Good enough.

For sure, the tightening of the diet is affecting performance. Everything went fine, just not as explosive and fast… speed just wasn’t there today. Still, it was overall pretty solid and I’m good with it given all things.

I’m happy I went back to not using a belt. It’s really making me have to think about getting tighter throughout my whole body, especially the torso and upper back. Even tho the 275 was a little slow, it was solid and good. Tight tight tight. I will say then that going back to the belt is going to be different — technique is changing for sure.

Going up on the deadlift felt good too. I think before the end of the year I ought to try pulling conventional and see what happens.

Lunges were light, just because I’m trying to be good to my knee — I want to strengthen my knees, not make things worse. 🙂

Anyways, while the diet is obviously going to degrade performance some, that’s fine. My goal is the fat loss. But still, overall everything else is progressing too, just a lot slower. That’s fine, so long as I can meet the fat-loss goals, I’m good.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 185 x 4
  • 220 x 3
  • 240 x 2
  • 275 x 1
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
• Sump Deadlift (model 1)
  • 135 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 325 x 3
  • 325 x 3
  • 325 x 3
  • 325 x 3
  • 325 x 3
• Lunges
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10

Well, I knew the streak of awesome days had to end sometime. 🙂

Last week every day in the gym was awesome. Today? Not so much. I don’t think it was a bad day – it was still a solid day – just wasn’t the awesome roll from last week.

While of course I can’t say for certain why, I’m fairly confident it’s due to being back on the losing-diet train.

I have lost 5 lbs over the past week. I’m pretty sure most, if not all, of that is from non-tissue sources. Glycogen depletion, water loss, etc.. I mean, the diet is back to being really strict, restrictive on carb-based sources; cardio work is back up; I stopped taking creatine a couple weeks ago. I’m sure it all adds up.

So I just couldn’t crank out as many reps, things felt heavier and slower. It’s just how it goes, no biggie.

What will be more telling is how THIS week (and probably the week after) go. I’d like to be down to 235 by the end of the month/year, which would equate to 30# since August and I’d be happy with that. Still at least another 20# to go after that, but one pound at a time. So we’ll see how things go in the coming weeks.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 135 x 4
  • 160 x 3
  • 175 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 210 x 1
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 140 x 15 (AMRAP)
• Chest Dips (between benches)
  • BW x 7
  • BW x 7
  • BW x 7
  • BW x 7
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 90 x 20
  • 90 x 14
  • 90 x 12

What the hey… it’s been a solid week, let’s see how well it continues!

I figured I’ve bumped my weights up all week, might as well do the same here. Bumped the BB rows up to 155 and it actually felt more solid than prior weeks — a recurring theme this whole week. In fact, I haven’t felt the work in my back like this in a a while… just put the mind on the muscle and less on the bar, and sure enough after 5×8 rows I actually felt some work in my back muscles. Huzzah!

The Meadows Shrugs continue to have my grip as a weak point, but that’s fine — just get stronger, over time.

Bumped up the BB curls too, since there are ‘pre-made’ bars in 10# increments at the gym… didn’t feel like futzing with plates to get a 5# bump so hey… 10# bump and did alright. 🙂

All in all, a good week back on track.

I’ve already started to think about how I’m going to wind up 2014 and look into 2015. I think the only definitive things I can say at this point are:

1. continue on the fat-loss plan — until I get to where I want to be, this remains focus.
2. stick with Paul Carter’s approaches, Base Building as the core.
3. before the end of the year I’ll likely have another set of sessions where I work up to my everyday max.

The last one is curious to me. When I started on Base Building back in August (along with the fat-loss diet), I based my numbers off my true 1RM’s that I had just accomplished. Since then, my weights have gone up. Yeah it’s been a lot slower than if I was eating big and on a proper strength-building program, but still, things have gone up. So I can’t help but be a little curious about where I am now, despite this caloric deficit.

And I think about 2015 goals. For sure the fat loss is the primary focus, but I’m sure I’ll accomplish that before 2015 is over. So what then? I don’t think I need to make that decision now (first thing’s first). But I’m guessing the first thing will be going back to strength work, probably a Strong-15 cycle (and then, probably a short version) and seeing where my strength is. If my maxes are below my all-time bests, then I’ll probably want to work to get them back to that level, and just cruise along from there. And that works into my current “where am I now?” curiousity, because I can’t help but wonder how much I’ve lost, if anything… or even if maybe my 1RM increased.

