Grunt11's Training Log

Holy cow, it's already been 14 days? I'd imagine if you kept at it, the lower belly part would start to shrink a lot more. For me usually it stays about the same there for the first while then suddenly it starts to shrink dramatically and quickly. Lyle's stubborn bodyfat protocol helped me with it quite a bit too I think, but mostly I think it was just waiting it out.
 
Yeah I’m kind of surprised it’s already been two weeks. Technically I’ve only fasted for 11 days because I did the UD2 tension workout/carb load/power workout one weekend. I’ve only got 3 more days and I’ll likely call it quits since I’ve already lost 1.5” off my waist and 6 real pounds (hopefully mostly fat). Though I’m down a total of 11 pounds I’m pretty sure the first 5 were just glycogen and water since they dropped off the first day or two.

I did 10 minutes of HIIT and 30 minutes of steady state cardio on the elliptical in the gym at work today because we finally had a day we weren’t busy.

I’m really surprised I haven’t been hungry as hell or craving carbs. I did feel it a little today at work but I think it’s just psychological because there were a bunch of bags of chips laying around from a party over the weekend.
 
I did another 10 minutes of HIIT followed by 30 minutes of Steady State cardio last night at work.

This morning my waist measured 30” and body weight is down to 159. Only two more days of modified fasting and get to start working out for real again.
 
I think that's a pretty crazy drop in waist size considering you haven't lost a whole ton of weight. It will be interesting to see how you look after the carb up.
 
I agree that 2” is a pretty big drop but I’ve always lost weight easily. I’ve just never done it this fast or paid attention to where it was coming from. But the tape measurer doesn’t lie. I’m staying as hydrated as possible so if I factor in the original 5 lbs. drop from the initial glycogen depletion it comes to 172 – 5 = 167 – 159 = 8 lbs. of something lost.
I did a maintenance workout today (same as the last two so I won’t post it) and afterward did some flexing in front of the mirror. Things do look smaller glycogen depleted but there’s clearly more definition showing through. Most noticeable is how much my face had shrunk. It was getting sort of rounder and more egg shaped but now it’s back to rectangular. I don’t think I’ve lost as much subcutaneous fat around the rest of my body but I do seem to have lost a lot of visceral fat. The pouch below my waist has also shrunk noticeably.

On the down side I did feel weaker today especially in the Squats and Deadlifts, but only a little in the Bench. I think I underestimated my shoulder strength so I’m not sure if I can judge the seated presses since I don’t think I’m really working at or above 80% of my 1RM. For my lats I’ve only been doing body weight so I’m 13 lbs. lighter so they were scary easy. OTOH I did feel a little stronger as I did more reps so it might also be an energy issue since I’ve also been doing the HIIT + Steady State cardio the last couple days. I’ve also skipped some meals for the last few days because I was busy and missed the scheduled time to eat so rather than make up for it just ate my next scheduled meal normally. That’s dropped about 300 calories off from what I should have been getting down from about 1,300 to 1,000 a day. In hindsight that was probably a bad choice especially since I’ve also been burning an extra 300 calories doing cardio.

I should know for sure this Friday if I’ve lost strength since I’ll be doing a full Tension workout and will make sure to eat properly, (maybe even a little extra protein) between now and then. I’ll also skip the cardio on Thursday and maybe today since I did work out.

Right now is actually the worst part of the cut for me. Not because I’m hungry or anything but because I just want to start bulking again. I’m also looking at changing my routine back to 6 days a week, only this time doing a split like yours so I’m only hitting each body part twice a week instead of 3-4 times like I have done previously. I think that’s going to be the best way for me to keep pushing the weights higher on my upper body exercises without aggravating my tendons.
 
