JurisSquatter's Training Log

[JurisSquatter]

4/1/18
Morning Weight: 237.3 lbs. (-2.8 lbs. this week); starting weight 246 lbs. (-8.7 lbs. total)
Total Weekly Calories: 15,239 (2177 daily average)
Today's Calories: 2109 (175C, 194P, 68F)

1. Squat barx5x2, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, [email protected], 295x3x3, 280x3x5
2. Pendlay Rows 135x3, 165x3, 195x3, 225x3, 205x3x2
3. Incline Press: barx5x2, 135x3, 185x3, 205x3, 185x3x5

Had to go to another gym due to my gym being closed on Easter. The weights felt lighter on squats at first but (like always) the squats kicked my ass anyway.

I'm happy with my weight loss so far, I think I will end up having to get to 210 lbs. to get my bodyfat and waist down to where it needs to be. That means 27.3 more lbs. to go which based on losing 2 to 2.5 lbs per week means about 3 more months (and a four-month total cut). So to make things simple, my goal date to be 210 lbs. is 7/1/18. My main fear is becoming weak and losing all the strength I've worked hard to attain over the last 5 years. Still, I have to remind myself that being fat in my 40's and beyond just isn't acceptable. Being strong (for me) doesn't matter if I'm 6 feet under.

[JurisSquatter]

4/2/18
Morning Weight: 238 lbs.
Calories: 2034 (155C, 189P, 73F)

25 minutes LISS elliptical cardio

[JurisSquatter]

Morning Weight: 238.6 lbs.
Calories: 2068 (148C, 198P, 75F)

1. Bench Press barx5x2, 135x3, 185x3, 225x4, 250x2, 275x1, 290x1, [email protected], 265x3, 250x3, 245x3, 240x3x3, 235x3, 235x3

2. Beltless Pin Squats barx3x2, 135x3, 185x3, 225x3x3, 185x3x2

I always pause my bench presses. 305 was more than an 8 RPE but I couldn't resist, I'm trying to keep my 300 bench as I lose weight on this cut. But, if it starts to feel too heavy I need to be okay with lowering the weight. No need to get hurt for silly ego stuff.

[JurisSquatter]

4/4/18
Morning Weight: 238.9 lbs.
Calories: 1890 (138C, 195P, 62F)
Very low calories for me today but not hungry at all, the protein keeps me satiated. Hoping to start dropping a few pounds here soon.

1. Deadlift 135x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x2, 365x1, [email protected], 335x3x8 (e1rm 417)

2. Pin Press 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 160x3, 150x3x3

Forgot my wrist straps so was back to hook gripping my deads. Hands are tore up again. I need to use wrist straps on my volume sets or my hands get destroyed. Lesson learned.

This time I forced myself to stop at what felt like an real RPE 8. I have been guilty of pretty much maxing out instead of keeping the single @8 submaximal. My ego wants me to keep pushing the weight up.

I did my volume deadlifts beltless today. I'm not going to wear my belt unless I really need to. I may wear it to get my best single @8 but if the volume for that day is something I can do beltless I will.

[JurisSquatter]

4/5/18
Morning Weight: 238.4 lbs.
Calories: 2104 (165C, 191P, 74F)

GPP day: 10 minutes HIIT cardio, pulldowns working up to 235x1, 50 second ab plank

[JurisSquatter]

4/6/18
Morning Weight: 237.5 lbs.
Calories: 2170 (156C, 162P, 95F)

25 minutes LISS cardio

[JurisSquatter]

4/7/18
Morning Weight: 237 lbs.
Calories: 2035 (153C, 187P, 79F)

1. OHP barx6x2, 95x6, 115x3, 135x3, 155x2, [email protected] (belt), 125x6x5 (beltless)
2. Beltless Paused DL 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 295x3, 320x3, 295x3x2
3. Leg Press 90x3, 180x3, 270x3, 320x3, 360x3, 410x3, 360x3, 360x3, 270x10

Had a painful upper back muscle knot today, I get it every time I do pulldowns at varying degrees on intensity, today was bad, 8.5 RPE.

The OHP was low today but I'm trying to make sure my [email protected]'s are really RPE 8 instead of maxing out on them. Plus, honestly, my main focus is losing weight right now so I'm okay with not lifting super heavy, which never really got me anywhere anyway. I'm sort of convinced that I would need to get on some TRT to really make some significant strength gains without turning into a fat ass. In my personal experience, I've had to get fat to get any sort of decent strength at all. I'm done with being fat. As long as I'm natural, my strength will be whatever it can be while staying lean. I'm not really concerned with pushing the heavy weight too hard. I'm even flirting with losing the lifting belt seeing as I'm not even able to squat 405. Feels sort of stupid wearing it at the gym.

