This one’s easy. 20 min time limit and all upper body. It’s a bro’s dream!
Haha, sounds like a perfect Saturday morning pump!
No wonder people (including myself) are program hoppers. It seems that every 1st workout of a new program feels amazing. Just finished my 1st workout of 5/3/1 - 5’s PRO, with BBB assistance, and I felt right at home.
Week 1 - 5/3/1 - 5’s PRO, BBB
Between press sets I did:
50 jump rope
5 burpees
10 band dislocates/10 band pullaparts/10 band face pulls
Between bench sets I did:
5 weighted pullups with 25lbs added.
Workout completed in under 45mins with warmups. This is more my style. Short and sweet. Off to walk the dog and do some yard work for a bit. NEPA ftw.
EDIT: Bold #'s beside the lift are the TM’s I used for this cycle. The last set of press actually felt ~RPE 8, so I may be a little high with that one. We will see and reset next cycle if necessary. Bench was no problem at all. The last 3 sets of 10 I was doing paused bench to up the difficulty.
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04/25/2017
Yesterday’s Nutrition: Poor (Too high cals, not enough Protein)
Yesterday was the first time I have eaten a Finibar. They are DELICIOUS. By far the best protein bar I’ve had. ~18s in the microwave and these things just melt in your mouth. They are extremely calorie dense and I didn’t really accommodate for this is my other meals. Went a little wild on cals (supposed to hang around 2300cals). I’ll adjust today’s nutrition.
Calories Carbs Fat Protein
Totals 2,547 162 151 162
This morning’s weight: (post workout and with a Finibar and Plazma in me)
205.8lbs
I’m going to start tracking daily weight going forward right next to yesterday’s nutrition. See if there are some trends I can pick up on, just for the fun of it and to be more consistent for the remaining few weeks of this cut.
AM WORKOUT (I actually woke up for it!)
Morning Nutrition:
Downed a Finibar (delicious) and 1/2serving of Plazma preworkout
1/2 serving of Plazma intra workout
Week 1 - 5/3/1 – PR Sets, 5x5 FSL
Warmup:
3 Rounds:
100ft Bear Crawl
10x 70lb DB Swings
Deadlifts Superset with:
Hanging leg raises (3 sets of 12 reps)
Squats Superset with:
Ab wheel rollout (4 sets of 10 reps)
Total workout time: 40mins
Weights felt sluggish at the beginning of the workout. Things started moving more quickly towards the second half of it. I’m not used to training in the morning, so this is probably going to take a bit to get used to it.
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I hear you. My nights have gotten significantly busier these last few weeks, and when I have a night off, my wife wants to spend the time with me. Today’s my first morning of a full workout. It’s probably my only hope of getting my training in this summer. Here goes nothing, 6AM squats 
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Ya I’m in the same boat. With the nicer weather comes gardening, grass cutting, and a plethora of other outdoor chores/activities that tend to consume the evenings. Then trying to have time to make/eat dinner, prepare lunches for the following day, spend some time with the wife…it all starts becoming too much.
I feel great so far this morning following my workout, and have been very mentally focused and efficient (despite several visit to TNation).
I just need to start prioritizing hitting the sack a little earlier so that the earlier mornings don’t start catching up to me with lack of sleep.
Glad to have someone else attempting this with me, keep each other accountable!
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Basically, ha. I also joined two boards and am selling my home. Even though my home is in great shape, especially for the age, we are doing quite a bit of work to make it flawless.
Me too, actually. Kind of feels nice to have a full body pump, while at work. Makes me feel not so small in my (now) way too big clothes.
We are implementing new PM software, so I get to spend this week learning it and uploading all of our project files. Lots of time to peruse TNation, while files are uploading.
I’ve been going to bed between 10-1030 and waking up at 545. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I normally fall asleep within 5 minutes of hitting the pillow. The last two nights it’s taken me 20 minutes, and I hate it!
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We are slowly prepping for this as well. Selling/building a home is in our current 2yr plan. Trying to get a jump start on downsizing, simple renos now.
We are severely in need of this too. The software we use is archaic.
My wife and I usually sit down together and watch a show around 10pm and alarms are set for 5:25am. 20mins would be quick for me getting to sleep. It seems like I do my best thinking when my head hits the pillow!
I have felt more well rested the last couple mornings after taking Z-12 and ZMA before bed though. Placebo effect? Time will tell!
