Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

Two changes start today.

First, in the gym. Upped the weight. Model 2 seems to be working better for me than Model 1. I don’t recall Carter giving any guidelines about how much to up things, so I took a cue from Wendler and just went up 5 lbs. Overall felt good, and actually felt more like it’s where I should be, which tells me it was time to go up. Paul actually says on those +10% days that you can work up to your EDM if you feel like it, and I actually felt like it today but opted against it since I had enough changes for one day. Still, I have to remember to throw that in now and again when I’m feeling up for it.

I also changed how I did flies. I saw this video from Charles Polquin on “the right way to do flies”. Given he’s forgotten more than most people know, I figure there’s something to what he says. 🙂 So I gave them a try. He says to use 10% of what you can bench, so I went with what I thought was lower. While I could move that weight, my right shoulder didn’t like moving that weight through that particular plane of motion. So I dropped down the weight more to see if it was the weight or the movement. It’s the weight. I kept at it tho because while it wasn’t the happiest thing for my shoulder, it actually got better as I went along. There’s a particular way my mobility has been hindered in my shoulder, and this actually seems like it’s hitting the right stretch, the right place. I actually felt a lot better after doing it! So, I’m going to stick with the very light weight and slowly work my way up as my shoulder will let me, e.g. stick with the light weight, work up to 20 reps before upping the weight, etc.. We’ll see how it goes, but if it winds up bringing shoulder improvements, then awesome.

Second, my fat-loss has stagnated. This is to be expected. Instead of trying to make further adjustments, we’re going to take a break for a month and maintain. I got the new diet plan last night, and while I haven’t examined it in detail yet it seems to be pretty much the same plan just 1. upping the fat intake slightly, 2. dropping cardio (from 1 hour on my off days to 30 minutes). I have some questions for Nick, but the general plan is to maintain my weight (perhaps a very slight gain) for the next month and come December start on the downward trend again.

It’s a long road, but I can see the results… the end of the road is still far off in the distance, but I can see it and it looks pretty sweet. 🙂

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 14 (AMRAP)
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 85 x 20
  • 85 x 15
  • 85 x 12
• Polquin Flies
  • 15e x 7
  • 10e x 10
  • 10e x 10
  • 10e x 10

So much crap in my head and life… and somehow that motivated me to put in ear buds, crank the music, and lift hard and aggressive.

It was good. 🙂

I modified a bit, adding a 5th set of rows, which I think makes a good difference.

On the shrugs, I realized I went too heavy then backed off. I need to get the shrugs in better form. I know, shrugs right? But it’s about watching my body “droop” instead of keeping excellent posture the whole time. I might even drop the weight down even more next week to ensure posture stays solid all the way through — I think side effects like on posture, on grip, etc. are good side-effects of this method of shrugs. So, gotta focus on that.

And yes, 100-rep curls are a mental game.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 8
• 150 x 6

Meadows Shrugs

• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 75e x 12
• 70e x 12
• 70e x 12

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10

EZ Bar Curls

• 25 x 100

Pretty evident I was distracted today. I’m pressing and it felt really light, really good… then I realized I had been only doing 5 reps instead of 8. sigh So I just cranked out a few more sets of 8. groan

Just got a lot on my mind from work and life and whatever. So today was just in there, do the work, and go. But I am liking getting back to some direct shoulder work, and it does feel good to press again. I keep wondering if I should go back to 5/3/1, but I honestly think I get about the same results from Base Building and Strong-15, but I don’t feel as beat-up. So same results and less downside? Yeah, I’m just going to keep on with Paul’s programming until I truly see reason to stop.

In other news, my fat loss seems to have stagnated, so after 20 lbs and 3 months I’m guessing Nick’s going to want to put me on maintenance for a month. We’ll see how that phase goes because diet will still be programmed; I’m curious to see how it will be.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Press

• bar x 5
• bar x 5
• 65 x 5
• 85 x 5
• 95 x 5
• 95 x 5
• 95 x 5
• 95 x 8
• 95 x 8
• 95 x 8

Bent Laterals

• 5e x 20
• 5e x 20
• 5e x 20
• 5e x 20
• 5e x 20

Upright Rows

• 60 x 15
• 60 x 15
• 60 x 15
• 60 x 12

Triceps Pressdowns

• 45 x 25
• 45 x 25
• 45 x 21
• 45 x 12

Time’s short this morning. Get in, lift, get out.

Squats feel strong. I will bump up the weight next session.

