Thu 10/31 - Cardio x2

Cardio:
Woke up early this morning and wanted to see my gal, so I hopped in the car and picked up coffee on the way over. We ran a couple miles and then when I got home I ran a couple more and walked.

- 2.2 miles w/ Sarah in ~23 mins
- 2.3 miles at home in 22 mins
- 1 mile walk c/d in ~18 mins
63 mins total

Nutrition:
I weighed 172.8 again this morning.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	197	419	49	2,890
	Calories	789	1678	437	2,903
	Percent	27%	58%	15%	`

Wed 10/30 - Push Day

Workout: (Golds)
(75#DBInc)8,8,8,8,8 V. Good
(95#OHP)8,8,8,8 Great
(135#DecCGBP)11,11,11 Great
(65#DBBench)7,55#x8 WTF!?!? Ouch.
(75#TriExt)10,10,8
(195#Crunch)10,9,9
(140#TripPushDn)2x11
(KneeCrunch)25,20,25,20
(40#RopePushDn)15,12,15
(35#CableFly)2x12
66 + 14 w/u + 13 c/d = 93mins

Incline was really good today, but it was quite hard and I had to take a little more rest than 2.5 mins the last 2 sets. Pleased that I got 8 across, but want to get these w/ good form, comfortably on 2.5min intervals before bumping up. That's the goal, but I might not get there this cycle, and that would be OK.(15mins). OHP was good today and I got 8 across which I didn't get last WO. I might bump up slightly next WO. These are tough right after incline.(11/26mins).

Decline close grip bench was great today getting 11 across. I'll bump up next WO.(7/33mins). DB bench was brutal. My chest/tri's were worked already. Only got 7 reps on first set (was getting 10). I dropped to 55#DB's and figured I'd get 10-12. Nope, got 8. Done. Really bothered my R shoulder as well.(5/38).

Tri extensions (skull crushers) were good today. Only got 8 on last set and didn't try for more because it was bothering my L elbow. Still good work. Combo'd these with cable crunches at the highest weigth I've ever done.(12/50mins). Next I did heavy tri pushdowns and lighter rope pushdowns combo'd w/ knee crunches. These were good, especially the lighter rope pushdowns. It also felt good to go "heavy" for a couple sets too.(12/62mins). Finished up w/ 2 sets of cable fly's from low-to-high position to hit upper chest.(4/66mins).

Really good WO. I really could've used another day rest before this one, especially since I decided to hit some chest and OHP on Monday (stupid). WO was a little too long w/ warmup and c/d.  Left elbow is in bad shape, R shoulder still acting up but not terrible. Going to keep pushing hard for hopefully 2 more weeks, then a deload.

Nutrition:
I weighed 172.8 this morning. Not a bad weight. Kept calories up today to feed the WO.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	217	380	49	2,806
	Calories	868	1520	442	2,830
	Percent	31%	54%	16%	`

Tue 10/29 - Pull Day

Workout: (Sprint Small Gym)
(35#Pullups)7,6,6,6 Tough today
(135#SeatRow)4x10,105X12DS
(30#DBCurl)2x10
(20#IncCurl)3x10 Liked this exercise
(20#RearDelt)3x12
(25#BackExt)2x20
(135#RevGripPull)4x12
(70#RDeltFly)3x12
(90#crunch)3x15
52 10 w/u + 6 c/d = 68mins

Pullups were tough today. I lost a rep off 2nd set from last WO. Left elbow really bad, especially on the first set. I think I need to warm them up better before starting my WO's.(11mins).  Seated rows were good. Did them overhand neutral grip. Supersetted them with 2 sets of DB curls (standing) and 3 sets of DB curls lying on an incline bench. First time I've done these one's and they felt great. Had to use a pretty light weight.(16/27mins).

I did 3 sets of rear delts w/ DB's combo'd with 2 sets of back extensions. I did this to give my back a bit of a break before pulldowns.(8/35mins).  Reverse grip pulldowns were good. All sets felt light to start off, but got heavy/hard with high-ish reps.(8/44mins). Finished the WO with rear delt flies on a machine and weighted crunches. I really like the feeling of doing both DB and machine rear delt work.

Very nice WO. I'm liking being able to do these pull WO's at the Sprint gym now and then.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.4 this morning. Not too terribly bad, especially given I was 174.0 on Saturday morning before I went to PA. Decent nutrition day today. I'm interested to see where weight is tomorrow AM. Goal is to gain weight right now, but not in 3-4 pound increments :)

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	207	344	45	2,596
	Calories	829	1376	405	2,610
	Percent	32%	53%	16%	`

Mon 10/28 - OHP/Inc/Tri

Workout: OHP/Inc/Tri's: Golds
(95#OHP)10,10,9,8
(50#SteepInc)3x12
(135#DecCGBP)2x10
(75#TriExt)2x10
(30#RopePushDn)3x12
33 + 7 w/u + 8 c/d = 48mins

Got home from PA today and really just wanted to get in the gym and do a light WO. Then, I had the bright idea of doing OHP because it needs work and I didn't go nearly as easy as I should have. Anyway, OHP was good. Still pretty light weight compared to what I was doing, but I really worked the last 2-3 sets. Worked harder than I should have given I still want to hit a good press WO on Wed. Some of these were pretty much to failure.(11mins). I did steep incline DB incline next. These were awesome. Really good steady controlled reps and I kept just short of lockout to keep time under tension the entire time. I also tried to make sure my elbows didn't go far below parallel so there's no momentum on the press. Very good.(7/18mins).

Next I did 2 sets each of decline close grip bench press and triceps extensions (skull crushers) for tri's. These were both good.(5/28). Finished up some outer head tri work with rope pushdowns. Tri's were on fire and popping :).(5/33mins).

This was a good WO. Short but sweet and would've been a great WO with just a little more chest volume...but that's not what I really wanted today. I was just going in for a "stretch and stimulation". Hope it doesn't hinder my push WO on Wed.

