3 Questions on method, order and routine

[H1N1]

Thursday & Friday Workout C report
Meals - Breakfast - 1 mug of coffee, 1 mug of milk, 3 weetabix with a tablespoon of sugar. Lunch - 2 grilled bacon slices, 2 friend eggs, 1 small tin of spaghetti, 1 mug of milk, 1 small tin of sweetcorn. Dinner - 1 breaded chicken fillet, 1 portion of chips, 1 portion of mixed veg, 2 beefburgers.

Military press - this one I struggled with more than I expected to. Couldn't budge the 22.5 so I had to reduce. 1x5 @ empty, 2x5 @ 10, 1x5 @ 12.5, 1x15 @ empty.
Plate carries - very awkward - kept slipping out of my grip. Had to use a barbell weight. Tried a dumbbell but it dug into my arms too much. 2x300 paces @ 20. 1x350 @ 20.
Chinups - 4x10
Rear delt raises - 1x12 @ 20, 1x20 @ 16 (second set was much easier - able to hold at apex for ~3 seconds)
1.5km rum - 8m 7s. Could have been much better if my quads weren't in pain.

Meals - Breakfast - 1 mug of coffee, 1 mug of milk, 3 weetabix with a tablespoon of sugar. Lunch - 2 grilled bacon slices, 2 friend eggs, 1 clementine, 1 mug of milk, 1 small tin of spaghetti. Dinner - 1 Fray Bentos steak pie, 1 portion of chips, 1 portion of mixed veg.

1. how are you measuring the weights? You are using a barbell for OHP? You have 25kg TOTAL weight on the bar, that's the olympic bar + 2.5kg each side? Something looks a bit off with your reporting. Can you clarify whether you are counting bar weight towards the total weight, your report has confused me and made me question what total weight you are moving on the other workouts.

2. Plate carries means using a barbell plate, not a dumbbell, so that's the right thing to have been doing. It's supposed to be awkward.

3. When you say for rear delts that you did 1x12 @20, do you mean you used 10kg each side? What are you measuring weights in, this is important? If you can do rear delt raises with 20kg, but can't OHP 25kg, then something very strange is going on.


I need you to try to be as clear as possible with your reporting. I am quite confused by it at the moment, and it is hard to make adjustments without understanding fully where you're at.

 

[viajero]

I was just noticing his pull up volume seemed really high in relation to some of his other lifts. Could be how he's reporting his weight.

Other than that, brilliant thread guys.

 

[Hardy Daytona]

1. how are you measuring the weights? You are using a barbell for OHP? You have 25kg TOTAL weight on the bar, that's the olympic bar + 2.5kg each side? Something looks a bit off with your reporting. Can you clarify whether you are counting bar weight towards the total weight, your report has confused me and made me question what total weight you are moving on the other workouts.

2. Plate carries means using a barbell plate, not a dumbbell, so that's the right thing to have been doing. It's supposed to be awkward.

3. When you say for rear delts that you did 1x12 @20, do you mean you used 10kg each side? What are you measuring weights in, this is important? If you can do rear delt raises with 20kg, but can't OHP 25kg, then something very strange is going on.


I need you to try to be as clear as possible with your reporting. I am quite confused by it at the moment, and it is hard to make adjustments without understanding fully where you're at.

1. Yes I'm using a barbell - same one for squats and benches. I don't know how much the bar itself weighs so when I'm reporting I only use the weights I add to it i.e. 10kg military press = 5 kg each side.

2. Can you link a video that shows the proper form? I'm not sure how my arms are supposed to be positioned during. Also, the max barbell weight is 20kg but that's not very heavy for me since I used to carry around bags of cement. But I doubt I can carry more than one plate.

3. Yes, 10 kg dumbbell in each hand. Measurements are always in kg. The second set was 16 kg (2x8 kg)

Sorry if it's confusing but I'm still getting used to the notation. When I'm at the gym I just scribble in shorthand in my notebook and the transcribe what I've got.

 

[H1N1]

1. Is it a standard olympic barbell? Can you find a picture of the equivalent? It makes a big difference if you aren't including the weight of the barbell. It could be 20kg if it is a standard barbell, and that makes a big difference to your lifts, and how you progress!

2. I'm not sure you need to be too preoccupied with form for a plate carry. Breath deep into your belly (not your chest) and hold that breath as much as you can (deep breaths, hold them as far as possible, don't black out). This will basically create an internal belt that will support your lower back and ensure you're not going to hurt yourself. Try to keep your chest and head up, so your spine is straight. Try using 3x10kg plates if 20kg is too easy, but 40kg is too hard. We're looking to get up to 60kg worth of plate carries over the next 3-6 months.

3. Good.

4! Where are your weight and tape measure measurements?

