2/1 (Rest)

Rest Day today, went to work in the morning and then met Carissa for lunch at 3. I was scheduled to go to the gym and do cardio but I decided to skip after feeling a little tired and run down. Realistically I probably should have gone and I felt and still feel guilty for skipping. Came home and did a TikTok Live and had a great turnout and lots of good conversation then I posted some more content before playing a little Warzone and watching Seinfeld before bed. We're projected to get anywhere from 5-11 inches of snow overnight so tomorrow's session will be a journey to get there!

2/2 (Legs)

Had to trudge through a shit load of snow and drive on horribly-plowed roads to get to the gym this morning but eventually got there in one piece. Gym was relatively empty so I guess you can really tell who wants it or not when the weather gets bad.

Had to skip Adductor after not feeling 100% confident in it and skipped my S/L Leg Extension at the end to further promote recovery in the Quads. Aside from that the session went perfect, nice and easy low volume session to hold muscle while dieting and cruising!

Full Session:

DB Lateral 1x22, 1x15 (partials reps to failure on both sets)

Seated Calf Raise 1x14, 1x18

Standing Calf Raise 1x13

Lying Ham Curl 1x10

Paused Leg Extension 1x17

Reverse Banded Hack Squat 1x9 (failed 10th rep)

2/3 (Pull)

Great Pull session this afternoon. I decided to reduce Bicep volume a little bit to facilitate recovery and progressions on other sessions. Today was also the first day doing the FreeMotion Preacher Curl, it gets heavy as shit at the top which is the perfect way to challenge the Bicep while it's fresh so I'm looking forward to putting some work in on that. May need to make an adjustment to direct Trap work as it's been struggling to move upwards recently.

Full Session:

FreeMotion Pec Dec 1x12

Bilateral D Handle'd Cable Pulldown 1x11, 1x15

S/A Machine Low Row 1x17, 1x11

Upper Back Pulldown 1x12

Incline DB Row 1x12+2 partials, 1x8.5

Plate Loaded Shrug 1x7, 1x10

FreeMotion Preacher Curl 1x9

S/A Cable Curl 1x12

S/A Cable Hammer Curl 1x11

Long Rope Extension 2x13

2/4 (Rest)

Rest Day today, woke up and did my cardio/stretching and then ran some errands before coming home and prepping my food for the day. Went live on TikTok and had some great conversation before heading to work. Pretty slow day at work then came home and played some Warzone before heading to bed!

2/5 (Legs)

Adductor was feeling less sore this morning so I thought I'd be able to get some productive work in. After working up to my top set weight and starting the set I was feeling a little "off" and didn't want to risk it so I decided to bail on the set pretty early on. Despite the fact that I didn't finish the set the fact that I was able to build up the weight enough to get to my top end strength and still feel comfortable enough to attempt a working set shows improvement from the beginning of the week, so I'll keep biding my time.

First time using the RFE DB SS instead of the Leg Press and it went...not that great haha...left leg was perfectly fine but my right leg's reps were very broken. This movement is highlighting a lot of weaknesses in my movement, mainly my ability to maintain a stable and rooted foot throughout a squat pattern. Not a coincidence that this only happens on the side that I frequently injure myself on, either. Lots and lots of work to do on this movement which excites me!

Full Session:

S/A Cable High Curl 1x16, 1x12

Standing Calf Raise 1x13, 1x19

Seated Calf Raise 1x13

Adductor - Worked up to top set, bailed midway through

Seated Leg Curl 1x14

Leg Extension 1x14, 1x16

RFE DB SS 1x12

Glute/Ham focused Hyper Extension 1x15 

2/6 (Push)

Woke up feeling pretty fatigued today so I decided to do a reduced volume session. Not quite Deload volume but not full volume either, somewhere in the middle. Feeling pretty tired right now so I plan on taking a nap this afternoon and then relaxing rest of the day to try and recover a little.

