Cut Up or Shut Up

Training Training Logs
1

Hey T-Nation-ers,

My name is Piny. I like to lift. I picked up my first weight set at the age of 5 after I saw Schwarzenegger in Predator and begged my father to buy me a weight set, and, in all of his infinite wisdom, he bought me a ten pound dumbell because he knew i was going to quit lifting once i picked it up. He was right, and those 10 lbs stood unmoved in the corner of my room for about 11 years.

I started lifting seriously after my first day of football camp in high school, where, on our first “live” drill, I got placed neatly on my ass by a tiny, pimply faced kid which served as my motivation to get bigger and stronger through the next year. At the time, i weighed about 130 lbs and, after many plates of rice, chicken, and roughage, put on about 30 lbs within that year, while participating in other sports including wrestling and track. My final year of high school, i weighed in, at my heaviest at a whopping 225 lbs. Since we’re talking numbers right now, it would be a good time to tell my current stats.

Height: 5’9"
Weight: 203
BF%: the last time i checked, i was around 15%
Biceps: 16"
waist: 34"
thighs: 27"
Calves: 17.5"
Neck: 16"
updated…note: used electrical cord plus ruler to acquire measurements, slight discrepancy may exist. will update again when i get a real tape measure.

Back to the story…I left high school sports with a couple of injuries, one requiring surgery (shoulder) but i made it out alive. I entered college, did a little combat sports (karate, judo, boxing) ran a couple charity running meets and finished college. With a Bachelors of Science in Psych. Now I’m here writing this log.

My main goal is to cut weight. but accountability has been my weakest point until now. I’m going to keep this log as mainly a diet log and a lifting log.

I haven’t really followed any specific program since i started lifting but progressive resistance was something that came as a natural concept to me and throughout my lifting experiences, I’ve found a couple of different ways to get my numbers up and since we’re on the numbers topic I think now is a good time to tell about my lifts…

BP: 265X3
MP: 205x3
DL: 445X2
Squat:405X5
Pullups: 80X3
Powerclean: 225X5

Other than getting leaner, I’d like to keep my numbers the same or gain a couple of plates here and there. If i had things my way, by the end of this log, i’d like my lifts to look a little like this:

BP: 315 for reps
MP: 265
DL: 560
Squat: 500
Pullups: 100X10
Powerclean: 265X5

I was always told to aim high so there’s that. My next lifting sesh is tonight so i’ll keep everyone updated on that. Oh and here’s what i ate the entire day…

3 eggs and 1/2 cup oatmeal + H20

I just got done reading Generation Kill and there was this one part where one of the dudes just shoved a mouthful of instant coffee in his mouth and chewed. Being the impressionable young lad that I am, I followed suit and found out it tasted like crap. Drank 2 cups of water afterwards. Seems more effective than a normal cup of coffee.

I’m off to lift. I just bought a pair of lifting straps so I’ll test those out on the deadlift today. I"m shooting for 480 or if i’m still feeling the coffee high, then i’ll try for 500.

5/28/2014 Update

Arms:17.5"
Calves: 18.75"
Thighs: 29"
Neck: 16.5"
Waist: 37"

Last time i checked i was around 210 lbs.

I still haven’t achieved the lifting goals but i am close to the BP, DL and PowerClean goals. I actually haven’t tried cleaning but i’m sure it would be nothing to get 265 up there.

2

Hey all, last night’s deadlift session was pretty sweet to say the least. I won’t count it as a PR since i used my lifting straps but here’s how the workout went…

Tuminello submission complex x4

Deadlift:

225x5
315x5
405x3
455x1
475x1 PR
315x7

Had to cut it a little short but the deadlifts felt good. Beforehand I had just read a Jim Wendler article saying that PR’s shouldn’t have perfect form so I don’t feel to ashamed that my back rounded a little on the last heavy lift. Anyways, I changed my mind and I think i’ll count it as a PR but because of that, I’m going on a mission to improve my grip strength so i can ditch the straps.

