The 10 Week Log

Training Logs
1

Terrible at logs but figure I can do one for 10 weeks.

Starting weight - 195 // Goal weight 181 with as much strength maintenance as possible.

Macros Targets
Week Cal P F C
Week1 2925 195 130 244
Week2 2827 195 126 229
Week3 2730 195 121 215
Week4 2605 193 116 197
Week5 2483 191 110 181
Week6 2362 189 105 165
Week7 2244 187 100 150
Week8 2127 185 95 134
Week9 2013 183 89 119
Week10 1900 181 84 104

Training:
Push // Pull Split
Push Mon & Thur // Pull Tues & Fri
Wednesday - movement and mobility (TRX & Bodyweight movements)

Push (M&Th)
-Primary / every session - BB Flat Bench, BB OHP, BB Squats (programming this back in)
-Secondary / variation - BB Incline Bench, Dips, Lateral & Front Raises, Leg Extensions, Kettlebell Squats, Calf Raises, Triceps Iso
-Monday - Abs

Pull (T&F)
-Primary / every session - Deadlift (Thursday only), BB Rows, Lat Pull-Down, Farmers walk
-Secondary / variation - Pull-up, Chin-up, Leg Curl, Bicep Iso
-Friday - Abs

Mobility & Movement (W)
Primarily TRX & Yoga based

Programming cardio as I roll. I ride my bike to work most days but only at a medium intensity. Will be walking and running in addition to the training but probably wonā€™t log. I assume Iā€™ll average between 30-1.5 hours or cardio (which includes the low intensity bike ride to/from work). Medium intensity. No HITT training.

Weekends
Saturday or Sunday when possible - Mountain biking, road biking, walking, running, primarily resting the other day (probably wonā€™t log this unless I see significant positive / negative impacts.

Other random stuff - As far as other areas I will try to get 7 hours of sleep per night. I plan to get about 70% of my carbs peri-workout. Most carbs will come from food - I take very few supplements anymore except for coffee, whey, creative, and Plasma when I have it on hand. Iā€™m also on TRT (T cyp and AI). Iā€™m 40 years old and excited for the next 10 weeks. Iā€™m coming off about 3 years of heavy travel to Europe for work which really impacted my life (good and bad) and training (mostly bad). Been consistent with training since November 2016 and will not be traveling for the next 10 weeks. I donā€™t drink, smoke, or take any prescriptions other than those associated with TRT.

Current measures of strength with side comments - these are not complete maxā€™s but pretty damn close. Iā€™m not real strong but am happy where Iā€™m at.
Bench - 275X3
OHP - 135X8 - I only really do volume work with OHP, usually just the damn bar for 20. Very afraid of my shoulders
Dead - 475X2
Squat - 275X5 - Iā€™m 40 and this has always been my nemesis

Iā€™ll try to throw some progress pics up periodically.

Feedback is welcome but this is mostly just for me. Will see how this plan works and if adjustments are needed for the next go.

AA

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2

looks like a good routine bro!

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3

Just to get into the habit of loggingā€¦ technically week 1 for me will start tomorrow.

Mountain biked today. I live in Indiana so ā€˜mountainā€™ is a stretch but it was muddy as hell and a pretty good ass kicking.

  • Mountain bike - trails / 17.3 miles / 77 minutes

  • 661 calories according to Fitbit, but itā€™s Fitbit bit, so you know that doesnā€™t mean much.

  • Anal retentive Macro tracking begins tomorrow. Pretty low calories overall today. Used this weekend to sorta reset - mostly liquid calories from Milk and Whey.

Looking forward to launching in tomorrow.

4

I like the idea of a log for a set period.

Just wanted to offer my opinion on your calories and macro split in relation to your goals.

From week eight onwards I suspect youā€™ll run into a brick wall based on what Iā€™ve experienced myself. Iā€™ve been cutting for around 10 months, and Iā€™ve spent the last two months or so below 198 lbs. Until mid January I was at 2500 cal/day, and then I dropped to 2300 cal/day as things seemed to have stalled. Iā€™m still at 2300 and Iā€™m now sitting around 189 lbs and things are still moving in the right direction. I still get very hungry as well as find myself tired more often. If you go down well below 2250 cal/day for three weeks, Iā€™d be very surprised if you donā€™t find productive training well nigh impossible, lose a bunch of strength and generally have a miserable time. What I would suggest instead is something along the lines of two weeks at 2600, two weeks at 2500, two weeks at 2400, two weeks at 2300 and if necessary two weeks at 2200 although maybe stay at 2300 with extra cardio.

