Progress Update
After being stuck at 95kg for 3 whole months, my deadlift is finally back on track.
The bottleneck was my bodyweight, which was also stuck around 67-68 kg. (I’m very lean at 5’10)
As soon as my bodyweight went up and stabilized over 69 kg, I was able to rep out 95kg deadlifts.
A week later my weight went up to 70 kg, and I was able to jump straight from 95 to 100kg (this morning I did one set of 5 reps — that too at the end of a workout with squats and overhead presses).
Most recent lifts:
- Squat: 77.5 kg (3 sets of 5)
- Deadlift: 100 kg (1 set of 5)
- Overhead press: ~34 kg (3 sets of 5)
- Chin ups: 20 singles in ~20 minutes / 1 set of 4, followed by 1 set of 3
- Incline bench: 38.5 kg (3 sets of 5) <— just started; still learning basic technique
- Power Clean: 25 kg (triples) <— just started, still learning basic technique
Bodyweight this morning: 69.8 kg
Current Training Plan — do what Rippetoe says, until you’re a 200 pound lifter.
Workout A:
- Squat
- OHP
- Deadlift / Power Clean
Workout B:
- Squats
- Incline Bench + Floor push ups
- Chin ups
Rest days:
- GMB Elements
- GMB Resilience
- Knees Calves Shins
- Key Loaded Stretches (as long as you want)
- Quad / Hip flexor Lunge
- Calf and Hamstring
- Elevated Pigeon
- Bridges
Mindset Shifts
My first mindset shift is regarding discipline — the process of getting big and strong and achieving your “dream physique”:
“The body” is not the reward (with food and training being a “price” to earn it). Rather, a strong body and muscles are what enable you to train.
Training IS the ultimate privilege. Being able to lift heavy weights, to experience the edge of your capability and practice beautiful movement on a daily basis IS the reward.
If you tie your happiness to your dream physique and look at your current body as a pile of deficiencies, you’re not only screwing up your life but also your likelihood of getting there.
Training requires consistent effort over a long period of time (= years), and that requires steady motivation and discipline.
If your emotional state is in the deep negatives (shame, guilt, comparison to others, feeling of being unworthy and undesirable), then you will constantly fall short of your expectations, and that will cause you to fall off the wagon and get distracted by other things.
But what if your happiness was derived instead from being able to show up to the gym, and noticing that you were able to do a certain movement with more beauty and grace and strength than you did last week? That you “unlocked” yet another tiny piece of your physical potential?
That’s when training becomes like a game where you are the winner, not the loser.
The people who have the “best” physiques are those who found a way to love the training, not the mirror.
My second mindset shift is regarding aesthetics, body fat, and external validation.
I grew up as a fat kid, and I have plenty of bad memories about that experience.
When I finally lost a lot of weight in my 20s, I became skinny-fat — under-muscled, and also having a fluffy belly.
Since I started training, I’ve always had a mental blocker regarding gaining weight too quickly, because I didn’t want to simply revert to being fat.
I worried that I will be less attractive, not get any dates, be ugly again, yada yada. It triggered me. If I could stay the same weight and pull a body recomp, just lose the belly fat and get abs and more muscular, I was all for it.
I want to get stronger for myself, and I want to get healthier for myself. As long as my performance is increasing (not just my lifts but also my relative strength, eg: number of pull ups and push ups etc, and stamina and flexibility), then I don’t want to worry about gaining weight.
My coach Carl Raghavan tells me that I don’t have to worry about dating, but I’m at the point where even if some women find my extra weight a deterrent, I’m cool with it. (Also, I’ve never been super popular with the ladies anyway, so I don’t think I’ll notice a big difference haha)
I realize my strength training journey is also about learning to not care what other people think of me. I’m learning to be secure, to derive unconditional self-worth and respect based on my own values.
Right now, I think I look way better despite the added bodyweight, because a lot of it is muscle on my upper body, and I think this trend should continue if I gain 1-2 kg per month and my lifts keep going up.
The third minset shift is simply this:
Don’t mess with the program. Listen to the coach.
The only changes I’ve made to the program is switching out the flat bench press with the incline bench press (due to some shoulder issues), and added some stretching to my rest days.
Everything else is as per what the coach says.