Nutrition:
I didn't weigh myself in PA and definitely didn't keep my diet very clean. I also didn't go completely nuts. I'll know in the morning how much damage I did. Pretty good nutrition day today to get back to decent eating after the weekend.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	217	320	54	2,627
	Calories	867	1279	483	2,628
	Percent	33%	49%	18%	`

Sun 10/27 - Cardio (w/ Uncle Bob - Pics)

Cardio:
I ran/walked for 50 minutes with Uncle Bob. It was nice out and we had a good talk the entire time. Really enjoy my time w/ him.

Nutrition:
Not completely out of control, but definitely not clean. Lots of oatmeal cake and frozen yogurt.

Trip:
Had a great, but short, trip to PA. I got to see Nan, Bob, Betsy, Jesse and Addie & Mike. Lots of visiting/talking and running around looking at Bob's house projects. He's got a real nice one on the Schuylkill River Sarah and I want to buy :)  Got to do a little shooting with Jesse and Mike. There's a bunch of turkey's on Bob's property. Gorgeous as always up there. I'm ready to move.

Sat 10/26 - Push Day (Great Inc)

Workout: (Golds)
(75#DBInc)8,8,8,8,9 V. good
(95#OHP)8,8,7,7 Great new starting point to work from
(135#DecCGBP)10,10,9 Great
(75#SkullCrusher)10,8,8
(190#Crunch)10,8
(40#RopePushDn)3x15
(KneeCrunch)25,20
(105#ChestFly)3x12
51 + 10 w/u + 5 c/d = 66 mins

Incline was great and back up today. I got a 9th rep on the last set, but my set interval times started bleeding a little past 2.5 mins, so I'll continue to try to get 5x8 on 2.5min intervals comfortably, then bump up. That's the goal anyway.(15mins). I did OHP today because my upper chest needs it and I've been neglecting any shoulder pressing. This was down from what I was doing, so definitely some work to do here. That said, reps were really good and no bouncing off the chest to get the weight up. I paused on the chest and pressed hard. Pleased with the effort.(10/25mins).

I bumped the weight on decline close grip bench and still got same reps as w/ lower weight last WO. Great work. Felt great.(7/32mins). Skull crushers were next and they were good.(7/39mins).  I was planning on just doing pushdowns here due to time and wanting to get on the road to PA. No one opened the gym on time this AM so we were waiting in the parking lot. I ended up doing rope pushdowns and some core work. Abs were on fire and still sore from the other day. (7/46mins). At the last minute I decided to do a couple sets of chest fly's because chest volume was on the low side today. These felt great!(5/51mins).

Really pleased with the main pressing movements and "heavy" triceps work. Elbows (especially L) are bad, but shoulders weren't bad today.  Other than that, feeling really good and strong and lean too!

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.0 this morning. That's a larger bump than I wanted, but mainly due to being up a lot earlier than normal and eating a significant amount of my cals/food later in the day yesterday. I'll try not to get out of control this weekend in PA :)

Fri 10/25 - Pull Day (Pullups & DL)

Workout: (Golds)
(35#Pullups)7,7,6,6 Great! PR
(DL)205x8,255x5,275x5,5 Felt good
(90#T-bar)3x10
(65#BBCurl)12,10,10
(120#RevGripPull)3x12
(70#IsoRow)10,12,15
(30#DBCurl)2x12
(20#RDelt)3x12
(50#BBCurl)2x15
(75#RDelt)12,10,10
65 + 10 w/u + 8 c/d = 83mins

I decided to bump up the weight on pullups again and thought I could manage 4x5or6. I did better than expected and was really happy with these. They were a lot of work though.(11mins). I did deadlift today and basically ramped up to a couple heavy sets. They felt good. Should've gone one more set heavier. Used the belt today.(15/26mins).

T-bar rows felt real heavy with this weight and were quite a bit of work. Supersetted with barbell curls using a new technique. I pull the bar up my body to just past my waist, and then curl. Better activation this way.(12/38mins). Reverse grip pulldowns were good. I didn't superset these w/ curls today because they use a good amount of bicep and my left elbow is pretty bad, so I moved curls back to combo w/ Iso rows.(6/44mins).

Iso rows were real good. First set of 10 was hard, but subsequent sets got "easier" so I did more reps. Combo'd w/ 2 sets of DB curls.(11/55mins). Next were dumbbell rear delt fly's and on the fly I decided to do some lighter barbell curls.(6/61mins). Finished up w/ rear delt fly's on a machine. I like hitting both DB and machine on these. Feels good.(4/65mins).

Excellent WO! Really pleased w/ pullups. I'll keep doing these first through this cycle (another week or two) and then switch to a heavy row as my 1st exercise. Gotta keep stretching forearms/elbows. Left one is getting pretty bad.

Nutrition:
I weighed 170.8 this morning. Slightly down from yesterday and a couple days at 2,800 cals. Going to bump the cals again today to over 3,000 and keep them up over the weekend. Feeling good, strong and lean.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	211	444	57	3,125
	Calories	844	1778	513	3,134
	Percent	27%	57%	16%	`

Thu 10/24 - Cardio & Core WO

Cardio:
I decided to hit the small Spirnt gym w/ Brian today at lunch.  I did 31 minutes on the treadmill while we talked.
.25 walk w/u
2 miles run nice and easy
.25 walk c/d
31 minutes

Core WO:
(CableCrunch)10,12,12,12 (dropped weight after the first set as it was too heavy for subsequent sets)
(KneeCrunch)25,20,20,20 (these got really hard today supersetting with cable crunches)
By the 4th set these were really burning.
14 minutes