I would also suggest looking at your macro breakdown. I found (to my surprise) that high carb/low fat worked a gazillion times better than low carb/high protein. Especially when youā€™re in a deficit and training as you set out (which looks good, by the way), higher carbs will most probably make muscle and strength retention much easier. I like Paul Carterā€™s split: 0.8-1 times bodyweight grams of protein/20% of daily calories from fat/rest of daily calories from carbs. Just as a reference, the first three months of my cut I had a similar macro split to you. I dropped about 1.7% bodyfat and lost around two pounds of muscle (BIA not DEXA). Shortly after that I switched to the Paul Carter breakdown. Iā€™ve had two BIAs (every three months) since then and Iā€™ve dropped a further 5.3% bodyfat and lost no muscle. Strength loss has been mostly on bench, none significant on squat, DL same or better and improved on rowing variations.

Sorry, that was long.

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5

No need to apologize my man - I appreciate you taking the time. Let me digest what you had to say (get it). My gut says your right. The last few weeks have me a bit freaked. Week 10 would be 10.5 cal per pound of BW (assuming I lose BW at the right rate) which seems insane for just youā€™re average dude like me. Iā€™m gonna see how it goes and may need to incorporate the tweaks you outlined.

Iā€™m pretty insulin sensitive (or insensitive always forget) - what I mean is me and carbs no beuno unless I consume around training. Both parents were diabetic and I got some hot hot love handles. Iā€™ve tried indigo 3G but supplements add up when you start going crazy and I have to prioritize.

Anyway - I think youā€™re right on target and you may (probably will) see adjustments in the coming weeks.

Thanks for the input.

AA

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6

BW loss can be funny. Sometimes it just stays there and sometimes it goes down way fast. Iā€™ve found it best not to overthink it and just set your calories and macros right and trust the process.

I hear you with the insulin issue. That said, always was in that carbs are bad camp until I had a three day period where I ended up having higher carbs and lower fat and in that period I saw noticeable change so I ran with it and Iā€™m glad I did.

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7

Hereā€™s a picture of my damn love handles. These I hope, shrink.

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8

Very close to what I look like. Nice traps, BTW. Looking at the picture I really think you may fall into the category I did in terms of thinking you donā€™t work well with carbs.

For what itā€™s worth, Iā€™m on 260-290 grams a day mostly from oats, rice and potatoes. I have 40-50 grams during training (Plazma on lower body days, a substitute mix of my own concoction on upper days: 15 grams BCAAs, 45 grams waxy maize, 8 grams citrulline). Iā€™ll usually eat an hour or so before training and within an hour after. Usually Iā€™ll have about 1700-1800 of my calories before dinner throughout the day, and dinner will have around 30-40 grams protein and between 70-110 grams of carbs. Itā€™s my top up meal, I just use it to fill my macro allowances within the calories I have remaining. Most days Iā€™m at or below 40 grams of fat.

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9

Thanks. Maybe Iā€™ll play around with the fat/carb ratios. For the first few weeks this shouldnā€™t be an issue, but maybe Iā€™ll keep the carbs higher and drop the fat more. Itā€™s all an experiment.

Thanks again for the advice. Stay tuned :joy:

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10

Here we goā€¦ Mesocycle 1, Week 1, Day 1

ā€œAn analogy I like to use is the idea of bashing through a locked door. Youā€™ll have more success if you take a few steps back and charge the door than if you position yourself right up against it and start pushing.ā€

  • Charles Staley, Your Best Month of Training EVER, 10/19/16

Started my day at 5AM this morning (7:25 hours sleep). I played 45 minutes of Skyrim on the Xbox One with morning coffee ā€“ unlocked the Explorer Achievement (discover 100 Locations / 40 points). Woot. On a side note, playing video games first thing in the morning has been a very positive way to get my critical thinking skills going for the day, doing something purely for enjoyment. I find RPGā€™s are the best for this as you have to focus on resource management, training, exploration, helping others, etc. I play in the morning because I have a hard-stop getting kids up and ready for school. This prevents me from grinding for 5 hours ā€˜accidentallyā€™. Anyhow, this is a training / diet log, what the fuck, get to the point.