Oh well. No big deal either way.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8
• 155 x 8

Meadows Shrugs

• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 10
• 75e x 10

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10

Seated Cable Rows

• 80 x 12
• 80 x 12
• 80 x 12

BB Curls (350 Method)

• 50 x 20
• 50 x 10
• 50 x 10

Today may be Thanksgiving, but really… nothing changes. Still go to the gym, still stick to the diet. Well ok… I’m allowed one “cheat” each week and while I normally don’t take advantage of it, today I will. No, not a gluttonous stuffing of my face with turkey and dressing; the t-day dinner will remain as close to the diet as I can make it while eating at someone else’s house. No… the cheat will a slice of Wife’s awesome apple pie, with the streusel topping, that she only makes at this time of year. 🙂

The thing is, I’m back on the official defattening diet after a month of maintenance. Sunday? I was 247. Today? 242. That’s a lot of weight to have dropped in 4 days. I’m not 100% sure why, but I expect it’s not anything “real”… just my body losing some bloat, glycogen, water, and whatever else from starting back on the diet. That’s my guess, and we’ll see how things go over the rest of this week and into the next.

But the flip side is that everything in the gym feels awesome. I mean, the prior bench, and squat/deadlift sessions went up in weight and still felt like I smashed things pretty good, especially compared to the prior couple of weeks. So I figured today, what the hey… and I bumped up the weight on the pressing by 5# and still did pretty damn good. Really, it was a good session all around.

So, I don’t know what to make of things, but here we are. As long as there’s progress towards my goals, that’s the main thing, even if I cannot fully isolate out the reasons from all the possible things going on.

In specifics… pressing was good. Again, keep tight, helps a great deal. Crush-grip the bar.

Bent Laterals are actually doing better for me. I’m not fretting over getting so tired from them and instead doing like Meadows does in his “rear delt destroyer”. That is, if I start to get tired, fine… just keep moving the weight. If it has to be a bounce/swing sort of thing, fine, so long as the muscles are being activated, really being put through their paces, and being worked. That’s the key. And today was a lot of that. It sure wasn’t a strict 5×20 session, but my rear delts haven’t felt this worked in a while. 🙂

And so, life goes on. One day at a time, progress is progress.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Press

• bar x 5
• bar x 5
• 65 x 5
• 85 x 5
• 105 x 8
• 105 x 8
• 105 x 8
• 105 x 5/2/2 (rest pause)

Bent Laterals

• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20

Upright Rows

• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 10

Triceps Pressdowns

• 45 x 25
• 45 x 25
• 45 x 25
• 45 x 12

It must be a new level of 80% days, because it’s unusual to have +10% days in a row.

Everything was just solid today.

I went ahead and upped my working max on my squats by 10#, recalculated percentages. Yeah, it often works out to only being a 5# increase, save the final 1-rep weight, but that’s what it is. Every bit adds up to more work.

But the 275 went up firmly. Even last week when the 265 felt crappy, the 275 was solid. Yeah… tightness matters. Crush grip that bar, get everything tight…

During the working sets I really felt my torso being tight. I haven’t felt that in a while. But again, crush-grip the bar, and the tightness just radiates out to everything else. I know this, I just don’t always do it.

I almost wondered if I should jump up another 10#! I won’t… I’ll stick here for a bit, but still. What I might do tho is if next squat session feels this good, after the 275 keep going up… like maybe to 300, then 325 (essentially my working max right now), just for singles. AND… without a belt. That should be very interesting for me.

And get this. The deadlifts? This was the first time the 315 felt “easy”. Oh sure, I was worked, but my speed was there. The lift wasn’t slow. I truly could just explode and the bar moved really well. That’s a first. Admittedly, I felt a little tight in my hips, so it’s possible I wasn’t getting down as much and put a little more back into it, but even when I focused on keeping the torso as upright as possible, things still ripped pretty well. I’ll give it another week, then up the weight by 10#.

I didn’t lunge today. Since I’m back on the defatting diet, instead I got on the elliptical for 15 minutes. Set it on one of the steeper angle, more resistance settings, and moved at about 140 strides per minute. Nothing huge, but I figured if it helps me up things a bit to burn more, I’ll take it. Fat loss is my focus.

Just felt like a damn good day.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 185 x 4
  • 220 x 3
  • 240 x 2
  • 275 x 1
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
• Sumo Deadlift (model 1)
  • 135 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3

Changes.

Things have been feeling good, so I went ahead and up’d the weight. Just a 5 lbs increase, but that’s how you do it… start light, progress slowly, progress longer, build a real foundation.

Benching went really well, actually. The main work sets were really good, and focusing on crush-gripping the bar really carries over into getting the whole body tight and thus moving the weight well.

Whereas last week the dips caused my body to scream, this week my body was like “ok, I know what’s going on now” and they went really well. The first set was smooth and I certainly could have done more than 4×6. But again, start light, make progress, especially since part of this is trying to rehab my shoulder… which actually is feeling much better since I discovered the stretch angle I needed was the one you get at the bottom of a dip (vs. things like pec stretching standing in a doorway). Been a big help.

All in all, things went well. Is this a +10% day? Hard to say, but I really feel like it was just a solid 80% day, progressing like one should.

