THURSDAY
BW: 151.2 lbs
waist: 34"
Conditioning
Zone 2 Cardio
Incline treadmill w/16 lb vest
3.6 miles / 565 calories / 60 minutes
Max HR 150 / Average HR 134
Today’s session felt a little more of a struggle than usual. BP was higher than it’s been in awhile (I measure it every day). Also struggling with intraday snacking and that late night 250-300 calories fat ‘n’ carb bomb. Need to tighten things up.
1854 calories = P139 C144 F69. This included about 350 empty calories, as the kids call 'em.
Back 'n Biceps tomorrow. Curious to see if that horizontal row machine is still acting up.
3 Likes
FRIDAY
BW: 150.6 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Hypertrophy W2 D2
Warmup
Rower
1084m / 62 calories / 5:06 minutes
Felt a little sluggish on these. Had a feeling it might be a so-so session.
Supinated grip chins
BW x 10
+5 lbs x 8
+10 lbs x 6
+15 lbs x 4
+20 lbs x 9 (!)
+20 lbs x 6
Standing cable curls
27 1/2 lbs x 10
32 1/2 lbs x 8
37 1/2 lbs x 6
42 1/2 lbs x 4
47 1/2 lbs x 11
47 1/2 lbs x 10
Adding more weight here next week.
Chest-supported horizontal row (pronated grip)
70 lbs x 10
80 lbs x 8
90 lbs x 6
100 lbs x 4
110 lbs x 13
110 lbs x 10 1/2
More weight next week.
DB row
60 lbs x 10
65 lbs x 8
70 lbs x 6
75 lbs x 4
80 lbs x right arm 6, 9
80 lbs x left arm 9, 9
Not sure what happened in the first set, with my right side. Everything was fine in the second set. I am using straps, and I’m still getting used to them a bit. For the record, my right side is my weaker side.
100 minutes training time - but there was a good 10 minutes of chat with one of the trainers whom I’ve gotten to know over the past few months. Really starting to feel good about lifting again. Work sets were two sets to failure for all exercises.
Felt some pec DOMS today after doing those dips on Wednesday. I’ll take it. But I think that was because I was leaning into them a bit instead of keeping straight up and down and biasing the triceps more specifically. Whenever I do that, I tend to overdo the ROM and screw up my shoulder. I’ve done that twice in the past three years.
Going to do some rotator cuff work on my cardio days. Face pulls, external rotations, maybe banded presses. Encouraged by @flappinit 's experience with his shoulder to take my beat-up old deltoids out of the barn and into the pasture - just a little bit.
5 Likes
SATURDAY
BW: 150.4 lbs
waist: 33 3/4"
Conditioning
Zone 2 Cardio
Incline treadmill w/16 lb vest
3.6 miles / 565 calories / 60 minutes
Max HR 145 / Average HR 125
Average weekly weight was 151.34 lbs, my heaviest weekly average since the last week of July 2022. A lot of late night stress eating is to blame. Also not training jiu-jitsu, which both burns calories and gives me something to do other than eat.
4 Likes
SUNDAY
BW: 151.0 lbs
waist: 34"
Hypertrophy W2 D3
Warmup
Rower
1136m / 67 calories / 5:06 minutes
Tri’s and Thighs
Rope triceps pressdown
22 1/2 lbs x 10
27 1/2 lbs x 8
32 1/2 lbs x 6
37 1/2 lbs x 4
42 1/2 lbs x 15, 15
Overhead triceps extension
27 1/2 lbs x 10
37 1/2 lbs x 8
47 1/2 lbs x 7, 10
Ninja triceps stretch
60 seconds both side
Seated leg curls
30 lbs x 10
50 lbs x 8
70 lbs x 6
90 lbs x 4
100 lbs x 8 (!)
70 lbs x 20
Leg press
130 lbs x 10
150 lbs x 8
170 lbs x 6
190 lbs x 4
220 lbs x 21
Quad stretch
60 seconds both sides
75 minutes start to finish. Didn’t bother with a widowmaker on the leg press after surprising myself with 21 reps at 220 lbs. I was listening to Paul Carter and Dave Tate talk about how with certain exercises you can always get an extra rep. And leg press was one of those exercises. Adjustments will be made.
