Self Inflicted Change

Will be posting diet and training session later today, but I had some questions and hopefully someone following along can help me out.

  1. How long should I stick with SS? I’ve heard till I stop improving on Deads or Squats or to go for 8-12 weeks. I was going to go to the end of August which I believe will give me around 10 weeks, but I’m starting to think 8 weeks is better.
  2. My plan was to go into the fall “Built For Show” routine after, but does anyone have any other opinions? Though they are opposite goals, my goals are still to lose body fat and improve in strength or muscle mass
  3. Should I focus on 1 goal? From my pictures which one would help me more, focusing on losing the fat or building more muscle mass?
  4. Kinda off subject, but i’m leaving to Vegas next week and will miss my Friday workout, do I move that workout to Monday so that the ABABABAB sequence doesn’t get out of order?

On another note, once returning from Vegas I’ll be keeping zoning in more on my diet and keeping total calories and macros. Any other advice is also welcome. Thanks!

8:30
morning shake

10:30
Handful of almomds (forget my whey so no shake)

12:00
10oz steak + 3 cups of Spinach

3:00
Start para workout protocol
GPC, Finibar, SWF, SR, SWF, Finibar

6:30
Whey shake

7:45
Whey shake + tilapia or chicken breast + 1 can of veggies

Training

Squat 260/5 x 3
Bench 200/5 x 3
Deads 300/5 x 1 - Knew I’d hit 300! Damn right! Now to work my way to 400
Dips BW/20 x 3

Facepulls
40/20 x 3

30 minutes cardio. 2.6 speed 11 incline

Saturday

A1 thrusters 20/12
A2 Burpees 12

x3

B1 DB Squat 20/15
B2 Vert Jump 8x
B3 Squats for 30 seconds

x3

C1 Woodchop 40/12 50/12 60/12
C2 Planks 50 seconds

D1 Reverse Woodchop 50/12 x 3
D2 Facefulls 30/15 x 3

Hill Sprints

Last night went to a party and managed to twist my ankle. I can do bw squats just fine, but i’m worried about putting any real weight on it because it is pretty tender. I’m hoping by some miracle it feels better by tomorrow so that I don’t have to miss a session.

Despite my swollen ankle, I went and trained and had no issues!

Squats - 265/5 x 3 Last one barely got up
Press 155/5 x 3 May have to start adding 2.5lbs instead of 5.
Clean 175/3 x 5 May go down in weight and practice my form better. My right shoulder hurts during these and i’m not sure why.
Chins 8/8/4 BW

Diet today was

8:30 Breakfast Shake + Peach
10:30am 2 scoops whey + almonds
12:00 chicken + white rice
1:00 2 scoops whey

Para workout 3pm

6pm 2 scoops whey
7:30 8oz beef loin steak + mushrooms + tons of spinach
8:30 peach
9:00 2 scoops whey

Diet for today has been

8:00
4 eggs, 4-6oz steak, shake with milk, flax seed, raspberries and 1 scoop whey.

11am began Periworkout
11:20 FINiBAR
11:30 2 scoops Workout fuel
11:45 2 scoops Surge
12:15 1 scoop Surge
12:45 1 scoop Surge

1:30pm 2 scoops whey
3:00pm 2 scoops whey
6-7pm Dinner(not sure yet
10pm 2 scoops whey + almonds

Training was

Squat 270/5 - holy crap I so wanted to die on the 4th rep of the first set. I didn’t think I was getting it up, but I did and made it through the next 2 sets.

Bench 205/5 - easy. I’d go higher, but I have to ask several people for spots. I’m amazed people actually say they are too busy as they go ahead playing with their cellphones.

Dead 305/5 - Could go higher I think, but grip may give out.

Dips 4 sets of 10.

No cardio and no updates till I return to vegas. My family hits a lot of buffets during these trips so I plan on sticking to veggies, fruits and whatever pieces of meat I can get. Updates come Monday.

Monday diet with #s

8:30 Breakfast Shake
1 cup 1% milk
1/2 cup oats
3/4 cup raspberries
2tbsp flax seed
2 scoops whey

1,006 calories 23.3g fat 118.9 carbs 87.6 protein

10:15 Snack
Tamari Almonds 680 calories 60.0g fat 24.0g carbs 24.0g carbs
2 scoops whey 208 calories 2g fat 2g carbs 44.0g protein

888 calories 62g fat 26g carbs 68g protein

12:00
can of spinach 130 calories 7.5g fat 11.6g carbs 9.5g protein
2 scoops whey 208 calories 2g fat 2g carbs 44.0g protein
Peach 61 calories .4g fat 15.0 carbs 1.4g protein

399 calories 9.9g fat 28.6g carbs 54.9g protein

1:30pm
2 scoops of whey 208 calories 2g fat 2g carbs 44.0g protein

Periworkout
Finibar
2 scoops SWF
4 scoops Surge Recovery
2 scoops whey 15 mins after workout

1308 calories
16.2g fat
175g carbs
106.4g of protein

Totals
Calories 3,809
FAT 113.2g
Carbs 350.5g
Protein 361.6g

This is everything except dinner which will be chicken + veggie. I think i’m going to cut out a lot more carbs, like the oats and raspberries in the morning.

