Today was pretty cool.

First, officially weighing in at 199 lb.. Hell yeah!

Second, pull-ups!

So the weight? That’s awesome. Big milestone to break 200 lb. Things are changing for the better.

The pull-ups was cool. Last session I decided to not do pulldowns and such and just hit pull-ups and chin-ups. Because I like doing them and want to keep getting better at them — I only stopped due to my shoulders. The protocol is to do shoulder-width grip pull-ups — from a dead hang to chin-above-the bar — controlled up and down, no swing, no kicking, no kipping, no none of that. All the way up, ALL the way down, hang, “relax”, then repeat. Do pull-ups (pronated/overhand grip; harder) until I can only do a set of 1; then switch to chin-ups (supinated/underhand grip; easier) until I can’t do any.

And I got 4 pull-ups, even after all that prior back work.

I don’t think I’ve ever done 4 PULL-ups in my life.

Awesome. 🙂

The other thing was that usually when I do reps I know the next rep isn’t going to happen, so I stop. Well, I do that with pull-/chin-ups and dips and such, but I shouldn’t — I should try for the rep and if I don’t get it, I at least got some work in. If I do get it, then I got it! It’s really a good way to keep pushing forward on bodyweight stuff, but I just keep forgetting to do it because my normal mode is to realize I’m unlikely to get the next rep so stop.

But I reminded myself of that today in the midst of things, and on those 1-rep set chin-ups I’d try, get half-way, lower back down. Then notice… I started getting more reps! I’ve heard about that with things like German Volume Training where the reps go down, but then around set 7 or 8 you get more because of the body’s response to things.

And I cranked out a lot of reps — sure many sets, but overall volume was good. Heck, I only stopped because I had to due to time constraints.

Anyways, a good day. 🙂

A complete write-up on the Defattening is forthcoming.

• Barbell Rows
  • bar x 10
  • 105 x 5
  • 125 x 4
  • 145 x 3
  • 165 x 2
  • 185 x 1
  • 145 x 10 (AMRAP)
  • 145 x 5 (50%)
• Cable Row
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
• Behind-the-back BB Shrugs (smith machine)
  • 135 x 20
  • 165 x 20
  • 185 x 20
  • 185 x 17
  • 155 x 20
• Pull-ups
  • 4/3/2/2/2/1
• Chin-ups
  • 3/3/2/2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1/1/2/2/1

Today was… as expected.

But tomorrow… well, maybe next week… things are looking better. 🙂

First today. It was what it was. I’m just out of gas. Such is life. But it’s important to get the squat workout in because that affects my workload for the week more than anything. I was also cramped for time, so the extensions, curls, and raises I did as one endless tri-set, no rest at all, just keep rotating. Really, nothing much else to report or record about today other than I did the work as best I could.

But that’s the cool thing. 🙂

So in talking with Nick yesterday, it’s pretty much agreed that I’m coming to the end of the 1.5-year-long Defattening Project… well, at least chapter 1. I’m not where I want to be, but I’m pretty close. What’s going to stop is the constant downward trend. It’s been 16 months of diet, deprevation, and loss, and it’s time to stop. Instead, I’ll start waving in a sort of “2-steps-forward, 3-steps-back” sort of thing. So as a rough description, bulk to gain 10-15 lb. then cut to lose 15-20 lb.. If all goes well, that bulk will be some water/glycogen, then some muscle and fat. But then the cut should merely seem me lose the water/glcogen and the fat. Keep things on a fairly short cycle, because I don’t really start losing muscle (and strength) until the cut drags out. So if the cut is kept at maybe 8-12 weeks (hopefully closer to 8), that ought to work out. Then slowly over the course of 2016 I ought to get my body comp where I want it to be.

Yeah, goals are measured on a yearly basis… days, weeks, months are merely indicators of progress.

I also expect this should allow me to rebuild strength and minimize loss of strength. Sure, I might stall out towards the end of a cut cycle, but I can live with that — it’s not loss. Because my next goal is a strength goal, so it’s time to rebuild things towards that end. Getting my body comp where I want it remains a primary goal, but it’s a little less primary and getting muscle and strength back is a little stronger goal.

So it’s my hope all will go well in this way.

I also have training plans in mind, but I’ll have to write about that later.

Right now the goal is to hit 200 lb., which I ought to hit Sunday. If I don’t, well, then next Sunday. It’s very close. 🙂 Once I hit that, it’s time to change gears. Huzzah!

