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Checking in to say that i have been lifting ~5 days a week continuously since since ~Oct 2021, and diet has been on point in that period too. BW up to ~78kg atm, maybe ~18 %bf, from 70kg, in a slow bulk.

Some benchmark lifts atm, in kg:

Squat: 120x10
Bench: 85x7, 102.5x1
Chin: BW+45x5
BW Row: 80x10
OHP: 65x1, 60x3
RDL: 140x8

Going to push weight to ~80kg then cut, might post progress pics here.

since 2011?!

good to hear from you.

woops lol, 2021

Quick update: Weighing in ~75.5kg most days lately, and down a notch on my lifting belt.

Need a deload this week. Has been 7 weeks of hard training and dieting + some big life stress (mother-in-law has been diagnosed with lung cancer, which looks to be operable, so there's reason to be optimistic, but still very scary of course).

So, did some moderate effort singles just to see where I am. Biceps and back still sore from a workout on Saturday, and legs felt tired from a run yesterday (achilles has been kind to me lately, probably thanks to weight loss + lower running volume). So, pleased with these numbers:

Squat: 150kg x 1 [could have had two, close to ass-to-grass, so that's pretty much a 2xBW squat).
Chin: BW+60kg x 1 [probably not getting two here, but could wasn't an all out effort by any means).

Last week I also hit 100kg x 3 on bench.

pretty strong! why'd you stop squatting?

Decided that in 2024 I'll start logging on here again.

01-01-24

Seated Leg Curl
96x8 + 87x7
89x6 + 75x7

Leg Extension
60x12 + 55x7 + 50x7

Sissy Leg Press
120 x 7, 6

Neutral Machine Chest Press
16x4 [not used this machine before, this was fewer reps than I wanted]
15x5
14x7 + 12 x 4 + 10 x4

Pec-Dec
75x7 + 61 x 5 + 54x4 + 40 x 12

Panatta Machine Lateral
9+7+5+4+3+2 [cba to count reps, basically a drop set to failure with no rest at each of those settings]

OH Tricep Machine
35 x 6

Different OH Tricep Machine
25 x 10, 8
20 x 9

Dips
BW x 14 + 8 + 5

02-01-24

DB Pullover
25x15 + 20x9 + 15x11 + 12.5x10 + 10x10

Chins
BW x 21+5+4+3+2

DB Preacher Curl
15x4 + 12.5x7 +10x10 +7.5x15+12+10

A - BB Finger Curl
60x18, 12, 11, 10, 7, 5

B1 - BB Row
90 x 9, 7, 6

B2 Hammer Curl
15 x 17, 12, 9

Notes

Today's workout at home spread throughout the day, yesterday at the gym. Goals at are just muscle gainzz. Just doing a lot of freestyle training atm b/c schedule has been weird, so I've dropped specific one arm chin stuff, which I'll bring back soon. Away for a few days from Thursday so won't be training in that period. BW is ~75.5-76 atm, so I've gained a little over 2kg in 4 months since finishing the cut. I think I might diet again pretty soon with the aim of going sub 70kg, bc I didn't really get all that lean.

12-01-24

Assisted One Arm Chin
-10 x 1 @ 9rpe
-25 x 2@6, 2@7

A DB Incline
32.5 x 8, 7

B Chinups
+40 x 7

A DB Pullover
25 x 11, 9

B DB Flye
12.5 x 12, 8

A Lateral Raise
12.5 x 18, 14

B Lying Tri Extension
12.5 x 7
10 x 11

A DB Preacher
12.5 x 12, 10

B Good Morning
80 x 12, 10

A Reverse Nordic
BW x 11, 9 + 6

B Cable Abs
50 x 9, 7+8

Notes

First session back, just freestyled a full body thing. Plan is to generally be pretty relaxed about how I train, as long as I get the volume in each week. Only hard and fast rules will be 2 x weekly cardio, and 2 x weekly "strength" style work on assisted one arm chins.

Was on and off ill with colds and such through December, so haven't done any regular chin work for like 6 weeks, so am a bit weak there atm, hopefully that will spring back quickly. My understanding is that the science atm suggest that, while near/to failure is best for hypertrophy, staying <7 rpe is best for strength. So will try to a bunch of solid 1-3 rep sets at low RPEs on assited OACs, plus one harder single now and then to mark progress, and basically everything else done at 8-10 RPE.

Quote from: Joe on January 12, 2024, 07:07:26 am

My understanding is that the science atm suggest that, while near/to failure is best for hypertrophy, staying <7 rpe is best for strength. So will try to a bunch of solid 1-3 rep sets at low RPEs on assited OACs, plus one harder single now and then to mark progress, and basically everything else done at 8-10 RPE.

that's interesting. at some point in the past 6-7 years i stopped nerding out on training research the way i did in my 20s. all other things being equal, hypertrophy=strength gains, so this is news to me. you got a reference? i'm curious.

Yeah was pretty surprising to me too, but has ultimately come to make sense as I've thought about it.

I think the basic gist is that long term, you obviously want to maximise hypertophy b/c bigger muscle = stronger muscle in general and for low-skill movements. But if you want to maximise strength-specific adaptations on a single movement, then you want the practice to be as useful and specific as possible. So you want every training rep to at the sweet spot of fast + heavy, so you keep the RPE/velocity loss pretty moderate. Then, since each set is easier, you can do more total reps that are both (a) use a heavy load and (b) involve moving the bar/yourself fast. So, more, and better, specific practice.

So in running terms, you're conflating the the utility of the general prep of hypertrophy (i.e. base phase) with the specific practice of strength training (i.e. sharpening workouts like 5 x 1km for a 5k). Or like, we know that gaining muscle from moderate rep squats will help your vert, but at some point to maximise that you need to just practice jumping. 1 x 10 squats is more specific to 1rm squat than jumping, but still less so than practicing singles.

This is the latest big meta-analysis on RPE in general: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370837310_Exploring_the_Dose-Response_Relationship_Between_Estimated_Resistance_Training_Proximity_to_Failure_Strength_Gain_and_Muscle_Hypertrophy_A_Series_of_Meta-Regressions

It's relatively clear in showing that higher RPE = better muscle gainz on a per set basis, and also shows that you don't need to go to balls-to-the-wall RPE to max out strength gains.

This is the latest meta-analysis specifically on RPE/velocity loss for strength: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/3/337

This is the key chart from the strength meta:



And yeah since I am in a fat loss phase, I'm not expecting to make any meaningful gains in back muscle, so I am happy to reduce my overall volume and do a bunch of "heavy easy" OAC sets in place of that work.

16-01-24

Assisted OAC
-10 x 1
-25 x 1, 1, 1

DB Pullover
25 x 12, 11

BB Row
90 x 10, 7

20mm Grip Lifts
50 x 1, 1
55 x 1, 1
40 x 15, 12

DB Preacher
15 x 4
12.5 x 7, 6
10 x 13

BB Finger Curl
60 x 16, 13, 9, 8, 6

Cable Crunch
45 x 12, 9
40 x 11, 8

Notes

Surprisingly back still kind of sore from Friday, and I think something from yesterday made my biceps sore, maybe the flyes? Surprising. Anyway, decent sesh.