In other news… I’m back officially on a “losing” diet. During the past month Nick put me into a maintenance mode. While there was leeway to gain some weight (Nick allowed me up to 5 lbs of gain), I really didn’t. I’ve basically held around 245 the whole month. A little up, a little down… I mean, yesterday morning I was at 247, and this morning at 245. I reckon I lost a little bloat given I was hungry all day yesterday. But basically I held steady.

My goal is to aim for a rate of 2 lbs per week. Aggressive I know, but I would really love to drop say 15 in 8 weeks. Being around 230 at the start of the new year would be pretty awesome. So, I’m going to do whatever it takes to get there. Driven.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 120 x 5
  • 135 x 4
  • 160 x 3
  • 175 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 210 x 1
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 140 x 20 (AMRAP)
• Chest Dips (between benches)
  • BW x 6
  • BW x 6
  • BW x 6
  • BW x 6
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 85 x 22
  • WT x 17
  • WT x 13

Grip. Grip. Grip.

I’ve been dry-firing more regularly. One thing that’s key to do in dry fire is to still grip the gun as hard as possible. It’s very easy to not do this because you know there’s no recoil to manage. So you must focus on it. I guess because of that, it’s spilled over here into my back work really thinking about grip today.

I ebb and flow here… sometimes with a fair grip, but then sometimes with a crush grip. In general you want to crush-grip things, but yeah, you forget amidst all the other cues and things to remember. But today, I focused on it.

What killed me was the Meadows Shrugs. I mean, each rep is probably 5 seconds long, and as you keep doing stuff well… my grip ended up peeding out before my shoulders did. After the 3rd set I went in search of the gym’s straps — lord, I knew better than to touch those things, and now I will certainly never touch them again. In fact, it made the 4th set harder because the grip circumference was larger and more squishy. Lost the straps for the 5th set and got more reps out because my grip lasted longer. Still tho, grip was the weak point here.

Frankly, I’m OK with this — if it gives me reason to get my grip strength back up, fine.

In fact, by the end of today’s session, my forearms looked and felt like my skin was going to tear — pump was crazy. 🙂

Speaking of pump. I’ve long been feeling like I need another set of rows in here, like maybe doing seated cable rows for a “pump set”. So I did that today. Light weight (ended up being too light, but that’s probably A Good Thing™ for these purposes). Sit as upright and back arched/straight as possible. At the bottom of the movement, let the shoulders have as much extension as possible, then row back thinking about pulling from the elbows such that you try to touch the tips of the elbows together behind your back — impossible of course, but with that sort of range, scapular retraction, and even a little hold/squeeze at the top of the movement — let the back muscles work. It’s not out to get a ton of work in, just like a “light” pump set sort of thing just to ensure the back gets worked. It was good, and today did have a good feeling of solid back work in there… tho I do think I was slightly hampered by the exhaustion of my forearms. Still, all good.

I also dumped the 100-rep curls in favor of trying the 350-method. I liked it, and will stick with it for a while — a little heavier instead of just repping-out.

In other news….

The break period in my diet is over. Nick had me on a month of maintenance to give me a mental break as well as let my body relax a bit. I still stuck to a basic diet program (which really wasn’t that different from what I was doing for moths prior), but I did allow myself a little more slack and casualness with things at times. Overall weight has held, tho I think these past few days I bloated up a bit from allowing myself a little more (too much?) freedom since I knew this was it for another probably 3 months or so.

So… back on the losing train I go. If I can drop another 20 lbs in 3 months, I’ll be stoked.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8

Meadows Shrugs

• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 8 (straps)
• 75e x 10 (no straps)

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10
• 130 x 10

Seated Cable Rows

• 70 x 10
• 70 x 10
• 70 x 10

BB Curls (350 method)

• 40 x 25
• 40 x 15
• 40 x 10

Today was pretty good.

Pressing does well. Again, I’m really happy to be pressing again — makes me realize how much I did enjoy it, and that I do think it overall helps me.

Tried something I’ve been curious about for a while. John Meadows’ Rear Delt Destroyer.

Holy crap.

I’m sure I didn’t do them with true conviction. I mean, if you’ve ever seen what Meadows does, he’s someone that’s really worked up to that higher level of intensity. Still, I did as I could… but geez, you get to a point where it does seem like you’re just twitching. Excruciatingly painful is quite the appropriate description. Now that I know what I’m up against, next time I do these I’ll put even more behind it.

I didn’t feel it so much in my rear delts, but my rhomboids were aching afterwards.