Total: 45 minutes

Nutrition:
I weighed 171.0 this morning, down a pound from yesterday and exactly the same weight last Thursday. I think I'm going to have to keep bumping up calories slightly, but they already seem fairly high. A trip to PA this weekend should take care it :) Bumped calories again slightly today. Have to do a little bit better job eating more carbs around WO rather than playing "catch-up" late in the evening.  Regardless, good nutrition day. With the amount I've been working out lately, I think my maintenance is just higher than what I thought.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	204	378	62	2,871
	Calories	817	1510	560	2,887
	Percent	28%	52%	19%	`

Wed 10/23 - Push Day

Workout: (Golds)
(75#DBInc)8,8,8,7,6 Good
(50#SteepInc)3x10 Great reps
(65#DBBench)9,8 Great reps here too
(125#DecCGBP)10,10,9 R shoulder pain
(35#CableFly)3x10
(190#Crunch)12,10,10
(70#OHTri)10,9,7 this got heavy REAL quick
(35#FDelt)3x10
(30#RopePushDn)4x12
(T-Twist)3x20
60 + 10 w/u + 11 c/d = 81mins

Incline was good today, but not as good as last WO. I tend to think that given the volume of recent WO's I just wasn't fully recovered. I'll keep working for 5x8 until that's comfortable before bumping weight.(14mins).  I increased the angle of the incline 2 notches again and did 3 more sets of incline. These felt great. Really good work.(8/22mins). Finished off this portion of chest work w/ 2 sets DB bench and the reps were real good. Really focussed on contracting pecs.(5/27). Great chest work. I do tend to feel better activation in my chest working in the higher rep range.

Decline CGBP was good again. It did bother my R shoulder, but not too bad. Thought I'd get 3x10 fairly easily and was going to bump up the weight. These got heavy quickly and weight was just fine.(7/34mins). I bumped the weight on chest cable fly's and still got reps. Combo'd these w/ cable crunches.(10/44mins).

Overhead tri extensions were good, but damn they got heavy fast. Fell to 7 reps by 3rd set. Ouch! Hit front delts w/ these.(8/52mins). Finished up with light rope triceps pushdowns and torture twists.(8/60mins).

Very good WO and I was pleased. I think volume is too high though. I probably should only be trying to do ~70 reps for chest (not the 100+ I'm doing) as long as they are quality reps.  After doing some reading and research, I think I really need to start focusing on the Overhead Press for upper chest stimulation. My upper chest is lagging, which is why I always hit incline first and hardest, but I've been doing this a while and it's not making significant improvements. could be genetics, but I think OHP will help.  what I may start doing is alternating my upper/push days by starting w/ OHP one day and inclne the next. 

Nutrition:
I weighed 172.0 this morning. A little heavier than I "thought" I'd be, but about where I "should" be I think. Bumped cals a bit again today. Should've reduced protein and increased fats/carbs. But, pretty good clean day.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	233	334	62	2,780
	Calories	934	1336	554	2,824
	Percent	33%	47%	20%	`

Tue 10/22 - Pull Day (Weighted Pullup PR)

Workout: (Sprint Small Gym)
(30#Pullups)4x7
(135#SeatRow)4x10,105X10DS
(90#CableCurl)4x12,
(15#RearDelt)3x15
(35#HammerCurl)3x12
(135#RevGripPull)12,10,10,10
(70#RDeltFly)3x10
(100#ChestFly)2x20
(25#BackExt)2x20
53 + 8 w/u + 6 c/d = 67mins

I decided to bump the weight on pullups today, despite my L elbow really starting to bark at me more frequently. I figured I'd try to get 4x6 with a 30# DB between my legs. I was able to get 4x7, which is awesome for me. Really had to work on the last rep, which was probably not very smart given my elbow. But, what the hell. I wanted 7 reps across all sets by that point. Really felt these in my back/lats. Started each set on the 2.5min mark.(11mins).

I bumped up the weight on seated rows and they were heavy, but good reps. I did one lighter drop set at the end. I should've dropped the weight further for it. Combo'd tehse w/ cable curls. Both felt very good.(15/26mins). I went light on DB rear delt's today and tried to keep real good form. Combo'd w/ hammer curls.(11/37mins).

I did 4 sets of reverse grip pulldowns, lying back at about 45 degrees, wide-grip. These were good and got hard quickly. Back getting VERY fatigued. I mixed in some more rear delt fly's on the machine during pulldowns. These felt great after already hitting rear delts with DB's.(11/48mins). Finished up w/ some light sets of chest fly's to get some blood flowing through the pecs and some weighted back extensions.(5/53mins).

What a great pull WO! Pullups were awesome and I really felt the pulling in my back, and an actual "pump" to a larger degree than I think I've ever felt it. Very pleased with this WO at the small sprint gym.

Nutrition:
I weighed 171.2 this morning. Shed all the water from the weekend. Gotta eat a lot today. It's so hard to figure out where maintenance is. I gain water weight over the weekend, then it's a couple days shedding that, then a couple days where I want to be slightly over maintenance for growth, then it's the weekend again. so, my weight is on this continual oscillation. I guess as long as it's trending the right way, I should be good.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	207	340	56	2,676
	Calories	830	1358	500	2,688
	Percent	31%	51%	19%	`

Mon 10/21 - Rest

Much needed rest day after a lot of hard WO's the past 2 weeks. A lot of progress during that time building back up after losing strength at the end of my cut, but I need to be cautious about pushing that hard for much longer.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.8 this morning. That's down from Sunday morning and on Sunday I had IHOP, Sushi and Sweet Frog. Winner!  Good nutrition day today. Really close to dead on goal. Bam!
Actuals:

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	203	314	53	2,536
	Calories	813	1255	476	2,544
	Percent	32%	49%	19%	`

Target:

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	180	310	65	555
	Calories	720	1,240	585	2,545
	Percent	28%	49%	23%	1.00

Sun 10/20 - Push Day (AWESOME WO!)

