It was a good day.

I do think model 2 is working better for me, along with some adjusted assistance work (like the “350 method” stuff). I’m going to bump up the weight next week.

Note to self: keep squeezing the bar like you’re trying to crush it — helps alleviate pain in the wrist, as well as makes it easier to press. SRSLY. I get a good grip on the bar, but I often forget to crush it. My wrist started hurting right out of the gate, so I kept on crushing the bar with my grip — gotta remember to do that.

In related news, my fat loss is starting to stall — it’s a natural consequence. The plan is to keep going week-to-week and see how things progress. When it looks like a good solid stall, we’ll go maintenance for a month. I’m dabbling with the idea during that time about changing up my lifting as well. Maybe a Strong-15 short cycle, maybe more a mass-building phase. I don’t know. It’d only be for 4 weeks, so I even debate if I should bother (instead, use the added fuel to just smash things). Just a thought rolling in my head.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 155 x 3
  • 170 x 2
  • 190 x 1
  • 200 x 1
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 135 x 20 (AMRAP)
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 85 x 20
  • 85 x 14
  • 85 x 12
• Machine Flies
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10

I am so sore this morning….. 🙂

From the top of my shoulder down the back of my arm to my elbow… oh… 🙂 But that’s what happened yesterday.

And today? Somewhat the same. I expect the weekend will be interesting and full of many stretching sessions.

I do think I need to up the volume a bit on my back work. Paul’s templates put it at 4 sets but by 4 it just feels like I was warmed up. So I’ll think about it, but either it means 5 sets, or maybe I’ll do a few lighter warm-up sets and work up, at least on the rows.

Oh, and 100 rep curls? It’s all a mental game.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8

Meadows Shrugs

• 70e x 12
• 70e x 12
• 70e x 12
• 70e x 12

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10

EZ Bar Curls

• bar x 100

Man, this was different. I haven’t pressed in many moons, and it felt strange. 🙂 But it came back to me pretty naturally. I did still feel awkward and unsure of best grip placement — didn’t remember where I did it before, so I just played around but mostly was at a “natural” location for where my arms/hands end up being in a “clean” position. Meh. It’ll all come back over the coming weeks.

A lot of today, being a first day doing this, was just finding out where weights go and what to do. I haven’t had a “shoulder” day in ages, so it felt foreign but good. I did enjoy it. Well… picking out the 5# dumbbells felt silly.

On the bent laterals, I’m opting to do it off a bench. So the 45º bench, lay on my stomach, but allow my torso to be parallel to the ground. Then keep my long-arms straight and work to just contract the posterior deltoids and other back muscles to raise my arms up (only the smallest bend of the elbows, just to keep them unlocked to avoid stress on them) keeping arms at a 90º angle to the body. Doing it off the bench will help me maintain better posture and strictness… and boy, it feels silly to only use 5# DB’s, but when you gotta do 100 reps well… yeah, it was appropriate. I know how weak that musculature is on me, so it is what it is. I figure once a month I’ll try John Meadows’ rear delt destroyer approach.

All in all tho, fun day. We’ll see how this 4x/week plus the minor dietary adjustment does for keeping me on the fat-loss train.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Press

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

Bent Laterals

• 5e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 5e x 20
• 5e x 20

Upright Rows

• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12

Triceps Pressdowns

• 40 x 25
• 40 x 25
• 40 x 25
• 40 x 25

So this is different… this 4x/week thing will take a little getting used to.

I felt a little bushed going into it. In part because I did wake up a little early (other agenda items for today), but also my body wasn’t used to 2 big days in a row. I’ll get used to it tho, no big deal.

Squats did move a little slow. After last week I did get to thinking I might be bumping up the weight after another 1-2 weeks, but after today? Well, given the shift in diet and thus training I reckon I may stay at the weight a little longer. We shall see how it goes. So long as bar speed keeps generally increasing, I’ll be on a good track.

Sumos are starting to feel a little more normal now, which is cool. I thought I’d also take this opportunity (i.e. using light weights) to try out hook grip!