• Squat
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 145 x 4
  • 170 x 3
  • 215 x 2
  • 245 x 1
  • 200 x 10 (AMRAP)
  • 200 x 6 (50%)
• Leg Press
  • 0 x 20
  • 135 x 20
  • 185 x 20
  • 225 x 13
  • 135 x 18
• Leg Extensions (triset with curls and raises)
  • 40 x 15
  • 45 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 55 x 15
• Leg Curls
  • 30 x 15
  • 30 x 15
  • 30 x 12
  • 30 x 9
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 80 x 10
  • 80 x 10
  • 80 x 10
  • 80 x 10

Man, it felt good to be back in the gym.

Took about 10 days off due to visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday. Weighed in at 202 before I left, weighed in at 202 after my return. Happy to have stayed flat, and secretly I expect I may have lost a little tissue and gained a little bloat. I ate mostly as off-days, but I couldn’t be perfect because I was at the mercy of restaurant menus and such. And as well, Thanksgiving dinner was my first cheat meal since the start of the month, so I ate well. So I’m aiming for 200 this coming Sunday, which will be a nice milestone.

After that, not sure what’s going to happen. This marks week 17 of this cut cycle, which is pretty long. I’m back-and-forth on what to do, and presently in talks with Nick about it. We shall see.

Anyways, the gym was good. A good session in terms of work accomplished, but bummer because I can keep watching my strength fading. It’s odd to lift weights yet get weaker… but it’s just part of the process. I know it’ll come back, and I am already planning what to do next.

• Incline Press
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 4
  • 125 x 3
  • 155 x 2
  • 175 x 1
  • 155 x 9 (AMRAP)
  • 155 x 6 (50%)
• DB Bench Press (4-0-1-0 tempo)
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 9
  • 55e x 7
• DB Flat Flies (rest-pause
  • 25e x 16
  • 25e x 8
  • 25e x 5
• Press Behind Neck (seated, smith machine)
  • 85 x 11
  • 85 x 7
• Seated DB Press
  • 35e x 10
  • 35e x 9
  • 35e x 7
  • 35e x 7
  • 35e x 6
• Front Plate Raise
  • 20 X 50

Just a day.

Same results and behaviors to report — everything’s going down.

It is what it is right now.

That said, I am taking a planned off week next week. I’m taking the week off work, and I’m sorely in need of rest and recoup. Between work stress, diet stress, etc. I just need some time to tune-out and recover. Plus the Thanksgiving meal is my first (planned) “cheat/refeed” meal since the beginning of the month. So I may hold steady on weight or even gain a hair, but any gain likely is going to just be a temporary bloat that should quickly shed. The time off, the diet during the week, the turkey dinner, etc. is all planned and worked out with Nick @ RP. My body should be happy from this.

That’s something to realize. Since I started on the Defattening Project about 15-16 months ago, I haven’t really taken any time off. Normally I’d go 6-8 weeks or so then hit a deload, even sometimes a “jack shit” deload — i.e. allow my body the recovery it needs. But because of the needs of the diet, I have to keep working. Maybe a light week, but there’s really no ability to just “jack shit” it. That’s taken a toll on me for sure. But it’s just part of the process.

That said then, what will happen after the break? I’m not sure. Best I can say is to see how my body responds. Who knows… maybe that Thanksgiving refeed will kick everything in the pants and I’ll be able to go for another few weeks. Or maybe my body will say “no mas” and I need to mid for a month then start back up again. I don’t know; many thoughts in my head, but the main one is to see how things are after I rest and recoup.

But the light at the end of the tunnel is visible and growing brighter. 🙂

• Cheat Curls
  • 40 x 12
  • 50 x 10
  • 60 x 8
  • 70 x 6 (cheated last few reps)
  • 70 x 6 (cheated)
• DB Curls
  • 30e x 8
  • 30e x 8
  • 30e x 8
  • 30e x 8
• Reverse Curls (just a rest-pause set)
  • 40 x 20
  • 40 x 10
  • 40 x 6
• Close-Grip Bench
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 135 x 4
  • 155 x 3
  • 175 x 2
  • 195 x 1
  • 155 x 13 (AMRAP)
  • 155 x 6 (50%)
• Lying Triceps Extensions
  • 40 x 12
  • 50 x 10
  • 60 x 8
  • 60 x 7
• Overhead Rope Triceps Extensions (rest-pause set)
  • 40 x 16
  • 40 x 11
  • 40 x 7
• Preacher Curls (superset with pushdowns; rest-pause)
  • 40 x 15
  • 40 x 9
  • 40 x 5

Today was…. meh. I’ll put it in the 80% column, but on the lower end. That said, I had some fun at the end.

I figure it’s just the same story: no food, no go, everything regressing — including my weight. 202 this morning. So close.