Workout: (Golds)
(75#DBInc)8,8,8,8,8 Fantastic!
(50#SteepDBInc)12,10,10 Great
(65#DBBench)2x8
(125#DecCGBP)10,10,9 Loved 'em. Easier on shoulders
(32.5#CableFly)3x10
(185#Crunch)15,12,10
(75#SkullCrusher)10,9,8 Very good
(20#RearDelt)3x12
(35#FrontDelt)3x10
(65#UprightRow)2x12
(70#OHTri)10,8
(140#TriPushDn)13,11
(30#RopePushDn)4x15
(55#BBCurl)3x13
70 + 10 w/u + 6 c/d = 86 mins

Today was my 11th day in the gym in the last 14 days. I definitely need a break, but I am putting strength/size back on quickly with minimal fat gain so far. Actually eating a good amount of carbs does wonders to fuel WO's. :)

Since incline went so well last WO, it was time to bump up the weight. I did that expecting for reps to fall back down to the 6/7 range across 5 sets. Today kicked ass and I got 5x8. FANTASTIC! I really worked, and almost lost the last rep but just wasn't going to let it beat me. Awesome.(15mins) I decided then to increase the steepness of the incline by 2 notches and do some volume to really try to hit upper chest. This felt great and I'll do it again.(7/22mins). Next I did 2 sets of DB bench, and bumped the weight here.(5/27mins). Great chest work w/ those 3 movements.

I like doing CGBP, but it bothers my shoulders, so as I was getting ready to set up for it, I decided to do it on the decline bench. This was much easier on my shoulders and felt awesome. I did these really controlled w/ a pause at the bottom on my chest and then "exploding" up. Loved 'em.(7/34mins). Cable fly's and crunches were good. I add small plates to the weight stack for progressive load on each of these.(10/44mins). I did skull crushers/triceps extensions next and these were really good. Really worked long/inner head of triceps.(6/50mins).

I did some delt work next with DB rear delts, front delts w/ a 35# plate and upright rows.(9/59mins). Finished off with 2 sets of heavy tri pushdowns and 4 sets of light tri pushdowns w/ the rope. These get really hard even though they're light and really work outer head.

Absolutely awesome WO! So happy with progression on incline, getting that back up. I'll stay at this weight a while until 5x8 is "comfortable" before bumping up to 80# dumbbells. Gotta be cognizant of my shoulders and the stress of bumping too heavy too quickly there.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.8 this morning. Overdid it late last night with a bunch of cereal and FROYO, but needed it. Today's going to be another refeed as well w/ IHOP for brunch w/ the kids. I had 4 whole wheat pancakes, but took my own Walden Farms zero calorie syruthese p. It was actually pretty darn good. IHOP, Sushi and Sweet Frog today. Didn't go too crazy though :)

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	203	413	58	2,986
	Calories	811	1650	525	2,986
	Percent	27%	55%	18%	`

Sat 10/19 - Pull Day

Workout: Golds
(25#Pullups)7,7,7,8 Very good
(135#BOR)3x8
(65#BBCurl)3x10
(205#SLDL)3x8
(120#RevGripPull)3x12
(35#HCurl)3x12
(70#IsoRow)3x12
(185#Crunch)3x10
(20#RDelt)3x12
(HipThrust)3x35
60 + 10w/u + 8c/d = 78mins

Weighted pullups were very good today and I was able to add reps acrosss all sets.(12mins). Bent over row seemed a little harder today, but that might be because if increased pullup volume. Curls were OK. Felt heavy.(9/21mins).

I had DL written in, but didn't feel up for it and didn't have a ton of time so I did SLDL with shorter rests. These felt good and 205#'s was (unfortunately) plenty heavy by the 3rd set. Gotta get SLDL/DL back into the rotation more consistently.(8/29mins).

Reverse grip pulldowns were good again. Combo'd them w/ hammer curls which were good. (12/41mins). Iso rows were good and controlled. I did 2 sets one arm at a time and one set w/ both arms. Used a wide grip. Combo'd these w/ weighted crunches and bumped the weight by 5#s today.(11/52mins). Finished up w/ some rear delt work and hip thrusts for lower abs. This movement is basically isolating the last portion of the knee crunch. Felt good.(8/60mins).

Good pull WO. Glad I'm progressing on weighted pullups, but maybe I should be trying to progress on BOR (or another row). I'd like more back thickness as opposed to more width. Anyway, very pleased w/ the WO. Hopefully tomorrow will be an equally good push day.

Nutrition:
I weighed 172.4 this morning.

Fri 10/18 - Pump WO

Workout: (Large Sprint Gym)
(DBInc)40#x10,50x10,60x10,10,10
(65#OHTri)3x12
(60#BBCurl)2x12
(60#SkullCrusher)3x12
(Crunch)3x10
(RearDelt)3x11
60WO + 7W/U = 43mins total

Probably should've taken the day off, but got really frustrated at work and wanted to blow off some steam. Also, sometimes I think I do better in subsequent WO's after days off if I at least do something to get some blood flowing through recovering areas. That said, I probably overdid it a little today. Should be OK though because tomorrow is pull day and I didn't do any back and only a couple sets of bi's. I still have another recovery day before push day.

Incline was good. The last set of 60#'s was a little more work than I should have let it get.(12mins). Overhead tri's were good.(6/18mins). Superset of  barbell curls right to skull crushers (tricep extensions) were good. Just did 2 sets of curls because I'll be hitting biceps hard tomorrow. Finished up w/ some ab work and rear delts for shoulder health.