Standby for this week's program

 

[H1N1]

Monday/Workout A report
3 square meals at 8:15am, 2:30pm and 8:30pm. Added a clementine in after getting back from the gym. I remember why fruit and I are in a nodding relationship.
Free bench press - 10 bar warmup, 1x5 @ 27.5, 1x5 @ 30, 1x10 @ 32.5, 1 min rest, 1x10 @ 27.5
5 min wait for a bench
Incline DB bench - 3x12 @ 28 (2 x 14) Bench level 3. A little shaky on form. Felt a tightness across my chest at low point.
DB rows - 3x20,18,17 @ 14 & 16 Repeated for right arm. Pause to rest at set 3, rep 13.
Rear delt raises - 3x8 @ 20 (2 x 10) Struggled a little with this one. Couldn't pause at the top for more than a second.
Refill water and take a leak.
Burpees - 4x20. 1-55s, 2-1m, 3-1:10, 4-1:20. Standard form, no press-up or jump.
Slight tenderness/soreness in my trapezius muscles on both sides of the neck this morning.

Week 2 Workout A

Bench press - [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] (you're shooting for 10 reps here again)

Backoff set - As many reps as possible @30kg after your 1x5-10 @ 35kg. Rest 2 minutes or more here. You're not training to be some 'fitness hipster', as Wendler calls it. Last week you did 10 reps (very round number for a best effort set) @27.5kg. This week I want you to shoot for more reps than 10, even though the weight is heavier. Here's how you're going to do it: do as many reps as you can without going to failure, then rack the weight, breathe, count to 15 (1 elephant) unrack the bar, and do as many reps again as you can then rerack the bar, count to 15 and do one more 'set'. This is rest pause training. We're treating this as one big set, but you get 2x very short breaks. The reason for doing this is threefold:

1. Stimulus - this shit will make you grow
2. Practise technique - more reps = get better at the skill of benching
3. Learn how to work really fucking hard - this is how you really make gains. Over time, you may well come to appreciate that there is almost no wrong way to train, and that as long as you train intensely and consistently, you will see results

Dumbbell incline - [email protected] - keep the weight the same here, it's only assistance and you're going to be working harder this week on the main bench work.

Dumbbell rows - slightly confused by your notation on this above. Again, pick a weight and shoot for 3x20 reps. if you get 3x20, we'll increase the weight next week.

Rear delt raises - lower the weight, 10kg/hand is quite a lot here. Try to think that you want to be able to pause at any point during the movement, and hold it for a second. Try to keep that in mind all the way through, it should help you feel the muscle. I want you to try to pause for a good, long second at the top of the movement.

Burpees - 1 set of 30 reps, as fast as possible.



Please get your morning weight and measurements up ASAP, as we need them to consider your diet and to start measuring progress.


Diet:

Well done on eating 3 meals/day last week, and for adding the veg. That is a good start.

I see you are happy eating similar things each day. That's good, but don't hesitate to switch things up if you feel boredom might derail eating 3x/day.

I'd like you to replace your lunch or your dinner with some healthier food choices. You can alternate which one you replace, and we're laying the groundwork here, so if you have the odd lapse I'll understand, but for this week, I'd like you to try to swap lunch or dinner out with one of the following as often as possible:

Spaghetti bolognese - you mentioned that you can make it. That's good, make it yourself with canned tomatoes, mince, onions, mushrooms and peppers. You can make a shit load and reheat it over the week.

Chicken breast/thighs/wings, potato wedges, veg - bake a chicken breast (set the oven to 200c, cook for 25-40 minutes depending on what you have covering it, basically until the juices run clear and there is no pinkness). Buy some pre-made marinades if you like, or put some herbs and spices on it, heat the oven til the light goes out, and stick it in. You can stick the potato wedges in at the same time. Buy some potatoes, cut them into equal sized chunks, dust them in herbs/spices(eg paprika) and olive oil, and sling them in at 200c with the chicken (separate tray).

Pork/lamb chop, rice/potatoes, veg - more or less as above. You can do these on a George Foreman grill if you have one.

Keep the veg/fruit in your diet that you added in last week. All of this is on top of that. I'll do Workout B and C tomorrow. Please do get the measurements up.

 

[Hardy Daytona]

1. I think so. It's about 8 feet long, looks like this:
http://manlycurls.com/blog_new/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/olympic-barbell-power-cleans.jpg

4. Measurements:
Waist - 30.5 inches
Chest - 35.5 inches
Legs - 19 inches around the quads/12.5 inches around the calves
Shoulders - 18.5 inches across the front
62kg bodyweight after morning crap.

Weekend meals were the same.
Today's breakfast and lunch were the same but for dinner I had 1 pork chop, 2 jacket potatoes and a side of mixed vegetables.