Sumo’s feel better each week. For sure, I’m better built for conventional, but this continues to be an interesting experiment. I do think sumos may play well as an assistance exercise for me, but needs more time to know. Today tho I opted to work up a little further, and the 315 went up very easy. Next week I think I’ll try to do a further workup until I miss to see really where a good working weight is for me, then do a more formal programming around that.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 175 x 4
  • 205 x 3
  • 225 x 2
  • 260 x 1
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
• Sumo Deadlift
  • 135 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 5
  • 185 x 5
  • 225 x 3
  • 225 x 3
  • 275 x 1
  • 295 x 1
  • 315 x 1

It was a good day.

I do think model 2 is working better for me, along with some adjusted assistance work (like the “350 method” stuff). I’m going to bump up the weight next week.

Note to self: keep squeezing the bar like you’re trying to crush it — helps alleviate pain in the wrist, as well as makes it easier to press. SRSLY. I get a good grip on the bar, but I often forget to crush it. My wrist started hurting right out of the gate, so I kept on crushing the bar with my grip — gotta remember to do that.

In related news, my fat loss is starting to stall — it’s a natural consequence. The plan is to keep going week-to-week and see how things progress. When it looks like a good solid stall, we’ll go maintenance for a month. I’m dabbling with the idea during that time about changing up my lifting as well. Maybe a Strong-15 short cycle, maybe more a mass-building phase. I don’t know. It’d only be for 4 weeks, so I even debate if I should bother (instead, use the added fuel to just smash things). Just a thought rolling in my head.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 155 x 3
  • 170 x 2
  • 190 x 1
  • 200 x 1
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 135 x 20 (AMRAP)
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 85 x 20
  • 85 x 14
  • 85 x 12
• Machine Flies
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10

I am so sore this morning….. 🙂

From the top of my shoulder down the back of my arm to my elbow… oh… 🙂 But that’s what happened yesterday.

And today? Somewhat the same. I expect the weekend will be interesting and full of many stretching sessions.

I do think I need to up the volume a bit on my back work. Paul’s templates put it at 4 sets but by 4 it just feels like I was warmed up. So I’ll think about it, but either it means 5 sets, or maybe I’ll do a few lighter warm-up sets and work up, at least on the rows.

Oh, and 100 rep curls? It’s all a mental game.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

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

Meadows Shrugs

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

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10
• 125 x 10

EZ Bar Curls

• bar x 100

Man, this was different. I haven’t pressed in many moons, and it felt strange. 🙂 But it came back to me pretty naturally. I did still feel awkward and unsure of best grip placement — didn’t remember where I did it before, so I just played around but mostly was at a “natural” location for where my arms/hands end up being in a “clean” position. Meh. It’ll all come back over the coming weeks.

A lot of today, being a first day doing this, was just finding out where weights go and what to do. I haven’t had a “shoulder” day in ages, so it felt foreign but good. I did enjoy it. Well… picking out the 5# dumbbells felt silly.

On the bent laterals, I’m opting to do it off a bench. So the 45º bench, lay on my stomach, but allow my torso to be parallel to the ground. Then keep my long-arms straight and work to just contract the posterior deltoids and other back muscles to raise my arms up (only the smallest bend of the elbows, just to keep them unlocked to avoid stress on them) keeping arms at a 90º angle to the body. Doing it off the bench will help me maintain better posture and strictness… and boy, it feels silly to only use 5# DB’s, but when you gotta do 100 reps well… yeah, it was appropriate. I know how weak that musculature is on me, so it is what it is. I figure once a month I’ll try John Meadows’ rear delt destroyer approach.

All in all tho, fun day. We’ll see how this 4x/week plus the minor dietary adjustment does for keeping me on the fat-loss train.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Press

• bar x 5
• bar x 5
• 65 x 5
• 85 x 5
• 95 x 8
• 95 x 8
• 95 x 8
• 95 x 7

Bent Laterals

• 5e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 8e x 20
• 5e x 20
• 5e x 20

Upright Rows

• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12

Triceps Pressdowns

• 40 x 25
• 40 x 25
• 40 x 25
• 40 x 25

So this is different… this 4x/week thing will take a little getting used to.

I felt a little bushed going into it. In part because I did wake up a little early (other agenda items for today), but also my body wasn’t used to 2 big days in a row. I’ll get used to it tho, no big deal.

Squats did move a little slow. After last week I did get to thinking I might be bumping up the weight after another 1-2 weeks, but after today? Well, given the shift in diet and thus training I reckon I may stay at the weight a little longer. We shall see how it goes. So long as bar speed keeps generally increasing, I’ll be on a good track.

Sumos are starting to feel a little more normal now, which is cool. I thought I’d also take this opportunity (i.e. using light weights) to try out hook grip!