Next workout is back, chest and core…and i’ll throw some sprints here and there for good measure since i’m not feeling too bad after those deadlifts. Until then…

3

This was how yesterday looked as far as working out and fuel

Meal 1
3 whole eggs
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 fish oil

Pre workout: can of arizona iced tea

-Barbell complex @110lbs for 4 sets
5reps each

Deadlift
Powerclean
Front squat
Push press
Back squat

Incline press
65x7
Decline Press
70x7
Repeat for 4 sets
( edit ) I meant Flat presses instead of decline and those weights are dumbells for each hand…
Burpee pullup combo
10 reps for 3 sets
finish each set with hanging oblique side raises(???) 14 reps each side

Felt kind of drained so before i ran sprints i ate 3 tiny plums, then:

50 yard hill sprints x 14

Meal 2

1 chicken thigh, 3 carrots 1 onions rosemary
2 fish oil caps

smelled good but didn’t taste the best, surprising since i hadn’t eaten since the morning. Despite the lack of fuel, my workout seemed okay, must have been all the sugar from the tea.

The next workout, i’ll be focusing on back since I didn’t hit it as hard yesterday and maybe throw a little bit of squats in the mix just for shits. After that, I’ll go for a run at moderate pace for 2-3 miles.

4

Hey all. Typing from my phone so we’ll keep it short. Fuel for today looked like this:

Indian buffet!

2 plates of chicken and lamb…1 chapati for carbs and some chickpeas

Holy shit, this was good. If you hung around me for a while, you would learn that my weaknesses are Indian food, chicken and beer, and chips of any kind. Anyways I left that place smelling pretty interesting so after 4 hours of working at my computer, I shook off my deliciousness-induced trance and headed to the gym.

leg press
360x10x2

Squats
225x 10
315x21 ( not a typo, watched a tom platz squat vid and was inspired)
405x5
315x7 with a narrow stance a la el aguila de oro… these hit my quads differently, will do more next squat day.
Front squat
225x5

OH press supersetted with bent over rows
135x7 then 225x 7
Repeat 5x with 60 sec rest between sets

Abs:
Hanging straight leg raises
10x supersetted with:
landmines
45x 10 each side.

Repeat 3 x with 60 sec rest in between…

Stair sprints plus 50 yard run (run up stairs, run 50 yards, walk back down stairs)
For 10 sets.

Workout was mediocre, could have pushed harder and had more volume for back like i was planning. Tomorrow, I will ingest instant coffee before my workout and see if that helps.

Fuel…

When I got home my girl brought me chips and guac and salsa…tried to hold back so I just drank the salsa…
Dinner consisted of

1 chicken thigh
1 broccoli crown
2 carrots and
chips and salsa and guac…Couldn’t resist any longer, they’re my kryptonite.
2 fish oil and
1 cup green tea

Tomorrow ill hit back, for real this time, homie. Until then, stay golden, tnationers. Gnight

5

Okay, yesterday was a little different.
8/4/2011

because i’m feeling like i’m about to plateau again as far as weight loss, i’m going to throw in some fasted cardio in the morning and see how that works. Today’s morning workout

20 minutes of shadowboxing alternating every three minutes with 5 lb dumbells in hand.

Really hard stuff since i haven’t done this in a while.

Fuel:

1 chicken thigh
1/4 cup brown rice
carrots
green tea

The next workout made me it’s bitch.

90lbs

RDLx6
clean front squat push press combo x 6
reverse lungex6 each side

rest 45 sec.
repeat for 6 sets.

then “kroc” rows

110lbsx21 each side

pretty spent after this one so I bounced and ate:

1 chicken thigh
brown rice
5 whole eggs
green tea.
2 fish oil caps.

