Entry #859

Bench press:
207.5 x 3
237.5 x 3
275 x 8
> Good. Used a narrower grip with pinkies in the rings instead of middle finger. Felt easy.

Dumbbell press:
90s x 12, 9, 7, 6, 6

Pull-ups:
45 x 6
Bodyweight x 8, 6, 7, 5

EZ bar curls:
95 x 10, 7, 7

Using a nifty little Android app called Jefit to serve as a timer between sets and a log to record numbers. You can input your own exercises so the limited database isn't a problem.

Nixing all extension work. Felt good to do dumbbell press.

Entry #858

Last night:

Deadlifts:
285 x 3
330 x 3
367.5 x 9
> Took video (which I cannot upload thanks to Android's retarded size limit on uploading to YouTube over 3G). First rep had major accordion effect with my knees locking out before my back (the telltale sign of unfresh form) but by rep 2 all was good. This tell me I need to start lower.

Good mornings:
185 x 8
5 sets
> Working my way back up.

Planks
60 seconds, 5 sets
> Don't stay high in a V-shape with my butt in the air just because it feels like I can squeeze my abs more. Stay low and parallel. I noticed it was way harder doing that on the last set.

I'm looking small but getting strong.

Entry #857

Today was confirmation that I can get stronger while losing weight. I weighed in at 232, a 5 lb loss from a week and a half ago.

Overhead press:
137.5 x 3
157.5 x 3
177.5 x 7
> Using a 1RM calculator (handy app to have on the phone) I found that this was heavier than the old 185 x 5 while I was bulking. Oh, and it's 1 rep short of a 10 lb improvement from last week. Pretty rad.

Incline diamond push-ups:
12, 10, 8, 8, 6
> Really wasn't feeling like I got anything out of the skullcrushers last week. On this routine they were ridiculously light to appease rest times and I'm not going to reap the benefits of hypertrophy on a cut. So no more extensions, just pushing. Specifically I'm employing these in the interest of balancing the: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/pushups_face_pulls_and_shrugs

Bentover dumbbell rows:
105 x 8, 5 sets
> Some meatbag in front of me was hump-repping the 85s and up with a miniscule ROM. It was some ugly amalgamation between a bent and an upright row. Hideous.

Preacher curls:
70 x 8
60 x 6
45 x 10
> Getting a massive hyperextension here, letting my arms dead hang at the start and for a microsec between each rep. It's not impressive to see me curling weight this light but I don't really care. I pay my dues, man.

Entry #856

Yesterday sucked, which rules. Walked to my HIIT street as a warm-up and then did 10 intervals of 20/45.

Later went to the gym and did a circuit of jumping rope and shadowboxing, then swam laps in the pool (intermittently) for 10 minutes.

Lots of cardio, yet I felt more energized than ever.

Entry #855

Squats:
242.5 x 5
280 x 5
317.5 x 11
> Good. Deep. 11 seems to be the magic number lately.

Front squats (snatch grip):
135 x 8
x 8
x 6
> Murder on my wrists. I want to keep at this.

Ball crunches

Critics have crunches all wrong. The problem with them actually has little to do with the back. Try hyperextending on a ball with your body wrapped around the circumference and then do 12 crunches with each rep taking 5 seconds. It's all abs that way. The issue I have is not that they don't hit their target, but that they're similar to calf raises in that they only work through getting a muscle pump. One crunch isn't difficult, but a bunch of them in accumulation are. On the other hand, when I do one rep on an ab wheel or a few seconds of planks, I actually have to exert force to do the rep or hold the position. That's how I discern functionality.

On a sidenote, I can't upload pics because of my crappy dial-up. At least I'll have before and after ones when the time comes.

Entry #854

Deadlift workout on Thursday:
266.18 x 5
307.12 x 5
348.08 x 9

Bench press yesterday:
193.5 x 5
222.5 x 5
252.45 x 11

Entry #853

Cut is going good. Swam laps on Tuesday a few hours after OHP day and went on an hour LISS run yesterday in the rain. Still eating reasonably big, just low carbs. An example of my breakfast:

5 whole eggs
1 grapefruit
Glass of whole milk

I've basically cut out all wheat and most starch. Weekends will be carb loading days.

I don't believe in carb loading as described by Pasquale by way of it somehow switching your biochemistry so you're more prone to converting fat into glycogen, though. I've seen no evidence that you can train yourself off of carbs, they'll always be more efficient for energy conversion (EliteFTS had a good chart on this).

