The Avid Lifter's Post-COVID Return to the Iron

This story will serve as part of a series, where I will be be following along my journey of getting back into the gym, after COVID caused closures over the last 10 months. While getting back into the gym has been great, I noticed I was feeling lonely without my former roommate hitting the weights with me. So this journal will serve as my lifting companion. Over the next 10 weeks (the length of a quarter at a University) I will be trying to return to my past lifting glories.

To be clear, I'm no 5 star recruit to a Power 5 conference. I'm not challenging Brian Shaw's deadlift record. Hell, I'm likely not challenging the strongest guy in my gym. Which is exactly why I'm writing this. Physically, I didn't win any genetic lottery. I'm about 5 foot 8, 150 pounds when I go long periods without exercise. My problem isn't that I get overweight, no, I drop all my weight when I don't lift. When I get stronger, I'm a lean 165 pounds or so. Most people can relate to my physical limitations in some way.

This started off sounding like I belong at Muscle Beach, now I sound like a patient in an infirmary. Look, before COVID, I was getting ready to attempt my heaviest bench press in 4 years of lifting, 285 pounds. Not necessarily peanuts. My deadlift was 415, squat was 335. No, these aren't world-moving numbers, but you won't get to those lifts without a couple years of focused training. My goal has always been more powerlifting driven, simply a desire to get stronger on these main three lifts. While this is still the goal, a good amount of focus will also be placed on getting the physique I'm looking for.

When it comes to "the look" I want to achieve, I don't necessarily go for classic bodybuilding standards. I think the wide V shaped torso is quite the feat, but not optimal for lifting heavy. I also don't think I can achieve the typical powerlifting physique either (boy do I get jealous of that mass), plus I want abs. What can I say, I get greedy sometimes. I want a thick back (especially some Tom Hardy traps), Popeye forearms, bowling ball shoulders, and Bo Jackson thighs. Simple. Frankly, I just sort of want to look like a beast, thicker than a guy who works on his abs all day, but leaner than a guy who eats a dozen eggs for breakfast. Truly the main goal is the PR's, the physique will be a bonus.

So the goals have been defined, the challenge has been set, the gauntlet has been thrown down. I will be updating this story bi-weekly, so feel free to tag along. I promise to keep it fun, talk about what I'm focused on for the week, and give some tips along the way. This is also a writing exercise challenge for me. Now that I'm out of school, its up to me to work on my craft. Hopefully we see some writing gainz along the way.