Wed 11/27 - FB Circuit

Workout: (IronBound)

(25#DBSquatPress)4x20

(35#DBBench)4x20

(55#T-Bar)4x20

(LegRaise)4x20

(PullDown)4x20

(50#UprightRow)4x20

(RussianTwist)4x25

(25#Chest/IncFly)4x20

(35/50#KettleBellSwing)4x20

(Plank)1min,1min,1.5min,1.5min

(70#OHTri)11,8

(PushDown)10,10,10/+6,6,6

75 mins for circuites + 7 mins of tri work at the end. 82 mins total.

Worked out at IronBound today with Sarah. We did a the FB circuit above. Each circuit took about 17 minutes and we rested a couple minutes between each circuit. I started too heavy w/ 50#'s and inner legs are really sore. Overall a really good WO. Not a lot of rest and we kept moving from exercise to exercise w/o much down time.

Nutrition:

No scale and not worrying too much about nutrition other than getting enough protein.

Tue 11/26 - Push Day

Monday (11/25) was a rest day.

Workout: (Golds)
(95#OHP)5x8+60sec
(65#DBInc)8,8,8,11 Good
(155#DecCGBP)8,8,8,8,10 Very good
(75#Skulls)3x10
(25#LatDelt)3x10
(30#RDelt)3x8
(150#PushDn)10
(50#Rope)4x12
(35#IncFly)3x10
(75#RDeltFly)15/+5,5,5
63 + 14 w/u + 0 c/d = 77 mins

OHP was fairly good, but sets of 8 are still not easy. Frustrating. Held weight at extension for 60 secs after last set.(13mins). Incline was good. 65# DB's felt fairly light (as they should). Worked for the 11th rep on last set.(11mins). Did both these exercises starting each set strictly at 2 mins. Close grip decline was great today. Tri's are progressing. 5 sets and got 10 reps on last set. Time to bump weight again soon. I did ask for a spot on the last set, but didn't need it.(11/33mins).

I had DB bench writting in next, but for some reason wanted to try a few sets of barbell bench. I just had 135#'s on and it KILLED my R shoulder. Felt like something was going to tear out between chest and shoulder. Stopped at 6 reps. Not good. Incline fly's were next up, but I moved them back in the WO to give my chest/shoulder some time to rest. I did scull crushers/tri extensions next. I haven't done these in a few weeks, but they were good. Tells me tri's are getting stronger here too. I combo'd lateral delt raises with these, and they were really good.(10/45mins).

Next I did pushdowns and "heavy" rear delt flys w/ DB's. Before heading over to the rear delt fly machine, I did 3 sets of incline fly's. I thought they would hurt my pec/shoulder, but they seemed OK, so instead of 1 or 2 sets, I did 3. Finished up w/ a myo-rep set of rear delt fly's and called it a day. No ab work at the gym because I did some ab work at home this morning when I woke up.  Good WO. Nothing real heavy, intentionally, but real good work.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.2 this morning. Came down nicely from Sunday.

Sun 11/24 - Pull Day (w/ Sarah)

Workout: (LA Fitness w/ Sarah)
Workout: (LA Fitness)
(Pulldown)4x8
(IsoRow)2x12
(SeatRow)8,8,12
(185#SLDL)8,8,10,10
(65#BBCurl)3x12
(10#RDelt)3x12
(RevGripPull)4x10
(30#IncCurl)3x10
(Abs)3x12
(Plank)4mins
72 + 10 w/u + 0 c/d = 82 mins

Sarah worked out w/ me again today and we went to LA Fitness on a free pass. Really enjoyed working out w/ Sarah again. I'm thinking about joining LA Fitness. Nice gym and a couple dollars cheaper a month than Golds. It also has a pool, nicer locker room, better equipment.

Today was pull day and weights on the machines is pretty much irrelevant, so didn't bother tracking that or time of WO other than basic duration. Nothing really stands out to write about. It was good to do SLDL again. Sarah kinda struggled w/ this movement at first and I realized today that I'm really not a good trainer. I have a hard time explaining how to do the movements well. But, I had fun w/ her and I think she liked it as well.  I did hit a plank at the end of the WO and after doing some abs. I held it for 4 minutes w/o too much effort. I haven't done a plank in at least 8-10 months, so it felt good to hold it that long. I could really feel it in my abs, but now I remember why I don't do a lot of them....they take a long time if I do a couple of them.

