Grunt11's Training Log

Week 4: Workout 1: Today:

Sumo Deadlift 265 lbs. x 10 M-Time
Flat Bench 170 lbs. x 10 M-Time
Superset with
Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups BW (172 lbs.) x 10 M-Time
Seated Incline Shoulder Press 120 lbs. x 10 M-Time
Superset with
Supported DB Rows 95 lbs. x 10 M-Time

Incline Bench 135 lbs. x 14 (metabolic set)
Close Parallel Grip Lat Pulls 120 lbs. x 14 (metabolic set)

This is my last workout prior to starting a PSMF tomorrow. I probably should have gone “balls-to-the-wall” but decided instead to test the routine I plan to use while cutting. This way I can gauge how my strength/endurance hold up during the cut. All but the metabolic sets were at what should be 80% of my 1RM.

I will alternate between doing Sumo Deadlifts one workout and Squats + SLDL the next, otherwise the workout will stay the same. I’m just wondering if I’d be better off shooting for 15-20 reps on the Deadlift and Squat/SLDL since I’m not doubling up on similar exercises like my straight upper body exercises.

I’ve decided to follow closer to the guidelines in the “A Guide to Flexible Dieting” than in “The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook,” though really they are almost identical except for more flexible use of re-feeds. My plan is to diet for 11 days with workouts and re-feeds on days 4 and 8 ending with a workout and 2-3 day re-feed starting day 12. At which point I will go in one of three directions. Continue cutting, press on with my current cycle starting with the first week of 5s or SD and start a new cycle. I’m leaning to continuing my cycle but won’t know for sure until I get there.

That will give me 9 total days at maintenance -2000 kCal or -18,000 kCal for the two weeks. The day 4 and 8 re-feeds are set at about maintenance +200. I plan to do cardio on all the non-workout days so factoring in the additional calorie burn from that and I should drop between 5-6 lbs. (hopefully mostly fat) over the two weeks. I hope that and getting better acclimated to the heat will be enough but I could always do it again for another 5-6 lbs. though I would prefer not to spend more than 2 weeks cutting right now.
 
PSMF Week 1: Workout 1: Today:

Power Squat 230 lbs. x 6 M-Time
Superset with
SLDL 230 lbs. x 6 M-Time

Flat Bench Press 170 lbs. x 6 M-Time
Superset with
Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups BW (170 lbs.) x 6 M-Time

Seated Incline BB Press 120 lbs. x 6 M-Time
Superset with
Supported DB Rows 95 lbs. x 6 M-Time

Incline Bench Press 120 lbs. x 15 Metabolic set
Close Parallel Grip Lat Pulls 110 lbs. x 15 Metabolic set

Yesterday cardio: 40 minutes moderate pace on elliptical.

Ok I changed my mind again. I decided working out only once every 4 days wasn’t going to be enough so instead I’m going to try working out every other day, though with about 1/3 of the normal volume I would use. Also, I’m second guessing doing a re-feed every 4th day and may not do it depending on how I feel, something Lyle McDonald talks about in “A Guide to Flexible Dieting.” I just need to get over the paranoia of losing muscle and get this cut done so I can go back to bulking properly.

Granted this is only the second day of modified fasting but the workout felt fantastic. The low volume left me feeling much more energized and less worn out than a normal workout. I timed it so I would finish at a scheduled feeding time and also through in and extra half scoop of whey protein (I don’t think an extra 70 kCal) is going to kill me).

The tendons in my arms are screaming at me after today’s workout. I chose not to use the Versa-Grips at first thinking I should keep my grip strength up, but after doing the SLDLs and Chin Ups I went back to using them for them for the Rows. They were very easy to use while supper-setting the Rows and Shoulder presses. Just do the Rows and then spin them around so the grip is on the back of your hand and do pressing movements, load plates or write in your log as they mover completely out of the way. Then just spin them back around for another pulling set. Very handy!