Full Session:

S/A Low Cable Row 1x16

Hammer Strength Pec Dec 1x11

Hammer Strength Incline Press 1x7

Magnum Pec Dec 1x12

Reverse Pec Dec Fly 1x13, 1x11

Cybex Lateral Raise 1x12, 1x11

Standing Cuffed Lateral 1x12

S/A Cuffed Tricep Extension 1x15

Smith JM Press 1x13

Bilateral Overhead Extension Machine 1x13

2/7 (Rest)

Rest day today, I came down with a stomach bug or something yesterday because I spent the whole day on the toilet with badddd diarrhea. Woke up this morning 2 and a half pounds lighter than yesterday so I added some extra food to try and refill what was lost yesterday. I lost a lot of fluid and was very dehydrated today so even if I had been scheduled to train I would have taken the day off. Stomach feeling better today so hopefully I'm in the clear with this bug!

2/8 (Legs)

Great session today, BIIIIIG confidence booster! I was able to do some productive work on the Adductor, decided to leave a rep in the tank to not go overboard first day back. Took a rep progression on the Hack which has been hard to come by lately. Feeling pretty smashed right now and have Pull in the morning so going to spend the rest of the night getting relaxed so I can get a good night's sleep and kill Pull tomorrow!

Full Session:

DB Lateral 1x22, 1x16 (partial reps to failure both sets)

Seated Calf Raise 1x15, 1x21

Standing Calf Raise 1x12

Adductor 1x15 w/ 1 RIR

Cybex Lying Leg Curl 1x13

Paused Leg Extension 1x17+1

Reverse Banded Hack Squat 1x10

2/9 (Pull)

Got a solid Pull session in this morning despite a short turn around time between Legs yesterday. Few things to note about today's session:

1. The second set of Low Cable Row has failed to progress for a few rotations now and actually regressed 1 rep today. The top set has been able to be progressed but when I watch the film back I believe that I'm taking these progressions by cheating and using a lot of body English. At this point I've been running this movement since May of 2021 so realistically it's run of progression has come to an end. Next time around I'll do a S/A Hammer Low Row instead and run with that for the foreseeable future.
2. Trap work on both Pull sessions has been a bitch to progress so I'll be dropping from 2 sets per session to 1. One rotation will be paused reps, the other will be non-paused.
3. Incline Cable Curls realistically need to go, I've maintained the same weight and reps for 5 rotations in a row. While maintaining performance in a deficit is still a W in my eyes, I just don't see any scenario where I'll be able to progress this as it stands. I'll either replace it with another exercise or stop pausing as long in the stretch to try and re-spark some progression.

Full Session:

Seated Cable Fly 1x18

Low Cable Row 1x13+1, 1x12.5

Bilateral D Handle'd Mag Grip Pulldown 1x15, 1x10

Hammer High Row 1x13

Upper Back Pulldown 1x14, 1x11

Plate Loaded Shrug 1x10

DB Preacher Curl 1x16

EZ Bar Curl 1x13, 1x14

Incline Cable Curl 1x8

Cross Body Cuffed Tricep Extension 1x13

2/10 (Rest)

Rest Day today, woke up and went to work where I had a fairly busy morning. Got some things done for the brand then headed home and made more content before going live on TikTok and then playing a little video games before bed.

2/11 (Legs)

Great Leg session today. Today was the Split Squat rotation so I was looking forward to getting another attempt at it. I was able to match reps as last week but with one less break in the Right Leg, which is a progression in itself. Foot feels really sore afterwards so I know I'm training the musculature in my feet to maintain a rooted position, just need to keep plugging away at this!

I was also able to do paused reps on the Adductor, decided to leave one or two in the tank again just to not over do it.

Full Session:

S/A High Cable Curl 1x14, 1x13

Standing Calf Raise 1x14, 1x21

Seated Calf Raise 1x14

Adductor 1x12 w/ 1 RIR (paused reps)

Seated Ham Curl 1x13 (paused reps)

Leg Extension 1x15, 1x17

RFE DB SS 1x12(R)/13(L)

Glute/Ham focused Hyper Extension 1x16

2/12 (Push)

Saturday morning Push, felt like everyone in the world was doing the same workout as me today because I had to wait for damn-near everything. The sequencing of my exercises was messed up because of this but it didn't effect performance at all which is good to know going forward: I don't necessarily have to stick to the exact order if the gym doesn't allow it.

