Kevin's Log

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Monday January 23rd

Squats
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x3
315x5x5

Wow. I think the singles plus the deload killed my work capacity. I thought this was going to be an easy introduction but it ended up being the hardest volume day I've ever done. By set 3 I already had DOMS and now I'm hobbling about the house, crippled. I'm going to stick with 315 for a couple weeks and start intensity day at 340x5. Jeez this has been a failed couple of months.

Routine is going to look like this:

Monday - Squat 5x5
Tuesday - Bench 5x5, DB Row 3-5x10
Wednesday - Light Squat
Friday - Squat 1x5, Bench 1x5, Deadlift (singles), Rack Pull 1x8

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Tuesday January 24th

Bench Press - TnG
45x10
95x5
135x5
165x3
200x5x5

3 mins rest, fairly easy.

DB Row
85x4x10

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Friday January 27th

Bench Press - TnG
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x6

One rep short of my all time best, so I've pretty much gotten my strength back. Its going to a good metric to gauge how well I keep my strength on the cut I'm about to start. This time I'm taking it more seriously, getting nutritional counselling and budgeting more money for clean foods and lots of protein. Hopefully I've lost the gut in 4-6 months.

Deadlift
135x5
225x5
315x1
365x1
395x6x1

Pretty easy actually. Not sure if I should take a deload week or just start a new cycle next week.

Rack Pulls
425x8

5 pounds from now on.

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Saturday January 28th

Cardio - Treadmill
20 minutes, max incline, 2.5mph

Going to do this 3x a week. I meant to go at a moderate intensity which is 65-70% of HRM, but ended up with my heart rate peaking at and maintaining 176BPM. I'm not sure if I'm super out of shape or have a medical condition. This wasn't hard or laborious, I wasn't panting or anything, and I feel decently fresh after, so I don't know.

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Monday January 30th

Squat
95x5
135x5
185x5
245x5
280x5
315x10

I made sure to make every set fast and short, even the top set. I realized I had basically been doing rest/pause training with my squatting by taking 10+ seconds rest between reps. That could be the reason my 1RM always lagged behind what could be reasonably expected by the amount I could rep out. 315x10 probably took ~30-40 seconds with maybe 2 reps left in the tank.

Cardio - Treadmill Hike
20 minutes, max incline, 180BPM consistent

Heart rate was a little higher today because of the squats. Decided to bump it up to 4x a week because, well, why not. Mild panting.

Cleaned up my diet, no more milk or junk and more lean meats and clean carbs, and managed by that alone to shave 5-600 calories off my daily intake without feeling any hungrier. On wednesday I'm going to buy a shitload of chicken breast and rice and really get started.

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Tuesday January 31st

Bench Press - TnG
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x3
203x5x5

All but the last set went up pretty easily. 3 minutes rest between sets.

DB Row
40x8
90x3x10

Definitely more body english and not as much ROM, but it wasn't that bad.

Treadmill Hike
Max incline, 2.5mph 20 minutes 180BPM

Found a great way to make cardio easier and feel quicker: watch a tense action scene.

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Friday February 3rd

Bench Press - TnG
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x5

Already lost a rep. Fuck it man. That's my new attitude. Fuck it. If I start losing a rep a week or something crazy I'll switch to 5/3/1. I'm running a pretty hard deficit actually, 1000 calories under maintenance + cardio, but it's necessary to get that summer beach body nom sayin'.

Deadlift
135x5
225x5
312x15x1

Actually pretty damn easy.

Rack Pull From Below Knee
430x8

So easy I had to make sure I put on the right amount of plates. I think this cut will go like last time: bench and press will get weaker and then plateau, and everything else will go up.

Treadmill Hike
20 minutes, max incline, 2.5mph HR 156-176

At 5 minutes my pulse measured 176, at 10 156, at 15 156, and at 20 168. I guess I was just out of shape. One more workout at 2.5mph and I'll bump it up to whatever gets my heart rate back up to 170+ consistently.

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Saturday February 4th

Treadmill Hike
20 minutes, max incline, 2.5mph, 168-174BPM

A little bit higher today, probably accumulated fatigue.

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Monday February 6th

Squats
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x3
260x3
295x3
335x10

Repping out the set fast is so much better than the way I was doing it before. Taking 1:30 for a set of ten just prolongs the agony.

Diet is going very well, especially now that I've discovered aspartame. I'm eating no more than 150g carbs a day so I've been craving things like eating jam by the spoonful or a big heaping plate of spaghetti, and diet soda really helps.

Treadmill Hike
20 minutes, max incline, 2.5mph 168-174BPM

One more day (tomorrow) of 2.5mph and then on friday I'll bump it up to 3.

[Kevin Shaughnessy]

Tuesday February 7th

Seated Barbell Press
45x8
65x5
80x5
95x5
105x11

All reps done from a dead stop, hit positive failure on the last rep.

DB Row
50x8
95x3x10

Even more body english but I can still feel my lats and arms working pretty hard.

Treadmill Hike
20 minutes, max incline, 2.5mph 162-168BPM