Right hamstring still too sore to really go after those leg curls. Focusing on the widowmaker set with that exercise.
5 Likes
MONDAY
BW: 151.6 lbs
waist: 34"
Hypertrophy W2 D4
Warmup
Rower
1131m / 66 calories / 5:05 minutes
Back ‘n’ Bi’s
Neutral grip chins
BW x 10
+5 lbs x 8
+10 lbs x 6
+15 lbs x 4
+20 lbs x 9 (!), 6
Rope hammer curl
32 1/2 lbs x 10
37 1/2 lbs x 8
42 1/2 lbs x 6
47 1/2 lbs x 4
52 1/2 lbs x 9, 9
Adding weight here.
Chest-supported row (pronated grip)
80 lbs x 10
90 lbs x 8
100 lbs x 6
110 lbs x 4
120 lbs x 9, 12
Adding weight here.
One-arm cable row
27 1/2 lbs x 10
37 1/2 lbs x 8
47 1/2 lbs x 6
57 1/2 lbs x 4
62 1/2 lbs 7, 6
85 minutes start to finish. Really enjoying the solitude of weight lifting right now. Locked in with my Deftones and I’m in my own private world.
I’ve stared sleeping with my FitBit. So far, my sleep scores are pretty lousy. Six hours last night and 5 3/4 hours the night before for scores of 73 and 64. Going to try and get that into the 80s. BP is better 134/88 this morning, though I’ve got a long way to go.
4 Likes
TUESDAY
BW: 151.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Conditioning
Zone 2 Cardio
Incline treadmill w/ 16 lb vest
3.6 miles / 566 calories / 60 minutes
Max HR 154 / Average HR 134
3 Likes
WEDNESDAY
BW: 152.2 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Hypertrophy W3 D1
Warmup
Rower
1128m / 66 calories / 5:05 minutes
Tri’s ‘n’ Thighs
Seated dip machine
145 lbs x 10
165 lbs x 8
185 lbs x 6
205 lbs x 4
215 lbs x 9, 8
Goal with the straight sets is to hit 4-8 reps. So I’ll probably go up another five pounds here next time.
DB PJR Pullover
40 lbs X 10
45 lbs x 8
50 lbs x 6
55 lbs x 4
60 lbs x 12, 12
Ninja triceps stretch both sides: 60 seconds
Adding another five pounds to these.
GHR
BW x 10
+15 lbs x 8
+25 lbs x 6
+35 lbs x 4
+55 lbs x 6, 6
Leg extensions
110 lbs x 10
130 lbs x 8
150 lbs x 6
170 lbs x 4
190 lbs x 10
110 lbs x 20 (!)
Quad stretch: 60 seconds each side
Will add weight to both the straight set and the widowmaker.
Had to wait for a few minutes to use the seated dip machine. Really don’t feel like I’m ready to do a lot of pure dips just yet - not with the working weight topping 65 lbs. Just over 90 minutes total training time.
4 Likes
THURSDAY
BW: 150.2 lbs
waist: 34"
Conditioning
Zone 1 Cardio
Incline treadmill w/16 lbs vest
3.6 miles / 482 calories / 60 minutes
Max HR 133 / Average HR 103
4 Likes
FRIDAY
BW: 150.8 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Hypertrophy W3 D2
Warmup
Rower
1136m / 67 calories / 5:06 minutes
Back ‘n’ Bi’s
Chins
BW x 10
+5 lbs x 8
+10 lbs x 6
+15 lbs x 4
+20 lbs x 9, 7
Cable curls
32 1/2 lbs x 10
37 1/2 lbs x 8
42 1/2 lbs x 6
47 1/2 lbs x 4
52 1/2 lbs x 9, 9
Adding weight here.
Chest-supported row
80 lbs x 10
90 lbs x 8
100 lbs x 6
110 lbs x 4
130 lbs x 9, 9
Adding weight here.
