Need… carbs….

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 22, week 1

• Work Set – Press (working max: 150#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x60
  • 1x5x75
  • 1x3x90
  • 1x5x100 (work)
  • 1x5x115
  • 1x7x130
• Assistance – Press
  • 5 x 10/10/10/6/6 x 90
• Assistance – Lat Pulldowns
  • 7 x 10/10/16/10/10/10/15 x 100/100/100/110/110/90/70
• Assistance – Lateral Raises
  • 3 x 15/15/12 x 15
• Assistance – Straight-bar Pressdowns
  • 3 x 20/12/10 x 40
• Assistance – Hammer Curls, 30 rep
  • 3 x 30-rep x 25

I don’t know what it is. Was it the diet getting to me? all the mental, physical, and emotional stress I’ve been under lately? I really don’t know if I wanted it for stress relief or if my body truly needed it. But whatever the reason, my body has been screaming for carbs the past few days. On Sunday I gave in and allowed myself to just eat. I didn’t gorge or anything, but if I wanted something, I ate it. So yeah, a couple ounces of ice cream, a few plums, a piece of the banana bread Wife made (with einkorn wheat), the stew she made the prior night (potatoes, carrots, etc.). Whatever. I just ate.

And yes, I feel better. But I also felt rather lethargic when I first got to the gym. But after the warm-up sets, I felt alright. In fact, I think it was kinda good because I was just lifting. I wasn’t out of the zone, I wasn’t in the zone, I just was. And the lifts just went. I found myself not cuing myself, not really thinking, but I would find myself with a tight body, and really pushing and pressing the way I should. It was pretty cool.

So I worked hard and pushed myself a little further. Shorter rest times between sets, and just moved along. I thought to try doing the lat pulldowns Kroc-style, but then I realized why I hate so many reps. 😉 So I stopped, upped the weight, and did more. Then for whatever reason I felt like my back needed more, so I dropped the weight and did a few more sets. I think it was worth it.

You know… Wendler doesn’t make it obvious, but it’s there if you read. He talks about adding in lots of back work. Basically, for every pressing movement you do a pulling movement (or 2). So every bench/press set, you do something like pull-ups in between. I don’t do that… but yeah, I should. I tried in the past to do it, but my shoulders did not like me. Maybe I should try again. And I thought this morning, maybe do it the same way. So as I work up in my main set, work up in my back set. When I do my assistance pressing with a straight set, then also drop the weight and do straight set of rows or whatever. I dunno, but the key is trying to get more back work in, in a way that keeps my shoulders happy.

I also think if I do that, I can pull back on my other work. So my sessions become just 3 exercises, like the book tends to lay out.

We shall see.

But in other news… the diet.

So it’s been about a month now and I can say I’m probably 8# down. That’s nice, but not really. I lost most of that during the first 10-14 days and have basically stalled. I’m not sure why and what has caused the stall, or what I need to do to remedy it.

But I’m starting to wonder if I just can’t do this. That for my body, my needs, etc… I need to eat a little more, and just wait a lot longer. That is, allow myself some carbs, more than I have. Still try to stick to a mostly carb-less diet, but don’t kill myself. So keep on the same track I’m on, but if I have a piece of fruit with breakfast, fine. So it’s not a major deviation, but just don’t let myself go nuts. I’ve noticed my craving was really bad (and I’ve learned this isn’t just a “want” craving, but my body is truly in need of something). I’ve also noticed things like increased forgetfulness and other problems. So I think my body just was not functioning right. I can’t afford that.

And so, if it means it takes me 12 months to get my body where it is… an even slower approach, but perhaps a more steady and truly changes my lifestyle… well, I guess I should find that for the good, right? It’s more painful to accept if this is the truth of it all, but it may be how it has to be.

I don’t know. I said my next assessment point will be Labor Day, so I’ll see then. For now, I’m going to try to keep to the same approach, tho if my body needs something I won’t deny it. And we’ll see how it goes.

I will admit… this depresses me a bit. It’s not what I’m wanting to hear. But if it’s how it has to be, I’ll come around. 🙂

Weaker but stronger…. I hope. 🙂

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 22, week 1

• Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 370#)
  • 1x5x150 (warmup)
  • 1x5x185
  • 1x3x225
  • 1x5x245 (work)
  • 1x5x280
  • 1x5x320
• Assistance – Deficit Deadlift (1.5″ deficit)
  • 3 x 8/7/5 x 185
• Farmers Walk
  • 50 yards per trip
  • 6 trips, 2 trips, 10 breath rest, 2 trips, 10 breath rest, 1 trip, rest, 1 trip rest
  • 45# plate in each hand

I feel weaker… but I think it’s only in my head. Only 320#? Geez… feels like I should be doing more, right? But this is what a reset is all about. But then, I should be getting more reps, right? Nope. My continued focus on keeping my back up, pushing with my legs… it’s really coming into play. I certainly find myself stopping because my legs can’t do any more, tho my body says I could keep going just with my back.