Nutrition:
I weighed 178.8 this morning. Whoa! All that cereal at midnight didn't help!

Sat 11/23 - Push Day (w/ Sarah)

Workout: (Golds w/ Sarah)
Workout: (Golds)
(95#OHP)9,9,9,7
(65#DBInc)8,8,8,10
(70#OHTri)12,12,12
(195#Crunch)12,10,10
(KneeCrunch)30,25,25
(60#DBBench)2x12
(35#IncFly)2x10
(155#DecCGBP)8,9,9,9
(T-Twist)20,16,14
(PushDn)150x10,60x12,12,12
(25#LatDelt)2x10
(20#LatDelt)2x10
70 + 10 w/u + 0 c/d = 80 mins

Sarah came to the gym with me this morning and worked out w/ me. It was a real nice change and I enjoyed it a lot. Not a ton to say about the WO. Still during
deload so weights weren't real heavy, but still surprised how weak OHP is. I did bump up incline by 5 pounds today. Didn't really track WO time.

Nutrition:I weighed 174.2 this morning and ate a lot the rest of the day. Had 4 bowls of cereal at midnight before hopping into bed. Bad idea.

Fri 11/22 - 3.25 Mile Run

Cardio:
Ran 3.25 miles in about  35 minutes. Really slow and knees killed me the entire time. Had to stop at about 2.5 miles to "stretch" my right knee.  Terrible run.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.0. 2,190 cals.

Thu 11/21 - Push

Workout: (Golds)
(OHP)95x10,105x8,6,95x8,8
(60#DBInc)4x9
(155#DecCGBP)10,8,8,8,8
(60#DBBench)2x10
(35#IncFly)2x10
(25#LatDelt)2x10
(70#OHTri)9,7
(20#LatDelt)2x12
(150#PushDn)1x10
(50#RopePushDn)4x12
57 + 8 w/u + 0 c/d = 65 mins

I started with OHP as I will next cycle (though I may alternate OHP and Incline every other WO). 95#'s felt OK, so I bumped up to 105. I shouldn't have. Did 2 sets there and dropped back down for 2 more sets. Really weak here and needs lots of work. I thought this would be MUCH easier by doing it as my first movement today. This is supposed to be a sub-maximal runup. It was not. Good work, but not the intent of the WO today.(12mins). I was planning on working up to 70#DB's for incline, but 60 was OK for today.(11/23mins). Decline was great and I did 5 sets. Love it.(14/37mins).

Bench was OK, but really bothered my R shoulder again.(4/41mins). Incline fly's felt great and I did heavier lateral delts w/ these and did lighter sets later.(6/47mins). Overhead tri's felt heavy. Not progressing here at all, but I think that's because of doing them after close grip bench. Lighter delt work with these.(5/52mins). Finished up w/ 1 heavy set of pushdowns followed by 4-5 sets of lighter rope pushdowns.(5/57mins).

Good WO. Not submaximal enough on OHP, but I'll try to do better next WO. Really pleased w/ close grip bench.

Nutrtion:
I weighed 175.0 this morning. Can't explain why weight has been creeping up since Monday.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	216	365	25	2,543
	Calories	863	1459	224	2,546
	Percent	34%	57%	9%	`

Wed 11/20 - Pull Day

Workout: (Sprint Large Gym)
(185#SmBOR)5x7
(Pullups)3x10
(70#Curl)3x10
(25#RearDelt)3x10
(125#RevGripPull)4x10
(30#IncCurl)3x10
(50#RDeltFly)3x10
(100#Crunch)3x10
(KneeCrunch)3x20
53 + 10 w/u + 8 c/d = 71 mins

2nd WO of the deload week. I'm really not good at these. It's hard to take it easy even though I know I need rest time to recover from the last intense training block.  During this deload, I'll start working into the routine I'll try to progress on for the next training block.  All that really means for me right now is that I'll be focusing on a row (e.g. bent over row) as my first main pull movement and overhead press for my first main push movement.

So, today I started with "heavy" (for me) bent over rows in the smith machine. I used more of a bent over stance that what I'd been using. These felt great today so I did 5 sets instead of 4. I think I'll try to keep these in the 6-7 rep range and just try to progress next block.I did these with on strict 2 minute intervals.(10mins). Pullups were good, but could feel it in my elbow on the last set. I should've stopped at 8, but I'm too damn stubborn to do that.(7/17mins).

