Grunt11's Training Log

Well for doing only a push workout, your lats still were peeking out from behind. I know what you mean about the skinny kid picture. I have one from when I was younger, before I started lifting, and it's funny to compare to how I look now. I always intend to take pictures in a series over time to see changes but never do, I think it would be a good idea if you can actually do it and keep the poses and locations of the shots the same.
 
Week 2: Workout 5: Today:

Sumo Deadlift (platform) 280 lbs. x 5 M-Time
Sumo Deadlift (floor) 280 lbs. x 10 M-Time
BB Shrugs 320 lbs. x 10 x10 x 10

Supported DB Rows 115 lbs. x 8 +3 +3 +3 +3
Supinated Close Grip Lat Pulls 70 lbs. x 20 x 20
 
Week 2: Workout 6: Yesterday:

Power Squats 230 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 3 x 2
Leg Extensions 65 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5

Romanian Deadlift 215 (skipped)
Leg Curls 45 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5

I aggravated my ruptured Disk yesterday doing supported DB Rows of all things. It’s not bad but was enough that I didn’t feel comfortable going ATG on the squats and also stopped after only 11 reps just to make sure I didn’t make it worse. I skipped the Romanian Deadlifts for the same reason.

Week 3: Workout 1: Today:

Flat Bench Press 190 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Incline Bench Press 140 lbs. x 9 +3 +3 +3 +2

Seated Incline Shoulder Press 120 lbs. x 6 +4 +4 +3 +3 +2
Leaning Lateral Raise 25 lbs. x 12 +4 +4

Chest Dips 190 lbs. x 6 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1x6

Supinated Close Grip Lat Pulls 70 lbs. x 20

I switched over to doing Chest Dips since it was getting very hard to keep myself stabilized doing them Triceps style. I also didn’t increment the weight on the Lateral Raises since I was feeling a little tenderness in my medial Deltoids last time. It felt better this time though.

I’ve decided to try adding in some light Lat Pulls in every workout since they seem to be helping my tendons recover. Since they are so light I figure I can do them every workout so I’ll see if it helps.

I still feel a little soreness in my lower back but I have to go do some BS training for work for 3 days this week which will force me to take at least a 2 day, maybe 3, layoff so I hope that give my back the break it needs to recover.
 
Week 3: Workout 2: Today:

Sumo Deadlift 285 lbs. x 15 M-Time
BB Shrugs 325 lbs. x 10 x 10 x 10

Supported DB Rows 120 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3
Close Supinated Grip Lat Pulls 75 lbs. x 20 x 20 x 20
 
Week 3: Workout 3: Today:

Power Squat 240 lbs. x 21 M-Time
Leg Extensions 70 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5

Leg Curls 90 lbs. x 8 +3 +3 +3 / 80 lbs. x 6
Leg Curls 45 lbs. x 25 +5 +5 +5

BB Calf Raises 315 lbs. x 20 x 20 x 20
BB Calf Raises (platform) 245 lbs. x 15 x 15

My back if feeling better every day but I decided not to tempt fate and substituted heavier Leg Curls for the Romanian Deadlifts today.

I felt really good working out today, like I could have done a lot more if I had wanted to, more about that in my AnaBeta thread.
 
Week 3: Workout 4: Today:

Flat Bench Press 195 lbs. x 20 M-Time
Incline Bench Press 145 lbs. x 8 +3 +3 +3 +3

Seated Incline Shoulder Press 125 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3
Leaning Lateral Raises 25 lbs. x 10 +5 +5

Dips BW (170 lbs.) + 25 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 2

Metabolic Sets:

Close Grip Lat Pulls 70 lbs. x 25
Incline Bench Press 75 lbs. x 22
Leg Curls 25 lbs. x 25
Leg Extensions 35 lbs. x 25

Awesome feeling workout today. I had tonnes of energy and felt like I could workout for hours.

I’ve decided to add some metabolic sets back into my routine since I’m not getting a pump with any of the other exercises I’m doing. Additionally since I workout almost every day I’m doing them for most of the major muscle groups with the idea that a light weight set won’t hamper recovery and pumping more blood through the muscles might actually help.

For some reason I can’t get my weight to budge over 170 lbs. in the last 3 weeks. I’m eating 3200 + kCals/ day which both calculators and experience show should be about 500 kCal above maintenance. And my workouts tell me that I am recovering so I’m not sure what’s going on.

