities elsewhere which I don't regret.

Now though, I've decided something has to change.
I often reminisce about the strength that I used to have and I know that if I just stick to a plan, I can get somewhere close again. I'm not expecting to surpass the lifts I had before, but in that region (-10/20%) would be fine for me. This is because I don't really aspire to be 220lbs again, so I know it's unlikely I'll hit those numbers.

Fierce 5

I was looking through the workout program section and came across 'Fierce 5'.
Although it mentions it is a 'novice' program, and I don't consider myself a novice as such, my lifts do presently fall into this category.

Particular things which stood out to me were the linear progression model and focus on the core compound barbell lifts. My one hesitation is that there seems to be a lack of accessory movements (for example I would like to see dips and shrugs in there, on alternate days). I may add these at a later date.

I have started approximately 10% away from my 5rm, which I think is reasonable. For the accessory exercises, I'm stopping around 2-4 reps short of failure, on whatever weight that is.

Nutrition
-I am aiming for approx 180g protein a day at a minimum. This is around 1g/lb bodyweight.
I don't track my calories. I tried before, and it just gets extremely tedious. So I just eat pretty much everything I can (but clean foods only).
I'm not going to eat to excess, but more than I normally would. I'm fairly good at approximating calories in foods. So I'll basically just be eating what I normally would, plus around 500cals a day extra.

I take a multivitamin, vitamin D, and whey protein.
I don't use creatine, because I don't see the point in artificially increasing your strength - only to lose it again when you stop taking it. I haven't taken creatine since I was 17.

On that note, when I was 17 (and when I had the lifts I mentioned before) I was taking a LOT of supplements. Loads. I keep it simple these days. I don't have the money or time to go to that extent.

Injuries worth noting
-The back one I've mentioned. This is usually ok, but can flare up at times.

-My right bicep has an issue which I've never ascertained. It happened when doing BB bent over rows years ago. I felt a sudden 'click'. I could still move it, but it hurt for around 6 months afterwards, and since that time I've had to be extremely careful. The only back exercises I can do have since been in 'hammer' grip (i.e. db bent over rows, cable rows with the hammer grip, hammer curls etc, or more recently overhand pullups. This is opposed to chin ups, bent over rows etc) Basically anything with the palms pointing towards each other (and overhand pullups)

So in this program, it will be the first time I'm trying a 'bb bent over row/pendlay row) in years. I will monitor it carefully, and may switch to DB row if necessary.

-My right knee occasionally gives me pain in the bottom of the squat. This is less if I go ATG vs parallel, so all of my sqauts are ATG - they are also usually paused. It's a habit, good or bad.

-Less of an injury, more of a flexibility thing. I tend to lean to the right at the bottom of the squat and on the way down. I injured my right ankle quite badly a few years back running, and I think I have learned to walk in a weird way which either makes my muscles tighter on one side, or something else. My right foot is also more externally rotated than my left when squatting (and often just when standing as well).
This is all I can attribute it to. I am making a conscious effort to fix this. I squat in front of a mirror to make sure I descend evenly. This will be essential as the weight gets heavier.

Anyway, that's the boring backstory over. Let's get started.

Feel free to follow along, offer words of advice or support. It's just my way of trying to stay dedicated.

[smashedurgfx10]

1a

Squat - 60kg
Bench - 65kg
Pendlay Row - 60kg
Rope Face Pull - 21.25 x8
Rope push down - 26.25 x8
BB calf raise 80kg x8

1b

Front Squat - 50kg
Military Press - 50kg
RDL - 60kg
Pullups - x6
Oblique Rope Pulls - x8
Rope bicep curl 13.75 x8

2a
Squat - 60kg
Bench 65kg
Pendlay Row 60kg
Rope Face Pull - 21.25 x8
Rope Push Down - 26.25 x8
Calf Raise (forgot)
Leg raise 3x8



So far, I have done 3 workouts. The next one will be '2b' which is going to be the first time the weight will get increased (as I understand you increase it every week).

My plan is to continue this routine for around 3-5 months, where in theory if all goes to plan, my lifts should be much nearer my goal weights. At that point I may do a deload and then begin to lose weight, whilst attempting to maintain strength.