That is… different. I can totally see how it works now, because it’s far more mechanical grip than pure strength. I did eventually stop because my thumbs were getting annoyed, but if I know what’s good for me I’ll probably try to throw in some hook grip work now and again just to see how it goes. One thing I can say that I’m not sure about is that I’ve got a small “bone growth” (calcium deposit? protrusion?) dunno what to call it, but basically it’s a small (but significant enough) bump on one of the bones inside my palm. I have noticed it a problem with full grips, like when I’m shooting a handgun. It’s not been a problem in the gym for the most part — because either my grip sucks or maybe I’m subconsciously always keeping a little open grip due to it… but with the hook, it closes up the grip so much that I am noticing the bump — yes, it hurts, a lot, far more than the thumb/hook does. So, I’ll keep playing with it, but THAT may be a limiting factor for me. But hey, if the alternative is just to get a stronger grip, then I’m ok with that. 🙂

But as for sumo itself, I’m going to stick with what I’m doing right now. I’m actually feeling a bit more comfortable with it, and feeling more “work” happening. I may start to take the 275’s to triples and/or start to find other ways to increase the weight to a good working weight. After I do that and maybe find where a good working max really is, I may start doing sumos more in “model 1” style. We’ll see. So far, enjoying the excursion.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 175 x 4
  • 205 x 3
  • 225 x 2
  • 260 x 1
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
• Deadlift (model 1)
  • 135 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 3
  • 185 x 3
  • 225 x 3
  • 225 x 3
  • 275 x 1
  • 275 x 1
• Lunges
  • BW x REP

Time to change things up.

Since my priority is diet and fat loss, that drives all decisions.

I’ve been officially with Renaissance Periodization for 9 weeks, but on the “defattening” front for about 10-11 weeks. At my worst I was 265 lbs., 261 when I started with RP, and this morning weighed in at 245 lbs. So about 20 lbs. in a little less than 3 months? I’ll take it.

That said, things are slowing down. There have been diet adjustments to keep things on track, but now it’s getting a little extreme. My body has lost enough and been deprived for a while now, and it appears it’s starting to revolt against me. 🙂 So before we take a break from the fat-loss (and go maybe a month on “maintenance”), we’re trying something else. I can tell my body is craving carbs bad… not just in a “oh gee, this is miserable” way, but in a “man, you’re not functioning correctly” sort of way. I can tell I’ve got brain fade, some memory issues, and sometimes I just can’t focus. The way my body is screaming at me is something I’ve experienced numerous times before, and it’s craving in a particular way because something is seriously lacking that my body says “I need!”, not “I want”.

So to try to help manage this, we’re changing things up slightly.

Instead of lifting 3x week and thus having 4 “off” and thus “no carb” days, I’m now going to lift 4x week, which gives me another day of carb consumption. It’s still relatively low on carbs and caloric intake overall, but hopefuly having a little less overall depletion will help. We shall see.

So that’s the diet part. Now the exercise part.

On the whole, things remain steady. I went back to Paul Carter’s Basebuilding eBook to look for a 4x/week template. There’s only one in the book, and it’s actually pretty close to what I was doing anyways. It adds another day that is a “shoulder” day, and shifts a few things around a bit. But because things are mostly the same well… I’m keeping most things on track, just making minor adjustments. I’m also not following the template exactly. For example, I’m keeping lunges in because I do feel I need more single-leg work to help with my knee, etc..

Today marks the first day of this.

Benching was fine. I actually may bump this up after a couple more weeks because the bar speed is doing well, and the AMRAP set continues to increase. I’ll see how things go.

Inclines are 350 method. I felt like a wuss only putting 85 lbs. on the bar, but that wound up being more than enough. After the AMRAP set, my triceps were spent, so the inclines were worse. 🙂

Paul’s template finishes things off with dips, but that wasn’t going to happen due to the aforementioned spent triceps. So I just did some flies instead. That’ll probably be how it will be. Tho perhaps in time as my body adapts I might try going back to dips. We’ll see.

Anyways, changes changes. So long as progress continues, I’m happy. Time will tell.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 155 x 3
  • 170 x 2
  • 190 x 1
  • 200 x 1
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 135 x 18 (AMRAP)
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 85 x 16
  • 85 x 14
  • 85 x 19
• Machine Flies
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10

Not much to say. Just a back workout.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8

Upright Rows

• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12

Cable Shoulder Internal Rotation

• 20 x 25
• 20 x 25

Cable Shoulder External Rotation

• 10 x 12
• 10 x 12

Cable Shoulder Upright Internal Rotation

• 25 x 12
• 25 x 12

Cable Shoulder Upright External Rotation

• 10 x 12
• 10 x 12

I’m not sure I like sumo deadlifts. 🙂

Today was the second time trying them out. Last week was pure freeform experimenting, and today was about trying to actually do something. I still went light and easy, just start at 135 and go up by 25’s and 45’s doing a couple sets of 3 at each level. The goal was to try to do some actual work, but not any serious work because I’m still trying to understand it, make sure I have technique, etc..