That is… different. I can totally see how it works now, because it’s far more mechanical grip than pure strength. I did eventually stop because my thumbs were getting annoyed, but if I know what’s good for me I’ll probably try to throw in some hook grip work now and again just to see how it goes. One thing I can say that I’m not sure about is that I’ve got a small “bone growth” (calcium deposit? protrusion?) dunno what to call it, but basically it’s a small (but significant enough) bump on one of the bones inside my palm. I have noticed it a problem with full grips, like when I’m shooting a handgun. It’s not been a problem in the gym for the most part — because either my grip sucks or maybe I’m subconsciously always keeping a little open grip due to it… but with the hook, it closes up the grip so much that I am noticing the bump — yes, it hurts, a lot, far more than the thumb/hook does. So, I’ll keep playing with it, but THAT may be a limiting factor for me. But hey, if the alternative is just to get a stronger grip, then I’m ok with that. 🙂

But as for sumo itself, I’m going to stick with what I’m doing right now. I’m actually feeling a bit more comfortable with it, and feeling more “work” happening. I may start to take the 275’s to triples and/or start to find other ways to increase the weight to a good working weight. After I do that and maybe find where a good working max really is, I may start doing sumos more in “model 1” style. We’ll see. So far, enjoying the excursion.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Squats (model 1)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 175 x 4
  • 205 x 3
  • 225 x 2
  • 260 x 1
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
  • 180 x 5
• Deadlift (model 1)
  • 135 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 3
  • 185 x 3
  • 225 x 3
  • 225 x 3
  • 275 x 1
  • 275 x 1
• Lunges
  • BW x REP

Time to change things up.

Since my priority is diet and fat loss, that drives all decisions.

I’ve been officially with Renaissance Periodization for 9 weeks, but on the “defattening” front for about 10-11 weeks. At my worst I was 265 lbs., 261 when I started with RP, and this morning weighed in at 245 lbs. So about 20 lbs. in a little less than 3 months? I’ll take it.

That said, things are slowing down. There have been diet adjustments to keep things on track, but now it’s getting a little extreme. My body has lost enough and been deprived for a while now, and it appears it’s starting to revolt against me. 🙂 So before we take a break from the fat-loss (and go maybe a month on “maintenance”), we’re trying something else. I can tell my body is craving carbs bad… not just in a “oh gee, this is miserable” way, but in a “man, you’re not functioning correctly” sort of way. I can tell I’ve got brain fade, some memory issues, and sometimes I just can’t focus. The way my body is screaming at me is something I’ve experienced numerous times before, and it’s craving in a particular way because something is seriously lacking that my body says “I need!”, not “I want”.

So to try to help manage this, we’re changing things up slightly.

Instead of lifting 3x week and thus having 4 “off” and thus “no carb” days, I’m now going to lift 4x week, which gives me another day of carb consumption. It’s still relatively low on carbs and caloric intake overall, but hopefuly having a little less overall depletion will help. We shall see.

So that’s the diet part. Now the exercise part.

On the whole, things remain steady. I went back to Paul Carter’s Basebuilding eBook to look for a 4x/week template. There’s only one in the book, and it’s actually pretty close to what I was doing anyways. It adds another day that is a “shoulder” day, and shifts a few things around a bit. But because things are mostly the same well… I’m keeping most things on track, just making minor adjustments. I’m also not following the template exactly. For example, I’m keeping lunges in because I do feel I need more single-leg work to help with my knee, etc..

Today marks the first day of this.

Benching was fine. I actually may bump this up after a couple more weeks because the bar speed is doing well, and the AMRAP set continues to increase. I’ll see how things go.

Inclines are 350 method. I felt like a wuss only putting 85 lbs. on the bar, but that wound up being more than enough. After the AMRAP set, my triceps were spent, so the inclines were worse. 🙂

Paul’s template finishes things off with dips, but that wasn’t going to happen due to the aforementioned spent triceps. So I just did some flies instead. That’ll probably be how it will be. Tho perhaps in time as my body adapts I might try going back to dips. We’ll see.

Anyways, changes changes. So long as progress continues, I’m happy. Time will tell.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

• Bench Press (model 2)
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 115 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 155 x 3
  • 170 x 2
  • 190 x 1
  • 200 x 1
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 170 x 5
  • 135 x 18 (AMRAP)
• Incline Press (350 Method)
  • 85 x 16
  • 85 x 14
  • 85 x 19
• Machine Flies
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10

Not much to say. Just a back workout.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

BB Rows

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

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8

Upright Rows

• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12
• 60 x 12

Cable Shoulder Internal Rotation

• 20 x 25
• 20 x 25

Cable Shoulder External Rotation

• 10 x 12
• 10 x 12

Cable Shoulder Upright Internal Rotation

• 25 x 12
• 25 x 12

Cable Shoulder Upright External Rotation

• 10 x 12
• 10 x 12