That's a weird disparity in your squat and deadlift. I maxed out on 5RM on deadlifts at 195 before I tweaked my back, but my squat was 182.5kg x5. I'm sure if you focused on squat you could get it much higher without too much trouble.

I've been doing 3x5 squats @ 140kg three days a week, followed by bench variations, curls, shoulder press, flys, skullcrushers on different days. I might add in bent over rows and deadlifts again once I'm confident my back is doing fine. I also do steady-state cardio on those days. Then, Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do pulldowns and rows, followed by a bunch of HIIT cardio. I've been trying to keep the diet in check but it's been rough with how often my friends want to eat out or go out for drinks. I'm still down about 5kg bodyweight since about 6 weeks ago, so progress is being made.

I think the one flaw with macro tracking is that it doesn't really take into account body type. If I were to follow my macros exactly, I should be eating around 300g of carbs a day. I have the body type that just explodes whenever I eat carbs, so I limit mine significantly and replace them with more protein and fat.

Back pain is killing me, i hurt myself during a training session 2 years ago. Glad to see a topic like this here anyway.

A fairly large deadlify/squat disparity seems to be pretty common from what I've seen. I can deadlift almost a plate over what I can squat and it's been that way for a long time. Going on madcow (and squating 3 times per week) definitely helped but the gap is still pretty big. Squats in general are a weak point for me, get much passed 350 or so and I just feel like I'm dying. We've been doing more work on front squats and good mornings lately so hopefully that helps.

Overall, 5/3/1 is going pretty well so far (made basically no progress on the last round of madcow and it was a big waste of time). I'm basically where I was before my last big injury with the exception of bench press (which is still coming along steadily). While strength is my primary goal, it seems where I'm making the most goal is muscle size. Slowly losing weight too, and I'm hoping that doesn't have too much of an effect on my strength progress.

Hmm, yeah, I'm sure it really comes down to training volume. I've never deadlifted anywhere near as often as I've squatted so that might have a lot to do with it.

If you're ever looking for positive reinforcement for training, weight loss, etc., I strongly recommend never, ever living in Korea. Conversation at dinner with coworkers, after I declined to eat some more empty fried carbs put in front of me: "Sorry, I'm trying to watch what I eat." "Oh, you're dieting?" "Yep. I've lost 8kg so far." "Oh...really? We didn't notice at all. Maybe you're fake dieting where you just say it but you're not actually doing anything." Cool. Thanks.

Also, I was wondering what supplements you guys take. I had just been taking protein powder for the longest time but recently started taking creatine. Thinking of maybe adding leucine next.

Only protein powder for now. I was also taking creatine while I was making gainz, but it did cause my bodyweight to shoot up a noticeable amount, so I've just recently tapered off it during this cut.

I'm sure you've figured it out in the two months since you posted that, but weight gain due to creatine ingestion is not really weight gain; It's just excess water weight due to creatine causing your muscles to fill with water. Once you go off it, that water weight goes away.

Now that I'm done school and Derigin's business trips are over, we've been going back to the gym a lot more consistently and it feels great. The lack of consistency was slowing me down, but now 5/3/1 seems to be going quite well again. I've made some changes in my lifestyle that I'm hoping will help me slowly lose weight and get better gains. I've stopped drinking beer everyday (which was harder than I'd like to admit), as it was probably the biggest single thing giving me a gut. I've also really cut down on fast food and have been doing a lot more home cooking, as well as doing a bit more cardio. Here's a progress pic I took today:

I started going to the gym with my roommates about 2 weeks ago, and now I'm pretty much all in. I'm 5'10 and 145 lbs, so right now my goal is to hit 160, and then see if I can push it to 180. I've started taking pre-workouts before going to the gym, making smoothies with fruit and protein powder, and totally replacing Dr Pepper with Whole Milk.

So I've recently started going to the gym with a friend of mine. So far I'm not enjoying it too much, although at the same time I don't really mind going there, either. What do you folks enjoy about going to the gym and how do you keep it fun for yourself? My guess would be setting personal goals for yourself could be a lot more motivating than just going for the sake of it.

Setting strength goals and progressing with various lifts is, to me, a much better motivation than looking at the mirror and trying to follow your progress from there. It helps that I don't really care for bodybuilding at all - the whole aesthetic is just off-putting. It's much nicer to train yourself in lifts like squat, bench press, and deadlift, and follow your own progress with the numbers. Better physique comes as a side product, if you take care of what you eat. But that's just my take on it - for many people following the progress of their physique and weight is very motivating.

