Home gym chronicles, Part II; mind over fatter

[BendtheBar]

Destroy! Any idea how much protein you're going to ride with?

[Soldier]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Destroy! Any idea how much protein you're going to ride with?

It'll be hard to get 1g per lb of bodyweight on my lowest intake days. Tomorrow I only plan to take in 1400 calories of pure meat which will end up at 175g. The 1g per lb, however, is my usual goal, and that won't change.

[Soldier]

First non-training day. That means less than 2k cals and no carbs. I'm not enjoying it. The tren woke me up at 3 this morning, so I've been tired all day, and my wife is being testy too which isn't helping. I'm going to have to figure out this sleep thing. When I woke up, I was up. Wide awake. I lied there for over an hour trying to sleep, but it was NOT happening.

I'm freaking hungry.

Tomorrow is upper body power day. I think I'll do workout 1, which means 10 total reps at 250lb for some raw paused bench. I think it's going to be fun. After that it'll be rows, mid grip bench with slingshot, and pullups.

[Soldier]

Diet update-
3 days ago I weighed 227.8. Day before yesterday I stuffed myself with 4,400 calories including more than 1 whole pizza, then yesterday I only ate 1700 calories with no carbs other than some spinach. Today I weigh 226.2.

BUT, yesterday was horrible, as was expected. Any time you starve yourself with no carbs the day after you stuff yourself with tons of carbs you're not going to have a good time, but that hunger is the key to everything. I embrace the hunger. When I'm hungry, I know that my body isn't getting what it wants, and it'll have to use stored fat instead. Of course, there's much more to it biologically than that, but the point is to put a positive spin on not only being hungry, but also knowing that you're going to be hungry all day, AND that when you actually do get food, it won't be very enjoyable because there won't be any carbs.

It's just a case of applying the knowledge I have, but didn't have the willpower to use yet.

Today will be a low intake day again, but I'll get carbs and won't push things quite as hard as I did yesterday. I'm planning to do some conditioning this morning, then bench ME later.

Cycle update-
Sleep was MUCH better last night. Thank god. After the first night I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep on tren, but it looks like most of the time it won't be an issue. Yesterday while I was just chilling on my recliner I started to get slight lower back pumps. Wasn't expecting that so soon, but it's all par for the course. Back pumps are the one side that I ALWAYS get while on, and if that's the biggest thing I have to deal with, then I'll consider that a win.

I got a light headache yesterday. Again, expected and not a big deal.

Vascularity is way up. Nothing else to report yet.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Soldier

Diet update-
3 days ago I weighed 227.8. Day before yesterday I stuffed myself with 4,400 calories including more than 1 whole pizza, then yesterday I only ate 1700 calories with no carbs other than some spinach. Today I weigh 226.2.

.

Headed in the right direction.

[Soldier]

Wasn't able to go do conditioning this morning. No big deal. Now, in a calorie deficit, I'm on the fence about whether conditioning would help or hurt.

Just got done with bench ME. I ended up deciding to do workout 3 in my plan, which is the lightest with 30 total reps at 70%. I did this because I did my heaviest workout on squats earlier in the week, and I don't want to do my heaviest sessions for both lifts in the same week. But I also realized that 30 reps with 70% isn't very much, so before I got into that I did some singles.

Paused bench-
45x5
135x5
225x3
255x1
275x1 (This one went up with authority, which felt good)
295x0 (Not even close on this one, but I already thought 275 would be my max)
Slingshot added
295x1
315x1

Paused bench-
Goal- 30 total reps with 70%+
195x5
195x10
195x10
195x8
33 total reps, goal achieved

Landmine close grip rows-
Goal- progression
(Previous session- 100x8x5)
110x8x5
Goal achieved

Mid-grip bench with slingshot-
Goal- Match previous session with more ease
(Previous session- 225x8x5)
225x8x5
Goal achieved, these were much easier than last time. Progression next time.