I just started using some Olympic DB bars, for Supported Rows, I picked up at the local Play-it-Again-Sports. I maxed out my Power Blocks at 90 lbs. decided it wasn’t worth the money to get the 130 lbs. extensions since I can easily load 150 lbs. on the Olympic DB bars which also weigh about 8 lbs. each. I’ve bought a lot of stuff there over the last 6 months so he sold me the pair w/o spring collars for the price of one, plus a 10% military discount.

I hate doing cardio indoors. I was bored out of my mind on that elliptical for 40 minutes yesterday. Unfortunately I can’t exercise outdoors on company time since the imposed a rule that if it’s over 100F you have to exercise with a partner. Seriously I’ve been running dozens of miles a day in the tropics for over 30 years and haven’t died . . . yet, you’d think they could make an exception.

For my diet all I ate yesterday was my 800 kCal of protein shake split up into 3 hour feedings, so 100 kCal every 3 hours. Supplemented in the evening with some soup I made out of beef broth and soy sauce (sodium), various hot spices and French cut green beans (potassium). Plus I downed a liter of water usually mixed with electrolytes every hour. Despite being about as hydrated as possible I still dropped 2 lbs. (I’m guessing mostly glycogen water) in just one day. I also snacked on pickled jalapeno pepper slices.

You’ll note the 90% of my diet is liquid. I’ve found previously that if I eat solid food it just makes me want more solid food when my stomach empties, however, if I stick mostly to liquid and spread it out over the day I never get that empty feeling in my stomach. I know it seems counter intuitive to what most people do but it works for me.
 
Are you getting sufficient amounts of all the right vitamins on this diet? I would assume so, you've definitely done your homework, but just want to double check...
 
Thanks for mentioning it, but yes I upped the suggested vitamin/mineral intake especially the electrolytes because of the heat here.

I almost dread this weekend having 4 days off (sucks to be me huh ;) ) but I think I will end up munching on a whole lot of Hebrew National 97% fat free franks. I think I could have 20 of those suckers and still be at 800 kCal.
 
Well Tuesday and Wednesday the first and second day of my PSMF I felt much cooler out on the flightline despite the temperature actually being up from last week probably about 112F. Realizing I hadn’t really shed anything but water weight so far I started to wonder what was going on. It dawned on me that instead of eating over 400 kCal every 3 hours I was down to 100 kCal with almost no fat. So I’m not generating as much internal heat digesting all that food I’ve been eating. I mean the difference in how it felt was night and day. I hadn’t figured that into the mix so now I also have another strategy to deal with bulking in the heat, just eat less especially fat when I’m going to be out working in the sun.
 
UD2 Week 1: Day 4: Today:

Superset:
Sumo Deadlift 265 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Flat Bench Press 170 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups BW (167 lbs.) x 20 M-Time

Superset:
Power Squats 230 lbs. x 10 M-Time
Incline BB Press 120 lbs. x 10 M-Time
Supported DB Row 95 lbs. x 10 M-Time

Shrugs 225 lbs. x 20 x 15 Straight Sets
Incline BB Bench Press 120 lbs. x 15 Metabolic Set
Close Grip Lat Pulls 110 lbs. x 15 Metabolic Set

Ok, if you noticed the title of this thread vs. the last workout you’re thinking WTF Grunt, thought you are doing a PSMF. Well I guess I’m channeling my ex-wife in the how-many-times-can-you-change-your-mind department. After realizing that what was overheating me more than anything at work was digesting all the bulking calories I realized that UD2 is going to be a better option since I’m in no hurry to drop the body fat now that I have a way to control the overheating at work.

Actually this isn’t a “real” UD2 week since I didn’t do a glycogen depletion workout but I figured close enough for starters. I also think it’s going to be much easier to live with since it will let me eat pretty good on my time off Saturday, Sunday every other Friday and many federal holiday Mondays.

