Started hitting the gym in late June, and I was a skinny 5'10 155lbs. I focused on chest and upper body with about one leg day a week. I struggled squatting 225 for 5.

For the past month (if that), I've been working with a variation of the 5x5 starting strength routine.

Today I squatted 305x5 with relative ease. Im up to 166, 11 pounds and I have better abs than I did before. I feel fantastic.

Sidebar: I'm deadlift strength is skyrocketing as well, but the only thing holding me back is my damn grip. My hands give out, and drop the bar, far before my legs and back do. My hands bleed all the time too. Any suggestions to correct this?

keysersoze, glad to hear your making such great progress.

Invest in a set of 'Fat Gripz'. Just put that into Google and it will give you everything you need.

(09-19-2014 12:14 AM)keysersoze Wrote:  Started hitting the gym in late June, and I was a skinny 5'10 155lbs. I focused on chest and upper body with about one leg day a week. I struggled squatting 225 for 5.

For the past month (if that), I've been working with a variation of the 5x5 starting strength routine.

Today I squatted 305x5 with relative ease. Im up to 166, 11 pounds and I have better abs than I did before. I feel fantastic.

Sidebar: I'm deadlift strength is skyrocketing as well, but the only thing holding me back is my damn grip. My hands give out, and drop the bar, far before my legs and back do. My hands bleed all the time too. Any suggestions to correct this?

I bet you feel awesome huh?

Keep it up sir!

Crash, I forgot to thank you for your tip on not showering immediately after a workout.

No word of a lie all my acne has cleared up in the last week or so. I'm looking and feeling great. Appreciate that.

Seth, I've been upping my dosage of fish oil and vitamin D so I'm sure that's made an impact also. Thanks for the tip.

Can anyone vouch for this German Volume Training program? I'm thinking I might give it a try, but I'm a little hesitant because I've had success with high-intensity, high-frequency, low-volume programs in the past. So the high-volume idea strikes me as counterintuitive based on my experience. Anyone have personal experience with it?

Any of you had any success with substituting flax seed oil for fish oil? I don't want to take fish oil due to its side effects. Honestly, I don't feel that either one does anything for my workouts.
What say you?

I really don't know about the effects of fish oil or flaxseed but I still try to consume both.

I started eating oatmeal and now have an amazing recipe.

1 cup Quaker old fashioned oats
3 spoonfuls flaxseed
1 generous spoonful of coconut oil
1 scoop vanilla protein powder

This shit is a great post workout and provides a lot of good nutrients.

^ another oatmeal recipe I like is:

1 cup oats
1/4 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened)
1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder
dash of salt, vanilla extract, and cinnamon
optional: make with milk instead of water

Be careful with the cocoa powder because it's really bitter. If you get all the proportions right it should taste mildly sweet and works great for a sugar craving.

Great recipes both. I can't do them however--low carb diet.

(09-20-2014 09:18 AM)OBJ Snakebite Wrote:  Great recipes both. I can't do them however--low carb diet.

Any reasons for this? I am sure carb-cycling even on a strict low carb diet every now and then wouldn't hurt.


On another note, anybody training using RPT (Reverse Pyramid Training)?

(09-20-2014 09:44 AM)FretDancer Wrote:  

(09-20-2014 09:18 AM)OBJ Snakebite Wrote:  Great recipes both. I can't do them however--low carb diet.

Any reasons for this? I am sure carb-cycling even on a strict low carb diet every now and then wouldn't hurt.

Yes. Having read a good book, and other evidence, I have decided to forswear carbs and adopted the no sugar no starch diet.
It is a very easy diet to cook for, best for getting enough protein for the workout, and has the added benefit of exploding heads off vegan tree hugging hippies.

Any of you guys following the Olympia this year?

(09-20-2014 06:30 PM)OBJ Snakebite Wrote:  

(09-20-2014 09:44 AM)FretDancer Wrote:  

(09-20-2014 09:18 AM)OBJ Snakebite Wrote:  Great recipes both. I can't do them however--low carb diet.

Any reasons for this? I am sure carb-cycling even on a strict low carb diet every now and then wouldn't hurt.

Yes. Having read a good book, and other evidence, I have decided to forswear carbs and adopted the no sugar no starch diet.
It is a very easy diet to cook for, best for getting enough protein for the workout, and has the added benefit of exploding heads off vegan tree hugging hippies.

I have heard of this book. Might give it a read.

• What is your BF%?
• How long have you been on a low-carb diet?
• What is considered low?
  

(09-20-2014 10:56 PM)FretDancer Wrote:  

• What is your BF%?
• How long have you been on a low-carb diet?
• What is considered low?
  

I don't know. Around 20% maybe? My main problem is lack of muscle. I started going to the gym sometime after starting the diet, so now I eat more than the diet recommends, but which is enough for the muscle gains in the gym.
About 2 years.
The diet is described at the end of the book, in the appendix. Depending on body size, 20-25 grams of carbs per day is low. For me it is 20 grams. I weigh 155lbs. A friend of mine at 240lbs gets 25g.

Has anyone plateaued in weight and not been able to gain anymore? I am 6' able to get up to about 195+, but every pound gained over 200 is extremely hard.

Due to:

-Blazing fast metabolism
-Need to do cardio or my circulation feels f*cked
-Finding it very difficult to eat when I'm not hungry
-Even when I do eat when not hungry, just end up shitting more times per day, so the weight doesn't stay

Unless I eat absolute garbage, like tons of fried food, cookies, soda, etc, I can't seem to go up in weight.

I lift heavy every other day, eg M, W, F, Su, Tu, Th, Sa etc.

