To Infinity.... and Beyond!

Segansational said:
Nah man, I'm on the gain train probably through end of summer. Hoping to then cut down for a winter show before end of year, so gotta maximize growth where I can get it. But I'll follow along for sure!
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@Segansational The goal doesn't really have to be leaning up. If you are bulking you can put your goals in there and be a part of the party. Just make some concrete goals like I want to gain X amount of weight while not going over a certain bodyfat or whatever. Post up some progress shots then update them every 2 weeks with your progress. Won't be posting up workouts in there, more of an accountability, and fun thread we can go to to help spur us on as a group effort at improving ourselves however we want too.
 
Dustin07 said:
Don't jinx it! 😅😅
last time IIRC the 245 x 3 x 3 definitely seemed hard and appropriate but it might have been a bit of an off day, IDK.
Today, I definitely had an extra rep in the tank on each set. My goal was 3 x 4 (adding one rep to each set from last week) so when I hit 5 easily I was pretty dang happy.

my buddy almost tried to egg me on into going much heavier for a PR and I was getting ready to sack tap him. lol

I need to really organize my thoughts and figure out where to go from here. linear effort of course would be next week hit 250 for 5s so IDK... based upon what has worked the last 8 months I might be just as well off ramping up as heavy as I can for 2 weeks, shoot for PR after that, then deload again. run shorter but harder cycles...
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Ohhhh...I thought you meant you had 6 MORE in the tank 😆
Either way, great session!
 
MrKleen73 said:
@Segansational The goal doesn't really have to be leaning up. If you are bulking you can put your goals in there and be a part of the party. Just make some concrete goals like I want to gain X amount of weight while not going over a certain bodyfat or whatever. Post up some progress shots then update them every 2 weeks with your progress. Won't be posting up workouts in there, more of an accountability, and fun thread we can go to to help spur us on as a group effort at improving ourselves however we want too.
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Dude I just did some math.
If my metabolic baseline is 2500
And I fast every other day in May
That's 15 x 2500 = 37,500 calories / 3500 = 10.7lbs

Of course that's perfect world scenario on paper but holy moly.
 
That's pretty intense but also not that unlikely with that many 36 hour fasts.
 
Although with your strength goals I recommend a surplus on training days for more anabolism.
 
MrKleen73 said:
Although with your strength goals I recommend a surplus on training days for more anabolism.
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yeah I think my success might be a little bit based on assessing as things go and adjusting as needed. I think my baseline is around 2500 calories right now but it could feasibly be higher. right now I'm finding myself weighing in monday mornings 1-2lbs lighter whereas in the past I would weigh in 2-6lbs heavier lol. so I do have to eat quite a bit to hold my current weight. I've been picking 2500 as an average where I think my baseline is but it "might" be a little higher. hard to tell with fluxtuations in water weight as I have not been AS consistent with sodium and calories in general in 2023 since I've shifted my focus to strength. I just sorta watch the scale and my fluffiness and when the abs disappear and scale tips 199/200 I reign it in a tiny bit to get back into my comfort zone.

I don't mind being a 200+lb dude again but I have all my work clothes I gotta think about too and some of my shirts are no longer fitting lol
 
Dustin07 said:
yeah I think my success might be a little bit based on assessing as things go and adjusting as needed. I think my baseline is around 2500 calories right now but it could feasibly be higher. right now I'm finding myself weighing in monday mornings 1-2lbs lighter whereas in the past I would weigh in 2-6lbs heavier lol. so I do have to eat quite a bit to hold my current weight. I've been picking 2500 as an average where I think my baseline is but it "might" be a little higher. hard to tell with fluxtuations in water weight as I have not been AS consistent with sodium and calories in general in 2023 since I've shifted my focus to strength. I just sorta watch the scale and my fluffiness and when the abs disappear and scale tips 199/200 I reign it in a tiny bit to get back into my comfort zone.

