And unto this...RONIN

[Ronin]

Really getting used to the IF timings now. Still just the post-missed-breakfast, 45min-into-cardio hunger pang. All else is good.

Eggs & Salami

3 chicken thighs

pancakes

jelly fluff

Weight 86.45kg

Cardio normal, 901cal

BB curl

5 x 8 x 25kg

Tri Pushdown

3 x 8 x 70lb

7 x 70lb

4 x 70lb

Calf raise

4 x 10 x 227kg

7 x 227kg

[startinfromscratch]

so are you still doing the AD, but with IF timings?

[Ronin]

Yeah pretty much, although the carb content did go up a bit on the odd day. Still below 50g, but getting close a couple of times.

[Ronin]

Well I think I have finally beaten my body into submission, no hunger pangs at all today.

eggs & salami

2 chicken thighs

pancakes

jelly fluff

Weight 86.35kg

Cardio, as per, 911cal

Bench

8 x 47.5kg

8 x 50kg

8 x 52.5kg

8 x 55kg

5 x 55kg

Squat

2 x 8 x 70kg

2 x 8 x 75kg

8 x 80kg

OHP

4 x 8 x 30kg

7 x 30kg

[Ronin]

Sprog-free today, so managed to squeeze in an xtra sesh. Should even be able to do another tomorrow. Also seems to make it easier to stick to the IF timings without kids grazing at all times.

Cardio only, just really didn't feel up to any more than that.

Eggs, salami & ham

4 chicken thighs

Pancakes

Sludge

Fluff

Weight 85.55kg

X-trainer, 80min, LISS 1183 cal.

[Ronin]

Made it to the gym yesterday, but after 40min of cardio, just had no will to be there. I was just really fried, and it took a major effort to last that long.

So, weight was 85.3,

Cardio was 40 min, 595cal

Today

Weight is 87.75kg. That means I put on 2.45kg in one day :shock:

Admittedly yesterday was carb-day, but it was mostly pretty clean, and I'm fairly certain I didn't eat 18900cal over maintenance. Likewise, I did no resistance training over the weekend, so it's not muscle gain. I'm aware that yesterday's carbs would have led to some water weight, but still! FFS!

Where did I go wrong?

Anyway, today's eats

Choc Omelette

Chilli mince & cheese

Pancakes

Sludge

Fluff

Cardio

As per, 922cal

Bench

8 x 47.5kg

8 x 50kg

8 x 52.5kg

8 x 55kg

7 x 55kg

Squat

8 x 70kg

2 x 8 x 75kg

8 x 80kg

8 x 85kg

OHP

5 x 8 x 30kg

Pretty happy with the squats, 1st set was the hardest, with sore hips, but I think they must've just been a bit tight, and loosened up as I went. Successive sets were easier. I think the 8 x 85kg is a PB, definitely within recent memory anyway. And it's damn near BW (would've been if I'd done it yesterday lol), which was a bit of a goal. Next is 1.5xBW, along with BW bench and 2xBW dead. For reps that is. I'm pretty certain I could hit them for singles.

Really feeling it tonight though. Quite sore around the sacrum, although over the last few days I'm finally feeling it in the glutes, whereas previously I was really only feeling deads in the lower back, and squats in the quads. Still don't seem to be hitting the hams though. Also feeling kinda burnt, maybe this 5 x 8 wasn't such a great idea. I've been considering jumping on the 5x5 bandwagon lately.

One wee bonus of the new training plan is that a few of the bigger guys at the gym have started to talk to me since I dropped the bodypart splits in favour of compounds. Although I'm still not good at taking compliments :pfft:

[Ronin]

Enforced rest day today, had Mini-me off school vomitising.

Might not have been a bad thing, right glute has been pretty damn ouchy all day. Deads tomorrow...should be fun.

[Ronin]

Back into it today.

eggs & salami

mutton

pancakes & mousse

sludge

fluff

Cardio as per, 904cal

Weight 86.75kg

Deads

3 x 8 x 120kg

2 x 5 x 130kg

There was no way I was getting through 5 x 8 on these today. I think it may just be too much at the moment, to be trying to do this 4 days a week, trying for as heavy as I can. Once I have my assignment out of the way, I'll be reading up on 5x5, and may switch to that.

