lumirue

Year of Bulk Progress - Month 5/12

Published: May 24th 2024, 8:18:12 pm

The month before this one I was revisiting form, so I dropped back a lot of my weights and worked my way back up. This month, I have been nailing my previous maxes with new form, or hitting new maxes. It feels amazing! I'm gaining weight a little faster than intended, but I'll take it with the new strength :) I'm feeling good, and I can say after five months of working with the bar I think I'm starting to figure it out. It's funny, I still feel like a beginner!

Not sure if these show it, but I feel like I'm seeing the gains in my biceps. I'm also getting better at flexing (hitting the lat spread is hard!). Next: focusing on glutes and grip strength. My glutes seem to be holding my squats back, so I am adding occasional accessories. I noticed that after taking one of the gym owners up on doing a deadlift challenge and getting a little coaching from him. He pointed out that I come off the floor ez, but when I need glute activation, I struggle. So today I blasted them, and I'll keep at it to see how that goes for me! My grip strength also holds me back on my deadlifts. The deadlift is probably my biggest lift I could improve on, I don't get why everyone loves it. So I'll be giving my grip strength a little more attention...which means a bigger butt and forearms, too. It does look like I could be filling out these lifting shorts a little more :)

I'm so excited for this upcoming month. We are nearly halfway through this year of bulking and I think I'm seeing some progress! :) ...maybe, haha

Most recent lifting numbers:

Barbell squat: 165lbs - 5 sets of 5
Barbell Bench Press: 90lbs - 5 sets of 5
Bent-Over Barbell Rows : 90lbs - 5 sets of 5
Barbell Shoulder Press: 62lbs - 3 sets of 5, then two more sets to failure (had to drop weights)
Barbell Deadlift: 155lb 1 set of 5

Body weight: 127 lbs