Wide grip spotted pullups-
BWx8x5

I wasn't sure how the lower intensity would work out, but it was good. Can't lift heavy all the time. The singles felt good too, but I definitely need to do more raw paused pressing. I love the slingshot and chains, but I don't even know if I'm going to use gear, and I don't want to get weaker at the bottom.

If I work hard on my paused pressing and get anywhere close to the same results out of tren that I got out of Sdrol, I'll be pausing 315 soon.

Deadlift ME and lower body DE tomorrow. Also tomorrow, eating everything in sight! Speaking of which, I just indulged myself in 2 hamburgers on wheat bread with spinach and mustard. Nothing but good stuff.

[Soldier]

Still figuring out my diet. I got through the low carb+low intake day, but unfortunately the low intake WITH carbs day didn't go as well. I made the mistake of not logging my intake, and because of the added carbs my blood sugar went up and down, and I ended up overeating.

I thought the low carb days would be the worst, but the low intake days with carbs may be even harder. I may try to implement backloading on these days to mitigate bloodsugar spikes and their effect on hunger.

Hmm, let's see...how many diet gimmicks can I cram into one cycle?

[Soldier]

Lower body sufficiently stimulated.

Speed squats with chains-
Goal- 205+50x2x8
45+50x5
135+50x5
205+50x2x8
Goal achieved

Deadlifts-
Goal- 15 total reps with 405
45x5
135x3
135x3
225x3
295x3
345x2
405x1x10
Goal not achieved. Only 10 total reps performed.

Wide stance GM's-
Goal- progression (last session; 225x8x5)
235x8x5
Goal achieved

Inclince ATG squats-
Goal- progression (last session; 155x8x5)
165x8x5
Goal achieved

Box jumps-
BWx2x6

Tough but good session. When I first got to 405 I was thinking about my form, working on some mental cues. Too much thinking, and when I actually tried to start the lift it was like the weight was bolted down. So I thought "f&ck this", got reset, and ripped the bar off the ground. This time the effer moved just fine. I could have completed my goal of 15 total reps, but my hands started to get pretty ripped up and I didn't want to tear them. My form started getting pretty bad too.

Doing sets of GM's after 10 heavy deadlift singles was. . .not easy. These things nailed my glutes in a way I haven't felt before. I wasn't completely convinced that I'd be able to get them all done, but damnit, I got them.

After the GM's, the squats were nothing.

I discovered a new plyo movement today. Well, new to me. I did my normal bench jumps, sitting on a box, then pushing my feet into the ground hard and jumping as hard as possible. But I added a twist. While I was in the air I bent my knees, and landed with them bent, slamming my feet into the ground and stopping myself as quickly as possible.

Most people don't realize that stopping yourself dynamically is also a part of plyometric training, and the combination of jumping hard and stopping myself on the way down hit my entire lower body. These will be used more.

[ndrwdslv]

So quick question, what are the requirements for that Air Assault test? You mention a run, what distance? Kind of in a similar situation and def would like details on your running "program/plan"

[Soldier]

Originally Posted by ndrwdslv

So quick question, what are the requirements for that Air Assault test? You mention a run, what distance? Kind of in a similar situation and def would like details on your running "program/plan"

Actually, running in Air assault is kind of like airborne. It's long distances done very slowly. The only other real running is a 2 mile run completed at the beginning of day zero. This run is done in ACU's, but soft shoes, and the time requirement is easy. When I was preparing for AA (I decided against persuing it, so obviously I'm not training for it anymore), my main concern was the ruck marching. There are 2 main rucks. One is done during the training. I can't remember how long it was supposed to be, but you have to maintain a :15 pace. If you don't, then you're done. Out of the course.

The other big challenge is the final ruck. 12 miles that must be completed in 3 hours. This is essentially a ruck run, as you must maintain a pace faster than :15 the whole time to complete the challenge, and it isn't easy.

Air assault isn't a test. It's a 10 day training program, with lots of hands on and written tests during, but you have to get a 270 PT score to qualify to even get in.

At this point in my training, I'm not focussing on running at all. Just powerlifting.