My Leangains Journey page 3

[BuffaloGrok]

Monster day at the gym. New PR's all around:

Deadlift:
305x10, 295x11, 285x12

Leg Extension:
250x9, 230x11, 200x12

Rack Chins (legs elevated):
3 Sets - BW x 12

Tricep pushdown:
120x9, 110x10, 90x12

Dinner:
12 oz lean pork loin chops
12 oz mixed berry compote
300g sweet potato
12oz fat free greek yogurt
1 apple

[Patrick]

I'm interested in tracking your efforts here. My own Leangains-style attempt(s) have not been all that great, results-wise. Certainly not terrible, but no real, substantial differences. Will you be posting more pictures and other indicators of body composition change, beyond the PRs (which are looking good)?

[yodiewan]

Monster day at the gym. New PR's all around:

Deadlift:
305x10, 295x11, 285x12

Leg Extension:
250x9, 230x11, 200x12

Rack Chins (legs elevated):
3 Sets - BW x 12

Tricep pushdown:
120x9, 110x10, 90x12

Dinner:
12 oz lean pork loin chops
12 oz mixed berry compote
300g sweet potato
12oz fat free greek yogurt
1 apple

Nice numbers! Especially on DL. What's you bodyweight? I gotta ask, though: Why the leg extensions? I though those were pretty rough on your knees, especially using such a high weight.

That meal looks pretty dang good too. I like combining pork and fruit also.

[BuffaloGrok]

I'm interested in tracking your efforts here. My own Leangains-style attempt(s) have not been all that great, results-wise. Certainly not terrible, but no real, substantial differences. Will you be posting more pictures and other indicators of body composition change, beyond the PRs (which are looking good)?

Patrick, I plan on using this as a general tracking of my own results/random postings about fitness. I do have some "before" pictures of me at around 197lbs and will be posting them side-by-side with my "after" pictures. I plan to post at weeks 5,10 and 15 for perspective.

I find that re-comp will occur more at the range of 12% BF and under, where I am somewhere in the 15% range currently. I think that by focusing my diet more on a cut, than re-comp, I will see greater changes in the early weeks, then focus on re-comp over the long term/end of the 16 week cycle.

I have by no means made 16 weeks a hard stop on the program. Though starting off I wanted to give myself a benchmark to work towards. I think if I made significant gains up to that point, I will continue and play with a maintenance strategy going forward.

[BuffaloGrok]

Nice numbers! Especially on DL. What's you bodyweight? I gotta ask, though: Why the leg extensions? I though those were pretty rough on your knees, especially using such a high weight.

That meal looks pretty dang good too. I like combining pork and fruit also.

Thanks, yodie!! My bodyweight right now is 180lbs and I am 5'9. My ratio's for bodyweight to max deadlift are much better than my bodyweight to back squat but that is something I am working to change.

As for leg extensions, I have heard the arguements as to knee strain, however through my research, it appears that individuals with healthy knee joints and ligaments should have no problem. I have no preivous ACL issues so I take each workout slow and controlled and if I feel pain, I would find an alternative.

I like to think of the leg extension as a supplement to closed chain movement, like the deadlift, as it is going to require different recruitment patterns from the quad, with this variety leading to greater muscular development.

If you have any suggestions to another movement I can use to facilitate this growth, I would be more than open to hearing, though I have seen great success with the leg extension in my own gains over the years.

Btw, dinner was delicious. I just put the berries in a bit of lemon juice and let simmer for about 20 mins over low/medium heat. The taste combination with the pork was out of this world.

[yodiewan]

Nice, I will have to try the fruit compote + pork soon.

I guess that makes sense regarding leg extensions. Kinda like people with kidney disease might need to eat lower protein, but that doesn't mean eating high-protein will lead to kidney disease. Then again, I think I've heard that some people with kidney disease actually do really well on high-protein, so maybe not the best analogy, lol.

My deadlift also far outpaces my SQ. By about 100lbs, lol. My PR for deadlift is 405x3 (Bodyweight ~168, 5'11") and squats is like 305x4 if I remember correctly. I think I'm just more suited for pulling and not pushing (long, lanky, etc.). I would like to bring them a little closer though.

[BuffaloGrok]

My last 1RM deadlift was 415, but that was taken about 8 months ago. Going 305x10 makes me think my 1RM is going to be much, much higher.

Back squat is something I have always struggled with. I'm short enough that I should be squatting much higher, so I have been working in ancillary movements to help strengthen. I am about 100lbs off on my squat as well.

[BuffaloGrok]

Holy hangover!! Don't think THREE drinks has ever made me feel like that in my entire life. Aside from the dry mouth and buzzing in my skull, I feel overall pretty good. Took a second day off the gym due to some major soreness and looking forward to a heavy chest and back day tomorrow.

Oh, and to make this Friday even better, I lost another notch on my belt...pretty great feeling whenever that happens!

[Patrick]

Congrats on the belt notch!

[BuffaloGrok]

Well well well....another weekend is gone and we are back to the daily grind. Diet for this weekend was a little more relaxed than usual, but I kept it pretty strict primal, or as strict as possible, while still going out to eat.

Meal highlights:

Spinach salad with toasted pecans, strawberries, red onion and rare sliced ribeye.
Homemade alfredo sauce over veggies, chicken and shrimp

In other news, picked up a set of thermal/blackout curtains for the bedroom and wow, my room is now DARk. As in, tripping over a piece of furniture that has been there for years. Looking forward to seeing how this impacts my sleep, as I have always had white blinds that let in a substantial amount of street light.

Today will be heavy squatting day. I am back in touch with an old crossfit buddy that has been doing some programming for a local gym. He loves strength training with a mix of a fast, GPP style WODs. I will be adding this in at the end of my workout in an effort to maximize the aerobic benefits

WOD - 5 rounds
10x KB swing
10x Pushups
25 lateral barbell jumps