I don't mind being a 200+lb dude again but I have all my work clothes I gotta think about too and some of my shirts are no longer fitting lol
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So you need a new wardrobe, or a new goal! I would go with the new wardrobe!
 
It is weird/ strange to see your weight close to 200lbs. The extra weight definitely seems to be helping you lifts.
 
dapack said:
It is weird/ strange to see your weight close to 200lbs. The extra weight definitely seems to be helping you lifts.
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been a long time since I weighed this much !! 😅😅

I 100% think you're right. once i added a few lbs all the sudden I start breaking very old PRs. Getting a lot more recovery these days too since I'm not getting the extra xfit in anymore.
 
Warm up

Bb curls, bb rows
135lb RDLs

Deads
8 x 225
2 x 315, 315, 365
1 x 405, 445

Off 2 55lb plate block pulls
4 x 225

RDLs
10 x 315

+ Stepping on red band
2 x 5 x 315

Conventional no band
15 x 225

Front squats
Some reps at 135 to flush some blood in the quads

Notes
Love sneaking off for a lunch time lift but they aren't long enough sessions. Almost need two a days to break up accessories. I would have done so much more today if I had time....
 
Dustin07 said:
been a long time since I weighed this much !! 😅😅

I 100% think you're right. once i added a few lbs all the sudden I start breaking very old PRs. Getting a lot more recovery these days too since I'm not getting the extra xfit in anymore.
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The law of specificity, you stopped training for two things at once and got full re
Dustin07 said:
actually it's only been an hour and I feel pretty wrecked, maybe that was enough work after all 😅
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I was going to say it looks like you did plenty to stimulate the targeted muscles! It doesn't take a ton of volume when the work is hard, and effective!
 
MrKleen73 said:
The law of specificity, you stopped training for two things at once and got full re

I was going to say it looks like you did plenty to stimulate the targeted muscles! It doesn't take a ton of volume when the work is hard, and effective!
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It was hard, I missed one more pull on there. I did actually put 475 on the bar and made the attempt. I pulled it about 6" off the ground and got stuck. That's a rare one for me, if I break the ground, it goes. but I could sorta feel myself compromising form and it felt like the strain wasn't worth the risk, so I dropped to those block pulls.

425 x 1 was slopping so I reset and did the other 3. I think if I had stayed at 425 I would have been able to just amrap 7 which was a number I had in my head for some reason lol. should have stuck to my goal, but 445 was just so easy I had to go for it...
 
I need to reorganize myself a bit.
Lifting with a buddy has been great in a million ways, but its causing my planned programming to be ignored and sessions are too rushed. I should be doing deficits, not heavy singles. I need to be doing good mornings, front squats, and more volume. 🤔
 
Dustin07 said:
I need to reorganize myself a bit.
Lifting with a buddy has been great in a million ways, but its causing my planned programming to be ignored and sessions are too rushed. I should be doing deficits, not heavy singles. I need to be doing good mornings, front squats, and more volume. 🤔
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Well you have been doing them and it looks like now you need to focus a little on the upper half of the pull since that is where you failed. Something like low rack pulls or the RDL's you did today would be good.
 
MrKleen73 said:
Well you have been doing them and it looks like now you need to focus a little on the upper half of the pull since that is where you failed. Something like low rack pulls or the RDL's you did today would be good.
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I know it seems like I have been doing them but today was my first legit pull day since 4/6 since I "deloaded", travelled for work then had that week where I just squatted and benched so this was my first normal lifting week in two weeks. I sorta feel like I should have come back at it just hammering deficits but you're probably right RDLs can't be skipped!
 
MrKleen73 said:
Well you have been doing them and it looks like now you need to focus a little on the upper half of the pull since that is where you failed. Something like low rack pulls or the RDL's you did today would be good.
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Rethinking your post, yeah good point that makes sense. I broke the ground no problem need to train the rest.