8/5/2011

Early morning cardio was 20 mins on elliptical a

threw in
hanging straight leg raises x10
hanging side oblique raises x9

repeat 3x

My body right now is a little bit sore and my knees are getting creaky and painful. I’ll listen to it and give it a rest as far as tonight goes…Happy friday to all you T-Nationers

6

8/6/2011

seeing some progress as far as morning workouts are concerned. Serratus can be seen right now and the outline of my entire abdominal region as well. will keep it up. today’s workout went like this:

21 mins elliptical

mini-circuit of

curls
45lbsx10

skull crushers
60lbsx10

repeat 3x

then

SOHP
90lbsx10

rear delt raises
25x10

repeat 3x

luggage carries for obliques(??)
155lbsx10

dips
BWx14

repeat 3x

easy workout today. will do a pseuodo fartlek interval run tonight for about 1.5 miles

7

fuel for today so far was

1/4 cup brown rice
5 eggs
green tea
2 fish oil

after workout.

tonight’s meal is going to be

1/4 cup brown rice
1 chicken thigh
1 brocolli crown
1 tomato.
green tea.
fish oil.

8

8/7/2011

So today is Sunday, which is my day off from working out but I decided to throw in another interval run because it felt good to finally run again after straining my hamstring about 4 weeks ago. anyway fuel for today looked like this:

1 package of bacon
2 eggs
green tea

for lunch/dinner

beef, brown rice
broccoli, onions, carrots, tomatoes
all thrown in pot and stewed for 3 hrs.

ate 1/2 bowl pre-run and 1 bowl post-run

then my run:
1.5~ miles total
20 sec sprint 30 sec rest
30 sec sprint 40 sec rest
40 sec sprint 60 sec rest
50 sec sprint 120 sec rest
60 sec sprint 120 sec rest
50 sec sprint 90 sec rest
40 sec sprint 60 sec rest
30 sec sprint 30 sec rest
20 sec sprint 30 sec rest
10 sec sprint cool down 4 mins

hamstring (not the one I pulled) felt tight, foam roll tomorrow and will implement my old workout protocol…
1 heavy compound lift plus 3 circuits each consisting of 3-4 exercises each. then another interval run.

idk whether to take out complexes or not. will see how I feel tomorrow

9

Hey all, hope everyone had a good Monday. Today was pretty sweet cuz of news not concerning the gym so playing the iron game today was just icing on the cake…mmm cake…which conveniently leads me into fuel for today:

Breakfast:

1/2 cup oats
3 eggs

Pre-workout

1/2 bowl of last nights leftover stew…mmmmmmmm
plus some random green beans chicken shrimp + just a little bit of delicious and forbidden white rice

Post-workout

bowl of leftovers plus 3 eggs…surprisingly good…

The workout went like this:

Squat
-135x7
-225x7
-315x7x4
-365x5

Then “circuits”

Front squat
-225x5
BW pull ups
-x10
BW pushups
-x10
repeat 3x

1 legged RDL
-110x10
BW dips
-x10
BW Pushups
-x10
repeat 2x

Killer. Haven’t done these types of “circuits” in a while so it left me with a little headache…probably mild hypoxia because i was feeling somewhat euphoric with a slight case of priapism…hehe. So, in order to get a little oxygen to my brain and get rid of the mini-chub, I did a quick run

1.5 mile interval

easy tempo, the fast portion of the interval was about 80% and the slower portion was effin slow…legs=Jello at this point. Finished strong but will not be doing intervals again for about 2 days. Can’t have too much of a good thing. Since the overall goal is to cut fat, at this point I will only do complexes on days where I don’t run. And if progress slows, I will eventually combine the two in a single session. If it slows beyond that, i’ll probably go two a days and split the complex and intervals up over 2 sessions and beyond that idk, I’ll see if (when) I get there.

Tomorrow is chest and back. no running so I’ll throw in a complex. The focus will be on volume for back and I’ll throw in those fancy Kayak rows that I saw earlier today. Chest will be heavy working sets using 3x10 protocol. Really focusing on the explosion part. I want some bacon. Peace out Tnationers.

10

Notes to self:

Do not schedule interval running and squat day in the same session…intensity is not there (yet?)

look up neural charge

Fasted cardio is gone for now.