Anyway, just for shits & giggles, I decided to do some singles and see how high I could get.

1 x 140kg

1 x 145kg

1 x 150kg

1 x 155kg (on the 2nd attempt)

0 x 160kg fail.

160 has been my previous PB, and wanted to beat it, on my way to my goal of BWx2. Got it about 2 inches off the deck and that was all she wrote. Floored it, unhooked the straps, stood up, took about 2 paces and ended up on my knees. Didn't actually pass out, just collapsed and got all light headed. I was on my feet again within a couple of minutes, but decided that was it for the day.

Apparently fasted deads aren't so cool after all. Who'da thunk it

[startinfromscratch]

go the no carb negros!

[Ronin]

go the no carb negros!

Chur brudda

Back into it today

Eats have been exactly identical to yesterday's. Variation?? Meh, who needs it :pfft:

Cardio, the usual, 914cal

Weight 86.35kg

Vanity Day

BB Curl

5 x 8 x 25kg

Tri Pushdown

4 x 8 x 70lb

6 x 70lb

Shrug

2 x 8 x 255lb

3 x 8 x 270lb

Calf Raise

4 x 10 x 227kg

9 x 227kg

And best of all, I didn't fall over today

[Ronin]

Todays eats, see above. Woohoo, that's a hat-trick.

Weight 86.65kg

Cardio, ditto, 912cal

Bench

5 x 50kg

5 x 52.5kg

5 x 55kg

5 x 57.5kg

5 x 60kg

Squat

5 x 70kg

5 x 75kg

5 x 80kg

5 x 85kg

5 x 90kg

OHP

5 x 25kg

5 x 27.5kg

5 x 30kg

5 x 32.5kg

5 x 35kg

Today was basically about playing around with a bit of 5x5, to get an idea of where I should be starting, weight-wise. I could go higher on squat and press for sure, and almost certainly on bench.

Was a bit nervous about 60 on the bench, as that was what I was doing when my shoulder went out on me last time, but no problems. Probably could have done more without too much trouble.

Was happy with the squat effort too, that's my bodyweight beaten, next stop is 1.5xBW. Also happy with how easily the OHP went up. I think there really might be something to this 5x5 thing

This change is coming at a good time too, I think I may have hit the point of over-reaching. I'm just feeling buggered all over...bicep tendon/supraspinatus injury is trying to flare up again after Wednesday's deadlift failure, lower back is sore all the time, really weird pain deep in the right glute. Oh well, no-one ever said this journey was meant to be easy.

Next question...I'm want to work out my 1RM and/or 5RM. I've got the spreadsheet for one of the 5x5s and it has a formula built in for calculating them. My question is, do I just pick a weight that I think will be challenging, and go to failure on it to get the numbers to put into the formula?

[Ronin]

Still IF-ing, I'm fully adjusted to it now, and quite enjoying the lifestyle. Will give it another couple of weeks, then redo body-comp and evaluate.

Food

eggs & salami

chilli-mince & cheese

pancakes

sludge

fluff

Weight 87.75kg

Cardio, ditto, 909cal

Bench

5 x 52.5kg

5 x 55kg

5 x 57.5kg

5 x 60kg

5 x 62.5kg

Squat

5 x 75kg

5 x 80kg

5 x 85kg

5 x 90kg

5 x 95kg

OHP

5 x 27.5kg

5 x 30kg

5 x 32.5kg

5 x 35kg

5 x 37.5kg

Again, a day of playing around in preparation for a crack at 5x5. I think that's pretty much what this week will be about.

Onwards

[startinfromscratch]

Still IF-ing, I'm fully adjusted to it now, and quite enjoying the lifestyle. Will give it another couple of weeks, then redo body-comp and evaluate.

