Beast and Feast

07/31/2022

Getting knocked down is ok. Staying down isn’t.

12/14/2021

I posted about Regina’s master’s on my main but wanted to make a separate post on here because I’m so incredibly proud of her.
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I’m not proud of the degree. I’m proud of the process. I’m proud of her day to day effort. I’m proud of the early mornings and the late nights. I’m proud of her RPE 10 gym days after a full day of studying. Im proud of her maintaining a deficit throughout her most difficult semester. I’m proud of her strategizing to learn more effectively and improve from her failures. I’m proud to see her recognize when she should push harder and when she should cut her losses. She has become a more wholistic thinker, one who has the end goal in mind at all times and refuses to let distractions throw her off course.
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As far as I’m concerned the degree is just a bonus. Seeing her grow intellectually has been the true prize. I’m eager to see her take on her career. She will without a doubt make a huge impact.

11/16/2021

320x5 @ RPE 8
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First time ever doing a working set with low bar and hot damn leverage makes a huge difference. I managed a 5x5 fairly comfortably and am moving up to 350 in the next few weeks. Missed strength work big time.

11/05/2021

Feeling thicker than a Snicker. 370x11 @ RPE9
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Deficit deadlifts were my baby throughout my hypertrophy macrocycle. They felt good, they improved, and they built some serious muscle. I also struggle the most breaking my deadlifts off the ground so deficit deads have a high degree of specificity for me. Excited to see the carryover to my deads.

10/25/2021

🤓
In this episode, Sergio talks about the pros and cons of cardio vs resistance training for weight loss.
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SAVE to watch later!

10/15/2021

6 sets of 135x8 RPE 8
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Our hypertrophy program continues to amaze me. Nothing feels better than gaining strength & being able to easily rep out a weight you could only do by 5-6 reps not too long ago.
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Trust your program. Put in the damn work. Push your limits. Prioritize you & recognize the amazing strength your body has.
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I’m so excited to continue watching my numbers grow & am hungry to break 185 on bench (really 200)🤩🤩
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10/13/2021

Hammering out a tough set of 290 x 8 @ RPE 8.
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Starting to get real sick of being on this bulk. Feeling a bit heavy and sluggish. Bulking can be just as hard as cutting. By the end of it eating feels bleh but if you don’t keep up with your eating you’re losing hard earned gains.
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Excited to lose some body fat during this maintenance phase (recomposition) and gain a ton of strength.

10/07/2021

09/23/2021

When training is going well you gotta ride the momentum.
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I see so often people making great progress and then changing it up for no reason. It seems simple to say “keep doing what’s working” but so often I don’t see it done.
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If your main goal is to see results don’t shy away from monotony. Improving a movement you are proficient at is the way to cause adaptation. For example, when you do a new movement you’ll likely up the weight as you practice. It’s when you get your technique down and then start improving your numbers that you really grow.
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Remember that progress is about adaptation, not difficultly. Train with intensity but always be thinking about how what you’re doing now benefits you in the future.

09/05/2021

Even though pull downs have not been a priority recently I’m still getting better at them since I’m getting stronger overall.
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This is a good lesson in gym efficiency. You don’t always have to focus on a specific movement to improve it. For example, if you’re a beginner training arms is likely a waste. Your arms will get stronger though your pulling and pressing at a similar rate to if you did actual bicep and tricep isolation. But if you were to focus on those isolation exercises your pulling and pressing would never develop.
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Pretty much all exercises can be effective in some capacity. The challenge is making exercises fit into a wholistic program that suits your short and long term goals.

09/02/2021

Hitting so many PRs it’s hard to keep up. Just smashed 240x10 bench at RPE 9.
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On top of this my squat and deficit deadlift 10 rep maxes are skyrocketing. And this is during my hypertrophy phase where strength gains aren’t always apparent.
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If you’ve been doing strength work for a long time and your lifts are plateauing do a hypertrophy phase. It’s likely time to just build more muscle so you can make that new muscle stronger. Strength and hypertrophy are synergistic.