I had it in my mind that I should rack pull 500 before I even attempt it off the ground and I just did not stick to any of my programming thoughts today. Felt juicy and went for some heavy ego lifting lol
 
Funny sidenote.
My lifting belt is now on hole 2.
Hole 3 is my comfort zone
Hole 4 is lean
Hole 5 is bikini season

Today I was struggling to put on my fancy fitted shirt. The arms barely fit. I finally look like my old business class teacher who lifted with us kids every night in high school

I feel fluffy and wouldn't mind a brief cut.

My wife watches my struggle this morning and says.... Get this....

" Yeah I have the same problem but mine isn't muscle growth"

She thinks she's having a pitty party but she just gave me the compliment of a lifetime.

For the first time in a decade I not only let myself go back over 190 but I did it with gusto and I'm feeling the fattest I've been probably since probably 2010 or earlier lol. And she thinks it's all muscle.

Bless her heart, I love this woman.
 
Dustin07 said:
yeah I think my success might be a little bit based on assessing as things go and adjusting as needed. I think my baseline is around 2500 calories right now but it could feasibly be higher. right now I'm finding myself weighing in monday mornings 1-2lbs lighter whereas in the past I would weigh in 2-6lbs heavier lol. so I do have to eat quite a bit to hold my current weight. I've been picking 2500 as an average where I think my baseline is but it "might" be a little higher. hard to tell with fluxtuations in water weight as I have not been AS consistent with sodium and calories in general in 2023 since I've shifted my focus to strength. I just sorta watch the scale and my fluffiness and when the abs disappear and scale tips 199/200 I reign it in a tiny bit to get back into my comfort zone.

I don't mind being a 200+lb dude again but I have all my work clothes I gotta think about too and some of my shirts are no longer fitting lol
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Lol I had to buy a whole new summer wardrobe...but it ain't only cuz of muscle! 🤣
 
Dustin07 said:
Rethinking your post, yeah good point that makes sense. I broke the ground no problem need to train the rest.

I had it in my mind that I should rack pull 500 before I even attempt it off the ground and I just did not stick to any of my programming thoughts today. Felt juicy and went for some heavy ego lifting lol
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Yeah, unfortunately you have a tendency to over reach early in your cycles, and have been doing it a little more regularly. It is fun here and there but can slow progress towards the goal even when it feels like you aren't. My not putting my last set of DL's down at the 6th or 7th rep made me push my upper body pull session back a day to get the recovery needed to make it nice and productive. I am still learning my recovery abilities with a little higher reps on these. Maybe next time you have a set program you are following and tell the other guy he is welcome to lift with you if working the same thing but you have to follow your same structure since in the middle of an actual preplanned program.
 
MrKleen73 said:
Yeah, unfortunately you have a tendency to over reach early in your cycles, and have been doing it a little more regularly. It is fun here and there but can slow progress towards the goal even when it feels like you aren't. My not putting my last set of DL's down at the 6th or 7th rep made me push my upper body pull session back a day to get the recovery needed to make it nice and productive.
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ha yeah I have some lower back DOMs like you wouldn't believe today, and I'm supposed to be golfing, which I'm actually cautiously optimistic will help stretch things out very nicely.

its really hard not to go for more when your lifting buddy watches your 445 pull and says wow that was really fast 😅😅

I figure next week is my last week to "kill myself" then I want to move into some more speed work the first week of may. I'm still going to go balls to the wall to the best of my ability but I'm thinking light weight, banded work, for hypertrophy reps etc.
 
Dustin07 said:
ha yeah I have some lower back DOMs like you wouldn't believe today, and I'm supposed to be golfing, which I'm actually cautiously optimistic will help stretch things out very nicely.

its really hard not to go for more when your lifting buddy watches your 445 pull and says wow that was really fast 😅😅

I figure next week is my last week to "kill myself" then I want to move into some more speed work the first week of may. I'm still going to go balls to the wall to the best of my ability but I'm thinking light weight, banded work, for hypertrophy reps etc.
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I recommend during you increase volume a decent bit in order to maintain as much muscle as possible during your cut. Do a few sets with a strength focus to keep that neural drive going but then focus on getting in some high volume work after.
 
