Weekly Update WEIGHT/DIET Weight today was 161.9. Moving average weight is sitting at 161.7. Up 0.4lbs from last Monday. That would add about 1.5-2lbs per month, which is about the speed of weight gain I was hoping for. Will continue with this amount of calories for the foreseeable future (2600cal/day). Meal prepped again this week. Next week will be challenging because I will be traveling for work for the first time in years. Calorie tracking will be more challenging but I'll be as accurate as I can and make sure I get my protein and calories in every day. EXERCISES Main 5 compound exercises below. Will highlight a few accessories that I made progres on occasionally as well. Bench - currently trying to get 32 reps within 4 sets at 120lb (last session hit 20 reps) Squat - next session will be attempting 32 reps within 4 sets at 170lb (last session hit 32 reps at 165lb) Deadlift - next session will be attempting 12 reps within 2 sets at 175lb (last session hit 12 reps at 165lb) Barbell Row - next session will be attempting 32 reps within 4 sets at 150lb (last session hit 27 reps at 150lb) OHP - next session will be attempting 25 reps within 3 sets at 85lb (last session hit 25 reps at 75lb) Leg Press - Hit 3x10 for 300lbs, thought was pretty cool last week. Estimated 1RM is 400lb! I'll highlight squats this week. Made great progress the whole time I've been on this program. When I used to be on Stronglifts 5x5 I made the same progress, but it was only 5 sets of 5 reps. This is 4 sets of 8 reps, which is significantly harder in my opinion. I capped out at 170lbs when doing 5x5 and it was with bad form. My form has been on point so far in this new program (in my opinion) and I hit 4x8 at 165, so should be attempting 170lbs tomorrow. Current Results and Goals New goals set for February. Last month I hit every goal that I set for January except bench press (off by 1lb - I know I could have hit this if I would have lowered the weight and just pushed out an extra rep, so it's not too bad), Cable one arm row (same as bench - missed by 0.66 but could have pulled another rep in the first set if I wanted to), and Barbell Curl (missed by 3.33lb - again, could have hit this if I did extra reps in the early sets). Not disappointed with anything really. First picture below is February goals, 2nd picture is how I finished January.
Not going to start the old format back up, but I'll try to post an update in here every once and awhile. I'm still on track. Meal prepping every week, working out 4 times a week, tracking calories, etc. I started my cut for summer on 5/20. I weighted 162.8 to start. Here's my weight every week since. 162.8 -> 160.8 -> 160.3 -> 158.6 Not sure where I'll end up next week since I plan to cheat tomorrow for Fathers day. Going to the aunt and uncles for some pool time. There's always tons of garbage to eat so might just take the day to enjoy myself. My strength has not suffered TOO MUCH during this calorie deficit. I was eating 2600 calories during my "maintain/bulk" phase. I was calling it a bulk, but it was actually maintaining. Strength has been consistent so far since starting my cut. I'm now at 2200 calories a day. My first goal is to be in the 140's in 6 weeks (7/26). I believe that's probably my ideal cut weight. By that point, I'll have been about 1 year of serious lifting (first time lifting in my life). I want to see exactly what I have. I'll probably do a minor bulk at that point until October 6th vacation. Maybe a mini-cut right before that to get back to 140's. We will see when the time comes. That's just my plan for now. After October vacation though I want to do a REAL bulk. My strength has not grown very much considering I'm a noob. I should have gotten a lot more "gains". Told myself I will bulk from mid-October until next April or so. Basically 6 months of eating what I want, as much as I want (within reason of course). I was maintaining at 2600 calories. I'll probably try something like 3100 calories a day as a minimum, but no max limit. I don't care if I go from 145 to 185 as long as my strength is going up. That means my muscles are growing as well. Then I'll cut for next summer again. Rinse and repeat. As always, this got way longer than I expected.