Barbell curls and rear delt's were good.(9/26mins). Reverse grip pulldowns felt heavy, but good.(8/34mins). Incline curls felt great today for some reason. I wanted to do a 4th set, but I'm supposed to be taking it easy here (and I'm not doing a good job of it). Rear delt fly's were
good.(10/44mins).  Finished up w/ some abs. Haven't done a lot of ab work recently because it's been bothering my lower back. Man, could I tell. How quickly we lose strength and muscle endurance in a fairly short period of time.(9/53mins).

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.6 this morning.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	214	328	38	2,505
	Calories	854	1312	346	2,512
	Percent	34%	52%	14%	`

Tue 11/19 - Treadmill 4.5 miles

Cardio:
Ran for 45 mins on the treadmill + c/d 5 mins = 50 minutes.
Call it 4.5 miles.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.2 this morning. Good nutrition day. Goal is to eat at, or just below, maintenance this week to stabilize before Thanksgiving.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	206	353	33	2,492
	Calories	823	1411	293	2,527
	Percent	33%	56%	12%	`

Mon 11/18 - GBR Upper (deload start)

Workout: Golds
(70#DBInc)8,8,10
(115#T-bar)8,8,10
(95#OHP)10,10,9
(Pullups)3x8
(135#DecCGBP)17,155#x9,8
(30#IncCurl)3x10
(35#IncFly)2x10
(90#IsoRow)2x10
(25#LatDelt)3x10
(60#RopePushDn)3x12
(90#RearDelt)3x10
(35#FrotnDelt)2x10
52 mins + 15 w/u + 5 c/d = 72 mins

Heavy training block ended on Friday, so today I just wanted to get back in the gym, lighten the load and get a some decent work in. Ended up being a really good WO but not too terribly taxing to prevent some recovery. I'll go by feel this week and the week of Thanksgiving, then try to hit it hard for 3 weeks before Christmas, then a break.

Not a whole lot to say about this WO. Incline felt great, really controlled. Pullups bothered my L elbow a lot. I lightened the load on close grip bench and got 17 reps on the first set. I didn't know I'd be capable of 135x17 on flat bench, let alone close grip. Bumped the weight up after that first set.  Everything else was just solid.

Nutrition:I weighed 177.2 this morning. A little bloated from the weekend of eating. Stayed active though and ran13-14 miles so I don't think I actually put on much weight. Good nutrition day.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	211	300	38	2,372
	Calories	843	1199	342	2,384
	Percent	35%	50%	14%	`

Sun 11/17 - 6 Mile Run

Cardio:
Ran 6 miles in 57:17 (9:47,9:52,9:41,9:27,9:20,9:07) avg 9:33 pace (831 cals). 10min c/d = 67 total.

Ran by the Phillip Morris plant and through a really depressed area. As I was running down Jefferson Davis HWY, there were a couple guys leaving their $180/week one-bedroom "apartments" to light up the first cigarette of the day and crack open their first beer.  I got a great sense of gratitude as I ran by.  I wasn't looking down on these men, just very grateful for all the blessings in my life.

Nutrition:
Just eating when hungry, which means a lot, and trying to make sure I get enough protein this weekend.

Sat 11/16 - Sarah's Marathon

Cardio:
Ran between 7 & 8 miles around the Richmond marathon course. Got to run about a mile w/ Sarah from mile 2.5-3.5. She did great and ran 3:57:58.  Great day and weekend w/ Sarah. Wish I'd gotten more pictures, but it's just really difficult during a race and I missed Sarah at mile 7 and 13, and the finish was too crowded.

Fri 11/15 - GBR Upper (Incline PR - Goal Lift)

Workout: GBR Upper (Golds)

(DBInc)75#x8,80#x8,8,8,8 Awesome, PR!

(115#T-bar)4x8

(95#OHP)8,8,7,8

(Pullups)12,10,9

(155#DecCGBP)8,8,9

(30#IncCurl)3x10

(135#RevGripPull)3x10

(35#IncFly)2x10

(60#RopePushDn)3x13

(195#Crunch)3x12

(20#LatDelt)3x10

(30#RearDelt)3x10

Last real WO in this training block and I need a break. Shoulders and elbows are really feeling it. Since I’m gone in Richmond w/ Sarah this weekend and won’t have access to a gym and my scheduled Sat/Sun Push/Pull WO’s, I decided to go back to the GBR Upper workout today which essentially combines the main movements from the push and pull WO’s.