Homework report - 200 sit-ups, 100 press-ups, 20 pike press-ups, 50 necks raises.

Workout A report
Bench press - 1x5 @ 30kg, 1x5 @ 32.5kg, 1x10 @ 35kg, 2m rest, 1x13 @ 30kg, 1x6 @ 30kg, 1x4 @ 30kg (last rep was almost a failure)
DB incline - 3x12 @ 28kg
DB rows - 6x20 @ 16kg (3 for the left arm, 3 for the right)
Rear delt raises - 4x10 @ 16kg (8kg in each hand) 2x10 @ 12 kg (6kg in each hand)
30 burpees - 1:20

Let me know if I've missed anything or if you need clarification.

 

[Repo]

Just tracking back a bit to a question asked earlier about compound movements for biceps. .

Full range of motion rows and chinups are great for biceps. I have a couple friends who don't even do curls, but do lots of rows and chinups/pullups and have huge biceps. Granted your working the back too, but thats why you wanted a compound excercise, right?

Also, use different grips. Overhand grip rows and underhand grip rows will work out slightly different parts of your back and biceps. Good to mix things up.

 

[H1N1]

Wednesday/Workout B report
Meals - Breakfast - 1 mug of coffee, 1 mug of milk, 3 weetabix with a tablespoon of sugar. Lunch - 2 grilled bacon slices, 2 friend eggs, 1 small tin of spaghetti, 1 mug of milk, 1 small tin of sweetcorn. Dinner - 1 Fay Bentos steak pie, 1 portion of chips, 1 portion of mixed veg.
Free squats - 1x5 @ 30, 1m rest, 1x5 @ 35, 1:30 rest, 1x7 @ 40, 2m rest, 1x6 @ 30.
Stiff leg deadlift - 1x10 @ 20. That one felt too easy so I also did 1x10 @ 30.
Chinups - 3x11,8,7. 2m rest in between.
200 BW squats - 4x50. 2.4m, 1m rest, 2.4m, 1:30 rest, 2.4m, 2m rest, 3m, 3m rest.
Overall I'd give it a rating of about 8. I think I could have done more with the squats since I haven't done them for about 2 weeks and my trapezius muscles were still sore. Also the BW squats did something of a number on my hamstrings - on my way back home afterwards I crumbled. I must have looked like a combination of Nicolas Cage and the T-1000 being frozen.

I'll take some measurements and photos tomorrow afternoon.

Week 2 Workout B:

Squats: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] - take longer rests, up to 3 minutes or so if needs be. This first movement is all about getting STRONG. This is the result of CNS adaption, not hypertrophy (HUGE OVERSIMPLIFICATION, but the point is, take longer rests with the first movement each day and focus on getting STRONGER at it, and trust that the subsequent work will help make you bigger)

Backoff set - Rest Pause. AMRAP, 15s rest, AMRAP, 15s, AMRAP

Stiff leg deads - stick with '30' here, shoot for 20 reps, you can do rest pause if you need to. Hit 20 reps.

Chinups - 3 x 9 - take as much rest as you need to hit these. Take the last set to failure.

250 BW squats - as fast as possible.


Homework for this week - 250 situps (any variation, try to work both upper and lower abs), 200 pressups, 100 neck raises.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Hardy Daytona]

Week 2 Workout B:

Squats: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] - take longer rests, up to 3 minutes or so if needs be. This first movement is all about getting STRONG. This is the result of CNS adaption, not hypertrophy (HUGE OVERSIMPLIFICATION, but the point is, take longer rests with the first movement each day and focus on getting STRONGER at it, and trust that the subsequent work will help make you bigger)

Backoff set - Rest Pause. AMRAP, 15s rest, AMRAP, 15s, AMRAP

Stiff leg deads - stick with '30' here, shoot for 20 reps, you can do rest pause if you need to. Hit 20 reps.

Chinups - 3 x 9 - take as much rest as you need to hit these. Take the last set to failure.

250 BW squats - as fast as possible.


Homework for this week - 250 situps (any variation, try to work both upper and lower abs), 200 pressups, 100 neck raises.

Keep up the good work.

How much weight do I want on the backoff set and how many sets of stiff leg deads?

 

[H1N1]

Week 2 Workout B:

Squats: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] - take longer rests, up to 3 minutes or so if needs be. This first movement is all about getting STRONG. This is the result of CNS adaption, not hypertrophy (HUGE OVERSIMPLIFICATION, but the point is, take longer rests with the first movement each day and focus on getting STRONGER at it, and trust that the subsequent work will help make you bigger)

Backoff set - Rest Pause. AMRAP, 15s rest, AMRAP, 15s, AMRAP

Stiff leg deads - stick with '30' here, shoot for 20 reps, you can do rest pause if you need to. Hit 20 reps.