Dieting has never been my thing, i like food!... but i found a diet thats working pretty well for me so far... its a 16/8 diet, one of those "intermittent fasting" types that are all the rage now... that whole fasting concept wasn't of any interest to me, but i don't really feel like im fasting... i have 8 hours a day to eat basically what i want and as much as i want (within reason), and the other 16 hours im "fasting".. but, im sleeping 8 out of the 16, so in reality all im doing is skipping breakfast and dinner..... ive lost 10 lbs so far in one month Ive gone on several "workout kicks" in the past, but i have a bit more motivation to take it serious this time around.. a couple months ago i had my first ever surgery... Umbilical hernia... I got 6 weeks off work out of the deal, so it wasn't all bad... i figure if that's what retirement is like then im ready!... but it also opened my eyes to what getting older feels like and how important health is, especially as a professional driver, that truck is hell on my body, im basically in a constant state of atrophy So, for fathers day i got this... also got a dumbbell set to keep in the truck when im out on the road
Happy belated father's day to you. Hope you keep the "diet" going. If it works, it works. Doesn't matter what the diet is as long as you're seeing progress. Something different works for everyone. I can't imagine being a truck driver, would be very hard on the body (+ very hard to watch the market!). Hopefully you'll post updates every once and awhile on your journey
Actually keeping up with the markets isnt hard at all... i have satellite radio in the truck, so i can stay tuned to CNBC all day... and i have the TDA mobile app to check my watchlists whenever i stop But the other part is true, hard on the body for sure!... Before i started this job i was hauling fuel locally, making multiple stops a day, in and out of the truck, dragging hoses and such, some semblance of physical activity.... but now, hauling propane all over the state of Texas, windshield time dominates my day... the money is alot better, so theres that And happy belated fathers day to you too!... hope the little one is enjoying his introduction into this big world
Had a work trip last week where EVERY meal was provided from Monday morning - Friday morning. This made calorie tracking and minimum protein thresholds difficult to achieve simultaneously. Either I had to go over calories to hit protein goals, or stay under calories while missing protein minimums. I think I did some of each. Only made the gym twice last week, so skipped both leg days 162.8 -> 154.3 (before trip) -> 155.1 (today). Not a huge deal, but instead of being down another pound this week, I'm up about 1 pound which sets me back like 2-3 weeks total. The calorie deficit is already very hard to achieve while hitting protein goals. I'm now at ~1900 calories a day. I wanted to hit 140's, but don't know if I can get there without hating myself. I definitely still have some fat that I'm displeased with and wanted to see more "what muscle I have", but with the fat still hiding a lot of the little muscle I've built over 1 year, it's hard to tell. I was going to continue cutting until vacation around labor day, but we've pushed our vacation back to probably late October. I don't know if I can continue running on fumes until then. We will see how long I can keep the cut up. CAN'T WAIT for a legit dirty bulk for 6 months whenever I decide to start it. I'll probably go from 150 -> 180 as long as my strength keeps going up (meaning muscle is continuing to grow). Then next Summer when I cut I'll probably get back to 150 and will look a lot better than I do at 150 this Summer. Rinse and repeat every year. The key is to not lose a lot of muscle during the slow cut though.
Cool thread! I have been into weightlifting and dieting on and off for the past 10 years. I'm following! @T0rm3nted maybe it's an idea sharing some pics, then we can see the progress
I'll see if I can get some up here soon. Logged another low today at 153.8. My lowest in probably 10 years.
Update for me... im down to 238 (from 252)... so thats -14 lbs in 2 1/2 months, which isnt bad considering im not going that hard.. as the nutrition/workout experts say, the only good weight loss strategy is the one you can stick to Also started doing my own meal prep so i can bring decent food instead of eating deep fried truckstop junk.. i pack enough for 4 days so that i can still have deep fried truckstop junk once a week.. cheat day
Absolutely true. And congrats on the 14 pounds so far! How you liking meal prep? I've been doing it since the beginning of the year prepping the whole week's food on Sunday. I usually leave 2-3 meals un-prepped though so I can pick up food somewhere or go out with the wife.
Its alot of work, but its worth it... one frustrating thing about driving a big truck is all the food places i cant get into, so choices are limited and you get tired of eating the same crap every day.... nice to have some variety, and eating healthier is a bonus
Hey fellas, I just wanted to quickly give a shout out to y'alls for keeping this thread alive and well! It's honestly so good to see new faces chiming in here. Keep on spreading those healthy lifestyles man! And keep on kicking butt gents! So, I've pretty much halted posted updates to this thread as of about a year I guess it's been? (Apologies for that...). So, I'd by lying if I didn't say this, but I successfully managed to fail bigly over this past winter, putting a good chunk of my weight back on (that probably was a good clue as to why I stopped putting in updates in here right? ). It's super embarrassing to share this with you to be honest, but I feel like I need to come clean with that. Putting all of that aside though, I'm happy to say that I'm nearly 100% back to where I was last year this time. Albeit, it's been hella tough. That being said, I have decided that I will no longer be posting updates to this thread this year as I did pretty regularly last year. I know that sounds a bit selfish of me or whatever. To each their own I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I know for some of you, sharing updates in here probably helps fuel some of the motivation and gets you guys all fired up which is pretty awesome to see! Keep that going! But, for me, honestly I'm kinda in the opposite end of this. Posting updates on a message board for others to see, while it's great to share to get input, etc. I just feel like I'm better off going solo on this, and just keeping everything to myself. It's been working out pretty nicely for me thus far. I also do something very similar to what @T0rm3nted has been doing, and that is keeping a spreadsheet (I have a private one on Google Sheets) that I've been updating every day to record my progress, etc. It's been super helpful and motivating, and helping me to stick to my plan. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the results thus far. But, it's not really what I'm doing in the "now" so much that's important for me...it's really what I do in the months ahead, and being able to keep the doggone weight off. That's what I'll be working very hard on this year, once I'm 100% back to where I was last year. I'll try to report back in here once I've at least hit my goal, and then maybe another update during the winter months just give you guys a quick update on how things are going, etc. TL;DR It's great to see this thread getting some action from our other regulars on the forums! I put most of my weight back on during the winter months, but have successfully dropped it all off again during the past few months. I won't be posting updates in here this year, as I feel like I do better when I don't share everything with everyone. I run a spreadsheet to keep track of my daily progress which has been very good in keeping me motivated and sticking to the plan. I'll maybe post an update when I get back to my old goal weight from last year, then another sometime in the winter. Happy healthy eating and fitness to you guys! Keep up the amazing work!