Fiber, at least dietary (I don’t know if there are any others) do not count as anything because your body uses them right away if I recall. So 20 grams of dietary fiber will count as -20 on your net carbs.

Also, I love your gains. I read your first workout and saw a 170 benchpress and see you are doing 200. I’m trying to get the same amount of gains you’re getting in the same amount of time, and I am glad to see it’s going well for you. My diet is relatively close to yours, so i’ll be keeping a lookout on your logs!

Thanks for checking in J. I’m starting to love my gains more and more. Before I wasn’t appreciating them and was kinda down because physically I wasn’t looking any different and I put too much focus into that. Hopefully my strength continues to go up because I think i’ll continue for another 8 weeks.

I read a great post by I believe Nathan about “the grind”, which most everyone gets into about 4-5 weeks into their workout, or longer. but everyone gets to it, and what separates the losers from the winners are the ones that go past all doubt of their workout, diet, etc, and just believe in themselves and keep with it. Once you and I do that, we will soon reap the rewards. It’s all about pushing heavy weights and eating like a king!

I read a great post by I believe Nathan about “the grind”, which most everyone gets into about 4-5 weeks into their workout, or longer. but everyone gets to it, and what separates the losers from the winners are the ones that go past all doubt of their workout, diet, etc, and just believe in themselves and keep with it. Once you and I do that, we will soon reap the rewards. It’s all about pushing heavy weights and eating like a king!

Todays Diet so far

9:15 Breakfast
3 eggs
5 slices of canadian bacon

403 calories 23.7 fat 2.9g carbs 41.2g protein

11am Snack

1/4 cup Tamari almonds
2 scoops whey

378 calories 17g fat 8g carb 50g protein

12:30 Lunch
5 oz chicken
can of spinach

407 calories 18.4g fat 11.6g carbs 51g protein

3-4pm Periworkout stuff

Finibar
2 scoops SWF
4 scoops Surge Recovery
2 scoops whey 15 mins after workout

1308 calories
16.2g fat
175g carbs
106.4g of protein

will complete more as I eat and get closer to planning dinner.

I think I managed to do some damage to my hamstring on Monday(haven’t posted the numbers yet). I want to hit the gym today, but I can still feel a slight twinge when just doing BW squats. I also think i’m going to switch to ‘Built For Show’ by Nate Green. It’s a bit sudden and I wanted to ride SS a little longer, but I’m getting bored and I think my body can use a rest from jumping so rapidly.

Today I’ll attempt to squat so I can finish out the week, but if I cant’ squat I can’t bench so I’ll do the first day of BFS in prep for next week.

WG Cable Row 80/8 90/8 100/8 110/8
DB Bench 60/8 70/8 75/8 80/8
Chinups BW/8 BW/8 BW/6 BW/2 BW/4 BW/2
DB Shoulder Press Neutral Girp 40/8 x 4
Reverse Crunch 15 x 2
Plank 1 minute

Minor Rant inc

Workout was great. I loved it and came home feeling awesome until I returned home and noticed that my brother and sister managed to eat a carton and a half of eggs along with 4 chicken breasts i prepared yesterday. Not only that, but they ate all my canadian bacon and who knows what else.

I ranted and raved at them and they claimed I should of marked the food, but obviously if you didn’t buy it you shouldn’t eat it. Guess logic is lost upon them. I told them to replace it by tonight, but if they don’t my diet will probably be mostly shakes until friday when I get paid. Damn kids…

7:30

3 eggs, 2 slices of turkey bacon

316 calories 22g fat 2.4g carbs 30.9g protein

9:30
1/2 cup almonds
2 scoops whey

548 calories 32g fat 14g carbs 56g protein

11:30white rice + beef(not sure how much of each)

3:00 2 scoops whey

3:40 BCAAs

4:00 HIIT

Front Squat 95/8 105/8 115/8 125/8
Step Up 45/8 45/8 55/8 60/8
Supine hip extension leg curl 8
Cable Woodchops 80/10
Side planks 1x 30 seconds.