Warming up on incline I felt pretty good. First working set at 75#’s felt OK, but not “easy”. I decided to go ahead and bump to 80#’s again and see how it went. I got 3 sets of 8 and the last set I felt I had a little left in the tank and might’ve been able to do a 9th rep. I wasn’t expecting this, especially because I was supersetting w/ fairly heavy t-bar rows (which I haven’t been doing in a while). I didn’t feel satisfied w/ that so I decided to see if I could get a 4th set of 8 reps (my goal for this training block).  I got the 4th set and even attempted a 9th rep, which I didn’t get up. Very pleased and surprised by this. I thought I’d missed my window of opportunity for this block.(25mins).

OHP felt heavy. Going to focus on this next block. Body weight pullups felt easy, but by 3rd set, my back started to really get fatigued.(15/40mins). CGBP felt pretty heavy but these were good reps and in a great rep range for this movement. Incline curls were good.(11/51mins).

Reverse grip pulldowns felt heavy and I had to go a little lighter than last couple of WO’s. Incline flys felt great, but toward the end of the 2nd set I felt a strain in my left pec. No more of these or any other chest work today.(8/59mins). Finished up w/ a big superset of rope pushdowns, crunches and lat/rear delt work.(14/73mins).

Absolutely great WO and a great way to finish off this training block. I’d really been liking the push/pull split, but had forgotten how much I like the GBR format and supersetting opposing muscle groups. Time for a deload to let my shoulders and elbows heal up a little bit. Very pleased w/ this block, progress made and weight I put on. I gained about 4 pounds during the 6 weeks and made some great progress on my 2 main focus lifts; incline and weighted pullups. Very pleased with the results and happy w/ how the plan worked out.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.0 again this morning.

Thu 11/14 - Rest Day

Much needed rest day.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.0 again this morning. (Writing this at 5am Saturday morning in the hotel room before Sarah's marathon and I don't have the details from Thursday handy).

Wed 11/13 - Push Day

Workout: (Golds)
(DBInc)75#x8,80#x8,8,8
(105#OHP)7,6,95#x6,6,6
(155#DecCGBP)10,8,8,8
(60#DBBench)10,7
(195#Crunch)15,10,10
(70#OHTri)9,8,
(35#IncFly)2x10
(20#LatDelt)3x10
(150#PushDn)1x9
(50#RopePushDn)4x12
(20#LatDelt)3x10
60 + 12 w/u + 11 c/d = 83mins

Warmed up well because shoulders were really sore last night. First set at 75#'s felt OK, but definitely not light. I decided to go ahead and bump up to 80#'s and try to get sets of 8. This might be my last chance in this training block before a needed deload. I got 3x8 and was very pleased w/ this. The last rep was really grindy and I barely got it, but really didn't want to give it up. I considered one more set to try to get 6 or so reps, but figured I was done.(13mins). OHP was OK, but I had to drop the weight again after 2 sets to keep reps.(12/25mins)

I bumped up weight again on decline close grip bench press and these were great after 10# bump.(10/35mins). DB bench bothered my R shoulder fairly bad on the first set, but I tried a 2nd set and stopped after 7 before I did any real damage. Crunches were good.(10/45mins). OH tri's felt heavy and incline fly's were good.(7/52mins). Finished up w/ triceps pushdowns and lateral delt raises.(8/60mins).

I kind of wish I wouldn't have started my working sets at 75#'s, but I really thought I'd stick w/ that weight today. There's no way I was getting 4x8 w/ 80#'s today which was the goal, but I did get close and am fairly pleased with that for this block of training. I'll back cycle a bit and have another 4-6 week block before Christmas. I think I'll switch a few things around, but keep the core exercises. I need some focus on OHP so I might do that as my first main movement.  Nice job building back up after my cut ended about 6 weeks ago.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.0 this morning. Not sure why weight is dropping.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	236	376	51	2,868
	Calories	944	1505	455	2,903
	Percent	33%	52%	16%	`

Tue 11/12 - Pull Day

Workout: (Golds)
(BOR)135#x8,145x8,155x8,8,135x8,8(6)
(Pullups)BWx35,35#x7,6,BWx10
(75#BBCurl)10,8,10
(30#RearDelt)3x10
(145#RevGripPull)3x10
(80#WGIsoRow)3x12
(30#IncCurl)10,9,9
(75#RDeltFly)3x12
60 + 10 w/u + 10 c/d = 80 mins

Today I decided to do bent over rows first because I want to begin focusing on them a bit more, and I was dreading four sets of weighted pullups :)  More specifically, I was dreading missing the lift because I just wasn't feeling up to it.

