AM Fasted Weight = 193.6 (down 1 pound)
I started feeling a bit bloated, heavy and sluggish recently, and since my activity and lifting volume were reduced last week, I dropped my calories a bit. I cut 30 g carbs from my last meal on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and dropped my casein/olive oil shake starting Thursday night.
As you can see, my weight dropped a little bit, I’m confident that was exactly what my body needed…I just wasn’t feeling like myself and now I’m back to feeling the way I like.
Since my volume is reduced right now, I can get away with fewer calories and still maintain my strength and size. We have 1 week remaining on our current phase. After that I may need to alter my intake again to account for my goals of the next phase…more on that in the coming weeks!
- Monday: Calves & Arms = Started with 10 sets of 8 on the standing calf machine. I was bored out of my mind – I won’t lie. Next we hit some v-bar pressdowns, bent-over extensions and decline skullcrushers. NOTHING makes my triceps explode like bent-over extensions…something about that stretch combined with heavy and high-reps…awesome! Then we trashed biceps with some various curls and forearms by finishing with 3 x 25 EZ-bar reverse curls…very painful – especially with Grip4orce!
- Tuesday: Legs = Leg day was a blast as always! Leg curls to start as usual before we moved to squats with the Yoke Bar! We hit a standard pyramid working up to a heavy set of 10/8/6. The Yoke Bar really shifts the emphasis onto the quads much more than a traditional barbell for an awesome training effect. I would equate the feeling to that of a VERY HEAVY goblet squat. Next up was a miserable (but fun) 2 sets of 35 on the leg press, before finishing up with barbell stiff-leg deadlifts. We did abs here too…don’t remember what we did, but it was 3 sets of 8-15 for 2 exercises…let’s go with V-ups and decline situps.
- Thursday: Chest/Delts & Abs =We started with calves for just 6 sets of 10 on the seated calf machine to get the day going. Chest started with Hammer Strength Horizontal Flat Press, then Incline BB BP, and finally flat DB BP. All movements were done heavy for 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps. We trashed shoulders with DB rear delts and lateral raises before finishing with a single set of “over-and-backs”, aka Bradford presses. Abs were V-ups and decline sit-ups for 3 sets of 12-15 each.
- Saturday: Back & Abs = We were traveling last weekend, so I hit this lift at the Gold’s Gym in Winchester, VA. We have been there before and I always enjoy that gym. If you ever find yourself in that area and need a gym, I highly recommend it! They have a donkey calf machine that I can’t find anywhere so I started with 4-6 sets of 10 and worked up to doing the whole stack (400lbs) for a set of 10 just because I love the way that machine feels. Back started with barbell rows, where I hit 185 x 10 x 2, and then 225 x 8 x 2. Next up was 1-arm barbell rows (see video below), followed by DB pullovers (50 x 15 x 2), and then BB shrugs from 1 set of 30 with a 1 second flex at the top! I finished with 90 degree hypers for one set of 23 with a 25# plate, and then 11 more with just my bodyweight. Abs were roman chairs and ab wheel rollouts for 3 sets of 8-15 each.