ThroughStruggle: A Great Day at Work

Today's training was awesome due to two reasons :

1. I am getting more used to not looking at the mirror while training. Till now, I have been facing the mirror during all my lifts. However in lifting meets there isn't mirror in the front, instead there is the judge seated in front of you. Last wednesday I did Deadlifts and Overhead presses without facing the mirror. Today I did Squats and Rows. It's  a little weird to see some people looking at my funny grunt face as well.

2. I PR'ed in bench and Squats once again! Today I did the following (all in lbs) :

Squats : [150,185,225,260 ]x5, 305x3, 225x8
Bench  : [100,125,150,175 ]x5, 205x3, 150x8
Row     : [45,90,110,130 ]x5, 150x3, 110x8 

For rows, I am back to the weight where I had to deload few weeks ago. This time around, the form was better. I hope next week, 155 will be smooth.

ThroughStruggle: Forcing that last meal down

Eating has always been one of my strengths. It is the only reason I can zero into, for being a chubby kid.But dare I say, I can eat all the time these days. Instead, hitting the target calories for a day is now a challenge.
With 100% clean food intake, eating is not only boring, but also more voluminous. This is because most of the 'clean' foods are also high in fiber. For instance, a sample meal would be serving of lentils with brown rice and veggies along with an omelette. This is a little under 600 calories, but fills me up like a 1000 kcal meal.
Consequently, I find myself force feeding most of the times and find it hard to sleep on the stomach, which is kinda my favorite sleeping position..lol.
To add to my misery, I plan to boost my intake to 4000 kcal in a few weeks. I am currently eating a little over 3500 kcal daily with around 400g carbs and 260g protein.
I hope I don't have to resort to appetite boosters!

ThroughStruggle: No one said its gonna be easy...

Another day of the Madcow Intermediate 5x5 routine. The gym opened at 12:00 in the noon instead of 6:30 in the morning. I was reluctant to go so late as the crowd generally freaks me out but I was too eager to hit the iron. This is what I did today :

Squats: 150x5 , 185x5, 225x5, 260x5, 300x4

I was supposed to do 5 reps in the last set too, but just missed it ! I really got nervous with so many people in the gym today (yeah, I am a little crowd conscious)... I almost made it ... Getting pissed off even thinking about it !

Bench : 100x5, 125x5, 150x5, 175x5, 200x3

Again, missed 2 reps .. I felt like smashing my fist against the bar but had another exercise left so backed off. By the way, the missed rep of squats was bugging me and I gave up without trying more on the 4th rep. Could have got it easily if I had screamed but again with so many people around today, I didn't feel like it.

Pendlay Rows: 45x5 , 90x5, 110x5, 130x5, 145x5

This went smooth as it was fairly light. I am still learning proper form with this exercise. After this I went and did some cable rows to call it a day. One of the bad days at training. But who said its gonna be easy?

ThroughStruggle: The Start of it All

Finally this blog is alive. Yes, I have been lazy for quite sometime now. Totally forgot about the habit of scribbling down experiences of my rather obsessive lifestyle of weight lifting. It started out as a 'need', continued to transform from a mere curiosity to a major interest, then to some form of getaway, and finally to a true passion (and obsession?). My previous posts speak nothing but the truth of how deep I got into it. This blog was started last year after my friends encouraged me to spread my 'knowledge' about lifting and fitness in general.
As I got preoccupied with 'other' things, the blogging habit was forgotten.However, I continued to learn about lifting and fitness (I still do). My quest started out as what is popularly known as bodybuilding. Like many others (probably you as well), I had the elusive dream of getting a chiseled and ripped physique. The idea has matured immensely since its inception in my mind. Fast forward to the present day and I won't classify myself as a bodybuilder. Today I am a lifter, who relishes the act of moving heavy things from point A to point B. This blog will now act as a medium through which I'll update the public about my experiences and learnings with lifting in general. Most of the time, the posts will be updates of my lifting routines, eating styles,  and some narcissistic personal record (PR) numbers.
I have decided to headline all such related posts with the word 'ThroughStruggle' ,a song of the same name from the album 'Shadows Are Security' by one of my favourite bands 'As I Lay Dying'.