Tension Workout Day:

Superset:
Sumo Deadlift 265 lbs. x 10 x 5 x 3 x 2
Flat Bench Press 170 lbs. x 8 x 7 x 3 x 2
Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups BW (160 lbs.) x 10 x 5 x 3 x 2

Superset:

Power Squat 230 lbs. x 11 M-Time
Seated Incline Shoulder Press 120 lbs. x 11 M-Time
Supported DB rows 95 lbs. x 11 M-Time

Calf Raises 225 lbs. x 20 x 20
BB Shrugs 225 lbs. x 20 x 20

Metabolic sets:
Incline Bench Press 90 lbs. x 15
Chin Ups 100 lbs. x 15
Leg Extensions 50 lbs. x 15
Leg Curls 50 lbs. x 15
BB Curls 45 lbs. x 15
Lying Triceps Extensions 20 lbs. x 15

I ended up doing 11 reps on the second set of exercises because I forgot that the last time through I did 10. I felt like I could have kept going but decided to stop anyway. I can’t say for sure if I felt any weaker or not. I guess time will tell. I’m going to wait until I’m carbed back up to take measurements again to see if there are any significant measurable losses. It sure tastes nice to be eating again.
 
Post Diet Week 1: Workout 1: Back/Traps/Biceps

Sumo Deadlifts 280 lbs. x 20 M-Time = 20
BB Shrugs/Rack Pulls 315 lbs. x 10 x 10 x 10 = 30

Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups BW (165 lbs. +5) x 8 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +5 = 30
Supported DB Rows 100 lbs. x 8 +3 +3 +3 +3 = 20

BB Curls 65 lbs. x 15 +5 +4 +3 +3 = 30
Incline DB Curls 15 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5 = 30

I had meant to do the UD2 Power workout yesterday but had way to much to do so instead I’m just starting back into a regular lifting/bulking routine today. I switched to a 3 way split working each body part twice a week:

Back/Traps/Biceps
Quads/Hams/Calves
Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

I’m shooting for the 40-60 range in total reps per body part for each workout and will adjust according to how I feel I’m recovering.

As far as the diet I forgot to take measurements except for my waist (30.5”) before working out so I’ll have to do that tomorrow. My body weight after 2 days of carbing up and one day eating normally seems stable at 165 lbs. which is a 7 lb. drop from where I started. The total number of days I spent eating below maintenance was 14 so I dropped about ½ lb./day.

I can’t really tell if I lost any strength yet. I checked my log from last cycle and Deadlifted 285 x 20 M-Time reps which I remember being pretty hard so today’s 280 x 20 seemed about the same as I remember. That was the last Deadlift workout I did last cycle testing my 1RM the following workout. However, I plan to continue this cycle for at least another 2 weeks. I can say that my lower back really got tired but that may have been more a function of sitting around all weekend playing video games.

Oh the reason for the “+5” at the end of the Chin Ups was that I originally stopped at 25 but as I started to set up for the next exercise I decided to go ahead and make it 30.
 
7 lb drop is pretty impressive. Going to be interesting to see how your measurements compare to before the diet. Not much of a bounce back on the waist measurement either. Carb ups can be tricky though, sometimes you can retain a lot of water after a carb up. How did you feel after the carb up? When I did them right, I felt energized and when I did them poorly I would feel bloated the next day.
 
Since I did the Tension Workout on Friday AM and had planned to do the Power Workout on Sunday AM I spread the carb up over 2 days being quite meticulous about the macros. Both days I felt great. Hell I feel great today. When I finished today’s workout I felt like doing more, though a few hours out I’m now feeling a nice mellow sort of tired.

The waist measurement may even go back down since I usually take my measurements on Thursdays which means I’ve been eating mostly liquid meals all week. However, everything I ate this weekend was “real” food except for shakes if I woke up at night. So w/o as much food in my gut it may drop.

I’m going to try to stay as meticulous about macros now that I’m bulking again just like when I first started. I found I was getting a little lazy about it for a while and had stagnated at 166 lbs. for 3 weeks and then bulked a little fast after that. I’m still shooting for 500 calories above maintenance just to be sure I hit at least 200-300. So that means about 3200 calories/day right now.
 
Ok I just did some quick math and not counting the sissy arm stuff I lifted just under 11 tonnes (metric tons for the English impaired ;) ) today, which now 10 hours later is about the size of the vehicle it feels like rear ended me. I’m sure glad we got off work early today due to bad weather (gotta love the monsoon season). It may be premature but I think I need to stick closer to the 40 side of the 40-60 rep range for the first three workouts off the week pushing higher on the second three if I feel up to it since I get the additional day of before starting the next week again.
 