[JurisSquatter]

Sunday 4/8/18
Morning Weight: 235.3 lbs. (-2 lbs.)
Total Weekly Calories: 14410 / 2058 daily average
Today's Calories: 1875 (156C, 146P, 74F)

1. Squat (beltless) barx6x2, 135x6, 185x6x2, 195x6x2, 205x6x2
2. Pendlay Rows 135x3, 155x3, 185x3, 205x3, 215x3, 205x3x2
3. Incline Press 135x3, 155x3, 185x3, 25x3, 215x3, 205x3x2

Kept the squats light. During warm-up, the 185x6 felt like the right amount of difficulty. I tried 225 for 1 and it felt heavy so I said fuck it and just did weight that actually felt good. Mostly focused on weight loss anyway. Ditched the belt today. With my long legs, I feel like a 315 squat is my 405 squat. I may focus on gaining strength again once I'm at my goal weight but until then I'm just working with what feels right. Maybe it's my age, but I'm just tired of being a strong-ish fat guy, I'd rather be a healthy lean guy. Plus, always remember, no one else cares how much weight you can lift.


Weight loss going well, losing about two pounds per week. Today marks about 10lbs lost. Next benchmark will be getting into the 220's.

[JurisSquatter]

Monday, 4/9/18
Morning Weight: 235.8 lbs.
Calories: 2074 (170C, 191P, 68F)

25 minutes LISS cardio, elliptical

[JurisSquatter]

4/10/18
Morning Weight: 236.8 lbs.
Calories: 2038 (171C, 171P, 73)

1. Bench Press barx6x2, 135x6, 160x6, 185x5, 225x4, 250x3, 275x2, [email protected], 205x6x5
2. Beltless Pin Squats (hole 12): barx3x2, 135x3, 160x3, 185x3, 205x3, 225x3, 235x3, 225x3x2

Pin squats felt too high today. The pins at my gym are either a little too high or too low. I think I'll just do pause squats here from now on. I maxed on bench instead of keeping it to an RPE 8. That's one of my weaknesses. I'm also cutting so I need to be okay with not maxing out and with my strength dipping a bit.

[JurisSquatter]

Wednesday, 4/11/18
Morning Weight: 236.6 lbs.
Calories: 1837 (165C, 161P, 58F)

1. Beltless Deadlift 135x6, 185x6, 225x5, 315x3, [email protected], 250x6x5
2. Beltless OHP barx3x2, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, [email protected]

Not using a lifting belt anymore, just going to get as strong as I can without it for now. I don't care about the weight on the bar much anymore either. I used to push the RPE 8 to an RPE 10 but treat it as an RPE 8 for purposes of finding my e1rm, but no more. If I end up lifting lighter weight for volume so be it.

[JurisSquatter]

Thursday, 4/12/18
Morning Weight: 235.2 lbs.
Calories: 1917 (159C, 172P, 64F)

10 minutes HIIT on elliptical 2 min / 20 sec
Chins: 2 reps X 5 sets, 5 mins, 30 sec.
60 second ab plank

One of the good things about losing weight is being able to do chins again! Looking forward to building these up.

[JurisSquatter]

Friday, 4/13/18
Morning Weight: 235.3 lbs.
Calories: 1907 (156C, 173P, 66F)

[JurisSquatter]

Saturday, 4/14/18
Morning Weight: 234.5 lbs.
Calories: 1931 (190C, 126P, 76F)

1. OHP barx5x2, 95x5, 115x5, 135x3, 145x2, 155x1, 165x1, 175x1, 132 ½ x5x6
2. Paused Deadlifts 135x5, 185x4, 225x4, 275x4x4
3. Leg Press 90x10, 180x10, 270x10x2, 180x10x2
4. Chins 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 (5 min, 38 sec)

My current training mentality is to just hit the right RPE (usually @7-9) with no regard to ego-lifting or pushing the envelope. Breaking free of the Rippetoe mentality (eat more, squat 405 or you're weak, grind out 5RM's every week) has been very good for me. I'm using lighter weights but my volume has dramatically increased and I'm steadily losing weight, looking better and feeling better. I'm also not using a belt anymore because I'm not a competitive lifter and I just want to get as strong as I can while staying reasonably lean. Personally, I found that the belt allowed me to squat way more than I could without a belt, not just 10-30lbs. It made my belt strength feel fake and artificial. No need for that when I'm not looking to compete in this stuff.

I'm adding chins in where I can. Once I can do 3 sets of 5 reps pretty easily I will start adding weight.

[JurisSquatter]

Sunday, 4/14/18
Morning Weight: 234.8 lbs. (-0.5 lbs.)
Total Weekly Calories: 13,579 / 1939 daily avg.
Weight loss is slowing down but I'm not near my goal range of 210-225 lbs. I'm not sure I'm comfortable dropping my daily average calories below where they are now. Probably just keep things going and see if the weight loss speeds up. This might just be one of those weird lulls.

Today's Calories: 2328 (209C, 187P, 83F)
*broke down and had an extra bagel and chicken breast, not a horrible cheat meal actually

1. Beltless Squats barx5x2, 135x5, 160x5, 185x5, 205x3, 225x2, 275x1, 210x5x6
2. Pendlay Rows 135x3, 160x3, 185x3, 205x3, 205x3, 185x3, 185x3
3. Incline Press barx3x2, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x3, 195x3, 205x3, 185x3, 185x3

I want to note that I've come to believe that the traditional strength standards of 315 bench, 405 squat, 500 deadlift are unrealistic for the majority of male, recreational, natty lifters who are over 40. I believe that demographic (myself included) should shoot for a minimum strength standard of a few reps with 225 bench, 315 squat, 405 deadlift. This is just my opinion based on personal experience and commercial gym observations.