Merkley's guide to pretend lifting

[Merkley]

193! Nice buddy! Great job on those ridiculous 12's on squats!

Correction! 192.4! Muh haw haw haw

...and those squats were tough, won't lie

[ShawnJ]

Awesome weight loss bud!

[piperdown]

193! Nice buddy! Great job on those ridiculous 12's on squats!

Correction! 192.4! Muh haw haw haw

...and those squats were tough, won't lie

Damn! I better get my ass in gear before you catch me! 

[Merkley]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

 So yesterday wrapped up my 12 week cut. In that time I had managed going from 230 lbs to 192.4 lbs, giving me an overall of 37.6 lbs loss.

 As happy as I am with these numbers....I do see them for what they are, numbers. I am still very dissatisfied with my physique. Seeing the side by side comparison photos was a tough pill to swallow. It put into perspective how far off the rails I went and how far I still have to go. I'm now reassessing my projected "end weight". I did a quick projection of 180 and I would have a far more appealing physique...however based off the new photos I have just taken I'm thinking my initial projections are way off and that it may take me to the 160's before I see what it is I'm looking for.

 So where do I go from here?

 Well, I'm going to reverse diet for the next 3 weeks essentially adding back in everything I had taken out (all in a controlled manner of course). From there I'm going to cut for another 12 weeks.

 Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

 

[Merkley]

Monday Bench

Barx20
135x5
185x3
235x3
235x3
235x3
255x3

 Push ups x 100 (20x5)

 This was harder than I would like to admit. It got ugly near the end, but I got it done and thats what matters.

[piperdown]

Solid bench and those push ups had to be a final burn/pump.

Ronn, you ain't alone in the weight assessment. I'm thinking to really see a difference I'll need to be lower 170s. Kind of a slap/wake up call when you critically assess where you are at, AFTER losing a bunch of weight.
I know I was pretty disappointed when I dropped weight about 4-5 years ago, going from 225ish (or so) all the way down to 180. Thought I'd look decent....nope, just super skinny with a lot of body fat still there.

I think a reverse diet will help a lot. Over 3 weeks you should drop another couple of pounds until you hit maintenance. Have you thought about holding at maintenance for 2 weeks after? I've heard, but not tried, that it helps reset hormones and metabolism (<-simplified explanation). 2 extra weeks, if it helps, it's much in the scheme of things, gives you a nice break mentally and physically, and then you can jump into another cut from there.
Just some thoughts.

Oh, and hella good job on the weight loss!!

[Merkley]

Solid bench and those push ups had to be a final burn/pump.

Ronn, you ain't alone in the weight assessment. I'm thinking to really see a difference I'll need to be lower 170s. Kind of a slap/wake up call when you critically assess where you are at, AFTER losing a bunch of weight.
I know I was pretty disappointed when I dropped weight about 4-5 years ago, going from 225ish (or so) all the way down to 180. Thought I'd look decent....nope, just super skinny with a lot of body fat still there.

I think a reverse diet will help a lot. Over 3 weeks you should drop another couple of pounds until you hit maintenance. Have you thought about holding at maintenance for 2 weeks after? I've heard, but not tried, that it helps reset hormones and metabolism (<-simplified explanation). 2 extra weeks, if it helps, it's much in the scheme of things, gives you a nice break mentally and physically, and then you can jump into another cut from there.
Just some thoughts.

Oh, and hella good job on the weight loss!!

 I have considered maintaining at a certain point for hormonal and metabolism purposes. Though at this point I'm going to reverse diet and cut again just one more time and most likely I will go down that path.

 Thanks

[Merkley]

So I have returned from the Hellcation that was my sisters wedding. All in all things turned out far better than I originally anticipated. I truly had expected the absolute worst but was pleasantly surprised that all ended well on the western front so to speak.

 I arrived home last night and I'm using today to try and recoup, seriously I need it.

 During my time in Dryden there wasn't one day that went by that weren't in the truck travelling for anything less than a few hours. Plus dealing with the rest of the wedding mumbo jumbo, etc, etc, etc. It made for a VERY busy and VERY stressful time, though as I said far better than I had anticipated.

 It was a damned shame I didn't have the chance to get together with anyone for coffee while I was there. Hopefully I can set up another trip back home where we have more time to actually relax!

 In any case, weight is solid! I haven't gained any weight back at all. Then again I didn't eat a whole lot while away.