(09-19-2014 02:23 AM)Blackwell Wrote:  keysersoze, glad to hear your making such great progress.

Invest in a set of 'Fat Gripz'. Just put that into Google and it will give you everything you need.

Thanks for the suggestion! Seems like a great solution.

(09-19-2014 04:02 AM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:  

(09-19-2014 12:14 AM)keysersoze Wrote:  Started hitting the gym in late June, and I was a skinny 5'10 155lbs. I focused on chest and upper body with about one leg day a week. I struggled squatting 225 for 5.

For the past month (if that), I've been working with a variation of the 5x5 starting strength routine.

Today I squatted 305x5 with relative ease. Im up to 166, 11 pounds and I have better abs than I did before. I feel fantastic.

Sidebar: I'm deadlift strength is skyrocketing as well, but the only thing holding me back is my damn grip. My hands give out, and drop the bar, far before my legs and back do. My hands bleed all the time too. Any suggestions to correct this?

I bet you feel awesome huh?

Keep it up sir!

It's incredible! It has absolutely changed my life and I haven't felt this good in years. Every day I set a new PR.

(09-21-2014 08:15 PM)Stun Wrote:  Has anyone plateaued in weight and not been able to gain anymore? I am 6' able to get up to about 195+, but every pound gained over 200 is extremely hard.

Due to:

-Blazing fast metabolism
-Need to do cardio or my circulation feels f*cked
-Finding it very difficult to eat when I'm not hungry
-Even when I do eat when not hungry, just end up shitting more times per day, so the weight doesn't stay

Unless I eat absolute garbage, like tons of fried food, cookies, soda, etc, I can't seem to go up in weight.

I lift heavy every other day, eg M, W, F, Su, Tu, Th, Sa etc.

I'm stuck at 195~ at 6'1 as well.. still setting PRs on 5x5 consistently though, so at least i'm moving forward in that aspect. I think a switch to higher volume training might help to pack on the mass. What is your routine like?


Keysersoze, have you tried using mixed grip for deadlifts?

Did a 2x 10 second chin ups, followed by 40 second hang to build up grip strength. (might try doing these twice a week depending on recovery times). Also walked quite a bit around the gym with 27.5 dumbbells (weird weight) to further work on grip strength. Now my knuckles are sore. I'm trying to build up grip strength to help consistently get 300 on my deadlift and beyond. Also it should help with popping in lens in glass frames without heat. It requires a ton of finger strength. Did some cable weight machines for rowing at 165, and some pull ups and dips. Basically a pretty light day. Want to see if it will allow me to recover enough my pecs for a decent 5 times rep at 200 by Wednesday. I normally wait 5 days between bench days and will see if a week gives me more consistent results. I don't recover quickly like some people.

When I get some time I'll do a carb cycling post. I fucking love this diet. Refueling on some oatmeal and a sandwich after a good lift session is great. Then I get all of the benefits of low carb without all the brain fog.

MikeCF's podcast about carb cycling got me into it. I suggest everyone to check it out. I am a huge proponent of low carb but I couldn't work and concentrate when going keto.

(09-19-2014 11:16 AM)Blackwell Wrote:  Crash, I forgot to thank you for your tip on not showering immediately after a workout.

No word of a lie all my acne has cleared up in the last week or so. I'm looking and feeling great. Appreciate that.

Seth, I've been upping my dosage of fish oil and vitamin D so I'm sure that's made an impact also. Thanks for the tip.

What's the basis and the benefit for not showering after a workout?

I normally don't due to scheduling issues, so I'm curious what benefits I should expect to see.

(09-19-2014 09:46 PM)OBJ Snakebite Wrote:  Any of you had any success with substituting flax seed oil for fish oil? I don't want to take fish oil due to its side effects. Honestly, I don't feel that either one does anything for my workouts.
What say you?

I can tell you (was just telling someone earlier tonight actually) that flaxseed-derived Omega-3 fatty acids are 20 times less effective than fish oil Omega-3 fatty acids. The biochemical stoichiometry is such that you need 20 times the fatty acids to get the same end result in your liver and brain.

I don't find those Omega-3 studies particularly compelling, but do what you will. However, even if you take the studies' conclusions as true, I don't see why the risks of fish oil wouldn't be similar to those of flaxseed oil, except again subject to the 20x amplification.

(09-21-2014 09:29 PM)rdvirus Wrote:  What is your routine like?

Chest day = 4 x sets barbell bench, 4 x incline press machine, 4 x dumbbell press, 4x cable rows, 4 x incline bench press, some kind of arms workout

Barbell bench examples of weight would be 155, 185, 205, 225

Back day and legs days are similar, but I usually group legs with a 2nd, lighter chest day because my legs are genetically huge, but chest not so much.

Any of you guys wake up and workout on an empty stomach ?

Maybe a bit of protein shake, preworkout, pump, and creatine ?

I life in the evenings, but I worked out at 6am this morning.

I think the pre workout fucked my eating schedule. I feel sort of nauses and only had a breakast sandwich bagel.

Any of you experience this?

(09-22-2014 12:40 PM)kaotic Wrote:  Any of you guys wake up and workout on an empty stomach ?

Maybe a bit of protein shake, preworkout, pump, and creatine ?

I life in the evenings, but I worked out at 6am this morning.

I think the pre workout fucked my eating schedule. I feel sort of nauses and only had a breakast sandwich bagel.

Any of you experience this?

The days I work out I get out of bed, put my gym clothes on, take my Omega3/Vitamin D/theanine pills, then drive to the gym and work out. I've never had a problem with exhaustion or fatigue during a workout. Haven't eaten near a workout in years, although I sometimes do light jogs an hour after a small meal without trouble.