I will be using a couple minor modifications from the vanilla UD2 but they are actually sanctioned so I’m not just going my own way. I’ll be shifting everything one day so day 1 is Tuesday rather than Monday. The vanilla day 4 PM workout is going to be AM on day 4 since it better fits my schedule. The day six power workout will then fall Sunday AM, 48 hours after the day 4 tension workout. With the option of doing it Saturday PM or 36 hours out if I feel that fits my needs better.

I see several advantages to this in that I’m only going to eating extra calories Monday (they will be tapering off as I go to work, especially if I do the power workout Saturday PM) and Friday (which I get every other one off anyway). I also lets me workout 3 of the 4-5 days I work a week (more if I do cardio) which will help me keep my sanity at work.

As for today’s workout, it actually felt great. I think I’ll switch to doing only 15 reps on the Sumo superset so that I can also get 15 reps on the Power Squat superset. I stopped at 10 today because I felt it was going to be a bit much since I don’t usually do my heavier Deadlift and Squat workouts the same day. I skipped arms today but will likely include them from now on.

Around the 7th rep on the Squat superset I felt a little queasy but I took a little longer break between reps and it went away. When I finished the workout I felt pretty much euphoric. A little after I ate my post workout shake it was all I could do to keep from crawling back in bed and taking a nap I felt so sleepy.

BTW don’t go grocery shopping on the 3 evening of a modified fast. ;)
 
UD2 Week 1: Day 6: Today:

Superset
Sumo Deadlift 280 lbs. x 15 M-Time
Flat Bench Press 180 lbs. x 15 M-Time
Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups BW (169 lbs.) +10 x 15 M-Time

Superset
Power Squat 240 lbs. x 15 M-Time
Seated Incline Shoulder Press 125 lbs. x 15 M-Time
Supported DB Row 100 lbs. x 15 M-Time

BB Shrugs (rack pulls) 345 lbs. x10 x10
BB Calf Raises (walkouts) 300 lbs. x15 x15
BB Decline Triceps Extensions 50 lbs. x 15 +5 +5
BB Preacher Curls 60 lbs. x 9 +3 +2

Incline Bench Press 110 lbs. x 15 (metabolic set)
Close Grip Lat Pulls 100 lbs. x 15 (metabolic set)
Leg Curls 50 lbs. x 15 (metabolic set)
Leg Extensions 60 lbs. x 15 (metabolic set)

The 2 groups of superset exercises were at what should be 90% of my 1RM, while the isolation exercises were lower. The whole workout with warmups took 2 hours. Interesting thing is that when I finished although my muscles feel like I beat them with a meat tenderizer I felt like I had enough energy to go run an Ultra-Marathon. So instead I went out and bought some more weight plates since I came very close to running out on the second three-way superset. Though I hadn’t done a glycogen depletion workout this week I sure do feel “carb loaded.”

I think I underestimated my upper body strength for these sets since I was getting close to failing on the Deadlifts and Squats but the Push and Pull exercises I could have easily continued. I will probably increment the weight for those but leave the Deadlift and Squat alone for next week as a test of whether I’m losing or gaining strength.

A couple of notes on how I’ve been doing the exercises: The Squats are ATG Pause Squats. The metabolic sets are done with a very slow concentric and fast eccentric to maximize the pump.

Also, I’ve been meticulously counting macro nutrients in accordance with the UD2 recommendations. I don’t want to end up wasting my time at this so I plan to do it right.
 
Haha good luck with the depletions today and tomorrow. I'm laughing because it is going to suck... depletions are almost unbearable, and if they aren't almost unbearable, then they say you aren't doing them right. What sucks is when you finish the whole workout Lyle has in there, then you realize, "oh yeah, I have to repeat the workout like 2 or 3 more times fml..."
 
Actually I get a 1 day reprieve as today is day 7 since I offset everything one day. So day 1 starts tomorrow. I imagine they will be a new sort of pain but I figure if I can run for 24 hours I can find a way to handle a few hours of high rep work. I may try to do it all in one day either here at home if I have the time at work do an AM/PM split. I imagine the sooner you get carb depleted the more efficient the fat burning becomes.
 