As a general tip to maintain motivation, it's best not to overthink things too much. You will see progress, as long as you maintain consistency. It's worthwhile to train yourself in the multi-joint, compound lifts, like squat, from the beginning. It might feel difficult to start with, but it will pay off. At first it's better to not have too many different exercises, because as a beginner you'll progress quickly without needing any specialised programming. When in doubt, squat!

I used two scoops of pre-workout today, and suddenly I had no idea what my limits were! Crazy.

Having something to train for helps, or just personal achievements you want to reach. I have to keep training because I have to keep ready for Fire Academy within the next 2 months.

When I was training purely for strength, I had certain numbers I set out to hit when I started. And when I started making more progress it made me want to train more. The success you experience in the gym kind of feeds your motivation to keep going.

I stepped on a scale for the first time in a couple of months to find that I've hit my first weight goal! I've always struggled hard to even maintain weight, so I'm pretty proud!

Progress pic to come.

Awesome! What’d you start at vs. where you are now?

So I'm back at the gym after pretty much the longest hiatus since I started going, feels great. It is sort of discouraging seeing how much I let myself go (gained probably 20 pounds) but I know it's just about consistancy. What Ilhwyan said is absolutely true, focus on just lifting more, enjoy exercising for the act itself is crucial to not get discouraged. Eventually I know I'll look in the mirror one day and be surprised at what I see hahaha.

This recent new beginning has also introduced me to a new found love for Hatebreed I used to think this kind of hardcore was totally corny, but it actually kinda kicks ass with it's heavy breakdowns and lyrics about persevering and overcoming, it's perfect hahaha. What's everyone else's go to gym jams?

I started at about 145, and now I'm a little over 160!

I've re-evaluated how I had been training, eating, and really just living over the last few months, and adjusted accordingly. I've upped my body weight a bit and been eating a LOT more, as well as generally taking care of myself better, and it's showing in my training sessions. I've started to incorporate strongman into my training, and once I start at my new gym I'm gonna dive headfirst into it, but in terms of the three key lifts, I've FINALLY started making progress on them again after being at a standstill for months with them. As follows:

Bodyweight: 232 lbs. (105.21kg)

Squat: 375 lbs. (170kg)
Bench: 250 lbs. (113.37kg)
Deadlift: 435 lbs. (197.27kg)

Total: 1060 lbs. (480.72kg)

Ugh, god, I haven't been to the gym in nearly three weeks. I gotta get my shit together. I hate always having to start from square one

I do a lot of boxing and Muay Thai and so I sometimes experience shoulder and back pain... probably also due to me hurting my back with kettle bells a couple years ago. Just got cupping for the first time and, my god, it works so well! Best my back has felt in years!

I am competing in my first strongman contest in three weeks. The events are an overhead pressing medley (110 lbs. circus dumbbell, 180 lbs. keg, 205 lbs. axle bar, and 225 lbs. log), car deadlift for reps, 500 lbs. yoke carry for 50 feet, stone loading (205, 225, and 240 lbs. stones over a yoke bar, followed by loading a 270 lbs. stone onto a platform), and a 40,000 lbs. fire truck pull for 50 feet. I've been training since the end of July, and since I can hit the weights on most of the implements so far, right now my prep is focused around ironing out technique issues and generally preparing myself mentally for the contest. In the midst of this hard ass training I'm doing, my powerlifting numbers have gone up. They are as follows:

Bodyweight: 239 lbs. (108kg)

Squat: 405 lbs. (183.67kg)
Bench: 275 lbs. (124.71kg)
Deadlift: 435 lbs. (197.27kg)

Total: 1115 lbs. (505.66kg)

Since you bumped this thread, here's some stuff that might be interesting to some people. I've been having some personal problems for many months and completely neglected all exercising, if you're wondering how fast muscle goes away, a quick summary:

Biceps: Disappears really fast.
Chest: Develops back very slowly.
Sixpack: Believe it or not, I still have it, after a year of not exercising it.

Man, I've been going nuts lately because I'm so stressed. Recently did 20 x 5 man makers@25# + 10 burpee pull ups + 100m ski sprint (sub 1:40/500). That session absolutely destroyed me.

Also been doing lots of 30x 30/30 ski (today) and my favorite breather which is 10 man makers + 10 burpee pull ups, 10 rounds. I'm getting back into shape and my conditioning is coming along nicely. Just wish I could get my diet in check lol

Good genetics.

Did my strongman competition today. All relevant info is in the Instagram link below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CExHJK5pWAl/

That was awesome, dude.

How much did that keg, or barrel, or whatever weigh?

The keg was 150 lbs. I never was able to even get it to my chest in training, but adrenaline kicked in and I got it in the show itself.

