12 minute walk on treadmill
2 sets of leg extensions @55lbs
jump squats
Squat (ATG)
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
265 x 3
280 x 3
300 x 7
235 x 8
Hack Squat (ATG)
160 x 8
250 x 9
250 x 10
Leg Extension
145 x 16
145 x 16
SLDL
135 x 5
185 x 5
235 x 5
235 x 8
Seated Calf
5 sets
Alt. DB curls
3 sets
Thoughts
55-60 minutes to complete. I cut out a set of hacks. Squats went real well. The w/u sets were crazy and felt sooo light I coulda just kept going. Nothing really approached failure tonight other than maybe the last heavy set of squats. I feel like I’m doing just enough work. My legs feel worked but I don’t feel shot and definitely still have more in the tank.
You’re in a good spot when you’re blowing away the required reps and it feels like you’ve done just enough work. Your strength is improving a lot when that happens.
On the diet, increase the protein and fat. 200g is bare bones when it comes to the type of training you’re doing. You’re going to need that level to keep your muscle mass while you’re trying to lose weight (unless the number on the scale is more important than the composition).
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
You’re in a good spot when you’re blowing away the required reps and it feels like you’ve done just enough work. Your strength is improving a lot when that happens.
On the diet, increase the protein and fat. 200g is bare bones when it comes to the type of training you’re doing. You’re going to need that level to keep your muscle mass while you’re trying to lose weight (unless the number on the scale is more important than the composition).[/quote]
Well on the squats I slightly lowered the weight than usual. I didn’t wanna go too heavy my first week of trying to eat a deficit and coming off the deload but still very pleased with hitting 300 x 7 and it wasn’t that taxing.
As for the diet my protein is actually around 250 and my fat is probably 60-70, maybe slightly higher. My carb intake isn’t super low yet. If I had to guess I’d say it’s around 150. I’d like to try and get a little lower but we’ll see.
12 minute walk on treadmill
jumping jacks
clapping pushups
Bench Press
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
235 x 3
250 x 3
265 x 5
225 x 7
BB Incline
145 x 8
185 x 7
185 x 7
155 x 8
Dips
BW x 15
+45 x 9
+45 x 6
BW x 10
Pec Deck Fly
140 x 15
140 x 15
2 sets light v-bar pushdown
4 sets leg raises
Thoughts
60 minutes and would have been less if the dude in front of me didn’t take forever to do dips. Overall not a bad workout. Strength still slightly down on dips and bb incline and I may lighten the load next time out. Tonight I may have gotten a little too close to failure on some of those sets and I wanna stay away from that.
Deadlift
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
350 x 3
370 x 3
395 x 5
Chins
BW x 8
+35 x 5
+35 x 5
+70 x 3
DB Row
85 x 10
105 x 10
115 x 12
Bent Over BB Row
155 x 8
205 x 10
245 x 8
Seated Calf
4 sets, relatively light weight, lots of reps
45-degree back extension
4x12xBW
Thoughts
60-65 mins. Pretty good stuff, hoping that by not hitting failure on deads that I’ll be able to bang out some reps of 415 next week. Last time I hit 6-7 reps of 395 and then the following week I went for 415 and had nothing in the tank. Trained hard but I don’t think I over did it.
Cycle 13
Week 2
Day 5 (168)
Standing Military Press
10 minute walk on treadmill
Standing Military Press super strict form
Bar x 10
Bar x 5
75 x 5
105 x 5
122.50 x 5
142.50 x 5
162.50 x 6
125 x 8
BB Upright Row
95 x 9
115 x 8
115 x 8
Seated DB Shoulder Press
50 x 10
65 x 9
70 x 8
50 x 10
Face Pulls
110 x 15
110 x 15
110 x 15
DB Shrug
105 x 10
105 x 10
95 x 10
3 sets kneeling rope crunch
3 sets sit-ups
Thoughts
60 minutes. It could have been less like last week but someone was chatting with me when I was doing abs. As long as I can continue to not exceed 1hr I’m happy but hoping soon to get down around 45-50mins. Energy was pretty good. I was a little more beat than I was last week when it was over but still pretty confident that I didn’t overdo it.