Chinups - 3 x 9 - take as much rest as you need to hit these. Take the last set to failure.

250 BW squats - as fast as possible.


Homework for this week - 250 situps (any variation, try to work both upper and lower abs), 200 pressups, 100 neck raises.

Keep up the good work.

How much weight do I want on the backoff set and how many sets of stiff leg deads?

Back off set is the same weight as you used in the first set, so 35kg (55kg if you include the bar).

1 set of 20 odd reps. If you do more than 20, no big deal, if you do just under 20, that's also cool, just work hard and be in that ball park.

 

[Hardy Daytona]

Tuesday's breakfast and lunch were the same with the pork chop dinner.
Yesterday was the same with a spaghetti bolognese dinner.

Workout B report
I was a little hesitant with this one. On my way to get gym I had that gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach like when I'm about to approach a girl and then pussy out.
Squats - 1x5 @ 35, 2m rest, 1x5 @ 40, 3m rest, 1x6 @ 45, 3m rest
Backoff set - 1x6 @ 35, 15s, 1x3 @ 35, 15s, 1x2 @ 35
5m rest
Stiff leg deads - 1x20 @ 30. Not quite to failure, could have pushed 25 reps.
Chinups - 3x9
250 BW squats - 4x63. 2:30, 2:50, 3:20, 3:30. I was slacking a little here. Last week my thighs were in pain for a few days afterwards - it hurt to stand up, walk down stairs etc. so I took it easy to avoid that again.

 

[H1N1]

Tuesday's breakfast and lunch were the same with the pork chop dinner.
Yesterday was the same with a spaghetti bolognese dinner.

Workout B report
I was a little hesitant with this one. On my way to get gym I had that gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach like when I'm about to approach a girl and then pussy out.
Squats - 1x5 @ 35, 2m rest, 1x5 @ 40, 3m rest, 1x6 @ 45, 3m rest
Backoff set - 1x6 @ 35, 15s, 1x3 @ 35, 15s, 1x2 @ 35
5m rest
Stiff leg deads - 1x20 @ 30. Not quite to failure, could have pushed 25 reps.
Chinups - 3x9
250 BW squats - 4x63. 2:30, 2:50, 3:20, 3:30. I was slacking a little here. Last week my thighs were in pain for a few days afterwards - it hurt to stand up, walk down stairs etc. so I took it easy to avoid that again.

Good work. How did the top set at 45 feel? How many reps did you leave in the tank?

Good work on the backoff set. How did that feel?

BW squats - no slacking. The soreness won't last. It's important to push yourself here. One of our markers for progress will be 500 BW squats under 15 minutes by the end of our three months. Next week I'll want you to try to push all out to hit 250 reps in under 10 minutes (that includes rest time!). What you'll do is do 25 reps at the top of each minute, then rest for the rest of the minute. That should give you around 30s on, 30s off each minute.

How are you feeling generally with the program, and with the diet? Do you feel that you are eating more? Do you have plenty of energy? Are you enjoying the training - if not, what specifically are you not enjoying? We'll do a more detailed review at the end of the month, but it'd be good to know how you're feeling now that we're nearly 2 weeks along.

 

[H1N1]

Thursday & Friday Workout C report
Meals - Breakfast - 1 mug of coffee, 1 mug of milk, 3 weetabix with a tablespoon of sugar. Lunch - 2 grilled bacon slices, 2 friend eggs, 1 small tin of spaghetti, 1 mug of milk, 1 small tin of sweetcorn. Dinner - 1 breaded chicken fillet, 1 portion of chips, 1 portion of mixed veg, 2 beefburgers.

Military press - this one I struggled with more than I expected to. Couldn't budge the 22.5 so I had to reduce. 1x5 @ empty, 2x5 @ 10, 1x5 @ 12.5, 1x15 @ empty.
Plate carries - very awkward - kept slipping out of my grip. Had to use a barbell weight. Tried a dumbbell but it dug into my arms too much. 2x300 paces @ 20. 1x350 @ 20.
Chinups - 4x10
Rear delt raises - 1x12 @ 20, 1x20 @ 16 (second set was much easier - able to hold at apex for ~3 seconds)
1.5km rum - 8m 7s. Could have been much better if my quads weren't in pain.

Meals - Breakfast - 1 mug of coffee, 1 mug of milk, 3 weetabix with a tablespoon of sugar. Lunch - 2 grilled bacon slices, 2 friend eggs, 1 clementine, 1 mug of milk, 1 small tin of spaghetti. Dinner - 1 Fray Bentos steak pie, 1 portion of chips, 1 portion of mixed veg.

Week 2 Workout C

So, because you didn't include the bar weight in your calculations (20kg), last week you tried to jump from 20kg (empty bar) to 42.5kg - no wonder you struggled. We'll continue with the original format (ie not including bar weight).