Warm up:
Golf 18 holes...

DB curls
5 sets

Lateral raises
3 sets

OHP
10 x bar, 65, 95
5 x 135, 145, 155
3 x 165

BB Row
3 x 10 x 165

Snatch Grip
15 x 135
20 x 95

Hammer strength bicep curls
4 sets

Hammer strength dips
4 sets



Tricep rope extension/push downs
4 sets

Superset with Ez bar curls
4 sets

DB rows
3 x 10 x 70s

Tricep cable pull downs
3 sets

Hammer curls
4 sets

Notes
Yesterday blew up my lower back for sure but I felt like I could smash an upper accessory day with good planned food and rest the next couple days. Feeling thick, almost hate to cut but I should at least briefly to maintain balance.

Paramedics gonna have to cut me outta this shirt.

Weight was like 198 this morning

Carrying my gym bag out felt like a farmers carry lol
 
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Nice session! Hate to hear the back is blown out but trust me I get it. My deads even affected my pull session today after an extra day of rest!
 
MrKleen73 said:
Nice session! Hate to hear the back is blown out but trust me I get it. My deads even affected my pull session today after an extra day of rest!
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Oh no worries man it's not an injury or anything just a lot more fatigued than usual lol but yeah I know what you mean!
 
Yeah that is what I figured.
 
Dustin07 said:
It was hard, I missed one more pull on there. I did actually put 475 on the bar and made the attempt. I pulled it about 6" off the ground and got stuck. That's a rare one for me, if I break the ground, it goes. but I could sorta feel myself compromising form and it felt like the strain wasn't worth the risk, so I dropped to those block pulls.

425 x 1 was slopping so I reset and did the other 3. I think if I had stayed at 425 I would have been able to just amrap 7 which was a number I had in my head for some reason lol. should have stuck to my goal, but 445 was just so easy I had to go for it...
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7 reps at 425?
 
Thanks guys, volume that day was intense but I finally had time a for a great bro style session, energy, and figured I'd feed intra workout to keep it going.

Could barely get out of bed Saturday morning at 5am for a golf game but the golf really loosened me up nicely. I'm thinking golf is a great active recovery choice as much as I can this year.

Weighed in at 200.2lbs for the first time in probably 15 years today.

Now, actual manual labor.


Why does a 60lb bag of concrete weigh soooo much more than 60lb dbs??



Wish me luck. Hoping to get seven posts in today (Sunday) so next weekend I can pull the fence and put in gates.


Since our German shepherd recently died my wife already has the empty nest syndrome and we likely have a new puppy coming end of June so I want to be fenced in this time to make life simpler....Invalid Link Removed
 
Funny thing is I look in the mirror and I don't feel any fatter. Can still sorta see the hip bones, abs want to poke through (although nothing like when I was 176lbs) and my jeans are damn near falling off BUT my favorite shirt is like an inch too short and I'm gonna be flashing plumbers crack all day digging these holes if I'm not careful
 
I am nice and full now after a lot of brisket and ribs last night. Sodium got me filled up real nice, and my fast breaker is shuttling in carbs as we speak!
 
Embrace the thickness & power. 200 is a great weight for a weight training male of average height. I don’t want people to wonder if I lift weights!
 
I have a really weird week ahead of me with business lunches and appointments so my week/lifting looks like:

Mon - PM Lift
Tues - Fast > LISS > driving range
Weds - Noon Lift
Thurs - Fast > LISS > driving range
Fri - Either morning or PM lift, not sure yet.
Sat - Yard work maybe shortened 24hr fast till dinner
Sunday - Afternoon Lift


Meant to start my mini cut May 1 but I am playing with the ADF a little this week.
Part of that is to see how cohesive it is with my homelife. I love fasting, but not at the risk of sacrificing quality time with my wife. (dinners/dates tend to be our only together time during the week)

I have a lot of hard yard work to tend to next week. Fasting Saturday would be best to maintain my ADF but my yard work will be equivalent to a gym day so I need to decide on that.

