Saturday (12-10-2011)
squat    225 lb 3x5
deadlift 315 lb 5, 3, 2
bench   185 lb 3x5
press    105 lb 3x5
chin-up 10, 7, 5

Weight (Sunday): 183 lb

Notes: I took the first part of the week off because I was still recovering from my gum surgery and couldn't eat normally.  Took the latter part of the week off because I expected to spend the weekend helping a friend move and didn't want to be sore going into it.  The friend's closing didn't happen, so I did a long, light workout on Saturday to get back into the groove.  In total, I was out of the gym for 11 days, so I have some make-up work to do.  I've also lost that belt notch I was using as a bulking barometer, so that's gotta stop.

It was, by the way, a total failure.  My lifts went nowhere and I got fatter.  Short days and cold weather are driving my appetite, and muscle growth doesn't seem to be happening.  I have heard some anecdotal evidence and even a few small studies of strength athletes suggest that winter strength gains are rare for anyone but a novice.  I don't want to use that as an excuse, but it makes a degree of evolutionary sense.  Winter is a time for conservation and defense of life, not a time for growth.  There are bound to be some hacks around that, but it might be better to just focus on maintenance and GPP for now, maybe shifting into a full-ketogenic diet for a time to encourage some healthy catabolism.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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