GIFt us your lifts! (or other achievements!)

KickassAmazon76 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

Not a lifting gif but I wanted to share with this crew as pretty damning evidence to corroborate speculation about being under-recovered. That big drop coincides with a reduction in training volume and intensity, switching from the rando Reddit guy’s program that I had been doing (that I did really enjoy and thought very effective) to the RP 6 day Men’s Physique Template. I can’t attribute that drop to anything other than a reduction in inflammation and cortisol. I’ve been feeling significantly less creaky and generally a higher level of wellness. On the plus side, I found my threshold for MRV which I could sustain for a while. I’m really looking forward to this hypertrophy phase and how auto-regulated this program is for volume and deloads.

I confess... I don't think I understand what I'm seeing... But it sounds like what you're saying is that not getting enough rest between sessions will, over time, whittle away at your ability to progress. Is that correct? It makes sense, so it's neat to see data that corroborates it.

I had been speculating that my volume and intensity got to the point where I needed either a deload or a wholesale change in program. Comparing sets/week to Max recoverable volume (MRV) guidance my hypertrophy sets were at or exceeding the high end with some other strength sets tacked on. My efforts to cut some fat had leveled off in conjunction with feeling run down leading up to that virtual lifting competition I did (where my lifts also suffered). Calories and food practices stayed roughly the same but weight started falling off over the last two weeks (graph is rolling average weight) as soon as I even slightly deloaded.

What really struck me was that I always expected overtraining to present with performance falling off a clif, rather than a gradual accumulation of fatigue and nagging injuries. I’d been not getting great sleep and kept blaming myself thinking it was leading to poor training. However, I think it was ultimately more a symptom than the cause.

KickassAmazon76 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

KickassAmazon76 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

Not a lifting gif but I wanted to share with this crew as pretty damning evidence to corroborate speculation about being under-recovered. That big drop coincides with a reduction in training volume and intensity, switching from the rando Reddit guy’s program that I had been doing (that I did really enjoy and thought very effective) to the RP 6 day Men’s Physique Template. I can’t attribute that drop to anything other than a reduction in inflammation and cortisol. I’ve been feeling significantly less creaky and generally a higher level of wellness. On the plus side, I found my threshold for MRV which I could sustain for a while. I’m really looking forward to this hypertrophy phase and how auto-regulated this program is for volume and deloads.

I confess... I don't think I understand what I'm seeing... But it sounds like what you're saying is that not getting enough rest between sessions will, over time, whittle away at your ability to progress. Is that correct? It makes sense, so it's neat to see data that corroborates it.

I had been speculating that my volume and intensity got to the point where I needed either a deload or a wholesale change in program. Comparing sets/week to Max recoverable volume (MRV) guidance my hypertrophy sets were at or exceeding the high end with some other strength sets tacked on. My efforts to cut some fat had leveled off in conjunction with feeling run down leading up to that virtual lifting competition I did (where my lifts also suffered). Calories and food practices stayed roughly the same but weight started falling off over the last two weeks (graph is rolling average weight) as soon as I even slightly deloaded.

What really struck me was that I always expected overtraining to present with performance falling off a clif, rather than a gradual accumulation of fatigue and nagging injuries. I’d been not getting great sleep and kept blaming myself thinking it was leading to poor training. However, I think it was ultimately more a symptom than the cause.

That is some really good insight and I wonder if it's why I always do so well to start on stronglifts and then invariably get injured and tank.


Thank you for sharing!

Re:Stronglifts. Probably? Since it’s a linear program it accumulates intensity quickly if you’re adding weight consistently. With more than a few months-year of training history it’s not expected to PR weekly given the level of adaptations achieved.

KickassAmazon76 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

KickassAmazon76 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

Not a lifting gif but I wanted to share with this crew as pretty damning evidence to corroborate speculation about being under-recovered. That big drop coincides with a reduction in training volume and intensity, switching from the rando Reddit guy’s program that I had been doing (that I did really enjoy and thought very effective) to the RP 6 day Men’s Physique Template. I can’t attribute that drop to anything other than a reduction in inflammation and cortisol. I’ve been feeling significantly less creaky and generally a higher level of wellness. On the plus side, I found my threshold for MRV which I could sustain for a while. I’m really looking forward to this hypertrophy phase and how auto-regulated this program is for volume and deloads.

I confess... I don't think I understand what I'm seeing... But it sounds like what you're saying is that not getting enough rest between sessions will, over time, whittle away at your ability to progress. Is that correct? It makes sense, so it's neat to see data that corroborates it.

I had been speculating that my volume and intensity got to the point where I needed either a deload or a wholesale change in program. Comparing sets/week to Max recoverable volume (MRV) guidance my hypertrophy sets were at or exceeding the high end with some other strength sets tacked on. My efforts to cut some fat had leveled off in conjunction with feeling run down leading up to that virtual lifting competition I did (where my lifts also suffered). Calories and food practices stayed roughly the same but weight started falling off over the last two weeks (graph is rolling average weight) as soon as I even slightly deloaded.

What really struck me was that I always expected overtraining to present with performance falling off a clif, rather than a gradual accumulation of fatigue and nagging injuries. I’d been not getting great sleep and kept blaming myself thinking it was leading to poor training. However, I think it was ultimately more a symptom than the cause.

That is some really good insight and I wonder if it's why I always do so well to start on stronglifts and then invariably get injured and tank.


Thank you for sharing!

Because SL is only mainly useful for a person who is a beginner or somebody who has stopped lifting for a significant time.

SL has virtually no auto regulation and even worse zero proper load management which increases injury risk once you start "grinding".

Best to stop and move on to appropriate programming before any grinding is going on.

KickassAmazon76 wrote: »

Pushups are lifts... Right?

Can’t stop staring at your shoulders 😂😍

steveko89 wrote: »

Really liking the RP Men’s Physique Template. I’m on week 3 of the first meso and it’s been nice to go back to a straight hypertrophy program. The 6-day lays out to a double PPL and the Thursday lifts are my favorite grouping.

You have lots of cats and kids😁