BOR was good, but still a bit awkward. I haven't gotten the groove of this movement yet; how far to lean over, how high to pull, where to pull (waist vs chest, etc.). Anyway, a lot of rowing. I did the last 2 sets underhand, but not sure which movement I liked better or felt working better. Underhand felt a little better, but it brings more bicep into the movement.(14mins). Pullups were good. I had BW, 4 sets of 10 written in. First set of body weight I did 12 w/o a lot of effort. Definitely progressing on these. Then I decided to grab the 35#DB and do 2 sets of weighted. These were good given I'd already done 6 sets of rows for back. Finished up with a set of 10 body weight.(11/25mins).

Curls felt heavy and "heavy" rear delts felt good.(10/35mins). I bumped weight on reverse grip pulldowns and this might have been a little heavy today. I didn't control the weight as well as I'd like.(7/42mins). Iso rows were really good. Did them one handed. Bumped up weight on incline curls and they were heavy but good.(12/54). Finished up w/ light rear delt fly's and tried to do knee crunches but it bothered my lower back again so I skipped them.(6/60mins).

I'm going to be out of town w/ Sarah this weekend w/ no access to a gym, so I've got to plan the rest of the week accordingly. This is supposed to be the last week of this training block with key lift attempts Sat and Sun.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.6 this morning.  That's down a bit from yesterday.

Mon 11/11 - 6 Mile Run

Cardio:
Ran 6 miles in 57:17
10:13,
10:19,
9:37,
9:52,
9:29,
7:44
avg 9:33 pace. (834 cals) 10min c/d = 67 total.

Knees were fairly painful and legs just felt dead the first 2 miles (seems to generally be the case) and then I just started feeling better. I still took it easy the first 5 miles and then decided to push the last mile and see how I felt. Very pleased to be able to run the 6th mile in 7:44 with how little I've been able to run lately.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.2 this morning. 

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	218	358	42	2,669
	Calories	873	1433	378	2,684
	Percent	33%	53%	14%	`

 

Sun 11/10 - Push Day

Workout: (Golds)
(75#DBInc)8,8,8,6
(105#OHP)7,6,95#x6,6,6
(145#DecCGBP)12,10,9
(60#DBBench)10,10,10
(195#Crunch)15,13,10
(70#OHTri)9,8,8
(40#CableFly)12,10,10
(20#LatDelt)3x10
(50#RopePushDn)4x12
56 + 12 w/u + 5 c/d = 73mins

Earlier in the week I was targeting this WO as a key WO. I hit some key lifts (pullups) yesterday and was hoping to do the same for incline and OHP today. I only got 3 hours sleep last night and I knew this might not go as planned and even talked w/ Sarah about just doing a light push WO and tring to hit this WO hard on Tue or Wed.  Well, I didn't take my own good advice and decided to press on.

On warming up, 75#DB's felt plenty heavy so I knew they'd be my working weight today instead of 80#'s. I figured I'd get 4-5x8 fairly easy. Didn't happen. On the 4th set, I struggled w/ the 6th rep and stopped there rather than trying to grind out a few more. At least that was smart. Still good work, but not the target today.(10mins). Later on in my WO, I realized that the incline bench was at a steeper incline by 2 notches (which is a lot harder). So I was probably doomed for failure even had I felt good and was using 80#'s.

OHP was tough also and I had to drop the weight after 2 sets. I was pissed off and was going to move on to another exercise, but I swallowed my pride/ego, dropped the weight and did 3 more sets for 5 total. Despite dropping the weight, this was still some good work also.(11/21mins).

Decline close grip bench was good.(8/29mins). I got good reps on DB bench and hammered some heavy cable crunches. More reps than I've done at this weight.(12/41mins). OH tri's felt real heavy. I supersetted them with cable fly's which felt great today.(8/49mins). Finished up w/ side raises for lateral delts and a bunch of sets of triceps rope pusdowns. The last set I kept dropping the weight and going close to failure.(7/56mins).

A bit of a disspointment from a target WO perspective, but still a lot of good work and hopefully can recover and get back to 80#'s soon. Had a real fun night last night at a dinner party w/ Sarah and friends and ended up beign up until 3am. It was a worthwhile tradeoff to spend a great night with Sarah and friends.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.4 this morning. 