Yup and make sure you do the cardio on Weds and Thurs morning. Thurs morning especially, I would do Lyle's stubborn fat protocol and if you can ahold of some yohimbine for the Thursday cardio, you can actually burn a surprising amount of fat in the morning. Doing fasted intervals for 10-15 minutes then steady state for 45 minutes or so will suck on Thursday but you can make it through. I was doing it on PSMF, so I know you could do it on UD2.0. The yohimbine helps mobilize the fat and since you'll already be in ketosis, it can be almost magical.
 
Thanks for the advice.

I’ve been looking at food options for the diet phase and I can see why you ate a lot of cottage cheese. Besides the casein it’s a pretty close match the carb/protein ratios recommended, just tossing in a little extra protein and it comes out right. I’m glad I like cottage cheese.
 
UD2 Week 1: Day 1: Today:

Leg Extensions 50 lbs. x 12-20 reps x 12 sets
Superset with
Leg Curls 45 lbs. x 12-20 reps x 12 sets

Bench Press 120 lbs. x 12-15 reps x 12 sets
Superset with
BB Row 100 lbs. x 12-20 reps x 12 sets

Lateral Raises 10 lbs. x 12-15 reps x 12 sets
Superset with
BB Calf Raises 225 lbs. x 20-25 reps x 12 sets

Biceps Curls 50 lbs. x 12-15 reps x 6 sets
Superset with
Laying Triceps Extensions 45 lbs. x 12-15 reps x 6 sets

I broke it up into 4 groups of 3 sets each so that if I didn’t make the whole thing I would have at least done a full body workout. Rather than going for a set number of reps I went for a minimum of 45 seconds per set sometimes a little longer for the legs. I aimed for 2 things time moving and having the last rep burn so bad I just couldn’t do another, hence the rep range and not a specific number for each set.

I did all but the arm work in 3 set rotations and left the arms for last doing all six sets at once. Next time I do this I will front load the Bench/Row superset since it was the most brutal for me. My legs are actually quite use to high lactic acid burn which is why I had to do more reps for more time on them to get the same feel.

All I can say is this was brutal. I’ve never in my life save running stairs felt any sort of burn even close to this. Talk about the opposite of the power workout where I felt supper energized afterwards I feel like I have no energy at all now. My arms feel like rubber. The whole thing took 2 hours and 15 minutes. I’ll be dammed if I could have done it in any less time. I only felt like I was going to puke a couple of times on after the Rows, though I did have to make haste for the head after a Bench set because of getting the runs. The only reason I have the energy to type this right now is because I ate a cup of cottage cheese when I finished. Sure wish it was a regular post workout shake. I did feel like stopping half way through but pride, feeling that the sooner I’m glycogen depleted the better and just because I didn’t want to even think about doing this again tomorrow made me finish.

I did have one mishap while benching. About half way through I missed the right hook when racking the bar so when I relaxed that side of the bar came crashing down because my arm was just too tired to stop it. Unfortunately I reflexively did try to stop it and my elbow tendons screamed bloody murder. I pressed on with the workout and the pain subsided so I don’t think there was any acute trauma just an aggravation of the tendonitis. I paid more attention after that.

I have the nutrition and supplementation dialed in. I couldn’t find any plain yohimbine locally but did find a “thermo-genic” supplement that contained the right amount along with a lot of other crap I wasn’t too sure of. I’ll have to go online to find some, but that will do for now.

I’m going to try to start doing cardio at work tonight. I really don’t see having any more energy than I do now until carb loading starts. May just do some steady state and start doing the HIIT + Steady State tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
You know that the carb depletion worked when:

The low carb “brain fog” that took 3 days to set in on the PSMF is already happening a couple of hours after the carb depletion workout.
 
That's the benefit of having a gym... you can use machines during the depletions and then you don't have to worry as much about dying. At least you didn't do squats. I did on my first couple weeks ever of UD2.0 before I realized it was idiotic. Believe it or not, after a few weeks the depletions do get significantly easier.

You've got some real balls to do it all in one day. I never could. I always split it into two days. It is pure hell no matter how you do it though.
 
