I have a Promax "Double Fudge Brownie" bar. Total sugar bomb but ohhh mannn it tastes so good!

Meh, if there is any time that extra sugars in your diet are actually beneficial, it's pre- and post-workout. I'm sure you'll be fine.

I eat about an hour before I go to the gym, to ward off the hungries & the blahs.

Nice workout this morning! Most of the exercises were new to me: single leg back extensions, cable face pulls, single-arm lat pulls, cable rotations (obliques) [done these before], plank walk-ups. It's fun to do something different!

Time to face the music!

I put a ticker in my signature and I'm going to be treating this bulking just as I've treated my weight loss—daily weighing with charts and graphs! Yayyyy!

Doing some math I figured that I was eating at a deficit of around 200 calories a day to get down to 107. I think my problem was on the weekends. Sometimes I would be way under because I would go off to my fiance's house where his family only eats processed crap and there is literally nothing to eat (I just don't want the crap anymore). I've combatted this by bringing my own food recently, but I think I'm going to just eat more during the week to offset my lower weekends because I don't always remember to eat my snacks.

Shooting for 2300-2500 calories average per day right now, which is what I've calculated to be maintenance for 120lbs, but I'm probably going to need more. We'll see how it goes.

Good luck with the gains, Sontaikle. Sounds like it's just as challenging as taking it off!

I wish I had something to report, but I've only had time for crossfit workouts, and other than some DB push presses in the workout yesterday, it's all been bodyweight stuff. Today was a bleeping lot of air squats and 15 rope climbs total. It took me forever to finish, but I got all the rope climbs, and surprisingly, my grip held up the whole time...usually that's my weakest link on stuff like that!

I've been working on putting together a strength program for myself. Specifically, I'm looking to break 300# on my deadlift, and lift the 200# atlas stone (which seems to be stuck to the floor with glue right now, lol), and I'd like to be able to dip without an assistance band. So, I just need to get stronger, attack the weak links, shake things up a bit. Hoping to get started on that this week. Finding quiet time for planning a program has been hard to come by lately!

sontaikle: Go go, sontaikle, go! Nom nom!

jamsk8r: Awesome goals- good luck! I love db push presses- did some today, in fact.

Did my lifting today. One-arm dumbbell snatch, step-ups (hadn't done these since Feb-- used 30-lb dumbbells today, woot!), db push presses, diamond push-ups (regular & decline pushups are not difficult for me anymore except in large volume, but these are still HARD), windshield wipers, 3-point plank.

Did a new workout finisher afterward: 10 pushups & 10 jump squats, rest briefly, 9 pushups & 9 jump squats, etc, repeat down to 1 & 1. Oof! I was panting by the end.

Nice workout, Sumire. Love the finisher!

Finally, I have some lifting to report, lol. We did max farmer's walks yesterday, and I PR'd my farmers with 155# per hand, 50M before I dropped it on the turn, then 2 more picks to complete the 100 meter course. Thought my eyeballs would pop out of my head trying to pick those things off the floor, though.

This morning I went in and did some rack pulls..kept it pretty light since it was my first time doing them, so I just tried to get the movement down...it was weird trying to start in the (almost) middle of a deadlift. Tried to do some powercleans heavy, but was just wiped from the last few days, so ended up just doing a few sets of 2 and calling it good. My trainer said he'd show me how to do a wide-stance box squat, since I want to learn those, and thought it would be a nice change of pace lift for me to use for strength training for a while. I'm planning to use that, power cleans, and rack pulls, and will see if I can do a linear progression, starting a little lighter and just try to add weight each week.

As promised I increased all my weights to aim for 5-8 reps instead of 8-10. Kicked my ***. Feels good!

jamsk8r: Holy crap! I can't even imagine the level of forearm cramping. I need to figure out some way of doing farmer's walks at my gym, &/or need to be doing other grip work. Today I only managed 3 reps at 135lbs for my Romanian deadlifts. My legs were still good to go for more reps, but my grip was giving out. I refuse to resort to straps, so I've gotta get a handle on this.

How long have you been lifting? (I hope to have your prodigious strength someday--give me a timetable here. )

krampus: Nice! Love me some 5 rep sets.

K, nice job on the heavier weights!

S, I spent about a year lifting on my own, then have been with my trainer Kurtis at this gym since March 2009. For what seemed like forEVER, Kurtis wouldn't let me lift heavy, because he's a mother hen (and a good trainer, but at the time it drove be crazy!)...and my form was crap, mainly because my back chain was so weak...but once my form was good enough (not perfect, but safe) on a lift, he'd let me do a little more. Now, of course, there are days when I wish I had a good excuse not to lift as heavy as possible, lol. As a reference, I started with a 150# 1RM conventional deadlift in 2009, now it's 280. Overhead is not my strongest area, but my strict overhead (standing military?) press went from 65# to 100#.

For deadlifts, are you using a mixed grip? (One hand overhand grip, one underhand.) That will keep the bar from rolling on you and let you lift heavier for your work sets. Also, a little chalk or something to keep your hands dry will give a little grip assist, though I know some gyms don't allow chalk.