Going to get some content done today and a new client consultation and then try to relax the rest of the day! Rest Day tomorrow which is also a Sunday which is my favorite - an entire day to do nothing haha

Full Session:

S/A Kneeling Cable Pulldown 1x15

Seated Cable Fly 1x16 (paused reps)

LifeFitness Incline Press 1x8, 1x15

Smith Floor Press 1x12, 1x7

Lying Cuffed Lateral 1x15, 1x10, 1x11

Rear Delt Cable Row 2x13

S/A Overhead Extension Machine 1x13

LifeFitness Pec Dec 1x9

2/13 (Rest)

Rest Day today. My girlfriend got COVID this weekend so we haven't been doing much. I took a test this morning and tested negative so things look good on that sense. I'll be taking Vitamin C and Zinc daily to try and do what I can to fight it off. Made some home made pizzas that fit my macros today and watched the Super Bowl this afternoon!

2/14 (Legs)

Really fucking awesome Leg session today! Back to doing full throttle work on the Adductor which is fucking awesome. Hacks felt great and am back to doing my S/L Leg Extension at the end which I'll keep an eye on progression wise.

Full Session:

DB Lateral 1x25, 1x16 (partial reps to failure both sets)

Seated Calf Raise 1x14, 1x15

Standing Calf Raise 1x11

Adductor 1x16

Lying Leg Curl 1x14

Paused Leg Extension 1x11 

5.53x11+ecc (fail 12)

S/L Leg Extension 1x24

2/16 (Rest)

Rest Day today. Slept in late with no alarm (which was needed) and then prepped some food and recorded some content and did a TikTok Live before heading to work. It rained pretty hard this afternoon so it was pretty slow at work most of the day and then in the last hour I got slammed, which was frustrating. Came home and went with Carissa to the grocery store before showering and heading to bed.

2/17 (Legs)

What a fuckin' day. It has been a somewhat stressful week at work and I walk into the store this morning to find our refrigerator malfunctioned (again) and a good chunk of our drinks froze overnight and burst. So I walked into the store into an absolute mess. Because I was so busy with that I didn't get to any of my client and/or social media work so I feel really behind with that. PLUS the fact we got a winter storm this afternoon so driving to the gym was chaos. One of those days where the last thing you want to do is train but I got an amazing session in and my entire mood did a 180. Progressions on everything and I was able to do my whole set of RFE DB SS with no breaks, showing great improvement in foot rooting ability. Feeling on Cloud 9 right now!

Full Session:

S/A High Cable Curl 1x15, 1x12

Standing Calf Raise 2x12

Seated Calf Raise 1x13

Adductor 1x12.5 (paused reps)

Seated Leg Curl 1x13 (paused reps)

Leg Extension 1x10, 1x18

RFE DB SS 1x12

Glute/Ham focused Hyper Extension 1x17

2/18 (Push)

Had a hard time falling asleep last night but was able to get up and get a great Push session in. I've removed the S/A Cuffed Extensions and added in another set of the Smith JM Press. I'm going to try and keep my Tricep isolation work as Overhead variations only in Push sessions since I'm doing Extension/Pushdown type work on Pull. I'd rather get more sets of compound pressing work than Extensions so this is the cost of that.

This full session will be uploaded to my YouTube with programming walkthrough within the week!

Full Session:

S/A Low Cable Row 1x16

Hammer Strength Pec Dec 1x12

Hammer Strength Incline Press 1x7, 1x12

Magnum Pec Dec 1x9

Reverse Pec Dec 1x13, 1x12

Cybex Lateral Raise 2x12

Standing Cuffed Lateral Raise 1x8

Smith JM Press 1x13, 1x6

Bilateral Overhead Extension Machine 1x11

2/19 (Rest)

Rest Day today, woke up and went out for breakfast with Carissa then ran some errands. Came home and made some content and then went Live on TikTok and then played video games and watched TV rest of the day!

2/20 (Legs)

Sunday morning Leg Day, would have much rather stayed in bed than trained honestly. Gotta do what you gotta do though. Could have had another rep on the Hack if I timed my brace better, I'll be back for that rep in 6 days!

Went to Carissa's nephews basketball game and then changed my oil in the afternoon and spent the day with family, then came home and video called my parents. Great Sunday!

Full Session

DB Lateral 1x11, 1x17

Seated Calf Raise 1x13, 1x18

Standing Calf Raise 1x12

Adductor 1x17

Lying Leg Curl 1x15

Paused Leg Extension 1x13

Reverse Banded Hack Squat 1x10+eccentric (failed 11th)

S/L Leg Extension 1x26

2/21 (Pull)

Another day where I didn't really feel like training but had to get it done regardless. First time around with the S/A Hammer Row as the primary Lat movement. I've used this as a secondary movement before so this will be the first time that I'll be giving it priority. Should see some solid progressions, in theory. Everything else was more of the same!

