475 lb deadlift — Close, but not going to count it as a PR.

I’ve decided to stop deadlifting for a little while. Not a happy decision because I really like deadlifting, but my knee isn’t happy in a couple ways now, so I want to see if laying off the (heavy) deadlifting will help. Before I stop tho, I wanted to see if the sumos perhaps helped my conventional at all. So, today I decided to work up and see what I could do.

My best ever is 455, set back in August before I started down the defatting path. I figured if I could hit that today I’d be happy — if anything, on a cut, I would expect to lose something, but the work of the past some months seems to point to maintaining and perhaps a hair bit of forward progression. So, the plan was to just see what I could do.

I put on a belt at 315, and things were going quite nicely. 405 went well. 455 did alright too; worked for it, but solid. In fact, because I haven’t had a belt on in a while coupled with less girth around my middle well… the belt doesn’t fit the same of course, I don’t like a mega-tight belt when deadlifting (can’t get into position if it’s too tight), but on the 455 I had it one notch looser than it should have been so when it went up and my torso got really tight, the belt actually felt totally loose — the 455 felt like I did it beltless. It was certainly nearing my end tho, so I figured just go 475 and see.

I got the 475 up — for sure it was tough. But I’m not going to count it. It felt like I got 98% of the way there, but just didn’t lock it out. Could I have done it? I think so, if I had my shit together. I recall being up there and just having a “just keep pulling!” mindset, but at that point it wasn’t pulling, but rather I needed to squeeze my glutes and thrust my hips forward. I didn’t remember that cue until afterwards. I think if I had all my cues in the right place I would have gotten it. But that’s OK that I didn’t. I think I learned more from the failure than the success.

Regardless, that I was able to do that tells me my strength in fact is going up despite the cut. Of course it’s WAY slower than a proper strength cycle would be (what? only 20 lb in 4 months), but the simple fact I’m losing fat and NOT losing strength is awesome. Really, I’m happy with how things went, all things considered.

Then I squatted my normal routine. A little tougher since I did it coming off the deadlifts, but fine.

Then here’s where things change up a bit. I did some empty-sled less presses, just to get some reps and volume and blood flowing. Then some calf raises. This is in part how squat day will change for me, both to try to be a little less heavy stress, and a little more volume towards the fat-loss. I don’t expect these to be a lot of weight, just lots of reps.

The other change will be stiff-legged deadlifts instead of conventional/sumo, for higher reps.

We’ll see how it goes.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Deadlift

• 135 x 5
• 225 x 3
• 315 x 1
• 365 x 1
• 405 x 1
• 455 x 1
• 475 x 0.98 (not counting it)

• Squats (model 1)
  • 160 x 5
  • 185 x 4
  • 220 x 3
  • 240 x 2
  • 275 x 1
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
• Leg Press
  • Empty Sled x 20
  • Empty Sled x 20
  • Empty Sled x 20
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 10
  • 60 x 9

Had some talks with Nick & Renaissance Periodization over the weekend. More diet adjustments, and I’m trying to find out what else I can do to keep the losing train rolling. One certain thing is increasing my gym time – moar lifting! Like 5 or 6 days a week. I’m not sure how sustainable that will be for me. I’m old, I’m on a rather restrictive diet, no PEDs, and I have scheduling issues. So for now I’ve decided to stick with my same basic plan, just add in a little more work on each day.

The other thing is a change in deadlifting, but I’ll talk about that tomorrow.

So the changes started today, taking the dips as far as I could. Instead of artificially limiting it, just go until the lock-out gets difficult then stop. I also added Polquin Flies back in. So again, not a huge change in things, but trying to get a little more volume, a little more work, which should translate over into more calories burned. 🙂

All in all, things felt good. Certainly felt better than last week. I know the strength loss of last week was just a minor setback due to the diet kicking back in. One-step back, many steps forward. No worries.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 135 x 4
  • 160 x 3
  • 175 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 210 x 1
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 140 x 18 (AMRAP)
• Bench Dips (between benches)
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 8
  • BW x 8
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 85 x 20
  • 85 x 14
  • 85 x 12
• Polquin Flies
  • 10e x 10
  • 10e x 10
  • 10e x 10

Oh yeah… the diet’s in full swing again. 🙂

The trend of “weaker” continues. Just couldn’t hit things like I did last week. But that’s to be expected. I think this week I’ve pretty much depleted any reserves I had of glycogen, water, other bloat, etc.. I’ve watched my weight every day (instead of the usual 2-times-per-week) and the loss trend is tapering, so the “easy weight” is gone and it should be “all tissue” from here out. I expect to be 240 on Sunday’s weigh-in.