COVID has wreaked some serious havoc on my gains. My goal (and my struggle) has been gaining weight, which was on a pretty solid track before the pandemic hit-- went from about 135 a couple years back to 165 around the end of last year. Now I'm wavering around 150-155. Not sure why spending more time indoors has caused me to lose weight but at least I've been staying on track with body weight exercises and getting as much as I can out of the one dumbbell I found laying around so I'm still in decent shape. Just smaller than I'd like to be (and smaller than I was).

And now I have my next strength contest planned: All Outta Bubblegum, which is an RPS powerlifting meet happening in February at the same gym in Rhode Island I did the strongman contest. It'll be my first powerlifting meet ever.

I've had some periods were I had to be like 2 or 3 weeks completely off gym and lost half an inch off my arm size because of that, 2 workouts later that half an inch came right back.

I dont think I ever lost any chest size but the strength loss was undeniable.

Abs is not a sign of strength, abs is a sign of not eating enough.

I do max overhead work every other Saturday, and here's the result of today's session: A 230 lbs. log clean and press. I've put 45 lbs. on my log press since the middle of August, and I want to hit 250 before the end of the year.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIbuPCApBz_ ... _copy_link

Do jerks, and push pressing build up the strict press, in your experience? I ask, because I’ve never done them. I only, just recently, started doing cleans, seriously, after figuring out how to do the second pull correctly(kind of, my technique is pretty bad).

They totally do. You're still pushing the weight overhead, and lockout feels the same no matter what press type you use to get to lockout. Strengthens the same muscles and tendons regardless.

After being in effective lockdown since March, I've realised that I need to move around a bit more.

I must have put on about three stones.

Anyone have any tips for off-road running ? I don't want to break an ankle in boots or something !

Running is similar to lifting weights. Start light, don’t try to progress too fast. I say this because it’s possible to get injured running. I’m not great at running, so take all this with a grain(or more) of salt, if you want, but anything is better than nothing. When I started running, I hadn’t done it for years, since it had been mandatory, in school. Start off walking. People will dismiss it, because it doesn’t sound as cool and tough, but if walking gets you breathing harder, and gets your heart rate up, then maybe you don’t need to run hard yet.
From there, set a goal, like running a mile, or 3 kilometers, or whatever, without having to stop and walk. The easiest way to do this, which I did, is something like run for a minute, walk for a minute. The exact intervals matter less than actually doing something, and doing the effort necessary to improve.
Running up hills is good, because you can stress your muscles, and lungs, pretty hard, and it’s less likely to hurt your knees. But you can still hurt your ankles, which is where my problem has always been, with running.
I’d tell you to just be careful, and remember you’re doing this for health, not to compete in the social media olympics.

I just started lifting in October. I've been perusing lifting sites and youtube and just found this thread.

After years of office work and now working from home - fuck you Covid - I'm getting to the point where I'm in bad shape. I used to put on muscle really quick, but never put long term effort in. Also with kids, wife, and job I have no time. I've been putting in 10 minutes here and there during breaks at work and over a work day I can get in 9 to 15 sets of various exercises.

Honestly half the journey has been just finding equipment. As in any equipment. In October I got 2 12lbs jogi weights- the ones with a rubber coating. They were actually a decent re-introduction to moving anything but my mouse. Covid shortages mean there are no plates or even dumb bell bars in the whole city. It's insane. Nowhere. I found some seriously rusted weights in my shed. WD30, vinegar, and a steel brush cleared them and after a spray paint they are pretty nice again. As for the bars... I made some out of plumbing piping that work really well.

Now I'm lifting 3-5 times a week and relearning technique. It's not as good as a gym, but even if gyms were open I still wouldn't have the time. Still, I've lost 6 lbs and and able to do an extra rep or move up a few pounds every other week, so I'm encouraged. I don't expect a swole bod... just want some muscle and a healthy weight back.

Gonna read over more of this thread tonight.

Don’t forget body weight exercises. Pushups, lunges, body weight rows, if you have access to a bar, for chin ups, you can get creative, and do gymnastics stuff. You can get pretty strong, and jacked, from pushups and chin-ups.

Definitely trying to be creative. My routine isn't clear and always looking for ideas. Hell I just started doing squats. It was difficult as I have sciatica, but I'm hoping as I go from fat to not quite as fat the sciatica will lessen.

In the last week and a half of meet prep. Here are some recent shots.

360 lbs. squat with 90 lbs. in chains:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ344ncJFtW/

375 lbs. deadlift for five:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKFdWdPJaqi/

360 lbs. squat for seven:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKNFJ1Wp6AK/

275 lbs. bench for a triple:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKPn8rjJnkb/