Sat 11/9 - Pull Day (Another Pullup PR)

Workout: (Golds)
(35#Pullups)8,8,8,8+6BW
(135#BOR)5x8
(75#BBCurl)3x10
(30#RearDelt)3x8
(225#SLDL)4x8
(140#RevGripPull)3x10
(80#WGIsoRow)3x12
(25#IncCurl)3x12
(80#OHIsoRow)3x10
(70#CGIsoROw)3x12
(75#RDeltFly)12,10,10
74 + 10 w/u + 11 c/d = 95 mins

During warmups I did a couple body weight pullups and could really get above the bar. I'm going to have to try some muscle ups. Weighted pullups were good and I was able to get 4x8 for the first time. I barely got the last pullup. I dropped the weight, took a couple breaths and did a few body weight pullups. I thought I'd rep out 10 or so. Not happening..at all.(14mins).  Bent over rows were better today. They didn't feel as awkward, but I don't think I'm ready to bump up the weight.(10/24mins).

Barbell curls were tough, probably because I really went to failure on pullups and did extra rows. Couldn't find the 25#DB's, so went w/ 30's for rear delts. Felt good.(9/33mins). I decided to do SLDL today. Started with a set of 205 and then did 3 sets at 225#'s. Felt good. Low back will not thank me later tonight. (11/44mins). I bumped up the weight on reverse grip pulldowns and they were good.(7/51mins).

I did quite a few sets on the iso row machine. 3 wide grip and 3 overhand grip. Mixed in incline dumbbell curls.(18/69mins). Finished up with some lighter rear delt fly's. I started doing some ab work, but it bothered my lower back. Skipped 'em.(5/74mins).

Great WO! Really happy with progression on pullups. Getting more comfortable with BOR. I should probably mix in some t-bar and seated rows, but am liking this routine and am progressing.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.0 this morning. Weight is starting to creep up.

Fri 11/8 - 4.1 Mile Run

Cardio:
Ran 4.1 miles in 47:07 (11:57,11:46,11:05,10:58,1:20) avg 11:29 pace. (560 cals). Early morning run nice and easy w/ Sarah. Great way to start the day!

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.0 again this morning. Had sushi and Sweet Frog this evening, but was really under control during the day.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	203	410	57	2,969
	Calories	812	1640	512	2,964
	Percent	27%	55%	17%	`

Thu 11/7 - Push Day

Workout: (Golds)
(80#DBInc)8,8,8,7 V. good
(105#OHP)7,7,7,6 Good
(145#DecCGBP)12,12,9 Great!
(60#DBBench)10,10,9
(75#TriExt)11,9,8
(35#IncFly)2x10
(150#TripPushDn)10,8
(T-Twist)3x20
(50#RopePushDn)4x12
(105#RDelt)10,8,8
65 + 15 w/u + 8 c/d = 88mins

I went ahead and stuck w/ 80#DB's today and I *think* I'm glad I did. I got more reps than last WO, so that's good progress.I decided to stick to 4 sets instead of 5 so that I'd have a little more left for OHP. Reps felt pretty good, but not quite as controlled/smooth as I'd like. Left elbow bad getting DB's into position and back down. Sets on 3min intervals.(13mins). OHP was same weight as last WO, but more reps. Felt good; heavy though.(10/23).

Close grip decline bench was great. Quite a few more reps than last WO. Tri's are getting strong. Bench was better than last WO too, plus I did an extra set. Sticking w/ 60's here though. Plenty heavy aftet a lot of pressing already in WO.(7/37mins). First set of tri extensions (skull crushers) felt fairly easy. I should've stopped at 10 reps. Lost reps after that, but good work.(7/44mins). I did incline fly's next to give tri's a break. Only did 2 sets, but they were really good.(5/49mins).

I did 2 heavy sets of pushdowns, followed by 4 sets of light rope pushdowns mixed in w/ torture twists for abs.(11/60mins). Finished up with a couple heavier than normal sets of rear delt fly's. The heavier weight actually felt really good and I could "feel" it well.(5/65mins).