If you ladies and gents have any tips on any of these, please contribute your 2centavos.

Thanks and Gnight.

11

Decide to take a real rest day on tuesday. No workout at all.
after an entire day of mall shopping and lugging around a heavy bag full of girl stuff for 5 or so hours, I headed to the gym.

Bench press:

135x7
185x7
205x7
225x5
245x3
265x2
265x1
245x2

from here, I decided that I would change the 3x10 protocol up since i’m not doing max weight and Threw in BW pull ups x10 after every bench set

245x2
225x3
185x5
185x5
135x7
135xmax reps

Wanted to get 100 pull ups in so i started a circuit with them.

BWPUx10
BWDipsx7
Seated rows @140x10
repeat 3x w/30 sec rest per cycle

Took dips out when i couldn’t do them anymore (<7 reps) and subbed in those pulldown tricep extension things at 40lbs x10. did this about 3 more times.

Seated rows
140lbsx10
Side bend Luggage carries
125lbsx10 each side
Landmines
45lbsx10 (5 each side)
Repeat 4x w/ 30 sec rest per cycle.

Good workout. No headache though. Drank some green tea and went for a run

1.5 mile interval run
80-90% for faster portion
20% for slow portion.

I’m noticing an increase in my anaerobic capacity. I can sprint for longer and my slower portions only last about 50 yards or 30 secs. My ultimate goal is to keep decreasing my slow portions to around 10-15 secs.

Next workout: Powercleans, quads glutes maybe overhead pressing and more pullups

12

Good morning everyone. Yesterday’s workout made it so that i couldn’t get out of bed this morning, so i rolled out, flopped on the ground and crawled to the computer to write this. It looked like this:

Power Cleans
135x5
185x5
205x3
225x3
245xMiss
225x2

was going for a PR today but guess it just wasn’t my day. I felt like i needed to make up for it. Also wanted to work on my explosiveness so i slapped on another plate and started with deadlifts

315x5
(every set after this was followed by 10 bodyweight pullups. For the sake of brevity, They won’t be mentioned from here on out.
385x3
405x3
405x3
315x5

I was really trying to work on explosiveness in this session. I finished them off with Powercleans, focusing on my hip drive in the second phase. Since I was nearing the end of my workout, i also decided to make this a legitimate circuit since i already had pullups in there anyway. The last several sets looked like this:

Power Cleans
135x5

BW Pull-ups
x10

Seated OHP
115x7

30 sec rest between sets for a total of 4 sets.

No running today. Will resume tomorrow.

13

Hey all,

today’s workout:

Squat
135x10
225x10
315x7
405x3
385x3
365x3 (repeat x5)

Standing OHP
135x5
BW pull-upsx10
repeat 7x

Dumbell Fly
45lbsx7
Dips
BWx10
Briefcase carries
135x7
repeat 3x

Ab rollout
x7
Push ups
x10
repeat 2x

Might run tonight.
Peace out all. Have an awesome Monday

14

Hey all, no sleep last night. 3 hours max. Job hunting is not the business.
The run last night was awesome.

1.5 miles interval
kept the faster intervals at about 80% but for longer durations this time. About 300 or so meters per sprint. The slower intervals are getting shorter as far as recovery time is concerned. I’m liking the increased work capacity. Today’s workout will probably hit chest hamstrings and back again.

Fuel for today

5 eggs
1/2 cup oatmeal.
2 green tea
7 chicken drumsticks.

^^
Spread over two meals.
Update once workout is done!

15

8/16/2011

Push press
135x5
BW PUx10
Working sets
185x3
BW PUx10
Repeat 4x

then

rear leg elevated squat
135x5 (each leg)
BW PUx10
185x5 each leg
BW PUx10
185x5 each leg
BW PUx10

Front squat
135x5
225x3
225x3
225x3
each set was followed by hanging leg raises to the front, left and right x10

Bicycle sprints
600metersx4

interval run 1.5 miles
85% = faster portions
rest = about 30-45 secs

i guess yesterday could be termed “leg day” but i need to hit the hamstrings, they’re not as sore as my glutes and my quads never seem to get sore anymore after i started doing 21 rep squats.