The past few deadleft sessions, since the reset, since I’ve been focusing more on being upright, pushing with the legs (not pulling with the back). I swear my legs feel it more. I feel a pump, I feel exhaustion, in my quads, hams, and glutes. I get to that “last rep” and find my legs getting wobbly tho my back wants to keep going. And the deficits…. whoa, you can really feel it there. I certainly stop lifting if I even find a hint of wanting to bend over.

So I reckon that’s good.

My ego hates it. But I know my body loves it and in the long run, this is right and better.

I do enjoy doing the farmer’s walks, tho my grip is certainly the weak point there. I wanted to do 100 yards at a time, but after 2 trips of that (and all the deadlifting), my grip was tiring so I could only get 1 trip without a rest. And then after 6 total trips, my grip was done. I am finding posture really matters to do this right. You can’t let the weight sink you — you really have to be upright, good posture, tuck your chin in and head up. It’s cool. 🙂

Maybe it was short, but with a good, grass-fed reason.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 22, week 1

• Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 215#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x85
  • 1x5x110
  • 1x3x130
  • 1x5x140 (work)
  • 1x5x165
  • 1x8x185
• Assistance – DB Incline Press
  • 5 x 10/10/10/8/7 x 50
• Assistance – DB Rows
  • 3 x 10/10/25 x 50

Man… reset and the weights feel really light. So, focus on form, cranking as much volume as possible… so long as in the long-run we’re stronger, right?

This sort of approach is really putting it to my triceps. I can feel them being the first to peed out during inclines. All good.

I did cut this a little short today because I had to get on the road to pick up our beef. We recently purchased another young beef from Sand Creek Farm and it just finished processing at Taylor Meat Company. Had to go pick it up this morning, and now the chest freezer is full of wonderful grass-fed hormone-free “rose” beef.

It was well worth the trade-off for my lifting session. 🙂 Especially after yesterday. Had to go out of town for a funeral, and while I did my best to plan meals, plans don’t always work out and I had to eat on the road… at a Dairy Queen. *sigh* Alas, my choice of steak fingers wound up being rather horrible — I question how much “steak” was actually in there. Don’t look at the nutrition info, because it’s just horrible. But that ended up counting as my carbs for the day. I also got to learn that DQ’s in Texas are apparently handled differently than DQ’s everywhere else in the world.

I’m thinking I need to adjust to eat less carbs on my carb days (if such a thing is possible without driving me nuts) and also drop my fat consumption down… probably sticking to less than 100g of fat a day every day. Ugh. In a sense, I’m feeling “too good” with these dietary changes, like I’ve still got more than enough energy, so I may well not be trimming off what I need instead of fat getting burned. We shall see.

I miscalculated! It hasn’t been a month yet.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 22, week 1

• Work Set – Squat (working max: 290#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x115
  • 1x5x145
  • 1x3x175
  • 1x5x190 (work)
  • 1x5x220
  • 1x5x250
• Assistance – Pause Squat
  • 3 x 5 x 190

The weights felt heavy this morning. I’m just not into it. There are some matters in my personal life that are taking emotional and mental predecence right now. Nothing to worry about, tho.

So I was only so into the session. Still, the big focus was hitting depth as the weight got heavier. No belt until the final set. Ensure tightness in every rep. Ensure I keep my back as straight as possible, or mainly ensuring I don’t fall forward at the hips.

This was quite evident during pause squats. Boy, I can really feel those, especially in my (lower) quads. It’s hard work to keep things upright, to stay tight the whole time, to hit depth and a little more. But I do hope these will pay off in bringing up my squat (and even my deadlift).

But this is all I did. It was a matter of time today, so I dropped the rest of the work. I wasn’t even sure I was going to do the pause squats… thought I’d just do 1 set AMRAP, but it panned out into 3 sets.

The other thing I noticed was, I had scrolled back in my logs on my phone and realized that it was only last cycle after the “squat 1” session that I did my reset. I didn’t realize that. I had been thinking it was a LOT further back… like closer to 6-7 weeks ago than only about 4. I don’t feel so bad about my fat loss progress now. I also feel alright about hitting the 250 I did because I certainly hit depth. It was tough getting out of the hole, but that’s the whole point of my focus.

So, onwards.

