u/Ezellian

Working on maintaining my strength this week.

Hit the double 🟣🟣🔴🟡 again for a few before dropping back down and continuing my workout.

Well, things happen. Best we can do is work around them until it's better. I know satisfaction might be dwindling this week, but that won't stop me from sending a little bit this way. I'll see you for week 33 with an update.

I tried things a little differently for my squats today. Keeping it nice and simple.

M35 || 5ft 8in (~173cm) || 185lbs (~84kg) || 6 Weeks out

WNBF Men's Bodybuilding Open || Portland Reign Natural Classic

Last check in was week 8. I have dropped a few more pounds since then since then. Plan is to keep doing what I'm doing. Actually ate between 2500-2600 calories this past week and continued to lose weight with dedicated cardio only on Sundays (Elliptical 60 min mid-low intensity). Maintenance is around 3100 calories right now. Keeping Protein high (~225g), Fats (70-80g), carbs around (~280g). I'm probably going to lower it a little bit over the next few weeks until I find a good spot to maintain till peak week... hopefully.

I would like to start off this paragraph by apologizing for the sloppy transitions on some of my mandatories. I was a bit exhausted and had a posing class later in the day I was saving some energy for. Overall, I think I'm getting a bit better and still plenty of time to nail down some finer things, although any advise is welcome. I'm also starting to come up with some stuff for my routine.

I was also considering a second show. Some people I met asked if I was going to the WNBF NW Royal ~2 weeks after. I don't currently have plans but I'm starting to consider looking into it. Any advise on signing up for two shows and how to manage that?

The journey continues and the weights are still just as heavy. I decided to work up to these singles today, sorry no Double Overhand. Did work up to it at 445 before bringing out the straps. Also didn't plan on pulling 505, but felt good, so it happened. See y'all next week

For my Squats today I worked up to another 445lb//202kg attempt. Slowly beginning to make it my new Squat Standard

Today to celebrate my continued caloric deficit, I decided to do some deficit deadlifts after teaching you more ancient techniques to defeat the dreaded 'alive'lifts. See you for week 31!

Hey guys, just wanted to share my favorite Squat Day exercise !

M35 || 5ft 8in (~173cm) || 188lbs (~85kg) || 8 Weeks out

WNBF Men's Bodybuilding Open

Last check in was week 12. I have dropped ~5-7 since then. Planning on continuing cutting as much body fat as I can until around Week 4 to assess and run a mock peak week. Feeling flat on most days and it takes a lot of effort to get anything remotely close to a pump although my strength still seems to be holding well (Pulled a 500lb deadlift the day before and 400+lb squats on Monday) Hoping to drop between 5-8 more lbs in the next few weeks.

My Calories have been between 2100-2200 on lows with up to 2500 if necessary (Maintenance still around 3000-3100 according to MacroFactor). Protein is aimed at around 230g, Fat I find myself consuming between 70-80g a day (probably going to try and drop that to 60g or 50g if I can), and Carbs have been between 150-250 depending on if I need extra for heavy lift days.

Workouts stayed the same with the lower/upper split 6 days followed by an active rest day with cardio. Not much going to change except when adjusting workouts to peak/mock peak week. I do find myself beginning to struggle with the energy to lift sometimes but that was to be expected as calories have come down.

Posing is getting better. I already spotted a few things to work on from the recording. I tried to hold each pose for 8-10 seconds here and included the transitions this time (video is set to 5x speed). Still procrastinating on my routine but have come up with some ideas from the posing classes I've been attending. Just honestly struggling to pick a song to get started.

Overall, really excited to step on stage for the first time. Even if I'm not as conditioned as I would like, I'm still looking to have fun with the whole experience.

Had a good sesh for week 29. Thought I almost had a clean 470 double overhand pull but just couldn't lock it out. Going to have to try again later for that. At least the 500 went up well. I'll be back for week 30 Reddit!

For this week's Squat Day, I decided to include my very limited warmup routine. Could certainly be better, but it's been working for me for the time being. Ended up doing some volume around my favorite number 405 after.

Worked up to a set of 3 at 495 this week. Was surprised with how easy it went up due to how flat and weak I've been feeling in a caloric deficit. Hopefully I can keep this strength up over the next few weeks as my diet becomes more locked in. Looking forward to week 29

I've been struggling with hitting 3 plates for years now. I worked up to 305 and just never got further after a failed 315. At a certain point, I pretty much resigned myself to volume in the 200+ range. Been sticking with it more and with some encouragement from my spotter, I was finally able to move a solid 3 plates, well maybe a shakey one.

Worked up to 200kg Squat for the Third time recently. Becoming more confident with the weight and depth now and surprised myself with how it moved today. Stay motivated and don't forget to squat 🦵

A little bit of a long one today, but that's fine as my plan was to hold back a little bit this week after PR'ing last time. Surprised myself with my grip strength today so I'll take the small wins and comeback ready for week 28

Was a little late this week on getting the squats up, but still got it in. Decided to try and see how some metal plates felt at different weight... Along with hitting my heavy singles and paused reps.

Today, to mark our 6 months of deadlifts, I decided to PR at 520lbs. First time hitting this weight and I think I should be able to get more easily on my next push up. Going to have to drop it back in the next few weeks and work my way up again. Excited to see where this goes.

A Bicep Curl

M35 //5ft 8in (~173cm) // 195lbs (~88kg) ~12 Weeks out

Last check in was week 19. I have gained a few lbs since then. I was told I was very lean for a few posing classes I went to and they didn't want me to lose muscle so I adjusted my diet more towards maintaining since last check in. This put a few lbs back on the frame but still within reason to lock in the diet shortly. I honestly have no idea how much weight I need to drop off as all I keep getting from people is I'm leaner than I need to be which doesn't really help much.

My diet is now dropping to 2500-2600 calories and about 236p 84f 206c. For maintenance I ate between 2600-2800 calories during the weekdays and filled in the rest on the weekends (I hit 5000 calories on a few Saturdays). It caused a small amount of weight gain but nothing unmanageable.

Workouts stayed the same with the lower/upper split 6 days followed by an active rest day with cardio. The extra food appears to have helped my strength as I'm nearing PR's in my deadlift and squats. It's going to suck to start struggling again on those lifts as the calories go down.

Still working on my posing. I've attended a few more posing classes and hit up a posing room for practice once a week to work on it. Hopefully it's getting better. Let me know if the format is too fast and I'll slow it down for the next check in.