…Med/Low Carb Day
AM: Intervals
20 @ :45 steady/:15 sprint on elliptical + 10 min warmup/cooldown
PM: Snatch + Front Squat
Warm Up:
Some
Snatch:
Up to 175 for some singles
Hang Snatch:
Up to 175 for 1
Front Squat:
135x5
185x5
225x5
245x5
…not bad. Usually squatting in garage feels heavy. I was good for more sets of this but in a hurry.
Notes:
Right knee was tender until I got warmed up.
Filmed snatches and starting position was awful and I was missing the sweet spot on the second pull. Hang snatches felt good.
…Lower Carb Day
AM: Steady State
40 min incline treadmill
PM: Nothing
Was going to do intervals
Got offered a GRA position today on the prerequisite that I quit my job. Its tempting and I want a change. I’m drinking beer and contemplating, but pretty sure I’m going to tkae it. Not too happy about dropping a steady paycheck, but fuck it.
Also, I’m going to the location where that pic was taken in a next week. First time I went up there it was half the middle cabin and the boat hosue on the right and I was 18. There have been some additions since then. I wish I had a pic of the view looking out. Its paradise.
Going to be drinking these.
That index card in the corner has the quote:
“Is what I am doing/thinking/feeling right now contributing to my failure or success”
…from one of John Berardi’s clients who lost a crap ton of weight in preparing for a figure show. Its good stuff. I’m probably contributing to failure though by drinking beer and missing intervals.
…Medium/Low Carb Day …this means I have my AM carbs but not my PWO carbs
AM:
Sat by the pool for an hour. No Cardio.
PM: Upper
Warm Up:
A bit lax…
Bench: (3 min rest on work sets)
Barx8
95x8
135x5
185x5
225x5
255x5x3 (+5 from last week)
205x10
…heavy but it got done
Neutral Grip Chins: (3 min rest on work sets)
BWx5
15x5
30x5
45x5x3
…not bad
45 Deg Incline DB Press + Chest Supported DB Rows: (1.5 min b/w movements)
a warm up set
65x8+55x10 x 4
…Presses were cake and I had 5 more sets in me. DB rows were a good weight.
BB Curls + Lat Raise Machien: (1 min rest)
warm up set
70x8+35x10 x 4
…curls were not bad but lat raise was difficult
Run the Rack DB Curls:
35s to 15s w/ 5 reps/arm at each db
Notes:
Saturday workouts are awesome. Managed to restrict my imbibing to 4 beers last night.
PM 2: Snatches
Many… Regular and Power.
Notes:
Practiced missing behind.
Tried 2 new starting positions and found the one that works best w/ hips higher, back straight, head up, and hamstrings tense.
Drew line on ground to make sure I wasn’t jumping forward.
… I did nothing yesterday.
…Medium carb day.
AM:
40 min incline treadmill 3/3.2/3.4/3.6 for a minute each for 40 minutes.
PM: Oly Stuff at Marcus’s
Warm Up:
A bit lax…
Snatch:
Up to 82.5kg?
10-20 singles at 75kg
Clean and Jerk:
Up to 110kg
10-20 singles or double back down to 90kg
Back Squat:
Up to 308x2
Notes:
Upper quads are tight and nagging, especially when back squatting. Need to stop being a bitch and foam roll the shit out of it.
Marcus is trying the Broz bulgarian system and training heavy twice a day 3 days a week, then one a day the other days. I jumped in today and I like getting volume in using double or triples after a heavy single.
I’m used to two a days now, except dieting is gay and so is the incline treadmill, so after this bullshit I may switch over and try something similar w/ oly/power movements in the morning, then squats, bench, typical strength work at night. I will probably not be working so this is going to be awesome.
…Low carb day.
AM:
40 min incline treadmill 3/3.2/3.4/3.6 for a minute each for 40 minutes. Was supposed to do intervals.
PM: Snatch Practice Extra Workout
Warm Up:
Foam Roll
Some Other stuff
Drop Snatch:
Up to 165x1x3
Snatch:
135x2x4
145x2
155x2x6 (2 sets were missed)
145x2x5 (hit some good ones)
OHS:
135x5
145x5
155x5
Notes:
Working on some weaknesses in the snatch rack. I throw it forward which is improving and I missed a couple behind today which caught me off guard.
Turned armpits out and shrugged, using anatomical structure to support the weight vs pressing it out. Before I was shrugging, but it felt much different without the armpits pointing out.
Hit my knees a few times at the end which is a new error.
Learning how to snatch reminds me of learning to golf.