Military press - [email protected] bar, [email protected], [email protected] (push the volume as much as you can here, so shoot for as close to 10 reps as you can get, if you have to do a bit of a push press to get the last few reps, so be it, get the volume in)

Back off set- rest pause (set,15s,set,15s,set) @5kg - again, a little body English is ok here.

Pullups - 8 (sets) x 5 (reps) (as little rest as possible between sets, ideally no more than a minute)

Rear delts - 1 set, rest pause (as above), @16


Conditioning - 300 jumping jacks - Aim for under 10 minutes, you have two days off after this, so push yourself hard. Set your stop watch, at the top of each minute do 30 reps as quickly as possible, then rest until the next minute starts. The quicker you get these done, the more rest you get each minute.

 

[Hardy Daytona]

Workout C Report
Military press - 1x5 @ empty, 1x5 @ 5kg, 1m rest, 1x10 @ 10kg, 2m rest
Backoff set - 1x7 @ 5kg, 15s, 1x6 @ 5kg, 15s, 1x6 @ 5kg
Pullups - 8x5 As instructed I didn't rest more than a minute here. Though I realized something the other day - I haven't noticed the difference between chin-ups and pull-ups so I've just been doing whichever the palms outward one is the entire time. Need to pay more attention to that.
Rear delts - 1x20 @ 16kg
300 jumping jacks - 9:40. I was quite proud of this finishing all of these on time.

All in all I'd rate this one about 7. Felt a bit of leg strain in my quads after I finished the military presses. Could you clarify what you mean by 'rest pause?' I think that's when you stop at the top/apex of the lift and hold just to breathe for a couple of seconds.

Meals have been the same except for dinner on Friday when I had to go back to thee pie one after running out of spag bol and yesterday when I was celebrating a friend's 21st and had to settle for a plate of finger food (sausage rolls, onion rings, wedges etc.)

Good work. How did the top set at 45 feel? How many reps did you leave in the tank?
Good work on the backoff set. How did that feel?

Felt pretty good. I realized it was a new personal best after I'd done it but I was panting heavily on the ground before the backoff set so my reaction was 'meh.'
I maybe had 1 more left in me but there was a good chance it would have gone to failure and I don't like failing on squats because of my back.
I was straining quite a bit with the backoff. But I think it'll become easier as we progress.

How are you feeling generally with the program, and with the diet? Do you feel that you are eating more? Do you have plenty of energy? Are you enjoying the training - if not, what specifically are you not enjoying?

I can't say I feel that much different - my energy levels are pretty consistent. But it is good to be learning new exercises and lifts.
I don't feel like I'm eating more, no. In fact I'm wondering about my breakfast because I don't know that coffee and weetabix is a good combination - I get the urge to puke quite early on. I get that quite a lot actually. Have to slow down my eating to keep pace.
The only part I didn't enjoy was the plate carries. Nobody in my gym does plate carries. I felt like....I dunno, a piece of meat on display or something.

I should point out that I'm expecting to undergo some minor surgery in the near future. Nothing serious but it'll take me out of the game for about a week or so. I'll give you an update as I get more information.

 

[H1N1]

1. I think so. It's about 8 feet long, looks like this:
http://manlycurls.com/blog_new/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/olympic-barbell-power-cleans.jpg

4. Measurements:
Waist - 30.5 inches
Chest - 35.5 inches
Legs - 19 inches around the quads/12.5 inches around the calves
Shoulders - 18.5 inches across the front
62kg bodyweight after morning crap.

Weekend meals were the same.
Today's breakfast and lunch were the same but for dinner I had 1 pork chop, 2 jacket potatoes and a side of mixed vegetables.

Homework report - 200 sit-ups, 100 press-ups, 20 pike press-ups, 50 necks raises.

Workout A report
Bench press - 1x5 @ 30kg, 1x5 @ 32.5kg, 1x10 @ 35kg, 2m rest, 1x13 @ 30kg, 1x6 @ 30kg, 1x4 @ 30kg (last rep was almost a failure)
DB incline - 3x12 @ 28kg
DB rows - 6x20 @ 16kg (3 for the left arm, 3 for the right)
Rear delt raises - 4x10 @ 16kg (8kg in each hand) 2x10 @ 12 kg (6kg in each hand)
30 burpees - 1:20

Let me know if I've missed anything or if you need clarification.