 I'll spare you all the boring ass details, and the good ones as well. If you want to know more of my (mis)adventures in Dryden you can find them on my IG account @ronnmerkpowerlifter

 Have a great day everyone!

 

 

 

[Merkley]

So Mrs.M and I decided to go on a spur of the moment getaway.

 We jumped in the car on Friday and headed towards Sauble Beach,ON on an adventure to see these caribbean type beaches we have heard so much from our clients. This is roughly a 4 hour drive give or take. We decided to take the roads less traveled since this was just as much about the drive as it was the destination. So we drove through MANY of the small towns between Oakville and Sauble Beach. What a nice drive, all single lane 80 km roads. It was as if I was back in my home town again, truly a relaxing drive and visually appealing.

 Since all the hotels in and around the Sauble Beach area are much overpriced we decided to stay in Hanover, ON (which is an hour from Sauble Beach). We stayed in what had to be the NICEST hotel room I have ever stayed in and for only $130/night. I was beside myself! Mrs. M and I are already talking about staying there again during the next long weekend. So we stayed the night in Hanover and took off to Sauble Beach the next morning.

 I'm going to fast forward a little.

 Sauble Beach = overcrowded beach, super expensive parking, mediocre beach at best, and move of the town is really run down.

 So we drove to South Hampton

 South Hampton = Amazing beach, very quiet, parking was free, and overall a wonderful little town, highly recommend!

 From there we took a different route back to Oakville and visited a bunch more little towns.

 All in all in a day and half I spent at the least 10 hours driving. Normally I despise this kind of traveling....but it wasn't so bad this time around.

 Today is a tidy up and kinda relax day....back to work tomorrow, fuck. Also on today's roster has been resume/cover letter building, job hunting, and business marketing research!

 Yeah, I'm looking for a new job. I've had enough of what I am doing and it's time to move onto different pastures.

 In any case, have a great day everyone!!!!
 

[ShawnJ]

Sounds like a couple nice getaways bud. Excellent work on maintaining the weight loss, that's a huge victory!

[Merkley]

Sounds like a couple nice getaways bud. Excellent work on maintaining the weight loss, that's a huge victory!

 It was fantastic!!! Its a damned shame I wasn't about to meet up with you when I was Thunder Bay. I was hoping to either grab coffee, train, or perhaps both. As soon I as I landed we hit the ground running. I was delayed by 2 hours (which I'm sure you seen on IG) and that put us back huge. We had to be in Vermilion Bay by 6 that night so we could get food for my sisters wedding and have it back into Dryden at the Ukrainian hall.

 We didn't get that all said and done until 12 am- 1 am in the morning.

 On the way back it was no different unfortunately.

 Hopefully the next time I head back that way we can get together!!

[ShawnJ]

Sounds like a couple nice getaways bud. Excellent work on maintaining the weight loss, that's a huge victory!

 It was fantastic!!! Its a damned shame I wasn't about to meet up with you when I was Thunder Bay. I was hoping to either grab coffee, train, or perhaps both. As soon I as I landed we hit the ground running. I was delayed by 2 hours (which I'm sure you seen on IG) and that put us back huge. We had to be in Vermilion Bay by 6 that night so we could get food for my sisters wedding and have it back into Dryden at the Ukrainian hall.

 We didn't get that all said and done until 12 am- 1 am in the morning.

 On the way back it was no different unfortunately.

 Hopefully the next time I head back that way we can get together!!

Haha no worries, my summer has been pretty busy too, sounds like u had a full plate. Next time we will try to get something in!

[Merkley]

Man....it feels like forever since I seen the inside of a gym!

 Well today the stars aligned and I was able to get in and get some shit done. I'm quite certain from here on out I will be back full time (this is until another vacation or the like).

 ~ :satan:666 D34DZ ~

 315x6
 315x6
 315x6



 

[piperdown]

^^ nice welcome back session 
Although you haven't been gone all that long......

[Merkley]

Saturday's Squats

 I spent my Saturday session working on form and rehabbing my left shoulder (no idea what I did, all I know is the shoulder feels loose and wants to dislocate frequently).

 Hangs (40 sec)
 Face Pulls (10)
 Dislocates (I don't know the proper name for these) (10)
 Some strange banded version of a lateral raise but totally not at the same time (10)
 Squats (20)
 
 x 4

 I decided to run it all like a small circuit, that way I was being productive with my down time.