So at the end of the session I skipped pulldowns and opted to do pull-ups! Why? I’ve just wanted to. I didn’t want to stop them before but had to due to my shoulders. Now that they’re feeling much better, I want to see about getting back to them.

I knew I wouldn’t get a lot of reps in, so the goal was to just do pull-ups until I couldn’t…. as many reps per set as I could, then once I hit 1 rep switch to chin-ups. I kept the grip shoulder width and went full-range. True dead-hang, chin clearing the bar, then controlled descent — not trying to get a 30X0 type of tempo (tho that’s what it wound up being like), but just wanting to be controlled through it all so I could go all the way to a dead hang and not kill my shoulders. And then, just keep going until I couldn’t go any more. Even it was few reps per set, I’ll take as many sets as I could get, and I got a lot.

So it was a fun way to end it. I was happy to get the reps I did. Sure it wasn’t much, but it was after all that other back work. And putting that together with my lifetime of sucking? Geez, I’m happy.

Oh, and I didn’t drop a 10# plate on my foot today. That was most important. 😉

• Barbell Rows
  • bar x 10
  • 105 x 5
  • 125 x 4
  • 145 x 3
  • 165 x 2
  • 185 x 1
  • 145 x 11 (AMRAP)
  • 145 x 6 (50%)
• Cable Row
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
• Behind-the-back BB Shrugs (smith machine)
  • 135 x 20
  • 165 x 20
  • 185 x 17
  • 185 x 15
  • 155 x 20
• Pull-ups
  • BW x 2
  • BW x 2
  • BW x 2
  • BW x 1
• Chin-ups
  • BW x 3
  • BW x 2
  • BW x 2
  • BW x 2
  • BW x 2
  • BW x 2
  • BW x 2
  • BW x 1
  • BW x 1

Sometimes you just have to take what you’re given.

I have no gas in the tank. Lack of food, and lack of sleep. I think it’s the lack of sleep that really got me. That concert this past Friday? Getting to bed at 2 AM (WAY WAY WAY past my bedtime) and all that’s cascaded since then… I had a mid-day doze, then crashed hard and early on the couch last night, woke up hard from my alarm this morning. Yeah, my body needs to recoup. Once I hit the squats AMRAP and couldn’t crank, I knew that was it. I changed up, did get some work in, but didn’t push it hard like I normally do. Normally these leg days are very hard and leave me quite drained — I don’t need to do that right now, if I’m this far in the hole already.

So, the day what it was. Got some work in, and hopefully didn’t dig the hole too much deeper.

One cool thing was going back to leg presses from high-bar squats. I did it for two reasons: 1. just to drop the work down, 2. I was curious if my knee would still complain. I just did a very easy work-up on the presses, and my knee was happy. That was cool.

I suspect I will keep my squat work-up the same but drop the AMRAP weights down maybe 10%. I need to focus on “getting lots of work/volume” so… Everything else will probably be adjusted accordingly as well.

• Squat
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 145 x 4
  • 170 x 3
  • 215 x 2
  • 240 x 1
  • 210 x 8 (AMRAP)
  • 210 x 4 (50%)
• Leg Press
  • Empty Sled x 20
  • 135 x 20
  • 185 x 20
  • 225 x 20
  • 135 x 17
• Leg Extensions
  • 40 x 15
  • 45 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 55 x 15
  • 44 x 17
• Leg Curls (superset with Extensions)
  • 30 x 15
  • 35 x 12
  • 40 x 10
  • 45 x 8
  • 30 x 10
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 80 x 10
  • 80 x 10
  • 80 x 10
  • 80 x 10

Confirmed: strength is fading.

This is just the nature of the beast. I’m starting, I believe, my 15th week on this diet cut cycle. I’ve been seeing everything go down the past couple weeks, but you can’t be sure if it was just an off day or truly the start of something. But now that it’s been a few weeks of constant decline…. yeah…. I’m losing. It is to be expected, but it’s just no fun. It’s a reminder of all the ground gained and now lost that will have to be regained. But of course in the bigger picture, it’s OK because again the fat-loss is my focus and for sure that’s happening.

203 this morning.

Going forward, I’m unsure of what to do. Next week I will actually take some time off, including turkey dinner being my first cheat meal this month. After Thanksgiving, do I start back into things? Do I ramp it up even more (e.g. more dietary cutbacks, increased workload) to try to get things down even more? I don’t know. Body is slowing down, and if I want to get to 190, that’s maybe 2 more months of work. I’m not really sure I want to keep going without a break. At first I was thinking to just go on a weekly basis post-Thanksgiving, each week assessing and either continuing or stopping. Then I figured I’m so close, why not try to just gut it out until Christmas. But now I’m back to thinking about a weekly assessment or even just starting a few weeks of mid during December and start back on a serious cut after Christmas. So when I step back and look at all of this, the best I can say is: just take it day-by-day, week-by-week. I will get there — I’m closer than ever before.