Otherwise, things were generally fine. Sure I couldn’t hit the reps, but that’s ok. I don’t intend on modifying things much at this point… just go back in next week and see how things go.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8

Meadows Shrugs

• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 10

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 8
• 130 x 8

Cable Row

• 85 x 12
• 85 x 12
• 85 x 12

BB Curls (350 method)

• 50 x 17
• 50 x 12
• 50 x 10

Strength decline? Check!

It’s no secret that if you go on a “loss” diet, that strength is going to decline. Sure enough, it seems to be happening. From the slower bench/squat/deadlift sessions, to today where I just couldn’t hit the reps. Worked as hard as I could, but it’s just not there.

Probably a combination of the restricted diet and the cessation of creatine supplementation.

But it’s all good. It’s just how it goes. Fat loss is the primary consideration.

That said, I did make some other changes. The big one? Reduction of reps along with increase in weight. Why? Simple… I hate ultra-high-rep work. 🙂 Plus, I don’t think I get as much out of it. Yes, it does really flush the area with blood, but that’s not always what I want. So, making some adjustments and we’ll see how it goes.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Press

• bar x 5
• bar x 5
• 65 x 5
• 85 x 5
• 105 x 8
• 105 x 8
• 105 x 7
• 105 x 5

Bent Laterals

• 10e x 12
• 10e x 12
• 10e x 12
• 10e x 12
• 10e x 12

Upright Rows

• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 11

Triceps Pressdowns

• 55 x 15
• 55 x 15
• 55 x 15
• 55 x 15

Good enough.

For sure, the tightening of the diet is affecting performance. Everything went fine, just not as explosive and fast… speed just wasn’t there today. Still, it was overall pretty solid and I’m good with it given all things.

I’m happy I went back to not using a belt. It’s really making me have to think about getting tighter throughout my whole body, especially the torso and upper back. Even tho the 275 was a little slow, it was solid and good. Tight tight tight. I will say then that going back to the belt is going to be different — technique is changing for sure.

Going up on the deadlift felt good too. I think before the end of the year I ought to try pulling conventional and see what happens.

Lunges were light, just because I’m trying to be good to my knee — I want to strengthen my knees, not make things worse. 🙂

Anyways, while the diet is obviously going to degrade performance some, that’s fine. My goal is the fat loss. But still, overall everything else is progressing too, just a lot slower. That’s fine, so long as I can meet the fat-loss goals, I’m good.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 185 x 4
  • 220 x 3
  • 240 x 2
  • 275 x 1
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
• Sump Deadlift (model 1)
  • 135 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 325 x 3
  • 325 x 3
  • 325 x 3
  • 325 x 3
  • 325 x 3
• Lunges
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10

Well, I knew the streak of awesome days had to end sometime. 🙂

Last week every day in the gym was awesome. Today? Not so much. I don’t think it was a bad day – it was still a solid day – just wasn’t the awesome roll from last week.

While of course I can’t say for certain why, I’m fairly confident it’s due to being back on the losing-diet train.

I have lost 5 lbs over the past week. I’m pretty sure most, if not all, of that is from non-tissue sources. Glycogen depletion, water loss, etc.. I mean, the diet is back to being really strict, restrictive on carb-based sources; cardio work is back up; I stopped taking creatine a couple weeks ago. I’m sure it all adds up.

So I just couldn’t crank out as many reps, things felt heavier and slower. It’s just how it goes, no biggie.

What will be more telling is how THIS week (and probably the week after) go. I’d like to be down to 235 by the end of the month/year, which would equate to 30# since August and I’d be happy with that. Still at least another 20# to go after that, but one pound at a time. So we’ll see how things go in the coming weeks.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 135 x 4
  • 160 x 3
  • 175 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 210 x 1
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 140 x 15 (AMRAP)
• Chest Dips (between benches)
  • BW x 7
  • BW x 7
  • BW x 7
  • BW x 7
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 90 x 20
  • 90 x 14
  • 90 x 12

What the hey… it’s been a solid week, let’s see how well it continues!

