Posted at January 26, 2019, 10:22 pm:
Some background: Been training off and on for a couple years at least and was doing pretty well up until last summer or so. I caught mono and dropped down from about 170 to a little over 140 (i'm 5'8") over the course of a couple months. My strength was all but shot, so it was a bit discouraging to get back into the gym. I was somewhat consistant, but lacked a bit of motivation because watching myself wither down like that took a bit of a toll.
I'm currently a senior at the University of Illinois, and last semester was one of my busiest yet. After a month or two of early classes and late nights, my consistency dropped off again. I started to get real burned out and realized I may not have fully recovered from the mono before I had hit the weights the first time. My drive was there, but my body couldn't get me through the workouts like it used to.
Since then i've hit the gym occassionally, but nothing too serious. Fast forward to the present, and winter break just began. I've finally got a lot of free time on my hands to get myself back in the swing of things, and I hope that a good month of consistant training will get my body used to it enough so that I can continue on top of my busy class schedule like I used to. This will be a good opportunity to see how well I can rebound when I can get a good night's sleep most of the time.
I've tried various routines including some I put together myself, HST, Max-OT, and single factor 5x5. Of all of them, i've seen the best gains in strength (and I believe size) from the max-ot and 5x5. Because of this, i've decided to get into powerlifting for the first time. I figured taking an entirely new approach to hitting the weights might bring back some of the excitement for me, and seeing my old strength come back up will do a lot for me mentally.
After a lot of reading and research I think i've got a pretty good grasp of WSB, but I definately welcome any suggestions. Currently, supplements include: ON whey, multi, cee, vitamin C, sesamin (at half dose to help keep some fat off me), and occassionally an arg/orn stack from NOW. As far as nutrition goes, at least for now i'm going to keep it pretty simple. Eat as much as I can and as clean as I can. In the past i've made it too complex and that was partial reason for my downfall. Most likely, i'll probably only post training info and not supp/diet info for now.
Sorry for the long intro guys, on with the journal.
Original of the message was taken from http://forum.bodybuilding.com/
Replies:Here goes nothing, hopefully the log will keep me on top of my workout...
ME Lower:
Box Squat
195x1
SLDL
3x135x8
Good Mornings
3x95x8
Weig...
Only got a couple hours sleep last night because I had to be up early ...
DE Lower:
Box Squats
8x95x2
SLDL
3x145x8
Good Mornings
2x1...
Had a huge breakfast earlier and then lifted about an hour and a half ...
Didn't have much time to update the other day, I've been real busy get...
Did some hiit cardio on saturday before getting ready for my party.
Anyone actually check this journal regularly besides me? lol
Yester...
Just got back into town today after being gone since saturday so here'...
DE Upper Day:
Speed Bench
8x115x3
Skulls
5x70x5
Rows
3x110...
Did some HIIT cardio today, being sick is a bitch but at least it's ju...
Took a few days off while I moved back to school and got my classes st...
Damn, the gym is busy these days with all the new years resolutioners ...
Had a rough weekend, nonetheless today was ME lower day:
Deadlifts
...
Been off a little bit because of my birthday, but hit the gym tonight.
Wednesday sucked.
Only got a few hours of sleep last night and i'm fighting ANOTHER cold...
hey man how often are you lifting, looks like you're making some decen...
I try to go every other or third day, but being a senior in college re...
Been a week since I've been able to lift last.
Celebrated Valentine's day with my girl today after classes and I thin...
Had to take a break yesterday because I was up all night working on 2 ...
Saw my professor briefly on my way out of the gym, that was kind of co...
Took a couple days off extra, because I may or may not be facing a maj...
DE upper day today:
Speed Bench
8x105x3
Dips
2x10
1x9
1x8
1x6
Chins...
Welp, popped my amps and headed over to the gym for DE lower work toni...
FINALLY got to the gym today.
Today was ME lower work:
Squats
1x215x1
Front Squats
5x125x5
...
Only got about 5 hours or so of sleep last night because I had ANOTHER...
Been so damn busy with 2 papers and studying for a test lately.
Oh hey, looks like I hit page 2 finally .
I've enjoyed reading your journal, keep up the hard work and don't let...
Thanks man, I wasn't sure anyone was keeping up with this thing beside...