Food

eggs & salami

chilli-mince & cheese

pancakes

sludge

fluff

Weight 87.75kg

Cardio, ditto, 909cal

Bench

5 x 52.5kg

5 x 55kg

5 x 57.5kg

5 x 60kg

5 x 62.5kg

Squat

5 x 75kg

5 x 80kg

5 x 85kg

5 x 90kg

5 x 95kg

OHP

5 x 27.5kg

5 x 30kg

5 x 32.5kg

5 x 35kg

5 x 37.5kg

Again, a day of playing around in preparation for a crack at 5x5. I think that's pretty much what this week will be about.

Onwards

bro do you have any idea on what your macros are? or you just winging it?

[Ronin]

I was weighing and measuring everything, but then it got to the point where the days and weeks were all pretty much the same, so now I know roughly what to be eating to stay within my ranges. But at the moment, I'm less concerned with strict adherence to AD, in favour of IF, just maintaining the whole "low-carb with a weekly carb-up" more out of habit, and cos it agrees with me. Once I get off the fasting, I'll be going back to being more anal about my macros. If that makes sense to anyone other than me :pfft:

[Ronin]

Yesterday was a bit of a nothing day really, just cardio, and even that had to be cut short at 50min so I could get to class.

Today

eggs & salami

hogget

pancakes

fluff

weight 86.5kg

Cardio, 60 min LISS, 961 cal

Squat

6 x 100kg

2 x 110kg

0 x 115kg

Dead

5 x 120kg

5 x 122.5kg

5 x 125kg

5 x 127.5kg

5 x 130kg

Squats were all about trying to work out my RMs. Could possibly have got a 3rd at 110, but without a spotter I wasn't too keen. Got to just above parallel at 115kg, and had serious doubts about coming out again if I went any lower. So I guess I can take my 1RM as 110kg.

Deads were feeling good. Could've gone higher, but again, was all about figuring out where I am, in preparation for next week.

Bit of a change with cardio today too. I've known all along that age-predicted HRmax was a guesstimate, but never really bothered to look further. However, came across the Karvonen equation, and lo, my 60-65%HR has gone from 110-120ish bpm to 132-139bpm. Stuck to that range for the full hour today, and actually felt like I was working a bit. I think there may be something to this

[Ronin]

Just cardio today, 60 min, 973cal.

Food as usual.

Had first blood test for this study today. Also found out that I'm about to hit a speedbump. There are two dinks involved in this study, and it's double-blind, so no-one knows which type I'll be getting. One is less than 1g carb, the other is 59g. Tasted them both today, and can't tell the difference, so can't cheat that way. So now I have to decide whether to carry on as normal and hope I get the carbless one, but risk blowing the lo-carb right out of the water...or just come off this and eat "normal" for 8 weeks. Decisions decisions.

[Ronin]

eggs & salami

5 chook thighs

pancakes

sludge

fluff

Weight 86.15kg

Cardio, 966cal

Another day of playing around with the weights

OHP

8 x 40kg

3 x 5 x 35kg

Bent row

10 x 40kg

10 x 60kg

5 x 80kg

7 x 70kg

BB Curl

8 x 30kg

2 x 8 x 25kg

[Ronin]

Pretty clean carbup yesterday, although there was a big bowl of oats, sultanas, PP and choc eclair ice-cream for dessert :pfft:

Today

eggs & salami

chilli mince & cheese

pancakes

sludge

fluff

Weight 87.4kg

Cardio 60 min LISS, 1041cal

First day of new plan, I decided to go with one that I grabbed from a link provided by Mr Scratch (can't remember whose it was right now, possibly Stronglifts). It seemed to cover the bases I wanted, but I'm open to tweaking it as I progress. Also, it called for dropping the weights back for the first four weeks, and building back up to current 5RMs. Wasn't too keen on that, so compromised and kicked off at what should've been week 3. We'll see how that works out :pfft:

Will show weight used, then (what the plan called for)

Squat

5 x 50kg(49kg)

5 x 60kg(61kg)

5 x 75kg(74kg)

5 x 87.5kg(86kg)

5 x 97.5kg(98kg)