So I’m upping my calorie intake even more since obviously if I was eating enough I’d be growing and at least weight wise. I’m not doing anything different than I have been for 8 months but for some reason I now seem to need more food than experience tells me I should.
 
Week 3: Workout 5: Today:

Sumo Deadlift 295 lbs. x 15 M-Time
Shrugs 335 lbs. x 10 x 10 x 10 / plus 5 Rack Pulls

Supported DB Row 95 lbs. x 10 +3 +3 +3

Metabolic Sets:
Close Supinated Grip Lat Pulls 80 lbs. x 25 x 20 x 15
Incline Bench Press 70 lbs. x 25
Leg Curls 25 lbs. x 25
Leg Extensions 35 lbs. x 25

Technically this should be week 4 but I had to work early Friday and Saturday and didn’t get to finish my week 3 workouts. Add to that I have to make a trip to Spain this Thursday through Saturday so I’m just going to finish out my week 3 workouts this week.

I had to de-load the Supported DB Rows. When I tried 125 lbs. I could feel the torsion twisting my lower back no matter how hard I tried to hold it steady, which is exactly what screwed it up a week ago. Looks like I’ve got to strengthen my core more or switch to some form of BB or Cable Row as my primary back exercises and stick with lower weight Myo-Reps for the DB Rows.

I started trying something new last week by taking 5g of BCAAs before my last working set so that they should be getting into my system by the time is start doing the metabolic sets. Seems to be helping with my energy level at the end of the workout unlike when I take them before or sip them during my workout which seems to make me feel weak and less energetic. I’m hoping it also gives me a little kick-start in protein synthesis by pumping them into my muscles during the metabolic sets. May not do anything but I don’t see how it can hurt.
 
Week 4: Workout 1: Today:

Flat Bench Press 215 lbs. x 1 (PB) 225 lbs. x 1 (PB) 200 lbs. x 13 M-Time
Incline Bench Press 150 lbs. x 8 +4 +3

Seated Incline Shoulder Press 130 lbs. x 5 x 5 x 5
Leaning Lateral Raises 25 lbs. x 12 +4 +4 +4

Dips 200 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3

Metabolic Sets:

Close Supinated Grip Lat Pulls 80 lbs. x 20
Incline Bench Press 70 lbs. x 20
Leg Curls 25 lbs. x 25
Leg Extensions 35 lbs. x 25

I’ve been itching to go for a new PB on the Bench for a long time so I did it today. I stayed conservative knowing that I have 2 ½ to 4 ½ weeks left on this cycle depending on if I go to 6 or 8 weeks and shoot for higher later on.

I’m really surprised at how much stronger I’ve become on doing Dips over the Bench Press. When I started doing one dip at about 140 was difficult, while now I can do multiple sets of 3 reps at 200 lbs. after doing Flat Bench and Shoulder Presses.

I’ve stuck with 25 lbs. on my Leaning Lateral Raises for a few workouts since when I bumped it up to 27 ½ I felt some strain especially in my right shoulder. I’m going to keep working at this weight until I can get 15 reps on the activation set and then try bumping it up again.

So far my elbow tendons feel ok. I can’t say they are getting any better but they certainly don’t feel like they are getting any worse this time so far.
 
Week 4: Workout 2: Today:

Power Squats 250 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3
Leg Extensions 75 lbs. x 15 +5x6

Leg Curls 95 lbs. x 8 +3 +3
Leg Curls 60 lbs. x 15 +5 +5 +5

Calf Raises 320 lbs. x 20 x 20 x 20
Platform Calf Raises 250 x 15 x 15 x 15

Metabolic Sets:

Close Supinated Grip Lat Pull 80 lbs. x 25
Incline Bench Press 70 lbs. x 25
Leg Curls 25 lbs. x 25
Leg Extensions 35 lbs. x 25


May AC went out last night and the tech was still working on it when I started my workout this morning. I almost had to switch to Olympic Squats since trying to keep the bar in the low position while dripping in sweat wasn’t easy. But after the first set he got it working again and things cooled down pretty fast.

While doing the pre-launch walk-around yesterday another pilot asked me if I was working out since I looked “a hell of a lot bigger.”
 