I am allowing myself to bend forward probably more than you should, but in exchange I’m also working to get my butt down and back more — it’s purely flexibility for that position, and that will just take time.

I did find that not having the widest stance in the world is probably more suitable for me, but that too may change in time as I gain more flexibility. I also happened to play with my grip today too, finding that a slightly more narrow grip might work, but might not. It takes my hands off any knurling, and the bar felt a lot less balanced — less stable, teetered more. But it also gave me more of a straight drop to the bar. So, just more things to play with.

In other news, the past couple weeks were not focused on squatting properly according to Base Building principles — it was trying to just be very sensitive to form because of perceived imbalances favoring my right leg due to left knee issues. But today I felt I could keep that in mind, but get back to using C.A.T. with every rep. That felt good to do. Thing was? I’m not sure I really did 5 sets. I was so into things, so focused, and just ran on auto-pilot. I just remember scrolling up on my phone in the tracker app I use and was like “oh… that was the last set?” I honestly couldn’t remember if I had been properly recording stuff or what. I was that much on auto-pilot. So, it was what it was.

Plus I was a bit distracted by the eclipse! I was awake at the prime time, able to watch the whole thing. So I’d do a couple sets then step out and look at it. That may have been too much distraction.

Or mayabe it was because I was listening to the new Orange Goblin album, “Back From the Abyss” while lifting. 🙂

I also did some lunges. Again, this is a change to try to help with the knee/imbalance issue. I did just 3×10 with bodyweight only to try to see where my knee was and how it felt. It actually felt ok. There was some discomfort, part of why I only did 3×10, but overall it went OK. I think it will be a good thing for me. The fact I’ve been doing bodyweight squats every day at home I do believe has helped my knee situation. I am pretty sure there is something actually wrong or worn down/out in my knee, and it’s just a matter of time before I have to go under the knife. But until that time, I reckon the best thing I can do is work to strengthen the area. If lunges and other single-leg work will help me get there, then that’s the best thing for me to do.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 175 x 4
  • 205 x 3
  • 225 x 2
  • 260 x 1
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
• Sumo Deadlift
  • 135 x 3
  • 135 x 3
  • 185 x 3
  • 185 x 3
  • 225 x 3
  • 225 x 3
  • 225 x 1
• Lunges
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10

Certainly enjoying “Base Building model 2” on my bench press. Will it pan out for me? Time will tell.

Today was slightly different because last week was just trying out model 2 to see how it would go. Today I opted to get it back to how I was doing things before, mainly being stricter about rest between sets and got it back to 60 seconds between sets. For sure that made things tougher. I felt it during all the work sets, and the AMRAP set only got to 15 whereas last week it was 16 an I only stopped because I was bored whereas today the 15 was some work (just shy of failure). But all stands to reason given the decrease in rest.

And I am enjoying close-grips. Will keep those up.

In related news… it’s now been about 2 months of de-fatting myself. How’s it going?

Well, progress this past month was poor, technically only dropping a couple pounds (I’m officially at 248 lbs). Why? I’m not exactly sure on all fronts, no one thing I don’t think, but a combination. I think I stalled out just naturally so the diet needed to get an adjustment. I think there was too much “wait and see” time in there before the adjustment was applied, so a couple weeks were eaten up staying at weight due to just staticness of diet. I also had a snafu that I am unsure of the depth or impact; the Wife accidentally bought a 6-pack of normal sugared soda instead of diet soda. Neither of us noticed until I had consumed almost the whole 6-pack (the normal Hansens and Diet Hansens cans are visually very similar; unlike say Coke vs. Diet Coke which have very distictly different can apparance). Given how close to the dietary edge I’m skating, I’m sure it was more than enough calories to blow things out. sigh

So… that sucks. I may be up for another diet adjustment, but we’ll have to see how that goes. I got tired of reading my old dial-scale and bought a digital scale this past weekend. While the 2 scales are actually very close in reading, they aren’t 100% the same. So while I appear to be starting back on the downward trend, it’s hard to say if I actually am or not, if I’m dealing with measurement differences or not. Just hard to say; needs more time.