Rear delt machine
55 lbs x 10
70 lbs s 8
85 lbs x 6
100 lbs x 4
115 lbs x 12, 12 (!)
Forgot to bring my straps for DB rows, so I decided it was a good opportunity to get some extra upper back work in. I think I might make them a keeper since it’s a major weakness/emphasis area. Here’s a question: if you were going to do DB rows vs one-arm cable rows, which would you choose? Paul Carter would probably pick the latter, and I’m inclined to follow his lead. Adding weight.
82 minutes total training time. Perfect. Was feeling a little pressed for time, but was glad I just said to hell with it, this is my time, and did the workout as planned. Once again - and for more reasons than one - lifting weights is becoming my favorite part of the day.
I did spend some time looking in the mirror and really hating how much my midsection detracts from my overall physique. At 5’ 4", I need a waistline of 32" tops - which seems impossible from where I am right now. But that’s the goal.
4 Likes
SATURDAY
BW: 151.6 lbs
waist: 34"
Conditioning
Zone 2 Cardio
Incline treadmill w/16 lbs vest
3.6 miles / 544 calories / 60 minutes
Max HR 142 / Average HR 125
3 Likes
SUNDAY
BW: 152.2 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Hypertrophy W3 D3
Warmup
Rower
5:07 minutes / 1116m / 65 calories
Tri’s ‘n’ Thighs
Tricep pressdown
30 1/2 lbs x 10
35 1/2 lbs x 8
40 1/2 lbs x 6
45 1/2 lbs x 4
50 1/2 lbs x 10, 10
All of these weights were 3 lbs more than I’d intended. I didn’t check the machine before I started and didn’t notice that someone had left two 1 1/2 lb clips on. Still good work. Weight goes up.
Overhead triceps extension
32 1/2 lbs x 10
37 1/2 lbs x 8
42 1/2 lbs x 6
47 1/2 lbs x 4
52 1/2 lbs x 10, 8 (!)
Ninja triceps stretch
60 seconds per side
Seated leg curls
30 lbs x 10
50 lbs x 8
70 lbs x 6
90 lbs x 4
100 lbs x 10
80 lbs x 20
Still nursing a strained right hamstring. Limiting the amount of contraction I can make at the end of the rep.
Seated leg press
150 lbs x 10
170 lbs x 8
190 lbs x 6
210 lbs x 4
230 lbs x 20
Quad stretch
60 seconds per side
80 minutes start to finish. Heading into the final five weeks of the T-ransformation, I’m going into “prep” mode to shed as much fat as possible between now and the first of June. I’m thinking that given my goals, this might be the perfect time for the Velocity Diet. I may swap in a Quest bar instead of that fourth evening shake. But I’m impressed with T3hPwnisher’s experience (among others) and would love similar results.
3 Likes
MONDAY
BW: 151.8 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Hypertrophy W3 D4
Warmup
Rower
5:06 minutes / 1121m / 65 calories
Back ‘n’ Bi’s
Neutral grip chins
BW x 10
+5 lbs x 8
+10 lbs x 6
+15 lbs x 4
+20 lbs x 9, 8 (!)
Rope hammer curl
37 1/2 lbs x 10
42 1/2 lbs x 8
47 1/2 lbs x 6
52 1/2 lbs x 4
57 1/2 lbs x 7, 7
Chest-supported horizontal row
90 lbs x 10
100 lbs x 8
110 lbs x 6
120 lbs x 4
130 lbs x 9, 9
One-arm cable row
27 1/2 lbs x 10
37 1/2 lbs x 8
47 1/2 lbs x 6
57 1/2 lbs x 4
62 1/2 lbs x 7, 7
Day One of MVD (Modified Velocity Diet): 2 shakes + 2 HSMs. Low carb.
2080 calories = P 183 F 84 C 76. Also doing the 5/2 diet, so tomorrow I’ll take everything down to about 800 calories.
3 Likes
Had to bump up Monday macros after having a pre-bed Quest bar. Cookies ‘n’ Cream. Could have been worse.
