Another day of having to wait for a squat rack to open. I started with deadlifts and then straight-leg deadlifts. I prefer starting with squats which serve as a warmup for deadlifts. I hate the overhead press. It is my weakest lift by far. I anticipate failing a set of overhead presses in the next few weeks. I felt a little more comfortable with the deadlift, but still feel my form needs much improvement. I did a larger-than-usual jump on squat on deadlift because I felt I needed to push those a little. Again, I added some walking on the treadmill to the end of the workout. The first treadmill I used had a belt that would slip forward once every 30-60 seconds. This could have led to hyper-extending my knee. I did about 7 minutes on this treadmill until another one opened up. I did 33 minutes on the second one.

Body Weight: Forgot to check

Workout B

Cardio: 40 minutes on treadmill average of 2.6 - 2.8 MPH

When I got to the gym both squat racks were taken. One by a person doing squats. The second was used by someone doing some type of shoulder press with one side of the barbell. This would have been fine if they were using the rack, but they were not. They were between the two racks. There were at least 5 other areas in the gym where they could have done this exercise with more room than they had. I did straight-leg deadlifts on the deadlift platform next to the rack waiting for it to free up. I do not really like doing them before squats, but I needed the rack for both bench press and squats. There are no dedicated bench press benches. I could have started with the barbell row, but I am much stronger in the row than I am in the bench press, and while I know they are using opposing muscle groups, I did not want to take anything away from my bench. It would not have really made any difference since I am still on very light weights, but tend to do things the same way regardless of the weight. For the last set of bench press, I did AMRAP (as many reps as possible). I will probably do this once a week, or maybe only on weeks when bench press is only done once. Once again I did some walking on the treadmill at the end, but was feeling a little tired and only did 35 minutes.

Body Weight: 337.8 lbs.

Workout A

Cardio: 35 minutes on treadmill average of 2.5 - 2.7 MPH

Week 2 swapped workouts A and B so deadlifts twice. The deadlift is my favorite lift. It is the most powerful, but also a very dangerous lift if done incorrectly. I am still at the point where I am using very light weights so I can focus on form. I quickly realized that my hamstrings are very tight and not much flexibility. I added straight-leg deadlifts as an accessory lift to help with the flexibility. It has the added benefit of wasting time waiting for a squat rack to open up. I have yet to see anyone on the deadlift platform in the morning, but on two of the three mornings on Week 2, the squat racks were taken. Once by someone doing something that did not need a squat rack whatsoever. That shit is annoying. In general, I felt much better to start the week. The soreness, while still happening, was much less debilitating. I hate cardio. I mean I really fucking hate cardio, but I continued to walk on the treadmill to end my workouts. I even went on a non-lifting day to walk on the treadmill.

Body Weight: 338.2

Workout B

Cardio: 45 minutes on treadmill average of 2.5 - 2.7 MPH

My legs are still sore, but I could go to the gym and complete the lifts today. I hope that the walking I do on the treadmill after lifting is helping with the soreness. I do not want to miss another day. I wish I could go to the gym in the evening as I could use the release. Today was a rough day and lifting weights would be a stress relief. Sadly, I am unable to sleep if I go to the gym in the evening. I already have enough trouble sleeping due to stress and the impact of colon cancer and surgeries. I would also like not to have to wake up super early. On the other hand, getting up early and going to the gym first thing helps prepare you for the day. It wakes you up, gets you moving, and energizes you.

Body Weight: 338.6 lbs.

Workout A

Cardio: 40 minutes on treadmill average of 2.3 - 2.4 MPH

The muscle soreness prevented me from going to the gym. I was unable to bend my left leg, which would have made squats and deadlifts impossible. It sucks. I did not want to miss a day. Soreness should go away within a few weeks.

I completed the first day of the StrongLifts 5x5 plan. The most difficult part of developing a routine is starting it. I was warm and comfy in bed this morning, but I made myself get up, put on my gym clothes, and head out to the gym. In my head, I know that no one else at the gym is paying attention to you, but it is still hard not to feel that way when you are only lifting the bar. In my previous post, I said I would probably start with 95 lbs. for squatting, but I decided to do the program as described in the documentation. My knee was hurting while squatting. I think it is a combination of sitting with the leg at a weird angle while working and being very sedentary for the past 5 years or so. I started with the 45 lbs bench press for 5 sets of 5 reps. Next came squats, same weight, same number of sets and reps. Finished the lifting with barbell row, using only the 45 lbs. bar, in the 5x5 set and rep scheme. Barbell row may be my favorite lift. In the past, I probably would have said deadlift, but with my spinal fusion, the deadlift scares me. It does not scare me enough to avoid it. I still do it, and I hope to work my way back up to heavy weights again, but I am constantly worrying about my form, which is a good thing. At the time of writing this post, it has been about 14 hours since I came home from the gym, and I am starting to feel sore. The very worst thing about lifting weights is the muscle soreness. I know that after a few weeks the soreness will stop happening, but getting to that point is brutal. It hurts to sit, it hurts to stand, it hurts to move, and it hurts without moving. Now you are probably thinking that I have a low pain tolerance or just cannot handle pain. I had a foot and a half of my colon removed and after surgery, I did not take anything stronger than ibuprofen. Pain does not bother me. I have a very high pain tolerance, but something about muscle soreness just gets to me. After lifting I did 30 minutes on the treadmill. It was only walking, but it was movement. I do not power walk. I averaged something around 2.2 or 2.3 miles per hour. Eventually, I will get to where I do 3 to 3.5 miles per hour, but I need to work myself up to it. I have decided that at the end of each of these "Week X, Day Y" posts I will list what I did at the gym and my body weight, along with a song that relates to my mood. I know that weighing yourself multiple times a week is not great. It can go up or down each day and it is the long term trend that makes a difference, but I am still going to list it. Seeing that absurdly high number will hopefully motivate me to continue and to not give up.