DE Lower
Speed Squats
8x115x2
Speed Pulls
8x155x1
Goodmorni...
ME Upper
Today sucked.
It's been a rough couple of days since I got back down to school.
That last workout was ME lower, my mistake.
Well, spring break turned out way different than I had originally plan...
DE Lower day:
Speed Squats
8x120x2
Speed Pulls
8 (or 9?) x 155...
Couldn't get to the gym yesterday because I had a test to study for an...
Today was decent I guess.
Today was decent, I'm still really preoccupied with a lot of things th...
DE Lower today:
Speed Squats
8x135x2
Speed Pulls
8x155x1
GH...
Only got 2 or 3 hours of sleep today but I still hit some PR's
ME u...
Today felt pretty good, but I was moving a little slower than usual so...
Oops, can't edit anymore but the front squats were actually 4x145x5
Took an extra couple days off to catch up on some sleep since my sched...
DE Lower:
Speed Squats
8x145x2
Speed Pulls
8x155x1
SLDL's
...
Took a while to get my friend into the gym again to help spot me but I...
Yesterday was ME lower:
Goodmornings
1x185x3
1x195x2
Leg Press...
Lot going on lately between 4 large papers and 3 tests this week I had...
A little DE lower action today:
Speed Squats
8x120x2
Speed Pull...
Today was ME upper work.
Hey I just saw your journal, I aswell am working off of a WSB template...
I don't list warmups, just my max for the day.
BTW, thanks for posting.
Ok.
Definitely been slacking a bit lately in favor of going out to have a ...
Man it's been a busy week! The 12th was my girlfriend's 21st birthday...
Treadmill + System of the Down = Bliss
Did 55 minutes of cardio on th...
Wow man, sounds like your had one hell of a spell of little sleep ther...
Usually it takes about 3-4 seconds or so for me to complete a set, but...
Finished up a little while ago so I thought I'd get my numbers in befo...
Nice work.
For me it depends a lot on my accessory work.
Got some cardio in on friday in the form of walking since I was still ...
ME Lower:
Deadlifts
1x300x1
Power Squats
5x195x5
Decline Crunches
3...
Did about an hour of cardio on the treadmill on weds, then yesterday I...
The wedding was so much fun, but it was a bit surreal to be standing u...
Oops, Monday was the 29th not the 30th.
Had a friend in from out of town until just the other day, so I didn't...
So I've been reading around a lot to see what I can tweak in order to ...
Forgot to mention earlier that I did some cardio yesterday on the trea...
Been out of town for a few days, so I decided to punish myself with so...
Well yesterday was a LONG one.
Something I forgot to mention is the fact that I stopped creatine supp...
Got back from the hospital tonight again, made a big steak dinner with...
On second thought, I might drop the medium grips entirely for now sinc...
So I built the sled today (minus the felt so far) and I was happy at f...
Holy hell tonight was brutal.
Well hot damn, today I weighed in at 179.
Didn't have time to update earlier since I ran upstairs to eat, shower...
It was really nice out tonight and my dog looked bored so after 'Rescu...
Met with a relative of mine today and I think I may have a pretty cool...
Took a few days off since I was starting to get a cold but was back at...
Today was ME upper:
Paused Flat Bench
1x190x3
Suppplemental - JM Pre...
Quick Recovery workout today, upper body.
Everything seems to be going ok for you lately, some decent lifts.
Right now I'm just eating clean foods and keeping my calories in the 2...
Man, I don't know what it is but 3.
Woah page four.
Hmmm, getting a bit sleepy so maybe I'll just call it a night after al...
Arrrrrgh.
Nice, detailed journal!
Don't worry about it bud, just move on to the next session and nail it...
Thanks guys, like I said I'm glad I at least hit the same numbers from...
Didn't have time to update last night because I ran out to see my girl...
As for this.
Yeah I'm not sure where I began to use mediocre form, but it's probabl...
Well, today definately took an interesting twist.
Thinking out loud and planning ahead.
Off day today.
Happy 4th to everyone, hope it was a good one.
Since you are deloading in the first place, your purpose of doing this...
Felt pretty refreshed today and got a full night's sleep so I decided ...
Good work bro.
The wide grips don't seem too bad yet but that's probably because I'm ...
Yup, I can see that working - a lot of other strength programs work th...
LOL sounds good.
