8/23 & 8/24 Recap

8/23 (Rest Day)

Rest Day today. Slept in and then took progress pictures, took Blood Pressure/Blood Glucose, then ate and headed to the store to run some errands. Came home and relaxed and worked on some stuff for the site and then went to work. Had a somewhat busy day at work and then came home and foam rolled and stretched before going to bed. When I got home we found out that our Xfinity modem stopped working completely so we currently have no internet. Yay!

8/24 (Legs)

Leg Day this morning was great. After a few dodgy sessions I was worried that I was starting to slip into a state of overreaching but today's session confirmed that that isn't the case yet.

Today's session was perfect except for the fact I missed a PB on the Banded Leg Press: the rubber grip on the handle slipped off while I was going for my last rep and I lost all stability and ability to brace. This is pretty frustrating but I know there really isn't anything I can do about it except for gluing the handle on myself (which I actually may do).

In other news, I am entering the 5th week of this Mini Cut and am in a pretty good spot. I think I'm going to run the diet until the end of next week and then assess what the plan is from there. I'm eager to get back into a surplus and really make use of this high-frequency Leg program to put some size on my Legs!

Full Session:

Seated Cuffed Lateral 1x15

Standing Calf Raise (shortened focus) 1x11

Seated Calf Raise (lengthened focus) 1x15

S/L Tibia Raise 1x8*

Adductor 1x20.5

Seated Ham Curl 1x14

Leg Extension 1x18

Banded Leg Press 1x13 (failed on rep 14 bc of handle)

Hack Squat 1x12

*I will be removing the Tibia work for a while, it has failed to progress and has recently started to regress in reps. No point continuing to do it if it isn't going to bring me progress.

8/25 (Legs - Deload)

I slept like a bag of shit last night so I knew I had to make today an impromptu Deload session. This is the second day this week that my sleep has suffered, and this morning digestion was a little iffy. Poor digestion and poor sleep are my two biggest signs that I need to Deload, so that's what we do.

I have been feeling a Deload creeping up on me over the past week but I have been turning my head to the symptoms out of stubbornness and pride. I just Deloaded about 4 weeks ago, and I was hoping to stretch this block of training out a little longer before needing to Deload again.

I was previously able to train 6 weeks between Deloads, so to see that I only needed 4 weeks to require a Deload this time frustrated me at first. Once I took a step back and looked at the bigger picture, it's become pretty clear to me there are some logical explanations as to why I have needed to Deload more frequently recently:

1. I am running a much more intense training program that ever before. This high frequency Leg program is HARD. I'm burying myself each Leg day, and then repeating that process 72 hours later. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. Common sense says that the more difficult the training program, the more frequently you'll need to Deload.

2. I am still dieting and in a fairly large deficit. I'm down about 10 pounds in 5 weeks so it's clear that I'm dieting hard. Food and calories contribute to recovery capabilities, so to be purposely depriving myself of those calories will obviously show itself in my lack of recovery.

All in all, today was a great session and I'm glad I made the decision to Deload. I know it was the right thing to do. I'm going to take the rest of this week day by day and decide what volume to train at auto-regulation style.

Full Session:

S/A Cable Pulldown 1x10+1 (shortened focus)

S/A Machine Low Row 1x14

Upper Back Pulldown 1x12 (shortened focus)

Incline DB Row 1x11

Machine Shrug 1x12+1 (shortened focus)

S/A Cable Curl 1x14

D-Handle'd Cambered Bar Tricep Extension 1x14

Rope Crunches

*I did some sets with 135 on a Paused BB RDL today following this session. I'm going to be looking to re-introduce this movement to one of my Leg sessions, so I wanted to re-familiarize myself with the movement pattern today before it's time to put actual work in on it.