Better.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 21, week 3

• Work Set – Press (working max: 145#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x60
  • 1x5x75
  • 1x3x90
  • 1x5x110 (work)
  • 1x3x125
  • 1x5x140
• Assistance – Press
  • 5 x 10/10/10/7/6 x 90
• Assistance – Lat Pulldowns
  • 4 or 5 x 12 x 105
• Assistance – Lateral Raises
  • 3 x 12/11/9 x 20
• Assistance – Rope Pressdowns
  • 1 x 20 x 45
• Assistance – Hammer Curls, 30 rep
  • 30#

It felt good. Yeah, I’m not moving heavier weights, but I feel like I’m using better form and coping well enough with my carb-deprevation. All things considered, I think it’s working out alright.

I can also say, my shoulders always give me issues, but the other day I was just moving around and found an interesting “stretch”. It really helped my anterior deltoid. I’ve been moving my body into that position for the past some days, as much as I can, and gee if it’s not helping things feel a LOT better. It’s not a way you’d probably normally move or a position you’d enter into in daily life. But gee, if it’s going to help my shoulders, great. Everything in my shoulder/neck area is feeling better.

Don’t recall how many sets of pulldowns I did… I thought I did 4, but my records came up with 5 so…. *shrug*

I also spent about 5 minutes on the elliptical. Moderate incline, moderate resistance, and cruising at about 140-150 “steps” per minute. That’s tough enough for me… and while it’s really nothing to write home about, I so hate conditioning work and stuff like this. I need to work my way up into it, but yeah… I’ll just keep doing stuff and seeing if it helps with the fat loss.

On that note… eating is getting better. I think I’m finding a groove. But on the same token, when it starts to feel “natural” and “normal” to me is a prime time for me to slip up and regress, so I have to stay on top of things.

OH… no deload. I’m starting cycle 22 on Monday. I’ve tried this in the past and I’m going to try it again for a while and see: 2 cycles in a row, deload after the second cycle. I will up my weights tho.

Gee, I hope I’m making progress.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 21, week 3

• Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 360#)
  • 1x5x145 (warmup)
  • 1x5x180
  • 1x3x220
  • 1x5x275 (work)
  • 1x3x310
  • 1x5x345
• Assistance – Deficit Deadlift (1.5″ deficit)
  • 3 x 8/6/4 x 185
• Assistance – Farmers walks
  • 45# plate in each hand, 50 yards, 10 breaths rest between trips, 6 trips

I reset, I’m using less weight, but shouldn’t I be feeling stronger, like 345 isn’t much? But yet, it was hard. Not sure if it was just today, but I’m guessing it’s more because I’m trying to have better form: pressing the weight up with my legs, instead of pulling it with my back. Oh sure, form degraded some of the 345 set, but every other set was very much pressing things up. After the 345 set I noticed my legs felt a lot wobbly — I just don’t recall my legs feeling “worked” after a deadlift session before. So I reckon this is a good thing and moving in the proper direction.

I continue to avoid the belt, except for the heaviest set.

And I reckon maybe this was all part of it… because I just couldn’t do any deficits. Again, going much deeper, really focused on pressing with my legs, and geez… I just couldn’t. 🙂

As mentioned previously, I am going to try to add some conditioning/cardio work to my sessions in hopes it helps with the fat loss. Thing is, I hate cardio work. So I’m just going to have to try to find various and different things, and that doing something is better than doing nothing. So today while picking up the 45’s off the ground (used as my deficit platform) I just kept walking… essentially did Farmer’s Walks. It didn’t feel like a whole lot of stress (save for my grip), but again, something is better than nothing… and whatever I have to do to keep it interesting so I stay motivated to keep doing it.

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 21, week 3

• Work Set – Bench Press (working max: 210#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x85
  • 1x5x105
  • 1x3x130
  • 1x5x160 (work)
  • 1x3x180
  • 1x6x200
• Assistance – DB Incline Press
  • 5 x 10/10/10/8/7 x 50
• Assistance – DB Rows
  • 3 x 10/10/20 x 50
• Assistance – JM Press
  • 1 x 15 x 95
• Assistance – Face Pulls
  • 1 x 15 x 50

You know… I really don’t care so much about the lifting session as I do feeling like I’m not losing any weight. Maybe I was just fooled by the quick loss of the first few weeks and I just have to settle into a slower groove now. I don’t know.

I keep telling myself to wait for the end of the month and assess then. It’s hard tho… it’s wearing on me, and it hasn’t been all that long into this.

As for the session, felt fine and actually pretty strong. I cranked hard, left stuff in the tank. I did wonder if I should ignore additional assistance work and instead spend time doing some conditioning work, like sled drags or even just 10-15 minutes on the elliptical. We’ll see.