I figured I’ve bumped my weights up all week, might as well do the same here. Bumped the BB rows up to 155 and it actually felt more solid than prior weeks — a recurring theme this whole week. In fact, I haven’t felt the work in my back like this in a a while… just put the mind on the muscle and less on the bar, and sure enough after 5×8 rows I actually felt some work in my back muscles. Huzzah!

The Meadows Shrugs continue to have my grip as a weak point, but that’s fine — just get stronger, over time.

Bumped up the BB curls too, since there are ‘pre-made’ bars in 10# increments at the gym… didn’t feel like futzing with plates to get a 5# bump so hey… 10# bump and did alright. 🙂

All in all, a good week back on track.

I’ve already started to think about how I’m going to wind up 2014 and look into 2015. I think the only definitive things I can say at this point are:

1. continue on the fat-loss plan — until I get to where I want to be, this remains focus.
2. stick with Paul Carter’s approaches, Base Building as the core.
3. before the end of the year I’ll likely have another set of sessions where I work up to my everyday max.

The last one is curious to me. When I started on Base Building back in August (along with the fat-loss diet), I based my numbers off my true 1RM’s that I had just accomplished. Since then, my weights have gone up. Yeah it’s been a lot slower than if I was eating big and on a proper strength-building program, but still, things have gone up. So I can’t help but be a little curious about where I am now, despite this caloric deficit.

And I think about 2015 goals. For sure the fat loss is the primary focus, but I’m sure I’ll accomplish that before 2015 is over. So what then? I don’t think I need to make that decision now (first thing’s first). But I’m guessing the first thing will be going back to strength work, probably a Strong-15 cycle (and then, probably a short version) and seeing where my strength is. If my maxes are below my all-time bests, then I’ll probably want to work to get them back to that level, and just cruise along from there. And that works into my current “where am I now?” curiousity, because I can’t help but wonder how much I’ve lost, if anything… or even if maybe my 1RM increased.

Oh well. No big deal either way.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8

Meadows Shrugs

• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 10
• 75e x 10

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10

Seated Cable Rows

• 80 x 12
• 80 x 12
• 80 x 12

BB Curls (350 Method)

• 50 x 20
• 50 x 10
• 50 x 10

Today may be Thanksgiving, but really… nothing changes. Still go to the gym, still stick to the diet. Well ok… I’m allowed one “cheat” each week and while I normally don’t take advantage of it, today I will. No, not a gluttonous stuffing of my face with turkey and dressing; the t-day dinner will remain as close to the diet as I can make it while eating at someone else’s house. No… the cheat will a slice of Wife’s awesome apple pie, with the streusel topping, that she only makes at this time of year. 🙂

The thing is, I’m back on the official defattening diet after a month of maintenance. Sunday? I was 247. Today? 242. That’s a lot of weight to have dropped in 4 days. I’m not 100% sure why, but I expect it’s not anything “real”… just my body losing some bloat, glycogen, water, and whatever else from starting back on the diet. That’s my guess, and we’ll see how things go over the rest of this week and into the next.

But the flip side is that everything in the gym feels awesome. I mean, the prior bench, and squat/deadlift sessions went up in weight and still felt like I smashed things pretty good, especially compared to the prior couple of weeks. So I figured today, what the hey… and I bumped up the weight on the pressing by 5# and still did pretty damn good. Really, it was a good session all around.

So, I don’t know what to make of things, but here we are. As long as there’s progress towards my goals, that’s the main thing, even if I cannot fully isolate out the reasons from all the possible things going on.

In specifics… pressing was good. Again, keep tight, helps a great deal. Crush-grip the bar.