Good WO, but might have gone a little harder than should have. I guess I'll find out over the weekend :)

Nutrition:
I weighed 170.6 this morning. Dropped a little more weight. It's supposed to be inching up in the other direction. I'm sure I'll make up for it over the weekend paired (hopefully) with some heavy WO's.  Nutrition got a little screwed up in early part of the day becuase of the unplanned WO, so I'll
have to squeeze the rest of it in in a smaller period of time than I'd like. I won't have any problem getting enough cals though, I'm sure. Went out for dinner, so part of the data below is estimated. I probably consumed a little over 3k cals today.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	210	335	70	2,787
	Calories	839	1338	627	2,804
	Percent	30%	48%	22%	`

Thu 10/17 - 3 Mile Run

Cardio:
Ran 3 miles in 29:34 (10:14, 9:54, 9:23). Avg 9:50 pace, c/d 20 mins. Total 50 mins (419 cals - run only).
Knees felt crappy the whole run. Downhills were a bitch. Gotta get into the PT and do something about this.

Nutrition:
I weighed 171.0 this morning. Just about the same as yesterday (after 2,700 cals). This is good. Feeling lean and "big" (for me). Arms/chest/back noticeably larger than when cutting (duh!), but weight/BF is still great.  Nutrition almost exactly on target today. Just need to bring carbs down a tad. That extra cup of froyo tonight put me over :)
Actuals:

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	194	345	59	2,643
	Calories	777	1381	531	2,689
	Percent	29%	51%	20%	`

Target:

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	180	310	65	555
	Calories	720	1,240	585	2,545
	Percent	28%	49%	23%	1.00

Wed 10/16 - Push Day (Great WO)

Workout: (Golds)
(70#DBInc)8,8,8,8,10
(60#DBBench)10,11,12
(190#Crunch)3x10
(115#CGBP)12,12
(75#SkullCrusher)3x8
(32.5#CableFly)3x11
(KneeCrunch)3x30
(95#RearDelt)12,10,10
(35#FrontDelt)3x10
(70#OHTri)10,8
(130#TriPushDn)2x12,30#3x12
66 + 10 w/u + 5 c/d = 81 mins

This will by my 8th WO in 10 days. I should've probably taken a rest day, but schedule-wise, this fit well so I wanted to get it in. I wasn't quite sure what to expect given the workload the last 1.5 weeks.

Incline was great. The first two sets were really comfortable, but I didn't want to rush to bump up the weight. The last 2 sets were work, and I did work hard for the last set of 10. Real controlled. Time to bump weight next WO. I kept interval sets strict at 2.5 minutes. Great work.(14mins).  Bench was good, but did bother my R shoulder a bit. May need to bump weight here too because reps were on high end. Combo'd w/ crunches.(11/25mins).

I moved close grip bench up in the exercise order today and wanted to get 3-4 good sets, possibly bumping weight. I stopped after 2 sets because it was really hard on my R shoulder. I switched over to straight bar skull crushers. These were really good. Bumped weight here.(11/36mins). Next I did cable fly's combo'd with knee crunches. I love both these. I added a 2.5# plate to the weight stack for fly's. Knee crunches are taking a long time, though I do like them.(12/48mins).

I did some rear and front delts next. Bumped the weight on rear delts. I've never been able to progress very far on rear delts, so I'm trying to be consistent with higher frequency on these.(7/55mins). Finished WO with OH tri (bumped weight)(4/59mins) and triceps pushdowns (7/66mins). For pushdowns I did 2 heavy sets and 3 (much) lighter sets with the rope. The deal here is that as you push down with the rope in each hand, you spead them apart. Gets really hard even with very light
weight if form is kept strict.

Fantastic WO. Really please w/ just about everything. Strength coming back really nicely and I have a good progression plan rather than letting ego dictate when I get to 80/85# DB's. Only down side was my R shoulder and my left elbow a little wonky. Shoulder is effed and needs rest, elbow I can stretch and hopefully take care of before tendinitis gets too bad again.

Nutrition:
I weighed 171.2 this morning. Don't want to keep dropping weight. Need to increase cals today.
10:30pm update - upped the cals. Looking at macro breakdown, I need to increase fat by 30-40%. Probably don't need as much protein. Something more like 30/50/20 macro breakdown. Anyway, not a bad day nutritionally to fuel the heavy workload.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	218	375	39	2,733
	Calories	872	1501	348	2,721
	Percent	32%	55%	13%	`

Ideally, here's about where I think I need to be right now:

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	180	310	65	555
	Calories	720	1,240	585	2,545
	Percent	28%	49%	23%	1.00

Tue 10/15 - Pull Day

Workout: (Sprint Small Gym)
(25#Pullups)7,6,6,7 Good
(105#SeatRow)4x12
(90#CableCurl)3x12
(135#RevGripPull)4x10
(35#HammerCurl)3x10
(20#RearDelt)3x12,10#x15DS
(20#LatDelt)2x12
40 + 8 w/u + 5 c/d = 53mins

I was on the fence about working out today. I really should've taken a day off, but I'm not sure what the weekend will be like with the kids, so I decided to go ahead and get this pull WO in today.  Once I decided to get it done, a work meeting came up at 1pm, so I didn't have a lot of time. I decided to go ahead and hit the small Sprint gym right in my building. I can get a good pull WO at this gym. Push day wouldn't work well given the equipment available.

Anyway, on to the WO. Weighted pullups were good. My 2nd set was pretty tough and didn't know if I'd get the sets through w/ 6 reps. Happy the last 2 sets were better and got 7 on the last set. I kept intervals here right at 2.5 mins.(10mins). I'd planned on BOR, but can't do them at this gym so I substituted seated rows using a wide-ish straight bar w/ overhand grip. These were good. I combo'd them with straight bar cable curls which were really good. Cable curls seem to keep tension on the bi throughout ROM really well.(11/21mins).

Next up were reverse grip pull downs. I do these leaning back at about a 45 degree angle. These were really good and controlled. Combo'd them w/ hammer curls. By the end of the 2nd set my forearms were on fire and cramping. Have to remember to stretch them this afternoon. Left elbow a little tender).(11/32mins).

I was running out of time at this point, but I did 3 sets of rear delts, plus 1 drop set right after the 3rd set, so 4 total. Then I did 2 quick sets of lateral delt raises.(8/40mins).