Bench

5 x 30kg(29kg)

5 x 37.5kg(37kg)

5 x 45kg(44kg)

5 x 50kg(51kg)

5 x 60kg(59kg)

Bent-over Row

5 x 35kg(34kg)

5 x 42.5kg(43kg)

5 x 50kg(51kg)

5 x 60kg(60kg)

5 x 67.5kg(68kg)

Weighted Hypers

20 x 10kg

19 x 10kg

Weighted Situps

2 x 15 x 10kg

10 x 10kg

8 x 10kg

Not too sure what the story is with the assistance exercises...are they supposed to be sets of 5 as well?

[Beef]

:nod: solid lifts bro. will keep an eye on this journal

[Ronin]

Nice of you to say so bro, but they're still pretty much baby weights especially when compared to most of the other guys on this site.

Just cardio today, and had to cut that a bit short due to class. Last class before exams next week, so really had to be there.

eggs & salami

3 chook thighs

pancakes

sludge

fluff

Weight 87.4kg

Cardio, 50min, 901cal

Light day tomorrow...this could take a bit of getting used to :shock:

[startinfromscratch]

madcows 5x5, nice one brah!

also a q for you - i see alot of ppl dont include fibre carbs in their dails carbs limit - do you? cos i noticed that my PB's carbs are partly fibre.

whatchu reckon?

[Ronin]

I just keep it simple and use total carbs. I've noticed that on different products you can find carbs, sugars, fibre, net carbs, impact carbs, but seldom do you find anything with all of them listed, so total carbs just makes it easier. Plus it means you'll err on the high side, rather than under-estimating your carb total.

[Ronin]

Real slow one today, just felt lethargic most of the day, after training.

bacon & eggs

mince & nut butter (thanks Mr Scratch, yummy)

eggs & mayo (again, thanks Scratchy)

sludge

fluff

Weight 87.15kg

Cardio, 60min, 1080cal

Squat

5 x 50(49)kg

5 x 60(61)kg

5 x 75(74)kg

5 x 75(74)kg

OHP

5 x 27.5(27)kg

5 x 32.5(32)kg

5 x 37.5(38)kg

5 x 42.5(43)kg

Dead

5 x 80(81)kg

5 x 97.5(97)kg

5 x 115(114)kg

5 x 130(130)kg (no straps , most I've done un-strapped)

Situps

3 x 15

Calf Raise

8 x stack + 50kg

8 x stack + 60kg

8 x stack + 70kg (247kg, PB)

I know the calf raise wasn't part of the plan, but I just wanted to chuck them in there, cos I'm the boss of me, not some spreadsheet

[Ronin]

No training yesterday, child health issues.

Today

eggs & salami

Mince w nut butter

eggs & mayo

sludge

fluff

Weight 86.2kg

Cardio, 60 min, 1052cal

Medium day

Squat

5 x 50(49)kg

5 x 60(61)

5 x 75(74)

5 x 87.5(86)

8 x 100(101)

3 x 75(74)

Bench

5 x 30(29)

5 x 37.5(37)

5 x 45(44)

5 x 50(51)

3 x 60(60)

8 x 45(44)

B-O Row

5 x 35(34)

5 x 42.5(43)

5 x 50(51)

5 x 60(60)

3 x 70(70)

8 x 50(51)

Assistance

Dips

3 x 8 x BW

BB Curl

3 x 8 x 25kg

Skullcrushers

8 x 15kg

2 x 8 x 20kg

Haven't trained abs at all in a VEEERY long time, so they were complaining over the last few days, but settled today.

Haven't done any dips since before my shoulder injury (ie since last year sometime), and remember finding them a bit of a struggle. So I decided to just use bodyweight today, even though the plan called for weighted. Was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were...apparently all this training can make ya stronger...someone shoulda told me :shock:

Must say too, that it's a nice change to walk away from a training session, rather than stagger. All in all was quite a satisfying session, although at over 2 hours, I may have to look at trimming the cardio back on weights days.

[startinfromscratch]

diet looking tight brah :grin: