3/1 (Rest)

Rest today, worked the morning shift at work then ran some errands before coming home and doing a consultation call with a new client. Finished the night off with some Star Wars, we just started The Clone Wars animated series so I've been watching that on the nightly. Pull tomorrow!

3/2 (Pull - Deload)

Deload session no. 3 today, I was definitely mentally ready to attack this session so this will be my last Deload workout. I'll rest tomorrow before returning to full volume training on Friday with my Legs B rotation.

I've decided to replace the Upper Back Pulldown in this session with a Hammer Strength Pulldown for a few reasons:

1. I was doing the Upper Back Pulldown on both Pull A and Pull B, and the repetitiveness and redundancy of doing the same movement over and over was causing me to "burn out" progression wise. I needed to replace one of them with something different for a novel stimulus but to also allow "breathing room" to take progress on it in the session I decide to keep it in.
2. Hammer Strength equipment overloads in the shortened position, so doing a Hammer Strength piece as my first Upper Back movement makes sense - I want to do movements that overload in the shortened position while the muscles are fresh so I can take advantage of the resistance profile.
3. The handles on this particular piece diverge, which gives me a much better contraction in my Teres and also alleviates stress from the wrist and elbow.

There are a few other changes I'll be making to the programming of this session but I'll cover those the next time I get around to this one.

Full Session:

Bilateral D Handle'd Cable Pulldown 1x13

S/A Machine Low Row 1x9(L)/10(R)

Hammer Strength Pulldown 1x8

Incline DB Row 1x14 + partials to failure

Plate Loaded Shrug Machine 1x9

FreeMotion Preacher Curl 1x11

S/A Cable Curl 1x12

Long Rope Tricep Extension 1x13

3/3 (Rest)

Rest Day today. Worked the morning shift at work then ran over to my buddies house to chat for a bit. Came home and ate another meal before having two client consultation calls and ended the night by watching the CDL Major and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Back at full volume tomorrow!

3/4 (Legs)

First session back at full volume post Deload. Today's Leg session saw the reintroduction of the RDL. I had an RDL programmed in this session a few months back but decided to take it out as RDL's and a Leg Press in the same session was causing a lot of fatigue in my Lumbar spine. Now that the Leg Press is out of this session, that "frees up" room for me to include a Hip Hinge without being too worried about recovery problems.

I am so laughably god awful at RDL's which was a major factor that led to me bringing them back in: I'd really like to dedicate a good chunk of time to getting good at this movement without getting injured, which is usually the thing that makes me remove this movement in programs' past. I think I've made some progress in my ability to program movements appropriately since then so I feel confident in bringing it back.

Going home tonight and spending the day with my grandparents tomorrow then full volume Push on Sunday.

Full Session:

S/A High Cable Curl 1x13, 1x10

Standing Calf Raise 1x14, 1x16

Seated Calf Raise 1x12

Adductor 1x15

Seated Leg Curl 1x10.5

BB RDL 1x7

Leg Extension 2x13 both sets

RFE DB SS 1x12

3/5 (Rest)

Carissa had a hair appointment in our hometown today so I decided to tag along and spend the day with my grandparents. We all went over to my grandma's house and she made a delicious meal. It was an awesome day and I felt very grateful to spend that time with them! Ate a lot of food today too so I'm considering this a "refeed" haha.

3/6 (Push)

Great Push session this morning, progressions taken across the board on everything except for the Reverse Pec Dec, which was my fault as I miscalculated my warm ups by not paying attention to the weight. Stupid stupid stupid. Happy to be back to full volume training and excited to wrap up this diet and get heavy again!

Busy day today with a client consultation and running errands and laundry and all the other bullshit you have to do on the weekends. Ready to watch some CDL matches this afternoon and relax the rest of the day!

Full Session:

S/A Low Cable Row 1x16

Hammer Strength Pec Dec 1x13

Deadstop Hammer Strength Incline Press 1x7, 1x12

Magnum Pec Dec 1x10

Reverse Pec Dec 2x11 (miscalculated warmups)

Cybex Lateral Raise 1x13, 1x12

Standing Cuffed Lateral 1x9

Smith JM Press 1x13, 1x7+ecc

Bilateral Overhead Extension Machine 1x10

3/7 (Legs)

Great Leg session today, I finished this one in record time by a mile! The last rotation of this session I fucked up my Hack Squat set by not being mentally ready and I made up for it today by taking both a load increase and 1 rep. Played around with a S/L Leg Press after this session and I'd like to tack that on after the Hack sometime soon.

Full Session:

Bilateral Cable Curl 1x13, 1x9

Seated Calf Raise 1x14, 1x13

Standing Calf Raise 1x10

Adductor 1x18

Lying Leg Curl 1x16

Leg Extension 1x14

Reverse Banded Hack Squat 1x10

3/8 (Rest)

Rest Day today, busy work day! I've had 3 new clients sign on this week so I've been busy programming! Spent most of my morning working on new client programs, then came home and onboarded a client, then went live on TikTok. Ended my night with some video games and TV to chill out. Pull tomorrow!

3/9 (Pull)

Filmed this full session for my YouTube and it was a good one! I've made some program changes to this rotation which I'll highlight with reasonings below.

1. I've replaced the Upper Back Cable Pulldown with a StarTrac Pulldown with diverging handles. This is the perfect replacement for the Cable. The main reasoning for changing was because the diverging handles of this piece create considerably less joint torque than a fixed bar. Week after week of pounding the Cable Pulldowns was beating the shit out of my forearms and elbows so this will be a much more joint-friendly option.
2. I skipped my Shrugs today since I'm doing RDL's tomorrow. Going into an RDL session with fatigued erectors and traps would be pretty stupid. In a situation like this you have to pick one or the other and RDL's are a much more "important" movement to me than a Shrug so Shrugs took a back seat today.
3. I've made some rearrangements in my Bicep portion of the session. I've reduced my exercises from 3 to 2 and have changed the order. The new order and exercise selection will be (in my opinion) a much more efficient way to hit the Biceps from Short to Mid to Lengthened ROM. Excited to see how this plays out.

Full Session:

Seated Cable Fly 1x12

S/A Hammer Lat Row 1x11, 1x14

Bilateral D Handle'd Mag Grip Pulldown 1x15, 1x12

Hammer High Row 1x10

StarTrac Diverging Pulldown 1x10, 1x13

Shortened focus Cable Curl 1x11, 1x8

DB Preacher Curl 1x9

Cross Body Cuffed Tricep Extension 1x11.5

3/10 (Legs)

Second attempt at the RDL since reintroducing it. Up 1 rep (with potentially another in the tank) with improved form. The biggest change between today and the first attempt was consciously focusing on using my Lats and Upper Back to keep the bar close to my body. When I lost that Upper Back brace the bar drifts away from me and I'm fucked at that point.

Split Squat stability was back to normal after last week's regression so I'm confident now that last week's regression was caused from introducing the RDL's. I was pretty pissed about last week's Split Squats so I'd consider today a good day! Rest tomorrow which is much needed.

Full Session:

Seated Cuffed Lateral 1x10, 1x13

Standing Calf Raise 1x11, 1x16

Seated Calf Raise 1x12

Adductor 1x14

Seated Ham Curl 1x12

BB RDL 1x8

Leg Extension 1x14, 1x15

RFE DB SS 1x12

3/11 (Rest)

Rest Day today. Woke up and took progress pics, blood pressure and blood glucose then went grocery shopping. Came home and recorded some content and then had a new client consult. Edited a YouTube video before heading to work and getting more client stuff done there. Came home, prepped food for the next day and then went to bed early: busy day!

3/12 (Push)

Another busy day today so had to wake up early to get this one in. Had a great Push session but I think this will be the last one I do with this current program structure. There's a few movements I'm looking at replacing, will update next time I come around to this session.

Full Session:

S/A Kneeling Cable Pulldown 1x15

Seated Cable Fly 1x14

LifeFitness Incline Press 1x8, 1x14

Smith Floor Press 1x10, 1x5

Lying Cuffed Lateral 1x12, 1x11, 1x12

Rear Delt Cable Row 2x12

LifeFitness Fly 1x9

S/A Overhead Extension Machine 1x?? (video wasn't on, didn't count)

3/13 (Legs)

Sunday afternoon Leg workout, knocked it out of the park. Carissa and I celebrated a late Valentine's Day dinner yesterday and I ate a ton of good food: pizza, pasta, cookies, bread, salad, etc. so I knew I'd be ready to go today! Mistimed my brace on the Hack and there was maybe another rep there.

Gonna spend the rest of the day playing video games and watching basketball before another busy work week this week!

Full Session:

Bilateral Bicep Cable Curl 1x13, 1x10

Seated Calf Raise 1x15, 1x14

Standing Calf Raise 1x11

Adductor 1x18

Lying Leg Curl 1x9.5

Paused Leg Extension 1x14.5

Reverse Banded Hack Squat 1x9+eccentric

3/14 (Rest)

Rest Day today. Worked the morning shift at work and had a busy day there, came home and worked on a new client program and then had a consult with another new sign on. I ended the night by calling my parents and talking to them, I hadn't talked to them in a few weeks so it was good to catch up with them.

3/15 (Pull)

Woke up feeling really tired today and had 350 mg caffeine across two servings this morning to get me going. Felt great by the time the session came around and killed it. Skipped Shrug work because of RDL's tomorrow, it's looking like Pull will always come before Legs B (RDL session) so we can pretty much consider my Pull sessions to be Shrug-less for the forseeable future.

This will be the last session with the Incline DB Row in place, I'll replace it with a Chest Supported T Bar which is a more appropriate fit at this point.

Full Session:

LifeFitness Pec Dec 1x15

Bilateral D Handle'd Cable Pulldown 1x12, 1x14

S/A Machine Low Row 1x9, 1x6

Hammer Pulldown 1x9

Incline DB Row 1x10, 1x5.5

FreeMotion Preacher Curl 1x10, 1x9

Incline DB Curl 1x15

Long Rope Tricep Extension 1x15, 1x12

3/16 (Legs)

Early morning Leg session today. Finally recorded my pre session prep/mobility work so that should be on YouTube in the next week or two. Such an awesome session but boy am I fatigued lol. Busy work day the rest of the day so gonna have to focus up and get 'er done.

Full Session:

Seated Cuffed Lateral 1x12, 1x14

Standing Calf Raise 1x12, 1x16

Seated Calf Raise 1x12

Adductor 1x13

Seated Leg Curl 1x13

BB RDL 1x8

Leg Extension 1x15, 1x16

DB RFE SS 1x13

3/17 (Rest)

Rest Day today, worked the morning shift at work then had to make a quick run to the store before coming home and knocking out some client work. Then I had a TikTok Live Q&A that went pretty smoothly and then Carissa and I went on a walk and then she trimmed my back (haha). Went to bed early, super tired!

3/18 (Push)

Great Push session this morning. Lat work has been progressing across both Push and Pull sessions so I tacked on another set of the Low Cable Row. We'll see how this effects my performance on Pull on Monday and we'll decide from there if we keep this set in or remove it.

Side note - I've been dealing with some digestive issues the past few days that have really thrown me off. The possible culprits are more than likely Pineapple and a Pepper/Onion mix I've been using: I've been using those in larger-than-normal amounts recently. Main goal this weekend is play the "elimination" game with my diet and see which of these is the culprit behind the stomach problems. Oh, the joys of bodybuilding.