Bent Laterals are actually doing better for me. I’m not fretting over getting so tired from them and instead doing like Meadows does in his “rear delt destroyer”. That is, if I start to get tired, fine… just keep moving the weight. If it has to be a bounce/swing sort of thing, fine, so long as the muscles are being activated, really being put through their paces, and being worked. That’s the key. And today was a lot of that. It sure wasn’t a strict 5×20 session, but my rear delts haven’t felt this worked in a while. 🙂

And so, life goes on. One day at a time, progress is progress.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Press

• bar x 5
• bar x 5
• 65 x 5
• 85 x 5
• 105 x 8
• 105 x 8
• 105 x 8
• 105 x 5/2/2 (rest pause)

Bent Laterals

• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20

Upright Rows

• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 10

Triceps Pressdowns

• 45 x 25
• 45 x 25
• 45 x 25
• 45 x 12

It must be a new level of 80% days, because it’s unusual to have +10% days in a row.

Everything was just solid today.

I went ahead and upped my working max on my squats by 10#, recalculated percentages. Yeah, it often works out to only being a 5# increase, save the final 1-rep weight, but that’s what it is. Every bit adds up to more work.

But the 275 went up firmly. Even last week when the 265 felt crappy, the 275 was solid. Yeah… tightness matters. Crush grip that bar, get everything tight…

During the working sets I really felt my torso being tight. I haven’t felt that in a while. But again, crush-grip the bar, and the tightness just radiates out to everything else. I know this, I just don’t always do it.

I almost wondered if I should jump up another 10#! I won’t… I’ll stick here for a bit, but still. What I might do tho is if next squat session feels this good, after the 275 keep going up… like maybe to 300, then 325 (essentially my working max right now), just for singles. AND… without a belt. That should be very interesting for me.

And get this. The deadlifts? This was the first time the 315 felt “easy”. Oh sure, I was worked, but my speed was there. The lift wasn’t slow. I truly could just explode and the bar moved really well. That’s a first. Admittedly, I felt a little tight in my hips, so it’s possible I wasn’t getting down as much and put a little more back into it, but even when I focused on keeping the torso as upright as possible, things still ripped pretty well. I’ll give it another week, then up the weight by 10#.

I didn’t lunge today. Since I’m back on the defatting diet, instead I got on the elliptical for 15 minutes. Set it on one of the steeper angle, more resistance settings, and moved at about 140 strides per minute. Nothing huge, but I figured if it helps me up things a bit to burn more, I’ll take it. Fat loss is my focus.

Just felt like a damn good day.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 185 x 4
  • 220 x 3
  • 240 x 2
  • 275 x 1
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
• Sumo Deadlift (model 1)
  • 135 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3

Changes.

Things have been feeling good, so I went ahead and up’d the weight. Just a 5 lbs increase, but that’s how you do it… start light, progress slowly, progress longer, build a real foundation.

Benching went really well, actually. The main work sets were really good, and focusing on crush-gripping the bar really carries over into getting the whole body tight and thus moving the weight well.

Whereas last week the dips caused my body to scream, this week my body was like “ok, I know what’s going on now” and they went really well. The first set was smooth and I certainly could have done more than 4×6. But again, start light, make progress, especially since part of this is trying to rehab my shoulder… which actually is feeling much better since I discovered the stretch angle I needed was the one you get at the bottom of a dip (vs. things like pec stretching standing in a doorway). Been a big help.

All in all, things went well. Is this a +10% day? Hard to say, but I really feel like it was just a solid 80% day, progressing like one should.

In other news… I’m back officially on a “losing” diet. During the past month Nick put me into a maintenance mode. While there was leeway to gain some weight (Nick allowed me up to 5 lbs of gain), I really didn’t. I’ve basically held around 245 the whole month. A little up, a little down… I mean, yesterday morning I was at 247, and this morning at 245. I reckon I lost a little bloat given I was hungry all day yesterday. But basically I held steady.

My goal is to aim for a rate of 2 lbs per week. Aggressive I know, but I would really love to drop say 15 in 8 weeks. Being around 230 at the start of the new year would be pretty awesome. So, I’m going to do whatever it takes to get there. Driven.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 135 x 4
  • 160 x 3
  • 175 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 210 x 1
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 140 x 20 (AMRAP)
• Chest Dips (between benches)
  • BW x 6
  • BW x 6
  • BW x 6
  • BW x 6
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 85 x 22
  • WT x 17
  • WT x 13