Always nice when others notice all the hard work you've been putting in. Makes all the forcing food down and tough workouts worth it. Looking good G11
 
Week 4: Workout 3: Today:

Sumo Deadlift 335 lbs. x 1 (PB), 350 lbs. x 1 (PB) 305 lbs. x 8
BB Shrugs 345 lbs. x 10 x 10 x 10 (w/3 rack pulls)

Cable Row 130 lbs. x 12 +4 +4 +4
Lat Pulls 90 lbs. x 20

Metabolic sets:

Leg Curls 25 lbs. x 25
Leg Extensions 35 lbs. x 25

After 5 days off lifting due to a trip to Spain it was nice to workout again. After 5 days off I considered just doing and SD since I was already half way there but I feel very strong right now so figured I’m better off finishing the cycle.

Well I’m glad I did continue since I finally hit 350 lbs. on the Deadlift. I wish I had video taped it simply because it felt like the technically best lift I’ve ever made. Best thing is I know I can go higher since as the bar came off the ground I was able to accelerate all the way up.

I’m going to try for a new 1RM on the Squat on Thursday and use my new 1RMs as a benchmark for what I plan as a slow cut over the next two months. I’ve already tried the PSMF which worked well but basically puts my gains on hold for two weeks. I really don’t think I have the patience for UD2. It’s just more complication than I want. So the next thing to try is a slow cut to see if I can not only keep my muscle gains but also gain some strength. If it works I may try a cycle where I bulk for 4 weeks working for hypertrophy and then cut for 4 weeks working on strength and power. Unfortunately I’m going to have to cut a lot more fat if I ever plan to do a 6 month bulk again w/o having to buy fat pants.
 
Congrats G11! That's 2 x BW which is a nice lift. Give it hell on Thurs!
Click to expand...
Thanks T! I’m hoping I can still get a little stronger while cutting slowly we’ll see how it goes.

Week 4: Workout 4: Today:

Flat Bench Press 205 lbs. x 7 M-Time
Incline Bench Press 155 lbs. x 6 +3 +3

Seated Incline Shoulder Press 135 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3
Leaning Lateral Raises 27.5 x 10 +4 +4

Dips 205 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3

Felt a little weak on the Bench Press today, though everything else felt pretty good. I’m thinking I just didn’t warm up good enough . . . I hope.

I finally incremented the Leaning Lateral Raises and felt no problem in my shoulder this time.

I’ve cut the volume back since I’m now working around or above 90% of my 1RM and my goal for the rest of the cycle to increase or at least maintain my strength while beginning a slow cut. I started cutting calories yesterday by about 100 and will keep cutting 100 more a day until I’m 500 below maintenance. I’ll see how my strength goes from there and adjust up or down accordingly.
 
Week 4: Workout 5: Today:

Power Squat 255 lbs. x 1, 300 lbs. x 1 (PB) , 255 lbs. x 3 x 5

Romanian Deadlift 135 lbs. x 10

BB Calf Raises 330 lbs. x 15 x 15 x 15

I made 300 lbs. on the Squat today. It felt like I could have done 315 lbs. if I had gone straight there but I figured why rush things since now I can use that goal as an ego boost in a couple more weeks. I was worried about how the Squatting would go today since yesterday I still felt like I’d been hit by a train from the Deadlifts the day before. Plus I got a bug up my butt and when jogging a couple miles before work yesterday.

On problem I noticed was that while stepping back for the set of 3 and the set of 5 if felt a twinge in my lower back. The same felling as when I was doing very heavy DB rows. However, I felt no problems while actually Squatting or when doing the BB Calf Raises (BB in the Oly Squat position). It only happens when there is a twisting of my spine. So since I’m supposed to be focusing on strength and power right now I think I’m going to drop the second exercise for each body part and start substituting in some direct core work and possibly other powerlifting specific assistance exercises since I don’t think the extra volume for hypertrophy is going to be counterproductive while in a caloric deficit.

Speaking of caloric deficit I think I made a mistake in “slowly” cutting my calories which is what everything I’d read suggested when doing a slow cut. I did start by only cutting 200 kCal but I did that from my maintenance needs and not the +500 I was bulking with. So my actually starting deficit was 700 below what I was eating and not really the 200 below maintenance. The reason I say this was a mistake is because in the last two days, especially today, I’ve woken up with seriously low energy. Plus I already dropped from 171 down to 168 due to glycogen and water depletion in just two days.
 
tdawg_33 said:
300 lbs. x 1 (PB)

Nice Grunt! Looks like you are on a serious tear as of late. Are you eyeing a Bench PB currently?
Click to expand...
Actually the 225 lbs. x 1 was a PB on the bench a little over a week ago. I felt like I could go for more but it’s going to be a while for that now.