Week 3 Workout A

Bench press - [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Backoff set - As many reps as possible @32.5kg after your 1x5-10 @ 37.5kg. Rest 2 minutes or more here. You're not training to be some 'fitness hipster', as Wendler calls it. You asked above if I could explain rest pause training. I did actually do this last week. The quote is: "Here's how you're going to do it: do as many reps as you can without going to failure, then rack the weight, breathe, count to 15 (1 elephant) unrack the bar, and do as many reps again as you can then rerack the bar, count to 15 and do one more 'set'. This is rest pause training. We're treating this as one big set, but you get 2x very short breaks. The reason for doing this is threefold:

1. Stimulus - this shit will make you grow
2. Practise technique - more reps = get better at the skill of benching
3. Learn how to work really fucking hard - this is how you really make gains. Over time, you may well come to appreciate that there is almost no wrong way to train, and that as long as you train intensely and consistently, you will see results

It's important that you understand both what the method of training requires, and why you are doing it, so please do take the time to read the above and understand why you're going in there to do it. One of the most important elements of your training is understanding why you are doing any specific movement, set, rep scheme, whatever.

DB incline - [email protected] - shoot for more reps here, if you hit them, we'll up the weight next week. Make sure you feel the muscle stretching at the bottom.

[email protected] -we're going to jump the weight a bit here, because it doesn't look like you are being pushed enough with your back work.

[email protected] delt raises

50 burpees - sub 10 mins

Overall, you're doing better at bench (from your numbers, you've invested more time in it relatively than your other lifts). Because of this, there's a bit more scope for now to bump up the volume with the assistance work. It's still not the crucial bit of this day's workout, but we can afford to place more emphasis on it for a few weeks, I anticipate, without it detracting from your performance on the main lift.


Diet goal for this week - Find a way to cut the weetabix with sugar out of your diet. It's children's food and not doing anything to get you closer to your goals.

Options:

Eggs on brown toast
Porridge (oatmeal)
Bacon and eggs
Protein shake


Personally, given that you seem to struggle with eating in the morning, and are making a less than optimal dietary choice with weetabix + a load of sugar, I would opt for the protein shake. It will get you closer to your goals, it will not have a negative effect on your body composition (although nor will the others), and most importantly, it will let you drink your calories and not feel sick. Try to put in some peanut butter and a banana with it, or equivalent. Experiment to try to find a way of getting extra calories and veg/fruit into your diet using a hand blender (£10), and a protein shake. Like I say, personally, I like to throw in some whole milk, protein powder, peanut butter, a banana, even ice cream is ok in moderation.

The above is IN ADDITION to the rest of the big boy diet, so keep going with the spag bol, pork chop, chicken etc, and the one piece of fruit during the day.

 

[Hardy Daytona]

I think there may have been a couple of typos in your last set of instructions.

Workout A report
Bench press - 1x5 @ 32.5, 1m rest, 1x5 @ 35, 1m rest, 1x10 @ 37.5 (nearly failed number 10)
2m rest
Backoff set - 1x8 @ 32.5, 15s, 1x4 @ 32.5, 15s, 1x3 @ 32.5
DB incline - 3x15 @ 28 Failed at rep 10 on set 3
4m rest
DB rows - 6x15 @ 22. Failed at rep 10 on sets 2&3 on the right side, failed at rep 13 on set 3 on the left side.
Rear delt raises - 5x10 @ 16
50 burpees - 3:30
I'll give this one a 9 because of the failures.

Question about the delt raises - When I start I'm bent slightly forward. When I raise the dumbbells, do I want to bring them up perpendicular to the floor or follow the angle of my body?

For breakfast this morning I had 2 friend eggs on 2 pieces of buttered brown toast along with a mug of milk and a mug of coffee.

I know it's important to understand why I'm doing things this way but I'm of 2 minds about that. 1 part of me just wants to do what you tell me and spout out an idiom like 'Obedience brings victory. And victory is life.'
But the other part of me does want to know the mechanics of it all. Its not the how you must master, it's also the why.

As for your protein shake suggestion, that is just a quagmire of information that I'm not qualified to navigate. Brands, composition, ratios etc. I could start with the best of intentions and find out down the line that I've been drinking liquified uselessness.
I'll consider it but only after the program's done. I want to keep up with dietary changes for the moment and see if that yields any tangible benefit.

 

[H1N1]

I think there may have been a couple of typos in your last set of instructions.

Workout A report
Bench press - 1x5 @ 32.5, 1m rest, 1x5 @ 35, 1m rest, 1x10 @ 37.5 (nearly failed number 10)
2m rest
Backoff set - 1x8 @ 32.5, 15s, 1x4 @ 32.5, 15s, 1x3 @ 32.5
DB incline - 3x15 @ 28 Failed at rep 10 on set 3
4m rest
DB rows - 6x15 @ 22. Failed at rep 10 on sets 2&3 on the right side, failed at rep 13 on set 3 on the left side.
Rear delt raises - 5x10 @ 16
50 burpees - 3:30
I'll give this one a 9 because of the failures.

Question about the delt raises - When I start I'm bent slightly forward. When I raise the dumbbells, do I want to bring them up perpendicular to the floor or follow the angle of my body?