…Medium carb day. Had an extra bowl of chili w/ 40g extra carbs so I fucked up once again.
AM:
40 min incline treadmill 3/3.2/3.4/3.6 for a minute each for 40 minutes.
PM: Nothing
Pack for trip. Squat/DL tomorrow then out. I may try to swim in the AM when I’m gone then find a rock to lift in the PM. Theres a big rock some guy deadlifted a corner of that I may have a go at.
…High carb day.
PM: Squat/Deadlift
Warm Up:
Rower
Bridges w/ Adductor
Quad Wall Mobs
Walking Spidermans
Back Extensions
Box Squat:
Barxsome
135x8
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x3
335x2… heavy
Incline Bench:
Bar
95
135
155
175x5
205x3…too big of jump
135x15
Deadlift:
135
225
315
365x5
405x3
435x1
465xmiss
Notes:
I should just quit lifting weights and go back to climbing.
I’m going to enjoy my trip, then switch back to TBT 5x5 routines w/ pretty much the core lifts only. Looking back, this was the last time I made any real progress on anything except my deadlift.
I may also try Sheiko 29 or some other lower intensity/volume based program for the rest of this diet. That may be too high volume though and I’m thinking the Starr ramped 5x5 with lowered maxes is what will work best.
I’d appreciate any ideas.
…Medium carb day. Not doing AM cardio on leg days.
PM: Squat
Warm Up:
Usual
P. Clean:
135x3
165x3
185x2
205x2
225x2x4
Squat:
Barx5
135x5
185x5
225x5
255x5
285x5
315x5
Good Morning:
135x8x3
Pulldown Abs:
55x20
Stackx20x2
Stackx14
Stretch:
Quad Death Stretch: Front and Side (Quad and Hip Flexor)
Calf Stretch: Straight and Bent Knee
2 x 30 sec for each stretch
…Low carb day.
Hrs. Sleep:
5 or so
PM: Run Motherfucker, Run!
@ Apartment
Warm Up:
Cressey Maximum Strength v2 Phase 1… the 4 warm up protocols for this program are excellent.
Sled Sprints w/ Chest Harness: Full Apartment Block + 2 Dividers
45x4 w/ 45sec rest
3 min intermission
70x4 w/ 1min rest
3 min intermission
80x4 w/ 1.25 min rest = 1:15 rest
… Good pace on these. I recovered during intermission and I was able to get up to full speed during each work set.
Reverse Sled Drags:
90x6 w/ 1 min rest
- trip back to garage
… thought my quads were going to explode. Started w/ a running drag to a pretty much just keep it moving.
Notes:
I screwed up my diet and put a bunch of weight back on over my vacation. I really don’t care as my strength levels were dropping majorly, getting up at 5 AM to do cardio pissed me off and supersetting it with 2 caffeine tabs made me a very unhappy person for the first half of the day. I must say the rate of fat loss was tremendous.
No more slow cardio at all, it will be intervals, metcon type, or just mobility drills repeated if I’m feeling beat up. I may do mobility drills in the morning and intervals at night schedule permitting.
I’m going to keep it up for the next 4 weeks and see if my strenght starts to bump back up as bodyfat comes off.
It’s a big experiment as people say that steady state cardio is not conducive to strength training and that interval type conditioning work is superior, which I found to be the case before or I was just heading into a major case of overtraining. Either way, this will influence how I decide to lose fat in the future.
…Med carb day.
Hrs. Sleep:
7
PM: Week 1 Bench
@ School
Warm Up:
Rower
1 leg Bridges
1-Leg Downward Dog Mobs
Pushup to Scap Pushup to Downward Dog Mob
Scap Wall Slides
Standing T-Spine Rotations
Bench
Barx5
95x5
150x5
175x5
205x5
225x5
250x5 w/ ~2.5 min rest on sets
…cake
Pull Ups:
BWx5
15x5
30x5
45x5x2
BWx10
…last reps were iffy and not as solid as I would like.
40x5x3 Next Week
45 Incline DB Bench + CS DB Row:
50x8 + 50x8
70x8x3 + 55x12,12,8 w/ 1.5 min rest b/w movements
75x8 + 55x12 x 3 next week
BB Curls + Machine lat Raise:
80x8,8,7,7 + 40x10,10,10,10 w/ 2 min rest b/w supersets
80x8 + 40x12 x 4 next week
Stretch:
Band Hamstring 30sec/x2
Wall Adductor 30sec, 1min
Decompress:
Total relaxation and 75 deep breaths laying on mat
…High carb day. I’m skipping the rest of the carbs for the day as I feel today’s workout doesn’t warrant them.