8/26 & 8/27 Recap

8/26 (Rest Day)

Rest Day today. Ran some errands in the morning and then prepped some food, did some dishes, yadah yadah yadah same stuff as every rest day. Had a decent afternoon at work and then came home and played some video games before bed. Pretty unexciting day haha

8/27 (Legs - Deload)

Today was my birthday and there's no place I'd rather be on my birthday than in the gym. And there's no other body part I'd rather be training than Legs! My last two birthday workouts have both been Pull, which isn't as fun as Legs so I'm glad I finally got a birthday Leg session in.

I decided to train at Deload volumes again today. I have slept really good the past two nights and digestion has improved so the CNS fatigue is starting to wear off. Going in and burying myself today could possibly just restart the recovery process, so I decided to take today to "stay ahead" of my recovery. Progressions were taken on every set so there's no fear of regression from me.

I'm taking a double-rest this weekend as I'm going home to my parent's house. Two Deload sessions and 3 rest days over a 5 day period should see me pretty well recovered and ready to go full blast again Monday.

Full Session:

Standing Cuffed Lateral Raise 1x12

Bilateral Bicep Cable Curl 1x16

Seated Calf Raise (shortened focus) 1x15

Standing Calf Raise (lengthened focus) 1x14+1

Adductor 1x16

Lying Ham Curl 1x16

Leg Extension 1x17

Pivot Leg Press 1x14 (failed on 15th)

8/28 - 8/30 Recap

8/28 - 8/29 (Rest Days)

Friday (8/27) was my birthday and I had the weekend off work so I wanted to go home and spend the weekend with my family for my birthday. We had an awesome weekend, got to do a lot of things and saw both sides of the family's grandparents. I went to my old job and got to see a lot of old co-workers and reconnect with them as well. It was an awesome weekend filled with lots of good food and good company and I came home last night with my heart full. I don't get to see my family as much as I'd like so I always try to take advantage of opportunities like this.

8/30 (Push)

A double-rest this weekend plus the two Deload sessions last week had me feeling physically and mentally refreshed and ready to go this morning. Push was  an awesome session except for the Laterals, which took a hit performance-wise. After trying to figure out why my Lateral work went to shit out of nowhere I realized that I did two extra warm ups sets than I normally do and the last two warmups were much heavier than I should have gone realistically. I think I just wasted a little too much energy on the warm ups that could have been saved for the working sets. Oh well, live and learn. Mistakes like that show their value in a deep deficit.

Full Session:

Magnum Pec Dec (shortened focus) 1x13

StarTrac Incline Press 1x9

StarTrac Flat Press 1x10

Netural OHP 1x10

BB Floor Press 1x10

Magnum Pec Dec (lengthened focus) 1x14

Reverse Pec Dec Fly 1x13+1 (short), 1x14

Standing Cuffed Lateral 1x11 (short), 1x13, 1x10 (length)

S/A Cuffed Tricep Extension (shortened focus) 1x11(L)/12(R)

S/A Overhead Cuffed Tricep Extension (lengthened focus) 1x10

Floor Crunch 1x18, 1x11

8/31 (Legs)

Today was the first Leg session I've done after re-introducing a Hip Hinge to the rotation. This will also be the first time in my life (at least as far as I can remember) where I'll be doing both a Hinge AND Squat pattern in the same session, as I'm keeping the Banded Leg Press intact. My Lower Back has a history of being a little fragile so I'll have to keep an eye on how I recover with this setup, but I'm confident if I keep the volume low I can manage.

Be adding the RDL into this session I've basically created a form of Undulating Periodization between the volume of my Quad and Ham/Adductor training. The RDL is a "posterior chain" dominant Pull, which is exactly why I'm programming it on the session that is predominantly Ham/Adductor focused and not on the Quad focused day.

Only time will tell how this program adjustment plays out but I'm excited to play it out. I think re-adding the RDL will make this current program the hardest training program I've ever done, and I get some sick sort of enjoyment out of seeing how hard I can make things on myself.

Full Session:

S/A DB Curl 1x11(L)/12(R)

Standing Calf Raise (shortened focus) 1x12+1

Seated Calf Raise (lengthened focus) 1x15

Adductor 1x20.5

Seated Ham Curl 1x15

Paused RDL 1x9 (3 count pauses)

Leg Extension 1x22

Banded Leg Press 1x14

9/1 & 9/2 Recap

9/1 (Rest Day)

Rest Day today. Pretty boring day, slept in late and then did some cooking and cleaning around the house. Carissa and I went on a walk and then I worked on some content. Went to work then came home and did some rehab work before taking a shower and calling it a night.

9/2 (Pull)

Got a really solid Pull session in this morning at full volume! I am starting to notice that my training has been more and more difficult lately, and I know it's because of the Mini Cut. If this were a prep (or a longer diet phase) I'd refeed at this point but since I'm only going to be dieting for 3 more days I'm just going to ride it out.

About to head into work and then the plan is to come home and relax as much as possible. I didn't sleep the greatest last night so I feel a little fatigued today 😴 

Full Session:

Low Cable Row 1x11+1 (short), 1x13

S/A Pulldown 1x10, 1x12 (length)

Hammer High Row 1x12 (short)

Upper Back Pulldown 1x12, 1x10 (length)

Plate Loaded Shrug 1x10+1 (short), 1x11

Cybex Preacher Curl 1x14

S/A Cable Curl 1x12(L)/13(R)

Low Cable Curl 1x9 (lengthened focus)

Cross Body Cuffed Tricep Extension 1x15

Decline Crunch 1x13, 1x11

9/3 (Legs)

Awesome Leg session this morning! This was the last session of the Mini Cut and I'm soooo glad about that because it's time to get fat again 🤣 

I am getting ready to start my second cycle either next week or the week following. That will be coupled with a diet change that will see a big jump in calories. The goal is to run some higher Test doses (for me) and put on 12-15 pounds of bodyweight. I'm hoping by the end of 12-16 weeks of doing that this physique looks totally different.

I will detail the changes mentioned above when I set the plan.

Full Session:

Standing Cuffed Lateral 1x12

Seated Calf Raise (shortened focus) 1x15+1

Standing Calf Raise (lengthened focus) 1x15

Adductor 1x13

Lying Ham Curl 1x15

Leg Extension 1x18

Pivot Leg Press 1x14

Reverse Banded Hack Squats w/ pause 1x10

9/4 & 9/5 Recap

9/4 (Rest Day)

Rest Day today and a full 11 hour day at work. Got a lot of things done so it was a pretty effective day, just boring :/ Tomorrow is Carissa's birthday which I'm really excited about!

9/5 (Push)

Got an earlier-than-normal Push session in this morning. Today is Carissa's birthday so I wanted to get up and get the session done before she woke up. The session went really well, progressions taken on everything!

I woke up to a new low bodyweight wise this morning which is the perfect ending to the Mini Cut. Time to regain the fat I just took off haha. Goal for this week is to increase calories to a point where I can gauge where I'm at in terms of a deficit/maintenance/surplus and the goal is to start my second cycle next week. I will highlight that in detail as we get closer to next week.

Full Session:

FreeMotion Foam Roller Cable Fly (shortened focus) 1x13

LifeFitness Incline Press 1x9

Flex Leverage Flat Press 1x10

LifeFitness OHP 1x10

Weighted Dip 1x10

LifeFitness Pec Dec (lengthened focus) 1x12

Rear Delt T Bar Row 1x13+1 (short), 1x13

Lying Cuffed Lateral 1x12 (short), 1x15, 1x13 (length)

S/A Rope Tricep Extension 1x11 (short)

S/A Overhead Rope Tricep Extension 1x7 (length)

Hanging Leg Raise 1x12, 1x14

9/6 (Legs)

I trained later than normal today (3:30 pm instead of 8:30 am, due to work schedule change). I was somewhat worried how this would go, since I've trained in the morning my entire life. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it went very smooth! If I had the luxury of getting to choose when to train, I'd more than likely pick some time around this time frame. My body felt a lot more mobile than it does when I first wake up (makes sense) so I was able to work quicker than normal which is awesome. I love training but I hate spending a shit load of time in the gym just because I'm so stiff in the morning.

