I’m a 6ft, 36 year old man weighing about 110kg with a 44” waist.
Around the beginning of March 2019 I was comfortably:
- Deadlifting 140kg for a set of 5
- Squatting 100kg for 3 sets of 5
- Benching 90kg for 3 sets of 5
- Pressing 50kg for 3 sets of 5 These lifts were made at about 105kg bodyweight and with about a 42” waist. Then my wife and I had our first daughter and I spent two months out of the gym. My lifts tanked, and my weight went up 5kg and my waist 2”. I’m also only getting about 5hrs sleep a night (but it was all worth it).
My short term plan is to:
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Quickly cut back down to under 105kg by the end of August, although my lifting will be sporadic during this period due to work pressure.
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Then send the rest of the year getting as strong as I can while keeping bodyweight under 105kg. I’ll then look to do either a powerlifting meet or Strongman competition as a <105kg lifter.
John
Monday 13th May
109.2kg BW and 44”WC
squat 85kgx5x3
press 45kgx5x3
deadlift 125kgx5
all felt reasonably easy, but I’m pretty stiff and out of practice
Wednesday 15th May
108.6kg bodyweight and 44” WC
squat 90kg x5x3
bench 82.5kg x5x3
power clean 50kg x3x5
my racking was awful on the power clean but no trouble getting the weight up. Definitely stick to 2.5kg increases on bench. Think I might manage another 5kg increase on squat but will decide on Friday morning
Saturday 18th May @ 108.4kg and c44” WC
squat 95kgx5x3
press 47.5kg x5x3
deadlift 130kg x5
Nothing too hard here, but think I’ll slow squat/deadlift increase to 2.5kg from now on to avoid the risk of stalling. Also lost 1kg this week just be trying to improve food quality, without even thinking about quantity.
Monday 20th May
Work is really busy, and only had half an hour max for the gym so quickly hit 87.5kg on the bench for 3 sets of 5 reps. Pretty tough
realised afterwards that was a 5kg jump up…
Wednesday 22nd May
squat 100kgx5x3
press 50kgx5x3
Saturday 25th May @108.4kg
2ct pause squat 80kg x5x2 (no belt)
Bench 92.5kgx3; 90kgx4; 90kgx4; 80kgx5x2
Lots of higher rep GPP stuff with cables.
I’ll hit 90kgx5x3 on next bench workout.
Tuesday 28th May @109.4kg
bench 90kgx5x3
deadlift 130kgx5
Friday 31st May
Press 50kg x5; x6; x8; x3
Squat 100kgx5x2
Deadlift 132.5kg x5; 140kgx2
Going easy on squat for a bit until my deadlift has reached 140kg for a set of 5. Once it’s done that I’ll start my cut, while looking to increase volume on: 140kg deadlift; 100kg squat; 90kg bench; 50kg press (volume is always going up on press).
2nd June @109.2kg bodyweight
Deadlift 140kg x5; 120kg x5
Bench 90kgx5x3; 85kgx5
Pause squat 60kgx5x3 (easy)
good stuff, all my sets of 5 are now up to my pre-fatherhood level. Phase 1 complete.
Next step is to cut to a 40” waist. Will still aim to train 3x a week but rather than increasing weights focus will be on:
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increasing volume on the 4basic lifts and their variants. Keep my sets of 5 at 100/140/90/50 (s/d/b/p) but try to increase number of sets of 5, and increase reps beyond 5. Also do back off sets, and do pause/tempo squats and deficits pulls/rack pulls.
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practice power clean on 50kg.
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add in chins and dips
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add in machine and dumbbell work
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add in HIIT on the sled
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hit 10,000 steps a day
Tuesday 4th June @108.6kg
Squat 100kgx6x3
Press 50kg x6x3
Deadlift 140kg single
good to have increased volume on squats. Bit knackered for deadlift though, so will prioritise that on Friday’s workout
Friday 7th June @109kg
Deadlift 140kg x5; x3; 130kgx3
Bench 90kgx5x3
I’ve now got a week off on holiday where I will aim to eat relatively healthy but won’t try to cut.
I’ll then aim to quickly cut down to 105kg in the subsequent 4 weeks before my next holiday. I’ll do so while increasing volume on my lifts so I’m still making progress. This should get my waist much nearer 40”, and we’ll then reassess about whether it’s worth holding weight there for a bit and recomping or cutting more.
Saturday 15th June
Squat 100kg x5x2;
Press 50kg x5x2
Deadlift 135kg x5
Bench 90kgx5x2; 85kgx5
Just easing myself back in after 8 days off. Squat felt ok for first set, but then v tired on second. Was knackered by the time it came to deadlifts. Press held up well, and bench felt ok
Unknown bodyweight as drove back from holiday that morning and lifted in evening.
Now the cut to a 40” waist begins! After having rethought plans, I am still going to try to make some progress on my sets of 5, but will also drive them up using sets of 6,7,8 to get more volume in. Aim to cut 0.5-1kg a week until waist hits 40”.
Tuesday 18th June at 109.5kg and 44” waist
press 52.5kg x5x3
super quick workout
Friday 21st June
squat 95kg x5x3
press 55kg x5x3
deadlift 137.5kg x5
100kg squat last week gave me bad DOMS, so focused more on press and deadlift today.
I’m really focused on getting my press up to 60kg x5x3
deadlift felt good - really focused on keeping hips high and pushing floor away to get it going
Friday 28th June
- squat 97.5kgx5x3
- Press 60kgx4;x4x1; 50kg x5x2
- Deadlift 132.5kg x5 Will get 60kg x5x3 on press next time!
Eating really badly and so busy at work that I’m not weighing myself in the morning as have to rush out. Was knackered when it came to deadlifts