Here are my measurements before working out today followed by the change after the diet.

Weight 165 -7
BF% 12.5 -4.5
Chest 41” -0
Upper Arm Relaxed 11” -0
Upper Arm Flexed 14” -0
Forearm Relaxed 11” +.25”
Forearm Flexed 11.25” -0
Neck 15.5 -0
Thigh 21.75 -.25
Calf 14 -0
Hips 37 -.75
Shoulders 47 -1
Waist 30.5 -1.5

Not sure what happened to my shoulders. Perhaps I got a bad measurement last time since they did jump from 47 up to 48 in 3 weeks. 47” was the previous measurement prior to the jump. Also not sure what happened to my relaxed forearm measurement. Could be they got a little pumped up with creatine/glycogen from all yesterdays’ Deadlifts?

Otherwise most of the losses are in or near my midsection which corresponds to where I could see I was carrying most of my BF.
 
Post Diet Week 1: Workout 2: Quads/Hams/Calves

Power Squats 240 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Leg Extensions 60 lbs. x 15 x 15 x 15

Leg Curls 80 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Leg Curls 40 lbs. x 15 x 15 x 15

BB Calf Raises 325 lbs. x 15 x 15 x 15
BB Platform Calf Raises 225 lbs. x 15 x 15 x 15

Pretty much everything along my back from the base of my skull to my ankles hurt this morning. However, as the workout progressed the pain went away, I’m sure to come back tonight.

I had planned to do SLDL for my primary Hamstring exercise however the more I thought about it I’m already going to be Deadlifting and Squating twice a week each so I figured SLDL was overkill. So I switched to heavier Leg Curls instead.
 
Post Diet Week 1: Workout 3: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

Flat Bench Press 180 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Incline Bench Press 115 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5

Seated Incline Shoulder Press 125 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Leaning Lateral Raises 15 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5

Triceps Dips BW (165 lbs.) x 12 x 8
Decline Triceps Extensions 40 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5

I felt pretty strong today. It will be interesting to see how switching from 3 to 2 sessions per week on upper body parts will work. More interesting will be to see how doing heavy Deadlifts and squats twice a week hits me instead of doing a light/heavy for each. I may have to switch back but though I would give it a try for a couple of weeks.
 
I wouldn't worry about the drop in shoulder measurement, could be you were just pumped last time, or something like that. Typically for checking muscle loss, I only measure my upper arms... I figure if my arms, which I don't usually hit directly very much during a diet, don't lose size, I probably haven't lost actual muscle in the larger muscle groups. I don't bother measuring legs much since that can vary a lot during a diet.
Basically it looks like you lost quite a bit of bodyfat and maintained almost all, if not all your muscle, and you aren't weaker or anything, so that's pretty awesome. And to think... for that much fat loss, most people would have spent 7-8 weeks doing it.
 
Well I have to thank you for your advice especially something I think you mention to another poster a while back about kick-starting the diet with a glycogen depletion workout. It doesn’t hurt that I’ve always lost weight more easily than gaining it. Even at 50 I still have fast metabolism.

Now I just need to decide how to proceed based on how the weight goes back on. One option is to finish this cycle and do one complete bulking cycle and then do another cut. Then alternate between bulking for 6-8 weeks and cutting for 2 which should continue to drop my body fat or at least keep it even since I’m sure my body’s ability to put on muscle is diminishing as the early gains are behind me. I could try to count calories closer shooting for 200-300 over maintenance but I’m afraid that’s just going to risk cheating myself by cutting it to close since my daily caloric needs tend to vary quite a bit depending on what’s happening at work. So I’m inclined to stick with 500 over maintenance just to be safe and deal with the extra fat accordingly.

So what I might try for now is 6-10 weeks of bulking followed by 2 weeks of cutting followed by SD and repeat.
 