Full Session:

Seated Cable Fly 1x17

S/A Hammer Low Row 1x10, 1x13

Bilateral D Handle'd Mag Grip Pulldown 1x14, 1x11

Hammer High Row 1x9

Upper Back Pulldown 1x14, 1x12

Plate Loaded Shrug 1x11, 1x9

DB Preacher 1x15

EZ Bar Curl 1x13

Low Cable Curl 1x10

Cross Body Cuffed Tricep Extension 1x12

2/22 (Rest)

Rest Day today, woke up and worked the morning shift at work and then made some content and went live on TikTok before sitting down and watching TV. We're watching The Book of Boba Fett right now which is awesome! I was a big Star Wars fan growing up so I'm pretty into this show! Side note - took a little too much fiber powder last night and digestion was screwed up for most of the day today. I also had a very hard time eating today and had zero appetite. Noted as fatigue has been climbing so this could be another indicator of a Deload.

2/23 (Legs)

Split Squat Leg session today. This was a pretty important session today because the result of today was going to determine where I go from here. I took progressions across the board today but this session was an absolute bear to get through. I was running on fumes by the time I got to the Leg Extension and it was a battle to finish this one off.

So that, combined with the fact that the past three sessions have been a big mental battle, means that it's probably an appropriate time to Deload. The goal for now is to take tomorrow (Thursday) off and then hit Push A on Friday at Deload volume then take both Saturday and Sunday off. I'll assess on Monday whether to continue with Deload volume or if the extra rest was enough to reset. This will not only be a physical break from the gym but also a mental one, which is just as important in my eyes.

Full Session:

S/A High Cable Curl 1x13, 1x11

Standing Calf Raise 1x12, 1x15

Seated Calf Raise 1x11

Adductor 1x15 (paused reps)

Seated Leg Curl 1x14+1 (paused reps)

Leg Extension 1x12, 1x20

RFE DB SS 1x14

Glute/Ham focused Hyper 1x18

2/24 (Rest)

Rest day today, worked the morning shift at work and it was crazy busy. Came home and made some content and cooked some food before being lazy and playing video games and watching TV the rest of the night.

2/25 (Push - Deload)

First Deload session done today. Didn't particularly feel like going and contemplated skipping but forced myself to go anyways. Glad I did as my body felt pretty good during the session so I knocked this shit out and left ASAP.

Full Session:

S/A Kneeling Pulldown 1x15

Seated Cable Fly 1x13 (paused reps)

LifeFitness Incline Press 1x8

Smith Floor Press 1x12

Lying Cuffed Lateral 1x11 (paused), 1x11

Rear Delt Cable Row 1x11 (paused)

S/A Overhead Extension Machine 1x10

2/26 (Rest)

Rest Day today, day 1 of taking the weekend off. I took today as a "sleep refeed" day where I went to bed early last night and slept as long as I wanted today, woke up feeling great. Got a lot of content done and ran all my errands, then met my parents for dinner which was awesome. We went to a locally owned restaurant in Rockford and I got a 12 oz. Filet with fries and mashed potatoes and cake, then we went to a bar across the street for a drink. Had a great time with them as I hadn't seen them in a while!

2/27 (Rest)

Rest again today, woke up and responded to comments and recorded content today. Went live on TikTok in the afternoon and then took some time to myself to play video games and watch some basketball. Made a home made pizza within my macros last night which was delicious!

2/28 (Legs - Deload)

Another Deload session today, this time Legs. In and out very quickly which is the best part about Deload workouts. Progressed across everything except for the Hack, which is 100% my fault: I was not mentally ready to do that set and I went for it anyways. I should have done another warm up but decided not to to try and "save energy" and it just made the set not as good as it could have been. Frustrating but it's nice to be reminded of that sometimes, goal is to not let it happen again!

Full Session:

DB Lateral 1x13 w/ partials

Seated Calf Raise 1x14

Standing Calf Raise 1x10

Adductor 1x19

Lying Leg Curl 1x15

Paused Leg Extension 1x14

Reverse Banded Hack Squat 1x9