Today's session was absolutely perfect! Progressions taken on every set today. I have replaced the S/A DB Curl on this session because of it stalling in progress and replaced it with a High Cable Curl. This exercise serves a dual purpose, one being developmental and the other being rehab. This particular variation of Cable Curl puts an emphasis on the Long Head of the Bicep, which is near the Bicipital Groove where the Biceps Tendon attaches. Jordan Shallow has advocated this as an effective drill to rehab Biceps Tendonitis (due to the strengthening of the long head near the tendon) which is an injury that I have dealt with for a long time. So the goal is that getting better at this High Curl will not only improve my Bicep development but also help rehab a case of Biceps Tendonitis. It'll be exciting to see how this plays out in practice!

Full Session:

S/A High Cable Bicep Curl 1x15

Standing Calf Raise (shortened focus) 1x13+1

Seated Calf Raise (lengthened focus) 1x16

Adductor 1x20

Seated Ham Curl 1x15

Paused RDL 1x10

Leg Extension 1x10

Banded Leg Press 1x14

9/8 (Rest Day & Diet Update)

Rest Day today. Got my second dose of the Moderna vaccine this morning so I'm hoping I don't come down with any side effects. Spent the morning getting some groceries, cooking and cleaning and working on content. Going to go to work this afternoon and work on client programs while I'm there.

Diet Update

As I've mentioned in previous log posts I've finished up my Mini Cut. The Mini Cut was very successful: I went from 212 to 200 in 6 weeks, which is quite literally exactly what I wanted to accomplish. The goal was to diet for no longer than 6 weeks and I had the low 200's/high 190's in mind in terms of a weight "limit". So now that the Mini Cut is over it's time to increase food slightly and get back into a surplus!

I will more than likely be starting my second cycle next week which I will note here once I make the final decision of what I'm going to run is. It's going to be another Testosterone only cycle, I'm just tossing dosage ideas back and forth. For now, here's the new and updated diet! All changes made from last diet update are marked in red.

Training Day Diet:

*All foods are measured raw unless stated otherwise*

 Meal 1 (Pre-Training)

• 37 g Dymatize Iso-100 

• 2 Rice Krispie Treats (increased from 2)

Meal 2 (Intra Workout)

• 10 g Hydrolyzed Whey

• 15 g EAA

• 25 g HBCD

Meal 3 (Post Training)

• 37 g Dymatize Iso-100 

• 175 g Rice Krispies Cereal (increased from 150 g)

Meal 4

• 168 g 96% Lean Ground Beef

• 100 g Jasmine Rice 

Meal 5

• 168 g Wild Caught Pink Salmon

• 100 g Jasmine Rice 

Meal 6

• Same as Meal 4

Meal 7

• 2 Large Eggs

• 112 g 96% Lean Ground Beef 

• 100 g Jasmine Rice (added)

Total: 570/45/273/3791 (Increased from 451/42/264/3258)

Rest Day Diet:

*All foods measured raw unless stated otherwise*

 Meal 1

• 37 g Dymatize Iso-100 

• 100 g Rice Krispies Cereal (increased from 75 g)

Meal 2

• 196 g 96% Lean Ground Beef

• 80 g Jasmine Rice (increased from 75 g)

Meal 3

• Repeat Meal 2

Meal 4

• 196 g Wild Caught Pink Salmon

• 80 g Jasmine Rice (increased form 75 g)

Meal 5

• Repeat Meal 2/3

Meal 6

• 3 Large Eggs

• 112 g 96% Lean Ground Beef

• 80 g Jasmine Rice (added)

Total: 421/52/282/3326 (Increased from 319/51/273/2871)

9/9 (Pull)

I was scheduled to do this session yesterday but took the day off because of the COVID vaccine side effects. So I was pretty eager to get this one in today! And it was a really solid and progressive session so it was well worth the wait haha.