This was a really good WO. I didn't have time to hit abs, but hit the main movers I needed to and w/ sufficient volume. It's actually a good thing I didn't have more time, because I would've probably overdone it.  I've been working out a lot of days recently w/o a lot of days off, so I really need to keep volume in check when frequency is this high.
Tomorrow is scheduled to be a push day, but I've lifted 7 of the last 9 days. Might be wise to take a day off. I also need to get some run back into the mix. Haven't had a run in 1.5 weeks.

Nutrition:
I weighed 172.2 this morning. Good nutrition day.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	203	305	35	2,339
	Calories	813	1219	317	2,349
	Percent	35%	52%	14%	`

Mon 10/14 - Push/Arm Stimulation

Workout: Golds
(45#IsoShldr)3x15
(45#IsoIncline)3x10
(65#SkullCrusher)3x12
(65#BBCurl)2x15
(120#TriPushDn)3x10
30 min + 10 w/u = 40mins

Today was supposed to be a day off, but I wanted to do something. I should've walked or run, but my WO was so good yesterday I just really felt like getting back in the gym. I kept things light and just wanted a decent shoulder/chest stimulation and some extra arm work. I kept the pressing light, but it didn't feel super light. I thought the weights I started at were going to be too light and I'd have to bump up a little. Not so. My WO yesterday really did take a lot out of me. 

Anyway, the hammer strength iso lateral machines were great for this WO for shoulder press and incline.  I did skull crushers lying on a bench and immediately stood up and used same bar/weight for curls. Liked this combo a lot. Finished up with some triceps pushdowns. I started at 130#'s but dropped to 120 for the last 2 sets.

Good WO that fed my need to WO today while not inducing a lot of stress or fatigue.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.2 this morning. I was surprised after eating a lot yesterday that my weight actually dropped. I expected to be in the 176 range. That's good. I'll probably drop some water today and stabilize around 172/3 which would be just about perfect right now.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	222	330	40	2,565
	Calories	886	1320	358	2,564
	Percent	35%	51%	14%	`

Sun 10/13 - Push Day

Workout: (Golds)
(70#DBInc)6x8 Awesome
(60#DBBench)10,9,8 V. Good
(65#OHTri)10,10,10,9
(30#CableFly)3x12
(180#Crunch)15,15,12
(115#CGBP)12,10,10 Great, controlled reps
(130#TriPushDn)2x12,40#x12,12
(T-Twist)20,16,16
(20#RDelt)3x12
(35#FDelt)3x10
58 + 12 w/u + 10 c/d = 80mins

Warmed up really well today including ramping up mini-sets of DB's. Started first working set of DB incline w/ 65# DB's. This felt pretty easy so I decided to bump the weight up to 70#'s. I wasn't planning on trying to bump up until next WO, but it felt right. I did 5x8 at that weight and it felt REALLY good. (16mins). Tried to keep intervals to 2.5 minutes.This was more volume than I've been doing and it felt really good. I'm going to try to stay this course as I build back up instead of trying to bump weight too quickly (check the ego at the door).  DB Bench was good, really good reps, but chest/tri's already worked fairly hard so these weren't "easy" by any means.(7/23mins).

OH tri's were good. Same weight, a few more reps than last WO.(6/29mins). Cable fly's felt really good. Liking this movement as a "finisher". Combo'd them w/ cable crunches which I got more reps on than normal.(9/38mins). Since I'd already done a lot of pressing, I went fairly light on close grip bench press. Really controlled the weight on the negative and tried to explode up. Very good reps, though I should do these heavier and earlier in the WO.(6/44mins).

I did 2 sets of heavier tri pushdowns and 2 lighter sets with the rope. Combo'd w/ torture twists (bothered lower back).(8/52mins).  I did rear delts with DB's today and they felt really good. Traps were tight from pulling yesterday. Combo'd w/ front delt raises.(6/58mins).

Awesome WO. I wasn't planning on bumping up incline this soon. Gaining strength back quickly, but will try to keep reps/sets a bit higher than last cycle.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.4 this morning. A bit bloated from Chipotle/sushi/Sweet Frog yesterday. After another big WO, ate big again (sushi for lunch, dinner out for Rachel's b'day and sweet frog for dessert.

Sat 10/12 - Pull Day (DeadLift)

Workout: Golds
(25#Pullups)7,6,6,6 V. Good
(DL)205x5,255x5,275x5,5
(135#BOR)4x8
(65#BBCurl)3x12 Good
(180#Crunch)2x12
(120#RevGripPull)3x12 Great
(35#HCurl)3x11
(70#IsoRow)3x12 Good
(BBCurl)45x20,55x17
(90#RDelt)3x10
(KneeCrunch)3x30

Weighted pullups were good and I decided to add a set today. These get heavy real quick.(9mins). I did dead lifts today and the plan was essentially to ramp up to one "heavy" set. During warmup, my R knee was really hurting so I didn't know how these were going to go. I warmed up w/ 135#x10-12 and then did 4 working sets. I was only going to do one heavy set, but wanted a little more work so I did another set but didn't increase weight. This was heavy enough today. At the end of the last 2 sets I did a 12 second hold. Pretty good for not having pulled in a long time.(11/20mins).

Bent over rows were a little heavy and I had to cheat the weight up the last couple of reps. Barbell curls were good.(14/34mins). The iso row machine was taken so I did reverse grip pulldowns next. These were great. Really controlled the weight and got good back activation. Combo'd w/ hammer curls, which were tough because the pulls use quite a bit of biceps.(11/45mins).

Iso row machine opened up, so I did 3 sets. I did them one arm at a time; felt great. Combo'd w/ lighter barbell curls for high reps.(11/56mins). Finished up w/ some rear delts and knee crunches.(10/66mins).

Great pull WO today, and glad I added deadlifts. Met Joe after the WO and went to Chipotle for a burrito bowl, double barbacoa (meat). Great.