I have a fitness test coming up the first week of November and when I went jogging last week it felt like crap so I’ve decided to start another cut and do some cardio to get ready for it. So of course I decided to try and kill myself today by starting out with a PSMF kicked off with a glycogen depletion workout. So I did 12 sets of the following except for the arm isos which were 6 sets:

Leg Curls x 12
Leg Extensions x 12
Incline Bench x 12
BB Row x 12
Calf Raises x 12
Lateral Raises x 12
BB Curls x 6
Lying Triceps Extensions x 6

Well at least this time around I didn’t start to feel like I was going to puke until about the 9th set. I will see if I can stick with this for 2 weeks and then switch over to doing a slow cut for the next 4 weeks. After the fitness test I will evaluate where I am and decide if I want to keep cutting or switch back to bulking again.

I actually haven’t put back on much of the fat I lost from the last cut but since I need to do a lot of cardio there is no way I’m going to be able to keep bulking right now so it just seemed like a good time to cut again.
 
Well my whole reason for wanting to do a cut (so I could do cardio in preparation for a fitness test) seems to be pointless. I went jogging this morning for the first time in months and can easily pass the test since I forgot I just moved up into the 50-54 category this time. So to get max points all I need is the following:

Waist measurement < 32.5”
Push Ups > = 52 in 1 minute
Crunches > = 43 in 1 minute
1.5 mile run < = 11:06

I didn’t realized what a joke the run became at my age. Just going out for a light jog this morning I did it in 12:40 which is easily a passing score. My waist is 31” up ½” from my cut. Crunches are no problem only other thing to work on is Push Ups since I never work anywhere near the 50+ rep range.

I think I’m still going to try to cut up until then, about 6 weeks, since I already started and would like to do some serious bulking once the weather cools down and the extra calories don’t overheat me at work.

I was planning a PSMF for the first two weeks but I got a late start and missed out on the one weekend a month I work. So since I know I can’t diet over weekends off and I already kick started it with a glycogen depletion workout I’m going to go ahead and give UD2 a shot for the next 6 weeks, since it lets me eat over maintenance on the weekends.

My maintenance calories are somewhere between 2,400-2,700 depending on daily work activity so I’ve cut calories down to 1,200-1,300 on cutting days. I will use the modified play Lyle suggests by doing the Tension workout on Friday morning rather than Thursday night since I prefer to workout in the morning and also have every other Friday off anyway so I can enjoy my eating. The Power workout will still be Saturday morning so I can start tapering off the carbs by Sunday night, and then the dreaded Depletion workout. Also that will give me 4 full days of serious cutting and only 3 days of bulking/maintenance since my main goal is cutting while maintaining strength and mass.

I’m hoping if I do is several weeks in a row I will get used to doing the Depletion workout since right now IMO it totally sucks. I mean the workout itself sucks, the being totally fatigued and dragging a$$ by the end of the day sucks, the D.O.M.S. the next day sucks . . . it just sucks. However, if possible I still plan to do it all in one day. I may split it a little and try to get 3/4s done Monday and the other ¼ Tuesday getting all the leg work out of the way Monday so I can start jogging/running by Tuesday.

I’m going to start off slow but for cardio days 2,3,4 I hope to work up to jogging in the morning, running a timed 1.5-2.0 in the afternoon and doing HIIT on the elliptical in the evening each day. However, I may cut back on Thursday in preparation for Friday’s Tension workout.
 
UD2 Tension Workout: Today:

Sumo Deadlift 280 lbs. x 7 x 7
Flat Bench Press 180 lbs. x 6 x 5
Chin Ups BW (165 lbs.) x 7 x 7

Power Squats 240 lbs. x 3 x 3 x 2
Seated Incline Shoulder Press 120 lbs. x 6 x 5
Supported DB Rows 80 lbs. x 8 x 8

SLDL 240 lbs. x 7 x 6
Dips BW (165 lbs.) x 10 x 7
BB Curls 45 lbs. x 12 x 12

BB Shrugs 315 lbs. x 10 x 10
BB Calf Raises 315 lbs. x 20 x 20
Leaning Lateral Raises 25 lbs. x 8 x 7

Metabolic sets:

Leg Curls 25 lbs. x 25
Leg Extensions 35 lbs. x 25
Incline Bench Press 70 lbs. x 20
Close Grip Lat Pulls 80 lbs. x 20

Boy was it nice to get back under the weights again and start getting some carbs back in my body. Overall the session went good though I started feeling sort of weak toward the middle and then got a sort of second wind.

