Went to a social event on Friday but had far too much to drink, (easier to do when I’ve dropped weight, had few calories that day & have a few additional shots). I was sick so the additional calories are largely nullified. I was meant to train Saturday but ended up skipping it & doing it today, (Sunday). Had very little food on Saturday too, only ate at 5PM, some double cheeseburgers & an oreo mcflurry from mcdonalds. Trained Sunday & it actually went pretty well. Despite all indication that my performance would essentially be punished for my drinking & missing protein feedings the next day, I take one extra day of rest & my body continues to truck along. Also, I weighed in at a new low, just below 82kg - probably due in part to slight dehydration with this summer heat.
Pec Deck: 120kg for 9
Crossbody Pec Deck: 85kg for 8, 95kg for 10
Reverse Pec Deck: 60kg for 10, 85kg for 10
Nautilus OHP: 57kg for 7, 71kg for 8, 50kg for 9 (super slow)
On my preferred OHP machine, still holding strong.
Dumbbell Incline Skullcrushers (SS):14kg for 8, 18kg for 9, 14kg for 9
Cable Lateral Raises (SS): 5kg for 6, 7.5kg for 6, 5kg for 12
V-bar Pushdowns (SS): 30kg for 9, 37.5kg for 9, 30kg for 10
I need to say three things about cable lateral raises. First, I seem to be trucking along fine with two sets. Hitting that first set with 5kg for 6 & then doing it again after my heavy set for 12 really shows that this first 5kg set is basically a warmup. That’s not a bad thing, just an observation. Secondly, I’m switching my tempo on this from 2/2 to 2/3 as in two seconds up, three seconds down. Now, this includes a very brief pause at the bottom in the stretched position with my arm across my body. I think that will be beneficial. Thirdly, I’m dropping the rest-time after my heavy set before my final set because I’m doing a shitload of reps on that last set & I want to drop them slightly, (this exercise can only be loaded in 2.5kg increments so I’m slightly stuck on the loads, otherwise I’d do 5.5kg or 6kg on the last set). I dropped from 90 to 60 seconds rest today & may drop further going forward. Don’t forget I’m resting my shoulder when I train the other side too, so it’s not really that short rest since I’m not counting this too. Also, did one more rep than I’ve recently done on pushdowns, nice.
Machine Preacher Curls (SS): 50kg for 6, 55kg for 9, 50kg for 8
Hammer-grip Machine Preacher Curls (SS): 50kg for 7, 45kg for 7
Machine preacher curls from 10 to 9, but this particular gym’s preacher curl is marginally harder as I’ve experienced many times, so it’s nothing to fret.
First pic uploaded onto this website. This is an honest pic of where I’m currently at. Sitting down, (gets the love handles popping unless you’re pretty lean), & in natural overcast lighting without any overhead lighting. No pump, no flexing. 6’1, now down to 181lb. I didn’t think I had this much fat to lose at 196lb but I guess I did lol. I plan to continue cutting until it gets hard, as in I feel like shit, losing strength, energy levels dropping, libido down. Right now I actually feel really good thanks to the nutritious food I’m eating plus a couple of supplements & plenty of water. I imagine I will finish this cut in two weeks but we shall see.
Widish Grip Pulldowns: 100kg for 8, 110kg for 8, 90kg for 8
Seated Leg Curls (SS): 110kg for 6, 90kg for 10
Seated Chest Supported Row (SS): 80kg for 8, 85kg for 10, 70kg for 10
On widish grip pulldowns, not so much now but earlier on, I was doing marginally too much to quite recover from, in part from my brutal 2/2 tempo 90kg backdown set, causing me to revert the tempo back to 1/1 on this. I’ve made a slight further adjustment & am resting shorter between the 110kg for 8 & my backoff set with 90kg. The idea is essentially that a set done with less rest is marginally less stimulative than a set done with longer rest if the effort is equal. It’s why if you’re very close to your ideal volume at 3 sets of an exercise, but just need a tiny, tiny bit more stimulation, instead of jumping up to 4 sets, a 33% increase, (well slightly less than 33% because if you’re working hard, each set degrades little by little), you might add a rest-pause set, basically an additional set but with maybe 25 seconds rest. I’m making a smaller downward jump by going from 2 to 1 minute rest on pulldowns. Leg curls holding onto my strength. Seated rows a sickening PR, 85kg for 10 reps with 2/2 tempo! I must say these are one of the greatest exercises to perform slowly.
Hack Squat: 80kg for 7, 95kg for 9, 80kg for 9
Weighted Decline Crunch (SS): 20kg for 7
Calf raises (SS): 126kg 9
Little victory on calf raises, going to a new weight on this machine, (the one close to home I frequent on non-work days), going up 11kg & only hitting 1 fewer rep than the previous weight on the stack. 2/2 tempo, set commencing after a 3-4 second hold at the bottom, & finishing after another 6 second hold at the bottom too.