For breakfast this morning I had 2 friend eggs on 2 pieces of buttered brown toast along with a mug of milk and a mug of coffee.

I know it's important to understand why I'm doing things this way but I'm of 2 minds about that. 1 part of me just wants to do what you tell me and spout out an idiom like 'Obedience brings victory. And victory is life.'
But the other part of me does want to know the mechanics of it all. Its not the how you must master, it's also the why.

As for your protein shake suggestion, that is just a quagmire of information that I'm not qualified to navigate. Brands, composition, ratios etc. I could start with the best of intentions and find out down the line that I've been drinking liquified uselessness.
I'll consider it but only after the program's done. I want to keep up with dietary changes for the moment and see if that yields any tangible benefit.

There were typos, what you did was fine, although I wanted you to use heavier weight for the rows.

Tough love coming up:


Part of your whole problem with this is that you are really over-thinking the whole thing far too much. You posted a perfectly ok video of a rear delt raise. Do it more or less as the video showed, and you'll be fine. If you find in 2 months that you still need bigger rear delts, or that the medial head or whatever has been worked more because you've been too upright, you can jut adjust. You can't seem to see the forest for all the trees. Just work hard, on sensible exercises, for a sustained period, eating enough calories, and you literally cannot fail to make progress at your current level of development.

You can do what I tell you to, or understand the mechanics, or ideally both. I've spent a good deal of time and effort explaining the rational behind each exercise, and the sets and reps we're using. The means to understand exactly why you are doing what I'm suggesting, and how that fits with your stated goal at the start, is all within this thread.

Going back to my first point about overthinking it - take your response to the protein shake suggestion. You're 25, a grown man, and can't get on with it because you've managed to find a whole bunch of problems with sticking some milk, powder and peanut butter in a glass together. Seriously, a lot of big, strong, effective people are thick as two short planks. If you can't figure it out, you are acknowledging that people who are demonstrably stupid are still smarter than you. You weigh 140lbs, at 6ft (if I remember right). It is almost impossible for you, at this point, to do the wrong things with regards to calories, especially in the space of the next few months. Don't make this harder than it needs to be for yourself, just make progress. We could swap out most of the stuff in your program and it would make limited difference, providing you were putting out the required intensity.

http://www.myprotein.com/home.dept No idea if this is the best site. I use it, I buy their cheapest protein powder, because it is cheap and tastes ok. That's as scientific as I have got with it. If I feel I need more calories to recover from a session, I will chuck some peanut butter in, and a banana, and maybe some cream or ice cream. If I want to add weight, I eat more. If I am happy with my weight, I eat enough to recover. If I want to look pretty and shit, I eat less for a month or so.



Final point - how are you doing your burpees? Something seems off here, as 3:30 for 50 burpees is pretty good - a sub-10 minute 100 burpee time being an excellent indicator of high level fitness. Your ability to do burpees seems out of line with your other bodyweight skills.

 

[H1N1]

Tuesday's breakfast and lunch were the same with the pork chop dinner.
Yesterday was the same with a spaghetti bolognese dinner.

Workout B report
I was a little hesitant with this one. On my way to get gym I had that gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach like when I'm about to approach a girl and then pussy out.
Squats - 1x5 @ 35, 2m rest, 1x5 @ 40, 3m rest, 1x6 @ 45, 3m rest
Backoff set - 1x6 @ 35, 15s, 1x3 @ 35, 15s, 1x2 @ 35
5m rest
Stiff leg deads - 1x20 @ 30. Not quite to failure, could have pushed 25 reps.
Chinups - 3x9
250 BW squats - 4x63. 2:30, 2:50, 3:20, 3:30. I was slacking a little here. Last week my thighs were in pain for a few days afterwards - it hurt to stand up, walk down stairs etc. so I took it easy to avoid that again.

Week 3 workout B

Squat - [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] (keep the weight from last week. It should bother you when the weight of the bar isn't moving. Use that to drive you to smash last week's rep record. Hit 8-12 reps and we'll have earned more weight next week).

Back off set @35 - Again, more than 11 reps total. Try to get 15. Work hard!

Stiff leg deads - [email protected]

Chinups - 4x10 reps

Bw squats - 300 in under 10 minutes. Go hard, then go home and EAT.