I switched my setup on the S/A Pulldowns to use the bench as a chest support rather than something to stand and brace into (see previous Pull videos for reference) and honestly I can't believe I haven't been doing them like this since I started. The "chest supported" setup is significantly better: allows for better bracing, which allows better contractions, which is the name of the game.

I also increased the bench angle on my Incline DB Rows by 1 notch which allowed for greater ROM and (also) better contractions. Both adjustments made today will be permanent staples going forward. I get really knit-picky about exercise setups so I'm feeling pretty good about these!

Full Session:

S/A Cable Pulldown 1x11 (short), 1x12

S/A FreeMotion Low Row 1x16, 1x11 (length)

Upper Back Pulldown 1x13 (short)

Incline DB Row 1x14, 1x10 (length)

Plate Loaded Shrug 1x12 (short), 1x12

Facing Inward Cable Bicep Curl 1x15 (short)

S/A Cable Curl 1x13(L)/14(R)

S/A Rope Hammer Cable Curl 1x11(L)/12(R) (length)

Double Rope Cambered Bar Tricep Extension 1x19.5

9/10 (Legs)

Really awesome Leg session this morning. My progressions are starting to fly and if I had to guess the re-introduction of food has been the main reason for that. Really excited to see where things go from here.

Busy weekend this weekend, I work a full 11 hour day at work tomorrow and then will probably do some house chores on Sunday. Carissa is going to be gone most of the weekend with friends so I'll have to do all the laundry and stuff. No biggie, this will be the first NFL Sunday so I don't mind staying home!

Full Session:

Bilateral Cable Bicep Curl 1x16

Seated Calf Raise (shortened focus) 1x15

Standing Calf Raise (lengthened focus) 1x13+1

Adductor 1x16

Lying Ham Curl 1x17

Leg Extension (shortened focus) 1x18+1

Pivot Leg Press 1x15

Reverse Banded Hack Squats w/ pause 1x12

9/11 & 9/12 Recap

9/11 (Rest Day)

Rest Day today and an 11 hour shift at work 🙁 very boring day, went to work and then came home and played some video games and watched baseball before calling it a night.

9/12 (Push)

Got in a great Push session this morning! I decided to forego my Shoulder Press today and do an extra set of Incline Press instead, I think realistically I should be doing this going forward. I get plenty of Front Delt stimulus out of all my Presses that it doesn't really justify having a direct Shoulder Press in the rotation when I could be allocating that volume towards my Upper Chest which definitely needs more work than Front Delt. I will probably keep this setup going forward if I can consistently recover and progress from it.

I also split my Lateral volume into 2 different exercises instead of doing all 3 sets on the Cables today. My first set on the Cables has been slowing down progression-wise so I figured it was time to "spread the wealth" a little bit to another movement.

Today is the first NFL Sunday of the season which may as well be a National Holiday in my opinion so I'll be on the couch the rest of the day.

Full Session:

Magnum Pec Dec (shortened focus) 1x14

StarTrac Incline Press 1x9, 1x4.5

StarTrac Flat Press 1x10

BB Floor Press 1x8

Magnum Pec Dec (lengthened focus) 1x14

Cybex Machine Lateral Raise 1x12 (shortened focus)

Reverse Pec Dec 1x14 (short), 1x13.5

Standing Cuffed Cable Lateral Raise 1x13, 1x10.5 (length)

S/A Cuffed Tricep Extension (shortened focus) 1x13(L)/14(R)

S/A Overhead Cuffed Tricep Extension (lengthened focus) 1x11

Floor Crunch 1x19, 1x12

9/13 (Legs) & Second PED Cycle

I had to train in the afternoon again today because of work schedule. I'm really liking training in the afternoon when I get the chance! I've trained in the early morning my entire life and my body feels pretty stiff in the mornings so I feel a bit "looser" in the afternoon.

The Adductor was broken so I had to skip that but everything else was bang on the money. Overshot my Leg Press projected weight enough to lose a rep so that's less than ideal, but not a total L: I'll just know to make slightly smaller jumps from here on out!