Have you read the Westside for Bodybuilders article at t-nation? That ...
I know what you mean, I'm a total nerd for lifting (evidenced by my ex...
Off day today, ran some errands and then headed into Chicago for the e...
You should have stopped by while you were in town, hehe
Use those...
Well I didn't get to lift the other morning like I wanted because I en...
Boards huh.
The rack is the main thing I need, although I'd also like a new bench ...
Ran out and did some errands after dinner, then slammed my shake and h...
Hey man, you've given me a lot of good advice in my journal so I thoug...
Oh it will man.
Got a new toy yesterday so I've been playing around with it lately.
RE Upper
Flat Bench
3x145x10
3 Board Press
3x185x5
Overhand...
So you have two new toys now.
Yeah, it's like happy fun time lately .
tech toys kick ass!
Nice work with the board presses, really looki...
Most definately, this thing is fun to screw around with already and my...
Ruh roh.
*Subscribed*
Hey man, you have a pretty detailed log, just like I d...
Thanks for stopping in, it helps a lot to know that I have people on m...
I was pretty damn beat earlier from work today and not getting quite a...
Tonight definately exceeded my expectations.
Wow I really abuse the hell out of formatting now that I remembered ho...
Holy crap! Three bench PRs in one workout.
3 PRs! Sweet! And you wanted to switch to 5x5
LMAO about the unev...
lol, thanks dude it felt great to put up those lifts
haha, yeah I've done it before too but it's always funny to me because...
Nice session bud.
I was hitting standing militaries about once a week for quite a while ...
ME Lower
Parallel Box Squats
barx5
100x5
120x3
140x3
160x3
180x3
200x...
Hey man, nice looking workout.
Congrats on the box squat PR.
Thanks, I don't really have a box either so I'm using a folding chair ...
Thanks much, I made the sled pretty cheap with a plastic mixing bin; d...
This is what hardcore and dedication is all about gents.
Missed yesterday's workout so I'll probably double up and do another s...
Thanks!
I know I have a lot of room for improvement, but I also know...
Congrats on the board press PR!
May I ask what kind of wave scheme ...
I've been decreasing weight and increasing reps instead of straight se...
Wave progression is something that is new to me, and apparantly, I hav...
I am not very familar with wave progression iron619, sorry.
I think I have a good article about wave loading lying around somewher...
What! Finally, something about training that RipStone doesn't know mu...
Here's the article I mentioned, it does a pretty good job at explainin...
Ah! It was a t-Nation article that I did not know of!?? I must be sli...
no problem, let me know if you try any of it out as well so we can see...
Argh, taking me longer to get everything done today than I thought.
I will also read the article as it looks very informative.
Yeah that's exactly why I decided to try it.
Decided to keep speed work for lower since it seems to be working; I'l...
Regarding front squats and the clean grip, stretch those wrists out bu...
K I'll have to look into it some time tonight, thanks for the tip.
Argh i'm itching to hit ME upper soon but I just haven't had the time.
That sorta sucks man, but there are other things in life besides lifti...
Just finishing an online class because I was 3 hours short of graduati...
Forgot to mention I checked into some wrist stretches and I've been wo...
Do you got any links to the wrist stretching exercises?
Good times.
http://www.
Yeah, although I'll be doing commercial so I'll be dealing with the en...
Awesome; thanks man.
Almost got a full night's sleep so I was still kind of tired, but I po...
Hey dude, awesome training session man!! And 4 PRs!!!! Only thing be...
Daammmmnnnnn.
for some reason my bench has really been coming back up again lately, ...
Looking really strong on the CG man.
Thanks man, I'm thinking of using CG's as an ME exercise pretty soon.
ME Lower
Parallel Box Squats
barX5
105x5
130x3
150x3
170x3
190x3
200x...
Man my schedule has continued to blow hard lately.
'Sup brotha! Great job on the box squat PRs! I think next time you d...
Thanks for the words of encouragement man .
Damn i'm actually kinda sore today.
DE Lower
Speed Parallel Box Squats
10x125x2
Front Squats
125x2
3x11...
Nice workout dude.
Yeah I used to front squat about 40 pounds heavier pretty easily so it...
Good training bro.
Hmm, I'm not sure if tonight sucked or was awesome or somewhere in bet...
Good work with the 2-board presses.