Hit 149.7lbs yesterday. Was hoping 140's would give me a glimpse of the 6-pack, but still undetectable. Apparently I gotta go lower Now at 1700 calories a day. Rough. Surprisingly, strength still feels there. I'm still hitting records on Bench/Squat/Deadlift every week even though I'm very deep into my cut. I'm indifferent about that, because it makes me worried that I'm going to plateau during my bulk pretty quickly? I hope not, because it will be a mindfuck. The 6-month bulk starts on 9/9.
I got down to 235, then had to help out a family member over my days off and it completely threw me off my routine... back up to 239-240.. doesn't take much i guess, easier to gain it than lose it.... i guess you'll have weeks like that..... no sweat, its a marathon, not a sprint
Been awhile since I updated. Well my cut ended, did not get a glimpse of the 6-pack I was hoping for. Started the bulk on 9/5. My low weight was 148.1. I'm sitting today at 157.6 (+9.5lbs). All of my lifts are stronger than they've ever been. Making great progress on Squat and Deadlift, but the upper body stuff is a much slower grind. Very frustrated with the very slow-paced grind of progress on the bench. Also not liking this fat that I'm putting on, but I cut for 3.5 months and was in maintenance forever before that, so it was hard not to just eat whatever I wanted. Still at a lower weight than before I started my cut though, so no big deal. Lifts: Deadlift: 295 lbs yesterday, almost to 3 plates (315) which was my goal over this entire bulk. I'm already only 20lbs away and plan to bulk until around March or so. Squat: 180 lbs 3x3 yesterday. My goal is 2 plates (225) by the end of the bulk. Bench: 140 3x2 Monday. My goal was 185 for 1 rep by the end of the bulk, but it looks like that might have been wishful thinking. I didn't have a spot though as my workout partner has been getting out of work early and going earlier. Probably had 1 more rep in the tank, maybe 2.
Another long break since my last update. Looking at my post above, I guess I can just update that. My bulk is coming to an end. The mirror is not treating me kindly, though the strength is up. I think I did too dirty of a bulk averaging about 1lb a week, which I guess isn't really that bad. One can only take so much weight gain before the negative affect in the mirror overcomes the positive results in the gym. I have not hit any of my end-of-bulk goals, but everything progressed decent I suppose. Current high weight was 174.7lbs about a week and a half ago. That's down to 169.3 now after being sick for 3-4 days and not focusing on eating as much the rest of that time as the bulk nears an end. I plan to start my cut probably next week, but I don't think I'll do much tracking of calories to start. It's daunting after taking a break from it for the entire bulk. I'm hoping to get lower than I got last bulk, while maintaining the more muscle I have gained since then. If I could hit 145 some time during the summer that would be nice, but I'm not going to stress the number or the mirror as much as I did last year. I missed out on enjoying a lot of the events I went to last Summer because I didn't want to "cheat" or set myself back by a week or whatever. Going to do a lot more just "maintaining" this summer instead of cutting during the summer. Lifts: Deadlift: 305 lbs. After hitting 300, my deadlift trailed down for a bit. I think my body got overworked trying to set a new 1RM every week. I took a break from trying that for like 1-2 months, but kept doing just lower weight for volume. Tried 305 last week and got it. I believe I'll try my end-of-bulk goal of 315 (3 plates on each side) in 2-3 weeks. Squat: 205 lbs for 3x3 I hit. Tried 210 and got a couple sets of 2 but felt funny. My estimated 1RM is 225.5 though, so I sort of hit the goal without trying it. I don't like trying 1RM on squat for safety reasons, even with a spot. I believe I could hit it though. Bench: 165x1 last Monday. That was a new 1RM. 185 was the target and I didn't get close, but did see progress. Overall for lifts, progress was made. I think my expectations were too high on some. Hadn't ever done a legit bulk where I was actively trying to eat enough EVERY day and gain weight EVERY day and I expected more muscle gain than I got. Lesson learned. I'm OK with the results, though. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
@T0rm3nted Being too hard on yourself. Everyone hits a plateau where your body is just trying to catch up. Muscle only grows so fast. Patience Grasshopper....and possibly change your routine to work other muscle groups using different type lifts. https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/novice-lifters-what-to-do-about-your-first-plateau
Thanks. And ya, I do hit other muscle groups weekly with different types of exercises, those are just the 3 lifts that I track.
One thing that helps me with soreness is stretching after I workout. Helps with blood flow. Since I started stretching, my soreness is cut in half.
Well I tested my 1 rep maxes before everything shut down but never posted it in here. I hit the 2 plate squat and 3 plate deadlift that I was hoping for. I think I had another 20lbs in the tank for the squat too but figured I’d save it for the next week, but the gym closed. Been working out at home full body every other day since quarantine, but I’m sure my strength is way down. We will see whenever the gym opens back up.
