No Pain, Time to Gain

[Pigeon_Killer]

5x5 Intensification Phase: (W9/D1)

Paused Squats
140 x 3
140 x 3
140 x 3

Bench Press
90 x 3
100 x 3
110 x 7
80 x 5

Pendlay Row
65 x 10
75 x 3
85 x 5

Total Weight Lifted: 4300kg

Time: 60 Minutes

Comments
I would usually go for a bench, deadlift and squat PB on the 9th and final week of this routine but as I'm still on the road to recovery I'm aiming for a solid 5RM on each exercise instead. Got an easy 6 reps on the bench today before tiring during the 7th and racking.

Was aiming for 100 x 1 by Christmas when I started my comeback a few months so can't really complain with 110 x 7

Deadlifts on Sunday/Monday which I'm not really looking forward to. Will try 180 but will probably end up backing off and going for 170 x 5 instead.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Diet

I started dieting in July, when I weighed 18st 5lbs, and have stuck to roughly 2050 calories per day since then. My diet has mainly consisted of fruit, vegetables, brown rice, semi skimmed milk, organic walnuts, chicken, tuna and protein powder with the odd cheat meal once every two weeks. After 5 months of dieting and 3 months of weights and cardio I now weigh 15st 10lbs

02/07/2016 - 18st 5lbs
06/08/2016 - 17st 11lbs
03/09/2016 - 17st 3lbs
01/10/2016 - 16st 10lbs
17/12/2016 - 15st 10lbs

I finish my current routine on Tuesday/Wednesday at which point I'll have two weeks off over the Christmas period and pick up my diet and weight lifting in January.

 

[GSVBagpuss]

Great progress - must be quite a change in the mirror? Great lifting too - good totals in all the big 3

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Cheers dude.

Never really taken much notice of myself in the mirror but I've had a few positive comments from friends and I've dropped 6 inches around my waist so that's good enough for me.

 

[V F]

I finish my current routine on Tuesday/Wednesday at which point I'll have two weeks off over the Christmas period and pick up my diet and weight lifting in January.

Impressive. What is your target?

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Long term, I'd like to get back up to my PB weights but at a lower bodyweight. Short term, just keep getting stronger and losing weight and try and avoid injury.

 

[V F]

Yeah, nothing worse than an injury that puts you out for a while. :/

 

[Kris_90]

Congrats on the progress. Are you doing anything specific to keep strength/get stronger while cutting? 2,050 cals per day must be at least a 500 cal deficit, I find anything over 200 cals and my strength drops.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Other than ensuring I get enough protein I'm not doing anything else other than sleeping well thanks to ZMA.

No idea how many calories I would need to maintain now but even when I had a lot more muscle and weighed 18st a few years ago I was only averaging 2400 calories a day and bulking on 2800.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

5x5 Intensification Phase: (W9/D2+3)

Squats
120 x 3
135 x 3
150 x 5 (Belt)

Deadlifts
100 x 5
120 x 3
140 x 1
160 x 1
180 x 5 (MG/Belt)

Seated Shoulder Press
60 x 5
70 x 3
80 x 5
80 x 5

Paused Bench Press
102.5 x 3
102.5 x 3
102.5 x 3

Pendlay Row
82.5 x 3
82.5 x 3
82.5 x 3

Pullups
BW x 5
BW x 5
BW x 5
BW x 5
BW x 5

Total Weight Lifted: 6550kg

Time: 120 Minutes

Comments:
My stomach fell out of my ass Sunday evening and I didn't feel much better yesterday but I managed to eat a ton of food today and decided to go to the gym with the hope of saving some of week 9. Session went far better than expected

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Anti DOM Day

Squats
50 x 10
75 x 10

Bench Press
40 x 10
55 x 28 (AMRAP)

Deadlifts
60 x 10
90 x 10

Pendlay Row
Bar x 10
42.5 x 10

Military Press
Bar x 10
40 x 10

Safety Bar Front Squats
40 x 10
60 x 10

Total Weight Lifted: Who Cares

Time: 30 Minutes

Comments:
Quick session at 50% of my 5RM to tide me over until next week. My conditioning for sets of 10 is back to sucking again.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

No Pain, Time to Gain: Part 3
The last 3 months went amazingly well but I now feel it's time to prioritise strength over BW. I still plan to eat healthily and keep weight gain to a minimum but I'll be increasing my calories when I feel my strength stagnates.

Cycle
Three weight sessions a week with the focus being on improving my compound lifts, addressing my weaknesses and preparing for another 9 weeks of 5x5.

Day 1
Squats 3x10
OHP 3x10
Front Squats 5x10
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 5x10

Day 2
Bench press 3x10
Pendlay Row 3x10
Incline Dumbbell Press 5x10
Kroc Row 5x10

Day 3
Deadlifts 3x10
SLDL 3 5x10
Pull Ups 5xF
Hanging Knee Raises 5xF

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Squats
85 x 10
100 x 10
115 x 10

Standing Barbell Shoulder Press
32.5 x 10
37.5 x 10
42.5 x 10

Paused Front Squats
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
85 x 1
105 x 1
125 x 1

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press (TW)
55 x 10
55 x 10
55 x 10
55 x 10
55 x 10

Total Weight Lifted: 10440kg

Time: 80 Minutes

Comments:
Comfortable session in terms of weight but my body will take a week or two to adapt to sets of 10 again.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Bench Press
65 x 10
75 x 10
85 x 10

Pendlay Row
45 x 10
55 x 10
65 x 10

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press (TW)
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10

Kroc Rows (TW)
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10

Total Weight Lifted: 10400kg

Time: 75 Minutes

Comments:
Shoulders are still destroyed from Tuesday's session so the bench press was tough today but everything else was easy.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Deadlifts
85 x 10
115 x 10
145 x 10

Romanian Deadlifts
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10

Pull Ups
BW x 7
BW x 7
BW x 5
BW x 5
BW x 5

Hanging Knee Raises
Dropped

Total Weight Lifted: 6700kg

Time: 90 Minutes

Comments:
A mixture of a week back on a reasonable diet after eating liking a pig over Christmas, fatigue from yesterday and the start of a cold meant this session started well but went down hill rapidly. I felt tired after the second set of deadlifts and exhausted after the third. Final two exercises took me 65 minutes and was sponsored by a Mars Bar.

 

[GSVBagpuss]

High rep deadlifts are never good fun. I feel naff now too - strength will return soon enough

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Squats
80 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10

Standing Barbell Shoulder Press
35 x 10
40 x 10
45 x 10

Paused Front Squats
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press (TW)
60 x 10
60 x 10
60 x 10
60 x 10
60 x 10

Total Weight Lifted: 10700kg

Time: 80 Minutes

Comments:
Head, nose and throat AIDS but absolutely no sign of the fatigue I felt all last week. Very easy session with the squats feeling especially strong.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Got roped in to joining the running club today, not sure how or why, but ran 3.2 miles in 35 minutes this evening.

I've now realised three things... I don't like running, road running is a lot harder than running on a treadmill and tennis shoes are not a suitable type of footwear for running in.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Bench Press
70 x 10
80 x 10
90 x 10

Pendlay Row
50 x 10
60 x 10
70 x 10

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press (TW)
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10

Kroc Rows (TW)
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10

Total Weight Lifted: 11200kg

Time: 70 Minutes

Comments:
Comfortable session considering my arms are still destroyed from running. Yes, you read that right!

 

[GSVBagpuss]

Just clocked the paused front squats - brutal!