Yeah i'm taking it with a grain of salt now that I had the night to co...
ME Lower
Front Box Squats
barx5
65x5
80x3
95x3
110x3
125x3
140x3
150x...
Nice ME Lower session dude.
Congrats on the front box squat PR!
I have never thought about add...
Hah, yeah it definately takes a bit more effort but it forces me to st...
You gotta love youtube.
Haha nice find, I'll check it out when I get home for sure.
More nights with only around 6 hours sleep but today was still pretty ...
DE Lower
Speed Parallel Box Squats
10x135x2
Speed Pulls
10x155...
Nice DE day.
Thanks dude, hopefully it'll keep me from hitting the wall as hard as ...
Dude, great looking workout and excellent exercise selection.
Thanks for the kind words, I'm getting there slowly but surely .
Very solid workouts lately buddy, nice job!
Man, it's been a few days longer than I thought but I've been pretty b...
Great pressing bro!
I like how you are doing a lot of volume with B...
Thanks man, I'm glad to have finally reached my short term goal (pass ...
Sweet session man! Those exercises you did will really help with your...
Yeah floor presses look really awesome, I want to do them once I have ...
Getting pretty tired of missing workouts lately but that's life I gues...
Scoring some brownie points w/ the girlfriend's dad + making equipment...
Couldn't of said it better myself.
Haha, thanks guys.
2/3 of my rack came yesterday so I decided to wait and get it built fo...
awesome, page 8 to commemorate the rack .
Indeed.
ME Lower
Front Squats Off 16" Box
90x5
110x3
130x3
145x3
...
Nice work with the front box squat PR.
Thanks, it was nice to not only hit a single again but jump 30 pounds ...
Btw, any ideas on grip work from you guys would be awesome.
I have no idea why sometimes I randomly purchase things that I talked ...
Sweet PR brotha! 30 pound increase, especially over triples is a huge ...
Sounds like a very good plan.
Thanks guys, now I just have to get a new bench pretty soon and break ...
RE Upper
Flat Bench
135x15
135x13
135x12
Standing Military
3...
Defintley ghetto, but I like it You gotta respect the inovative lifte...
Good info, that backs up what I was doing the other day.
DE Lower
Speed Pulls
10x160x1
12" Box Squat
135x4
125x5
115x6
...
Great work lately man! Making lots of progress.
It's funny you mention that because it's exactly an idea I was toying ...
Dude, awesome exercise selection! That looks exactly like something I ...
Solid session bro.
Thanks guys, I didn't even know that lower box squats are good for the...
on a side note, I can't believe that 7 reps of hanging leg raises have...
ME Upper
3-Board Press
120x5
145x3
170x3
195x3
220x1
245x1 <-- Mis...
Solid pressing man, bummer on the 245.
I'm sort of in the same boat because I haven't really used any kind of...
I'm officially setting a short term bench goal of 250 by Dec 31st.
Good work on getting the PR on the 3-Board Press.
Yeah man, the 245 miss took a lot out of me and I could barely unrack ...
Congrats on the 3-board press PR! I remember back a little while ago w...
Man, how the hell much do I have to distribute reps before I can hit u...
Defintley interested in your supp info.
Thanks dude, no worries, but your intentions are noted and appreciated...
Yeah I think that's pretty strange too, I'll have to try it again some...
Here we go Rip, not the greatest picture but you get the idea.
Ok.
Nah, I set the short pins to the lowest level and unrack the bar from ...
Gotchya! I think.
Haha, well let me know if you're still confused and I can try to expla...
Felt pretty good this morning, I didn't quite have the same spring in ...
Are you trying to lose a little weight/body fat at the moment? If so, ...
I will take a few pictures of myself doing floor presses, resting the ...
Tonight was a great GREAT GREAT session for me!
ME Lower
12" Bo...
Yeah i'm perpetually off/on cutting for the last couple months or so s...
Hah! That's pretty funny, you sound like some of my friends (except y...
Good work on the box squats buddy.
It's really hard to find a description of these even though they're su...
I DEFINITELY agree with this advice.
Sounds real interesting, I'll have to try that some time for sure when...
Your allowed small amount of carbs before workouts, and trace carbs ar...
Damn dude, you owned that training session!
Good work on destroying...
Thanks man .
