Ruckin's 4th blast: chasing a 600 squat

[ruckin]

12/26: Squat 445x4 (wtf)
Push press 245x5
Rdl 275x16
Paused Cg incline 225x8
Db row 140x8
Shrugs 405x15 (straps)

12/28: Power clean 250x3x3
Squat 315x5
Push press 225x3
Db row 140x9
Paused Cgbp 275x9
Shrugs 445x12 (straps)

I FINALLY had a good workout yesterday lol. First time in probably 2 months. I decided I needed a deload for my squat and push press to try to get them moving again, and I got 1 more rep than I was expecting on both my db rows and close grip bench.

When are you planning to donate blood? You are 6 weeks in right ?

Yup just about 6 weeks. I don't have any plans to... Well actually, I like to donate blood sometimes, but not for any reasons to do with my gear use, so I may end up donating some while still on this blast.

 

[Maktub]

So EQ for 16 weeks and no "donate blood "
Im not sure about that .
I wold not risk

 

[ruckin]

So EQ for 16 weeks and no "donate blood "
Im not sure about that .
I wold not risk

I appreciate the advice my friend.

 

[ruckin]

I have good news, bad news, and semi-good news.

Good news: I decided to join a new local rugby club near me and I'm starting practice next week! It's been over a year now since I last played and I miss it so much. I'm really excited!

Bad news: my fitness is shit right now, so I'll be starting a lot of conditioning work to get in rugby shape. Which means gaining strength will take a faaaar back seat now. The way things have gone my first few weeks though, it wasn't looking like a 600 lb squat was in the cards anyway.

Semi-good news: I'm still on a pretty high dose of supplements (high for me at least), so I'm expecting to still gain a little strength over the remainder of this blast. I'm shooting for a 545 or higher squat now. And since I'll be so much more active from rugby, I'm going to take advantage of the higher TDEE and cut a little weight, since it'll be easier. Maybe I can try a new position with the lower body weight too, which could be fun.

 

[ruckin]

PRs worth mentioning:

252x3x3 power clean today and 285x14 RDL on Saturday.

I'm really happy with my power cleans. Apparently my new gym has microplates, so I started taking advantage of those. Also, I think I'm starting rugby tomorrow now, not next week. So I'm stoked for that

 

[GeorgeForemanRules]

600lbs should be a reasonable goal for a natty at your weight.

 

[ruckin]

I got 253x3x3 on my power cleans yesterday. Only a 1 lb PR (lol) but hey, better than nothing.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

1lb is still progress.

 

[ruckin]

Believe it or not, I actually had a good workout again today. Another 1 lb PR on power cleans and added 2 lbs to my push press. My PR is still 275x5 but I'm closinh back in on that now.

Power clean 254x3x3
Push press 267x5

Microplates are the best thing ever. I wish I invested in some a long time ago instead of waiting til I joined a gym that just happened to have some. I think they're going to be the key to still progressing while cutting weight for me. I think I'll start using them on other big lifts too. Today was the first time I used them for something besides my cleans and it felt awesome.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

They say because of the variation in weight of gym plates it's best to use the same plates every time with the microplates, otherwise the little differences could defeat the purpose of using them. Mark your plates if possible.

 

[ruckin]

Hit another recent best today: 225x10 on my paused close grip incline bench. I was pretty surprised, because I haven't been eating much (since I'm cutting), and all the added activity from rugby. Maybe my supplements are of decent quality after all.

On another note, I'm playing rugby tomorrow for the first time in over a year and I'm stoked. Can't wait to see how terrible my current fitness really is lol

 

[Maktub]

How's the EQ treating you ? Vains popping out?

 

[ruckin]

How's the EQ treating you ? Vains popping out?

I'm slowly getting a little more vascular, but I think it's more due to losing fat than the eq. I don't think my dose is high enough to really have any noticable side effects like that. The eq is treating me well though!

 

[ruckin]

Man my squat has really taken a nose dive these last few weeks. I barely got 365x10 today. I was able to get 415x10 a couple months ago. I hope it's just because of all the running/conditioning work I've been doing...

On the bright side, I got another 1 lb power clean PR (lol) on Monday of 255x3x3, so that was nice.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Mine just took a recent dive recently, too. Doing a deload because of it.

 

[ruckin]

Mine just took a recent dive recently, too. Doing a deload because of it.

Yeah that sucks. You'll probably be back to normal in a week though. I'm probably fucked for the next few weeks or months lol

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Yeah that sucks. You'll probably be back to normal in a week though. I'm probably fucked for the next few weeks or months lol

Depressing either way. It's like time lost.

 

[ruckin]

Wow I didn't realize how long it has been since I updated. There hasn't really been much to report though, just steadily leaning out and maintaining strength for the most part. I'm very happy with my results so far though, I'm almost as lean as I've ever been (still fat compared to Rob and PA though lol) but about 40 lbs heavier than the last time I was at this point.

I finally hade some small jumps in strength yesterday, which was the first time in weeks, so that was fun. Notable lifts from yesterday's workout were:

Power clean 257x3x2 (2 triples)
Squat 365x10 (rpe8.5 if I had to guess, which is improved from that set being rpe9.5 last week)
Push press 225x10 (up from being stuck as 9 reps forever, also done after squats)

Squats are obviously still way down from a few months ago, but I've still been running a lot and playing rugby so I'm assuming that's the reason. I gave myself a cheat day on Sunday for the super bowl so that must be the reason for my good workout yesterday, but I'll take it. That was the first day since I started cutting I've not been in a deficit.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

How much you weighing right now?

 

[ruckin]

I don't have a scale lol but I'll guess mid or high 240s