TUESDAY
BW: 151.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Sleep/Score: 6 hrs 32 minutes / 74
BP: Red
Conditioning / Jiu-Jitsu
Zone 2 Cardio
Incline treadmill walk w/16 lb vest
3.6 miles / 544 calories / 60 minutes
Max HR 154 / Average HR 128
++ several hours later ++
Jiu-Jitsu Training
Focus: Toreando guard passing
16 minutes drills
16 minutes specific/positional training
12 minutes live training
Decided to not do post-training cardio this week and instead just focus on keeping calories at 50% of Monday’s level or lower. That comes out to about 1,000 calories for today. I’m at 757 calories right now, P98 F24 C32. Felt great during jiu-jitsu tonight after about a month away from the mat. Looking forward to how I’ll feel once I shed five or six pounds.
A lot of work on toreando passing tonight, which ironically was what I was focusing on in my pre-training film study. I prefer to smash pass. But in training it’s nice to do agility-based passing as much as possible. And toreando passing has been my huckleberry. Really nice karma to end up working on a few variations in tonight’s class.
One experience tonight I want to remember. The most common mistake in guard passing is failing to attack at an angle. I see this even at the highest levels of competitive sport jiu-jitsu. Attacking at an angle is key to toreando passing and the trick is to discover as many effective and efficient ways to create that angle as possible. I was impressed at how a simple jab step to the right against an opponent/training partner in seated guard, for one typical example, makes it easier to secure an inverted/palm up grip on the left (opponent/training partner’s right ankle) as they anticipate your movement with their own move to your right.
What I appreciated was being shown the guard pass and then wondering, how in the world do you get that kind of odd grip on the opposite side? Having spent an hour today studying toreando passing, I saw the power of creating the angle with a jab step after a few reps.
A large part of jiu-jitsu is figuring out how you learn jiu-jitsu. Even after 17 years, it still feels amazing when it works.
3 Likes
WEDNESDAY
BW: 149.0 lbs
waist: 33 1/4"
Sleep/Score: 5 hrs 53 min / 70
BP: Orange
Hypertrophy W4 D1
Warmup
Rower
5:07 minutes / 1101m / 63 calories
Really felt the affects of jiu-jitsu training last night and a short night of sleep during the warmup.
Tri’s ‘n’ Thighs
Seated dip machine
155 lbs x 8
175 lbs x 6
195 lbs x 4
220 lbs x 6, 5
DB PJR pullover
50 lbs x 8
55 lbs x 6
60 lbs x 4
65 lbs x 10 (!), 10
GHR
BW x 10
+15 lbs x 8
+25 lbs x 6
+35 lbs x 5
+55 lbs x 9 (!), 9
Leg extensions
150 lbs x 8
165 lbs x 6
185 lbs x 4
200 lbs x 8
120 lbs x 20
Should have done an initial set of 10 at 120.
93 minutes total training time. A little on the long side. Experimented with increasing rest periods to 3 minutes across the board - warmups and all - and removing one warmup set in the first half of the exercises that are largely complementary.
3 Likes
THURSDAY
BW: 147.9 lbs
waist: 33 1/4"
Jiu-Jitsu | Conditioning
Jiu-Jitsu Training
Focus: Guard passing
20 minutes drills
12 minutes specific/positional training
6 minutes live training
Zone 1 Cardio
Incline treadmill walk w/16 lb vest
2.7 miles / 362 calories / 45 minutes
Max HR 134 / Average HR 122
1624 calories = P118 F67 C82
Not the macros I’d intended, but my weight loss accelerated so I gave myself a little allowance. These are still fine macros for a “regular” diet day, though (as opposed the “2” day in a “5/2” diet, which should be about 30% less).