That said, today was OK. Obvious drop in work because I just can’t “go” any more. But I pushed it as much as I could.

• Incline Press
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 4
  • 125 x 3
  • 155 x 2
  • 175 x 1
  • 155 x 10 (AMRAP)
  • 155 x 6 (50%)
• DB Bench Press (4-0-1-0 tempo)
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 8
  • 55e x 8
• DB Flat Flies
  • 25e x 12
  • 25e x 12
  • 25e x 12
• Press Behind Neck (seated, smith machine)
  • 95 x 8
  • 95 x 7
• Seated DB Press
  • 40e x 10
  • 40e x 8
  • 40e x 7
  • 40e x 6
  • 40e x 6
• Front Plate Raise
  • 20 X 50

Fairly normal, but I changed up a few things to contend with time.

This session has gotten longer because I wanted more work, but of course with more work comes more time. Well, today I didn’t have that time so I tried a few things to drop it down.

First, instead of the 100-reps I just did a rest-pause set. I’m already warmed up, so I can just dive right in. I wanted the first set to hit somewhere 12-20 reps, so that then with 2 r/p sets I’d get enough volume. Just take all 3 sets to true failure. I did this on the reverse curls. Felt fine. Was it any better or worse? Hard to say, but if it’s basically feeling about the same then who knows… maybe it’s better because it’s more efficient. We’ll see.

Then pushdowns… I’m tired of pushdowns. Sure I change handles but meh. So I went for something different: cable bent-over triceps extensions. It’s a longer range of motion and tension due to the cables, and if nothing else it’s just different.

Then, I did the extensions and preacher curls also rest-pause (same protocol as above), AND kept it as a superset. But because RP and supersetting, there was just no rest. Extensions to failure, then curl to failure, then right back to extensions, etc.. Because triceps got enough rest while curling and vice versa.

All felt fine and good, and I certainly got done in much less time.

So, nothing big to report. Just a nice day.

• Cheat Curls
  • 40 x 12
  • 50 x 10
  • 60 x 8
  • 70 x 6
  • 80 x 6 (true cheat set)
• DB Curls
  • 30e x 8
  • 30e x 8
  • 30e x 8
  • 30e x 8
• Reverse Curls (rest-pause)
  • 40 x 19, 10, 7
• Close-Grip Bench
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 135 x 4
  • 155 x 3
  • 175 x 2
  • 195 x 1
  • 155 x 14 (AMRAP)
  • 155 x 6 (50%)
• Lying Triceps Extensions
  • 40 x 12
  • 50 x 10
  • 60 x 8
  • 70 x 5
• Cable Bent-Over Triceps Extensions (rest-pause)
  • 40 x 17, 10, 6
• Preacher Curls (rest-pause, superset with pushdowns)
  • 40 x 17, 7, 5

Note to self: must pay attention to the plates on the bar…. for dropping a 10 lb. plate on your foot sucks.

For that last set of shrugs I usually do 135 but today opted to do 155 because I figured I might get more out of a set closer to 20 than something so light I’m just repping forever. But when I was done, my brain was still stuck at 135… so I just started pulling the 45 lb. plate off the bar and totally forgot the 10 lb. one was there. But I quickly remembered as soon as the plate slid off and landed square on the top of my right foot. That sucked, and I have an excellent bruise to show for it, as well as pain when I put pressure on it. I don’t expect anything is broken; it’s just a little pain and swelling righ tnow. Hopefully it’ll be better by Tuesday. 🙂

Otherwise, a decent enough day.

Weighed-in at 204 lbs. today as well. Slow and steady on my decline.

• Barbell Rows
  • bar x 10
  • 105 x 5
  • 125 x 4
  • 145 x 3
  • 165 x 2
  • 185 x 1
  • 145 x REP (AMRAP)
  • 145 x REP (50%)
• Cable Row
  • 95 x 12
  • 95 x 12
  • 95 x 12
  • 95 x 12
• Behind-the-back BB Shrugs (smith machine)
  • 135 x 20
  • 165 x 20
  • 185 x 20
  • 185 x 17
  • 155 x 16
• Close-grip Pulldowns
  • 110 x 12
  • 110 x 12
  • 110 x 10
  • 110 x 8, 5, 4 (rest-pause)