Since what you are doing is working great(gaining strength and leaning...
Little update this morning:
Sleep was good again, a little over 8 hou...
grrr I blame you guys.
I've been eatings lots and lots of red meat, trying to stay away from ...
Be creative! Try things you have never tried before because a lot of t...
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll try and fool around with things ...
Hey man, your workout looks like it didn't take much time to do, which...
Right now it takes me anywhere from a little under an hour to about an...
Heh just finished preparing tomorrow's lunch, chicken "salad.
Check this post out from my journal:
FLOOR PRESS
Once you get off the TCD you might want to decrease rest periods for R...
Good idea, I'll try that for sure and see how it goes.
Hmm, feel like lifting again tonight but with cut cals I dunno if I sh...
Just grilled up a nice 1 pound porterhouse for dinner tonight, yum.
Don't forget to take in a good amount of simple sugars after every wor...
Yeah, to remedy this I kept my usual post workout shake of 64g malto/d...
Yup, that sounds about right, atleast 40% of your calories should be c...
I was thinking the exact same thing about the increase in saturated fa...
I am glad to hear that the TCD is working well so far I also love eat...
DE Lower
Speed Pulls
11x160x1
Front Squats
165x1
155x4
145x5
135x6
...
You'll notice a pretty big difference in the first couple of days (3-4...
Yeah I was thinking it was some water, I haven't weighed in yet so i'm...
Split squats look great, don't know why I never did these.
Barbell on your back.
Yeah, thats right on.
Haha, looks like I posted as you were answering my questions .
iron619 <~~~~~~~ Knows next-to-nothing about TCD and lacks knowledg...
That's some damn good advice, I'll give the lunges a try since I've ne...
Chris said exactly what I was gonna say in regards to while I prefer B...
I tried doing it on the lat pulldown machine a month or so ago.
Yeah I know what you mean about having it all at once, at least I'm no...
Few observations today that I should note.
Another quick question.
Personally I'd hit it hard the day after a carb-up.
Is the drowsiness the only thing that stops you? I'm thinking since i...
I like to take my total (meaning combined over the whole week) work lo...
No I appreciate any input I can get on the subject for sure, since it'...
Got plenty of sleep last night and had another UNBELIEVABLE ME Upper d...
Congrats man, getting closer to that 250, what kind of ROM are we look...
3-board takes about 4-5 inches out of the movement, so it's more for t...
Nice dude, very nice work indeed!
Great job on setting that PR on 3...
Wow bro! Setting PRs, losing some fat, feeling energized- can you say ...
Yeah I made sure to fully load the bar and my triceps onto the ground,...
I will give them a shot, possibly sometime this week during my deloadi...
ME Lower
12" Box Squat
barx5
95x5
115x3
135x3
155x3
170x...
What a kick*ass session bro! Congrats on the Box Squat PR; that is pr...
You are coming along very nicely to say the least.
Plate pinches aren't too bad actually, it just gets a little rough for...
oh man.
Man, that sounds like too much work for me! (Damn I'm lazy ).
hah, that sounds good too! I grilled some skirt steak earlier and mad...
Thinking ahead a bit before I forget everything again.
Sounds like a plan! One thing- don't go into your ME lifts (full bench...
Oh man, that Bears game was AWESOME.
Quick question.
Some notes for general journaling purposes.
The PB cookies actually sound pretty good man, I think I'm gonna have ...
Yeah they're pretty good, you might want to go a little lighter on the...
Damn, it's obvious you got a real solid understanding of your program ...
Thanks man, previous pr's are 220 for flat bench and 245 for full squa...
Dude, I know exactly how you feel.
Hah, maybe it has to do with our height? I'm 5'8" and you're 5'7...
Upper Deload 1
.
Now that's a deload! Looks good man.
Yeah that was my reasoning, I figured the less stims the better since ...
Amen!
Blk98Bird, great deloading session-short and sweet.
Lower Deload 1
.
Thanks guys, last time I cut ME/DE but didn't cut down volume enough I...
Just save it all up for the next couple weeks.
Hmm.
....you need a new scale....
All in good time, grasshopper .
Yeah I dunno what's wrong, it's less than a year old too and it's a de...
Upper Deload 2
.
Nice work man.
Nice, looks like the deload is comming along well.