Nutrition:
I weighed 171.4 this morning. Just about right. Ate quite a bit today and Sarah and I had sushi for dinner.  Good WO, good nutrition day to take advantage of good workout and prep for tomorrow's push day. That'll be 5 WO's this week. Too much volume, but feeling good.

Fri 10/11 - Rest day

Much needed rest day before 2 big WO's this weekend.

Nutrition:
I weighed 171.8 this morning. Good nutrition. Kept cals almost exactly same as yesterday.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	206	337	47	2,602
	Calories	825	1348	426	2,599
	Percent	32%	52%	16%	`

Thu 10/10 - Push Day

Workout: (Golds)
(65#DBInc)5x8
(60#DBBench)10,10,8
(65#OHTri)10,10,9,8
(30#CableFly)3x10
(180#Crunch)3x10
(120#TriPushDn)18/+5,5,5,4
(25#RDelt)3x10
(Dips)13,12
(KneeCrunch)2x35
47 + 8 w/u + 10 c/d = 65mins

Despite the lower weight (especially on incline), this was a very good WO. DB incline was good. 65#'s unfortunately didn't feel "light" like I'd hoped it would, but these were really good reps and by the 4th/5th sets this was a fair amount of work. Fairly short rests here.(12mins). DB bench was good. I wanted to do barbell bench, but R shoulder was fairly troublesome during w/u and incline so I stuck w/ DB's.(7/19mins).

OH tri's were decent, but I'm still surprised the strength I've lost here. I was getting these reps w/ 75/80# DB's recently.(7/26mins). Cable fly's felt good and I really felt them working today. Combo'd w/ cable crunches.(7/33mins). I did a myo-rep set of tri pushdowns, mainly because starting weight was a little too light. I hit some rear delts w/ DB's for shoulder balance/health.(8/41mins). Finished up w/ 2 sets of dips and knee crunches. Dips really bothered my R shoulder, but felt strong here otherwise.(6/47mins).

Good WO with nice volume for chest and tri's. Time to build back up. I'm going to try upping the weight next week but not going to rush to get back to "heavy" work.  Meaning, leaving ego at the door and not rush back to 80# DB's on incline to make sure my shoulders are ready for it and keeping reps in the 7/8 range.

Nutrition:
I weighed 170.8 this morning. Down over a pound again. Water should all be shed by now. Gotta up the calories to gain strength back. Bumped cals a bit today. Trying to find that sweet spot.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	216	351	37	2,599
	Calories	866	1406	330	2,601
	Percent	33%	54%	13%	`

Wed 10/9 - Pull Day

Workout: (Sprint Gym)
(25#Pullups)7,6,6
(60#BBCurl)12,10,10
(135#SmBOR)5x10
(80#Crunch)4x12
(112#RevGripPulldn)3x12
(40#HammerCurl)3x10
(60#RearDelt)3x10
(50#BBCurl)2x15
(KneeCrunch)2x35
42 mins + 8 w/u + 8 c/d = 58mins

My elbows have been starting to bother me a bit again (L more than R) and pull day puts more stress on them than pushing, so I was hoping this WO would go OK.  I decided to do weighted pullups today (first time doing these in a long time). Dumb move given my concern about elbows, right? Here's my reasoning. The weight would be heavier by doing pullups w/ a dumbbell held between my legs, but reps would be cut almost in half. So, I get a good stimulation, but less time under tension and "hopefully" less stress on the joints. We'll see. They felt really good. Hard. Supersetted w/ barbell curls. First set of curls was easy, they got hard quickly.(10mins).

Bent over row felt really good today so I did 5 sets and combo'd it with weighted cable crunches. Good work.(13/23mins). I had DB rows written in, but I decided to do reverse grip pulldowns instead. These felt great, real controlled and combo'd w/ hammer curls.(10/33mins). Finished off w/ rear delts, some lighter barbell curls and knee crunches.(9/42mins).

Really good work today. Very pleased w/ this WO. Lots of good back work and some good bi volume as well. One odd thing was I got a stitch/cramp in my left side at the end of BOR's. It was REALLY bad. I thought I was going to have to cut the WO short. I worked it out and glad it wasn't a tear/strain.

Nutrition:
I weighed 172.0 this morning. The water weight from the re-feed is probably about gone at this point. I'll give it another day then probably slowly bulk a little and try to gain strength back in my presses. Good nutrition day. Trying to dial in maintenance cals/macros.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	215	313	35	2,442
	Calories	858	1253	318	2,428
	Percent	35%	52%	13%	`

Tue 10/8 - Rest

Rest day today.  I almost quit my WO yesterday during warmup because I was just real stiff and shoulders were feeling wonky. Need to recover from cut and a lot of hard work the last couple of weeks.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.2 this morning. Lot of water dropping off from the re-feed. Will probably drop for another day or two.  Good nutrition day. Carbs/fat could've been a little higher, but not bad for a rest day.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	209	251	39	2,185
	Calories	836	1003	347	2,186
	Percent	38%	46%	16%	`

Mon 10/7 - GBR Upper - Deload & Reset

Workout: Golds
(65#DBInc)4x8
(60#SeatRow)4x10
(95#OHP)2x7+60sec
(Pullups)2x8
(60#Bench)3x10
(80#IsoRow)3x10
(65#OHTri)3x12
(65#BBCurl)3x12
(30#CableFly)3x10
(50#TriPushDn)15,13,13
46 mins + 10 w/u + 10 c/d = 66 mins total

After last WO and cut I took 20% off weight and am starting 2-week back cycle/deload and then will try to build up from here. In hindsight, I cut too hard, I worked out too frequently, and I was running on rest days.  This was an equation that wasn't going to work successfully from the start. Lesson learned.

Incline was good, but really it felt heavier than it should have. As good a place as any to start back I guess. Seated rows were good.(11mins). OHP was OK, but still down reps. Pullups were OK. Didn't push too hard here.(7/18mins).