Hrs. Sleep:
6
PM: Week 1 DL/Front Squat
@ Base Hanger Gym
Warm Up:
Sparse
DL:
135x5
225x5
315x5
365x5
410x5
…hexagon plates made this much harder than it should have been.
FS:
135x5
185x5
225x5
245x5x2
Next Week 250x5x3
SLDL:
135x10
205x10
255x10
Next Week 275x10x3
Next Week Don’t Skip Abs
Notes:
Lifted at hanger gym. The thing I remember most was 2 gorgeous females lifting weights and one was seriously impressive in a figure type sense, I wanted to stare but I didn’t, at least not for that long. I’d lift there more often but the hexagon plates are fucking gay, but I might start squatting there in hopes of getting to share a squat rack with one of those beauties.
Coached two co-worker’s through their first starting strength workout. 105x5x3 squat, 95x5x3 bench, and 155x5x3 on deadlift. The skinny one used to play football and remembered how to lift while the skinny fat can’t get his back into extension so I held him up at 65x5x3 on squats but improved vastly through the workout and didn’t get frustrated. I had him doing some RDL and good morning drills. We’ll see how long these guys stick with it, but I’m expecting at least 275x5 on squats in about 4 months or so and hopefully a 405 deadlift for about a single. Nice to dream, but we’ll see how it goes. I want the skinny one to start drinking GOMAD so I have some practical first hand experience on if that really works or not.
I’m thinking making this a lower body ME/Volume type day and just do heavy deadlifts to a single, heavy SLDL to a set of 5, then 3 sets of 5 front squats. Then do an extra workout friday of some lighter rep stuff. My legs are undersized from purely sets of 5, not that undersized so don’t even think it, while my upper body gets a fair amount of RE work. Just thinking out loud here.
…Low day.
Like the production and sample. Not too big on the lyrics.
Hrs. Sleep:
6
PM: KB Breathing Ladder
1…20…18
…breathing was steady and slow during rests. Stopped when I started double breathing on swing reps.
Notes:
Beat as all hell. Fell asleep in my computer chair after work for 10 min, took a 30min nap, then had a cup of coffee and was done for the day. Took a cold shower and got myself moving again and managed this.
The worse part of was the forearm burn, and maybe a little residual lower back fatigue from DL stuff yesterday. I’m going to be dripping sweat for 20 minutes at least though, and I like the breath control aspect where you want to breath slow and controlled to extend the rest between sets.
Medium Day
Hrs. Sleep:
9
PM: Week 1 Intensity Day:
Warm Up:
Usual, somewhat sparse
Squat:
135x5
185x5
225x5
255x5
285x5
325x3 …belt
255x8
…felt way too heavy for week 1. Experimented with form and was stronger purposefully leaning forward a bit more. Tried 2 different knee positions as well, one a tad bit forward and one not forward at all.
Bench:
Barx5
95x5
150x5
175x5
205x5
235x5
260x3
205x8
SRCs + Ext Rot on Knee
Barx10 + 5x10/
65x10 + 10x10/
85x10 + 10x10/ x 2
Back Extensions:
BWx12x4
Notes:
Woke up this morning sore all over. Left shoulder was even starting to act up a bit.
Alternate Deadlifts/Power Cleans each week and don’t do them before squats. Add 2 mornings steady state cardio on lifting days.
…Low day.
Hrs. Sleep:
9+
PM: Meh
Cleaned garage gym. Moved everything out, swept, moved everything back reorganized.
15 min. jump rope
Notes:
Good intentions then I went nuts getting the gym in working order as it was a disaster area.
Going to start training w/ Marcus more often I think, meaning I will try to get on the same training schedule as him, so any of my current planning or programming is null. Its not like I do what I say I’m going to do anyway, I’ll say I’m going to do this this and this, then I end up doing the same shit I always do.
…Low day.
Hrs. Sleep:
8… slept through alarm. was going to get up to do cardio
PM: Snatch/Squat at Marcus’s
Warm Up:
Some
Power Snatch (Loads in kg):
50xSome
60x3
70x2
75x2
80x2
70x1 (misload)
87x2 PR …this might even be a PR. KGs screw with my head and I want to say no way, but thats what I had written down.
Snatch (still in kg)
70x3
75xmiss,2
80x1
80xmiss,1
75x1,miss
75xmiss = done
Manta Ray Squat:
135x5
225x5
255x5
275x5
305x2
…more in the tank
GHR:
BWx6x4
Notes:
Some better snatches today, but overall my bottom position is shitty. I’ve lost some flexibility and my ass goes way back instead of down. I think it is due to calves tightening up from incline treadmill.