If your gym allows no chalk, you may have to resort to straps for some exercises, like DB step-ups or squats, because on things like that, where your goal is to work the back and/or legs, you'll reach a point where you either have to change lifts (like going to a mixed grip DL with a barbell or a back squat), or you need some grip assistance to be able to hold onto enough weight to give your back and/or legs the best workout possible. I'm not advocating becoming one of those strap addicts...you see some people sometimes that think they need straps for pull-ups and cleans and every other frigging thing, lol. So, yes, avoid straps as much as possible, and if you can use chalk you can avoid them almost indefinitely, but if you're stuck in a shiny gym that allows no chalk, or are doing very heavy DB work for legs/back, don't let grip keep you from progressing...just do grip work about 3 days a week once you've finished lifting (like do 2 attempts at a max hang from pull-up bars, or a max hold deadlift with a double overhand grip, if you get 2 attempts of a minute or more each, up the barbell weight...it's good to do this either with bumper plates and an oly platform, or in power rack with the pins set just about 2 inches below the bar at the top of your deadlift, you want to shoot for a weight that really hurts and makes you fight to get past 30 seconds, and eventually rips the bar from your cold, dead fingers, lol...this hurts but will help grip immensely...work up to a minute each set then add 5 or 10 lbs), and also work grip into your routines (do pull-ups, chins; do farmers walks with DBs or kettlebells...25 or 35# each hand and take a walk...you'd be surprised how quickly this starts to work your grip; do clean grip (double overhand) deadlifts for as long as you can, then switch to mixed grip to finish your deadlifts).

Ooh, that got wordy, sorry, but I hope it helps! I spent most of yesterday swinging a hand pick and pulling weeds, another good grip workout, lol. Will be hitting the gym this morning for some strongman something...probably stones, maybe something overhead since it's been a while since I did log press or axle clean and press. I've started doing some triceps specific work, too, since those are a weak point for me, and even doing all the functional movement stuff isn't helping them catch up.

Thanks for the back story, jamsk8r. Very inspiring. I hope to work with a good strength coach eventually. Finances don't permit now, but hopefully in a year or two.

I use a mixed grip for my conventional deads, but I was doing double overhand for my RDLs, which doesn't make a ton of sense, I guess. I was using chalk (never bothered to check & make sure it's technically allowed at my gym, since I've seen a couple of guys using it before-- assumptions ). I don't do a lot of heavy dumbbell work; rows and single-leg RDLs are about as close as I get-- my forearms get a bit crampy, but I can make it through my sets. But I suppose I may get to a point where I'll capitulate & do straps... At any rate, it is definitely an issue with my deadlifts, & gets to be an issue if I do a lot of chin-up work in one session.

Love the ideas for grip work, especially the max hold deadlift! I did max hangs for a while, but I confess I haven't done them consistently lately. Thanks so much for your help. I'm inspired to be a better, grippier gal.

Did (conventional) deadlifts for the first time in about a couple of months today. I used the weight I was at back then (140 lbs) but only managed 3 reps on my first 2 sets (I was doing 5-6 back then). Felt I just couldn't do any more without my form breaking down. Then I told myself to SUCK IT UP and that I could do better, and behold, 6 beautiful reps on my last set. I forget sometimes how much of this is mental, and I think maybe more so for me when I'm dieting down.

Did a max hold deadlift in the power rack at the end of my workout and OW EFF OW!

ROFL! I know, I KNOW! Hurts like a mutha, but it really helped improve my grip. I also know about not being able to afford a trainer. The only reason I have trainers is because they offered me a position on the gym cleaning crew, so I trade gym cleaning for training.

Speaking of deadlifts and pain, my friend and I did this workout today:
-10 rounds for time of-
10 hand-release push-ups (HR is just chest to floor, pick up hands to show you're really on the floor..I actually think these are easier than normal chest to floor push-ups, but whatever!)
sprint about 50 meters (other end of our gym)
5 fat-bar deadlifts 263 for men/163# for women
sprint back
5 handstand push-ups (I subbed 15 abmat situps here, as I am recovering from shoulder/biceps tendon issues and refuse to jack it up again!)
sprint again
10 kettlebell swings 70 for men (or seventy-whatever that size is, lol), 53# for women
sprint back

By round 2 I'm thinking "TEN rounds?!" But, we got it done. 31:16 of stupidity for me. The heavy KB swings were the worst, because you just did NOT want to set that thing down once you got it moving.

Hahaha, jamsk8r, you're straight-up crazy. I'm sure that would've taken me all day.

In other news, I dropped the end of a barbell on my big toe yesterday as I was re-racking after my deadlifts. Hurt like a son of a gun. But I'm quite sure this morning that it's not broken, just contused. Gonna tape it & force myself to rest it (nothing makes me want a nice, long walk more than knowing I shouldn't do it ). Icing also. I'm kind of amazed, given what a klutz I am, that the sum total of my stupid stunts in the gym for the last 2 years is falling off a treadmill once, thwacking myself in the chin with a barbell during a push press once, and this. Not bad.

The toe is fine! Hallelujah. Great workout this morning: 1-arm db snatches, barbell squats, pistol squats, decline pushups, db push press, cable reverse wood chops, plank walkups, followed by some interval cardio (sets of burpees).

Today's my birthday-- the big 3-0! Feeling quite pleased at the fact that I'm in the best shape of my life. Ditching the deficit today to feed my muscles!