Full Session:

S/A High Cable Curl 1x17(L)/18(R)

Standing Calf Raise (shortened focus) 1x14+1

Seated Calf Raise (lengthened focus) 1x15+1

Adductor BROKEN*

Seated Ham Curl 1x15

Paused RDL 1x10

Leg Extension 1x18

Banded Leg Press 1x13

*I'm going to use this as an opportunity to swap my Piston and Paused rep Adductor rotations, since I eventually would like to do 2 sets in this session. If I'm doing 2 sets I'd like one to be paused and the other to be more constant so whenever this machine gets fixed I'll be swapping Adductor variations.

Second Cycle Update

Today will be the first pin of my second PED cycle. I've decided I'm going to run 300 mg of Testosterone, which is going to be a repeat of my first cycle. There are a few reasons I've decided to re-run my first cycle, with the general theme being the fact that I don't think I got as much as I could have out of the first cycle. I believe I underate (out of fear of getting fat) and I also made the mistake of increasing volume in a lot of areas, which limited my strength progressions.

I'm in a place where I'm confident I can get more out of 300 mg than I did the first time around and after finishing up this last Mini Cut my body is primed and ready to push. The plan is to introduce the PED's and increase food simultaneously to get my weight moving upwards. I will get bloodwork drawn at the 12 week mark (December 5th) and assess what to do based off the results. If bloods look good I will continue to run this cycle for at least another 4 weeks. If things don't look good I will potentially cease use.

I have bloodwork from this same level of PED's the first go-around, and the only thing that was off was a slightly lowered HDL. In my first cycle I wasn't running any Lipid health supplementation, which will be in the rotation going forward.

Health Supplementation for Cycle:

Revive Blood Pressure - 1 serving daily

Revive Lipid - 1 serving daily

Omega 3 - 1200 mg daily

Ubiquinol - 200 mg daily

Pycnogenol - 100 mg daily

Vitamin D3 - 10,000 iu daily

Vitamin K2 - 100 mcg daily

81 mg Baby Aspirin daily

BCM95 Circumin - 400 mg AM/PM

DIM - 300 mg daily

Boron - 6mg am and pm

Dihydroberberine - 300 mg daily (100 mg every other meal)

All in all I am in a good place for this blast and am excited to see how training progresses. I would be lying if I said I was excited about the drugs, though. The drug portion of this sport is my least favorite part by far and even though this is only my second cycle and my doses have been very moderate up to this point I still wish it wasn't necessary. My goal with the PED cycles is to run the least amount of drugs possible to be able to stimulate growth and use a heavy basis of health supplementation and blood work analysis to try and mitigate side effects as much as possible. I find this to be the best possible balance for PED use.

Cycle updates will be made here periodically.

9/14 & 9/15 Recap

9/14 (Rest Day)

Rest Day today. Very boring day. Woke up and got groceries, then came home and worked on some content before going to work. Came home from work and prepped some food before watching YouTube and going to bed.

9/15 (Pull)

Perfect Pull session this morning with the exception of one of my Bicep movements. My S/A Cable Curls have stalled for 3 rotations in a row so it's time to replace that with a new movement. I'll more than likely replace it with an EZ Curl Bar, since I have previous numbers from previous rotations.

Added some food to post workout meal to try and get weight moving, this is week 1 of Cycle so I need to be a little more assertive with pushing my weight up. I did the opposite of that last time around and I don't want to make that mistake again.

Full Session:

Cable Low Row 1x12+1 (short), 1x12

S/A Cable Pulldown 1x11, 1x10 (length)

Hammer High Row 1x13+1 (short)

Upper Back Pulldown 1x13, 1x12.5 (length)

Plate Loaded Shrug 1x12 (short), 1x13

Cybex Preacher Curl 1x15

S/A Cable Curl 1x12(L)/13(R)*

Low Cable Curl 1x12 (length)

Cross Body Cuffed Tricep Extension 1x15

Decline Crunch 1x16, 10