12 minute walk on treadmill
2 sets of leg extensions @55lbs
jump squats
BW stationary lunges
Squat (ATG)
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
250 x 5
280 x 3
315 x 5
235 x 6
Hack Squat (ATG)
180 x 10
250 x 9
270 x 7
Leg Extension
145 x 15
145 x 15
SLDL
135 x 10
205 x 8
235 x 8
Seated Calf
5 sets
Alt. DB curls
3 sets
Thoughts
60 minutes. Today sucked, 6-8 inches of wet snow; hate shoveling. Was pleased with 315 but the last two reps took way more out of than I expected and when I went to do 235 I was pretty shot so tried to take it easy a bit the rest of the way through.
On 1/31 (exactly 3 weeks ago) I started reducing the carb intake and I’m down 4.8lbs. Strength is just about the same so I guess that means it’s working so far lol
12 minute walk on treadmill
jumping jacks
assisted pull-ups
clapping pushups
Bench Press
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
225 x 5
245 x 3
275 x 4
225 x 7
BB Incline
155 x 8
185 x 8
195 x 8
135 x 10
Dips
BW x 15
+45 x 10
+45 x 8
Flat DB Press
70 x 8
70 x 8
3 sets sit ups
4 sets leg raises
Thoughts
About 60 minutes. I’ve seriously been hitting 275 for 4 FOREVER . Oh well, I’ll eventually (i hope) finally get that 5th rep! Hopefully in 2011
Who’s your basketball team? Knicks got 'Melo. Nets got Deron. I figured you’d be all over one of those.[/quote]
Knicks are my team but I’m not a Nets hater and usually find myself pulling for them. I felt like the Melo trade was one they probably had to make since it seems like in this league you need at least two big stars to win a title. I was surprised by the amount of people here who are very negative toward this trade and did not want to give up those players. Fans just get way too attached to certain players, especially guys that aren’t winners. My baseball team is in the same boat. I like Reyes & Wright but the fans are completely outraged at the idea of ever trading them but they’ve done been a losing team pretty much every single season other than 2006.
Yeah still dieting down. I’ll hop on the scale Saturday morning and see where I’m at. This is my 4th week and last Saturday I was down 4.8lbs.
Deadlift
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
330 x 5
370 x 3
415 x 3
Chins
BW x 10
+35 x 6
+70 x 3
DB Row
85 x 12
105 x 10
115 x 13
Bent Over BB Row
155 x 10
205 x 10
245 x 8
Leg Raises
4 sets,
45-degree back extension
4x12xBW
Thoughts
60-70 mins. This is the 4th week of eating at a deficit and maybe it’s finally catching up to me. In terms of strength tonight (and Monday) I wasn’t really down but it definitely didn’t come as easy as the prior two weeks. The explosiveness wasn’t there and I had to work a little harder to hit the same reps as last week. It seems like the big movements are taking a lot out of me. I was pretty beat after finishing deads which is what happened on Monday after squats. I’m not going super low on carbs, probably 135-165g but maybe I should set aside one day a week where I just carb up.
Probably a good idea to have a carb day. It’s hard to train hard when you’re dieting down. Have you read the articles about the Mag-10 Pulse Feast? I’m down from 203 to 198 doing that. If you look at all the food I’m not buying, it levels out the cost of the Mag10.