Very pleased with the WO. Didn't bump up any weights, but got more reps on all main movements. Progressing quite nicely.  I'd better be while I'm putting weight/fat on. :)

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.0 this morning. Not bad, but I'm starting to dread what I'll weigh after the weekend. I'm going to have to try to keep it under control. I've got a couple more weeks of really trying to push the weights up before a deload and I've got to eat over maintenance to capitalize on it.  But, I dont' want to get too fat in the process. Keep cals high.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	216	401	32	2,746
	Calories	864	1605	286	2,755
	Percent	31%	58%	10%	`

Wed 11/6 - Cardio

Cardio:
- Walked for 52 mins. Left knee has been really bad the last 2 days. Wish I could've run, but it was a gorgeous evening for a walk. Mid 60's in November. Can't beat that. Would've only been better if Sarah could've been w/ me.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.4 this morning. Not too bad.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	226	346	38	2,612
	Calories	905	1384	338	2,626
	Percent	34%	53%	13%	`

Sky during my walk:

Tue 11/5 - Pull Day

Workout: (Golds)
(35#Pullups)8,7,6,6
(135#BOR)4x8
(75#BBCurl)3x10 Weight bump
(25#RearDelt)3x10
(135#RevGripPull)3x10 Weight bump
(80#IsoRow)3x12 Weight bump
(25#IncCurl)3x12 Weight bump
(70#CGIsoROw)3x12
(195#Crunch)3x12
(70#RDeltFly)3x13
(20#Russians)3x20
70 + 7 w/u + 10 c/d = 87 mins

Lost a few reps from last pullup WO. They were still good, but I really had to work for these unlike last WO where first two sets of 8 were relatively easy.(11mins). Bent over rows were OK. They felt a little awkward and I had to cheat the weight up a little the last 2 sets. Gotta work on these. I should be going much heavier here by now.(9/20mins). Bumped up the weight on barbel curls and they felt really good. Combo'd them with dumbbell rear delts.(10/30mins).

I bumped up the weight on reverse grip pulldowns and they felt really good. I lean back when doing these and get a really good stretch and flexion.(7/37mins). I bumped the weight on iso rows and did them single handed, wide grip. Felt good and I supersetted with incline DB curls, also bumped up from last WO. Love these.(12/49mins).

I did another round of iso rows with narrow grip, both hands at the same time. They were real good and combo'd them w/ cable crunches.(9/58mins). Finished up with rear delt fly's on the machine combo'd with a russian twist/hip thrust combo.(12/70mins).

Overall a great WO. I was a little disappointed that I lost reps on pullups, but everything else was really good and I was able to bump weight on several exercises and still maintain reps.  The only issue w/ that is I want to progress on my main movement of the WO.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.8 this morning.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	213	372	50	2,772
	Calories	851	1487	452	2,790
	Percent	30%	53%	16%	`

Mon 11/4 - Rest Day

A much needed rest day. Only my 2nd day off in over 3 weeks. My chest is actually fairly sore today from the heavy work yesterday. I was going to run, but other "things" got in the way and I could really use a day completely off anyway.

Nutrition:
I weighed 175.4 this morning. That's not too bad for a Monday after a lot of eating this weekend, but I can't let it keep creeping up this quickly.  Hopefully I'll drop some liquid the next day or two and stabilize around 173.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	190	331	37	2,403
	Calories	759	1325	331	2,415
	Percent	31%	55%	14%	`

Sun 11/3 - Push Day (Inc # bump)

Workout: (Golds)
(DBInc)75#x8,80#x8,8,7,5
(105#OHP)7,6,6,6
(145#DecCGBP)11,8,10
(60#DBBench)9,8
(70#OHTri)10,8,8
(195#Crunch)3x10
(150#TripPushDn)9,7
(KneeCrunch)3x20
(50#RopePushDn)4x12
(35#IncFly)12,10,10
(25#RDelt)3x10
72 + 11 w/u + 10 c/d = 95mins

I've been saying I was going to stick to 75# dumbbells on incline until 5x8 got comfortable and w/o set intervals going past 2.5 mins. The first set of incline felt really good, so I went ahead and bumped up the weight to 80# DB's. The next 2 sets were really good, the 4th I really worked for 7 and the fifth set I could only get 5. I was still very pleased with these reps and effort. I'm nearing the end of this training block and I was feeling good today so decided it was time to over-reach a bit and push the weights up wherever possible.(17mins). I bumped up the weight on OHP and these were tough after really pushing on incline. Definitely the lower end of rep range I want to be at.(10/27mins). I also bumped up close grip bench and these were good. I asked for a spot on the 3rd set, which is why I got more reps (I wasn't afraid of getting stuck).(8/35mins).