At least you didn't do squats. I did on my first couple weeks ever of UD2.0 before I realized it was idiotic.
Click to expand...
Yeah I learned my lesson when I tried the high rep plus Myo-rep squats. I knew I wasn’t doing that again.

You've got some real balls to do it all in one day. I never could. I always split it into two days. It is pure hell no matter how you do it though.
Click to expand...
Psychologically it would have been worse knowing I had to come back to it the next day. I might try splitting it just to see how it goes. That was one of the original appeals to trying this since I allowed me to work out on 2 workdays to burn off energy but since I burned all my energy yesterday I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.

I sure did pick a crappy day, work wise, to have done it. Yesterday was the most labour intensive day all year. Go figure! At least I didn’t need to do cardio.
 
Yesterday the temperature was only 99F when I got a chance to take a break in the afternoon so I was able to go running at work since it was below the cutoff of 100F. So I went jogging about 4 miles as a moderate pace down through the riverbed. It’s so much better than being in the gym on an elliptical, treadmill or rowing machine. I’m not sure how much my knee liked it though as I’ve got some serious stiffness again. I’m finding my tendons and ligaments really don’t like it when I diet and exercises at the same time.

D.O.M.S. was really bad yesterday for my whole body from the previous day’s Glycogen Depletion Workout. It’s carried into today somewhat but really bad for my legs after running yesterday.

Since I offset things one day my Tension workout would normally fall on Friday morning rather than Thursday night as it’s much easier for me to workout before work rather than 11-12 at night when I get off. However, because I work this weekend I’m thinking about not doing the Tension, carb load and Power Workouts and just dieting through the weekend all the way to next Friday. I realize that’s switching back to a PSMF but since I’m already glycogen depleted and seem to be burn fat pretty fast. My belt, less blurry 4-pack and calipers are already showing results, I’m hoping I can drop the fat I want by next week so I can get back to bulking, although I may need to SD first for my joints. Theoretically I should drop 5-7 lbs. of fat (about half of what I estimate I’ve gained) by next Friday depending on how much cardio I do. I will decide based on how I feel tomorrow morning and if I elect not to carb load I will just to a maintenance workout to preserve muscle.

If this works out I will try to time my cuts so they fall over work weekends so I can get a good 10-11 days of doing a PSMF. I would still use a glycogen depletion workout to kick start it since I think that has really help me start burning lots of fat right away. I will also stick with the UD2 dieting protocol of 50% calorie cut or 1,200 calorie minimum since so far I’m finding that much more manageable than the 800 calories I was eating the first week I tried a PSMF. I may still throw in a week or two of UD2 at the end of a cycle to help keep the fat off. I’ll just have to decide which works better for me as far as bulking and cutting. I just don’t know if bulking for 7 straight months like I did this first time will still be viable unless I cut below 10% BF which I have no desire to do.
 
Just so you know, there are people who have extended the 7 day UD2.0 cycle out up to and including 14 days. Basically the point behind it is to stretch out the diet phase. This could be great because once you get into day 4, you get the magical cardio effect as long as you are truly totally depleted.
 
That’s great to hear thanks. It seemed to make sense to me because once your already depleted you should get you best results. And speaking of that. . . .

Between last week and this week I’ve fasted for 7 days. I’m not going by the scale since the after the first two days of fasting last week and the first day this week I dropped 5lbs in glycogen and water. However, the tape measurer and my belt both say I’ve dropped and inch from 32” to 31” from my waist since a week ago Monday. The calipers say I’ve gone from 16% down to 15% subcutaneous fat but I’m not sure how much I trust them since I can only get a Subprailiac measurement. My skin is too tight in all the other places I’ve seen suggested to get a measurement from.

I don’t have a set goal but I’m looking to get my waist down to between 29” to 30”. I don’t see a need to go below 10% BF and I figure that I was between 8-10% when I started bulking 7 months ago and at that time my waist was just a bit over 28”. I also figure that my waist size might have increased a little bit due to the development of my core muscles so I’m trying to take that into account.