Post Diet Week 1: Workout 4: Back/Traps/Biceps

Sumo Deadlift 290 lbs. x 10 M-Time
BB Shrugs 325 lbs. x 10 x 10

Close Parallel Grip Chin Ups 175 lbs. x 21 (clusters of 3)
Supported DB Row 105 x 5 +3 +3 +3

Biceps Curl 70 lbs. x 15 +4 +4 +3
Incline DB Curl 20 lbs. x 15 +4 +4 +4

I cut the volume back today especially on the Deadlifts. I really felt like crap (body hammered) last night and this morning at least until I started working out. Now I feel great but I know that will pass and I’ll start feeling it again later tonight. I should have done the lower volume workouts in the first of the week and upped the volume for the second ones since I’ll get the extra day off from working out over the weekend but I got a little carried away.
 
Post Diet Week 1: Workout 5: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

Flat Bench Press 185 lbs. x 15 M-Time
Incline Bench Press 120 x 15 +5 +5 +5

Seated Incline Shoulder Press 130 lbs. x3 x3 x3 x3 x3
Leaning Lateral Raise 17.5 x 15 +5 +5 +5

Triceps Dips BW(165 +5) x 10 +5 +3
Decline Triceps Extensions 45 lbs. x15 +5 +5 +5

Ok today should have been a leg workout, however Wednesday when doing my chest workout I broke a toe on my left foot when I hit it on my Deadlift platform. Yesterday the Deadlifts were fine because I push through the heels, however today Calf Raises would have been problematic so I switched to doing chest and will do legs tomorrow since my foot felt almost ok today.

I did fewer reps today just as yesterday but next week will switch things around and do more reps on the second workout of the week.

Well I’m thinking that the cut must have worked because more people in the last week have commented on how much bigger I look than in the last 7 months. Personally, I thought I looked bigger with the extra body fat “bulking” me up however I guess the drop in waist size and slightly better definition seems to get more attention. It’s sort of nice feedback since I was very wary of cutting and loosing that extra “bulk,” however, now I’m not so scared of doing it.
 
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How are you liking that split so far? Myself, I find feeling stronger and stronger every workout. I think the slightly higher volume with slightly more time between hitting those muscle groups again seems to work really well for me, curious how it will work for you as you get further along.
 
It seems pretty good so far. I think once I get the volume dialed in for each workout it’s going to be a keeper. I can’t wait to do a full cycle with it so I can compare how it feels to others I’ve done, but I want to keep pushing this cycle for as long as I can so I don’t have a set stop date. I prefer to SD on my 4 day work week (my weeks alternate between 4 and 5 days) which is next week but I’m not ready for any SD yet so I will push this cycle for at least 2 more weeks.

My tendons are already thanking me for the extra day off between each body part. I also like that I’m now doing 2 exercises for each body part, one heavy and one lighter which is something I was inconsistent with in my other splits because of time. It’s also letting me use all the exercises I really like and not swapping them around which not only keeps things simpler but also makes it easier to gauge strength each session.

I’m not sure if I will bother with testing 1RMs this time around but I already know I’m going to have a PB on the shoulder press since I’ve never been able to push 135 lbs. over my head and I’m already doing 130 lbs. x 3
 
Post Diet Week 2: Workout 1: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

Flat Bench Press 190 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Incline Bench Press 125 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +4

Incline Shoulder Press 135 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Leaning Lateral Raises 20 lbs. x 12 +4 +4 +4 +4

Triceps Dips BW (165 lbs. +10) x 12 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3
Decline Triceps Press 50 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5

Wow did I feel strong today. Funny because when I got up I felt sort of crappy and almost didn’t want to work out. 135 lbs. on the seated shoulder press is a PB which I blew through with 20 M-Time reps. It was all I could do to hold back from going for a PB on the Flat Bench Press.

I had planned to cut the volume back by 5 reps on each exercise for the first workout of the week but I got into this workout so much I forgot. Oops!

Although I list the exercises by body part I actually do the primary exercise for each part first and then go back and do the secondary. By the time I got done doing the myo-reps for each secondary exercise my arms and shoulders felt like they were going to explode they were so pumped up.

I can’t see changing from this “push” routine for any reason for some time.
 
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