3 Likes
FRIDAY
BW: 146.8 lbss
waist: 33"
Sleep/Score: 6 hrs 5 min / 70
BP: Orange
Hypertrophy W4 D2
Warmup
Rower
5:07 minutes / 1109m / 64 calories
Back ‘n’ Bi’s
Chins
BW x 8
+10 lbs x 6
+15 lbs x 4
+20 lbs x 9, 9
Standing cable curl
37 1/2 lbs x 8
47 1/2 lbs x 6
52 1/2 lbs x 4
57 1/2 lbs x 7, 7
Chest-supported horizontal row
110 lbs x 8
120 lbs x 6
130 lbs x 4
140 lbs x 9, 9
Rear delt machine
85 lbs x 8
100 lbs x 6
115 lbs x 4
120 lbs x 9, 9
Total training time: 83 minutes. Sticking with three minutes rests between all sets and a little less overall volume by removing that initial 10-rep warmup set. Tweaked my left trap during jiu-jitsu last night and it is acting up a little today.
Back later with macros etc. Would love to come out of the weekend somewhere within a pound or two of how I entered it …
3 Likes
SATURDAY
BW: 147.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Conditioning
Zone 2 Cardio
Incline treadmill walk w/16 lb vest
3.6 miles / 543 calories / 60 minutes
Max HR 140 / Average HR 125
Mrs. Burien Top Team said I was looking “skinny” today. I’m learning to take that as a relative compliment. She tends not to like it when I drop below 148 lbs, so it’s incumbent on me not to look too hollowed-out when I am fortunate enough to start losing weight. Current goal is to lose at least a pound a week from now until the first of June. Weekly average this week was 149.48 lbs.
Two more sessions (Sunday and Monday) for this four-week arm specialization program. Will probably go into a conditioning-focused mesocycle or two between now and mid-June. There’s a local tournament on the 17th of June and I’m flattering myself by thinking that I might just be a part of it.
4 Likes
SATURDAY
BW: 147.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
BP: Orange
Conditioning
Zone 2 Cardio
Incline treadmill walk w/16 lb vest
3.6 miles / 543 calories / 60 minutes
Max HR 140 / Average HR 125
3 Likes
SUNDAY
BW: 150.2 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Sleep/Score: 5 hrs 56 minutes / 70
BP: Orange
Hypertrophy W4 D3
Warmup
Rower
5:07 minutes / 1114m / 64 calories
Tri’s ‘n’ Thighs
Triceps pressdowns
37 1/2 lbs x 8
42 1/2 lbs x 6
47 1/2 lbs x 4
52 1/2 lbs x 12, 12
Overhead triceps extension
37 1/2 lbs x 8
47 1/2 lbs x 6
57 1/2 lbs x 7, 6
Triceps ninja stretch
60 seconds both arms
Leg curls
45 lbs x 10
60 lbs x 8
80 lbs x 6
100 lbs x 4
120 lbs x 7
80 lbs x 20
Leg press
170 lbs x 10
190 lbs x 8
210 lbs x 6
230 lbs x 4
250 lbs x 20 (!)
Quad stretch
60 seconds each leg
2 Likes
MONDAY
BW: 150.6 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Sleep/Score: 5 hrs 57 minutes / 73
BP: Orange
Hypertrophy W4 D4
Warmup
Rower
5:07 minutes / 1078m / 61 calories
Back ‘n’ Bi’s
Neutral grip chins
BW x 8
+10 lbs x 6
+15 lbs x 4
+20 lbs x 9, 9 (!)
Rope hammer curls
37 1/2 lbs x 8
47 1/2 lbs x 6
52 1/2 lbs x 4
57 1/2 lbs x 9 (!), 9 (!)
Chest-supported horizontal row
120 lbs x 8
130 lbs x 6
140 lbs x 4
150 lbs x 9, 9
One-arm cable row
27 1/2 lbs x 10
37 1/2 lbs x 8
47 1/2 lbs x 6
57 1/2 lbs x 4
62 1/2 lbs x 9 (!), 9 (!)
Just under 90 minutes start to finish. Felt especially sluggish during the warmup, but rallied for some nice performances across the board. In fact, with PRs in all four exercises (i.e., double 8s or better), I’m going to do another week of this specialization to take advantage of the shot at some heavier weights.
3 Likes