What I’ve been doing so far diet-wise is the following. I’m eating every 2 hours when I’m awake, and also if I wake up at night but I don’t set my alarm to do it or anything. If I miss a meal like at night I just skip it. A “meal” both before and while I’m at work consists of ½ cup cottage cheese and ¼ cup liquid egg whites. 12 of those a day equal out to 228g of protein, 60g of carbohydrates and 0g of fat at a LBM of about 141lbs. However, for dinner, actually any meals at home after work, I’ve been having a beef burrito that has the exact same protein and carbs (found some super high fiber tortillas) as above but with 2g of fat. Otherwise all my fat comes from fish oil 6g, CLA 10g, and a mixed omega 3,6,9 capsule 4g. I always take them after a “meal” but I’m not sure that’s enough from preventing them from being burned as fuel since the amount I eat every 2 hours is so small. The total comes to 1332 calories/day. When I started I calculated my maintenance w/o cardio at just over 2700 calories so I’m just below 50%. I can say I have yet to feel hungry unlike when I was eating 800 calories/day last week.

On a sad note, even though the temperature was below 100F when I started running yesterday I still got called on the carpet for it because one of the bosses saw me and said that the radio said it was 102F. I didn’t do cardio today since I was doing a lot of physical labour and then we went home early so I didn’t feel like going to the gym.
 
Day 4 of fasting. Workout:

Superset: all M-Time
Sumo Deadlifts 265 lbs. x 7
Flat Bench Press 170 lbs. x 7
Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups BW (164 lbs.) x 7

Superset: all M-Time
Power Squats 230 lbs. x 7
Seated Incline Shoulder Press 120 lbs. x 7
Supported DB Rows 95 lbs. x 7

Superset: straight sets
Calf Raises (walkouts) 300 lbs. x 20
BB Shrugs (Rack Pulls) 340 lbs. x 10 x 10

I just did a maintenance workout today and continued fasting. My strength felt exactly the same as the last time I did this same workout a week and a half ago. However, after I had done the Chin Ups and thought they were way too easy I realized I forgot to at the 8 lbs. to my belt that I’d dropped in body weight.

No cardio today since I was moving around the flightline for hours and again just didn’t feel like staying after work just to stare at a wall from an elliptical.
 
Day 14 of dieting. Workout:

Superset: all M-Time
Sumo Deadlifts 265 lbs. x 7
Flat Bench Press 170 lbs. x 7
Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups BW (161 lbs.) x 7

Superset: all M-Time
Power Squats 230 lbs. x 7
Seated Incline Shoulder Press 120 lbs. x 7
Supported DB Rows 95 lbs. x 7

Superset: straight sets
Calf Raises (walkouts) 300 lbs. x 20
BB Shrugs (Rack Pulls) 340 lbs. x 10 x 10

I guess I could have just said “same as above.” I felt a little lack of energy at the beginning of today’s workout but that went away about half way through. I think it was due to not getting up and eating at all during the night rather than a more general lack of energy which I have not been feeling at all. My strength still feels the same but I won’t know for sure until I finish fasting and work back up to testing 1RMs. Based on how I feel right now I plan to continue with the 5s weights at the end of this diet which is looking like it will happen this Friday. I haven’t decided if I’m just going to jump back into my Upper/Lower split on Friday or do the UD2 Tension/Power workouts over the weekend and restart my normal split on Tuesday.

I’ve dropped another 1/2” off my waist since last Friday down to 30.5 now, a total of 1.5” since I started 2 weeks ago today. My body weight is down to 161 lbs. from 172 lbs. two weeks ago. I appear to be losing it faster off my waist than just below so the belly pouch though smaller looks more pronounced. I don’t plan to take any muscle measurements until next Monday when I’m carbed back up which is when all my other measurements have been taken. Though I’m really more interested in strength as a measure of muscle retention since I know my measurements will shrink some due to the drop in subcutaneous fat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top