56 Minutes / Average HR - 97 BPM
BB Flat Bench
2x10x45 WU
1x5x135 WU
1x5x185 WU
1x8x225 Working
1x2x245 Working
1x2x255 Working
1x8x225 Back-off cluster 10 second pause / Working
1x17x135 Slow concentric AMRAP immediately after cluster

Superset 1 ā€“ Squat / OHP
Squat (volume & speed)
1x10x45
1x10x95
4x10x135 ā€“ fast and explosive as possible
OHP
6x15x45 ā€“ focused on pump and slow concentric

Superset 2 ā€“ Tri Extensions / Leg Extension
Tri Extentions
5x10x57.5 ā€“ Each rep squeezed and paused
Leg Extensionl
5X12X100 ā€“ Each rep squeezed hard as possible

Superset 3 ā€“ BW Dips / Ab Wheel
Dips
3X10XBW
Ab Wheel
3x10

35 Pushups

Peri-Workout Macros
Cal ā€“ 850
P ā€“ 65G
C ā€“ 130G
F ā€“ 11G

Todayā€™s Macro Totals (including Peri-Workout)
Cal ā€“ 2,649
P ā€“ 196G
C ā€“ 243G
F ā€“ 125G

*I believe MFP excludes cals from Fiber

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Mesocycle 1, Week 1, Day 2

Mike Szudarek on values in an email to Dave Tate
ā€œThereā€™s one that I thought of that I really believe is important, if not key. Itā€™s passion. You canā€™t be successful at anything if you donā€™t like what you do. By the same token, you canā€™t be a great lifter if you arenā€™t passionate about it. I know this sounds obvious, but it isnā€™t.

6 hours 52 minutes of sleep last night, but have a sick kid who came in a few times so it was a pretty rough night. Carried over into training today, but I punched the clock. Not a good session but it only means Iā€™ll have some in the take Thursday and Friday.

Pull day
Bent-over BB Rows
1x20x45
1x16x65
1x12x95
1x5x145
1x5x165
1x5x205
1x20x45

Superset 1 ā€“ Face Pulls / Leg Curls
Face Pulls
4x12x27.5
Leg Curls
4x12x100

Superset 2 ā€“ WG Pull-ups / DB Curl
WG Pull-ups
10xBW
Curls
3x15x25

Loaded carries ā€“
Farmers walks ā€“ 45 plates / 200 feet
Waiter carry ā€“ 25DB / 50 feet

Back Extensions
3X12XBW

Not great, but I got it done.

Peri-Workout Macros
Cal ā€“ 800
P ā€“ 64G
C ā€“ 116G
F ā€“ 11G

Todayā€™s Macro Totals (including Peri-Workout)
Cal ā€“ 2,712
P ā€“ 195G
C ā€“ 244G
F ā€“ 124G

After dinner bike ride - 55 minutes / 12 miles.

12

ā€œThe greatest enemy of progress is not stagnation, but false progressā€ - Sydney J. Harris

I can definitely relate to this quote from a training perspective. I have made considerable efforts to not worry about lifting as heavy as possible, but lift to improve form, function, and muscle engagement. This took a long time for me to learn, and honestly something I still forget.

I havenā€™t mentioned that my work has a new BADASS gym. Itā€™s incredible really. Itā€™s easily as large as a commercial gym. It has everything for your everyday gym goer - machines, treadmills, blah, blahā€¦ The stuff I canā€™t believe it has for a work gymā€¦ An awesome power rack with a platform, multiple bars and Rogue Weights, Bench and Incline press, DB up to 100LBs, Kettlebells up to 55Lbs, a full TRX room with a Synrgy360 systemā€¦ and thatā€™s just a few cool things to name. $7 a month to be a member. Weā€™ve ranked on the Fortune Best 100 companies to work for 3 years in a row (#70 this year) - definitely a company that provides awesome benefits.

Mesocycle 1, Week 1, Day 3

Mobility & Movement Day - 42 minutes

Ergometer warm-up 2000 meter

TRX body weight work (2 sets of 8-12 each)
-Row
-Powerpull
-Inverted row
-Low row
-Chest press
-Chest press to falling standout
-Y fly
-Single-leg squat
-Squat

Light kettlebell work (15-25lb bells)
-Curl
-Shoulder press
-Lateral raise
-Front raise

Ab Wheel
Loaded carries
-75lb DB farmerswalks - 50 feet
-30lb DB waiter carries - 50 feet

I would consider this a light workout - I get a good sweat in and heart rate up. I get a nice pump but none of the exercises feel overly taxing on any particular body part.

Will add todayā€™s Macros later.