I am getting a little weary on the diet, but it’s not bad. Just keep focused on the desired end goal, and just keep pushing through.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 155 x 3
  • 170 x 2
  • 190 x 1
  • 200 x 1
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 135 x 15 (AMRAP)
• Machine Flies
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
• Close-grip Bench Press
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
• Hammer Curls (by 5’s)
  • 30e x 10e
  • 30e x 10e
  • 30e x 10e
  • 30e x 9e

I was very distracted by something else in life, so I just wasn’t all there today. But in a way things worked out.

First, it actually made me move slower, and I found I then put more emphasis in moving from the shoulders and moving at a different pace, and I actually got more out of it. My back felt more worked after this session. So, something good to take from it.

Second, while due to the life stuff I really didn’t want to go to the gym, just forced myself to do so. In the end, I felt better about all things. Still not ideal yet, but better. The iron cures all, I guess.

Called an audible. Dropped shrugs in favor of upright rows. They are a favorite of mine and have always given me good results. Shrugs just don’t seem to give me the same results, so even tho I had the bar all set to start shrugging, I was walking by the rack and just grabbed a bar and started rowing. I will say, in the past I started to have shoulder issues, but I think that came from rowing too high (e.g. bringing bar to chin). Some time ago I did rows after reading some articles on variations, and started to row with a very wide grip and only to about mid-chest; that still put my upper arms just beyond parallel to the ground, so it was still productive and was much more friendly to my shoulders. What I think I may change to is to use the EZ bar with a narrow grip, but that allows me to have my hands tilted at a more natural angle, then still row to only about mid-chest so my upper arms just break parallel. I’ll see how that goes.

And the rotator cuff work feels good… it’s just a challenge to truly keep the upper arm and elbow locked in place so that all movement comes purely from rotating the shoulder. It’s just new to me. 🙂

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8

Upright Rows

• 50 x 15
• 60 x 15
• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12

Cable Shoulder Internal Rotation

• 20 x 20
• 20 x 20

Cable Shoulder External Rotation

• 10 x 10
• 10 x 10

Cable Shoulder Upright Internal Rotation

• 20 x 20
• 20 x 20

Cable Shoulder Upright External Rotation

• 10 x 15
• 10 x 15

Geez. It’s already October.

Today was a day for experimentation. Sumo deadlifting.

I want to try sumo for a bit because 1. I’ve never done it, 2. my knee might appreciate it more than conventional, 3. it could be viable as assistance work (or who knows, I might be better sumo than conventional — tho I doubt it given 1. I have a strong back, 2. the way my body is built), 4. why the heck not? It’s more learning, and this is a good time to get my learn on.

After squatting I gave myself 15 minutes to do whatever I wanted rearding sumo. Didn’t track it. The key was to put 135 on the bar and just try to figure out form and technique. I did a bunch of research since last week, so I know the basics of what to do. I did 135 for singles for a while, so I had to set up each time. Given how tall I am, I started with feet as wide as I could: not quite toes-to-plates because that’s a fine way to get a plate on a toe, but about 1-2″ from the plates, at about a 45º angle. Yeah… I don’t quite have the physiology for sumo. But I did a bunch of singles that way to try to get the hang of it. I will need to work a bit on flexibility to get all the way down, so any more sumo work I do may have a slight bend forward to help me get all the way down, but I will work on that.

After some time doing singles at 135, I went to 185 to give me a little more weight and balance. I then started doing triples to see how that would go. I also played around more with my stance width and went with a width that put my shins “centered” at the rings on the bar. Oddly, that worked a lot better for me than a very wide stance.

Anyways, 15 minutes of just trying things out, pulling singles, pulling triples, and being more concerned with technique and form. It was OK. My back felt like it got zero work, but everything between my belt line and my knees, especially on the medial and posterior sides, felt like it got some work — especially my adductors. So, I could see this being some good assistance work in that area.

I’ll stick with sumos for a while and see how it goes for me.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 175 x 4
  • 205 x 3
  • 225 x 2
  • 260 x 1
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
• Sumo Deadlift – no tracking, just experimenting with it. See above.
• Leg Press
  • 165 x 20
  • 165 x 20