 

[Hardy Daytona]

Workout B report
Brought a towel along this time to wrap the bar in. Made things a little easier on my neck.
Squats - 1x5 @ 35, 2m rest, 1x5 @ 40, 2m rest, 1x10 @ 45 (had to take a pause at number 9)
3m rest
Backoff set - 1x8 @ 35, 1x4 @ 35, 1x3 @ 35
It's probably a good thing I couldn't hear myself because I'm sure I was making some unholy grunting noises
Stiff leg deads - 1x30 @32.5 Failed at 24 reps, took a minute and finished the set.
Chinups - 40 but the sets were erratic. The first 2 had 10 reps but there were a couple of failures afterwards.
6m rest
BW squats - 300 reps. I don't know how long this took. The plan was to take 10 sets of 30 like the jumping jacks with time left each minute for rest. But after the first set I barely had 10 seconds left. It was pretty downhill from there. I think I was at about 11 minutes when I finished the 6th set. I tried everything I could think of - pump music, visualization techniques, different methods but it wasn't working. My thighs just kept giving out every dozen or so reps. By the time I was done I crumbled. Tried getting up after a couple of minutes and I crumbled again.
Got home and I wasn't very hungry. Hell I didn't even want to eat. Still managed my lunch and fruit but I had to force it.

Honestly, I don't know I feel more - hatred or disappointment. Don't even know where to direct it. I should have expected it really, that I'd have to be broken to be remade again.

And you're right. It's always been my biggest problem, overthinking things. Can't remember where I first heard it but I think the most fitting description ever given of me was that I was very intelligent, just not too smart.

As for the burpees I do them plain with no jump or added press-up. Just down, back, forward, up. I used to do Judo a couple of years ago and the sensei would always work us like a motherfucker for the warm-up so maybe that's how I manage them.

 

[H1N1]

Workout B report
Brought a towel along this time to wrap the bar in. Made things a little easier on my neck.
Squats - 1x5 @ 35, 2m rest, 1x5 @ 40, 2m rest, 1x10 @ 45 (had to take a pause at number 9)
3m rest
Backoff set - 1x8 @ 35, 1x4 @ 35, 1x3 @ 35
It's probably a good thing I couldn't hear myself because I'm sure I was making some unholy grunting noises
Stiff leg deads - 1x30 @32.5 Failed at 24 reps, took a minute and finished the set.
Chinups - 40 but the sets were erratic. The first 2 had 10 reps but there were a couple of failures afterwards.
6m rest
BW squats - 300 reps. I don't know how long this took. The plan was to take 10 sets of 30 like the jumping jacks with time left each minute for rest. But after the first set I barely had 10 seconds left. It was pretty downhill from there. I think I was at about 11 minutes when I finished the 6th set. I tried everything I could think of - pump music, visualization techniques, different methods but it wasn't working. My thighs just kept giving out every dozen or so reps. By the time I was done I crumbled. Tried getting up after a couple of minutes and I crumbled again.
Got home and I wasn't very hungry. Hell I didn't even want to eat. Still managed my lunch and fruit but I had to force it.

Honestly, I don't know I feel more - hatred or disappointment. Don't even know where to direct it. I should have expected it really, that I'd have to be broken to be remade again.

And you're right. It's always been my biggest problem, overthinking things. Can't remember where I first heard it but I think the most fitting description ever given of me was that I was very intelligent, just not too smart.

As for the burpees I do them plain with no jump or added press-up. Just down, back, forward, up. I used to do Judo a couple of years ago and the sensei would always work us like a motherfucker for the warm-up so maybe that's how I manage them.

Good man, you've pushed yourself. No doubt that training session was a bit of a gut check, but you're making progress now. Tomorrow is probably going to suck. I want you to try to eat everything you can in the meantime.

I read your post in the game forum, and it's none of my business, but I don't think you should beat yourself up too much emotionally. You're in a rough place with the whole no job, no girl, new to weights thing, but you can spread yourself too thin getting worked up about them all. Easier said than done, I know, but in your shoes I wouldn't worry so much about the girls for the time being. If your self-esteem isn't great, you can't expect to come across at your best, regardless of who you are talking to.

When you get a job, whatever job, even if it's as a barman (get paid, talk to girls), you'll have more emotional energy available to worry about the smaller details, like the role girls play in your life. If at that point we can get you along the road with solid training, you'll also have some nice muscles to go with the confidence that comes from having a job. More importantly, these muscles, because of the style of training we're doing, will not just be for show - you will be fit and strong - an effective human being, more effective than most around you. There is a type of confidence that comes with knowing you look nice, and it's great. But there is a far greater confidence in knowing you can perform like a beast, and push yourself to keep improving.

Just as with training, it doesn't pay to chase many goals at once, it may also be the case that you are trying to address too many aspects of your life that you're unhappy with at once.I'd never knock anyone for trying to improve themselves, but what I would say is that sometimes the best way of improving multiple aspects of your life is to focus on one or two and excel at them, which tends to have a knock on effect.

Again, I know you haven't asked for a life guru or any of that new age shit, but the purpose of the kind of training you're doing here is to build your physical and mental resilience, and give you the deep rooted confidence that comes with being an objectively valuable human.