Full Session:

S/A Low Cable Row 1x16, 1x9

Hammer Strength Pec Dec 1x12

Deadstop Hammer Strength Incline Press 1x8, 1x12

Magnum Pec Dec 1x11

Reverse Pec Dec 1x12, 1x12.5

Cybex Lateral Raise 1x14, 1x13

Standing Cuffed Lateral 1x10

Smith JM Press 1x14, 1x8+ecc (failed 9th rep)

Bilateral Overhead Extension Machine 1x12

3/19 (Legs)

Busy day of check ins so I was up at 6:30 to get this one in. Perfect session with progressions across the board. Did my Hacks without the heel wedges, I want to improve my ankle mobility and to do that I need to take the training wheels off at some point.

Came home from the gym and got my check ins done and then Carissa and I went to lunch then back home to post some content, gonna relax most of the day today!

Full Session:

Bilateral Bicep Cable Curls 1x15, 1x10

Seated Calf Raise 1x13, 1x17

Standing Calf Raise 1x12

Adductor 1x19

Lying Leg Curl 1x10

Paused Leg Extension 1x15

Reverse Banded Hack Squat 1x10

3/20 (Rest)

Rest Day today. Slept in and then Carissa and I went out for breakfast and then ran some errands. Came home and was pretty lazy most of the day, getting ready for a busy week!

3/21 (Pull)

Really great Pull session today, took some large progressions on some things that I wasn't expecting. I attempted a new Tricep move for this session and bailed on it halfway through, so I need to come up with something else to touch up on Triceps with.

Full Session:

Seated Cable Fly 1x14

S/A Hammer Row 1x12, 1x15

Bilateral D Handle'd Mag Grip Pulldown 1x15, 1x12

Hammer High Row 1x11+1

StarTrac Pulldown 1x13, 1x16

Shortened focus Cable Curl 1x12, 1x9

DB Hammer Curl 1x13

3/22 (Legs)

Today was a rainy, gloomy day which killed my mood so I wasn't particularly looking forward to training today but I got it in and had a beauty of a session. Really happy with how training is going at the moment! I would be lying if I said I wasn't ready to get food and PED's back in to make a jump forward in muscularity but I need to get a little more fat off and get health supps in order so we'll continue to tick the boxes for now, don't want to get too carried away with this fat loss phase though.

Full Session:

Seated Cuffed Lateral 1x13, 1x14.5

Standing Calf Raise 1x14, 1x17

Seated Calf Raise 1x14

Adductor 1x13

Seated Leg Curl 1x14

BB RDL 1x9

Leg Extension 1x10, 1x19

RFE DB SS 1x14(r)/13(l)

3/23 (Rest)

Rest day today. Woke up and ran some errands, prepped some food, and edited some content. Went to work and did some more content before coming home and calling my friend and onboarding a client. Busy day!

3/24 (Push)

Push this afternoon was mostly good, had a regression on Floor Press but progressed or held performance otherwise. First attempt with the Cuffed Rear Delt Fly and was pretty happy with it, at least happier than what I was with the Cable Row I was doing previously. We'll give this an honest chunk of time and see how it fairs over a training block.

I'll more than likely be making a change to my program to further promote recovery and add more rest. I've noticed that I've been training 5 days per week for the majority of March and February and I'd like to get back to training 4 days per week consistenly. More rest = better recovery = better sessions (hypothetically) and at the end of the day I truly believe it's about quality of stimulus over quantity of stimulus (within reason). I'll highlight these program changes once I finalize everything.

Full Session:

S/A Kneeling Pulldown 1x16, 1x7

Seated Cable Fly 1x14

LifeFitness Incline Press 1x8, 1x14

Smith Floor Press 1x10, 1x6

Lying Cuffed Lateral Raise 1x13, 1x12, 1x8

Cuffed Rear Delt Fly 1x9, 1x11

S/A Overhead Extension Machine 1x9