Going to be monitoring my strength state closely. If I'm on a consistent decline I'll terminate the cut and try again in a few weeks.

Entry #852

Started second cycle today. I was terrible about recording the last four weeks so these are the conservative maxes I'll be working with.

OHP: 220
Deadlift: 465
Bench: 330
Squat: 415

Today:

OHP: 127.5 x 5
147.5 x 5
167.5 x 8

Skullcrushers:
40 lb. dumbbells x 10
35 x 9
35 x 8
30 x 9
30 x 9

Dumbbell rows:
100 lb. dumbbells x 10
x 10
x 9
x 9
x 8

Preacher curls:
50 lbs. x 10
x 8
x 8

The hell is up with all these new Xanga ads? I'd switch to something else if I didn't want to maintain continuity. Gonna have to do some more code tweaking to get rid of them.

Officially cutting weight as of today. I'm a fat piece of shit. Currently 235 lbs. Took some pictures, they were ugly as sin. Gonna post them anyways to shame myself.

Doing a lot of reading. A LOT of reading. Got a cool app on my Droid called Read It Later that lets me archive everything on my computer and have it send to my phone in formatted article form. Saving a lot of T-Nation and EliteFTS stuff this way.

Read something interesting from Andy Bolton about how he nixed extensions of any kind completely.

Done doing my very first deload and am set to start second mesocycle of 5/3/1 tomorrow. Doing a lot of cardio and cutting out carbs except for veggies and fruit (grains allowed before lifting, though I may cut that out eventually). Feels good to eat less.

Entry #850

Went to the hospital last night. An x-ray revealed that I don't have glass in my hand. They conjectured that I have a partial tendon laceration. This should heal on its own, but it takes a while. I have a hand doctor reference to follow-up with in the meantime.

So, last month. My deadlift was miserable. 365 is heavy for me. I switched to Wendler's 5/3/1 which has me doing weight infuriatingly light (90% of my max is what I use as my max for calculating percentages) but high reps on the last set. This has worked amazing for my deadlift.

Today I was supposed to do 345 x 1+, with the + being as high a rep I could muster. I started out with 275 to build up. Then 315, which felt super light. Decided to be bold and go up to 405 instead of 365. Did that for an easy 3, with only my grip giving out. Went up to 455 for a strong single.

No, I don't think 455 is high in and of itself, but at this rate I'll get at least 500 for my next cycle, which is pleasantly fast progress. I attribute doing reps of at least 8 with decently heavy deadlift weight.

Entry #849

Trained hungry yesterday and managed only 185 x 5 on OHP. The rest of the workout was drawn-out and sub-par. Definitely my worst session in weeks.

Planning on cutting weight very soon.

Did 337.5 for 8 yesterday on squats. Low bar, still getting a feel for it. Took video to check my form. Very good with no back rounding and depth was below parallel. Just need to bring my elbows in more.

The numbers I'm using for this routine for future reference. They're intentionally conservative in judgment and not very high.

Overhead press: 215
Deadlift: 405
Bench press: 315
Squat: 395

Entry #847

Bench press:
195 x 3
235 x 3
265 x 9
> This is kind of ridiculous. The last set is supposed to be 3 but you're encouraged to go beyond that and do as many as you can manage. Though I'm not amazed at this it's still the highest weight I've repped for that many. I've never been strong in strength-endurance.

Next week I'm pushing 285. Would kick ass if I could bench that for 8.

Tate press:
70 lb. dumbbells x 12
70 x 10
70 x 8
55 x 12
30 x 15

Horizontal cable rows:
Didn't look at the weight. X 12 for 5 sets

Hammer curls:
30 lb. dumbbells x 15
3 sets

Why the seemingly low weights? Rests were no more than 60 seconds, and form was Nazi strict.

Currently weighing 231. Huge spike. Been on creatine for the past week and a half, which I credit most of it to.

Training has been great. I'm doing Wendler's 5/3/1 to give my shoulders a break from heavy benching and squatting thrice a week on Madcow. I did try Westside a week inbetween but switched once my bench dropped the ensuing cycle after. Now I'm gaining weight and strength like never before. The low volume and session time was just what I needed.

Currently I'm in the middle of week 2. What this has me doing is taking a conservative estimate of my max, using 90% of that, and then basing all my percentages on my sub-max 90%. I end up using very light weight for no more than fives or triples, but on the final set I'm encouraged to bust out as many reps as I can manage for 90% of that 90%. It's weird but my body is adapting to it quite proficiently.