60#DB's felt heavy for bench after all the pressing already done, but good reps.(5/40mins). Overhead tri extensions were OK, but got heavy quickly. Supersetted these with cable crunches.(10/50mins). I did heavy and then light rope tri pushdowns supersetted with knee crunched. Rope felt really good on outer head of tri's and abs were on fire today. Overkill on # of tri pushdown sets.(14/69mins). I finished up with incline fly's which felt great, supersetted with rear delt fly's.(8/72mins).

Really good WO. My ego got in the way a little with bumping weight up on my first 3 main movements, but now's the time to press for the heavier weights while I'm eating over maintenance and nearing the end of this block of training. WO's have been getting pretty long. Gotta remember to focus on main movements and possibly cut back on the accessory volume.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.6 this morning. Not bad. Fighting the urge to stop eating as planned and putting on a little weight. Kind of stopped tracking in the evening. Just made sure I got enough protein and didn't worry too much about anything else.

Sat 11/2 - 8 Mile Run

Run:
Ran 8 miles in 1:15:22
9:52,9:59,9:33,9:31,9:16,9:01,9:07,8:58
Avg 9:25 pace
1,114 cals
5min c/d 1:20 total

I was planning on running 3-4 miles before the kids woke up. First 2 miles felt like crap and didn't know if I'd do more than 3. Then I just started feeling better and kept rolling. Miles 6&7 felt really easy. 8th mile I started to have to work a little bit.  Great run. Left knee wasn't too bad after I got warmed up, but it was still "there" the whole run.

Nutrition:
I weighed 174.2 this morning. I'll have to see where I'm at after this weekend. First couple weeks of "bulk" were good, but gaining a little faster now. Might have to reign it in a little after the weekend. Not sure if I ate enough today.

		Prot	Carb	Fat	Cal
TOTALS:	Grams	175	340	52	2,535
	Calories	698	1360	470	2,528
	Percent	28%	54%	19%	`

Fri 11/1 - Pull Day (Another Pullup PR!)

Workout: (Sprint Large Gym)
(35#Pullups)8,8,8,6
(155#SmBOR)4x10
(60#Curl)3x12
(20#RearDelt)3x12
(125#RevGripPull)4x10
(25#BackExt)3x20
(20#IncCurl)15,12,12
(40#RDeltFly)3x15
51 + 7 w/u +9 c/d = 67 mins

I really wasn't feeling motivated for today's WO and was considering doing pull/push on Sat/Sun, but I have the kids (Elena too) this weekend and decided it might not be a good idea to be gone Saturday morning for a long WO w/ Elena in case she woke up before I was done. Part of me just wanted to do a lighter pump WO, but I'm nearing the last 3rd of a hard training block so figured I'd better give it a good go.

Pullups were awesome! I warmed up with a few body weight pullups and was sailing above the bar. I certainly wasn't sailing with a 35# dumbbell between my legs, but I got another personal record w/ reps at this weight. The 3rd set was a struggle to get 8, and the last set I was dead by 6. Most I've gotten before though was 7 on the first set. Started each set pretty strict at 2.5min intervals.(11mins). I did bent over rows next in the smith rack and these were good. I tried to do them standing slightly more upright to hit upper back a bit more.(9/20mins).

Barbell curls were OK. Left elbow is pretty bad and curls really bother it. Combo'd these with dumbbell rear delt fly's.(9/29mins).  Reverse grip pulldowns were really good and my I could really feel these exercises in my back today. In fact, when cooling down I could feel a "pump" similar to how my chest gets after a good WO. I don't always get that in my back. I combo'd the pulldowns with weighted back extensions. I might pay for these later tonight.(13/42mins). Finished up with incline curls and rear delt fly's on the machine.(9/51mins).

For not even wanting to do this WO, it was GREAT! A pullup PR and lots of good back work. Very pleased. Some cardio tomorrow AM and then I hope to really have a great push WO on Sunday. Really reaching to hit some good WO's and PR's as this training block is winding down.

Nutrition:
I weighed 173.0 this morning. I was a little surprised. My weight hasn't really dropped off like weeks past. That's good, and the goal, but I am still having a very difficult time allowing myself to eat enough to put weight on. My first reaction when I see the scale go up is to start cutting again. Gotta
remember the plan and stick with it.