Getting Less Weak

[Macho Man]

Man that is creative as hell!!! props for thinking of that. I have a massive love/hate relationship with them, but like you said they certainly do the trick!

Thanks. My childhood neighbors in the trailer park are reading your comment thinking “What the fuck do you mean creative? He just saved himself $1k on a reverse hyper, we call that thrifty!” Haha

[Macho Man]

Since I can’t do a ton of cardio due to my knee, and my low back can only handle so much rowing, I’ve decided to get a little more volume/frequency in my workouts to burn some extra calories and see if I’m able to find a balance of that and continuing my strength progression.

Going to go to Chest/Shoulders/Tris and Back/Bis/Hams and rotate every other day. I will continue my one 5x5 exercise per large bodypart, and will be doing somewhere in the neighborhood of one 3x8-12 for the others.

Today was:

Incline Bench (stop 2 inches above chest): 185- 5,5,5,5,5

Overhead cable ext- 30- 8,8,8

Rear Delt Cable Fly- 0- 8,8,8 (there is enough friction on my machine to make these pretty hard for me. My right should also hikes a lot on things and I have crazy tight omohyoid and scalenes on that side so I’m still trying to teach myself the correct recruitment patterns on things like this as there is a massive difference in strength and functioning from right to left).

[Macho Man]

Finally got more weights this weekend!

Deads (don’t have a platform yet, so these are rack deads but the plates are only 2 inches or so from the floor)
255- 5,5,5,5,5 (going to take these real slow)

RDL
Bar- 8,8,8
(basically just used these to stretch the hammies)

Band bicep curls
black band- 8,8,8

[Macho Man]

Bench
210- 5,5,5,4,4

1 Arm Tricep Pulldown
15- 12,12,12

45 Degree Side/Rear Delt Raises
20- 8,8,8

[Macho Man]

Possibly going to start throwing some diet and weight info into these posts to consolidate my tracking

AM Weight
212

Close Grip Pulldowns (slow and focused on scapular depression)
35- 12,12,12

1 Arm Cable Rows
65- 8,8,8

BBell Curls
Bar- 12,12,12

Current Supplements
-J-Flex9
-Grass-Fed Hydrolyzed Beef Collagen (30g scoop)
-Vitamin D3- 5000iu
-Multi
-Protein Shakes (75% Cold filtered isolate, 25% micellar casein)
-Karboload (just finished my bag of MG’s Powdered Muscle and will probably buy more once my bag of Karboload runs low)

Diet: protein totals will not come from anything other than primary protein sources. I’m shooting for 1g/lb BW of protein. I didn’t start tracking calories until I came back from vacation, and didn’t weigh myself until this AM as I knew I would have some massive weight fluctuations early on and didn’t want to mind fuck myself. As of right now, calories are around 2900 on training days and 2100 on off days.)

Pre-Workout: 2 cups black coffee
Intra workout: 1 scoop whey, 1 scoop Karboload

Breakfast/Lunch (got busy and didn’t eat early enough)
4 slices French toast w/Maple Grove Farms syrup
610 kcal, 50g Protein

Snack: Protein Bar
230 kcal, 20g Protein

My wife just officially got her Doctorate a few mins ago, so the dinner tonight may slide off the rails a bit, haha. This is a meal 8 years in the making.

[Macho Man]

AM weight- 210.2

Pre-workout: 5g BCAA, 1 scoop Karboload (46g carbs)

Incline Bench (stop 2 inches above chest):
LT 185- 5,5,5,5,5
TT 185- 10,8,6

Overhead cable ext-
LT 30- 8,8,8
TT 35- 10,10,10


Rear Delt Cable Fly
LT 0- 8,8,8
TT - scratch

superset rear DB fly with the OH ext
25- 8,6,6

As I sat on the bench in between sets, reading the news, I realized that my recent pursuit to take large breaks and ensure I am allowing myself the full opportunity to recover and get stronger has turned me into a lazy pile of shit during my workouts, my intensity has plummeted to almost nothing for all but a couple sets. I’m going to try and play around with some different things over the coming weeks to regain my intensity with the weights while continuing to try and get stronger.

As much as I would love to have the answers with regards to my body (i.e. the best diet for me long term, the best workout structure for me for hypertrophy, best for strength, etc.) I think I secretly enjoy what a mind fuck it all is for me. It allows me the opportunity to explore new ideas that I haven’t tried before and dive into them whole hog. Nothing is more enjoyable for me than the first week or two with a new subject, topic, hobby, as I get to obsessively consume every bit of information regarding the topic that I can get my hands on and I get incredibly excited to set things up and try them out.

Looking back, it is quite possible I have been subconsciously self-sabotaging myself every step of the way in this journey to maximize the amount of time I get to spend in this phase of consuming new info.

Then again, maybe it’s just a lack of true discipline and confidence. Hahaha

Rest of today’s eating:

Breakfast- bagel w/1tbsp PB and shake

Lunch- Chicken sausage on lavash bread

Snack- Protein bar and kombucha

Dinner- Protein French toast

Snack- 2 protein bars


Total cal=2920
Total P= 194

[Macho Man]

AM Weight- 210.8

Pre-workout: 5g BCAA, 1 scoop Karboload (46g carbs)

Rower- 5 mins

Band Assisted Pull Ups
Blue Band- 8 (several in tank)
Green Band- 6 (maybe 2 more?)
Black Band- 5 (failure)

Deads
305- 5, 5, 5

Reverse Hyper
5- 8,8,8

These reverse hypers felt incredible after the deads. I love that stretch that makes my ass feel like it is being pulled off my tailbone.

The rest of yesterday’s eating:
Breakfast- bagel w/1tbsp PB and shake

Snack- Protein bar

Lunch-10oz Chicken on lavash bread w/cheese

Dinner- asparagus, sweet potatoes, turkey roast

Snack- low fat popcorn and protein shake

Total cal= 2875, total Protein= 203g

[Macho Man]

AM Weight today: 211.8

No weights today, moderate paced 20 min walk with the dog and kids

Foodz

Breakfast- bagel w/1tbsp PB and shake

Lunch- 8oz Rotisserie Chicken on lavash bread w/1 slice cheese

Snack- protein bar

Dinner- 10oz chx tacos

Snack- Protein bar

Total cal= 2515, Total Protein= 206g

[Macho Man]

AM Weight= 211.4


Breakfast- bagel w/1tbsp PB and shake

Lunch- 5oz Chicken on lavash bread w/1 slice cheese

Snack- protein bar 200

Dinner- slow cooked beef roast and sweet potatoes

Snack- 1 bag smart pop popcorn

Total cal= 2195, Total Protein= 191g

[Macho Man]

AM Weight= 209.8


Breakfast- bagel w/1tbsp PB and shake


Lunch- slow cooked beef roast and sweet potatoes

Snack- protein bar

Dinner- Three 1/4lb cheeseburgers, one on a bun two with lettuce wraps, and baked asparagus, Bottle of Wine

Snack- protein shake

Total cal= 3400, Total Protein= 202g