Going deep

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 21, week 3

• Work Set – Squat (working max: 280#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x115
  • 1x5x140
  • 1x3x170
  • 1x5x215 (work)
  • 1x3x240
  • 1x3x270
• Assistance – squat
  • 2 x 20/10x 135

One side-effect of resetting my weights was to improve my form — go deep on squats. Have to ensure parallel, no cutting short.

That said, this was an interesting session. I changed my set-up slightly. Not intentionally, more that it just happened. Instead of thinking too much about getting positions just right, angles just right, etc. I just stepped in. That seemed to help because things just felt right. I’ll go with this emotion.

But then, on the 270 set, I changed slightly because I wanted to try that ammonia again. Mistake. It threw off the groove I was in and the 1st rep was certainly cut short because my head was all over the place. I took a moment, gathered myself, and the other 2 reps were good. Interesting thing, but it makes sense.

Left a couple in the tank.

I also only wore my belt on the 270 set. This is having an interesting side-effect of making me really feel my body. I cannot just press into the belt and be done with it. No, I am a lot more sensitive to what’s going on, what my body is doing, and needing to really tighten up my abs and have a “stiff” torso. I think this is a good thing.

Then I just opted to do a 20-rep set and be done with it… but I did 10 more after that. I think for a real challenge I ought to go for about 60% of my working max… that should be painful enough. 🙂

Contemplating not taking a deload week and just going into the next session. We shall see.

Felt really good today. I think it’s the carbs…

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 21, week 2

• Work Set – Press (working max: 145#)
  • 2x5x45 (warmup)
  • 1x5x60
  • 1x5x75
  • 1x3x90
  • 1x3x105 (work)
  • 1x3x115
  • 1x6x130
• Assistance – Press
  • 5 x 10/10/10/8/6 x 90
• Assistance – Lat Pulldowns
  • 4 x 12 x 105
• Assistance – Lateral Raises
  • 3 x 12/12/9 x 20
• Assistance – Rope Pressdowns
  • 3 x 20/15/10 x 45
• Assistance – Hammer Curls, 30 rep
  • 35#

Today went pretty well. I stopped way short of what I could have done with 130 (I felt like I could have gotten 2-3 more reps). That’s fine. I intentionally wanted to stop short, and leave something in the tank, both in general and for the assistance work.

I realized… tho I reset my weights, I didn’t reset my assistance weight. In fact, I upped it. Kept rest periods short throughout the rest of the session (60-90 seconds, save for the 30-rep thing), and just cranked it.

Yeah, I do think it’s the carbs… that night-prior feeding does certainly help. I have noticed my weight is back up, and this is apparently normal after the initial “carb-free” start period — just because the body is readjusting and refueling, since the prior was an abnormal depletion. But I’m still about 5-6# down from where I started, so if that’s true loss (not just glycogen and water) then hey, I’m on a good track. Again, I won’t really be able to tell progress until the end of the month, or until I’m about 10# down. Then I know I’ve actually lost something, not just side-effects of dietary change.

I cannot lie. It’s hard. But I want this bad enough. Finally.

I think the diet is working….

Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 21, week 1

• Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 360#)
  • 1x5x145 (warmup)
  • 1x5x180
  • 1x3x220
  • 1x3x255 (work)
  • 1x3x290
  • 1x4x330
• Assistance – Deficit Deadlift (1.5″ deficit)
  • 5 x 8/6/6/6/6 x 185
• Assistance – Side Crunches
  • 2 x 10 x BW

It’s funny… sure I carbed up last night, but it was almost a chore! Who knew… but it shows the impacts of constant grazing all day long vs. eating in a prescribed manner.

Cerrtainly had enough gas to get through the session. I worked hard on keeping in form, keeping my butt down, ensuring my hip joint AND knee joint both opened up, not my knee joint opening and my hip closing… then essentially stiff-legging it up. Think “Squat the weight up”. No question I peed out a lot sooner as a result. I did think about going for 5 @ 330 but I was sitting there, catching my breath, giving myself a few seconds rest… and realized if I have to do that, I need to leave it in the tank.

I dropped my deficit weight down and actually was aiming to go 5×10. It didn’t happen. Around rep 6 my posterior chain was saying that was enough, I would feel my lower back want to round, so that was enough. Again, I really got deep with that 1.5″ difference, a lot deeper bend to start out with, and again was more concerned with form. I also felt that going 5×6 would be better than even 3×10… don’t really know why, but this is what my body said to do so I did it.

Dietarily speaking, it’s still tough… I want to just gorge myself. But I swear I’m seeing legit progress. Press on.