About a decade ago (when I was in my early twenties), I took weightlifting moderately seriously for a period of about a year. During that time, I was overweight and primarily focused on losing weight, so I never had a prolonged period of time spent weight training while eating in a caloric surplus (and most of my time was spent in at least a moderate deficit, in fact). After sustaining an injury that kept me out of the gym for a while, I fell off the wagon.

My PRs for the Big Three Lifts were as follows (at a bodyweight of around 200 lbs):

Squat: 245 lbs for 5 reps = 276 lbs 1-Rep Max (1.38x BW)

Bench press: 225 lbs for 5 reps = 253 lbs 1-Rep Max (1.265x BW)

Deadlift: 265 lbs for 5 reps = 298 lbs 1-Rep Max (1.49x BW)

My interest in weightlifting has waxed and waned in the years since, but because a renewal in my interest in fitness always coincides with my bodyweight peaking, I have never bulked (and so have never gotten the advantage of weight training with a caloric surplus).

Well, this year will mark the first time. I'm going to be finishing up a cut next month, and I will begin my first ever bulk in July. My tentative plan is to gain about 15 lbs over the course of 4 months or so. This will probably have me going from around 165 lbs or so up to around 180 lbs or so.

I will be weight training for the entire duration, hopefully averaging 3-4 workouts per week. I will not specifically be focusing on the Big 3 Lifts, but they will almost certainly feature prominently.

My current lifts (2024-05-10) are as follows:

Squat: 150 lbs for 6 reps = 174 lbs 1-Rep Max (versus 276 all-time)

Bench press: 150 lbs for 9 reps = 193 lbs 1-Rep Max (versus 253 all-time)

Deadlift: 205 lbs for 6 reps = 238 lbs 1-Rep Max (versus 298 all-time)

Note that these numbers might plausibly increase or decrease before the beginning of my bulk, depending on how the rest of my cut goes. I will provide an update as soon as my cut ends.

Resolves to YES if, before the end of 2024, I complete at least one set for each of the Big 3 Lifts which converts to a 1-Rep Max which is higher than my historical 1-Rep Max PR for that lift.

Resolves to NO otherwise.

I will be participating in the market, but I will only buy YES shares and I will never sell them. I will answer questions about my progress upon request (and I anticipate that I will probably provide regular updates regardless).

Progress:

Format (all in lbs) = Body weight // Squat 1RM (x bodyweight) // Bench 1RM (xBW) // Deadlift 1RM (xBW)

2024-07-01: 168.2 // 156.8 (0.93x) // 167.6 (1.00x) // 208.2 (1.24x)

2024-07-08: 171.0 // 193.4 (1.13x) // 193.4 (1.13x) // 234.0 (1.37x)

2024-07-15: 172.4 // 193.4 (1.12x) // 200.1 (1.16x) // 246.0 (1.43x)

[Hiatus]