After my workout - feeling a good pump.
Angry kitty

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13

ā€œIā€™m not as good as I once was, but Iā€™m as good as I ever wasā€
-Toby Keith

Macros targets hit yesterday and will be hit today. No need to post every day.

Mesocycle 1, Week 1, Day 4
Pull Day - 52 minutes

Did a chest warm-up today using tips from this article: https://www.t-nation.com/training/5-ways-to-unlock-your-true-strength-potential

BB Bench Press
1x10x45
1x5x95
1x5x135
1x5x185
1x5x225
1x1x255
1x1x275
1x1x285*
2x10x135 - slow concentrics

*This is not a PR but I havenā€™t gone about 275 in a long while. This went up nice and easy. May try to hit 300lbs by mid-April since my caloric taper hasnā€™t really hit hard yet.

Superset 1: Leg Press / BB Incline BP

Leg Press
1x12x90
1x12x180
1x10x270
1x8x360
1x5x450
1x5x540
1x5x630

Incline BB BP
1x20x95
1x18x95
1x16x95
1x14x95
1x12x95
1x10x95

Superset 2 - Plate Front Raise / Triceps Kickbacks

Front Raise
2x12x45

Kickbacks
2x20x10

Todayā€™s workout felt great. I had to cut it short to get to AM meeting but could have gone longer. Iā€™ll have a lot left in the tank for tomorrow - Deadlift Day :yum:

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14

I have a serious sweet tooth these days. I used to be a salty snack guy but for whatever reason, this has definitely shifted over the years. It really increased when I stopped drinking - donā€™t know if there is correlation or not, but whatever.

I found a pretty good way to balance this with a semi-okay snack / dessert IMO that I thought Iā€™d share. Helps as a substituent for ice cream for me. The macros are not exceptionally great, but it fits in & tastes great.

Macros:
Cal 240
P - 22
C - 36 (12 G of sugar)
F - 0

1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup from each fruit bag

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Okayā€¦ so a total what the fuck thing happened todayā€¦

Someone told me about this Fitness and Sports Training place near where I work. So for the hell of it I cruise on over - pretty sweet place. Guy showing me around tells me about their program and it sounds awesomeā€¦ Facilities are really cool. Then he hands me a card with placeā€™s contact infoā€¦ I flip it over and am like 'WHAT THE FUCK!!!"

Needless to sayā€¦ Iā€™m signing up. Basically in my backyard and I never know.

461Ɨ598 286 KB

Bill Robersonā€¦ The Smartest Man in Fitness: https://www.t-nation.com/training/smartest-man-in-fitness

And Mike Robertsonā€¦ https://www.t-nation.com/all-articles/authors/mike-robertson

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16

ā€œWhen I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work.ā€
ā€“ George Bernard Shaw

Off work today and next week for kids Springbreak so I had a little more time today. Trained for about 80 minutes but that includes some dynamic stretching. I went for a Deadlift PR today and failed (motherfucker!). I got it up to my waist but couldnā€™t lock it out. Made 2 attempts but figured not worth a 3rd and possible injury. Iā€™ll shoot for it in April. Itā€™d be cool to get a 300 Bench and 500 Deadlift in the same month. I know itā€™s nothing special, but I was a weak, fat peice of shit in 2012 so I feel like Iā€™ve come a long way. When I started Jan 2012 I couldnā€™t bench press 45lb dumbbells and didnā€™t know what a Deadlift was - true story.

Mesocycle 1, week 1, day 5
Pull day

Deadlift
1x5x135
1x3x225
1x5x315
1x2x405
1x1x455
2xā˜ ļøX505 - fail / no lock out (fuck)
2x3x405

Cable shrugs
1x10x82.5
1x12x92.5
1x12x115
1x12x145

Pull-ups
10xBW

Lay pull downs
6x12x85

Super-set
DB Curls / Hammer curls
1x12x15
1x8x25
1x12x15
1x5x30

Core work
-Crunches
-Ab wheel
-Suitcase carries
-Kettlebell swings (2x100x25)

10 minute stretching

17

Did the bar drift away from you at any point?

18

Yes - it did. I got it up to my knees pretty good. At knee height I started to grind and it drifted. Got it passed my quads but felt my back arch giving and got a bit fearful of a lockout using too much lower back. Thatā€™s all it took - a millisecond of doubt and my grip started to go. Bailed. Almost identical on both attempts. I knew what to focus on during the second attempt but doubt had creeped in and my grip went again as I went for the lock.

19

Just saw you have a log too. Starting to go through it. Good stuff.

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20

Gonna post progress pics on Fridays.

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