I’ve tried ZMA a few times and while I don’t seem to notice any improvements in energy I definitely dream a lot more with it so I suppose it does something. I’m going to consistently start taking it on training days and see. Definitely agree on thinking lots once you try get to sleep!
How do you feel energy wise going to sleep and waking up earlier as opposed to later?
It was in my 2yr plan as well, but then I got a market report on my home and the equity was enough to buy an acre and build a large garage with apartment above. I’ll finish the house a year or two later.
What do you use? We just went through a whole vetting process. It’s extremely expensive. I couldn’t believe the cost.
You don’t get much sleep, that sucks. I try to get all my thinking out of the way while I drive. Then hitting heavy workout at night (now it’ll be KB swings), reading a book, finger of scotch and I’m out. It’s funny, actually, my wife goes to bed at 2am and wakes up at 9ish. But, from 10 on, she lays in bed on her computer. I sleep through all her typing or watching netflix. I’m out cold when I sleep.
Man, y’all folks sure make me feel young.
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It won’t be long before you’re faced with the same daily shit we are! As much as I hated university…enjoy it while you can…
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So much. Oh man.
If only I’d had the balls and brains to do a couple of key things at 18, one of them would have been to become a plumber or electrician instead of going to university.
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Bingo. I’m just lucky I’ve landed a job that pays at least what I’d get with my degree and leaves me free to train. Shift work may seem not great for a family, but when you add training to the mix it actually comes out much better than nine to five.
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04/26/2017
Yesterday’s Nutrition:
Totals CALS 2,223 CARB122 FAT109 PRO218
When I tracked all my food and looked at the totals I thought I must have missed something. I felt full/satisfied all day today and figured I would have exceeded my calorie goal. I went over my meals a few times and this is exactly what I ate! I’m happy with that. Started doing big ass salads for lunch and they really fill me up for ~400cals. Leaves me room for a nice big breakfast and room to be a little loose in my evenings for snacking. I’ve also been having the protein guilt-free mug cake every evening which is decently satisfying and
Today’s Weight:
203.6lbs
Lowest I’ve seen to date is 203.0lbs. I’ve now been consistently in the 203lb spot for a week or so. I’m expecting this to drop down into the 202’s later this week. Today is a low day/rest day, so it could be as early as tomorrow when I see this. Fingers crossed! Aiming for around the 2000cal mark with <50g of carbs. Afternoon BCAAs between lunch and dinner meals.
Going to go for a 1mile weighted vest walk tonight (weather pending) and hit the AirDyne for a bit to try and expedite this fat loss.
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Haha! I loved university and was looking at getting an MBA yesterday. It would do zero for me, and I’d probably not get much out of it any way. I just loved school.
I wish I liked school. If I knew what I know now, I would have went to college and gone into a trade.
Actually, that’s a lie. I met my wife at university, so I’d do it again… (I hope she reads this, I’d be in the good books for a change!)
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We Americans call that College. And that was one of the greatest periods of my life! I was on the baseball team at Wichita State for 2 years and we had more fun and parties than any fraternity. My life consisted of going to class for a couple hours each day and then I went to the weight room for a couple more hours. I even continued to use the weight room after I quit baseball. My roommate stayed on the team so I didn’t miss out on any of the drinking. I also had the luxury of studying exercise science. It’s where I learned the science behind everything I love. And finally, I started dating my wife senior year. That was also the year I got to spend a semester at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York as a weight room intern. With the exception of being stuck in upstate New York during winter it was a dream job. I made $9.50 an hour and worked 9 to 5. I was allowed to train on the clock and even had the opportunity to bobsled and try skeleton.
Fast forward 10 years and I have 2 kids and work full-time as a police officer. I’m not exactly in the world’s favorite profession.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my current life but I sure do miss being young and irresponsible with very little to do.
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Not that I have anything to add but it’s interesting to see all the discussion you guys are having. I’m in university now so I wonder how I’ll feel in 10 years or so.
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I wish someone had told me to go be a tight end. I also wonder what could’ve been if I’d gone to a junior college for basketball instead of pursuing Division 1 baseball. The team that wanted me was national Champs during the time I would’ve been there.
But then I wouldn’t have been in those Exercise Science classes at WSU where I met my wife. So only hypothetical athletic related regrets.
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