Digging those holes yesterday was honestly hard work. 24-30" deep and through a lot of hard clay/rock/concrete. Couldn't use an auger because there are random water pipes everywhere in our 100 year old yard. In fact, I did find one right in the middle of where I wanted one of my fence posts so I had to work around that.

Next weekend hopefully will be concrete and pull the new fencing. Then maybe dig 2-3 more holes to finish another section of the fence around my chicken coop.


weight was exactly 200.00 this morning. slept pretty well but super sore. the manual post hole digger is a heck of a shoulder and arms workout, I was legit getting a pump from it 😅😅 had to take my shirt off cause it was suffocating my arms lol
 
Dustin07 said:
weight was exactly 200.00 this morning. slept pretty well but super sore. the manual post hole digger is a heck of a shoulder and arms workout, I was legit getting a pump from it 😅😅 had to take my shirt off cause it was suffocating my arms lol
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A horrible problem to have.

The LISS, and then 18 holes sounds very daunting to me. After a real cardio session while fasting I feel worn out later in the day. I can't imagine walking 18 holes after liss and not feel like I was really exhausted by the end of the day. I would probably be trying going to sleep when I got home.

Don't forget, for the home life situation there is not anything that says you can't join your wife while she dines out and have some lemon water, and just enjoy the time together. If she is supportive of the effort then this is a small sacrifice that will keep it from causing a problem for you all and still getting in that quality time while fasting. Plus it will save you some money.
 
Probably not the most attractive picture but wanted to share it. A buddy / coworker of mine is a Mexican immigrant who makes me homemade hot sauces / salsas all the time, so I slip him $10-20 occasionally and he shows up with a tub of it. Goes great on my breakfast and lunches I pre make

Pretty typical breakfast for me
1 cup jasmine rice
+ 7oz ground turkey with taco seasoning.



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MrKleen73 said:
The LISS, and then 18 holes sounds very daunting to me. After a real cardio session while fasting I feel worn out later in the day. I can't imagine walking 18 holes after liss and not feel like I was really exhausted by the end of the day. I would probably be trying going to sleep when I got home.
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Oh I'm just thinking on my LISS days I can hit the LISS during lunch, then instead of dropping in the gym after work I can hit the driving range on the way home where they have a huge free chipping green and putting green. spend a half hour or so working on my short game stuff since that has really struggled lately. I have to choose between lifting and golf in 90% of my life so I'm thinking this schedule will maybe give me the best of both worlds.

I truly have to golf every day to break 80 and I couldn't even break 90 on Saturday but still had a great time. I normally average 31 putts a game and I think I had over 40 last week.

here's where we played. Ive only been here twice now but it's a beautiful course!
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MrKleen73 said:
The LISS, and then 18 holes sounds very daunting to me. After a real cardio session while fasting I feel worn out later in the day. I can't imagine walking 18 holes after liss and not feel like I was really exhausted by the end of the day. I would probably be trying going to sleep when I got home.
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now that I think of it, that is another option. there is a 9 hole course on my way home now that days are getting longer... I could walk that course for my LISS and get both LISS and practice in. it's like $10 to play and usually only like a 45-60 minute walk as it's almost all par 3s and 2 x par 4s. short little practice course!
 
Dustin07 said:
Oh I'm just thinking on my LISS days I can hit the LISS during lunch, then instead of dropping in the gym after work I can hit the driving range on the way home where they have a huge free chipping green and putting green. spend a half hour or so working on my short game stuff since that has really struggled lately. I have to choose between lifting and golf in 90% of my life so I'm thinking this schedule will maybe give me the best of both worlds.

I truly have to golf every day to break 80 and I couldn't even break 90 on Saturday but still had a great time. I normally average 31 putts a game and I think I had over 40 last week.

here's where we played. Ive only been here twice now but it's a beautiful course!
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Oh okay, that I can see as manageable. What a beautiful place to spend a day of golfing!!!!
 
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