I don’t know why but this time around I felt like crap on Thursday, no energy, hungry (cardboard boxes with pictures of food looked yummy). Between that and what I’ve been hearing from Tot in his log just not sure all the hassle of UD2 is worth it. I’m seriously considering doing something more like what Tot has been discussing, alternating low calorie and close to maintenance with what sounds like workouts EOD. Very low calories for a day or two are doable but start to wear on me by day 3.

The main thing I liked about UD2 was that I could eat on weekends and diet during the week but I think I can just modify an EOD routine and eat at or close to maintenance on days off even if that cuts out one of the diet days that week. I’ll make slower progress but then this time I’m not in as much a hurry and I want to find something that is sustainable and flexible (since I’m getting sent on more unscheduled trips lately and PSMFs and UD2 are not.

Well at least carb up feels like a little mini Christmas.
 
Seriously, I hate UD2.0. It's hell. And that's the main reason I was experimenting with something else. IF worked well for me when I did it, but it's too slow. UD2.0 and RFL both work pretty fast, but I hate depletions on UD2.0 and the carb load makes me feel like crap. So... basically what I did was take the RFL and build off of that. It does end up being about every other day lifting when I do it. In my experience so far, carbing up to about maybe 100 grams of carbs max on the days after I lift, still getting 2 x lbm protein and allowing a little more dietary fat, and then doing basically strict RFL on the diet days with the stubborn fat protocol for cardio, all keeps me feeling pretty good. Sometimes on the weekends, I wouldn't be very strict with the refeeds after lifting.
But basically it seems like getting the extra carbs and calories after lifting makes me feel less like butthole the rest of the week, and for me a concern is always my immune system which goes into the crapper on low calories if I do too much activity. It may be worth noting that I cut way back on my lower body work during the diet, aside from cardio.

Anyway, if you try something more like this, I'd like to know how it goes for you and what you decide to do diet-wise on the low calorie and the maintenance days.
 
Thanks for more info. Based on what works for me and what you’ve said I’m looking at doing something like this.

I’ll work out 3x/week Friday, Sunday and Tuesday. That means I can eat fairly normal at least on Friday and Sunday since dieting on days off like weekends and every other Friday or early days like every other Friday is just too difficult for me. I’ve just got to munch on something while gaming or watching videos. However, dieting at work is pretty easy for me. Saturday I will try to eat below maintenance but how much discipline I have it to be determined.

On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I’ll use my Rapid Fat Loss plan of about 1500-2000 calories below maintenance. I can go about 3 days eating my cottage cheese and egg white mix every two hours before I really start feeling crappy.

I’ll make Friday a full body workout but Sunday and especially Tuesday I’ll cut back on lower body to facilitate cardio on non-workout days. Since the temperature is dropping I can now do cardio at work w/o breaking any rules and since I get 3 hours a week of paid exercises time (work permitting, and it usually is) I’d rather do cardio then.

I’m thinking of frontloading most of my calories on my diet days earlier in the day thinking it might help facilitate recovery from the previous days workout and taper the calories off toward the evening when protein synthesis from the previous workout should also be starting to wind down.

I’ll also try to keep most of the carbs scheduled around workout time, and I work out in the AM so that’s good.

I think this type of plan will afford me much more flexibility since unlike UD2 it doesn’t lock me into a particular schedule and I can bounce days around some if I need to. I won’t be as fast but I think much more sustainable.

Any suggestions are welcome.

P.S. I figured out why I felt so tired yesterday evening at work. When I went to take my vitamins and fish oil at work today I realized I hadn’t taken them including the diet pill (stimulant) the previous day. At least that explains why I hit the wall so bad.

Also last time I did my carb up I wasn’t doing it right (not enough carbs) this time I did and I felt pretty crappy for a while. It gave me the runs and I also got very sleepy at one point. Yet another reason to switch from UD2.
 
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