I had 2 sets of bench and rows written in here, but did 3 of each. Both felt good.(12/30mins). 65# overhead tri's were good, but again, these felt fairly heavy. Curls were good. Haven't lost reps/weight here.(9/39mins). Cable fly's felt good, as did tri pushdowns.(7/46mins).

Well, there it is. The new baseline to work from. I'll probably keep these same weights again next WO, where "hopefully" it'll feel easier. Then start working toward adding weight/reps each week until I get back up at least to where I was. It could take a while though.

Nutrition:
I weighed 179.6 this morning. I gained 15 pounds in 3 days. Some of that water will surely drop off quickly over the next 2-3 days. Decent nutrition day. Gotta shed some of this water weight for a few days and see where I stand.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	180	280	49	2,261
	Calories	721	1118	438	2,278
	Percent	32%	49%	19%	`

Sun 10/6 - 4.25 Mile Run

Cardio:
Ran 4.25 miles in 41:30 (9:52, 9:48, 9:54, 9:30, 2:25). Avg 9:45 pace, c/d 30 mins with Mom. Total 72 mins (761 cals).

Nutrition:
I didn't weigh myself this morning. After yesterday's WO, it's time for a re-feed, then maintenance cals and then try to build back up from new (lower) baseline.

Sat 10/5 - GBR Upper + Picture

Workout: Ironbound
(80#DBInc)5,4,70#x7,7 Ouch! This sucked.
(135#BOR)3x10
(55#DBInc)2x10
(70#T-bar)2x12
(95#OHP)8,6+60sec
(Pullups)2x10
(65#OHTriExt)12,10
(65#BBCurl)2x10
(TriPushDn)2x12
(Crunch)12,10
(RDelt)2x10
(KneeCrunch)2x30
(ChestFly)15/+5,5,5
(T-Twist)16,12
53 mins + 10 w/u + 5 c/d = 68 mins total

Holy crap, 80# DB's felt like 100. Dropped reps on 1st set. Was hoping to get at least 3x5. Nope. Had to drop weight. 70#DB's felt heavy as hell and I had to work hard for 7 reps. This cut has gone wrong quickly. Strength has just dropped out the bottom. BOR was OK.(14mins). Dropped weight to 55#'s for "high rep" incline and I really had to work to get 2x10 w/ this weight. Ouch! T-bar was OK.(9/23mins).

OHP was more of the same...couldn't keep reps. Pullups were pretty good, but that's only because I'm pulling body weight which is a lot lighter.(7/30mins). Overhead tri's, dropped weight and lost reps. Curls I was able to keep.(6/36mins).

Finished the WO w/ a bunch of "stuff" (see list above) and called it a day.  It was a "good" WO in that I worked hard, but my strength plummeted from my last WO on Thursday to today (Saturday). Amazing how quickly things can go south. Time to reset the weights and try to build back up.

Nutrition:
I weighed about 164 this morning. I was on the scale in Williamsburg, so can't be sure, but I was down there, and lean. But, the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. At my age, it's too hard to build muscle just to lose it trying to get just a tad leaner. Lesson learned...the hard way.

Here's a few pictures at end of cut.

Fri 10/4 - 3 Mile Run

Cardio: 51 mins
- Ran 3 miles in 30:44 (11:18, 9:50, 9:33). Avg 10:14 pace, c/d 20 mins. Total 51 mins (438cals - run portion only).
- I think my Garmin hiccuped this morning. I run the same starting mile every day, and this time I ran way past that marker before the watch clocked a mile. Regardless, I took in nice and slow today. No carbs for a week and running don't mix well.
- Update on the Gramin. I looked at the map/route online. My time started when I left my house, but the distance didn't start tracking until a ways down the street. This explains the "long" first mile. That mile was more likely in the 10:30 range.

Nutrition:
I weighed 165.2 this morning. I was lean starting this cut so after the first day or two I really expected to stall.  I can't believe how low I've gotten. Down 9.5 pounds since Sunday and starting weight wasn't very bloated. Tight nutrition day today. Protein should've been a little higher though.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	242	41	14	1,246
	Calories	966	164	124	1,255
	Percent	77%	13%	10%	`

Thu 10/3 - GBR Upper

Workout: Golds
(80#DBInc)3x6 Good
(115#T-bar)3x8
(60#DBInc)2x10 Very good
(60#SeatRow)2x10
(95#OHP)10,9+60sec
(Pullups)2x12
(75#OHTriExt)10,7
(65#BBCurl)12,10
(Crunch)10,8
(KneeCrunch)2x20
(120#TriPushDn)2x12
44 mins + 10 w/u + 13 c/d = 67 mins total

Incline went well today and I all but had a 7th rep up on the last set. T-bar row felt really good today; hadn't done this in a while.(13mins). Lighter incline was REALLY good again. I considered doing flat bench as 2nd movement, but stuck w/ incline. I used less weight on seated rows today, but that's because the attachment I used was different with a wider grip. Liked this grip a lot more. Better range of motion.(8/21mins).

OHP was better than last WO and I did a 60 second hold at the end. Love how this works the traps. Pullups were great today. It helps that I'm lighter, but 2x12 after a fair amount of back work was really good.(9/30mins). I did overhead tri extensions today and love these, but they got heavy REAL quick on the 2nd set. Curls were good today and I used the olympic bar w/ 10's.  Good weight.(6/36mins). Finished up w/ cable and knee crunches. I supersetted with triceps pushdowns because I didn't feel I got enough volume w/ the OH extensions earlier in the WO. (8/44mins).

Another solid WO on a very strict cut. I was able to maintain everything and even increase a few things. Very pleased.

Nutrition:
I weighed 167.8 this morning. VERY nice! Quite pleased. Tight nutrition day. Right where I wanted to be.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	259	39	14	1,313
	Calories	1034	154	124	1,312
	Percent	79%	12%	9%	`