Threw in bicycling because i thought my knees were taking a beating. Ended up running too. Knees felt fine.

THe next day! idk, horizontal plane back exercises, chest and hamstrings. Peace!

16

Fuel for tonight

10 oz chicken
hella stir fried greens
2 eggs

17

Dear T-Nationers,

This was my workout for yesterday:

Barbell BO Rows/Pullups

135x14/BWx10
185x10/BWx10
185x10/BWx10

Powerclean/Standing OHP/Pullups

135x5/135x5/BWx10
repeat 3x, rest 2 min.

Powerclean/Single leg RDL/Pullups

135x5/135x5 each leg/BWx10
repeat 3x, rest

Cable suitcase carries

97.5lbsx10
87.5lbsx10
…
(drop 10 lbs per set, 10 sets total, repeat for opposite side)

hanging straight leg raises/Cable wood choppers (horizontal plane)
BWx10/35lbsx7
repeat 3x

1.5 mile interval run
85% for faster pace
30-40 sec of moderate pace.

For the run, i attempted to run the final 600 or so yards at the faster pace…didn’t workout well and i had to split that up into one 400m and another 150 meter sprint separated by 15 secs of rest.

Today is carb-up day so i’m gonna eat

1/4 cup white rice
4 eggs

1/4 cup white rice
fish

1/4 cup white rice
TBA

Etc etc.

No running today, Will try for heavy deadlifts or will try rack pulls for the first time. I’ll throw in some chest since i forgot to hit it yesterday.

18

Holy crap rack pulls make me look badass…
skipped thursday’s workout (8/18/11) because i wanted to fully enjoy carb day. Lot’s of rice. i think in total i ate 2 cups (uncooked measure) of rice, 10 eggs, 3 fishies, popcorn, an apple and some grape nuts. I’m not one to measure but all of it tasted really good and that’s enough for me. If you want to count workouts for yesterday, i did 3 sets of 21 BW pushups and 40lbsx7 hammer curls for each arm to get a lil pump going. Today’s workout was pretty sweet.

8/19/2011

Rack pulls/Pullups

135x10
225x10
315x7/BWx10
405x5/BWx10
495x5/BWx10
545x5/BWx10

Whew, these were cool, hopefully they help me lockout so i can finally hit 500 on conventional deads with my ultimate goal being 560.

Standing Overhead press/pullups

135x7/BWx10
135x7/BWx10
135x7/BWx10

Push-Press/pullups

195xMISSSS/BWx10
185x3/BWx10
185x3/BWx10

These weren’t so cool but i guess I couldn’t get it up cuz i was too tired from rack pulls and overhead press

Seated rows/Pullups
120x10/BWx10
120x10/BWx10

bent over dumbell one arm rows (no wonder they call em "krock rows, it’s not such a pain to type)

110x21 each arm

Then I peaced out of the gym to type this. I may run later today, i may not. I have a leisurely run/bike ride scheduled tomorrow so we’ll see how that goes.

19

bike ride was chill. Not anything as far as cardio and i can’t count it as fasted morning cardio because the intensity wasn’t there. i think i’ll skip today’s gym workout and go for a run instead.

Fuel for yesterday’s dinner was

1 corona
2 packages of bacon
1 package of pork cracklins
beef stew
green tea. it’s a lot. but it’s a lot of good.

Off to run

20

8/22/2011

Standing OH Press/pullups
135x7/BWx10
135x5/BWx10
135x5/BWx10
135x5/BWx10
135x5/BWx10

Dips/Pullups
BWx10/BWx10
Repeat 3x

Suitcase carries/hanging straight legged leg raises
135x10each side/BWx10
repeat 3x

Bicycle intervals for 10 mins.

Will add weight to next sesssion’s pullups and dips.