Index finger on the rings usually, so pretty wide.
Stepped on the scale this morning "empty" again and came up ...
Maybe you have some re-comp going on-ie; losing fat, gaining muscle.
Whats up man, nice journal.
Lower Deload 2
.
Nice deload dude! Damn you sound stoked about being on your last delo...
Yeah i'm definately ready to get back to lifting heavy again, deloads ...
So are the hot wings "clean"? Recipe if so
Clean for TCD at least .
Yeah, deloads aren't very exciting for me neither, but by the time it'...
Hah, she cooked tonight since she got home from work a couple hours be...
FINALLY!!!
DE Upper
DE Bench
9x105x3 (~45%)
Standing Militaries
2x1...
Just noticed that this workout was without pre-workout caffeine.
Sweet first day back from deloading session.
Thanks man! I'm glad it worked out this way with DE first so I can ac...
That's great to hear man.
Thanks Rip .
All the deadlift talk in here and Chris's journal got me looking aroun...
Hmmm.
Yeah that's what I was thinking as well.
Got in some gpp work today doing boxing drills with my heavy bag.
Agreed.
empty post
I was going to respond, but you guys pretty much covered every thought...
Thanks Rune, good to get the thumbs up from a badass deadlifter such a...
Sounds like a great plan.
Hah, well the problem is that the 275 was wild speculation as it is .
Hmm while i'm on the train of backwards-ass speculation and radical ch...
Personally, I would base my 1RM on 300 pounds.
I agree, aim high rathar than low.
I can think of another benifit of doing a big 3 lift the week after a ...
Thanks guys, I was secretly hoping for the 300 vote too .
SHIT!
J/k
It won't suck at all.
As lng as u put it in l33t h4xor tlk, I b-leev!
I had a feeling you were.
It's the little things that make me feel like a retard sometimes.
Wanted to also mention that I think the recovery supplements have been...
Fantastic session man.
Yeah i'm thinking i'm probably quite a bit over 250 on the squats too,...
25 minute sled dragging session tonight, similar intervals to the boxi...
SHIT
ME Upper
Flat Bench
barx5
115x3
140x3
165x3
190x3
210x1
230x1 &...
That sucks about those bench press misses, but to look on the bright s...
Yeah i'm hoping it comes up pretty quick since I only need to work on ...
Weigh in this morning after refeed was 174.
Yo man! I'm finally looking at the journals on here again--I'm so behi...
I'm going to use illegally wides and militaries for my two upper suppl...
Missed my first workout in a long time.
Illegally wides and militaries will make good supplemental exercises.
That storm last night was crazy! Sucks that you missed a workout, but ...
Glad the trip went well man, I'm going to read about it in a sec (if i...
Even with the crap last night, I had a pretty good day today.
I'm not going to lie, I'm a little disappointed with tonight.
I would do low box squats for DE work more than ME work.
I have no idea why i'm up right now.
I do low box squats (8" Box Squats) for both supplemental and acc...
That's a good point about the cardio.
Accomodate for what? Sorry, not quite clear on what you are asking
...
Sorry, I meant since it's more difficult to squat off a low box than a...
Additional thoughts.
LOTS of DOMS today in the lats, lower back and biceps for some reason.
I do not have any experience with high box squats in my training, but ...
Hey dude, nice looking session man! That being said:
I agree.
Cool thanks for the info.
Question for you dudes.
I would go with the cheaper one.
Few points here.
DE Lower
12" Speed Box Squats 55%
10x105x2
Lunges
2x125x4...
It sounds like you need to just do whatever you can to relax, so this ...
Nice DE Lower Session man.
Thanks guys.
HELL YEAH! TEAR THAT THING APART!!
I ended up not lifting yesterday because I had a little too much fun o...
ME Upper Day is looking pretty good man!
I hope that little warm u...
Thanks dude, that 230 was so close I could taste it.
Imagine what would happen if the Bears played the Illini?! OMG.
Hah, it pains me to say it but you're probably being conservative with...
Not too good today gents.
Have you been trying to take in carbs at all pre-workout? I don't know...
For sure man! I know you got it dude-Just get it done.
lol, this is how we do it!
Yeah I was thinking about that a bit.
Yeah I've got the right attitude to nail that one so I think as long a...
I usually take a small protein shake before workout and that usually g...
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