Body Weight: 338.2 lbs.

Workout A

Cardio: 30 minutes on treadmill average of 2.2 MPH

A few weeks ago I was sick. Really sick. My temperature got up to 105.7F. I was sick for 8 days. It was some viral infection, probably, or at least that is all the hospital could say. During that time I lost over 25 lbs. It felt good to lose some weight, even though the way I lost it was not that great. I decided it was time to get moving again. I was in the best shape of my life about 7 or 8 years ago. I went to the gym 6 or 7 days a week and did martial arts in the evening. This was all while working a full-time job and a full-time grad student. I did this for over a year, but life happened and I stopped both. I wish I did not stop. I got my deadlift up to 505 lbs. This is well after my spinal fusion surgeries and my surgeon telling me I would not be able to deadlift again. Those of you who know me know I do not like being told I cannot do something. I take that as a challenge. After I stopped going to the gym and martial arts I got lazy. I started working as an adjunct professor part-time to supplement my full-time income since I was an associate software developer and not making much money. I am no longer teaching. I may go back to teaching, but for now, I am done. I have also been promoted a few times at my full-time job so I do not need a second job. I am tired all the time. I sleep like shit. I feel like shit. Some of this has to do with the colon resection I had done due to colon cancer. Some of this is due to my lazy ass just sitting around. I do not like cardio. Saying I do not like it is an understatement. I hate it. I will never be a runner. I will do cardio at the gym, but it is walking on the treadmill or riding a stationary bike. I like to lift weights.

A couple of weeks ago, while finally recovering from my illness, decided to get another gym membership. We have moved since I last went to a gym so I needed to see what was near me. I found some local lifting gyms and standard franchises, such as Planet Fitness, Crunch Fitness, and Anytime Fitness. I chose Anytime because they have two locations within 10 minutes of me, have free weights (fuck the machines), and are open 24 hours. Next, I had to decide what my workout would look like. I have done my own plan before, and it worked OK. The last time I was regularly going to the gym I followed the StrongLifts 5x5 plan and had great success. After a few months, I started supplementing it with additional lifts and was squatting 6 days a week. I decided StrongLifts was the way to go again. I weighed it against Starting Strength, Ice Cream Fitness, and a few others, but felt the simplicity and steady progress were the way to go. I will do the standard StrongLifts 5x5 for a few months, but will almost certainly add additional lifts after that time. I really enjoyed doing squats 6 days a week. My legs were never sore and I varied the intensity throughout the week. Some days were 5x5, some 3x3, some 10x3, and every other week or so I would do a 10x10. It was fun. I do not care about getting big muscles as I would rather gain strength. Obviously, if you gain strength you also gain muscle, but heavier weights and low reps are better for strength than size.

StrongLifts starts very slowly but progresses fairly rapidly. You start with just the bar, but add 5 lbs. per lift each day. It only takes a few months before you hit a plateau. I will start with just the bar for the barbell rows, bench press, and overhead press as these are the lifts that I will hit the plateau at first. I will probably start deadlifts and squats with a 25 lbs. plate on each side (95 lbs.). StrongLifts 5x5 alternates between Workout A and Workout B.

Workout A:

• Squat 5x5
• Bench Press 5x5
• Barbell Row 5x5

Workout B:

• Squat 5x5
• Deadlift 5x5
• Overhead Press 5x5

Let's do some quick math to see how quickly the weight jumps. The bench press is done twice a week, starting with just the bar which is 45 lbs. It goes up 5 lbs. per workout, so that is 10 lbs. per week. After 10 weeks, which is about 2.5 months, it will be up to 145 lbs. Squats are performed 3 times per week, and I am going to start at 95 lbs. It also goes up 5 lbs. per workout, so that will be 15 lbs. per week. Using that same 10-week timeframe the squat will go up by 150 lbs. which would put it at 245 lbs. Many people say StrongLifts is too simplistic and does not include enough lifts. They may be right, but it works for me. It covers the main muscle groups. The bench press hits the chest, triceps, and deltoids. The barbell row hits the lats and biceps. The deadlift will work the lower back, hamstrings, some forearms (due to grip strength needed), and a little bit of the quads. Squats will work the quads and glutes. Overpress hit the delts and triceps. These are just the major muscles that are used, but there are plenty of smaller muscles used as well. Many people will complain that the biceps are not hit directly and back in the day I probably would have been one of those people. Again, I am going for strength and not size, so having lifts directly for the biceps is not needed. They get hit plenty with the barbell rows. I may add a curl after a few months, but it will be used more to break through a barbell row plateau. Some of the other lifts I like to eventually add include dumbbell flyes, bent-over dumbbell flyes, and straight-leg deadlifts. These additions served me well in the past. I avoid machines like the plague, but I will do some lat pulldowns and rows (with cable, not the machine that has a set path).

I will use this blog/site to update my progress. I would like to post 3 times per week, or at least that is my goal. I will also post a Spotify link to a song that expresses my feelings or mood at that moment. Most of the songs will contain explicit lyrics because that is what I listen to, so listen at your own risk. This blog may contain explicit content. It will not be like my other two. I will probably swear, and I will not give a fuck about it (see, I warned you). If you want something more professional, or at least less explicit, please see my other blogs at https://mullins.io and https://nicholasmullins.com.

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