Strength Train with JJ (Let's Start)

On the Menu:

Backsquat

Bench press

Deadlift

Chin ups (or lat-assisted chin downs)

Lying tricep extension

Bicep curls

I have just left a disorganized and chaotic season in life, and so it becomes time to strength train. My regret being that I lost this valuable lifestyle, I am eager to restore it-- alongside anybody who wants to join along for the summer.

Many years ago, I read the opening paragraph of "Starting Strength" and it has proven to be true to me, time and time again. The importance of physical strength cannot be overstated. 

The importance of exercise, movement and diet cannot be overstated. These foundational pillars of our very being bear real effects and consequences on our lives, moods, perspectives... and once you engage in an undertaking of fitness, you might very well find yourself transformed into a lifestyle you never thought possible. It's yours for the taking.

This blog is a limited time undertaking as I restart my training and reach a novice baseline. In other words, a chunk of summer.

I am technically, as they say, "in a cut." I lost a substantial amount of body fat last year, but in a stressful life season where I had been cutting corners (and sleep), I regained 10lbs over the spring.

The total goal of my cut at this point is about 25lbs, give or take, which will leave me skeletal but is a necessary part of the overarching journey (will discuss later, including DEXA scan).

The last two thoughts as we begin are these:

1. Why cut?

Most novice lifting programs encourage most people to gain. And it's true, to gain muscle mass you must gain fat (if natural).

What I find is that the deleterious effects of body fat are never taken into account by these people. Losing body fat will change your life fastest, is accomplished fastest, and has huge rewards acrossed every sphere, not to mention health. Plus, the average person is carrying more body fat than they realize.

The only writer I've seen share this conclusion with me is Jeff Nippard and I would point anyone to his recomp writing (NB: I don't subscribe to the "recomp" traditional term, i.e. gaining muscle while losing fat. When I use the word "recomp," I simply mean changing the body fat / muscle composition of the body).

Cutting will delay the acquiring of the holy grain, which is lean mass. It will stall lifts past a certain point. But if you are carrying a high amount of body fat, there is really no overstating the benefits of leanness in so many areas.

Lifting while cutting will preserve the lean mass and also, if you are returning from a layoff like I am, give time to rebuild your platform.

2. Rebuilding a platform

A habit, a lifestyle reconstructed. And the management of DOMS. I think it takes 2-3 weeks to really click back in and start an actual, grindy linear progression. I cheated here though-- I knew I would be restarting, and how awful DOMS can be, so I started this process early to save time.

The goal this summer is to rebuild the training lifestyle I love so dearly, and reach a baseline level of novice programming across the main 3 compound lifts and the accessories. I have also been doing a little bit of low impact cardio, to baseline some cardio fitness but I know far less about that than I do about lifting.

So let's get started and have a lifting summer!