Adarq.org

Training
OHP 2x5x50
BP 5x79.5, 6x77.5, 6x75, 5x77 (WG), 5x75, 5x72.5

FS 1x90, 1x100, 1x107.5, 2x102, 1x100, 2x97.5, 4x95, 4x92.5, 4x90
BS 3x90, 2x100, 2x100, 2x95, 5x92.5, 6x90, 8x87.5

BW: 78.6kg / 173.28lb

Pressing notes:
OHP is going ok so far. Will be switching to 1.5kg jumps now, for maybe one or two workouts and then it's going to be 1kg.

For BP - intensity is kinda higher than ideal for volume. I wanna push my topset up to 80x6 and then i'll be content to keeping intensity below that and just getting the reps in.

FS notes:
Balls. New cue is a game changer. Another piece in the squat jigsaw falls into place. Form is approaching that of a kingfisher or a LBSS if I am so bold. But I can't lift as much weight FOR REPS with the new technique although I suspect I can max a bit more now. FOR NOW this is an acceptable tradeoff. I DONT CARE! - i finally have pretty form!!

Will build back to PRs pointedly while observing the new technique and maintaining form.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxSWAgJo8K4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxSWAgJo8K4</a>

BS notes:
Squatmorningnomore, see fs notes, same thing applies. I employed a super effective cue today and was so excited to try it out, actually had dreams about itl all weekend waiting breathlessly to squat. lol.

I could have lifted a lot more weight but my (R) hamstrings were not interested. It just felt really sore and strange. I think I should have got that active recovery in over the weekend, but part of the reason might be with the new form, my hams are loaded more and this shows up a weakness.

Reminds me of something LcMcD once said that if you want to stretch out hamstrings, then make sure your back is arched. And if you want to stretch your back, make sure your hamstrings are relaxed and your back is rounded. That guy is a smart motherfucker.

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No abs today. No cardio today. I could do cardio but I wanna see what muscles are sore tomorrow and cardio might muddle the causality.

Absolutely destroyed from squatting. It was all leg work today, no more strong lower back compensation for bad technique. After my last set of squats I had to lie down and just get my breath back. Felt like 5 minutes at least.

And I did stupid fasting today again so lifts were much harder than necessary. But I wanna get under 77kg by next Monday morning so that's the main thing. I barely ate anything today just some protein shakes. I will be very hungry this week - losing 2kg in a week kind of makes that unavoidable.

Training
OHP 2x5x47.5, 8x40
WCU 2x101, 2x98.5, 2x98, 1x103, 2x1x105 (+25kg, PR)

FS 5x92.5, 5x94.5 (PR)
BS 3x110, 5x100
jumps (5svjs, 5 rvjs)
HIIT 7x 10on,12off

BW: 78.1kg / 172.18lb (new low bw)

Some PRs today. Technically nearly every workset is a PR because i've never lifted before at this bodyweight - but they aren't lifetime PRs so I wont count them.

FS notes:
I had trouble keeping a flat back b/c was experimenting with a new technique but I will abandon it due to imperfect form.

BS notes:
Depth is improving, but I will repeat the triple next time since the form was a bit off for the last rep. The 5 was ok.

WCU notes:
Didn't go for the 25 reps today - have decided to split volume and intensity up. Will start next week. Btw I am digging these heavy singles. Will persue them exclusively now.

I'm gonna mess around with some inclined benches and arm work now, just cos I feel like it but wont log them. Til next time, tada.

Hey vag saw your post. I don't really use the calculators, I don't think they work very well for me except if they're just rough guesses to start with. But for that, I find the old bodybuilder rule of 10xbw (in lb) to work well enough. So if i'm 180 then i should be eating 1800 kcal a day to lose weight.

It's not perfect but it seems to work ok. For maintenance you're supposed to use a multiplier of 12-15. 12 if you're not very active, 15 if you're really active (not me). So that's about a good place to start.

Of course after a week or so if your bodyweight is going up, then you re-adjust your maintenance value - and if it's going down and you're happy with the rate of change, then keep it, otherwise bump off another 500 cal or so and see how you go. It's an experimental thing short of using doubly labelled water, or a bodybug or something like that.

Ok so the plans to end the maintenance break early just did not happen. I got off to a great start on the cut the first 4 days - but my sister flew over unexpected on the weekend and I took her out to lunch yesterday and we ended up eating too much so the weekend was a writeoff. Having said that, I did manage to squeeze in 36 hours of fasting in there but still, it doesn't count when you eat 2500kcal in one meal lol.

So lets start over and get back on track. In 7 days time I want to be under 78kg / 172 lb.

Beast mode enabled.

Yesterday's diet:
Expenditure : ~2500kcals
Income : ~2000 kcals
Goal was -500 , achieved!

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Training plan modification:
I am dumping the [3*5 +15reps finisher] scheme and switching to Lance's "3-set progress":
( http://www.adarq.org/sts-qa/age-vs-vertical-various-qa-%28-programming-exercise-form-etc-%29/msg79582/#msg79582 ).
I wil use 25 reps as the upper limit , ( 1 rep above 3*8 ), whenever i hit 25 reps i will be upping the weight.
Excercises remain the same as now:
Day 1 : Squat, Bench, Rows
Day 2 : RDL, Biceps, Triceps
Day 3 : Squat. Push Press, Chinups

Looks good brah! I'd suggest doing weighted chinups on day 2 - that way you cover the biceps and triceps (and abs and upper bak) in one hit but that's just me!

Recomps work better when you're lean. Which is a motherfucker because 95% of the time people who want to try a recomp aren't lean - catch 22. All the recomp diets i've read about, whether UD2, leanga1ns, the original ultimate diet by Dan Duchaine all set out a desirable bodyfat of 10-12%. At that bodyfat you have excellent insulin sensitivity and the best p ratio. Those are the ingredients for a good recomp.

Like Aragon warns above, ppl who recomp at higher bodyfats tend to spin their wheels and achieve nothing with their bodycomp goals. In fact the only time the recomp for a higher bodyfat seems to work is if you're starting off as a complete newbie who hasn't trained before and that's when you see muscle gain with fat loss at the same time. And that doesn't last long. Ppl who have been training a while aren't gonna see the same results.

The other thing is vag even if you go on a cut (say 10-20% deficit), which is what i'd recommend, if you do an exercise which is new to your body, you'll gain some muscle even while cutting. I saw that when i was cutting when I added ab crunches, within 2 weeks i had much bigger abs while in the middle of a long cut. I've read about the same thing for other ppl too when they've done say a new exercise like calve raises while cutting hard - gaining some new mass while on a deficit. That sort of recomp is possible, you just have to try and find exercises which hit your newbie body parts because they'll grow regardless. Now if you're trying to grow your legs after having squatted for a long time, that probably wont happen mid-cut, but if you add a new assistance exercise which targets a part of your legs which you're still a newbie at, maybe it will just give you some modest gains.

I like the front squat myself and i've also read that you get the form right ( which is the main problem ) its more 'functional' than back squat.
Having said that, the compare videos are terribly biased, you can't compare someone a submax 5-reps 200kg raw front squat with powerlifting meet sutied 350+ kg back squats.
Any day's video of your FS vs BS would be convincing and unbiased enough!

lol vag I did that on purpose .. (playing chess 2 moves ahead !)

so now i show you a big fat guy doing a limit front squat...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkSN3f-a3Ok" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkSN3f-a3Ok</a>

and

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMBsGbWBlX8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMBsGbWBlX8</a>

still purty to me check mate!