…Low day.
Hrs. Sleep:
<6… In bed on time and couldn’t sleep. Marcus’s was pretty rough yesterday, i.e. 4 guys in a closed garage. My hands were pruning up and I was soaked to the core in sweat, not a dry spot on me, and I was wearing pants. Wondering if that has anything to do with it.
Tuesday PM: Conditioning
Warm Up:
Some
Cindy:
5 pullups
10 pushpups
15 bw squats
12 rounds in 15 minutes
5 min jump rope cool down
Notes:
Huge upper body pump from Cindy, i.e. chest, shoulders, and even biceps. I’d post a pic but neh.
Taking to my boss tomorrow about my job situation and going on leave to finish my masters. I’m semi to highly stressed about the whole thing so that can be affecting my sleeping as well.
…Med Day
Hrs. Sleep:
7 = GOOD
Tuesday:
AM: 40 min steady state
…Fucked about a bit. Got off and did some stretches every 15 min or so.
Tuesday PM: Bench @ Compound
Warm Up:
lax
Bench:
135x5
185x5
225x5
255x3
275x5
295x1
315x1* not a PR
275x3x2
225x5x4
…Spotter touched it then said he didn’t do anything. I’m not counting it. I’m getting it next week.
Seated DB Press w/ No Back Support
45x8x2
45x6
Curls:
2 sets DB
4 sets BB
Ext Rotation w/ Plate on Knee:
10lbs x some
DB Rows:
90x12x3/
Notes:
Trained w/ crew of 3 other guys again. Not used to it, but did huge volume in bench compared to what I am used to then slacked on some assistance. 315 is a mental thing right now, 275x3s were fast, and 225 for volume after was cake.
Gym is in the men’s club which is in a nice condo some guy bought then moved and gave the keys to another guy and said have free run of the place. Now there is a gym in the garage and the married guys don’t tell their wives about it. Its an awesome place.
Need to get in sync with the new training schedule and form some semblance of assistance stuff to keep moving forward.
Its sofaking on.
Boss was alright about leave, meaning he couldn’t really say anything as I have work that needs to be done. I also wanted leave so I have a job to come back to, so didn’t want to be like I’m gone either way, but if you grant this I’ll finish my projects.
Life is looking peachy once again.
…Low Day
Hrs. Sleep:
7 = GOOD
Thursday and yesterday was wednesday:
PM: 40 min steady state
…Good intensity here. Incline 11 3-3.2-3.4 mph @ 1 min each to keep it interesting
Notes:
Pretty much done with this Shelby thing. My thoughts are the plan he gave me was great for fat loss but terrible for strength maintenance. I have a couple weeks left, but I’m not mentally in it anymore and can’t stand getting weaker. That sucked bad.
I’m going to continue carb cycling and mess around with the cardio until I can still be dropping fat slowly while increasing strength. This probably means 1 cheat meal/week on my high days, which are going to be 3 large high carb meals instead of 7 puny ones, slow cardio on upper days, conditioning the rest of the days chosen depending on how I feel, and some more metabolic finishers on squat on deadlift day depending on what gym I’m at and what training partners are doing.
Overall, Shelby is the man, had me on a solid program which wasn’t difficult to follow and I was dropping fat quickly and noticeably on a week/week basis. I was sleeping poorly and stress, but that shit is normal now, so I have to equate the performance drop to hard dieting.
…High Day
Hrs. Sleep:
Close to 8. Need to stop f-ing w/ snooze and just get the extra 15-20 minutes of sleep.
Thursday:
PM: Deadlift @ Lab
Rack Pull from Boxes Below Knee
245x5
325x5
445x3
535x1 …serious grip weakness
585x0
495x3x2
445x4x2
Sumo DL:
245x4
325x4
385x4x3
GHR:
BWx6x2
BWx5x2
…hamstrings were dead
Notes:
My deadlift crashed and my grip died with it. Not happy at all at having to build this back up when I was feeling strong before this diet.
Either way, need to plan out a training cycle to get on board with these guys and figure out what I’m doing.
As a sidenote, I feel like the man and the extra sleep is helping. Noticeable morning wood now, compared to the last couple months were my t-levels may have been drooping from dieting/cardio and I was just irritable and semi-depressed. Getting this work/school stuff figured out helped too.
Another month at accutane at 80mg/day which is not causing much muscle soreness anymore. Lips are still dry but my skin is 100x better so I’m just going to ride it out.