I’m going to keep trying these at least once a month (if I’m doing direct rear delt work). I cannot deny that when I try things the Meadows way, it does produce some results.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Press

• bar x 5
• bar x 5
• 65 x 5
• 85 x 5
• 100 x 8
• 100 x 8
• 100 x 8
• 100 x 8
• 100 x 8

Upright Rows

• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12
• 70 x 12

Meadows Rear Delt Destroyer

• 20e x 60
• 10e x 30
• 5e x 10

Triceps Pressdowns

• 45 x 25
• 45 x 25
• 45 x 25
• 45 x 15

Knee sleeves for warmth, right? And so, wearing them TO (and from) the gym while you walk there in 33º weather counts, right? 😉

I was surprised that squats went so well. I got to the end of the 5×5 and was like, “it’s over?” I did have to remind myself on set 2 to accelerate, but after that geez… it just kept coming. Debating if I should increase weight or not — last week was a -10% for sure, and it’s possible today was just a +10%. So, conservativeness tells me to stick with it another week and if it still flies up THEN increase.

Sumos continue to be interesting. I’m not sure how much C.A.T. I can do with them… you can’t rip it so quickly off the floor, but once I break the floor they just fly up. Certainly my back is MUCH stronger than my legs, certainly I’m better conventional than sumo. Sumo right now is an experiment and I’m thinking it may well be good assistance work for me. For sure I’m focused on breaking off the ground with my legs — keep the back upright and stable, don’t let the hips pop up, ensure I come off the ground because my legs are pushing. THAT for me is hard, both as a technique cue and simply strength-wise. So thus, the sumos seem to be good for me in that regard. I’m going to be curious how my conventional deadlift improves here, but even more so I’m wondering if the sumos are helping my squats. I think they may well be, and that’s A Good Thing™.

BTW, I opted to go back to beltless. The belt will come back out when I opt for testing maxes or doing a peaking cycle (e.g. Strong-15 last 6 weeks, or an entire Strong-15 short cycle). But otherwise it feels right to just be beltless — maybe just because I’ve done it so long it’s what’s “normal” and comfortable to me. So today was totally without belt.

Everything tho was going quite well, until lunges. Did the right leg, then about 10 reps into the left leg the knee (this is my problem knee) started to complain in the bad way. It wasn’t truly painful nor bad, but I could tell this was not a pain to “work through” or that there was anything to gain by keeping going. Sucks, but if my primary goal in all of this is improving my health, better to call it a day early. Bummer.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 155 x 5
  • 180 x 4
  • 215 x 3
  • 235 x 2
  • 265 x 1
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
• Sumo Deadlift (model 1)
  • 135 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
  • 315 x 3
• Lunges
  • BW x 17… then bad pain

Woke up at OMG-stupid-:30 this morning… don’t know why, but no biggie.

The real biggie was walking to the gym. Winter has finally descended upon Central Texas, so the walk to the gym was in 32º weather with 15-20 MPH gusty cold winds. Yeah… it sucked, so you just walk faster. 🙂 And now that the gym has the thermostat under a lockbox, I don’t know how cold it was in there but the thermostat bottoms out at 60º and the needle was pinned down there. No space heaters… so, it’s sweats and beanie time. It’s all good — don’t even notice once you get started.

Pressing went well. My shoulder continue to argue with me, and because of that I thought about dips.

I like dips. This template is actually supposed to use dips, but when I switched to it dips just weren’t going to happen — triceps were spent. And while the Polquin Flies were interesting, I just never felt they were adequate here because they left out triceps — this is about getting the most bang for your buck and flies just aren’t there — compound movements are good. So I thought of a different approach. I would bench, THEN dip, then incline-350.

I also want to give dips a try because of the stretch position they put you into. When I get into that position, it’s tight, especially on the right, and I am interested to see if the dips will help me out.

I tried normal dips but it wasn’t to be — shoulder wasn’t too happy with me. So instead I opted for “Chest Dip (between benches)“. It’s fairly close to “proper” dips (exrx.net’s listings for proper “chest dip” and the “between benches” variation shows no difference), and my shoulder was a bit happier with it — I figure it’s simple: less weight and thus less stress on the shoulder area.

I only did 4 sets of 5, which was enough. The first set was difficult — just stiff and hard to get all the way down — but things got easier as I went along and I actually felt like doing more reps by the end of the 4th set! I reckon it’ll get better as I go along, and I’ll just slowly up the reps each week. I figure once I’m doing a lot of reps this way, I can try going to proper chest dips and see how it goes. Meantime, I’ll just use the dip apparatus to help me stretch afterwards.

To help with all of this, I have opted to limit my AMRAP set to 20 — just keep trying to push like hell through it (C.A.T. and all that). And I did drop the incline-350 set down to a guess weight, which worked out fine.

So… modifying things a wee bit, but with the proper goals in mind.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 135 x 4
  • 155 x 3
  • 175 x 2
  • 195 x 1
  • 205 x 1
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 140 x 20 (AMRAP)
• Chest dip (between benches)
  • BW x 5
  • BW x 5
  • BW x 5
  • BW x 5
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 75 x 25
  • 75 x 18
  • 75 x 17