Squats & Deads at 1.5 x Bodyweight!

I’ve had a couple of weeks off the weights since I wrote my last entry and I was starting to feel rubbish about it! I’ve had a few bits on and just ended up not hitting the gym, what a lazy git! I managed to get back down there this week though and I was pleasantly surprised with the results of my workout last night.
Normally after a couple of weeks off I find my strength has dropped and I have to work back up to my previous figures over a couple of sessions but last night I didn’t get that for some reason. I blasted myself with a full body workout which comprised of deadlifts, squats, bench press, bent over rows, seated rows and chins. Although I wasn’t lifting quite my usual weights (only just under though) I felt like the reps were coming easily and pushed and pulled more reps than I usually do at the higher weight range.
The only thing I can think of that might have helped is that the previous session I managed three PB’s on squats, deadlifts and bench press. For squats I managed a couple of reps at 125kg’s (I did a third but that was with a spot) and deadlifts I lifted 108kg’s for 5 reps. So now I am hitting both these lifts at 1.5 x body weight which I am chuffed with. For bench press I lifted 80kg’s which is not much better but still better than nothing!
I’m back down the gym tomorrow for another FB so I’m looking forward to getting the weight back up to my previous PB’s. I also really need to try and concentrate on getting my back up to scratch due to not doing back work early on when I first started working out (prior to this blog). My bent over row is currently 20kg’s less than my bench so I need to put some effort into this. I think I will start putting this in front of any chest exercises so I’m a bit fresher for these and can hopefully shift some more weight.

Health Screen Results

Had my second workout this week last night and I’m aching quite a bit today. Managed a couple of PB’s on Deadlifts and Dips with reps but no weight increases this session. I have been eating cleaner this week but I’m still not eating enough to bulk. Got to try and get the extra protein and calories in me!

I received my Health Screen results yesterday so as promised here they are, not overly exciting but I thought I’d share none the less!


Fasting blood glucose: 3.3 mmol/l
Total cholesterol: 4.5 mmol/l
Blood pressure: 111/67 mmHg
Body mass index: 25.1 kg/m2 - (height: 1.69m, 5’6”; weight: 71.6 kg, 11st 4lbs).

Body fat: 18.3%
Waist:hip ratio: 0.78 - (waist: 77.6 cm, 30.6”; hip 99.2 cm, 39.1”)

All of my results apparently fall within the normal levels so that’s good, obviously still not happy with my body fat percentage though!

Almost back in the zone!

Well it’s almost the end of another week and I feel like I’m starting to get back in the zone! I had my usual work outs on Tuesday and Thursday this week and I’ve managed to get my numbers back up again. I’m not quite back to were I was before my break but I’m getting there.
My squat is just about back up to 100kg (even if I did nearly get stuck on the third rep last night!) Deadlifts are up to 90kg and my dumbbell bench is only two kg’s of my pb so I’m almost there.

I’ve had a bit of a funny eating week. I was tempted by the Velocity Diet to get rid of a bit of fat so this week I’ve half been following it by only drinking protein shakes and taking omega’s and flax oils during the day. Then in the evening I’ve been eating a solid meal. I was planning on going full out with the V-Diet next week but I changed my mind yesterday as I’m going away for a couple of weeks in early July so there’s no point cutting just yet. I think it would be wasting valuable bulking time!
So, my new plan is as follows. I’ve decided to stick with the normal six meals a day clean bulk for five weeks. I’m then planning on cutting using the V-Diet for three weeks so hopefully that should allow me to pack a few pounds of muscle back on then shred the fat. Anyway I’ll see what happens I guess.

To make sure I’m getting my kcals correct I’ve reworked out my BMR so I know roughly what I need to be hitting each day for my bulk.

BMR = 1686
x 1.65 (Moderately Active, Work out 3 times per week)
= 2782kcals per day

So to bulk I’m adding another 250kcal onto that to start with to see how I get on (I can always go to 500kcals if I need to).

So bulking = 3032kcals. I’ll be aiming for this daily with 1.5g protein per pound bodyweight which is 231g per day.

So that’s it for now. Another write up next week and I think I’ll try and take a pic or two early next week at the start of the bulk, then I can do one at the end of the five weeks and another at the end of the V-Diet cut. Might not see that much change as it’s a short period of time but you never know!