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
Probably a good idea to have a carb day. It’s hard to train hard when you’re dieting down. Have you read the articles about the MAG-10 Pulse Feast? I’m down from 203 to 198 doing that. If you look at all the food I’m not buying, it levels out the cost of the Mag10.[/quote]
I have read that article actually. That’s great that it has worked for you. My first thought was I wasn’t looking to spend additional money on a supplement however you make a good point about how your food cost is now less so it’s something I’ll definitely consider
DONE FRIDAY NIGHT
Cycle 13
Week 3
Day 5 (172)
Standing Military Press
12 minute walk on treadmill
Standing Military Press super strict form
Bar x 10
Bar x 5
75 x 5
105 x 5
122.50 x 5
142.50 x 5
162.50 x 5 (4 strict, 1 cheat)
125 x 8
BB Upright Row
95 x 15
95 x 12
Seated DB Shoulder Press
50 x 10
65 x 10
70 x 9
50 x 10
Face Pulls
110 x 15
110 x 15
110 x 15
DB Shrug
85 x 15
85 x 20
85 x 20
Barbell Curl
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 10
CGBP
135 x 15
185 x 8
185 x 10
Thoughts
55-60 minutes. Energy was slightly down again and I struggled a ton with MP. So I decided to make a slight change and hopefully I didn’t overtrain by doing so. Normally I use Saturday as a day to do light arms, some stretching, ab work, some calf work, cardio and db farmer walks. Usually I’ll spend about an hour or so in there just getting a nice sweat and then later having a cheat meal. So that usually totals to 5 days a week in the gym. At least for now I’ve decided to cut back to 4 days and do a little less shoulder work on Friday and then hit curls and cgbp at the end. I’m hoping the two full days of recovery helps out.
Cycle 14
Week 1
Day 1 (173)
Squat
12 minute walk on treadmill
2 sets of leg extensions @55lbs
jump squats
BW stationary lunges
Squat (ATG)
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
255 x 5
270 x 5
285 x 7
235 x 7
Hack Squat (ATG)
180 x 10
250 x 10
270 x 10
Leg Extension
145 x 15
145 x 15
Lying Leg Curl
130 x 15
130 x 15
130 x 15
Seated Calf
5 sets
Alt. DB curls
3 sets
Thoughts
55-60 minutes. Pretty good stuff tonight and did a good job staying away from failure on everything. I know lying leg curl is an inferior lift to GMs and SLDLs but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do something a little less taxing for a few weeks.
I went heavy on the carbs yesterday even though it was an off day from training and then low carb today. We’ll see how this goes.
[quote]JLD2k3 wrote:
How was your energy level after your high carb day? [/quote]
Both yesterday and today were pretty good. Tomorrow is an off which comes before a heavy back day followed by a shoulder day on Friday so I’m not sure if I should do another high carb day or maybe just keep it in the medium range.
12 minute walk on treadmill
jumping jacks
clapping pushups
Bench Press
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
220 x 5
235 x 5
250 x 7
225 x 6
BB Incline
155 x 8
185 x 8
195 x 7
135 x 10
Dips
BW x 15
+45 x 10
+45 x 7
Flat DB Press
70 x 9
70 x 9
3 sets sit ups (decline bench)
3 sets leg raises
Thoughts
60 minutes, pretty good energy again tonight. I could up the weight on dips and bb incline but still don’t want to push things.
Sunday I went pretty heavy on the carbs and just basically ate a ton of clean carbs with every meal and had zero fat other than incidentals. I guess it may have worked b/c I’ve had pretty good energy the last two days. I also took two straight days off, Sat & Sun, so maybe that helped as well. Tomorrow is an off day so I’m not sure if I should carb up again or just do what I was doing the last few weeks. I noticed last week my energy was really down come late Wed and then again on Thursday. I may do a medium carb day tomorrow; still deciding.
Deadlift
couple w/u sets, low reps quick rest
330 x 5
355 x 5
375 x 6
Chins
BW x 15
+35 x 7
+70 x 3
BW x 6
Bent Over BB Row
155 x 13
225 x 10
245 x 10
DB Row
85 x 15
105 x 10
105 x 10
Seated Calf
4 sets
45-degree back extension
4x12xBW
Thoughts
65-70 minutes. I was making great time and was firing through my deads until I completed the final set. The owner came over to me and we had our usual argument, he got on my case for the weights making too much noise “slamming” into the ground. By the time we finished talking and then I finished cleaning up everything it kind of took away my pump and intensity and I wasn’t blasting through the rest of the workout like I was with the deads. Oh well…
I’m pretty stoked about my Hoos winning today. I was convinced going in that they would get their butt kicked at Maryland on senior day, but they looked really good and won the game.
Are you going to any of the Big East tournament? I might drive down to Greensboro on Friday if UVA wins on Thursday and catch their 2nd round game against the winner of tonight’s Duke/UNC game.
Good luck with your training this weekend. Let me know how the diet is going, too.